In 2020, they were scheduled to play their first Test in Australia, but the pandemic and political tumult dashed their hopes

Tristan Lavalette21-Oct-2022When Afghanistan step onto Optus Stadium to open their T20 World Cup campaign against England, it will end a frustrating two-year wait of playing in Australia marked by Covid-19 postponements and political tumult.Back in 2020, Afghanistan were excited over the prospect of playing their first ever Test against Australia on a bouncy Perth surface only for those hopes to be dashed by the pandemic.It was twice rescheduled during long meetings between Cricket Australia and Afghanistan Cricket Board before it fell by the wayside because of the Western Australian government’s strict border stance, which only ended in March this year, requiring travellers into the state to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel.Related

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The ACB officials, however, were left slightly miffed when India’s lucrative Test and ODI tour of Australia that summer was able to be salvaged. Still, Afghanistan’s bitterness wasn’t set to linger with the historic Test rescheduled for late 2021 in Hobart.But just a few months before the match, Afghanistan descended into chaos amid the Taliban’s sudden takeover, which meant real concern over the state of women’s cricket there. Cricket Australia took a stance and postponed the Test “until a later time when the situation [in Afghanistan] is clearer”.While bilaterals between the countries are uncertain, Afghanistan have retained Full Membership as an ongoing investigation into the women’s situation continues through an ICC working group.Their Test dreams may have to wait, but Afghanistan arrive in Australia for the T20 World Cup with gusto.

“We’re not just here to participate but here to win matches. We’ve got players and a squad that can do that”Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott

“Certainly sensed a build-up, as well as excitement when we first got here and the new experiences for the players,” Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan’s new head coach, said. “You just listen to the conversations, you’re looking at the body language, it is very exciting for me as a coach. But again, it’s about controlling those emotions and that excitement and channelling it in the right places and right direction.”Afghanistan will have the ultimate initiation to the foreign conditions on the fast Optus Stadium pitch, where England quick Mark Wood tore through Australia’s batting order with rapid pace just two weeks ago.Openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz appear most adept at handling the bounce, but the batting order after that appears to be susceptible against short-pitched bowling.Gurbaz has been declared fit after he was struck on the left foot by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s inswinging yorker during Afghanistan’s warm-up match against Pakistan at the Gabba, which was washed out.”The wicket [in Perth] looks really good,” Trott said. “We’re looking to our openers to set a good platform along with Ibrahim [Zadran] at three, and we’ve got some exciting players.”It was a good experience for us playing against Pakistan in a warm-up. I think the prep has been really good… The guys are ready.”Will Afghanistan’s spinners be effective on a fast Perth pitch?•Getty ImagesAfghanistan’s strength, of course, lies with their beguiling spinners led by BBL standout Rashid Khan, although they could be negated by the Perth pitch.Against a belligerent England batting order, they will be under the pump and so too the team’s fielding, which has been put under the microscope.”One of the things we’ve been working on is our fielding, making sure we get an opportunity and are able to put the opposition under pressure,” Trott said. “So they’re little things, and all the little percentages hopefully add up to us putting together a good run in the competition and winning some games.”Just two months into the role, Trott has been taken by his team’s innate passion and obvious skills, which were showcased with wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Asia Cup before falling away.Not content with being dark horses, Trott hopes to develop a harder edge in a bid for a breakthrough deep run at a major tournament.”I hope we’re still seen as a dangerous side but a side that’s more consistent,” he said. “We’re not just here to participate but here to win matches. We’ve got players and a squad that can do that.”After two long years, Afghanistan finally gets their chance to shine on Australian soil.”There are some remarkable stories in that dressing room,” Trott said. “Hopefully this campaign is going to be another one of them.”

“Everyone thinks Sri Lanka has average players and are an average side, so if we lose, that’s no problem for us,” Athapaththu says

Firdose Moonda11-Feb-2023They did not play a match between March 2020 and January 2022. They had only won three of the 13 T20Is they had played against South Africa before Friday. Their World Cup record is poor and the FICA Women’s Employment Report said they had “no professional structures” in place. Despite all of that, Sri Lanka silenced the biggest home crowd South Africa’s women’s team has ever played in front of – 8402 – at Newlands with a stunning, though error-ridden, three-run win.It was the stuff of dreams for Chamari Athapaththu, who has carried the Sri Lankan team almost single-handedly over her 13-year career. She had scored her first T20I fifty against South Africa in 2016, and on the day, she scored another one to give the tournament a rousing start.Two days ahead of the match, she had told ESPNcricinfo that she wanted to hit the longest six of the tournament with a lofted off drive. She couldn’t do that, but struck five crisp cover drives, three powerful pulls, and one slog sweep in an innings she owned, but also one in which she passed a baton.Related

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Vishmi Gunaratne, just 17 years old, took 13 balls to score her first five runs but then lap swept Nonkululeko Mlaba and plundered three fours off Shabnim Ismail in a strong supporting role. In her, Athapaththu saw someone who could take cricket forward in a country without an extensive player pool.”No one expects Sri Lanka will win,” Athapaththu said. “Everyone thinks Sri Lanka has average players and are an average side so if we lose, that’s no problem for us. We don’t have any pressure. I told my players to play fearlessly and trust and back your skill.”

Vishmi Gunaratne ‘a young superstar’ – Chamari Athapaththu

She said those words especially to Gunaratne, who Athapaththu described as a “young superstar with a bright future” – not many 17-year-olds take Ismail on and come out on top, after all.”I just told her to focus on the ball and don’t think about who is bowling. She knows Shabnim is the No. 1 bowler so the first boundary she hit, I said, ‘you hit that off the world’s No. 1 bowler and you can hit another boundary in this over’. She hit the second boundary and I said to her, ‘you are really good, better than the No. 1 bowler, so you can hit another boundary’.”She’s really young and she thinks when Shabnim is bowling, she’s No. 1. but I just want to relieve that pressure from her, that’s why I always talked to her.”Athapaththu also admitted she needed to improve on the field, though, in the end, it was Athapaththu, at long-on, who saved what could have been a boundary in the final over when Ismail hit the ball down the ground. Asked about it afterwards, she repeated what she had said a few days before: “I love pressure. We have only a few experienced players so I always try to lead from the front. We didn’t have any pressure in these conditions, especially with South Africa playing in their home conditions.”On the other hand, the expectation on South Africa was enormous. As the hosts that are considered genuine contenders for the semi-finals, they were not supposed to slip up here. Especially not 20 years to the day after West Indies humbled the South African men’s team in the 50-over World Cup at this same venue.

Dane van Niekerk – South Africa’s missing link?

In their defence, South Africa may have been eclipsed by the emotion of having their regular captain, Dane van Niekerk, who was left out of the squad after failing to meet the two-kilometre time trial requirement of 9:30, at the ground. The last time South Africa played a match at this venue, also against Sri Lanka, it was van Niekerk who took centre stage. She struck an unbeaten 71 off 55 balls to almost single-handedly give South Africa a stunning seven-wicket win. This time, her presence only served to remind them what they were missing, in runs, as a person, and maybe even in passion.Ayabonga Khaka can scarcely believe the result•ICC via Getty ImagesVan Niekerk met her wife, Marizanne Kapp, as the South Africans arrived at the ground and the pair shared a long embrace, which ended with Kapp sobbing. A few minutes later, van Niekerk was pulled away from her new role as a television commentator for “wife duties” to help Kapp mark her run-up at the Kelvin Grove End. Van Niekerk then sang the national anthem from the broadcast box, standing next to Mignon du Preez – who retired late last year and is also in the commentators’ panel – and wiped away tears of her own. When Mlaba finished the innings with a boundary that came too late, she slumped to her haunches and covered her eyes. Sune Luus, the current captain, spoke through puffy eyes and a shaking voice at the post-match presentation and was spared having to address the media afterwards.Instead, that task fell to Sinalo Jafta, who was run-out at a crucial stage in the penultimate over – with 13 runs needed off eight balls – and owned her mistake. “The pressure moment got to me,” she said.And this is not even a knockout game. The tournament has only just begun but South Africa are on the verge of a premature exit. Their next match against New Zealand, which was also going to be decisive in this group because of the presence of near-certain semi-finalists Australia, is a must-win. “We can’t run away from the fact that we are going to be in pressure situations,” Jafta said. “What we are focusing on most is just being present. This time, we were focused more on the outcome.”South Africa also can’t run away from their selection decisions, which has seen them send Lizelle Lee and du Preez into retirement (Lee because she could not meet the weight benchmark and du Preez because there are no T20I-only contracts and she wanted to retire from ODIs) and van Niekerk benched. The trio are among their most successful batters and as opening night concluded with a botched chase, South Africa may be wondering whether they have invented challenges they could have done without.

The wicketkeeper-batter scores his maiden Test hundred at a venue where he had impressed Rahul Dravid in 2016

Mohammad Isam06-Apr-2023In his first match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium seven years ago, Lorcan Tucker caught Rahul Dravid’s attention. He made 57 in a losing cause against India at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Quite impressed, Dravid asked around who the kid was, and why he wasn’t already playing for Ireland’s senior team. Tucker would make his international debut later that year, but his international career, like most of his current Ireland team-mates, was only white-ball cricket.Tucker had played a combined 87 ODIs and T20Is before the Dhaka Test. He is part of the Ireland generation who is mainly focused on white-ball cricket. Tucker played the last of his 14 first-class matches two years ago. But on Thursday, when Ireland really needed their middle order to stand up, he became the country’s second centurion after Kevin O’Brien, and the sixth wicketkeeper overall to do so on debut.”It was a brilliant day,” Tucker said. “It was our first Test in Bangladesh. I didn’t think it would happen today but it is special for me and the team. It is obviously pretty special. It wasn’t something that I thought would happen today. We were under a lot of pressure. We tried to take it ball-by-ball and bat for as long as we could. It was very special to get a personal reward.”Related

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Throughout the innings Tucker was trying to understand how a Test innings works. He figured out that batting out time isn’t a bad thing, as opposed to in T20s where one is supposed to go after every ball.”You are trying to get into a space where you think you can bat for long periods. We are not quite used to the tempo [of Test cricket]. We haven’t played that much multi-day cricket. So just trying to slow down, and not be afraid of dot balls, a maiden or a series of maidens in a row. Just trying to get into the mindset of things happening slowly. I know the temperature is hot but to get into that mindset, you have to forget about the weather.”We were recognising there were different tempos in the innings. You can go up and down in gears. It is not like T20s where you are always trying to go as fast as you can. I think last night was a great example of a period where all you had to do was get through. The runs didn’t matter.”Lorcan Tucker pulls one away during his innings•AFP/Getty ImagesThere were times, however, when the T20 player in Tucker came to the fore. He charged at the spinners from time to time, and even went after the fast bowlers. His charging flicks and pulls off Khaled Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain stood out. In fact, Tucker scored at a strike rate of 100 against the fast bowlers.Against spin, he took his time, facing 81 dots and scoring at 52.21. But he never allowed Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz to settle down.”Bangladeshi spinners are very accurate,” he said. “It felt like it was going to be hard to score more than two or three runs an over against them. I thought there was an opportunity to score against the seamers with the field up.”When the moment came for him to reach his century, Tucker drove Taijul expansively through the covers. He said that he isn’t an excitable person, but felt that it was an enjoyable day for the team.”I don’t like to be too high or too low. I try to be consistent the whole time with cricket and life. It was a great day, so trying to enjoy for what it is.”The general consensus among the group is that we really enjoyed the last few days. We are so used to ODIs and T20 cricket, which is so much faster. It is a completely different mindset. The last T20 was excellent as well. Today we came back from a really tough position. We are proud as a team. We have had some tough days on this tour so far.”Tucker comes from a family of cricketers. His father, Barry Tucker, is the president of Dublin’s Pembroke Cricket Club. The Tucker senior played for the club back in the day, and his sons Lorcan, Fiachra and Donncha are all from this club. Donncha, a left-arm spinner, is currently touring South Africa with the Ireland Under-19, while Fiachra played alongside Lorcan at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup.Tucker was always regarded as a talented cricketer but he had never scored a hundred at international level. On Thursday, he changed that, against a strong spin attack after coming in at 51 for 5. And at a venue where his talent was first spotted all those years ago.

What’s the purpose of the IPL? To sell the dream, of course

Alan Gardner19-Apr-2023:”Friends, patrons, brand partners – welcome to tonight’s show. We are here to entertain you in the round. Have you got your body paint? Handmade signs? Ear defenders? Great, please get comfy. As we like to say at IPL: the Opera, ‘Nessun dorma’ – certainly not given how late this thing’s going to finish.””Anyway, we’re just about ready to go… Let’s head down to the middle!”Related

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“HEEEeeeaaaAAAADDDdddssss!” Spotlight on the match referee, played by Hugh Jackman, theatrically gesturing to giant floating coin:“Yes, maaaate, it’s HEEEeeeaaaAAAADDDdddssss!” “We’ll have a bowl, deck looks flat and dew factor may come into play later.””Looks like we have a review! Yes, the dugout wants another look at that decision from Rohit. Seems this is a used pitch and they might want to put runs on the board after all. Let’s see what the technology says. Rock and roll the cameras… and then we can all get ready to rock and roll!””Well, we’ve just seen some of the most incredible entertainment you will ever see but now it’s time for a break – and while we’re on subject of gripping spectacles, can I interest you in buying some tyres?”

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England’s Test team under Brendon McCullum – not to mention New Zealand when he was Black Caps capo – have become the equivalent of handmade, ethically sourced, carbon-neutral, 100%-right-on-and-did-we-mention-vegan knitwear, so it was interesting to note that the ECB is “exploring” its head coach’s advertising arrangement with a bookmaker. Admittedly, this wasn’t quite the Full Shakib (anyone still getting updates from Betwinner News?), and McCullum’s style of leadership has always betrayed a gambler’s instinct. But the blazers at Lord’s might think Baz has taken his “run towards the danger” mantra a bit too literally here.

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The story of the early rounds of the County Championship – other than incessant rain – has to be news of Pep Guardiola being successfully blocked out by tailender’s tailender Mohammad Abbas, after Hampshire rebuffed a request for the Manchester City manager to take Abbas’ Southampton hotel suite for a few nights. Given his meticulous nature, you’d imagine Pep has subsequently done his research and been appropriately impressed by Abbas’ deft control of seam and swing. Guardiola recently revealed that his three idols in life are Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Julia Roberts. Perhaps the Light Roller is just a foolish romantic, but might there be room for Mo Abbas to join that eclectic list?

In a turn of events too improbable for Hollywood, a cricketer from Afghanistan became a feted hero deep in the heart of Texas

Peter Della Penna31-Jul-2023One of the burgeoning traditions that has quickly become a staple of the first season of Major League Cricket in Texas, as it is in the IPL, is the sea of flags in the stands. Almost all of the franchises involved in each night’s match made sure to have stacks of flags ready to hand out to fans as they walked in through the gates of Grand Prairie Stadium.There were hundreds of neon green Seattle Orcas flags waving in the grandstand at Sunday night’s final. These were engulfed by thousands of blue MI New York flags. Being a sporting event in the USA, a few fans brought in Old Glory to twirl around, and another American flag arrived into the stadium before the start of play courtesy of a parachute jump team.But the flags that arguably stood out most of all at Grand Prairie Stadium were the distinct tri-colour black, red and green of Afghanistan. Seemingly in every corner of the stadium, there was at least one, and usually two, Afghanistan tricolour banners parading around and being waved in tandem.Related

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Two decades ago, when the US military invaded Afghanistan, the latter’s national cricket team did not exist. A men’s side playing under the aegis of the Afghanistan Cricket Board did not appear in an Asian Cricket Council tournament – let alone an ICC one – until June 2004. On that day, Nawroz Mangal opened the batting with a century while an unknown 19-year-old spinner named Mohammad Nabi led the bowling attack taking 3 for 28 in a four-wicket loss to Oman at an empty Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. Rashid Khan was just a five-year-old boy then.Fast forward 19 years to a scene in Grand Prairie, Texas that would have seemed infinitely more ludicrous than the moment in “Back to the Future Part II” where Marty McFly gets out of Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine to walk into the centre of Hill Valley in October 2015. A very confused Marty, played by Michael J Fox, looks up at a flashing neon news ticker to see an update that the Chicago Cubs have just beaten a team from Miami – a baseball franchise that didn’t exist in the Back to the Future realm of 1985 – to win their first World Series since 1908.Nicholas Pooran scored an extraordinary hundred in the chase•SportzpicsIt’s highly improbable that even the brilliant mind of Robert Zemeckis could have concocted a Hollywood story where a boy from war-torn Afghanistan in 2004 becomes one of the biggest stars in international cricket and is feted by the masses in the Lone Star State in the summer of 2023. Texas is a place with as nascent a cricket heritage as the one Afghanistan had in 2004, which was a time when most Texans’ – like most other Americans of the time – only thoughts about Afghanistan revolved around hunting down Osama bin Laden.But when Rashid showed up for his first match in Texas for New York on the night of July 17 – fresh out of a business class seat on a flight from Bangladesh where he had just finished captaining the Afghanistan T20I side – the fans in Grand Prairie Stadium went delirious. It was sheer pandemonium in the front row of section 101 on the southwest grandstand of the venue near where Rashid was fielding on the boundary at wide long-off. Things got so rowdy from a crush of fans crowding the front five rows in search of selfies and autographs during the first innings when New York were fielding that extra security guards had to be re-assigned to the area to disperse the throngs of fans who did not have tickets in the section.It was no surprise, then, that when the starting line-ups for the final on Sunday night were shouted over the loudspeakers by stadium public address announcer Aaman Patel – who himself is another too-good-to-be-true character, a North Carolina native who was one year old when Afghanistan played their first match in 2004 – that Rashid got the most raucous ovation. And even on a night when New York stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran scored one of the most extraordinary centuries in a T20 franchise league final anywhere in the world, it was Rashid who continued to be the pied piper for fans all around the ground.Rashid Khan registered figures of 4-0-9-3•SportzpicsThough the match had been announced as a sellout for weeks, there was some mild curiosity as to what the atmosphere would be like without the presence of the Texas Super Kings in the final. Though the crowds at the 7200-capacity Grand Prairie Stadium had been consistently healthy throughout the tournament, only matches involving the hometown Super Kings had been sellouts prior to the final. But the long traffic lines coming off the South Belt Line Road Exit to the stadium entrance at Lone Star Parkway, which were snaking around the adjacent Lone Star Racetrack parking lot 90 minutes before play, quelled any doubts that the inaugural MLC final would be anything less than a grand occasion.As special as Pooran’s unbeaten and chanceless 137 not out off 55 balls was – studded with 13 sixes and a hundred which arrived after just 40 balls – the screams, shouts and cries for Rashid before, during and after his sensational spell of 3 for 9 (seriously?! A 2.25 economy and 19 dot balls on a night when every other bowler went for more than a run a ball) were relentless from start to finish, and continued well after Pooran jammed out a yorker through fine leg for the winning runs. During the victory celebrations on the field, there were regular calls in the stands from fans shouting for an autograph or a selfie with, “Nicky!”, “Polly!” “Trent!” and “David!”But outside of the appearance made by New York’s billionaire owner Nita Ambani, who showed up along the sidelines to take pictures with her team’s joyous fans, the only other person requiring a robust security presence to keep over-exuberant fans from losing control in their zesty fervour to get close to their hero was “Rashid! Rashid!” After spending a considerable amount of time taking selfies and signing autographs with fans, Rashid was finally yanked away by the New York team officials, who were waiting for him to come back to the team bus before commencing with further victory celebrations back at the team hotel.Over the course of the last three weeks, there were a series of far-fetched fantasies most people would never have believed possible a generation ago. A sold-out cricket stadium to watch a domestic franchise league in Texas, let alone anywhere else in the USA, would have seemed more miraculous than turning water into wine. But a globetrotting, multi-millionaire, best-T20-bowler-in-the-world legspinner from Afghanistan being showered with pure unadulterated love by American sports fans on US soil would have simply been far too good to be true. At Sunday night’s Major League Cricket final in Grand Prairie, Texas, seeing was believing.

They took Bangladesh into the Super Fours with a 194-run stand that showcased their best individual qualities

Mohammad Isam04-Sep-20231:34

Jaffer: Mehidy can be groomed to bat in the top four

With Bangladesh on the brink of elimination at the Asia Cup, there was an onus on their in-form players to step up against Afghanistan. And step up, they did. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the team’s leading run-scorer in all formats this year, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, their transformed allrounder, struck vital centuries. Their 194-run stand made the difference in Bangladesh’s 89-run win in Lahore.Mehidy retiring hurt with a cramped right hand effectively ended their partnership, but when they came together in the 11th over, Bangladesh had lost two quick wickets after making their best start against Afghanistan. Mehidy was one of those who made the good start possible after bring promoted up to open.He is growing into one of the rare international cricketers who can bat anywhere in the order, besides regularly bowling his full quota of overs. Mehidy opened the innings against a bowling attack that Bangladesh consider one of the best in the world. The absence of Tamim Iqbal (back injury) and Litton Das (fever) had already unsettled Bangladesh’s usual opening line-up; and then both openers – Tanzid Hasan, on debut, and Mohammad Naim – failed in the first game against Sri Lanka. Thus, when Mehidy and Naim walked out against Afghanistan, it almost represented a hint of desperation from the Bangladesh dressing room.Related

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Mehidy said that he was informed about the new role on the eve of this game, but that he had also mentally prepared himself.”I am really happy to get my second hundred,” Mehidy said. “I was confident batting in the middle. The team management said that I should play normal cricket. The wicket was excellent. There was a bit of movement in the first few overs. I just tried to handle the situation. We played really well in this match.”Credit goes to the captain and team management [for the opening role]. Last night, they told me to open the innings. I agreed with them. I can play [as opener]. The last Asia Cup, I opened in the final. I was confident. I am always ready for every bowler. Actually, it is a new journey for me.”Mehidy said that although it was a hot day in Lahore, he enjoyed batting on that pitch.”It was too hot today, but conditions in the middle were very good. The wicket was really good. This is my first game in Lahore. I was a bit confused before getting here, but our practice was excellent. I was a bit cautious at the start, but after playing a few balls, Naim and I started well. It gave me confidence.”0:58

Jaffer: Shanto the reliable batter Bangladesh need at No. 3

Mehidy has picked up a knack of successfully moulding himself into every role that the team management has given him – whether with bat or ball. Like any good opening foil, he allowed Naim to go for his shots before launching into his own boundaries.Later on, Shanto was positive from the start which was possible only because Mehidy was batting positively at the other end. Mehidy isn’t your run-of-the-mill slogger from the lower order. He has shots around the wicket – from a proper cover drive to cheeky ramps to big hits down the ground. He rotates the strike, whether he is opening like he did on Sunday, or when he bats at No. 7 or 8.Shanto, meanwhile, continued to bat serenely. It is hard to imagine that the same batter was in the doldrums for the two years before the T20 World Cup in 2022. That tournament was his turning point as he put together the best BPL season by a Bangladeshi batter soon afterwards. It was followed by plenty of runs – in all formats – against England, Ireland and Afghanistan this year. His ODI average before the T20 World Cup last year was 14.53. Since then, he has averaged three times of that – at 42.86 in 15 innings.Shanto and Mehidy contributing heavily in a critical game is an invaluable addition for a dressing room which gets into a flux sometimes. The Bangladesh team, from time to time, finds itself surrounded by controversies and unnecessary discussions. Talk about the senior players ending their careers soon has been a hot topic off late; the Tamim saga and the Mahmudullah question have overshadowed a lot of other things that had been happening in full view.Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan added 194 for the third wicket against Afghanistan•AFP via Getty ImagesIn that sense, the improvement of players like Shanto, Mehidy and Taskin Ahmed in all formats – and how others like Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain have taken to ODI cricket – is heartening.Against Afghanistan, there was a point in the 34th over during Bangladesh’s innings when Shanto was struggling to get Rashid Khan away. “It is no biggie,” Mehidy kept telling Shanto, who the TV commentator predicted could play a big shot out of frustration. But Shanto didn’t. He held his own, taking just a single after playing four dot balls.The surprising thing was that Shanto and Mehidy were batting together only for the second time in ODIs. The previous occasion was against Sri Lanka last week, when Mehidy ended up getting run-out after a big mix-up. In their Under-19 days, they were joined at the hips: at the time they played their last game together in 2016, Shanto and Mehidy were the fourth-most prolific partnership in Youth ODIs.As Bangladesh expect the next generation of cricketers to become match-winners at the highest level, they also need a group of leaders to guide the future. Shanto and Mehidy have been earmarked for this role for a long time, but they needed big performances in big moments for Bangladesh. These last 12 months have seen them take that next step. This big partnership and their centuries while batting in the top four against Afghanistan could go a long way into establishing their leadership credentials for a not-too-distant future.

Ben Stokes is back from ODI retirement and Joe Root’s recent form isn’t inspiring. But England remain among favourites

Matt Roller29-Sep-20232:49

Can England defend their World Cup title?

World Cup pedigree: England are in uncharted territory as defending champions, sneaking past New Zealand on boundary count to win their maiden title at Lord’s four years ago. Once the laughing stock of one-day cricket – from 1992 and before the 2019 semi-finals, they hadn’t won a single knockout game at a 50-over World Cup – they are now among the favourites at every limited-overs ICC event.Recent form: This squad’s only meaningful preparation was last month, when they came from 0-1 down to beat New Zealand 3-1. England had only played nine ODIs in the preceding 13 months, and the entire World Cup squad rested during their recent 1-0 win against Ireland. Bilateral results have been considered low priority since Matthew Mott’s appointment as white-ball coach last year; after all, in 2022, his side peaked at the right time to lift the T20 World Cup in Australia.Selection: Ben Stokes returns as a specialist batter after a brief ODI retirement, while Harry Brook was a late replacement for Jason Roy. England have picked six seamers, anticipating niggles and a variety of conditions across their nine group games in eight different cities, while Jofra Archer will travel as a reserve.Related

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Squad: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Harry Brook, David Willey, Reece Topley and Gus AtkinsonKey player: He has hardly played 50-over cricket in the last four years, but Joe Root was England’s leading run-scorer at the 2019 World Cup, and his fortunes as their fulcrum at No. 3 may decide their progress. Root is England’s best player of spin, and spent two months preparing for this World Cup while running drinks for Rajasthan Royals at the IPL earlier this year. Root will hope that tailored preparation can help him overcome a lean run in ODIs, having played just 19 of them since the 2019 World Cup, with three half-centuries and no hundreds.Rising star: Although an established all-format international and already an IPL millionaire, Sam Curran is the second-youngest player in England’s squad at 25, and is more likely to play a significant role than Brook, the designated spare batter. Curran has only played 26 ODIs, and his numbers do not stand out either, but he proved in Australia last year that he revels on the big stage. Expect him to be used in a variety of roles across the tournament.World Cup farewells? Where to start? Only three players in England’s squad are younger than 29, and most members will be in their late 30s by the time the 2027 World Cup comes around. There will almost certainly be a substantial changing of the guard after this tournament, and several members of the touring party are unlikely to feature in ODIs again, including Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes.

Australia captain and his team hold their nerve in the face of a ‘Bazball’ onslaught on the field and ‘boring’ taunts off it

Andrew McGlashan21-Jun-2023Pat Cummins started and finished the Edgbaston Test with boundaries. The first cracked off the middle of Zak Crawley’s bat as England made their intentions clear, but it was the last which decided a pulsating match as his thick edge down to deep third, palmed over the rope by Harry Brook, gave Australia a heart-stopping victory that appeared to be beyond them a little more than an hour earlier.It isn’t that Cummins doesn’t do emotion on the field – he can be as pumped as anyone taking wickets, as he showed with the key scalps of Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes on the fourth day – but there was something more about the roar, leap, bat throw and fist-pump that followed those winnings runs.This game had taken everyone involved (on and off the field) to the wire. Cameron Green looked on with his head buried in his top. Fans of both sides struggled to watch. Only when that final delivery bounced into the boundary markers at 7.21pm, after a delayed start on the eve of the longest day of the year, was it finally clear there would be no more twists.Related

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As morning broke in Australia, the result was, perhaps unsurprisingly, being proclaimed as one of the team’s greatest. Yet even when the immediacy of it all dies down this is a match – and victory – that will stand the test of time.A team playing a fast game had been trumped, just, by a team playing the long game. That is not to say that Australia have found the solution to ‘Bazball’ – things could look very different again after the Lord’s Test – but they did not get drawn into trying to match their opponents. “Boring, boring, Aussies” came the chant from the Hollies Stand as Usman Khawaja ground out his runs on the fourth afternoon. A couple more wickets and Australia’s approach may have been viewed differently, but this is a tough cricket team and they dug as deep as they have ever had to.Adaptability has been a hallmark of them over their successful World Test Championship run. They weren’t perfect, but having billed the Pakistan tour as a “15-day marathon” they won the series in the final session (yes, England won all three of their Tests playing an entirely different style). In Sri Lanka they took a Test on a bunsen and even in India, where they had got it wrong to start with, they avoided a meltdown and secured a famous victory in Indore. Now they are 1-0 up in an away Ashes.

“You just need that belief that you can win from anywhere…that belief that anyone is a match-winner and you can be the guy to step up and win. When you are in the backyard as a kid, you wish to be in these moments and going out there in the middle of an Ashes series.”Pat Cummins

Australia’s opening-day tactics at Edgbaston came under the spotlight – Cummins began with a deep point, Nathan Lyon with four fielders in the deep – when they appeared happy to defer to England’s inevitable aggression. They certainly didn’t make the running, but neither did they allow England to completely run away.”We are a fairly stable team and we know what we need to do to be at our best and will keep doubling down on that,” Cummins said.Then on the final afternoon, there was a period against Joe Root and Ben Stokes operating with the old ball where the scoring almost froze. Alex Carey tried to change the tempo but rifled a drive back at Root who held the stinging catch brilliantly in his follow-through. At that point, Australia needed 54 with two wickets in hand. On the fourth evening, Lyon had said he hoped he would not have to strap on the pads, although added he “would give it a crack” if he had to.England delayed taking the second new ball and Cummins seized his moment with two sixes off what became the final over of Root’s spell. Suddenly it was 37 needed; still plenty with Josh Hazlewood to come, but carefully the pair whittled it down although had Stokes held a stunning catch running back off from square leg offered by Lyon the game was probably done. Such were the margins. Lyon’s princely off-drive against Stuart Broad felt like a big moment. “I looked at him, he walked past and said ‘nice shot Garry!’ Think he was happy,” Cummins said at the presentation.Successful fourth-innings chases of significant size been rare for Australia (that is often because they have dominated games from the start, especially at home) and this was their highest since the 310 for 8 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011 which just so happened to be Cummins’ debut. The then 18-year-old, who had earlier taken a six-wicket haul, finished unbeaten on 13, swinging the winning runs through midwicket off Imran Tahir. It would be another six years before Cummins played another Test.”I actually did think back to my debut,” he said. “At one stage, batting out there with Nathan I was imagining him in the sheds praying like he was on my debut.”Pat Cummins had his best Test with the bat•AFP/Getty ImagesThere had been promise in Cummins’ batting earlier in his career. After 18 Tests he was averaging 21.12 with two half-centuries but that has steadily slipped. However, this has been his finest game with the bat – his first-innings 38 helping narrow England’s lead to just seven while overall it was the most runs he had contributed in a Test – and if it’s the signs of a longer-term revival in his run-scoring it will add a valuable component to a strong Australia side at No. 8 or 9.As well as the large chase, there was also the narrow win. While comparisons with 2005 are inevitable – “I think we were all about 10 years old,” Cummins joked – for the pair at the crease when it ended this offered some redemption for Headingley in 2019 when, in the field that time, Cummins and Lyon were central to the drama that unfolded around Stokes’ great innings.”Think it’s huge,” Cummins said. “You just need that belief that you can win from anywhere…that belief that anyone is a match-winner and you can be the guy to step up and win. When you are in the backyard as a kid, you wish to be in these moments and going out there in the middle of an Ashes series.”The result was also significant for the lack of runs contributed by Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith – just 35 across their four innings, the lowest in a win. Having spent so many hours bowling against Smith in particular, that will sting England. It may yet prove decisive over the five Tests that Australia have the best opener and best spinner on either side.However, for all the analysing and deep-diving that will be part of this series, perhaps the most fitting final word on its first chapter should go to the Player of the Match, Khawaja who spent all but 25 overs on the field. “Not going to lie, I was absolutely s***ing myself for the last five minutes there,” he said. “It’s so heart-wrenching. An unbelievable game.”

Who got what they wanted? Who missed out? A look at how the franchises fared at a historic IPL auction

Shashank Kishore and Hemant Brar19-Dec-202315:25

Who had the best and worst IPL auction?

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad strength: 23 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (INR 2 crore), Sherfane Rutherford (INR 1.5 crore), Gus Atkinson (INR 1 crore), KS Bharat (INR 50 lakh), Chetan Sakariya (INR 50 lakh), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (INR 20 lakh), Ramandeep Singh (INR 20 lakh), Manish Pandey (INR 50 lakh), Sakib Hussain (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Knight Riders needed fast bowlers and they acquired Mitchell Starc for an all-time high of INR 24.75 crore. Towards the end, they also snapped up Gus Atkinson. In Mujeeb Ur Rahman and KS Bharat, they got a back-up spinner and a back-up wicketkeeper.
The misses: They rely a lot on Gurbaz coming good. Atkinson may not fit into the first-choice XI, and their Indian seamers lack experience. They also seem to be lacking the batting depth; Ramandeep Singh scored 127 runs at a strike rate of 222.80 in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but is unproven at this IPL.
Full squad

• Openers: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi
• Middle order: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, KS Bharat (wk), Manish Pandey, Sherfane Rutherford
• Allrounders: Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh
• Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Gus Atkinson, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Sakib Hussain
• Spinners: Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

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Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Travis Head (INR 6.8 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (INR 1.5 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 20.5 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (INR 1.6 crore), Akash Singh (INR 20 lakh), Jhathavedh Subramanyan (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Sunrisers out-bid four other teams to get Pat Cummins for a whopping INR 20.5, while Wanindu Hasaranga, at his base price, was a steal. Travis Head was another big buy and can replace either Mayank Agarwal or Abhishek Sharma, depending on their form, at the top.
The misses: It will be nit-picking but perhaps they could have looked for a back-up for Abdul Samad.
Full squad

• Openers: Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh
• Middle order: Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips (wk), Abdul Samad, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk)
• Allrounders: Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Sanvir Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed
• Fast bowlers: Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh
• Spinners: Wanindu Hasaranga, Mayank Markande, Jhathavedh Subramanyan

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Chennai Super Kings

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Rachin Ravindra (INR 1.8 crore), Shardul Thakur (INR 4 crore), Daryl Mitchell (INR 14 crore), Sameer Rizvi (INR 8.4 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (INR 2 crore)
The wins: Most bases covered. Ambati Rayudu’s replacement in Sameer Rizvi. Two gun allrounders in Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell for the price (well, almost) of the released Ben Stokes. Shardul Thakur as the bowling allrounder and Mustafizur Rahman as a back-up for the injury-prone Matheesha Pathirana.
The misses: They missed buying Gerald Coetzee, who also plays for their SA20 side Johannesburg Super Kings (they went upto INR 3.2 crore) and Alzarri Joseph (their last bid: INR 2.8 crore).
Full squad

• Openers: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra
• Middle order: Sameer Rizvi, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Shaik Rasheed, Aravelly Avanish
• Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal
• Fast bowlers: Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Choudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mustafizur Rahman
• Spinners: Maheesh Theekshana, Mitchell Santner, Prashant Solanki

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Mumbai Indians

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)

Players bought: Gerald Coetzee (INR 5 crore), Nuwan Thushara (INR 4.8 crore), Dilshan Madushanka (INR 4.6 crore), Mohammad Nabi (INR 1.5 crore), Shreyas Gopal (INR 20 lakh), Naman Dhir (INR 20 lakh), Anshul Kamboj (INR 20 lakh), Shivalik Sharma (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Mumbai have always liked their overseas fast bowlers, and it was no different this time. They got Gerald Coetzee, who can also bat lower down the order, and the Sri Lankan duo Dilshan Madushanka and Nuwan Thushara. They also picked up Shreyas Gopal as a back-up to Piyush Chawla.
The misses: In hindsight, they could have bid for Wanindu Hasaranga as they may end up playing only three overseas players in their XI.
Full squad

• Openers: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk)
• Middle order: Hardik Pandya (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Dewald Brevis, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod (wk)
• Allrounders: Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir
• Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Behrendorff, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Madhwal, Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Nuwan Thushara
• Spinners: Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Shreyas Gopal

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Rajasthan Royals

Squad strength: 22 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Rovman Powell (INR 7.4 crore), Shubham Dubey (INR 5.8 crore), , Nandre Burger (INR 50 lakh), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (INR 40 lakh), Abid Mushtaq (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Rovman Powell, who leads Barbados Royals in the CPL, will add muscle to the middle order. Nandre Burger and Tom Kohler-Cadmore at their base prices are excellent back-ups for Trent Boult and Jos Buttler, respectively.
The misses: They spent more than 90% of their purse on the first two buys (Powell and Shubham Dubey), With the remaining, INR 1.30 crore, they couldn’t buy the allrounder they were missing. Maybe they can coax a few overs out of Powell. Also, they already have Riyan Parag, who had an excellent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (279 runs and 11 wickets in 10 matches). Their squad size of 22 is the smallest among the ten teams.
Full squad

• Openers: Jos Buttler (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (wk)
• Middle order: Sanju Samson (capt, wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Singh Rathore (wk), Shubham Dubey
• Allrounders: Riyan Parag
• Fast bowlers: Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Nandre Burger
• Spinners: R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Abid Mushtaq

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Delhi Capitals

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Kumar Kushagra (INR 7.2 crore), Jhye Richardson (INR 5 crore), Harry Brook (INR 4 crore), Sumit Kumar (INR 1 crore), Shai Hope (INR 75 lakh), Tristan Stubbs (INR 50 lakh), Ricky Bhui (INR 20 lakh), Rasikh Salam (INR 20 lakh), Swastik Chikara (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Wicketkeeping back-ups in Tristan Stubbs and Kumar Kushagra for Rishabh Pant. A bargain buy in Harry Brook to strengthen their batting.
The misses: Brittle lower middle order. They also lack a back-up Indian opener to Prithvi Shaw, who has battled form and fitness issues.
Full squad

• Openers: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Shai Hope
• Middle order: Rishabh Pant (wk), Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Yash Dhull, Abishek Porel (wk)
• Allrounders: Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Sumit Kumar
• Fast bowlers: Lungi Ngidi, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje, Rasikh Salam, Jhye Richardson
• Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal

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Punjab Kings

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Harshal Patel (INR 11.75 crore), Rilee Rossouw (INR 8 crore), Chris Woakes (INR 4.2 crore), Ashutosh Sharma (INR 20 lakh), Vishwanath Singh (INR 20 lakh), Shashank Singh (INR 20 lakh), Tanay Thyagarajan (INR 20 lakh), Prince Choudhary (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Chris Woakes and Harshal Patel add value as bowlers who can also bat. Rilee Rossouw is a back-up for Liam Livingstone.
The misses: They could have bought back Shahrukh Khan – they lack an Indian middle-order batter. Towards the end, it got a bit chaotic. They first bought Shashank Singh, then realised they didn’t want him, and tried to unsuccessfully un-buy him. It might not have hurt them but it was a bit embarrassing.
Full squad

• Openers: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
• Middle order: Jonny Bairstow (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia, Ashutosh Sharma, Shashank Singh
• Allrounders: Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Shivam Singh, Chris Woakes, Harshal Patel, Vishwanath Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan
• Fast bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa,
• Spinners: Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Prince Choudhary

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Gujarat Titans

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Spencer Johnson (INR 10 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 7.4 crore), Umesh Yadav (INR 5.8 crore), Robin Minz (INR 3.6 crore), Sushant Mishra (INR 2.2 crore), Kartik Tyagi (INR 60 lakh), Azmatullah Omarzai (INR 50 lakh), Manav Suthar (INR 20 lakh),
The wins: Pace reinforcement for Mohammed Shami in Umesh Yadav. The addition of Shahrukh Khan to an already strong finishers’ group.
The misses: Absence of a seasoned Indian wicketkeeping back-up to Wriddhiman Saha, which may result in them struggling to get Kane Williamson into their XI. Went up to INR 24.50 crore for Starc but couldn’t get him
Full squad

• Openers: Shubman Gill (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
• Middle order: Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Sai Sudharsan, Matthew Wade (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Robin Minz (wk)
• Allrounders: Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai
• Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Umesh Yadav, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Josh Little, Spencer Johnson
• Spinners: Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Manav Suthar

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Lucknow Super Giants

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Shivam Mavi (INR 6.4 crore), M Siddharth (INR 2.4 crore), David Willey (INR 2 crore), Ashton Turner (INR 1 crore), Arshin Kulkarni (INR 20 lakh), Arshad Khan (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Pre-auction trade for Devdutt Padikkal. Got spin back-up in M Siddharth.
The losses: Lack of experienced Indian middle-order batters, which may prompt KL Rahul to bat at No. 4 instead of opening the innings
Full squad

• Openers: KL Rahul (capt, wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal
• Middle order: Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Ashton Turner
• Allrounders: K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Arshin Kulkarni, David Willey
• Fast bowlers: Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav, Yudhvir Singh, Shivam Mavi, Arshad Khan
• Spinners: Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, M Siddharth

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Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad strength: 25 (overseas 8)
Players bought: Alzarri Joseph (INR 11.5 crore), Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (INR 2 crore), Tom Curran (INR 1.5 crore), Swapnil Singh (INR 20 lakh), Saurav Chauhan (INR 20 lakh)
The wins: Lockie Ferguson’s buy in the accelerated round.
The losses: Lack of an experienced wristspinner to replace Wanindu Hasaranga and a specialist death bowler.
Full squad

• Openers: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Will Jacks
• Middle order: Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Anuj Rawat (wk)
• Allrounders: Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Manoj Bhandage, Tom Curran, Swapnil Singh
• Fast bowlers: Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Rajan Kumar, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal
• Spinners: Karn Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Himanshu Sharma, Saurav Chauhan

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With the Ranji Trophy season kicking off, the MP allrounder is eager to show the world how he has improved

Vishal Dikshit04-Jan-2024Venkatesh Iyer thought he was having a pretty good 2022. An ODI debut, a few quickfire knocks at No. 6 in T20Is in the absence of Hardik Pandya, and he says he was at his fittest in the IPL that year, even though he didn’t score that many runs in the tournament. But when he was turning his T20 form around with blazing knocks in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) for Madhya Pradesh, he fell down the stairs in the team hotel and broke his ankle.After a disappointing IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022 in which he managed just 182 runs in 12 innings and averaged under 17, Iyer’s next T20 series to get some runs under his belt was the SMAT. He started by blasting an unbeaten 62 off 31 at No. 3 against Rajasthan and grabbed a career-best 6 for 20, followed it with a 57 off 35 at No. 4 opposite Mumbai, then a 42 off 29 at No. 5 against Uttarakhand and a 28 off 22 facing Railways. With an average of 63 and strike rate of 161.53 after just four innings, Iyer heard that he was going to be picked for the New Zealand T20Is in November, before he dislocated his ankle which required surgery.It took him four months to get back on the field, in February 2023, when he was cleared for one Ranji Trophy game only as a batter, and then for IPL 2023 also purely as a batter, and another five months until he could start bowling again in domestic cricket.”I’ve always wanted to contribute in all three departments,” he tells ESPNcricinfo before the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season. “When there’s a problem with one, it feels like I’m not completely committed to my team. Obviously, there was an injury but when I can contribute in all three, the magnitude of contribution can differ, I think I’ll sleep peacefully. That’s what I was missing for a long time. Now that I’m bowling, I’m bowling long spells, bowling with the new ball, in SMAT [2023] also I bowled with the new ball. I’m seeing new dimensions of my bowling and batting, so it feels good.”The 2023 IPL was his first full series back from injury, and the pressure was mounting after a poor campaign the previous year, because he couldn’t bowl yet, and because being an India player now, he was being seen as Pandya’s back-up in the middle order. But even before he picked up the bat that IPL, he had benefited from two major factors. One was the introduction of the Impact Player rule, so he could be swapped in and out just for his batting. And the second was KKR had roped in Chandrakant Pandit, the MP coach, as their head coach. Iyer had the rather rare benefit of having the same coach in his domestic side and in his IPL team.

When I can contribute in all three (disciplines), the magnitude of contribution can differ, I think I’ll sleep peacefully. That’s what I was missing for a long time.Venkatesh Iyer on the frustrations that his ankle injury caused in 2022 and 2023

Pandit and KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar decided to bat Iyer at No. 3 because their regular No. 3 and captain Shreyas Iyer was out with an injury.”It meant I would play multiple roles,” Iyer says. “If we’re batting first, I can anchor. If we’re chasing around 200, I have to go for it from ball one. The role was communicated properly and this season I did a lot of following rather than thinking myself. I did a lot of what Abhishek Nayar told me to do and that worked for me. Even if it didn’t, I was really happy with that because he was able to justify why I need to do and that gave me a lot of clarity to go out there and make decisions. It was very challenging but good fun.”Iyer repaid that faith and the backing he got with his most prolific IPL season: 404 runs from 14 outings, striking at nearly 146, and a scintillating century against Mumbai Indians. He revealed the seeds for a successful 2023 season were sown in 2022, first with Nayar in the IPL and then with Pandit during the domestic season.Venkatesh Iyer credits Abhishek Nayar seen here working with Rahul Tripathi for helping him understand cricket and life•kkr.in”I’ve never measured the game with respect to the runs I’ve scored or wickets I’ve taken,” he says. “I think 2022 was my best [IPL] in terms of the discipline I showed towards myself. Despite the failures that I had, I never missed a single practice session, I would always spend hours with Abhishek Nayar to work on my batting skills, bowling, fielding, fitness, diet as well. That was a phase that I didn’t cheat with even 1% with my diet. I was trying my best, but it was not happening, the runs weren’t coming. During IPL 2022 he identified that my batting wasn’t going well despite my hard work.”The instance that kicked off the camaraderie between them was when Nayar spotted Iyer batting waywardly in the nets and felt the need to interrupt. “This is not how we’re going to approach…” Iyer recalls being told by Nayar, “that’s how it started. And I was constantly in touch with him when I was injured before the last IPL. To start from there, to give mental strength. I spent a lot of time with him in Mumbai – from my gym to training to basic cricket practice, he covered multiple facets of the game. Obviously with this injury I couldn’t play certain shots because the ankle wasn’t so free. So how to cover for that, how to prepare for different conditions and grounds…he helped a lot with mental strength and the key to his coaching is communication.”In the 2022 IPL there was bio-bubble also, so it was all the more depressing. Abhishek Nayar played a very important role at that time to bring us together. Not just cricket, but his life traits are also sharp. Just the way he looked at life in general was something amazing for me. He has an answer for almost everything. I used to have deep conversations with him at the time in his room because we couldn’t leave the hotel. Good food, good discussions, watching some inspirational movies, it was tough but as long as you’re understanding that you’re not shifting away from the game, you’ll be fine.”

Rather than just running in to bowl, now I’m thinking about how to pick wickets, dominating through my bowling, so I feel I’m ready back to 100%.Venkatesh Iyer on his continuing evolution as an allrounder

A few months after the 2022 IPL, Iyer joined the MP squad for the SMAT, and Pandit said he wanted to make Iyer a more “versatile” batter by batting him at different positions.”I played just three-four games in Mushtaq Ali last year,” Iyer recalls. “I was batting at No. 4 and 3, and I was supposed to open the next day, but I had that injury. So I was going to bat in all positions in that tournament. This was Chandu sir’s calculative decision, it would be better for the team also. I was very happy when he had said, ‘I’ll provide multiple roles to you, just want to see how you respond in all of them’. That’s what you want as a batsman, how you are maturing in these kinds of situations.”Call it Pandit’s foresight so that Iyer was better prepared for a middle-order role in his next India series, or another one of the astute coach’s strategies for both MP and KKR.Compared to when he made his T20I debut in late 2021 and had to play the finisher’s role while he was originally a top-order batter in domestic cricket, Iyer feels he is much better equipped for the middle order now. He not only has more experience and runs under his belt at different positions now, he has also started bowling full time and is back to being a proper allrounder.KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit (L) has been instrumental in making Venkatesh Iyer more versatile•BCCI”Now I know what it takes to go there (the Indian team), it’s just a matter of time before I make my comeback,” he says confidently. “One good IPL I’ll be there, one good domestic season I’ll be there provided I keep bowling. Once you score a lot of runs in domestic and in IPL, to go back to the Indian team and play any role is…you will get that acceptance. Say, if I score a lot of runs while opening in the IPL, and I go to the Indian team and I know I’m going to play No. 6, that preparation will start there. But for that to happen I need to score runs here and to score big runs I feel batting at the top is extremely important to get maximum balls. Now I know what it is like to prepare to bat at No. 6, 5 or 4. So it doesn’t really matter to me, all I want to do is score big runs so that when I go there, I have the confidence of runs in my arsenal.”Two months after a cracking IPL in 2023, Iyer gradually increased his bowling workload in the nets and was named the Central Zone captain for the Deodhar Trophy. In the sapping heat and humidity of Puducherry, he returned to bowling in competitive cricket after a long wait and took advantage of being the captain to manage his bowling workload. In October he bowled in all five SMAT T20s and in the subsequent 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, he started getting close to the full quota of 10 overs. Iyer feels he is now ready to bowl long spells along with some variations in the Ranji Trophy that begins on January 5.”I think I can bowl around 15-20 overs a day,” he says. “NCA had a huge role in my workload management. I worked with Troy Cooley there on my bowling, even Sairaj Bahutule sir was there. They and the trainers paid a lot of attention on my workload. They managed it very well – like heavy bowling on one day, light bowling and training the next day. I think I’m good to bowl long spells in days cricket.”[Full bowling fitness] will come with the volume, as much as I get to bowl in games. But I’m extremely happy with the way I’m approaching my bowling right now. Rather than just running in to bowl, now I’m thinking about how to pick wickets, dominating through my bowling, so I feel I’m ready back to 100%.”I am adding a couple of variations to my bowling. For a player like me it’s very important to be accurate, even if I have two or three variations. I need to ensure that they are landing where I want them to land. I’m really happy that the red-ball season is coming now because red-ball bowling will give you a lot of consistency. With the white ball, you have to bowl a yorker, you might go for a bouncer or a cutter…things like that. Red-ball bowling is about discipline, the muscle memory will work, I’ll be able to land the ball in the right areas. Once I’m confident with the basic ball, then I can play around with it – same line, same length but from a different angle or from a different spot on the crease, just a little slower or faster, things like that. I feel I’m on the right track now.”This red-ball season I want to enjoy and explore my game, I want to bat for long hours. I really want to contribute in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding this season. So, let’s see, this Ranji Trophy wherever I get to bat maybe top of the order, you never know with Chandu sir. He’s very unpredictable, suddenly he’ll call you up in the evening and tell you, ‘Venkatesh, you’re opening tomorrow’. And he’ll give you the proper backing, he’ll give you the confidence to go out there and do it. He knows that if you have the skills, you’ll do it. He always likes to challenge players and I feel when you’re challenged, you’ll always get better.”The last time Iyer played an entire Ranji season was back in 2019-20. It was before his IPL debut, before he burst onto the international scene and before he had turned 25. With seven league games ahead of him, Iyer will hope he climbs the ladder towards another India call-up instead of slipping down the pecking order. Or the stairs.