All posts by h716a5.icu

Lisa Sthalekar, a pioneer in more ways than one

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Inducted into the Hall of the Fame, the allrounder had an outstanding career on the field and is now hugely influential off it

Daniel Brettig05-Feb-2021A persuasive case can be made for the fact that between the retirement of Shane Warne in 2007 and the rise of Nathan Lyon as an established member of the men’s team after 2013, no spin bowler in Australia was in greater command of their craft than Lisa Sthalekar. Unquestionably, none was more influential.The aggressive and inventive use of spin bowling in the women’s game, primarily in T20 but also in other forms, can be traced largely back to Sthalekar’s reinvention of spin as an attacking weapon for New South Wales, who she captained to multiple domestic titles, and then Australia on the world stage. This after decades in which they had been seen largely as run-stoppers while the seam and swing bowlers rested.On being inducted into the Hall of Fame

“As a player there were plenty of times when I sat in the auditorium watching those players being inducted and hearing their stories, and you kind of wonder ‘will I ever get that chance, will my career ever be seen in a similar light as those before me’ and I get this opportunity now. It’s been an interesting road as an immigrant coming into Australia and trying to fit in and sport was certainly the way that I did it.

“Cricket was my second sport but I soon fell in love with it pretty quickly. Once I realised that women’s cricket existed and there was a pathway for me to not only represent my state but my country, that was something I certainly wanted to achieve at about 15 or 16 years of age. My family, my parents were very supportive, my father was the one who first introduced me to the game of cricket where I really fell in love with it. Went to the SCG and that kind of sold me to want to play for my country and hopefully be able to play there.

“One coach that has been from my NSW Under-18s right up to the Australian level was Steve Jenkins, so a shout out to him for him putting up with me but also me putting up with him as well, and then also the captains and my team-mates. They’re the ones you experience so much with on tour and they drive you to be better and I was very fortunate to come into the NSW and Australian teams with absolute legends of the game who are already inducted – Belinda Clark, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Karen Rolton, the list goes on and on. So to be seen in a similar light to them I pinch myself. I’m very fortunate and very blessed to have represented my country and my state.”

Seldom can a cricketer have enjoyed a more triumphant career conclusion either, as Sthalekar twirled her way through opponents at the 2013 ODI World Cup in India, playing a major role in helping Australia to wrest back the crown they had lost on home soil four years previously, and bowling distinctively in her gold and green cap. As a person of colour, Sthalekar is a pioneering member of the Hall of Fame for other and equally significant reasons, as part of a personal story that intertwines so closely with the quantum leap made by the women’s game.”That’s something certainly that I’m proud of. I see myself first and foremost as an Australian cricketer and as I’ve gone on this journey I’ve realised that I’ve been seen as a role model for those of south Asian descent, an immigrant as well,” Sthalekar said. “Hopefully I’ve been a positive role model to all of them that you can make it in Australia; you can achieve what you want to if you keep your mind at it and (are) willing to work hard – anything is possible.”Unlike Warne and Lyon, of course, Sthalekar made her start in the game at a time when it was not exactly clear whether it was a game for her, with no women’s teams to speak of in the vicinity of her childhood home in Sydney’s west. “I didn’t even know women’s cricket existed,” Sthalekar recalled. “I remember speaking to my father and saying I wanted to play cricket and he said ‘I don’t think girls can play, because they’re all boys that play on Saturday mornings’.”In time, Sthalekar’s father went to West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook and got her a trial, before they discovered the existence of women’s teams more or less through happenstance.”I went down to my first trial and it was all boys there, certainly didn’t want to step out of the car, but my father insisted and I’m glad he did,” she said. “I was fortunate to be able to play with three guys all the way through to Under-16s and the penny only dropped because one of the senior players was actually dating a female cricketer at the time and said ‘there’s the Gordon Women’s Club’, so at the age of 13 I realised women’s cricket existed and joined – played boys’ cricket in the morning and women’s in the afternoon.”Lisa Sthalekar poses with the 2013 ODI World Cup trophy in Mumbai•ICC/GettyThe development of spin bowling as Sthalekar’s chosen skill was a largely self-taught affair, as she spent one whole summer learning how to deliver an effective offbreak, and can now admit that it was only in the later days of her long career for Australia that she was able to benefit from specific and directed advice as to how to develop further. Since retirement, she has enjoyed watching the rising stocks of left-arm spinners in particular, and hoped they all got greater chances to apply themselves in Test matches.”I still remember learning how to turn the ball, you know how they say get your seam to fine leg, that’s how you’re going to get your drop and drift and I couldn’t figure it out until I spent a whole summer in the nets by myself mucking around with different grips and techniques,” she said. “So a lot of it was self-taught, there weren’t a lot of spin bowling coaches going around. I got private coaching from a batting perspective from Wayne Seabrook, so spent a bit of time with him growing up, but when I came into the NSW side, I think offspinners were seen as very economical.Related

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“Just tie down one end for us, the rest will come at the other end. It probably changed when I took over the captaincy of the NSW side, I felt I could have the fields that I wanted, I started to bowl a little more aggressively and toss the ball up a little bit more old school spin bowling from that point of view.”Then, from a coaching perspective, the first time a coach really gave me a lot of feedback in a match situation was Stuart Law, he was assistant coach of us in the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, and he ran on a message in the final that I needed to slow it up because the pitch was quite difficult and I was getting the ball to bite. He provided feedback and then John Davison was part of our 2013 World Cup campaign, so right at the back of my career I got probably the biggest mentorship from a former spinner and a revered international coach.”That final campaign in 2013 still brings a twinkle to Sthalekar’s eye, with her part in the final victory over West Indies remembered as much for a spectacular catch to close out the game as for the spell of 2 for 20 that showcased all that was great about her flight, drift, dip and spin, and the critical wicket of Deandra Dottin.”I didn’t tell too many people, I think I just told my family and four friends, didn’t tell any of my team-mates,” she said of her retirement plans. “I pushed myself to finish off that six months, prior to that I wasn’t necessarily enjoying my cricket, I wasn’t quite sure where it was going, and I’m glad I did that and I can probably thank Shelley Nitschke and Sarah Andrews, two of my team-mates at the time and one obviously in Sarah had already retired, but Shelley was still heavily involved in the game and they kept pushing me to keep going.After retirement, Sthalekar has done some prolific work as a commentator•BCCI”So I’m glad I did, because most female cricketers back then would play a World Cup, play the Ashes and then after the Ashes everyone retired. But within our side we had Megan Schutt playing for the first time, Alyssa Healy was on the sidelines, Meg Lanning had just come in, I was seeing that next generation and we had just won the T20 World Cup, we’d won the Ashes back in 2011 and then we’d finished with the 2013 World Cup.”I thought ‘right, we’re No. 1 in every format, it’s time to go’ and given the fact I came in when Australia were really strong and dominant, it was nice to leave the team in that situation and then allowing the next generation a chance.”Since then, Sthalekar’s influence has been huge, across her involvement with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and also some prolific work as a commentator, a job that presently has her in Abu Dhabi for the ongoing T10 tournament. She is outspoken about the fact that administrators cannot afford to let Covid-19 cruel the strides made by the women’s game up to and including last year’s T20 World Cup, and must continue to invest for the long-term.”I understand that women’s cricket was building up really nicely and the T20 World Cup played at the MCG on March 8 showed what you can do if you invest heavily and market it properly, and I felt like women’s cricket was just about to kick off because of that, and then a week later the whole world shut down,” she said. “What that showed me was national boards and everyone went back to automatic pilot – ‘what’s going to give us revenue, it’s the men’s game, we’ve got to get that up and running’.”I understand you’ve got to pay bills and money’s got to come in, absolutely, but if you can find a way to get men’s cricket up and running in a bio-secure bubble, then surely you can do that for the women’s game. I look at India and they are a prime example. The last time they played as a country was March 8, and we’re nearly coming up to a year. Some countries have done really well, Pakistan women’s side have a couple of series locked in and they’re playing South Africa at the moment, Australia leading the way as well and New Zealand and we’re in that same bio-bubble.”But I urge national boards and the ICC to make sure the women’s game grows globally and goes off the back of that T20 World Cup – I hope that 80,000 at the MCG becomes a common occurrence.”Given how far the women’s game has come since Sthaleker attended that first trial session for a boys’ team, such a vision should be well within reach.

Ben Foakes' futile masterclass highlights the plight of the specialist keeper

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

For all his brilliance with the gloves, judgement on Foakes’ return will be determined by his batting

Andrew Miller15-Feb-20214:02

#AskMatchDay: Is Foakes the best wicketkeeper in the world?

When done right, some things in life – like a proper wet shave with a cut-throat razor, or cooking your roast potatoes in goose fat – can be so luxuriously perfect that, in that precise instance in which you sit back and go “aaah!”, you vow to yourself you will never, ever again settle for anything less than the very, very best a man can get.But then, life gets in the way, and the impracticality of your peccadillo catches up with you at inopportune moments, and you end up just settling for a Bic and some cooking oil. And you know what? They do a perfectly adequate job. A blemish here and there on your mildly fuzzy cheeks, perhaps, and maybe a fractionally less satisfying crunch to your spud. But who’s really paying attention when, as everyone knows, it’s the quality of the gravy that truly defines your beef?Such were the circumstances that defined Ben Foakes’ efforts on the third morning at Chennai, as he produced one of the most lasciviously futile masterclasses imaginable.Much like his matinee-idol teeth, Foakes’ efforts all Test long have been close to spotless. In the first innings, his unshowy excellence contributed to a new world record – the highest total ever conceded without a single extra – while in the second, the same pillowy soft hands that have served his bowlers so well behind the sticks gave England a glimmer of resistance in front of them too, as he dug in to top-score with 42 unflustered, unbeaten runs, even as his team-mates were fleeing the lava-pit.

But it was on the third morning, as if piqued by a fractional dip in his standards the previous evening, that Foakes brought out his most silken showmanship. Wicketkeepers, like umpires, rarely steal the limelight unless they are making match-changing errors – especially not when Virat Kohli is busy compiling a statement half-century in their presence. But Foakes’ exploits in the space of 30 faultless minutes from the start of play were too wondrous to pass without extensive and gushing comment.The prologue was Foakes’ assist in Ollie Pope’s ninja-reflexed run-out of Cheteshwar Pujara – a moment that may have owed plenty to an unlucky stubbing of Pujara’s bat in front of the popping crease, but which also served to underline the significance of sharp reflexes in the close combat of Asian Test cricket.After all, Dom Bess had singled out Pope for his efforts at short leg in the first Test, saying he was ready to “offer him a contract” to be his permanent lid-man. And given that Keaton Jennings attracted similar plaudits in Foakes’ debut series in Sri Lanka two years ago, it’s curious how wicketkeeping excellence still can’t quite earn the same cachet as a must-have weapon for these conditions. Foakes, after all, came into this contest with most of England ruing the untimely departure of Jos Buttler – a less accomplished gloveman who, for all his faultless work in the past three Tests, was barely six months ago facing the Test axe on account of his batting.Related

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What followed, however, was a one-man protest on behalf of the English Wicketkeeper’s Union – a cri de coeur on behalf of men such as James Foster and Chris Read, both of whom have been helping Foakes to hone his technique during this Asian tour, and both of whom discovered in their own playing days how hard it is to gain traction on an England berth when molten glovework is the best thing that you can offer to the team collective.So Foakes set about upping the ante with a pair of utterly sublime stumpings to account for Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant. Both were notable not so much for the speed of his hands but their proactive movement, as he absorbed the fizzing bounce with scarcely a hint of tension in his stance, and was already flowing towards the bails as the ball began to nestle into his webbing.In both instances, there was no question that Foakes had “made” the dismissals, rather than simply reacting to the chances that came his way. Rohit might well have wriggled back into his crease had he taken longer than a split-second to seize his chance, but it was the poise he retained as Pant galloped, swung and swivelled that made even the leathery old pros in the commentary box sigh. Foakes had every right to be caught unawares as the ball exploded through a contortion of limbs, high to his right. Instead, his reaction was magnetic in its surety.And just as quickly as his reflexes, the plaudits began to rain down, not least from a past-master of Indian keeping, Kiran More, who praised Foakes on Twitter as “one of the best overseas keepers in Indian conditions”. “When Foakes opens up while keeping his body opens up, that helps him to collect the ball when it is bouncing and jumping,” he wrote. “He has a great head and hand position, has great balance about him.”

In the Channel 4 studio at lunch, Sir Andrew Strauss grudgingly set about eating some humble pie. Strauss was a curiously puritanical captain in his day, given his rakish attributes, and admitted his belief that specialist wicketkeepers belonged to a “bygone age” – an understandable sentiment, on the one hand, seeing as the rise of his own No.1 Test team had had the sergeant-majorly Matt Prior as the team’s pivot and pulse at No. 7. And just like Buttler and Jonny Bairstow in recent times, Prior’s game was blameless at the height of his career – even if, in conditions such as these on his maiden tour to Sri Lanka in 2007-08, his cymbal-gloved display at Kandy had cost England a rare victory chance, and soon led to his own banishment from the team for the next 12 months.That’s one of the big problems for wicketkeepers – the bigger the reputation, the harder the ‘clang’ as that opportunity goes to ground. The other is the one that became all too apparent as India’s second innings began to stretch off into the distance. When the chances dry up, even the half-ones, any point of difference that you might have brought into the contest drifts back into abeyance.For a time in India’s second-innings reboot, Foakes’ standards were undimmed. There he was, standing up to and swallowing Stuart Broad’s lesser-spotted legcutters, which were biting off the pitch with such venom that Ben Stokes, standing five metres further back at slip, was still too late to react for the one opportunity that came his way.Foakes stumps Rishabh Pant on the third morning•BCCIThere was Foakes, plucking cobra spit at neck height, as Jack Leach found bite and bounce from an off-stump line. He even induced a review for caught-behind off Dan Lawrence’s ripping first delivery, with Joe Root seduced by the nonchalance of his one-handed, unsighted snaffle down the leg side. And to think that Alec Stewart standing up to Ronnie Irani for a handful of ODIs was once the height of English wicketkeeping funk. Surely this was a masterclass of epoch-shifting proportions?And yet, England have got giddy about Foakes’ attributes before. It only took one ill-balanced Test in the Caribbean two years ago for his player-of-the-series exploits in Sri Lanka to be banished to cricket-hipster purgatory – and who knows when, if ever, he’ll get a chance to add to his one-and-only ODI cap, let alone get himself an average after saving England’s bacon in Malahide with an unbeaten matchwinning fifty.For his plight is almost as old as the game itself. Everyone tends to blame Adam Gilchrist for shattering the mould for specialist keepers at the turn of the 2000s, but Jack Russell and Bob Taylor were suffering for their art long before him, as were Keith Andrew and George Duckworth back in the days when Godfrey Evans and Les Ames were the more recognised sources of runs.And sure enough, just as things were getting eulogistic, Foakes failed to wrap his gloves around an 82mph/132kph nick as Broad went unrewarded once again, and suddenly the bubble was burst. “Why is he standing up to the stumps?” asked Sunil Gavaskar on the host broadcast, with precisely the lack of nuance that purists can attract when they let their standards slide. Not long after that, he missed another stumping too – or was it a dropped catch? Either way, an infinitesimally small under-edge deceived Foakes as he rose to end R Ashwin’s stay, and there’s surely no more naked sight in the game.And so, in spite of the heights of excellence that one of the purest talents in the game was briefly able to attain, final judgement on Foakes’ return to the England Test team is destined to come down to his batting on the very same snake-pit that he went above and beyond to tame. for his breed, you might say. But at least he’s got an average of 79.75 in Asia to give his credentials some heft.

England's white-ball culture change laid bare as fringe players prove international mettle

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

English sport’s surreal week continues as circumstances force promotion of youth

Alan Gardner08-Jul-2021Where to next for this increasingly surreal week of sport in the UK? With football – at least, according to a majority of those surveyed – on its way home for the first time in more than half a century, cricket decamped to Wales for the start of England’s bilateral one-day series with Pakistan. After a tepid first half of the white-ball summer against Sri Lanka, this contest held out the promise of greater intrigue – and that was before you factored in the hosts having to come up with an entire replacement squad due to the exigencies of Covid-19.England’s enforced “change of personnel”, as Ben Stokes put it with more than an air of understatement at the toss, was not only a curiosity for the record books – five debutants and a grand total of 124 caps between the rest – but surely presented Pakistan with a chance to pinch some valuable World Cup Super League points off a weakened opponent. At worst, these ODIs were bound to have a greater competitive edge.But Stokes, having won the toss in his first outing as limited-overs captain, duly did as Eoin Morgan would have done and stuck Pakistan in, then watched contentedly from mid-off as England’s Other Guys set about giving a practical display of the country’s much talked-about white-ball depth. His first act on the field was to call for a review, as Saqib Mahmood thumped his opening delivery into Imam-ul-Haq’s pads; thereafter, aside from a solitary over’s bowling, he did not have much else to do.Related

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Fears that going up against the likes of Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Afridi with a bunch of Royal London irregulars (more than half of whom hadn’t played a List A match since May 2019) would prove to be a mismatch were by turns both confounded and confirmed. Mahmood, the England attack leader by mien as much as the fact his four previous appearances where more than the rest combined, claimed two wickets with his first three balls and the outlines of another thrashing as emphatic as anything handed out to Sri Lanka were defined.By way of example, Sri Lanka’s Powerplay scores in their three attempts to set a competitive 50-over target were 47 for 3, 47 for 4 and 45 for 4. A sickly return of 46 for 4, three of the wickets falling to Mahmood, left Pakistan in similar distress.In truth, despite the scratch nature of England’s XI, by and large the players on show were either close to the squad in recent times – such as World Cup winner James Vince or No. 1-ranked T20I batter Dawid Malan – or among the pack of Lions pacing to and fro while waiting for a chance. Mahmood, whose 28 Royal London Cup wickets at 18.50 in 2019 (the last time the domestic 50-over competition was played) helped win him international recognition that winter, duly took his.Having begun about as well as he possibly could, by removing Imam and Azam in the first over of the match, Mahmood backed the effort up by going round the wicket to pin Pakistan’s sole debutant, Saud Shakeel, lbw. He was then brought back by Stokes mid-innings – another Morgan-esque move – in pursuit of a swift kill; his fourth wicket, finding lift and seam movement from round the wicket once again to graze Faheem Ashraf’s outside edge, left Pakistan 101 for 7 and sinking.Matt Parkinson took his first ODI wickets•Getty ImagesThere was some extra spice to his performance, which was duly applauded by the Pakistan contingent in the ground – more voluble throughout than their English (or Welsh) counterparts. Mahmood was born in Birmingham but is of Pakistani heritage (his mother was born there), and it was in the PSL earlier this year when his performances as an overseas seamer – a rarity in itself – signalled he should soon be back in England contention after apparently slipping down the pecking order.There were maiden ODI wickets, too, for Lewis Gregory, Matt Parkinson and Craig Overton, followed by an unbeaten half-century from Malan and another on debut from Zak Crawley, as England shrugged off the absence of their established performers. Pakistan’s implosion, which included a daft run-out after Zaman and Sohaib Maqsood had seemingly steadied the innings with a fifth-wicket stand worth 53, added to the potent sense of the bizarre in Cardiff.So dominant were the understudies that it invited comparison (at least in the shorter formats) with Australia in their pomp. The 1994-95 quadrangular series, featuring England and Zimbabwe as the touring sides, famously saw Australia A qualify to play the final against the senior XI. Australia A could select the likes of Ricky Ponting, still a few weeks shy of his full debut, Matthew Hayden, Greg Blewett, Michael Bevan, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn. Numerous other players from that era, from Stuart Law to Martin Love, would find domestic excellence rewarded by only a handful of caps.England are perhaps not quite there yet, however garlanded the likes of Phil Salt and Brydon Carse go on to become. Perhaps, given the prevailing mood of the nation, it is more apt to focus on the complete change of culture that Morgan, Stokes and the rest have overseen, and see a parallel in the way Gareth Southgate has fostered a revival in English footballing fortunes – doing away with old-fashioned notions, investing in talent and technical skill, promoting fearless youth.At Wembley on Wednesday, the likes of Bukayo Saka (eight caps) and Kalvin Phillips (14) demonstrated a readiness for the highest level that would have been almost unthinkable a generation ago. With three World Cups (T20 and 50-over) in the schedule for England’s cricketers over the next couple of years, if Mahmood, Parkinson and the rest can step up as confidently, it won’t just be down to an inconvenient outbreak of Covid-19.

How many New Zealanders have taken ten wickets in an innings?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Also: who has played the most Tests since 2005 without appearing in a T20I?

Steven Lynch07-Dec-2021How many New Zealanders have taken ten wickets in an innings, as Ajaz Patel did in Mumbai? asked Vernon Smithson from New Zealand
Slow left-armer Ajaz Patel’s superb return of 10 for 119 in Mumbai at the weekend made him only the second New Zealander to take all ten in an innings in all first-class cricket. The other one did so a long time ago, on his debut: English-born Albert Moss took 10 for 28 for Canterbury against Wellington in Christchurch in 1889-90. The Dunedin-born legspinner Clarrie Grimmett took 10 for 37 for the Australians against Yorkshire in Sheffield in 1930, but was well established in the Aussie Test side by then. He had moved to Australia in his early twenties, around 1914, in search of better cricket opportunities (New Zealand was not a Test-playing nation then).Patel was the third bowler to take all ten wickets in a Test innings, after Jim Laker, with 10 for 53 for England against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, and Anil Kumble, who claimed 10 for 74 for India vs Pakistan in Delhi in 1998-99. Patel was thus the first to do it in an overseas Test – but, since he was born in Mumbai in 1988, he was also the first to do it in the city of his birth!In a recent newspaper column, Shane Warne criticised Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon for their averages against top-six batters. I should think everyone’s average against the top six is higher than their overall average – but how do Starc and Lyon fare, and what were Warne’s? asked Pete Lehmann from Australia
This is a difficult query, complicated in Warne’s case by the fact that ESPNcricinfo only has full ball-by-ball data since 2001, which covers only about half his career. Overall, Mitchell Starc has taken 255 Test wickets at 27.12, with 158 of these coming from the top six at an average of 33.01. Nathan Lyon has 399 wickets overall at 32.10, with 169 at 40.78 against the top six. In the matches for which we have details, Shane Warne took 332 wickets at 23.83, with 169 at 32.51 against the top six.Warne’s difference (8.67) in the matches we know about is higher than the other two – Starc’s is 5.89 and Lyon’s 8.66 – but his averages are better. It should be borne in mind that while Starc almost always starts bowling at the top six, Warne and Lyon would usually bowl later, perhaps with one or two batters already established, so you might expect all spinners’ averages to be slightly higher. All in all, I think the jury is still out!Overall, looking at bowlers with at least 100 Test wickets since 2001, Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif has the lowest difference between top six (24.96) and overall (23.74), with Glenn McGrath just behind (22.91 vs 20.98; his figures are also incomplete). Another Australian, Pat Cummins, is currently fourth by this yardstick, with 23.87 vs 21.06 (so Warne is right if he thinks Cummins is better against the top six than Starc). The leading spinner by difference is England’s Graeme Swann, who took 162 top-six wickets at 33.13, in an overall bag of 255 at 29.94.Since T20Is began early in 2005, who has played the most Tests without appearing in one, and who has played the most ODIs? asked Elamaran Perumal from the United States
Since the official first T20I, in Auckland in February 2005, Cheteshwar Pujara has played 92 Test matches for India without being chosen for a T20 game; he’s just ahead of Azhar Ali, who has played 90 Tests for Pakistan. Next, with 74 apiece, come Dimuth Karunaratne and Kraigg Brathwaite, the rival captains in the Test series between Sri Lanka and West Indies that finished last week. Brathwaite has never played a senior T20 match of any kind.Turning to one-day internationals, Rahmat Shah of Afghanistan has so far played in 76 ODIs without making the cut for a T20 international. Azhar Ali features again, with 53 ODIs. Karunaratne has played 34; he’s next to two West Indians, Alzarri Joseph (37 ODIs but no T20Is) and Jonathan Carter (34).Cheteshwar Pujara has now appeared in 92 Tests without once playing a T20I•BCCII noticed that Kris Srikkanth took only 25 wickets in ODIs, but had two five-wicket hauls. Is this the smallest number of wickets to include two five-fors? asked Divyanand Valsan from India
The attacking India opener Kris Srikkanth didn’t often get the chance to display his bowling talents in one-day internationals – only 33 spells in his 146 matches – but you’re right that he often made it count when he did get a chance. His 25 wickets included 5 for 27 against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam in December 1988, and 5 for 32 against them five days later in Indore. Apart from that his best figures were 3 for 12, in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka in Dhaka a few weeks before.The only bowler to finish his ODI career with two five-fors but fewer wickets than Srikkanth was the Australia left-arm seamer Gary Gilmour, whose 16 wickets included 6 for 14 against England in the 1975 World Cup semi-final at Headingley and 5 for 48 against West Indies in the final at Lord’s a few days later. Another left-arm seamer, Namibia’s JJ Smit, has so far taken 20 wickets in his ten ODIs, including 5 for 26 against Oman in Windhoek last month, and 5 for 44 against them in Al Amerat in January 2020.In which Test were the most individual centuries hit? asked Mohit Patel from India
There were a record eight centuries in the drawn Test between West Indies against South Africa in St John’s in Antigua in 2005. This was equalled in the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – unsurprisingly, also a draw – in Galle in 2012-13. For the full list, click here.The first-class record is nine individual centuries in a match, which has happened twice, both times in India: by Bombay and Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Poona (now Pune) in 1948-49, and by West Zone and South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium in 1986-87.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

No longer a hitting machine, David Warner is now the smart-cricket guy

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

It seems that whatever malaise had slowed Warner down, he’s over it

Jarrod Kimber12-Nov-2021David Warner was the most dominant batter in the IPL for years. And then he played a few bad games, and the team he had captained for an IPL victory not too long ago dropped him mid-year and sacked him from his leadership job.When I said he was dominant, he had an average of 52 with a strike rate of 145 from 2014 until 2020. And half a bad year where he made runs, but far more slowly than anyone would have liked, was enough for Sunrisers Hyderabad to let him go. In the eight innings he played in IPL 2021, he was run-out twice. And they moved on from the most incredible batter they – or maybe anyone in the IPL – have ever had.Related

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Warner turns to concrete pitches for batting rhythm

Wade, Stoinis tee off at the close to put Australia in final

It was not the first time Warner had struggled. In 2018, when he was banned from the Australian team, he went on to play in Canada for the Global T20 league’s Winnipeg Hawks. He averaged 13.6 with a strike rate of 114.7. He then turned up for the CPL with St Lucia Stars and made nine, 11 and seven in his first three games. Even as he started to make some more runs for the Stars, people began to wonder if this was some kind of irreversible decline in form.Was Warner’s effectiveness tied to being an Australian player? Had his mojo been sucked out with the sandpapergate scandal? These were the weird thoughts that seemed to float around.Obviously not, as he then went straight back to the IPL and made 692 runs at a strike rate of 143.86 in 2019.

While he is no longer the kid with the double-sided bat slogging 90mph-plus into the crowd, he’s been the Warner that Sunrisers had in this tournament. Not the one they dropped this year, but the one who dominated the IPL over six seasons

The Sunrisers’ over-reaction might have had less to do with six bad games from Warner and more to do with their own poor roster construction. But it was a big decision to make on the back of such a small sample size. However, people took a few bad games and assumed that Warner was in an irreparable decline. At 35, hell, once you pass 32, people start looking for signs that you are done.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

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And there are plenty of signs that Warner isn’t the same batter he once was, as he’s clearly just not. He made his mark by flat-batting Dale Steyn into the MCG crowd when he was 22 games into a professional career and hadn’t yet played a first-class match. In that game, he had a strike rate of 206, clearing the massive boundary six times.In all, he has hit that many maximums or more ten times, but only once since 2012.5:44

Jayawardene: ‘Warner’s contribution was crucial’

It is also really the period where he went from being a hitter to a batter. Or, more importantly, a Test player. Since being that kind of a batter, Warner has changed from a T20 hitting machine to a hard-running match-up guy who knows how to make very consistent runs. His body has changed too, and there is a reason he doesn’t bowl legspin – or even medium pace – anymore as his shoulder will not allow it.None of this means he can’t hit sixes anymore, he still takes down a lot of spin, and if Warner can time the ball well, he will score them off quickly. But he isn’t the beast who dumped Vinay Kumar a bunch of rows back in a Test at the WACA.And that is why it is strange that people saw the IPL form and the slow start to this tournament against South Africa and assumed Warner was past it. Most of what Warner does now is just smart cricket. He knows how to make runs in T20s. Like any batter, Warner will go through a bad patch because T20s can be like that. If Warner wasn’t the most consistent scorer in the modern T20 format, then KL Rahul was, and he went through a similar run not that long ago.And it seems that whatever malaise had slowed Warner down, he’s over it. This is already Warner’s best-ever T20 World Cup, and it’s not a tournament that he generally does that well in. In fact, part of Australia’s problems can probably be traced back to the fact that they have Warner and Aaron Finch at the top. But despite them being big-name T20 stars, they haven’t even always opened for Australia at this global tournament together.So far, Finch has not really fired this time, but Warner has. He made 65 from 42 against Sri Lanka, had two failures against England and Bangladesh, but then bounced back by scoring 89* against West Indies from 56 balls. His Sri Lanka knock probably helped the team win the game, the West Indies one did too, but they were half on the plane while bowling in that innings.This innings against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final was something else. This was a knockout match against an incredible bowling line-up that goes deep. Warner survived Shaheen Shah Afridi early on and took on his good match-up against legspin with Shadab Khan. And when Mohammad Hafeez bowled a double bouncer, he was so quick to work out that it was a no-ball and get to it so he could swing it over the ropes. That was again proof of how smart he is.This innings helped set up Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis at the end. And had he just reviewed his caught behind, he might well have been able to navigate Australia through their collapse much easier.Warner has changed. While he is the fourth leading run-scorer at this tournament, with a strike rate just under 150, he has only hit seven sixes. But while he is no longer the kid with the double-sided bat slogging 90mph-plus into the crowd, he’s been the Warner that the Sunrisers had in this tournament.Not the one they dropped this year, but the one who dominated the IPL over six seasons.

Can RCB shed tag of top-heavy underperformers?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

They are backing established Indian domestic players like Mahipal Lomror and Siddarth Kaul to add heft to their international stars

Shashank Kishore22-Mar-2022Where they finished in 2021RCB finished third in the league phase, before losing to a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator. It was RCB’s second straight playoffs finish.Potential first XI1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Shahbaz Ahmed/Karn Sharma, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh HazlewoodRelated

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Player availabilityThe newly wed Glenn Maxwell will miss at least the first two games, while Josh Hazlewood is set to miss the first three matches due to Australia commitments. RCB can choose between the firepower of Finn Allen or Sherfane Rutherford to plug the Maxwell void.Allen offers them big-hitting ability at the top of the order. He has a T20 strike rate of 175.65 across 51 matches. Rutherford, meanwhile, can be used as a finisher, a role he played, albeit sparingly, for Delhi Capitals three years ago. He has a decent body of work in T20 cricket lately, being a key player in the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots team that was crowned CPL 2021 champions. He was their second-highest run-getter with 262 runs at a strike rate of 127.18.BattingFor a long time now, RCB have tended to be top heavy. Season after season, they try to plug gaps, but the more they’ve tried to change, the more they’ve remained the same. Last year, they looked to plug the middle-order gap with Rajat Patidar and KS Bharat. This time around, they will need Mahipal Lomror and Suyash Prabhudessai – both established domestic names now – to fire and take the pressure off Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik.At the top, they don’t have the calming presence of Devdutt Parikkal anymore. But in Anuj Rawat, all of two games old in the IPL, they have a player with potential. Can he translate that into performance? RCB appear to be keen on giving him a long rope as an opener alongside du Plessis, with a freed-up Kohli set to bat at three.Anuj Rawat, who has played for Rajasthan Royals previously, albeit without much game time, is likely to open for Royal Challengers Bangalore this season•BCCI/IPLBowlingMohammed Siraj, one of RCB’s three retentions ahead of the auction, will have the new-ball responsibilities and Harshal Patel, among their costliest auction picks, will be their death-overs weapon. Harshal’s career graph has skyrocketed following a record-equalling 32 wickets in IPL 2021.In the spin department, Yuzvendra Chahal’s void will be filled by Wanindu Hasaranga, who also offers some lower-order batting depth in addition to his deceptive legspin. Karn Sharma is an able back-up for Hasaranga should they need a local option for the sake of team balance.Incidentally, Karn was first signed by RCB in 2009 as a rookie pick outside the auction. Since then, he’s been part of IPL title-winning campaigns with Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings.Shahbaz Ahmed also offers them all-round depth and the ability to be a floater in the batting line-up. In Siddarth Kaul and CV Milind, they have experienced local Indian pace reinforcements. Both Kaul and Milind have been consistent performers for Punjab and Hyderabad in domestic cricket for a long time now.Young players to watch out forKeeper-batter Anuj Rawat’s formative years in Delhi clashed with those of Rishabh Pant, who has gone on to establish himself as India’s No. 1 keeper across formats. Two truncated domestic seasons haven’t helped, and Rawat is trying to make up for lost time. Still only 22, Rawat is an exciting top-order stroke-maker who has been backed to open. He’s been a part of the IPL for three seasons with Rajasthan Royals, without much game time. This could be the opening he was looking for.Nicknamed “Junior Gayle” by Chandrakant Pandit, the renowned domestic coach, Mahipal Lomror used to toy with age-group attacks in Rajasthan along with his best friend Rishabh Pant. After the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, where both featured an India line-up that finished runners-up, their paths diverged. While Pant soon graduated to play for India, Lomror has had to go back to the drawing board in domestic cricket. After years of being in the fringes and a middle-order back-up at Royals, Lomror has an opportunity to step it up.Coaching staffMike Hesson (director of cricket), Sanjay Bangar (head coach), Sridharan Sriram (batting and spin coach), Adam Griffiths (bowling coach), Malolan Rangarajan (fielding coach)Poll question

Scenarios: All eyes on Capitals and RCB with one round of fixtures remaining

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The hopes of Sunrisers, Kings and KKR hinge on these two teams slipping up

S Rajesh17-May-2022Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mat 13, Pts 12, NRR -0.230
Sunrisers Hyderabad finally broke their run of five successive defeats, but the margin of their victory against Mumbai Indians was only three runs. That means their qualification chances are still extremely slim due to their poor net run rate of -0.230.Even if they win their last game, and if Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore lose theirs, the margins of two of those results will have to be huge for Sunrisers to have any chance. If, for example, Capitals lose by 50 runs chasing 200 in their last game against Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers will have win by 73 (if they score 200) against Punjab Kings to surpass Capitals’ NRR.Also, they will have to hope that Kolkata Knight Riders lose their last game against Lucknow Super Giants and remain on 12 points; otherwise, Sunrisers will have to exceed the NRR of Knight Riders too.Delhi Capitals: Mat 13, Pts 14, NRR 0.255
Delhi Capitals’ comfortable 17-run win against Punjab Kings on Monday was good news for them, but not so encouraging for all the other teams trying to sneak into the playoffs. Their net run rate, which was already a healthy 0.210, went up to 0.255, but the runs that Punjab Kings scored towards the end ensured there is still a chance for other teams to catch up, should there be an NRR scramble for the last spot.From Capitals’ point of view, the equation is simple: win the last game against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, and they qualify for sure. Even if they lose and stay on 14, they will have a fair chance to qualify if Royal Challengers Bangalore lose to Gujarat Titans. However, if it comes down to NRR, they aren’t yet safe.If Capitals lose their last game by 30 runs (chasing 171), their NRR will fall to 0.123. Currently Kolkata Knight Riders are at 0.160, so a win by any margin in their last game will keep them above 0.123. If Capitals lose by 15, their NRR will be 0.179. Thus, Capitals could still be on a sticky wicket if they lose to Mumbai Indians. They play their last game after Knight Riders, though, so they will know the equation before they get into that game on Saturday.Punjab Kings: Mat 13, Pts 12, NRR -0.043
Kings’ qualification chances have taken a severe beating with their loss to Capitals. Their NRR has slid into negative space, and even a 40-run win against Sunrisers in their last game (after scoring 170) will only improve it to 0.112. However, big victory margins have been common in the last few games – in seven of the last 13, the winning margin has been greater than 50 runs, while another win came with 31 balls to spare – which should give Kings some hope.They also play the last game of the league stage, which means they’ll know if they have a chance at all, and exactly what they need to do. Obviously, if Capitals or Royal Challengers win their last match and move to 16 points, Kings will be knocked out.Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mat 13, Pts 14, NRR -0.323
Royal Challengers will need Capitals to lose their last game to stand a chance of qualifying. Even if Royal Challengers score 200 and win their last game by 100 runs, their NRR will only improve to 0.071. Capitals will be well ahead of that if they win by any margin.And if both these teams lose and stay on 14, Capitals will have to lose by an absurdly high margin for their NRR to slip below that of Royal Challengers. For instance, if Royals Challengers lose by one run, Capitals will have to lose by around 150 (depending on the exact scores).In other words, Royal Challengers will have to win their last game, against table-toppers Titans, and hope that Capitals lose theirs against bottom-of-the-table Mumbai Indians.Royals and Super Giants are locked in a tight tussle for a second-place league finish behind Gujarat Titans•BCCIKolkata Knight Riders: Mat 13, Pts 12, NRR 0.160
Knight Riders still have a chance of qualifying if they win their last game, and if Capitals and Royal Challengers lose theirs. As mentioned earlier, their relatively healthy NRR means they are best placed to capitalise if those two teams slip up.Lucknow Super Giants: Mat 13, Pts 16, NRR 0.262
Lucknow Super Giants are already on 16, a tally that only four other teams can reach. Among them is Royal Challengers, with an NRR of -0.323. For Super Giants to lose out on a playoffs spot, they will have to suffer a big defeat against Knight Riders while Royal Challengers pull off a huge win against Titans.If Super Giants lose by 60 runs (chasing 201), Royal Challengers will have win by 89 (after scoring 200) to sneak ahead on NRR. That means Super Giants should consider their qualification chances pretty safe. They will be aiming higher than that, and will want to finish among the top two. That will depend entirely on the results of the last games of Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals, who are also on 16 points, but with a slightly better NRR.Rajasthan Royals: Mat 13, Pts 16, NRR 0.304
Like Super Giants, Royals are quite safe in terms of securing a place in the last four. For them to lose out, they will have to lose by 80 runs, while Royal Challengers will have to win their last game by the same margin (or the sum of the margins of these results will have to be roughly 160, depending on the actual scores).If both Royals and Super Giants win their last game, NRR will decide who finishes second and plays the first qualifier. If Super Giants score 180 and beat Knight Riders by 20 runs, Royals will need a 10-run win with the same total to stay ahead on NRR.

WBBL warned not to be complacent as T20 leagues grow

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How to stay No. 1 is a new challenge facing the game’s think tank in Australia

Andrew McGlashan09-Oct-2022The WBBL has been the undisputed leader in domestic leagues for the women’s game, but it has been warned it can’t take that position for granted with the increasing opportunities around the world.As the tournament, which begins on Thursday, prepares for its first normal edition in two seasons following the impact of the pandemic, there are already signs that the competition won’t always have the first call on the leading overseas players.Related

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India’s Smriti Mandhana has opted out having flagged recently that she would monitor her workload – it’s understood she had agreed on a deal with Sydney Thunder – while fast bowler Issy Wong has effectively been withdrawn by the ECB. Fellow England player Danni Wyatt, who has signed for Brisbane Heat, will have a delayed arrival as her workload is managed.”This is a very real challenge,” Rachael Haynes, the Sydney Thunder captain who will play her final season before retirement, told ESPNcricinfo. “People have often looked at it in the men’s space, but it is happening in the women’s game as well. It’s already started.”Some of the best players in the world are choosing not to come out and play and take a break during this time. I think the competition needs to be really proactive around it and not just assume the WBBL will always be the best competition and people will always want to come out and play it.”While the WBBL remains the most well-established and star-studded women’s league in the world – the leading spinner in the world, Sophie Ecclestone, will play for the first time this year and the best allrounder, Sophie Devine, returns for Perth Scorchers – the next 12 months will start to give a clearer picture of what the future may look like. The Hundred in England now has two years under its belt and, while debate rages around its impact on the men’s game, it has widely been considered a success for the women.The future of women’s leagues

March: WPSL/WIPL

April: Fairbreak

August: Hundred

September: WCPL

October/November: WBBL

The WIPL is expected to launch next March and the PCB have announced their own league to run along the men’s PSL. The CPL added a women’s competition for the first time this year while the invitational Fairbreak competition, which started this year in the UAE, has ambitions to be a regular offering. Currently, the WBBL, Hundred and WIPL have unofficial windows in the first edition of the women’s Future Tours Programme.Australia allrounder Ashleigh Gardner has suggested the WBBL may need to consider reducing the length of the tournament so that it is a shorter commitment for those coming from overseas. To balance that out, she offered the solution of a state-based T20 competition to ensure domestic players do not lose out on their volume of cricket in a season.”I think [the WBBL] is the best tournament in the world, we have the best domestic players in the world, and that’s where the Big Bash needs to think about how we are going to keep the best internationals coming over,” she told ESPNcricinfo. “Whether that’s potentially reducing games, it’s something that us Aussie players have spoken about. But, on the flip side, our state girls only get 12 WNCL games then the Big Bash so they don’t actually get a lot of cricket.Rachael Haynes: “I think the competition needs to be really proactive around it and not just assume the WBBL will always be the best competition and people will always want to come out and play it.”•Getty Images”So if it is actually [about] pulling games back in the Big Bash to get those internationals, then potentially having a T20 tournament that’s state-based to change it up. That’s what they do over in England with the Hundred and their own T20 tournament. If we did replicate something like that, think around the 10-game mark [for WBBL] would be perfect. It’s a long commitment to come here for 14 games and potentially finals. We need to have some good things to lure the best players in.”Currently, each team is allowed up to five marquee players, which are classified as those with CA central contracts or overseas internationals, and there can be a maximum of three from each. For example, Sydney Sixers’ roster is made up of three Australian players (Gardner, Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry) and two overseas (Suzie Bates and Ecclestone). Whereas Thunder only have four marquees made up of Haynes, Tammy Beaumont, Chloe Tryon and Amy Jones.”It might be about having a bit more flexibility in the contracts and the number of internationals you are able to have as part of your squad so if someone wants to play only a portion of the season it’s not at the disadvantage of the club who might want to get them,” Haynes said. “This competition needs to continue to aspire and really lead the way like it has done in the past, but can’t assume it will also be the case.”However, Haynes and Gardner are of no doubt that it is good for the women’s game that these conversations now need to be had.”It’s a really good space to be in, absolutely, and probably the silver lining is it’s not just more playing opportunities for internationals, it’s more opportunities for everyone,” Haynes said. “So our domestic players, too, we’ve seen over the last couple of years players like Sammy-Jo Johnson, Georgia Redmayne, played the Hundred where a couple of years ago those opportunities just didn’t exist. So it’s a really positive thing, not just from the playing side but financially, they are getting better compensation, so it’s a more viable career.””It just shows where the game’s gone and globally where it’s going,” Gardner said. “There’s been a lot of chat about the WIPL starting. So potentially to be involved in that, and the Hundred has been good for cricket in England and the global game. There’s certainly plenty of tournaments which are really good and we want to keep the WBBL as the best one, so how can we do that and keep those players coming back.”

The unpredictable Chattogram pitch: will it get better or worse for batting?

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This is the closest thing to a sporting pitch in the country and it was clear to see on the first day of the India Test

Mohammad Isam14-Dec-2022India’s 400-plus total in the third ODI, four days ago, in Chattogram made everyone think we’d get a featherbed for the Test match too. Nope. There was actually a contest between bat and ball.With both variable pace and bounce on offer, playing through the line needed close attention. Cheteshwar Pujara, who made 90 off 203, said that batters never feel set on this kind of pitch while Taijul Islam, the highest wicket-taker at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, said that they can’t really predict how the surface will transform in in the coming days.Taijul’s observation is based on how sometimes conditions in Chattogram have an uncommon tendency to get better for batting as a Test rolls along. Sure, there have been matches where, like most subcontinent venues, the pitch wears and tears and becomes really tough to score runs on. But also times when it stops spinning after playing like a raging turner for the first four days. With Chattogram, you can never tell, really.When talking about pitches in Bangladesh, the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka dominates the conversation. Then there’s this one. Over the last five years, teams have scored anywhere between 242 and 374 runs on the first day of a Test match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. India’s 278 sits somewhere in the middle of that list. But the six wickets they lost represent Bangladesh’s best return after one day’s play. Conclusion: this is the closest thing to a sporting pitch in Bangladesh (a few demerit points notwithstanding).Taijul, whose three wickets on Wednesday included two superb deliveries to remove Virat Kohli and Pujara, said it best. “There’s definitely a difference between the two wickets between the third ODI and this Test. If you look at the pitches from the last two or three years, the pitch actually gets better day by day. We can’t really predict much about this pitch. It is difficult to tell; there aren’t any big turning deliveries nor is the ball only going straight.Taijul bowled Pujara late in the day even though he was well set and that’s the kind of pitch Chattogram is•AFP/Getty Images”And despite being the first day, the wicket’s behaviour did go through changes. There was different behaviour with the new ball. There were fewer runs even when fewer wickets fell in some of the previous first days. But today they made more runs, but we would have been in a better position had we taken a couple of more wickets.”At the start of the day, TV commentator Sanjay Manjrekar observed that the pitch had a decent covering of grass but not enough to be considered a green top. He reckoned the grass was there just to bind the pitch together; to prevent it from cracking too much too soon. He expected India to play three seamers, but both teams went for the same combination – two seamers and three spinners – and the game was all the more compelling for it.”There was variable bounce from the first or second over onwards,” Pujara said. “The odd ball kept low. The same happened with the second new ball also. The odd ball kept low. I hope that we try to make the most of it.”Once the ball gets old, it is slightly easier. Bowlers are also getting tired. They can’t bowl in the same area all the time. We know as batters that the first 20-30 overs are always important with the Kookaburra ball. Things are slightly easier when you get through that phase.”But you are never set on this kind of pitch; you have to concentrate hard for longer periods of time. One ball an over is turning [big] consistently. You can’t relax as a batsman. It is still a challenging pitch for batters. I think it will keep getting worse to bat on.”Chattogram hasn’t always been this way. In fact, to a team that either plays on green mambas when they go abroad, or dust bowls when they go to Dhaka, this ground was the one place where they could come and score bucket loads of runs. Of all the places that has hosted at least 50 first-class matches in Bangladesh, this venue has the highest batting average (33.06). For context, that figure for the Shere Bangla is just 29.34.It’s been good to opposition teams too. England enjoyed how it offered them pace and bounce in 2016 and Afghanistan were only too happy to push Bangladesh into their own spin-loaded trap in 2019.Bangladesh’s captains and coaches have started to discourage one-sided pitches. They often suggest, directly in the case of Russell Domingo, that the team should play on better pitches at home so that all skills are involved, and they aren’t only considered a one-dimensional, spin-based side when they play abroad. Chattogram seems to have answered the call. At least for now.

Hanuma Vihari: 'I play to win, even if batting with one hand or one leg'

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“Even if I motivated or inspired a few youngsters, then I would be happy. I feel it was worth it: worth the pain”

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Feb-20231:37

Vihari: I’ve never batted left-handed before

Pain, sweat, and at times, glory. Those are things that make the spectacle of sport a joy to watch. Hanuma Vihari had at least one tale to tell before this week through his heroics in the Sydney Test against Australia in 2020-21, when he – along with R Ashwin – battled through pain to take India to a nerve-tangling draw.This week the normally right-handed Vihari made headlines by batting as a left-hander in innings of Andhra’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore after being hit on his left hand by fast bowler Avesh Khan. On Friday, Andhra bowed out of Ranji this season, but Vihari, their captain, spoke to ESPNcricinfo, after the game to talk about why he did what he did.How is your left forearm?
On the first day [of the match], we were batting first, [and] Avesh bowled a short-of-a-length delivery. I fended it off with my left arm, [but] when I got hit, immediately I knew that something was wrong because I had never felt that [kind of] pain before whenever I had got hit [in the past]. I wanted to continue, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t grip the bat.Related

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So I went off and went for an X-ray. It showed that I had a fracture [in the forearm]. I was devastated because maybe after 113 matches, I’m playing my first quarter-final in the Ranji Trophy. I had waited for so long to play that quarter-final, but that is what it is. The doctor assessed, and [advised] six weeks of rest. Thankfully, I don’t require surgery as of now. I got a plaster done.When did you decide you were going to bat again in the first innings?
When we were 262 for 2, our physio Deep Tomar called me to his room. He told me, “I wouldn’t advise you to bat because if you get hit again, you might need a surgery”. I said, “We are in a good position, so I don’t think I would need to bat”. But next day (day 2), we collapsed to 324 for 4, and then 350 for 7 or 8 [353 for 9]. Then I went and gripped my bat with my left hand, and I couldn’t do it.I looked at my other hand, and then I thought why not try to bat left-handed; just a thought came into my mind. Then I told the coach that I want to try to bat left-handed with one hand. The coach said, “Whatever you feel right, go ahead and do it”. My team-mates helped me actually put on the pads and every protection I needed: chest pad and arm guard. I tried to have a knock in the dressing room itself. I played a few balls [left-handed], then said, “Let me go ahead, and just try and add few runs for the team”.R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari had battled through injuries to draw the Sydney Test in 2020-21•AFP via Getty ImagesHave you batted left-handed ever before at this level?
I’ve not even batted left-handed when we played tennis-ball cricket or in the street when I was young. I had never imagined that in a first-class game – that too in a quarter-final – I would be batting left-handed with a single hand.What compelled you to do it then?
I just wanted to go out in [on] the field and show that I don’t want to just be retired out and not be able to contribute. Even if I got out first ball, it wouldn’t matter, but I just wanted to be there on the ground, show our team that I’m there to fight for the team, [and] if I do that, then the rest ten of us will definitely give their best to win the game for the side. So that was the main intention.And it was an important game for Andhra: we qualified through a tough group, and we came into the quarters, so I wanted to lead by example, showing the right way forward for my team. Actually, we fought hard after that. Unfortunately, the result didn’t go our way.How light is your bat? It seemed like you were wielding a sweep.
Funnily enough, I didn’t take my bat because my bat is a bit heavier. I took the lightest bat possible in the dressing room.It was Avesh again who you would face first ball. You nicely timed it for a four past the square boundary. Can you talk about the sequence of events around that delivery?
Avesh was running in and bowling quick. He tried to bowl a yorker [first ball], which ended up being a low full toss. So I used the pace, and angled the bat. Luckily, it went to the boundary. But one thing in my mind was to just try and play the stump-line ball. And if he bowls a bouncer, then try to duck it, which is difficult batting left-handed. It was difficult batting right-handed itself, which I couldn’t do in the initial stages [after getting hit on day one]; but doing it with the left hand, [and] with a single hand [was more difficult].”We collapsed quite badly in the second innings. So I had to go in”, Hanuma Vihari on batting despite the injury•AFP/Getty ImagesBut one thing was in my mind that even if I get hit on my body, that doesn’t matter: I’ll play the stump-line ball, and try to play at least 10-15 balls, [and] as much as I could. The fear wasn’t there. Because I knew the basics of batting – whether it’s the right hand or the left hand – I know I can defend the stump-line ball. So I was quite sure about facing fast bowling, and I got out to a spinner later on with the ball turning, which I couldn’t handle with a single hand.In the first innings, at one point it seemed you were able to kind of lightly grip with your bottom hand (left hand)?
I was trying to, but when a bowler was running in, then I removed my left hand because I couldn’t exert any pressure on it. I thought there was no point.Was the opposition surprised watching you bat left-handed?
When I came in at No. 11 [in the first innings], they thought may be I would bat right-handed. But when I took the left-hander’s guard, most of them were surprised. “Is he really doing it?”, that was the kind of expression on their faces. But all the players and even the umpires were appreciative. At the same time they were quite competitive, and didn’t show any sympathy. I wouldn’t expect any sympathy [either], as we were playing a quarter-final.When you came back to bat the second time – as the last man in the second innings – what made you do that? Why did you risk going in?
We didn’t have enough [runs in the second innings] for a start. We collapsed quite badly in the second innings. So I had to go in to bat. I got the plaster [on the left arm] just after lunch. But after the drinks break post-lunch, we collapsed, losing three or four wickets quickly. So after tea, I knew I had to bat; I had to contribute some runs because we were in a tight situation. I thought going in was a right idea. I tried to put the glove in. I just managed to put the glove in, then I just went in and tried to play some shots.Did you need to take an injection as a painkiller?
I took some tablets, but not an injection. I couldn’t really sleep. It was hurting. I slept in patches, but when I have pain I had to get up; it was disturbing.

“The basics of batting helped: how to defend the ball, just watching the ball, and trying to meet the ball, which [though] was a challenge”Vihari on how he managed to bat left-handed despite naturally being a right-hander

You stepped out against spin few times in the second innings. Which was your favorite shot as a left-hander?
I was just trying to play the field (). I was just backing myself to connect a few balls. Actually, I missed quite a few, but luckily enough I connected three balls which went to the boundary. I made up my mind because the offspinner was bowling, and playing right handed is my strength. So I tried to switch [to sweep like a right hander], and play that shot, which went through the gap. The basics of batting helped: how to defend the ball, just watching the ball, and trying to meet the ball, which [though] was a challenge.You had summed up the experience of batting with a strapped right hamstring against Australia in Sydney in 2020-21 as “sweet pain”. How do you describe this one?
If we had ended up winning, I would have still said it was sweet. Although every one of us – the whole Andhra team – gave their best, we collapsed in a session, which is very hurting. But we are proud of the fact that we gave everything for the side. So I wouldn’t be disappointed. Even if I motivated or inspired a few youngsters, then I would be happy. I feel it was worth it: worth the pain.You are bound to be disappointed that Andhra did not make it to the semi-final. But Andhra were not going to make the quarter-final at one point, and you had to erase a tweet which read: “4 wins in 7, but not to be this year. We will come back stronger next year”. So at least you came forward a step?
I am definitely proud of the team for making it to the quarters, but I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied because we have a goal of winning the Ranji Trophy. So we don’t want to restrict or limit ourselves just to the quarter-finals. But next year, we have to make sure we are well prepared, and going all the way and winning the trophy.You have not been part of the Indian Test squad since the one-off Test in England last July. By your standards, you had a lean Ranji season without a century. But still playing this match through pain must give you the satisfaction that you play sport for the joy it brings?
I play sport to win – whether I score a century or whether I’m just contributing to the side. Obviously, any batter will want to get those hundreds and get those big runs in the season. But whether I play for India or whether I play for Andhra, I play to win, even if it’s just batting with one hand or batting with one leg.It is just about going out there, and playing to win and looking at how you have to contribute to the side. That is my main goal when I go into the field. I don’t really look at personal milestones or think about a comeback. I just go out there to win a game for the side.

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