Technically, it wasn’t a home game for Mumbai Indians but the Wankhede Stadium was a sea of blue almost an hour before the start and played its role to help Mumbai turn the playoff tide against Super Kings

Amol Karhadkar in Mumbai20-May-20151:37

Karhadkar: Dramatic turnaround for Mumbai Indians

The opening comboWith an average of 45-plus, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan had been the opening partnership of the tournament. Not anymore. Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel have emerged as the best opening association, crossing the 50-run mark when it comes to runs per innings.Simmons and Patel have not only bettered the Sunrisers duo in terms of numbers, but more importantly, in impact as well. If their second hundred-plus partnership in Hyderabad two nights ago had ensured Mumbai Indians sailed into the playoffs without any fuss, they repeated the heroics by putting on 90 against the Super Kings.The partnership laid the foundation for a big total to justify Mumbai’s decision to bat first. Moreover, a lack of early breakthroughs meant perhaps for the first time did MS Dhoni throw the ball to Dwayne Bravo in the middle overs. While the move worked as Bravo broke the stand in the 11th, it left the Trinidadian with only two overs to bowl at the back end.Brutal PollardWhen Kieron Pollard dug a bail to mark his guard in a trademark West Indian manner, 38 balls had left to be bowled in the Mumbai innings. Super Kings had held the upper hand for the preceding four overs, their longest period of strength in the whole match. If Pollard could bat half the remaining balls, it could end up being the difference between the two teams.When Pollard was caught off Bravo at long-off in the last over, he had faced two balls fewer than half the allotment, but the damage had been done. Of the first four balls he faced, two sailed into the crowd. But Pollard’s audacious touch was amply displayed in his fifth six, struck on the delivery before he was dismissed. Bravo pitched it well outside off but Pollard swung it so hard and flat that the ball cleared the long-on boundary, with most spectators realizing it was a six only after watching Faf du Plessis attempting a futile dive.Illingworth sets the paceThe IPL has continued to expose mediocre standards of Indian umpires. On Tuesday, English umpire Richard Illingworth joined the ranks by adjudging Dwayne Smith leg before off a Lasith Malinga slower one when the ball was sliding past where fifth stump could have been.Owing to his New Zealand commitments, Brendon McCullum was missing from the Chennai Super Kings squad. If Chennai Super Kings had to keep the Baz going, Smith had to return to scoring big. Having scored just 72 runs in his last six innings, Smith got off to a cautious start, avoiding an audacious stroke for the first three balls.On the fourth ball, he didn’t pick Malinga’s change of pace but more than that was undone by Illingworth’s error in judgment. Once pegged back, the Super Kings chase could never manage to hit the top gear, always playing catch-up.Lasith Malinga seized on a generous decision to dismantle Chennai’s chase from the start•BCCIHarbhajan does a SuchithJ Suchith’s two wickets in as many balls put Mumbai Indians in firm control of their must-win final league game in Hyderabad two nights earlier. It was Harbhajan Singh’s turn to repeat the heroics this time around.Harbhajan has been one of the silent contributors to Mumbai Indians’ resurgence this year but he made a big impression by dismissing Suresh Raina and Dhoni off successive balls. In a high-pressure game, any instance of two-in-two would help the bowling team take a firm grip on the match. When the victims included the most successful batsman in IPL history and the best finisher in limited overs’ cricket, Harbhajan’s job was more than done.Had Harbhajan completed a second return catch of the over off the last ball to see Bravo’s back, the Super Kings may well have waved the white flag there and then.Home run reverses the qualifier trendThe four matches of the IPL playoffs are organised by the BCCI-IPL, and not by the hosting franchise. So technically, it wasn’t a home game for Mumbai Indians. But the technicality came to zilch as the Wankhede Stadium was a sea of blue almost an hour before the game was to start. The Wankhede crowd, which often acts as a 12th man for Mumbai Indians, played its role to help Mumbai turn the playoff tide against Super Kings.The paroxysm of noise from the Wankhede crowd usually peaks after 10 pm, when stadium loudspeakers have to be turned off due to a state government regulation. That is when the loud chants of Ma-lin-ngaa and Mumbai, Mumbai [clap, clap, clap] give pangs in the stomachs of visiting teams.Tuesday was no different. The crowd played its part to help Mumbai Indians buck the playoff trend against Super Kings. Though Mumbai Indians had clinched the 2013 IPL by beating Super Kings in the final, they had failed to win any of their four qualifiers/eliminators against the same opposition.

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo talks to ESPNcricinfo about his omission from the World Cup squad, his performance in the IPL and the possible road forward for West Indies cricket

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Jun-2015Phil Simmons, the West Indies head coach, has indicated that he would like to meet you and talk to you about your plans. Has he had discussions with you?
I see that (Simmons’ move) as a positive (step). I am available for international cricket, but we can only play if we are selected. We cannot play if we are not selected. So, therefore, yeah, whenever he is ready to talk, I’m ready. We have been having discussions over the phone. I am always prepared, and ready to play and represent the West Indies team. It is up to them whether they need my services or not.Has Simmons met you after your return from IPL 2015?
We are going to meet on June 23 when I get to Barbados. We have had friendly conversations where I have given him a few ideas of what I see on the TV as far as the Test team is concerned. It has nothing to do about my return to Test cricket or anything like that. Simmons was the national coach of Trinidad & Tobago, so we have a fairly good relationship. And I am very happy he is the head coach of the West Indies team and I hope things work out and go according to plan for him.Are you open to revoking your Test retirement?
No. There is a lot more that needs to be changed in order for me to even think of coming back into Test cricket. At the moment I am happy with my decision and I don’t see it changing anytime soon unless something drastic changes.What are these changes?
There are changes that need to be changed. I can’t go into any details, but I am happy with my decision, and look forward to playing in the shorter format of the game.How much does winning the purple cap in the IPL matter?
It is a good feeling but, at the same time, winning the purple cap but losing in the final does not really justify the purple cap. If it would have been (a case of) ‘lose the purple cap and win the final’, it would have been much better for me. Unfortunately, both times I won the purple cap both times we lost in the final. It is a good achievement to win the purple cap. But it would have been a lot more pleasing to win both the cap and the IPL.Does it, in some way, prove a point to the WICB and the selectors after you were dropped from the World Cup squad?
No, no. I have no point to prove to anyone. I know my ability. A lot of people around the world know my ability and know I should have been in the World Cup team after being in the ICC ODI Team of the Year (2014). Having been West Indies’ ODI player for the last 12 months and then not to be selected (for the World Cup), obviously a lot of people know that politics was involved in it. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I still consider myself one of the better allrounders in the region. It has been two tough months for me (during World Cup). While I was not playing cricket, I was making music. I had taken my focus away from cricket. I just wanted to do well for Chennai Super Kings and have a good tournament, and I did that.”It is shame that before the World Cup even started, they were already prepared to lose and look forward to building for the next World Cup, whereas in the last three years we were building for this World Cup.”•Getty ImagesClive Lloyd, the WICB head of selectors, said that that he met you and Kieron Pollard in Cape Town and explained the selectors’ vision before announcing the World Cup squad. In hindsight, do you agree with him?
No, we did not agree. We actually laughed when he said it to us. To be honest, we knew it was coming. We know the type of people in charge of our cricket are actually mature enough to make sensible decisions and the right decisions for the benefit of cricket. If we had got selected we actually would have been surprised. We expected it. There was nothing that shocked us. The explanation that they gave us was too many allrounders or they want to try young players, whatever the case might be… Kieron Pollard is 27, I am 31.
Also as far as our form was concerned, as I said, the last 12 months I had been West Indies’ best player. So to be left out with those explanations, obviously, all we could have done is laugh. It was a big joke. Another World Cup come, finish. They (were) happy with their decision. They were prepared not to win this World Cup. It is a shame that before the World Cup even started, they were already prepared to lose and look forward to building for the next World Cup, whereas in the last three years we were building for this World Cup. But it is all water under the bridge now. I am not someone to hold on to anything.The relationship between the WICB and the senior players, especially guys like you who play around the world, has remained strained despite isolated talks. What needs to be done?
For me, I am very easy. I always want the best for West Indies cricket and the West Indies team. But it takes two hands to clap. I can only do so much. I am prepared, I am willing to discuss with anyone. Chris Gayle, Pollard, we all share the same view. We all want the best for West Indies cricket.It is strange that while T20 franchises continue to get the best out of Caribbean players, West Indies cricket is unable to cash in on similar benefits? What is the solution?
Maybe one way is the WICB or Richard Pybus (team director of West Indies cricket) should try to meet the players and try to sit down and discuss a plan forward and a way forward. Having said that, they make decisions based on what they think is right for West Indies cricket. But sometimes what they think does not automatically be (sic) the right decision. To be honest it is very challenging here in the West Indies.You are back in the captain’s seat at Trinidad &Tobago Red Steel. Were you missing the captaincy?
No, no. Not at all. Even as a kid growing up, my dream was never ever to be a captain of any team. I just want to play cricket for my country or whichever team I am selected to play for. Captaincy comes along the way because of my maturity, because of how I play and my attitude towards the game and the relationships I have with players. (And that is why) A lot of people see me as a leader. I just want to play cricket, enjoy cricket and that is what is important to me. As far as captaincy is concerned, it is very challenging. Depending on what team you are leading, you enjoy more than others. I enjoyed captaining the West Indies team because of the simple reason that I have a lot more in control.How much will the presence of Jacques Kallis help you and T&T?
In the last two seasons, where we faltered was with our batting and also we were not able to finish off games or bat out entire innings. With his experience, knowledge, and him being a world-class player, that is going to be a big difference. We will have the rest of team bat around him. I am just happy to actually pin him down in the auction and have him in my team. He is someone that I admire and look up to. Playing and growing up and being an allrounder myself, and now sharing the same dressing room is a pleasure for me.You said you switched off from cricket during the World Cup and focused on music. Was it a conscious decision to move away from cricket at the point where it had become painful?
I have a passion for music. So it is challenging to do music and play cricket at the same time. Recording songs is very difficult, so I used the two months to give music that time. So it was not a case of me trying to get out of cricket, or stop playing cricket. It was just for me to fulfil another hobby that I love. It seems impossible but it can be possible with hard work. I am someone very dedicated to what I want in life and I was able to do some songs. One is and every day it is becoming bigger and bigger.

The India fast bowler fell off the radar when he was at his peak due to injury and has not added to his international caps since. He’s not sure why, but has learned to deal with it

Gaurav Kalra19-Jun-20159:32

‘Should have tried harder when Dhoni wanted me in the Test team’ – Nehra

“I thought you would be in yellow,” I say as Ashish Nehra approaches our camera set-up.”IPL season over,” he chuckles. “Yellow is packed away.”I am at the Sonnet club nets in Delhi to meet Nehra. He feels at home here. His first coach, Tarak Sinha, is around, putting kids from different age groups through their paces. It’s only 9am but the summer sun is already blazing down.It has been less than a week since Nehra finished a stunning IPL season for Chennai Super Kings, taking 22 wickets in 16 matches. He won three Man-of-the-Match awards – only David Warner with four claimed more. Nehra took five three-wicket hauls – only Sohail Tanvir in 2008 took as many in one season. For a while Nehra even held the purple cap as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker.Over the course of the IPL, he didn’t just take wickets, he also became a rage online. His childhood friend Virender Sehwag repeatedly took to Twitter, complimenting “Nehra ” for his incisive spells, and fans followed suit.”There were so many people calling me Nehra ,” he smiles. “I came to know after a couple of days why they are calling me that. Viru has always called me Nehra . This time he tweeted, so everybody knows.”Nehra doesn’t do Twitter. Or Facebook. His Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming downloaded Whatsapp on his phone, just so he would respond to messages in time. “To be honest, even till now I don’t know how to send an email,” he confesses. Basically Ashish Nehra lives in a cocoon. A cocoon of his own choosing.

“I don’t know what has happened. Whether it is my face, I don’t know. I’m happy that my wife likes my face”Nehra on being ignored by the India selectors

It has been over four years since Nehra played for India. His last international appearance came in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup, against Pakistan, where he claimed 2 for 33 in his 10 overs. A finger injury kept him out of the final in Mumbai, but he celebrated that win with the team, went to the felicitations over the following week, and since then has waited for a comeback in vain. The selectors haven’t called.”I don’t know what has happened. Whether it is my face, I don’t know. I’m happy that my wife likes my face,” he laughs.”If you look at the number of people who have played one-dayers or T20s after the 2011 World Cup, you will be surprised. I am not saying they are not good, but I am the only one who has not played. They have tried 20 or 25 bowlers but not Ashish Nehra.”Surely he’s exaggerating? I look up quick bowlers and seamers who have played for India in T20s and ODIs since the 2011 World Cup. The number is 19.Ashok Dinda. Irfan Pathan. Bhuvneshwar Kumar. L Balaji. Mohammed Shami. Vinay Kumar. Zaheer Khan. Praveen Kumar. Munaf Patel. Mohit Sharma. Ishant Sharma. Umesh Yadav. Parvinder Awana. Stuart Binny. Varun Aaron. Dhawal Kulkarni. Jaydev Unadkat. RP Singh. Abhimanyu Mithun.”In the 2011 England series, I was fit for the one-day matches,” Nehra says. “I have been fit and playing domestic cricket. It is not easy for a 36-year-old. If somebody tells me this is what you are not doing right, I will work hard on that and improve. Till now, I don’t know what exactly happened and nobody ever told me. I was the highest wicket-taker between 2008 and 2011 by far. In fact, I was among the top three in the world.”A quick check of the numbers again backs up Nehra’s claim. From June 2009 to March 2011, he played 48 one-day internationals in his most productive period as an international cricketer. He claimed 65 wickets at an average of 32.64 and an economy rate of 5.85. Only Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh claimed more wickets, 69, in this period. Harbhajan Singh, with 47, and Zaheer Khan, with 46, were the next best Indian bowlers over this time. In essence, Nehra wasn’t doing much wrong – he was taking wickets and, at 32, was at the peak of his powers.Nehra slotted in at No. 2 on the world ODI wickets chart in the two years before his exile•Associated Press”I always felt in the last four years that I was good enough,” he insists. “It was not like they were playing only four or five fast bowlers and the team was settled.”The Nehra story, though, can never be only about the numbers. Since his international debut in 1999, a frail body has been a persistent stumbling block. Back, fingers, ankle, hand, ribs – you name it, Nehra has injured it. His memorable six-for against England in Durban at the 2003 World Cup was delivered in throbbing pain after his ankle flared up the previous night.Yet, somehow, he has gone on. “People who started with me have now stopped playing,” Nehra says. He admits there have been days when he has thought of giving it all up. But he has soldiered on nevertheless.”We went to South Africa just before the [2011] World Cup,” he recalls. “Those six weeks I struggled with my back, even during the World Cup. We were playing a practice game against New Zealand in Chennai and I was thinking, ‘I am going home and not playing this World Cup.’ But I made up my mind [to stay]. I was struggling badly but I am happy that I didn’t leave and we ended up winning the World Cup.”While he has fought and often conquered a rebellious body, Nehra has never done too well in the battle of perceptions. Mention his name and the guffaws are almost instantaneous among Indian cricket followers – liability in the field, can’t bat to save his life, can break down at any time, and much worse.There has never been a clamour for a recall in the national media over the last four years. Neither has the team management pushed for a call-up while. Other players from Nehra’s generation have been given their opportunities meanwhile. He has watched silently from the sidelines, refusing to change his methods.”The only complaint that I have against the media is that they don’t show the right picture,” he says. “There is a word called responsibility. Media should be responsible and should write the right thing. I am sure everyone has likes and dislikes and you might think someone is a better bowler, but in the larger picture, they should show or write the truth.

“There were times when Dravid and Srinath would tell me things as a 22-year-old, but at that time I thought I knew everything. The minute they turned their back, I would think, ‘They do not know anything'”

“I have always been nice to everybody and have given my 100%. There were times where I was not bowling at my best but still I was a part of the team. Sometimes you do not do well for a couple of weeks or months and people in domestic cricket might be doing better, but you are playing. In the last four-five years, I’m bowling really well but I’m not in the team. Those things will happen, there will be regrets, but at the same time you will learn things.”Regret is a word that often returns to our conversation. Turning down an offer from coach Gary Kirsten and captain MS Dhoni to revive his Test career in 2009 because he wasn’t quite sure if his body would hold up is among the major ones. It meant his time in whites lasted a mere 17 Tests and ended at the age of 25. He did play six Ranji Trophy matches in the 2013-14 season, taking 28 wickets at an average of less than 20, but Nehra knew the ship had sailed as far as his long-format career was concerned.”I should have worked harder, because I was only 30 then,” he said recalling the conversation with Dhoni and Kirsten. “If I could play six first-class games a year in six weeks at the age of 34, definitely I could have done the same for India as well. I could have played another 40 to 50 Test matches.”There were times when Rahul Dravid and Javagal Srinath would tell me things as a 22-year-old, but at that time I thought I knew everything. The minute they turned their back, I would think, ‘They do not know anything’ – not every time but once out of five times. Today I realise it was me who was wrong and not them. I can only give my experience now to the youngsters.”There were times when the team bus left at 8am and I would set an alarm for 7.50am. Now I set the alarm at 6.45. I need one hour, as I know I have to do things systematically. It is a discipline thing and you know the amount of hard work you need on the field. You know your body better.”While Nehra has learnt to take care of his body and has always prided himself on being strong mentally, there are some compromises he has refused to make. Observers have noted in wonder, most noticeably at the IPL this season, how his pace hasn’t dropped – unlike that of some of his peers, who have chosen this route to extend their careers.A fragile body has been one of Nehra’s biggest stumbling blocks•AFP”My action puts a lot of strain on the body, but I get that extra zip,” he says. “I’m a 135-plus bowler and I have not tried to bowl at 130. If you can bowl quickly, you should. You should not be wayward, though. It’s better to bowl good line and length at 135 rather than bowling all over the place at 145. It never came to my mind to slow down.”When you are above 33, you make alterations in practice. I don’t bowl or field for one hour in the nets now. You decide to save yourself for the ground. I can’t practice for five hours non-stop like an 18- or 20-year-old. You have to be smart.”Nehra is also among a rare breed of quick bowlers in the modern game who are able to deliver the yorker effectively. During the IPL, he produced the delivery almost at will. His formula is an old cliché – practice makes perfect.”You want to practise the yorker because the margin of error is very less,” he explains. “In fact, in T20 and 50-over games, people are hitting yorkers better than length deliveries. Because of the two new balls at each end in one-day matches and in T20s, the ball is only about 15 overs old. There is no reverse swing, so the ball does not dip and it becomes difficult for the bowler.”Look at Dale Steyn. He doesn’t bowl the yorker well. If you look at his record in the IPL in the past two years, he has struggled. Look at Morne Morkel. South Africa lost the World Cup semi-final despite having a great team because they didn’t have bowlers who could bowl the yorker, though it was a small ground and there was rain around. All of them were good bowlers upfront or in the middle of the innings but at the death, you need the yorker.”For now, though, Nehra can take a break from the routine of yorkers, bouncers, net sessions, relentless travel and back-to-back games. In the summer, he heads with family to England, where his wife grew up. Nehra is a doting father to his two kids and proclaims proudly that he is a “hands-on dad”.As we find some shade to sit under once the camera has stopped rolling, he animatedly discusses the latest in Indian cricket with Sinha. Some kids interrupt the chat to take pictures with him and he obliges. Nehra is a familiar figure here, one from the stable who has hit the big time yet stays rooted. He knows there could have been so much more to show for his time as a cricketer. But he has learnt to accept, learnt to embrace, learnt to relish what he has been given. “There will be regrets in everyone’s life but I am very happy,” he says. “I never asked for more from God. I just always say that I am thankful for what I have, and if I continue to have it, I will be happy.”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2015Vijay was trapped lbw by Tharindu Kaushal for 82, but Rahane’s fluency did not suffer•AFPHe brought up his fourth Test hundred off 212 balls•AFPAlthough erratic, Kaushal’s threat was clear. He removed Rahane for 126…•AFP… after which Dhammika Prasad picked three quick wickets to prompt India’s declaration with a lead of 412 runs•AFPAshwin took out Kaushal Silva in the third over, and out walked…•AFP… Kumar Sangakkara. He was given a guard of honour by the ball boys and the Indian team. But his innings was cut short for 18 and Sri Lanka went in to stumps at 72 for 2, still trailing by 341 runs•AFP

Such a set-up would allow smaller teams a shot at elite Test cricket, but its success would depend on an all-inclusive money-sharing model

Tim Wigmore05-Nov-2015In international cricket, few notions are discussed more and acted upon less than the need for “context”. Test and ODI series come and go, leaving no tangible remains. World rankings exist, but for what end?The structure of bilateral cricket, if it can be called that, is entirely at the whims of the individual boards, who are free to play each other as much or as little as they like, knowing that the consequences of winning or losing Test matches are no greater than that of an international football friendly. The system devalues cricket’s premier form.That Test cricket has always been run on these lines is no defence. Until 1982, only six nations played Tests; with so few teams, each played the others enough to make an overarching structure less urgent. Now Test cricket has ten nations, and several other countries would love to join them. Tests face more competition than ever before, both from other formats and other sports. Scheduling between the Big Three has become increasingly aggressive – Australia and England played each other 40 times across all formats between June 2013 and September 2015. Regardless of how they perform, the other Test nations are doomed to endure a second-class schedule and fans are noticing: about 500 spectators attended each day of the recent Sri Lanka-West Indies Test series.Most importantly, broadcasters are taking note. “If people can’t be bothered to buy a ticket and show up to the game, then people who turn on the television will turn it straight off again,” says Andrew Wildblood, the executive vice-president of IMG, the international sports marketing firm. “You need to fill the stadiums – there’s nothing that looks worse on sports television than empty stadiums. The one thing falling in value, or at least standing still, is Test match rights.”The ICC is concerned about this, and also considers the value of bilateral one-day cricket to be under threat. Such anxieties led David Richardson, the ICC’s chief executive, to ask representatives from each Full Member, and Ireland, representing the Associates, to give presentations about how they would like international cricket to be structured at the recent ICC meeting in Dubai.David Richardson’s proposal for league-based Test cricket holds merit for its pragmatism•ICCNow the ICC has done what it does best: commissioned a review. Those familiar with the Woolf Report will not be holding their breath about the review of the context and structure of bilateral cricket being undertaken by the ICC Board and Chief Executives’ Committee.It is also far from the first time a structure for Test cricket has been discussed. The World Test Championship was postponed and then cancelled. In 2008, the Boston Consultancy Group was commissioned by Cricket Australia to devise a scheme to give Test cricket a structure; its proposal of a four-year cycle and a pooling of broadcasting revenue was flatly rejected by England and India. As long ago as 2004, Richardson, then the ICC’s general manager, first mooted the idea of a league system in Test cricket.”I personally would favour a league, and that might be two divisions, six and six, so that we can promote teams like Ireland,” Richardson said after the last ICC board meeting, envisaging something similar for ODI cricket too. He believes such a structure would create greater context, more commercial value, and a path for teams to get promoted or relegated based on performance.It would work something like this. In the two Test divisions of six, each side would play the other in two-match series home and away every three years, giving 20 Test matches per country over the cycle before the playoffs to determine promotion and relegation. The structure could begin soon after the 2019 World Cup, as few countries have broadcasting deals that go beyond that date.

“You need to fill the stadiums – there’s nothing that looks worse on sports television than empty stadiums”Andrew Wildblood, executive vice-president, IMG

Perhaps the greatest virtue of Richardson’s proposal is its pragmatism. The divisional structure would take about five to six months a year, leaving deliberate gaps in the schedule for bilateral fixtures outside the system. So there would be plenty of opportunities for the Big Three to play extra games outside the structure (the Ashes could still take place on its traditional cycle). This nod to commercial reality means that the Big Three would not suffer from the new structure.”Meritocracy”, the ICC’s mantra, would cease to be anathema to the structure of international cricket. “Anything which promotes context and merit-based progression, of course we embrace,” says Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, noting how such a structure would encourage Ireland to approach broadcasters with a package of matches. Alistair Campbell, the out-going managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, expressed support for more structured international cricket earlier this year. “All the lesser nations would love a better structure so they could be guaranteed a certain amount of games. It’s very difficult at the moment to go out and try and get a sponsor. They’re saying, ‘Who are you playing against, and how many games?'”Yet the danger of Richardson’s proposal is clear. “The effect of two divisions would mean that Test cricket would become completely uneconomical in the division-two countries and would, in all probability, die,” warns Ehsan Mani, the former ICC president. Countries that miss making the cut to the first division – Sri Lanka and West Indies on the current ICC Test rankings (at No. 7 and 8 respectively) – would fear irrelevance, even if they already have a de facto two-tier format to contend with.Any reforms could only be passed if such nations did not have much to lose. The top sides in the second division could be guaranteed a certain amount of fixtures against first-division sides, outside of the league schedule.Pooling TV rights would further ameliorate the perceived negatives of a divisional structure. In Premier League football, all rights to domestic and overseas matches are sold equally before being divided up between teams. The top team gets only 1.5 times as much from the league as the bottom one does. While the Big Three reforms moved away from such a distribution model, pooling broadcasting rights for structured bilateral cricket and then dividing them up according to an agreed formula could yield benefits for all teams. “The likelihood in my view is that the whole would be worth more than the sum of the parts,” Wildblood says. “Look at the Premier League. It sells the rights collectively and the value of the sum is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The same might well be true of cricket.”The divisional structure would take up about six months of the year, leaving the rest of the time free for bilateral or other cricket•Getty ImagesIf that is the case, then an overarching structure is much easier to envisage: with a bigger pie, all countries could be better off. “The history of bilaterals means there is no higher order to play for the vast majority of the games played. That robs interest in the sport, which translates into a lot of economic value left on the table,” says Rohan Sajdeh, the author of Boston Consultancy Group’s report on Test cricket in 2008. He argues that a structure would result in “greater value” in broadcasting rights. And while fans will always be far more likely to watch their own countries play, if England and India supporters, say, had a reason to care who won a series between South Africa and New Zealand, that could provide a further boost to broadcasting rights.Variants on Richardson’s idea of divisions are also possible. One alternative is two parallel groups of six, as opposed to one division below another, each playing the other sides in their group in two or three Tests at home and away over a four-year-cycle, giving a total of 20 or 30 structured matches. Playoffs to determine an overall winner and whether the leading teams in the Intercontinental Cup replaced the bottom-placed sides in the two groups would follow. This would avoid creating a gulf between those ranked sixth and seventh, although fewer Tests would be between evenly matched sides and a broadcasting distribution model would need to be agreed on so that teams’ finances are not adversely affected by being drawn in a different group to India.None of this is to suggest that a structure worthy of the name will prove a panacea to Test cricket. But if it were combined with playing more over weekends, day-night Tests, and innovative ticket schemes to allow supporters to come for a session, it would amount to a sustained effort to promote Test cricket.The challenges to getting a proper structure for Test and ODI cricket are formidable. It would require coordination and trust between international boards of the sort that the game has seldom benefited from. A structure would have to be passed by the ICC’s executive board (where three of the five votes are held by the Big Three) and then supported by seven of the ten Full Members. It could only be achieved by allowing the Big Three copious time to play each other regardless of their on-field performances; also, proper financial safeguards to appease mid-ranking Test nations; and by strengthening the Test fund. But if the individual boards were convinced that a new structure would result in more money, they might be inclined to vote it through. Few forces are more powerful than self-interest.If a structure for international cricket does finally come to pass, it would be a realisation of Richardson’s decade-long vision to give bilateral cricket context. Those who deride the ICC’s chief executive as a lackey of the Big Three might yet be forced into a reappraisal.

South Africa’s success in India over the years has been built on getting the basics right – seamers attacking the stumps, and batsmen biding their time at the crease

Karthik Krishnaswamy04-Nov-2015In the 32 years since the winter of 1983-84, when ‘Marshall Law’ was declared in Kanpur and Kolkata, India have only suffered three innings defeats at home. They came in Bangalore in March 2000, in Ahmedabad in April 2008, and in Nagpur in February 2010. All three were against South Africa.Since their first full tour of India in 1996-97, South Africa have easily been the most consistently competitive side to visit these shores. In that period, they have won more Tests in India than any other team. This includes Australia, who have played 20 Tests in India to South Africa’s 12. Australia, though, have only won four to South Africa’s five.In that time, South Africa’s batsmen and bowlers boast the best averages of any team in India, and in a land defined by mostly slow, turning pitches, their success has come on the back of pace rather than spin.Collectively, South Africa’s quicks average 28.05 in India since that first Test tour in 1996-97. The next best record in that period has belonged to England, whose fast bowlers have averaged 34.70. That is a significant difference. Rahul Dravid, who faced South Africa in four home series, believes the difference could be down to the sheer pace they have had at their disposal.”I think one of the big things is they took the surface out of the equation,” Dravid says. “They’ve always generally had, whether you think about Allan Donald, or later on someone now like a Dale Steyn, they’ve always had someone who’s quick through the air, they’ve always had one or two guys who’ve been able to bowl well in spite of the surfaces.”So even if the surfaces are slow, the speed through the air makes a big difference. Even though they might not have had the quality of some of the other teams’ spinners, they’ve always had people with the ability to bowl quick through the air. Good exponents of reverse-swing, the likes of Donald and Steyn, and even Lance Klusener in [1996-97] bowled quite quickly through the air.”Perhaps not coincidentally, South Africa’s one India tour in the space between Donald’s retirement and Steyn’s emergence was their least successful. Since that 1-0 defeat in 2004-05, South Africa have visited India twice and left with 1-1 draws on both occasions.Across those two tours, Steyn bagged 26 wickets at an average of 20.23. Of those 26 wickets, an eye-popping 18 (69.23%) were either bowled or lbw. By doing that, he raised South Africa’s overall share of bowled and lbw dismissals in India to 35.55. In the time since South Africa’s first Test tour of India, only Pakistan, those proud proponents of full-and-straight, have a greater percentage of bowled and lbw.

Attacking the stumps in Indian conditions

Wickets Bowled/LBW PercentagePakistan 171 61 35.67South Africa 211 75 35.54Sri Lanka 133 46 34.58England 199 64 32.16Australia 357 114 31.93Zimbabwe 47 13 27.65West Indies 117 32 27.35New Zealand 152 39 25.65*Since November 20, 1996″I think you have to bowl a lot straighter in the subcontinent, there’s no doubt about it,” Dravid says. “The Australians, when they won in 2004, they did that really, really well. They had really good quality bowlers to be able to sustain that.”Of course, if you do bowl in line with the stumps, if you err slightly, there’s a good chance you’ll get picked away, so you need to have the quality of bowlers to be able to execute that. And when you have speed through the air, that also gets you a lot of wickets lbw, it gets you a lot of wickets bowled as well, because you’re able to bowl fast and straight and knock over especially the tail quite quickly.”Aside from negating slow surfaces, South Africa’s pace attacks have also been a threat on the occasional underprepared pitch they have come across. At the Wankhede Stadium in 2000, South Africa were moved to include two spinners on a pitch that, according to Wisden, “was not just shorn by the mower but also scraped with a wire brush”. Still, it was their seamers who picked up every Indian wicket, apart from a run-out in each innings, in a four-wicket win completed inside three days.They could not quite match the feat in Kanpur eight years later, where India squared the series on a crumbling surface termed a “poor cricket wicket” by South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur. But it took bad-wicket masterpieces from Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to steer India to a position of relative first-innings strength, before their spinners took over. India’s batsmen looked more comfortable against Paul Harris, South Africa’s lone specialist spinner, than they did against Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, and Morne Morkel, a tall, gangling, hit-the-deck bowler made for unpredictable pitches.Dale Steyn has taken 26 wickets from his last two tours of India at an average of 20.23•AFPMorkel had Dravid caught at gully with a brute of a lifter that jammed his glove into the handle of his bat.”That’s the danger of sometimes preparing absolute underprepared wickets against South Africa,” Dravid says. “If the ball starts going through the surface, then someone like a Morne Morkel is as dangerous as anyone else you can find. They might not have a spinner, but on a dry, dusty wicket their fast bowlers will more than make up for it.”Dravid made 29 off 106 balls in that painfully terminated innings, an innings that encapsulated his record against South Africa at home. In 18 innings, he was out for single-digit scores only twice, but made only one century and three fifties. His strike rate against South Africa at home – 32.48 – was significantly less than his career strike rate of 42.51.”I guess they are willing to be very disciplined as a bowling attack also,” Dravid says. “Very patient, very disciplined, they don’t try too many things, so they can make you bat for long periods of time to get runs on those slow wickets. It has contributed, I guess, to… it’s hard to put a finger on exactly why my record isn’t good against them at home, but maybe, if I was willing to be patient with them, they were willing to be as patient with me.”That dimension of their game, Dravid says, has extended to their batting as well.”I think in terms of batsmen, they tend to be a lot more patient than some of the other teams,” he says. “Sometimes people think they are playing defensive cricket, but they do recognise that sometimes you need to be defensive early on in the subcontinent, because things happen very quickly on days four and five, so they definitely strive to stay in touch with you, and then hope that things fall their way on the fourth and fifth day.”Some teams, you can tie them down and they might play some shots, but sometimes, South Africa have the quality of batsmen just to bat for long innings and be very patient.”The stats reflect South Africa’s skill at batting time. Of all visiting batsmen who have faced 500 or more deliveries in India since the start of that 1996-97 tour, four of the top six batsmen on the balls-per-innings table are South African. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis are predictably part of this table, but so are the architects of South Africa’s only two draws in India: Andrew Hall and Neil McKenzie.

Stickability in Indian conditions

Innings Balls BPIMisbah-ul-Haq 6 1058 176.33Hashim Amla 10 1653 165.30Andy Flower 8 1232 154.00Andrew Hall 4 583 145.75Neil McKenzie 5 670 134.00Jacques Kallis 15 1907 127.13*Min 500 balls faced since November 20, 1996Promoted as a makeshift opener in the first Test of the 2004-05 tour, Hall faced 454 balls in compiling 163 and setting up a first-innings total of 510 on an exceedingly slow and flat Kanpur pitch. Three-and-a-half years later, McKenzie made 94 and an unbeaten 155 in a Chennai bat-a-thon.The significance of Hall and McKenzie’s contributions, however, was not just statistical. In both matches, Virender Sehwag followed up their efforts with innings of peculiarly Sehwagian size and tone: 164 off 228 balls in Kanpur, and 319 off 304, the fastest triple-hundred ever, in Chennai.On numerous occasions through his career, big innings from Sehwag gave India’s bowlers both the run-cushion and the time to bowl their oppositions out twice. South Africa, however, had pre-emptively secured themselves from that threat by batting big and batting long.Given good conditions, South Africa have seldom failed to bat big or long on their tours of India. Their four lowest first-innings totals – 176, 177, 244 and 265 – all came on difficult pitches, and the only time they handed India the advantage on a good batting pitch was in Kolkata in 2010, when Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan combined to trigger a collapse from 218 for 1 to 296 all out. Otherwise, their batsmen have set things up brilliantly, giving South Africa six 400-plus first-innings totals in their 12 Tests in India. Of those six matches, South Africa have won four and drawn two.It appears, therefore, that there is no real secret to South Africa’s successes in India. Everyone knows that pace through the air can negate slow pitches, that you need to attack the stumps when there is not much carry, and that it is vital to stay patient in the early part of Test matches in the subcontinent. South Africa have simply been better than anyone else at making those simple plans work.

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2015Kohli fell for 21 when he chased a wide ball from Nuwan Pradeep and edged it behind•Associated PressRohit, though, brought up his fourth Test fifty and was ably complemented by Stuart Binny before holing out to long leg•Associated PressNaman Ojha pitched in with 35 off 63 balls….•AFP… while R Ashwin, who farmed the strike intelligently in a 55-run partnership with Amit Mishra, hit 58 off 87 balls. India set Sri Lanka a daunting target of 386•AFPThe India innings, however, ended in ugly fashion with Ishant Sharma and Dhammika Prasad having a go at each other; Dinesh Chandimal joined the altercation later•AFPA pumped-up Ishant struck twice, reducing the hosts to 21 for 3•AFPKaushal Silva and Mathews saw out the day without any further damage, but Sri Lanka were still left facing a daunting task to save the Test and series on the final day•AFP

Plays of the Day from the first ODI between India and South Africa in Kanpur

Firdose Moonda and Alagappan Muthu11-Oct-2015Knowing the law
R Ashwin left the field during the 32nd over, which was his fourth, after appearing to hurt himself on the side while fielding off his own bowling. He returned at the start of the 39th over after 25 minutes and MS Dhoni hoped to use him immediately but the umpires intervened. A lengthy on-field discussion, accompanied by a conversation with the third umpire, resulted in Ashwin not being allowed to bowl until he had spent the same amount of time on the field as he had off it because his injury was internal.AB, AB
Few players are as loved by fans as AB de Villiers, as he showed when he had the Kanpur crowd cheering his name with a ball to face in the innings and two runs needed to get to his century. De Villiers had gallantly worked his way towards the hundred but Farhaan Behardien had the strike for four balls of the final over and de Villiers had missed the fifth. As he geared up for the final one, the chants rang out, “AB, AB…” and he swiped to send Umesh Yadav’s delivery over long-on for six. It was ugly, but it was effective and the Kanpur crowd loved it, even though it would mean their team had conceded the highest total at the venue.Whose cap it is anyway?
David Miller was on the long-on boundary. So were a group of ball boys, hungry for their 15 minutes of fame. One of them caught Miller’s attention to rather fruitful results. For one, the ball boy got Miller to wear his cap, green like the South Africa uniform, for a few balls. Two, he got Miller to sign the cap.Drinks break
With temperatures at 38 degrees, no one could blame the players for needing a bit more water than usual but MS Dhoni seemed to be pushing it. He had been in the middle for the duration of two overs (about seven minutes) and faced five balls when he gestured to the change room that he was thirsty. When the water bottles came out, it seemed as though Dhoni was actually thinking of his partner, Rohit Sharma, who had been in the middle for almost three hours by then but he wasn’t. Dhoni grabbed his bottle and gulped its contents down while Rohit ignored his until it was waved in front of him a third time.Missed opportunity
But that’s not to say Rohit wasn’t feeling the heat. Cramp crept up on him as his innings wore on but Dhoni needed him to be as fresh as he was when he started as the chase reached its climax. Dhoni dabbed the ball to point and called Rohit through for a run. Rohit began dragging himself through late while substitute Aaron Phangiso moved quickly to pick up and throw. In his haste and because Quinton de Kock had not come up to the stumps but moved in front of them, he sent the ball in the direction of short leg. De Kock got it but missed the underarm throw onto the stumps that would have seen Rohit well short.

Assam’s resurgence despite sub-standard infrastructure, absence of big names, limited talent pool and lack of a proper club culture within the state is inspirational

Shashank Kishore22-Nov-2015In 2006, a 16-year old Krishna Das lay in a district hospital in Barpeta after a car accident left him with broken legs, a severely damaged left shoulder, fractured left hand and stitches on his tongue. All he saw for those three weeks in hospital, where he was on nasal feeding, were a number of tubes and plaster all over his body. Walking normally, doctors said, was far-fetched. When Sanath Kumar, then Assam head coach, found out about the accident, he rushed to the hospital from Guwahati, only to find scores of patients in the general ward. His eyes were then fixed on a bag with the NCA stamp on it. He immediately identified a motionless Krishna. A promising cricket career looked set to come to a grinding halt.On the field, Assam was experiencing a churn with a number of cricketers signing with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. Injuries to a few players added to the state of flux. When he regained consciousness, Krishna told Sanath he will return to play soon. To everyone’s surprise, he did three months later, although with a slightly disoriented action. Even though he was apprehensive, Sanath knew Krishna’s talent was too good to go unnoticed. He was somewhat proved right when the teenager scalped four Kerala wickets on his first-class debut, but Sanath’s exit as Assam coach soon after coincided with a pall of gloom on Krishna’s nascent career, during the course of which he had already escaped death.Nearly a decade on, Krishna has emerged fitter, stronger and tougher. He is spearheading Assam’s resurgence, having picked up 35 wickets in six matches this season. Not too long ago, Assam were languishing in Group C, generally considered to be a mix of ‘low-rung’ teams. Today, they are consistently challenging the ‘elite’ teams both at home and away with Delhi, the Group A toppers, being their latest big-ticket takedown. With three outright wins in six matches, they are currently placed second in their pool, with a berth in the quarter-finals for a second year running within touching distance.All this, incredibly, with sub-standard infrastructure, limited talent pool, weather constraints and lack of proper club culture to streamline talent. “The biggest difference now is, we have learnt to maximise our resources in the best possible way,” Sanath tells ESPNcricinfo. “There is a limited pool of 16-17 players from which we pick our best eleven. While in a way that is a good thing, lack of options could also sometimes bring in complacency into a player’s mind because he knows even if he sits out for two games, he is likely to always remain in the mix. So that is quite a challenge for me as coach, to have the best side play every game. I think on that count, so far we have done well.”Sanath is a journeyman, having travelled across the country as coach, talent scout, mentor, advisor and every possible role that comes with managing a state team. The former pacer, who played 11 first-class matches for Karnataka between 1986 and 1989, first coached Assam for three seasons from 2003-04. He then returned to coach Karnataka in 2009-10, when they made the final, and the 2010-11 season, when they made the semi-finals. Two seasons with Baroda later, he returned to Assam after receiving a last-minute SOS from the association. The second stint so far has been a resounding success, even though the challenges have been plenty.As part of his coaching stints in Karnataka, Baroda and briefly with Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he served as an assistant to Ray Jennings, Sanath often sought the opinion of junior coaches to handpick players and groom them with the senior side. But at Assam, the lack of a structure, he says, has been a hindrance. “Lack of a club structure means there are no competitive matches during the off season,” Sanath explains. “So there is no concept of talent scouting here. That needs to change. More often than not, most of the players who are picked locally come through hastily arranged district trials and inter-district games, which often take place on grounds with poor wickets. Even there, most of the games are affected by weather. So, chances of having a look at a set of players are very difficult.”

People would go out and come back in only because someone else didn’t perform. Not because the ones that came back in were scoring heaps of runs elsewhere.

Although Assam have shown sparks of brilliance from time to time, they have also shown tendencies of tailing off as the season progresses. This year, after walking away with the first-innings honours against defending champions Karnataka and beating Rajasthan, the team was jolted by two successive losses to Odisha and Vidarbha as a result of sub-par totals: 206, 160, 92 and 137. But they bounced back to beat Haryana and Delhi. Sanath attributes the string of low scores to self-belief and temperament, even though it sometimes isn’t of their own making.”Playing on tough, inconsistent wickets affected us,” he says. “Sometimes, as a side we have been so used to playing on damp or green wickets that there has been a tendency to hit out. We haven’t been fully able to develop survival instincts, so the moment a wicket starts turning or bouncing or behaving up and down, we try to hit out and fall into a trap. And because it kept happening over and over again, the confidence also took a hit.”Sanath also highlights the need to have consistency in selection, something which was lacking. Plenty of discussions and debates with the selectors later, though things are better. “What I observed was, generally we would lose one game and there would be four changes, and this kept going round and round,” Sanath says. “People would go out and come back in only because someone else didn’t perform. Not because the ones that came back in were scoring heaps of runs elsewhere. With that kind of knee-jerk reaction, you can never progress.”So I sat the players down. I wanted a player to feel as confident walking in to bat in his third innings after a failure, like he would while walking out to bat after scoring a century. The message was simple: I told them ‘I want to see that you are all enjoying the game. I should get that feeling sitting and watching from the outside. If you do that, I’m ready to back you and face the consequences’. We are a bits-and-pieces team, honestly. We don’t have a player who will score double or triple tons. There is no flamboyance, just steel.”While local players like Swarupam Purkayastha, Krishna Das and Arup Das have come up the hard way, Assam has often benefitted from the presence of professionals over the years•PTI While players like Krishna exemplify that determination, there are many others who have often flown under the radar despite coming up with doughty contributions from time to time. While his case is not as dramatic offspinner Swarupam Purkayastha, who was reported for a suspect action during the league game against Delhi last week, is another who has benefited immensely from Sanath’s mentorship.Purkayastha was the highest wicket-taker among the spinners in the Ranji Trophy last year, and was used as one of the trump cards this season too. Like Krishna, Purkayastha’s second coming coincided with Sanath’s return. “In 2007-08, I saw him as a teenager. He was performing well and was a prodigy here. But we didn’t give him too many opportunities here because he was away with the India Under-19 probables, along with the likes of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja,” Sanath says. “It was unfortunate he didn’t make the final cut, but I also think he stayed a bit and was out of the radar after the Under-19 selection didn’t go his way. I hope his action is cleared and we can have him back soon.”While local players like Krishna, Purkayastha and Arup Das have come up the hard way, Assam has often benefitted from the presence of professionals over the years. The long list of accomplished cricketers who have represented the side include Lalchand Rajput, J Arunkumar, Amol Muzumdar, S Sriram, Dheeraj Jadhav and Sairaj Bahutule. While Jadhav is now with Goa, the team has been strengthened by the presence of KB Arun Karthik, J Syed Mohammed and Amit Verma. Sanath can’t be happier with the value the professionals in the current team have imparted. “The thing about our professionals is that they are quality players, but not stars. So they are equally driven to perform and prove themselves as much as the others. They have gelled well; the experience they bring is valuable.”For the moment, Sanath doesn’t want to get too carried away with the immediate success. His mantra, like most coaches these days, is to control the controllables. “Even the boys make fun of me when I say that,” he laughs. But deep down, he knows it is this very process that has so far turned around the fortunes of the team over the last two seasons. It’s this spirit that augers well for a team and coach whose stocks are on the rise. How they manage to sustain the surge would direct their future path.

Plays of the Day from the first Twenty20 between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur13-Nov-2015The bowling smarts
Early in Zimbabwe’s innings, Al-Amin Hossain saw Regis Chakabva head outside the off stump and wind-up, and shortened the length at the batsmen. Chakabva had already committed to the over-the-head scoop so he had no option but to reach for the ball from a crouching position. The shot was hardly timed, giving Mushfiqur Rahim ample time to dive forward and take the catch.The double-bounce that wasn’t
Not since Mohammad Ashraful’s infamous double-bouncing delivery that AB de Villiers top edged back to the bowler has the Bangladesh crowd seen such a ball. Jubair Hossain’s third ball of his T20 career, in the 10th over of the innings, was nearly a double bouncing ball but Malcolm Waller spared him the ignominy. But he didn’t spare him fully after meeting it one bounce, belting the delivery over long-on for his first six.The faulty rope trick
Waller was well into his six-hitting spree when he hammered one towards long-on at the end of the 11th over. Tamim Iqbal moved back a few steps and took the catch but he couldn’t keep his balance and went on to the other side of the boundary. He did try to flick it back before doing so, but wasn’t successful, and it was another six for Waller.The comeback
Mashrafe Mortaza brought back Jubair for his second over in the 16th over, which many felt was a huge risk given how the legspinner’s first over went for 17 runs. Off his second ball, though, he had Luke Jongwe fail at a reverse-sweep and struck him in front of the stumps. The umpire raised the finger but there was no celebration from Jubair. Only relief. And he had some more when he struck again, off the final ball of the over, removing Neville Madziva. From 1-0-17-0 to 2-0-20-2? He’d take it, we think.The self-defence
Tendai Chisoro ran in fast enough from long-off to reach a skier from Tamim Iqbal off Graeme Cremer in the ninth over. The ball was in the air for quite a while but when it fell, Chisoro hadn’t got under the ball and it looked like he was trying to save himself as the ball dropped just in front of him.