It came down to five needed from 2 balls when Maitlan Brown became the hero

AAP13-Oct-2022Ellyse Perry made an early statement in her bid to win back an Australian Twenty20 spot, starring with bat and ball in Sydney Sixers’ tournament-opening WBBL win over Brisbane.Chasing the Heat’s 8 for 141 for victory, Perry hit 55 from 48 balls to help Sixers claimed a thrilling victory with one ball and four wickets to spare in Mackay on Thursday night when Maitlan Brown struck her first delivery for six with five runs needed.It came after Perry had taken 2 for 27 from her four overs with the ball, appearing to bowl with more control than in previous summers on return from a back injury.Related

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Perry has not played a T20 international for Australia since last October, having missed out on selection in the shortest format during last summer’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games.However the retirement of Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning’s personal leave have opened the door for a possible return, with several players vying for the top-order spots. And Perry laid the first marker.With her scoring rate previously the issue in T20 cricket, Perry struck seven fours in her innings against the Heat and made a point to go after the ball just as she did in the recent Hundred competition.Perry at one point crunched a lovely cover drive for four off Courtney Sippel, before playing her signature cut shot the next ball to find the rope behind point. She brought up her 50 off 42 balls when she pulled Nicola Hancock for 4, before being caught trying to sweep Jess Jonassen.Perry shared a 93-run fourth-wicket stand with Erin Burns, who notched up 50 from 37 balls. Sixers stalled when the pair both fell, before Maitlan Brown saved the Sixers’ night with a first-ball six off Georgia Voll when Sydney required five off the final two balls.”I don’t know what I was thinking,” Brown said. “I was coming down the pitch before she even released it…and it paid off.”Earlier, fellow national team candidate Georgia Redmayne impressed at the top of the order for the Heat.The left-hander got off the mark with a glorious drive from Lauren Cheatle, and worked her way to 49 before hitting Cheatle straight to backward-square leg.Redmayne also backed it up with the gloves, taking a smart stumping standing up to the wickets to quick Jess Kerr to remove Ash Gardner when she overbalanced on 2.Teenage star Voll hit 32 for the Heat, before Brown dented Heat’s late charge with figures of 3 for 20 with the ball.

On a typically pacy Perth pitch, the SA bowlers set the game up before their batters completed the job

Firdose Moonda30-Oct-20222:18

Du Plessis: Been impressed with Markram over the last 12 months

South Africa moved to the top of the group 2 points table and boosted their chances of making the semi-finals after recovering from 24 for 3 to successfully chase 134 against India. Aiden Markram and David Miller were the architects of South Africa’s triumph, scoring half-centuries each and sharing a 76-run fourth-wicket stand.On a pacy pitch, South Africa’s quicks set the tone with hard lengths and plenty of speed. They reduced India to 49 for 5 in the ninth over before Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together with his 11th T20I half-century but he lacked support. He shared a 52-run partnership with Dinesh Karthik, who scored only six of those runs. Lungi Ngidi and Wayne Parnell were the main beneficiaries of South Africa’s approach and took seven wickets between them but all the quicks were impressive. Anrich Nortje brought the heat on a chilly evening and clocked over 150kph with regularity while Kagiso Rabada, for a change, played only a supporting role.India’s attack were also impressive as they made use of fuller lengths and found swing. Some of the differences between the two sides lay here. South Africa bowled 50 short or short-of-a-good-length deliveries and took six wickets for 34; India bowled 48 and took one for 53.Related

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In the end, both captains also had to gamble on how they used their spinner. Temba Bavuma can’t catch a break with the bat and failed again but made the right decision to only use Keshav Maharaj for three overs, while giving Markram one. Between them, they conceded 33 runs in four overs. Rohit Sharma bowled R Ashwin out and used him in the 18th over. By then, Markram was out but Miller was still at the crease and South Africa needed 25 runs from 18 balls. Ashwin’s over cost 13 runs and though he dismissed Tristan Stubbs, Miller finished it off for South Africa.This result has big implications for the rest of the group, particularly Pakistan, whose semi-final hopes are hanging by a thread. South Africa’s win means that not only do Pakistan have to beat South Africa on Thursday but also hope either India lose to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe or South Africa are beaten by the Netherlands.2:23

Faf du Plessis: ‘Suryakumar Yadav’s composure stands out, never seen him frantic’

Ngidi’s double-strike in the powerplay

India had a curious start against the swinging ball and took 10 deliveries to get off the mark – the longest in their T20I history – before both openers breached the big boundaries. Rohit Sharma hooked Rabada over fine leg and KL Rahul whipped Parnell over midwicket but neither scored too much more. Ngidi was introduced in the fifth over and made an immediate impact with hard lengths. Rohit mis-hit his first delivery over the covers but it fell safely. Then, he was cramped on the pull, the ball caught the splice of the bat and went straight up, giving Ngidi enough time to saunter across the square and take the catch. And Ngidi was just getting started. At the end of that over, Rahul was foxed by the extra bounce and edged a ball he looked to guide to third man. Markram was perfectly positioned, almost on the edge of the ring, at slip to take the catch. India were 26 for 2 and finished the powerplay on 33 for 2.KG’s catches
Virat Kohli mounted a brief riposte with back-to-back boundaries against Ngidi but when he tried to take on the bouncer, he got it wrong. Kohli sent a pull towards fine leg where Rabada ran around the corner from a deep-square position to take a good running catch, as casually as you like. Like Ngidi, Rabada also went one better. In Ngidi’s next over, Hardik Pandya took his chances against the short ball and pulled to fine leg. He connected well but not well enough and did not get the distance he was looking for. Rabada did and ran from the boundary rope and leapt forward and took a diving catch with both hands, even as both feet left the floor. India were 49 for 5.Reach for the SKY

Suryakumar scored more than half of India’s total runs and more boundaries than any of their other batters combined. Apart from his opening boundary – an edge that flew over first slip off Nortje – he timed and placed his shots well and took on the short ball with a level of discernment. He used his wrists particularly well, targeted Maharaj, which forced Bavuma to turn to Markram for an over, and then dented Ngidi’s figures when he took 11 runs off his final over. Overall, Suryakumar scored 25 runs off the 12 balls he faced from Maharaj. His 68 came at a strike rate of 170, while the rest of India’s line-up contributed 57 runs at a strike rate of 71.25. In the process, Suryakumar became the highest run-scorer in T20Is in 2022, going past Mohammad Rizwan.Aiden Markram and David Miller put up a 76-run stand to settle South Africa’s chase•ICC via Getty Images

Swing for Singh
While South Africa used bounce to make their early incisions, India relied on swing. Arshdeep Singh struck with his first ball, which swung away from Quinton de Kock, who chased it and nicked off. Two balls later, he hit Rilee Rossouw on the back pad. Arshdeep thought the movement was taking the ball wide of leg stump but Rohit disagreed. He reviewed, with ball-tracking showing that it would go on to hit the top of middle and leg. Rossouw was dismissed for his third duck in five innings, all at the hands of Arshdeep. In between that, Rossouw has scored two centuries. In nine deliveries, South Africa were 3 for 2 and things didn’t get much better. Bavuma’s blues continued as he tried to ramp Mohammed Shami over the wicketkeeper but inside-edged to Karthik instead. South Africa ended the powerplay at 24 for 3. Markram makes his move
South Africa limped to the halfway mark in their innings on 40 for 3 and needed to change gears after the drinks break. Markram took on Pandya’s short balls and found the boundary twice in three balls before putting pressure on India fielders by responding to Miller’s call for a quick single. Miller tapped the ball to backward point, Suryakumar swooped in and shied at the striker’s end but missed. Then Markam took on Ashwin, advanced down the pitch and hit a carrom ball for four before heaving it to deep midwicket where Kohli juggled and then dropped the catch. Markam was on 35 at the time. With 25 runs scored off the 11th and 12th over combined, India were forced to bring back a frontline seamer early. Shami’s third over only cost three runs but India squandered a third opportunity for a wicket. Miller fended a delivery and Markram was already two-thirds of the way down, so Miller ran. Rohit had three stumps to aim at, but missed. Ashwin continued and so did Markram, but not before Miller cleared his front leg to hit Ashwin for six over long-off. Markram then sent him over long-on for six more. South Africa scored 45 runs in the four overs after drinks to set themselves up for the win.

“Some balls hit the gloves, others scooted low at shoe-height from the same spot,” a player who was involved in the game told ESPNcricinfo

Shashank Kishore21-Dec-2022The second day of the Ranji Trophy fixture between Railways and Punjab at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi had to be suspended after the surface was deemed “dangerous and unfit for play” by the match officials.As many as 24 wickets had fallen in a little under four sessions of play in just 103 overs; 20 of those went to the seamers. Punjab, who had taken a 12-run first-innings lead after posting 162, were tottering on 18 for 4 in their second innings when play was halted.As the first drinks interval neared on Wednesday, on-field umpires K Madanagopal and Rajeev Godara apprised match referee Youraj Singh of the situation, before both captains – Mandeep Singh (Punjab) and Karn Sharma (Railways) – were spoken to. It was eventually decided that the match would start afresh on Thursday on a new surface, adjacent to the one the game had started on. This means the Elite Group D contest has now effectively been reduced to a two-day fixture. A fresh toss will take place with teams permitted to change their XIs.”They could have repaired the surface and resumed on the third day from where the match was stopped, but the match officials decided to play on a fresh surface,” a Railways team official said. “We were in a fantastic position but will possibly lose out on a chance to win because of this decision.”ESPNcricinfo understands that the ground authorities had wanted to prepare a grassy surface, but early-winter chill and heavy dew had hampered preparations in the lead-up to the game.”The pitch was uneven. Some balls hit the gloves, others scooted low at shoe-height from the same spot,” a player told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a green wicket but the match officials decided it was too uneven and inconsistent for play to continue.”The truncated nature of the contest left both Railways and Punjab with the prospect of going two rounds without an outright result, something that didn’t look like a possibility when play started on Wednesday. Punjab were denied by bad light and had to settle for first-innings honours against Chandigarh in the opening round, while Railways were handed a 194-run loss by Vidarbha despite Karn’s career-best 8 for 38.Surfaces at the Karnail Singh Stadium have come under the scanner in the past too. In 2011, BCCI’s technical committee had put the venue on a watchlist for producing poor pitches.In 2012, it was barred from hosting matches for two years, after the committee had found the local curators to have deliberately left the surface underprepared to help Railways try and force outright results in a bid to progress further in the Ranji Trophy. At the time, Railways had temporarily shifted their home base to Bhubaneswar, before their original home venue was reinstated in 2014.

Australia batter has been in discussions to play “three or four games” of county cricket at start of summer

Vithushan Ehantharajah13-Jan-2023Steven Smith is moving closer to a County Championship deal with Sussex in pole position to acquire the Australia batter on a short-term deal for the start of the 2023 season.A report in the on Thursday cited Hove as the likeliest destination for Smith, who has spent the last few months in discussions with county sides over a possible stint of “three or four games”. ESPNcricinfo understands Smith was ideally looking at joining a club in Division One, with Kent seen as an ideal given his links to the county following a stint in club cricket at Sevenoaks Vine CC in 2007, which led to a one-off second-team appearance at Canterbury. However, the club’s situation and Smith’s availability did not align. No contract has yet been signed with Sussex, who play in Division Two, with a decision expected in the coming week.The short-term deal would allow Smith to acclimatise to English conditions ahead of Australia’s likely appearance in the World Test Championship final at the Kia Oval in June, along with the Ashes series that follows, beginning at Edgbaston on June 16. The 33-year-old is forgoing this year’s IPL, a period he will use to return home after Australia’s four-Test series in India which finishes in the middle of March.Related

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This would be Smith’s first red-ball experience in county cricket, and the pull of a player of his undoubted quality is all too clear. He averages 60.89 in Test cricket – a figure that only drops to 59.55 across 16 Tests in England – and has 30 centuries in the format. His previous dalliance with the English domestic game came in 2010 when he played five T20 matches for Worcestershire.However in 2007, Smith was presented with the opportunity of forging a long-term future in English cricket when Surrey offered him a full-time contract after he was scouted by their first team coach at the time, Alan Butcher. Smith has British citizenship through his mother, Gillian, who was born in London, and ended up playing two matches for Surrey 2nd XI, but turned down the offer with a view to continuing his progression at New South Wales. His one-off appearance for Kent 2nd XI came earlier that summer. As it happens, Paul Farbrace, the new head coach at Sussex, was Kent’s academy and 2nd XI coach at the time.Smith’s presence in the English domestic game will present a concern for the national team, offering vital preparation for a rival ahead of their attempts to reclaim the Ashes. Such a dilemma was put to Ben Stokes on the recent tour of Pakistan, and England’s Test captain was conflicted on the matter.”It’s good for the county game to see players of Steve’s calibre want to come over and play,” Stokes said. “But I don’t know. It’s one of those where you probably prefer them not to get any game time in England before the Ashes. It is what it is.”However, Mo Bobat, ECB’s performance director, insisted that the benefits of Smith’s presence on the county circuit would cut both ways.”You end up being fairly split,” he said. “Any good player coming to our domestic system will raise the standard of it. In many ways it’s good. It’s good for our bowlers to bowl at Steve Smith. It’s good for young batters to bat with him. There is upside.”Specifically with the Ashes. Yeah, you could say it helps him prep and that could be a disadvantage to England. I don’t spend too much time thinking about that. We just try to control what we can do. I think, and I’m sure that Brendon and Ben would be the same, if we play to our potential we know we are a match for anyone and can beat anyone, the way we are playing our cricket. We will focus on that.”At times it’s disappointing that our players aren’t afforded the same opportunities overseas,” Bobat added. “I’d love to get more of our players in first-class cricket overseas. It’s notoriously difficult. It’s not particularly easy in Australia, can’t really do it in India, we’ve done it at times before in Sri Lanka. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it would be nice if our players could sample a bit of that in red-ball cricket. It’s not easy, though.”Should Smith sign for Sussex, he will be a replacement for Jayden Seales. The West Indian quick was due to be the club’s second overseas player alongside India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, but has been ruled out of the start of the English summer after requiring surgery on an injury to his left knee.It is understood Sussex, who went through a turbulent period under the joint coaching team of Ian Salisbury and James Kirtley before the appointment of Farbrace, are also looking to bring in Australia allrounder Sean Abbott on an all-format deal, and Pakistan legspinner Shadab Khan for the Vitality Blast.

Brisbane Heat will also be missing Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw for the Challenger final at the SCG

Tristan Lavalette31-Jan-2023Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers have been left pondering the sizeable batting holes of their departed Test players ahead of Thursday’s clash at the SCG with a grand final spot up for grabs.Heat captain Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw, along with Sixers opener Steven Smith, will be unavailable for the ‘Challenger’ final due to being part of Australia’s Test tour of India.The Heat trio sparked a resurgence with the team winning six of their last seven matches after being mired for much of the season near the bottom of the ladder.They each made important contributions in finals victories on the road against Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades to have Heat positioned for an unlikely tilt at a second BBL title.Related

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But without three of their top four, Heat’s batting depth will be tested as they recalled Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett to curb an expected fired-up Sixers attack, who were clobbered by Scorchers batters Ashton Turner and Cameron Bancroft in the qualifying final.McSweeney has only played three matches this season, but notably smashed 84 off 51 balls against Sixers in Heat’s 15-run victory at the Gabba in a high-scoring contest on January 1.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, big-hitter Bryant failed to fire from seven matches this season and averaged just 15.71.The 27-year-old Heazlett has not played this season, but the bright finals lights shouldn’t faze him having mustered 48 BBL matches over the past seven seasons.”We have lost some of our Australian players but the guys we are bringing in have played the format before so I don’t have a problem with it,” said Heat coach Wade Seccombe. “They have performed when they came in.”Sixers don’t have as many holes to fill, but nonetheless need to replace Smith, who lit up the BBL with ballistic batting marked by consecutive centuries.Nathan McSweeney will return to Brisbane Heat’s line-up•Getty Images

“We’ve played 10 games without Steve and had a few wins along the way so we’re familiar with this group,” said veteran batter Jordan Silk, who re-signed with Sixers on a three-year deal.Sixers appear to have a ready made replacement in stalwart Daniel Hughes, who has been a reliable batter for Sixers over the years but restricted to just three matches this season.”[Hughes] has trained well, he’s been great around the group all year. He’s probably one of the more unlucky players in the competition to not be playing,” Silk said. “He’s been a reliable performer at the Sixers for a number of years.”There are other options with Kurtis Patterson, who starred as an opener during Perth Scorchers’ title-winning run last season, possibly being considered to move up the order having batted at No. 3 since Smith’s return.While allrounder Hayden Kerr could rekindle his elevation from last season’s corresponding match, where he memorably hit an unbeaten 98 as an opener to lift Sixers past Adelaide Strikers in a last-ball thriller.”[Kerr] is a vital piece for us down in that middle to lower order,” Silk said. “Whether we’d see his value at the top in a game like this, I’m not sure what’ll happen there. He’s almost been probably too good at the role he’s played at six to warrant moving him.”As they eye a seventh grand final appearance, Silk said Sixers would target Heat’s new-look batting line-up.”They have some big holes from a batting sense,” Silk said. “Looking back to the game at the Gabba, where they were without those [Test] batters, [Josh] Brown and McSweeney stepped up. Queensland produce very good cricketers. We will do our research so we can stop them.”The winner plays Perth Scorchers on Saturday at Optus Stadium with a crowd of more than 50,000 expected.

“It’s sad actually that we haven’t toured England again after doing so well, especially in white-ball cricket”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2023Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, has expressed his frustration that his side are not given the opportunity to tour England and Australia more often.Bangladesh have not toured England for a bilateral series since 2010, when they played two Tests and three ODIs. Tamim, then aged 21, hit hundreds at Lord’s and Old Trafford, and while Bangladesh were heavily beaten in both Tests, they took the ODI series to a decider thanks to a memorable win in Bristol.Related

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Their most recent bilateral tour to Australia was even longer ago, a three-match ODI series back in 2008. They are due to travel there for two Tests in March 2027, according to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, but are not due to play an away series against England in this edition of the FTP.”That’s a long way away now, 2010,” Tamim told the UK’s . “But those innings I will always remember. Scoring a hundred in England is not easy, especially for a team like us. The memories are something that, when I’ve finished cricket, I will take forever in my heart.”Those two are really close to my heart, but the most important thing is you guys need to invite us more often. That was the last time we played there, which is unfortunate. Bangladesh is in a situation now where we should tour Australia and England more often and I don’t know why that doesn’t happen.”It’s been 13 years now and we haven’t been back to England. It’s sad actually that we haven’t toured again after doing so well, especially in white-ball cricket.”There are more than 600,000 people in England and Wales who registered as Bangladeshi in the 2021 census, and Bangladesh’s fixtures at the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup attracted substantial crowds.And Tamim believes that would be repeated if Bangladesh were invited for a bilateral tour. “I can guarantee you, it will be less England fans and more Bangladeshi fans, for sure,” he said.”If you remember the 2017 Champions Trophy, we actually outnumbered the English fans… whatever format we play, if we get invited to play in England, it will be a full house.”Bangladesh are due to tour England later this year, but their opponents will be Ireland. The teams are due to play three ODIs in the final fixtures of the ICC’s Super League, which are expected to be staged at Chelmsford in the second week of May. The fixtures have not yet been confirmed.

England seamer has previous IPL experience with CSK, RCB, SRH and KXIP

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2023 • Updated on 09-May-2023England fast bowler Chris Jordan has joined Mumbai Indians as a replacement player for the remainder of IPL 2023.Jordan went unsold at a base price of INR 2 crore at the auction that was held in December last year, but has previous IPL experience with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings.Related

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The 34-year-old has picked up 27 IPL wickets in 28 innings at an average of 30.85 and an economy of 9.32. Jordan last played in the IPL in 2022 for Super Kings, where he managed two wickets in four outings.Mumbai have struggled with their international fast bowlers this season with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable, Jhye Richardson ruled out and Jofra Archer recently returning from Belgium after meeting an elbow specialist. While Riley Meredith replaced Richardson, it is not yet known who Jordan has replaced in the Mumbai camp.*Jordan has recent T20 experience with a season with eventual champions Gulf Giants at the ILT20 tournament in February. He finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker, picking 20 wickets in ten innings, averaging 13.80. He also played three T20Is against Bangladesh last month.Archer is expected to play for Mumbai on Sunday evening against Rajasthan Royals, with the side hoping to move up from ninth on the IPL points table.*

White, who has been in the role since February 2012, said it “feels like the right time to step aside”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2023New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White has announced his decision to step down from the role in August.White, who took over the position in February 2012, is just the fourth chief executive after Chris Doig, Martin Snedden and Justin Vaughan to lead NZC since the adoption of the Hood Report recommendations in 1995.”NZC is in a secure financial position with a solid balance sheet and long-term commercial agreements in place,” he said in a statement. “The BLACKCAPS are strong; women’s cricket is healthy, our high performance programme is producing excellence, and the community game is stable. It feels like the right time to step aside.”During White’s tenure, the New Zealand men’s team won the inaugural World Test Championship and reached the final of the World Cup three times (one T20 and two 50-over World Cups). Under him, New Zealand also took a big step towards pay equality, announcing that their women cricketers will earn the same match fees as the men under a new five-year deal in 2022.”David’s legacy has been immense,” Snedden, now serving as NZC board chair, said. “Our high performance systems have never been stronger, our cricket network has a level of financial security and stability never before experienced, and the future for women and girls has never been brighter.”David’s commercial acumen has driven revenue, enabling increased investment across the organisation. His administrative skills have unearthed unique, bespoke solutions for our high-performance programmes and infrastructure – no better illustrated than in the all-weather, turf-based training facilities now located throughout the country.”White, a former Test cricketer, had also served as chief executive of Auckland Rugby and, before that chief executive of Wellington Rugby before taking up the NZC role.”Under David, cricket in New Zealand has become far more inclusive, especially in regard to women and girls, our tangata whenua, and our Pasifika communities,” Snedden added.”When you think of how he navigated the Covid-19 pandemic, preserving the integrity of the community, domestic and international game, and his strong influence at ICC level, it makes you realise just how lucky we’ve been to have him at the helm.”

Dravid feels the lack of hype going into the final could work in India’s favour

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Jun-20232:38

Pitchside: Rahane asked to keep long-term prospects in mind

“The hype not being there might be a good thing.”With that, India head coach Rahul Dravid ended his media conference on Monday.Rohit Sharma’s India have been in England for close to a week. They slipped in quietly, in batches, to the train in the quieter, and picturesque, environs in Arundel. Both teams arrived in London over the weekend, but the buzz was mostly about the FA Cup final, the train strikes, and a bit about England Bazballing Ireland at Lord’s.Related

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The media interactions with the Australian contingent over the past few days have been dominated by Ashes talk, and you wouldn’t be far off the mark if you felt the WTC final was more of a warm-up for the marquee series of the English summer.The Ashes has been a storied cricketing rivalry and the excitement is palpable, and understandable.But Australia vs India has grown into one of the best cricketing contests in the last two decades. Australia captain Pat Cummins acknowledged that at an ICC event on Sunday, saying the one team that had “really troubled” Australia were India, who have now won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on successive away tours.Still, with warm temperatures forecast for the match, the longer boundaries at The Oval, which also has true bounce, has made pundits like Ricky Ponting and Wasim Akram believe Cummins’ team has a slight edge.India, though, are not worried.”Look, whatever will happen will happen in those five days,” Dravid said. “Anything that happens before or after doesn’t really make a difference. Who is the favourite, who isn’t, when two good teams with good players play, whichever team performs well over the five days will win. I have full hope that if we play good cricket – and we have the ability – we have the players that we can pick 20 wickets, we can score runs, I have full hope that we can win this.”Dravid also said India were not going into the match with the baggage of having not won a world title since MS Dhoni’s team lifted the 2013 Champions Trophy, which was also in England. Since Rohit and Dravid took charge, India have featured in just the one men’s T20 World Cup, in the 2022 edition in Australia, where they reached the semi-final.”No, not at all,” Dravid said when asked if India were feeling the pressure. “I mean, we don’t feel any pressure in terms of trying to win an ICC trophy. Of course, it would be nice to do it. It’s certainly nice to be able to win an ICC tournament. But also in the context of things, you look at this and you see this is the culmination of two years of work, it’s a culmination of a lot of success that gets you here. So there’s a lot of positives to take from that to see where you stand on the table, winning series in Australia, drawing series here, being very competitive everywhere that this team has played in the world over the last five or six years.Dravid: “Being competitive everywhere over the last six years, those are things that will never change just because you have or you don’t have an ICC trophy”•ICC via Getty Images

“Those are things that will never change just because you have or you don’t have an ICC trophy. That’s really the bigger picture. But, of course, it’s nice to be able to lift any game of cricket you want to win. This happens to be a World Test Championship final and it would be nice to get on the right side of the result.”Dravid felt it would be stretching the point by attaching the significance of an Indian win in the WTC final to the long-term health of Test cricket, just like India’s ODI World Cup wins in 1983 and 2007 had done for the exponential growth of the white-ball game.”I don’t think you can compare the two. That was a long time ago and they [ODIs and T20Is] still are the new formats of the game. Test cricket has been around a really long time and I’m not sure one match is going to transform things or change things drastically, irrespective of whichever way it goes,” Dravid said. “Test cricket faces unique challenges; it’s a fantastic game which faces some challenges, which is not necessarily going to change [by] the result of one game.”