Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda chat to Nat Sciver-Brunt ahead of her second stint with Mumbai Indians

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2024In the first episode of ESPNcricinfo Powerplay, Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda catch up with England star Nat Sciver-Brunt as she prepares for her second WPL campaign. They talk player auctions, club vs country and the fact that there’s oh, so much cricket going on.

Since winning the Asia Cup title in 2018, Bangladesh have stagnated while the likes of India and Sri Lanka have zoomed ahead

Madushka Balasuriya26-Jul-2024

Nigar Sultana waged a lone battle for Bangladesh•Getty Images

If there’s one thing this Women’s Asia Cup 2024 has highlighted more than anything else, is a definitive tier list within women’s cricket – but also, simultaneously, the solutions to bridging these ever more apparent chasms.Just days after Bangladesh had routed Malaysia to secure their place in the semi-finals, the stompers swiftly became the stomped as the mighty Indian juggernaut rolled over them like an elephant might an anthill on its way to a watering hole.While such one-sided contests are not uncommon within sports, it was the routine, almost expected nature of it that might have felt a little disheartening for those watching on. This didn’t feel like a semi-final, this didn’t even feel like a contest.Related

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On to the actual matter of the game itself, it might have been a mistake by Bangladesh, in hindsight, to win the toss and bat first. India, as well rounded an outfit as they are, it is still their batting that makes the headlines – and the overwhelming feeling is that they, aided by this batting-friendly Dambulla track, would have chased much more than the 81 they were eventually tasked with running down. Though the speed and efficiency with which they took down the target suggests that perhaps giving this Indian line-up all of 20 overs to bat might have been equally unwise.So yeah, of the two options, maybe the less fanciful one was indeed to put up a borderline competitive score and hope for some Indian jitters. But this tenuous effort to work out win scenarios for Bangladesh probably speaks towards why the broadcast commentators were striving to scavenge any and all threads to manufacture the prospect of an upset – or even a contest. The closest they got was bringing up Bangladesh’s unlikely Asia Cup final win against India in 2018, a tournament in which they had actually beaten India twice.But, alas, that was six years ago, and this India team – favourites even back then – have come a long way since. Bangladesh in the meantime have stagnated.2:01

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And the reasons for this are quite simple. One is of course investment in players from the grassroots up, but more importantly it’s regular experience against the best sides. For all of Bangladesh’s efforts, they rarely face this calibre of opposition outside of a major tournament, and that just isn’t good enough.Of Bangladesh’s 12 bilateral T20I series since that 2018 final, they’ve had just one series against Australia – earlier this year – one against New Zealand, and two against India. India, by contrast, have squared off in eight bilateral series against one of England, Australia or New Zealand, while also having more bilateral series in total (17), in that same period.”Going forward it’s a good experience for the girls to play against a good side,” Bangladesh head coach Hashan Tillakaratne told ESPNcricinfo after the game. “It’s very important [to play more frequently against the better sides]. When you play against the best you develop yourself.”It’s all about knowledge – knowledge wins games – not skills. The skill is there, but they need to understand the game. [The best way to do that] is with higher-level competition. We must play constant matches against the best sides.”And one only needs to look at Sri Lanka to see the benefits that more frequent contests against high-calibre opposition can bring about. It wasn’t long ago that Sri Lanka were essentially the Chamari Athapaththu team, and between a worldwide pandemic and a largely insipid cricket board they weren’t really playing all that many games between major tournaments either.But since 2022 they’ve managed to fit in bilateral series against India, England and New Zealand, among others – beating the latter two as well. The crucial aspect of this for Sri Lanka has also been that this period has coincided with the blooding in of young talent, all of whom are now gaining high-quality experience at a much younger age than those that came before them.But even so, should Sri Lanka make it to the final, despite their recent form they will be considerable underdogs against this well-drilled Indian outfit – such is the advantage derived from proper investment and a head start. They, however, are on the right path and are steadily closing the gap, which means for sides like Bangladesh and those below the blueprint is there. It just needs to be followed.

Soon-to-be-father sticks to the game that got him noticed to drive England into the ascendancy

Vithushan Ehantharajah20-Jul-2024Even before Ben Duckett got his second shot at a Test career on the 2022 tour of Pakistan, the four caps he achieved way back in 2016 were something he was looking forward to telling his grandchildren about.As he awaits the imminent birth of his first child with fiancée, Paige, setting the lineage in motion for those future earwiggers … well, kids, granddad has a few stories to tell. Not just of three centuries – and of a couple of indiscretions that preceded his chance to score them – but of his role in fortifying England’s opening partnership for the first time since 2012. It’s a role he’s performed with the kind of engaging play that, as was the case here on Saturday – and indeed on Thursday – channels an opponent’s energy and fires it straight back at them between the eyes.The 71 runs that West Indies added for their final wicket gave the tourists a not-inconsequential lead of 41, while also prolonging the morning session to further frustrate England. The move to simply not try and get Joshua Da Silva out confused many, who were then irked as No.11 Shamar Joseph started to show his aptitude with the bat. And when Duckett drove into Zak Crawley’s stumps at the non-striker’s end – via the fingertips of Jayden Seales – there was the missing ingredient from the first seven sessions of this second Test. Jeopardy.And then, just like that, it was gone. Ground to a paste and smeared across the Trent Bridge outfield, mainly through cover and backward point. Much like day one, when Crawley fell three balls into England’s opening effort, Duckett – again with the assistance of Ollie Pope – flipped matters with a breezy seventy-odd: another knock that did not trouble the centuries column, but carried as much weight given the circumstances.Then, the left-hander unfurled four consecutive fours against Seales – West Indies’ best last week at Lord’s – propelling England to 50 inside just 4.2 overs to change immediately the mood inside Trent Bridge. This time, the deficit was polished off in 41 deliveries. Duckett assumed a more subdued role with Pope having the honour to tuck into Seales for consecutive boundaries. But he had overtaken Pope by the time he unloaded a hat-trick of sweeps on Kevin Sinclair, which in turn allowed England to bring up their 100 in 18.4 overs. Duckett had 53 of them.Much as had been the case for England, a ball change helped momentarily turn the tide for West Indies. The first 14 deliveries with the replacement accounted for Pope and Duckett, both undone by the sideways movement that the subbed-out Dukes was lacking.Three successive sweeps took Ben Duckett to fifty, and ripped the initiative from West Indies•Getty ImagesOn a true pitch at a boundary-friendly ground, the lead of 99 for the loss of three at that juncture had the game in the balance. But the fact that England had that platform allowed Harry Brook (71 off 78) and Joe Root (37 off 67) to close out the day playing their natural games in the toughest conditions, as the moisture held in the air with the floodlights in use for the final 90 minutes of play.”There are occasions when you’d like to put your feet up for a little bit longer,” Chris Woakes joked when asked what it was like watching a top order perpetually on the charge, unperturbed by the odd casualty.”We’ve committed to that way of playing and, we want to entertain, we want to put the pressure back on the opposition. It’s exciting to watch, but at the same time there are sometimes when you’re like ‘lads can we just bat some overs’ so you can put your feet up! But you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth, the way the guys are playing so far in this game has been incredibly exciting, great to watch and hopefully puts bums on seats.”I also know, while there might also be occasionally chances with the new ball against our opening pair because of the way they play, I also know as a bowler – and an opening bowler – that when you’re put under pressure, it does make it harder to deliver your skill.”It’s worth noting Duckett’s introduction to the team came at a time when the vibes under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes were immaculate. The 2022 summer had hooked everyone in, but the selectors decided Duckett’s flourish was a missing piece. Alex Lees was a surprise casualty as Duckett got the nod for Pakistan. In the 18 Tests since, against six teams spread across three continents, the shorter left-hander is averaging 47 and has struck his 1,504 runs at 88.62.Related

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None of that is put on. It’s not Bazball, counter-attacking or imposing oneself. Simply a bloke who loves going after the ball so much that there were guffaws in the stands when he left his first ball of the innings, from Alzarri Joseph, to nudge his overall leave percentage closer to 2. And, every bit as loud as the cheers that greeted the 11 boundaries that took England away from peril, was the ovation when Duckett walked off with a second tone-shifting innings in three days.That it came at his home ground felt particularly pertinent, given the looming addition to his family speaks of a more grown-up Duckett, without having to shed the impish instincts. A handy sweet spot between maturity and immaturity. Like knowing swearing isn’t big or clever, but still finding it funny.Northamptonshire encouraged the renegade streak, then Nottinghamshire refined it. That included re-shaping his grip after a botched recovery from an operation on the ring finger of his left hand, which resulted in a contorted grip in the 2018 summer, limiting his scoring shots.The issue arose because Duckett returned to action four weeks earlier than he should have done, impatiently trying to state his case for a return to the England team. The recovery took longer than expected, but as he is finding out, good things come to those who wait, even to a man in a hurry. Particularly now he has a few more stories to share with the family. Perhaps even one of a series-clinching Test win in the city they now call home.

And is Harry Brook the youngest Test triple-centurion?

Steven Lynch15-Oct-2024Pakistan lost the first Test against England by an innings despite scoring over 550 in their first innings. What’s the highest score for a team losing by an innings? asked Bernard Woodhams from New Zealand

Pakistan’s 556 against England in Multan was the highest in any Test that was not enough to avoid an innings defeat. The previous record was set fairly recently: Ireland made 492 in Galle in April 2023 , but went on to lose by an innings and ten runs after Sri Lanka declared at 704 for 3.There have been only four higher Test totals that were not enough to insure against defeat. The highest of all remains Bangladesh’s 595 for 8 declared against New Zealand in Wellington in January 2017. Australia made 586 against England in Sydney in December 1894, but lost narrowly even though England followed on; Pakistan scored 579 against England in Rawalpindi in December 2022 but lost; and they also tasted defeat despite making 574 for 8 declared against Australia in Melbourne in 1972-73.This list shows all 19 occasions when a total of 500 or more has not been enough to avoid defeat in a Test. This was the third time in the current century that a team had been bowled out for exactly 556 in a Test – and all three of those ended in defeat.The only higher total in all first-class cricket to result in an innings defeat is Leicestershire’s 584 in a County Championship match at Grace Road in July 2022 – Glamorgan replied with 795 for 5 then bowled the home side out for 183.Six Pakistan bowlers conceded 100 runs in England’s huge innings at Multan. Has this happened before in a Test? asked Aminul Islam from Bangladesh

You’re right that six Pakistan bowlers conceded at least 100 runs in England’s massive total of 823 for 7 in Multan last week. This has happened only once before in a Test: six Zimbabweans went for 100 or more as Sri Lanka hurtled to 713 for 3 declared in Bulawayo in May 2004. But there was a near-miss in Kingston in June 1955, when five West Indians conceded at least 100 runs in Australia’s total of 758 for 8 declared, while Garry Sobers finished with 1 for 99.Was Harry Brook the youngest to score a Test triple-century? asked Casey Dewar from Australia

Rather surprisingly perhaps, 25-year-old Harry Brook comes in quite low on this particular list: ten of the 28 Test triple-centurions were younger when they first achieved the feat. Youngest of all was Garry Sobers, who was 21 when he made 365 not out against Pakistan in Kingston early in 1958. Don Bradman was also 21 – but about three months older – when he hit 304 for Australia against England at Headingley in July 1930.The only younger man to score a triple-century for England is another Yorkshireman, Len Hutton, who was 22 when he amassed 364 against Australia at The Oval in August 1938.England do have the two oldest Test triple-centurions: Andy Sandham was three months short of his 40th birthday when he made 325 (the first Test triple-century) against West Indies in Kingston in April 1930, while Graham Gooch was 37 when he cracked 333 against India at Lord’s in July 1990.Brook is the 11th youngest batter to score a triple-hundred, and the second youngest from England•Getty ImagesBrydon Carse hit the second ball he faced in a Test for six at Multan. Was this a record? asked Jim Macaulay from England

You’re right that Brydon Carse got off the mark in Tests with a six off Saim Ayub in Multan last week. He was the 15th* man whose first scoring shot in Tests was a six, but the first for England.Carse hit his six off the second ball he faced. The only man to hit the first ball he received in a Test for six was the New Zealander Mark Craig, off Sulieman Benn of West Indies in Kingston in June 2014. India’s Rishabh Pant also got off the mark with a second-ball six on debut, off England’s Adil Rashid at Trent Bridge in August 2018.Was India’s 297 the other day the highest score in a T20 international? asked Vivek Vishwarao from India

India’s remarkable 20-over total of 297 for 6 in Hyderabad at the weekend, which set up a big win and a series sweep over Bangladesh, was the second-highest in all men’s T20Is, behind Nepal’s 314 for 3 against Mongolia (who were then bowled out for 41) in the Asian Games in Hangzhou (China) in September 2023.The previous-highest total in a match involving Test-playing nations was Afghanistan’s 278 for 3 against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.There have been five totals of over 300 in women’s T20Is, with the highest being an eye-watering 427 for 1 by Argentina against Chile in Buenos Aires in October 2023. Two days later, Argentina ran up 333 for 1 against the Chileans. The highest in a match involving two Test-playing nations is England’s 250 for 3 against South Africa in Taunton in June 2018.*Oct 16, 02:20 GMT: A correction was made to reflect that Carse was the 15th and not the 13th man whose first scoring shot in Tests was a six.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

Everyone in the squad can expect an opportunity with six matches in less than two weeks

Andrew McGlashan03-Sep-2024An opening bat-off?All eyes will be on Jake Fraser-McGurk. But it’s worth remembering that for all the talk he has generated around the world over the last six months or so, he has yet to make his T20I debut. That will come at some point over the next six matches, but there is no guarantee it will always be in the opening position. Australia are expected to look at a few options as they ponder life after Warner.Related

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It’s been an interesting winter for Fraser-McGurk after shooting to prominence in the IPL for Delhi Capitals following his ODI debut against West Indies last season where he batted as though it was T20s. He was a traveling reserve for the T20 World Cup amid plenty of discussion that he should have been in the main squad, which wasn’t damped by Australia’s Super Eight exit, even if who he would have replaced was never really answered. Then he struggled for runs in the MLC where he made 81 in seven innings for San Francisco Unicorns.It could be that captain Mitchell Marsh partners Travis Head at the top and then the order is built from there. It’s conceivable that over six matches there are six different batting orders. Cameron Green is another option after the success he has previously had at the top of the order, although he expanded his finishing game in the IPL.Jake Fraser-McGurk sparkled at the IPL•Associated PressChance for Ellis to be the leaderIt’s a curious statistic that among Nathan Ellis’ 25 international appearances to date, only one of them has been at home – a T20I against England in 2022 where he took 3 for 20 in a total of 208 for 6. That will surely change come the November white-ball series against Pakistan, but for now it continues to be on the road where his opportunities come. And this tour represents a chance for him to take the lead in an attack where, through little fault of his own, he has often felt like an understudy.Ellis’ numbers, particularly in T20Is, suggest he could have had more chances than have come his way. He played four matches at this year’s World Cup, but only when one of the big three was rested. Now, with Josh Hazlewood’s withdrawal from the Scotland series, he is the Australia’s most experienced quick.It will be interesting to see which phases of the game he is used in. His reputation has been built on being a superb death bowler, but it’s understood that Australia have highlighted their powerplay bowling as an area that needs work. At the last two T20 World Cups crucial defeats by New Zealand (in Sydney) and India (in St Lucia) have come on the back of being dominated by the opposition batters in the first six overs, while against Afghanistan it took them 15.5 overs to break the opening stand.The swing of Xavier Bartlett will be an option while the pace of Riley Meredith has replaced Hazlewood in the squad. Green will likely have a role with the ball as well in the first six and don’t be surprised to see Australia try and squeeze in an over of spin from someone other than Adam Zampa. But with six matches in 12 days, expect everyone to be given a chance at some stage.

Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2024Update: This poll has ended. Virat Kohli’s performance goes into the quarter-finals. Check the other polls here.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnil Kumble bowled 88.5 overs and took 12 wickets at the SCG•William West/AFP

Anil Kumble – 8-141 & 4-138 in Sydney, 2004

Match drawn, series drawn 1-1Anil Kumble’s match-winning ability was unquestionable at home but he hadn’t earned a similar reputation overseas. This Australia tour was an opportunity to improve that aspect of his game. Having started the tour on the bench, he replaced an injured Harbhajan Singh in the second Test. By the time the final match began at the SCG, with the series level 1-1, Kumble had bowled the most overs by an Indian bowler and taken a five-for in the famous win in Adelaide.In Sydney, after India posted 705 in the first innings, Kumble bowled 46.5 overs to pick up 8 for 141, his second-best haul after his perfect ten, and give India a lead of 231, which they extended to 442 before declaring late on the fourth day.Bowling another 42 overs in Australia’s second innings, Kumble went on to take 4 for 138 – his match-haul of 12 was his best overseas – but India were only able to take six wickets in total, falling agonisingly short of what would have been their maiden series win down under.By Shashank KishoreWatch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from October 25 onwards.Virat Kohli was batting on another level in Perth 2018•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Virat Kohli – 123 in Perth, 2018

India lost by 146 runs, series level 1-1Virat Kohli was already one of India’s greatest batters before 2018. He stepped up to an even more rarefied level that year, scoring 1322 runs at an average of 55.08 over 24 innings, of which 22 were played in South Africa, England and Australia.Conditions in all three tours were hard on batters, but the more challenging they became, the more Kohli seemed to relish them. When he walked in to bat in Perth, everything must have looked familiar. India had lost the toss and conceded a bigger total than they should have, bowling well but not without spells of releasing pressure. Then they lost early wickets.In similar circumstances, Kohli had scored 153 at Centurion and 149 at Edgbaston. Now, from 8 for 2, he proceeded to play an even better innings. This was a proper trampoline of a pitch, and Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were routinely getting the ball to rear throat-high from just back of a length. Kohli negotiated the vertical threat expertly, though not without suffering blows to his arm and ribs, but the standout feature of his innings was how well he dealt with Australia’s attempts to sucker him with full balls after pushing him back.Almost every time there was an opportunity to drive, he did so pristinely, down the ground or through the covers with a decisive front-foot stride. A 20th century version of this list would have undoubtedly contained Sachin Tendulkar’s 114 in Perth in 1992. Kohli’s innings came at Perth Stadium and not the WACA, and just as the new ground seamlessly carried forward the old one’s legacy of pace and bounce, a new master had carried forward an old master’s legacy.Karthik Krishnaswamy

Having made his Test debut earlier this year, the Bengal fast bowler is ready to go again after recovering from dengue fever

Shashank Kishore04-Sep-2024On a pleasant Bengaluru afternoon, after working up a sweat during an intense training session, India fast bowler Akash Deep is on his phone to check scores of the first Rawalpindi Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh.He’s aware he could be in contention for India’s home Tests against Bangladesh later in September, and wants to see how their batters are faring. Watching cricket that is relevant to his immediate assignments has been Akash’s night-time routine lately. During the day, he’s been ramping up his bowling workloads and training hard.”I haven’t played any competitive cricket since the Bengal T20 League in June,” Akash tells ESPNcricinfo ahead of the Duleep Trophy from September 5 in Bengaluru and Anantapur. Dengue fever had sidelined him for three weeks until mid-July, but he’s done the work since to get himself ready in time for India’s home season, and hopes to add to his maiden Test cap that he earned against England in Ranchi this year.”I was on complete bed rest for those three weeks. When I came back to bowl, I realised the body takes time to get back into rhythm. You can do as much gym work as you want, but unless you bowl, those bowling muscles don’t open up.”Akash, 27, is just four seasons old in first-class cricket, and he’s made a strong impression as a skiddy bowler who can dart the ball both ways. When he was spotted by former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary during a club game in Kolkata in 2018, Akash caused both “hair-raising excitement” – in Tiwary’s words – and frustration because of his tendency to bowl “four good balls and two hit-me balls.” A conversation with India fast bowler Mohammed Shami in Kolkata was a turning point.”He spoke to me about his issues with fitness, what he did to improve, how he came back from injuries,” Akash says. “That chat gave me perspective. I used to bowl mid-130s, but after following his advice, I worked on my fitness and I realised slowly I could bowl long spells without being tired.”In red-ball cricket, I’ve been focusing on consistency. How long can you land the ball on the same spot? Sometimes when there’s nothing in the wicket, you can tire out. My focus has been on building my endurance to bowl long spells and remaining consistent because you need to keep up the pressure and not leak runs.”As a fast bowler, I keep discussing with so many coaches. It’s about building up to get wickets in Tests. The formula doesn’t change, A good ball is a good ball at both club level and international level. My job is to keep hitting the five-to-seven metre mark, keep it there. The more you can bowl there, the more successful you will be.”These habits earned him three wickets in his first hour as a Test cricketer: Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley in the bag before he was six-overs old in Ranchi. As he reflects on those emotions now, Akash has put the giddy high of his Test debut behind him.”When you work hard and come this far, there’s a feeling from within that that I need to do a lot more to stay here. That’s my thinking. I feel I needed to work harder, so that I can play a lot many more Tests.”The journey to his India cap has been tough. In 2015 his father and brother, both of whom were unwell, died in the span of two months. It was then that he considered leaving home for Kolkata to play cricket seriously.”A lot has changed but I think of my dad,” Akash says. “I wish he’d seen me play Tests. Whenever I’m low or in need of that extra push, I think of him. It gives me the strength to get even better.”Akash Deep with his family on the day of his Test debut•BCCIAkash comes from Sasaram, a town in rural Bihar, where in 2007 his entire neighbourhood pooled in money to rent a generator and a TV to watch India play Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final. Sixteen years later, they were gathered around a giant screen outside his house to watch one of them play for India. Akash’s mother and sister, though, were rushing to Ranchi at a few hours’ notice, to watch him get his Test cap from Rahul Dravid.”Growing up, people in our village used to scold us whenever we talked about cricket,” he says. “All we kept hearing was it won’t feed us. No one had ever done anything that could be considered a big achievement. No history of sports, no proper grounds or infrastructure. But when I went back home after my Test debut, I saw kids playing with such joy and parents actually encouraging them. If because of me, awareness in my town has gotten better, what more can I ask for?”Akash is earnest and articulate. He attributes this to his mentors and expresses gratitude towards those who have helped him.”Arun Lal, he’s done so much for me,” Akash says, when asked about those he looks up to. “It’s amazing how some people come into your life. At a time when I didn’t believe in myself, he’d tell me how I’m the best and how I had everything to succeed. Those words to a nobody were very encouraging.”He believed in me more than I believed in myself. That motivated me to learn. When I made my Test debut, I called him to get his blessings. He said, ‘I knew this would happen, I told you five years ago.’ If you’re at five, he’ll build you up to be 10 on 10.”There’s determination to Akash and a hunger that leaves little room for complacency. He knows he’s just getting started. “I feel every stage I’ve got chance, I’ve tried to perform well. But I don’t feel I’ve achieved a lot. As a person there’s no age to learning. If I get into this mindset that I’ve achieved, then that (hunger) dies. I want to just stay fit, keep playing, focusing on that and not think of what I’ve done.”My mindset is simple. The next match I play is the most important match of my life.”

He did it on Thursday. He did it on Friday too. This time he got to triple digits with shots all around the park, and celebrated in style after what’s been a tough cricketing period for him

Vishal Dikshit24-Jan-2025Shardul Thakur likes batting in difficult situations. He had said as much on Thursday, after he had put together 51 off 57 after coming in with Mumbai 42 for 6 against Jammu & Kashmir. On Friday, he took the rescue act up a notch, delivering an unbeaten century at almost a run a ball having come in at 91 for 6, with Mumbai leading by just five runs.All this when the recent past has not been kind to him. Shardul the allrounder was a regular in and around the India set-up at the end of 2023 before a foot surgery kept him out for more than half of 2024, and he hasn’t found a way back in since. Even though he has added consistency to his batting: four of his 14 first-class half-centuries and both his centuries have come in the last two domestic seasons. And much of this has been crisis batting, including 109 off 105 from 106 for 7 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semi-final last season, followed by 75 off 69 from 111 for 6 against Vidarbha to set up the title win.And he went unsold at the mega auction ahead of the IPL 2025 season. “You have to forget whatever has happened in the past,” he had said on Thursday. It is perhaps this practicality that helps him stay in the present when he walks out to bat in tough situations.Related

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What worked in his favour on Friday was that the ball was more than 25 overs old when he came out, and had lost all its swing. So, when he saw width on offer, he didn’t shy away from slashing over the infield on the off side. When the fast bowlers pitched it short, he middled his pulls. And the shots kept coming.First ball after tea, when Mumbai were 174 for 7, Thakur punched Umar Nazir Malik through the off side for four and, three balls later, pulled a short ball to the boundary. In the next over he swept left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq for another four to get to a 59-ball half-century. What did slow him down a bit was cramps; he had to call out the physio a couple of times after he crossed 50 and was clearly struggling between the wickets.The worst of it seemed to have passed by the time he got into the seventies, and his strokes reflected that. He pounced on fast bowler Yudhvir Singh outside off on 80 with such timing that he made it look like he was picking the length against a spinner. Two balls later, he clobbered Yudhvir over the covers with disdain to take the lead past 150 in style. On 94, he hooked Auqib Nabi and got a leading edge, but also four more. He was on 98, his team was still not on top of the game with the lead only 162, but Thakur kept going for it. He lofted the next ball straight down the ground, didn’t middle it at all, but it landed just beyond mid-off’s reach.

When Shardul Thakur saw width on offer, he didn’t shy away from slashing over the infield on the off side. When the fast bowlers pitched it short, he middled his pulls. And the shots kept coming.

Next over, against Mushtaq, he brought out the sweep on 99 and got the run that cued telling celebrations: he ran at speed (what cramps?) with his bat held high, punched the air, let out a scream, and pointed to the sky. It showed what the knock meant to him.The Mumbai dressing room, which had been dour and gloomy for most of the day, broke into rapturous applause, acknowledging a rare feat from a No. 8: Thakur was only the 13th player to score a fifty and a hundred in the same first-class match batting at No. 8 or lower since 2006.The J&K bowlers knew the pitch had nothing to offer now and they started peppering him with short balls. He took a blow on his chest near the left shoulder, got some ice treatment on the field, and still went on. He ramped Nabi’s short ball over the keeper for four, and eventually walked back unbeaten on 113 off 119 with Tanush Kotian – again, his support act from the semi-final last season – for company on 58 off 119.It was another Thakur knock that will go down as one that saved Mumbai’s blushes, even putting them a little in front after they’d been far behind. Maybe it will serve Thakur well to remember these bits of the past.

He delivered more overs than any other bowler, was faster and better than any other, but was the most expensive of the three specialist quicks

Danyal Rasool27-Dec-2024Like blindly following the recipe book for an exotic dish, it was hard to say what Naseem Shah was cooking up at first this morning. He began groggily, throwing the ball up in search of swing as if this was a Rawalpindi winter day and not a Centurion summer one. He barely broached 135kph, and was much too wide, so any away movement only meant an extra lunge for Mohammad Rizwan. If something was brewing, it was difficult to tell what that might have been.But it was that kind of morning session, a bowling effort on psychedelics, balls just floating into the ether, hovering there briefly as if the laws of gravity had briefly been suspended, and barely kissing the surface before dancing away into the wind. On a pitch where banging the ball into the surface has been the most proven way to get results, Naseem was rejecting conventional wisdom, no discernible logic behind this iconoclasm. Mohammad Abbas, 13 years his senior, tried following the rulebook to a tee, bless him. But at his pace, with little work going into the ball off his wrist, even the Centurion surface struggled to give him a leg up.So Shan Masood took him off after a four-over burst. Naseem has built up quite the oeuvre of glorious failure, the universe seemingly conspiring to refuse to give him what he was owed. But he knows, better than most, how frugal with the distribution of joy the world can sometimes be, and he will have known that on this occasion, his empty-handedness was well-deserved.Related

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“You have to learn to adjust in new conditions,” Naseem admitted after the match. “It’s not easy but you have to be disciplined and adjust to different conditions quickly. The pitch here is at a bit of a height and the ground at a depression, so I think you have to adjust as a bowler, and it took me a few overs to do that.”But there was something Test cricket saw in Naseem, something it liked. In a country that has recently seen its express quick either lose their pace, or their interest in Test cricket, or both, Naseem still has it all.By his second spell, he was pushing up as high as 145.9kph, he had dragged his lengths back. The rebellious streak was gone, the spell was beginning to come of age, and the recipe book was being faithfully followed. When it still wouldn’t produce a wicket, Naseem dealt with the setbacks with wistful smiles rather than visible agitation. After all, he had seen from the dugout the fickle nature of Test cricket’s generosity; Kagiso Rabada had bowled better than any of the Pakistan bowlers without being rewarded for it.David Bedingham had ridden his luck against Naseem, surviving a review off the first ball of Naseem’s return spell. Pakistan, to be fair, managed their reviews about as efficiently as many lottery winners do their prizes, but it did signal a shift in intensity from a bowler whose ceiling remains a formidable force to handle. Bedingham soon paid the price for his insouciance when a shade of extra bounce, thanks to improved lengths and higher pace, became too hot to handle, and Naseem had begun to put a spell of proper old-ball Test match fast bowling together either side of lunch. Kyle Verreynne was goaded into a similar shot, and outdone by a similar delivery.By now, the crowd by Castle Corner had broken out into a chorus of grudging respect; South African spectators cannot help, it would seem, but respect a fast bowler operating at the top of his game. Chants of “Naseem! Naseem” began to go up every time he walked back to the mark, but it was the afternoon, and they were well lubricated by now, so you may be able to put some of the generosity down to that. Apparently, SuperSport Park sold more than 1 million Rand worth of alcohol on day one; the eye test would suggest day two wasn’t far behind.

“You have to learn to adjust in new conditions. It’s not easy but you have to be disciplined and adjust to different conditions quickly.”Naseem Shah

Naseem knew, though, that this day had been generous to Pakistan; none of the other bowlers had come close to matching his quality, and yet South Africa were suddenly seven down; the woefully out of form Marco Jansen was meat and drink for Naseem. By then Naseem’s second spell was a match-turning one: 3 for 28 in five overs, and the question turned from the size of South Africa’s lead to the possibility they may not get one at all.On other occasions, in other countries, that might have been work done for a brittle, express pace bowler, but Masood felt Pakistan had no other well to turn to. He tied Aiden Markram up at one end, inducing him into a false shot against Khurram Shahzad at the other end. And still Naseem bowled, him powering on from the media end blending into the background of the day. Drinks came and went, and Naseem was still there, pace slightly down, but banging it into the pitch and asking the same questions.”Fast bowling is not easy but you have to be ready. I always try to work hard and bowl more in the nets and even in domestic cricket.”The team needed it, and obviously when the captain asks you, you have to be ready. That is my habit as a fast bowler, to accept the ball when needed. I hadn’t known it would happen, but the captain thought about which bowler would be more impactful, and asked me to bowl. My body’s fine.”However, the good balls were no longer producing edges, and the occasional loosener that crept into his spell was being put away by Corbin Bosch, exactly the sort of player who Pakistan tend to allow dream career starts. There were five overs between Naseem getting a break, and the captain turning right back to him, but now, Test cricket was playing hard-to-get with him once more.The field had been spread out for Bosch, the sniff of optimism from the early afternoon had gone. The
crowd, too, began to treat Naseem as the figure of heroic failure he was becoming as the innings dragged on, playfully booing every appeal, and then shouting “review it” once Pakistan’s profligacy had squandered them all.South Africa had added 88 for the last two wickets, and, despite delivering more overs than any other bowler, faster than any other bowler, better than any other bowler, Naseem’s figures showed he was the most expensive of the three specialist quicks. It is a wonder Naseem plays Test cricket with a smile on his face, but Pakistan are fortunate he does. And perhaps, a pleasant festive afternoon when Test cricket briefly smiles back is all the reward he needs.