Marks out of ten for Bangladesh’s players after their landmark Test series in Sri Lanka that finished in a 1-1 draw

Mohammad Isam21-Mar-20178.5Mushfiqur Rahim (193 runs at 64.33, four catches, one stumping)
Bangladesh’s captain was the team’s best performer when the pressure reached its apex. In Galle, after he was relieved off wicketkeeping duties, he battled hard in both innings with the bat despite the remaining batsmen faltering. In Colombo he was involved in a crucial partnership with Shakib Al Hasan in the first innings and when Bangladesh needed a chaperone in the 191-run chase, he was there too. His anticipation to catch Niroshan Dickwella’s sweep in Colombo was a feather in his cap during the series.8Shakib Al Hasan (162 at 40.50, nine wickets at 39.77)
He scored Bangladesh’s only century in the series, which was a very un-Shakib like batting performance for most of his 116 runs. He started off carelessly but tightened up and then played a mix of dominating strokes, while anchoring two different partnerships. With the ball, he had a better time in Colombo than in Galle, delivering spells in which he looked like taking a wicket every over. He was the perfect foil for Mustafizur Rahman in the crucial afternoon session on the fourth day.Mustafizur Rahman (eight wickets at 27.50)
This was Mustafizur’s first Test series since his debut against South Africa in 2015, so there weren’t a lot of expectations on his recently-fixed shoulders. But he was the best Bangladeshi bowler on show in both Tests. While the rest of the bowling attack came up short in the first game, Mustafizur was good at attacking the batsmen as well as bowling defensive spells. His cutters started to flow out right and his round-the-wicket angle tested the Sri Lankan right-handers constantly in Colombo. They eventually succumbed to his ‘carrot balls’ outside off, edging thrice and handing the advantage back to Bangladesh.7.5Tamim Iqbal (207 runs at 51.75)
Tamim was underwhelming in Galle, following up a confident 57 with a low score. In Colombo, he started similarly with his 49 in the first innings, but it was his 82 in the second that played a major role in Bangladesh’s win. He took his time to settle down before a calculated counterattack against Sri Lanka’s spinners. Tamim’s stability also enabled three Bangladesh half-century opening stands in four innings.7Mehedi Hasan (ten wickets at 35.10)
He was Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in the Test series, making important breakthroughs and ensuring that he was an attacking option for his captain. Mehedi has to curb his run-rate, which will come with experience but he bowls tight lines against right-handers. At the start of the fourth day, Mehedi’s superb off-break removed Upul Tharanga while on the fifth day, his smart pick-up at the stumps completed Dilruwan Perera’s important run-out.6.5Sabbir Rahman (one Test, 83 runs at 41.50)
He was a last-minute inclusion for the Colombo Test, and should have scored more than 42 and 41. He was given a high batting spot, No. 4, which he should have nailed, given his starts. In the second innings, however, Sabbir showed why he is rated highly. He joined Tamim in the counterattack, starting off with a reverse sweep and then crunching drives and cuts in the 109-run second-wicket stand. In the first innings too, he looked positive and continually put pressure on the bowlers.6Soumya Sarkar (195 runs at 48.75)
Sarkar struck three successive fifties, which is a rarity for a Bangladeshi opener, but his highest score of 71 showed that he wasn’t prepared to do the hard work after getting starts. When he holed out to mid-off in the fourth innings in Colombo, Sarkar’s collection in the series ultimately looked a bit meaningless. But one good thing, at least for the upcoming limited-overs matches, is that Sarkar is in good form. Credit to Sarkar also because of the three decent opening stands he was involved in, with Tamim.Mosaddek Hossain’s debut half-century set up Bangladesh’s win after Shakib Al Hasan hit a memorable 116 in Colombo•Associated PressMosaddek Hossain (one Test, 88 runs at 44.00)
Mosaddek debuted in the Colombo Test and his first-innings 75 was a glimpse of what Bangladesh can expect from him in the season ahead. He will also prompt a major discussion in the selection panel next time Bangladesh play a Test. Mosaddek possesses confidence and doesn’t look to do anything that he is not trained to do. His impressive handling of Rangana Herath in both innings was noteworthy.5Liton Das (one Test, 40 runs at 20.00, two catches)
He did a good job as the designated wicketkeeper in the first Test, taking a fine catch to remove Dickwella. He seems like the right choice to replace Mushfiqur behind the stumps, but Liton also needs to get into the mindset of a No. 7 batsman if he is to keep his Test spot in the long-term. Technique doesn’t seem to be a major issue at the moment, so a bit of mental adjustment could keep him in the selectors’ interests.4.5Subashis Roy (three wickets at 75.33)
Subashis was a surprise choice as Mustafizur Rahman’s foil in the second Test but he mostly held his own. His wicket-taking would depend largely on boring the batsman out. But for that, the team management must be patient with him, given that they seem to be picking horses-for-courses while selecting a new-ball partner for Mustafizur. Subashis gave a decent account of his ability to bowl tightly from one end while others attacked.Taijul Islam (one Test, two wickets at 39.00)
He was under-bowled in the second innings in Colombo but broke a crucial partnership by removing Rangana Herath. In the first innings he took Dhananjaya de Silva’s wicket, also breaking an important 66-run fifth wicket stand. An economical bowler, Taijul will remain Bangladesh’s go-to spinner when they are looking for someone to support Shakib and Mehedi.4Imrul Kayes (one Test, 34 runs at 17.00)
In Colombo, he replaced Mominul Haque at No 3, starting well in the first innings but giving it away and triggering a collapse. In the second innings he was unlucky that he got a peach from Herath first ball. He should still be challenging Soumya for the opening slot.3.5Taskin Ahmed (one Test, two wickets at 54.50)
Taskin took two wickets in Galle but was possibly sacrificed for the Colombo game because of a new rotation policy. The selectors felt that Subashis can offer more control than him, thereby complementing Mustafizur, who is the natural attacker. Taskin also has to introduce his own method of cutting out the boundary balls during the middle and end part of spells. His pace is an asset to this attack, but to be useful with Mustafizur, he would have to bowl a lot better than he did in this series.3Mominul Haque (one Test, 12 runs at 6.00)
This was his worst Test series, but it is too early to say that Mominul Haque’s place in the Test team is uncertain. He doesn’t get to play a lot of Tests, so he must be given a longer rope than other batsmen. He is a settled No. 3, and although there was enough reason to drop him in Colombo, he must be picked next time.2Mahmudullah (one Test, eight runs at 4.00)
It wasn’t a great two weeks for Mahmudullah who lost his place after the first match and was subject to off-field drama before the landmark 100th Test. While he is a strong limited-overs performer, he has to work on his Test approach, which means that he should play a lot of first-class cricket next season.

The spectator experience in Indian stadiums can often be unpleasant. One group of fans from Mumbai wants to change that, one chant at a time

Snehal Pradhan02-Apr-2017When I was running in and scaring tailenders in my Under-16 days, I was a very vocal cricketer. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean I sledged the opposition. But I did scream at them from the sidelines. Or rather, chant at them.Every wide ball our batsmen got was greeted by a sadistic ” wide ball ” (How are you feeling now? Feeling great.) If you have played junior team sports, chances are that lines of this sort are more than words on a screen to you; they are tunes in your head.When I graduated from age-group cricket, the chants disappeared (as did the U-16 tournament; when the BCCI took over in 2006, they didn’t bother running one and still don’t). As we grew older, we left behind those markers of immaturity and got down to the serious business of making runs and taking wickets.I hoped to rediscover those chants whenever I went to watch a live game. But while there are always crowds for international games in India, there is no real chanting, only chatter. Lots of acclamation, some heckling, even abuse, but little chanting, organised or otherwise.A bunch of cricket nuts in Mumbai have been trying to change that.

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Anish D’Souza lives in the US, but mentally he’s wherever there is cricket. He is the kind of fan who has two or three screens in front of him showing whatever cricket is on around the globe. If there is a Test in India, he doesn’t get much sleep. If there is a Test at the Wankhede, he is there in person. Most non-resident Indians try to visit home during festivals and holidays; Anish plans his trips based on the Future Tours Programme.Growing up in Mumbai, Anish was a regular at the Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums for Tests since 2004.With the Barmy Army: (from left) Vipul Yadav, Chris Millard, Anish D’Souza, Andy Thompson and Ashutosh Shirke•North Stand Gang”I saw the same few faces come every time,” D’Souza says. “We would come, cheer, chant, and go back.” But back then they didn’t allow phones into the stadium. The first time they did – in 2009 at Brabourne – he took down the numbers of these like-minded fans. That was how the North Stand Gang was born.

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Sport pulls people into stadia and momentarily binds them together. For the North Stand Gang, those bonds did not dissolve when they left the stadium. When did they really become a gang? “After WhatsApp,” says Sabarish Gopalkrishnan, one of their more recent members. “When most of us were still students and in Mumbai, we used to meet almost every other weekend,” D’Souza says. Even now, while life has taken them to different cities and countries, some of them remain friends.These conversations, over social media and in person, led to the decision to watch every Test and some ODIs together as a group.They shared train schedules and traffic updates. They harangued the Mumbai Cricket Association to find out match dates, and the ticket booking company, with tweets and calls, for ticket release dates. A volunteer stays up at night to book tickets in bulk. Always the North Stand of the Wankhede (the 2009 Test was the last the Brabourne hosted), Level Three, blocks G and H, which have a straight view of the pitch.”There is only one condition to join the North Stand Gang. You have to be loud and keep chanting,” says Kishan Purohit, one of the core members of the group. No strident vuvuzelas allowed here, though. “We want innovative chants. . They may mean nothing, but they get the crowd going.” The one with the loudest voice leads, the others follow. When vocal cords need a rest, another becomes the herald.Where the Gang got organised: the 2009 Brabourne Test between India and Sri Lanka•North Stand GangSome of them are fans of European football and have brought across chants from there. “Ole, ole, ole” becomes “Kohli, Kohli, Kohli”. “Oh Robin van Persie” becomes “Sir Ravi Jadeja”. When there’s a lull in play, they even sing the good old “Washing Powder Nirma” ad jingle.

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For last December’s Wankhede Test against England, the North Stand Gang was perfectly synchronised, turning up in identical t-shirts, which, designed by one of their own, Vipul Yadav, recount the history of the Wankhede. They also had five banners, all signed by Sachin Tendulkar. There were close to 40 people sitting together (thanks to them having booked 40 tickets at 1am, within minutes of release). Forty may seem a small number in a stadium of 30,000, but it is enough to get critical mass. Herd mentality does the rest. The gang is the crowd version of Twitter influencers, and can start Mexican waves at will. Besides, it’s not too hard to get people to join in when you are chanting “” (One two, one two, hit Ben Stokes out of here).”Yes, we can be a bit hostile,” says Purohit, trying to smile angelically. Even abusive? He grins, halo fading slightly. “But on the whole, our Mumbai crowd is very mature.”D’Souza backs him up in a separate conversation. “I had gone to watch an India-Pakistan game at the Eden Gardens in 2013. India did badly, and the fans turned on us and booed our team. We support India till the end.” Even when South Africa score 434 in an ODI? “Yes, even then,” says Purohit.At Sachin Tendulkar’s final Test, 2013•North Stand GangThe North Stand Gang even earned the respect of the Barmy Army during that December Test. So impressed was the Army by the Gang’s gusto, they presented the group with an England flag signed by the entire contingent and their official book of chants. The North Stand Gang in turn gave the Barmy Army one of their T-shirts. It was validation of the sort these fans had never expected.

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In 2011, while studying at IIT Bombay, D’Souza volunteered to teach maths and science at the Shindewadi Municipal Public School in Dadar. But he ended up teaching the students whatever he knew, which included music and sport: cricket and football mostly. He even roped in some of the North Stand Gang to help on occasion.By then the Gang had been watching Tests together for a couple of years, and some of them had even followed India around in the 2011 World Cup. For the final alone, they spent thousands, despite having booked tickets well in advance. It was a kind of excess that most of D’Souza’s students probably couldn’t imagine. He decided to involve them.”We asked for voluntary donations from North Stand Gang regulars, and so many pitched in to buy tickets for these kids,” D’Souza says. “I had a chat with the principal and we agreed that the best students from two classes would get to go.” For day one of the India-West Indies Test in 2011, which ended in a draw with the scores level, the North Stand Gang enjoyed the company of children from the Shindewadi school.”This was before the BCCI and MCA started getting schoolchildren to games,” D’Souza says. “They got to see Sachin live. It was a special moment for all of us.”The Gang members present one of their T-shirts to the Barmy Army•North Stand GangThe next year, D’Souza arranged for female students from the school to attend an India v Australia women’s ODI, for which entry was free. And for some time now, the Gang has also arranged for entry for a few die-hard chanters who have been with them for a while but can no longer afford to buy tickets nowadays.

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A few North Stand Gang regulars came down to Pune for the first Test of the India-Australia Test series, Gopalakrishnan among them. A data analyst who thinks GRE math is a walk in the park, his real talent in the stadium is with his hands. With crisp, infectious clapping, he roused the somnolent Pune crowd to slow-clap in sync with the bowlers’ run-ups. Every boundary was celebrated with a mini-dance, like a Mexican wave that began and ended with him. No poor ball was spared. “Short ?” (Why are you bowling short, man?), he yelled at R Ashwin on day two. Immediately after that he launched into a story of how he used to bowl offspin with a rubber ball, and how difficult it is to control.It’s not just a red haze of passion, there is knowledge here too. Adoration of both craftsmen and the craft.Gopalakrishnan and his friends started most of the chants in their stand over three depressing days for India in Pune and brought some life into the crowd. It had a downside, though; when he jumped a barricade to get into a stand with a better view, stadium security took all of two minutes to recognise him and help him back to his seat.

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Some might associate Test match viewers with old-timers, but most of these men and women – yes, it isn’t just a boys’ club – of the Gang are in their twenties, working in IT or accounting or finance. And they are purists, attending every Test, picky when it comes to ODIs, and giving the IPL a miss altogether. “A Test is like a storybook. Each day a different chapter,” D’Souza says. “In a T20, the match is over before you can absorb the experience. Also, tickets to the IPL are very overpriced.”At the 2011 World Cup•North Stand GangPurohit echoes his sentiments. “We want younger viewers to come and support the Tests. Tests need a different temperament. Even the temperament of fans has to change.”In this age of top-class TV coverage and stinking stadium toilets, astronomical prices and endless security checks, why should fans go to a stadium to watch a game of cricket anymore? The North Stand Gang is one answer. Like the West Block Blues, Bangalore FC’s loyal fans, they offer an organised fan experience, still a new concept in India.So for the next Test in Mumbai, you know where to go: Wankhede Stadium, North Stand, Level Three, Blocks G and H. Go ahead, teach this lot a few chants yourself.

South Africa had almost the same team that got thrashed by England in the 2014 World T20 semi-final. What has turned them into such an intimidating side?

Jarrod Kimber17-Jul-2017The ball is still rising; it feels like it will always be. It has cleared the fielder, the rope, the electronic fence and the speaker system, and flies at least forty metres over a boundary that has been placed so her so-called fairer sex can clear the rope. If there is a ground that can contain her, it certainly isn’t to be found in the roped-off postage stamps of the women’s games. This six almost ends up out of Grace Road. Lizelle Lee hits a lot of sixes.She hits so many she currently has over 12% of the sixes scored in this World Cup. She’s a better six hitter than Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies. It would be unfair to focus only on her six-hitting power, because she was the reason that South Africa had enough runs to panic against Pakistan, the reason India got crushed, and the reason her team was set up to go past 300 against England. And that’s all fine, nice and wonderful, but she hits the ball like she has a dark prior history with it, and no one else is hitting the ball as far, or anywhere near as often.Lee has gone from an average middle order player with no impact on the game to a genuine threat at the top of the order. Her team has done the same.It was not that long ago that the South African team was a non-entity. They did make the 2014 WT20 semi-final, but in that match they had two players score double figures, and England chased down their total one wicket down with more than three overs to spare. It was their only success since a surprise World Cup semi-final in 2000. As women’s cricket has got better and better, South Africa have struggled.Lee opens the batting with Laura Wolvaardt, who is probably the biggest prodigy in the game. At 16 she walked into the team like a fierce magical heroine from a far-off land. Dane van Niekerk had never even heard of her before she was picked, but after watching her once in the nets, was completely won over. Wolvaardt has so much time to see each delivery that it feels like she could plan a backpacking holiday as Anya Shrubsole was delivering an inswinger. According to van Niekerk, “she’s not 18 when you speak to her, it’s weird. She’s not 18 when she bats.”Then there is van Niekerk, a warhorse captain who passionately supports her team. An allrounder who bowls leggies, her bowling economy in this tournament is 3.26, which would be impressive in any case, but is more so since she also has 15 wickets at 8.3. Yet she has said she still isn’t in rhythm yet and has been lucky with her bowling. Most people don’t get that lucky, or in that kind of rhythm once in a lifetime.Then there are her pace bowlers. According to Van Niekerk, “I came into the World Cup thinking I had the best opening attack in the world”. The only thing that has changed since then is she now thinks her other bowlers have improved enough for her attack to be the best. She has pace in Shabnim Ismail, constant probing from Marizanne Kapp and massive swing from Moseline Daniels. But this is the weird thing about this bowling attack, and really, the entire team: They have all been there for a long time.Dane van Niekerk has inspired South Africa’s charge in the tournament, on and off the field•ICC/GettyComing into this tournament they were ranked sixth in the world. But during the last two years, they have played 33% more ODIs than any other team – double the amount West Indies have played. Of the team that England smashed in the 2014 WT20, nine have already played in this tournament; all nine could even line up in the semi. So it’s almost the same side, just with an added batting prodigy, and somehow they’ve gone from a curiosity – why are South Africa never any good – to a semi-finalist and future contender.So this is a team that has grown up together, is finally getting proper off-field support, plays more than anyone else, and has their line up right. It’s not a surprise that they’ve finally become a decent team. Before the World Cup, the team got together to come up with a slogan for their tournament. This is not new for South African teams; ‘ProteaFire’ is something that has been used for years by the male team. But the women went for something different: always rising.”We always want to get better day by day, and like what happened in the first game against England, you get knocked out, it’s about how you rise,” was how van Niekerk explained the slogan. The phrase came from the CSA publicity team sitting down with the team and asking them about their core values. There is no doubt that good things have come since the team and CSA started working so closely together.Van Niekerk was 10 in 2000 when they made their previous semi-final, and she doesn’t remember it at all. This time they have the chance to make a far bigger impact. It’s more than just winning, they are playing to inspire. They know that there are more girls out there like Wolvaardt, and the more they win, the more chance they have of finding them. Every time Lee smacks a six, Ismail uproots a stump, and South Africa wins, they are building the game for their country. If they beat England, they have more than a chance of winning the tournament, but for them, they also have a chance of winning fans at home.England look reformed in this tournament, and as good as South Africa have been, it was England who kicked them the hardest. But regardless of the result, they will be playing in front of the biggest audience they’ve ever played for. The way they play, it’s going to fun to watch them regardless.They might lose, but like a Lizelle Lee six, they are still rising.

Natalie Sciver’s 137 from 92 balls was significantly more than Pakistan managed in nearly 30 overs. But it was in the field that they showed their naivety

Jarrod Kimber at Grace Road27-Jun-2017The first six of the 40th over came from the third ball. The ball landed next to the sightscreen. Nat Sciver had barely hit it; this was no slog, she wasn’t trying to muscle the ball, she just eased it 30 metres beyond the rope. The ball was a gentle half-volley outside off stump cordially delivered by Asmavia Iqbal.There had been a time earlier in the game where Iqbal was bowling well. The first ball of the match, she took the edge of Tammy Beaumont, but Nain Abidi didn’t hang on at slip. Even after that, Iqbal was bowling big hooping inswing and causing the English girls some worry. She almost took the wicket of Sarah Taylor as well as Beaumont, and after seven overs she had 0 for 22.It was her bowling partner, Kainat Imtiaz, who took the wickets. Imtiaz’s last four overs against South Africa cost 43 runs which, in a low-scoring chase, was 20 percent of the runs. This time, she started with huge hooping outswingers that she never controlled. Her second over began with a knee-high full toss that was hit to the vacant fine-leg boundary. Then three consecutive wides. Then another full toss that went to the fine-leg fence. And then the wicket of Taylor. Later, Imtiaz would take the wicket of Beaumont with exaggerated outswing. And at that point, Nat Sciver came in.The second six of the 40th over came from the fourth ball. The ball hit the press box after being slog-swept over long-on by Sciver. This time, Sciver wanted to hit it hard, and the ball went a very long way. She had to reach the ball from a long way outside off stump. But she hit it on the leg-side of the field, not for the first time.Sciver’s wagon-wheel showed one shot behind point on the off side (an edge). There were many reasons for that – Sciver is usually too busy bashing the ball to worry about subtle shots. The Pakistan bowlers, whether seam or spin, do not put a lot of pace on the ball. And Pakistan’s fields were about as bizarre as could be imagined by a cricketing brain. They included a constant three fielders behind point, which would have seemed like overkill if at any point Sciver looked like playing the ball there.Like many women’s teams, they also chose not to place a fine leg. Which is fine as an opening tactic, but they continued it all day, as if it was a law of cricket. The ball went down there over after over, it went down there because their bowlers could not control their lines, it went down there because the English players knew there was no fielder, and yet no matter how much it went down there, they didn’t put in a fine leg. Ten boundaries in all. But many other runs as well.The worst runs to fine leg weren’t even a boundary, but a ball from Nahida Khan. Nahida is a part-time bowler, so it’s unfair to point out that she bowls slow rank seam. However, she was bowling her rank slow seam with only three players on the leg side (another bizarre, and constant, tactic) and one of her 12 deliveries was a slow half-tracker down that under-guarded leg side that Sciver almost fell over in trying to hit. It was only two runs, but that’s because the ball itself was so embarrassed it only trickled away to hide.The third six of the 40th over came off the fifth ball. This one went over deep midwicket. It was a slog-sweep turned gentle hoick that cleared the fielder easily.By this point, it might not have mattered; the Pakistan fielders had long since given up on quality, or even mediocre fielding. Balls went through fielders in the circle, sweepers out on the rope seemed to be waiting for the ball to hit the rope before they could throw it back in. When Anya Shrubsole found deep midwicket, she found Sadia Yousaf there squatting down to take what should have been a simple catch. Instead she dropped the ball, allowing two extra runs, before then being moved to field at – you won’t believe this – short fine leg.In reply, Pakistan batted for 29.2 overs, at times they were over 100 runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score. In their 176 balls they made 107 runs and lost three wickets. Nat Sciver faced 92 balls and made 137.In the 40th over Sciver hit three sixes. Pakistan managed none.

The surface prepared for the Boxing Day Test has come in for criticism from all sides, with only Adelaide currently succeeding in getting the balance right

Daniel Brettig at the MCG28-Dec-2017When Steven Smith posted no fewer than three covers for Alastair Cook midway through day three at the MCG, he provided a succinct statement as to the lifelessness of the pitch prepared for the showpiece match of Australia’s cricketing summer. Admirable as Cook’s innings was for offering proof that his career is far from over, it was achieved on a pitch that presented very little risk of nicking off to slips the bouncing ball – the manner in which so many of his innings this series had ended.Cook’s innings took him past Brian Lara on the list of Test run-makers. After he made his 375 at the Recreation Ground in Antigua in 1994, Lara commented on how much he would have liked to roll up the pitch and carry it around everywhere with him. Being a drop-in, this MCG surface could actually travel wherever Cook wanted it to, but in terms of entertainment, and balance between bat and ball, it would be better used as a portion of the current project to widen the Tullamarine freeway linking Melbourne to its airport.The MCG has long been a wonder of Test cricket, offering up massive and diverse crowds to watch the long form of the game at the traditional holiday time of year. If Boxing Day’s roll-up of 88,172 narrowly failed to reach a new mark for the highest-ever day’s crowd at a Test, follow-ups of 67,882 and 61,839 provided further reminders of how this multipurpose colosseum can attract some of the best and brightest gatherings not only in cricket but all of sport.But Melbournians have seldom had the benefit of watching cricket played on a surface to match the quality of their attendances. For decades the demands of football in the winter presented problems for both the pitches and the outfield, culminating in a period in the 1980s when the surface was universally considered the worst in the country. Among the many elements of nostalgia inherent in this week’s anniversary celebrations for the 1977 Centenary Test is how the players involved have contrasted the excellent Bill Watt pitch prepared for that game with the poor fare that followed it.Drop-ins were gradually introduced to the square from 1996 onwards, replacing the unreliability of the past with a far more consistent brand of mediocrity. Unless it starts with green grass on the top and moisture underneath to allow seamers and spinners some early traction, the MCG surface simply does not deteriorate fast enough to offer enough of a challenge over the course of four or five days.

I would like fast, bouncy tracks that go through, day in and day out, that’d be lovely. We don’t get it when we’re at homeDarren Lehmann

This strip’s turgid nature, then, has been entirely unsurprising from the moment Australia’s captain Steven Smith remarked on Christmas Day that it “looked ready to go three days ago”. It rather underlined the fact that in an otherwise thriving environment for the game down under, pitches are becoming an increasing sore point. The fact of the matter is that apart from Adelaide Oval’s success in converting from a traditional square to a drop-in collection with a new but still distinct character, all of Australia’s international venues currently have conditional caveats against them.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, set out his idea of the standard for international pitches in Australia when speaking on ABC Radio earlier in the Test: “I think the broad statement is pitches are incredibly important to the future of Test cricket, we need to provide an entertaining contest, we need to provide a balance between bat and ball and I think broadly we’ve seen that in the three Test matches so far this summer.”Of the four pitches prepared so far this season, Adelaide’s stands out alongside Perth in terms of providing the sort of balance Sutherland spoke of. Brisbane, talked up as breathing fire in the lead-up to the series opener, was too sluggish by half until the match was well into its journey, necessitating the sort of grinding innings Smith constructed to wear down England’s bowlers. The WACA Ground’s pace and bounce were a welcome sight after some years of disappointing pitches, but it was also a parting shot, as all major matches move to the new Perth Stadium from later this season – early signs are that its drop-in surface is still some way short of the desired standard.Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann offered the following assessment: “Brisbane was too slow day one and day two, would’ve liked more bounce in that track, but it certainly quickened up and once we get quick and bouncy tracks we see what we can do. Adelaide was a really good track for day/night Test cricket and Perth was quick and bouncy. So you’d like a bit more bounce and pace in a lot of them, it’s a big weapon of ours.”At the end of the day you’ve got to chop and change don’t you. Sydney I presume will be a traditional Sydney track, so you get a well-rounded cricket venture around the country with five Test matches. We would’ve liked a little more bounce in the [MCG] track if we’re perfectly honest, I think both sides would’ve, Jimmy [Anderson] said the same thing. It doesn’t break up here so it’s going to be good for five days, so it’s going to be tough work. We’ve got to bat well in the second innings.”One of the curiosities of Australian pitches is how Adelaide Oval and its curator Damian Hough have succeeded in matching a far higher, more precise standard than all other venues are held to. The reason for this was finding a balance between the need for a fair Test match pitch but also to protect the somewhat less durable pink Kookaburra ball used in day/night matches – a complex process that has involved Hough, Cricket Australia, Channel Nine and the Australian Cricketers Association. This season Hough produced a strip that offered seam by day and swing by night, before there was just enough variable bounce towards the end for Josh Hazlewood to exploit fully and thus seal the match.Yet in other cities, the mere expectation of a pitch offering a modicum of bounce in addition to whatever local characteristics might be evident has been beyond many. Take for example the surface prepared at North Sydney Oval for the women’s day/night Ashes Test earlier this season – a dull as dishwater pitch that was about as suited to the format as a traditional Christmas dinner is to a 38C Australian summer. Likewise the Gabba’s slowness this season, or the road-like pitches commonly seen at the WACA Ground in recent years, or the MCG this week.Steven Smith studies the pitch at the MCG•Getty Images”They play a lot more footy here at the MCG,” Lehmann said of the contrast between the Adelaide and Melbourne drop-ins. “But it’s just the way they compact them and the soil they use. Adelaide they’ve just got it right, they’ve got great form with the day/night Test basically, keep the grass a little bit longer, so the difference here [is it’s] a little bit flatter, hoped it would break up and it may still break up, we’ll wait and see with how it plays day four and five. I accept that [multipurpose venues] but I also would like fast, bouncy tracks that go through, day in and day out, that’d be lovely. We don’t get it when we’re at home, which is just the way it is.”Given how much CA has worked at maximising audiences for the game through adroit broadcasting deals and shrewd investment in the Big Bash League, it remains mystifying as to how venues as august as the MCG and SCG cannot get their conditions right. In Melbourne the competing interests of football and cricket have long been contentious, but no more so than they are now at the recast Adelaide Oval. In Sydney, the Trust and Cricket New South Wales have endured a testy relationship, epitomised by the abandonment of a Sheffield Shield match due to a muddy infield the umpires deemed unsafe in 2015.Priorities for the SCG seem to extend not much further than the January Test and a handful of BBL games, but even then the pitch is not always of great quality. In the corresponding Ashes match four seasons ago, the match was over in little more than two and a half days, moving Lehmann to offer the following salty assessment: “Words will get me in trouble here. It’s disappointing, a three-day Test match. The SCG I remember was always a good wicket and spun obviously days four and five. Hopefully we can get back to that at some stage. I certainly got surprised by the state of the wicket here and to finish in three days is disappointing – for the crowd more so than anyone else.”Another window into how Australian grounds can do with more and better investment was shown by the damp patch that briefly endangered the conclusion of the Perth Test when water leaked under the two layers of covers commonly used in this part of the world. While the Australian climate is far less worrisome for pitch preparation than England’s, many visitors remained surprised at how basic the precautions were.Perhaps there is an element of generational change to all this: Hough is a younger curator than either the SCG’s Tom Parker (who retires this season) or the Gabba’s Kevin Mitchell Jnr (who finished up after the Brisbane Test). The previous MCG curator David Sandurski has moved to Brisbane to replace Mitchell, while the WACA Ground’s Matthew Page is MCG-bound. But in catering successfully to a mass audience in contrast to the increasingly boutique scale of the English game, CA and the state associations would do well to ensure that pitches and playing conditions are not left behind.

Stats highlights from a dominant day of Australian batting on the third day against England at the WACA

Gaurav Sundararaman16-Dec-2017Double-centurion SmithSteven Smith continued his rich vein of form by passing his previous highest Test score of 215 to reach the close on 229 not out. He became the fifth Australia captain to score an Ashes double-hundred, joining Don Bradman, Allan Border, Bob Simpson and Billy Murdoch. Smith also became the fourth batsman to score more than one double-hundred in Ashes cricket, matching Simpson’s tally of two, with Wally Hammond (4) and Bradman (8) still ahead of him. This was also the first double-hundred in a home Ashes Test for Australia since Justin Langer made 250 in 2002-03 at Melbourne. Smith now has 416 runs from four innings in this series so far. David Malan is the next highest scorer with 248 runs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd The Smith and Marsh showMitchell Marsh and Steven Smith added an unbeaten 301 runs for the fifth wicket – the first 300-plus partnership for Australia in Ashes cricket since Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin added 307 at Brisbane in 2010-11. This was also Australia’s sixth fifth-wicket partnership of over 300 in Tests.
Incidentally it was only the third instance in Test history in which both teams have had a double-century stand for the fifth wicket. The previous two instances were between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at Galle in 2013 and West Indies and England in 2009. The aggregate runs added for the fifth wicket in the first two innings is also the highest ever in Tests. Australia lost just one wicket in the whole day’s play – the last time they achieved that feat was against England at Lord’s in 2015. Smith made a double century in that game as well. Centurion Marsh Mitchell Marsh made his first century in his 22nd Test. He remained unbeaten at the close on 181, which is his second-highest score in first-class cricket, behind his 211 against India A in 2014. The last Australian batsmen to make a Test hundred at No.6 at the WACA were Doug Walters and Ricky Ponting, and the previous batsman from Australia to get their maiden Test hundred in a WACA Ashes Test was Greg Chappell. Before today, the highest score Marsh had made was 87 against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.Quickest to 22 hundreds Smith scored his second century of the series and his 22nd of his career. In getting there in 108 innings, Smith became the third quickest to this feat behind Bradman (58) and Sunil Gavaskar (101). Smith has scored five centuries in 2017 – the joint-most alongside Dean Elgar and Virat Kohli. Smith now has scored a minimum of four centuries in each of the last four calendar years. Since January 2014, only Kohli has more scores in excess of 150 than Smith. Joe Root and Kane Williamson have made five each. Smith also ended up scoring the highest score in an Ashes Test at the WACA.

The fab four all fell pulling short balls from spinners, and the bowlers didn’t find the right line in the death

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-20181:24

Coach’s Diary: Short needs longer time at the crease

Strangling Short with spin Royal Challengers Bangalore did not bowl a single over of spin in the Powerplay in their last match, against Kings XI Punjab. This time, they bowled three, two from Washington Sundar and one from Yuzvendra Chahal. The reason may have been D’Arcy Short’s weakness against spin bowling. Short’s strike rate against spinners in T20s is 126.17, while against pace, it is 163.5 The plan worked, as Short managed just 7 off 11 balls against spin and fell to Chahal in the seventh over.Rahane ups the anteBefore this match, Rahane had been costing Royals around five runs per innings thanks to his slow batting in the Powerplay – his strike rate in T20s since 2016 is 120.44. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he scored 12 off 11 in the Powerplay, and against Delhi Daredevils, 19 off 19. In this game, however, he attacked and scored 36 off 20 balls (strike rate of 180.00) in the first six, his best return from a Powerplay in the IPL.RCB suffer in the deathRoyal Challengers’ spinners kept the runs down early, but in the last five overs, the seamers went for 88 runs, the joint second-most expensive death period in IPL history. This happened for a couple of reasons. First, Royal Challengers do not have strong death bowlers. Both Umesh Yadav and Chris Woakes go at more than nine an over in the death, and Kulwant Khejroliya is playing his first IPL. Second, they bowled in the wrong areas. Twelve deliveries arrived on the stumps, and they went for 48 runs, 36 of those in sixes. There were 10 balls delivered outside off and just two bowled wide of off stump.The length from the RCB bowlers was equally poor. They gave Rajasthan Royals seven length balls and eight half-volleys, which went, collectively, for 49 runs. Of the five short balls bowled, three were hit for six. Only six yorkers landed, which went for just seven runs. Even full tosses, of which there were four, went for fewer runs than length balls and half-volleys.Royals spinners strike with short ballsRoyal Challengers lost each of their dangerous top four to long hops from the Royals spinners. Brendon McCullum pulled K Gowtham to deep micwicket, and Virat Kohli did the same off Shreyas Gopal. Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers both found square leg off half-trackers, de Kock falling to the part-timer Short.ESPNcricinfo LtdSo was it just multiple brain fades from Royal Challengers? Partly, but also the short ball is actually not such a bad option for spinners in T20 games. As R Ashwin pointed out in a 2016 interview, the straight boundaries are often short in T20 matches, so a spinner is better off dragging it down than pitching it up. Ashwin even said that “a short, wide and shit ball could be the best ball to bowl from now on.” This IPL, there have been 194 short-of-a-good-length balls bowled by spinners, and they have claimed 12 wickets. Batsmen have averaged 19.33 against these deliveries, less than against length balls (25.00) and full balls (30.69). To contain runs, length balls are the best option, but it is still better to pitch short than over. Batsmen have scored off short-of-good-length balls at 7.17 an over and off full balls at 8.03.It should be noted, though, that balls that landed really short have gone at 16.66 an over. So you can drag it down, but not too far.

Stats highlights from New Zealand’s incredible run chase against England in Dunedin

Bharath Seervi07-Mar-20183- Number of scores in an ODI chase higher than Ross Taylor’s unbeaten 181. Taylor fell short of Shane Watson’s record by four runs. The previous highest in a chase for New Zealand was Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 180 against South Africa last year.Ross Taylor’s career-best•ESPNcricinfo Ltd1- Number of scores higher than Taylor’s 181 made outside the top three batting positions in an ODI. Viv Richards made 189 not out at No. 4 against England at Old Trafford in 1984. The previous highest score outside the top three in a chase was Marcus Stoinis’ unbeaten 146 against New Zealand last year.336- The target chased by New Zealand, their third highest in ODIs. The previous two were 347 and 337 against Australia in 2006-07.1- Number of higher successful ODI chases against England; New Zealand’s 336 is No. 2 on the list. The only previous instance of New Zealand chasing over 300 against England was in Southampton in 2015.59- Runs scored by England in the last ten overs for the loss of five wickets. They were 276 for 4 after 40 overs and finished on 335 for 9. New Zealand had scored 20 runs fewer than England after 40 overs – 256 for 3 – but cruised to victory.68- Runs scored by England’s last eight wickets. Of the last 12 overs of their innings, England managed to score more than 10 in only the 50th over.1- The first time England’s No. 4 to No. 8 – Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes – were dismissed for single-digit scores in an ODI. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root scored centuries, however, which makes it only the third-time England had two hundreds in a defeat.

As Australian cricket seeks to make its way from chaos to triumph, its stakeholders can learn from the Tigers’ example of forging relationships and building trust that helped them fight through numerous crises and win the AFL title in 2017

Daniel Brettig24-May-2018Triumph out of chaos is just the sort of trajectory Australia’s cricketers and coaches are chasing after the ball-tampering fiasco of Newlands, and this week they’ve taken heart from the tale of Richmond’s switch from a chaotic, underperforming 2016 to a cathartic premiership victory last year.Central to a seminar for all coaches with Cricket Australia and the state associations at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane was a session with the Tigers’ head of coaching and performance, Tim Livingstone, in which he detailed the club’s journey through numerous crises to the 2017 flag, capped with a command performance over Adelaide in the Grand Final.Livingstone, who on matchdays takes up the key role of link man between the senior coach Damien Hardwick and the players and runner on the interchange bench, spoke about how the club had seemingly been building towards success in 2016, only to see a year of poor performance force plenty of reassessment of how the club, from Hardwick down, was going about its business. Aided by the club’s board – itself subject to a challenge from a rival ticket – and management electing not to respond by sacking the coach, a period of introspection led to a greater focus on relationships, vulnerability and building trust.Broadly, Livingstone told those present how Richmond engaged the whole organisation into understanding and believing what they wanted to achieve – getting connected from top to bottom – and then living that out. Another element of discussion was bringing the “fun” back into the club after a dour and disappointing 2016, when most had been saddled by expectation. This was shown by examples such as the marked contrast in the pre-Grand Final photos of the Tigers and Adelaide. Damien Hardwick’s team were all smiles, Don Pyke’s largely deadpan.Wade Gilbert, professor at California State University and a globally respected coaching scientist and consultant, was also a keynote contributor to the week, and said that the Richmond story was a further reinforcement of what has become apparent to many successful sporting clubs and governing bodies: look after the people, and the performance will follow. Gilbert and Livingstone both spent time with Australia’s new coach Justin Langer as he contemplates a first assignment with the limited-overs teams in England.”We spent a fair amount of time talking and I was there for a few hours with them and their staff [at Richmond] and they also built around people, they understand the importance of continually investing in the people in their organisation,” Gilbert told ESPNcricinfo. “[Livingstone] shared with Justin and CA some good examples of the types of things they do and how they navigated their own turmoil, their own crises.”Justin will be looking, and already has been looking, outside cricket to other organisations, other sports, other cultures, other programmes, to better understand how they built culture, how they built relationships. The Richmond story is a great story, but it’s just another example of another organisation that really invested heavily in people.”Gilbert said that all sporting organisations inevitably faced setbacks whether on the field or off it, and the key was to develop an environment in which resilience and trust allowed a quick recovery. “Every club that I’ve been around the last couple of weeks, we’ve shared the same message and had similar conversations,” he said. “All around culture, people, relationships and the little things you do on a daily basis across your organisation that help strengthen relationships and trust.’If you’re doing those things, you’re going to be fine. That’s what you see at the best clubs and the best organisations. For sure you’ll have good days and bad days and losses, but you’re just going to have a better environment. People are going to be more resilient, they’ll come back after a bad loss.”Previously, Livingstone has spoken about how the club adjusted its focus entering into 2017, a process that started largely with Hardwick acknowledging that under the pressure to perform, he had moved away from being himself. “Through his inspiration, we’ve invested more time in understanding everyone’s story and how they came to be playing for the Richmond footy club,” Livingstone told the AFL website. “It’s the old saying, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”He’s always been a great leader in that sense. He sees himself as the leader and the buck stops with him. Damien will put it on himself and the coaches first. If we’re not teaching them correctly, we cannot expect them to execute. He’s always taken responsibility.”On a week-to-week basis, these relationships were strengthened among the players by the staging of regular sessions in which players shared personal stories with one another, building knowledge of each other, emotional connection and trust. “It’s pretty confronting, but it’s also like a load off their mind,” Livingstone said in . “We’re talking about stories of sickness and broken homes. Put it this way, if you’ve got to put your arse on the line for your mate, and take a hit on the field, you’re more likely to do it if you have some care for what he’s been through.”

Gilbert said that all sporting organisations inevitably faced setbacks whether on the field or off it, and the key was to develop an environment in which resilience and trust allowed a quick recovery.

The strength that can be derived from a stronger relational focus is summed up by how Hardwick and Livingstone operate on match-days, with the latter essentially acting as Aide-de-camp for the former. This means that Livingstone will interpret and pass on Hardwick’s messages in the heat of a game, occasionally leavening out some hot-blooded venting into useful information for players.”We both know when he just needs to vent,” Livingstone said. “Like sometimes he’ll say, ‘Get that guy straight off the ground, now’, but I’ll know that the player is five minutes away from his rotation, and Dusty [Martin] is due, and if we need to hold Dustin on the ground when he’s fatigued, that can have consequences. Damien trusts me to hit back at him.”Lessons translatable across sports can reckon without subtle distinctions. Cricket is almost unique in its fusing of individual disciplines into a team configuration, being more Ryder Cup than Stanley Cup. Equally, Australia’s national team is a representative team rather than a club, where players compete as much with each other for tenure as they do with opponents for trophies.But then, Australian cricket has always had considerable crossover with football, from the moment the game itself was first concocted in the 19th century as a way of keeping cricketers fit in the winter months. Several former AFL players and coaches are employed within cricket, from Guy McKenna as a coaching and talent ID specialist at Cricket Victoria, and Brett Jones as high performance manager at Queensland Cricket, to Stephen Schwerdt as fitness coach for South Australia.James Sutherland, the longtime chief executive, had his eyes opened to the rough and ready world of sports administration by serving as financial officer and company secretary at Carlton in the 1990s. The former coach Darren Lehmann has been a Crows ambassador since 2001 and not so long ago sat alongside Pyke in the Adelaide coaches box for a loss to North Melbourne in Hobart. Langer, too, has his own foot in the other camp, as a Board director with the West Coast Eagles.Whatever their relationship to football, all will hope some of the lessons of the Tigers’ tale can aid Australian cricket on that aforementioned journey from chaos to future triumph.

You’ve seen his “Champyan” dance, seen him hit sixes because running is tiring, celebrate even before completing stumpings. What you’ve not seen is his struggle to keep doing what he has done all his life: play cricket

Sidharth Monga11-Jun-20184:53

‘You need heart to hit sixes’ – Shahzad

Everything stopped at the Afghanistan Cricket Board offices in Kabul. On a pleasant winter afternoon in November 2014, everybody, from peon to auditor to IT man to cook to physio to CEO, had only two questions every five minutes: “Is he still batting?” and “How much is he on?” Outside, in the Kabul International Stadium, in a four-day match between Amo Region and Boost Region, on a pitch damp from overnight rain, batted Mohammad Shahzad.In the same complex, a conditioning camp was on, featuring the 30 probables for Afghanistan’s first World Cup, who were about to depart for a training camp in Dubai. The World Cup 30 were to leave the following day. Shahzad was not one of the 30. The Australian grounds were big, he was told. It wouldn’t be easy to hit fours and sixes there. The portly wicketkeeper-batsman was told he was not fit enough to play the game required in Australia.Still they all loved Shahzad. He appealed to Afghanistan the country more than anybody else; Mohammad Nabi was the best, but he was more solid than flamboyant, and Rashid Khan was yet to arrive. He hits the ball so hard he sometimes sweeps himself off his feet doing so. He hits the ball far. He celebrates hard. He doesn’t hold back. Shahzad was and is the quintessential Afghan even though he learnt all his cricket in Pakistan, which is not Afghanistan’s favourite neighbour right now.On that November afternoon, as the others got their weights and skin folds checked, Shahzad batted out in the open. On a pitch where the opposition folded for 162, on a pitch where no other team-mate went past 29, Shahzad scored a typically aggressive 145.

“I spent the World Cup sleep-deprived, angry; I would get into fights with my wife, disturb my kids. Thankfully, it is over now, but I can never forget those days.”Mohammad Shahzad on not being a part of Afghanistan’s first World Cup

As the innings swelled, everyone hoped against hope. Even the officials who knew visas can’t be arranged at such short notice. Officials who had bought into the vision of captain Nabi and coach Andy Moles. They somehow hoped this innings, something, would get him in, but without expressing that hope to those who were travelling. Like a parent silently hoping against the tough love of the other parent.A forlorn Shahzad saw the probables leave with subdued fanfare – on the night before their departure, the seamer Mirwais Ashraf had lost his father.Three-and-a-half years later, I remind him of that day. I tell him how everybody was watching, and even those not watching wanted to know just one thing: “How much is Shahzad on?””Yeah, they were watching, but nobody was selecting me,” Shahzad shoots back. “Yeah, they wanted to know my score. Nobody wanted to select me.”Shahzad still hurts from the snub. He had been an important part of setting up cricket in Afghanistan, of qualifying for the World T20s and the World Cup. In the two-and-a-half year World Cricket League, out of which two teams qualified, Shahzad was Afghanistan’s third-highest run-getter. He kept wicket throughout. Their home matches were played in Sharjah in March and October, the first and last of the eight extremely hot months there.”It was like inside a (clay oven),” Shahzad says. “In that (extreme) heat I would keep and bat. It would feel like the whole body is on fire. This is what I fought for five-six years. Took balls on the chest, broke my wrist, broke my fingers, hurt my feet. We fought for this for six years, and six months before the World Cup I was dropped.”1:47

The six commandments of Shahzad’s cricket

The desperation was extreme. He played for the A team and trial matches, he scored everywhere, but just couldn’t convince the coach. “I scored 115-120 for the A team against the national team,” Shahzad says. “Selector and coach were all there. They were going for a camp in Australia in two days. I scored the hundred. The coach was right there, umpiring in the match.”I can’t even begin to describe those days. That was the worst period of my career. For somebody to come directly into the team [previously], and then to play trial matches… as it is if you tell somebody this is a trial match, your limbs stop working. Our local bowlers were getting me bowled and lbw. Because I was under pressure. I was desperate to somehow be part of this. I still scored a hundred but…”If this was a bad period, what followed was worse. Shahzad couldn’t take himself away from cricket. He would wake up early in the morning and watch Afghanistan’s matches and agonise. “I spent the World Cup sleep-deprived, angry; I would get into fights with my wife, disturb my kids,” Shahzad says. “Thankfully, it is over now, but I can never forget those days.”

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To appreciate the Champyan-dancing, helicopter-shot-hitting, celebrate-before-completing-stumping, fun-loving, hell-raising Shahzad of today, it is important to know of the odds he beat to first become a cricketer and then make this comeback. Shahzad was born in Kacha Garhi, a refugee camp in Peshawar in Pakistan, one of six brothers and three sisters. He doesn’t quite know of the , but his story begins similarly.International Cricket Council”As far back as I can remember,” Shahzad says, “I have been playing and watching cricket.”Shahzad was only one year old when Sachin Tendulkar humbled Abdul Qadir in Peshawar, but it was during the 1996 World Cup that the popularity of the sport in Pakistan, and Tendulkar’s batting elsewhere, took a hold on Shahzad. Opposite Shahzad’s house was a small confectionery shop. “Those (toffees) used to come in polythene bags with Sachin Tendulkar’s photo on it. I used to tell the shopkeeper to not throw the bag. I would retrieve them and neatly cut out Tendulkar’s photo and stick it on my bat.”Before those bats, Shahzad played with sticks and stones. Literally. He would go around the streets collecting round stones – “70-80 of them” – and make his younger brother sit down and throw those to him on the full. A bit like you see coaches doing to prepare batsmen for short balls rising from close to them. A bit like the old Afghan sport . Then, with a stick that resembled a baseball bat, he would cut, pull, drive them away. Then he would go get the stones back and hand them over to his brother. This would go on until one of them was about to collapse.A friend of Shahzad’s father ran a club where Shahzad impressed everybody. The gym owner at the club, Azeem Malik, who is now Afghanistan’s physio, told the club owner to let Shahzad play the way he did. “One day you will see him playing on TV,” Malik said.At that time nobody else could think of that in the wildest of their dreams. Did Malik think Shahzad would play for Pakistan? Or did he actually believe the situation in Afghanistan – reeling after the Soviet invasion and the Taliban regime – would improve and these refugees would be able to take the sport back with them and establish it in their country? All in time for Shahzad to be able to play on TV before becoming too old for it?To Shahzad, all these things didn’t matter. “What did I tell you? I just wanted to play cricket,” he says. “In clubs, in streets, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, and when the time came, for the Afghanistan national team. Had there been no Afghanistan team, it wouldn’t have mattered. Even now if I am not in the national team, I play club cricket in Jalalabad, for my region in the domestic championship. I am only concerned with cricket.”

****

Shahzad is obsessed with cricket. He is also detached. He hits the ball hard but doesn’t look up to see where it is gone. “My job is to hit,” he says, “others’ to watch where it is gone. I know where it is going from the way I have hit it.” One moment he is in the face of an opposition player. Next minute he is dancing with them. He is friends with the whole West Indies team. “They are very good people,” he says. “Outside cricket too, they enjoy life. I also do the same: play cricket, leave it all on the field, and then enjoy your life. (you can’t be sure what happens in the next two minutes).”It is all pure Afghan, or at least Pathan: strong bodies; big hearts; warm, loud behaviour; aware of the tough, fickle life in those parts of the world. People identify with that. They come to watch him play. “I am aware they come to watch me,” he says. “And I try to bat and play in a way that they enjoy. It is not an easy life. They leave their work, travel far, come to watch. I also try to make it worth their effort.”Shahzad is the pulse of the team. You look at him and you instantly know how the team is doing. If he is throwing his hands around, openly arguing with his team-mates and looking desperate, you know they need to rally. When he is doing the Dwayne Bravo dance, or any other that he comes up with, Afghanistan are cruising. A proper showman, he celebrates before removing the bails when the batsman is too far gone. “I don’t pre-plan any celebrations,” he says. “Whatever strikes me at that moment. But when you field for so long, work so hard for a wicket, you have to make sure you enjoy it to the fullest.”One of Shahzad’s celebrations that can seem out of place for a society struggling with violence is the bat used as a machine gun, but his explanation for it speaks a lot about Shahzad’s cricket. “MS Dhoni also did it once,” he says.Dhoni was a hero; now he is a friend and a hero. Ever since Shahzad saw Dhoni he wanted to be like the India captain. He likes to be called MS, his initials. His team-mates oblige. The helicopter shot that he copied is understandable, but his wicketkeeping is the real story. Just by watching Dhoni, Shahzad has mastered the stumping with no give when collecting the ball. He hardly misses those. He even gets his right leg up as a line of defence, Dhoni style, should the batsman decide to play a late cut. He even collects throws as if his hands were alligator jaws. He just watched and watched and watched. He never even practised it.”No, I never practise keeping,” he says. “Maybe once in a while when the mood is good or the weather is pleasant, otherwise…”BCCIShahzad can’t explain what he did differently technically to become a keeper like Dhoni. He doesn’t even remember when he started doing those things. He acknowledges he used to collect the ball, take his hands back and then remove the bails. He used to be correct. Now, he just does what Dhoni does. It is a sufi-level devotion, both to Dhoni and to cricket.”Stumping, the way to catch the ball, I have learnt it all from his videos,” Shahzad says. “There is no style. Like all these other wicketkeepers who get into weird shapes and positions after collecting the ball. No. ball (just catch the ball). Don’t do other extra things with it. No style. Just catch the ball.”When Shahzad is out of form, he watches videos of the current best batsman. This current slump he ended by watching Virat Kohli over and over again. “He has been timing the ball very well,” Shahzad says. “He is right on top of the ball. Keeps the eye on the ball. Gives himself time. I tried the same. It is not about the technique, it is just reinforcing certain things when you are not in form.”Like Virender Sehwag, Shahzad scoffs at traditional risk assessment. “One man takes six singles in six balls,” he says. “He tires himself out, he tires his partner out. I try to score those six runs in one ball. Neither do I get tired, nor my partner. Why run for it when you can get those six runs easily?”What about the risk? “There is risk, yes, but life is incomplete without risk.”What if you get out? “I can get out defending too. This is cricket, [it can get over in one ball], anything can happen.”

“One man takes six singles in six balls. He tires himself out, he tires his partner out. I try to score those six runs in one ball. Neither do I get tired, nor my partner.”Mohammad Shahzad

The batting philosophy is simple. Watch the ball closely, middle one or two, then go after what is within your reach and defend or leave what isn’t. Sometimes, it takes 10 overs to feel that one ball in the middle, but he is prepared to wait nowadays, knowing that once he starts hitting, he can make it up in no time. Sometimes, he feels good first ball and goes after the second.Like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahzad’s game is about conserving energy. He somehow struggles his way through the warm-ups, bats, and does nothing else in the nets. In between, in trying to be “fit”, Shahzad lost it all. He even, inadvertently he says, took a performance-enhancing drug via a weight-reducing supplement he was on. “I was 86 kilos,” he remembers. “They asked me to come down to 82. I did it to stay in the team, but I couldn’t bat properly after that. My hands would start hurting. And feet. I just couldn’t bat. Even in the nets, I would bat for short periods. Hands would wobble when I batted. Then I quickly gained the weight back because otherwise I just couldn’t bat for more than five-six minutes.”You look at Shahzad and you wonder what business he has still playing three-and-a-half years after his career had been pronounced over. He could have ended with fulfilling feats, such as helping Afghanistan attain ODI status, setting up a win against Ireland in the 2010 World T20 Qualifier final, followed 11 days later by an unbeaten, fourth-innings 214 to chase down 494 against Canada. Yet, he refused to give up on what seems like a death wish: to be playing today’s top-flight cricket in that shape.Not only has Shahzad survived, he has thrived, and now holds the record for most Man-of-the-Match awards, most fifty-plus scores, most runs and the second-highest score in Associate T20I cricket. He also scored half-centuries in the last two matches of the World Cup qualifiers this year, taking his country to England 2019, a nice little full circle. The man whose hands wobbled when he lost four kilos now goes through T20 internationals while fasting.There is an inner strength, a , an obsession, that is hard to explain. How can you, for instance, learn that Dhoni stumping by just watching and not trying it at practice? Where does he find the energy to perform a gruelling double role in international matches after huffing and puffing through warm-up drills? There is something that keeps him going. Perhaps it is Afghanistan’s historic maiden Test starting this week. Perhaps it is the World Cup next year. In all likelihood, it is that cricket is all he has done since as far back as he can remember.