It’s not unusual for England to dominate the first Test of an India tour, but sealing the deal is tough

Andrew Miller08-Feb-2021Despite cementing their dominance of the first Test against India in Chennai, England’s fourth-day progress hit something of a lull in the final session when they found themselves caught between positivity and recklessness in setting a defendable total, and ended up reverting to a degree of negativity.After galloping along at more than four an over in the opening exchanges of their innings, the dismissal of Ollie Pope after tea brought about a change of tack, as they eked out 48 runs from the final 18 overs of their innings – an approach that ignited the passions of both the commentators at Chepauk, and the watching fans on social media.Nevertheless, given England’s record on their recent Test tours of India – as well as India’s reputation for bravado, both in the first innings of this match, and on their victorious tour of Australia last month – there were more than a few reasons why the slow road to the ascendancy might yet prove to have been the wise one, especially in the opening match of the series.Alastair Cook hit 60 and 104 not out on Test debut in Nagpur in 2006•AFP1st Test, Nagpur, 2005-06: Match drawn
This match was made memorable for Alastair Cook’s serene debut. As a 21-year-old, he made 60 and 104 not out at the top of England’s order, having flown halfway around the world from the Caribbean to fill two massive voids in their ranks: the captain, Michael Vaughan, had suffered a relapse of a chronic knee injury, while his deputy Marcus Trescothick – in a less enlightened era for mental-health awareness – had been spirited home with what was euphemistically described as a “mystery virus”, leaving the team in the untested hands of their 2005 Ashes hero, Andrew Flintoff.And it was against this backdrop that India, with their backs to the wall for much of the game – not least thanks to Matthew Hoggard’s heroic first-innings haul of 6 for 57 – decided to put down the hammer on the final afternoon of the Test, and give England’s rookie line-up a reminder of who’s the boss in such conditions.The equation looked safe enough from a distance – 368 to win on the final day following an overnight declaration, and this, remember, before the T20 revolution had transformed techniques and expectations. And when Hoggard scalped Virender Sehwag for a duck, the game seemed dead-set for a snore-draw, as Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid dropped anchor in a 167-run stand that spanned the rest of the first two sessions.That, however, would be the prelude to an attempted heist. When Jaffer fell for a diligent 100, Irfan Pathan was shunted up the order to No.4 with a remit to mix things up. He did just that with 35 from 25, with MS Dhoni also appearing ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, who nevertheless joined the fun with 28 not out from 19. England’s attack, featuring two debutant spinners in Monty Panesar and the one-cap wonder Ian Blackwell, just about held their nerve – and their catches – but the warning had been stark nonetheless when Tendulkar accepted an offer for bad light with 108 runs still needed from 70 balls.An unbroken 163-run stand between Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar sealed the Chennai Test for India in 2008•AFP1st Test, Chennai, 2008-09: India won by six wickets
Two years later, with Kevin Pietersen now at the helm, England found themselves in a remarkably similar situation in the opening Test of their campaign. This time it was Cook’s opening partner, Andrew Strauss, who set the match agenda, reeling off twin centuries – 123 in the first and 108 in the second – to build on another committed bowling effort and set up a declaration that seemed, at the time, to be the perfect balance of dangled carrot and dangled rope.The equation was 387 in four sessions – not dissimilar to the sort of figure that England might have ended up setting India in this current contest, had Joe Root waved them in during Jos Buttler’s and Dom Bess’ go-slow. That target, however, hadn’t factored in the post-modern thwacking of Sehwag, whose frenzied opening gambit ripped the game wide open in the space of 23 overs.From the outset, Sehwag climbed into the new-ball offerings of Steve Harmison and James Anderson, crashing eight fours and two sixes in reaching a 32-ball fifty almost before his partner Gautam Gambhir had emerged from single figures. He continued on his merry way when the spinners entered the fray, and though Graeme Swann eventually scalped him for 83 from 68 balls, the daunting target had been reduced to rubble by the close.Enter Tendulkar, whose serene final-day century had the match sewn up by tea, and finally sealed – to huge acclaim from the Chepauk crowd – with an hour to spare. The achievement was especially poignant in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which had almost led to the tour being cancelled, and England were unable to regain their bearings in the two-match series, which finished with an uneventful draw in Mohali.”You think about if it goes wrong [and] what will happen,” Alastair Cook said of his relatively conservative declaration in Rajkot in 2016•Associated Press1st Test, Rajkot, 2016-17: Match drawn
The one that got away as far as England are concerned, although as a central figure in both of the contests above, Cook – now captain – clearly had his reasons for reticence when England once again claimed the early ascendancy on a tour of India.”Bat once, bat big” had been the message to England’s current crop in India, and four years ago in Rajkot, they seemed to have given themselves the chance to do just that after racking up 537 over the course of the first five sessions, with centuries for Joe Root (124), Moeen Ali (117) and Ben Stokes (128).India, however, ground their way close to parity with 488, thanks to a hefty second-wicket stand of 209 between Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, which left Cook himself in a bit of a bind as he reasserted England’s dominance with a second-innings 130. What sort of target dare he leave India on the final afternoon, given what he knew they could be capable of?In the end, he left them an equation of 310 in 49 overs, and was made to regret his caution by the close, as India collapsed to 172 for 6 with only Virat Kohli’s 49 not out preventing further damage. It was the only sniff that England would get all series, as India responded to the scare with four crushing victories in a row.

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Reflecting on that contest during the lunch-break during the ongoing Chennai Test, Cook – now a Channel 4 pundit – admitted that the fear of what-might-have-been had held him back from being more proactive.”You think about if it goes wrong [and] what will happen,” Cook said. “Maybe that’s the wrong way to think about it. Maybe you should have just been thinking ‘this is the positive way’ and maybe that’s my mindset. I went with 400 [sic] then and I’ve thought ‘have I just gone too many?'”There are so many things, so many permutations. And you’ve got to be so reactive. The most important thing is that England want to remain in control. If they suddenly lose two or three quick wickets, then they lose that control and India come back into the game.”Still, whatever happens for England, at least they have proven they can bat time in Indian conditions, which was perhaps the key lesson they took away from their one unmitigated failure in a recent first-Test in India. In 2012-13, they were routed by nine wickets in Ahmedabad, after failing to recover from their first-innings collapse of 191 all out. But Cook set the agenda second-time around with a batting 176, and England responded to his lead by turning the tables for a 2-1 Test series win.

We assess the chances of the teams in Group One in our County Championship preview

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2021

Derbyshire

Matt Critchley consults with captain Billy Godleman•Getty ImagesLast season: 2nd in North Group
Head of cricket: Dave Houghton
Captain: Billy Godleman
Overseas: Billy Stanlake
Ins: Brooke Guest (Lancashire)
Outs: Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul (released)
Few clubs embraced the euphoria of last season’s Bob Willis Trophy quite like Derbyshire. The glee of release was two-fold in their case, from the constraints of lockdown on the one hand, but also from their pre-ordained struggle for survival on the other, as they unleashed a hungry crop of youngsters on a host of Test-match grounds in the North Group, and were still in the hunt for a Lord’s final berth ahead of their final-round loss to Lancashire.
The retention of the conference system for 2021 gives Derbyshire another dart at the big time this year – with champions Essex among their rivals in Group One – and if Billy Godleman can coax similarly ambitious displays from his squad, then there’s no reason to think they can’t strike a few similar blows.
Certainly, Dave Houghton has moulded a squad with many of the punch-above-weight attributes of the Zimbabwe team of his playing days. Wayne Madsen, Derbyshire’s captain when they last confounded expectations to earn promotion in 2012, remains a pivotal figure at the age of 37, while the balance that Luis Reece offers while opening the batting and bowling with his left-arm angles is invaluable.
Among the coming men in Derbyshire’s ranks, Leus du Plooy and Fynn Hudson-Prentice both made strides in the BWT, while Matt Critchley’s emergence as a legspinning allrounder did not go unnoticed either. No Derbyshire bowler fared better than his 17 wickets at 26.88.
One to watch: If he can stay fit – and, sadly, it has been a big ‘if’ in recent years – then Billy Stanlake could prove to be one of the signings of the summer. His 6ft 7in cloud-snagging action offers natural attributes that make him a threat in all conditions, and his desire to prove his stamina in red-ball cricket gives an eye-catching focal point to a seam-bowling attack that was arguably Derbyshire’s weak link last summer. Andrew Miller
Bet365: 33-1

Durham

Paul Coughlin is one of a number of Durham returnees•Getty ImagesLast season: 6th in North Group
Director of cricket: Marcus North

Coach: James Franklin
Captain: Scott Borthwick
Overseas players: Will Young (April-May), Cameron Bancroft (May onwards)
Ins: Scott Borthwick (Surrey)
Outs: Scott Steel (Leicestershire), James Weighell (Glamorgan), Sol Bell, Josh Coughlin, Gareth Harte, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Whitehead (all released)
Scott Borthwick’s return north as Durham’s Championship captain will further inspire hopes that Durham are on the up, the after-shocks of their near-bankruptcy in 2016 now departed. The regional loyalties that are at Durham’s heart are also exemplified by the recent return of two bowling allrounders, Ben Raine and Paul Coughlin, but when all is said and done it is cricketing statistics that matter. Departures of two top-order batsmen, Gareth Harte and Scott Steel, have been presented as blows but Harte had a first-class average under 30 and Steel, only 21, had only played two first-class matches. Far more important is that David Bedingham, the former South Africa U-19 batsman, builds on an excellent maiden season in 2020 and that Jack Burnham, Ned Eckersley and Sean Dickson address the poor returns that saw them make only two half-centuries between them last season.
Durham look a seam bowler light so Chris Rushworth, who is 23 wickets shy of becoming Durham’s most prolific first-class bowler, needs Matty Potts to take his T20 form into the four-day stuff. And then there is Borthwick’s unpredictable legspin: as captain, at least he can bring himself on at the right time. Durham’s toughest fixtures are up first – away trips to Nottinghamshire and Essex with the opener at Trent Bridge particularly intriguing.
One to watch: Matty Potts, a Sunderland-born seamer, became the latest homegrown product to catch the attention with a strong Vitality Blast last season and he will now hope to make a more regular impact in the Championship. David Hopps
Bet365: 50-1

Essex

Alastair Cook and Tom Westley will be key figures once again•Getty ImagesLast season: 1st in South Group, BWT winners
Coach: Anthony McGrath
Captain: Tom Westley
Overseas: Simon Harmer, Peter Siddle
Ins:
Outs: Rishi Patel (Leicestershire)
Defending County Champions from 2019, Essex also pocketed “the Bob” during last year’s truncated season and will go into the summer as the team to beat in red-ball cricket. The strategy that underpins their success is deceptively simple: a largely homegrown squad, blending youth and experience, spearheaded by one of the most potent attacks on the circuit. Over the last four seasons of Championship and Bob Willis Trophy cricket, no bowlers can touch Simon Harmer (250 wickets) and Jamie Porter (208) at the top of the tree; Sam Cook and Aaron Beard, two 23-year-olds, provide sharp support and the return of Peter Siddle, once his involvement with Tasmania in the Sheffield is concluded, will add further cutting edge.
Stability has also been a key feature of their success. Tom Westley succeeded Ryan ten Doeschate as captain last year, but of the group that won the 2017 Championship, the only significant departures have been Ravi Bopara (now at Sussex) and James Foster (retirement). Alastair Cook continues into the third year of his contract post-England, Dan Lawrence will be looking to burnish his Test credentials after showing glimpses of his ability on the winter tours of Sri Lanka and India, and the familiar outlines of Nick Browne, Westley and ten Doeschate will help fill out the batting order. Worryingly for the rest, their appetite to extend the title-winning dynasty at Chelmsford seems as strong as ever.
One to watch: Feroze Khushi received unwanted attention after having beer poured over him during last year’s Bob Willis Trophy celebrations (Khushi is a Muslim), but the 21-year-old batsman had caught the eye with a couple of attractive innings in victories over Kent and Surrey, and will be looking to force his way into Essex’s settled top order. Alan Gardner
Bet365: 11-2

Nottinghamshire

Blast champions Notts are looking to regain that winning feeling in red-ball cricket•Getty ImagesRelated

• Hanuma Vihari confirmed for Warwickshire stint after Pieter Malan deal hits visa snag

• Borthwick's return as captain marks Durham's levelling up

• Vihari lined up for Warwickshire stint after Malan deal hits visa snag

Last season: 4th in North Group
Director of cricket: Mick Newell
Coach: Peter Moores
Captain: Steven Mullaney
Overseas players: Dane Paterson
Ins: Brett Hutton (Northamptonshire), Lyndon James (academy), Toby Pettman, Dane Schadendorf
Outs: Chris Nash, Jack Blatherwick (Lancashire)
June 23, 2018 is etched into the minds of Nottinghamshire members: the date they last felt the joy of victory in a first-class match. They are winless in 27 fixtures since that victory at Chelmsford, and as a result, any optimism for the 2021 season should be cautious in the extreme. There were glimmers of hope in the BWT last summer, with runs for recent recruits Ben Slater, Haseeb Hameed, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke – who are likely to form the top four at the start of this season – but they were unfortunate with the weather and lacked a ruthless streak in crunch moments, most notably in the defeat against Derbyshire.
The club have built a deep pool of seamers too, both homegrown and imported. Zak Chappell and Jake Ball were both in the wickets last summer and Stuart Broad is likely to play a handful of early-season fixtures. Dane Paterson – eventually signed as an overseas player after 12 months in limbo – looks like a smart pick-up, while the underrated Brett Hutton has returned from Northants. For all the club’s white-ball success during the Peter Moores era, the first thing to tick off this season will be that elusive four-day victory.
One to watch: Samit Patel has not officially retired from red-ball cricket, but is not expected to feature in the Championship this season unless injury strikes. As a result, there is a vacancy for a left-arm spinner who can hold a bat, and Liam Patterson-White is the ideal candidate to fill it. He will play a holding role in the early rounds, but a pre-season five-for against Warwickshire suggests he will have no trouble running through the tail when required. Matt Roller
Bet365: 8-1

Warwickshire

Olly Stone breaks through for Warwickshire•Getty ImagesLast season: 3rd in Central Group
Director of cricket: Paul Farbrace
Coach: Mark Robinson
Captain: Will Rhodes
Overseas: Pieter Malan
Ins: Danny Briggs (Sussex), Manraj Johal, Jacob Bethell (both academy), Jacob Lintott
Outs: Jeetan Patel, Ian Bell, Tim Ambrose (all retired), Liam Banks (released)
This is the start of a new age at Warwickshire. With a host of familiar faces – Bell, Ambrose, Patel, Jim Troughton and Jonathan Trott among them – having departed in recent years, there is a new look to the playing and coaching staff. So, while some experience has been brought in – Pieter Malan (or Hanuma Vihari) should add some solidity to the batting, Danny Briggs the bowling and Tim Bresnan a bit of both – there is still a green look to the batting, in particular. But Warwickshire, a club whose youth system has underachieved for a long time, feel that in the likes of Dan Mousley, Rob Yates and Matt Lamb they have the nucleus of a team that could build into something pretty exciting.
At full strength, the seam department boasts impressive pace and promise. But Henry Brookes, Ryan Sidebottom and Olly Stone will rarely play together so Briggs, the man charged with replacing Patel, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby will be relied upon to hold things together.
There’s a new head coach in Mark Robinson and a nearly new captain in Will Rhodes, too. So while Warwickshire will hope to improve on some pretty modest Championship form over the last few years – they have only won one Division One or BWT match at Edgbaston since September 2016 – it will probably pay for supporters to retain modest ambitions in the short term. This is a rebuilding process that could take a while.
One to watch: Dayle Hadlee famously once described Ian Bell as “the best 16-year-old I’ve ever seen”. Well, now it’s Bell’s turn. He has described Jacob Bethell as “the best 17-year-old” he has ever seen. A Barbadian, Bethell’s primary skill is his batting but his left-arm spin is highly rated, too. He might have to wait for an opportunity, but he really is an exciting prospect. George Dobell
Bet365: 14-1.

Worcestershire

Jake Libby enjoyed a prolific Bob Willis Trophy•Getty ImagesLast season: 2nd in Central Group
Coach: Alex Gidman
Captain: Joe Leach
Overseas: Alzarri Joseph
Ins: Alzarri Joseph, Gareth Roderick (Gloucestershire)
Outs: Wayne Parnell (Northants), George Scrimshaw (Derbyshire), Ben Twohig, Olly Westbury (both released)
Worcestershire go into the Championship season with a bit to prove. Although they had a decent BWT, they finished ninth in Division Two in 2019. Even without Josh Tongue and Pat Brown, who are unlikely to feature before May as they come back from injury, they look to have an impressive seam attack with Alzarri Joseph, available for the first seven Championship games, adding pace with the ball and the prospect of lower-order runs. Adam Finch, who impressed on loan at Surrey, should challenge some more established seamers for a place, too.
The spin bowling is less strong. With Keshav Maharaj having pulled out of a deal and Moeen Ali’s availability severely limited, Brett D’Oliveira will be required to provide the spin option and avoid over-rate fines. The club may well recruit an overseas spinner later in the campaign.
Gareth Roderick, who is expected to bat at No. 3, should add some solidity to a batting line-up that was noticeably improved by the recruitment of Jake Libby last year. The likes of Jack Haynes and Rikki Wessels, in the last year of his contract, may be fighting it out for the final batting spot, though the number of bowling allrounders – Leach, Joseph and Ed Barnard among them – should provide lower-order runs.
While qualifying for Division One will, no doubt, be the aim, reaching Division Two would probably represent a season of progress.
One to watch: Kane Williamson and Morne Morkel were among those impressed by Dillon Pennington’s first season in 2018. And while a foot injury appeared to rob him of his outswing and slow his progress the following year, he has looked back to his best in pre-season. Strong, sharp and blessed with an ability to move the ball away from the right-hander, he has the potential to enjoy a long career. GD
Bet365: 12-1

A look at where the RCB captain stands among the league’s finest

Sampath Bandarupalli20-Sep-2021200 The game against the Kolkata Knight Riders is Virat Kohli’s 200th match in the Indian Premier League. He is set to be the fifth player to complete 200 games in the league. Kohli made his debut on the opening night of the IPL in 2008, also against the Knight Riders.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 Kohli will be the first player to feature in 200 matches for a single franchise in the IPL, having represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore throughout his career. MS Dhoni’s 182 matches for the Chennai Super Kings are the second-most IPL appearances for a single team.133 out of Kohli’s 200 matches have been as captain. He made his captaincy debut in 2011 and became RCB’s full-time captain from the start of 2013. Only Dhoni, with 196 games, has played more IPL games as captain than Kohli.ESPNcricinfo Ltd129 Consecutive appearances by Kohli in the IPL for RCB, between 2008 and 2016. He has missed only four matches for them so far – once in 2008 and three games at the start of the 2017 season due to a shoulder injury.6076 Ahead of his 200th game, Kohli stands as the top run-getter in the IPL and is the only player to reach the 6000-run mark. He also has the most runs as a captain in the IPL, with 4674 runs across 132 matches.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 Hundreds for Kohli in the IPL, only behind Chris Gayle’s tally of six hundreds. All five of Kohli’s centuries in the IPL have come while leading RCB; no other captain has more than one century in the league’s history. Other than Kohli, only six tons have been recorded by captains so far in the IPL.38 Fifty-plus scores for Kohli as captain in the IPL, including 33 fifties, the most by anyone. Overall, Kohli has 45 fifty-plus scores in the league, only behind David Warner (54) and Shikhar Dhawan (46).973 Runs by Kohli in 2016, the most by any player in a single edition of the IPL. That was also the highest aggregate by any player in a T20 series or tournament. Kohli’s 11 fifty-plus scores during IPL 2016, including four hundreds, were also the most for a player in a T20 tournament.21 out of 34 century partnerships for RCB in the IPL involve Kohli. The only player to be part of more century partnerships in the IPL than Kohli is David Warner, with 24 such stands.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put on 126 runs together for the first wicket

Sampath Bandarupalli12-Aug-2021126 Partnership runs for the first wicket between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, the first century opening stand for India outside Asia in Tests since the start of 2011. The last India opening pair to share a century stand overseas was Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who put on 137 in India’s second innings at Centurion in 2010.1 Rahul and Sharma are also the first visiting pair with a century stand in England since August 2016. The 126-run stand is also the highest opening partnership in England in this period, alongside Alastair Cook and Alex Hales against Pakistan in Birmingham in 2016.126 The partnership of 126 between Rahul and Sharma is the second-highest by a visiting team in England after being put in to bat. Michael Slater and Mark Taylor shared a 128-run stand in 1993 at Old Trafford.20.4 Overs per innings before the fall of the first wicket for India overseas in 2021. Between 2011 and 2020, the Indian opening pair lasted only 6.4 overs on an average in Tests outside Asia.ESPNcricinfo Ltd43.4 Overs batted by India’s opening pair of Rahul and Sharma on Thursday, the second-longest opening stand for India outside Asia since 1998. Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik take the top place as they batted out 56.1 overs for a 153-run stand in Cape Town in 2007.5 Instances of India’s opening partnership lasting 20 or more overs in Tests outside Asia since the start of 2011. All the five instances came in 2021, including twice in the ongoing series against England.247.5 Balls per dismissal for Sharma during the first 20 overs of innings away from home this year. Across nine away innings in 2021, Sharma got out just twice before the end of 20 overs.4 Hundreds by Indian openers in Test cricket outside Asia since the start of 2015. All those four are by Rahul – twice in England and one each in Australia and West Indies.

England’s white-ball captain has struggled with his batting recently and he has a poor record in Asia, but he still offers value as a leader and finisher

Alan Gardner21-Oct-2021

“Every moment in your life is a turning point and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased.”
– Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men

Eoin Morgan has always been a matter-of-fact sort of cricketer, not given to the fatalism that dogs some of his colleagues. But he will know that decisions have consequences – and in cricket, to borrow from Chigurh, the cold-blooded killer of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, the accounting of the scorebook is always scrupulous.Morgan heads into the T20 World Cup, a tournament that could well be his last as England captain, in some of the worst form of his career. He will be hoping that the shape is not already drawn.Can England’s Iceman upend the wisdom of McCarthy’s hitman?Fortunately, it will not simply come down to the toss of a coin – Chigurh’s occasional method of offering would-be victims a different fate – although Morgan also well knows the important role luck plays in the career of a successful captain. Sometimes four years of World Cup planning comes down to a fortunate deflection off the back of a bat.Related

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We should rewind to that heady day at Lord’s two years ago. In the wake of England men’s maiden 50-over triumph, speculation swirled that that could be that for Morgan, only 33 at the time but a man who has always displayed a healthy sense of detachment from the game. It was not until October, more than three months after the World Cup final, that Morgan confirmed his intention to carry on. Few could have predicted how life would change in the time since.He joined up with England in Dubai a few days ago – after the small matter of the IPL final – with the team’s ambition to become the first to hold 50-over and 20-over men’s titles at the same time intact. Kolkata Knight Riders saw the benefit of his captaincy: they put together a run of seven wins from nine before losing out to Chennai Super Kings at the last. But with a single half-century in 38 white-ball innings in 2021 – and that in an ODI against an overmatched Sri Lanka – there is no way to gloss his waning batting returns.In his first press conference ahead of the T20 World Cup, he admitted that dropping himself was an option if it benefited the team. The next couple of weeks are likely to tell us whether the Morgan era, one of unprecedented limited-overs success for England, is soon to come to a close.

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This, to be fair, was not exactly the plan. When Morgan spoke in 2019 of his desire to continue, he had the T20 World Cup in mind – just not this one. “I still feel I have a lot to offer,” he said. “I won’t say I’ll be finished after the next World Cup, as I’d be afraid I’ll only creep over the line and maybe fall off. I don’t want to let anyone down. I want to drive through the World Cup in Australia and then make a call after that.”Instead, Covid-19 made the call for him. The 2020 tournament was deferred and rather than a World Cup played on hard, bouncy Australian surfaces, a war of attrition in the UAE awaits. Even before factoring in the pitches produced for the second half of the IPL – which threaten to become increasingly draining to bat on as the ICC tournament progresses – Morgan has ended up on the outer limits of his own predicted timeline. And the desert can be an unforgiving place.The touring treadmill: Morgan has played over 40 limited-overs matches this year – in England, India and the UAE – and captained his sides in each of them•Deepak Malik/BCCIMorgan’s recent struggles have been of a piece with his record in Asia, where slow pitches and slow bowlers proliferate. In all T20 over the last five years, he averages almost nine runs more per dismissal against pace and has a strike rate of 145.49, compared to 124.84 against spin. Although he enjoyed a productive IPL in the UAE last year – scoring 418 runs at rate of 138.41 – since the start of 2016, he averages 20 and strikes at 116 in Asia and the Caribbean.Nor is that the worst of it. In 2021, starting with England’s T20I series against India in March, Morgan has reached 30 five times in 35 innings, with a high score of 47 not out. More than half of his innings have been in Asia, where he is averaging 11.06 and striking at 98.22. Worryingly for England, in this season’s IPL, which kicked off in India before returning to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah after a Covid-enforced hiatus, his returns have even dipped against pace – seven dismissals from 81 balls faced, for an average of 9.57 and a strike rate of 82.71.For Morgan, the signposts along the road to the World Cup appear to be pointing in only one direction. But two things have to be weighed against the doom-mongering: his importance as a leader, and his likely role with the bat.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe first is a complicated matter likely to bring out the keyboard warriors – but even if you set aside KKR’s resurgence, his inspirational status with England is not in question. Under Morgan, appointed amid the wreckage of England’s abject 2015 World Cup campaign, the most inhibited of white-ball teams suddenly whipped off their starched pyjamas to reveal a posing pouch.Reigning 50-over world champions, they were the width of Carlos Brathwaite’s blade from winning the last T20 World Cup, and go into the upcoming tournament as the No. 1-ranked side, victorious in nine of their last 11 bilateral T20I series.As for England’s preferred batting order, a clearer picture may be starting to emerge – with Ben Stokes’ enforced absence arguably making some of their decision-making easier. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler are pencilled in as attacking openers, Dawid Malan is the anchor at No. 3, and then England can turn to the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali to take down spin during the middle overs.That would leave Morgan as the team’s de facto finisher, the potential benefit of which could be twofold for England: firstly by preventing him from getting stuck in slower bowlers’ crosshairs – his first-ten balls dot percentage was above 50% at the IPL – and then allowing him to maximise his strengths against pace at the death.Sealed with a six: Morgan finishes off in style against Pakistan, 2010•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesThis isn’t the first time he has been suggested for the role but, whether by design or circumstance, Morgan seems to be heading that way. As KKR found their mojo, he slid steadily down the order from No. 4 to No. 6 – even coming in as low as No. 7 in the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His last two T20I innings were also at No. 6.Against Pakistan in July, on an unusually spin-friendly Old Trafford surface, his 21 off 12, which included twice launching Hasan Ali for six in the 18th over, was crucial in England reaching their target with two balls to spare.

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“I am very lucky to be in a position where I have been through stages like this in my career. I think the longer you go without contributing a significant score, the closer you are to actually contributing. And that’s coming from experience.” Morgan’s reply when asked about his poor run during the IPL group stage might seem like curiously circular logic – form is temporary, class is permanent taken to the nth degree – but it’s true that he is well versed in dealing with the vagaries of life as a batter.In late 2014, as England ploughed nose first into the dirt on their tour of Sri Lanka and Alastair Cook’s ODI captaincy became increasingly untenable, Morgan was being touted as the alternative. The problem was, he too was in a rut – as bad if not worse than Cook’s. In 31 limited-overs innings from England’s 2013-14 trip to Australia to the end of the year, Morgan averaged 19.32, scoring just three half-centuries.Swings and roundabouts? Morgan’s career has been a graph of peaks and troughs following close on the heels of each other•Surjeet Yadav/Getty ImagesAfter England finally grasped the nettle, with the World Cup looming, Morgan scored a century in the ODI tri-series in Sydney, only to follow up with 92 runs, including four ducks, in his next eight innings. And we all know how that trip turned out.England stuck with him despite their World Cup embarrassment, and Morgan soon rediscovered his touch. Now captain of both white-ball sides, he averaged above 50 across formats as he and Trevor Bayliss set about their game-changing agenda – a central tenet of which was that players would be given licence to fail so long as they were following the blueprint of taking no backward step. Sure enough, another dip followed, as Morgan went 23 innings without a fifty – a run that encompassed England’s run to the 2016 World T20 final.Rather than an end to “boom and bust”, as UK chancellor Gordon Brown once optimistically promised, such cycles have been a defining feature of Morgan’s time in charge. The upside is he knows how to roll with the good times. While the readout from the last six months is pretty grim, in the two years before that, Morgan was right in the vanguard of middle-order T20 batters. Between March 2019 and before the start of the IPL earlier this year, he scored 1237 runs at an average of 42.65 and a strike rate of 161.48 – among players who batted 15 or more times at Nos. 4-6 in that period, only three (Andre Russell, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard) scored more quickly.There is an in-built volatility to life as a middle-order batter in T20, something that Morgan has long reconciled himself to. “The nature of T20 cricket and where I bat means I always have to take quite high-risk options and I’ve come to terms with that,” he said earlier in the week. “It’s just something you deal with.”It may also be relevant that since his form began to tail off again, Morgan has barely had a break. In 2021, he has played 40 games of T20 cricket for four different teams – England, Middlesex, London Spirit and KKR – captaining the side in all of them, while at the same time having to deal with various quarantine spells and restrictions brought on by the pandemic in India, England and the UAE. Morgan, who became a father for the first time last year, has previously described sustained life in bubbles as “untenable” .ESPNcricinfo LtdWe live in relatively enlightened times, where Stokes, for instance, was able to step away from the game to focus on his well-being. But the treadmill of top-level cricket remains unforgiving.

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More than a decade ago, at the Dubai International Stadium where England will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against West Indies on Saturday, Morgan played one of the innings that first marked him out as a special talent. Walking in after Paul Collingwood’s side had been reduced to 18 for 3 inside the powerplay, Morgan took his time to size up the Pakistan attack – six runs off his first ten balls (six dots), ten off his first 20. Then, from 14 off 26, he raced through the gears, thrashing 53 from his next 25, including nine boundaries off the pace bowling of Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq, as England reached their target with nine deliveries to spare. His partner throughout, Kevin Pietersen, made 43 off 43.Much has changed since then. Morgan is a T20 World Cup winner, and the only England men’s captain to lift the 50-over World Cup, as well as their leading run scorer and most-capped player in both formats. After eight seasons of playing in the IPL, last week he reached his first final – although the manner of KKR’s win in the second qualifier rather summed up the fix he is in. Morgan walked out with ten needed to win from 12 balls but could only make a three-ball duck; Knight Riders started the last over needing seven before flopping over the line from the penultimate delivery.Can Morgan rediscover his mojo with the bat over the next few weeks? Is there enough gas in the tank to take him not just through this tournament but to another T20 World Cup – the one in Australia that he had targeted all along – in 12 months’ time? Morgan is already one of England’s greatest captains, and as ever, team success will matter more than his personal ledger. Nevertheless, the accounting is inescapable. All followed to this.

Quick didn’t give up hope of a recall but had “stopped thinking about it” after years out of the side

Matt Roller24-Oct-2021Tymal Mills announced himself as a fast bowler on the rise in 2016 when he rearranged Chris Gayle’s stumps with a 150kph yorker in a T20 Blast match at Hove. Five years later, his dismissal of the same man confirmed his return to the big stage after a long struggle with injuries.Mills earned an England recall thanks to a series of standout performances in the Blast and the Hundred this summer, and was picked for his first T20 international since 2017 on Saturday night in Dubai. Entrusted with the sixth over, he dismissed Gayle with the final ball of the Powerplay, rushing him with an 140kph short ball and inducing a spliced pull which saw Dawid Malan take a superbly-judged catch backpedalling from the edge of the ring at midwicket.It was a moment of symmetry for Mills, and reward for his dedication to getting himself in good enough physical condition to play a major role in this tournament. He has suffered badly with injuries since his breakthrough five years ago, spending three months in a back brace last winter following a stress fracture, but was fit enough to play 19 games between the Blast and the Hundred this summer and bowled with good pace on his return.”A lot of hard work has gone in to get myself into a position to put my hat in the ring,” Mills told Sky Sports. “I had a really good summer back home and to get out here, back among the lads, really enjoy training and get selected for the first game, I was really pleased. I didn’t give up hope [of an England recall] but I probably stopped thinking about it, to be honest.”He [Gayle] is one of the biggest names around. Their batting line-up is fierce, isn’t it, Polly [Kieron Pollard] and [Andre] Russell coming in at No. 7 and 8. We knew that we had to stay on it. I want to play every game. I don’t want to be sitting out. I’ve been backing up training sessions back home in the summer and since I’ve been out here I’ve been recovering well. The schedule isn’t too brutal in this competition, so I’m good to go.”

“I didn’t give up hope [of an England recall] but I probably stopped thinking about it, to be honest.”Tymal Mills

“You can see once the pace cranks up people do strange things,” Chris Silverwood, England’s coach, said. “Pace does that to people, and to have someone with that ability, and from a left-arm angle as well, in the squad is a real asset to us. He’s a great asset to have in our bowling attack.”It was a year ago that Eoin Morgan was asked by Mills over dinner whether his name came up in selection meetings – coincidentally in Dubai, where they were filming for the ‘Ultimate Kricket Challenge’. Morgan said that it did, and gave enough encouragement for Mills to hatch a route back into the side for himself.”I’m delighted for Big T,” Morgan said. “He’s had an incredibly unfortunate journey throughout his career right from the start up until now. He’s as good as I’ve seen him – both fit and bowling fit – and his fielding has also drastically improved which is a huge contribution. I’m absolutely delighted that not only was he back on the field for us but also contributing in the manner that we’ve seen in the past in a Sussex shirt.”England’s use of Mills and his method were both notable. In what could be a theme throughout the tournament, Mills and England’s other seamers, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan, aimed to hit ‘hard’ or ‘heavy’ lengths rather than looking for early swing and exploited West Indies’ relative weakness against back-of-a-length bowling. Mills was also used as an enforcer through the middle of the innings, removing Nicholas Pooran with a rare full, pace-on ball which he edged behind – though he expects to be saved until the death for most of the World Cup.Tymal Mills’ pace and left-arm angle are both attractive assets•Getty Images”If this game had gone traditionally – to the full 20 – my overs would have been left to the death,” he said. “It was a luxury of taking wickets and Morgs then used me earlier, otherwise, I would have been saved until the death. Our next game is in Abu Dhabi and we play in Sharjah as well so we’re going to have to be adaptable, but smashing away, back of a length is going to be key.”You don’t want to be too full and you don’t want to be too floaty. We played against New Zealand a couple of days ago and we spoke about: ‘if you’re going to miss [your length], miss shorter’ on these wickets. As long as you’re banging it in with some conviction, you want to be missing on the shorter side, we think.”England were without Mark Wood, the one bowler in their squad quicker than Mills, on Saturday night due to a niggle to his left ankle which he picked up in the warm-up win against New Zealand. He has had an injection but is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s game against Bangladesh, with Silverwood admitting that the attack’s success created a selection headache.”It’s nothing drastic, nothing that we’re overly worried about, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing him soon,” Silverwood said. “[Mills and Wood playing together] is an exciting prospect, isn’t it? You’ve got two people who can hit that sort of pace at a regular interval, but again it will come down to what we feel will best suit the conditions that we’re playing under, and where the best match-ups lie for the team we’re playing against.”

Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne among those who could be important come 2023

Andrew McGlashan22-Feb-2022It’s a good quiz question to name the XI that made up Australia’s most recent men’s ODI team. If you want to cheat, here’s the scorecard from the match in Barbados last July.The three games against West Indies on that tour were Australia’s only matches in the format in 2021. They have played just three series since the pandemic began (winning them all).A series against New Zealand earlier this month was postponed due to quarantine requirements but Australia will finally return to the format in late March against Pakistan. Although there is a T20 World Cup title defence to plot for in just seven months, planning for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India – which has been pushed back to October amid the Covid schedule crunch – is very much in the minds of the selectors.”When you say 2023 World Cup, it feels like it’s a long way away but I think it’s about 30 games which isn’t many,” national selector George Bailey said.As in the West Indies, Australia will not have a full-strength side available. Pat Cummins and David Warner have been rested along with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who were both in the Caribbean, while Glenn Maxwell is unavailable due to his wedding. However, Steven Smith is set to play his first ODIs since facing India in late 2020 when he smashed back-to-back hundreds.But with an eye on 2023, of most significance is getting games and experience into players who are still trying to forge ODI careers, returning to the fold or in some cases have yet to start but could play a role in India.There are four who stand out: Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Josh Inglis.Green cemented his Test position during the Ashes with a series where his bowling thrived and his batting came good at the end after some technical work. To date he has just one ODI under his belt and his overall List A numbers (batting average 31.31 and bowling average 56.40) are underwhelming compared to his first-class figures although there is little doubt he can flourish as his 144 off 101 balls against South Australia last season showed.With Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis playing similar roles to Green when it comes to 50-over cricket there could be a squeeze for allrounder positions but he is likely to get opportunity to state his case.”We love Greeny’s skillset, think it will fit really well into one-day cricket,” Bailey said. “He hasn’t played a great deal of one-day cricket, but we think if we can start to expose him with both skillsets – bat and ball – then he could be really important for us come 2023.”Labuschange has had a bit more of a chance in the format since his debut in early 2020 with 13 matches under his belt, a century against South Africa and an average of 39.41. Perhaps the only question to answer before the ODI World Cup is whether there is room for both him and Smith in the middle order although they combined impressively against India, at the SCG, in 2020 with a partnership of 136 in 16 overs.Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne will all hope to be part of the 2023 World Cup•Getty ImagesIn the absence of Warner against Pakistan he could be an option to open the batting with the development of his legspin also being closely watched for the added value it can bring.”Marn is a fantastic player of spin, again he hasn’t played a great deal of ODI cricket so what we have seen we really like,” Bailey said. “He also has the added skill of continuing to work on his legspin and that’s something we are keen to explore over the next little while, continuing to build that depth of all-round ability.”Head, who often batted in one-day style during the Ashes, could almost be a like-for-like replacement for Warner. Although he hasn’t featured in ODIs since 2018, he has a superb List A record that includes two double centuries, an average of 40.75 and a strike rate of 99.60 (Warner’s is 97.15). The ODI century he made in 2017 came opening the batting alongside Warner when the pair thrashed a stand of 284 in 41 overs against Pakistan.”I won’t jump out of my place on the selection and try to predict the batting order, but a number of players have that skillset,” Bailey said. “Our focus for these one-day games and for the foreseeable future is continuing to develop and give opportunity to those guys who we think might have supplementary skills in terms of bowling some overs or being particularly handy in the field.”Steven Smith has only played three ODIs since March 2020 but crunched two hundreds in those matches•Getty ImagesBailey had particularly big plaudits for Inglis after his impressive debut T20I series against Sri Lanka where he showed his versatility which could also be used in the one-day side. He is an option as wicketkeeper although is unlikely to unseat Alex Carey whose ODI returns have been very solid.”The highlights for me were how quickly he settled into playing his own game,” Bailey said. “Think that speaks volumes for a group when a player can come in and feel comfortable to express themselves and play the array of shots he’s got. In many ways it felt like we had the flexibility of two Glenn Maxwells through the middle. I loved the fact he was able to adapt the role a different times, batting at No. 3 then slipping down to No. 5…which is a great skillset at that level.”There is, potentially, another question to ponder ahead of 2023: will captain Aaron Finch make it to the tournament? His form, albeit in T20s, is again under the spotlight – his last three ODI knocks, a long time ago now in late 2020, were 114, 60 and 75 against India – and both he and Warner have earmarked the 50-over World Cup as their swansong.He will undergo further rehab in his troublesome knee ahead of the Pakistan tour which he carried through the T20 World Cup and has continued to be hampered by.”I don’t,” Bailey said when he was asked if he any doubts about Finch leading the team in both this year’s T20 World Cup and the ODI version. “But I’m not being silly here, I’m sure Finchy would have liked a few more runs in the series just gone but also putting into context he’s still battling that knee injury a little bit. I’m really excited at the fact that Finchy will get some one-day cricket in the near future and just that ability to spend some longer time at the crease will really benefit him.”One-day cricket has felt like the forgotten format for a little while amid the pandemic, a T20 focus and the Ashes. Australia now need to put the building blocks in place for India.

Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne among those who could be important come 2023

Andrew McGlashan22-Feb-2022It’s a good quiz question to name the XI that made up Australia’s most recent men’s ODI team. If you want to cheat, here’s the scorecard from the match in Barbados last July.The three games against West Indies on that tour were Australia’s only matches in the format in 2021. They have played just three series since the pandemic began (winning them all).A series against New Zealand earlier this month was postponed due to quarantine requirements but Australia will finally return to the format in late March against Pakistan. Although there is a T20 World Cup title defence to plot for in just seven months, planning for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India – which has been pushed back to October amid the Covid schedule crunch – is very much in the minds of the selectors.”When you say 2023 World Cup, it feels like it’s a long way away but I think it’s about 30 games which isn’t many,” national selector George Bailey said.As in the West Indies, Australia will not have a full-strength side available. Pat Cummins and David Warner have been rested along with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who were both in the Caribbean, while Glenn Maxwell is unavailable due to his wedding. However, Steven Smith is set to play his first ODIs since facing India in late 2020 when he smashed back-to-back hundreds.But with an eye on 2023, of most significance is getting games and experience into players who are still trying to forge ODI careers, returning to the fold or in some cases have yet to start but could play a role in India.There are four who stand out: Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Josh Inglis.Green cemented his Test position during the Ashes with a series where his bowling thrived and his batting came good at the end after some technical work. To date he has just one ODI under his belt and his overall List A numbers (batting average 31.31 and bowling average 56.40) are underwhelming compared to his first-class figures although there is little doubt he can flourish as his 144 off 101 balls against South Australia last season showed.With Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis playing similar roles to Green when it comes to 50-over cricket there could be a squeeze for allrounder positions but he is likely to get opportunity to state his case.”We love Greeny’s skillset, think it will fit really well into one-day cricket,” Bailey said. “He hasn’t played a great deal of one-day cricket, but we think if we can start to expose him with both skillsets – bat and ball – then he could be really important for us come 2023.”Labuschange has had a bit more of a chance in the format since his debut in early 2020 with 13 matches under his belt, a century against South Africa and an average of 39.41. Perhaps the only question to answer before the ODI World Cup is whether there is room for both him and Smith in the middle order although they combined impressively against India, at the SCG, in 2020 with a partnership of 136 in 16 overs.Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne will all hope to be part of the 2023 World Cup•Getty ImagesIn the absence of Warner against Pakistan he could be an option to open the batting with the development of his legspin also being closely watched for the added value it can bring.”Marn is a fantastic player of spin, again he hasn’t played a great deal of ODI cricket so what we have seen we really like,” Bailey said. “He also has the added skill of continuing to work on his legspin and that’s something we are keen to explore over the next little while, continuing to build that depth of all-round ability.”Head, who often batted in one-day style during the Ashes, could almost be a like-for-like replacement for Warner. Although he hasn’t featured in ODIs since 2018, he has a superb List A record that includes two double centuries, an average of 40.75 and a strike rate of 99.60 (Warner’s is 97.15). The ODI century he made in 2017 came opening the batting alongside Warner when the pair thrashed a stand of 284 in 41 overs against Pakistan.”I won’t jump out of my place on the selection and try to predict the batting order, but a number of players have that skillset,” Bailey said. “Our focus for these one-day games and for the foreseeable future is continuing to develop and give opportunity to those guys who we think might have supplementary skills in terms of bowling some overs or being particularly handy in the field.”Steven Smith has only played three ODIs since March 2020 but crunched two hundreds in those matches•Getty ImagesBailey had particularly big plaudits for Inglis after his impressive debut T20I series against Sri Lanka where he showed his versatility which could also be used in the one-day side. He is an option as wicketkeeper although is unlikely to unseat Alex Carey whose ODI returns have been very solid.”The highlights for me were how quickly he settled into playing his own game,” Bailey said. “Think that speaks volumes for a group when a player can come in and feel comfortable to express themselves and play the array of shots he’s got. In many ways it felt like we had the flexibility of two Glenn Maxwells through the middle. I loved the fact he was able to adapt the role a different times, batting at No. 3 then slipping down to No. 5…which is a great skillset at that level.”There is, potentially, another question to ponder ahead of 2023: will captain Aaron Finch make it to the tournament? His form, albeit in T20s, is again under the spotlight – his last three ODI knocks, a long time ago now in late 2020, were 114, 60 and 75 against India – and both he and Warner have earmarked the 50-over World Cup as their swansong.He will undergo further rehab in his troublesome knee ahead of the Pakistan tour which he carried through the T20 World Cup and has continued to be hampered by.”I don’t,” Bailey said when he was asked if he any doubts about Finch leading the team in both this year’s T20 World Cup and the ODI version. “But I’m not being silly here, I’m sure Finchy would have liked a few more runs in the series just gone but also putting into context he’s still battling that knee injury a little bit. I’m really excited at the fact that Finchy will get some one-day cricket in the near future and just that ability to spend some longer time at the crease will really benefit him.”One-day cricket has felt like the forgotten format for a little while amid the pandemic, a T20 focus and the Ashes. Australia now need to put the building blocks in place for India.

That they managed to score 180 despite a wobble suggests the opportunity cost of going hard all the way is not that high

Sidharth Monga03-Apr-20221:30

Did Punjab Kings get their tactics spot on?

It was clear at the auction table the kind of cricket Punjab Kings were going to play this season. They went after big hitters, and managed to successfully put together an exciting team. Eleven matches into the tournament, they are the only team batting at more than 10 an over in the powerplay. In fact, their 10.94 is 2.11 an over better than the next best. They are averaging 11 sixes per innings, only 1.5 behind the leaders Rajasthan Royals on that count. They have also lost 23 wickets, which makes it higher per innings than any other team.Some of this proactive batting approach has been dictated by their losing two tosses out of three, which means they have had to undertake the task of putting on dew-proof totals on two occasions. On both occasions, they have given it a red-hot go. That they haven’t been able to post those above-par totals is a different story; they still have one win out of two batting first.But it is refreshing to see them adopt the same approach against Chennai Super Kings even after getting bowled out for 137 against Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous such attempt. In that match, only when they had lost five wickets did they do something conventional: hold Odean Smith back for the death overs. Having lost that match, it must have taken a strong commitment to that style, especially after they lost two early wickets against Super Kings.Related

Go hard or go home: Is Punjab Kings' batting approach futuristic or unsustainable?

All-round Livingstone consigns CSK to third straight loss

Liam Livingstone, though, unleashed an all-out attack to threaten to take them past 200. That they couldn’t post such a huge total will be a matter of a small concern for them despite managing to win by a massive margin of 54 runs. Kings are clearly one of the most exciting teams to watch this IPL, but if they are missing one thing, it is depth in batting.Jonny Bairstow’s arrival will add to quality in the middle overs, but it won’t stretch their batting line-up beyond No. 7, which is where Smith bats. When the pitches get slower, it might become a bigger issue for them, but they still acknowledge that they can’t afford to play conservatively especially when batting first.Mayank Agarwal, their captain, spoke of the importance to keep playing in this manner but having the “emotional intelligence” to not get bogged down if it doesn’t come off. Agarwal himself hasn’t had a great start to the tournament – scores of 32, 1 and 4 – but he has come out batting with the same intent.That they managed to score 180 against Super Kings despite the wobble in the second half of the innings is a good example that the opportunity cost of going hard all the way is not that high. If it does come off, though, they can get to the kind of totals that provide you insurance against the dew.If they keep batting this way, it goes one of the two ways. They can get better at it, and it starts to come off spectacularly. Even when it doesn’t come off, it isn’t necessary they always end up with a below-par score. That’s something they seem to be aware of. You can file it under emotional intelligence or avoiding panic at losing wickets or even a match or two because sides batting first are losing anyway.Once pitches start to slow down, it will be another story. That can wait.

A coalition of the tragics and the curious revel in the shape-shifting narrative arc of Test cricket

Danyal Rasool16-Mar-2022The fourth day is over, the bails taken off. The players and umpires head in. It’s been a one-sided Test in the extreme so far, but the first incipient signs that there might be more to this game have by now cropped up.Australia have set Pakistan 506 to win; so many it’s daft to even frame the contest in those terms. Australia have essentially given themselves two days to win their first-ever Test in Karachi. Given it took just 53 overs to get Pakistan out the first time around, the number of overs remaining, too, feels academic. But by the end of that fourth day, which began with the expectation that there would be no fifth, there are murmurs of life from a moribund Pakistan.Babar Azam has a hundred, and Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan’s new golden boy, is unflappable after surviving an early drop in the slips. The new ball has been seen off, but more importantly, so has the old, reversing ball. Pakistan have 192. They’re still 314 runs away. Daft as it might be to frame it this way, in Pakistan, that’s precisely what they do.Related

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• 'If we took a couple of catches it might be a different scenario' – Pat Cummins rues missed chances

The most delicious aspect of this anachronistic cricket format now takes over: the overnight anticipation. The fans spill out of the National Stadium, the mood uplifted, the irrational hope reinvigorated. They could draw the game, a barely creditable prospect a few hours ago, but could they even win it? Doing so would upset received wisdom about Test cricket, pitch science and the record books. So of course, Pakistan’s supporters go to bed thinking of little else.The sun rises over the port city once more, as unrelenting as it has been over the past four days. It is this unseasonal heat that made many, including Babar and Pat Cummins, suspect the pitch would long have broken up and the cracks split open. With seven of 23 wickets falling to specialist spinners, it hasn’t happened just yet. But as the sun bakes the square, there’s time still. Lots of it.The security checks on arrival at the stadium are thorough but by now a well-oiled machine; they take relatively less time. A man at the entrance asks with a wry smile, “So, what’s going to happen today?” It’s classic cricket small talk. He knows the answer is worthless, and yet there’s comfort in trusting it. You can only shrug; there is no answer.There’s a madness to the belief that Pakistan can go at nearly four runs an over in the fourth innings for 90 overs. Babar and Shafique appear to recognise that, scoring just six runs in the first five overs. And yet, the people working at the game – the press pack, the commentators, the presenters, many of whom have spent decades watching this sport without ever seeing anything like it – have the idea stuck firmly in their minds.

A man at the entrance asks with a wry smile, “So, what’s going to happen today?” It’s classic cricket small talk. He knows the answer is worthless, and yet there’s comfort in trusting it. You can only shrug; there is no answer

It’s what brings the fans out to the stadium, a coalition of the tragics and the curious slowly filling up the Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood Enclosures. The Majid Khan Enclosure at square leg teems with a large group of schoolchildren. It’s a brave decision from the school; they probably prioritise character-building.Mitchell Swepson, Australia’s debutant, bowls a couple of full-tosses that Babar puts away. They’re not characteristic of Pakistan’s shifting intentions, only indicative of the kind of day Swepson will have. They’ll be the first two of 14 full-tosses, which will go for 26 runs. They would be put away in the backyard, in school or club cricket, so might as well put them away here.There’s a serenity to that first session, it feels like the eye of the storm. As Babar and Shafique bat on, the subject of the target begins to be broached. It’s done tentatively initially, as you wonder whether the person next to you will engage with the idea or lose a little respect for you.When Shafique falls, shortly before lunch, playing perhaps his first loose shot since day 1 at Rawalpindi, it’s like an alarm clock going off, interrupting a pleasant dream. Reality begins to force its way into the spectators’ minds, like that party guest whose unwelcome, uninvited presence has killed the mood. Just 62 runs are scored in a 28-over first session. Austerity has properly kicked in.Pakistan braces for Australia’s onslaught. Too many of the scars inflicted on Pakistan cricket’s soul have come at Australian hands, and the most recent one hasn’t even healed yet. Here Australia are picking away at it once more. Mitchell Starc and Cummins have been tighter than a taxman’s purse all innings, and they move in for the kill against Fawad Alam, at sea against such high pace. He doesn’t last long, and Babar unites with Mohammad Rizwan once more. They were accused of being a touch defensive in the T20 World Cup semi-final; it is that very trait they will need to exhibit for much of the day now.The Australian players applaud as Babar Azam walks back after scoring 196•AFP/Getty ImagesSurvival is all they can aspire to through the middle session, but post-tea, Australia begin to tire and the wickets aren’t coming. They should, in all honesty, but the visitors have suddenly forgotten to catch a ball. Babar is dropped twice in two balls; Rizwan survives a close lbw shout. The prize dangles down once more, just out of reach. Pakistan need 196 for victory, 36 overs to do it in. It’s as ludicrous an idea as it ever was, but the energy of the whirring brains in the stands doing run-rate and feasibility calculations could have powered the floodlights for a day-night Test.You can’t accuse the batters of leading the supporters on; they may be crowd-pleasers, but they’re professional cricketers above all, and understand the line between positivity and foolhardiness. Babar punches Swepson away for four to move to 195; the crowd mistakes it for a gear-change. He is only putting a bad ball away.And then it happens. Babar bat-pads one to short leg four shy of 200, and before the applause has properly died down, Faheem Ashraf edges to Steven Smith at slip. The final attitude adjustment has happened; what was always impossible has finally been revealed as such. Pakistan are now content to exult in the smaller pleasures: Nauman Ali’s solid forward defence, Rizwan reaching his Test hundred an over before stumps. And, yes, a draw.It’s record-setting in its own right; not since the Timeless Test of 1939 has a side survived as many overs to save a game as Pakistan just did. The fans press up close against the raised barricades, yelling themselves hoarse as Rizwan and Babar embrace joyfully in front of them. They filter out into the twilight. They haven’t quite got the win, but the scenic route to the draw has left them sated.The man at the exit is different, but the wry smile is the same. “What happened today, huh?”What could you say that the cricket hasn’t already said? So you just shrug. There is, after all, no answer.