Our list includes a left-hand batter with boundless potential and an allrounder who shares Andre Russell’s birthday and some of his skills as well

Deivarayan Muthu14-Aug-2023

Alick Athanaze (Barbados Royals)

When Alick Athanaze was on his way to the joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut, Carlos Brathwaite, who was on TV commentary at the time, dubbed him the “future of West Indies cricket”. Then, after the left-hand batter made his Test debut against India at his home ground in Dominica, in front of his family, R Ashwin picked him among a group of players who could dominate the next decade in cricket. A CPL debut for Barbados Royals this season will only embellish his CV.Athanaze hasn’t played any official T20 cricket yet, but showed during the ODIs against UAE and India that he has a variety of shots in his repertoire, including the reverse-sweep. He also has the experience of having featured in Global T20 Canada and the Vincy T10 league. His ability to bowl offspin and patrol the infield as the outfield makes him a particularly attractive package.Related

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Kevin Wickham (Barbados Royals)

Another former West Indies Under-19 player and another Royal, Kevin Wickham is also set for his CPL debut. Wickham, now 20, has played just six first-class and six List A games so far, but has already been part of CWI’s Emerging Players camp and was recently name-checked by Ian Bishop during an interview with ESPNcricinfo.Like Athanaze, Wickham is yet to play any official T20 cricket, but he did produce a Player-of-the-Match performance in the Barbados T10 final, which Settlers won. Opening the batting, he cracked 45 off 21 balls in that final, and could be among the top-order options for Royals too in the CPL. Wickham had also been on St Kitts & Nevis Patriots’ radar and even played for their developmental team against a visiting Scotland side earlier this year.

Matthew Forde (St Lucia Kings)

Matthew Forde shares a birthday with Andre Russell and has modelled his game on the T20 phenom. He can launch sixes down the order, hit hard lengths with the ball, and also bowl deceptive slower cutters, skills that have put him on the radar of T20 leagues even outside the Caribbean.Most recently, he finished Global T20 Canada as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, with 15 wickets in eight games at an average of 10.80 and economy rate of 6.43 in Surrey Jaguars’ run to the final. Though his hero Russell had the final say in that final for Montreal Tigers, Forde did well enough to keep Chris Lynn and Sherfane Rutherford quiet. Forde was also impressive with the ball during the Cool & Smooth T20 tournament, conceding just five runs an over across seven matches.Forde played only seven games for Kings last season but could have a bigger role this CPL after having proven his white-ball chops in the LPL and GT20 Canada.Nicholson Gordon can leak runs but has the knack of picking up key wickets in pressure situations•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Kofi James (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots)

Kofi James was part of Patriots’ development sides and is a product of their extensive scouting system. James started his career as a lower-order batter but has now slid up the order after having expanded his range. It was on display during the Cool & Smooth T20 tournament, where he was the top-scorer with 330 runs in nine innings, including a century, ahead of Scotland internationals like Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross. James’ dart-it-in offspin has also attracted the attention of Patriots’ new head coach Malolan Rangarajan.”Adhishwar (The director of cricket at St Kitts) was on ground during our scouting camps, and he was speaking very highly about Kofi’s potential,” Malolan told ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to CPL 2023. “I would term him under the ‘potential’ category. He has tremendous potential, but if given an opportunity, he has the tools to come up and produce the goods required.”He is someone who bowls real fast offspin and his batting has improved leaps and bounds. He’s batting at one-down and scoring hundreds in T20 cricket. So that’s the amount of work he’s put in, in his game. Also, he’s a brilliant fielder, so I think the world is his oyster now and he will only get better playing with experienced players at St Kitts.”

Nicholson Gordon (Jamaica Tallawahs)

Nicholson Gordon, 31, is the oldest among the five players in this list but is young in terms of T20 experience. The fast bowler hadn’t played an official T20 until CPL 2022 and ended up winning the tournament with Jamaica Tallawahs. In the final against Royals, Gordon stepped up in the absence of the injured Mohammad Amir, taking out Najibullah Zadran, Corbin Bosch and Devon Thomas.Gordon is a bit like India’s Shardul Thakur. He has a tendency to leak runs but also has the knack of taking key wickets under pressure. And going for boundaries doesn’t prevent him from exploring attacking lengths. Gordon suffered a thigh injury earlier this year but is fit now and ready to bowl the difficult overs for Tallawahs once again.

They are two very different cricketers and it’s hard to see how they can both play against South Africa

Andrew McGlashan12-Nov-20231:17

Marsh: Started at negative fifty after my bowling

Marnus Labuschagne or Marcus Stoinis. Who survives? For the first time at this ODI World Cup, Australia look like having a full complement of 15 players to select from for their semi-final against South Africa which means the selectors will finally need to take a call on the structure of the top seven.Each time during the group stage that it appeared that decision would need to be made, there was a natural vacancy: Glenn Maxwell’s concussion, Mitchell Marsh’s trip home, Stoinis’ niggles, Steven Smith’s vertigo and latterly Maxwell being rested against Bangladesh after his spectacular double century.It means that the big judgement over who misses out has not yet been needed, but barring any further injury problems ahead of facing South Africa on Thursday that moment will arrive in Kolkata.Related

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It appears to be between Labuschagne and Stoinis – two very different cricketers.Even before his half-century against Bangladesh there was virtually no chance that Smith would be dropped, and there were a couple of shots in Pune – a back-foot drive through cover off Nasum Ahmed and an on-drive against Taskin Ahmed- that suggested his best touch was returning.He will remain at No. 4, even though he would prefer No. 3, which means the battle comes further down the middle order.Stoinis has chipped in during the World Cup but never dominated. His two wickets against Pakistan were his most important contribution and the 35 against England was handy but unfulfilled. However, the selectors like his all-round skillset; the potential for that quickfire knock in the middle order that could change a game and his bowling that can be used at various stages of an innings.Marnus Labuschagne does a Jonty Rhodes to send Mahmudullah back•Getty ImagesWith Maxwell in such devastating form there is an argument that he can provide the batting power, although you wouldn’t want to rely on a 40-ball hundred or his Afghanistan feats every day. Stoinis and Marsh went for 93 runs in their nine overs against Bangladesh and Maxwell’s return should provide 10 overs against South Africa, but the selectors may need to decide if they trust Marsh as the back-up seamer.Meanwhile, Labuschagne has scored 286 runs at 35.75 and a strike-rate of 77.08, boosted by his 62 off 47 balls against Netherlands. It’s that latter figure that stalks him in a selection debate such as this.His highest score of the tournament, the 71 against England, came when the ball nibbled around and his Test skills were called upon. He also batted No. 4 that day. Against Pakistan, he slipped down to No. 7 as Australia tried to make the most of the huge opening stand between Marsh and David Warner.But Labuschagne has shown his added value in the field. He was a critical figure in the closing moments of the epic clash against New Zealand in Dharamsala where he regained his composure having just failed to haul in Trent Boult’s six to make crucial interventions at deep cover in the last over.”You’ve seen how good of a fielder he is,” Travis Head said after the New Zealand outing. “He’s got full confidence in making plays and to knock one back and then to make the run out, two huge ones. He doesn’t make many mistakes.”Then against Bangladesh, albeit a game with little significance, he was brilliant with two superb pieces of work to run out Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudullah, the latter a swooping direct hit at the stumps that drew comparisons with his hero Jonty Rhodes.”It’s getting pretty incredible at the moment how much he [Labuschagne] hits the stumps,” Sean Abbott told reporters after the Bangladesh game. “That sort of stuff is invaluable, and most one-day wickets are quite flat as well so it’s free wickets when the guys are hitting the stumps like that.”If Labuschagne was to retain his place in Australia’s XI through the knockout stages of the World Cup, it would cap a remarkable journey to his role in this tournament.He was omitted from the preliminary squad and the group for the lead-up tour in South Africa having endured a difficult period in ODI cricket which raised questions about him and Smith being in the same XI – a debate which still remains now.The selectors have talked up Marcus Stoinis’ all-round package•AFP/Getty ImagesBut he was recalled for the South Africa trip when Smith withdrew with a wrist injury, although was still outside the XI when the series started in Bloemfontein. Then Cameron Green was concussed by a bouncer from Kagiso Rabada, Labuschagne replaced him (as he did Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to kickstart his Test career) and produced a matchwinning innings. In the next match he made a fluent career-best century and he appeared to have found the extra gear he, and the selectors, wanted.He went on to play all the lead-up matches ahead of the World Cup and just when it appeared he was tailing off, he made 72 off 58 balls in Rajkot to ensure his starting place. When the decision was taken to carry an injured Head through the first part of the tournament, a spot was found for Labuschagne by him replacing Ashton Agar.From there, each time it looked as though he was vulnerable, an absence elsewhere has secured his spot. In regards his batting alone, the conversation hasn’t really changed, and though there are ways his fielding could have an impact from outside the starting XI, it now adds a fascinating dynamic to the discussion. Little more than two months ago, playing World Cup finals was a distant dream for Labuschagne, but he could prove one of the great survivors.

The crowd, rooted in logic, lived every moment of the India vs New Zealand semi-final

Yash Jha15-Nov-20232:35

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Overheard while walking into the Wankhede on Wednesday: ” [Trent] Boult spell [They need to see off Boult’s first spell, that’s it].” Also: “New Zealand [Wonder what happens every time India meet New Zealand].”They don’t have the “knowledgeable” tag attached, but the Mumbai cricket crowd, by and large, is rooted in logic. So the nerves, while a bit relaxed after India won the toss and took first strike, are in evidence as the first semi-final kicks off. It takes one ball for them to ease – Rohit Sharma’s flick has got the scoreboard, the day, and the crowd ticking.But they have been here before. Two weeks ago, Rohit had started India’s game against Sri Lanka with a first-ball four, only to see his off stump knocked back next ball by Dilshan Madushanka. It had hushed the Wankhede.Related

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None of that today, though. Rohit defends the next two, and then crashes fours off the next two, and we have lift off. The Wankhede is roaring in relief.Third ball of Boult’s next, they are soaring as Rohit delivers the first six of the day. There are many more to come – 19 in India’s innings alone, their joint-most in an ODI – but the collective “shot!” isn’t to be bettered.The voice doesn’t drop for the first eight overs, as the man who became a cricketer in these parts puts India on course for a ten-over total that is second only to one in the history of men’s ODI World Cup knockout games.They are hushed for the first time when Kane Williamson clings on to a skier – not too dissimilar to his grab to end Ravindra Jadeja’s act in the 2019 semi-final – and the silence is truly stunning, for it stays long enough for the fresh roar and crescendo accompanies India’s No. 3 walking out to the middle. Virat Kohli has walked nearly halfway to the pitch when normal service resumes. Come to think of it, that’s as fitting a tribute as the Wankhede could give to Rohit’s effort.Rohit Sharma gives Trent Boult the charge early in the script•Getty ImagesShubman Gill unfurls his range of strokes to keep Wankhede going, even as Kohli eases himself in. The crowd has some colourful chants in them – more to do with the personal than the professional – but they all sink as Gill has to leave the stage prematurely to cramps.Shreyas Iyer takes off from where he had left in Bengaluru three days back, as indeed out here two weeks ago, and Wankhede swells in pride to the newest Mumbai boy doing it at the highest level. But Iyer’s time will have to wait…The “Kohli, Kohli” chants begin when he’s on 49, and of course there’s a huge roar when he gets to fifty. It’s his first in ODI World Cup knockouts, but that’s not the 50 they are here to see. And so, even though Iyer races to a 35-ball half-century himself, he has to make do with (relatively) quieter adulation, for Kohli is now within touching distance of that second 50.And… at 5.08pm local time, with the Sachin Tendulkar Stand in front of him as he played the shot that would put him on uncharted ground, with the statue in the background by the time he has completed the run, and the man himself sitting in front of him as he hits the ground in celebration, Kohli gets to #50.Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer rolled with the good times in their 163-run stand•AFP/Getty ImagesHe has spoken in the past of how the Wankhede going silent when Tendulkar fell in the 2011 final made him nervous, and that he felt like no one expected anything from him. Then. Here he is now, ten years to the day Tendulkar batted for the last time for India, at the same cauldron, with all of Wankhede having expected – nay, demanded. And he has delivered. They erupt. As one.World record witnessed, the crowd goes back to lapping up the son of the soil as Iyer notches up a 67-ball hundred. For him, they have got the chant that India’s head coach might not approve of: ” Pepsi, Iyer sexy”! (Don’t bother translating!)They enjoy the death overs as India pile up the highest total in a men’s ODI World Cup knockout game – even counting down to Tim Southee’s ignominious century with almost as much glee as Iyer’s a few minutes earlier.With India’s new-ball bowlers for once not striking early, the Wankhede is quieter than usual. But the introduction of Mohammed Shami is met with eager anticipation. “Shami , Shami [Shami’s here],” they go – and when he delivers first ball, they explode into “Shami, Shami”.Mohammed Shami, the first Indian to pick a seven-for in a World Cup game, poses with his loot•ICC via Getty ImagesWhile Shami’s first double-strike of the night wakes them up, his second double lifts them after a tense passage where Williamson and Daryl Mitchell are bringing New Zealand back in the chase. India’s leading wicket-taker of the tournament has the Wankhede properly buzzing.There are moments through the finish. The most common refrain: “Everybody, back to original seats!” Also, “Let’s wrap it up guys, let’s wrap it up!” There’s not much sympathy for Mitchell when he cramps up on 104: “Maxwell [you’re not going to do a Maxwell]!”It’s fitting that the second act concludes with another milestone to add – the first seven-wicket haul in the history of men’s World Cup knockouts – from the man they’ve been screaming for the loudest through the innings.They got it all: a high-scoring World Cup semi-final, with their team winning, and a world record plus two World Cup records to boot. Twelve years ago, this was where India ended a 28-year wait; this time, we witnessed what India had been searching for, for over eight years – victory in a men’s World Cup knockout, in any format. And that, they’ll probably shout from the rooftops for years to come, makes this a Wednesday to remember for the Wankhede.

Mitchell hasn’t got himself a big score yet, but his approach has aligned with that of CSK’s, like when he took Sunil Narine down in the KKR game

Deivarayan Muthu13-Apr-2024Bat up the order? Yes, sir.Demolish spin in the middle? No problem.Turn up at the death and smash sixes? Sure.Floating in the batting line-up is one of the most difficult jobs in T20 cricket, and Ambati Rayudu did it for two of the most successful franchises in the IPL – Mumbai Indians and CSK. He is now retired, but Daryl Mitchell is easing himself into that role for CSK.Mitchell himself has been New Zealand’s do-it-all man for a while. He opened the batting for them in his first ICC tournament – the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 – and in the ODI World Cup last year he was the most prolific middle-order batter. His versatility tempted CSK to bid up to INR 14 crore for him at the last IPL auction.Related

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There has been a bit of outside noise around Mitchell not getting a big score yet this IPL. The directive, though, from coach Stephen Fleming to the middle-order batters is clear: make small but quick contributions across the board to reach a big total. Mitchell has produced some cameos so far, helping CSK to three wins in five matches. The approach makes sense because CSK have batting depth all the way down to No. 10 or No. 11. Why not make full use of it?”I am six foot three, I am 100 kgs. So, it’s making sure I use my size and my base and finding ways to put pressure back on the spinners in my own way,” Mitchell told reporters in Chennai before CSK’s third home game, against KKR. “And also learning off other players around the world. We have obviously got a guy called Kane Williamson in our team back home.”He is a pretty good player of spin and I have learned a lot off him, but also watching other players all around the world to see how they go about different conditions, and you’re trying to adapt that to your game.”On Monday against KKR, Mitchell was bumped up to No. 3 instead of Ajinkya Rahane, who had spent a substantial amount of time off the field with a niggle. CSK were 27 for 1 in the fourth over, chasing 138 on a sluggish, grippy Chepauk pitch. The new ball was still doing a bit and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad had decided to anchor the chase in the absence of Rahane.

“It doesn’t worry me where I bat in the order. I am a competitor at heart, that’s what drives me. So, whatever role I’ve got to do for the team to help us try and win games of cricket, I’ll do that”Daryl Mitchell

It was over to Mitchell to take risks and disrupt KKR’s bowling. Sunil Narine, with 538 (!) T20 wickets, was up against him, with a wide long-on in place. Mitchell didn’t care. He charged at Narine, used his reach to meet an into-the-pitch offbreak early and launched him into the stands beyond long-on.That shot forced Narine to dart a slider at middle stump, but Mitchell reverse-swept from the stumps and picked it away to the right of short third and left of deep point. He took 13 off Narine’s first over.When Mitchell stepped out to Narine once again in his next over, he did not meet the pitch of the ball and was bowled for 25 off 19 balls. But the damage had been done. Mitchell had scored 17 of those against Narine off just eight balls at a strike rate of 212.50. It wasn’t quite Rayudu vs Rashid Khan, but Mitchell’s attacking intent aligned with CSK’s approach.”It’s just, again, trying to be as present as you can in that moment,” Mitchell said of his game plan against spin. “And working out what their threats are to you as a batsman and trying to find ways to put pressure back on them. That’s the nature of the game that we play. Sometimes it can look ugly, but you get the runs and get the job done and other times it looks beautiful. So, it’s just working out what’s the surface doing, what are the bowlers trying to do to get me out, and I will keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on them as well.”Daryl Mitchell has chipped in with the ball too, and manned the hotspots in the outfield•AFP/Getty ImagesMitchell has batted in four different positions in five innings so far for CSK. But if Rahane is fit to play in Mumbai, where the pitch is usually quicker and bouncier than Chennai’s, or if Shivam Dube is to be pushed up to counter spin, Mitchell might have to slide down the order on Sunday.”It doesn’t worry me where I bat in the order,” Mitchell said. “I am a competitor at heart, that’s what drives me. So, whatever role I’ve got to do for the team to help us try and win games of cricket, I’ll do that. Whether it’s opening, batting at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6.”Mitchell has also pitched in with the ball and has manned the hotspots in the outfield. CSK’s team management believes that Mitchell has the game to succeed across conditions, which is why they also picked him for their affiliate, Texas Super Kings, in the MLC, even before he had made his IPL debut for them.The last time Mitchell and the Wankhede came together, he cracked 134 and gave India a scare in the ODI World Cup semi-finals last year. His role at CSK in the IPL is different, and another rapid cameo with a risk-taking appetite would do for them against an MI side that also drips with batting depth and power.Life after Rayudu isn’t looking too bad after all for CSK.

Players of his kind aren’t easy to come by and if Reddy can continue to impress, he may soon make himself more prominent in the BCCI’s radar

Sidharth Monga10-Apr-20242:29

‘Nitish Kumar Reddy’s innings showed he didn’t fear failure’

Nitish Kumar Reddy’s first memory of the IPL is a misfield. The year was 2023, the bowler was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and he was fielding at deep point. In domestic cricket, he had become used to judging the ferocity of the shot from the sound the bat made. In the IPL, it was just so loud that he had no cue to go by. He charged in thinking the batter had sliced the ball, and ended up completely missing it.Nitish finished that IPL with two games without getting a chance to bat, without getting a chance to be the reason for that noise in the stands himself, but it is instructive what he remembers. Playing his second match this year, probably his first touch on the ball was arguably the toughest kind of catch in the sport: running back and taking the ball over your shoulder. Never mind that slight error in the last over, when he ended up parrying an overhead chance over the fence, he was trusted enough to be placed in the fielding hot spots: point in the powerplay, the boundary in the final over.These are not the most important things a cricketer does on the field. Those are done when batting or bowling. Nitish’s state side Andhra trusts him with both but only in first-class and List A formats. Only five out of his nine T20 matches have come for Andhra, the last of those in 2021. While the Sunrisers Hyderabad invested in him on promise alone, he blossomed playing first-class cricket for Andhra, picking up a five-for each in the last two seasons, including one against the eventual champions, Mumbai.Related

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It’s Nitish’s batting that got him into the SRH XI when Mayank Agarwal turned up unwell for the last match. It was in favour of his batting that Nitish, an opening bowler and opening batter in his Under-16 days, restricted his bowling in his growing-up years.The first hit that Nitish got in the IPL wasn’t a challenging one. He came in to bat at No. 6 with just 25 required off 26 balls, but he finished the game in style, switch-hitting Ravindra Jadeja for four and lofting a Deepak Chahar slower one into the sight screen.Wednesday in Mullanpur was different. SRH, the most explosive batting unit this IPL, were caught in seaming and swinging conditions and were reduced to 64 for 4 in the 10th over. Instead of doubling down, Nitish now began to counterattack. He later said that he had to target his bowlers on a difficult pitch. His target was the lone spinner, Harpreet Brar. Out of his 64 off 37, 38 came off 16 balls of spin he faced. Among others, he pulled international bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran for sixes.Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 37-ball 64 took Sunrisers Hyderabad to an above par total•BCCIMore than the outcome, it was the thought process and the planning that stood out. Nitish’s captain acknowledged Nitish’s intent, saying they would rather they were bowled out than score a watchful 150-160. Nitish’s intent fell in line with that philosophy. Then came his ability to pick his bowlers. Early rushes suggest SRH might have found themselves another spin hitter, but teams will not feed him spin from now on.Before bigger tests come, though, Nitish provided a sight for sore eyes if you follow India’s fortunes in limited-overs cricket. A hitter who bowled in the late 130s. At least for two overs, he did. Then he used the slower bouncer to get Jitesh Sharma’s wicket.It is extreme early days, but Indian cricket has something called a target group, which includes players outside the centrally contracted ones. Basically those who play A cricket regularly and a few others. If Nitish can continue to have a good IPL, just for the fact that he is a seam-bowling allrounder who is bowling more than 20 overs per first-class match on an average, he could find himself in that target group.

A heated exchange put the South African “in the zone” as he hammered a belligerent century to win Jaffna their fourth title

Madushka Balasuriya22-Jul-2024Bhanuka Rajapaksa kept Galle Marvels in Sunday’s Lanka Premier League final with an 82 off 34 deliveries, but his most consequential role in the game might have been in riling up Rilee Rossouw.It’s not uncommon for athletes to search for added motivation in high-pressure contests. This was revealed about Michael Jordan, for example, in the Last Dance documentary, which showed him picking fights and sometimes even conjure slights out of thin air to help fuel his game.On Sunday, Rossouw might have just taken a page out of Jordan’s book, as he produced a knock of utmost belligerence – an unbeaten 106 off 53 deliveries – to fire Jaffna Kings to a fourth title in five years. The catalyst for Rossouw’s outstanding play, however, had taken place a little earlier.Related

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It was the 18th over of Galle’s innings, and Jaffna were reeling from Rajapaksa’s epic counter-attack which had peaked just minutes prior when he ransacked Charith Asalanka for 28 in a single over. With emotions fraying and Galle in the ascendancy, the third ball of the 18th saw Rajapaksa complete a single after Kusal Mendis’ throw had ricocheted off the stumps. So far, so innocuous.But when the second throw also deflected, this time off Rajapaksa just as he was creasing at the non-striker’s end, the point of contention arose as Rajapaksa turned and hurried through for a second run.The Jaffna players immediately protested, citing that the ball had deflected off the batter’s body. Rajapaksa, to his credit, had initially put his hand up to stop his partner Dwaine Pretorius from coming back for the second before eventually running once he realised his partner wasn’t stopping. He had even sought to seemingly apologise to his national mates, Mendis and Asalanka, but when the second bye was eventually awarded to Galle, matters boiled over.Rossouw, stationed at mid-off, took a particularly dim view of the incident during a heated exchange with Rajapaksa. Following this, the umpire ushered Rossouw and Jaffna skipper Asalanka over to address the matter, but Rossouw wasn’t backing down. Some amateur lip-reading suggested that the South African was pointing out that that he did indeed know the rules. He was then seen facing up to umpire Kumar Dharmasena as well, before proceedings eventually simmered down.But Rossouw was seething.

“Rilee had told Bhanuka that he had brought the game into disrepute, to which Bhanuka had responded – and then exchanged some words”Charith Asalanka

“Hundred per cent,” Rossouw said after the game when asked by Roshan Abeysinghe if his altercation with Rajapaksa had spurred him on. “People that know me don’t abuse me… it just puts me more in the zone.”As these words were uttered, the camera panned to a stone-faced Rajapaksa. Penny for his thoughts indeed. But boy was Rossouw in the zone. Nine fours and seven sixes meant 78 of his 106 came in boundaries, and some of those strokes exuded disdain – a couple of cross-batted swipes in particular had more than a tinge of anger about them.And so impactful was his knock, it shifted the pendulum considerably in terms of the Player of the Tournament stakes, moving away from tournament top-scorer Tim Seifert and Jaffna’s middle order enforcer Avishka Fernando – the overwhelming favourites pre-game – to Rossouw. His hundred, his second of the season, was by far his best and shot him up to second in the run-scoring charts, while his strike rate moved up enough notches to be the best of those in the top ten.Asalanka was questioned on the incident after the game as well, and he sought to play it down as would be expected.”Usually batters don’t run after something like that, but I think to give Rajapaksa the benefit of the doubt, he was called through for the second and he just responded,” he explained. “Rilee had told Bhanuka that he had brought the game into disrepute, to which Bhanuka had responded – and then exchanged some words.”But you suspect there was not much Rajapaksa could have said in any case to change the outcome. Rossouw, after all, had found his fuel.

Chaos reigns on and off the field as tournament’s newest head coach faces steep learning curve

Matt Roller26-Jul-2024Andrew Flintoff was poker-faced in the dugout at Headingley as his Northern Superchargers side fell to a heavy defeat in their opening match of the Hundred. The 47-run margin flattered them: they lost 7 for 30 in 29 balls in their chase, and Trent Rockets were so dominant that they did not even see the need to drag Flintoff back onto the outfield by taking a strategic timeout.It took a 57-run eighth-wicket partnership between Ben Dwarshuis and Matthew Potts to give the scorecard a facade of respectability and avoid the ignominy of the heaviest defeat in the Hundred’s brief history. By the time Dwarshuis slapped the final ball to mid-off, much of the 12,857-strong crowd had filtered out of the stands and back towards Leeds city centre.This was an unexpectedly low-key first match as head coach for Flintoff, covered in person by only one national newspaper and bumped off Sky Sports’ Main Event channel, midway through the first innings, by Wigan Warriors against Warrington Wolves. He continued to keep a low profile and is yet to speak publicly since his appointment nine months ago – although he did sign every autograph requested by the hundreds of children who hung around for him.Related

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“He just wants to bring a bit of fun and joy,” Matt Short, Superchargers’ stand-in captain, said. “There was a bit of chaos in the last couple of days, but he said, ‘we’re here now: just go out there, enjoy yourself, back yourself and play with that positivity – and be fearless.’ It’s definitely a thing we want to stick to in this tournament: being fearless and taking the game on.”The “chaos” came in the form of an availability crisis which meant the Superchargers were always up against it. Jason Roy (shoulder) and Reece Topley (finger) were injured, Mitchell Santner was at Major League Cricket, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes were with England at Edgbaston. So too, less expectedly, was Dillon Pennington, who was retained in the Test squad as cover (in case of a concussion) after West Indies won the toss in the third Test and bowled first.Pennington’s absence meant a last-minute scramble for a short-term replacement, with Michael Jones being called up on the morning of the game while training with Durham. As Jones headed down the A1(M) to Leeds, Potts found himself stuck in traffic on the M1 on his way up from Birmingham.Nicholas Pooran’s arrival was even more chaotic. Barely 24 hours after his side, MI New York, were knocked out of Major League Cricket, he arrived at the Superchargers’ hotel after spending the night on a transatlantic flight. Pooran told Short, their stand-in captain, over breakfast that his luggage and kitbag were still in transit, prompting yet more chaos.He found some bats thanks to Manchester Originals’ Phil Salt, who uses the same sponsor and has the same specifications, which were then chauffeured across the Pennines in an Uber. His subsequent innings – 10 off 15 balls, caught at mid-off trying to hit Chris Green over his head for six – cannot have been what Flintoff had in mind in March, when he made Pooran his first draft pick on a £125,000 contract.The teams are into their fourth seasons but for some, the connection to the region they represent feels increasingly tenuous, in spite of the ECB’s stated aim to ramp up the “tribalism” of the tournament. The Superchargers fielded a single Yorkshire player, Adil Rashid, while Adam Lyth — who has scored more T20 runs at Headingley than anyone else — was booed as he walked past the Western Terrace in his Rockets gear.Tom Banton, a Superchargers player until this season, gave Rockets a flying start•PA Photos/Getty ImagesThe Hundred has been sold as ‘best vs best’ but the first four men’s games this year have been a mess, all deeply one-sided. The overlap with MLC – and a Test match – have meant a series of last-minute replacements, often on one-match deals: good luck explaining to a young Rockets fan enthused by Green’s performance on debut that he will not be there next week.It is hardly Flintoff’s fault that so many players were otherwise engaged, not least after their wooden-spoon 2023 season which necessitated a rebuild. Even still, it must have been galling to watch Tom Banton, one of the players the Superchargers released, top-scoring for the Rockets and looking back to his flamboyant best during his 38-ball 66.This was a tough night for Short as captain too, as he struggled for bowling options after Jordan Clark’s first five balls went for 21. He resorted to bringing himself on, but by that stage the Rockets had two right-handers set in Banton and Sam Hain: his set of fast, flat offbreaks cost 19. With the bat, their collapse to spin was galling: 41 for 0 off 24 balls turned into 71 for 7 off 63.Short suggested that Flintoff is unlikely to overreact to a poor start. “It’s certainly not crisis meetings at this stage,” he said. “He wants to bring a fun environment… if guys are having fun and feel like they’re enjoying themselves, that’s when we play our best cricket. It’s his first gig as a head coach, and he’s keen to help the boys where he can and have a bit of fun.”But it only took a glance at Flintoff’s opposite number to reinforce the fact that this is a huge step-up for a man with minimal coaching experience. As Flintoff strode out at the strategic timeout in the first innings, Andy Flower – perhaps the most sought-after coach on the franchise circuit – headed out to the middle to speak to the Rockets’ batters.Flower was Flintoff’s coach during his final England appearance back in 2009, and is among a stellar list of names involved in the men’s Hundred: Stephen Fleming, Tom Moody and Mike Hussey among them. Everyone has to start somewhere, but this defeat was a reminder of the scale of the task facing Flintoff over the next four weeks.

Rana has repeatedly shut down some of the biggest hitters in the world and his spell in the IPL 2024 final only enhanced his reputation

Deivarayan Muthu27-May-20241:09

Moody: Difference between KKR and SRH became evident tonight

Mitchell Starc bowled arguably the ball of IPL 2024 in the final to hit the top of Abhishek Sharma’s off stump with a ripping outswinger. In the next over, Vaibhav Arora bowled an outswinger of his own to make Travis Head look silly. Harshit Rana’s dismissal of Nitish Kumar Reddy wasn’t as headline-grabbing, but it was deception at its best.In his very first over, Rana dug in three straight slower offcutters into the red-soil Chennai pitch. He found grip and bounce and bowled it so slow that it seemed more like an offbreak. Aiden Markram and Reddy were desperate to break free. Rana knew it and cranked the fourth ball up to 146kph. He got it to angle in towards off and straighten late off the seam. Reddy was beaten for pace, and could do nothing but nick it behind to the keeper.Slow. Slow. Slow. Frighteningly fast.Related

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Most other bowlers do it the other way. But there are some like Dwayne Bravo, Harshal Patel and now Rana who are bucking that T20 convention.Once the ball became older and the Chepauk track slower, Rana rolled out one cutter after another. Heinrich Klaasen was on a run-a-ball 16. He was desperate to get a move on now. But Rana denied him the pace and shifted his line even wider – possibly wider than a set of stumps outside off – to have him chopping on the next ball with a 116.4kph offcutter. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were 90 for 8 in 15 overs. Their last recognised batter was gone. Game over.Simon Helmot, SRH assistant coach,who has worked closely with Bravo in the CPL, delivered a glowing appraisal of Rana’s defensive skills.Harshit Rana showed his bowling chops in the IPL 2024 final•BCCI”He has some variations and I think his variation was his quicker ball and fuller ball,” Helmot said after KKR thumped SRH to win their third IPL title. “Obviously, he has those slower deliveries as well. No excuses but nothing certainly went right for us with the bat. I think Klaasy [Klaasen] playing the ball onto the stumps from wide outside off stump was probably something that didn’t go our way.”He seems to have the ability to adapt his bowling style depending on the conditions. Obviously, he’s well-versed with what the opposition are trying to do. Look, there’s a rich battery of fast bowlers here in India that are exciting, I think, and that’s what the IPL often to bring out – a lot of talent – which bodes well for the Indian cricket team and obviously we’ll be looking for lots of players like him when it comes to auction time next year .”In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Rana had similarly bested Klaasen with his slower cutter. The stakes weren’t as high as on Sunday, but still defending seven off five balls after having conceded a six to Klaasen in the first ball of the final over on a flat Eden Gardens pitch is no mean feat.The guy has been repeatedly shutting down some of the biggest hitters in the world. Against Lucknow Super Giants in Kolkata, Rana restricted Nicholas Pooran to 16 off 11 balls with cunning pace variations on wide lines from over the wicket.In all, Rana picked up 19 wickets in 13 games, the most by an uncapped Indian player and only Jasprit Bumrah (20), Varun Chakravarthy (21) and Harshal (24) have more wickets than him this IPL. The slower ball has been responsible for ten of Rana’s 19 wickets, according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs. The variations have particularly served him well in the middle overs (between seven and 16) where he has the best economy rate (7.88) among fast bowlers who have bowled at least 100 balls during the phase this season. It’s better than the likes of Pat Cummins (7.92), Harshal (8.96) and his own team-mate Andre Russell (10.31).1:20

How dominant were KKR this season?

What makes Rana so difficult to put away?”Oh! I haven’t had to face him . He’s learning his skills or he’s learning what his skills are capable of this IPL,” Starc said. “I obviously didn’t know him beforehand. So, he seems pretty confident in his abilities. He started the season having had to close out a game against the second-best team in the tournament. He’s bowled some tough overs and he’s had to bowl the last overs in some games and he’s taken a good amount of wickets throughout.”I think he’s certainly open to listening – whether it would be from Shreyas [Iyer] as captain or working around [with other bowlers at] training. He’s certainly got the ability and he’s only young. He’s going to get better and better the more he works at it. The variations in his pace or slower balls have worked a treat at certain stages as well.”Rana was just a net bowler with Gujarat Titans in 2022 before KKR brought him in as a replacement player in the same season after Nitish Rana, his Delhi team-mate in the domestic circuit at the time, had suggested his name to the team management. In two seasons, he has improved beyond sight.He is also a capable batter – he has a first-class hundred to his name and averages nearly 50 after nine innings – though KKR didn’t require his secondary skill this season. He is already part of the India A system and IPL success could well put him in contention for higher honours.

At the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan have not just been heart and raw talent; at times, their highly skilled cricketers have put on tactical masterclasses too

Sidharth Monga25-Jun-20242:26

Tamim: This is massive for Afghanistan cricket

There is a confounding piece that has been doing the rounds of social media. It came from Naveen-ul-Haq, who put it up on Instagram following the win against Australia, and other Afghanistan players wasted no time sharing it on their handles. Half the image showed one man in empty stands with the word “support”; the other had a stadium full of fans with the word “congratulations”.Afghanistan are one of the most loved cricket teams in the world. Their cricketers are highly sought-after by franchises. Seven of the XI that beat Bangladesh to make the semi-final of T20 World Cup 2024 played in this year’s IPL, and another was in a squad without getting a game. Why, then, this anger – or is it a mild lament? – that evidently resonated among the whole group?Then again, what do we really know about the support they might need?Related

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Can we imagine preparing for our first Test at a makeshift “home” in another land and learning how one of our team-mates back home is helping carry half-dead and dead people to ambulances because terrorists had attacked the “peace” cricket tournament held during Ramadan?Or the strife and chaos and refugee crisis that has followed the sudden departure of American troops? And can we imagine the resentment they must feel when one of the USA’s political allies refuses to play Afghanistan in bilateral cricket?When recently asked if his son is playing cricket too, a former Asian cricketer told me it’s not possible for children from his part of the world to reach the highest level. They just haven’t seen enough strife. That’s the perverse part of sport in the colonised world. Some of the best sportspeople tend to become who they are only because desperation pushes them that extra mile, be it cricket in Asia or football in Africa and South America.For, on the field, we are all the same. That is also the lure of the sport. This is the only place where the ravaged Afghans can be the equals of those representing the countries that have done the ravaging, even if for just three-and-a-half hours. At the same time, there is no allowance made for being cricketers in exile having half an eye back home on their loved ones. Runs and wickets are the only currency. If the runs and the wickets don’t come, people move on pretty quickly. You are just a piece of content. Where’s the next rags-to-riches story?Afghanistan fans gather in Jalalabad to watch the must-win Super Eight match against Bangladesh•AFP via Getty ImagesAfghanistan have refused to be just a piece of content that people dust off every once in a while. They have continued to produce highly skilled cricketers.Do you know how some Indian cricketers and support staff judge how good the balls are for a particular tournament? If Fazalhaq Farooqi is not moving them in the air, you can forget about moving them.Not just highly skilled cricketers, but highly skilled professionals. It flows from the top. Rashid Khan is as competitive a man as any in this sport. He practically lives his life in hotel rooms, relying on friends he has made everywhere, but makes sure he stays physically and mentally fit, and as professional as possible. The best T20 batter in the world, Suryakumar Yadav, says Rashid is the best bowler in the world. Perhaps outside Jasprit Bumrah, whom he never faces in a match.It’s not just all heart. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the batting version of Trent Boult in T20s. He loves to charge at bowlers in the first over of the innings and hit them for boundaries. Against Australia in Kingstown, though, he knew the pitch was going to help spin and quickly assessed it to reconfirm the notion that he didn’t really need to hit too many boundaries. He scored the slowest of his 28 fifties that night. Against Bangladesh, he wore blows on the body but didn’t panic, hitting just one boundary in 55 balls.4:14

Rashid: It was hard to stay calm at some points

In fact, the whole match Afghanistan played against Australia was a tactical masterclass, be it the assessment of conditions when batting, or giving the first over to Naveen, not just for the first time this World Cup but in a year-and-a-half.If Gurbaz has excelled by taking the emotion out of it, Gulbadin Naib knows he does his best when he lets his emotion run wild. Ridiculed during the 2019 World Cup, when he was the captain, he still fronted up: opening the batting, bowling the death overs. His two biggest players, Rashid and Mohammad Nabi, had openly protested his ascent then.Open protests are not even an issue with the Afghans. Rashid threw his bat in disgust at Karim Janat the other night when the latter refused to come back for a second run, but at the end of it all, Janat was the first to rush to Rashid while the rest celebrated more flamboyantly.3:39

Trott: ‘It’s uncharted territory, that makes us dangerous’

Now Naib is still giving his best for Rashid. Even at pretending to cramp. Nabi is still there. He can take the new ball against two right-hand openers and bowl through the powerplay. Against India, he did so without conceding a boundary to a right-hand batter.That little bit of luck has smiled on them too. They found themselves in the low-scoring conditions of Kingstown for two crucial matches. The closer the conditions get to standard T20 ones, the more the chance of their batting coming out too light. The conditions are not in their control. They just responded to what was given to them.The joy and celebrations this run has produced back home in Afghanistan is incredible. The photos of tens of thousands of people out on the streets of a war-torn country are life-affirming. The sobering part is that only men are seen celebrating. The cricketers must also carry the burden of being part of that one sport that the ones who are ravaging them now can use to validate their rule. It is an impossible tightrope they must walk: do whatever they can for the women but without being seen to be making a public statement about it.And amid all this, find a way to stay professional and skilful and slightly lucky as they continue one of the great runs in tournament cricket.

The Sri Lanka spinners took 27 wickets between them to hand India a rare series drubbing

Sampath Bandarupalli07-Aug-2024Sri Lanka won the third ODI against India by 110 runs to register a 2-0 series win to end a long and unwanted streak, with Avishka Fernando scoring 96 and Dunith Wellalage taking a five-wicket haul in their defence of 249. Here are all the key stats from the match and the series.13 Consecutive series without a defeat for India against Sri Lanka in men’s ODIs before their latest 2-0 defeat in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s last series win against India in this format came back in 1997 at home, which they won by a 3-0 margin.India’s streak of 13 ODI series without a defeat against Sri Lanka is the joint-second longest unbeaten run for any team against an opponent in this format. Pakistan did not lose in 14 ODI series against Zimbabwe, while India have won each of their last 13 series against West Indies.Related

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27 Wickets for Sri Lanka spinners against India in this series are the most by any team’s spinners in a bilateral men’s ODI series of four or fewer matches. The previous highest was 26 by Bangladesh against New Zealand and Zimbabwe; both were in a four-match series at home in 2010.The previous highest wickets taken by a team’s spinners in a three-match series was 21 by Pakistan against Bangladesh in 2011 and Hong Kong against Papua New Guinea in 2016.1 Dunith Wellalage is now the first spinner to bag multiple five-wicket hauls against India in men’s ODIs. Five pacers have managed this feat – Brett Lee (4), Aaqib Javed (3), Mustafizur Rahman (3), Merv Dillon (2) and Mitchell Starc (2).10 Instances of India not winning a match in a men’s ODI series of three or more completed matches, including their latest 2-0 series defeat against Sri Lanka. The last of the nine previous series was in 2022, where South Africa whitewashed India at home in a three-match series.Getty Images43 Wickets picked up by the spinners across the three matches in Colombo – 27 by Sri Lanka and 16 by India. These are the most wickets picked up by spinners in a bilateral men’s ODI series of four or fewer matches.The previous highest was 40 in the four-match series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in 2010, while the previous highest in a three-match series was 36 by Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2011.1 The series against Sri Lanka was the first instance of India getting bowled out in all three matches of a three-match men’s ODI series. It is also the first instance since 2015 for India where they were all out in three straight men’s ODIs.8 Consecutive ODI series for Sri Lanka at home without a defeat since losing to India in 2021 by 1-2 margin. It is their longest streak without a series defeat at home in men’s ODIs. Sri Lanka have not lost any of the nine men’s ODIs they have played at home in 2024.2 Instances of a batter scoring multiple fifty-plus scores for India in a bilateral men’s ODI series while no other player managed even one.Rohit Sharma had fifties in the first two ODIs in this series against Sri Lanka, while the next highest score was 44 by Axar Patel. MS Dhoni had a century and a fifty in the 3-match home series against Pakistan in 2012-13, where the next best by an Indian was 43.