Even at age 37, he continues to perfectly tailor his batting to Australia’s specific needs under the unforgiving bright lights of a World Cup

Alex Malcolm14-Nov-20231:53

Moody: ‘Warner bringing a T20 approach to ODIs’

“Everyone keeps writing me off.” These were David Warner’s words following Australia’s win over New Zealand after he had scored 163, 104 and 81 in three consecutive innings in this ODI World Cup.Asked if he was motivated by trying to prove doubters wrong, Warner added, “Nup. I just make everyone look stupid.”They were odd comments. Because no one in their right mind had ever doubted Warner as an ODI player. There had been criticism of his Test form over the last two years and his numbers over that period but even his doubter-silencing double-century had hardly made anyone “look stupid”.Related

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Warner: 'World Cups are what I get up for'

There might have been the odd eyebrow raised back in March when Warner batted at No. 4 in an ODI for the first time in his career on return from a fractured elbow to accommodate Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head. But the eyebrows were raised at Australia’s selectors, not at Warner, for thinking that arguably Australia’s greatest-ever ODI opener should bat anywhere else.His ODI form over the last three years has been exemplary. In 33 ODIs since October 2020, he’s never once gone more than three innings without scoring a half-century.While there have been queries about the amount of cricket England have played in 2023 as part of the reason for their early exit from the World Cup, Warner has shot that theory to pieces at age 37. He played a full IPL and six Tests in the English summer before being one of only two players to have played all eight of Australia’s ODIs in South Africa and India in the lead-up to the World Cup, where he peeled off a century and four half-centuries including three in a row against India.On the back of that mountain of evidence, many were predicting he could have a big World Cup given his love of India and the big occasion.And so it has been proven. Warner, who is starting a long goodbye from international cricket that is planned to be staggered across the three formats over an eight-month period culminating in the T20 World Cup in June next year, is finishing his ODI career in some style with yet another dominant World Cup performance.David Warner has had a sensational ODI World Cup•Associated PressWhilst Warner himself might be conflating criticism of his Test place with his ODI place, for no other reason perhaps than to provide fuel in his mind, it is important for those watching not to do the same.Warner deserves to be recognised as an all-time ODI great. In an era where the format has been left to wither and batters have struggled to find the right tempo, Warner has thrived. Of the 12 players with 22 ODI centuries or more, only AB de Villiers has both a higher average and strike rate than Warner.Among all the ODI greats Australia has produced, Warner stands head and shoulders above them, with the lack of matches he has played only further highlighting his extraordinary output.And in World Cups, when the pressure is at its greatest, he has elevated his performance to a level that only the very elite have achieved.What has been remarkable about this campaign in particular is that Warner has seemed ageless. He is as powerful yet more lithe than when he started his ODI career 14 years ago. Warner and Quinton de Kock are the only two players who are in the top five for both sixes hit (20) and twos scored (24) off the bat in this tournament. His ability to mix power and placement is what makes him so hard to contain.Even at the age of 37 David Warner is controlling hotspots on the field•Getty ImagesWarner’s adaptability and willingness to move with the times are also what sets him apart from the pack. In 2019, where he was the second leading run-scorer for the tournament, he struck just eight sixes compared to 45 twos. His strike rate was also just 89.36 for the tournament. Australia played a more conservative brand in that World Cup trying to weather the two new balls in swinging English conditions, and he played his role to perfection scoring three centuries in ten games. In this World Cup, he has struck at 105.49 as Australia have been intent on plundering the opening powerplay in every game. And he’s played his role perfectly again.His stroke-play has been as varied and as skilled as at any time in his career, and his batting IQ has reached new levels. Pakistan’s Haris Rauf tried to expose Warner around the wicket, as many have in his career, and he flicked him from the top of off stump onto the Chinnaswamy roof. Lockie Ferguson tried to bounce him at high pace in Dharamsala and Warner cut him over forward point, ramped him over deep third and pulled him over backward square for three separate sixes. Aryan Dutt and Netherlands tried to tie him down with offspin in the powerplay, just as they had with de Kock, and Warner cut him for four consecutive boundaries to take him out of the attack in the third over of the match.His attention to detail is such that he is using differently weighted bats in this tournament, calling for a lighter blade against pace and a heavier one versus spin, to maximise his scoring opportunities depending on who is bowling.On top of that, his fitness has set him apart. In a tournament played in extreme heat at times, when team-mates and opponents have suffered from cramps and exhaustion, Warner has looked indefatigable. Even in the field, with a throwing shoulder that is not what it once was in terms of power, he has still patrolled key spots in the outfield and taken vital catches for his team.There will be those who might not miss Warner when he’s gone. His bizarre comments about umpiring stats and sub-tweeting team-mate Glenn Maxwell regarding the Delhi light show are further proof that he is forever willing to stir the pot.But Warner’s exceptional ODI career might come to a close after Thursday’s semi-final or Sunday’s final, and it would be stupid not to appreciate it.

In his comeback from a life-threatening car crash in December 2022, Rishabh Pant made 18 off 13 balls and passed the wicketkeeping test too

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Mar-2024

Rishabh Pant at the toss of his comeback match in Mullanpur•BCCI

The moment Rishabh Pant has longed for since December 30, 2022 arrived at 4.06 pm on March 23, 2024, in little-known Mullanpur. David Warner had gloved an attempted hook off a slower bouncer from Harshal Patel and was walking back, but the ongoing review process extended the wait. Yards away from Warner on the other side of the boundary, was Pant, ready to take his first steps on a cricket field in a competitive match since surviving a car crash 15 months ago.As Pant started his walk to the middle, he was introduced as the new batter over the public address system. The whole crowd – the ground was more than half full, with thousands still outside because of the security process – stood up to celebrate Pant’s return. It wasn’t a visceral roar but it was wholesome. The non-striker Shai Hope also punched his bat with a gloved hand a few times to welcome his captain.A large number of fans had travelled from neighbouring towns and cities in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and, of course, Delhi. A few wearing navy blue ‘Pant 777’ t-shirts braved the harsh afternoon sun in anticipation of a Pant special, which the Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting had predicted, having observed how zealously his captain had been training in the week leading up to today.Pant took guard on leg stump. The Punjab Kings left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar angled the ball away from his reach, forcing Pant to stretch and reach to connect. Having had his knee ligaments reconstructed, it’s an area he’s going to be tested, in addition to throws coming to his end while running between the wickets. Pant refused to run a double twice in his first six deliveries.Related

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Such caution is understandable as he is taking small steps back after a severe injury. On 4, Pant pulled a long hop from legspinner Rahul Chahar straight to deep midwicket, where Harshal Patel was blinded by the sun and couldn’t catch it. His second boundary was a cover drive, off Harshal, but Pant’s innings ended soon after.A slower offcutter from Harshal climbed towards Pant’s head and his predetermined ramp ended up in backward point’s hands. He rapped his pads, berating himself. His first innings in his second innings as a cricketer lasted 23 minutes and ended on 18 off 13 balls, but it had its moments.The Capitals finished with 174 and then came Pant’s bigger challenge: keeping wickets and making decisions as captain in the fast and furious pace of T20 cricket. He was up for it, even after losing one of his four specialist bowlers Ishant Sharma to an ankle injury.Ask batters to pick the chirpiest wicketkeeper around and Pant is likely to be high on their list. Part of his talkativeness may be to wind up the batters, but he also does it to motivate and guide his bowlers.Rishabh Pant made 18 off 13 balls in his comeback match•BCCIPant has kept wicket to Kuldeep Yadav at both India and DC, and shares a rapport with the left-arm wristspinner. Throughout Kuldeep’s four-over spell against Punjab, Pant rarely kept silent, and some of that chat came through on the stump microphones. (let him hit long), (you are bowling well. Relax and bowl freely),” Pant said in Kuldeep’s first two overs as Prabhsimran Singh and Sam Curran were batting.Prabhsimran’s aggressive intent was evident, and Pant wanted Kuldeep to relax. (You are our only hope. It [the wicket] will come),” were Pant’s words the ball before Kuldeep had Prabhsimran caught in the deep. Not just to Kuldeep, Pant’s message to his team was to keep believing, even as Punjab took control of the chase. You could hear him saying “put in the energy”.Pant’s biggest strength was his fearlessness, and the question was whether he would still be fearless. He did not hesitate to stretch or dive behind the stumps, and attempted two stumpings, successfully dismissing Jitesh Sharma with the second attempt.On the eve of the Capitals’ season opener against Punjab, Ponting had described Pant as the “heartbeat” of the team. While the result did not go his way, Pant was pulsing with energy, and achieved what many feared he may never do again. Play cricket.

The Brisbane Heat batter talks about his 140 in the BBL semi-final, his day job making bats, and more

Interview by Mohammad Isam07-Feb-2024How did January 22, 2024 change your life?
Getting all those runs in the Big Bash semi-final was probably the best time to do it. I put my name on the big stage. I said, “Hey, I’m here.”Tell us what happened.
I was actually busy playing on my Xbox that day. I looked at the time – it’s four o’clock, I better go play some cricket. Oh no, I’m running late. I got to the ground, and the rest…What did you do differently in that innings?
Everything just clicked. I was just watching the ball. Everything seemed easy. Just watching it and hitting it. It’s pretty much my game. I just watch and react.From getting big scores in the KFC T20 Max to getting a big score in the Big Bash is a huge leap.
I was hitting the ball well all season but I hadn’t got any runs. I thought I should keep sticking to my process. I was doing it right in training. For it to happen the way it did was perfect.Adam Gilchrist said he was a fan of yours after your innings of 62 off 23 against Sydney Sixers in January last year.
It was unreal. Gilly was my favourite player growing up. I got to meet him a couple of days later. I was more nervous meeting him than I have ever been playing. We talked about bats. I make my own bats. We talked about what he said.Related

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How tough is the Big Bash?
It is a very tough competition. The pitches this year weren’t the best. It was a tough adjustment as well. Once we did, it was perfect.Brisbane Heat won the title after 11 years. What changed in the team that won the title this year?
We were runners-up the season before. The whole group was devastated by it. To come out the next season, start so well – everyone was just hungry. We didn’t want to lose a single game. I think we lost just two games [one game] the whole season.Guys like you and Nathan McSweeney, the Heat captain, have come through a system in Brisbane…
I never came through a system. I started playing grade cricket. There’s Under-19s in Queensland but I never had any of that. I didn’t really care about cricket back then.So how did you eventually get into it and break through?
At the age of 23 or 24, I lost 30 kilos working in the gym. I got down to about 95-100 kilos. I started cricket training. I started playing fifth grade and finished the season in third grade. The next season I started in third grade and finished in first grade. I have been in first grade ever since. About 12 months after I played my first first-grade game, I played in the Queensland 2nd XI. It was my first taste of the pathway.I was working full-time at [equipment manufacturer] Cooper Cricket when I started playing first grade. I was playing on the weekend and training once a week. I was not taking it that seriously.Then I had this discussion with my boss at Cooper. We spoke for about two hours. He said that the job is always going to be here for you. So during the off season I went up to Darwin to play cricket for four-five months, to try to be a professional cricketer. I didn’t do that well. I came back to Brisbane for the T20 Max, and that’s when I got the big scores. I got 147 not out and 159 off 59 balls. I hit 17 sixes. I was like, “Hi guys, I’m here. I can’t really do much more. You have to give me a chance.” I got one of the centuries against Darren Lehmann’s son’s team.

“Now I have about six years to have a good crack at cricket. Hopefully I can keep getting contracts around the world, which will be lovely”

Were you surprised at the speed at which the BPL and ILT20 came calling after your innings?
Absolutely. I scored the century on the Monday night; the next day my manager said that he was in talks. I told him not to tell me anything till the final, but he said I had to get home and pack. “You are leaving on Friday.” Okay, cool.What will you do to adjust to conditions in Bangladesh in the BPL?
I haven’t had to change too much, to be honest. I have been batting really well. I have been smoking it everywhere in the nets, which is nice. The only thing is that it doesn’t really bounce as much as Australian pitches. Staying a bit lower is making the difference.I am loving Bangladesh. I love the people, I definitely love the food. I just love spicy food as well. My favorite restaurant in Brisbane is Café Hyderabad. I get the Chicken 65 from there. It is so tasty.How do you see your career going from this point?
Hopefully play as much cricket as I can. I just love cricket. I am an absolute nuffy!You spoke about Cooper Cricket. Making bats must require a lot of patience?
We have a process. My boss, Rod Grey, the owner, is a signwriter by trade. We have a CNC [wood lathe] machine. We play around with shapes in it. We can put a rough shape into it and finish it off by hand. It saves us about two or three hours.Brown on his method: “I just watch and react”•Matt King/Getty ImagesWhat kind of bat do you like to use?
I always use a mid-middle bat. The traditional one is the low-middle with a low spine. Mine is a mid-middle with a load of high spine. Pretty much a flat one, and that shapes away at the toe. We use English willows.Have you had a chance to try other kinds of bats?
I have tried Kashmir, Siberian, and Aussie willow. English willow is the best one. Australian willow is good for white-ball cricket. It is a lot harder. Siberian willow cannons but it breaks also.I know you have your own brand, so to speak, but do you have a favourite brand?
Puma. Gilly’s Puma. I collect bats as well, so I try to find old Puma bats.Are you looking to turn fully professional now?
This is it. So now I have six years to have a good crack at it. Hopefully I can keep getting contracts around the world, which will be lovely.I need to score some runs first. It would be nice to get a gig as a replacement player in the IPL. I would love to play in the [Persian] Gulf and America too. Otherwise, I will just be at home working at Cooper and in the gym. Anyone in particular you turn to for advice?
I have a had a lot of good talks with Colin Munro. Darren Lehmann also speaks so truly. He was always honest, which I personally needed. It made a huge difference to me. Same with Munro. Even McSweeney. He and I played four years together in club cricket before he moved to South Australia. He has seen me at my best and he has seen me at my worst. He is one of the best.Do you remember the day before you hit 140 in the Big Bash? Effectively the last day of a normal life.
I trained, went home and played Xbox. During that day as well. It was pretty much what I did in those two days. After the game I didn’t have a beer. I had a tiny niggle on my hip. We celebrated and sang the song. We went into the final – it was the big thing.

Their batting template remains in the spotlight, after failing even in conditions where it might have been expected to bear fruit

Sidharth Monga16-Jun-20241:31

Mumtaz on Babar’s innings – ‘Bizarre and baffling’

This space is not going to give into the exceptionalism that Pakistan cricket is more prone to this kind of a thing than any other cricket, but they have ended this disappointing campaign on a tragicomic note. It was like the middle order was hell bent on vindicating the RizBar way of playing white-ball cricket, and in these conditions it might well have been. And yet, in the end, even the RizBar way needed some fearless hitting from Shaheen Shah Afridi to relieve the pressure. It leaves you none the wiser about the course Pakistan should take.If we were to be left with Pakistan cricket’s improvisation on the chicken-and-egg situation of whether RizBar are so regressive because of a weak middle order or whether the middle order is so ordinary because RizBar don’t let them play at all in flat conditions, did we really need Pakistan to play the World Cup? To be fair to him, Babar Azam took the demotion, pushed up a more attacking left-hand opener, and still the results haven’t been great.In their final match, where the best they could achieve was a consolation win, Pakistan were staring at embarrassment when Babar showed his class, his ability to bat at a run a ball on a difficult surface, but eventually it wasn’t enough. It took Afridi’s sixes to settle the nerves.Related

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Afridi provided glimpses of what might have been: back to taking wickets in his first over, back to setting the game up for what can be a menacing pace attack. Of all the World Cups, this one had conditions where Babar and Mohammad Rizwan might have been justified in playing the way they do, but Rizwan cracked under the asking-rate pressure against India when the game was his to take home.A day before this match, Imad Wasim spoke about the mindset needed to play while-ball cricket at par with other excellent modern teams. He spoke about how Pakistan used to rule T20 cricket before they became a regressive unit. He spoke of the need to get rid of the fear of failure.When asked if it is insecurity from the decision-makers or the highly emotional reaction of the fans that nurtures this fear, Babar pointed at perhaps a question of quality. He said the selections have been consistent, that in fact there has hardly been much churn when he has been captain. In 85 matches that Babar has captained, 27 players have batted from Nos. 3 to 7, including Babar himself and Rizwan. By comparison, in 96 matches since the start of 2020, India have tried 32 players from Nos. 3 to 7.Babar Azam had to anchor the chase with wickets falling at the other end•AFP/Getty Images”I think we are playing the same eight-nine players for the last four years,” Babar said. “They should not fear on that front. They are being backed. They are being given opportunities. But as a player, you have to step up a little. Look, the mindset should be how you want to play. Now you can’t hit every ball, you can’t hit a six on every ball, you can’t even get a wicket on every ball. You need to assess the conditions, what’s required here.”Tell me how many matches have been played here [in the USA] and has there been any outstanding batting? There’s been a struggle, but you need to be proactive about what’s required here. You need partnerships, you need to bowl at good, hard length. It’s not that you come with a set mindset and follow just that.”I am not denying that we have to think out of the box. Every player has to think. It’s not that one person has to do it. Every player has to think because cricket has become very fast. We have to move with the times. With modern cricket, you must have game awareness. You know that you have to take it deep here, you have to take a bit of load. You know no matter how much you do, you can’t score at 150 here. You try to build the innings. I think it’s more game awareness and common sense that is required here.”That sounds like an acceptance that in other, more standard, T20 conditions, Pakistan need to move with the times. If this failure results in course correction, this World Cup could yet be an important event in Pakistan cricket.However, it will rankle them that they failed to make it out of round one in conditions that suited their style of cricket. There can be some allowance made for the USA defeat because they got put in and the scoring trend through the match suggests that only the first five-six overs were difficult, which is a significant portion of the game. Against India, though, they won the toss, they got the best of the conditions, and the one batter who got in neither killed the chase nor took it deep.It might also be time to crack the whip a little because the job security Babar mentioned hasn’t seemed to work for the top order or the middle order.

His persistence has helped him carve a place in a side that mirrors a turnaround as improbable as his own

Shashank Kishore20-May-2024Swapnil Singh, 33, is in the midst of a dream run with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He has now been part of each of their six straight wins that have catapulted them into the playoffs. He has so far picked up six wickets in six games at an economy rate of 8.76. He has bowled in the powerplay with great control, and has delivered key wickets, starting with that of Heinrich Klaasen. It was the foundation of RCB’s defence of 206 against a rip-roaring Sunrisers Hyderabad side. RCB haven’t looked back since.Swapnil was originally picked as a back-up left-arm spinner to Mayank Dagar, who had been traded from SRH. But when Dagar wasn’t as effective and RCB found themselves at the bottom of the points table with seven losses in eight games, Swapnil got his opportunity.”When I came here, I knew I wouldn’t play initially,” he told . “But I never got onto the field for training thinking I won’t play. Our first practice session was like my first match. From the first ball, I had to be on target if I had to play. Nets was like my match.”Related

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When Swapnil arrived for RCB’s trials in November 2023, he made one request to Andy Flower, the new head coach.”Just give me one chance, this might be my last chance.” Flower was non-committal, but knew Swapnil from his previous stint at Lucknow Super Giants, where he was a net bowler for one year before being signed in 2023. Swapnil was called for a pre-season trials followed by a camp conducted by Malolan Rangarajan, RCB’s head of scouting.”My camp [called by RCB] wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either,” Swapnil said. “On auction day [for IPL 2024], I was in Dehradun for the start of the Ranji Trophy. When I wasn’t picked, I frankly thought it was over. There were so many other ways to win the world. I thought I’ll finish playing this season and quit. I was very disappointed. When my family called, we just broke down.”To Swapnil’s surprise, RCB eventually picked him right at the end. It was the first time he was picked in the IPL for two seasons in a row.Prior to being signed by LSG last year, he was first called up as a net bowler, a role he reluctantly accepted. “When Deepak Hooda [his Baroda team-mate who was also picked by LSG] called me and asked if I wanted to be a net bowler for LSG, I scolded him and hung up the phone. Then he called again and said, ‘just think about it’.”Swapnil called Irfan Pathan, one of his mentors. When Swapnil found his career hit a dead end at Baroda, Irfan had helped him find a new team, Uttarakhand. Swapnil’s Baroda stint had ended abruptly because he’d been told, “there’s no place for you in the team” by the state captain at the time.Swapnil Singh made an impact for RCB right from his first over•Associated Press”I asked why and was told they were preferring a youngster. It was a blessing in disguise that I left Baroda. Sometimes when you’re kicked out of your own home, you learn to go outside and stand on our feet. I realise now maybe it was a great thing to have happened. I would’ve been finished had I remained in Baroda.”Pathan advised Swapnil to take up the net-bowling offer. “I honestly didn’t go out of happiness. I went with a heavy heart, reluctantly,” he said. “But in the first couple of days itself, they were impressed. Every net session, I used to bowl from the first ball till the end.”Narendra Hirwani (spin consultant of LSG for their first season in 2022) liked me a lot. He transformed my bowling 180 degrees. I really wish I was associated with him from a lot earlier in my career.”Swapnil was primarily a left-arm spinner, but an equally handy lower-order batter. He has two first-class centuries, six List A fifties and two T20 fifties. In fact, when he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2006, aged 14 years and 355 days, he was primarily a batter. But bowling would soon take over.Swapnil was in the running to be a part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2008. But he was eventually left out as the selectors preferred Ravindra Jadeja. It took him eight years from there to make his IPL debut, for Punjab Kings in 2016, and another seven to double that tally. Last year, he featured in two games for LSG but couldn’t pick any wickets.”Honestly, Andy played a big role,” Swapnil said. “I asked him, ‘sir, why don’t you give me an opportunity to bat? He agreed and allowed me to bat. That day, GG (Gautam Gambhir) was also there, and they were both impressed. I may have been the first net bowler to have been given the chance to also bat in the nets.”Despite all that, Swapnil nearly walked away from the game after seeing his name in the ‘unsold’ list in the first few rounds of the mini-auction last December. But here he is, five months on, content with the way he has progressed this season.”I would always speak to my brother and tell him, ‘I haven’t hit a four or six, I just have one wicket. So I want to hit a four and a six, as I have the wicket anyway ()’. I knew this season if they play me in a game, Faf [du Plessis] will give me at least one over. In that game [his RCB debut], I hit a four, a six and I didn’t bowl six, but seven balls in my first over [due to a no-ball]. I picked up a wicket off the seventh [two in the over – Aiden Markram and then Klaasen]. It’s all god’s blessings.”His long journey of two decades in domestic cricket has taken him from Lucknow to Baroda and now Dehradun. On Saturday night, he won over Bengaluru, not just with his bowling but with the pressure catch he took to dismiss MS Dhoni in the final over.Now with potentially three games to go, can his dream season continue to flourish and get the perfect ending?

And has a team made more than ten times their first-innings total in the second like India did?

Steven Lynch22-Oct-2024New Zealand took the lead in Bengaluru in the 44th over of the match – is this a record for the team batting second in a Test? asked Alistair Lynch (no relation!) from Bermuda

The sensational start to the first Test in Bengaluru last week saw New Zealand pass India’s 46 all out in 43.3 overs (261 balls).Surprisingly perhaps, that’s quite a way off the record, and it’s not even the quickest in 2024! The fastest known is just 30.4 overs (184 balls), by South Africa after bowling New Zealand out for 45 in Cape Town in January 2013. And also at Newlands, in January 2024, India took the lead over South Africa (55) from the last ball of the 33rd over of the match (198 deliveries in all).We don’t have ball-by-ball details of some early matches, and there are two where it’s possible the lead was acquired quicker: at Lord’s in June 1896, after Australia were all out for 53 in 22.3 five-ball overs (113 balls), and in Melbourne in February 1932, when South Africa were bundled out for 36 in 23.2 six-ball overs (140 balls).Another questioner, Vijay Bedekar from India, asked how often the total of the team batting first had been passed by the second team’s openers, as New Zealand managed in Bengaluru. This was the 28th such occasion: the highest total involved was 365, by West Indies in Georgetown in April 1972, when New Zealand’s openers Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis replied with an opening stand of 387.In Bengaluru India followed 46 all out with 462, over ten times as many. Has any team scored more than ten times their first-innings total before? asked Hugh Abetz from Australia, among others

India’s excellent comeback in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru last week was only the second time a team had made more than ten times their score from the other innings (considering completed innings only). The only bigger difference came at Edgbaston in 1924, when South Africa were bowled out for 30 in their first innings, but recovered to make 390 in the second, 13 times as many. They still lost by an innings, as England had scored 438.The biggest difference in a first-class match came in a famous County Championship match in 1922, also at Edgbaston. Hampshirewere bowled out by Warwickshire for 15 in their first innings, but following on, they ran up 521 – nearly 34 times as many – and went on to win by 155 runs.Was India’s 46 all out the lowest Test total by a team playing at home? asked Avyaan Ishaan from India

India’s remarkable collapse to 46 all out against New Zealand in Bengaluru was the joint 18th-lowest Test total of all (England also made 46 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in March 1994).Six of the 17 lower totals were made in home Tests, including the smallest of all – New Zealand’s disastrous 26 all out against England in Auckland in March 1955. Three of the others were suffered by South Africa in their early Tests in the 19th century, when they were very weak.It was easily India’s lowest at home, previously 75 against West Indies in Delhi in November 1987. More recently, in April 2008, they were bowled out before lunch on the first day in Ahmedabad for 76 by South Africa.India’s 46 all out is their lowest Test total at home•AFP/Getty ImagesWhat’s the lowest first-innings total that still led to a win in a Test? asked Rahul from India

I think this question was sent, rather optimistically, in the middle of India’s excellent comeback against New Zealand in Bengaluru last week. If India had ended up winning, they wouldn’t quite have broken this particular record: England beat Australia in Sydney in January 1887 despite being bowled out for 45 in their first innings.In all, 13 Tests have been won by a team that scored less than 100 in their first innings. The list includes England’s 81 for 7 declared in a rain-affected match against West Indies in Bridgetown in January 1935 and, for completeness, a rather questionable 14th instance – England’s declaration at 0 for 0 in the controversial Test in Centurion in January 2000, when South Africa’s captain Hansie Cronje accepted a bribe to help manufacture a result.Joe Root made his highest score in his 147th Test. Has anyone else made their highest score at a later point in their career? asked Chris Goddard from England

You’re right that Joe Root made his highest score (so far!) in his 147th Test, with 262 against Pakistan in Multan earlier this month. The only man to make his highest score later than that is the South African Jacques Kallis, whose best of 224 came in his 150th Test, against Sri Lanka in Cape Town in January 2012.Kumar Sangakkara made his highest score in his 122nd Test (319 against Bangladesh in Chattogram in February 2014), and Sachin Tendulkar in his 119th (248 not out against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004).Your query set me wondering about the equivalent record for bowlers, and it’s held by the recently retired James Anderson, whose best bowling figures came in his 129th Test – 7 for 42 against West Indies at Lord’s in September 2017. His longtime team-mate Alastair Cook had his best bowling figures – his only wicket, in fact, that of Ishant Sharma – in his 105th Test, against India at Trent Bridge in July 2014. Glenn McGrath picked up his best bowling figures in his 104th Test, that man Root in his 102nd, and Allan Border in his 101st.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

In his nascent career, Reddy has shown glimpses of being a capable seam-bowling allrounder

Hemant Brar10-Oct-20242:36

Takeaways: Reddy arrives on the scene, Rinku repeats heroics

The no-ball siren in T20 cricket is a dreaded sound for the fielding team. It was no different on Wednesday when Mahmudullah overstepped against India during the second T20I in Delhi.Until then, Bangladesh had India in a spot of bother. Bowling first on a pitch that looked full of runs but was initially two-paced, they reduced the home side to 41 for 3 in the sixth over. Nitish Kumar Reddy, playing only his second T20I, and Rinku Singh, batting for India for the first time since July, were the two batters at the crease.India’s position looked even more precarious considering that Delhi has been a high-scoring venue of late. In IPL 2024, teams batting first scored over 200 in all five games played here.Related

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Nitish Kumar Reddy makes an all-round splash as India seal the series

Reddy was batting on a run-a-ball 13 when the no-ball siren went off. But before proceeding, let us take a moment to look at his journey till here.Reddy, 21, was fast-tracked into the India side after a successful IPL 2024, where he scored 303 runs at a strike rate of 142.92 and took three wickets with his nippy seam bowling. He was included in the squad for the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe before a hernia injury forced him to withdraw.He finally made his debut in the first match of the current series, in Gwalior. Apart from the fact that that was his debut, and India won, it was not a particularly memorable outing for Reddy. He went for 17 in his two wicketless overs and then was the only India batter to strike at less than 150 – he scored 16 not out off 15 balls.Despite having Riyan Parag in the side, who also bats at No. 4 in the IPL, the team management backed Reddy in that position for the second successive game. But once again, things were not looking rosy. He was yet to open his account when Suryakumar Yadav punched one towards him at the non-striker’s end. Reddy could not get out of the way and got hit on the right shoulder. He winced in pain but luckily it was not bad enough to force him off the field.Reddy’s first two scoring shots, a single and a four, did not come off the middle of the bat either. When he was on 5, Tanzim Hasan Sakib hurried him with a short ball. Reddy went for the pull, only to glove it down the leg side. Fortune once again smiled on him as Litton Das dropped the chance.Nitish Kumar Reddy smashed seven sixes•Associated PressEven against the spin of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah, Reddy was not entirely comfortable. “But when the no-ball came, I felt that was my time,” he said later.Reddy launched the free hit over long-on for a six. On the very next ball, he survived a close lbw call, but when Mahmudullah bowled one short and wide outside off, he slapped it through covers for four. There was no looking back after that.In the next over, Reddy hit legspinner Rishad Hossain for two back-to-back sixes. From 51 for 3 after seven overs, Reddy and Rinku took India past 100 by the tenth.After his fifty, which took only 27 balls, Reddy accelerated further and smashed Mehidy for three sixes and a four in one over. Off the last 21 balls he faced, he ransacked 61 runs. And it was not blind hitting. When Mehidy bowled one down the leg side, Reddy stayed put in his position to avail a wide.In all, Reddy hit seven sixes. His modus operandi was more or less the same for every one of them: clear the front leg and target the arc between long-off and deep midwicket. However, his most impressive shot was not a six but a four. In that bumper over, Mehidy fired one in the blockhole from around the wicket. Reddy managed to get under it, and, using his bottom hand, smacked it through midwicket. He hardly got any elevation but such was the power that it went for a one-bounce four.By the time Reddy got out, for 74 off 34, India were 149 in 13.3 overs, all set for a 200-plus total.He was not done yet, though. When Bangladesh came out to bat, Suryakumar handed him the new ball. “It was his day, so I felt let him enjoy and make it large,” Suryakumar said of the decision.Reddy bowled two tidy overs upfront and then returned to pick up two wickets at the death to finish with figures of 2 for 23 from four overs. In between, he nailed an underarm direct hit after running in from covers but Jaker Ali was in. Reddy was named the Player of the Match for his all-round show.”It feels great representing India; I want to live in this moment,” he said at the post-match presentation. “I should give credit to the captain and the coach [Gautam Gambhir]. They asked me to bat in the same aggressive way I did in the IPL. I want to give a promise that I can do more than this.”For many years, Hardik Pandya has been the only world-class seam-bowling allrounder in India. Whenever he got injured, India found themselves in a pickle. They tried Venkatesh Iyer and Shivam Dube; neither could deliver with both bat and ball.In that context, Reddy’s performance becomes even more important. But this is just a start, with a long road ahead.

A maiden IPL contract has been followed by his first New Zealand call-up, but he doesn’t want to settle as a “one-dimensional player”

Abhimanyu Bose23-Dec-2024″If you told me this would happen a month ago, I probably wouldn’t believe it.”It has been that kind of a month for Bevon Jacobs. In late November, Jacobs was in for a surprise when he found out he was joining his compatriots Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner at Mumbai Indians for his first IPL gig. Just a month later, he has earned his first international call-up, for the upcoming home T20Is against Sri Lanka.Jacobs, 22, has just 12 List A and nine T20 games under his belt, and made his first-class debut only last month in the Plunket Shield. This handful of games were, however, enough for him to showcase his hard-hitting abilities.”It’s always something I’ve tried to aim for and, you know, it came a little bit quicker than I anticipated,” Jacobs said after the New Zealand squads were announced. “But, you know, I’ll grab the opportunity and I’m just going to be happy to be in that environment and try and learn heaps.”Related

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He admitted it was “pretty full circle” that he found out about his international call-up while in Lincoln, where he was part of the rain-hit T20 warm-up against the touring Sri Lankans but didn’t get to bat. Jacobs had begun his cricketing journey, which he describes as “bit of left and right there and thereabout”, in Auckland before moving to Canterbury, where he made his List A and T20 debuts in 2023.After an impressive first season, Auckland signed him back, and he has already impressed with scores of 75, 79, 44 and 80 in his first four red-ball games.”Obviously growing up in Auckland, that was awesome, and age-group cricket, but I spent three good years down here [in Canterbury] and I really enjoyed it, and so to have it announced here, it’s not the worst situation ever,” he said.The IPL 2025 auction was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, so Jacobs only found out his fate the following morning New Zealand time, much to his disbelief. When he went to wake his father up to break the news, Jacobs senior woke up in a panic, thinking someone was trying to break in. “I was like, ‘no, no, I’ve just been picked up in the IPL’. So that was a pretty good laugh,” Jacobs had said at the time.Making the New Zealand squad, however, was a more emotional moment for his family.

“They were both pretty big surprises. IPL feels like such a slim chance but Black Caps is something that I’ve dreamed about since a kid. I think IPL was kind of a focus or like a goal maybe set a little bit later”Bevon Jacobs

“I called my dad first and he shed some tears over the phone. So that’s pretty special, something that we’ve been working hard together for many years,” Jacobs said. “He’s put a lot of sacrifice and effort into it, and the same with the rest of the fam. He was pretty happy and pretty proud, as were they all.”I’ve got a really nice support group, friends and family, but mum’s put a lot of time into it, dad’s put a lot of time into it, endless net sessions and hours and sometimes giving to cricket and giving up something that they might want to do outside of the game just so they could support me.”And scraping together everything, it’s not exactly a cheap sport. You put cost as well as time into it and so I think I’m really grateful for them to have backed me to get to this point and so hopefully I can make them proud.”So what was a bigger surprise for him – the IPL gig or getting called up to play for New Zealand?”That’s a tough one. They were both pretty big surprises,” Jacobs said. “IPL feels like such a slim chance but Black Caps is something that I’ve dreamed about since a kid. I think IPL was kind of a focus or like a goal maybe set a little bit later.”Black Caps has always been the dream so I think that’s probably the one that hit me the hardest. But, obviously, both really special and just glad to have the opportunity.”Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner will be Jacobs’ team-mates at Mumbai Indians too, in the IPL•AFP/Getty ImagesJacobs has a reputation for the big hits, and in his first Super Smash season, he was employed in a finisher’s role and hit 134 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 188.73. The only batter among those who faced at least 50 balls in the tournament to have scored quicker was Doug Bracewell (200.02).”I guess the job for me will probably just be to go out there and try and hit it as hard as I can and hopefully get some runs on the board, some quick runs for the team and if that’s the position I’m put in, then yeah I’ll give it my best shot.”But Jacobs has bigger ambitions than just being a power-hitter.”I don’t want to be a one-dimensional batter,” he said. “Obviously I like to bring that power game into the team but I think going for that longer-format stuff is definitely something I want to work towards and be recognised as going forward.”After an impressive start to his first-class career, Jacobs is averaging 41 from seven knocks with three half-centuries. He believes the direction Test cricket is headed in – with more attacking batting and higher strike rates – it does have space for his quick-scoring abilities, but he also wants to be able to put in the grind when needed.

“I think if I can rub shoulders with those guys, scratch their brains and just see how much I can learn from them and just try to make myself a better player, I think there’s much I can learn from them and just try to make myself a better player, I think that’s going to be the biggest thing for me”Bevon Jacobs on joining the New Zealand change room

“I mean there’s obviously been some common trends with some extra power, some more creativity coming into the red-ball set-up,” he said. “I think it’s more just about how everyone goes at their own sort of way. And if that’s the way that I can bring an impact in that situation then that’s what I’ll try and do. But if it’s something a little bit more that I need to develop then I’ll work on that as well.”His long reach aside, Jacobs’ strength helps him hit a long ball, as he showcased during his stint in the Queensland T20 Max, in Australia, where he smashed 100 off 40 balls on the final day of the competition for South Brisbane against Toombull.But it was in Lincoln, Jacobs said, where he “fell in love” with the fitness side of the game.”I came down to Lincoln on a cricket scholarship and I got sorted with the strength and conditioning programme here and then I kind of just fell in love with that sort of side of the sport, getting in the gym, and it’s just something that I like to tick off pretty frequently.”Now, Jacobs is looking forward to soak in the “special” experience of rubbing shoulders with players he “grew up watching” and while scoring runs is on the agenda, his main focus is to grow as a cricketer.”I mean, obviously, you want runs on the board but I think it’s mainly just going to be a big learning experience. I think if I can rub shoulders with those guys, scratch their brains and just see how much I can learn from them and just try to make myself a better player, I think there’s much I can learn from them and just try to make myself a better player, I think that’s going to be the biggest thing for me.”

New Zealand vs England as experienced from the back of a taxi in Chennai

Aditya Iyer09-Nov-2024When I start watching the game on my mobile phone in Liyaqath’s taxi shortly after dusk, New Zealand’s reply is underway. Opener Devon Conway is batting at one end. At the other stands the relatively unknown Rachin Ravindra. In his previous seven ODIs, all played in 2023, the curly-mopped left-hander hasn’t batted higher than No. 6. But something about Ravindra’s top score of 61 in a 100-run loss to England at Lord’s in the lead-up to this World Cup made the New Zealand team management promote him to No. 3 in Ahmedabad. It seems to have paid off instantly.With a few quick clicks on chronological time-stamps, Liyaqath and I watch all that we’ve missed in the innings. Just as we go live, Ravindra welcomes us back with a terrific hook off the speedy Mark Wood, where he gets inside the line of the bouncer and almost casually swats it away over square leg for six. There’s a slow-motion clatter of the ball against an electronic hoarding in Motera and a louder crash just in front of us in Guindy, for Liyaqath, in his eagerness to catch the replay, has nudged the car in front of him as we move halfway up the choked flyover. He slams hard on the brake pedal, but the damage has been done.Through the columns of water being displaced on the windscreen, we can see that the right taillight of the Maruti S-Presso ahead of us has been hit. Liyaqath steps out to inspect both cars. Two men emerge from the S-Presso to do the same. One of them is in regular office clothes, a shirt tucked into his trousers, but the other wears a crisp black and a diaphanous black shirt, a very specific kind of combination that only devotees of Sabarimalai Ayappan tend to wear, and immediately I fear that this situation could well take a communal turn; Liyaqath, with his beard under a moustache-free upper lip, is very evidently Muslim.But they just blink at each other in the falling rain, pointing at what I suppose are dents and nicks on both vehicles. I can’t hear what they are saying, but their gestures are pretty self-explanatory: nods and sighs and pursed lips and hands on hips. The man in black walks back to his car and re-emerges with his phone. He shelters the device with a palm and punches in whatever Liyaqath is dictating to him. Missed calls are made, photos of number plates clicked, heads shaken and nodded. That’s it, fracas over. Liyaqath is drenched by the time he heaves himself into the driver’s seat and sighs heavily over the sounds of pelting rain. The S-Presso is now part of the indistinguishable swarm ahead.

I catch the strains of Tamil commentary. I follow the sound and identify three flower-sellers as the ones listening to it, squatting in a line on the sand as they arrange strings of jasmine in coir baskets

Liyaqath is grumpy, muttering and castigating himself for his carelessness. “Please, I want to stop at a tea after this flyover, I just need to compose myself. Only if you don’t mind, please, okay?” he says. In a short while, we are parked beside ashop from whose awning hang many hands of bananas so ripe that they have lost all nutritional value. It is a stationery store, tobacco shop, confectionery stall, tea halt and shopkeeper’s living room all rolled into one. A woman sits on a red plastic stool, watching the World Cup game on a small TV on the green wall.We duck under the suspended bananas and Liyaqath lifts two fingers at the shopkeeper, who in turn whistles at a working the kettle by the backroom stove, who nods and exaggerates the motion of his pour into two paper cups, mainly to incite fresh froth in the milk chai. We slurp into the rising steam, watching the rain. “It was completely my fault,” says Liyaqath, looking bitterly into his hot beverage. I tell him that I’m just glad the hullabaloo didn’t acquire a communal shade. Liyaqath gives me a quizzical look. Then he throws his head back and laughs, deep, jolly rumbles emanating from his stomach. We now have the shopkeeper’s attention.”This is not your Delhi or Bombay, sir. This is Tamil Nadu, and our politicians might constantly stir other stupid things but they don’t do this Hindu-Muslim-Christian division here,” Liyaqath says. The shopkeeper nods along. “All of us coexist happily, what do you say ?” makes a perfect circle with his head a few times in agreement. Liyaqath likes the validation, the response, the power of telling off an outsider in front of his own, teaching a complete stranger the ways of this land, his land. “Unlike in the north, where widespread illiteracy allows the leaders to take advantage and polarise the people, the south is largely literate. Tougher to turn us against each other. Religion in the south of India, be it here or Kerala, or even Andhra Pradesh, is there to give us believers strength. It doesn’t make us weaker. We can be from any religion but here we are Tamil first, correct ?”The rain has stopped just as suddenly as it had started, and the winding roads leading up to the bay are bathed in the phosphorescent yellow hue of the dim streetlights. About a hundred metres short of Elliot’s Beach, the Uber stops next to a permanent -painted entryway to an apartment block in Besant Nagar, so named after Britisheducationist Annie Besant, who established the Theosophical Society a stone’s throw from where I stand. I learn that my friend, whose apartment I will be staying in until the end of India’s match in Chennai, is a good two hours away from getting home. I drag my strolley over the wet pavement towards the beach for a lonely wait. But then Liyaqath, parked at the intersection of the residential avenue and the beach road, calls out to me once again.He has pushed his seat back as far as possible and is smoking a herb. Potent, aromatic coils waft from the window as he enquires where I’m headed. On finding out that I’m at a loose end, he says: “Come come, sit inside. Want to try? It is very good, from Idukki.”Penguin Random House”Sure. But can we go to the beach? I happen to have a bottle of whisky that I got for my friend. Would you like to try some of that?”Each of us having accepted the invitation to indulge in the other man’s poison, we sit on the low peripheral wall around the Kaj Schmidt Memorial, a monument consisting of a single archway to remember a Dutch man who died while saving a British girl from drowning in undivided India. That was when this city was very much still Madras. The tide is low and calm, and it laps gently against the receding shore. Watching it, we smoke and drink, drink and smoke.In the silence, we hear two young lovers close by, their faces hidden under a thick jacket, giggle and playfully admonish each other for getting too frisky. I also catch the strains ofTamil commentary from the Ahmedabad match. I follow the sound and identify three flower-sellers as the ones listening to it, squatting in a line on the sand as they arrange strings of jasmine in coir baskets.Just as the might of the intoxication kicks in, Liyaqath nudges me in the ribs with his elbow and holds out his phone, showing me a picture of a girl no older than five, maybe six. “My daughter. Mahira.”I nod my spinning head.”I named her after Thala.”It doesn’t strike me immediately, so he smiles and pokes me again.”What, sir? Didn’t get the connection? Dhoni, sir! Mahi, sir! That is how I chose the name.”We are now lying on the sand, hands behind heads, looking up at the inky sky in our dizzy silence. Two boys in college uniforms trudge past us with their noses stuck into a mobilescreen. I yell out to them for the score. “Over, over, all over,” one of them shouts back. “Ravindra hundred. Conway 150. Both not out.”Somewhere in the far west of this vast, vast country, the World Cup has well and truly begun. A nation will live and breathe nothing else over the next six weeks, one deep lungful at a time.

His stocks dipped with lean IPL and domestic form across 2024 and 2025, but he seems to have rediscovered his groove since his return to Delhi

Daya Sagar01-Sep-2025Nitish Rana marked his return to Delhi cricket with a statement performance in the crunch games of the Delhi Premier League (DPL), leading West Delhi Riders to the title. In the three playoff matches, he produced one century and one half-century, finishing unbeaten each time with scores of 134*, 45*, and 79*. It was a decisive response from a player who had been searching for form across the past two years and had started the tournament poorly. His unbeaten 134 off 55 balls in Qualifier 1, with eight fours and 15 sixes, was the defining knock of the tournament.”In big matches, it is very important for big players to perform because there is a lot of pressure in these games,” Rana said afterwards. “Big players know a little better how to handle pressure, and I place myself in that category of players who can steer the game under pressure situations.”As an experienced player, you know whether you are in good touch or not. I knew I was batting well, but the runs were not coming. I continuously backed myself. I knew I was only one big innings away, and luckily it came when the team needed it most. Now we are champions.”Related

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The Qualifier also featured an exchange of words with South Delhi Superstarz spinner Digvesh Rathi, which went viral online. Rana did not want to linger much on the episode. “It would be very unfair if I only share my side of the story and Rathi doesn’t get to say anything,” Rana said. “All I can say is that he started it and poked me, so I replied. I was born and raised in Delhi, and I have hot blood too. If someone pokes me, I am not the kind of person to stay quiet… He got disturbed in his line and length, and I responded with sixes.”The DPL title followed one of Rana’s toughest periods. In 2024, despite Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lifting the IPL trophy, injuries and team balance meant he featured in only two matches. His domestic returns were no better. For Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy that season, he was dropped after scoring just one fifty in six innings. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that followed, he averaged 13.88 with a strike rate of 114.43 across nine games, while in the Vijay Hazare Trophy he was left out after one game. In IPL 2025, playing for Rajasthan Royals, he scored two half-centuries but made six single-digit scores in 11 innings. Soon after, Rana returned to Delhi for the 2025-26 season, citing family reasons.Nitish Rana takes a selfie with his UP team-mates after a win•ESPNcricinfo LtdIt was not his first setback. In 2022-23, he scored only 71 runs at 17.75 in the Ranji Trophy and was dropped after three games, prompting a move from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh in search of opportunities. Looking back, Rana said: “I went to Uttar Pradesh because I thought maybe I would play better in a new place. But it didn’t work out that way. Now I have left those things behind and returned to the same Delhi dressing room where I learned to score runs. It’s not that I had to prove something, but personally, these DPL innings are very important for me.”Cricket is a game of experience. When you grind yourself, go through bad times, it becomes very important to try to learn from those situations. I too have had many bad patches, I have fought with myself, punished myself too. But I trust myself a lot. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. But all this is part of the game.”In the seven seasons from 2017 to 2023, Rana was one of a few batters to score at least 300 runs in every IPL. In 2021, during the Covid-19 period, he earned an India call-up, playing one ODI and two T20Is in Sri Lanka. Since then, the door to the national side has stayed closed, though he has remained a regular contributor in domestic cricket and has on occasion captained his Ranji and IPL teams.For now, he is not looking beyond the immediate. “There are a lot of things to think about,” Rana said. “I also want to make a comeback to the Indian team, but by thinking about it, I will only put pressure on myself. That’s why I don’t think too much now. I only focus on things that are in my control. Right now, my cricket is in my control, and I am only focusing on that.”