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As the Dukes cherry gains popularity for its hardiness, its makers are looking to spread to markets outside of England

Scott Oliver25-Nov-2015They say the best form of advertising is word of mouth. If those mouths happen to be in front of a TV camera or microphone, then so much the better.For cricket ball manufacturer Dukes, the fallout from the summer’s Ashes was pretty good. First Ricky Ponting – lifelong user of Kookaburra kit, whose balls are used in Australia’s domestic first-class cricket – proposed that the Dukes should be used in all Sheffield Shield games. Then Shane Warne weighed in: “The Kookaburra ball goes soft, it’s no good, it doesn’t do enough. We need to use the Dukes ball, it does more. It swings more and it seams more, so why aren’t we using it?”Of course, it was all music to the ears of Dukes owner, Dilip Jajodia, although he is keen to proffer an important caveat: “It’s nice of Shane to suggest that, but I would add [that the balls need to be] produced to cope with the general playing conditions in a given country. It can’t be the same surface finish for all countries. We do have the ability to adjust the surface protection according to what’s required.”These comments appear especially pertinent now, with cricket on the cusp of its brave new world of day-night Tests and with concerns over the durability of the pink Kookaburra ball on abrasive Australian pitches.Jajodia believes that for day-night cricket, the white ball is best for visibility, as opposed to the pink variant•Scott OliverTwo years ago, Jajodia attended a set of tests conducted by Cricket Australia under lights in Melbourne, the upshot of which was that an orange ball with a black seam that he provided was deemed the best by the players involved in the experiment, although it was ultimately rejected due to “a myth that the orange ball leaves a ‘comet trail’ on the monitors of cameramen”. Even so, he believes neither pink nor orange is optimal for day-night Test cricket. “You cannot dye the cricket ball any other colour than red for it to be effective for cricket,” he points out. “When you dye the ball orange, you lose the fluorescence when it goes into the pores. It becomes a ‘dirty’, burnt-orange colour.”If you want a ball that’s really visible in day-night conditions, obviously white is proven to be the best. The traditionalists say you can’t wear coloured clothing for Test cricket. I think that’s over-exaggerated.”Jajodia is trying to get his products into more umpires’ rooms, to increase his market share (currently, his Dukes County Grade A red ball is used for all Tests and first-class cricket in England and the West Indies; boxes have been sent to the boards of Sri Lanka and India for testing; he supplies balls for grass-roots cricket in Auckland, Gauteng, Queensland and elsewhere).Jadojia moved to England from Bangalore as a qualified insurer in his twenties, and started his own sports mail-order firm, Morrant, in 1973. His success selling balls to league cricket led to an invitation to do the same at Dukes, and Jajodia bought the brand outright in 1987 when “it was at a low ebb”. By then, with the skilled workforce retiring or dying off and no one willing or able to replace them, the factory was relocated from Tonbridge in Kent, where it had been established in 1760, to Walthamstow in east London. Experienced stitchers from the subcontinent were brought in on six-month contracts, until visa restrictions were tightened in the wake of 9/11: “The Home Office said they needed a university degree. I said: ‘No, these blokes are craftsmen. They haven’t been to college!'”James Anderson: a fan of the Dukes ball, but only if it swings straightaway•Getty ImagesAlthough the “skilled part of the manufacturing process”, the hand-stitching, is now all done abroad, there is still a great deal of native know-how and discernment brought to bear on the UK side, beginning with the selection of the hides in the tannery: “You use the middle four strips of leather from the back [of the animal] – the middle two for the Test balls – and when you cut the four quarters, you ensure they’re consistent for density and strength. If you didn’t have a factory that went into so much detail – if you were just cutting out strips and knocking out quarters – then you could have three quarters from the back and one from the belly, which is weak and stretchy. They look pretty similar but the composition is different. All the natural pressure will be pushing that quarter out, separating it. After a while, the ball will be out of shape.”We’re dealing with natural materials: the leather, the cork and latex used in the centres. They could all vary slightly – What did the animal eat? Was it sick? – and they could all react slightly differently to different conditions. We have to try and be as consistent as possible, but no two balls are exactly the same.”Of course, given all the interacting variables in the selection, cutting, dyeing, stitching and moulding (or “milling”) of the leather, and in the subsequent stamping, lamping, greasing and lacquering, standardisation can never be absolute. In fact, a ball’s individuality extends to “tolerances” in its dimensions: a circumference of between nine and eight-and-thirteen-sixteenth inches, with the weight between 156 and 163 grams. Jajodia’s personal feeling is “that a cricket ball isn’t a product where you can just mass-produce it at the top level. That personal magic can’t be put into it.” Not only does the hand-stitched seam keep its proudness for longer, helping maintain the rudder effect, the quarter-seam is always closed tight, giving the ball a smooth surface, both of which assist swing.While Jajodia claims he can spot who has stitched a ball from the thread on the seam – “It’s like a person’s handwriting: each guy has his own technique” – he cannot say exactly how he comes to pick out the sets of 12 balls – each of which takes four hours of craftsmanship – that are set aside for a Test match. “I’m a self-appointed feeler of cricket balls, but don’t ask me how I choose. There’s no precise formula. It just has to feel right, as Jimmy Anderson would tell you. He’s just got to feel happy about it. He can be a little moody about it if it doesn’t behave exactly how it wants it to. If he gets a wicket in the first over, he’s the best ambassador I’ve got, but if it doesn’t swing straightaway, well…”A craftsman at work in the Dukes factory in Walthamstow, east London•Scott OliverJajodia is grateful for the feedback from the likes of Anderson, much as he seeks the feedback of batsmen, to be sure the ball has the right feel on the bat. Yet the individuality of each ball, and the variability within each model, means the testing process is imprecise. And there’s the rub with handmade balls: you never know how good an instrument they are until a virtuoso such as Anderson starts to play them.”The problem with a cricket ball is, it fails in use,” Jajodia says. “You can’t test it. You can’t bounce it like a tennis ball, then put it on the market. If you bounce it a couple of times, it’s second-hand. Despite that, you’ve got to try and produce perfection – and that includes deterioration.”Ultimately it’s the widespread sense of a skewing of the balance between bat and ball – cricket administration’s eternal problem – that motivates Dukes to get their white ball introduced to international limited-overs tournaments, to be ready to provide a ball for day-night Tests, and to drop their red leather cherry into more and more Test-playing territories.That said, Jajodia remains mindful that there is no perfect balance. “The ICC and the MCC are expressing concern with the balance between bat and ball, but I couldn’t get out of them what the concern was. Was it that the ball was too effective? Or is it that the bats are too good and the ball’s being whacked out of the park? If you had a Test match that goes on for five days, they’d say, ‘Oh, this is boring. Nobody wants to watch them anymore.’ If you had a game that was over in three days, they’d say there’s something wrong with the ball: the game’s over early, and they’re losing money. You can’t tinker all the time. You’ve just got to accept that the odd game will be finished in two days, and the odd game will be a boring draw. It’s not always about the ball.”

A look at how the Associate teams fared in Group B of the qualifying round of the World T20

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2014

UAE

Several of UAE’s batsmen got in before giving it away•ICCProgress: UAE were the only side among the eight teams in the first round to end without a win, and that really told the story, in a format where even Test nations Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were downed once each by Associate sides. They did seem to get it together in their last match, giving Zimbabwe an almighty scare, showing they were capable of competing, but that was when they were under no pressure – their exit from the tournament had already been confirmed. As their captain Khurram Khan said, just turning out at this level had taught his side so much.What to work on: Professionalism exists at top rungs of the Associate level and UAE were clearly found out, their poor fitness as part-time cricketers not allowing them to keep up with their opponents. Their fielding and catching was abysmal in their opening game against Netherlands, and even against Zimbabwe, they dropped crucial chances that, if taken, could have perhaps conjured a different ending. Better fitness will only come if are in a position to devote more time to the game. Also, too often they lost wickets in clumps after building a partnership, undoing all the hard work done till that stage. Their bowlers were nothing more than steady overall, although they didn’t get enough runs from the batsmen and support from the fielders.Player to watch: Led by the veteran Khurram Khan, UAE’s middle order showed potential, batsmen such as Shaiman Anwar, Swapnil Patil and Rohan Mustafa got in before giving it away. They never seemed to be able to resist having a slog or two to break free from the stranglehold of dot balls, and if they can work on that, they seem to have a promising, spirited line-up. Kamran Shazad was one seamer who worked up some pace in UAE’s ageing attack.

Ireland

Progress: Their shock exit is an anomaly. Ireland are a team primed for big-time cricket, and it showed in how they dominated Zimbabwe in their first qualifying match. They will have to quickly forget what happened in those 13.5 overs against Netherlands in Sylhet and begin focusing on the 2015 World Cup, for which they qualified last year.What to work on: Ireland need to fill the gap left by Boyd Rankin, who left to play for England. They are missing a genuinely quick bowler who can wrest control in situations like when Netherlands ran riot in Sylhet.Player to watch: One bad over against Netherlands should not dissuade the progress of the otherwise impressive Andy McBrine. The 20-year old bowled impressively against Zimbabwe, and was sparingly used by Ireland. He is one for the future, forming a partnership with George Dockrell.

Zimbabwe

Progress: Zimbabwe would not have wanted to be left searching for
positives after an early exit from the World T20. Netherlands did raise their hopes briefly before dashing them, but Zimbabwe know that they were left with too much catching up to do after going down in their most critical game, their opener against Ireland. They did what they were expected to against Netherlands and UAE, but both wins were not without stutters. Two wins out of three for a side that had not played any international cricket for around six months may be seen as an achievement, but that will be scant consolation for Brendan Taylor and his men.What to work on: Zimbabwe missed thrust up the order, something Netherlands relied so much on. They could have had Elton Chigumbura batting higher up, a move that did not succeed against Netherlands. The decision to open with Sikandar Raza instead of the more experienced and explosive Vusi Sibanda did not work through the tournament. To their misfortune, both their key bowlers Prosper Utseya and Tinashe Panyangara had off days against Ireland, although Panyangara came back strongly with a top spell at the death.Player to keep an eye on: That spell of Panyangara’s nearly brought back Zimbabwe from the dead against Ireland, who needed just seven off 13 but had to rely on a last-ball bye to win. He found swing, he got the yorkers in, and he had Ireland panicking. Tendai Chatara was superb through the campaign with his cutters and controlled changes of pace.

They knew to be wary of Saeed Ajmal but that still couldn’t prevent him giving South Africa their worst day of the summer

Firdose Moonda at Newlands15-Feb-2013Like the certainty that the southeaster will blow in Cape Town, so was the knowledge that Saeed Ajmal would be a factor in this Test series. It was just a case of when.South Africa knew it too. They made a point of saying, mostly unprompted, at every one of their interactions with the media, that they were preparing for him. They didn’t ever say how, although it was suspected that a slew of spinners (few of whom can actually mimic Ajmal), the inside knowledge of Imran Tahir – who identified Ajmal’s secret as being a dual doosra, one out of the palm, one out of the fingers as his biggest threat – and video analysis have been their resources.That did not really pay off this time. Ajmal took all five wickets to give South Africa their first bad day of the home summer. Some will argue that the 253 all out at the Wanderers was another example but in light of what happened in Pakistan’s first innings immediately afterwards that day was not so disappointing after all.It was also in Johannesburg that Ajmal became a footnote. He went wicket-less in the first innings and was expensive in the second. Conditions offered him nothing and the South African line-up were able to blunt him.As is his habit, Ajmal did not bowl too many bad balls but he came up against a middle-order that have become increasingly confident against spin. In that match, Ajmal bowled 42% of his deliveries to AB de Villiers, who is one of the more accomplished South Africa batsman against spin.By the time de Villiers got to the crease at Newlands, the top-half of the batting order had already made it clear that Ajmal could not be neutralised in the same way. For a start, the conditions were completely different. South Africa’s most tweaker-friendly surface lived up to its reputation and Ajmal responded to the smallest scent of spin.”There was a little bit of purchase and it’s a little more dry than we thought it would be,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s assistant coach, said. “He didn’t give us too many scoring opportunities and he is a lot more effective on these types of surfaces.”Ajmal found some turn, not enough to make a Ferris wheel go round but enough to induce poor shot selection and expose inadequacies. Graeme Smith played a sweep shot where he should rather have presented a straight bat because the turn was not as much as he expected. Alviro Petersen tried to clip fine but the inside-edge on to his pads put Azhar Ali at short leg in line for a smart catch.Hashim Amla played Ajmal well for the most part. His rustiness got him a few runs on the leg side but he could not get the reverse sweep away and he also misread a crucial one. When it spun back into him, he was caught in the crease on the back foot and even the naked eye could see the ball was going to hit leg stump.South Africa have been worse off than 84 for 3 since becoming world No. 1 last year, but only once, when they were 46 for 3 in Adelaide against Australia. Usually, their top four has done the bulk of the work. This time, workload management for Jacques Kallis meant sending Faf du Plessis in earlier, though neither survived the day.South Africa could feel the heat and Pakistan’s coach, Dav Whatmore, thinks that also played a role. “In the first Test the home team were not under any pressure,” he said. “Here they were confronted with a totally different wicket and a different situation. It’s not always going to be the same when you face quality bowlers. We found that as well.”

“We were maybe too tentative against him and we will have to think about whether we are going to be a little bit more positive”Russell Domingo on South Africa’s approach against Saeed Ajmal

Du Plessis struggled to read the angle, particularly because he, like the rest, eliminated the off side as a scoring area by taking guard on off stump. With no room to wriggle, he had to employ an ultra-conservative approach to Ajmal. He was either defending from well inside his crease or coming forward to do the same and he seemed to premeditate both, irrespective of what Ajmal actually presented him with. The cautiousness worried Domingo a little: “We were maybe too tentative against him and we will have to think about whether we are going to be a little bit more positive against him.”South Africa have to make that decision quickly because they will be back to face Ajmal in the morning and they will know it is primarily him they will be up against. Apart from his web of confusion, Ajmal’s tirelessness was noteworthy. He began bowling from the Kelvin Grove End at 2:16 pm in the 12th over of the innings and finished at 6 pm, sending down his 25 overs in one marathon spell. He has shown no sign of stopping.The next three days are forecast to be hot and dry with a southeaster gusting. The Cape doctor does not bring in any moisture and even though it may not arrive complete with white coat and stethoscope, it is the wind that saps the air. That means the surface will only find itself more parched.South Africa have to bat last on it and it is with that and Ajmal in mind that the last recognised batting pair will resume in the morning. Domingo thinks if they can get “anywhere within 80 or 90 runs of their score, we will be happy,” because “we know we can put pressure on them in the third innings.”Vernon Philander will be a factor, as he was in the first innings. His ninth five-wicket haul in 15 Tests was the fourth at his home ground. No matter what the conditions, Philander’s line outside the off stump continues to create uncertainty. But for now, the questions are being asked of South Africa, who struggled to take wickets with the old ball and who are under pressure with the bat. How they answer those and how Pakistan interrupt their responses will be what decides this Test.

Just when his country had made it back into the fold after the years of apartheid came Cronje to end the innocence

Telford Vice01-Jul-2010It took a newsstand owner in the mid-afternoon madness of Manhattan to put Hansie Cronje in his place.”What a cricketer he was,” he said after we had established our respective credentials as Indian and South African, “but what a crook.”That exchange took place over the purchase of a copy of the on Lexington Avenue on a drenched day in March, 2005. The Cronje saga had ripped the heart out of South African cricket five years earlier, but the wounds were still raw. Now, another five years on, revisiting that bizarre time when cricket was crime and crime was cricket doesn’t hurt quite so much. We’re over it, but thanks for asking.And if you believe that, you’ll believe that diamonds mark the parking spaces reserved for elephants in the gold-lined streets of Johannesburg.Part of the pain is the fact that a South African was at the centre of the scandal. We had, not many years before, thrown off the yoke of apartheid and been welcomed back into the world as prodigals. After being untouchables for so long we were everybody’s favourite cricketing nation. At least, that’s what being South African felt like back then. Cronje took that from us. He ended the innocence we were indulging in when we called ourselves cricket people. He was, and remains, the Grinch who stole cricket.But as he emerged with puffy eyes, an uncertain mouth and weary shoulders into the blare and glare of the King Commission on June 15, 2000, he looked anything but monstrous. Gone was the square-jawed strut with which he had won the hearts, or at least the respect, of cricket lovers everywhere.”The truth shall set you free,” the judge, Edwin King, told him simply and powerfully. But Cronje didn’t seem to be listening. He bobbed and weaved through the early parts of his testimony, even managing a weak smile at inappropriate moments. It couldn’t last, and as the commission’s
legal team found its feet so Cronje lost his. Sportsmen who retire in conventional fashion are afforded a second honeymoon by their public, a gentle time before they ride off into the sunset of real life when they’re treated as if they still are what they once were. Not Cronje. He was demolished as a cricketer and as a man in the space of a few weeks. Then he spent three days in the dock, watching his own funeral from an unsafe distance.At the end, as he left the witness stand, Cronje needed the physical support of two men, one of them his brother Frans. Someone who once bestrode with a swagger the entire cricket world had been reduced to a stumbling mess.It was the last time I saw him. The image will haunt me forever.For some, this was more a beginning than an end. We started asking ourselves why a particularly unsuccessful bowling change happened when
it did. Was that batsman really guilty of nothing more than poor judgement when he drove tamely to short cover and set off on a disastrous single? That catch was easier to hold than to drop, so how come it went down?What would happen, we wondered, if both teams had been paid to lose? Would we see batsmen whose determination to be dismissed was
matched only by their opponents’ resolve to ensure that they survived and prospered? A diabolical notion indeed, but a contest of sorts
would unfold nonetheless. Perhaps the scoreboard, which would have to have been designed by Salvador Dali, would tick backwards in matches
of this strange ilk.We accepted, bleakly, that cricket was not a game of talent, skill and honest chance. Instead, it was a series of suspicious events which
were not as haphazard as we had been led to believe.The other extreme was occupied by those who refused to believe that Cronje had done anything wrong. Or that he had taken the fall for
a host of dirtier figures. These unfortunates were out in force on a particular morning during the King Commission when, from outside the august proceedings, a chant went up.The trickle of reporters towards the noise swelled to a gush as the volume rose. Soon most of us stood on the pavement looking at a bunch of students opposite. Their undone trousers were around their ankles as they sang, over and over: “.” That’s Afrikaans for, “Give Hansie another chance.”On another day I found myself in grim conversation with a member of the Cronje family. “You damn reporters; why don’t you stick to
writing about cricket,” he snarled. “I wish I could,” I replied. “If only the cricketers would stick to playing cricket.”

How many other lies did Cronje tell us? How often did he loft a shot and hope like hell that he would be caught? How many players besides Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams did he drag into the darkness of cricket’s underworld?

There had been nothing at all to laugh or be smug about on April 11, 2000, which veterans of that swirl of fact, fiction and fantasy still call Black Tuesday. As I made my way to the first press conference, a Reuters editor called to tell me that the news desk had declared the Cronje affair
the second biggest story in the world that day. What, I thought to myself, could possibly be bigger.For Ali Bacher, then the managing director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, the day had started much earlier. When the phone rings at 3am, the news can only be as dark as the night it rends. Cronje called Bacher to say he had not been “entirely honest” with him.Before that moment, Cronje had grabbed by the throat reports of his involvement in match-fixing. “I am stunned,” he said on April 7, the day the story broke in India. “The allegations are completely without substance. I have been privileged to play for South Africa since 1992 and I want to assure every South African that I have made 100% effort to win every match that I have played.”Bacher stood by his man: “I have spoken to Hansie and he says it is absolute rubbish. He is known for his unquestionable integrity and honesty.”
Two days later Cronje couldn’t quite look a roomful of reporters in the face when he said, “I have never received any sum of money for any match that I have been involved in and have never approached any of the players and asked them if they wanted to fix a game.”A lie, of course. Cronje received an offer of $250,000 for South Africa to lose a one-day international against India in 1996. That was bad enough, but not as alarming as the fact that he put the proposition to his team. Most disturbing of all, the South Africans met three times to discuss the offer before turning it down.How many other lies did Cronje tell us? How often did he loft a shot and hope like hell that he would be caught? How many players besides Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams did he drag into the darkness of cricket’s underworld? How often did he go onto the field not caring a jot about the hopes of a nation he carried with him?We will never know, because on June 1, 2002, Cronje died in a plane crash. He left behind him a South African cricket landscape as desolate
as the Cape mountainside on which his life came to a harsh end. Distrust and gloom hung over the game in this country like the fog that caused the aircraft that was carrying him to lose its way.Graeme Smith’s appointment as captain in 2003, which represented a clean break from the Cronje era, heralded a brighter day. But South
Africa only re-emerged fully into the light when they won their first Test series in Australia in 2008-09. There was finally a bigger elephant in the room than the match-fixing scandal, and it was a welcome guest.Some thought Cronje would have made a place for himself in the sun of this new time, that he would have returned rehabilitated and ready
to give back some of what he took. For these hopeful souls, Cronje’s premature death was a tragedy. For those of a more sober disposition, tragedy had befallen him some years earlier.Will the hard of heart ever forgive him? Don’t bet on it.

A comparison of Chris Gayle’s half-centuries at Antigua

Kanishkaa Balachandran07-Jun-2006Through the course of the Antigua Test, the one batsman the Indians found difficult to dislodge early was Chris Gayle. Gayle dictated West Indies’s intentions in the first innings, with his knock of 72 demoralising India’s inexperienced bowling attack, which wore a hapless look each time the ball sped away along the ground or into orbit. He followed it up with 69 in the second innings, and though his scores look similar, there was a distinct difference in the character of both knocks, largely dictated by the state of the game.Not known for grafting, his penchant for scoring boundaries stood out in both innings, comprising a large percentage. That’s where the similarity ends. Gayle consumed more than twice the number of balls in the second innings, indicating an even higher percentage of balls not scored off. The table below shows the percentage of Gayle’s scoring shots and dot balls in both innings.A comparison reveals the difference in his knocks. With the pressure off after restricting the Indians to what seemed a modest total, it didn’t require too much time to see off the new ball. He had 25 scoring shots in his 91-ball knock, but all along, the bowlers often struggled to beat the bat. The second innings however shows a disparity. By coincidence, the balls scored off were identical in number, but this time around, the fast bowlers, particularly Sreesanth, dominated. It was a sluggish start by Gayle, and the high percentage of dot balls only indicated a defensive mindset, as West Indies faced the tall order of batting an entire day to save the match. What is interesting is that in his 188-ball knock, the percentage of scoring shots was only a little over 13%, with 54 runs scored in boundaries alone.

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, heaped praise on RCB legspinner Karn Sharma and tagged his stand with Faf du Plessis “the perfect start”

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-20232:22

Moody: ‘There are too many holes in the Mumbai team’

On a night when Mumbai Indians were in danger for a long time of being brushed aside with all of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s wickets intact, Rohit Sharma had to field the inevitable question around the hole losing Jasprit Bumrah leaves in his side.Mumbai can’t dwell on that, Rohit insisted. “For the past six to eight months, I am used to playing without Jasprit Bumrah [for India too],” he said after the loss. “Of course, this is a different set-up. Someone needs to put their hand up and come in to fill that place. We can’t keep dwelling on it. You can try and control the things that are in your control and those that are not in your control, you can’t do that. Injuries are not in your control.”The other guys that we have are talented. It’s just that they haven’t played a lot of IPL. We need to give them the support.”Defending 171, each of Mumbai’s bowlers – save for experienced legspinner Piyush Chawla whose four overs went for only 26 – had an economy rate in excess of eight. Their 11.2 overs of fast bowling – which included the likes of Jofra Archer, Cameron Green and Jason Behrendorff – went at a rate of 11.29 runs per over and that more than nullified the control Chawla had. It meant Mumbai lost their opening match by eight wickets with a whopping 22 balls remaining.On the night, it was not just their bowling that let five-time champions Mumbai down. They had crumbled to 48 for 4 in the ninth over after being asked to bat and could get past 170 only because of rookie Tilak Varma’s partnerships with Nehal Wadhera and Arshad Khan – both of whom were on T20 debuts. Varma added 50 with Wadhera for the fifth wicket before combining with Arshad to add an unbroken 48 in 17 balls, and in the process he stayed unbeaten on 84 off 46 balls. Rohit heaped praise on the youngster for “showing courage and being brave” in the middle.Related

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Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis help RCB brush aside Mumbai Indians

“He is a very positive person, quite talented as well,” Rohit said. “Some of the shots he played, in the first game of the season, he showed a lot of courage. That is something we spoke of – we want to be brave and courageous in the middle. We didn’t start well, and it was always a catching up game. Hats off to Tilak to get us to a competitive total.”It was a good pitch to bat on. We didn’t bat to even half of our potential and yet got to 170. Probably 30-40 runs more would have been ideal. We were struggling to play the catch-up game but Tilak was magnificent.”Kohli: ‘Me and Faf got off to the perfect start’Mumbai had the momentum after a strong finish with the bat and would have been hopeful of ending their streak of starting an IPL season with a loss, one that has been going on since 2013. But Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis added 148 for the opening wicket to quash any hope Mumbai had of disappointing a sold-out Chinnaswamy Stadium. Later, Kohli said that the “phenomenal win” capped off a near-perfect homecoming for them.”I thought with the new ball it [the pitch] was a bit tricky [to bat on],” Kohli said. “But because we took them [their bowlers] down with the new ball, that’s where we shifted the momentum completely towards us. How they batted in the last two overs, it could have been tricky to walk out without intent. The way we both started nullified the intensity that they were going to bring onto the field.Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli started strongly for Royal Challengers Bangalore•BCCI

“Me and Faf got off to the perfect start. We kept going, kept backing ourselves. Faf went first and then I joined later. So, it was a very comprehensive win and we wanted to win with balls to spare so that it could benefit our net run rate a little bit.”Despite being part of the Royal Challengers squad, legspinner Karn Sharma did not get a game last season. On Sunday, though, he picked up a couple of crucial middle-order wickets to puncture Mumbai’s recovery. After being hit for two sixes by Wadhera, Karn tossed another one up to have him hole out before getting one past hard-hitter Tim David to bowl him.”When he got the left-hander out after getting hit for two sixes, that’s brave bowling,” Kohli said of Karn. “That comes from a lot of repetition of bowling in the right spot. He’s had a good domestic season. He was bowling so well for us last year, unfortunately he couldn’t get a game. He was ready to play, even in the nets here he wasn’t getting hit for sixes in the nets easily.”[He is] very confident with the skillsets and his spell in the middle was very crucial. He got a couple of big wickets and put us on the front foot in the middle phase.”

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أعلن أحمد الكأس، المدير الفني لـ منتخب مصر للناشئين، تشكيل الفراعنة لخوض أولى مواجهات بطولة كأس الخليج أمام عمان، اليوم الجمعة.

يفتتح منتخب مصر للناشئين تحت 17 عامًا مواليد 2008، مبارياته في بطولة كأس الخليج، أمام عمان، وذلك خلال الجولة الأولى من مواجهات دور المجموعات.

ويتواجد منتخب مصر في المجموعة الثانية من بطولة كأس الخليج، بجانب منتخبات عمان والعراق والبحرين.

وانطلقت بطولة كأس الخليج في السعودية، أمس الخميس 28 أغسطس وحتى 9 سبتمبر، حيث فاز منتخب السعودية على اليمن بهدف دون رد وتعادل منتخبا قطر والكويت سلبيًا.

طالع | موعد والقنوات الناقلة لمباراة مصر وعمان اليوم في كأس الخليج للشباب تشكيل منتخب مصر اليوم أمام عمان في كأس الخليج

حراسة المرمي: عمرو عادل.

خط الدفاع: حمزة الدجوي، محمد البنداري، أدهم فريد وياسين حسام.

خط الوسط: باسل مدحت، عمر أبوطالب، بلال عطية، أنس رشدي وإبراهيم النجعاوي.

خط الهجوم: حمزة عبد الكريم.

كشف الإعلامي أحمد شوبير، عن موقف إدارة النادي الأهلي من طلب حكام أجانب لإدارة مباراة الفريق أمام بيراميدز ضمن لقاءات الدوري المصري.

ومن المقرر أن يلتقي الأهلي مع بيراميدز في الجولة الخامسة من الدوري المصري، يوم السبت 30 أغسطس 2025، في تمام الساعة التاسعة مساءً بتوقيت مصر والسعودية.

وقال أحمد شوبير في تصريحات إذاعية عبر “أون سبورت إف إم”: “الأهلي والمرحلة المقبلة، لن أتحدث عن مباراة الأهلي وفاركو الآن، بل سأتحدث عن الأهلي وبيراميدز، قد تقولون (لسه بدري يا كابتن)، نعم ولكن”.

وأكمل: “الأهلي سيلعب غدًا مع فاركو ثم لديه فترة راحة، وبعدها مباراة بيراميدز، لكن انتبهوا، اليوم هو آخر يوم لتقديم طلب الحكام الأجانب، فهل سيطلب الأهلي حكامًا أجانب أم لا؟”.

طالع.. خاص | اتحاد الكرة يعترض على ظاهرة تحكيمية جديدة في الموسم الجديد للدوري

وأردف: “ما علمته، وهذه معلومة باجتهاد، هو أن الأهلي غالبًا سيتقدم اليوم بطلب لاستحضار طاقم تحكيم أجنبي لمباراته مع نادي بيراميدز”.

وأتم: “هذا الأمر قد يتأكد اليوم، لأنه كما قلت لكم، اليوم هو آخر يوم لتقديم طلب الحكام الأجانب وفقًا لما حدده اتحاد الكرة، المسؤول عن الحكام”.

رغم ارتباط اسمه مؤخرًا بإمكانية العودة إلى الدوري المصري عبر بوابة الأهلي، ومع وجود رغبة داخل نادي الزمالك لاستعادته، لم يتلق مصطفى محمد أي عروض رسمية من القطبين، وسط تكهنات متزايدة بشأن مستقبله مع نانت.

لكن الوجهة القادمة للمهاجم الدولي المصري قد تكون في الدوري السعودي، وتحديدًا مع نادي نيوم الصاعد حديثًا إلى دوري روشن.

اقرأ أيضًا | الزمالك لـ بطولات: نعم نفاوض مصطفى محمد.. وهكذا سنمول الصفقة

وكشف مصدر داخل نادي نيوم، في تصريحات خاصة لـ بطولات، عن دخول النادي في مفاوضات رسمية مع نانت للتعاقد مع مصطفى محمد خلال سوق الانتقالات الصيفية الحالية.

وقال المصدر: “نحن بالفعل في مفاوضات مع نانت لحسم صفقة مصطفى محمد، نحتاج إلى مهاجم جديد يكون بجوار ألكسندر لاكازيت الذي تقدم في السن، وسنستفيد منه غالبًا كمهاجم ثانٍ أو كصانع ألعاب”.

وأوضح: “قدمنا عرضًا بقيمة 10 ملايين يورو لحسم الصفقة، لكن نانت نادٍ صعب في التفاوض”.

وتابع: “بدأنا التواصل معهم خلال مفاوضات لضم المدافع ناثان زيزي ونجحنا، ونسبة نجاح صفقة مصطفى محمد الحالية هي 50%، لكننا سنواصل العمل لإنهائها ونحن واثقون”.

وعن إمكانية ضم لاعب الوسط إمام عاشور من الأهلي، ، علق المصدر: “لم نفكر مطلقًا في ضمه، لأن الفريق مكتمل في خط الوسط ولا يحتاج إلى تعزيز بهذا المركز حاليًا”.