All posts by n8rngtd.top

The two Tests between India and West Indies has little in terms of context apart from it being Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series. Hopefully the cricket will make up for its manufactured existence

Sidharth Monga in Kolkata04-Nov-2013On November 2 – Diwali weekend – India worked desperately hard to defend 383 against Australia in Bangalore. Next morning, nine bleary-eyed India cricketers were on a long flight to Kolkata for a Test series that would begin in fewer than 72 hours. Luckily for them the flight wasn’t heavily booked, and the logistics manager could arrange for Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli to move to the first-class section so that MS Dhoni could spread himself out on three seats and get some sleep.There were to be a total of two training sessions before this series against West Indies. The Tests were arranged because the BCCI reportedly wanted to punish CSA for appointing a CEO it didn’t like, and at the same time couldn’t have its players sit at home during peak season. So onwards we went towards a series with no build-up or context or duration. Two training sessions before the two Tests each, and boom, in two weeks the series is over. Although, on the duration front it might be as good as it gets with the BCCI: India’s next three series are two Tests each.Down in Kolkata, though, ground reality has changed. This, you see, happens to be Sachin Tendulkar’s last international series. One thousand people lined up to welcome him at the Kolkata airport, and hundreds waited outside Eden Gardens on a work day to catch a glimpse of Tendulkar after one of the two practice sessions. This series is one last burden for Tendulkar, one last thing for him to carry on his shoulders alone, like the Indian team of the ’90s.This series has sprung up so randomly that there cannot be any other storyline. Time is central to Test cricket. The fan needs time to build up anticipation for a Test series, to think of possible contests, to play them out in the mind, to follow the form of the visitors in the practice games, to start thinking of match XIs as the first Test comes around. This series has had none of it. It’s more like, “Pleased to meet you, now heads or tails?”Or rather, Tendulkar or Eden? For that’s what the sides of the coin for the toss will be. And you can only hope that once the toss has happened the quality of cricket makes up for this series – well – being there. There is no better way to classify its existence. Put the Tendulkar retirement aside, and it’s just there.The cricket better be good because it is always going to be compared to what would have happened had West Indies not been the only team free in the world at this time of the year. The opportunity cost will always crop up. West Indies would have chilled, and India would have been preparing for a proper tour of South Africa, and not starting a Test series three days after finishing an ODI runathon against Australia.Now that the series is here, it is time to look beyond Tendulkar too. He remains a fascinating story even without the retirement. His last Test century came in 2010-11 in Cape Town, after which he has played some good innings – against West Indies in the chase in Delhi, in Melbourne and Sydney, in Chennai against Australia, a fighting 76 against England right here in Kolkata – but he has failed to turn them into big ones. Even if he hadn’t been retiring, Tendulkar would have made for interesting viewing.Beyond Tendulkar is another milestone man, the quiet Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who will play his 150th Test in Mumbai. Surely no one has challenged the cricket-is-a-side-on-game tenet for longer and with better results? He is also a known India slayer. Well, slaying is too violent a term for what Chanderpaul does, but you get the idea, with a fourth of his 28 Test centuries coming against India in just 23 Tests out of 148. He averages 66 against his favourite opposition, compared to 52 overall. And unlike Tendulkar, he doesn’t seem to have plans of retiring anytime soon.There is an upside to this, though. Players from both sides will know that performances in this series will not go forgotten. Everyone will remember the bloke who scored a hundred in Tendulkar’s last Test, no Indian fan will forget the man who gets Shivnarine Chanderpaul early in his 150th, and glory is his who can be the modern Eric Hollies.Despite there being precious little to recommend this series by, apart from Tendulkar and Chanderpaul, what it has going for it is the relief it will bring after the batting pornography that played out in India over the last month. There will be consequence attached to big shots here. The ball will swing more, turn more, and reverse when it ages. Chanderpaul and Cheteshwar and anyone who puts a price on his wicket will be welcome sights. R Ashwin can go back to working batsmen out as opposed to finding ways to concede as few sixes as possible; Kemar Roach’s pace will be respected and not flayed. Chris Gayle and Shikhar Dhawan might want to upset the pace a bit, but they will do so after weighing up the massive consequences of an early wicket in a Test match.And if it doesn’t go to plan, you can always wear the Tendulkar mask you will be given on the first day, reminisce, enjoy his farewell, and put the burden of this series on his shoulders.

In the last two ODIs, India’s bowlers have shown a tendency to concede ground in a short burst. While New Zealand’s bowlers have extracted help from the pitches, India have struggled and their only hope of saving the series is to avoid mistakes

Abhishek Purohit in Hamilton23-Jan-20140:00

Worked a lot on bowling yorkers – Bhuvneshwar

India have already lost the No 1 ODI ranking following two defeats in Napier and Hamilton. One more defeat in Auckland will see them lose the series as well. The games at Napier and Hamilton must have felt almost like playing at home, seeing the bowlers go for so many. However, the batsmen, despite coming close, have been unable to mop up for the bowlers and that has been the crucial difference compared to playing in India.New Zealand’s one-day pitches may have flattened out over the past decade but they are still nowhere close to the roads that Indian bowlers are used to back home. There is little the team can do if the bowlers are slammed for 320 in Rajkot, apart from hoping that the batsmen do not have a rare off day. But New Zealand have shown that there was something in Napier and Hamilton for bowlers who were prepared to and knew how to squeeze out that help from the pitches. Napier had bounce and pace, Hamilton was a touch two-paced.India, though, went through periods where they conceded too much ground in a short burst. It was not as if they were poor throughout, but their attack has this tendency to suddenly lose it in unison, especially if a batsman starts going berserk. The new fielding restrictions have only exacerbated that tendency. Corey Anderson has gone after them in both games, and although India, by their standards, have done admirably to come back at the death, the damage he inflicted proved too costly.India’s death-bowling performance has improved but basic errors are proving costly•Getty ImagesMS Dhoni knows his bowlers better than anybody else and has maintained right through that only four deep fielders are too little protection for their profligacy. But it has been over a year now since the new rules came in and the attack has to show signs of adapting, for there is no choice. And those signs have to translate into something concrete, especially outside India where everything cannot be blamed on dead pitches. If they don’t, in another year, Dhoni will be left with the same woes in the 2015 World Cup.Dhoni does feel that his bowlers have achieved some progress, particularly at the death. “To some extent, yes,” Dhoni said after the Hamilton match. “To compare it to what was happening maybe six months back. Our death bowling seems to have improved a lot. What you are seeing close to 300 runs, you may see it as slightly expensive, but if we do not bowl as well as we are bowling in the last few overs, it may go in excess of 340. That puts some serious pressure on the batsmen. We have seen improvement.”The captain thinks a lot more can be done, and pointed out a couple of things which may appear quite basic, but are seemingly beyond the reach of Dhoni’s bowlers at the moment.”There is still scope for improvement. If we cannot give easy boundaries, off something like a wide ball or something on the pads that goes through short fine for a boundary,” Dhoni said. “Stuff like that really adds on. Especially the first ball of the over or the sixth ball of the over, if you don’t concede boundaries in those two, it really helps. That is one area where we are conceding quite a few runs – the first ball or the last ball of the over. Either we are not starting well or we are not finishing that particular over well.”Of the 61 boundaries India went for in Napier and Hamilton, 20 came off the first and last deliveries of overs. That is not an alarmingly high proportion, but you can see the point Dhoni is trying to make.His attack may probably not have the skills to extract as much out of New Zealand pitches as the home bowlers have. But if they can at least avoid the above mistakes under pressure, India might yet be able to salvage this series.

With India’s bowling coming good in the World Twenty20, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have not been tested but they need to sort their techniques and mindsets to match their ODI successes

Abhishek Purohit27-Mar-20148:20

Manjrekar: Worried about India openers’ form

Few gave India a chance going into the Champions Trophy last year. They had chosen a young squad over a few established names, and had a fresh pair of openers. One of them was making a comeback to the one-day side, albeit after a spectacular Test debut. The other had only recently been converted into an opener following several underwhelming years in the middle order.Few would have expected Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma to start the Champions Trophy with partnerships of 127, 101, 58 and 77. It was even more of a surprise than India’s roaring bowling form has been in the World T20 so far. Dhawan and Rohit went on to establish themselves as the first-choice limited-overs opening pair for India. They average nearly fifty in ODIs and have ten fifty-plus stands in 31 innings.In the World T20, the expectations have ratcheted up significantly from the duo. They have become a hit pair in one limited-overs format, and are expected to carry that success into the shorter one as well. The bowling surprise has meant that they have not really been tested so far, and India will be hoping they will deliver when they come up against one, which will surely happen at some stage in the tournament, if not against Bangladesh on Friday.While they may have spent plenty of time together in the middle in ODIs, Rohit and Dhawan had only one opening stand in T20s coming into this world event, worth 12 runs against Australia in October last year in Rajkot. India do not play much international T20 cricket, and the dynamics of opening in ODIs and T20s are vastly different.Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan must fall back on the familiarity of their ODI partnership to tide over their lack of experience as a pair in T20s•BCCIRohit is not a natural opener, and it is well known now that he likes to take his time in ODIs, occasionally at the cost of the flow of an innings. He has opened in T20s before – in the 2009 World T20 – but most of his innings previously in the format have come in the middle order. He made 24 off 21 before falling against Pakistan but once he got in against West Indies, he ensured he remained there until the end, finishing on an unbeaten 62 off 55. He’s largely done what was required of him in those chases, especially against West Indies. As Rohit will know, his real challenge will come when he will not have the leeway of a benign asking-rate, especially if India’s bowlers have an overdue off-day and he is handed a stiff chase.Dhawan has a bigger challenge. Against Pakistan, he charged at Umar Gul and heaved a top-edge off a short ball once more but that is not his challenge. It can be argued he will have no choice but to attack the short ball in this format, and will have to make do with his tendency to get out in doing so. It is spin he has to combat. Mohammad Hafeez had a leg before appeal against Dhawan off the first ball the batsman faced in an unconvincing effort against Pakistan. Against West Indies, he was given leg-before off the third ball against Samuel Badree, although it was a poor decision with the ball appearing to miss leg. Like he did against Badree, Dhawan often gets cramped on the back foot and becomes vulnerable to the incoming or straighter delivery. It is not even a question of blocking away such balls; he is often too late bringing down his bat on them.With tougher tests lying in wait, what Rohit and Dhawan will have to fall back on is the mutual understanding they have developed since June 2013, according to Rohit.”When you have the right combination going around and you’ve batted for a while, together, you understand each other very well,” Rohit said. “These things really matter when you play the short format. All those little things like running between the wickets and taking singles really matter. We’ve had a good understanding and a good run for the last year or so.”The team expects a lot of us because we’re the ones who set the tone for the games. It’s important for us to take on that challenge. It’s very important what you do in the first six overs in this format – whether you bat or bowl. As openers, it’s important we give the team a good start. We know we’ve got a good middle order to capitalize.”That is the difference between the Champions Trophy and the World T20. The team, as well as the fans, now expect “a lot” from Rohit and Dhawan. Those expectations are about coming good on a night when India will dearly need them to.

What are India likely to do to rectify their batting horrors? Frown, and let it pass

Andy Zaltzman20-Aug-2014I have been living a strange, almost cricketless existence at the Edinburgh Festival. Perhaps not quite as cricketless as the Indian batting line-up, but disturbingly cricketless nonetheless. As a result, I have seen very little of the supposed Test matches, in which England have emerged from their prolonged funk, and India have achieved the remarkable feat of not only playing even worse than they did in 2011, but also, in the end, doing so by an impressively comfortable margin.After the riveting, undulating classic at Lord’s, the final three Tests were horrifically one-sided, with England exerting total domination, based on the first-session brilliance of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, in the face of opposition resistance as sturdy and steadfast as a jam sandwich trying to stop an elephant stampede.It has all been eerily reminiscent of the famous 19th-century boxing match, in which Erwin “Fists Of Destiny” Wopplethwaite took on Punchin’ Percy Pendelbury. Pendelbury knocked Wopplethwaite down in the second round, and looked well set to finish off his dazed, staggering opponent. Instead, Wopplethwaite got to his feet, dusted himself down, and started landing jab after jab on Pendelbury’s notoriously suspect chin, before knocking him out with an impressive flurry of technically proficient upper cuts. Whilst Pendelbury repeatedly clobbered himself on the head with a heavy-based cast-iron frying pan, and shot himself in both feet with a crossbow.It may prove to be a learning experience for India’s batsmen. However, not all disastrous failures produce wisdom and improvement. As the old saying goes, “Having your leg bitten off by a crocodile does not necessarily make you better at swimming across crocodile-infested rivers, nor more confident whilst attempting to do so”.Faced with high-class swing bowling in helpful conditions, India responded with some of the most miserable batting ever seen on the international stage. Their techniques and confidences were successively demolished, as England’s had been in Australia. India clearly have a talented generation of batsmen. I am sure they want to succeed in Test cricket. But they do not to succeed in Test cricket, as previous generations did, in order to make a good living from the game. It may prove to be a crucial difference.Teams accused of spinelessness in a cataclysmic defeat may well be manifesting an overwhelming individual and collective collapse in confidence and technique, rather than an absence of will. I am sure it is visually hard to tell the difference. It is, after all, impossible to try really hard when you are sitting in the pavilion wondering why your bat does not seem to work any more. How can you demonstrate your determination and resistance when you look more likely to discover the secrets of the origins of the universe than the whereabouts of your own off stump?What will India’s players do to rectify their recurring failures? Forsake the IPL in favour of a couple of full seasons of county cricket? Persuade their board not to lumber them with tour schedules that offer no worthwhile preparation, and no subsequent chance to rehabilitate their broken games? Frown, shake their heads and hope for the best? A bit of extra catching practice? Option C looks the most likely outcome.Objectively, this was one of the most disappointing series to take place in England in recent years. This was partly because it had promised so much more and produced that ceaselessly dramatic game at Lord’s, before ending with three processional hammerings, in the last two of which the outcome was essentially fixed within the first session; and partly because if England, India and Australia are going to carve up Test cricket and shape its future, they need to be able to travel to each other’s countries and play something resembling Test cricket.Since England’s win in India late in 2012, four long series between the self-proclaimed Big Three have produced an aggregate score of 15-1 to the home teams, with three draws. And the “1” – India’s win at Lord’s – proved to be the biggest false dawn since Alphonse The First Ever Zebra killed a lion by making it choke to death on his own mane, before announcing: “Well, I don’t think we are going to have anything to worry about from that particular species.”

The sickening blow that struck Phillip Hughes is a reminder of the ever-present dangers associated with facing fast bowlers, even while wearing a helmet

Brydon Coverdale25-Nov-2014Nari Contractor
After being struck on the head by a bouncer from the fearsomely fast Charlie Griffith during the Indians’ tour match against Barbados in March 1962, Contractor was led from the field with blood coming from his nose and ears. His skull was fractured and he needed two emergency operations to remove clots on the brain, and West Indies captain Frank Worrell was one of those who gave blood to help Contractor while his life was in danger. Unconscious for six days, Contractor recovered and early the following year was back playing first-class cricket again, although he never played another Test.Ewen Chatfield
The gut-wrenching nature of such incidents was never more apparent than when Chatfield was hit on the left temple by a bouncer from Peter Lever during the Auckland Test between New Zealand and England in February 1975. Chatfield staggered for a few seconds, then fell over, and the England players saw him twitching unconscious on the ground. Bernard Thomas, the England physiotherapist, stopped Chatfield from swallowing his tongue and then realised there was no resuscitation equipment available. “It was the worst case I have seen and I never want to see another,” he said later. “His heart had stopped beating and technically that’s the sign of dying.” The effect on the bowler was enormous. “I honestly thought I had killed him as I saw him lying there in convulsions,” Lever said. “I felt sick and ashamed at what I had done and all I could think when I got back to the pavilion was that I wanted to retire.” Chatfield was rushed to hospital and regained full consciousness half an hour later, although he had a hairline fracture to his skull. Chatfield, who was on debut, went on to play 43 Tests.Andy Lloyd
Like Chatfield, the Warwickshire opener Andy Lloyd was on Test debut when he was hit. Unlike Chatfield, he never played another Test. At Edgbaston in June 1984, Lloyd was struck on the side of the helmet by a Malcolm Marshall bouncer and was hospitalised for more than a week with blurred vision. He did not play first-class cricket again until the following year, and his eyesight was never quite the same again. Although his Test career was over, he went on to play county cricket until 1992.Bert Oldfield
The Bodyline series was at times stomach-turning, but never more so than when Australia’s wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield top-edged an attempted pull off a Harold Larwood bouncer and had his skull cracked. The incident could not be said to be the result of Bodyline bowling, for Larwood was operating with a regulation field at the time, but Bodyline and Oldfield are now inextricably linked. Oldfield stumbled away from the crease and collapsed. He missed only one Test as a result of the incident and told Larwood it was not the bowler’s fault, but his own for missing the ball.Phillip Hughes is the second batsman this season to be badly injured batting in the Sheffield Shield•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaShivnarine Chanderpaul
When Chanderpaul was hit on the back of the helmet by a Brett Lee bouncer during the Sabina Park Test of 2008, he crumpled motionless to the ground. “I did not know where I was,” Chanderpaul said later. “My entire body went numb. I could not move my hands and I could not move my feet.” Chanderpaul was on 86 at the time and after a few minutes of gathering himself, he carried on batting and went on to score one of his most remarkable centuries. Brain scans cleared Chanderpaul of serious injury.Rick McCosker
One of cricket’s most iconic images is that of Rick McCosker with head bandaged going out to bat in the Centenary Test between Australia and England at the MCG in 1977. McCosker had a broken jaw, courtesy of a Bob Willis bouncer in the first innings, but he came out to bat at No. 10 in the second innings and made 25. “I didn’t feel anything, I just heard this big awful noise inside my head,” McCosker said of the bouncer. “Everything just went numb. Blood everywhere. I walked off by myself. I missed about two days because I was in hospital for a day and a half.”Ben Rohrer
The bouncer that felled Hughes was not the first to cause distress in the Sheffield Shield this summer. In the first round, New South Wales batsman Ben Rohrer was hit on the helmet by a bouncer from Victoria fast bowler Chris Tremain at the MCG. Rohrer tried to duck the delivery but it hit him in the side of the head. After staggering a few steps, Rohrer fell to the ground and left the field sitting on a motorised stretcher. Precautionary scans showed no serious injury but the other players were concerned for his safety at the time. “I was very worried,” Peter Nevill, the non-striker, said. “It looked very nasty. It got him flush. Straight away he was struggling.” Only last week, more than a fortnight after the incident, Rohrer was still affected. “I’m still struggling, it hasn’t been a good couple of weeks,” Rohrer told the on Saturday. “Hopefully I’ve turned the corner, I’m starting to feel a bit better and the doctor thinks it’ll resolve itself soon.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the second ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan in Napier

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Feb-2015A bit of shuteyeBrendon McCullum had given New Zealand a typically brutal start, and Pakistan responded by bringing on Shahid Afridi in the sixth over of the innings. Third ball of the over, Afridi saw McCullum stepping out of his crease and bowled it quicker and a touch shorter. McCullum swung and missed. The ball cleared the top of middle stump by an inch and bounced off Sarfraz Ahmed’s gloves. Sarfraz, unhelmeted, had closed his eyes as the ball passed the batsman, flinching to avoid the possibility of flying bails.The sitting seven-foot duckFourth ball of the 48th over, Ross Taylor pushed Mohammad Irfan into the off side and took off for the single. The bowler, sprinting across from his follow-through, dived but could not intercept the ball, which rolled through to the mid-off fielder. Irfan was just about to get up when he realised that he was right between the fielder and the stumps at the keeper’s end, the target of the impending low, flat throw. Trying to make himself as small a target as is possible for someone who is 7’1″ tall, Irfan ducked into an uncomfortable crouch, just in time to evade the throw.The carveAhmed Shehzad began Pakistan’s chase with a series of rousing boundaries, clearing his front leg and hitting where the line dictated. In the 10th over, Trent Boult went around the wicket and followed him with a bouncer. Shehzad leaned his head out of the way and sliced hard, under the ball, to ramp it over the keeper for four.Shehzad sees the lightFor most part of his innings, Shehzad was batting on a pitch striped by the lengthening shadows of the floodlight towers. In the 20th over of Pakistan’s innings, Shehzad was a touch late on a defensive shot off Daniel Vettori’s bowling. The reason became quickly apparent – Shehzad walked up to the umpire, indicating that he was having trouble seeing the ball in the glare of the sun, which was setting right behind Vettori’s arm. Brendon McCullum walked up to Shehzad and offered him his sunglasses, but the batsman declined and returned to take strike again.

In the futuristic ODI world, England can only have tools from the Stone Age

Timothy Ellis09-Mar-2015The current Disney film Big Hero 6 involves a bunch of normal kids who suddenly attain superhero strengths. When looking at the English top six batting order, it is hard to see how they are capable of any such animation. James Taylor and Gary Ballance don’t really look like they could destroy the forces of evil either. Charisma? Forget it. The creators of Big Hero 6 also made Frozen. The latter would be a far more suitable moniker for England’s performances so far in Australia and New Zealand.In the futuristic ODI world, England can only offer tools from the Stone Age. Their one modern day superpower, KP, came with a computer glitch that would eventually turn him into a felon. Their one-day batsmen (and bowlers) seem to suffer stage fright. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad look like they are taking on any role just to get the pay cheque. The auditions are one-paced and boring, full of management talk and robotic drills. The players can’t deliver their lines “live” on the pitch, even though the ECB has a budget that should be churning out A-listers.It all goes back to a defensive mentality. Even when they had “successful” World Cups (runners-up in three of the first five tournaments) there was a mechanical way about England. In the Lord’s final of 1979, Viv Richards and Collis King embarked on an assault to get West Indies up to near 300. The home team responded by opening up with Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott. Hollywood stroke-makers are eviscerated. In a must-win match against South Africa during the 2007 tournament, Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell put on nine runs in the first seven overs. There is something clinically wrong with England in the 50-over format.The Sri Lankans have now handed out two of the most horrible tonkings to England in World Cup history, after the 2011 quarter-final when Jonathan Trott hit two boundaries in his 86 as they crawled to 229. On that day, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga smashed their way home with 10 overs and 10 wickets to spare.England were thumped by nine wickets on March 1 in Wellington. Bell started positively but slowed down and perished on 49. Gary Ballance’s arrival slowed England down further before Joe Root broke the shackles. Buttler provided some late boost as England reached 309. Anderson and Broad have failed to make early inroads, exposing Chris Woakes as a jobbing actor.The truth is that England are down on confidence. They fell flat against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka, with the bat, ball and also on the field. They are in danger of not making the quarter-finals: A horror movie looms.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2015Delhi Daredevils knew that defeat would make them holders of the longest IPL losing run (12), and gave it their all on the field•BCCIVijay was dismissed for 19, but Virender Sehwag’s aggressive 47 kept the run-rate at over seven an over•BCCIHe shared a 71-run, second-wicket stand with Wriddhiman Saha, who slammed three sixes during his 39 off 28•BCCIKings XI were 104 for 1 in the 14th over when the Daredevils spinners clawed the visitors back into the game. Saha perished after lofting JP Duminy to Nathan Coulter-Nile at deep cover•BCCISehwag fell in the very next over, and though Glenn Maxwell hit Imran Tahir for two sixes, he was bowled off a legbreak from the spinner. Tahir ended with figures of 4-0-43-3•BCCIAxar Patel and George Bailey tried to accelerate at the death, but Daredevils fought back to keep the hosts to 165. Kings XI’s innings ended with Axar’s slog safely pouched in the hands of Angelo Mathews•BCCIKings XI got an early breakthrough in their defence when Sandeep Sharma dismissed Shreyas Iyer for 6•BCCIBut Duminy was fluent, stroking his way to 21•BCCIUntil his innings ended in unfortunate fashion when he was run out after colliding with Axar•BCCIMayank Agarwal was unfazed, though, his 48-ball 68 featuring seven fours and two sixes•BCCIDaredevls’ record buy Yuvraj Singh also rose to the occasion, flicking three sixes over the leg side. He smashed 54 off 39•BCCIThe pair added 106 in 11 overs, as the visitors closed in on victory•BCCIHowever, neither batsmen could quite complete the chase, as two wickets in two balls injected gave Kings XI a glimmer. Yuvraj was the first to go, dismissed after Sandeep Sharma pulled a blinder from midwicket…•BCCI… and when Agarwal was bowled off a full toss from Anureet Singh, Daredevils were left needing seven off nine balls•BCCIMathews, though, ensured his team’s losing run wouldn’t stretch any further, sealing the win with a four down the ground with one ball remaining•BCCI

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2015Piyush Chawla broke the 42-run opening stand by dismissing McCullum for 19•BCCIAndre Russell then removed Suresh Raina for 17 to leave Super Kings at 67 for 3 in the 10 over•BCCIKnight Riders bowlers maintained the pressure by removing MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo to leave Super Kings at 88 for 5 after 13 overs•BCCIFaf du Plessis was Super Kings’ top-scorer with a run-a-ball 29, as they ended up with 134 for 6•BCCIRobin Uthappa got Knight Riders’ chase off to a blistering start, slamming Ishwar Pandey and Mohit Sharma for 11 and 13 runs in the third and fourth overs•BCCIR Ashwin gave away just five runs in his two overs and picked the key wickets of Uthappa and Manish Pandey, leaving Knight Riders at 64 for 3 in eight overs•BCCIWith 14 runs required from the final over, Bravo conceded only 12 against Ryan ten Doeschate to seal a two-run victory•BCCI

Pace, spin, and a cameo with the bat. Gurinder Sandhu’s all-round performance was vital in securing victory against India A, and bodes well for Australian cricket

Deivarayan Muthu01-Aug-2015Gurinder Sandhu was only two Sheffield Shield games old when he claimed the Steve Waugh Medal in 2013 for his bustling fast bowling. Sandhu had earlier impressed in the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 in Australia, claiming 10 wickets from six matches at an average of 18.60. Three years later, Sandhu has added another bow to his string: offspin.Sandhu finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in Australia A’s 1-0 series win against India A in Chennai, but it was his adaptability that stood out. He sussed out the conditions intelligently and outwitted the hosts, who normally thrive on spin.It wasn’t the first time he had thought on his feet. Sandhu had employed offspin in the first unofficial Test, too, but emphasised that pace was his top priority.”If conditions are helping a little bit [I will bowl spin],” he said. “If you have to try something different and if the captain needs to try something different, break a partnership before tea or before tea or before lunch yesterday, I am happy to put my hand up and say I will give you an over or two. But definitely will keep bowling pace and that’s my main focus.”Sandhu began the final day from around the wicket, perhaps hoping to exploit the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump. He needed only three overs to pick up three wickets, and Australia A only 20 minutes to clean up the tail. Sandhu was not afraid to give the ball air and put revs on it.”For me, it is not about thinking too much, just putting revs on the ball and picking wickets, try and break a partnership and keep it simple,” Sandhu said. “I am not even a part-time offspinner.”Sandhu may not have been aware of the challenges of being pulled out of his comfort zone prior to the tour, but he was up to it if not a step ahead on a typically slow Chennai pitch. For somebody who had bowled only a solitary over of spin in the Sheffield Shield, this was reward for adaptability. Australia A captain Usman Khawaja had so much faith in Sandhu, he was even given a slip and a couple of short-leg fielders. He subsequently delivered and vindicated Khawaja’s faith by bringing the short-leg fielders into play with good lift.”I have only tried offspin for an over in a Shefield Shield game. The skipper had some faith in me and the conditions are more suitable to spin,” Sandhu said.Using his height, Sandhu generated great bounce and a decent amount of spin to have Shreyas Gopal caught at forward short leg, while B Aparajith popped one to backward short leg. Sandhu also accounted for Varun Aaron in a stellar spell which read 3-2-2-3. From an overnight total of 267 for 6, India A slumped to 274 all out in the second innings.Sandhu credited Australia’s senior team spin coach John Davison and Australia A team consultant S Sriram for offering advice on spin, and said that spending time with leading Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon while playing for NSW had helped.”We have the academy in Brisbane, the National Cricket Academy. I have been working with John Davison, he has been the spinning coach for the Australian team a little bit,” Sandhu said. “He has been working with Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar, James Muirhead and all these guys. He has been talking with me for about 15 months. He has given me a few little cues about when you do this its better and try avoiding doing it. Even talking to Steven O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon with the [NSW] Blues. Just pick their brains.”Sandhu also tested India A with offcutters, but when the ball was new, he combined well as a pacer with Andrew Fekete, having Abhinav Mukund and Cheteshwar Pujara ducking and weaving; Sandhu’s first ball of the game had zipped through outside off to Matthew Wade.He ditched pace for offspin for one over in the second session on the opening day, but realising there was not much turn, he reverted to bowling fast, nailing Pragyan Ojha’s stumps with an accurate yorker in a spell of 7.5-2-15-3, and rolling over India for 135.Pace. Spin. Cameo with the bat. Sandhu has caught the eye, again. Khawaja was left joking: “Maybe G [Sandhu] can open the batting too [for Australia]. He can do everything else.”