Long gone under the radar among the superstars of the IPL, he is now producing results that no one can fail to notice

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Apr-20224:46

Jaffer: His attitude separates Tripathi from other uncapped Indian players

At one level, batting in T20 has grown increasingly specialised. There are powerplay hitters and end-overs hitters, pace hitters and spin hitters, and the most successful teams line up all their specialists in a way that gets the best out of their specific skillsets.Every now and again, though, a batter will come along who defies easy categorisation. What box, for instance, do you put Rahul Tripathi in?This graph features a small collection of batters who’ve faced at least 150 balls of pace and 100 balls of spin in the IPL since the start of 2020, and who have strike rates of 120 or above against both styles of bowling. If your favourite player isn’t in this graphic, he’s failed to meet at least one of these criteria. Shimron Hetmyer, for instance, has a strike rate of 183.33 against pace but has gone at just 113.46 against spin.Related

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Of the batters who’ve met the qualification critera, only six – Mayank Agarwal, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Sanju Samson and Prithvi Shaw – have managed 140-plus strike rates against both pace and spin.Tripathi falls just outside this group, striking at 144.59 against pace and 138.69 against spin.In the same time span, only four batters who’ve faced at least 100 balls in both phases have managed to strike at 125-plus in the powerplay and 140-plus in the middle overs: Agarwal, Buttler, Shaw and, once again, Tripathi.And while he’s only got to face 42 balls in the death overs in these three seasons, Tripathi has shown he can handle the demands of that phase as well, scoring 78 runs at a strike rate of 185.71.If this versatility has made Tripathi a valuable asset at multiple IPL teams, it’s also kept him from having a settled role at – and becoming an indispensable member of – any of those teams. The versatility hasn’t been the only double-edged sword in his locker; his batting also exudes a sense of selflessness that is perhaps both cause and consequence of his relatively under-the-radar existence among the superstars of the IPL. Relatively, because he’s clearly valued by those within the game: Sunrisers Hyderabad shelled out INR 8.5 crore to beat off rival bidders at the auction in February.How do you quantify selflessness? Well, this season, Tripathi has a strike rate of 158.13 over his first 10 balls. He’s always been quick off the blocks, and was encouraged by his previous franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, to bat that way. Knight Rideres try to play that way right through their innings, and the fact that their batters haven’t scored a single hundred in the IPL since the inaugural match of the tournament is perhaps a consequence of that style of play.Tripathi, unsurprisingly, hasn’t crossed a lot of personal milestones in these last three seasons: just the four fifties in 32 innings, and an average of 29.55. KL Rahul, who in the same period has drawn a significant amount of criticism for his conservative approach in the powerplay and middle overs, has 13 scores of 50 or more in the same number of innings, and an average of 52.88. His strike rate (133.20) isn’t as good as Tripathi’s (142.50), of course, but while you can debate the relative merits of their approaches from the perspective of winning T20 games, nothing brings wider recognition – and international selection – quicker than scoring mountains of runs.Just for now, though, Tripathi’s sails seem to have caught the winds of a rare and heightened sort of ball-striking form, and his versatility and selflessness are combining to produce results that no one can fail to acknowledge. After five innings in IPL 2022, he has 171 runs at an average of 57.00 and a strike rate of 178.12. Among batters who have faced at least 50 balls this season, only Dinesh Karthik, Liam Livingstone and Andre Russell have better strike rates. In Tripathi’s wake sit Hetmyer, Shivam Dube and Shaw.Tripathi’s new-age virtues and new-age numbers are the products of a style that’s mostly but not entirely old-school. On Friday night, for instance, he tried, and failed, to lap-scoop Pat Cummins over short fine leg off the first legal ball he faced.At most other times, however, Tripathi brings to the crease a turbocharged version of longer-format virtues. Quick judgment of length, for one, and quick feet.When Andre Russell bowled a short ball designed to cramp Tripathi for room, he unweighted his front foot in an instant and swivelled on his back foot to pull it for a flat six.Tripathi’s new-age virtues and new-age numbers are the products of a style that’s mostly but not entirely old-school•PTI Then, when Varun Chakravarthy – who usually delivers flatter trajectories and shorter lengths than most spinners – seemed to develop a puzzling tendency to float the ball into the slot, Tripathi responded with three glorious, back-to-back lofted drives over extra-cover. As you watched the replays from side-on, however, you began to wonder if these balls were really that full, because Tripathi was stretching so far forward that he was ending up with his back knee on the ground.As impressive as the length of Tripathi’s stride was how he maintained his shape at the end of it, never lifting his head too early, and each time finishing with left elbow high and bat face pointing skywards.The shots kept coming, with no prolonged intervals of risk-free strike rotation. The first 10 balls brought Tripathi 22 runs, and by the time he’d faced 20 balls he was on 49. His fifty was the joint-second-fastest of IPL 2022, and when he was done he had left Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were chasing 176, just 43 to get off 34 balls.This was a special innings, certainly; it was one of those times when form and conditions – both teams suggested later that dew had made life considerably easier for Sunrisers’ batters – conspire to add an almost otherworldly layer of fluency to a batter’s efforts. But it was also, in its own way, a typical Tripathi innings: packed with skill and intent against both pace and spin, gathering pace even after the fields spread out, and entirely selfless.

Our Sri Lanka correspondent gets time off from cricket to explore the history-laden Punjab city

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Mar-2022The Sri Lanka cricket team can be very generous on overseas tours, by which I mean they consistently collapse, to give touring journalists a day or two off.So on what should have been day five of the first Test, we cut right across Indian Punjab. Over the Sutlej and Beas rivers – two of the five waterways for which the region is named. Past fields of wheat, onion, and mustard – cannabis lurking deviously on the edges. Across land so flat, all you need to do to get a view for much of the journey is step out of the car and stretch up on tiptoes. It wasn’t the most eventful travel. Sometimes, it about the destination.Only after I’d arrived at Amritsar did it occur that this was a place I had read hundreds of pages on. In novels. In history books. (And, yes, fine – Wikipedia.)Chandigarh, where I had been for the week, was not without its charms. Its broad, tree-lined avenues, its tidy pavements, and its lower-than-usual alcohol pricing were all appropriately enjoyed. But Chandigarh is a city that sprouted out of the ground – all grids and ordered sectors – only post-Independence. In Amritsar, we were swept away by history the moment we stepped out of our cab.In the museum of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), where no photos were allowed, the most violent phases of Sikh history were remembered in unflinchingly graphic paintings. We will not detail them here, partly because that would require a serious content warning. What was clear was that this was a place of powerful grievance. The word “martyr” was among the most common on the museum’s plaques, as wars against largely the Mughals, and then the British, were remembered – the most famed Sikh generals and warriors often pictured on horseback, engaging an enemy.And yet the temple, itself, the holiest site of the Sikhs, was still. Tens of thousands of pilgrims in colourful clothing – saffrons, fuschias, teals – walked around the turquoise pool, though many stood on the edges of the water in prayer too, some venturing in for a restorative dip. From the centre of the pool rose the most hallowed place in the complex. The Darbar Sahib, with its gold-plated columns, spires, and domes, twinkling today in the mid-day sun, houses the Sikh holy book – the Guru Granth Sahib. On the peripheries, though out of sight of the pool itself, was being served. This is the free meal that gurdwaras provide to all who come through their doors and request it.Jallianwala Bagh: a deep wound left behind by colonialism•Sameer Sehgal/Hindustan Times/Getty ImagesAround the corner from the Golden Temple was the site I had wanted to come to Amritsar for – Jallianwala Bagh. Barely larger than a football field, how small it was for a place that cast so large a shadow on history.In the saddest ways, its size made sense. When Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to open fire at those peacefully protesting the British Raj, the corpses fell in heaps near the gates of this walled garden, which Dyer’s men had closed beforehand. The British put the death count at 350; others at well over 1000.In the galleries on the edge of the park, I learned that Rudyard Kipling had defended the massacre, claiming Dyer “did his duty as he saw fit”. I loved as a child, and wrote an essay on his poem “If -” in high school. I talk to my four-year-old son about the adventures of Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera, which we delight in. One day I’ll also have to read him “The White Man’s Burden”. This will be a more difficult conversation.What do you do when grievance stands in such callous proximity to things that bring you happiness? The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is a harvest festival – their solar new year – celebrated across much of South and Southeast Asia on the 13th and 14th of April. It was on this festival day in 1919, that the massacre was ordered.I didn’t have answers to many of the questions that came to me during our time in Amritsar. But we did stop off and have Amritsari kulcha before we headed back. And there, at least, was untrammelled, uncomplicated joy.

They don’t play in the same role, but there are only so many batting slots and Karthik is this close to nailing one of them

Sidharth Monga21-Jun-20223:32

Jaffer: Pant in T20s will find it hard to get into a full-strength India XI

As you expect with contemporary wicketkeepers, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik have intertwined careers. Pant’s Test debut came in England in 2018 after Karthik didn’t score too many in the first two Tests, thus ending one of the latter’s many comebacks in international cricket. On their next visit to England, Pant and Karthik found themselves batting together at 5 for 3, trying to save India’s dying World Cup dream.Now Pant captains one of Karthik’s former IPL teams, which is hard to avoid because Karthik has been around. And just as he has wandered around the IPL looking for a home, Karthik has been all over the India batting order looking for a role he can nail down.Related

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Karthik’s latest comeback comes with the best-defined role he has ever been in, which is why Pant’s performance has no impact whatsoever on his fortunes. However, three years after his ordinary return paved the way for Pant to begin a hugely successful Test career, Karthik’s successful return could jeopardise Pant’s chances of making the T20 World Cup a little bit. But not for the reasons you’d imagine.Their being wicketkeepers has got nothing to do with it. In India’s Plan A, they are competing for two completely different roles. Karthik has come in for a specific role where the team looks to ensure he walks in no sooner than the 14th over. Pant, on the other hand, is an enforcer earlier in the innings, afforded a little more time to get himself in. There is a temptation to open with him too, which is what he did so successfully in junior cricket, but it is not easy to give him a run there with so many other top-order batters around.Pant’s left-handedness gives him a valuable advantage over his competitors for the No. 4 slot•BCCIIt is only in a less-than-ideal scenario where India fail to find another finisher with Hardik Pandya that Pant or Suryakumar Yadav plays that floater’s role. Now that India have found the ideal combination – Pandya, Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel making up the lower middle order – Pant doesn’t have that fallback option. Karthik fitting into the finisher’s role is great news for India but not so great for Pant and other middle- and top-order aspirants.Now if we imagine the eminently possible scenario of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being untouchable, and with KL Rahul the first man to walk into an India T20 batting line-up, there is only one spot left in a full-strength India batting line-up for Pant, Suryakumar, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan to compete for. Under this team management, which likes role clarity, it is hard to imagine one of them pushing Karthik out and playing out of position.Pant has a lot going for him for that No. 4 slot. He is the best wicketkeeper insofar as the keeping matters, and despite many documented struggles he still doesn’t have bad numbers. He is among only 10 players to have averaged over 30 and struck at over 150 across the recently concluded IPL season. Eight of them scored 300 runs or more, and of those eight, Pant was the only one without a single 50-plus score.Which means no visible “match-winning” innings because his brilliance hasn’t had the length or the recency bias that traditionally stays in observers’ minds. These numbers suggest remarkable consistency but unfortunately that one over in which you took down the opposition’s main middle-overs weapon doesn’t stick in the memory if you don’t score 80 or finish a chase. Not that Pant sets out to score only 30s, but the strike-rate that he went at – a clear upgrade on his last two seasons – involved the risk of getting out any time. It is clear his teams want him to play in a specific way, and it is all right if he gets out in pursuit of quick runs as long as he has made sure the finisher is coming in only after the 13th over or so.For perhaps the first time in his long international career, Dinesh Karthik has a clearly defined role in the side•AP PhotoIt can’t be denied that the wide line has worked against Pant of late, but he will not be unmindful of it. He will work with Rahul Dravid and other coaches to counter the tactic. The international series against South Africa, of course, was not great for Pant, but this team management is not going to make knee-jerk decisions. Pant also happens to be a left-hand batter, which works massively in his favour if India do go ahead with a top three of Rohit, Rahul and Kohli.Whether Rohit and Kohli should both be in the XI is a story for another day. The conditions expected at the World Cup and their experience in those conditions work in their favour. Quicker, bouncier pitches can take some time to get used to, and T20 World Cups are notorious for teams getting knocked out early. Having said that, is it a luxury to have two similar batters who don’t score quickly in the middle overs?That is a tricky and unenviable decision to make for Rohit and Dravid, but if both Rohit and Kohli are certain starters, Pant and Suryakumar will likely be fighting for that final spot in the batting line-up. It will be harsh on one of them to sit out, but India will be glad they have found a specialist finisher, and will not have to push one of their middle-overs enforcers into a death-overs role.

Teenage star braced for second season in the limelight after breakthrough displays in 2021

Paul Muchmore12-May-2022Most 17-year-olds don’t get recognised when taking their driving test. But it’s safe to say most teenagers don’t become an overnight star like Alice Capsey did in the summer of 2021.”It was actually a bit weird actually. I did my driving test a couple of weeks ago, and my tester knew who I was. It did go well, maybe that’s why I passed,” Capsey joked at the Surrey pre-season media day.Last season saw a dramatic rise to prominence for the teenage allrounder, who was thrust into the spotlight as the youngest player in the inaugural edition of the Hundred, where she announced herself with an eye-catching 59 off 41 balls at Lord’s for Oval Invincibles against London Spirit.While Capsey started the tournament opening the batting, she shifted down to strengthen the middle order and provide some impetus later in the innings when South African allrounder Marizanne Kapp was missing due to injury. With Invincibles also suffering from the absence of Kapp’s compatriot Shabnim Ismail for a chunk of the competition, Capsey stepped up admirably when thrown the ball by captain Dane van Niekerk. Her offspin dismissed the likes of Heather Knight, Deandra Dottin, Laura Wolvaardt and Danni Wyatt, while she maintained one of the best economy rates in the competition.Capsey finished as the Invincibles’ joint-second-highest run-scorer and their third-highest wicket-taker as they clinched the inaugural title in front of a record crowd at Lord’s, and to top her summer off, she was the Player of the Match as South East Stars claimed victory in the first edition of the Charlotte Edwards Cup just two weeks later.She was duly awarded the first PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year award and received her first professional domestic contract in October. In January, Capsey was part of the England A squad that toured alongside the senior team for the Ashes series in Australia. All of this while she was still at school.So how does she balance such a blossoming cricket career with her A Level studies?”I tried to cram as much in before I went out [to Australia],” Capsey explains, “I did a little bit while I was out there, but I tried to just take in the whole experience because it was my first time out in Australia and my first actual England A tour.”While the series against Australia A saw fairly lean returns for Capsey, a 31-ball 44 in the first T20 her only score of real note, she called the tour a “great experience” and felt that her time in the Hundred had prepared her well to face a strong Australian side.Grace Gibbs, Mady Villiers and Alice Capsey hold the Hundred trophy•Getty Images”I was actually really happy with how I performed, I didn’t really get the big scores, but I was happy about how I was going about my innings and how my bowling was going so that felt good.””I think it would have felt like a big step up if I wasn’t in the Hundred. I think the Hundred was massive for someone like me, it was kind of my first experience of a franchise competition and playing against the best in the world.”While a call-up to the main England squad feels like it’ll come in a matter of time for Capsey, she echoes Heather Knight’s comments that they shouldn’t “over-egg” her potential in the near future.”We didn’t really have any conversations, I was more just trying to show myself and show I can do it,” Capsey says. “I think like [Knight] said, I don’t want to peak too early and I’m very conscious that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like and I know that I need to be consistent this year if I want a chance of getting into the squad.”Obviously it’s a really tight squad and there’s a lot even sitting on the bench who are great players. It’s a really tough squad to get into.”Nevertheless, despite downplaying her potential England credentials, like any young player, she can’t deny that playing international cricket is the dream.”My future goal is obviously to play for England. Any World Cup is a great event – that’s kind of the pinnacle of what you want to play as a player,” she says. “It’d be great down the line to get picked for a World Cup. There’s a lot of competitions coming up now that are really, really exciting. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to play some of them.”Following her A Levels, Capsey will head into her first summer as a professional cricketer, with the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup on Saturday, the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy following that in July, and then the second edition of the Hundred in August. Capsey says it was a fairly easy decision to forgo university and to put her full focus into cricket. With her path ahead now clear, it’s hard not to feel her excitement for the opportunities that may come ahead.”It wasn’t necessarily a tough decision because of the opportunities there are now,” Capsey said, “because obviously, a couple of years ago there weren’t regional contracts. Now there’s a bit more security, and there’s actually a pathway to having a professional career.”I think [finishing school] kind of comes at quite a nice time, finishing in June, you’ve got a few regional games I can focus on before going into the Hundred and getting ready for that. And then obviously, after the Hundred there’s a few regional structure [matches]. I’d really like to go back to Australia and play in the Big Bash at some point. So there’s lots of exciting opportunities that I can start to kind of see in the pipeline. Once I finish school, I can start to really get excited.”Looking back at her breakthrough summer, Capsey admits she was naïve about how big the Hundred was going to be for her, prior to making her bow in the curtain-raiser at The Oval.”I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was and didn’t expect the crowds,” she reflects, “so going into that first game, I was quite nervous. It was a great atmosphere. And I think it was a competition that kind of suited how I play.”I think the crowd helped me and it was just a great competition to be a part of. I think I was quite naïve going into it, about how big it was going to be, and how my performances would actually affect my career. But looking back, it was great.”Alice Capsey led Stars to victory in the Charlotte Edwards Cup final with an unbeaten 40 from 26•Getty ImagesCapsey’s aggressive batting endeared her to fans old and new as she took the Hundred by storm, and she was quick to credit her coaches for giving her the license to play in such a fearless manner.”I think it’s just how I go about my cricket,” she said, “that’s just how I enjoy it the most and you hear players say it so often that the more you’re enjoying it, the better you play. I tried to stay very true to how myself and how I played when I was younger. I love hitting the ball hard and love boundaries.”I guess there is a bit of fearlessness because I had a lot of backing from my coaches. They were great. Jonathan Batty (Surrey and Oval Invincibles coach) and Johann Myburgh (South East Stars coach) were both great in just saying go out there and do your thing. And if it does go wrong, that’s okay.”As well as the springboard the Hundred has given her own career, Capsey is enthusiastic for the impact the tournament has already made in bringing a new audience to the game. Despite the fact she will only turn 18 on the opening night of this year’s competition, she is taking the chance to be a role model for the next generation of young cricketers well in her stride.”I think the Hundred changed a lot of people’s minds last year, I think it’s just going to keep on doing that each year,” she says. “It’s given me the opportunity to go into schools and to go into clubs and see the younger generation, and also to inspire. So I personally love the coverage and being able to almost make a difference. It’s been really good.”Kids who didn’t know what cricket was are now playing cricket, and when you’re coaching that makes it so much easier because you’ve got something to relate to them with. And that’s kind of what you want from the competition – it’s to get more people involved, to get more people watching it.”I think you can see, as the competition went on, the crowds got bigger in the women’s competition, and we ended up with a record-breaking 17,000 fans at the final, which was great to be part of as a player. I think just go give it a watch.”Related

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Along with the regional contracts, women’s salaries have been doubled for the second edition of the Hundred, and it’s the increased investment and focus on the women’s game by the ECB that Capsey believes will play a crucial part in creating more role models, growing the game at the grassroots level to feed into the elite system.”I think after the 2017 World Cup, they realised that actually, England women’s cricket is quite good, you can build on that. There’s a lot of momentum after that year.”Then the regional structures came in and we saw where it was five players per teams getting a regional contract last year, that massively boosted the competition and just how players played their cricket. It was more exciting. The higher investment into that regional structure has shown that actually, domestic players can step up at the franchise competitions like the Hundred, where there’s more pressure on them.”I’ve now personally had a lot more opportunities through it, which is just going to grow the women’s game, there are more role models in view for people to aspire to be like, and get girls and boys into cricket. The more there are [playing] at the grassroots, the better the elite will be.”

Five ways in which Morgan the maverick revolutionised England’s white-ball cricket

Matt Roller29-Jun-20221:47

Roller: White-ball revolution will be Morgan’s lasting legacy

All-out attack
At the 2015 50-over World Cup, England played a style of ODI cricket that had long passed its sell-by date: their batters scored at 5.48 per over across the tournament, compared to champions Australia’s 6.82. The rule changes introduced in early 2013 – two new balls, and shifts in fielding restrictions – had altered the way the format was played but England did not seem to have noticed.Morgan was in charge for that World Cup but had been appointed so close to the tournament that he had scant opportunity to change England’s philosophy. In their first game of the 2015-19 cycle, they reached 400 for the first time in an ODI with a new-look, ultra-attacking side built on the principle that batting strength was a clear predictor of success in World Cups.Related

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Crucially, Morgan stuck with his all-guns-blazing approach even in choppy waters. In the third ODI of the new era, against New Zealand in 2015, England were bowled out for 302 in 45.2 overs. “It doesn’t disappoint me,” he said. “I want the guys to continue with that [attacking] mindset and not worry about batting 50 overs: I think that makes guys hesitate and question their natural way of playing and I don’t want that to happen.”At the 2019 World Cup, England were the tournament’s fastest-scoring team by a distance and lifted the trophy at Lord’s.Building experience

Andrew Strauss commissioned a review into England’s white-ball cricket when he was appointed as managing director in 2015. One of its key findings was that ODI experience was a key contributor to success in World Cups, as measured by the number of caps in the squad: to win in 2019, Morgan and England would have to back a core of players over a sustained period of time.In the 2015-19 cycle, England gave at least 40 caps to 13 different players and backed their long-term planning rather than over-reacting to form. Jason Roy, for example, didn’t reach 40 against New Zealand in his first full ODI series, “but because he kept attacking, kept playing in the right way for his role in the team, he was kept in,” Paul Farbrace has recalled. “He started to get his runs later that summer, and has never really looked back.”Adaptability

Morgan recognised that England’s attacking style suited the flat pitches and short boundaries they normally found on home soil but left them vulnerable on slower surfaces. “The wickets are going to be slow, low, they will wear – that’s the nature of ICC events,” he said during the 2019 World Cup.England were tested on those pitches, losing to Sri Lanka at Headingley and to Australia at Lord’s, but faced with consecutive must-win games at the end of the group stages, they doubled down on their style, racking up 337 for 7 and 305 for 8 against India and New Zealand. In the final, they were bogged down by Colin de Grandhomme in the middle overs but scrapped their way to 241 thanks to Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes’ measured restraint, enough to force a Super Over.England were also adaptable when it came to selection, as shown by two major calls on the eve of the World Cup. When Jofra Archer, one of the world’s leading T20 bowlers, became available, he was selected at short notice ahead of David Willey. He was their leading wicket-taker in the tournament and sealed their win in the final, holding his nerve in the Super Over.The other was the decision to remove Alex Hales from the squad after news of a second failed drugs test came to light shortly before the tournament. Only six months earlier, Morgan – along with Joe Root, the then Test captain – had outlined a mantra of “courage, unity and respect” for England players to follow during a tour of Sri Lanka. Hales’ actions were deemed to have fallen short, and he was axed. It was a risk – not least because James Vince, his replacement, struggled in the World Cup – but it was ultimately vindicated by the trophy.Building depth

The clarity of Morgan’s message quickly filtered down into county cricket: scoring rates in the domestic 50-over competition, the Royal London Cup, climbed from 5.38 in 2015 to 5.99 in 2019. And players increasingly took opportunities to travel the world in the off-season and play franchise cricket in order to become more versatile and develop their skills overseas.Morgan embodied his belief that more England players should play franchise cricket, missing the first ODI after the 2015 World Cup – a washout in his native Ireland – in order to stay with Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL. By 2021, every member of the team England fielded in the T20 World Cup semi-final had played at least one game at the IPL in their career and most said the tournament had played a significant role in their development.Last summer, England’s first-choice ODI squad were forced to self-isolate following a Covid-19 outbreak, but a hastily assembled second-string side then whitewashed a full-strength Pakistan, playing in the same attacking style that Morgan had pioneered. By 2022, there were so many talented batters that Morgan could not command a place in the side based on his batting alone; the depth he had engineered rendered him surplus to requirement.Embracing diversity
Perhaps Morgan’s greatest legacy will be the extent to which he has championed diversity in his side. “I spoke to Adil [Rashid] and he said Allah was definitely with us. I said we had the rub of the green,” Morgan said after the 2019 final. “It actually epitomises our team.”In his final series in the role, Morgan was consulted about Rashid’s desire to skip fixtures against India in order to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. “There were no questions asked,” Rashid told ESPNcricinfo. “That’s a big credit to Morgs for making that environment… it’s been like that with England for the past seven years since 2015.”

As Ben Stokes brought the curtain down on his one-day career, the overwhelming feeling was sadness

Vithushan Ehantharajah20-Jul-20221:59

Ehantharajah – Stokes’ ODI retirement a seismic turn of events

Five tortuous overs, creaking red-faced around a sweltering Chester-le-Street outfield, five forgettable runs and a humbling 62-run defeat to South Africa. A reminder for Ben Stokes, in his final ODI, that cricket does not owe you a thing.Not that Stokes has ever approached the game in that way. Perhaps the closest was here, actually, for number 105, styled as a farewell after his impromptu retirement from the one-day format on Monday. It was a decision clearly made on a whim, which doesn’t make it any less thought out. He was already rested for the T20Is against India that followed the four Tests against New Zealand and India, and was going to sit out the three T20Is against South Africa (and the Hundred) ahead of the Test matches in August.Perhaps if the schedule was skewed a different way, Stokes might not have come to the realisation ODIs were the one to bin. Ultimately, though it was the volume rather than the order of the 12 limited-overs matches spread across 24 days. His statement carried a dagger for the powers that be and the crammed fixture list they have concocted, a point he insisted remained as the ECB were checking and double-checking as they do all released utterances from their players. He reiterated the sentiment to Sky Sports and BBC ahead of play on Tuesday. As ever with Stokes, the power of his words are carried in the fact he can say them, as much as what he said.Related

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Van der Dussen ton condemns Stokes to farewell defeat as SA spinners turn screw

Stokes urges cricket chiefs to stop treating players like 'cars'

From now on, these are no longer Stokes’ problems. Nor is it his job in the immediate future to work out just how England turn around what has been a dire nine days in the 50-over format, with three pretty comprehensive defeats out of four. This 62-run defeat to put them 1-0 down against South Africa was all the more dispiriting given they were never quite in it, aside from when Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow reprised their century-addled partnership to bring us back to those glory days of 2019. That proved to be the only throwback tribute this Tuesday.The one the Durham faithful truly wanted didn’t come, especially given this was only Stokes’ fourth international appearance out of 222 at his home ground. The situation set before him was a familiar one, requiring the kind of rescue act that has him regarded as the fourth emergency service. Roy and Bairstow’s demise within six overs of one another gave Stokes a chance to bat one last time in coloured clothing with good mate Joe Root, and 209 to get of the 334 target and 26 overs to do it in.He could only manage 5, trapped in front attempting the same reverse sweep that brought about his downfall at Lord’s against India. Then it was leg-spinning force Yuzvendra Chahal, here it was bit-part offspinner Aiden Markram. This would usually be the place for some extrapolation about his headspace had he not told us already.Arguably the most dispiriting parts were in the field. He was as valiant as ever, rushing at the ball to such an extent that he was chewing turf two deliveries from the end of South Africa’s innings after throwing himself head first at a shot down the ground that eventually went for four. His five overs were expensive (0 for 44), though featured the odd delivery – such as the one that struck Janneman Malan – that belied a surface slowly baking in the 37-degree heat.A dejected Ben Stokes walks back after his final ODI innings•AFP/Getty ImagesWhile others took time off the field, he remained on throughout, at times limping after his overs or after a particularly full-blooded dive. Again, we know his body can only take so much, but it was hard to shake the strangeness of seeing Stokes like this. These flashes of vulnerability that would come and go in an instant, as if he were Superman puffing occasionally of a Kryptonite vape.Of course, it is dangerous to refer to any athlete in terms that put him above the physical and emotional toil of a regular person. And certainly after his mental health break last year, Stokes is now more au fait with his internal rhythms than ever before. But it was in ODIs that, really, the legend of what we know of Ben Stokes came to be.Broadly, it is the format where he has the best record: an average just under 40 with the bat (strike-rate of 95), 74 dismissals and 49 catches, with a few worldies dotted about in there.His omission from the 2015 World Cup squad drew criticism, even if justified given he averaged just 16.25 across 14 innings in 2014. The crux of the derision, however, was not based on form but what his non-selection said about a cautious attitude. That a pugnacious 23-year-old with a high ceiling and lust for the grander stages was not to be trusted.In hindsight, Stokes might be regarded as a totemic figure in the revolution that followed. In the 71 ODIs played between his readmission in 2015 to the end of the 2019 World Cup, he averaged 50, scoring 2400 of his overall 2924 runs, along with three hundreds. There were also 50 wickets.The Lord’s final and an 84 not out to take England home from the brink of defeat was the true legacy maker, capturing the country’s imagination as it played out in front of a free-to-air crowd. But the tournament as a whole – 465 runs at 66.42, seven dismissals and an economy rate of 4.83 – confirmed the arrival of a global talisman who had that rare, oxymoron trait of delivering rarely seen brilliance on demand.Even that remarkable stanza in his career had an ODI-adjacent origin story. After all, it was following a 50-over win against West Indies back in 2017 that he embarked on that ill-fated night out in Bristol that cost him the best part of a year in his career and a whole heap of goodwill. Both of which he made up for in 2019.”Probably, as with every England cricket fan, there’s a bit of sadness that Ben is no longer available in this form of the game,” captain Jos Buttler said after the match. “He’s been an ambassador for us as a team. You know you get 100 percent from him, he’s been a real leader in this team, to take it [to] where it is now from where it was. Guys who play like Ben are once in a generation players. It’s a good challenge for us to work out our best way forward as a team without him.”Buttler’s sadness will no doubt also come from losing a general and a totem for excellence out in the middle and in training. You wonder if he ever thought he would have to do without him when taking the job in the first place. Not that it would govern his decision to take on the limited-overs role, but he’ll now be the first England captain for a while who will have to move forward without Stokes to call upon.The real sadness to all this is Stokes has never been one to leave his team in the lurch, but has seemingly been forced to. And England look decidedly mundane, desperate for more X-factor cricketers like Ben Stokes. Not fewer.

It is 17 years since England’s last tour, but many of the squad have already had a taste

Matt Roller18-Sep-20221:26

‘PSL gave me chance to better myself as a player’ – Dawid Malan

On the morning of March 4, 2017, Dawid Malan and Chris Jordan had a decision to make. They sat in their rooms in a Dubai hotel texting family, friends and each other to work out whether or not they should travel to Lahore for the final of the second season of the Pakistan Super League.Eventually, they decided they would take the leap of faith, putting their trust in the PCB’s extensive security protocols and joining the second tranche of international players to travel to Pakistan since the attacks on Sri Lanka’s team bus in 2009. The game took place without a hitch and their side, Peshawar Zalmi, cruised to victory in front of over 22,000 fans.”It was a fantastic occasion,” Malan recalled in Karachi on Saturday. “I don’t think any of us thought that us coming over would have played such a big part in cricket coming back to Pakistan. It’s a cricket-loving nation who were starved of their star players for a long time… to play a small part in that has been very special.”Related

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The trip barely lasted 24 hours as the PSL took a tentative first step towards a return home after launching in the UAE the year before, but Malan and Jordan’s involvement was hugely significant: they were the first England cricketers to play professionally in Pakistan since the 2005 tour and paved the way for others to follow.The PSL is a popular product in its own right, widely regarded as the second-best short-form league in the world behind the IPL, but has also acted as a diplomatic vehicle to bring leading players – from England and elsewhere – back to Pakistan. As a result, boards can no longer hide behind claims that their players are unwilling to travel,”It did feel like a big push to get those international players involved,” Mickey Arthur, who coached Karachi Kings in the PSL’s first four seasons, recalled. “We needed individuals to come to Pakistan to help break the barriers down and the PSL was instrumental in that. It certainly helped in the perception of going to Pakistan.”The number of English players involved has grown year on year, to the extent that as many as 23 made at least one appearance in the 2022 edition. Exactly half of England’s 20-man squad for the T20I series that starts on Tuesday have played in Pakistan before; those that hadn’t spoke to their team-mates before the team’s departure to calm any nerves.”We’ve heard a lot from the PSL boys,” Sam Curran said. “I spoke to most of them to ask what to expect.” Jos Buttler said that the scale of English involvement in the PSL had “allayed some concerns” around the security situation: “They shared their positive experiences from being here – more than anything, how much the public here love their cricket.”English involvement in the PSL has not been limited to players. James Foster and Peter Moores have coached teams in it; David Gower and Nick Knight have commentated; Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough have umpired. Reg Dickason, the ECB’s security director, has also been employed as a consultant by the PCB.No Englishman has played more PSL games in Pakistan than Alex Hales•PSL”In many ways, the PSL has been a vehicle for the full return of international cricket to Pakistan,” Imran Ahmad Khan, who led player recruitment for the PSL from 2017 to 2021, said. “Just in terms of slowly changing perceptions across the cricketing world around being in Pakistan.”So many different international stakeholders get involved in the PSL’s ecosystem: players, coaches, support staff, production crew, commentators. They’ve all been able to experience Pakistan through the PSL and they’ve gone on to share that experience with others in their respective countries.”The benefits have been mutual: Pakistan has welcomed English players with open arms while the players themselves have had the opportunity to test themselves in unfamiliar conditions against high-quality players.”The PSL was a stepping stone for me,” Malan said. “It’s been fantastic for me: it taught me what I needed if I wanted to go one step further.” Countless others have benefited from the platform that the tournament has provided.Relations between the two teams are better than ever. Saturday night’s training session – the first of the tour to feature both sides – saw a number of players catch up with one another: Moeen Ali and Shan Masood, Liam Dawson and Asif Ali, Phil Salt and Shadab Khan. The bad blood that has characterised some previous tours will prove difficult to sniff out.And so, despite their 17-year absence, England are not going into this series blind. They are anticipating skiddy pitches in Karachi but sticky, bouncier ones in Lahore. “Having that experience of playing here before is a big thing,” Alex Hales, who has played more PSL games in Pakistan than any other Englishman, said.”England touring Pakistan hasn’t happened in a vacuum,” Khan said. “It’s been a result of stakeholders gaining that experience through the PSL and being able to build that confidence around playing Pakistan.” Whatever the result in Tuesday night’s series opener, the fact it is taking place at all is a victory for soft power.

With the increase in T20 leagues, the next couple of years will show whether BBL can work in the rapidly changing landscape

Andrew McGlashan21-Aug-20220:30

Warner on BBL return: ‘Important for me to give back to future of our game’

Cricket Australia had no choice. They had to get the chequebook out to bring David Warner back to the BBL.Even though as a CA centrally contracted player it’s difficult to see how he ever could have gone to the UAE’s ILT20, the mere link of him to the new league was enough to set alarm bells ringing.With the increase in T20 competitions, particularly in that January window, what is becoming clear – if it wasn’t before – is that with a demand for top overseas players having your domestic stars available is vital.Related

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And that is also why the Warner deal, which will allow him five games before the finals, while important and significant, is also only one part of a much bigger challenge for the BBL.The tournament has a big pre-season week coming up. On Monday the full list of names for the overseas draft next Sunday will be confirmed along with the players allocated to the platinum category whose salary, like Warner’s, will be topped up by CA.However, while splashing the cash at overseas names, CA will also need to look at its own players. Warner’s big-money deal has hastened discussions about what the leading Australia names earn in the league with the top figure, which the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa will hold, currently around the AU$200,000 mark for a 14-game regular season. That is all but sure to change when the next MoU is agreed.After being held back by two years due to Covid-19, the introduction of the draft has been a key part of the attempts to revive the BBL which has suffered an identity crisis pretty much from the moment it expanded from its original, leaner size when the dollar signs could not be resisted.While it would be overstating things to suggest that BBL talk has dominated the airwaves in recent weeks, there has certainly been more of a narrative around the competition than was previously the case in July and August (not all of it is positive, but all publicity, right?).The bottom line, however, will be how the tournament fares on the field in December and January after two seasons of battling border closures, bubbles and crowd restrictions of the pandemic. While Covid brought some unprecedented challenges – and keeping the tournament afloat was a herculean challenge (whether it went too far can be debated) – the warning signs were there beforehand.The central debate around the BBL will always be its length, which this season is running close to eight weeks with the final in early February. Outside of the IPL, which has its dedicated window that is only getting bigger, it is the longest domestic T20 tournament of its type. And, for the leading players, the money still doesn’t match what’s on offer in the UAE or South Africa for a shorter competition.Whether a step back can be taken when the new broadcast deal is put together (a less is more approach) remains to be seen, but this season will be a test case of whether the current length remains viable. Or a lot more money needs to be found. It is expected that the majority of the platinum overseas players in the draft will only be available until the end of December before dispersing for the new tournaments. Replacements can be signed but won’t be the A-listers, although that does not mean they won’t be good players.Marnus Labuschagne recently inked in BBL deal for post-Test stint•Getty ImagesIn theory, Australia’s Test players will be able to step into the breach after the final match against South Africa in Sydney now that the ODI series has been cancelled as CSA puts its new domestic league first. Warner, along with Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, are now inked in but there may not be many more.Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will be resting while the reported that Steven Smith is undecided ahead of the four-Test tour to India. However, in many ways the player who now most sums up the ongoing dilemma the BBL has is Josh Hazlewood. He is the No. 1 men’s T20I bowler in the world and may not line up in Australia’s own domestic tournament depending on his workload.In the recently confirmed men’s FTP, CA has done what it can to try and forge a small mid-January window for the BBL. Their white-ball-only players will be free which is crucial, but Test demands will overlap in most seasons. In the 2023-24 summer, for example, which could potentially prove the swansong to Warner’s international career, there are set to be Tests against West Indies in January (pushed later by the whole season being constrained by the ODI World Cup). In 2024-25 there are two Tests in Sri Lanka and in January 2026-27 there is a Test tour to India.That is not to say these are the wrong decisions, there is a wider debate about what the BBL wants to be. It is a relief in many ways that in Australia Test cricket remains such an important feature, but it means the major issues keep circling back on themselves. In terms of Australia’s home season, there continues to be the desire to cram the majority of the major men’s cricket into basically a two-month window in December and January outside of World Cup years such as this one. Making the most of the school holidays is an understandable aim, but it leaves very little room for manoeuvre.Talk to people at CA and they will say that the BBL and international career has always coexisted and can continue to do so, but the way the game is moving they are increasingly becoming an outlier in that regard. The next couple of years will show whether it can work in the rapidly changing landscape.

His name didn’t come up for bidding at the last two IPL auctions, but how long can anyone resist his power and versatility?

Deivarayan Muthu19-Jan-20231:33

Jaffer: Bracewell will be on the radar of a few IPL teams

Sitting deep in his crease and expecting Shardul Thakur to go short, Michael Bracewell swatted the ball way beyond the wide long-on boundary. New Zealand, at one stage 131 for 6 in a chase of 350, now needed 14 off five balls.Bracewell, who had engineered this sensational turnaround, was batting on 140 off 77 balls.It was panic stations for India. Ishan Kishan anxiously followed the trajectory of the 95m hit, the 10th six of Bracewell’s innings. Rohit Sharma vented his frustration with the bowler. Shubman Gill slumped to his knees, perhaps wondering if his double-century would not be enough to win the game.Michael Bracewell is the only batter other than MS Dhoni with two ODI hundreds from No. 7 or lower•Associated PressNone of this was new to Bracewell. In a Super Smash game last year, he roused Wellington Firebirds to victory against Central Stags with an unbeaten 141 off 65 balls, after they had been 43 for 5 in a chase of 228. This blazing assault propelled him into New Zealand’s white-ball plans. Six months later, Bracewell announced himself in international cricket with an unbeaten 127 off 82 balls against Ireland, as New Zealand hunted down 301 from 120 for 5.It wasn’t to be on Wednesday in Hyderabad, as Thakur had Bracewell lbw with a yorker, ending New Zealand’s innings when they were two sixes from levelling the scores, with four balls remaining.It was a knackered-looking Bracewell who addressed his post-match press conference.”You just try to win a game of cricket really,” he said. “It’s about coming in and trying to do your role. I think it takes pressure off [you] a little bit when you’re losing so many wickets. You’ve just got to try and rebuild and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself, so I think it’s one of those things that once you’re able to get over the line, then you start to believe that you can do it again. Obviously, disappointed with the end there not to get us over the line.”Always strong square on the leg side, Bracewell has now expanded his range of shots•Associated PressThe Hyderabad crowd may have been surprised by Bracewell’s blitz. But coach Glenn Pocknall, who worked closely with Bracewell at Wellington before his recent moving to Central Districts, wasn’t surprised one bit.”Yes, [I’ve] been lucky enough to witness him pull off some incredible innings for us when I was coaching at Wellington,” Pocknall tells ESPNcricinfo. “He has now translated that into the international arena away from home, which is special and a sign of how composed and calm he is. He has always had the power, but he worked hard on getting into stronger positions more consistently, which allowed him to use this power to hit more and different areas of the ground.”He’s naturally suited to the leg side, but the development in his ability to hit straight, over cover and behind the wicket with ease was something that shone through when he achieved the record in the Super Smash. Chasing 17 an over for eight-nine overs and then winning the match with two-three balls to go is something I’ll never forget.”Related

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Bracewell’s expanded range was fully on view on Wednesday. He relishes hitting the ball square on the leg side, but the square boundaries at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium are longer than the straight ones. An alert Bracewell kept peppering the arc between cover and midwicket by sitting deep or flitting around the crease. Another productive shot against the quicks was the scoop either side of – or over – short fine leg.The Super Smash innings – the highest T20 score in New Zealand – encouraged Bracewell to sign up for the 2022 IPL auction, but his name didn’t come up for bidding either then or at the 2023 auction. The Hyderabad special, though, is sure to have made an impression on IPL insiders. Wasim Jaffer, the Punjab Kings batting coach, is one of them – he called Bracewell’s six-hitting “mesmerising”.2:36

Bracewell: ‘We wanted to take the game deep and give ourselves a chance’

Bracewell has already earned a deal with Worcestershire for the Vitality T20 Blast. The IPL may soon be ready for ‘the Beast’ too.After all, he is a do-it all man. He started his career as a top-order batter, but has now stepped up as a finisher. He also bowls offspin and can keep wicket if needed. In the field, he often patrols the hotspots for both Wellington and New Zealand.Bracewell isn’t even a year old in international cricket, but he has already packed his career with so many spectacular highlights that he is in elite company. He is only the second batter, after MS Dhoni, with two ODI hundreds while batting at No.7 or lower. He also has a T20I hat-trick and Babar Azam’s number across formats, having dismissed the Pakistan captain four times in ten innings. Among spinners, only Adil Rashid (7) and Nathan Lyon (5) have dismissed Babar more often in international cricket. And as far as Pocknall is concerned, Bracewell’s best is yet to come.”The astounding point about him is he’s still improving and getting better, so he’s capable of doing feats like this again in the future,” Pocknall said. “He’s always looking at ways [where] he can be ahead of the game and this attacking mindset gives him opportunities to produce special moments like what he did the other day.”With the World Cup round the corner, New Zealand are looking forward to more such special moments from Bracewell.

The open stance was there, and so was the grit, as Tagenarine played a knock reminiscent of Shivnarine’s first innings in Australia

Alex Malcolm02-Dec-2022Cricket fans have been chasing nostalgia in one of the most low-key Australia West Indies Test series in memory, and they might have got some in the form of Tagenarine Chanderpaul.The son of a gun made a half-century on debut in Perth, and the familiarity of his fight, his technique, and his general presence at the crease left an impression on the locals as he looks set to forge an impressive Test career.Related

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There were parallels to his father’s first Test innings in Australia in 1996, when Shivnarine made 82 off 230 deliveries. Tagenarine batted after watching Australia pile up 598 in five sessions of batting at Perth Stadium, just as Shivnarine had watched Australia pile up 479 in five sessions at the Gabba.But unlike his father who batted at No. 5 in that Brisbane Test, Tagenarine had to walk straight back out to bat with captain Kraigg Brathwaite and negotiate Australia’s attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. Incredibly, Starc and Lyon had both bowled to his father in Test cricket in 2012 and dismissed him once each.Tagenarine was able to survive on the second night, and did so with aplomb, showcasing bravery and skill. He got off the mark with a streaky outside edge through a vacant fourth slip first ball. But thereafter he looked every bit a Test-match cricketer.He copped a nasty blow in the groin that floored him and left the fans in the stadium feeling his pain. He contorted himself backward into an extraordinary limbo position as he took another blow to the body. He was fortunate to survive an umpire’s call lbw decision that went his way off Starc, as he was squared up deep in the crease.Tagenarine Chanderpaul contorts himself into an extraordinary position against a short ball•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaBut he never took a backward step, with that familiar, open Chanderpaul stance, getting into line time and again, withdrawing the bat inside the line late to avoid nicking anything that nipped off the seam.As Australia’s quicks pushed fuller he punched them down the ground. When Cummins banged in short, he swiveled inside the line and pulled him high into the stands over fine leg, bringing back memories of his father hooking a Brett Lee bumper in the same fashion during his 69-ball century in Georgetown in 2003.He finished the second day unbeaten on 47 from 73 balls with six fours and a six to steer West Indies to close without loss after spending nearly two days in the field chasing leather. His performance came as no shock to his captain, who has now batted with both Chanderpauls in Test cricket.”He’s a fighter so it isn’t surprising. It was good to see,” Brathwaite said on the second night. “I knew for a while playing against him that he always has fight, for he always takes his time and bats long periods. No surprise at all. I think he has a bright future for the West Indies.”He’s going to be special. He’s going do a great job. I look forward to batting with him for many years to come.”The pair weren’t able to bat for long on the third morning. Chanderpaul edged Hazlewood along the ground through fourth slip to bring up a half-century on Test debut, matching his father’s feat from 1994.But he fell next ball, edging a superb delivery from Hazlewood to slip. It will be difficult for the 26-year-old late bloomer to match his father’s hall-of-fame Test career, particularly in an age when West Indies are starved of Test cricket compared to the days of old. But the Chanderpaul name and technique live on in Test cricket and look set to stay for a while yet.