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India’s latest No. 4 has learnt to temper his aggression and play according to the match situation

Deivarayan Muthu in Cuttack21-Dec-20191:23

Versatile Shreyas Iyer ‘open to batting at any position’

Since the 2015 World Cup, India have tried out as many as 14 players at No. 4 in ODI cricket: Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, Manoj Tiwary, Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav have all had a crack at this slot over the past four years, with no batsman really nailing it down in this period.The Indian team management turned to Iyer following the 2019 World Cup, and although he has had just two hits at that position, the 25-year-old has shown the gears and temperament to become a long-term middle-order option, with Iyer and Rishabh Pant, who has got the chance to bat at No. 4 seven times since March 2015, tending to swap positions in order to maintain a left-right combination.”At the start, when I started playing first-class cricket, I was a flamboyant player and I never used to take responsibility,” Iyer recalled on the eve of the ODI series decider against West Indies in Cuttack. “I just used to back my instincts and go with the flow. Lately, I’ve realised that once you play at the highest level you’ve got to take that maturity to another stage.”You’ve got to play according to the team demands, and that’s what I did the other day [in Chennai]. The team didn’t demand me to score big shots at that time and we just needed a big partnership and we just needed the scoreboard to keep going. And that’s what I did. I feel that whatever the situation demands, you’ve got to play accordingly and I’m really happy with what I did in the first game.”Iyer’s temperament came to the fore on a sluggish Chepauk track in the ODI series opener after India had lost Rahul and Virat Kohli cheaply. He collected runs in risk-free fashion in a 114-run partnership with Pant and lifted India to 287 for 8. When Iyer entered at the end of the seventh over, left-arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell was in the middle of an incisive spell, but Iyer saw him off and then worked his way through against the rest of the West Indies attack.Iyer’s middle-order gears were on bright display when the series was on the line in Visakhapatnam. After Rahul and Rohit Sharma had reeled off centuries, Iyer extended India’s dominance with a 32-ball 53. He was on a run-a-ball 20 at one point during the second ODI, but then lined up Roston Chase’s offspin for five successive boundaries in a 31-run over – the most India have ever scored in an over in an ODI – to swell the total to 387 for 5.Shreyas Iyer is getting into his stride as India’s No. 4•BCCIThe Iyer that turned up in Visakhapatnam was the one that had torched Indian domestic cricket with his thrilling stroke play. In the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy final, Iyer made a counter-attacking century on a green top against Saurashtra in Pune. He struck 117 off 142 balls at a strike rate of 82.39 to set up Mumbai’s push for their 41st Ranji title.Iyer, though, said that he had since tempered his natural aggression to meet the demands of international cricket. He echoed Pant’s thoughts, saying that he had learned to play according to the situation in international cricket.Some of that responsibility and maturity has come from having led a young and vibrant Delhi Capitals line-up to the playoffs in IPL 2019 earlier this year. Iyer had been thrown into the deep end midway through IPL 2018, after Gautam Gambhir had stepped down as the franchise’s captain.In his very first innings as captain, Iyer scored a match-winning 40-ball 93 not out against Kolkata Knight Riders at Feroz Shah Kotla. Then, in Delhi’s run to the knockouts the next year, Iyer hit 463 runs in 16 innings at an average of 30.86 and strike rate of nearly 120. Most of those runs came on the tough pitches in Delhi and it had impressed coach Ricky Ponting.”Ricky Ponting is a very positive guy,” Iyer said. “[He] backs every player and that’s the best quality about him and he also treats everybody equally. So, he’s got an amazing nature as a coach. His man-management skill is outstanding.”Having rattled off four successive fifty-plus scores in his last four innings – two of those from No. 5 in the Caribbean and the other two at No. 4 in the ongoing series in India – Iyer believed that he could also float in the middle order.”The previous ODIs that I played, I was batting at No.5, so it’s not like I’ve been stable at No.4,” he said. “But right now in the last two games, I’ve been batting at No.4. So, I’m flexible at batting at any number. It’s just that you’ve got to play according to the situation and what the team demands and that’s what I did. And I know I can play in both flows. I can even play strokes and I can even nudge the ball and take singles. I know my game really well now and I can play accordingly.”Iyer also drew confidence from India’s thumping victory in a must-win game for them in the second ODI and hoped for more of the same in the decider on Sunday.”The last game was also do or die. If we lost that, we’d lost the series,” he said. “So, we will play this game with a similar approach. When the stakes are high, all the players lift their socks. One of the main players [should] perform and take the team to a platform from where we can win. Someone will take responsibility and create a magical moment tomorrow.”

In other news, Faisalabad end their season with just one point, Salman Butt’s hopes of an international recall diminish, and Fawad Alam’s patchy form continues

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-20171:22

Highlights – Umar Akmal’s blistering century for United Bank

Group stage concludesIn April this year, Misbah-ul-Haq featured in grade 2 cricket for his native Faisalabad side and helped them regain first-class status. A nine-wicket victory against Multan promoted Faisalabad to grade one, allowing them to return to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier
first-class tournament. They had been out of it since being relegated at the end of the 2014-15 season.Their time in the top tier, however, has been disastrous, with the side losing six out of seven games, the final game being abandoned due to fog that has gripped much of the country.And so Faisalabad, now led by the offspinner Saeed Ajmal, finished rooted to the bottom of Pool A, managing just one point. SNGPL remained unbeaten, winning six matches, while SSGC, Lahore Blues and WAPDA qualified for the super eight round.From Pool B, UBL, HBL, KRL and Lahore Whites went through to the next stage with FATA ending up bottom, losing five games and winning one. Pakistan Television, a department side that qualified for this year’s tournament, also lost five out of six games, finishing just ahead of FATA. The next round will kick off next month and the final will be played on December 16.Feast or famine for Umar AkmalUmar Akmal’s troubles of late have garnered significant media attention, the 27-year old losing his central contract and being ordered to return to domestic cricket and prove himself all over again. His Quaid-e-Azam Trophy season with United Bank (UBL) didn’t begin happily either, with scores of 47, 6, 11 and 12 in his first four innings.So when he was dismissed by Habib Bank bowler and fellow former international Umar Gul for a first-ball duck, it appeared he was
continuing his downward spiral of the last few months. However, he stormed back in the second innings to play one of the innings of the season so far, smashing 116 off 144 balls in a reminder of the quality he can offer to any line-up he adorns. It helped his side amass 309 in the second innings and defeat Habib Bank by 142 runs. It may prove nothing, however; people have waxed lyrical about his talent for ages anyway. But if he can add consistency and discipline to the mix, he could plot a route back to the international team for the fresh start he clearly believes he deserves.Salman Butt strugglesSalman Butt had pinned his hopes of returning to the international side on this year’s first-class performances, but that call-up now seems a distant prospect. After a couple of stellar seasons, runs have dried up for the former Pakistan captain. He has only managed 264 at 20.30 this season – a performance that fell far short of the standards he would have set himself.During the season, he came under the spotlight after he raised a question about sportsmanship following a close finish in which his side lost by four runs due to No. 11 batsman Mohammad Irfan being mankaded. It invited, given his past background, considerable derision. His national selection almost became a reality earlier this year before Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies, but plans had to be shelved in the wake of the PSL spot-fixing saga.Fawad watchAfter a half-century last week, Fawad Alam stuttered again with the bat in what has been an inconsistent season for the SSGC captain. The slow pace of the game – only 15 wickets fell over the four days – meant he only got to bat once. He couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity, and was out for 6. However, having qualified as the second-placed side from Pool A, Fawad should get the opportunity to showcase his class in the knockouts, and thereby continue to plug away at the ever-receding prospect of an international recall.

A deep dive into numbers from the last 30 years or so will reveal that Dale Steyn is not merely great, but is actually among the finest half-dozen quicks to ever have played the game

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jul-2018 • Updated on 31-Aug-2021Just how good is Dale Steyn? Outstanding, right? Almost everyone will agree he is an all-time great. But as he stands on the verge of breaking the record for South Africa’s most Test wickets, requiring one more dismissal to go clear of Shaun Pollock, the numbers suggest he has been even better than he is in most people’s estimation. It may be that Steyn is not merely great, but is actually among the finest half-dozen quicks to ever have played the game.We will eventually measure Steyn’s record in relation to the best quicks through cricket’s modern history, but before that let’s look at how he compares to his 21st-century peers. Among fast bowlers who have taken over 200 wickets since 2000, Steyn’s average of 22.42 is third-best, behind those of Glenn McGrath and Vernon Philander. While McGrath was experiencing a late-career harvest (his overall numbers are slightly worse), Philander is buoyed by spectacular numbers while playing at home – he has been nowhere near as effective as Steyn outside South Africa, and his returns in Asia have been particularly modest relative to his exploits elsewhere.Where Steyn is a clear leader, however, is in strike rate; no one else on the list gets close to his 41.6. He is also the second-highest wicket-taker for this period, with 421 scalps. Only James Anderson has been more successful, but Anderson’s average (27.23) and strike rate (56.2), are not in Steyn’s league. This is no real surprise – although Anderson has been a supremely skillful bowler, Steyn could do pretty much everything Anderson could do, but at 10kph faster.How Steyn stacks up against other fast bowlers of his era•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdAmong Steyn’s clearest claims to greatness have been his performances in Asia, where quicks generally encounter the least helpful surfaces. He has 92 wickets in the continent, well clear of Anderson, who is the next-most-successful non-Asian seamer this century with 59 wickets. Among quicks to have played at least 20 Tests in Asia since 2000, though, Steyn’s numbers compare favourably even with those of Asian fast bowlers. His numbers are virtually indistinguishable from those of Shoaib Akhtar, with other wonderful Asian quicks – the likes of Chaminda Vaas and Zaheer Khan – sitting way back.The best Test fast bowlers in Asia since 2000•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdWe have now established that Steyn is the most penetrative and versatile quick of the last 15 years, but let’s now look a little further back and bring the great ’90s bowlers into the frame. To do a meaningful comparison across eras, though, we must account for varying conditions and trends. Although bowler-friendly tracks have made a roaring comeback over the past few years, much of Steyn’s career was played in an infamously batting-friendly period. So instead of merely stacking up these players’ averages and strike rates against each other, let’s look at how much better each bowler was than his peers, by calculating the difference between each bowler’s numbers and the mean bowling numbers in his career span (that is, the mean bowling stats from between the bowler’s first and last Test).From among a group of eight truly outstanding quicks, Steyn has the best average differential, though he is neck-and-neck with McGrath.

Where Steyn sets himself apart from McGrath, however, is via that incredible strike rate. Only Waqar Younis had a better strike rate differential than Steyn, but then Waqar was more expensive as well.How much better is Steyn over others in his era?•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdWhere Steyn’s versatility – owing probably to his mastery of reverse-swing – really become clear is when his figures in Asia are compared to those of the best visiting quicks through cricket’s history. His raw average and strike rate in Asia is staggering enough, but throw the differential numbers in – that is, compare Steyn’s stats to the mean for his era, while doing the same for the other non-Asian greats – he comes out ahead of the pack in terms of average.How Steyn’s numbers in Asia stack up against the rest•ESPNcricinfo LtdOn strike rate, Steyn and Wes Hall are well clear of the rest. Effectively, Steyn’s wickets in Asia have come an astounding 28 balls closer together than they have for the average bowler in his era.ESPNcricinfo’s jury panel recently voted in McGrath as the right-arm quick in our Test team of the last 25 years, but given the above numbers, I would replace McGrath with Steyn, owing not only to Steyn’s prowess on the toughest continent for quicks, but also because of the value he adds via his strike rate. A full fifth of McGrath’s wickets had also come against minnows, by which of course I mean England 1994 through 2003.Even Malcolm Marshall, whose record in Asia is what clinches him the “greatest fast bowler ever” tag, for many, was not quite as statistically dominant as Steyn has been there.Is Steyn the greatest-ever non-Asian quick bowler in Asia?•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo LtdBy now, it is clear that numbers-wise, Steyn has a strong claim to being the finest fast bowler of the last 30 years – in a fairly crowded field. He is also almost certainly the best non-Asian quick in Asian conditions. Among bowlers of any ilk with more than 200 wickets, from any era, Steyn’s career strike rate of 41.6 is the best. If you are a captain in need of quick wickets, with minimal release of pressure, there is no better player to call on from your great-bowler rolodex than Steyn; he is the most aggressive great bowler there has been.

Finally, one more figure that puts Steyn in the league of the most sublime quicks to ever bear down on batsmen: his record in victories. Aside from the first few years of his career, in which Australia dominated, South Africa have arguably been the best Test team in the world for a good portion of Steyn’s career. In that time, no bowler has been more crucial to his team’s success. In fact, few quicks have ever been as impactful for any team as Steyn. Of bowlers that played in the last 100 years, only Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan have better averages in victories (minimum: 100 wickets in wins). Steyn has more wickets in wins than the other top 15 bowlers (by average). It pretty much goes without saying by this stage that Steyn’s rocking strike rate is the best.

With all these numbers considered and put into historical context, Steyn’s career comes out looking even more monstrous than perhaps he has got credit for. How many bowlers in history can claim to have dominated matches in Galle (in 2014), as well as at the Wanderers? There is stiff competition for the pace-bowling spots in an all-time XI, but having been the clear leader during his playing period, and having put up spectacular numbers despite playing in one of the most batting-friendly eras in history, he deserves to be part of any all-time XI conversation.Stats updated till July 18, 2018

They lit up their country’s first match at the home of cricket, against MCC, with blaring music, echoing chants and vibrant outfits

Peter Della Penna at Lord's12-Jul-2017When Afghanistan joined Ireland as the 11th and 12th teams to receive Full Member status last month at the ICC annual conference in London, the most commonly used phrase to characterise proceedings was that a glass ceiling had been broken. The old, traditional corridors of ICC boardrooms had welcomed new blood; the motion approved on the backdrop of one of cricket’s great symbols of tradition, Lord’s.For the Afghanistan administrators, breaking that glass ceiling on June 22 had been a very delicate process. Tuesday, though, was for the Afghanistan fans, and they left no doubt about the state of that glass ceiling, stampeding their way through the Lord’s turnstiles to make sure it was reduced to itty bitty granules.”We don’t ever get this for other games,” one of the Lord’s stewards said through a cacophony of Afghan fan excitement building at 9am, two hours before the start of play, on Wellington Place outside the North Gate. “This is brilliant, though I doubt the neighbours living in NW8 will be too thrilled with all the noise.”Noise. The theme of the day. Fans singing, music blasting, chants echoing. Every bit of it pure and loud. And so were the outfits. The richest, most vibrant shades of red and green: printed on shirts, painted on faces, rippling on flags in the wind. It was a sensory assault.”This means everything to Afghanistan,” Massom Shirzad, a father of two, now living in Birmingham, said. Shirzad has been living in the UK for more than 15 years and today was the first time his two Birmingham-born daughters, Nabeela and Saima, 11 and eight, were getting the chance to see the heroes of their ancestral home for the first time. They had left at 6am for the drive down and along with two cousins were five of the first group of fans that began gathering from 8:30am outside the entrance gates.The story was repeated throughout the day. Members of the Afghan diaspora living in Coventry, Manchester, Wales, Germany, France, Norway and beyond. Almost every single one interviewed had never seen Afghanistan play in person, and had never been to Lord’s. In a pocket of the Compton Stand sat a hoard of 100 men clad in blue polo shirts with “BIRMINGHAM” printed in white block letters on the back and “AFG” in black, red and green on the front.”We support Afghans, we support cricket,” Jan Shinwari, originally from Kabul but now based in Birmingham, said. He helped organise the two coaches chartered to drive everyone in this particular fan group down from the West Midlands, beginning 7:45am. “This is a new game in Afghanistan after only 13 or 14 years because of the war in Afghanistan. We want to show peace to the world and that we can do anything.”Peace. A recurring theme throughout the last decade of Afghanistan’s cricket journey. During the early years of Afghanistan’s pathway to Test status and a day at Lord’s, Hamid Hassan used to cross the rope onto the battlefield, his face painted like Rambo. He was Afghanistan’s most photogenic warrior, a warrior of peace. Each stump uprooted, every bail dislodged with one of his heat-seeking yorkers was another strategic victory to thwart the stereotype of Taliban terror.”They are our peace ambassadors,” Qudratullah Ibrahimkhil, another member of Shinwari’s traveling band, who grew up in Maidan Wardak province before migrating to Birmingham, said. “Recently they got the Full Membership and every Afghan is very proud because in Afghanistan for the last four decades there has been war, conflicts and everything. The Afghan national cricket team brings happiness, optimism to people in Afghanistan and around the world.”They unite Afghans in Afghanistan and around the world. In here, the atmosphere is amazing. There are people who have come from all over the world. They have come here to support their team. We are very proud of our national heroes for their remarkable achievements and accomplishments in a very short period of time. With very limited resources, they have achieved so much and made history.”History. Today was not just for Afghan fans, but for the genuine cricket lover who has seen his fair share of cricket over the years and has an appreciation for what Afghanistan has acquired in status and skill.”Listen to that, this is what it’s all about isn’t it?” shouted 69-year-old Bob Blake over the roar of the crowd from his seat in the Mound Stand after the fall of the fourth MCC wicket. A Trinidad native, Blake came to London in his teens before settling in Luton. He has been coming to Lord’s for nearly 50 years, ever since his beloved West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, claimed their first World Cup at Lord’s in 1975.They might not be on par with Lloyd’s feared pace quartet, but Afghanistan’s pace attack has been the envy of the Associate world and left-armer Shapoor Zadran bared his teeth with the new ball for Brendon McCullum and Misbah-ul-Haq to see.”I’m very impressed with the opening bowler, Shapoor,” Blake said. “It’s great to see Afghanistan today. They’re a Full Test Member. I’ve never seen them live but they look pretty useful. I was aware they were a decent team over the years especially in one-day cricket. You can’t take them lightly. If Ireland got Test status and Ireland’s a good team, they’re a better team than Ireland.”It was only last month that Afghanistan had drawn an ODI series in their maiden tour of the Caribbean thanks to Rashid Khan’s destructive seven-wicket haul in the first game. It was a match that further dented the West Indies dwindling reputation and Blake said he hasn’t decided if he wants to buy tickets to see the West Indies when they tour the UK later in the summer. The old calypso magic may have faded but remnants of it were evident in the Afghanistan side that was on the park in front of him.”There are definitely similarities because the West Indian supporters really were noisy as well,” Blake said. “We would back our boys to the hilt. We loved it when something went right so it’s very very similar really. The enthusiasm is virtually the same.”They’re noisy, they’re enthusiastic. They obviously love their players. They’re behind them all the way and they’re showing it. The atmosphere is pretty terrific really, especially at Lord’s you’re not accustomed to this atmosphere. It’s more of an Edgbaston atmosphere here today. This is not a Lord’s atmosphere, which is great. Lord’s is too quiet.”Atmosphere. It was one-of-a-kind for Lord’s on Tuesday, in part because, as Blake said, it was the antithesis of a typical Lord’s crowd. Compared to the measured responses emoted by England fans during the Test match over the weekend, Tuesday was symbolised by the raw spontaneity from the Afghanistan fans.”I think it’s exciting because we’re getting to see the Afghan team play,” British-Afghan Sadaf Nader, 31, from Richmond, said. “I mean it’s a pretty standard answer, but is exciting.”Nader’s husband Jawed, 34, was taken aback not just by the size of the crowd, which hovered near 8000, but by the off-the-wall antics of fans from their vantage point in the Edrich Stand.”It’s also overwhelming to see so many Afghan youths here,” Jawed said. “I’ve seen Afghans at our own gatherings, but not in this number. It is such a big number and they’re really enjoying themselves… and breaking all the MCC rules!””Breaking every rule!” chimed in Sadaf.The slippery slope began well before the start of play at the entrance gates. Afghan fans are renowned for their flag-waving enthusiasm and perhaps uninitiated to the Lord’s protocol, scores showed up with flags in tow, fashionably draped around their necks. The Lord’s stewards who greeted them at the North Gate repeatedly asked: “Is this a scarf or a flag? Because flags are not allowed inside Lord’s.” Every streetwise Afghan duly assured: “Scarf! Scarf!” in reply. Initially they were shy about stretching out their “scarves” but they couldn’t help themselves once Shapoor starting taking wickets, unabashedly heaving the tri-colour flag with merry abandon.The ubiquitous flag infringements were relatively minor compared with what was to come in the 25th over of MCC’s innings. When Dawlat Zadran pinged Shiv Chanderpaul on the left arm off the first ball of the over, a lengthy delay ensued as the batsman pondered whether to retire hurt. The fans were beginning to grow somewhat restless after having sat through a 105-minute rain delay following the 18th over.In an attempt to placate his growing legion of worshippers, Rashid walked over to the railing of the Mound Stand to sign autographs and pose for selfies. Within 30 seconds an overly exuberant supporter leapt over the fence to hug Rashid. A dozen more imitators followed as the under-manned stewards were overwhelmed. Afghanistan’s fans have a long-held reputation for storming the field after a landmark win, but charging the pitch for this mid-match show of affection may have been a first for them.”It’s just a good thing they had their clothes on,” quipped Sadaf Nader.When one fire was put out, another started as a couple of fans jumped the Tavern Stand railing. One headed for fine leg where Gulbadin Naib was casually standing, while the other made haste with a flag-turned superman cape towards a crowd of seven players gathered near Dawlat Zadran’s run-up mark. When one steward finally caught up, the fan hid behind statuesque captain Asghar Stanikzai, shuffling back and forth in an absurdly impromptu game of hide and seek that had the fans – then Asghar and Dawlat – cackling with uncontrollable laughter.By the time Chanderpaul walked off five minutes later to be replaced by Samit Patel, order had been restored. As has been the case at other events where there is a large Afghanistan turnout at odds with established etiquette, Afghanistan team manager Hamkar Shiraha got a hold of a microphone and diplomatically gave an announcement in Pashto over the Lord’s tannoy. The gist of it, according to the Naders, was that the fans need to show they are good and respectful cricket fans by obeying the MCC rules, which drew thunderous applause. As ever, Hamkar ended his speech on a positive note, rallying the fans by shouting, “Afghanistan Zindabad!”The rain could hardly dampen the mood of the day, but if there was one blemish it had to be those who were absent from the squad to take part in the day’s festivities. Nawroz Mangal got the red-carpet treatment in January at the Desert T20 Final. Mangal received a fitting send-off for his services to Afghanistan cricket, but the real star of that day was Mohammad Shahzad, who became the first player to score two T20I fifties in a day. Countless fans at Lord’s were pining for Shahzad, disappointed he could not entertain them with some holding signs pleading with the ICC to “forgive” him for testing positive earlier this year for performance-enhancing drugs.Jan Shinwari (front) helped organise more 100 fans to come down together from Birmingham•Peter Della PennaThe other forgotten soul was Hamid Hassan. Rashid may be the box-office drawcard of the moment but for those who were around to see Afghanistan first surface on the ICC’s major tournament stage, Hamid was the original Afghanistan rock star. Hamid floated through the team hotel, training sessions, warm-ups and fiery 145kph reverse-swing bowling spells like a Greek god. But now it’s as if those spells held a Prometheus trait. Injuries continue to ravage his body.Chants of “Shah-POOR! “Rah-SHEED!” and “Nah-BEE!” were heard ringing around the Lord’s stands early and often throughout Afghanistan’s time in the field, but there were no such shouts for “Hah-MEED!” It’s a cruel fate that someone who played such an instrumental role in Afghanistan’s early fortunes has not been able to reap the adulation and rewards of his peers on days like this. Not only was Hamid not in uniform at Lord’s, but it’s unknown when or if the 30-year-old will ever suit up again.Still, there was far too much to be joyous about. Who would have predicted after decades of war and devastation at home that there would come a day when peace and salvation would be ever-present in the happy and carefree smiles of the thousands of Afghanistan faithful who made their way to northwest London. Following a lengthy nomadic existence, they have worked to establish their roots once again. The seeds planted through a bat-and-ball sport over the last decade had sprouted up and were on full view on Tuesday at the Home of Cricket.”It’s a proud moment,” Jawed said. “Afghanistan is often associated with all the bad superlatives, like the poorest, worst corruption, worst in opium production, but to see Afghanistan being one of the best in sports, that is unique and good.”It’s an extraordinary positive story about Afghanistan. When we have victories it unites the nation as a whole and that’s very good. I hope that we have more sportsmen like Rashid Khan, like Mohammad Nabi at international level so that they also are inspirations for youngsters back in the country.”

Our correspondent goes on a culinary bender through Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi, no thanks to the taxi and rickshaw drivers of the land

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Apr-2016March 13
When I come in from the airport on a Sunday, Kolkata residents are spending the late afternoon on the streets. As the taxi goes through a residential neighbourhood, three children are in heated argument over their cricket match. We turn the corner and a group of old men are sitting on a mat on the pavement, in heated argument over their card game. There is an infectious buzz about the city. The old Raj-era buildings are in various states of disrepair, but that just serves to bring them to life.March 14
Almost anyone who has lived in or hails from Kolkata still refers to it as Calcutta. It is a city that industrialised rapidly as the capital of the British Raj during the second half of the 19th century, so perhaps it is understandable if it wishes to hold on to a fragment of what some perceive to be glory days.The reluctance to use post-colonial names, however, extends to street names as well, which makes Kolkata a slightly confusing place for visitors. The map on my phone tells me my hotel is on Shakespeare Sarani, for example, but cab drivers furrow brows and shake heads until I say “Theatre Road”, which is what the British had called it. I can’t say I blame the cab drivers. Not only does it seem odd to take the name of a famous Brit in a name-changing exercise that purports to reassert a local identity, but “Theatre Road” is also so much easier to say.And I can’t say I am surprised by the continued use of old names either. In fact, as a resident of Colombo, I find the new names underwhelming for their relative usability. At home, we have a former Albert Road, which is now officially known as Sri Dharmakeerthiyarama Road. And a Church Road that is more recently Sir Mohamed Macan Markar Mawatha.Where the streets have new names: it’s only tourists who use official road names, and to no avail•Andrew Fidel Fernando/ESPNcricinfo LtdNice try, Kolkata, but when it comes giving streets names that no one will ever use, Colombo will not, and cannot, ever be beaten.March 15
Though it’s thought the Sinhala people have their origins in East India, the two cultures have diverged substantially when it comes to food. A lot of southern Sri Lankan cuisine is loosely defined by roaring flavours and heat. From the admittedly little I’ve had of it, the strength of Bengali cuisine seems to be subtlety and relative simplicity.The fried river fish at Suruchi – a low-key Bengali restaurant run by a women’s group – bears flavours of mustard and turmeric. The Kolkata biryani at Zeeshan is also far milder than the better-known Hyderabadi equivalent, and features flavour-soaked potatoes.March 16
Many of the cabs in Kolkata are beautiful old Ambassador cars, painted yellow with a navy blue stripe running horizontally just below the window. Almost all these cabs also have “No Refusal” printed on the side, which naturally leads me to believe that the drivers would not dream of refusing me a ride.I approach one and ask if he can take me to Eden Gardens for the Pakistan v Bangladesh match. He shakes his head and drives on. I approach another with what I feel is a very generous fare, but am again rebuffed. This happens at least twice more. I wonder if they forgot crucial punctuation on the “No Refusal” signs. They should instead have read: “No! Refusal!” because in peak hours, that seems to be what potential customers can expect.Raavana: demon to one, king to another•Andrew Fidel Fernando/ESPNcricinfo LtdMarch 17

A sublime mutton curry at a dimly lit Kolkata institution called Peter Cat, and in the afternoon, my colleagues and I head to the India Coffee House, off College Street. The place can’t have changed much in the last half-century at least. A portrait of Rabindranath Tagore looks over patrons, as rows of ceiling fans whirr overhead. There is even a mezzanine floor above, and the yellow walls are a trove of local art. One line drawing in the corner, which seems to have been done by a Kolkata artist, features a man with a Maori facial tattoo.March 18
The first sign I see as I walk into Bangalore airport reads: “Pollution ” (Stop the Raavana of pollution, change the air). This is a public service announcement from the Indian government, which vilifies Raavana – a mythical king from the drop-shaped island south of the Palk Strait.Way to make a Sri Lankan feel welcome, Bangalore.March 20
Where Kolkata cab drivers gave fairly straightforward refusals, some Bangalore auto-wallahs are wonderfully theatrical about it. I stop a three-wheeler going roughly in the right direction and ask if he would mind taking me to the stadium. He shoots me a look of emphatic disdain, which asks who the hell I think I am and how dare I ask him to go to the Chinnaswamy, crinkles his nose, and without a word drives on.March 22
Nine days into the tour, halfway through a heavenly meal at a restaurant called Junior Kuppanna’s, I get just a tiny bit homesick. The place serves South Indian food, on banana leaves – just like they do in joints all over Colombo or Anuradhapura or Jaffna. And the flavours – of ground coriander, cumin and curry leaves – are close to those encountered in the north of Sri Lanka, just without Sri Lankan touches like cinnamon or and leaves.Humayun’s Tomb: the inspiration for the Taj•Andrew Fidel Fernando/ESPNcricinfo LtdMarch 23
I had been thumped at squash by former colleague Devashish Fuloria during last year’s World Cup, but I fancied that in the intervening time I had improved enough to match him. This was delusion. My match went about as well as Sri Lanka’s World T20 campaign, except that I couldn’t blame my showing on a bad knee or board politicking. Playing with a broken racquet, Devashish wins six sets to three in an inferno of a squash court. Then perhaps out of sympathy, he books and pays for my Uber back to the guest house.March 24
The man running the small hotel next to our Delhi Airbnb apartment has a good bouncer. I find this out, as I have nothing to do but join the game of galli cricket taking place in the street.My colleague Andrew Miller has gone to a Holi party some way out of town, and without him vouching for me, the security guard will not let me through the gate. I plead with him to at least let me put my luggage in the property. I try to explain that I had had to catch an early flight and hadn’t slept. He looks me up and down with narrowed eyes, then delivers a blunt “no” and shakes his head.Eventually Andrew returns, doused in red and purple dye from head to toe. It is maybe the second time I have met him, and I don’t tell him at the time because it would have been weird, but I’ve rarely been gladder to see another human being.March 25
There is a Delhi bar called Odeon Social that is definitely worth the visit if you like good beer, decent food, and hearing loss. A few of us have come here to watch the West Indies v South Africa match, and though the music is already quite loud to begin with, it becomes progressively more offensive as the match goes on. We are not far apart from each other, but by the end of the evening, smoke signals would have been more efficient than any verbal communication. I am quite certain several frequencies have been lost to my hearing forever.We eventually leave and cross the road to a rooftop bar that is much more relaxed, and affords a nice view down into the street. If only it had shown the game.A view of Delhi from the Jama Masjid•Andrew Fidel Fernando/ESPNcricinfo LtdMarch 26

My wife is visiting for the long weekend, so we decide to see a few of the sights. First stop is Humayun’s Tomb – one of the first Mughal garden tombs on the subcontinent, and a precursor to the Taj Mahal. The ponds in the causeway leading into the main building are drained when we visited, but the tomb itself is arresting nonetheless, the marble dome shimmering when sunlight strikes it. There are as many as 100 tombs in the same complex, leading to it being called the “dormitory of the Mughals”, though no one seemed to be bunking.In the afternoon, we visit the Jama Masjid mosque. The highlight of this trip is the climb up the southwest tower, below which the captivating old Delhi neighbourhood stretches out. We can see as far as the bright floodlights of the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, which is hosting the Australia v Ireland Women’s match.March 27
We are staying very near Connaught Place, a zone of three concentric circles that is home to one of the most important business districts in India. At the centre of Connaught Place is an Indian flag about twice as big as any single piece of fabric I have ever seen. It would take a proper hurricane to fully unfurl it.Delhi auto drivers commonly refer to the area as CP, but when they venture the full name, seem to pronounce it “Cannought Place”. This is both endearing and profound, because: “Can you take me to CP please?” In this traffic, “No, I cannought.”March 28
Back to Old Delhi and through the bustling, centuries-old warren of a bazaar, where everything from sarees to meat to electronics to holidays are sold on lanes each as wide as a tree trunk, and shops the size of thimbles. One of the many culinary highlights of the trip is the chicken tikka at Karim’s, which is just through an alleyway near the Jama Masjid. The man behind the counter tells me Karim’s has been in the same family for five generations. There must be a hundred places of business in stone-throwing distance that could make similar claims.March 31
Through the tournament some Sri Lanka fans have theorised the ICC is out to get their team since so many bad decisions have gone against them. In Bangladesh, a number of people had protested the “unfair suspensions” of two key bowlers. A few New Zealand fans have groused their side had to play at five separate venues, in comparison to England, who only played at two. There have been familiar Twitter whinges from Australia about Asian bowlers with dodgy actions.Back in a Kolkata bar for the second semi-final, R Ashwin is shown to have overstepped upon review, and a man at the table next to me bellows: “Why are they only checking no-balls for India? They just don’t want India to win the cup!” It is thought that the Big Three rules cricket. Victimhood must be a close second, though.

The Test readiness of England’s rookies is perhaps secondary to the sense of purpose that their inclusions project

Andrew Miller at Lord's08-Aug-20181:47

Pope gets the nod for England, but who’ll miss out?

The kids are alright, you know. For the fourth time in 2018 alone, and for the fifth time since the selection of Haseeb Hameed on the last tour of India in November 2016, England have plumped for youth over experience, excitement over stability, the bold approach over the same old narrative with interchangeably seasoned campaigners.At the age of 20 years and 219 days, Surrey’s Ollie Pope will bat at No.4 for England in the Lord’s Test – a position that effectively leaves him man-marking one of the game’s all-time great batsmen in India’s captain, Virat Kohli, the scorer of 200 formidable runs in last week’s Edgbaston Test.With just 15 first-class matches under his belt, Pope slots into England’s Test history as their third-youngest specialist batsman behind Denis Compton (19 years and 83 days) and Hameed (19 years and 269 days), and does so in the wake of his Surrey team-mate and fellow 20-year old, Sam Curran, being named as Man of the Match for a precocious allround display in the first Test.Throw into the mix the bloodings of Mason Crane (20 years and 320 days) at Sydney in January, and Dom Bess (20 years and 306 days) for the Pakistan Tests in May and June, and is clear that the only thing being fast-tracked more quickly than young English talent is a sense of revolution from the new national selector, Ed Smith, who whiled away his time during England’s nets session by patrolling the Nursery Ground outfield with phone glued to ear and with shades and rolled-up shirtsleeves transmitting a stockbroker’s air of urgency.What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything and nothing, in the opinion of England’s captain, Joe Root (who was himself a grizzled 22-year-old when he made his own Test bow at Nagpur in 2012-13). Before this sudden baby boom, England had chosen just 19 under-21s in their first 140 years of Test history – most recently Steven Finn as a last-minute replacement on the tour of Bangladesh in 2010. But with the team’s current Test record perhaps as erratic as it has been in a generation, there is arguably a perverse prudence to such an abrupt change of strategy.”If you’re old enough, you’re good enough,” Root said. “A lot of the selections of late have been quite bold, we’re not shy of being a little bit brave and doing things slightly differently. It’s worked out for us so far.””I think when you give exciting young talents responsibility, they tend to surprise you,” he added. “We’ve seen that so far. The challenge for them moving forward is to try and sustain that and not put too much pressure on themselves and too much expectation on them to deliver on a really consistent basis.”Ollie Pope and Sam Curran warm up ahead of training•Getty ImagesThe issue of youth and renewal is one that cuts to the core of everything in English cricket at present. The question of whether the likes of Pope and Curran are truly ready for the step-up in class is perhaps secondary to the sense of purpose that their inclusions project.Much as was the case with Adil Rashid’s recall at Edgbaston (and maybe, if you want to extrapolate even further, the ongoing mayhem that is The Hundred), the noses that get put out of joint by the ECB’s sudden predilection for thinking outside the box are less important than those outside the game’s usual confines who get wind of this disruption to the status quo, and poke their noses in for a first sniff of the action.Certainly Root was at pains to make it clear that the door is not closed to county performers who earn their recognition through the more traditional formula of runs and wickets over time. But, tellingly, he also seemed less interested in immediate dividends, even with a series as important as a five-Test rubber against India on the line. The long game is what really matters as England attempt to reboot their red-ball fortunes.”I think we’ve got to be really realistic that these guys are exciting young players and they will do some very good stuff,” said Root. “It might not all happen straight away and we have to be a little bit patient with that.” Join us for the ride, in other words, and invest in these guy’s stories. Whatever transpires, it is unlikely to be dull.Even India’s captain seemed rather engaged by Pope’s tale. “We want to try and knock him over as early as possible, but on a larger front, I am happy for him,” Kohli said. “As a cricketer I understand how important it is. I will tell him to enjoy the occasion, and not get too many runs!”The prospect of Pope having his credentials scrutinised by the best batsman in the world may be daunting, but it is not as if England’s rookies are being thrown into the fray without a serious support network behind them. In Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad – not to mention Root himself, whose 6000 Test runs are still only the start of what he could achieve – this team’s senior pros are among the most senior ever to have played the game.”We’ve got some very good experienced players around them so they can learn and mould their games at the highest level,” said Root. “For young guys coming in, that’s exciting for this team, and for people around it, seeing a young man in Sam performing how he did last week with a real bright future, it’s exciting for English cricket. That should fill a lot of other lads around the country with a huge amount of confidence.”And if the beauty of Test cricket lies in its narrative, then what could be more beautiful than these kids-turned-veterans, looking back in 15 years’ time on the priceless nuggets of wisdom that they received first-hand in their earliest outings? It may be wildly out of kilter with everything that English cricket has preached about Test cricket in the course of its first 990-odd engagements. But since the turn of the year, there’s been a turning of the page. And are you not entertained already?

Stats highlights from the first day’s play in Pallekele, where the hosts were bowled out for 117 in just 34.2

Bharath Seervi26-Jul-201634.2 Number of overs that Sri Lanka’s first innings lasted, which is their shortest after electing to bat. Before this, they had lasted 38.4 overs, bowled for 95 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2000-01.1 Number of lower totals for Sri Lanka against Australia at home, than the first-innings 117. They were bowled out for 105 in Galle in 2011. Tuesday’s total is the lowest total by any team in Pallekele. Sri Lanka themselves had previously made 174 against Australia in 2011.22.30 Test average of Sri Lanka’s top three batsmen at home since July 2015, which is the lowest among all teams. In 36 innings, their top-three has managed only two centuries and one half-century.10.50 Sri Lanka’s average opening partnership in home Tests since July 2015 – again, the worst among all teams. In 12 innings, only once have their openers put on more than 50.2003 The last time Sri Lanka fielded two or more debutants in the same Test. Sri Lanka handed out debut caps to Dhananjaya de Silva and Lakshan Sandakan on Tuesday. Against New Zealand in Colombo (PSS) in 2003, Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Prabath Nissanka made their Test debuts. De Silva’s first scoring shot was a six, which makes him the first Sri Lanka player to start off his Test career with a six.

1 This is the first Test in Sri Lanka in which both teams’ openers were dismissed for single-digit scores in the first innings. Overall, there have been 19 such Tests, the last of which was at Wanderers in 2006-07 between India and South Africa.2006 The last time Sri Lanka’s top five were all dismissed for 15 or fewer runs in a Test innings at home, against Pakistan in Colombo (PSS). This is the sixth such instance for Sri Lanka in home Tests.19.16 Angelo Mathews’ average in his last six Test innings against Australia, with a highest of 35. In his first six innings against them, he averaged 87.25 – he remained unbeaten twice – with a century and three half-centuries.2 Consecutive ducks for David Warner in Tests against Sri Lanka. Warner was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of this Test, as well as in the second innings of the SCG Test in 2012-13. Incidentally, in the other four innings against them, he has made half-centuries. Sri Lanka and India are the only teams against whom Warner has two ducks.

Mason Crane has already prompted much excited chatter, but the young Hampshire legspinner is putting in the hard yards to take the next step up

Will Macpherson17-Feb-2017Mason Crane is only just 20, yet it is 18 months since he was first touted for a Test call. Ten wickets in his first two Championship games for Hampshire left usually sage pundits weak-kneed and predicting an autumn with England. Crane found it funny, knowing that this was the lot of the legspinner, that rare cricketing fetish item.”It was peculiar,” he laughs. “Legspin is weird like that. A young bloke comes on to the scene and you just instantly get people shouting their name about. It’s nice to hear, but you know stuff like that is a fair way down the line.”Well, it is happening again. “At this rate we will be seeing Mason Crane on the next Ashes tour,” chirped Gordon CC, Crane’s Sydney grade club, on Twitter at the start of February. This followed his third consecutive seven-wicket haul – putting him top of the Sydney first-grade wicket-taking charts in what is proving a very productive first winter down under.The county cricket stripling’s stint in the grades is, of course, a well-worn path. Crane is making the most of it, but he arguably needed it more than most, too. He still lives with his parents in Worthing (although he is quick to say he’s trying to move out) and this is the first time he has spent more than a tour’s length away. “I’ve been doing stuff for myself for the first time,” he says. “You go on tour and it’s great, but that’s with 15 other guys you know and a load of coaches. This has been five times that length, and I didn’t know anyone. It’s been great socially and it’s proved a really good match.”It was Will Smith, his Hampshire team-mate, who set the move up, having played for Gordon himself. Peter Such, the ECB’s lead spin coach (in regular contact via email), put him in touch with Stuart MacGill, with whom Crane has worked plenty. While there have been minor technical tweaks, their work has largely been tactical. MacGill knows Crane – a wicket-taker who gives it a rip, with a very fine googly and solid topspinner – can bowl legspin; what he needs is to understand to bowl legspin. “There can’t be many better blokes to talk about that with,” Crane says.

“Legspin is weird like that. A young bloke comes on to the scene and you just instantly get people shouting their name about”

Crane has enjoyed the bounce in the pitches and the time afforded to work on his game, bowling and batting. He sounds utterly thrilled that, having started the season batting at No. 9 or 10, Gordon now trust him to bat at No. 7. “That’s a big thing for me and I’m pleased my hard work has paid off,” he says. Having been an allrounder growing up, he feels he has not pulled his weight with the bat at professional level.Two summers ago Ollie Rayner memorably wrote for ESPNcricinfo that if he had tips for a young spinner, the first would be “learn to bat”, and while Crane would like to end up as a No. 8, he will not allow that to happen at the expense of his bowling. “Bowling is my main thing, I have to remember that,” he says. “I don’t want to become a bits-and-pieces player. What’s important is that with the bat I can serve the team the way it needs – the kind of guy who can score quickly from the lower order to set up a declaration or dig in to save a draw.” As a result he has worked on his batting with Trevor Chappell, Gordon’s head coach, and the first-grade batsmen at the club. Two fifties in eight two-day games, and an average over 30 suggests it is working.There have been eight hauls of seven wickets or better in first-grade cricket in Sydney this season, and three are Crane’s. No bowler has more than his 37 wickets in two-day games. What he has relished most, though, is the opportunity to plough through overs. “I’ve bowled nearly 500 match overs out here, and there’s really no substitute for that,” he says. “I’ll leave here very cricket-fit, and in great rhythm.”In the second of his seven-fors, he bowled 43 overs straight: “The skipper tried to take me off a few times, but I just kept wanting another. I had all the wickets after 25 overs, but their last pair blocked out as it got slower and flatter, and it was a great challenge in stinking heat.”Crane’s name has been doing the rounds in Hampshire and Sydney cricket circles•Getty ImagesLast July, after Smith bowled Crane for 51 overs as Surrey racked up 637, England veteran Gareth Batty said the young spinner had been “thrown under the car”. But this, it seems, is just how Crane likes it. “I now know I can get through 30 overs, still getting loads on the ball, with ease. I always want the ball in my hand.”Crane was brought over to Southampton by his coach at Lancing College (which he captained for almost three seasons), former Hampshire spinner Raj Maru, after his native Sussex turned him down at Under-14 level, and he was soon a name on the lips of members. His ascent was inevitable, but as that innings against Surrey showed (he ended up with 3 for 210), first-class cricket hasn’t come entirely easily to Crane since he took the first five Warwickshire wickets in his second game. “It’s a seriously tough competition,” Crane says. “Four-day cricket is brutal, especially if you have one long stint in the field. A couple of days’ rest, a bit of travel, and you’re doing it all again.”With 31 wickets at 45 in 12 games in 2016 (only three Hampshire players played more and only Ryan McLaren, with 32, took more wickets), Crane does not immediately look to have been a beneficiary of the adjusted toss regulations that saw the rejuvenation of Rayner and emergence of Jack Leach in a minor spin revival. “I definitely played more games because of the changes,” he says. “But I’m not sure it was actually easier to bowl spin. Apart from at Taunton, where it spun and bounced beautifully, pitches were generally slow and pretty flat.”An interesting season looms for Crane. In the wake of their survival-by-default after the demotion of Durham (the team that had originally relegated them in the final round) and subsequent exploitation of the Kolpak market, it will be easy to cast Hampshire as the Championship’s villains this summer. Despite some brash comments from chairman, Rod Bransgrove, in the wake of the Durham brouhaha, Hampshire are under no illusions as to how fortunate they are. “For a guy my age, it’s enormous, and we are very lucky,” Crane says. “It means I carry on bowling against the best in the country.”

“Bowling is my main thing, I have to remember that. I don’t want to become a bits-and-pieces player”

For all their notable imports, Crane is one of a number of talented homegrown youngsters at Hampshire. They include Tom Alsop (21), a favourite of England Lions, who scored a superb hundred at The Oval in September; Joe Weatherley (20), who has been pulling up trees in Adelaide this off season; and Brad Taylor (19) – looking to follow Liam Dawson and James Vince into the national set-up. The arrivals of Rilee Rossouw and Kyle Abbott will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect but neither is a spin-bowling alternative to Crane, and he will hope pitches continue to be helpful, so that he and Dawson – who bats in the top five and serviceably holds up an end with the ball – can play together.”It’s a difficult one,” he says. “You can look at it two ways. There might be guys around the country who don’t get a game. But on the other hand, guys like Kyle and Rilee will improve the standard massively, so when you do play, facing and playing with guys like that is huge. We will learn loads from them. Mainly it’s just a massive shame they can’t play for South Africa. I don’t fully understand the politics there, but they are here and it’ll be great to play with them.”That can wait, though. From Australia, Crane heads to the UAE, where he has been selected to play in the North v South and Champion County pre-season curtain raisers. There will be opportunities to firm up his county spot but also, perhaps, join Sam Curran, Joe Clarke and Tom Helm as candidates for England’s Ashes bolter, just as Gordon’s Twitter account predicted. Either way, he’s a leggie with nerve and verve – and definitely a name to remember.

Sanju Samson, the young Kerala keeper-batsman, talks about how his perspective on the game has changed and how that has brought about big scores for him

Interview by Varun Shetty24-Oct-2019More than seven years after his List A debut, Sanju Samson made his first century in 50-overs cricket earlier this month and turned it into a double . He has now returned to the India squad after a long wait.In this interview, he opens up on the crucial break that made it possible, the near-impossible task of replacing someone like MS Dhoni, and the question everyone has been asking him for a while now: why doesn’t he make these big scores more often?In 2018, you didn’t have a century in any format. What do you feel about your year so far?
Before the start of the season, I had close to two-three months of rest. I didn’t play any competitive games. I’ve really used the time to good effect. When you continuously play cricket for a long time, you tend to keep going with the motions. Having two to three months really helped me realise why I started playing cricket. The fun part [had been] lost. It was focusing more on the result and where I have to reach and what I have to do. Those three months have given me a more clear picture of why I started playing. I’ve started enjoying my cricket. I’ve started loving batting. Before, I used to bat for long because I had to bat. Now, I love to bat. The love towards my game has changed and automatically I think the results show. The more you enjoy something, the more it gives you back. That’s what has changed and I’m really enjoying this season.Did you work on your cricket during that break?

(Chuckles) The only thing I know is to play cricket and work on my fitness. So I just gave time for that. Fitness was the most important thing. If you keep playing, you can only maintain your fitness. But if you get a break you can take it to the next level. The first month I worked mostly on my fitness and later on my skills.

“As a wicketkeeper I’ve been shuffled around a lot. I get selected to the IPL team or India A or even Kerala, and sometimes the management says I have to field”

Did you feel you had to do a bit extra, considering you had failed a fitness test last year?
Absolutely. It does play on your mind. Just before that fitness test, I was my fittest ever, actually! I was working hard. But it happened just after the IPL and I had a small niggle in my knee, so I didn’t train for one week. I went and did the fitness test directly, without training or even running in the ground. I thought I was at my fittest and I could easily do it, but it didn’t happen. It was unlucky but I’ve been working hard and I’m confident about it.You’ve raised your level now?
Definitely, not only my running, but I’ve also gained on my muscle work. I have a bit more muscle and have bulked up for the season.ALSO READ: Sanju Samson makes Vijay Hazare Trophy history with unbeaten 212So that explains the double-hundred?
(Laughs) Definitely, yes. Batting for the whole 45-50 overs and running hard between the wickets – I was batting with Sachin Baby and he made me run a lot of doubles and triples. I also had to keep for 50 overs.After that innings was the biggest challenge of my life. People were seeing that after 20 overs [of keeping], I had a headache. They were saying, you can stop and another keeper can come in. But I wanted to challenge myself. It took two to three days to recover after that.What clicked for you on that day?
Things have been really clicking for the last one or two months. The way I’ve been batting in the India A series, the 91 I scored off 48 balls; the start of the tournament [Vijay Hazare] also I was batting well. I scored 60-odd against Karnataka and unfortunately got run out at the bowler’s end. Things were going really well. I could feel something special was coming. I didn’t feel like it would be a 200, but I knew something big was coming.The results in cricket keep varying. If you’re batting well, if you play six or seven innings, you’re only allowed to succeed once or twice. But when you succeed, you have to make it big. I thought the whole tournament I’d been playing well and I was happy that I was able to convert. I think I played normally that day. I never went after the bowlers or smashed the ball. I just looked at the ball and reacted and things came on nicely that day.What were some of the conversations you had during that innings?
I was in the zone, so you just keep quiet and enjoy it. Lot of fun happening in the middle – I was the happiest when I was playing that innings. I was laughing a lot and I got my first hundred. I was spending some time in the 90s and I got over it after hitting a six to complete my first List-A hundred. That was all very special. Even after I’d got 50, I told myself that if I get a hundred today then I can get a double. The way I was playing in that tournament, I knew that if I complete a hundred, I have to make it something special.A lot of people must ask you how come it’s taken so long to get that hundred. Was it a relief to get that out of the way?
Yeah, seriously, it was. If you’re not good enough and you’re not scoring that hundred, then you can say that you will improve. But I have been playing some really good innings and getting out in the 90s or 89 not out and all that. I knew it would come. If you’re desperate about it, it won’t come. Everything in my life has happened at the right time, so I just have to keep on preparing and if it has to happen, it will happen. I was happy to wait this long – and when it happened, it was a double.”Now, the boundary- and six-hitting comes more naturally to me. I practise that a bit more. I like to go after the bowlers and the shots”•AFPWere there times in the past when you felt frustrated?
I have come a long way. I debuted at 18 or 19 for India and in that time, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. I’ve seen success early in my life and failures as well. So I’m mature enough and experienced enough to understand that things will happen. Everyone was saying, “You’ve not got a hundred, you’ve not got a hundred.” But what I said to myself was, “Sanju, everything has happened so nicely. You’ve scored two IPL hundreds.” I’ve scored hundreds in a 20-over game, so it’s not a big thing to score one in a 50-over match at that level. I’ve scored against the best bowlers in the world. If I get desperate and say to myself that I need to score more centuries in domestic cricket, it will bring unwanted pressure on me. I just go out there and enjoy myself. That’s what you need to get results.After two-three years at this level, did you feel the expectations were too much?
I was fortunate enough to play with people like Rahul Dravid at the age of 19 and have him as a coach at India A. And meeting lots of people, like Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Joe Buttler – I talk a lot with them about the game.The main thing is that you need to understand what you’re aiming at. I’m a wicketkeeper-batsman and the Indian team has the most successful captain and keeper in the world. So MS Dhoni was someone I had to replace if I wanted to play for India. It was not going to happen. You have to be realistic about what you’re aiming for. At that point I knew I had a lot of time to prepare myself. You need to be prepared to make yourself worthy to play in the Indian jersey. I was lucky to get four or five years in the domestic season, in the IPL or in the India A set-up. Everything doesn’t happen quickly.For someone who was drilled to hit along the ground and described as a calm player by your early coaches, you’re quite an aggressive batsman these days. How did that happen?
It’s a very funny thing. My father never allowed me to hit the ball in the air when I was young [in Delhi, where Samson grew up] and then I started hitting sixes when I came to Kerala. I can’t tell you how it happened, really. I love hitting the ball and it just happens. Nowadays if you ask me whether I like a perfect defensive shot or a six, then definitely I would go for a six. That’s how the game has changed for me. Now, the boundary- and six-hitting comes more naturally to me. I practise that a bit more. I like to go after the bowlers and the shots.

“The results in cricket keep varying. If you’re batting well, you’re only allowed to succeed once or twice. But when you succeed, you have to make it big”

But sometimes that will come in the way of, say, a hundred, right?
Yeah, it will. The joy of playing allows me to play like that, I think. In this type of style, failures will happen. I’ll fail a lot. But you’ve to accept that that’s your game plan. When you succeed, you’ve to make it big.But I’ve developed another style also. If you ask me to rotate the singles or stay at the crease and create partnerships, I can do that. I think I have two types of game. If there is nothing to achieve or there is no set time, then I go with my natural style. It’s very important to have two styles.How did you raise the level of your batting?
I’ve worked hard with my Rajasthan Royals coach, Zubin Bharucha. Spending five or six years with him, I think he has known a lot about my game. Lots of people have helped me. I can’t name everyone. Everyone has given me something. I believe the best coach you have is yourself. I have sat back and understood what this generation or what this Indian team is going through. And if I stand there one day, how will I respond to a situation. I’m watching TV, seeing what the team is going through and thinking about how I would apply my game.ALSO READ:Sanju Samson let off with warning by KCA, father asked to stay awayYou had many off-field distractions last year, like issues with the Kerala Cricket Association. Did that affect your mindset?
There have been lots and lots of issues, but there’s no point in going back and talking about them. Lots of things happened, good and bad, and I’m happy that they happened and made me who I am. If only good things had happened and if everyone was on my side, I would be much softer than who I am. Now I’m ready to face any situation.As a wicketkeeper, how hard is to get to that [Dhoni] level and what have you done?
As a wicketkeeper I’ve been shuffled around a lot. I get selected to the IPL team or India A or even Kerala and sometimes the management says I have to field [instead of keeping]. And I think: are you serious? (laughs) Because everyone wants me to keep and be picked for the Indian team as a wicketkeeper. But I don’t want to impose myself. I’m happy to field for the team. In the IPL, they felt I’m a much better fielder than I am a keeper because I move around and take good catches. I said, okay. I can’t really tell them I have an Indian selection [pending]. So whatever the team demands, I’ll do it. I think I’m a really good fielder too, so if they want to play me as a batsman, I can do that. I can move around quickly in the field. If they want me to keep, I can keep too. I’ve been keeping regularly for my state side in one-day cricket for the last three to four years.You once said that you felt your batting concentration was going down in red-ball cricket because of the keeping. Has that improved?
That has changed. If you are an automatic keeper, that doesn’t happen. But, as I said, if I play as a batsman, mentally, it is a bit challenging. But now I’ve coped with it and know how to deal with it.

At 35 and in the form of his life with Gloucestershire, Michael Klinger hasn’t given up on the hope of playing for Australia

David Hopps18-Sep-2015Rarely has a player gone into a English domestic cup final bearing such a heavy responsibility as Michael Klinger, when he takes Gloucestershire to Lord’s on Saturday. Success brings with it high expectations and Klinger’s success in the Royal London One-Day Cup this season has been extraordinary: all-comers despatched with the broadest bat in the kingdom.In the West Country, many talk optimistically of a Gloucestershire revival, recalling the time around the turn of the century when they dominated English one-day cricket, sensing that Surrey can be conquered to bring their first limited-overs trophy since 2004.But it remains largely unproven whether Gloucestershire’s revival runs deep or whether they have been sustained largely by the exploits of one Australian batsman flowering late. A Lord’s final would not be the best time to have to answer it. Far better that Klinger, with 531 runs in the tournament to his credit – average 132.75, strike rate 92.50 – delivers one more time. Debate it later, preferably while holding a trophy, dripping with champagne.It was a gorgeous late summer afternoon at Nevil Road, where Klinger has been clunking the ball into the new flats behind the arm at regular intervals for much of the summer. To an Australian used to long boundaries, they must seem to have been built on the outfield. Gloucestershire’s players were in attendance for the pre-media day, grouped quietly as if they expected their marginal role. Most interviewers, this one included, predictably awaited a chat with an unassuming Australian whose reputation has never been higher.Michael Klinger has scored three centuries from seven games in the Royal London Cup•Getty ImagesKlinger has additional reasons to succeed, reasons that go beyond his captaincy of Gloucestershire, a county where his reputation has grown steadily in the past years, not just as a batsman but as a skilful, undemonstrative captain. No longer is he one of the least known overseas players on the circuit.He has never represented Australia, but his target is a place in their World T20 squad in India in March. He is 35. Australia do not make a habit of giving 35-year-olds debuts in the modern age. Especially 35-year-olds they have occasionally dismissed without a second thought.But he will not abandon hope while he is scoring so freely: the Sheffield Shield, the Big Bash League (where he was the leading run-maker last season), the Natwest t20 Blast and now the Royal London Cup. The runs keep coming and the statistics are beginning to overpower his date of birth.And Adam Voges, Australia’s third-oldest Test debutant since the war, made a hundred on Test debut in Dominica earlier this year, so even these days there are precedents for a late opportunity beyond the age of 35.Klinger (fourth from right): “There is no doubt that if I was scoring the runs at 25 that I have over the past four or five years then I would have played for Australia already”•Simon Cooper/PA Photos/Getty Images”There is no doubt that if I was scoring the runs at 25 that I have over the past four or five years then I would have played for Australia already,” Klinger said. “That’s my challenge now. In the past 18 months I have gone above and beyond that measure, so I have to keep doing that.”I think the last 18 months where I scored over 1000 runs in Shield cricket in Australia and did well in the Big Bash and then followed it up here in England has been my best prolonged period. It’s important to keep it going for one more game here and then the season back home in Australia. The next step is to hopefully play in the T20 World Cup.”It is tempting to propose that England has belatedly been the making of Klinger. After all, in his first seven seasons with Victoria, he made only two hundreds. He would have made his maiden hundred earlier, but Paul Reiffel, Victoria’s captain, declared when he was on 99 and asserted that it was a team game. It was another four years before he ticked that one off.This was rough justice, if justice at all, for a player who, at 15, had become the youngest to make a century in Victorian district cricket. He was preferred to Michael Clarke as captain of Australia Under-19, but Clarke has just retired from international cricket, a sated, feted Australian captain, whilst for Klinger the call has never come. The call that another Australia captain, Allan Border, said was virtually certain when he made a match-winning 80 on his one-day debut for Victoria, more years ago than he cares to remember.Leading South Australia to the 2010 Champions League semi-finals helped him develop his short-form batting•Getty ImagesHe prefers to remember two breakthroughs. The first came when he moved from Victoria to South Australia at 27, was given the chance to bat at No. 3 and open in one-dayers, and made three first-class centuries, one a double, in his first six weeks. Adelaide, a sociable country town where a side could stick together, also suited him.Easy runs on flat pitches, his detractors suggested, but one of them was at the Gabba, and it was more about him growing in maturity in response to the recognition that he was finally a senior player, assured of his place in the side, expected to deliver, not always giving way to those returning to the fold – be it David Hussey, Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Matthew Elliott.The second breakthrough – his short-form breakthrough – came when he took South Australia to the Champions League semi-final in South Africa in 2010. It is surely an indictment of cricket beyond the international game – or those who promoted it, or perhaps those who sought to undermine it – that this world club tournament failed to gain appeal, but it did good by Klinger. His assessment gives succour to the view that the abandonment of the Champions League is bad for cricket.”When I started to be successful in T20 cricket I captained Redbacks in the Champions League, we reached the semi, and ever since then I’ve been able to develop more of a short-form game and more of a 360-degree game,” Klinger said. “We made the semi-final as underdogs, which for us was excellent. That made me really want to get better and better. You could see how T20 was going.Klinger blossomed as a batsman once he moved from Victoria to South Australia in 2008•Getty Images”I think my late development is just taking experiences in all conditions and learning from them. I have played in India a bit and I have played pressure games in domestic finals in Australia as well. Experiencing those pressure situations helped my cricket. Over the last six or seven years in Australia I have been able to be consistent in all three formats, which is something I’m proud of.”Even with his run-scoring at its height, there have been disappointments on the way. Last year, he moved to Western Australia after South Australia intimated his Shield place could no longer be guaranteed: two months previously he had scored a double-hundred.He left hoping to gain a place in Australia’s World Cup side. They won it without him. He was never thought to be in the running. The call, at 35, may never come – a likelihood that with the World T20 on the horizon he refuses to accept.He came closest to an Australia call perhaps in 2009 when Marcus North was selected instead for a tour of South Africa because of his additional spin-bowling option and made a hundred on Test debut.But back to Lord’s – and the Royal London final against a Surrey side awash with the confidence of youth. What if Klinger fails? Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire’s coach, fields such a provocative question with good grace. He asserts that they would be capable of taking it in their stride – and he has examples too, such as the time when they chased down Worcestershire’s 264 for 8 in early August, Klinger an absentee, but the top four all making runs, to reach the quarter-finals.Team-mate Adam Voges’ (left) Australian debut at the age of 35 should serve as an inspiration to Klinger•Getty Images”We are good enough,” Dawson said. “That Worcestershire match was an interesting one. Michael gets the headlines as he should do, but people have also played around him and in the semi-final Hamish Marshall also took a lot of pressure off Michael by playing the innings he did.Klinger also had the equanimity to consider the possibility of failure. “I failed once along the way in this cup run, so it can happen that you fail, but I will be doing everything I can as an experienced player to perform. The stats will show I have had a good series but I missed three games when I hurt my hamstring and we won two of those.”The most notable of those performances – if not necessarily against the best attack he faced – was his unbeaten 137 in Gloucestershire’s semi-final win against Yorkshire at Headingley. It was a Yorkshire attack far removed from the one that has won the Championship for the second successive season, but Klinger’s 137 not out from 145 balls possessed a certainty that stilled home expectations from an early hour. It was made all the more remarkable because his long-haul flight from Australia after a brief flight home to Perth did not land until Friday night, 36 hours before the game.So what is the secret of getting over jetlag? “A lot of coffee on game day – it got me through,” he said. “That and staring at the ceiling.”As he stared into the dead of night, he would have wondered about the possibility of a Lord’s final, no doubt, as well as that elusive international cap. His brilliance made sure of the first, and, 20 years after he was first dubbed a star in waiting, he will not yet let go of the second. Surrey’s young side will face an old pro still full of drive and ambition.