Stats highlights from Pakistan’s seven-wicket win against Zimbabwe

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan05-Sep-2011Not on too many occasions do teams manage to win a Test after conceding over 400 runs in the first innings. But Pakistan did exactly that against Zimbabwe. They batted well enough to gain a handy 54-run lead at the end of the first innings and then followed it up with a terrific bowling display to skittle the hosts out for 141. Despite starting off with a fairly inexperienced squad, Pakistan rode on superb performances from Mohammad Hafeez and Aizaz Cheema to complete a convincing seven-wicket victory. For Zimbabwe, the second-innings collapse proved to be impossible to recover from. In 17 Tests, they have been bowled out under 150 in their second innings and have gone on to lose on all 17 occasions.Here is a look at a few statistical highlights from Pakistan’s seven-wicket win

• This was only the fourth time that Pakistan won a Test after conceding over 400 in the team first innings. All three previous occasions came in 2005. On the other hand, it is only the second time that Zimbabwe have lost after scoring over 400 in their first innings. The previous defeat came against India in Delhi in 2000.
• This is Pakistan’s second consecutive win after their win in Kingston earlier in the year. It is only the second time since 2005 that Pakistan have won two consecutive matches.
• Hafeez became the seventh Pakistan bowler to score a century and pick up four wickets in an innings in the same match. Musthaq Mohammad has achieved the feat on three different occasions. However, he missed out on becoming the first player since Jacques Kallis in 2002 to score a century and pick up a five-wicket haul in a Test.
• Hafeez scored his first century in nearly five years. His previous century came against West Indies in November 2006. In ten matches in between, he scored just one fifty and averaged 18.52.
• Cheema’s match analysis of 8 for 103 is the second-best by a Pakistan bowler on debut behind Mohammad Zahid’s 11 for 130 against New Zealand in 1996.
• Zimbabwe’s defeat is their ninth against Pakistan. Only Sri Lanka with ten wins, have won more matches against Zimbabwe.
• The run-difference of 271 between Zimbabwe’s first and second innings totals is their third-highest in Tests. In Bulawayo in 2003, they were bowled out for 104 against West Indies (difference of 273 runs) and in Harare in 2001, they scored 563 in the second innings after being bowled out for just 131 in the first innings. Click here for the list of highest differences between the first and second innings totals.
• Zimbabwe’s poor form in Bulawayo continued with their tenth defeat in 18 Tests at the venue. While they have managed only one win in Bulawayo, they have won six Tests in Harare.
• Tino Mawoyo’s 163 in the first innings is the fourth-highest score by a Zimbabwe batsman in a Test defeat. Andy Flower holds the record with 199 against South Africa in a nine-wicket loss in 2001.

Brad Haddin’s 80 was equal parts daring and discretion and showed that he can be a valuable lieutenant to Michael Clarke

Daniel Brettig at the Gabba03-Dec-2011If Australia’s hellish defeat to South Africa in Cape Town could be captured in a single moment, it was the stroke that dismissed Brad Haddin. Advancing towards Vernon Philander even though his side was already in a precarious position on the second afternoon, Haddin aimed to carve a delivery offering neither length nor width, and edged wretchedly to his opposite number Mark Boucher. In that instant it felt impossible to view Haddin as anything other than a waster, deserving to be dropped, and as the match galloped away from the visitors the notion could only gather speed.Yet three weeks later, here was Haddin in Brisbane, swelling his side’s first innings against New Zealand with a chanceless 80 that was equal parts daring and discretion. He stretched the hosts’ lead in the company of his captain Michael Clarke and then a motley collection of tail-enders. In between times, Haddin had proved his worth by contributing critically to the victory in Johannesburg, swatting a priceless 55. Of even greater significance was the fact that once the team returned home, the new selection panel named Haddin vice-captain for the Gabba.Power and responsibility can do a variety of things to cricketers: building them up, tearing them down, or simply exhausting them. What is clear from Haddin’s innings at the Gabba, as well as his lengthy playing career, is that this is a man lifted by a position of responsibility. When Haddin is thinking broadly of his team, his own batting shows a greater sense of awareness and balance, while still retaining the boldness and ball-striking that has had Australian crowds cooing regularly over the past few years. Granted the vice-captaincy, Haddin can still pierce the field with some of the crispest driving in the game, but he also appears more likely to choose the right ball with which to do it.To draw such a conclusion from one innings would be instinctive, if not presumptuous. To sustain it beyond argument, it is necessary to look more deeply into Haddin’s past, beyond his time in the Australian team. A fact often forgotten in the age of Simon Katich, Clarke and latterly Steve O’Keefe is that Haddin has been one of the most accomplished New South Wales captains of the past 20 years. Before the job was passed on to Katich, Haddin led the Blues with aggression, flair and plenty of courage, best epitomised by his performances at the ground on which he has now brought New Zealand to heel.In four Sheffield Shield matches as captain of NSW at the Gabba between 2004 and 2006, at a time when Queensland counted bowlers like Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz, Joe Dawes, Ashley Noffke and a young Watson among their number, Haddin’s record is startling. Across those fixtures, often low-scoring on a seaming surface, he coshed 544 runs at 77.71, never reaching less than 41. Haddin’s achievements in those matches were far more than statistical. Team-mates speak of how his courageous batting often lifted the team’s morale as well as momentum, exuding the attitude that “these Bulls aren’t so impossible to crack” and taking the team with him.This was never more evident than in the 2005 Shield final, which NSW won breathlessly by a wicket. There were shades of Australia’s Johannesburg chase about it. Haddin’s 68 and 41 were his side’s highest scores in each innings, and getting the visitors close enough for a tail-ender, Stuart MacGill, to scramble the winning runs.Six years on, once Clarke had departed, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson swiftly followed. But Haddin’s NSW team-mate Mitchell Starc responded to his senior’s encouragement, building a partnership of strokes both chipper and chancy. While Starc had the time of his life, Haddin built soundly, picking off ones and twos, and twice sallying forth to thump sixes over straight midwicket. He ran the show with the assurance of a genuine leader.As Australia’s wicketkeeper of choice since 2008, Haddin has always been near the discussions of several captains, but only occasionally held formal office. He was not considered for the vice-captaincy when Michael Clarke replaced Ricky Ponting earlier this year, passed over for Shane Watson. The decision seemed largely to do with the selectors wanting a longer-term captaincy option in place should Clarke not pull himself out of the form trough that consumed his summer of 2010-11. There is also the habitual reluctance to make a wicketkeeper Australian captain.Now, however, Watson is recovering from injury, and Clarke is in something like the form of his life. Haddin’s response to leadership responsibility cannot have been lost on the national selector John Inverarity, as he continues his search for men of staunch character to build the Australian team around Clarke. Though Tim Paine and Matthew Wade are worthy successors to Haddin as a wicketkeeper, neither yet have the captaincy experience of the older man. The vice-captaincy was described by the Argus review as “an important role that should be more clearly defined”.Haddin should not be discounted as the man to serve under Clarke for the remainder of the summer, the shrewd lieutenant to a strong and natural captain. A similar dynamic worked soundly for Mark Taylor and Ian Healy during the first two and half years of the former’s reign, despite Healy never being considered likely to ascend to the captaincy himself. At 34, Haddin will never do so either, yet on the evidence of Brisbane he has much more to give Australia as vice-captain than simply as batsman/wicketkeeper. The Cape Town shot will never be forgotten, of course, but a few more days like this will allow its memory to soften.

The idea that Sachin Tendulkar might be a fallible human like the rest of us doesn’t sit well with many Indian fans. And so the wait for the milestone continues

Wright Thompson14-Mar-2012EDISON, N.J. – Not long ago, a group of Indian expats gathered in a restaurant to discuss the continuing struggles of cricket star Sachin Tendulkar. The men could have been in India, so closely does Edison resemble a subcontinent city, or at least the upscale suburb of one. Strip malls line the main artery of Oak Tree Road, block after block of sweet shops and takeaway storefronts, family-owned businesses selling saris and butter chicken. (The word for butter in Hindi is ” Coke. He’s worn a fake beard as a disguise. He’s driven his Ferrari in the middle of the night for a brief taste of freedom. His national importance is so great that he is protected by the Indian equivalent of the Secret Service. Election planners take into account his schedule; politicians know people are unlikely to vote when Sachin is batting. Once, when he failed to reach a century during the past year, a distraught fan killed himself (there were rumours of a huge gambling loss). And all these years, he’s never been ensnared by scandal, or boasted about his wealth and power.These layers of meaning are of utmost importance to the billion fans who follow Indian cricket. No figure in the game shoulders more symbolic power than Tendulkar, whose ascent to global stardom has mirrored India’s own economic rise. Both Sachin and the concept of media-fuelled narrative are children of that rise; heroes and impossible expectations are the Cain and Abel of any society that bruises its way out of the pre-modern.Through more than 20 years, his only real failure was the inability to lead India to a World Cup title. Then, 11 months ago, he achieved that, another storybook ending. It seems important to note here that, while this is slowly changing, a hallmark of Bollywood movies is white-hat saviours and black-hat villains, and crowds have actually set theatres on fire upon the introduction of gray. So the famous T-shirts that say “If cricket is religion, then Sachin is God” are more significant than if they were worn here in New Jersey.After the World Cup was won, India stopped. Crowds of euphoric fans shut down the streets of Mumbai and other cities and towns. Pizza places stopped delivering. They couldn’t get through the throngs. The most common spontaneous chant in Mumbai, echoing down the beautiful Marine Drive, was “Sachin! Sachin!”There was nothing more to accomplish.But there was. He finished the World Cup with 99 international centuries. For cricket neophytes, a century is when a player scores 100 runs in one at-bat. It is like a basketball player dropping 50 points in a game, but more prestigious. The drumbeat began in the press. Indians love statistics and symbolic displays of success. This was a perfect storm, managing to touch the soft underbelly of both national arrogance and insecurity: Thus began a media-driven quest. The 100 comes from adding Test centuries and one-day centuries, which no one had ever thought to do before. It’s not a real statistic, emerging organically like 56 or 61, but born full-grown by the narrative machine. Reaching this record, which wasn’t really a record at all, could deliver the complete victory of the myth. An easy and fitting coronation, it seemed. The defining century shouldn’t take long. He averaged one for every seven or eight times he went to bat.He’s tried 32 times since then. His last century happened 366 days ago.Never-ending symbolism
The longer Tendulkar stays marooned on 99, the more anxiety spreads through the global Indian cricket community. This includes expat neighbourhoods and colleges in the US, where this story has been hiding in plain sight from the rest of us, dominating conversation at tables and in dorm rooms while never raising a peep in the papers. Atul Huckoo’s three dinner companions host a local call-in radio show, and they’ve heard the anxiety creeping into the voices of their listeners, which grows with each failed attempt.”They want to know why,” co-host Amit Godbole said.A year ago from this chilly Monday, Tendulkar scored a century, his 98th, in a dramatic World Cup tie versus England. He got his 99th on March 12, against South Africa. The closest he’s come to 100 since was in November, against West Indies, playing in Mumbai.The at-bat lasted two days. He inched closer, crossing 75 runs, then 80. The crowd chanted his name. At Rutgers University, around 1 am, new graduate student Bhavya Sharma’s phone rang. Campuses, especially those with strong connections to India, are where the Tendulkar watch has been kept most closely in the US, as students explain to class-mates why so many Indians look like zombies in the morning. For reasons such as, say, a phone call from Sharma’s dad in India.”Are you watching?” he called into the phone.She found the match on the internet. Tendulkar was on 90. He scored four more runs. Six to go. The bowler landed it short, the ball bouncing halfway up Tendulkar’s chest. At the last split-second, Sachin opened the face of his bat just a little, and the ball sliced into the hands of a defender. Out on 94. He sighed, and as he reached the edge of the pitch, he looked around at the silent fans.

So many things are happening at once, and they have nothing to do with each other, except in the way that all things are connected. The growth rate is down. Inflation is up. The Indian cricket team is struggling. Its stars are fading. And not only is Tendulkar coming to the last act of his career, he is doing it in failure

Sharma turned off the game. Across town, a group of her friends did the same, heading for late-night food. It was Thanksgiving break, and the campus was empty and dark. It fit the mood. For these students’ entire lives, everything stopped when Sachin came to bat. One student’s grandmother won’t let anyone in the house move positions. Another’s mom refuses to cook as long until Tendulkar leaves the pitch. Everything stops until Sachin finishes. The past year has awakened people to the reality of Tendulkar finishing for good.In the same way the 1950s symbolically died with Elvis, the first rush of hope created by the new Indian economy will end when Sachin retires. The next generation will be successful but lack some hard-to-define simplicity and earnestness. So many things are happening at once, and they have nothing to do with each other, except in the way that all things are connected. The growth rate is down. Inflation is up. The Indian cricket team is struggling. Its stars are fading. And not only is Tendulkar coming to the last act of his career, he is doing it in failure.Listen to former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar. He told the on Jan. 7: “We might have left the best behind. We’ve been spoilt by success in the past 10-12 years. The big batting guns have long covered up other shortcomings but they are nearing the end. The increased dependence on Tendulkar after more than two decades is a sign of poverty.”What an odd choice of words to describe sporting failure..Blaspheming his own legacy?
The critics have drawn their long swords.Tendulkar has committed the great sin of being fallible. That’s not good enough. Everyone has an opinion about not only his life but about the inner workings of his mind. Fans and former players are calling for him to retire from one-day cricket, saying his play and his cherry-picking events are damaging both the present and future of the Indian team. One paper called the past year a “terminal decline”. The minority view that Tendulkar chases personal records instead of team wins, and that he crumbles under pressure, no matter how disproved by statistics, has gained tenuous traction.”Maybe his time has come,” a former Indian captain said.”He has to go,” said another.”It’s a monkey on his back, which is now a gorilla,” said a former Indian star.”After 50 runs,” tweeted another, “Tendulkar battles the demons in his head.”Those demons, if they exist, are his alone. Team-mates say he hasn’t mentioned the century, even in the safety of the dressing room. Sachin has said little to nothing publically about the close calls, offering a brief and contradictory interview to an Australian television station.”It is easier said than done,” he said. “It is just a number.”People can only wonder. They watch him eat lamb cutlets at his favourite curry house on Beaufort Street in Perth. They see him at a steakhouse in Adelaide called the Stag Hotel, where a DJ spins records on both levels. They follow him in the Sydney airport, Sachin smiling at the firing line of microphones and cameras, barrels bunched together, each attached to the outstretched arm of a reporter desperate for comment. They get none.The rest of the Indian team walks through baggage claim with little fuss. They climb onto an idling bus. This year has been bad for all of them. The entire team was slumping, swept in a Test series by England, then by Australia. Back home, India was boiling, calling for heads, focusing frustration onto Sachin’s personal quest, perhaps hoping this milestone, if achieved, would disinfect the rot of the past year. Or even offer a symbolic fresh start.The beauty of failure
The ghost of an Australian named Don Bradman looms over all of this. Bradman was the greatest cricketer who ever lived. Millions watched his funeral on television. Even in life people deified him, just as they’re doing to Sachin. His son, John Bradman, has spoken out against that worship. , he likes to remind people. John struggled with his dad’s legacy; for a period in the 1970s, he changed his last name, before accepting his fate and changing it back.Bradman entered his last at-bat in 1948 needing just four runs to retire with a career average of 100. The crowd at a stadium in London stood to cheer its dangerous opponent, the rumble and roar raising goose flesh around the stadium. The legend – however much part of a creation myth – says that the reaction brought tears to the stern eyes of Bradman, and, his vision blurry, he was bowled out on the second ball. That last part isn’t myth. The failure is real. He got out on the second ball and disappeared into the pavilion, his average forever 99.94 runs per game. Over the years, this number has turned into a sort of poem about the inevitability of human frailty, and the nature of the game itself.Cricket is defined by failure. In one-day cricket, a batter gets a single at-bat (an innings). In Test cricket, he gets two. A great innings takes hours, even days, and one slip of concentration, one misread of spin or bad angle with the wrists or conspiring crack in the ground – anything – results in an out. With a game so dominated by failure, it’s seen as appropriate that the greatest career ended with it, as a warning against the hubris of future generations. Men come and go. The game always wins.The last days of an epoch
The streets lay cold and empty at half past two in the morning. Suhrith Parthasarathy walked up Broadway, crossed 115th Street, arriving at the stone gates of Columbia University. As a child in India, he and his grandfather woke up at 5:30 in the morning to see matches from Australia, catching a few hours before school. Now a graduate student, he swiped his card and headed to Room 504C of the journalism school, where the window looks out at a bare tree in a tight quad, backed by the soaring glass walls of the library. Tendulkar was about to bat on this Monday night two weeks ago. Suhrith found the feed on the internet and logged into Twitter, joining in a global community.”Everybody wants him to get it,” he sighed, “so they can bloody well go on about their lives.”At Suhrith’s home stadium in Chennai, he’s seen a few Tendulkar centuries, including a famous 136 in a losing effort against Pakistan. A friend who grew up in Dubai found Suhrith in 504C and pulled up a chair. Hiten Samtani has also seen Sachin centuries in person, including two of the most famous. In April 1998, against Australia, India needed a miracle to stay alive in the Coca-Cola Cup. Before Sachin took the pitch, he told his coach: “Don’t worry. I’ll be there till the end.” Sachin finished with 143 and led India into the finals. Two days later, on his 25th birthday, he took India to a win against Australia, scoring 134. The television announcer said, 14 years ago, “This little man is the nearest thing to Bradman there’s ever been.”In the room at Columbia, the monitor glowing green from the pitch, Hiten remembered those long-ago days. “There were no physical constraints on what he could do,” he said. “He could do anything.”That night, Sachin reached 39 runs and then got his feet tangled, blocking a ball bound for his wicket with his leg. Hiten sighed. Suhrith rubbed his hands over his face. They switched off the computer and headed back out into the cold. For two days, they thought this would be Sachin’s last chance until September. Then news broke about the line-up for the Asia Cup, stunning the experts. The Indian cricket board had chosen Tendulkar. An important detail soon emerged:Sachin spoke to the selectors himself.A fleeting triumph over myth
He might never make it to 100.However unlikely, there exists the possibility that the Asia Cup will come and go, and then the next series, then another, with no century. Tendulkar is expected to play Test cricket for a few more years, which means he’ll get chance after chance. But what if he fails? A cricket writer in England, Jon Hotten, argued that, as there is beauty in Bradman’s 99.94, there would be a similar beauty if Tendulkar retired on 99. “It will contain in it this kernel of romance,” Hotten said. “He didn’t quite get the hundred hundreds, because no human being should be able to do that.”Like Bradman’s 99.94 career average, the 99 would be a poem about humanity, and failure, and about the nature of Tendulkar’s career. Because the interesting thing about the past 366 days isn’t simply that he’s failed over and over again, but that he’s kept trying under such global scrutiny. This seems like a final siege of expectation in a career flanked by it, the final struggle between the reality and the myth. What could be a more fitting coda?When you look back, it is not his unapproachable statistics that draw the most admiration, but that he managed them with a billion people on his shoulders. He’s almost at the end, and the final test isn’t of his sporting ability, but of something deeper. “Tendulkar’s greatest achievement,” Hotten said, “is he’s resisted the mad circus that’s around him. Tiger Woods, for example, it’s obviously driven him crazy in some respect. This has happened so many times with people you attach the label of genius to. I don’t know how Tendulkar has remained sane. In a way that will end up being the biggest mystery of all: How did he survive it?”The last year has been tough for fans of Indian cricket•AFPTendulkar is a closed book. He smiles and walks to the centre of the pitch. His play suggests he is bending under the weight, but he’ll never admit it. Nobody knows how he feels about the century. Bradman, for instance, never mentioned his career average in a lifetime of correspondence with the dean of English cricket writers, David Frith. There are all sorts of grievances and private insecurities in Bradman’s crowded, upright hand. But not a word about the failure that came to define his success.What does Tendulkar think about the quest? He cares enough to keep chasing it, but maybe the media and the ex-players and the manic fans are missing the point. Scoring the century doesn’t define his career, but the chasing of it does, the willingness to risk failing for the chance of success. In the past year, Sachin hasn’t blasphemed his career. He has reaffirmed it. The failure to achieve this one thing opens a rare window into the cost of all that’s been achieved already, and elevates, for a moment, the attempt above the result.The sacred journey is a familiar idea in his family. His father, a poet named Ramesh Tendulkar, often explored the theme that life is about the hard work of travelling, not the easy peace of arrival. Once he wrote these words, which now speak for his silent ageing son: .

ESPNcricinfo presents Plays of the Day for the match between Australia and India in Adelaide

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval12-Feb-2012The sacrifice
Rohit Sharma continued his good work in the field when he dived at cover-point and ran David Warner out. The batsmen reacted strangely: Warner and Michael Clarke both thought there was a single available there, but Warner was more cautious and went back in his crease when he saw Rohit had stopped the ball. Clarke, though, kept strolling towards the striker’s end. At this point, Warner left the crease to sacrifice his wicket. Perhaps it had to do with how well Clarke had been striking the ball until then. Warner was 18 off 24, and Clarke 26 off 20.The tackle
In the 48th over of the Australia innings, Matthew Wade drove Vinay Kumar towards long-on. It wasn’t well hit, and Vinay thought he could dive and save the single. Except he would have to dive around Dan Christian, the non-striker. He delayed the dive for a split second, but it wasn’t enough and he dived into Christian’s legs, tripping him. Christian, though, recovered fast enough to make the single.The run-out
Christian was run out next ball, attempting a second. It was observed immediately that he ran the second a bit casually, and that he didn’t dive for the second. Christian, though, didn’t know that the throw was coming to his end. That was thanks to the street-smart MS Dhoni. Dhoni never lets on that the throw is coming in at his end. This was a good example. While running towards the stumps, even before Christian had finished his first run, Dhoni signalled to Ravindra Jadeja to throw at his end, and then came and stood casually by the stumps, looking blank. Only when the ball approached did Dhoni get into action, and by then it was too late for Christian to dive or make up ground.The edge
In the Test at the Adelaide Oval, Virender Sehwag fell to two full tosses, both leading edges. There must be something about this track then. Today he got a terrible loosener from Clint McKay, short of a length, down the leg side, a wide if he hadn’t touched it, not a slower ball, but he somehow managed to get a leading edge on it to be caught at point. We could call it the Adelaide edge.The Clarke touch
That Clarke is going through a captaincy honeymoon has been obvious this season with how his bowling changes have brought immediate wickets. He added to that tally today with an even more startling immediacy. McKay got Sehwag with the first ball he bowled, and when Clarke brought him back in the 35th over, he struck first ball again, getting Gautam Gambhir lbw for 92.

Thami Tsolekile’s first taste of Test cricket, eight years ago, set his career back and for a time he left the game behind. But a second chance came his way and he has grabbed it

Firdose Moonda11-Jul-2012There is a desk in the Western Province Cricket Association offices that once belonged to Thami Tsolekile. Not a kit bag or a piece of cricket equipment – a desk. And a chair, and a computer, and a few notebooks and some pens. Four seasons ago, Tsolekile was a clerk. He was dropped by his home franchise, unwanted by any of the others and his cricket career seemed to be over.It was an anti-climax for a man who had promised so much. As a double international – having also played hockey for South Africa – Tsolekile was a true athlete. He had exceptional hand-eye co-ordination, was fit, fast and skilled and cricket considered itself lucky that he had opted to use the bulk of his talent on it.He was identified as a potential challenger for Mark Boucher – at that stage the word successor was not being used – and was picked for South Africa in 2004. At 23 years old, Tsolekile knew relatively little of the world but enough to realise he was largely not wanted. A public outcry and even internal administrative strife followed his call-up, tainting his short stint.Boucher had played 75 consecutive Tests and was sent to the sidelines as punishment for his rapidly growing sense of self rather than as a response to his loss of form with the bat. He was never expected to be out of the side for very long. Tsolekile knew his inclusion was merely an experiment to see if anyone else had could play in the wicketkeeper’s role.After three Tests, the selection panel was convinced no-one could. Tsolekile made his debut in India and was dropped after one Test at home against England, although AB de Villiers briefly had the gloves before Boucher returned. His self-confessed “lack of experience,” showed, especially with the bat, where he managed just 47 runs five innings. He was not as bad with gloves on but South Africa had lost the Test at Port Elizabeth, the first of the series, and wanted a quick fix. Boucher had been considered reprimanded so two Tests later was recalled and Tsolekile faded, as far away as he could, into an office job.Being managed carelessly formed a large part of Tsolekile’s retreat into anonymity. He was young and enthusiastic and having a small chance snatched away from him hurt. Although he continued play for Cobras, his spirit had been noticeably squashed. It took a call from up country to revive it.In 2009 the Highveld Lions franchise, then a struggling team, needed a wicketkeeper after Matthew Harris retired. With a history of importing players from the Cape, they asked Tsolekile if he could be lured onto the cricket field again. A new chance with a new team in a new city beckoned and even someone as disillusioned as Tsolekile could see that it would be foolish to turn them down.The change immediately paid dividends. Tsolekile took more catches than any gloveman across the franchise system in his comeback season. Given the tame nature of the Lions bowling attack then, it is not impossible to suggest that Tsolekile’s success meant he took every chance that came his way in that period. His batting had also improved – he scored his second first-class century that summer – and starred in a record partnership with Stephen Cook to the end the season with an average of 58.10.Maturity was the standout improvement in Tsolekile’s game. Once so hot headed – he was suspended by Western Province hockey for ill-discipline – Tsolekile had grown into a respectful adult. Administrators at Lions hailed and rewarded him for his leadership skills. He was picked as captain of the South Africa A side, elevated to vice-captain of the franchise and installed as leader when Alviro Petersen was on national duty. Under him, Lions qualified for the Champions League T20 in 2010, ending months of sub-standard showings.

Being managed carelessly formed a large part of Tsolekile’s retreat into anonymity. He was young and enthusiastic and having a small chance snatched away from him hurt

Tsolekile’s glovework has remained his strongest asset but with a top heavy domestic batting line-up that aspect of his game has not developed much further. Still, the selectors were satisfied enough with his progression to hand him a national contract earlier this year, something that identified him again as a successor to Boucher, who announced his intention to retire after the England series.A roadmap was laid out – in which would Boucher mentor Tsolekile – but it seemed to change course swiftly. Instead, Tsolekile was included in various A sides, such as the one that played Australia A in Potchefstroom. On a pitch that was green and where the North West Cricket Union apologised to Michael Clarke for the lack of batting practice his side had had there, Tsolekile scored a half-century. He also played in the recent two match series against Sri Lanka A, where he equalled the South African record for the most catches in a first-class innings with eight.Vincent Barnes, coach of the A side, said Tsolekile was “exceptional,” in those matches and was “definitely ready for international cricket.” Tsolekile was also due to travel to Ireland with the A side that will shadow the senior side from August. His plans have been fast-forwarded because of the enforced retirement of Boucher and he now finds himself on the cusp of playing in the year’s most anticipated Test contest.However, before he even got here, it seemed Tsolekile may find himself an outsider again. Both Gary Kirsten and Allan Donald said AB de Villiers will be the team’s wicketkeeper in the first Test. The national selectors would not confirm that they agreed with those thoughts. Instead, they announced Tsolekile as Boucher’s replacement the next day and named De Villiers as an “option”. While the selection panel picks the squad, the starting XI is chosen by Kirsten, Graeme Smith and the touring selector which leaves uncertainty over whether Tsolekile will play at all.With South Africa likely to want to include an extra batsman, he may not feature initially and judging by the reaction his call up has received in South Africa some would prefer him not feature at all. Tsolekile is not a popular choice. There have been calls for Dane Vilas, who was unimpressive in the recent Twenty20 tri-series in Zimbabwe, and Quinton de Kock, who will captain the Under-19 side and has yet to play a full season of franchise cricket, to replace Boucher and Tsolekile’s support has been slim and grudgingly given.After years of playing cricket, it is something he is used to. When he was first called up, Tsokelile was labelled a quota player. It is a term he and others of his skin colour – such as Vernon Philander – will have to put up with for years to come. In 2004, it stuck a stigma to him that he could not overcome. Eight years later, Tsolekile no longer flinches when he hears that word. He is more secure than that.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo in December he said: “I am a much better player than I was when I first played international cricket.” It is something that has also been acknowledged by selection convenor Andrew Hudson. Tsolekile feels he knows his game well enough to make an impact and even though his age, he will soon be 32, may mean he cannot think of spending the amount of time Boucher did in the international game he believes he has something to offer. Now all he needs is a chance to do that.

Grilled-chicken fiend Ajmal Shahzad is quite the mimic when it comes to other bowlers

Interview by Myles Hodgson04-Jun-2012You have just moved from your native Yorkshire to Lancashire on loan. There were several other counties interested in you, so why did you choose Lancashire?
There were a few reasons. Glen Chapple has been on the top of his game for the last few years and I want to learn as much as I can off him before he decides to call it a day. I wanted to work with Peter Moores as well. I’ve heard rave reviews about him as a coach and hopefully he can help develop my game.Presumably moving to Lancashire meant you also didn’t have to travel far from where you live?
Locality was also important. I didn’t want to be travelling up and down the country or moving about too much. I just wanted to go somewhere and start playing some cricket. I’m on the road a bit now, travelling from Yorkshire, staying in hotels, and the odd night with Ashwell Prince. It’s different but I’m enjoying it and I’ve just got to embrace it.How are you finding all the roadworks on the M62 motorway from Yorkshire to Old Trafford that have reduced the speed to 50mph for many miles?
It’s an absolute nightmare. You’re cruising at around 70mph and then you get miles and miles of 50mph and it takes you ages to get through it. If we’re training, I have to set off from Yorkshire at 6.30am just so I can get there for 8.30am and start training at 9am, but you’ve just got to get on with it. How easy has it been to fit into a new dressing room?
I thought it would be a tricky period for me, trying to fit in with the boys, but it happened seamlessly. I’ve got a few friends here, Saj Mahmood being one of the main ones, and that allowed me to fit straight in. The three days we had rained off down in Sussex [before Shahzad’s debut] allowed me to get to know the rest of the squad.What has the crowd reaction from Lancashire fans been towards you, bearing in mind the great rivalry with Yorkshire?
I got a really good reception from the crowd on my home debut at Old Trafford. My first over went well, so they clapped me in and then I bowled a wide or a no-ball and then a few more wides and they were on my back and gave me abuse! That sort of thing also used to happen at Yorkshire, but I had credit in the bank there and hopefully I can do that here.Fans at your drawn Championship match against Middlesex at Aigburth saw you change your action for part of the final day. Why was that?
I have a natural inswinger, so when the ball reverses, I swing it away. If I want to get a Waqar Younis-type inswinging yorker when it’s reversing, I have to get a bit more slingy in my action, and that’s what I tried on the final day against Middlesex. It was such a placid wicket and they were 150-odd for one, so I thought “anything goes here”, and the boys were happy for me to do it.

“I think I can bowl like Muttiah Muralitharan and I’m getting decent at it now. I keep saying to Glen Chapple that he should let me try it in a game!”

Some people said you looked like Shoaib Akhtar…
The boys were telling me to bowl like Shoaib Akhtar, so that’s what I was trying. It got to the phase of the game where you were allowed to do what you wanted to do and it was good to just go out and enjoy your cricket.What other cricketers can you mimic?
When I was younger I really used to bowl like Shoaib, but I had to stop because it put too much pressure on my back. I watch a lot of cricket on TV, so I must admit I’ve tried bowling like people in the nets. I think I can bowl like Muttiah Muralitharan, and I’m getting decent at it now. I keep saying to Glen Chapple that he should let me try it in a game! Adil Rashid at Yorkshire is brilliant at bowling like Saeed Ajmal in the nets – I used to get him to bowl at me like that so I could practise against it.What are you like at other sports?
I played badminton for Yorkshire from Under-15s to Under-17s, but again, it wasn’t really doing my back much good, so I had to give it up once I took up cricket seriously. I was good at squash and racket sports in general. I’m not really one for going out on the golf course. I tried to get into it but I’d rather put my feet up on a day off. You rarely get days off, and now that I’m on the move it’s even worse.What music do you like?
I like my dance music but I haven’t managed to influence the boys in the Lancashire dressing room at the moment. Steven Croft is the DJ man, so I’m just letting him get on with it, see how he gets on and then I can try and introduce a few of my tunes. What are you like at cooking and what can you cook?
I’m not very domesticated at all. I know this sounds really lame but I’ve just started doing boiled eggs and things like that. I can do potatoes but I’m not really a cook.Anybody who follows you on Twitter will know that you eat at Nando’s a lot. What’s so good about it?
I’m at Nando’s most of the time, which I get a lot of abuse for on Twitter, with people telling me I should branch out to other places. I just love it in there. I can get my grilled chicken with rice or whatever, and it’s healthy too. A lot of cricketers go – I think we should get a loyalty card going because we spend enough money there! When I stay with Ashwell and we talk about what we’re going to eat, he says to me, “I know what you’re thinking”, because he knows I want to go to Nando’s.

The twists and turns in India and Pakistan’s cricketing relations between late 2008 and mid-2012

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2012December 18, 2008
India calls off its scheduled tour of Pakistan in early 2009, following a directive from the government that it was not feasible “in the prevailing circumstances” in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.February 2, 2009
Pakistan bars its players from participating in the IPL after its foreign ministry deems it unsafe for the cricketers to travel to India after the terrorist attacks.March 3, 2009
Members of the Sri Lanka team are injured after a terrorist attack on the team bus in Lahore. The attack kills six security men and two civilians. Pakistan’s status as an international sporting venue, subsequently, comes under doubt.April 17, 2009
The ICC strips Pakistan of hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup because of the “uncertain security situation” in the country.September 19, 2009
Ijaz Butt, PCB Chairman, says India are open to resumption of ties in neutral venues and that the ICC has agreed to factor it in in its Future Tours Programme (FTP) post 2012.October 28, 2009
Ijaz Butt visits India as the guest of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, prompting speculation in the Pakistan media that the visit is aimed at reviving cricket ties between the two countries.November 2, 2009
The Indian board rules out the immediate resumption of bilateral matches with Pakistan, saying a call on the issue would only be taken in late 2010.December 14, 2009
Pakistan explores the possibility of playing its ‘home’ series (the one initially scheduled for early 2009, which India pulled out of) in India. Ijaz Butt says that if the BCCI is willing to reschedule the tour of Pakistan, they won’t mind playing that series in India.January 19, 2010
David Morgan, the ICC President, says he is working on persuading BCCI to play bilateral series with Pakistan.January 19, 2010
No Pakistan players are picked in the third IPL auction, prompting angry reactions from them.September 15, 2010
Ijaz Butt meets Sharad Pawar in Delhi to discuss bilateral relations and issues related to World Cup revenues.March 27, 2011
Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani accepts the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to attend the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan (it is only bilateral ties that are severed, the two countries continue to face off in multi-nation tournaments) in Mohali.April 16, 2011
The Pakistan board says it has initiated talks with the BCCI over resuming cricketing relations between India and Pakistan.Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions were invited to the 2012 Champions League T20•Shakir KhiljiJuly 6, 2011
The PCB says it is awaiting word from the BCCI on whether the Indian government will grant clearance for their scheduled tour to India in March-April 2012. Eventually, the series does not go ahead.April 9, 2012
The BCCI vice-president and IPL chairman, Rajiv Shukla, says the participation of Pakistan cricketers in the IPL is dependent on the resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral ties.May 12, 2012
The BCCI says it has no objection to a team from Pakistan participating in the Champion League.May 20, 2012
The BCCI invites PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf to watch the IPL final in Chennai.May 28, 2012
The Champions League T20 governing council approves the inclusion of Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions for the 2012 tournament, which will be held in October.May 30, 2010
Following Zaka Ashraf’s trip to India for the IPL final, during which he had discussed the possibility of a bilateral series between the two countries, he says plans for the series could be firmed up on the sidelines of the ICC’s conference in Kuala Lumpur in June.June 5, 2012
Zaka Ashraf talks to senior politicians in Pakistan about a possible series with India.June 29, 2012
BCCI president N Srinivasan and PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf meet on the sidelines of the ICC conference and agree on a series in principle, but not on any specific details. Srinivasan says he would only be able to commit after checking with the Indian authorities.July 5, 2012
Indian foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai says the resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral cricket ties is dependent on the BCCI and the PCB.July 16, 2012
The BCCI confirms a three-ODI, two-Twenty20 series will be played between India and Pakistan in December 2012 and January 2013, when England – who will be touring India at the time – head home for a Christmas break.

The highs and lows of a rollercoaster career that began when Taibu was only 18 and ended when he was only 29

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012March 2000
In a major surprise, 16-year-old Taibu is picked for a tri-series in the West Indies even before he makes his first-class debut. Three months later, he is on stand-by for the Nottingham Test after an injury puts Andy Flower in doubt.June 2001
Taibu debuts against West Indies in the ODIs, batting at No. 10.July 2001
With Flower absent, Taibu plays his first Test against West Indies in Bulawayo. Picked as a wicketkeeper, he is pushed up to No. 3 in the second innings, but fails as Zimbabwe slip to a big defeat.March 2003
Plays alongside Andy Flower during the World Cup in South Africa. Scores 117 runs at an average of 29.25.April 2004
Becomes the youngest ever captain, aged 20, when he leads Zimbabwe in an ODI against Sri Lanka, marking the occasion with an unbeaten 96. He takes over after 13 white players including seniors like Heath Streak and Grant Flower are left out following a stand-off between them and the Zimbabwe board.January 2005
One of the highlights of his career is the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka as he scores 85* and 153 to help draw the match.September 2005
His last game as captain of the side is a Test in Harare which Zimbabwe lose to India.November 2005
Resigns from the captaincy and quits international cricket after running into problems with the board. “I am doing this, 80% because of the current situation in Zimbabwe Cricket and 20% because I do not like the terms of my offered contract,” he had said. He also said he had received personal threats from a Zimbabwe Cricket official.September 2006
Expresses his intentions to try and qualify for South Africa, only to change his mind after being told the switch would be difficult.July 2007
Ends a nearly two-year absence from Zimbabwe cricket when he returns for two four-day matches against India A at home. Becomes a regular with the senior side again.April 2008
Misses matches for Zimbabwe to play in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders.July 2009
Handed a 10-match ban by Zimbabwe Cricket after allegations that he and the board’s finance general manager were involved in a public row.October 2009
Makes a comeback to the national team for the home series against Kenya and Bangladesh.August 2011
On the eve of Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket after a nearly six-year exile, he slams the country’s cricket administration for not doing enough for the game.July 2012
Announces retirement from the game to focus on working for the church

Every day, Virat Kohli’s young batting colleagues are seeing a live manual on how to manage their careers

Abhishek Purohit in Colombo01-Aug-2012Just how far is Virat Kohli ahead of his peers now? Sample this. It is an achievement for Manoj Tiwary, a very fine batsman, to get a game. Rohit Sharma, probably the most talented of the lot, wonders how he can make some runs, somehow. Ajinkya Rahane seems to have accepted his position on the sidelines for now. Kohli, the youngest of the four, thinks he has no business getting out soon after reaching a hundred. You can bat in the zone. Kohli, at the moment, is living in the zone. When you are so far ahead of others, you can feel lonely at the summit. Kohli is searching for higher peaks to conquer.You aim to improve on your routine. Kohli’s routine right now is making centuries. So now, he wants to make them “big”. As if making 133 not out, 108, 66, 183, 106, 1, 38 and 128 not out in your previous eight innings is not big enough. That 38 he made in the third ODI bothered him. He was disappointed that he got out, disappointed that he took 65 balls to make 38, disappointed because he rarely fails nowadays.”So I thought about it in the nets,” Kohli said. His brand of thinking was to bash every bowler during practice with an intensity that was searing to even watch. On the eve of this game, he was clobbering everything thrown at him in the nets. Spinner or fast bowler, Indian or Sri Lankan. He almost broke Ashok Dinda’s hand with a piledriver of a drive.Come match situation today, and Kohli the brute became Kohli the machine, again. Lasith Malinga’s swinging yorker had taken out Gautam Gambhir in the first over. Kohli jogged in and calmly left his first ball alone. The man’s aggression may be in-your-face, but he knows an international batsman has to respect international bowlers at times, though he can display his intent when he gets the chance.The first came off his ninth ball, a short one outside off from Malinga. Kohli hooked. Not the desperate hook borne out of insecurity, but a calculated, crisp one. The ball almost went for six over deep midwicket. Intent shown, he went back to displaying more respect again.He was 23 off 40 at one stage, a strike-rate lower than what he managed in the third ODI. Today, though, he was determined not to throw it away. When Kohli starts churning the singles and twos calmly, you know he has switched into marathon mode. His fifty soon came, in 65 balls, with just two boundaries.Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag sparked briefly and went, Rohit’s struggles continued, Tiwary fell after a start. Kohli was asked what his approach was with Rohit, probably playing for his place in the XI. He said he told Rohit to let him take all risks as a set batsman and try to play himself in. Too bad Rohit lasted 14 balls.Kohli finally found support from Suresh Raina. Apart from some nervy running initially, there was no knowing that they had come together at 109 for 4 chasing 252. Kohli had an explanation for the running as well. “They have some really good fielders inside and [we made] an error of judgment. You don’t run singles off good fielders. It can happen every now and then but after that [we] pretty much sorted it out – who has a good arm, who is quick across the outfield and in the inner circle. [We] made a few mistakes but corrected them quickly.”The explanation shows that Kohli and panic just don’t go together. “It is very easy to [panic],” Kohli said, before going on to tell why he doesn’t. “When you play about eight dot balls it is very easy to step out and go for that big one. But when you get out you realise that you lose one more wicket and the new guy going in, he might play 10-15 dot balls more. So you have that advantage over that guy coming in to bat because you are set. You can actually start rotating the strike and hit the odd balls in between for boundaries.”It is all about analysing what’s going on in the middle. Today was not one of those quick wickets. Wickets in Sri Lanka are pretty slow so it was all about assessing that. We have players like Viru [Sehwag], Suresh and MS [Dhoni] coming in who can smash the ball at will. My job was to make sure we don’t lose any more wickets. That’s what I and Suresh discussed in the middle. Because defending 250 you need to take wickets at regular intervals. So our main plan was to stop that and try and create some sort of partnership. We knew we had the batting Powerplay and we [can] cash that in the end.”Fifty-five runs came in the batting Powerplay, Raina got to another fifty, Kohli to another century, after which he finished the game in the 43rd over with eight boundaries off his final 16 deliveries. Kohli’s been cracking hundreds for nearly a year now but he said the vice-captaincy, which he got during the Asia Cup in March, had made him more responsible.”If people think you have those qualities for handling responsibility … I have been given a post, I was happily surprised with it and I feel much more responsible when I play in the middle. Not that my behaviour or my attitude towards my team-mates has changed. It is all about thinking yourself in a more responsible way. That’s how you get more mature. If you are given challenges you got to live up to it and it makes you mature as a player and as a person as well.”His growing maturity and productivity is reflected in the fact that he has already made more than a 1000 ODI runs this year, after making 1381 in 2011. We are fortunate to be witnessing one of the most productive streaks in international cricket. His young peers are lucky to be witnessing a live manual every day on how to manage their careers. Whether they learn from it, and how they apply it is another matter.

Harsha Bhogle, Ian Chappell and David Hopps on the championship so far, the exits of three major teams, trends and strategies, and the upcoming knockouts

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2012
How big a disappointment was the performance of the weaker teams in the first round? (2.23 – 4.35)
Ian Chappell: There are many problems with cricket and this is one of them. You’re just not seeing any progress from the Associate nations. Bangladesh [a Full Member], you wouldn’t say they are any closer to winning a World Cup now than when they started. The problem with a lot of the other countries, like Canada, is that so many of their team are expat Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, with perhaps the odd Englishman or Australian thrown in. Until you’re going to get the bulk of the team made up of locals, I’m not sure you can think you’re making a hell of a lot of progress. I believe the only way to globalise the game is through T20, but I’d like to see a bit more progress.David Hopps: Afghanistan were the most exciting of the sides that didn’t qualify. Bangladesh, they are so frustrating. You could understand if they missed out because they didn’t have big, strapping fast bowlers, but part of the reason they missed out was because their fielding was absolutely incompetent at times. There was no excuse for that with the amount of years they’ve been playing at the top level and still to be fielding so poorly in the match in which I saw them. Ireland, every time they find a world-class player, England steals them. There’s no future for Ireland if that keeps happening.Where did India fall short? (4.36 – 8.05)
IC: Against Australia, their bowling was disgraceful. Selection has been a problem for Indian cricket, not just in T20s but overall. The panel that’s now gone has been poor, really poor. I don’t think they’ve had any vision, guts. A classic example is when they came to Australia – their side was losing badly and they did nothing to revitalise things. India can only hope the new panel has got some guts and some vision.DH: India’s lack of bowling has been an issue for them and it’s one of the reasons why they’ve gone out, and I also think the balance of the side was wrong. Last night they’d seen the Pakistan spinners bowl well, they knew they’d have to dismiss South Africa cheaply, and then, in the middle of the innings, you’ve got two part-time spinners bowling crucial overs, where if they didn’t get three wickets for 20, they were out of the game. Where’s Harbhajan Singh? I just don’t understand the selection.What are the reasons for England’s exit from the Super Eights? (8.06 – 11.52)
DH: There are many. They didn’t have Kevin Pietersen, for a start. It’s a very deep issue and it was an issue of team ethics that had to be resolved, and it was important that England resolved it. It certainly weakened England as a team and we certainly shouldn’t be blind to that. England had a slightly different attitude; they seemed to be emphasising a more careful start in the first six overs, so if you’re going to play like that, why is Ian Bell not there?All the young guys didn’t particularly play well, the Buttlers, the Bairstows, the Kieswetters. They’ve been to the subcontinent before, England brought them last year to give them some preparation. None of them did particularly well. You don’t learn as an English batsman to bat in Sri Lanka in five minutes, no matter how good you are.IC: This is a problem not just with England. I think some teams have got carried away picking guys who are specialists in a format of the game, but where they’ve done well is basically at a lower level, i.e. at the domestic level, in that form of the game. Any day of the week, give me the guy who can make runs or get wickets at international level, as an international player. If he is any good, he is going to adapt to whatever length of time the administrators give him to play the game.South Africa were a classic case. To me, [Richard] Levi is a classic example of a player they’ve picked because he’s succeeded at domestic level in that form of the game. If a fellow has proved he can make runs in the 50-over international game, why the hell can’t he make runs in a 20-over game?How have the pitches behaved so far? (11.53 – 14.20)
IC: It doesn’t matter what format of the game you’re playing, your bowlers are going to win you the matches. The batsmen might set them up, but the bowlers will win them for you. The further you go in the tournament, the more likely that’s going to be the case. I feel sorry for the curators. When you are using the same three or four pitches, rolling them, the grass has got to die. Therefore, you know that as the tournament goes along the scores are going to get lower, which surely sends you the message that the bowlers are going to be pretty important. The pitches in Colombo [with more turn] were far from unplayableDH: I thought the Pallekele pitches held up marvelously well. I’ve not seen a ground as good as Pallekele in Sri Lanka before, and I’ve not seen pitches as good. They were ideal for this tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket has really kicked forward in what they produced at Pallekele. They brought in agricultural experts to discuss soil composition, the square of the pitches, and they’ve gained the rewards they deserve.Have teams picked sides according to the conditions, and what about some questionable tweaks in the batting order? (14.21 – 16.47)
IC: Isn’t that the idea of selecting a cricket team? Everybody talks about a well-balanced bowling attack, which you’ve got to have, but you also need a balanced batting line-up. Surely, the success of Sri Lanka and Australia in particular has got to tell you that you put your best three batsmen at the top for the simple reason that you give them the longest opportunity to score runs. Sending some guy in to whack a quick 15 or 20, to me is a total waste of time.

“You’d have to say, [in terms of] the natural cricketers who have come through in the last 15 to 20 years, Pakistan is way ahead of every other country”Ian Chappell

DH: The top three for Australia and Sri Lanka have been wonderful. And yet, even Ian would admit that if Australia go 10 for 2, they could easily be in trouble.T20 has changed in that the preservation of wickets matters much more now, as teams believe they can go hard with wickets in hand in the last few overs. (16.48 – 18.38)
DH: You give a game to professional cricketers surrounded by coaches and analysts and they’ll make the game professional. The years are gone where it was clown’s hats and red noses. Cricketers are now trained to play this game as a proper professional cricket match and every year it becomes more and more intelligent.IC: And it’ll also vary with the conditions. You give them flat pitches, and they’ll go and belt the first six overs. But if you give them a pitch where the bowler’s got a bit of a chance, no international batsman likes to throw his wicket away. and if he thinks the odds are bid in favour of the bowler, he’ll play with a bit of caution, don’t worry.Shane Watson has been impressive, but there are concerns over Australia’s middle order (21.15 – 24.40)
IC: No doubt about that. At the Champions Trophy, the semi-final and the final, he does have a history of rising to the occasion – that was as a batsman. The fact that he’s become the go-to man for Australia, if they need to get a breakthrough… and he’s now a senior player. You get some guys that are buoyed by the responsibility, there are others who are weighed down by it, and he certainly appears to be the type of player who is buoyed by it.Could it be Sri Lanka’s turn this time?•ICC/GettyAustralia’s original mistake was picking a captain first and picking the other ten players around him. In all the years that I have followed cricket, Australia have picked a team and then found somebody from that XI who can captain the side. If you’re going to tell me you can’t do that now, I’m going to say, “You’re talking rubbish.” If you play Bailey, two things happen: Either one of [Glenn] Maxwell, [Cameron] White or David Hussey has got to go out, and it’s been David Hussey in this tournament. That’s a mistake because Hussey is a dynamic player, all three are more dynamic than Bailey. The second problem is, he comes in at a time when all of those three batsmen should really be coming in.DH: You could argue the same about West Indies. Darren Sammy is a big-hearted, affable, very popular skipper, but if you look at his role in the side, he doesn’t bowl well enough, doesn’t bat well enough, and he affects the balance at No. 8.Saeed Ajmal has been the bowler of the tournament so far. (25.18 – 31.06)
IC:: He’s got a couple of things going for him, in that he’s pretty confident and he’s very smart. He’s got a hell of a lot of confidence in himself, which is a natural trait, but the more success you have, the more confident you become.DH: The romantic story, though, is Akila Dananjaya. In England, it is almost impossible to comprehend that a 19-year-old lad can be pulled out of the nets and suddenly appear in World Twenty20. To be hit in the face after failing to take a catch, having a slightly fractured cheekbone and still to be bouncing back two days later says a lot about his bottle. It’s a great story.IC: I’ve come to the conclusion that you either have very good coaching when you’re young or you’re better off to have none and just play a hell of a lot of cricket. I think the Pakistan system, when you’re playing in the streets or wherever you can get a game, you just play a hell of a lot of cricket… it helps you know your game. Greg [Chappell] has said this to me many times, that what a young player gets today is a structured nets session or he’s playing in a match. Look at how Sachin Tendulkar developed his game, with his coach taking him from one game to the other on the maidans. It’s not a bad way to develop. I’ve heard Imran [Khan] say about the lack of structure in the first-class system in Pakistan, and that’s probably true. For actually producing cricketers, you’d have to say, [in terms of] the natural cricketers who have come through in the last 15 to 20 years, Pakistan is way ahead of every other country.Which team has impressed you the most? (32.05 – 34.06)
DH: I didn’t tip them at the start of the competition because I thought there was too much pressure on Sri Lanka from the people in Sri Lanka. They’d done so well to get to so many finals, and I thought the expectation level was too high. I’ve been in Pallekele, I’ve seen the way they’re responding to the crowd, the bits and pieces of their game seem to be coming together. The top order is in good form. I fancy Sri Lanka.IC: Pakistan don’t surprise, they’re so inconsistent, and that’s what makes Pakistan cricket more interesting to watch. You go along to the ground and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. That’s why you watch sport. If West Indies get their bowling together, they’re going to take some beating. That batting line-up is seriously dangerous.Numbers Game question (34.11 – 37.54)
In the 2012 World Twenty20, the lowest scoring rate is in the first over. In which over is the scoring the second lowest?