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The Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf, on their bumper bids at 2011 IPL auction and what they could expect from their new teams

Tariq Engineer08-Jan-2011Among the big winners on the first day of the 2011 IPL auction were the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, whose combined bids totalled US$4m. While Yusuf, who was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.1m, was always expected to attract one of the highest bids, Irfan commanding $1.9m was something of a surprise.Irfan is still recovering from a back injury and hasn’t played competitive cricket since last season’s IPL (almost nine months ago). Yet, there was strong interest from five franchises at the auction, with Delhi Daredevils ultimately emerging victorious over Kings XI Punjab, which had bought Irfan in the 2008 auction for half of what Delhi paid this time around.”It is a very good start to 2011,” Irfan told ESPNcricinfo. “People think I am an important player. I am very pleased. It is a great feeling for the whole family.”Irfan, who watched the bidding live on television, admitted the high price tag would only add to the scrutiny of his performances as he targeted a return from his injury, but said it was all part of the game. “To be very honest, the more money, the more pressure there is. [But] pressure will always be there, whether you are playing for your country, or playing domestic cricket.”I am feeling much feeling better. The way I am bowling, I will be able take any pressure.”Irfan was not selected in India’s 30-man squad for the upcoming World Cup because of his injury and while he expected to return to competitive cricket with Baroda for the domestic one-day tournament in February, he realised the IPL was his best chance of attracting the attention of India’s selectors ahead of India’s tours to England and the West Indies next summer.”It is a big platform for me. The whole world is watching it. Even though it is only a four-over game, people come to know what you can do. I want to play for my country. That is why I am working for hard. The best recognition you get playing for your country. It can’t be replaced by money.”Irfan had an impressive IPL in 2010, even though Punjab finished at the bottom of the table. He was the team’s third highest run-scorer with 276 runs at an average of 34.50 and a strike-rate of 148.38. He also took 15 wickets at a strike rate of 18.50 and an average of 28.40. He described his time with Punjab as “very memorable”, saying it was an experience he would cherish all his life, and called Preity Zinta, among the co-owners of the franchise, “an amazing boss”. He was also flattered that the franchise tried so hard to buy him this time around as well, but said now that he had a new team, it was time to look ahead.”Delhi has been a really good side in the IPL and been performing really well even though they haven’t lifted the cup. It is one of the biggest cities in India and has a larger fan base. I have played with Viru [Virender Sehwag] and I am looking forward to playing for Delhi.”Yusuf, too, said he was very pleased with the result of the auction, both for himself and Irfan, but added he wasn’t thinking as far ahead as the IPL as his focus was on the ODI series against South Africa and then the World Cup. He did, however, admit he would miss playing for Rajasthan Royals, for whom he scored a memorable 37-ball hundred against Mumbai Indians, an innings Shane Warne called the best he had ever seen.”Obviously I will miss Warne and Watson and the rest of team,’ Yusuf said. “At the same time, I have always enjoyed playing in Kolkata because the people there love their cricket, and are passionate about it. The atmosphere is great. This is a great opportunity. It will be a new team, new players, but I have played with many of them. It won’t be too difficult to adjust to the new set-up.”Yusuf said Kolkata had the makings of a good team and could potentially make the final with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir and himself. He tipped Gambhir, under whose leadership he played in the ODI series against New Zealand, where he made savage match-winning hundred, to captain the side. He was also looking forward to being part of a team owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.”Shah Rukh likes his cricket. Whatever match is there, he comes to the ground and watches. I will get to learn something new here.”

The English umpire, Mark Benson, has confirmed his retirement from the ICC elite panel, and will see out his career on the county circuit

Cricinfo staff05-Feb-2010The English umpire, Mark Benson, has confirmed his retirement from the ICC elite panel, and will see out his career on the county circuit, following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test between Australia and West Indies in December.Benson hit the headlines on the opening day of the second Test on December 4, when he was reported to be upset over several incidents involving the Umpire Decision Review System, one of which led to his original decision against Shivnarine Chanderpaul being overturned.He withdrew from the contest and flew back to England while the match was still taking place, although the ICC later claimed his withdrawal had been on the grounds of ill-health.”I have enjoyed my time on the elite panel immensely,” said Benson in an ICC statement on Friday. “The opportunity to be part of the global game has given me memories that I will always treasure. But travel and being away from home takes its toll on the family and some warning bells have started to ring regarding my health.”So, having thought about it carefully, I feel now is the right time for me to step down and move to a more settled and familiar environment in England.”Although Benson’s contract was not due to expire until the end of June 2010, he asked if he could be released from it three months early so he could take up a contract with the ECB and this request was granted.”I’d like to thank the ICC and my umpiring colleagues on the elite panel for their support over the years,” added Benson. “Umpiring at the top level has been a very rewarding experience for me and it is not an easy decision to walk away from it but I believe it is the right one as far as my health and family are concerned.Vince van der Bijl, the ICC’s umpires’ and referees’ manager said: “Mark’s immense love for and enjoyment of cricket shines through his umpiring. His on-field calm demeanour will be missed, as will his friendly and easygoing disposition.”We fully understand and support his decision, which was brought on by a desire to spend more time in England with his family and some concerns about health issues. He will add richly to the county circuit as he is a talented and hugely experienced umpire and we wish him great success.”In total, Benson umpired 27 Tests, 72 ODIs and 19 T20Is, including the final of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 final in Johannesburg in September 2007. He had been on the elite panel since 2006 and was offered a contract by the ECB to return to domestic cricket as a first-class umpire.

Jewell, Came make half-centuries, but Olly Stone goes wicketless at start of loan spell

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay08-Sep-2025Toby Roland-Jones led Middlesex’s fightback with his best Rothesay County Championship bowling figures of the season after promotion rivals Derbyshire had threatened to dominate with the bat on the opening day at Lord’s.Caleb Jewell and Harry Came both hit half-centuries as they forged a century partnership to give the visitors a strong platform at 124 for one before Roland-Jones struck back with four wickets in the space of 27 balls.The former Middlesex captain eventually finished with six for 77, while Ryan Higgins and Zafar Gohar shared the other four wickets evenly as Derbyshire, who began the day with a 24-point gap to second-placed Glamorgan, were bowled out for 283.In reply, Middlesex openers Sam Robson and Josh de Caires trimmed that deficit slightly prior to stumps, reaching 12 without loss.The Seaxes’ pace attack included two red-ball debutants in the shape of Olly Stone, signed on a short-term loan from Nottinghamshire, and 18-year-old Sebastian Morgan – yet there were slim pickings for either when the visitors won the toss and chose to bat on a benign surface.Higgins achieved the solitary breakthrough of the morning session, pinning Luis Reece in front of his stumps with a ball that nipped back down the slope, but Jewell and Came batted through to lunch largely untroubled.The Australian was quick to punish anything loose outside off stump, dispatching an early short ball from Roland-Jones to the cover fence before handing the same treatment to a Stone half-volley.Came settled in following an uncertain start, when Stone beat his outside edge a couple of times and began to take advantage of the short boundary on one side, keeping pace with his partner.It was Jewell who reached his half-century first, nudging a single from the opening ball of the afternoon session, while Came’s arrival at that landmark was more eye-catching as he pulled Stone into the Mound Stand for six.The pair extended their partnership to 105 before it was eventually broken by Higgins, returning for a second stint from the Nursery End and knocking back the left-hander’s off stump for 56.Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen, marking his 500th overall appearance in the county’s colours, was soon up and running with two quick fours off Higgins, but his side’s momentum was stemmed by a destructive spell from Roland-Jones.Came was first to go, caught behind off an inside edge for 64 and Brooke Guest was castled having misjudged the line before Roland-Jones got another delivery to rear back and trap former Middlesex man Martin Andersson leg before.Roland-Jones claimed the prize wicket of Madsen in identical fashion to leave Derbyshire apparently wilting at 177 for six, only for Anuj Dal and Zak Chappell to mount a recovery with their stand of 48.Dal eventually departed on the stroke of tea, succumbing to a thin edge off Gohar and the spinner also picked up the wicket of Chappell, but Ben Aitchison’s watchful 36 secured his side a batting bonus point.However, Roland-Jones wrapped up the innings by having both Aitchison and Jack Morley caught behind with the new ball and Middlesex successfully negotiated the day’s remaining seven overs without alarm.

England captain admits she’d have featured in WPL ‘in an ideal world’ but focus is NZ series

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2024Heather Knight says she has no regrets about pulling out of the WPL and missing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s trophy-winning campaign, as she prepares to lead her side in the first of five T20Is against New Zealand in Dunedin on Tuesday.Knight, 33, withdrew from the tournament, which concluded with RCB’s victory over Delhi Capitals on Sunday, when it became clear that the schedule would impinge on her ability to lead England in the T20I leg of the New Zealand tour, which forms a key part of the team’s preparations for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.Her place in the RCB squad was taken by South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk, who featured just once in the campaign, while seamer Lauren Bell also withdrew from the UP Warriorz squad to focus on her England preparations.A core of England’s established T20I players – including Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt, Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone – chose to stay on in India and will link up with the T20I squad ahead of the fourth and fifth matches later this month. As England captain, however, Knight said she was clear where her priorities lay.”I was always going to come [to New Zealand], so that was quite an easy decision for me,” she said. “As captain, I wanted to be here and I want to be around the team for the build-up, and those three games.”The ideal world would have been to leave the WPL a little early, but that wasn’t an option to do so, because of the rules about replacement players. We wanted to have someone available for the whole competition. Those are the choices that players have to make now, it can be quite tricky, but I think it’s really important that it’s made on an individual level.”Given the timezone difference, Knight said she hadn’t watched the final, in which RCB hunted down Delhi’s target of 114 to win by eight wickets with three balls to spare, but had watched the highlights that morning, and had been kept abreast of the celebrations, not least through her England team-mate Kate Cross, who was an unused squad member.Related

• England players in a dilemma as WPL clashes with NZ T20Is

• ECB 'explored every option' to avoid WPL clash with NZ tour

• Nat Sciver-Brunt: 'I'd be lying if I said money wasn't a factor'

• Kerr, Devine unavailable for opening T20I against England

“I was getting a few messages, from Kate who’s there and obviously some of the overseas [players] as well. I was really pleased for them that they managed to win, after quite a tough year last year. I guess I could have been there, but I’m not really thinking about that. I’m super happy to be here. Obviously the right thing for me, and for the team, was for me to be here.”Despite the scheduling clash, Knight insisted that England would benefit from the split priorities, both from the WPL contingent’s exposure to subcontinental conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September, and from the extra competition for places that will arise in their absence for the first three T20Is.”The right thing for me was to be here, but I still think we’re going to get a really good benefit as an England team,” Knight said. “Alice Capsey playing in a big final yesterday, that’d be a really good experience for her, and hopefully England will benefit down the road, with a World Cup coming up in Bangladesh.”It’s a tricky one. It’s getting a little bit tougher for players to make these decisions because they have so many different options now. In an ideal world, you’d have windows [in the schedule]. There is a little window, but a day in between [games] isn’t realistic, obviously, to fly across the world and play.”But I’m quite an optimistic person, I’m looking at the positives that we’ve got. We’ve got a huge opportunity for some of our younger players to play a really good role [in New Zealand], and by making the choice around the first three T20s to have a different squad, the girls at the WPL have a little bit of a chance to take a few days off as well, and get used to New Zealand and get the flight out of their legs.”It’s not an ideal situation, but I think there’s some really good positives that will hopefully benefit the England team moving forward.”In terms of the challenge awaiting England in Dunedin, Knight admitted that the damp weather meant that the conditions could be similar to early-season England, but expected a good wicket with a bit in it for batters and bowlers alike.”It’s been nice to get acclimatised,” she said. “The weather’s made us feel quite home to be honest, it’s a little bit cold and miserable out there now. But the main thing is just adapting to being on grass again, and getting really clear on our mindset about how we’re going to play tomorrow. We’re obviously excited to get going. It’s been a long build-up.”

“The most important thing for our bowlers is to make sure the Australian batters work really hard for their runs”

Tristan Lavalette28-Nov-20221:38

Holder: We’ve put the T20 WC behind us, the focus is on Test cricket

On what is expected to be a bouncy and quick Optus Stadium pitch – a far cry from the slower Caribbean surfaces – West Indies’ pace attack has been urged to be restrained and patient against the experienced Australia batters in the first Test starting on Wednesday.Having not won a Test in Australia for 25 years, West Indies are the underdogs in the two-Test series, but their talented quicks provide hope of a positive result in likely bowler-friendly conditions. While it will be tempting for them to unleash an all-out assault against a team returning from a four-month Test break, they have been advised against bowling too full or too short at a ground where runs can come quickly.Related

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• Smith feels primed for big summer despite hip niggle

“People get carried away seeing carry and bounce, but you still have got to find a really good length suitable for the wicket,” Jason Holder said on Monday. “Understanding when to attack, when to defend, and just understanding the context of scenarios and the phase of the game.”I think the most important thing for our bowlers is to make sure the Australian batters work really hard for their runs. We’ve just got to assess the conditions early and make the necessary adjustments.”Holder said he would be available to bowl in the Tests after not being used during the two warm-up matches.Anticipation is building for fiery quick Alzarri Joseph’s first Test in Australia. In a bid to rattle a veteran Australia top order, Joseph is expected to be used in short, sharp bursts in warm Perth.”He’s got pace and he’s very aggressive. A guy who will be an enforcer,” Holder said of Joseph, who can consistently bowl at around 145kph/90mph. The added responsibility underlines Joseph’s growing maturity after making his Test debut as a 19-year-old in 2016.”I was actually quite shocked that he’s 26… we celebrated his birthday on tour recently,” Holder said. “It’s amazing the time that has flown, so good to see him fit and healthy. He’s obviously developed a lot as he was very introverted, and didn’t say much in the dressing room. He’s a lot more comfortable around his peers, he’s one of the more seasoned campaigners when it comes to all-format cricket.”Joseph should form an exciting pairing with Jayden Seales, who has burst on to Test cricket with 36 wickets at 21.77 from nine matches.”I think Jayden has a lot of skill… he has swing and control. I think that’s his two greatest attributes,” Holder said. “Maybe there won’t be much swing in these conditions but he’s good enough to extract some seam movement.”Jason Holder expects Jayden Seales to extract seam movement in Perth•Getty Images

While West Indies’ dip in white-ball cricket was underlined by an early exit at the T20 World Cup recently, they have shown glimpses of a Test rebirth marked by an impressive home victory against England in March.”If you look at the nucleus of the Test side, I think we’ve been together for the last five, six years,” Holder said. “I think that is really important in comparison to the other sides… probably a little bit more chopping and changing.”I think our long-format cricket has really developed, so it’s really good signs and a lot of our players are developing.”With West Indies refreshed after a much-needed breather, Holder took inspiration from quick Kemar Roach’s memorable venomous spell against Ricky Ponting at the WACA in 2009 as they eyed ending a hoodoo in Australia.”It’s a tour that people can make their names. Kemar Roach… has gone on to be one of our leading bowlers,” Holder said. “We’ve been through a lot as a side and it’s not going to be an easy tour.”

Mominul Haque’s men have lost three of their four Tests this year and might be without Tamim Iqbal for this one

Mohammad Isam06-Jul-2021

Big picture

With not much at stake in the one-off Test between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Harare, there is hardly any pre-match buzz. Zimbabwe are not part of the World Test Championship. Bangladesh are. But the home side has shown that it can provide stiff competition to higher-ranked sides in the longest format at times.The match was expected to mark the comebacks for some key players. But Sean Williams and Craig Ervine have both been forced to self-isolate after coming in contact with Covid-19 positive family members. Brendan Taylor will be the stand-in captain for Zimbabwe.Bangladesh will welcome back allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who missed most of the West Indies series at home because of a left thigh injury and opted out of the Sri Lanka Tests in April to play in the IPL. Shakib brings the perfect balance to the Bangladesh side with his aggressive batting, accurate left-arm spin, and tremendous experience.Related

• Chatara returns to Zimbabwe Test squad after three years

• Rahim suffers hairline fracture ahead of tour of Zimbabwe

• Domingo: Iqbal doubtful for Zimbabwe Test, Rahim on track

Zimbabwe have much to do in this Test after Pakistan crushed them in both Tests in their last series at home. Tendai Chatara returns to the Test squad, with Blessing Muzarabani very much the leader of the pace attack, while wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva has recent form on his side, having done well against Pakistan. Zimbabwe have also included four uncapped players – opener Takudzwanashe Kaitano, fast bowler Tanaka Chivanga, and batters Joylord Gumbie and Dion Myers – in their 20-member squad. Myers, in particular, has been impressive lately, with two half-centuries against South Africa A last month.The visitors will have nothing but a win on their mind after losing three of their four Tests this year. As for Mominul Haque, he has won just one of his eight Tests as captain. He has often not had the services of all the big guns, and might be without Tamim Iqbal for this one.Haque will also expect the likes of Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Liton Das, who have all been plagued by inconsistency, to contribute. For Bangladesh, the pace attack will be led by Abu Jayed and Taskin Ahmed. However, given the nature of the Harare pitch, the spin duo of Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz might have a big role to play.Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are locked at seven wins apiece over the years, with three of their 17 matches ending in draws.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLWL
Bangladesh LDLLW
Brendan Taylor has scored five of his six Test centuries against Bangladesh•AFP

In the spotlight

Against Bangladesh, Brendan Taylor often brings out something special. On two occasions in the last seven years, he has scored hundreds in each innings of a Test against Bangladesh. Taylor also has five of his six Test centuries against the opponents and will once again be a vital cog in the Zimbabwe line-up.Taskin Ahmed has worked hard on his fitness and skills in the rebuilding phase of his international career. He is not a newbie anymore in the Bangladesh attack and can bowl consistently for long periods. In conditions where patience will be key, Ahmed could play a crucial role for Bangladesh.

Team news

With Williams and Ervine in self-isolation, Milton Shumba could continue in the middle order, while newcomers Joylord Gumbie and Dion Myers may also be considered. Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Kevin Kasuza, 2 Takudzwanashe Kaitano, 3 Regis Chakabva (wk), 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Milton Shumba, 6 Joylord Gumbie/Dion Myers, 7 Donald Tiripano, 8 Roy Kaia, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Blessing MuzarabaniShakib’s return will give Bangladesh the balance they missed in Sri Lanka in April. Iqbal remains an injury concern although Mushfiqur Rahim, who suffered a hairline fracture on his left index finger ahead of the tour of Zimbabwe, could be fit to play.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim, 7 Liton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Abu Jayed, 11 Shoriful Islam

Pitch and conditions

Spinners might play a bigger role as the Test progresses at Harare Sports Club, where pitches tend to be on the slower side. Conditions are likely to be dry.

Stats that matter

• Shakib needs 70 more runs to complete the double of 4000 runs and 200 wickets in Test cricket. The other members of this elite group are Garry Sobers, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Daniel Vettori and Jacques Kallis.
• This is the third one-off Test between the two sides, with both having won one each in 2011 (Zimbabwe) and 2020 (Bangladesh).

Quotes

“They have improved massively in the last 18 months in their understanding of fast bowling, skillset and endurance. I don’t think that day is too far away when a fast bowler wins Bangladesh a Test match in tough conditions.”
“It is going to be a lot more competitive especially in our home conditions. We know our conditions quite well. It is always a big challenge playing in their backyard. Hopefully we have tailored the conditions to suit us. We have a young vibrant team, and we are excited to get going.”

Devon Conway took the men’s domestic title for the second year running

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2020Tim Southee and Tom Latham bagged first-class awards while Devon Conway and Katie Gurrey were recognised for their domestic performances in the New Zealand Cricket annual awards.Southee took the Winsor Cup for first-class bowling after claiming 41 wickets at 22.31 over the voting period with eight of his nine matches being Tests where he claimed 40 scalps.Latham scored 875 runs which included centuries against Sri Lanka and England plus 224 for Canterbury against Wellington in the Plunket Shield – the same match where Conway scored an unbeaten 327.ALSO READ: Ian Smith honoured by NZC for ‘outstanding services to cricket’“It’s a great honour,” Southee said during the awards which are being presented virtually throughout the week due to the coronavirus pandemic. “When you see the great players who have won the award in the past it’s pretty humbling to see my name on it.””The Test win in Colombo was really special as we were able to bounce back from a defeat in Galle in challenging conditions. The way we played our Test cricket at home this summer was especially pleasing. To beat England first up was a great effort and then to perform so well against a very good Indian side was immensely satisfying.”On the domestic front Conway, who was born in South Africa and becomes eligible for New Zealand in August, made it back-to-back player of the year titles following a prolific season for Wellington where he became the first player to top the run-scoring across all three formats: Plunket Shield 701 runs at 87.72, Ford Trophy 553 runs at 55.30, T20 Super Smash 543 runs at 67.87.”It was a brilliant season for the Firebirds,” he said. “We’ve got a great culture in the team and to claim two of the three trophies was a huge effort; especially winning the Plunket Shield after something like 16 years which was really special.”I didn’t ever expect to win this award two years in a row so it’s certainly something I’ll cherish and it’s a pretty awesome feeling to be honest. I’ve got to say thank-you to the team management, support staff and my team-mates – I couldn’t have achieved these awards without their help so I’m really grateful to them.”Gurrey was named women’s domestic player of the year and also took the domestic batting honour after compiling 992 runs in the one-day and Super Smash tournaments. “It means a lot,” she said. “To win any award at this level is a great honour. It’s one of those awards that you hope you may win one day – and now to have achieved it is an amazing feeling.”Jess Kerr, who made her ODI and T20I debuts earlier this year and was part of the T20 World Cup squad, took the domestic bowling prize after claiming 20 wickets in the Super Smash – the most across the men’s and women’s tournaments.The international segments of the awards will take place on Thursday and Friday along with the announcement of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal.

Wasim Jaffer smashed 206 to blunt the Uttarakhand attack, while UP extended their lead to 349 despite losing eight wickets on the third day against Saurashtra

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2019Wasim Jaffer’s double-hundred, clubbed with R Sanjay’s 141, helped Vidarbha add 299 runs to their overnight score of 260 for 1 in 90 overs by the close of the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals against Uttarakhand in Jamtha, Nagpur. The defending champions in turn collected a 204-run lead in their mammoth 559 for 6.ALSO READ: Kerala vanquish Gujarat to enter maiden Ranji semi-finalResuming their overnight unbeaten tallies of 111 and 112, Jaffer, who is 31 short of 1000 runs this Ranji Trophy season, stretched his second-wicket partnership with Sanjay to 304 runs, before medium-pacer Dhanraj Sharma took out Sanjay and the No. 4 batsman Ganesh Satish off consecutive overs. The two wickets coincided with Vidarbha losing three wickets for 21 runs.Jaffer, meanwhile, held up one end, shepherding the hosts close to 450. His 296-ball 206, which featured 26 fours, came to a close with Mayank Mishra having him hole out to Vineet Saxena. Wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar’s enterprising 98, subsequently anchored a sixth-wicket 118-run stand with half-centurion Aditya Sarwate, and propelled Vidarbha past 550. Wadkar fell five overs within close of play, while Sarwate remained unbeaten on 57, with Akshay Wakhare to keep him company.Cheteshwar Pujara having a banana during a practice session•Ekana Cricket Media/ Randhir Dev

On a day where 11 wickets fell for 210 runs, Uttar Pradesh extended their lead to 349 against Saurashtra in Lucknow.Saurashtra resumed from their overnight 170 for 7 but they could add only 38 more, and were bundled out for 208 in response to UP’s first-innings total of 385. Left-arm seamer Yash Dayal finished with figures of 4 for 55, while Shivam Mavi and Ankit Rajpoot picked up three wickets each. That meant Saurabh Kumar, who is three wickets away from breaking Rajinder Hans’ record of most wickets (52 in 1977-78) for UP in a single season, will have to wait.For the visitors, Harvik Desai (84) and Prerak Mankad (67) were the only ones to cross 20.In their second innings, UP were cruising at 107 for 1 before Dharmendrasinh Jadeja skittled them to 116 for 4. Rinku Singh, who scored 150 off 181 in the first innings, lasted only one ball and was caught at first slip while attempting a reverse sweep off the left-arm spinner.Priyam Garg and Upendra Yadav took the side to 162 for 4, but Chetan Sakariya then eked out three quick wickets to reduce UP to 166 for 7. Mavi too fell cheaply, just before bad light halted Saurashtra’s attempt to bowl the hosts out.Krishnappa Gowtham picked up his best figures in first-class cricket•PTI

Karnataka slumped to 45 for 3, chasing 184, in Bengaluru after K Gowatham’s 4 for 54 and Shreyas Gopal’s 3 for 52 helped bowl out Rajasthan for 222 inside 68 overs in their second dig.Left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary’s ripping six overs derailed Karnataka’s innings early as he took 2 for 9, with captain Mahipal Lomror trapping opener R Samarth in front for 16. Karun Nair persevered for his unbeaten 47-ball 18, while Rohan More aided Nair’s effort to avert further loss of wickets with five not-out.Earlier in the day, Karnataka medium-pacer Abhimanyu Mithun dealt Rajasthan the first blow on the third day, removing Amitkumar Gautam in the 11th over of the morning session. Chetan Bist, the other opener, and Lomror, meanwhile, fell to Gowtham’s offspin.Rohan Bist, Chetan’s brother, top-scored with a 73-ball 44, before becoming the first of three wickets players dismissed by Gopal. The quick-bowling duo of Mithun and Ronit more took three wickets between them, conceding 70 off their combined 22.2 overs.

Delhi coach backs 20-year old to return to form soon; says smarter shot selection could make him a bigger threat

Akshay Gopalakrishnan in Alur12-Nov-2017Less than a year ago, Rishabh Pant was the most celebrated young performer to come out of the Ranji Trophy. His 872 runs at a strike rate of 107.28 went a long way towards him getting an India cap – against England in a T20I in February – after just 10 first-class matches. Today, he’s in the middle of a rough patch and hasn’t been considered for national selection since the limited-overs series against West Indies in June, with questions raised over his temperament and shot selection.In five first-class games so far this season, Pant has managed just one half-century, a counter-attacking 67 for India A against New Zealand A in Vijayawada. In his first Ranji Trophy outing this season, against Uttar Pradesh, he wasted two strong starts. This didn’t deter Delhi’s selectors from naming him captain after Ishant Sharma’s departure to join the Indian Test squad.Gautam Gambhir had declined captaincy, and Unmukt Chand was left to concentrate on his batting. Under these circumstances, KP Bhaskar, the Delhi coach, saw an opportunity to groom a youngster. At 20, Pant is Delhi’s youngest captain in the last 12 years.”His style is not to block and occupy the crease. He can change the whole outcome of the game in a few overs,” Bhaskar told ESPNcricinfo. “But shot selection is something he can work on, especially when playing for India and expectations are high. So then the responsibility automatically comes.”The overriding concern with Pant has been the manner of some of his dismissals. He has vehemently trusted his approach of see-ball-hit-ball. Sometimes, it has been refreshing to see. Other times, it has cost him some big innings.The latest indiscretion took the form of an expansive cut shot against Karnataka in Alur. The failure to spot an arm ball from offspinner K Gowtham resulted in him losing his stumps, this after he had spent the better part of 90 minutes trying to focus and play himself in. He was nine short of a fifty, his team was 400 runs behind in the first innings.Bhaskar understands the frustration that could come with managing a player of Pant’s ability, but he is willing to remain patient. “He understands his role well. His coach at Sonnet Cricket Club, Mr. Tarak Sinha, I’m sure, is keeping in touch with him and working on his game, because with me it’s only during the season,” he said. “But I’m sure Sinha would be guiding and advising him. He is quite receptive, but you can only advise. You can’t really force him to change the way you want him to play.”Pant gives out an air of insouciance when he bats. He can also occasionally be slapdash with his words, like at the end of the fourth day, when asked about the need to play a little more responsibly, he jovially remarked something to the effect of captaincy or no-captaincy, his approach will remain the same. Yet, the one unmissable trait is his supreme confidence.His natural aptitude for stroke-making prompted Bhaskar to liken him to Virender Sehwag. The former India batsman, known for compiling monumental innings at an astounding rate, has himself hailed Pant’s ability in the past. Pant displayed similar potential when he blasted a triple-century at nearly a run a ball against Maharashtra last season.”What we saw last year is that he has the staying power of scoring 300. So he can occupy the crease and score the big runs,” Bhaskar said. “There’s no point asking him to curb his instincts. Players like (Krishnamachari) Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Kapil Dev were natural stroke-makers. How can you force or stop them? It doesn’t make sense. He’s very natural that way.”Bhaskar’s assessment is in line with Dravid’s observations of not wanting to take away Pant’s attacking instincts. The India A coach had stressed on the importance of the experience itself, after Pant’s poor series against New Zealand A.”He may not be showing it, but deep down I’m sure he must be feeling it. Now that he is out of the [India] side, he has realised it and I’m sure he must be working hard on his temperament,” Bhaskar said. “His body language is the same as it was last year, but he looks much fitter, and his keeping has definitely improved.”I have always told him: it’s easy to play for India, but your preparations – mental, physical and technical – are what will help cement yourself. That’s more important. And age is by his side. His advantage is that he’s a keeper along with batsman. (MS) Dhoni has been around for some time, but once Dhoni hangs his boots, I’m sure he will be a prime man to fill his boots.”

Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies with a comfortable eight-wicket win in Abu Dhabi that exposed the World T20 champions’ weaknesses in conditions not conducive to big hitting

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:43

By the Numbers – 18 of 20 overs by left-arm bowlers

Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies with a comfortable eight-wicket win in Abu Dhabi that exposed the World T20 champions’ weaknesses in conditions not conducive to big hitting. Sent in to bat, West Indies stuttered to 103 for 5 in their 20 overs, failing to get into gear after losing three top-order wickets to Imad Wasim’s non-turning left-arm spin.

Debutant Kesrick Williams on…

West Indies’ performance: Even though we lost the game, our guys are actually getting better. You can see some good performances coming up still. It’s tough, it’s really tough, it’s really hot there and takes a while to get adapted to the conditions but we are tough cricketers and we always look to give our 110%. Probably some played good cricket, kudos to them.
His debut: I just went out there with my mind free, not thinking that we lost the series. I enjoyed playing CPL and that’s what I did here tonight. I didn’t look at it as I was playing against Pakistan, or against Sharjeel Khan or whatever. I look at it like I’m playing cricket at home, don’t try to overthink it and do what I do best.
His wicket celebration: That celebration I formulated in the Caribbean when I got my first wicket. I just threw my hands in the air and I did a little thing, I put a little jig into it, and it was known as the ‘Kesi-Bounce’. So I’m going to stick to that, it’s my thing, my dance, it’s the way I enjoy my cricket and whenever I enjoy my cricket I do well.

Chasing less than six runs an over, Pakistan were never under pressure, especially after Jerome Taylor sprayed the new ball around in his first two overs, conceding four leg-side fours, a leg-side wide, and a set of leg-byes down to the fine leg boundary. Kesrick Williams, the debutant fast bowler, dismissed both openers in the sixth over of the innings, but Pakistan easily shrugged that setback aside as Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik steered them home with an unbroken partnership of 68 for the third wicket. Malik ended the match off the first ball of the 16th over, shovelling Carlos Brathwaite for a six over long-on.When they won the World T20 earlier this year, West Indies only really struggled in two games, a narrow win against South Africa and a defeat to Afghanistan. Both games came in Nagpur, the venue with the largest outfield and most spin-friendly pitch of the tournament. Abu Dhabi’s outfield is even larger, and while its pitch didn’t offer much turn, it didn’t give the batsmen much bounce or pace to work with. This meant West Indies would need to look outside their usual T20 template to find a trustworthy run-scoring method.They didn’t. By the start of the ninth over, three of their batsmen had been bowled by Imad’s stock in-ducker, and only one of them, Chadwick Walton, could claim mitigating circumstances. Having just come to the crease, he was undone by a back-of-a-length ball that crept through him at shin height.The previous ball, knowing fully well the dangers of going across the line to an unfailingly stump-to-stump bowler on a pitch of low bounce, Johnson Charles had attempted a slog-sweep and missed. Then, Dwayne Bravo, having added 14 with Marlon Samuels in 21 balls, was bowled through the gate going for an open-faced sliced drive.In typical T20 conditions, it is almost essential for batting teams to take such risks. In the specific circumstances of Tuesday’s game, West Indies needed a different approach. Perhaps they needed to peek into the Virat Kohli/MS Dhoni playbook, perhaps, and bunt the ball towards deep fielders and push for twos.West Indies didn’t try that approach: they only ran nine twos in their 20 overs. Not coincidentally, Marlon Samuels, never the fleetest or most enthusiastic runner between the wickets, was at the crease for all but 2.3 overs of the innings. From the non-striker’s end, he also played a part in Andre Fletcher getting run out in the fifth over.In the end, Samuels finished unbeaten on 42 off 59 balls, but he was by no means alone in struggling to up the tempo. Conditions are certainly not conducive to big hitting when Kieron Pollard ends up not out on 16 off 17 balls without hitting a boundary or a six.A lot of this was down to Pakistan’s bowling. The spinners hit an awkward, short-of-good-length area and attacked the stumps, the ideal strategy for a pitch with low bounce, denying the batsman the opportunity to get on the front foot while also imperilling the horizontal-bat shots. The three left-arm seamers, including the debutant Rumman Raees, hit the same sort of length while constantly taking pace off the ball.The few boundaries that came were off rare deliveries that offered a bit of swinging room: Samuels played a crisp front-foot cut off Imad, and pulled a too-short slower ball from Sohail Tanvir; Nicholas Pooran slog-swept Mohammad Nawaz into the grass banks, a shot that may have cleared the stadium roof in Sharjah.Two balls later, West Indies were served another reminder of the difficulty of hitting big shots on this ground, as Pooran connected meatily with another big swing only to pick out deep midwicket.