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Our correspondent takes in experiences familiar and new on the first leg of India’s tour down under

Sidharth Monga23-Dec-2014November 30
“DO NOT USE cameras, sound recorders, mobile phones or electronic forms of communication in this area. Penalty $1000.”First thing of note seen in Australia. At the immigration counter. Wally Hammond would have said, “A fine f***ing way to start a series.” A timely reminder that Australia is a fine country. Take photo of the sign. That rustling sound is the rule book in the wind.December 1
Drive to Macksville, Phillip Hughes’ hometown, about 500km from Sydney. Hughes killed by a routine bouncer in a Shield game. Shock around Australia. Tests rescheduled. Funeral in Macksville in two days. Town’s population under 3000. Will receive at least twice as many visitors on December 3.Go past the Pub With No Beer Hotel, earlier called the Cosmopolitan Hotel, and widely believed to be subject of the Slim Dusty song “Pub With No Beer”. “But there’s-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear / Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.” Named fifth-best Australian song of all time by the Australasian Performing Rights Association.Stop at the Star Hotel, by the Nambucca River, for a drink. Michael Clarke, Stuart MacGill and Hughes’ father, Greg, also there. Nice to see them smiling and laughing a little. Have a chat with two regular patrons who have never been out of town. Know Indians as Raj Koothrappali in and those who tell the weather at the Met department. Little do they know, but then they don’t look like folk who have computer problems.December 2
Spend the night in Port Macquarie. Reminded of being in Gosford, another New South Wales town, on the last trip to Australia. In New South Wales, you get stuck and spend nights in strange places. Port Macquarie replaced Newcastle as a penal settlement. Now a retirement destination. Accordingly, town is dead by 8pm.December 3
What have they done to good old Adelaide Oval? It has gone from an intimate ground to an almost intimidating stadium. Big stands all over. One over the top of the other. Cathedral not visible. Nor is the Torrens from the back corridors. Doesn’t strike you as much on this day because people have gathered to pay respects to Hughes and watch his funeral on the big screens. His brother has endearing stories of playing cricket with him in the backyard. Cousin Nino Ramunno has great anecdotes.”The only grumble Phillip had about school was in the final year. After the first day of school he came home and when he was questioned about how his day went, he complained that there were no girls there. We thought that the name Homebush Boys would have given him some indication, but no.”December 4
Bus it down to Glenelg Oval. Locals shocked I have figured out Adelaide buses. They say they have never managed to do so. Explains the empty bus.The Star Hotel in Macksville•Getty ImagesCricket back on after Hughes tragedy. Indians playing two-day tour game against Cricket Australia XI. Virat Kohli hasn’t yet made it back from the funeral, so Ishant Sharma starts as captain.Indians use Karn Sharma before R Ashwin. Bhuvneshwar Kumar not bowling or training, but team management says he is all right. Duncan Fletcher seen on the sidelines asking fast bowlers to go round the wicket. No qualms about bowling bouncers.December 5
Park 25 Oval. Watch Australia train for the first time since Hughes’ death. Nobody knows how they will react. They begin with fun and games. Dances. Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris waltz. David Warner pulls out the worm. Huddles done. Laughs shared. Warner goes into nets. Clearly not prepared for loneliness of batting. Pulls out after a few minutes of scratchy batting. Spends half an hour with team psychologist Michael Lloyd. There is a tear or three. It’s going to be a difficult summer for everyone involved.December 6
Good old Adelaide. Nothing has changed. Feels like coming back to a home town after having spent years away for work. Same friendly man at the Falafel House on Hindley Street still says “beautifuuuul” at every ingredient you ask for in your roll. Without looking up. Hookahs still being smoked all over Hindley Street as if it is rural Haryana. “Sitting in the same chair / As they were sitting in the last year / Talking about the crows / Crooooows,” sang Paul Kelly in “Adelaide”.Crows and Adelaide go back a long way. One of the footy teams is called Adelaide Crows. South Australians are referred to as crow-eaters – a term “first applied to some of the original settlers at Mount Barker who – whether from necessity or a desire to sample strange native fauna – killed, cooked and ate some crows disguised under the term ‘Mount Barker pheasants'”.December 7
One change in Adelaide, though, thanks to the new stands at the Oval. The view of the city from the statue of Colonel Light was obstructed, so it had to be raised.An inscription on the statue – an extract from Colonel Light’s diary – reads: “The reasons that led me to fix Adelaide where it is I do not expect to be generally understood or calmly judged of at present. My enemies, however, by disputing their validity in every particular, have done me the good service of fixing the whole of the responsibility upon me. I am perfectly willing to bear it, and I leave it to posterity and not to them, to decide whether I am entitled to praise or to blame.”December 8
Julius. Security guard at Adelaide Oval. Of Sudanese origin. Worked in the Australian army in the early 2000s. Served for three years in Afghanistan. Talks of his experiences there. How they used to wear x-ray vision glasses, and had to shoot people, no questions asked, if they were suspected of carrying bombs in their clothing. “Doesn’t matter if it is an old lady or a young child. Just shoot.” Julius quit the army after that experience. Doesn’t know much about cricket, but happy with a job that doesn’t involve killing.December 9
Emotional start to series. After all the tributes to Hughes, his mate David Warner scores a century. Batsmen pause on 63 – Hughes’ score when he was killed. They look up on 100. They all believe their little mate is watching over them.India carry through with indications seen at Glenelg Oval. Legspinner Karn picked over Ashwin. Aggressive intent but Karn has little first-class experience. Bowls flat. As do others. More round-the-wicket bowling. Warner scores plenty off it. Surely some independent thinker in the team needs to point out this is not working?If you possess a New Zealand ODI jersey from the early 2000s, tread carefully around Adelaide Oval•Getty ImagesDecember 10
Rain slows game down. Time enough, though, for Steven Smith and Michael Clarke to bring up hundreds. Three of Hughes’ best mates in the team have scored tons, although Clarke is playing in considerable pain.Big screen shows highlights of Chennai tied Test. Find Dean Jones in one of the commentary boxes and talk to him about the match. Fascinating to listen to him. Scandalous how two scoreboards had two different scores. Deano himself and Allan Border were under the impression India needed two to win when it was actually one, and were shocked Ravi Shastri had taken the single and exposed Maninder Singh a run short. Wisdom of taking that single still questioned by some, even if scores were level, but for a few moments Deano and AB thought they had won. Some others knew it was tied. At least one bowler thought they had lost, so fried was he by the heat and humidity.December 11
Mitchell Johnson scones Virat Kohli first ball. Opposition captain in Australia. Hit smack on helmet badge. First ball he faces in Test cricket on tour. Minutes to go to lunch. Normally Australia would be all over him. Johnson would bowl all out, and come back fresh after lunch to finish Kohli off. Not now. Here they all come up to check on the batsman. Kohli finds it all surreal and waves everyone away. Johnson goes a little soft. Kohli scores a hundred. Big moment on tour. Johnson comes back towards the end of the day to bounce Kohli again, and gets him on the top edge.December 12
Adelaide Oval has strange press-box dress code. Need collars on t-shirts. No thongs on feet. Struggle to get through Test with limited supplies of collared shirts. Wear New Zealand ODI jersey from early 2000s. Trouble is, it looks like a Port Adelaide jersey. Abused for wearing it at Crows’ home ground. Apologised to and hugged when said people realise it is New Zealand and not Port Adelaide.It takes only three days before unacceptable behaviour returns to the middle. Kohli starts it with his in-your-face send-offs. Warner gives it back when he discovers the ball that got him is a no-ball. Only gets uglier afterwards. Warner scores another century, India will need 364 to win on the final day.December 13
Mostly one-sided match has come to life because of twin declarations necessitated by rain on day two. India chase in spirited manner. Kohli scores another century. Only man other than Greg Chappell to make two on debut. M Vijay falls on 99. India collapse towards the end, but at 242 for 2 they had been a good chance to win. India can be proud of their batting, but need to remember they took only 12 wickets.Australia relieved. Been a tough week. Emotions pour out when they come out of their changing room hours later to sing the team song. Nathan Lyon, who has inherited song-leading privileges from Michael Hussey, has finally come into his own. Man of the Match with 12 wickets, his first ten-for.December 14
A certain sense of loss when leaving Adelaide. No ODI here on this tour. A certain sense of worry, too, for establishments on Hindley Street when India play Pakistan here in World Cup. Good job they have a police station right here.Cauldron-like at the Gabba in more ways than one•Getty ImagesDecember 15
Brisbane then. Third time zone entered already. Sydney is behind Adelaide, which is behind Brisbane. Neither does it make geographic sense nor do early dawns – as early at 4am – in Brisbane let you sleep in. Missing link here is day-light saving. Queensland doesn’t want to save daylight. Which makes it a butt of jokes. Reasons for its refusing to save daylight, according to rest of Australia: some fear cattle won’t give milk at unnatural times, some feel curtains will fade.Bananabender is to Queenslanders what croweaters is to South Australians. Because Queenslanders are supposed to be spending most of their time putting the bend in the banana.December 16
Kevin Mitchell Jr has been preparing the Gabba pitch for 34 years. Took over from Kevin Mitchell, his father. Remembers the days of the old hill. Old scoreboard wasn’t visible from all parts of the hill. Spectators would go over to the scoreboard and signal the scores to the rest as if playing dumb charades.December 17
A proper Brisbane stinker. Phone app says 42 degrees. Channel Nine says 36 degrees. India win toss and bat first. A flat Gabba wicket is anti-climactic. Can see why, though. One of Australia’s most unsure batting line-ups, considering Clarke is out with a hamstring injury.Hard work for all involved. Drinks breaks every 40 minutes, as opposed to every hour. M Vijay, who scores a century, cramps from the effort of sweeping. Mitchell Marsh tears a hamstring, Mitchell Starc has heat exhaustion, and debutant Josh Hazlewood keeps cramping. Hopefully Bill Bryson is watching. In his lovely book , the American writer calls cricket – because of its easy pace – a “nap with consciousness”.December 18
Before start of play, on air, Ian Chappell is worried about overnight batsman Rohit Sharma, who “bats like in a dream”, or “in a net with no focus on scoring runs”. A dreamy push at a wide delivery from Shane Watson triggers a collapse, and given India have scored runs at a fair clip, they haven’t batted Australia out despite scoring 408. Later in the day, Watson does a Rohit Sharma, and hits powerfully to mid-on without making an effort to keep it down or clear the man. Two men who won’t want this – and massive scores in ODIs and T20Is – to be the stories of their lives.December 19
“How many wickets have you got?” is the question Mitchell Johnson is asked before he is bounced by India. Johnson hasn’t got any, but the sledging seems to have woken the beast. He smacks 88 impactful runs to snatch the game clean out of India’s grasp. When he gets to 50, he looks around at every Indian player. None are sledging. Like a wrestler who has just cleared the field in the middle of a Royal Rumble match.December 20
A strange morning with injuries to two Indian batsmen in the nets. An unsettled side crashes to defeat but not without a fight after an initial collapse. India have shown much better resolve than on the last trip, but halfway into the series the scoreline reads the same: 0-2.Spend night at the Southern Cross Motel near the Gabba. Discover its in-house Italian restaurant, Spizzico, had a special visitor in 2011. To eat meatballs made by owner Angelo Di Bartolo’s mother Rosa. Headline of a news report about Jerry Lewis’ visit uses proudly the phrase Bris Vegas, originally an ironic reference to Brisbane’s lack of nightlife. Also see: Brisneyland.

The Dilshan-Sangakkara show, Rangana Herath’s athleticism, the papare bands and the obstacle-course race during the mid-innings lit up the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka game at the MCG

Nishan Easwarapadcham27-Feb-2015Choice of game:
As an avid cricket fan, I could not miss out on watching my home country play in the World Cup in my adopted city. It was also Kumar Sangakkara’s 400th ODI game. My heart said Sri Lanka would win by 50 runs; my head said Sri Lanka would win by 2 wickets with an over to spare.Team supported:
Sri Lanka as has been the case for the best part of 20 years.Key performer:
Tillakaratne Dilshan started slowly but once he reached 50, he entertained fans with a wide range of strokes, including the famous ‘Dilscoop’. And when given the ball he took two vital wickets, including that of Shakib Al Hasan.One thing you’d have changed:
I would have liked to see a better standard of catching. Bangladesh started the trend by dropping Lahiru Thirimanne in the first over, and it continued with Sri Lanka spilling a few chances later on.Face-off you relished:
Shakib Al Hasan against the Sri Lankan spinners. Having had the experience of playing at the MCG, Shakib was going to be the key to get to the target. He struggled initially and was cut into half by Dilshan. He then unleashed some powerful strokes to take 16 off Rangana Herath in the 29th over but he holed out for 46.Wow moment:
Rangana Herath flinging himself to his left to off his own bowling to stop a certain boundary. It was breathtaking as one usually doesn’t associate him with such athleticism. Most were left questioning his age after the effort.Close encounter:
Sabbir Rahman, who was fielding near the fan zone, was given plenty of advice. Dimuth Karunaratne was a fan favorite and flashed a smile, which I am sure excited all the ladies in the crowd.Shot of the day:
Kumar Sangakara is such a pure batsman and he delighted his fans in his 400th ODI. The way he stepped back and lofted a six over long-off was jaw-dropping. It landed a few inches over the boundary with such precision that only he can achieve.Crowd meter:
The MCG had a good crowd of 30000 with all the lower decks packed. Sri Lanka had greater support if you would go on to count the flags. Sangakara’s reception when he entered was amazing and so was the support from the Bangladesh fans when the runs flowed in the second innings. Overall, the atmosphere was fantastic, considering it was a working day.Fancy-dress index:
This was a contest between the Lankan lions and Bangladesh tigers and there were plenty of zoo animal costumes on show. Some may have confused a lion with a monkey or even a reptile. And as with any Sri Lankan game, there were a lot of Malinga wigs on show.Entertainment:
There was not one but two sets of papare bands, which kept the crowd entertained. The biggest cheers were when the PA system played Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi songs. There was a rather amusing obstacle-course race where people in the main sponsor’s costumes had to compete to win the prize during mid-innings. Thus, we had the pleasure of seeing a human in a TV costume go through catching and fielding drills.Overall:
The game for the large part was one-sided. However, the support for both sides was wonderful. The low point of the game was fielding, but it did not dim the batting, which was on show, and Sri Lanka’s bowling.Marks out of 10:
8/10

New Zealand were not short on confidence coming into their World Cup opening game against Sri Lanka but to see Brendon McCullum take the game by the scruff of its neck was an uplifting experience

Andrew McGlashan14-Feb-20152:32

Holding: NZ will be pleased with Vettori

The toss was lost, drizzle was falling, it was time to go out and face the new ball. The Prime Minister was in attendance, there was pomp and ceremony. It was the opening match of a World Cup. All that would have been enough to break the resolve of a lesser man.Instead, there was a lesson in how to grasp a moment: Brendon McCullum style. He was on strike after four balls, preparing to face Nuwan Kulasekara with rain still hanging in the air. The bat hammered the popping crease then was raised like a battle-axe, his knees flexed and his eyes widened. A split second later, the ball was drilled over cover.From some players it could be questioned whether it was a release of nervous tension; that the batsman wasn’t really in control. But McCullum’s control was absolute, as it has been as a batsman and captain for the last 18 months. The next ball he faced, his first from Lasith Malinga, was punched sweetly off the back foot through the covers.McCullum’s powers are unlikely to stretch to parting the clouds, but as he started to unleash, the thick morning cloud cover, which had threatened to keep everyone in suspense a little longer, began to lift. Christchurch’s biggest sporting occasion since an earthquake in 2011 devastated the city took shape.Brendon McCullum’s innings was what New Zealand needed to prove they had not been overcome by the occasion•Getty ImagesWhile nothing could be taken for granted, inside the first 10 overs of New Zealand’s innings there was a sense that nothing was going to deny them their day. It rekindled memories of how Virender Sehwag launched the previous World Cup with a string of boundaries against Bangladesh in Dhaka.McCullum’s innings was just what New Zealand needed to prove both to themselves, and those watching (17,228 was the final count inside the ground), that they had not been overcome by the occasion. This team are certainly not short on confidence, but it was still an uplifting experience to see the captain take the opening exchanges of the tournament by the scruff of the neck.It was not as vast as some opening-day World Cup innings – 65 from 49 balls – and across the Tasman the first hundred went to Aaron Finch, but the value of an innings is not always in runs alone.”He has a massive calming influence on the dressing room,” Corey Anderson said. “We all know Baz; that when it’s a big event he turns it on. He spoke to us the day before the game but said he wasn’t going to give us a motivational speech. There was nothing we needed to hear.”Setting the agenda is becoming McCullum’s trademark and when he took 22 off Malinga’s fourth over there was the odd, hushed mention of his 195 here in the Boxing Day Test. That day he took Sri Lanka’s young spinner, Tharindu Kaushal, to the cleaners but on this occasion the wily Rangana Herath enticed him down the pitch again (although it does not take much to lure an attacking stroke) and he could not clear long-off. There was an audible sigh from the crowd, but there had been plenty of entertainment for them.What followed fed off McCullum’s lead, ensuring that the performance was as complete as he could have wished for, given the occasion. His electrifying start provided breathing space for his team when Sri Lanka belatedly found some consistency to their bowling through Herath and Suranga Lakmal. There was another fifty for Kane Williamson, albeit not his most fluent as he was dropped twice, then the innings was rounded off by Anderson’s highly mature 75 off 46 balls.This New Zealand side are so well-drilled in their one-day game plan that minor hiccups do not panic them, but if McCullum’s chest-thumping display stole the moment early on then the role of Anderson, after he walked in following the loss of two wickets in two balls, was also highly significant as it reinforced how responsibility is passed down the order.Then, in the field, New Zealand were pressed for a time as Sri Lanka made a decent fist of the early part of the chase. But, again, the confidence bred came to the fore. McCullum stuck with Trent Boult when others may have removed him from the attack and he was rewarded when Boult fired one under Lahiru Thirimanne’s bat while Adam Milne, who was clocked at 149kph second ball, responded to an opening four-over spell that cost 30 with six fiery overs later on.And, when McCullum – in a pre-planned move – brought Daniel Vettori back to bowl at Mahela Jayawardene the result was his wicket, fifth ball. Just the sort of moment that goes the way of a winning team.In 1992, delirious New Zealand fans invaded Eden Park when Andrew Jones caught Bruce Reid off Chris Harris to complete a victory. Such post-match displays of euphoria are now firmly in the past, courtesy of health and safety, although two brave men did decide to run on to the playing area and probably won’t be returning to Hagley Oval anytime soon.The rest of the crowd – those who did not want hefty fines and to be manhandled by half a dozen security guards – instead savoured their team’s effort from the stands. You are up and running New Zealand. Enjoy the ride.

On Friday at Sabina Park, Nathan Lyon passed Hugh Trumble as Australia’s most prolific offspin bowler at an age, 27, when he should only get better

Daniel Brettig in Kingston12-Jun-2015In September 2011, Australia and Sri Lanka were playing out time in a Colombo draw that would seal a rare subcontinental series victory for the tourists in Michael Clarke’s first series as captain.Following Clarke’s hundred that day to make the match safe, there was only time for two overs at the Sri Lankan batsmen. Trent Copeland took the new ball at one end and at the other Clarke gave Nathan Lyon the chance to feel the new cherry spin out of his fingers for the first time in a Test. The over was nondescript, but it was an experience, one of many Lyon would accumulate as he learned his spin bowling game on the job after the most minimal of first-class apprenticeships.Four years on and Clarke tossed the ball to Lyon in only the sixth over at Sabina Park. The Dukes logo and lettering were still visible on a projectile that commonly would have remained in the hands of pacemen for a while yet, but Lyon took on the task with all the relish of a confident and successful operator. Immediately he took advantage of the extra bounce and pace the ball afforded him, spinning past Darren Bravo in the midst of a tidy maiden.’Hopefully it’s just the start’

Nathan Lyon has spoken with pride about becoming Australia’s most successful off spinner, adding that he is very much looking forward to crossing paths with England’s bevy of left-handers in the Ashes. “I’m pretty proud, it’s a big moment,” Lyon said. “As I keep saying, and always say, I’ll look back at these things at the end of my career. I am proud of the achievement that’s for sure. It’s a big record to break. Hopefully I can add to it.
“I’m still learning. I feel like I’m learning each time I go out into the nets. Each time I walk out into the nets and in the middle I try to get better each and every day. I’ve got a lot of learning to do and I’m really enjoying it and hopefully it’s just the start.
“I want to keep getting better at my bowling. I want to keep getting a better stock ball. I’m really happy with where my stock ball is at the moment but I want to keep getting better. The day I stop learning and don’t want to get better is the day I’ll give it up. I just want to keep getting better, keep getting more consistent, work on a few different balls here and and there as I have been in the last couple of years with John Davison. I’m really happy and really confident with the way my bowling’s going at the moment.”
Lyon has come a long way in terms of form and confidence since he was left out of the opening two Ashes Tests in 2013 for Ashton Agar. There are now no questions about his place. “Oh yeah, it definitely gives you that confidence that you’re playing well,” he said of being among the first picked. “I’m confident in my skill to get the job done for Australia and I’m just really enjoying my cricket right now. I didn’t play the first two I suppose I’m a lot more confident now. I feel I can keep growing and stuff. With England having a lot of left-handers I’m pretty excited to be honest. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

Next over, another big offbreak eluded Bravo’s groping blade. Both these deliveries had been witnessed by Kraigg Brathwaite at the non-striker’s end, and when a single brought him on strike, Lyon used overspin to slide past the outside edge and into off stump – a beautiful piece of subtle variation. It was a suitably artful way to take Lyon past Hugh Trumble as Australia’s most prolific offspin bowler, at an age when he should only get better.Lyon’s story has been one of persistence. While it is true that he was fast-tracked into the Test team as one of the last acts of Andrew Hilditch’s harried selection panel, it must also be said that Lyon’s offbreaks were hardly a state secret guarded by the diplomatic corps in Canberra, where he combined club and second XI cricket for the ACT with a job on the ground staff.It took the faith of several men, notably the ACT coach Mark Higgs, then Redbacks coach Darren Berry, the national talent manager Greg Chappell and the spin bowling coach John Davison to grant Lyon the opportunity of a wider audience. His flight, spin and character were all in evidence as he graduated swiftly from South Australia to Australia A to the Test team, though it was acknowledged that he would have a long road ahead once he got there. A trail of broken dreams had been left by the 10 other spinners tried to fill the gulf left by Shane Warne in 2007.The path from a memorable debut in Galle – Kumar Sangakkara spun out with his very first ball, no less – to the Caribbean was far from smooth, taking in several periods of technical trouble and debates over Lyon’s best role. In late 2012 the softly-spoken Lyon complained of how difficult it was to adjust from nobody knowing his name to everyone offering advice, from former greats like Ashley Mallett to the left-arm “spinner” Mitchell Johnson.He was dropped from the team twice in 2013, first for Xavier Doherty in India after a mauling from MS Dhoni, then for the shooting star of Ashton Agar in England. Lyon handled all this with impressive equanimity. He remained unwaveringly committed to the team values espoused by Michael Hussey, who had first mentored him in Sri Lanka and later bequeathed him the team song.Equally, Lyon was finding himself as a bowler, striking a balance between the search for that perfect, wicket-taking ball and the consistency required to entrap batsmen over periods of several overs or more. His relationship with Davison was key to all this, as the former Victoria, South Australia and Canada tweaker offered a trusted conduit between Lyon and the counsel being offered by many others.Clarke, too, deserved credit for being the kind of captain sympathetic to the ear of a spin bowler. He encouraged Lyon to attack the batsmen, and gave him fields that not only made scoring difficult but also teased out wickets. Last but not least, Clarke served as the very best of slip fielders, clasping a succession of chances that others would have struggled to reach, let alone hold.If there was one area Lyon struggled to master it was the requisite combination of carrot and stick to excel in the fourth innings of a Test match. In a team synonymous with pace, his sense of a holding, pressure-building commission often stayed with him too late in matches, when he needed to be teasing and attacking batsmen compelled to defend. In Adelaide and Hobart in 2012, then Cape Town in 2014, Lyon was a frustrated figure.But catharsis arrived at Adelaide Oval last year, when on the final afternoon Lyon spun through India to clinch a match that meant so much in the weeks after Phillip Hughes’ death. That display seemed finally to cement Lyon’s place in the team in both the eyes of Australian cricket watchers but also those of the man himself – he sang the song extra loud that night.Now Lyon has passed Trumble, not to mention Mallett, Bruce Yardley, Ian Johnson, Tim May, Nathan Hauritz, Greg Matthews and others, and it is a moment to pause and appreciate his value. There was a providential nod to Lyon later on day two as Australia swarmed over the West Indies, Shai Hope’s outside edge lodging between the thighs of a slightly sheepish Brad Haddin, who along with Clarke has been a major help to Lyon’s development.For much of his career thus far, Lyon seemed to be labouring in the absence of good fortune, as edges and pads eluded him. This wicket may mark the start of another phase, as he sets out after loftier wicket tallies: the era of Lyon’s luck.

Plays of the day from the second T20I between South Africa and New Zealand in Centurion

Firdose Moonda16-Aug-2015Going to ground
After South Africa spilt a few under the lights in Durban, AB de Villiers said he would always be able to forgive his team-mates a dropped catch, as long as they continue to create chances. So David Miller would not have had too much to worry about when he got under a Martin Guptill lofted shot to long-on and even put it the dive to take the catch but, on an unstable outfield, could not hold on. Miller tumbled forward, the ball bobbled out of his hand and the indentation of disappointment was etched onto the brown grass.Going to hand
Guptill was on 38 when Miller messed up and had added 22 more runs to his score before Miller had the chance to make up for it. He was at long-on again when Guptill tried to dispatch part-timer Farhaan Behardien over the boundary but mis-hit the ball Miller’s way. Again, Miller got under it and put it in the dive but this time he was prepared for the inevitable tumble on a turf that had begun to look like the back of moon and fell, ball in hand. He created another mini crater, this time in celebration, and Behardien had claimed his first T20 wicket.Going to hand II
If Miller had any lingering concerns about whether he had something to prove after the drop, he wiped them away with his next catch. Luke Ronchi flat-batted a David Wiese slower-ball bouncer to deep midwicket, where Miller would barely have had time to see it coming his way, much less think about how he was going to catch it. He ran in on instinct, reached out his hands and the ball stuck.Going for broke
Hashim Amla abandoned his usual subtlety when Adam Milne presented him with a short, wide delivery that was asking for ugliness. Amla cut viciously as he rocked back, but then saw he had sent the ball straight to point. Colin Munro did not have to pull off any heroics, just stand and collect while Amla dropped to his knee in his irritation at his own haste.Going high
AB de Villiers was playing with the freedom of a released prisoner and seemed to be in total control. He went over the covers and then found the gap through them, slog swept over square leg and then tried to do it again but his own eagerness caught up with him. Instead of distance, de Villiers got height and Jimmy Neesham at long-on had the time to take the catch. He was squinting into the sun as the ball swirled above him, and he had to shield his eyes with one hand while judging the catch with the other. He got into a good position though and ended up getting both hands around the ball to end de Villiers’ sprightly innings.

India need fresh ideas to rejuvenate an ODI team that has failed to adapt to new regulations that call for greater batting depth and hitting power

Sidharth Monga27-Oct-20151:48

‘Indian cricket has to look long-term’ – Dhoni

MS Dhoni’s view on India’s ODI issues

On batting order: “You want to have strength in the middle and lower middle order and at the same time have bowlers who can get you wickets at any point of time in the game… We have made changes in the batting order to see what gives more strength to our batting order, what looks like a good composition when we are chasing. You have to study these things.”
On fast bowlers: “If you see any other Test- or ODI-playing nation, the fast bowlers come and in one or two years they graduate to the next level – they become the strike bowlers or they learn what their strength is and bowl according to that. To some extent, we have not been able to do [that].”
On No. 7: “We have tried Stuart Binny, people have criticised that also but if you talk of allrounders in India, your best seaming allrounder is Stuart Binny, your two best spinning allrounders are Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Whether you like it or don’t like it, these are the best we have so we have to make the most out of them.”

ODI cricket, more than other formats, has been India’s pride. Before this year’s World Cup, they were the holders of the World Cup and Champions Trophy. At home they have been near invincible. Before this defeat to South Africa, they had lost only two series out of their last 16 at home. On both occasions – after defeats to Australia in 2009-10 and Pakistan in 2012-13 – they recovered quickly and went on to win the World Cup of 2011 and the Champions Trophy of 2013.After the defeat to Australia, India didn’t change their personnel or plans too much. Zaheer Khan was the main addition to the team that lost to Australia. After Pakistan, India changed their ODI cricket’s grammar. Out went Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh to herald a clean break from the previous era; in came younger legs, naturalised openers, and everything suddenly fell in place. New matchwinners appeared in R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, in Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.After this series defeat, those making decisions have to decide what kind of debacle this is: one where you keep calm and carry on or one where new match-winners and new ideas are needed. The utter helplessness during this series might suggest the latter. The return of Ashwin and Shami from injury, for example, won’t address the problems that have existed for a while now.The biggest of these has been the failure to adjust to constant rule changes. Just when India found out that being forced to attack with five bowlers was the best thing to happen for them, the ICC changed the rules. New regulations that have made hitting in the end more difficult call for more batting depth. More than four years after he ceased being a match-winner, India are still looking for a replacement for Yuvraj Singh. In ODIs, Yuvraj was not just a big hitter, he could play long innings too, unlike Suresh Raina, the closest India have got to replicating Yuvraj. Yuvraj could also be counted upon as a bowler, which for some reason MS Dhoni is not doing as regularly with Raina as he used to.That South Africa’s JP Duminy bowled 21 overs in three matches to Raina’s 14 in five was a huge difference between the sides. In five ODIs in England last year, Raina bowled 25. India kept craving that batsman at No. 7 who would free up the minds and muscles of those batting higher up, but they didn’t ask more of their batsmen. Duminy is not that much better a bowler than Raina. Nor is Farhaan Behardien more deceptive than Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Sneaking in overs from part-timers used to be MS Dhoni’s forte; with rule changes he seems to lost that touch.It doesn’t help Dhoni that he is not sure of his main bowlers completing their quota. The disturbing trend of their being really good for just one season continues. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not come back the same bowler after being bowled into the ground in England last year. Who knows what we will get of Shami after he played through pain and injury in the World Cup in Australia? Umesh Yadav has the fitness, but he has not shown he has evolved as a bowler. What Dhoni said of the pace bowlers in Bangladesh might have sounded harsh but is ringing painfully true.The treatment of Ajinkya Rahane, though, is a bit harsh. Rahane would have seen Rohit and Raina get plenty of opportunities before him to cement their places. He, though, is already typecast in a rare case of the captain talking about a player’s limitations in press conferences. This has also brought about a rare instance of the selectors acknowledging the issue. Dhoni is more edgy than ever, criticising pitches and umpires, which he hardly ever did in public. He has never been in such little control of his team or the cricket it plays. And he likes control when he is on the field. During this series his fast bowlers were wayward, Harbhajan Singh and Axar Patel were nothing like Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at their best, and the batting match-winners didn’t quite complete their jobs.When you walk into a dressing room, you want to look at match-winners. This team only really had two, Rohit and Kohli. Dhawan was out of form, although form hardly applies to him: he just starts scoring runs out of the blue. Bowlers know how to bowl to Dhoni now. They are not scared of him in the one-on-one scenarios of the final overs, where Dhoni has broken down the best of them. He did play what proved to be a match-winning innings, but when he batted India had nothing to lose and with the bat South Africa contributed generously to India’s cause.Rahane still has some way to go before he can be looked at as a reliable match-winner, but he deserves those chances. With current regulations Raina has to be asked to do more with the ball to accommodate someone such as Gurkeerat Singh, a hitter and a bowler of a few overs. ODI cricket might be leaving India behind, in that they don’t have either a jack-in-the-box who can play around with fields or a big hitter they can call upon to hit from ball one. The one man who might be suited for the role wasn’t given a single game in a bumbling line-up.It is rare that an Indian Test team looks more modern than the ODI one, but that is the case now, and it is not all about the captain or the captaincy. It is clear Indian ODI cricket needs regeneration. Their batsmen are too similar, their slow seamers are not fast enough, and their quick seamers are not smart enough. The captain is usually on a hiding to nothing in such scenarios, but this is also when the really good ones pull the side through. Dhoni has done that previously, and he keeps saying whatever he is doing now is with the next World Cup and Champions Trophy in mind, but the regeneration has to start with a question on Dhoni himself: will he be fit and good enough come the next World Cup? It’s a question India didn’t ask with Sachin Tendulkar.

There are no two ways about it, the shot that Moeen Ali played at the beginning of the second innings – as England set out on the task of batting 144 overs to save a Test – was horrid

Andrew McGlashan in Dubai25-Oct-2015There is much to admire about this England team. They are a vibrant side who have played wonderfully engaging cricket over the last six months and also have an inner steel. However, they are also like a jigsaw puzzle that is proving infuriatingly difficult to complete.It was always going to be a challenge for England to fiddle an XI to fit the conditions in the UAE, without a standout specialist spinner and with on-going doubts over who should open with Alastair Cook. Regardless of how strongly they finished in Abu Dhabi, there was always a chance cracks would emerge. It was never a watertight plan.Three-down at the close of day four, there is still a glimmer of hope that they can escape with a draw, although if they do it will surpass Auckland in 2013, Cardiff 2009 and even Cape Town 2010. None of those matches featured a top-class legspinner. And still, in defeat or draw, the debates will follow.The question of when patience should run out with a side like this will never have an answer that keeps everyone happy. As was the case on the third day, when the middle-order collapse ensured England would not win this match, there are reasons to temper criticism. At the same time, however, the big issues cannot be shied away from.There are no two ways about it, the shot that Moeen Ali played at the beginning of the second innings – as England set out on the task of batting 144 overs to save a Test – was horrid, regardless of the fact that he is a new opener who had never even performed the role in first-class cricket before this tour. A full delivery, angled across him and outside off stump, which could have been left to pass through to the keeper, was instead attacked with a flamboyant drive and edged waist-high to second slip.If Moeen’s first-innings dismissal, popping a catch to short leg off the face of the bat, had a distinct slice of bad luck about it, this time it was entirely self-inflicted. Before the match Moeen had spoken of how he had enjoyed the opening experience in Abu Dhabi instead of the No. 8 role he occupied in the Ashes because it allowed him to leave the ball. His second-innings drive was all lower-order dasher. And this, too, with a hobbling captain at the other end.”Against the new ball you perhaps have to be a little watchful,” Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, said. “This is not a pitch for big shots and big drives, but we know that’s how Mo looks to play and he’s got to make sure he adapts his game to give himself the chance to bat for long periods of time. If he gets in he can obviously play his natural game.”He is not the first and won’t be the last opener to be out driving at a full delivery – Adam Lyth, a specialist, made a habit of it during the Ashes. Promotion has also been tough on him. He was getting settled at No. 8, playing crucial match-seizing innings, and all of a sudden he is moved.Moeen Ali rues the loose drive that cost him his wicket•Getty ImagesThis is his 18th Test and he has already batted in six positions. Some of those shifts have been caused by nightwatchmen, but he has still been shuffled like a deck of cards. He could become this generation’s Alec Stewart – always moved for the needs of team balance, regardless of whether it is the best thing for his own game. Never mind the fact he is also the senior spinner.England seemingly came into the tour all but wedded to the plan of using Moeen. His rise from what, effectively, was the tail to walking out alongside Cook helped balance the side and allow Adil Rashid to play as the second spinner. It also allowed a six-man attack, which has helped combat the heat but, you suspect, was as much about providing cover for Rashid in case his introduction went awry.”We are still wanting to see Mo bat for that [long] length of time. We think he’s capable of doing it, we wouldn’t have put him in just for the sake of getting a second spinner,” Farbrace said. “We genuinely think he is capable of doing it, we’ve seen how much he’s learned over the last 18 months of international cricket. He’s improving all the time as a bowler and we want that same improvement with the bat.”Yes, he hasn’t scored the runs we want to him score so I’m not going to sit here and say we are really pleased. We want him to score more runs, so does he, and for it to be a long-term thing he has to score runs but that’s the same with anybody in any position.”There were those, such as ESPNcricinfo pundit and former England opener, Mark Butcher, who were stridently against the move from the outset. Speaking on the Switch Hit podcast ahead of the series he raised concerns about the strain on Moeen being expected to do his role as a bowler and also cited the maxim that opening is a specialist job.The first international sighting of Moeen in the role in Abu Dhabi had been cautiously positive, albeit on a deathly slow pitch at the time. He walked out after more than five sessions in the field but calmly negotiated the second evening with Cook and would go on to make 35 in an opening stand of 116. The second innings in that match should be ignored as England tried to chase against the light so he has had only three regulation innings. A lot is expected quickly of cricketers (not just England players) but few slot into a new position effortlessly.”That’s the thing with international cricket, every game you are being judged,” Farbrace said. “I’d like to think we’ve been very much about giving people a period of time and haven’t been chopping and changing, that’s something Trevor [Bayliss] is very keen on. I’d like to think that Cooky and Trevor wouldn’t have given Mo the chance if they didn’t think he was capable and two games in we know he needs runs.”While it would be a surprise if Moeen was moved down the order for Sharjah, England do have a specialist opener in the squad. Alex Hales had one brief innings into the second warm-up match, but he has largely been restricted to nets and countless interval sessions of sprinting in the heat of the day, alongside the other reserve players.However, in the longer – or even medium – term, the middle order should be Moeen’s home. If Jonny Bairstow was given the gloves in place of the struggling Buttler then Moeen could bat at No. 5 and Hales could open. When England revert to five bowlers again, probably in South Africa, James Taylor could also find a middle-order berth.It would seem Moeen’s natural home, a halfway house, if you like, between the helter-skelter world of the lower reaches and a promotion that has proven too unfamiliar for him to learn on the job. In the meantime he should remember the value of the leave-alone. Cricket’s most under-rated stroke. No doubt he was pondering that as he walked off the Dubai pitch.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Australia and India in Melbourne

Melinda Farrell at the MCG17-Jan-2016The double act
For Ajinkya Rahane, it was a case of #MCGsobig, although it took two fielders to do the job for Australia. Rahane met a short delivery from John Hastings on the front foot, pummeling a pull shot that seemed destined to land over the rope. Steven Smith sprinted from long-on and latched onto the ball right on the edge of the boundary. Just before momentum carried him over the rope, Smith calmly lobbed the ball to Glenn Maxwell, running in from deep midwicket. Maxwell claimed the simplest of catches after his captain did the hard work. Catch assist, anyone?The encore
Three balls later, the two fielders combined once more but this time without the heady result. It was Virat Kohli’s turn to come down the wicket and pull Hastings to the same part of the ground where Rahane was caught. Maxwell dived to his left, Smith sprawled to his right, but the ball refused to cooperate.The debutant blues
Five players have made their debuts so far in this series but, apart from receiving his cap from Ravi Shastri, it wasn’t a stellar first day at the office for Gurkeerat Singh. Gurkeerat made a brief appearance with the bat before being bowled by James Faulkner for 8. Fast forward to the Australian innings and Aaron Finch, on 20, powerfully drove Barinder Sran just to the right of Gurkeerat, who botched the grab at mid-off. It wasn’t quite as awful as Ishant Sharma’s spill at the Gabba, and Finch only made one more run before his dismissal, but it highlighted India’s worrying lapses in the field.The veteran blues
Speaking of Ishant… the fast bowler looked as though he wanted to sink through the MCG turf and disappear after another fielding blunder. The lanky quick is all arms and legs but his four limbs combined couldn’t stop the ball when Mitchell Marsh drove straight to mid-on. Kneeling to field what should have been a dot ball, Ishant somehow let the ball roll through his hands and in between his legs, conceding two runs. The thunderous look on Virat Kohli’s face spoke even louder than the jeering crowd.

Varun Chopra’s inclusion to play in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh will be a boost to his community’s involvement in the game back in Ireland

Tim Wigmore27-Jan-2016Barely a fortnight ago, Ireland’s Under-19 players were still reflecting on the disappointment of missing out on qualification for the World Cup. Now, after Australia’s withdrawal from the competition because of security concerns, Ireland are preparing to begin their World Cup campaign with a televised game against India.The match will hold particular significance for Ireland’s youngest player, Varun Chopra. In 1974, Varun’s father, Vishal, then aged five, was in a car driven by his mother, Asha, who was eight months pregnant. On a street in Derry, she was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The bullet had diverted off the arm of a policeman it was intended for. It later led to an official apology from the IRA. Asha is believed to have been the only Irish-Asian killed by the IRA.Vishal immediately moved to Mumbai to be with his grandparents, but returned to Ireland aged 17 “to see if I could make something of my life”. He now lives in Coleraine, in the north of Northern Ireland, where Vishal met his wife and built a career importing jewellery. “Heaven on earth I call this place,” he says. “It is the nicest place on earth. That is why I chose to come back here. Ireland has given me a lot and I hope that me and my children will be here forever. My family in India all know about the game. Hopefully they’ll be supporting the youngster!”One of Vishal’s other children, Rishi, is a 20-year-old offspinner who already plays for the North West Warriors, one of the three sides in Ireland’s interprovincial competition.”He gets good revs on the ball, and as a result generally gets ‘drop’ – a key ingredient,” says the former Ireland offspinner Kyle McCallan, now a selector, although Rishi’s release point, “past perpendicular”, can cause problems with his line.Varun, a legspinner who turns 16 on February 1, the day of the match against New Zealand, is reckoned to be even more promising. He caught McCallan’s eye immediately when he saw him three years ago. “He has a repeatable action and bowled with impeccable accuracy. What was more impressive was that he spun it hard and had the ability to spin it both ways.”A combination of cold weather and damp pitches means that bowling spin in Ireland is no glamorous pursuit. “In Ireland it’s absolutely freezing, so it is tough. You need good weather, which hopefully we’ll get in Bangladesh,” says Varun.Chopra impressed selector and former spinner Kyle McCallan with his ability to spin the ball hard and turn it both ways•Ian Jacobs/ICCAs a young legspinner, it has been Varun’s fortune to work with Bobby Rao, the former legspinning allrounder from India who later settled in Ireland. Varun worked with Rao from the age of 10.”He is a great learner,” Rao says. “He is a genuine orthodox legspinner with a well-disguised googly. The wickets in Bangladesh take turn – he will be a match-winner for Ireland.”Tall for his age, Varun tends to bowl flat and quick for a legspinner, in a manner bearing some resemblance to Anil Kumble. In person he has the shyness one would expect of a 15-year-old unaccustomed to doing media interviews. But his ambition is easy enough to detect.”The aim is to be a professional player and represent the Ireland senior team in a couple of years. Hopefully this experience will help me big time and can help me into the main team in a couple of years,” he says. Like Rishi, who is studying at Leeds Beckett University, Varun aspires to eventually gain a county contract. That would provide vindication for copious hours spent travelling from Coleraine to Bready, where indoor training is held during the winter.Varun had just turned seven when Ireland toppled Pakistan on St Patrick’s Day in 2007. The years since have seen the image of Irish cricket transformed. “A lot more people follow cricket and Ireland cricket’s profile is increasing – a lot more people know about it and are following it,” he says.For Cricket Ireland, the story of the Chopras has a greater significance. The era of professionalism in Irish cricket has so far passed the Irish-Asian population by. Ireland have not fielded an Irish-Asian since 2005, despite a growing population from cricket-loving Asian countries – the non-Chinese Asian population is the fastest growing demographic in the Republic of Ireland, and there are over 60,000 people of South Asian descent living across Northern Ireland and the Republic.Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of Cricket Ireland, admits there is “anecdotal” evidence that Irish-Asian fans who have attended ODIs between Ireland and Pakistan or Sri Lanka in recent years are less inclined to attend other matches.Varun (left) with older brother and offspinner Rishi•Vishal ChopraBut Cricket Ireland is attempting to grow links with the Irish-Asian community. In 2014, Shapoorji Pallonji, an Indian construction billionaire who is the world’s 55th richest man, agreed to fund the board’s academy for the next decade, giving around €2.5 million in total.Efforts are being made to nurture the best Irish-Asian talent, especially around Dublin, where the concentration of cricketers of South Asian heritage is highest: a Cricket Inclusion Development Officer for Cricket Leinster targets some Asian areas. Cricket Ireland is currently helping fund artificial wickets and nets in Ballyhaunis, a small town in the west of Ireland that has the highest percentage of immigrants in the country. Almost one-third of registered club players in Munster are of South Asian descent.Yet there is also recognition that despite financial support from the ICC, which is meagre compared to that which the weakest Full Members get, Cricket Ireland could do more to engage the Irish-Asian community. This will be one focus of the board’s new strategic plan, which will be launched in the next few months.”The new strategy will highlight opportunities to reach out to cricket-loving expats from outside of Ireland, especially within the Asian communities, and the need to shift perceptions of cricket as an elitist, exclusive sport to one that is open and accessible,” says Richard Holdsworth, Performance Director of Cricket Ireland.”The challenges are how to engage with the community in the right way, and whether we try and integrate that community into existing cricket structures – through clubs – or whether we need to devise new channels of entry to the game here, similar to the Chance to Shine programme in England,” Deutrom says. “It’s likely to be a mix of the two.”Part of Cricket Ireland’s challenge is to find poster boys for the growing Irish-Asian cricket community. “We certainly hope that the success of the Chopras will continue into the senior squads and inspire other youngsters of South Asian descent to join their local club and play for Ireland,” Deutrom says.The Chopra brothers could become the standard-bearers for Irish-Asian cricketers. And, if all goes well for the boys and their country, Varun and Rishi could one day be Irish spin twins in a Test match. “That would be a dream come true,” Vishal says. “Anything is possible if you work hard enough.”

Chris Gayle and Shane Watson are foes-turned-friends who will unite for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s quest to win a first title. Having buried the hatchet, will they groove to the tune?

Deivarayan Muthu11-Apr-2016The buzz at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is unmistakable on the eve of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL opener, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The security has been strengthened. Big posters of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Shane Watson, along with their ‘Play Bold’ tagline, welcome you. Passers-by take a moment to soak in the arrival of the IPL bandwagon.Gayle, the World Boss, nay the Universe Boss, has been with the franchise since 2011. He has entertained the Chinnaswamy crowd not just with his sixes, but also with his celebratory jigs. The style, the horse dance, even a Cristiano Ronaldo-esque celebration.De Villiers or Neo from the , as South Africa team-mate Dale Steyn once referred to him, has also been part of the set-up since 2011. Kohli, the captain, has been with franchise since its inception in 2008. No wonder then that they enjoy fanatical support.Now, Royal Challengers have added a proven T20 match-winner in Watson to their already star-studded roster by paying INR 9.5 crores for his services. That he is sharing space with the ‘Big Three’ in the posters and promotions shows how much he is valued. On Tuesday, Watson and Gayle, who have had numerous run-ins in the past, may walk out together to open the batting.At the Pakistan Super League, the two bumped into each other. Gayle took to Twitter to let the world know what he thought of of his mate. “Who would have thought this would happen? Want to punch him in the belly when taking this, but #RCB need him for the #IPL.”Their rivalry dates back to December 2009. West Indies were chasing 359 for a Test-series-levelling win in Perth. Watson had Gayle caught behind. What happened next? Watson sprinted to the batting crease, got into Gayle’s face, clenched his fists, jumped up and down haphazardly and let out a ferocious roar. It was a proper send-off.Watson was fined 15% of his match fee following the incident. Gayle labelled Watson “soft” and easy to wind up. The two then fired verbal volleys at each other during the semi-final of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.At the Big Bash League this season, Watson was critical of his Sydney Thunder team-mate Gayle after his infamous interview with Channel Ten journalist Mel McLaughlin. “I have played against Chris for a long time, since I started really, and that behaviour is fairly expected,” Watson said. “People who know Chris Gayle will know those are the sort of things he can do at times, and at an inappropriate time, obviously it gets him into a fair bit of trouble.”The only problem with those remarks were that Watson had to be prepared for a counter punch. “The past cricketer who say I make myself look like a chop, the other who claim I was no good to the youngsters while playing for the Thunder, the next one who said he expect that sort of behavior from Chris – Y’all can kiss my ‘Black R*** ‘ I love Australia and I will be back again even for the … oi oi,” Gayle posted on Instagram.Ahead of Royal Challengers’ opening match, Watson admitted that he and Gayle had buried the hatchet at the PSL.”It’s amazing how the world works and how life works, I suppose,” he said. “Chris Gayle and myself have certainly had a few run-ins throughout our international careers. The day I got picked up by RCB in the auction, I saw Chris during the PSL. That was the day we had to bury the hatchet (laughs), knowing that I was going to be playing with him.”When you’re competing on the field, as soon as things change and you’re on the same team, everyone puts everything aside and moves forward. I’ve always had the utmost respect for him as a player. So it’s nice to be able to get to know him personally off the field, and you move forward.”The IPL is a strange place where partisan following and loyalty run deep. Friends turn foes. Foes turn friends. Delhi team-mates Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have had a go at each other in a game between Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders, with another then Delhi player, Rajat Bhatia, intervening to cool things down. Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh, who were at the centre of the ‘Monkeygate’ controversy, have celebrated together for Mumbai Indians. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who made the complaint about the incident, now coaches Harbhajan in the IPL.Who is to say then that Watson and Gayle won’t do the dance together?