He expertly handled a fired-up Karnataka attack to ensure his team didn’t fall behind in the semi-final

Varun Shetty at Eden Gardens29-Feb-2020If you watched Anustup Majumdar lift Bengal from a first-session collapse for the second match in a row on Saturday, you would find it hard to believe that he has only played in 63 first-class matches.On a chaotic batting day for Bengal, Majumdar expertly handled a fired-up Karnataka bowling line-up to ensure his team didn’t fall behind in the semi-final on the very first day. After being put in, Bengal were reeling at 67 for 6 by the first over after lunch before Majumdar batted with the lower order to stretch their innings to 275 and into day two with a wicket in hand.Since his debut in 2004. Majumdar has had a stop-start journey, which has included stops at the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Pune Warriors, India A, East Zone, and most recently Railways before a return to Bengal. In that time as a first-class cricketer, Majumdar has had two stellar seasons in his career, averaging 90-plus in both, where he made three centuries each. But his unbeaten 120 on Saturday was only his ninth overall. After an ordinary stint with Railways in 2015-16, Majumdar decided to return to Bengal but wasn’t picked for the 2016-17 season.Three seasons later, having quit his job with Railways in 2018 to play cricket full time, the 35-year-old is one of the men who has kept Bengal in the hunt for their first final since 2006-07. At no point in this hard path back into the team did he contemplate quitting, the batsman said at the post-day press conference.”I’ve left my job to play cricket,” he said. “The thought of leaving cricket doesn’t occur to me.”To Karnataka, it might seem like the thought of departing from the crease itself might be anathema to Majumdar. Their discipline had built enough pressure to dismiss an out-of-form top order cheaply, and a lack of proactive batting only contributed further to Bengal’s fall. Most dismissals bore the usual signs of nervous batting – hard hands, overt aggression, failure to put bad balls away.But there were none of those when Majumdar was on strike. He started solid and watchful, but without slipping into defensiveness. A lot of his early runs came from sweetly-timed boundaries through the covers, and that would remain his most lucrative scoring region for the rest of the day. It was indicative of a pitch that wasn’t as menacing as the green hue – or the other batsmen – had made it appear.His batting plan seemed simple enough – play late, play straight, and get behind the ball. From that base, he drove elegantly on the up and off the back foot with little trouble, even indulging himself occasionally by clipping the fast bowlers wide of mid-on from outside off. A lot of it was made easier by having Shahbaz Ahmed at the other end, with whom he had made a seventh-wicket stand of 171 after Bengal had fallen to 46 for 5 in their quarter-final against Odisha.”Shahbaz and I are stroke makers, we play positively. When Shahbaz came in and started playing his shots, it made me confident that even I could play my shots and be aggressive. So we started attacking and it became the turning point for us,” Majumdar said. “After Shahbaz came in, the match opened up a little. He hit some of their good balls for a couple of boundaries and 30-40 runs into the partnership, they started pulling their lengths back because of it.”Anustup Majumdar drives through the off side•PTI That early counter-punch in the Majumdar-Ahmed stand involved forceful back-to-back boundaries off Ronit More from both of them in consecutive overs. It was almost a signal for a change in pace. After scampering to 66 for 5 in 30 overs, Bengal added 209 in the last 52 overs of the day.But the partnership with Ahmed itself only lasted until a superb straightening delivery from around the wicket by Abhimanyu Mithun hit Ahmed’s off stump. At 139 for 7, Bengal still had a predicament. That was when No. 9 Akash Deep, the young fast bowler who is having a breakthrough season with the ball, played a crucial hand. Akash, who can hang around but is also capable of hitting big sixes, was the main supporting act as he and Majumdar put on 103 for the eighth wicket.”I would say it was Akash who changed the complexion of the match,” Majumdar said. “They never thought Akash would play such a knock. They never thought we would put together a century stand for the eighth wicket. He played fearless cricket.”Akash’s resilience was also down to the fact that Majumdar recognised his partner’s strengths – literally and in terms of skill – against spin, and kept him on strike mostly at the end from which offspinner K Gowtham was bowling. Akash hit him for three sixes in an innings of 44, and suddenly Karnataka’s four-bowler attack was under some strain as their holding bowler was being unsettled.And in that period, Majumdar himself stepped up the scoring. Their partnership came at 4.54 per over, and on a drying pitch, Majumdar looked even more impenetrable. The booming extra cover drives prompted permanent protection on that boundary throughout the final session, but Majumdar was now also pulling and hooking effectively.He survived two referrals that were never close, and only had one distinctive moment of trouble when he jumped down the track and looked to smite Karun Nair’s medium-pace over the leg side to try and bring up his hundred. By then, a few hundred local supporters had been cheering for him and Bengal for close to an hour as the team went past 250.When he did finally get it – pulling Mithun behind square off the front foot – the applause was loudest from the Bengal dugout. Just over a week ago, he had pulled off a similar knock for them, and he had kept them in it once again.Majumdar said he rated this knock higher than the 157 he got against Odisha, because of the opposition. On a pitch that’s easing out, and against an opposition that has the luxury of bringing in KL Rahul as an extra batting option, it’s too early to say whether Bengal have enough runs. But the last time he made two hundreds in a season, Majumdar had gone on to make a third and, at the very least, he has kept the prospects of that repeat alive.

We look all the standout numbers from his international career as captain, batter, wicketkeeper, and…wait for it…bowler

Gaurav Sundararaman and Shiva Jayaraman15-Aug-2020ESPNcricinfo Ltd Dhoni the batsman 50.57 Dhoni’s average in ODIs. Only Virat Kohli has a better average among those who have scored 10000 runs or more in ODI cricket. In fact, only Dhoni and Kohli average above 50. Sachin Tendulkar is placed third, with an average of 44.83. 47 Instances of Dhoni remaining unbeaten in successful chases in ODIs. No other batsman comes close. Jonty Rhodes is second, with 33 such not-outs. Incidentally, India have lost only two matches when Dhoni was not out in a chase: against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2013, and against England at the 2019 World Cup. 9 Instances in which Dhoni completed a successful ODI chase with a six. No other player has achieved this feat more times than him. 229 Sixes hit by Dhoni in ODIs. Only Rohit Sharma has hit more sixes for India than Dhoni, who is placed fifth on the all-time list for most sixes by any player. 7 Centuries scored by Dhoni at No. 5 five or lower – joint-highest for any team along with Yuvraj Singh and Jos Buttler. Two of his best hundreds in ODIs came early in his career while batting at No. 3 when he scored 183* and 148 against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively.ESPNcricinfo Ltd Dhoni the captain 3 ICC tournaments won by India under Dhoni; it is the most by an India captain. Only Ricky Ponting has won more ICC titles as captain than Dhoni. 332 Most matches as captain in international cricket. Dhoni led India in 200 ODIs, 72 T20Is, and 60 Tests. He also has the second-most wins in limited-overs international games – 151 – behind only Ponting’s 172. 53.55 Average for Dhoni as a batsman while captaining in ODIs. Only Kohli has a higher average among batsmen to score more than 5000 ODI runs. In terms of runs alone, only Ponting fared better as captain. 2 Losses for MS Dhoni in ODI World Cup matches as captain. Only Ponting and Clive Lloyd have a better win-loss ratio than Dhoni. His record in ODI World Cups was almost impeccable, with his two losses coming against South Africa (in the league stage of the 2011 World Cup) and Australia (in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup). His record in the T20 World Cups, however, was modest, with 20 wins and 11 losses.ESPNcricinfo Ltd Dhoni the wicketkeeper 444 Dismissals by Dhoni in ODIs – third-most in the format. However, his 123 stumpings are the most by any wicketkeeper. No other keeper has 100 stumpings. His 91 dismissals in T20Is, including 34 stumpings are also the highest for any cricketer in the format. 6641 Runs scored as captain-wicketkeeper in ODIs. No other batsman has scored as many runs while leading their team and donning the gloves. Dhoni was India’s captain and gloveman in 200 matches. Apart from him, no other keeper has led his country in more than 46 games. In terms of runs scored as a captain-keeper, Kumar Sangakkara is a distant second with 1756 runs from 45 matches.ESPNcricinfo Ltd Dhoni the bowler Lest you forgot, Dhoni has bowled, too. He has one ODI wicket against his name – that of Travis Dowlin from the match against West Indies in 2009.

The key stats takeaways from the first half of IPL 2020

Bharath Seervi13-Oct-2020 Bat first, win the match
Teams batting first have won 75% (21) of the 28 matches, while chasing sides have won only seven games. Five of the seven wins by chasing teams were completed in the final over. In the four previous IPL seasons, from 2016 onwards, in each season the teams chasing have won more games than those batting first. The average first-innings score so far has been 181, the highest in any IPL season. Teams batting first are averaging a high 36.59 runs per wicket. In none of the previous 12 seasons have teams batting first averaged over 30.ESPNcricinfo LtdSpinners play key roles in defending targets
The spinners have contrasting numbers between the first innings and second innings. In the first innings, they average 40.60 runs per wicket, while their average when defending targets is just 22.91. Of the three venues, Abu Dhabi is the only venue where the spinners have been equally effective in both innings. In Dubai and Sharjah, the difference between first and second-innings averages is huge.ESPNcricinfo LtdIndian batsmen on a roll
There have been 12 innings of 80 or more, of which nine have come from Indians. Of the three 80-plus knocks by overseas batsmen, two came in the same innings – Faf du Plessis (87*) and Shane Watson (83*) against Kings XI Punjab; Jonny Bairstow’s 97 is the other. It is not a regular sight to see overseas batsmen not dominating the list of top scores: in the last four seasons (2016 to 2019), Indians have scored only 50% of the 80-plus scores, but this year the share is 75% so far.ESPNcricinfo LtdMumbai’s batting bosses all phases
Mumbai Indians have been the best batting team in terms of scoring rates in each of three phases of the innings – Powerplay (run rate of 7.97 in the first six), middle-overs (8.77 between overs 7 and 16) and the death overs (13.26 in the last four). In each of these phases, their batsmen average over 30 runs per wickets. Kieron Pollard has scored 138 runs at strike rate of 222.58 in the death overs, which is the most by a batsman in that phase this season. In the Powerplay overs, Quinton de Kock has been Mumbai’s key performer with 119 runs at 130.76, while Suryakumar Yadav has topped in the middle-order with 133 runs at 144.56. Mumbai batsmen also have the second-best ratio of balls to sixes (12.57); only Rajasthan Royals have hit sixes more frequently, every 12 balls. Chennai Super Kings are the worst in the balls per six ratio (23.54).ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo Ltd Delhi’s bowling unit most economical
Delhi Capitals are the only team with an economy rate below eight this season (7.90). In their first seven matches, they have also taken the most wickets (51) and conceded the fewest boundaries (120). In the tournament so far, six bowlers have taken five or more wickets at economy of less than eight and average of below 20. Three of them are from Delhi – Kagiso Rabada, Axar Patel and R Ashwin. Their other key wicket-taker Anrich Nortje has taken eight wickets at economy of 7.21 and average of 25.25.ESPNcricinfo LtdSharjah vs Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Clearly Sharjah has been the most batting-friendly venue among the three venues. The average run rate at Sharjah has been 9.67 whereas at Dubai and Abu Dhabi it is 8.34 and 8.16 respectively. However, Dubai is catching with Sharjah in terms of frequency of sixes. At Sharjah a six is hit every 16 balls while at Dubai it is 20 balls per six. At Abu Dhabi, batsmen take 32 balls for every six. Seven 200-plus totals have come at Sharjah, all in the first seven innings and none in the next five.

Venue Mats Run rate Runs/wkt Balls/Six Ave 1st inns score 200+ totalsSharjah 6 9.67 31.25 16.76 209 7Dubai 12 8.34 27.88 20.32 178 4Abu Dhabi 10 8.16 27.98 32.18 169 0

Carey’s first one-day hundred came at a crucial personal time but his position as Tim Paine’s understudy in the Test side could yet be challenged

Daniel Brettig22-Sep-2020″I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me, and it’ll happen to you, too.”Many a cricketer at the mercy of selection whims will find something empathetic in Grandpa Simpson’s line about the passing of time and age. Few, though, will find it ringing more truly than Alex Carey, who in the space of less than a year has found himself moving from the status of “emerging talent and leader” to that of “ageing pro battling to hold his place in the national team”.Some players, like the national team coach Justin Langer, spend virtually their entire careers feeling like the latter, whereas Shaun and Mitchell Marsh each retained the former tag for more than a decade. The major variable tends to be the emergence of others to challenge for the same spot, and in Carey’s case his probable usurper is no longer a distant dot in the rearview mirror.An exceptional rearguard century in the company of Glenn Maxwell to win Australia the ODI series against England in Manchester not only broke a sequence of slim scores in national colours that had begun in the wake of Carey’s breakout World Cup performances, but also held back the voices advocating ever more bullishly for the claims of the 23-year-old Josh Philippe. As a performance it carried more than a passing resemblance to Ian Healy’s big Test century against West Indies at the Gabba in November 1996 when Adam Gilchrist was fast closing on his place.ALSO READ: Tour takeaways – Warner’s new nemesis, Carey’s comeback and quality quicksFrom there, Healy was able to retain his spot for another three successful years, winning two more Ashes series away and at home to ensure Australia retained global supremacy in Tests until he left the stage to Gilchrist in 1999, by which time the younger man had just turned 28 and won an ODI World Cup himself. Carey is now of a similar vintage.It’s more or less exactly a year since the selection chairman Trevor Hohns had spoken glowingly of Carey, his leadership qualities and the panel’s desire to see him promoted to the captaincy of South Australia in place of Travis Head. Carey had been promoted to co-vice-captaincy of Australia’s T20 team, and was also Tim Paine’s wicketkeeping, if not leadership, understudy in Test matches.That Carey was 28 years old did not appear to be much of an issue for the selectors at the time, and it was often noted that the years he had lost in pursuing a football career – he was inaugural captain of the Greater Western Sydney Giants before the AFL’s 18th club formally entered the league – had provided him with an array of life experience useful to aiding the progress of teams. Fatherhood, too, was seen as a useful exemplar of Carey’s status as an adult among the frequently arrested development of cricketers.Alex Carey’s maiden one-day hundred came at a crucial time for him and the team•Getty ImagesWhat happened then, to change the arc of Carey’s tale? First, the Test captain Paine’s performances improved after some shaky moments during the Ashes, as he and the selectors gained greater clarity about how much further he will go. It seems now that Paine will lead at least until the end of the nominal World Test Championship cycle in July 2021, and more than likely carry on until the end of the home Ashes series in January 2022, by which time he will be 37 years old.Secondly, Philippe maintained his upward curve as, alongside his fellow West Australian product Cameron Green, two of the most promising young batting talents in the country. Philippe delivered impressive consistency for the title-winning Sydney Sixers in the BBL, while also scoring his runs at a notably faster tempo than Carey for the Adelaide Strikers. And though Carey’s Sheffield Shield returns for South Australia were comfortably better than Philippe’s, it was also evident that international teams were homing in on the left-hander’s areas of weakness after getting a sighter during the World Cup.ALSO READ: Australians in the IPL – ESPNcricinfo’s one-stop guideWhen Covid-19 intervened in March, the wheels were set in motion for another major change to Australia’s schedule, the postponement of the 2020 T20 World Cup to 2022, with the next edition of the event to instead be held in India in late 2021. The selectors suddenly had a lot more time to consider their choices for wicketkeeper-batsman.This all meant that Carey didn’t go to England for his first assignment of the 2020-21 season with complete certainty around his place in the team. Tellingly, he had lost his share of the vice-captaincy, and in Philippe faced a younger competitor with a more outwardly brash attitude than the humility noted by virtually anyone to spend time around Carey.All these dynamics influenced the shape of the Australian squad, but also made other team-mates aware of the fact that “Kez”, as he is affectionately known, might not be around for as long as had previously been the case. This much was underlined when Gilchrist, styled as a mentor to Carey in 2019, had spoken up about Philippe: “I reckon a guy who, in time, could very well be the solution, whether it’s going out at No.1 or 2 or getting a chance in that middle order, is Josh Philippe.”Very exciting young talent, still learning his craft, about himself and what his capabilities are, and of course match situations. But the quicker you get them exposed to the top level with that uninhibited approach, he can maybe catch a few teams off guard.”Josh Philippe shone at the start of the Sixers’ chase•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaVery quickly, Carey was being spoken about as the shaky incumbent rather than the coming man, a position numerous others in the team will have empathised with given their own histories. There was certainly a great deal of warmth in Maxwell’s voice when he spoke in the aftermath of his Old Trafford stand with Carey, as they provided an ideal contrast of approaches to win a game that had appeared almost certainly lost.”Batting with Alex Carey out there, seeing him get his first ODI hundred is pretty special, knowing how hard he’s worked, he’s such a great person and one of the great guys to be around, I see him every day, he makes me smile and we always have a laugh together,” Maxwell said. “To see him get the rewards at the other end was extremely special, and to top off and beat the No. 1 team on their own soil was even more special.”Competition for places is something Langer has been hoping to see for quite some time, and there was plenty of glee in his voice as he talked about seeing numerous incumbents being pushed to greater achievements by those challenging them.”Another thing I’m loving is that there’s a real competition for spots. And that is exciting for me,” he said this week. “In all forms, there’s great competition. And there’s great opportunities through the IPL leading up to the white-ball summer [and] Sheffield Shield cricket. I love that in Australian cricket.”Carey remains a more likely understudy to Paine should the captain suffer any misfortune with his problematic right index finger this summer, but it now appears that his place will be primarily as a link man between eras. Philippe, unveiled as the No. 6 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL while Carey is understudy to Rishabh Pant for Delhi Capitals, looks increasingly like the long-term gloveman of the future.That is, of course, until another contender shows up to challenge. At that point, it will be Philippe hearing Grandpa Simpson’s warning. “It’ll happen to you, too.”

After being “surprised to get a game”, Pattinson is at present joint-fourth on IPL 2020’s wicket charts

Vishal Dikshit10-Oct-20203:57

What’s behind the success of Anrich Nortje and James Pattinson?

When the Mumbai Indians squad, covered in their PPEs, landed in the sultry August heat of Abu Dhabi for IPL 2020, James Pattinson was still in lockdown in Victoria, Australia, in 7 degrees Celsius. Pattinson, like most other players around the world, had not played any cricket for many months, and after being named as a replacement for Lasith Malinga, he had to suddenly fly to the UAE to face an additional 30-plus degrees and play two months of challenging T20 cricket.Pattinson was preparing for the Australian summer before that, and “luckily” he had been training with the white ball when he got a call for the IPL. But was he going to even get a game early on, joining a pace-heavy bowling attack, which included Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Nathan Coulter-Nile? As many experts had predicted, and Pattinson himself expected, he wasn’t in the Mumbai Indians’ initial plans. But Coulter-Nile arrived with a side strain and Pattinson “was surprised to get a game”, as he revealed before the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.Since then, the Mumbai Indians have carved out a specific role for Pattinson, with the seamer moulding himself so well for it that they haven’t had to change their bowling attack even once in six games. The result: Pattinson is the joint-fourth among the top wicket-takers this season with nine scalps, only behind Kagiso Rabada (15), Bumrah (11), Boult (10) and Mohammed Shami (10).The role Pattinson has been given is to bowl two overs with the new ball, one in the 10-14-over period and the last at the death, which allows Bumrah to start bowling towards the end of the powerplay and keep two for the slog overs. One of the things that has worked well for Pattinson is that he is a hit-the-deck bowler, and that skill comes handy on pitches in the UAE where fast bowlers barely get any assistance. Pattinson aims for that short-of-a-length area, which he can use for extra bounce, or for cutters.ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data on length from this IPL shows that in powerplays so far, Pattinson has bowled about 55% of his 60 deliveries either short or short-of-a-good-length and conceded only 39 runs off those 33 deliveries while picking up one wicket.James Pattinson has bowled 10 overs in the powerplay in six games•ESPNcricinfo LtdHitting such lengths is a feature of the overall plan the Mumbai Indians have been following for a while now in the IPL.Another weapon Pattinson has used with great success this season – his maiden IPL – has been his change-ups, which he had been working on before the tournament. What else does a fast bowler do when pitches don’t offer swing or seam movement? Bowl some cutters, take the pace off the ball and wait for the batsmen to miscue the ball with your fielders at the boundary.Case in point: Pattinson was bowling a crucial 16th over with David Warner on 58 and the Sunrisers needing 70 off 30 balls, which is quite achievable in Sharjah. After slanting two slower deliveries across Warner from over the wicket, Pattinson came around the wicket and sent down a slow, short and wide legcutter that Warner chased desperately and ended up edging to short-third man for a spectacular catch by Ishan Kishan.Pattinson says planning for particular batsmen has been key to his and the Mumbai Indians’ bowling success.”It’s just the planning that goes into it,” Pattinson said on Saturday. “Before the game, we plan and work out our fields, different plans for different batters. It’s just about executing that. I think the confidence they have really rubs off on me, especially Trent and Boom [Bumrah] have great confidence in their ability. It’s great to have that rub off and you going to games with that confidence and knowing you’re surrounded by world-class bowlers.”It’s good to go out and play my part. I’ve got two really, really good white-ball bowlers in Jasprit and Trent, it’s nice to play a back-seat role for them and try and help out the team as much as I can.”Pattinson is also a lesser-known entity in the IPL because apart from his start-stop Australia career marred by injuries, the only T20 league he has played in is the Big Bash. He picked up 5 for 33 for the Brisbane Heat with the new ball at the beginning of the year but in the IPL his role is not restricted to opening the bowling. In the second half of the tournament, too, Pattinson could prove handy with his reverse swing, which captain Rohit Sharma, before the IPL, had said could come into play as pitches go through more wear and tear.For now, Pattinson is enjoying what he is doing: bowling alongside Boult and Bumrah and playing the back-seat role.

The former South Africa batsman and ace fielder looks ahead to his T10 coaching stint, and talks about the best fielders he’s seen so far

Interview by Shashank Kishore07-Jan-2021The full-length dive into the stumps to run out Inzamam-ul-Haq at the 1992 World Cup is one of cricket’s most iconic images. The man in that picture, Jonty Rhodes, is pushing 52 but looks no older than 25. Fitness is a big part of his life, adventure even bigger. It’s this streak that has now taken him to Sweden, where he’s coaching a team of committed amateurs looking to pose a serious challenge at the Associate level. Rhodes is also a part of the IPL with the Kings XI Punjab, and will be seen in the upcoming T10 League as the head coach of the Pune Devils.In this chat, Rhodes talks about modern fielding, coaching below the elite level, and whether he has any World Cup regrets.You’ve had a busy post-retirement life. Fielding coach, head coach, motivational speaker, bank officer, commentator. Is there a box you are yet to tick?
I retired in 2003 and immediately started working with Standard Bank as a sponsorship manager. I didn’t really get back into cricket for six years. I retired thrice, which is crazy (laughs), but I could never leave it because this is a game I’m so passionate about.Related

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Initially, I thought I’d walk away from cricket completely, until the IPL came along. I started with Mumbai Indians in 2009 as fielding coach – did it for nine seasons. After that, a two-year break helped me, from a journey point of view. I spent a lot of time developing the game at the grassroot structures as opposed to working with high-performance players or teams. That was an eye-opener. I spent time in Nepal, Malawi, Zimbabwe, in different parts of South Africa – places with passion for the game but with limited facilities, yet it doesn’t diminish people’s love for what they do.Hopefully 20 years later, I’m still throwing balls around, scoring, umpiring or doing something in cricket.What are the challenges of coaching a small Associate member country like Sweden?
At Sweden, I’m not just the national coach, I’ve got to also look after the pathways from junior cricket to Under-19s to women’s cricket because there are only four paid professionals at the Swedish Cricket Federation. I’ve got players from Sweden who originate from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India. There aren’t too many locals, so that’s something I’m looking to push for. If you can harness that diversity, it’s a huge asset to have.There’s also a T10 gig coming up with the Pune Devils. How did that come about?
Interestingly, Sweden has a lot of T10 cricket. They don’t have many facilities, but there are a lot of clubs who want to play on weekends. It’s too drawn out to facilitate 50-over cricket. All the players registered with us are working professionals, so they only have the weekend off. Both T20 and T10 are a big part of the Swedish cricket make-up. I’ve got to get as much experience from this shortened version, even if it isn’t from an ICC point of view, because Sweden isn’t participating in a tournament currently.I’ve worked as a sponsorship manager when we introduced the Pro-20 in South Africa in 2004. I’ve been a stakeholder in T20s for a long time, so I’m looking to try and see that adjustment is very quick in T10 as well. It’s a different format. There are players who have more experience than I have [Pune’s marquee signings include Thisara Perera and Mohammad Amir], so I’m also looking to learn from them.On boundary catching: “If your feet are shuffling sideways, you can have the power to spring up and land at the same place”•BCCIWhat is the biggest attribute needed in a team environment today?
The ability to listen. As coaches, your first instinct is to feel the need to say something, but when you have so many experienced players in your line-up, you need something unique and powerful, because they have seen it all. On the field, you have no say when things unfold. Also, from the business point of view, there’s lot of strategy and analysis that could work, but it’s about the actual execution that’s important. And that’s done better by listening rather than telling them what to do. If you’re listening, you’re giving them a chance to work out what the best plan could be. It allows people to grow. It’s an important attribute to any environment – T20, T10, even life.Batsmen often have to change mindsets when they switch formats. Does it apply to fielding as well?
Yes, you talk about fielding in T20 cricket, but fielding is huge in Test cricket too. I still remember Ravindra Jadeja’s one-handed catch at deep square leg in a Test in New Zealand [in Christchurch in March 2020]. Those sorts of efforts can change a Test, but yes, T20 has certainly highlighted the importance of fielding and its intensity. In the IPL, you saw some brilliant saves at the boundary, not just great catches. Everywhere you’re looking to save a run. In a lot of games, it all comes down to the last over, last ball, so it’s not about if the guys are doing it differently, I don’t think so.Over the years, have you seen a fundamental shift in how young Indian players approach fielding?
One hundred per cent, but it’s more about the fitness levels. MS Dhoni started it in his quiet way. As captain, he was a quiet, behind-the-scenes guy with a lot of authority. Compare that to Virat Kohli. Heart on his sleeve, he’s very determined in what he wants to change and what he thinks is important. You think of his fitness level and how it changed his game and his athletic ability. You’ve seen that with guys like Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina – players I’m a great fan of – because of the ability to move in the field and the contributions they make with the bat.If you’re setting standards in your fitness levels consistently, that’s amazing. Because as a fielding coach, I can always coach somebody to catch the ball, but the difficulty is in getting somebody to the ball to catch it. If they don’t have that ability and mobility, it’s difficult. From what you’ve seen, the athletic ability has changed of all youngsters coming through.Cricket is a game of habit. Too often, you’ll have ten years of “this is how we field” and it’s difficult to change that. You can bat for two hours, but in India in April-May during the IPL, there’s no chance you can field for more than 20 minutes, so we work together in small groups: ten to 20 minutes of high-intensity fielding, 100%, get it right and move on. Players who spend lot of time bowling and batting, if you can improve their ability to move, that’s a massive change in the right direction.”If you’re listening [as a coach], you’re giving the players a chance to work out what the best plan could be. It allows people to grow”•Samuel Rajkumar/BCCITalking of athletic ability, we’ve seen some incredible boundary catches in the IPL. What is the key to being a good boundary rider?
It’s important to not take your eye off the ball. Whether you’re batting or fielding, you still have to watch the ball. Awareness is the key. What I try and promote as fielding coach is the need for players to play different sport. Whether it’s badminton, football – not seriously, just to get that lateral movement. As a field hockey player, there was a huge benefit to my fielding. It was a massive benefit to me [to be] a football player, because it gives you that peripheral vision and the awareness of space.From a catching point of view, it’s about getting back to the rope as quickly as possible and not looking at it. I was trying to get the guys to shuffle back to the boundary like they are stepping out when they are batting. You don’t run forward or run backwards when you’re stepping out to bat, you still come with a good shape. It will give you a good base to work from because if your momentum is taking you back towards the rope, as soon as you jump, you’re going to jump outside the rope. Whereas if your feet are shuffling sideways, you can have the power to spring up and land at the same place.Those sorts of things do have a technique to it. It’s about doing it enough times so that it becomes a habit and the players become aware. You can work on the technical skills, but it’s the awareness, the anticipation, that’s important.From memory, can you pick out some of the boundary catches that have stood out?
Hmm, not really. You think of the 2019 World Cup. Ben Stokes caught Andile Phehlukwayo at the boundary, but he got it wrong. He came in, one hand, leapt up and caught it. Adam Bacher caught Sachin Tendulkar one-handed in a Test in Cape Town when Tendulkar was just defying us. He got 100-odd, I think [169], and the only way we could get him out was through that incredible one-handed catch at the boundary over his head.With regards to T20, there’s been so much brilliance. What I’m loving is that for the first six years of the IPL, if you had a top-ten compilation [of the best boundary catches], it was only the international players in it. Two would be Indians. Now, you’d have at least seven Indians. That, for me, is way more exciting than one particular catch that stands out. It’s just the awareness that these young kids coming through have and the work that they are putting in as fielders.Who are the some of the best fielders you’ve seen?
Ricky Ponting was an incredible fielder. He shattered his ankle sliding into the advertising boards once. In Perth, there used to be a concrete wall as the boundary, as you saw in a lot of Australian grounds. Guys like myself and Ricky, who were committed in the field, had it tough diving around to save every run because we didn’t have a cushion to slide over while trying to pull the ball back in. We either had a wall or picket fence. So Ricky was incredible. Also, the accuracy with which he hit the stumps was amazing.Herschelle Gibbs – I spent a lot of my career playing with him, having him at cover and me at point was a lot of fun. The two of us terrorising the opposition batters was a lot of fun.I’ve enjoyed watching Suresh Raina throughout his career. He was Mr IPL. Everyone spoke about his batting, never missing a game for so long. My impression of him was: here’s a guy who is diving around, having grown up in India, which is an indication that he wasn’t afraid. Him and AB de Villiers, in the modern day, I’ve enjoyed. It’s not about the catches, it’s about the anticipation – them putting pressure on the opposition and never taking the foot off the gas for the full 20 overs.”I played in four World Cups. In four attempts, we didn’t win. If you tell me that I had a disappointing career, no. I don’t have any regrets”•Chris Turvey/PA Photos/Getty ImagesI have to ask you about your international career as we wrap up. Was there a hint of regret at not having won a World Cup despite having the teams to do so?
I played 11 years for South Africa. I played in four World Cups. My career spanned from the start of one edition to the end of another, and I never got to a final. Part of T10 is my focus on the process, less the outcome. As coach, it’s important to allow players the freedom. In four attempts [with South Africa], we didn’t win. If you tell me that I had a disappointing career, no. I don’t have any regrets. Talking of South Africa being chokers at ICC events, having been a part of it, never once have we walked onto the field thinking, “We’re going to win” or “Oh, we’re going to choke.” So from that point of view, I have no single regret.I had an incredible opportunity to represent my country at a stage where three years before 1992, even three months before the World Cup, no one even thought we’d be going there. Having that larger picture of life has shaped me in my cricket. I don’t have a regret. I’m just grateful. I didn’t even have a country to play for six months before the World Cup. And when I came in, people went, “Who is this guy Jonty Rhodes?” Because my average in state cricket was really poor. I was a feisty young guy on the field, but it wasn’t a big part of the game. Kepler Wessels was my captain. He’d played in Australia and knew how important it was. You couldn’t hit the ball out of the ground. The boundaries were big. You needed speed on the outfield, and he chose Hansie Cronje and myself in the squad.Not a single regret with regards to my cricket. No player envy either. How many cups you won doesn’t define me as a player. Australia won three World Cups during my time, but it doesn’t make my career any less of an incredible opportunity to do what I did to make a name for myself by playing a sport in the backyard with my brothers.

He has more than a few skills to be transferred in either direction, from the shortest format to the longest

Andrew Miller07-Feb-20212:30

What makes Jofra Archer special?

It’s a sign of the strange times that we live in, that two fast bowlers whose records and reputations precede them in India are only right now playing in their first Test match in the country – and on opposing teams as well.The Indian Premier League may be the stage on which both men have honed their crafts, but in their contrasting but complementary styles, first Jasprit Bumrah and now Jofra Archer have demonstrated an abiding truth about high-class fast bowling. It transcends time, place, formats and conditions – and it remains the most compelling factor in the game. Pace is pace, no matter where and how you use it, and pace with skill can be unplayable.Bumrah’s efforts ended up being rather buried beneath the mountains of runs that England piled up over the first two-and-a-bit days of this match. However, his ability to take the pitch out of the equation, unmatched in the contemporary game, was showcased by his three lbws on each day of the match – full, fast, inswinging and startling, as well as by arguably the single best ball of the match so far, a sensational late-dipping yorker that should by rights have unseated Ben Stokes before his vital 82 had got underway.On the third day, on the other hand, Archer’s efforts were front and centre of England’s surge into the ascendancy, and what’s more, they seized on the exact opposite approach to Bumrah, not to mention the exact same methods that earned him the accolade of MVP at the last IPL that finished in November. Aggression to the fore, accuracy unwavering, and most importantly for England’s burgeoning hopes in this campaign, a determination not only to embrace the uncompromising nature of the wicket, but to factor it actively into his methods.To be fair to England’s planning for this series, he’s hardly been alone in that. For the third match running, a different England new-ball bowler has nailed his methods in his first spell of the winter – but whereas Stuart Broad and James Anderson, in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka, created their opportunities through relentless dot-ball pressure, Archer was more content to duke it out in his favourite T20 fashion, relishing the cut and thrust of the encounter, and encouraging errors through the batsman’s adrenaline as much as his own.Archer’s first five-over burst went for 25 runs but yielded two priceless wickets – Rohit Sharma scalped by a fast cutter that kicked off the deck as if was a Dukes ball in May, before kissing the edge through to the keeper. The other was burgled with pure IPL trickery, as Archer ripped his fingers down the side of the ball, luring a pumped-up Shubman Gill into a fatefully early push through the line to a diving Anderson at mid-on.Jofra Archer vs Rohit Sharma•ESPNcricinfo LtdFrom the outset, Archer’s blood was pumping, to a more visible degree than had ever been the case during his undeniably subdued performances during England’s summer series – epitomised by his comments during the Old Trafford Test against Pakistan, when he claimed that the wicket was not one on which to “bend your back”.It’s arguable that Archer’s point in that contest was misconstrued – it certainly seems that way after witnessing the ferocity of his approach both here and at the IPL – given that English conditions, even flatter pitches, tend to offer just enough assistance to reward the virtues of conventional line and length. Without ever slipping the handbrake in that Old Trafford game, he still contributed four wickets at 21.5 to England’s series-deciding win. And in the long term, if Archer can develop the versatility to thrive without going full throttle, he’ll be all the better set for a long and fruitful Test career, in all conditions.In the early years of the IPL, it was regularly stated that the best Test players were equipped to thrive in T20 cricket, but not vice versa – and for a time this was true, because the longer game still rewarded the sort of technical discipline for which white-ball cricket (as it wasn’t then called) was liable to cut corners. Test cricket is where you “build the brand”, as Kevin Pietersen infamously put it at the height of his stand-off with the ECB.But that attitude is palpably wrongheaded now – a decade has passed since David Warner broke the mould, and India have just ended Australia’s three-decade-long unbeaten run at the Gabba with a victory that was siphoned directly from the vim and optimism of regular T20 combat. And, as Archer showed in bucking every conceivable fast-bowling trend at the latest IPL, he has more than a few skills to be transferred in either direction.All told, Archer claimed 20 wickets at 18.25 in Rajasthan Royals’ campaign, but half of those came with the new ball in his Powerplay overs, at a stunning economy rate of 4.34 that was a testament, as much as anything, to his sheer unplayability. It was widely noted at the time, in fact, that he was adapting a Test-match attitude to his white-ball game, consistently targeting the top of off with judicious use of the bouncer – a weapon so ferocious, even in the UAE, that it actually improved his economy rate (to a remarkable 3.54) – while keeping even his more confident opponents guessing with his cunning armoury of cutters and knuckle-balls.And so it showed today, in a thrilling but short-lived joust with India’s openers. Over the course of the past three IPLs, Gill and Sharma had faced 18 balls from Archer, with a palpable lack of success. Each had been dismissed twice, for a grand total of 11 runs, and Sharma’s head-to-head on home soil is now particularly bleak – he had been dismissed by two of the first four balls that Archer had bowled to him in India, and he made it three out of eight in total today, as he flinched at a perfect pacey cutter, one ball after flicking a rare loose ball off his toes.As for Gill, there can’t have been many more scintillating sub-30 innings in recent Test history, as he too showed how transferable his short-form skills can be, not least against one of England’s established Test masters – his checked on-drive for four off Anderson was nothing less than a come-and-get-me plea from his as-yet unsponsored bat. But for India’s purposes, it proved too short and sweet. A blend of methods might yet be required in the second innings, if India are to back up their Australia heroics with another extraordinary turnaround in this contest.