Test cricket, when your front men are scoring runs, is bliss. And that is what India will be searching for in Mumbai

Alagappan Muthu29-Oct-20241:16

Manjrekar: India will hope Rohit, Kohli fire in Australia

This is an anomaly, and it is at the heart of everything that has gone down in this series. A visiting batter is the top-scorer. There really aren’t very many times that has happened in Test cricket played in India.Keeping to events in this century, there was Alastair Cook’s merciless grind in 2012-13. Steven Smith’s extraordinary skill in 2016-17. Hashim Amla’s wristy goodness in 2009-10, dismissed just once while scoring 490 runs. Andy Flower’s sweep-shot masterclass in 2000-01. Matthew Hayden’s sweep-shot masterclass in 2000-01. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does highlight a very useful point. Only one of these five performances went on to help their team win the series.India’s batters found ways to match most of the others. Cheteshwar Pujara was hot on Smith’s heels. Rahul Dravid was only 108 runs off Flower despite playing one fewer innings. And VVS Laxman made 2000-01 all about himself with just one trip to the crease. A significant part of their dominance at home came down to their ability to pile on some serious runs, the kind that simply overwhelmed oppositions. England, in 2016-17, began three of the five Tests with first-innings totals of 400 or more. They drew one and lost two – by an innings.Related

India and England cannot sweep themselves out of trouble in Tests

Gambhir: I don't think our skill against spin has gone down

Nothing's changed, India say, but the evidence suggests otherwise

Bittersweet for India, as one of cricket's great winning streaks ends

'Too much expectation' – Rohit unfazed by Ashwin, Jadeja's returns

Often enough, these runs came from their top four – from players with an enormous amount of experience, and the stubbornness that comes with it. This time, however, India’s closest representative to Rachin Ravindra on top of the leaderboard is a man who hadn’t played any international cricket prior to this year.Sarfaraz Khan’s biggest contribution, though – his 150, which forms a lion’s share of his total 170 runs – did come from higher up in the batting line-up. In fact, he braved the challenge of walking out earlier than he normally does in first-class cricket, and came good. That innings is doing a lot of legwork in carrying the average of the top four batters for India up to 31.75. Take that away, and in 15 innings, they have contributed 358 runs at an average of 23.87, including three ducks.New Zealand’s Nos. 1-4, meanwhile, are averaging 49, and even if you take Ravindra’s century out, it stands a healthy 37 because Devon Conway has two half-centuries; Tom Latham, in Pune, produced some of the most high-quality defensive batting seen in the second innings in India in the modern era; and Will Young, who came in to replace Kane Williamson, perhaps the only irreplaceable player in the team, has offered solidity. Among India’s top four, only Yashasvi Jaiswal has faced more balls than Young’s 222. Among his own top four, only Latham has faced fewer (210).Test cricket, when your front men are scoring runs, is bliss. And that is what India will be searching for in Mumbai. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have home bases here, left Pune early. It was understandable. There was nothing more for them there. Just unhealthy reminders of what they had lost: 18 straight series wins, a run unlike any other in the history of the game, and a run to which they had been significant contributors.India need the Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli of old now•BCCIKohli, in particular, has produced absolute gems in dire batting conditions. He made 248 runs in Visakhapatnam from eight years ago, but 81 of those stand separate – as an example of just how devastating his focus is. The ball that turned big couldn’t beat him. The ball that went straight couldn’t catch him off guard. The ball that kept low was whipped to the boundary. There was a 44 against Australia in Delhi just last year, when he was in control of roughly nine out of 10 balls in conditions where the others could only dream of such a thing. His judgment of length was scary quick, and the decisions that they led to elevated batting into art. In this series, he has been bowled to a Mitchell Santner full toss and caught off a non-turning Glenn Phillips offbreak. It has continued a worrying trend in both his and his team-mates’ batting against spin.Rohit has been a lightning rod for India’s defeats. His comments at the post-match press conference in Pune – particularly where he tried to defend the options that he and his team chose – have not gone down well. On social media, people have likened him to Erik Ten Hag, the Manchester United manager who had a habit of telling the media that he was happy with his team’s performance even after losses and pointing to past victories to explain their progress. Ten Hag was sacked on Monday. Rohit’s situation is slightly more secure, but it hasn’t escaped notice that he has led India to four losses in 15 home Tests. His predecessor lost two in 31.Reducing a player to just their numbers can be a bit unforgiving. Worse, it tends to paint an incomplete picture. In this case, it ignores how well Rohit led the team against England earlier this year when they went 0-1 down, and lost first-choice picks to injury and other complications. All of a sudden, there was a whole bunch of new(ish) faces in the team, and nearly all of them had a hand in turning that series scoreline to read 4-1. One of them, Jaiswal, is shaping up to be a world-beater. Rohit lifted his own performance levels as well, scoring two centuries and a fifty. India need that Rohit and that Kohli now. They need their two best batters to regain their old aura.

Aggression from outset mirrors approach taken by other young batters, including India’s Pant

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Dec-2024England were still at the Basin Reserve on Sunday, celebrating a series win over New Zealand confirmed with a game to spare, when news came through of Australia’s victory over India across the Tasman sea.Both second Tests ran parallel, beginning on Friday and finishing within three days. But the day-night timings in Adelaide – two and a half hours behind New Zealand Daylight Time – meant there were a full two sessions on the go after stumps in Wellington.That worked a treat for England’s evenings. On days one and two, upon returning to their city-centre base at the Sofitel Hotel, players would bag a seat in the team room (a repurposed events room), get their room service or Deliveroo orders in and digest events at the Adelaide Oval.It was a productive way to decompress, with five-Test series to come against both India (at home) and Australia (away) in the space of 29 weeks from June 2025. Notes will have been made by an England team with new faces who have either never faced India, experienced an Ashes overseas or both. But the general mood was of players hooked on an edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy bubbling away nicely, with regular moments of awe.”I don’t know if you saw Rishabh Pant last night run down the pitch first ball,” Harry Brook told a collection of journalists, clutching the Player-of-the-Match award after 123 and 55 to help England clinch the inaugural Crowe-Thorpe Trophy.Related

• Harry Brook is going to the Ashes with a clear mind, but how will he fare there?

• Joe Root: Harry Brook's 317 is just the first of his 'monster' scores

• Stats – England's first series win in NZ since 2008, New Zealand's worst home defeat

• Brook rises to No. 2 in Test batting rankings, closes gap with table-topper Root

• England crush New Zealand to claim series despite Blundell defiance

Pant, having come to the crease with India 66 for 3 in their second innings, immediately charged Scott Boland and launched him over mid-off for four. It was reminiscent of England’s approach to Boland in the 2023 Ashes, aggressively knocking him off his length and into a 115.50 average from two appearances.You can picture the scene. England players leaning forward and pointing at the TV, like that well-meme-ed clip of Leonardo Di Caprio from . But it was less about what they had done specifically to Boland, and more about the keeper-batter’s approach with India still trailing Australia’s first innings by 91.It was Pant being Pant, and the epitome of what Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have tried to instil in their batters since they joined forces in the summer of 2022. Being brave enough to shoot your shots, even when the odds are against you.”To have that sort of courage to get off the mark first-ball is something that we’ve done exceptionally well over the last couple of years,” Brook said of Pant, before adding: “We say it all the time – we’re out there to score runs. We’re not there to survive.”It is a hell of a thing to say as a Test batter, but something the recently anointed No.2 in the world – the real No.1 in the eyes of the current leader of the ICC rankings, Joe Root – can get away with.Gung Ho has gone great for Brook so far. He averages 61.62 in 23 appearances, striking at 88.57 – a touch higher than the 86.80 for his 171 in the first Test, but nearly 20 shy of the 106.95 pace of his 123 in the second Test on Friday.He ranks the latter as the best of his eight hundreds, and you can understand why. Situationally crucial with England 26 for 3 on the first morning in seaming conditions, and staggeringly crisp from conception to execution.Rishabh Pant charges down the pitch to take on Australia’s bowlers•Getty ImagesScattered throughout the 115-ball innings were a series of solutions to problems endured by his team-mates (Ollie Pope, 66, was the only other batter to make it past 20). All effective but hard to replicate without Brook’s eye and hands.Nathan Smith’s bustle into the right-handers made him hard to clip around the corner, so Brook stepped away, skipped down and carted him over cover for six three times. Matt Henry’s disciplined lines offered hints of when and where to charge. Will O’Rourke’s extra pace and bounce meant extra oomph out of the middle of his bat.This wasn’t strictly Brook showing off. It looked too natural for that. But it did speak of a more noticeable shift across the board, of twenty-something batters looking at Test cricket’s precise – at times constricting – whims, and realising they don’t need to conform to belong.Standard Test-match tropes, such as watchful starts, need not apply to everyone, even (especially?) when a bowling attack has settled into a predictable groove, as both Pant and Brook have showed over the last few days, as well as the rest of their careers. Their current career strike-rates (74.73 and 88.57 respectively) are pretty much in keeping with how they start their innings – 70 and 82 for their first 20 balls faced.White-ball cricket has expanded repertoire and removed pretention. High elbows are still a thing – Brook’s is one of the highest – but hitting the ball in the air is no longer frowned upon. Aiming for the large expanses of green left free by traditional Test field placements has a whiff of “why didn’t people try this sooner?” Pre-meditation is no longer the sign of an absent mind but a clear one. All are cornerstones of Brook’s clumps over extra cover, or Pant’s much-adored tumbling reverse lap-sweep.”I think when you look at gaps (in the field) as well, you almost commit to a shot before the ball’s almost bowled,” Brook explained. “It probably works more in white-ball, but you kind of know that you’re going to target a space, and whether you play one shot or the other, you’re still trying to get it there – so fully committed to hitting in that area.”A lot of people are practising a lot of different things and practising certain shots. And you look at the field and think there’s a massive gap there, so let’s just try hit it there. There’s less risk of getting out, and I almost have that thought process myself.”Pant and Brook are noteworthy figureheads for the spate of twenty-somethings pushing the envelope in whites. Despite the large concentration of white-ball competitions in the Southern Hemisphere summer, a number are engaged with the red.Rachin Ravindra travels to Hamilton this week looking to cap off an impressive 2024. Yashasvi Jaiswal will spread the word of his impending legend status up in Queensland. Meanwhile, Kamindu Mendis and Tristan Stubbs are duking it out in South Africa.The horizons of Test match batting are broadening, and it is worth appreciating. Those at the vanguard are certainly appreciating one another.

All the records Smith and Carey broke during their 259-run stand in the second Test against Sri Lanka

Namooh Shah08-Feb-202536 Test hundreds by Steven Smith. He joins the top five list of players with most Test hundreds, equaling the record of Rahul Dravid and Joe Root.17 Test hundreds as captain by Smith, only behind Graeme Smith (25), Virat Kohli (20) and Ricky Ponting (19).7 Test hundreds by Smith in Asia. He now has the most Test hundreds for an Australia batter in the sub-continent. It is also his fourth hundred in Sri Lanka, and he now has second most Test hundreds in Sri Lanka by a visiting batter just behind Sachin Tendulkar who has five hundreds.2 – Smith took 206 innings to score thirty-six Test hundreds, becoming the second fastest player to do so, only behind Ponting, who achieved the feat in 200 innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1994 Test runs by Smith in Asia. He became the Australian with most Test runs in Asia, going past Ponting’s tally of 1889 runs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd11 – Smith has shared 200 runs partnership with a total of eleven players, the most by any batter, going past Ponting (10).156 – Alex Carey’s score of 156 is the highest score by an Australian wicketkeeper in the subcontinent, bettering the record of Adam Gilchrist’s knocks of 144 vs Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Kandy 2004 and Fatullah 2006 respectively.ESPNcricinfo Ltd259 Partnership runs between Smith and Carey is the highest fourth wicket partnership by a visiting pair in Sri Lanka, going past the 258 partnership by Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh in Pallekele in 2011.4 – Carey became the fourth Australian wicketkeeper to score 150 runs in a Test innings, the others in the list being Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin.

An opener making a comeback against the odds galvanised his partner as Bangladesh put on their first century stand for the first wicket since December 2022

Mohammad Isam29-Apr-2025A century stand between Bangladesh’s openers was a long-forgotten promise in Test cricket. Opening pairs have come thick and fast, and, since their milestone Test series win in Pakistan last year, had contributed very little to their team’s totals. The selectors have gone through many options and have scratched their heads over the lack of candidates in domestic cricket.They had, however, ignored one batter for a long time. Anamul Haque isn’t perhaps the most obvious choice given the enigmatic international career he’s had since his debut in 2012. He has been a domestic giant, however, piling up numbers that most openers in the country have struggled to match, even those who have played for Bangladesh in recent years. He is the leading run-getter among openers in the 2024-25 domestic first-class season, and he remains an outstanding performer even if you put together runs from all formats.There are, however, complications surrounding Anamul’s name. Many consider him to be too flashy on social media. He also led a players’ revolt against the owners of his BPL team after they stopped paying the players. Anamul and a few other players also then posed with cash when some payments were finally made.There’s the more legitimate question mark of Anamul’s inconsistency at the highest level, of course, but that can be placed against many of his peers in and around the Bangladesh side too.Bangladesh’s recent struggles to find a strong opening pair in Test cricket can be summed up by the fact that the 118 that Anamul and Shadman Islam put on against Zimbabwe in Chattogram was their first century stand for the first wicket since December 2022. Of the 33 opening stands in between, only two even crossed the half-century mark.Shadman then went on to score 120. It was the first century from a Bangladesh opener since Zakir Hasan’s 100 against India in December 2022, also in Chattogram.Anamul himself made a nominal contribution in Bangladesh’s scorecard on the second day of this Chattogram Test. He made a bigger impact than the scorecard would suggest, though. Anamul batted with a smidgen more positivity than Bangladesh’s recent openers have done. He was a little troubled by short balls in the early stages, but also adjusted quickly to playing the Zimbabwe quicks off the back foot. Anamul was also alert to the possibility of the quick single, which was definitely a distinction between him and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who tends to rely a lot on hitting boundaries in his strong areas.Anamul’s approach rubbed off on Shadman too. He scored exacly twice what Anamul did (39) during their 118-run stand. In recent Tests, Shadman had tended to get stuck early in his innings, but looked far more assured here, every time he looked for runs. His off-side strokeplay was notable for the ease with which he found the gaps, and his straight-driving easy on the eye. Shadman too found regular ones and twos, especially with Zimbabwe stacking their slip cordon against both openers.Shadman Islam scored his second Test hundred•MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via GettyShadman’s freewheeling batting continued after Anamul’s departure, as he added 76 for the second wicket with Mominul Haque. It was the best Bangladesh’s top-order batting had looked in several months.”I didn’t change anything [as an opener],” Shadman said after the day’s play. “I usually play according to the merit of the ball. I don’t really go out with a lot of plans in my mind. As openers we stuck to our plan. I think we didn’t get a big partnership for a long time but we can make things better in the future.”I felt [Anamul Haque] Bijoy was comfortable in his stay. He didn’t really struggle in the middle. He was connecting the ball quite well. He is a very experienced cricketer. He is always scoring runs. He provided a good start. He was looking good, but he was unfortunate to get out.”That Anamul was playing at all was a bit of a surprise. It wasn’t because Anamul wasn’t scoring runs in domestic cricket. On the contrary, he is the second highest run-getter in Bangladesh in all formats since his last Test three years ago, with 4962 runs at an average of 43.91, with 13 centuries – a hugely significant number from a Bangladesh perspective, with the next-best on that list having scored only eight in that time.Seven of Anamul’s centuries have come in an extraordinary 2024-25 season, which has brought him 2146 runs at 51.09.It’s usually extremely difficult for a Bangladeshi cricketer dropped from the national team, particularly if they are beyond a certain age, to make a comeback. At 32, Anamul had shown the hunger to score runs day in and day out at the domestic level, and made himself impossible to ignore. While Bangladesh were losing the first Test in Sylhet, Anamul was scoring back-to-back hundreds for Gazi Group in the Dhaka Premier Division, virtually forcing the selectors to recall him.Bangladesh aren’t known for giving players a long rope, however, so having made it back, Anamul will know he’ll have to keep scoring runs to keep hold of his hard-won slot.

Last season’s losing finalists have brought in the likes of Kishan and Shami to strengthen an already imposing squad

Ekanth16-Mar-20253:38

Chopra sees Kamindu Mendis getting a go at SRH

Where they finished last yearIn 2024, SRH made their first final in six years. They started with a bang, with five wins in their first seven games. Eventually, three more wins and an abandoned match left them tied on 17 points with Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the end of the group stage, but a superior net run rate meant SRH finished second. They then lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 1, but beat RR in Qualifier 2 to make the final, where they lost to KKR again.What’s new in 2025?SRH took the IPL by storm last season with their ultra-aggressive batting approach, going past 250 three times and setting a new record for the highest total in IPL history, 287 for 3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). With Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy still in the line-up, and with Ishan Kishan added during the auction, SRH are unlikely to change their template.While they have that stellar top five, SRH are short on depth among local batters. Aniket Verma is in his debut season, Abhinav Manohar played just two games in 2024, and Sachin Baby last featured in the IPL in 2021. Hence, with captain Pat Cummins, Head and Klaasen as overseas lock-ins, SRH might look to include Kamindu Mendis to shore up their line-up.Although SRH retained Cummins and signed back Jaydev Unadkat after initially releasing him, they will have an otherwise new-look bowling attack in 2025. Cummins and Unadkat now have the company of Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar. Shami is likely to take the new ball, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their mainstay since 2014, no longer with SRH. Among overseas bowlers, SRH can choose from Adam Zampa and allrounder Wiaan Mulder, while Reddy, Abhishek, Head and Kamindu could chip in with a few overs too.Related

Aussies at the IPL: how will they fare in 2025?

Injured Carse ruled out of IPL 2025, SRH sign Mulder as replacement

Sun Group secures 100% stake in Northern Superchargers

Likely best XII1 Travis Head*, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen*, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins* (capt), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Adam Zampa*
Full SRH squadBig questionWatch out forAbhishek and Head blew oppositions away last season and took the idea of maximising the powerplay to dizzying heights. But the duo couldn’t carry their sizzling form into their last four games, across which they added just 15 runs. However, if SRH get lift-off from their openers even in half their games this season, opposition attacks could have nowhere to hide.Mohammed Shami took 28 wickets in the powerplay at an average of 21.25 and an economy of 7.08 across the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons. But an ankle injury, which required surgery, kept him out of cricket for over a year. Since his return, he has bowled in the powerplay in four T20s and picked up two wickets. He then proved his fitness and form by taking nine wickets in 41 overs during the Champions Trophy. If he stays fit and can strike with the new ball regularly, SRH won’t feel Bhuvneshwar’s absence as much.Since his return following ankle surgery, Mohammed Shami has taken 14 wickets in 11 T20s•BCCIKey stats Since his return following ankle surgery, Shami has taken 14 wickets across 11 T20s for Bengal and India. He has averaged 23.50, and had an economy rate of 8.02. Abhishek Sharma has a strike rate of 200.86 in the 28 games he has played since the end of IPL 2024. He has scored three hundreds during that period, two of which have come in his last six games.Who’s out or in doubt?Cummins missed the Champions Trophy with an ankle injury, but has started bowling again. He did not require surgery, and recovered through rehab. Last year’s MLC final, which took place in July, was Cummins’ last T20 appearance. With the WTC final and a Test tour to the West Indies coming up after the IPL, Australia will hope Cummins remains injury-free through the IPL.Brydon Carse injured his left toe during England’s tour of India prior to the Champions Trophy, which led to SRH bringing in Mulder as his replacement.

The allrounder is now a T20 freelancer and struck a deal with the selectors to miss the West Indies and South Africa series

Matt Roller14-Aug-2025It is mid-afternoon on a hot summer’s day in London, and Marcus Stoinis is sitting on the members’ benches in the lower tier of the Lord’s Pavilion. He has spent the last two hours training on the Nursery Ground and, yet to look at his phone, he is anxious to learn the result of Australia’s T20I against South Africa, more than 8,000 miles away in Darwin.”Has it finished?” Stoinis asks. It has: Australia have lost by 53 runs, their first defeat in 10 matches. “I was watching it on the bus, but we just had training so I missed most of our batting innings,” he explains. It is an unusual scenario for him, albeit one that he is growing used to: a regular in Australia’s T20 team since 2018, he has now missed two series in a row.The curious aspect is that Stoinis has not retired from T20Is, nor has he been dropped. His non-involvement owes to conversations he instigated with Andrew McDonald and George Bailey – Australia’s coach and chief selector – earlier this year, and he still hopes to be selected for upcoming series against New Zealand and India with an eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup.Related

• Stoinis and David shine light on future of Australia's contracts system

• Starc announces retirement from T20Is to focus on Tests, 2027 ODI World Cup

• Australia in unfamiliar territory in T20I series decider against South Africa

• 'Cose to all guns blazing' – Australia plan to power through

• Bailey declares Weatherald 'in the mix' for Ashes

Stoinis has been a freelancer – without a national or state contract – for the past year, and remains in high demand in leagues around the world. It is a lifestyle that suits him, and deals like his £200,000 direct signing with Trent Rockets are hard to turn down. “There’s no better place to play,” he says, ahead of Thursday’s fixture against London Spirit at Lord’s.”The nature of it is that you can’t select yourself in an Australian jersey, but you can sign a contract to come and play in the Hundred,” Stoinis explains. “When this opportunity came up, I spoke to Cricket Australia, I spoke to Ron [McDonald] and we made a plan around that, really… When you’re planning it in advance, that makes it easier.”He has retired from ODIs but remains available for T20 selection, and Bailey confirmed last week that he will be “firmly in the mix” for next year’s World Cup. “We are very lucky,” Stoinis says. “We do it very well in Australia. The relationships that I’ve got with both Ron and Bails means you just have those conversations pretty openly.”His absence has created opportunities for 23-year-old allrounder Mitchell Owen in the middle order, who impressed in the Caribbean last month. “Maybe it’s because I’m older, but I want him to do well,” Stoinis, who turns 36 on Saturday, says. “We were just with each other during the IPL [at Punjab Kings] and it’s been good for him to play different roles.Marcus Stoinis’ most recent appearance for Australia came last November•AFP”I’m also fully aware that myself and Maxi [Glenn Maxwell] – and, more recently, Timmy David – have been holding that spot through the middle of Australian cricket for a long time. It’s very hard for other, young people to come through and have a crack at that… You need to bring through the next generation as well. It’s no-one’s spot.”He has found it “weird” watching his team-mates from afar but seems at peace with the decisions that he has made. “You share a few messages after the games and have a laugh… They say playing for your country should be the best time of your life, and for me it has been. But I don’t feel like it’s done yet.”Life as a freelancer has meant the best part of five months on the road for Stoinis. He spent from mid-March to early June in India for the IPL – contracting Covid-19 during a short trip home when the league was suspended – then flew back to Australia to get his visa sorted for Major League Cricket. He had two weeks off after that, then was back to the UK for the Hundred.He occasionally employs a personal chef in India and, along with Tim David, trains with Jim Allenby – the former Glamorgan allrounder, now a coach – when he is back in Perth. But he generally looks after himself and relies on the staff at his various teams, rather than travelling the world with an entourage in tow as a tennis player or a golfer would.Marcus Stoinis shakes hands with Harry Brook•Andy Kearns/Getty ImagesIt is a happy coincidence, then, that his Melbourne Stars coach Peter Moores is involved in the Rockets’ backroom staff, and he has also worked with Andy Flower before at Lucknow Super Giants. Graeme Swann has been arranging the team’s golf days, and they are a happy bunch after starting the season with wins over Birmingham Phoenix and Northern Superchargers.Stoinis played in the Hundred three years ago with Southern Brave, and says that he has wanted to return ever since. He will have family at Lord’s on Thursday night, and his girlfriend Sarah arrives next week: “Whenever an Aussie plays in England, the family sees it as a good opportunity to make the trip over. It’s somewhere where everyone wants to be.”He has noted the presence of new team owners in the Hundred, and expects Cricket Australia will follow suit with the BBL. Players have an obvious vested interest in private investment and Stoinis is unsurprisingly supportive, arguing that it is the obvious direction of travel – even if he still sees the chance to play in next year’s T20 World Cup as his main personal ambition.”Thinking about the IPL owners and what they’ve done with the IPL, you want people that have got a track record of building something that’s very good. If they do that, it’s great for them, but it’s also great for English cricket or for Australian cricket… It’s a pretty clear path to me, as to where most of cricket’s going.”

Sam Curran recall on the cards as lack of fourth seamer leaves spinning options exposed in ODIs

Matt Roller05-Sep-2025From the moment that Matthew Breetzke shimmied outside leg and launched Jacob Bethell over extra cover for six, it was clear that England had a major problem at Lord’s. They have persisted with an unbalanced side throughout Harry Brook’s short tenure as ODI captain and this was the day that it truly came back to bite them.England got away with picking only four frontline bowlers in Brook’s first series as captain, but that was against a poor West Indies side who failed to qualify for the last World Cup. South Africa were cold and clinical at Lord’s: Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis seized their chance to take Bethell and Will Jacks down, knowing that Brook was running out of resources.In fact, South Africa might have done England a favour: in taking 112 runs from the 10 overs split by Bethell and Jacks, they proved that their selections were fundamentally flawed. It is not a slight on either individual player to say that they are being asked to do a job they are not cut out for: Jacks’ economy rate across five ODIs this year is 8.80, and Bethell’s is 9.06.”With our batting line-up, this is what we set up for: we want to try and chase them big scores,” Brook told the BBC. “That’s why we set the team up as it is: to get within one blow of that score today was a very good effort.” His logic was circular, ignoring the fact that Bethell and Jacks had conceded so many runs that their combined contribution of 97 off 73 still wasn’t enough.Related

Sam Curran added to England T20I squads as Ben Duckett takes break

Sam Curran on England omission: 'I've got to keep banging the door down'

Abject England still searching for one-day identity

Breetzke takes inspiration from Northants to make ODI record

Breetzke and Stubbs stamp their middle-order authority as SA build to 2027

England clearly like the buffer of a frontline batter at No. 7: “Imagine having us five-down and Will Jacks comes out to bat?” Brook said earlier this summer, and he saw Jacks’ 49 – in a 143-run partnership with Joe Root – in a tight win over West Indies in Cardiff as vindication. The trouble is that the runs he has scored have been outweighed by those he has conceded.It was a calculated takedown from South Africa at Lord’s, recognising that they could afford to play out Adil Rashid (2 for 33) and cash in elsewhere. “He was bowling really well and the conditions suited him,” Breetzke said. “We just had to sort of suck it up and see what we could get from him – and then, from the other guys, look to score a little bit more freely.”Balance has been an issue that has stalked England’s ODI team ever since they lifted the World Cup six years ago. In the 2015-19 cycle, Ben Stokes played in 71 of their 99 ODIs and bowled an average of 5.1 overs per match; in the 2019-23 cycle, he played in 19 out of 51 and bowled 1.4 overs per match. His international white-ball career now appears to be over.With Moeen Ali retired, England’s lack of a genuine allrounder has been costly. At the Champions Trophy, they used a combination of Liam Livingstone and Root as their ‘fifth’ bowler, with combined returns of 3 for 172 from 26.1 overs; now, they are relying on a pair of spinners who are even more raw in Bethell and Jacks. Curiously, Root remains unused under Brook, even after an India Test summer in which he bowled more overs in a home series (57.1) than ever before.After a miserable run in 50-over cricket since the last World Cup – they have won just seven of their 22 ODIs in that time – England’s focus is on the next one. It is abundantly clear that 10 overs of occasional fingerspin is not going to cut it in many conditions, but especially not on early-season pitches in South Africa in October-November 2027.Sam Curran was a central figure in Oval Invincibles’ Hundred title last month•Getty ImagesIf there is a solution – and the nature of international sport is that there may simply not be a satisfactory one – then it must involve a seam-bowling allrounder who can bat in the top seven. England have attempted to mould Jamie Overton into that player this year, but it is obvious that Sam Curran is the best option that they have available to them.Curran’s ongoing absence from England’s teams is not a complete mystery: after his starring role at the 2022 T20 World Cup, he had two quiet years in international cricket in which he struggled to make an impact with the ball. But he has thrived at franchise level this year, particularly with the bat, and deserves another England opportunity in New Zealand next month.The suspicion remains that Brendon McCullum simply does not rate him. Curran has not been selected by England in any format with McCullum as coach, and sought assurances from him earlier this year amid concerns that he does not “fit the mould” of what England are looking for. He was told that his route back in is simple: “It’s just performing, with bat and ball,” Curran said.Balance is not the only reason that England find themselves 2-0 down in this series, leaving them with eight defeats in 11 ODIs this year. Their core of multi-format players look burned out after a gruelling summer – not least Ben Duckett, whose 14 from 33 balls at Lord’s continued a desperate downturn since his stand-out performances in the India Tests. Their highest individual score is 61, and their bowlers have not taken a wicket in the first 10 overs.But it is emblematic of a wider issue, as was Brook’s response, after England’s thrashing at Headingley on Tuesday, that boiled his desired style of play down to: “Go out there and bang it.” England are attempting to replicate the style of Eoin Morgan’s ODI team, but without any substance to back it up.

Sitting out injured when RCB lifted the IPL trophy was frustrating, but he’s returned to action with his eyes firmly set on “high ambitions”

Srinidhi Ramanujam08-Sep-2025It’s been a stop-start year-and-a-half for Devdutt Padikkal. There was a Test debut in March last year and a second cap in Perth in November. He began 2025 with a century and an 86 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and enjoyed a successful homecoming in the IPL with consistent scores for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). But just as he really seemed to be hitting his stride, with back-to-back match-winning half-centuries against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals, a hamstring injury ruled him out of the rest of the season, forcing him to watch from the outside as RCB won their first-ever title. The injury also kept him out of contention for India A’s tour of England in May-June.It was only this week that Padikkal returned to top-level domestic cricket, and he did so with a solid 57 for South Zone against North Zone in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy. The innings came at a handy time, with Padikkal part of the India A squad for two unofficial home Tests against Australia A starting September 16 in Lucknow.”It [this tournament] was very important,” Padikkal tells ESPNcricinfo. “I haven’t played much red-ball cricket for some time now. So coming into this game, I knew that I needed to make sure that I was getting back into the groove of things. I am really happy that I was able to spend some time out there and get a few runs.”Related

• Patience and precision: how Kartikeya turned the Duleep final on its head

• Technical changes unlock Padikkal's ball-striking ability

• Iyer to lead India A in multi-day matches against Australia A

• Sindhu spins, bats and dreams on in marathon Duleep shift

• 'No one asks us how our body feels' – Thakur on players' workloads

Padikkal walked out to bat when South Zone were 103 for 1 on the second session of day one, with the seamers still finding a little bit of movement at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He looked confident from the get-go, driving elegantly through the covers, cutting behind square for a pair of boundaries, and pushing the ball down the ground with ease. He raced to his half-century in just 64 balls, and hit seven fours before chasing a wide delivery and nicking Anshul Kamboj to the keeper.By his own admission, Padikkal was playing “too many shots”, likely a carry-over from his recent stint in the Maharaja Trophy (Karnataka’s T20 tournament), where he was the Player of the Tournament for his chart-topping 449 runs in 12 innings for Hubli Tigers, including an unbeaten 99.”That’s the frustrating part,” Padikkal says of his dismissal. “It’s just a moment of lapse of concentration, which probably is more down to the fact that I have played very little red-ball cricket over the last few months. So that’s something that I need to work on.”Obviously, coming from T20 cricket directly here, I felt like I was playing a few too many shots, even in the first innings. Which is something that I need to think about a little bit. And hopefully, going into the A series, I can work on that.”A hamstring injury cut short a promising IPL season for Padikkal•BCCIJudging by his approach in the second innings, he already seems to have done so. On the final morning, South Zone took five quick wickets to bowl North Zone out for 361, securing a crucial first-innings lead and a place in the final. When Padikkal joined N Jagadeesan, the pair swapped roles from the first innings, during which the latter had crafted a 352-ball 197. Jagadeesan, a picture of patience during that innings, hit a flurry of boundaries now to reach his fifty off just 60 balls. Padikkal, meanwhile, finished unbeaten on 16 off 54 balls, hitting just the one four.Padikkal admitted that the months away from the game were some of the hardest he’s gone through, particularly as a local boy watching RCB lift the IPL trophy without him.”Obviously, the first couple of weeks were the hardest,” he says. “Because you have to come to terms [with the fact] that you are not going to be playing much cricket for a month or so. And especially watching the IPL from home was a bit challenging.”I would have loved to be a part of that side, winning the trophy. That is the first couple of weeks and after that, again, you just switch into that zone of trying to get better.”During rehab, it gives you a lot of time to just focus on yourself in terms of what you need to work on. Because during a season, it is very hard to really give that time to yourself to look at the specific areas that you need to work on. So during my rehab, I was just looking to find things that I struggled with during the season physically and in terms of my technique, and trying to see how I can make that adjustment going into the next season.”So, I feel I used that very well during those couple of months. I am really happy where I am at now.”After the Duleep Trophy final, Padikkal’s next assignment is an unofficial Test series for India A against Australia A•PTI Now back in the India A set-up, Padikkal isn’t just looking to make up for lost time but hoping to make a statement. With two home Test series on the horizon – India are playing two Tests each against West Indies in October and South Africa in November – he knows he could get an opportunity if he stays consistent.”You know, every game that you play, especially for India, is very important,” he says. “We have a few home Test series coming up. I’m looking forward to making a mark in the A series to hopefully stake a claim for that team as well. But at the same time, you have to just go out there and bat.”I really enjoyed batting here in red-ball cricket. And just more opportunities to play red-ball cricket are always welcome.”For all the ups and downs, the ambition remains intact. After earning his Test cap, Padikkal doesn’t want to dwell on milestones with his eyes firmly set on the long haul.”I wouldn’t say life’s changed [since the Test debut],” he says. “Obviously, playing Test cricket for India is one of the biggest achievements you can have as a cricketer. But at the same time, I have high ambitions. So just playing or just making my debut is not what my career is going to be about.”Hopefully, I can continue to represent India at the highest level and continue to win games for them. That’s always been my aim. It was a great feeling on that day. But from the next day, it’s about getting back on the ground again.”

The Afghanistan spinner is only 20, a match-winner in his own right, and travelling around the world playing in various T20 leagues with aplomb

Shashank Kishore08-Sep-202515:43

Can Afghanistan make the final of the Asia Cup?

Noor Ahmad lives life on the fast lane. Of late, it’s been a blur of flights, visas, new teams and cricket grounds and hotels. Cricket has kept him so busy that his parents shifted from their hometown, Khost, to Kabul to be able to adjust to their superstar son’s fly-in-fly-out life.”A few years ago, who could have thought I would be here? With talent, hard work and family support, I’m here today,” Noor tells ESPNcricinfo. And “here” for him is everywhere. From Chennai (IPL) to Dallas (MLC) to Manchester (Hundred) to Gqeberha (SA20), Noor has been living out of a suitcase.Noor says he can count the days he has actually not spent on the field – either playing or at training – in the last six months. “CSK, MLC, Shpageeza, back to India for the UK visa, the Hundred,” he ticks off the assignments.Related

Back-to-back games plus travel 'not ideal' – Asalanka, Rashid on gruelling schedules

It's showtime as winless Hong Kong take on wounded Afghanistan to kick off Asia Cup

Noor Ahmad's wristspin is art in fast forward

Cooked in India, reborn in Hong Kong: Anshuman Rath battles his way from tears to triumph

Asia Cup 2025: Politics, passion and a stage for new rivalries

And from the Hundred, he landed in Dubai to link up with the Afghanistan squad for a short preparatory camp. On Sunday night, he finished the tri-series with Pakistan and UAE in Sharjah, and after less than 48 hours, he will line up to play Hong Kong in the Asia Cup opener in Abu Dhabi.Isn’t he tired?”I’m still young, the body can take it, no problems for me,” he says with a smile. “Cricket is what I love. I can’t stay without playing cricket. Yes, travel-wise, it’s been a tough few months. I haven’t got enough rest, but I’m still enjoying it. The body is feeling good.”Noor suddenly remembers he has missed something from the schedule he just went through. He clicks his fingers and adds with a laugh, “Actually, one week off after the IPL at home, no nets, no cricket. After the IPL, I got that time at home. But you see, I can’t stay without cricket for more than one week. I started bowling again.”When he was younger – he is still only 20 – Noor says opportunities were hard-earned. “When my brother first took me to an academy, when I was 12, I remember standing in long lines, getting to bowl just one ball every ten minutes. Because there were so many bowlers. Most of them spinners.””Playing alongside MS Dhoni was the real highlight” – Noor Ahmad on his stint with Chennai Super Kings•AFP/Getty ImagesThen came the moment that made him believe he might be special. Afghanistan batter Noor Ali Zadran happened to face him in one of these sessions and told him, “You are very good, keep going.””That was the indicator for me, maybe I have something,” Noor says. Slowly, more and more national players came to the camp, and Noor bowled to them all. “Some I even got them out,” he says. “Then they all told me, ‘Don’t leave cricket, you have a bright future’. That motivated me so much.”The only problem was that Noor was also a bright student. “First in my class till I was there,” he says. “Then I started to go to the academy, thanks to my brother who also loved cricket but couldn’t take it up professionally.”When I missed class for a few days, the teachers and the principal came to my dad and asked what had happened. They told him I had started playing cricket and should come back to the school as I had a good future. My dad agreed with them. It was hard for my brother to convince my father but he asked him for some time.”Today, Noor’s father watches all his matches without fail. “They even installed a Dish TV connection so that they can watch all matches.”Barely a year into his cricket, Noor was captivated by Rashid Khan, himself a teenage sensation when he broke through. Noor first met him during an Under-16 camp in Kabul, introduced by coach and former captain Raees Ahmadzai.

“I had an arm injury in 2021. I struggled for a year. I could bowl but would always be in pain. That affected my legbreak, my control. It took me a year to recover”

“Rashid came to watch me bowl, and I think he was impressed,” Noor says. These days, Rashid is a mentor, a sounding board. Schedules don’t allow the two to catch up often, but there’s an admiration the younger star has for the 26-year-old veteran.”Whenever I have questions, or want to chat, or need to share with someone, Rashid is the first person for me to go to,” Noor says. “I try not to think too much about bowling, but whenever I have something that I must share, I share with him.”Noor’s eyes twinkle when asked about his maiden IPL season with Chennai Super Kings. “Getting Man of the Match in my first game was special,” he says, “but playing alongside MS Dhoni was the real highlight.”Could he elaborate?”Of course. He keeps things very simple for everyone. You don’t have to think too much. He just says, ‘Assess the situation, do what is needed’. He had complete trust in what I wanted to do. No pressure. We just had to stick to our strengths.”Noor finished IPL 2025 as the second-highest wicket-taker; his 24 wickets in 14 games were only fewer than Prasidh Krishna’s tally of 25 wickets in 15 games. The change in teams – he had earlier played for Gujarat Titans (GT) – worked wonders.ESPNcricinfo LtdAt GT, Noor bowled in tandem with Rashid. But, over the past two seasons, Noor has consistently outshone his celebrated compatriot, a sign of how quickly he has grown from Rashid’s understudy to a match-winner in his own right. At CSK, he had the opportunity to be the main spinner, with R Ashwin in and out of the XII.Noor’s journey hasn’t been without its fair share of setbacks. In 2021, an arm injury left him bowling through pain for nearly a year. His control wavered, he didn’t feel confident bowling the wrong’un, and was often left frustrated.”The fizz I get on the ball is natural,” he explains. “When I was at my initial stages, I used to bowl a lot of googlies and ended up bowling less of the legspin. Then I had an arm injury in 2021. I struggled for a year. I could bowl but would always be in pain.”That affected my legbreak, my control. It took me a year to recover. Again, I had to work on my legbreak because of the injury. But it’s fine now. I think I have strengthened my arm so much now. Earlier, I used to save myself to be able to bowl with little pain. I was tired of being injured, I was like, why am I not getting better?”

“He [Dhoni] keeps things very simple for everyone… He just says, ‘Assess the situation, do what is needed.’ He had complete trust in what I wanted to do. No pressure”

It took him a year to fully recover. And since then, there’s been no stopping him.Afghanistan’s rise as a cricket force has made him hungrier. “We were in the T20 World Cup semi-final last year. This year we should be in the Asia Cup final. That’s the mindset,” he says. But his ultimate dream is still ahead of him: “Winning a trophy for the country – World Cup, Champions Trophy, any world tournament. It’s something that I’ll remember.”Away from the game – which is rare – Noor enjoys watching Real Madrid and Manchester City play. He loves exploring the best Afghan restaurants in whichever city he is at. At the IPL, off days or travel-day nights were spent playing FIFA with Dewald Brewis and Matheesha Pathirana. As hectic as it may be, there’s a rhythm to his life and he enjoys it.But there is one thing he is waiting to tick off. He hasn’t been back to his hometown in three years, but friends send him videos of crowded academies, which lifts him. “Academies are busier than before, many are coming up. I think they’ll have a better chance to play,” he says with hope. “I can’t wait to go back. Hopefully soon.”For now, there’s another tournament. Another trophy to chase. And Afghanistan’s globe-trotting superstar is as ready as ever to take flight.

Sophie Devine took her time to get going, and then took time off to play hockey, but built up a remarkable body of work in ODI cricket before calling it a day

Shubh Agarwal26-Oct-2025Built to lastIt’s been almost two decades since Devine made her international debut as a 17-year-old in 2006. She finishes with the second-longest ODI career for a New Zealand cricketer, male or female. Only Suzie Bates, Devine’s long-time team-mate, has had a longer career, having made her debut seven months before Devine.In between, Devine had paused her cricket career for two years (2011-2012), when she featured for the New Zealand women’s hockey team.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe fixture against England is Devine’s 159th ODI, the second-most for a New Zealand woman, only behind Bates’ tally of 178. Remarkably, she also stands as the only New Zealand cricketer – and just the third women overall – to achieve the rare double of 4000 runs (4256 before her final ODI) and 100 wickets (110) in the format.ESPNcricinfo LtdDevine has the third-highest runs for New Zealand in women’s ODIs and is one among only three bowlers to pick up over 100 wickets.The emergence of the batterDevine actually did not bat much at the start of her career. She batted at No. 8 on her T20I debut and was run out without facing a ball. Four days later, she batted at No. 11 on her ODI debut, making an unbeaten 6 off 29 deliveries.However, things changed after 2013. It was the first time she averaged over 30 with the bat in a calendar year and she didn’t look back after that. It was also the time when she started batting in the top five consistently.But, at the same time, her bowling workload took a backseat.Since then, Devine has not only been among New Zealand’s most consistent run aggregators but also has the best strike rate among those who have at least 1000 runs in this period, also playing 40 of her 108 innings in this period at the tricky No. 4 spot.The batting numbers have spiked since then.In 2015, she was promoted to open the innings, which she has done 34 times in her career. In fact, she is one among only five players to have batted at all 11 batting positions in women ODIs.ESPNcricinfo LtdDevine shone in the opener’s role too. She scored five hundreds as an opener, the second-most for New Zealand with only Bates ahead with 12 centuries.Overall, her total of nine ODI hundreds, four of them as captain and six away from home are all second only to Bates’ numbers.Her 2470 runs away from home are also the second- most for a New Zealand woman cricketer.In the 2017 World Cup clash against Pakistan, Devine smashed nine sixes – a women’s ODI record later matched only by Chamari Athapaththu in 2023. Devine’s 93 off 41 balls came at a strike rate of 226.82, the highest for a 50-plus score in New Zealand’s ODI history.Before her final ODI, Devine had 75 sixes – the second-highest in women’s ODIs, behind only Deandra Dottin’s 91.Defiance in defeatWhile New Zealand’s campaign at this World Cup has been marred by poor weather and some mediocre cricket at times, Devine has stood tall as their highest run-scorer: she has amassed 289 runs at an average of 57.8.In New Zealand’s first fixture, she scored a valiant 112 walking out at 0 for 2 while chasing 327 against Australia. It was her third World Cup century, the second-highest for New Zealand. She followed it up with scores of 85 and 63 with wickets falling around her.Yet, she couldn’t save New Zealand from an early exit in this World Cup, a familiar script for a batter who has the second-highest runs in defeats in ODI history.