Given the challenges 2020 has thrown at everyone, it is refreshing just to talk about cricket again

Daniel Brettig16-Dec-2020At the end of a year blighted by Covid-19, Australia and India find themselves facing off at the same venue where they began their previous bout in 2018 – in the august surrounds of Adelaide Oval.The reassuring sight of the old scoreboard and the Moreton Bay figs at the northern end of the ground provide a sense of continuity intrinsic to Test match cricket, and will be a striking background for the teams of Tim Paine and Virat Kohli in the first ever day/night Test for the Indian side away from home.Yet there will be so much more to cherish about the meeting of two of cricket’s most powerful nations than just about any other time they have crossed paths since beginning a pattern of almost constant contact 20 years ago. Not least the fact that the series is happening at all.Without disregarding the enormously influential financial forces that have driven India and Australia to play no fewer than 12 Test series against each other since 1999 – the same number of encounters as Australia have had Ashes series against England over the same period – all participants and spectators will have had moments this year when they were not entirely sure the series would happen.In the hard months of March, April and May, where the world was almost entirely without sport, there was plenty of time to ponder that grim possibility, and more recently the issues at hand were largely to do with obstacles to staging the series even as so much goodwill existed between Cricket Australia and the BCCI to make it happen. In a year when its leaders have faced pitched battles with state associations, state governments and rights-holding broadcasters, CA has been grateful that India’s administrators and players never raised significant hassles about the tour.Instead, the hurdles for CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley and chairman Earl Eddings were largely to do with finding a port of entry for the charter plane carrying the touring team. From initial plans to land in Perth, the blueprint was shifted to Adelaide and then Brisbane before finally being scooped by Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust. Anxiety levels were never higher than during a lengthy and ultimately fruitless negotiation with the Queensland government.Even after the Indians arrived, there was a chance the series would be turned on its head by a Covid outbreak in Adelaide. For a long time, Adelaide Oval had been slated to host at least one and possible two Tests, given the extended lockdown faced by Melbourne for most of the year that kept a cloud over Boxing Day until as late as October.Related

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But the outbreak that forced a hard if brief lockdown in South Australia had contingencies flipping to start the Test series with a day/night Test at the MCG and then go on to play a more traditional game from December 26 onwards. All these permutations were at the forefront of the mind of Adelaide Oval’s curator Damian Hough, who has reckoned with rock concerts and football fixture turnarounds in the past, but this year has prepared a Test match strip with a Christmas pageant rather than Sheffield Shield games as a lead-in.”One thing we have learned with Covid is to be more in the present,” Hough said. “We like to plan months in advance. We still had plans but had to live in the moment a little bit more,” he said. “[A U2 concert last year] was a much bigger challenge than what we’re going through this year. I never thought I’d see a Christmas pageant at the Adelaide Oval, so it’s just a unique year.”We’re fortunate to be able to give Australia centre-wicket [training] on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, so that was our only preparation, and it seemed to go really well, the feedback was positive. We have got the recipe that seems to work … we’re just sticking to the game plan.”More than anything else, those centre-wicket sessions loom as a priceless competitive advantage for the members of the Australian squad who arrived earlier than those who played for Australia A against the Indians on a different surface at the SCG, something Paine had little hesitation in asserting.There is something refreshing about tactical discussions on the eve of a Test series, rather than those of Covid protocols•Mark Evans/Stringer”We’ve been really lucky to come to Adelaide early,” he said. “We trained three nights in a row on the centre wicket at Adelaide Oval, which I think is going to be a huge advantage for our team. It’s the hardest thing about the pink-ball Test; you normally get it once a year. Sometimes with a Shield game, this time without one. So you’re learning pretty much on the job, in real time, when you walk out to the middle.”To try to adjust to conditions that are just so foreign to us – with the lights on and a pink ball. So it is foreign. But we’ve managed to get three nights on the centre wicket at the Adelaide Oval, which has been terrific for our group – batters and bowlers – to get a sense of what it is like again. Re-jog your memory from last year – it’s going to be a huge advantage for us come tomorrow.”Kohli’s adjustment, having not even played in the SCG warm-up game, will be as critical as any other factor to the outcome in Adelaide. It will be heightened, too, by the fact that this is Kohli’s only Test match for the series, making it still more of a one-off event before Ajinkya Rahane takes over as captain for the remaining three games.With artillery such as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, the Australians have enjoyed considerable success in dismissing Kohli early in each of the past two series. Get through that phase, though, and Kohli has proven he can hurt even this most vaunted of attacks.”Everyone’s got great plans of getting all the best players out don’t they, but that’s why they are the best, they can adapt, they can change with what you’re doing, and Virat is certainly one of the best players if not the best player in the world,” Paine said. “There’s going to be a time in this, well actually there’s only one Test so hopefully it doesn’t, but when you play against players as good as Virat, at times they do get away from you, that’s just the game.”But certainly we’ve got plans in place that have worked ok against him in the past; hopefully they work early enough this week, but if not, yeah, we’ve got a couple of different plans. the great thing with our attack is they’re all different, we’ve also got Nathan Lyon and now you throw in Greeny, we’ve got some different angles, some different speeds and obviously Nathan’s spin as well as Marnus, so we’ve got lots of different options to throw at him if he was to get in and set.”There is something refreshing about tactical discussions and plans on the eve of a Test series, rather than those of Covid protocols, border restrictions and the financial shocks of the year to date. Paine, who appreciates his Test career more than most after coming within a phone call or two of retiring from cricket altogether in 2017, had no notion of “bubble fatigue” at this point in time, when asked whether such considerations might shorten what is left of his time at the summit of the game.”Absolutely not. I’m loving it to be honest,” Paine said. “I don’t think this hub has been as strict as maybe the IPL or the one in England. I’m getting a great night’s sleep; my kids are both at home – which is good in one way but I certainly miss them. But I’m sleeping better here and feel fresher here than I did at home, so hub life might actually make me play longer if anything.”You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. If there has at times in recent years been a touch of fatigue about the frequency of meetings between India and Australia, the events of 2020 have ensured this latest chapter will be as vivid as any sporting contest can be when so many around the world remain cooped up by a pandemic.

What was going on inside Sri Lanka’s dressing room on the first day of the Galle Test?

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Jan-2021Ah, hello guys. How are you? Happy new year, , happy new year. Come, come. Dressing room is there, just straight and to the left. I think Asitha said he was going to bring the match ball and the stumps for us. He’s the newest guy in the team, no? So obviously I’m going to give him the job nobody wants.Do you have all your gear? No-one has forgotten anything? Everyone has their own box today? Wow, nice pads Thirimanne! New? Where from? No matter what anybody says, buddy, you’re always the sharpest-looking player on the field, ah. Remember that 31 you made two weeks ago? Never seen a better 31 bro, honestly.You know what, you should open the innings. No, I’m serious. Dimuth called just this morning and said he can’t come today. That guy is too serious anyway. It’s all you Thiri. And hey, Kusal Perera… Mr. 153… you can also open, right? You guys go together. Two lefties. Like Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden.I’m feeling good about today guys. Back on our home ground after a while. Yes, we got hammered in the last two games, but that was away from home. We’re a different team on our own pitch. Yes, OK, so we also lost to this opposition last time we were here. But we fired that coach, remember? It’s fine.Related

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Boys, look at that perfect forward defence from Thiri. I knew it was the right choice to play him again and have him open the innings, guys. Someone was telling me there are these guys doing well in the lower level doing really well. I don’t know, man, some Pathum Nissanka or someone. But we’ve all seen Thiri’s glorious cover drive, right? Bent-kneed, just like Kumar Sangakkara. Their fast bowlers won’t know what to do. I know he’s barely started, but look how correct that shot is.Oh, he’s out? But how? He’s middled that shot, still! He’s flicked it straight to the sneaky leg slip they’ve put in. Can’t fault the batsman there, guys, the only thing he didn’t do was take into account the trap they’ve laid for him. Hard luck, Thiri. Yah, I know you’ve only hit one fifty in the last 18 innings you’ve played, but you’ll come good, everybody knows that – your technique is great. And anyway, look at that – you blocked enough of their fast bowlers out that they have their spinners on already. This guy, Dominic Bess or something, hasn’t even played on these kinds of pitches before. Obviously we’re going to smash him., is Kusal Perera out now? Must have dozed off. Playing the reverse-sweep? It’s OK, KJP, that’s the shot that gets you so many runs also, isn’t it? That’s fine, you tried it today against this Bess character, and fair enough, he hasn’t played here before so we can do what we like against him. It’s just the way you play. Everybody remembers innings. Relax. Our two most-experienced batsmen are in now. We’ll get 200 and roll them over on this pitch with our spinners guys, just watch. OK, Mathews and Chandimal are also out playing their shots. That must mean it’s a difficult pitch, right, if even those guys are failing? Our bowlers are going to go wild.Kusal Perera reverse-sweeps Dom Bess… straight to slip•SLCAh, Mr. Niroshan Dickwella… Dikka. Why don’t you go out and get us out of this mess? Just play your shots. They still have this Bess on, what a joke. Can he even turn it? Look at this terrible ball he has bowled! It might bounce twice before getting to the keeper. Oh, no. Dikka – you’ve hit it straight to point. OK but to be fair, wide long-hops can be hard to deal with . They arrive so much later than you think – you really have to wait for them. Maybe that’s not your thing?Ah, now Hasaranga has also got out playing a reverse-sweep to this Bess. It must be a killer pitch if even he’s getting wickets. This score looks low now guys, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a big first-innings lead here.So now that we’re all out, what are the takeaways from that innings? Yes, we definitely could have been slightly more selective with our shots. OK, I hear what you’re saying – when you nail a reverse-sweep against the turn early in your innings, what could demoralise an a team more? I mean, some would say a total of 135 is demoralising, but we’re talking about the opposition.And look, a lot of us were unlucky. Look at Dasun Shanaka getting caught off the boot of short leg. And Lasith Embuldeniya getting run out from a deflection off the bowler’s hand. We had really bad luck today.And also what a fantastic-looking 4 off 22 balls from Thirimanne, right? Guy has potential.

Even victory in the Border-Gavaskar series would likely require Australia to still avoid a series loss in South Africa

Daniel Brettig16-Jan-2021No better measure may be found for how Australia’s Test team have struggled to live up to their own expectations this summer than their increasingly shaky hold on a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Due to the events already played out over three Tests and two days against India, Tim Paine’s team may now stand a better chance of reaching the decider at Lord’s later this year should their looming tour of South Africa be cancelled rather than be played.This is not just a sharp reflection on the “points per series played” metric that was brought in once the WTC schedule was ravaged by Covid-19, but also a marker of how – against a severely under-manned India – a nominally full-strength team have plateaued rather than flourished. A 3-1 series margin over India would have meant that a 1-2 series loss to South Africa would have been sufficient to ensure a place in the final.Instead, another determined show from India to get a draw at the Gabba would mean that the Australians require at least a 2-1 margin against South Africa over three Tests away from home to guarantee their place in the final.Even a dominant performance over the next three days – weather permitting – to emerge victorious in the Border-Gavaskar series would still mean Australia would most likely need to avoid a series loss in South Africa, with draws being worth more than defeats. It is a series currently the subject of vigorous discussion between Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, given the deteriorating coronavirus situation in South Africa.There has been informal discussion of moving the series in its entirety to Perth, where South Africa enjoy an enviable record of success. But the scenario presently being war-gamed is for a repeat of South Africa’s recently concluded series against Sri Lanka, where the squad was housed in a self-contained resort and shuttled between Test matches at the Wanderers in Johannesburg and Centurion Park in Pretoria.”We saw even with the England series. It wasn’t ticked off until really, really late – four or five days before the team jet set over there,” Andrew McDonald, Australia’s senior assistant coach, said. “For me, it’ll be [on] until we’re informed [otherwise]. Otherwise, we’re expecting the tour to go ahead. All our planning and preparation with our quicks and everything on the back end of this tour will be geared around the team going to South Africa for the Tests and going to New Zealand [for T20Is]. I think it’s important for world cricket that the show goes on.”This task would be a steep one given the mental and physical fatigue on display among the Australians at the Gabba, where they were again unable to convert a promising overnight position into one of first-innings dominance on a quickening pitch. Ever since India were shot out for 36 to bring the opening Test in Adelaide to a shatteringly rapid conclusion, the hosts have never quite managed to pull it all together; now, they look increasingly as though they will be facing a substantial penalty for being unable to do so. Only they will know how much of this can be put down to the disorientation of a “Covid-safe” summer.Paradoxically, Tim Paine’s team may stand a better chance of reaching the WTC final should their scheduled tour of South Africa be cancelled•Getty Images”What I would say in terms of the biosecurity and the way we’ve been looked after, it’s been outstanding,” McDonald said. “There were fears at the start of the series that if we were to go into tighter restrictions and regulations that would have an effect on the group. At this stage, so far so good. Everyone’s in a great mental space, [and] physically we’ve got most of our bodies available.”In terms of team performance, there’s no doubt we’ve had some lulls with the bat. A couple of difficult surfaces in the first couple of games that lent themselves to a bit of movement – in particular seam – which made it difficult for the batting units. We saw that equalled out in Sydney where we did get a flat wicket that didn’t deteriorate, and then here there’s a lot of cricket to go that will define the series and the team performance.”As Marnus Labuschagne rightly pointed out after the first day in Brisbane, players are generally their own harshest critics. If Labuschagne, with 401 runs for the series at 57.28, cannot be entirely happy with his performances, then others will be even more introspective. Steven Smith has had – by his own lofty standards – a mediocre time of it, and his batting compatriots Joe Burns, Travis Head, David Warner and Matthew Wade have achieved even less.At Nos. 6 and 7, Cameron Green and the captain Paine have scored respectable amounts of runs, but without enough of the defining performances they would still be expected to provide in those positions. Paine’s innings in Adelaide was among the best of his career, but he was clearly frustrated not to at least match it in Brisbane, wincing as he walked off after a week in which his behaviour and performance were both put under enough scrutiny to have him make a public apology for his actions on day five at the SCG.Similarly, Green’s 199 runs at 33.16 have showcased a talent that is far from fully developed, but likely to learn quickly given the chance at a young age. Both Paine, suckered into the drive at an away-swinger, and Green, bowled by a gentle drifter from Washington Sundar that did not turn, might have wished to sell their wickets a little more dearly and not require Nathan Lyon to nearly double his series aggregate to ensure the total passed 350.Related

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A judge as shrewd as Brad Haddin reckoned the Australians fell at least 100 runs short of the ideal first innings, given the conditions and the opposition, and the early passages of India’s first innings did not suggest a rush of wickets will follow unless they are to be conjured by the remarkable Pat Cummins. Alongside Josh Hazlewood, Cummins has performed at extremely close to his best throughout. He might have even easily dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara once again if not for the India No. 3’s soft hands on a defensive blade.But neither Mitchell Starc nor Nathan Lyon can make the same claim, meaning that out of the players selected during this series for Australia, only three could reasonably suggest they have been close to the level they want to be. This will be a problem for the WTC final qualification, as it has already been for closing out an Indian side more resilient and persistent than most.”It probably is already,” Ricky Ponting said on Seven, when asked whether the SCG result would hurt Australia over the rest of this Test. “I think they would still be smarting about what happened in Sydney, but they’ve got no one else to blame. They weren’t able to get the job done.”Unable to get the job done in Sydney, Australia now face a far more difficult job to qualify for the Test Championship decider. Unless, that is, the administrators are forced into taking a decision through which the vagaries of the points system paradoxically reward them more for avoiding South Africa rather than playing there.

From finding a finisher to take over from MS Dhoni to investing in young, local talent, here’s what the Super Kings must look at to rebuild their empire

Deivarayan Muthu02-Nov-2020The Chennai Super Kings empire that was built for repeated success over ten years by MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming crumbled spectacularly in IPL 2020. They were the first team to be ousted this season, when they imploded to 30 for 6 on a flat Sharjah track against the Mumbai Indians. It was always going to end this way for Dhoni’s Dad’s Army, wasn’t it?They had defied the odds and proved critics wrong, marking their return after a ban with a third title in 2018. They defied the odds again and defended their title against Mumbai in 2019, courtesy Dhoni’s leadership and a spin barrage at their fortress Chepauk. However, the cracks kept widening, the slow-moving legs got slower and, inevitably, the team crashed in the UAE.In a way, Dhoni and Fleming brought this upon themselves. They made no bones about their plan to back experience and win titles, even if it came at the expense of preparing for the future. In 2019, when the Super Kings had already qualified for the playoffs, an ill Dhoni sat out of the home game against Mumbai. It might have been a good opportunity to ease reserve wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan or opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad in, but the Super Kings opted against it, with Fleming coming out to the press and saying they weren’t there to hand out caps.Ruturaj Gaikwad reached his third successive half-century•BCCITime for a full revamp
On Sunday, both Dhoni and Fleming admitted a revamp – starting with the core group before moving on to the strategy – is overdue. Whether there’s a mini auction or a mega auction, whether IPL 2021 gets underway in India or the UAE, the Super Kings will aim to rebuild with a focus on the young players like 22-year-old Sam Curran and the 23-year-old Gaikwad, who could end up with a long stay at the Super Kings.Dhoni and Fleming will continue to be at the helm while the experience will probably be provided by Faf du Plessis, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar, along with Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu, if they remain fit. It is difficult to see the franchise retain Shane Watson, M Vijay, Kedar Jadhav and Piyush Chawla until and unless there is only a mini auction for 2021.Also, the Super Kings’ fans might have to accept the fact that Suresh Raina, who opted out of this season’s IPL, may now be talked of as a former player – it should perhaps not be looked at as a purely emotional move, considering the left-hander has had fitness issues and not played any competitive cricket since IPL 2019.The Super Kings do have a handful of young players who have shown they can grow and steadily become part of the core. Both Curran and Gaikwad have received praise from the team management. Fleming said Curran has “exceeded” expectations. Dhoni trusted Curran to bowl the tough overs in the powerplay and at the death, though he said the left-arm seamer still “needs to be convinced” that he can execute the wide yorker. Curran’s all-round skills are also underlined by the fact that he fields in catching hotspots along with du Plessis and Jadeja.Gaikwad, too, finished the 2020 season guarding the hotspots and pulling off a blinder to dismiss the King XI Punjab’s Jimmy Neesham on Sunday. He made a bigger impact with the bat, becoming the first batsman from the franchise to hit three back-to-back fifties.Although the team management is yet to be fully convinced by the 24-year-old Jagadeesan’s abilities, he did show intent and innovation during his first game this season, when he got 33 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.ESPNcricinfo LtdLet Dhoni the batsman take the backseat
The biggest challenge for the franchise would be to identify a player who can go on to take over the captaincy from Dhoni in the next two years. Both N Srinivasan, the Super Kings’ owner, and Kasi Viswanathan, the franchise’s chief executive officer, have reiterated more than once that Dhoni will be retained at the next mega auction.On Sunday, for the first time, Dhoni himself said he is not in a rush to retire from the IPL.While Dhoni the captain remains fresh, Dhoni the batsman has become a problem for the Super Kings. Dhoni will turn 40 next year and, personally too, has just endured his worst IPL season, managing only 200 runs in 12 innings at an average of 25 and strike rate of 116.27. For the first time across 13 seasons of IPL, Dhoni ended one without a single half-century.Against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai, Dhoni was sapped by heat and fatigue, coming up short in a middling chase he would have likely aced in the past. Against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi, Dhoni arrived with his team needing 69 off 47 balls, and they lost by 10 runs.Dhoni seemingly retains the belief that he can work hard to return stronger for IPL 2021, but he knows the Super Kings need a dependable finisher, which he is no more. But there’s one man who has the experience, the courage and the strokes to become a long-term finisher: Jadeja.Jadeja struck at over 200 in the slog overs this IPL, but he faced all of 135 balls in 11 innings. Fleming believes Jadeja is better suited to arriving late and making an instant statement, but Jadeja might disagree. Perhaps he can man the middle order and Dhoni can instead arrive later and free his arms along with Dwayne Bravo.MS Dhoni has been bowled by Varun Chakravarthy in both clashes this season•BCCIInvest in local talent
Releasing players like Jadhav and Chawla will help the Super Kings go into the next auction with a fatter purse, allowing them to invest in younger players and possibly local talent.Mohan Abhinav, who was among the Super Kings’ net-bowling contingent in the UAE, is a legspinner with an unorthodox action, while V Gowtham, the left-arm seamer who bowled at the Chepauk nets, is said to have a good yorker and has just made it to the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). Gowtham is even being mentored and coached by the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s T Natarajan at his academy in Salem. Is it worth punting on them?In the past, the Super Kings have missed out on recruiting the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, who has now broken into India’s T20I squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, after his match-winning performances for the Knight Riders this IPL. Varun had caught the eyes of the Super Kings’ batting coach Michael Hussey in the nets before he made a splash in the TNPL. Varun has duly bowled Dhoni both times the sides met this season.All that said, the manner in which the Super Kings bounced back to finish this IPL with three consecutive wins will lend them confidence. They will be particularly optimistic because those victories were constructed by the young brigade led by Gaikwad. In a way, the Super Kings have already launched their new template.

He might not have ended with fantastic numbers, but du Plessis has been one of South Africa’s most respected and charismatic players

Firdose Moonda17-Feb-2021Related

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110* vs Australia: Adelaide, November 2012
After traveling as a reserve member of the squad to England earlier that year, du Plessis’ Test debut came with South Africa trying to defend the Test mace in Australia. After a drawn first Test in Brisbane, the hosts had the advantage on the final day in Adelaide, with South Africa 77 for 4 overnight while chasing 430 to win. du Plessis was not out on 19 at that stage.He had given a solid account of himself with 78 in the first innings, despite almost being timed out because his boot slipped off his foot on the way down; but no one would have anticipated what came next. In an epic vigil, du Plessis faced 376 balls, spent close to eight hours at the crease, withstood jibes from David Warner and Ricky Ponting, a tireless effort from Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon, three reviews and a dropped catch on 94 to bring up his first Test century and force an unlikely draw. South Africa went on to win the series in the third Test in Perth, with du Plessis scoring a second half-century.Faf du Plessis put on 205 with AB de Villiers in an exciting draw against India in 2013•Getty Images134 vs India: Johannesburg, December 2013
Although an established member of the team by this point, du Plessis had not crossed fifty in eight innings before this one. India set South Africa 458, and although they were chugging along nicely at 138 for 2 at the end of the fourth day, victory was far enough for it to not be on South Africa’s minds.du Plessis had been promoted to No. 4 – ostensibly as a nightwatchman – and bedded in. He shared a 54-run stand with Jacques Kallis and then a 205-run partnership with his school friend AB de Villiers in which they complemented each other perfectly. de Villiers was the aggressor, if only mildly so, while du Plessis the defender, who faced 309 balls in six hours and 35 minutes in the middle. By the time he was run out, South Africa were just 16 away from victory. They didn’t chase the win but opted for the tail to block out a draw, only to go on and win the series in the following match in Durban.112* vs New Zealand: Centurion, August 2016
It had been almost two years since du Plessis scored a hundred, and he had even been dropped in that time. But not only was he soon recalled, but also installed as temporary Test captain as South Africa sought to emerge from the ashes of the 2015 World Cup. The first match against a feisty New Zealand side had been drawn because of a damp outfield in Durban, and South Africa were desperate to make a statement in the second at SuperSport Park.Their top order fired, with fifty-plus scores for Stephen Cook, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, but only du Plessis got to a century. He scored slowly, as was his wont at the time, as it was an innings in which he never looked entirely comfortable. Yet, this was an innings of grit and nerve, of edges and near misses, and of figuring things out again. But it still showed that he belonged as a leader because of the way he lapped up the extra responsibility. South Africa thus declared on 481 for 8, and went on to win the series.Faf du Plessis hit a hundred in South Africa’s first pink-ball Test in 2016•Cricket Australia/Getty Images118* vs Australia: Adelaide, November 2016
Lightning only strikes once, they say. Except if you are du Plessis. Still in stand-in captaincy capacity, he took South Africa to Australia, where they were unflustered at losing Dale Steyn to a broken shoulder in Perth and took the lead before wrapping up the series win thanks to a potent bowling performance in Hobart. By the time the tour got to Adelaide, scene of du Plessis’ dream debut from South Africa’s previous tour, it was all fun and games. Sort of.du Plessis had only scored 76 runs in three innings on the tour until then but, more importantly, had been caught with a mint in his mouth in the second Test. This was not the first time though that he was accused of ball-tampering. In 2013, he was found rubbing the ball against the zip of his pants in the UAE, leading to zips being removed from the kit and a 100% fine of his match fee. He insisted the Australia incident was different, though the ICC disagreed as du Plessis had to forego his payment again but was not banned from the series finale, which was also South Africa’s first day-night Test.Amid boos and under lights, and against a seaming and swinging ball, he scored a century to take his team from 44 for 3 to over 250. du Plessis called it his “best” knock and admitted he had never been more motivated to show what he was made of after having his integrity questioned. But, after all that drama, South Africa still lost the match.120 vs Australia: Johannesburg, March 2018
The final frontier was hosting Australia. Though South Africa had won three successive series in Australia since readmission, they had not been able to do the same at home and du Plessis made it his mission to change that. By this stage, he was permanent captain and had made the side truly his own. When the series started with an altercation between Warner and de Kock, it was du Plessis who emerged from the change room to break it up, though only with a towel around his waist. He defended de Kock and criticised Australia’s on-field comments even as South Africa lost the first match in Durban.Things could easily have unravelled for them, but du Plessis kept his team together – and even regularly planted kisses on his fast bowlers’ foreheads as they performed beyond expectation – as they went on to win in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The latter game came after senior Australia players were found to have hatched a plan to use sandpaper on the ball to aid reverse swing. Mid-Test, Australia lost captain Steven Smith, vice-captain Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft, as South Africa went to Johannesburg knowing they could not lose the series.A broken Australia were 267 runs behind at the Wanderers, but du Plessis chose not to enforce the follow-on and instead to pile on more misery. South Africa added another 344, with 120 of them belonging to du Plessis, before finishing Australia off for 112 to win the series 3-1. This was an innings where du Plessis took the opportunity to rub salt in the opposition’s wounds, all while offering Australia sympathy for the struggles they were going through.199 vs Sri Lanka: Centurion, December 2020
Things went downhill for du Plessis after that summer as he led South Africa through series losses against Sri Lanka – both home and away – as well as a chastening tour of India in 2019. He returned home to administrative turmoil, racial controversy and a series loss to England that summer, following which he stood down as the Test captain. And though he stayed on as a player, he remained one under pressure. Between February 2019 and December 2020, du Plessis averaged 29 from nine Tests. The question was whether he still had it.In the Boxing Day Test, albeit against a Sri Lankan attack that was down to one frontline bowler for parts of the innings, du Plessis scored a daddy hundred which should have been a double. He batted with the carefreeness of a man unburdened and sauntered his way to 199 before picking out a fielder in search of a glory shot. The milestone aside, that innings was proof of the value he could continue to add as a senior batsman in a struggling side. But he only played five more innings, the last of them on South Africa’s first tour to Pakistan in 14 years, before calling time on a career that may not be remembered in numbers but for its nuances.du Plessis, whether a captain or not, was a man for a crisis. At a time when South African cricket went through so much, they could not have asked for a cooler head or a more caring character.

While there is no shortage of openers ahead of the T20 World Cup, balance and death bowling remain major concerns

Firdose Moonda17-Apr-2021Is the timeline for a team in transition as long as a piece of string? In South Africa’s case it seems to be.In December 2019, when a new coaching staff was installed, they pled for patience as they sought to rebuild a team wrecked by poor administration and big retirements. Now it is April 2021, and South Africa have lost 8 out of 11 series under this regime. At least, they can’t be faulted for trying things. They’ve capped six Test players, six ODI players and eight T20 players and are mining their depth to come up with a winning formula, which still seems some distance away.With three World Cups in the next three years, South Africa need to get their white-ball combinations working quickly, and though this series has not given them much to celebrate, it has highlighted some areas that are working, and those that aren’t.Markram’s white-ball comeback
Aiden Markram received what he called an unexpected call-up to the white-ball squads, and he wasn’t even due to play in the T20Is, but Temba Bavuma’s injury meant he was retained, and he rewarded the selectors for their persistence. Markram looked good in the ODIs but never made more than 39 but, seemingly freed from expectation in the T20Is, reeled off three successive fifties to finish as South Africa’s leading run-scorer.Markam’s technical ability and shot repertoire were never in question but his temperament in the shorter formats was. Coach Mark Boucher thought the reason Markram didn’t crack on from good starts was because “he sometimes feels that if he’s not scoring at a strike rate of 140 he’s holding up the team in some way.” He struck at 182.65 in the T20Is, and although he didn’t bat through an innings, he showed he can set the tone and accumulate quickly.His partnership with Janneman Malan will give South Africa a good headache ahead of the T20 World Cup. When Bavuma returns from a hamstring injury, he will also lay claim to an opening spot, as will Quinton de Kock, who is currently playing in the IPL, and South Africa will have some interesting decisions to make about the composition of their top order.Aiden Markram scored three successive fifties and made his runs at a rapid rate•AFP/Getty ImagesTeam Balance
South Africa’s balance looked off in every match of this series, with their bowling supplies seemingly overstocked to the detriment of their batting. Boucher has long argued for more than five bowling options in a T20I, so there is cover if someone has an off day, but South Africa went into each game with at least seven options, and often didn’t use them all. Andile Phehlukwayo not being used as a bowler in the second and third T20Is was mystifying, not least because he is one of their most celebrated operators at the death. It also meant the lower middle order began at No.6, which seemed too high.If the only reason South Africa chose to arrange their combination that way was because of the absence of David Miller and injuries to Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen, that may be an acceptable excuse, but they had a spare batter sitting in the dugout. Kyle Verreynne did not play a single T20I, ostensibly because he was included as a back-up wicketkeeper, according to Boucher, but his reputation suggests he is much more than that. Ideally, South Africa need six specialist batters before the allrounders and will want to rebalance the side for the T20 World Cup.The fielding standards have slipped
South Africa dropped eight catches across the two white-ball series and did not prowl the outfield with the same intensity and menace as they are known for. Apart from de Kock’s gesture to the non-striker’s end when Fakhar Zaman was run-out by a direct hit at the wicketkeepers’ end, there was a lack of ingenuity or inspired action as well. “Very poor” is how Heinrich Klaasen described it, while Boucher asked for his charges to show more “desperation”.Lizaad Williams has emerged as a contender for a long-term death-bowling role•AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps part of the reason for the fielding lapses was that the bowling was not as strong as usual and morale may have been low. South Africa have been heavy-handed with extras, with 16 wides and eight no-balls across the three T20Is, compared to two wides and a no-ball from Pakistan, and did themselves no favours in the discipline department.The death overs
South Africa have yet to work out how to assert themselves at the end of the innings, with bat or ball. In this series, they conceded 9.95 runs per over in the last four overs, compared to Pakistan’s 7.73. With the bat, this was South Africa’s second-worst series of three or more matches in terms of death-overs scoring rate, behind the 5.54 they managed against Australia in a three-match series in Australia in 2014-15.With ball in hand, South Africa have to decide who their best executors of yorkers are. In this series, they deemed it to be Lizaad Wiliams and Sisanda Magala, and overlooked Phehlukwayo until the final match. At the T20 World Cup, Phehlukwayo is likely to come back into the mix along with Lungi Ngidi, so that problem might be solvable. With bat, Miller could come into the conversation. Still, South Africa need other lower-order hitters and to assign those roles more clearly. Phehlukwayo and Linde are both sluggers and can go full throttle but only if there is a solid platform to build on. Overall, South Africa need to be clearer on their strategy and sharper in their execution.

To thwart them, England will have to register their first victory at home against India in eight completed Tests

Sampath Bandarupalli14-Jun-2021The India women’s team will be donning a Test jersey for the first time in nearly seven years, when they take on England at the Bristol County Ground later this week. Apart from being India’s first Test appearance since November 2014, it is also the first non-Ashes women’s Test in more than six years.ESPNcricinfo LtdTest cricket after 2000-plus days for India
Mithali Raj’s team will be returning to Test cricket after a break of 2401 days. It is the third-longest gap between two Tests for India Women, with two of the top three intervals coming in the last 15 years. India toured England in 2014 for a one-off Test and hosted South Africa for a Test the same year. Those are the only matches for India Women in Test cricket in the past 14 years, by far the fewest they have played in any decade.ESPNcricinfo LtdBoth Raj and Jhulan Goswami have featured in only ten Tests despite not missing any since jointly making their debuts in 2002. After the Bristol Test, the duo will jointly have the third-longest career span in women’s Tests in terms of duration, but their total number of Test matches is not even in the top five for India Women, showing how the frequency of women’s Tests has greatly decreased.ESPNcricinfo LtdWill Bristol throw up a result? What history says…
Historically, only one-third of women’s Tests have produced a result. However, there has been a steep decline in the percentage of draws since 2000, with only 46.67% of matches in this period ending in a draw. Until 1999, 68.18% of women’s Tests were drawn, with only 35 out of 110 producing a result.Who has more experience with long-format cricket?
England will start as the more experienced side in Bristol, having played Test cricket more often than India. Only eight players in the India squad have played a Test, compared to 11 in the hosts’ side. England have played three Tests matches since India last played, all against Australia as part of the Women’s Ashes. However, India players have played more multi-innings cricket than England. Four editions of the domestic inter-zone women’s multi-day competitions took place in India between 2015 and 2018.ESPNcricinfo LtdSixteen of the 18 players in the India squad have played at least four first-class matches since India’s last Test appearance. Shafali Verma and Indrani Roy are the exceptions, as they are yet to make their first-class debuts. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Goswami have not played any first-class games since March 2015 due to international commitments. Interestingly, no player from the England squad has featured in a first-class match other than Tests.India edge the head-to-head
India hold the edge in the head-to-head record (13 completed games) between the two teams in women’s Tests. India won their two most recent meetings against England and have lost only once, by two runs in 1995. England have hosted eight completed women’s Tests against India, not winning any of them.ESPNcricinfo LtdSix of those eight matches ended in a draw with India winning the remaining two. India’s record in England is the second-best on the list of most women’s Tests in a country without a loss. England in New Zealand tops that list, having not lost any of their ten Tests there, winning five.ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s chance at record-breaking win
If things go their way in Bristol, India will break the record for the most consecutive wins in women’s Tests. They have won their last three, two against England in England and one against South Africa in India. That has them level with Australia for the most consecutive Test wins. A win in Bristol will also leave India one series shy of equalling the record for the most consecutive series wins in women’s Tests, also held by Australia.

The 20-year-old batter talks about making his way from tape-ball to the big leagues, and what he has learned from Babar Azam, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq

Interview by Umar Farooq21-Jun-2021Everyone has a story about how they got into cricket. What’s yours?
I started watching my cousin, who played for Rawalpindi Rams and was the only one playing cricket in the family at the time. Otherwise we are into tent-pegging and horse-riding. I am the only one who has reached the highest level in cricket.I developed my interest in cricket in 2015, picking up tape-ball cricket. Then my father’s friend taught me to play hard-ball cricket and asked my father to let me join his Al Faisal cricket club. Some six months later, in 2016, I appeared in Under-16 trials and was selected to play for the regional side. Next year I went on play in the U-19 circuit but only played one-dayers, no three-day games.In my second year in U-19 cricket, in 2018, I scored runs and I was called up to the national team as a reserve for the Bangladesh tour. My first tour was to Sri Lanka in 2019 and then to South Africa. I had good numbers and I was later selected for the U-19 Asia Cup.Two-thousand twenty was a great year for me. I played the U-19 World Cup and first-class cricket. That is where my career path found a direction towards the national team.I picked up cricket because I was enthusiastic about it. I never imagined I would play for Pakistan. It all started with hitting the ball over the boundary in tape-ball cricket and being applauded for it. When I look back, it was just fun. I was too young to make up my mind about what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a sense that there’s a bigger stage outside Attock [a city in Northern Punjab, about 85km from Islamabad], with a large audience, bigger expectations, and bigger stakes.A sense of representing the country only started to come when I entered a proper pathway. There are hundreds of boys from around the country competing against you, so you have to do your best to be different. I scored runs, but luck also plays a part.Related

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Your father’s friend made you play hard-ball cricket, but who spotted your talent in it?
In 2016, a PCB selector, Kamran Khan, came to my region for U-19 trials. There is a trend in smaller districts that when a national selector comes, you get him to check out the best player in the town. I was called and when Kami player in the PSL who urged me to play with an open mind. They [the Peshawar Zalmi franchise] told me to play without fear. Daren Sammy figured out my role, set a pattern and told me this is how I should be playing. When I was picked [in the PSL] in the supplementary category after my first-class stint, I had no clue what role I would get and where I would be playing. To be honest, I never thought I will play a single game in my first PSL season. But then I scored a 17-ball 70 against the Quetta Gladiators during a practice game in Karachi and Daren told me I would become the best emerging player.I think where I am right now is mainly because of Peshawar Zalmi. If they hadn’t made me play in the top order and given me the confidence, I might not have ended up in the Pakistan team.You first made your name with 645 first-class runs at an average of 49.61 and a strike rate of 57.95 in the 2019-20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. But in the PSL you were told to go after the bowling and hit at a higher strike rate. Was that a big shift?
I grew up hearing coaches say that there are all sorts of players but the best one is the one who adapts to any type of condition and situation. Your game keeps evolving and you learn to control it. If you are asked to play Test cricket, you play accordingly. I remember playing my first first-class game and scoring 99 in 250 plus balls [208 balls] against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Abbottabad. I was surprised by how I managed to spend that much time at the crease. Since then, I am playing mostly T20s and ODIs, but I will definitely go back [to the long format] when I get a chance.”One thing I have learned is that in cricket, every day is a new day. You have to build from scratch again. Everything will be different – how you feel, how the opponent comes at you, and how prepared you are”•AFP/Getty ImagesBefore you worked with Pakistan’s batting coach, Younis Khan, did you ever have access to a batting coach? Did having those inputs change how you look at your career now?
When you have a bad patch, you think a lot about the problems you are facing. But Younis bhai has been giving me a bit of motivation. He tells me that once you get into a phase, you will be consistent in scoring runs. He keeps emphasising that, telling me not to lose my head, because technique wise, everything is perfect. When you are not scoring runs, you overthink your game, finding fault in your head movement or the movement of your legs. He asked me not to think about it. He gets me to practise, makes me play every shot with every angle, and makes me believe everything will fall in line. It’s about getting the right practice and hitting balls in the nets. Does a change in the batting position affect your confidence?
I think I am young, evolving my game, learning every day, and the batting order is something my team decides. Wherever they ask me to bat, I will play my part. I know things haven’t been great lately, but I can tell you I don’t really know what I am doing wrong. The only answer I get is that I am inexperienced right now and the more I play, I will get better.I have been prepared for every number I played at. I am open to any number at this early stage of my career. I am sure soon I will figure out where I want to play. For now, I am leaving it to my elders to decide and I trust them – they are obviously working to develop my career.What are you thinking when you face your first ball of an innings? Is it different for each format?
I have broken it down between white- and red-ball cricket. I have played mostly white-ball cricket and have a similar mindset to tackle both one-dayers and T20s. But if I go back to playing the longer format, I am sure I will catch up with an aggressive mindset. I don’t know yet how I will respond because it’s been a while, but I can tell it will be different [from T20]. That is automatic, because you set your mind to play at least 200 balls [in long-format cricket]. In T20, I am out to attack, which is my defined role, and I have the licence to go all out to give my team a brisk start. If the pitch is good, the conditions are suitable, why not get the maximum out of the ball?If I come from a longer format to play the shorter, it’s easier to adjust, but going up from shorter to longer makes you confused. Because with more T20, you give your mind the signal to go aggressive all the time. Then going up to Test cricket doesn’t help. But when you come from Test cricket to shorter formats, you have had enough [experience] in terms of hitting the ball on merit. You have patience and the tendency to play the ball on merit. It makes you mature in picking your shots.”Younis [Khan] keeps telling me not to lose my head because, technique wise, everything is perfect. When you are not scoring runs, you overthink your game”•Jan Kruger/ICC/Getty ImagesDo you think you need to tone down your attacking instincts a bit?
See, I made my name with the game I am playing with. There is no problem with it. Of course, I have to pull myself according to the situation, but when the run rate is going smooth and the team needs me and I slow down for myself, then it’s unfair to the team.One thing I have learned quickly is that in cricket, every day is a new day and you have to start over again. If you had scored a hundred, that doesn’t ensure another hundred in the next game. You have to build from scratch again. Everything will be different – how you feel, how the opponent comes at you, and how prepared you are. Another thing I have learned is that you can’t joke around with your cricket. It’s a serious business.How much has it helped you to be around a player like Babar Azam and to work with someone like Misbah-ul-Haq?
They are very keen about their profession and their work ethics. Their perceptions about the game are very interesting. Misbah talks a lot about cricket. He is always processing things in his mind. Babar’s dedication to the game is extraordinary and this automatically brings success. I speak to Babar about his game and how he actually feels at the pitch. He once said that he feels pressure for the first few balls but after middling four-five balls, he starts to get in his groove. This comforts me. If Babar Azam feels that way, there’s nothing wrong with me feeling under pressure. It’s natural.Do you feel there is a difference between playing franchise cricket and international cricket?
Not much, because it’s about pressure and that’s the same everywhere, from club level to top level. The first five to six balls define everything. If you hit them right, everything will be the same afterwards, no matter what format or level you are playing.

Having had sustained success for Australia and CSK, he appears most likely to start the tournament with Starc and Cummins

Deivarayan Muthu19-Oct-2021Do you remember the time when the Champions League T20 was a thing? Do you remember the time when Sydney Sixers won the title in Johannesburg? Do you remember that time when a certain Josh Hazlewood had the best economy rate (4.70) among bowlers who had bowled at least 15 overs in that tournament?In the 2013-14 Big Bash League (BBL), Hazlewood was the joint-second-highest wicket-taker, with 14 strikes in nine matches at an economy rate of 7.88. He could bounce out batters. He could york them. He could also best them with good lengths. Mumbai Indians, who would go on to become the gold standard of T20 cricket, snapped him up at the 2014 IPL auction for INR 50 lakh. He didn’t get a game at Mumbai in 2014 and he opted out of the next season, citing concerns around his workload.Related

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He made it to Australia’s squad in the 2016 T20 World Cup, but for the next four years, he didn’t play any competitive T20 cricket and went on to become a Test-match phenom. After he wasn’t selected in Australia’s 50-over World Cup squad in 2019, a hurt Hazlewood returned to where it all started for him, bowling thrifty spells for Sixers in the BBL. Hazlewood’s accuracy in the BBL attracted the attention of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. In 2021, he became a regular for Australia in T20Is and Super Kings in the IPL, in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.Sure, hitting heavy lengths with a high-arm action is Hazlewood’s traditional strength, but there’s more to him. He can now bowl slower offcutters into the pitch, cross-seamers, and even has a knuckle-ball in his repertoire.He made a telling contribution for Super Kings in the IPL final against Kolkata Knight Riders last week in Dubai. In his very first over, he found extra bounce and the edge of Venkatesh Iyer’s bat, but MS Dhoni dropped a fairly straightforward catch. In his next over, he drew another mis-hit, this time from Shubman Gill, but Shardul Thakur missed a more difficult chance in the infield.Thakur, however, brought Super Kings back with a double-strike in the 11th over. In the next over, Dhoni matched up Hazlewood with Sunil Narine and the seamer bashed a heavy length, having Narine holing out on the pull. He then had Eoin Morgan holing out with a similar short ball. His 2 for 29 in four overs was also vital to Super Kings pinning down Knight Riders after they had surged to 91 for 0 in the 11th over, chasing 193.Hazlewood had also played his part in the first qualifier against Delhi Capitals, returning identical figures. Earlier against Mumbai Indians, Hazlewood had got a full ball to skid into Kieron Pollard and trapped him lbw.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the first leg of the IPL in India, Pollard had knocked the living daylights out of Super Kings – and Lungi Ngidi – in Delhi, walloping an unbeaten 87 off 34 balls as Mumbai mowed down 219. Hazlewood, who had opted out of the India leg of the tournament, was specifically picked to counter Pollard in Dubai and he did his job, swinging the game Super Kings’ way.”Working on a range of things [in T20 cricket],” Hazlewood told during the IPL. “Probably it’s about putting it into practice at the right time in these situations and every game throws up something different. They [the opposition] can come hard at the start, through at the middle or in the end. It’s just about reading the play, I think, and I guess what you’re working on training, implementing that at the right time and executing it.”I think it [Test-match] length can work at certain times and the batter is probably going to use his feet or get deep in the crease or try something. You got to sort of be ready for that and try and pre-empt that I guess.”That Test-match length has worked for him in the powerplay, but it will become a slot length in the slog overs, a phase in which Hazlewood has conceded 9.62 runs an over since the 2016 T20 World Cup. Kane Richardson, in comparison, has gone at only 8.81 runs an over in T20 cricket during this phase. Richardson also brings with him more experience and hence could be a more compelling option at the death along with Mitchell Starc, the leader of the pack.It would be a tough call for the team management but having had sustained success for Australia – and Super Kings – in recent times, Hazlewood appears most likely to start the T20 World Cup with Starc and Pat Cummins.

Will the team management risk playing Hardik Pandya as a specialist batter?

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Oct-2021

Big picture

The T20 World Cup will be Virat Kohli’s last in the format as India captain, and also the farewell campaign for Ravi Shastri as the head coach. The BCCI has already pencilled in Rahul Dravid as the next head coach, but before starting on the succession planning, there’s a World Cup to be won.The seriousness on that front can be seen in the appointment of MS Dhoni as the mentor of the team exclusively for the tournament. In a briefing this week, Kohli welcomed Dhoni’s presence, saying that it would not only boost the morale in dressing room but also have tangible benefits for players, since Dhoni can help with “intricate details of where the game is going” and that everyone can, as a result, “improve by that 1 or 2%”. Dhoni will, therefore, be a part of the think tank, work on the tactics board with Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shastri.Related

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One clear advantage for India, though, is that all the players are accustomed to the conditions in the UAE – last year’s IPL was played there in its entirety, while the second half of the 2021 edition was here there between September and October too. Many of the members of the squad, like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja and quite a few others have played key roles for their franchises in the UAE in this period, and there is a lot of class all around – the quick men are Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, and there is the quality of R Ashwin and the mystery of Varun Chakravarthy in the spin department.Kohli would want to end his stint as T20I – even T20, for that matter – leader by winning a global tournament. He remains the team’s best batter. He has expressed his pride in creating a legacy that he feels will last long. Now to add some big-time success to that legacy.

Recent form

Since losing the home series against Australia 2-0 before the 2019 ODI World Cup, India were unbeaten in eight series in a row, till the run came to an end in July when a second-string – and Covid-19-hit – India lost 2-1 in Sri Lanka. But that series allowed India to test their bench strength, which has swelled since 2016, when the last T20 World Cup was played. Since that World Cup, India have played 72 matches and won 45, for a win percentage of 66 – an indicator of their dominance.Is Hardik Pandya good enough to make the XI if he can’t bowl?•BCCI

Batting

Acceleration in the middle overs is something has been proven to be vital in T20 cricket. Since 2019, England’s run rate in the middle overs has been the best at 8.72 followed by New Zealand (8.62), South Africa (8.25) and Pakistan (8.12). India, who are fifth on this list, have scored at 7.93 in this phase. On paper Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, potentially the middle order that will line up, are high-impact batters, but they were far from fluent during the IPL.But with Kohli deciding to bat at No. 3, India will likely have Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul at the top and will hope they provide robust beginnings. These are their three best batters, so expect one of them to aim to play deep into the innings. If they are able to set the pace, then the middle order gets going, followed by Ravindra Jadeja, who will combine with Pandya as the finisher, this is a line-up that can cause severe damage.This batting line-up can also cover-up for any lack of depth, in case India decide to field three spinners.

Bowling

By picking four frontline spinners alongside three fast men, India have made it clear that they feel the slower bowlers would make the difference. And it is a good mix too. There is a wristspinner (Rahul Chahar), two experienced fingerspinners (Ashwin and Jadeja), and a mystery spinner (Chakravarthy). Will India be bold enough to adopt a three-spinner strategy then? Unlikely, unless the conditions are like in Sharjah during the latest IPL. Playing three spinners also shrinks India’s batting depth, so Chakravarthy might well be the top pick alongside Jadeja, especially for the middle overs.The other question is, who will be India’s second specialist fast man, with Bumrah the No. 1. Bhuvneshwar has vast experience and skills, but fitness and form have not been his friends. Shami has been one of the most improved seamers in recent years, especially at the death. It could be a happy headache for India.Ravindra Jadeja has been spectacular for India, with ball and bat•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Player to watch

Since 2020, Jadeja has an average of 55.71 and a strike rate of 207.44 with the bat in the death overs in all T20s. Measured in terms of average (at least 150 deliveries in this period), Jadeja’s average is one point behind David Miller (56). In terms of strike rate, Jadeja is behind only AB de Villiers (226.01), Kieron Pollard (223.46) and Andre Russell (208.16). While the power-hitting pair of Pant and Hardik Pandya have struggled for consistency, Jadeja has been a high-impact finisher.

Key question

Can Hardik play purely as a batter? He struggled with a back niggle during the second half of the IPL this year, and it is understood that the problem surfaced after he pushed himself hard in training prior to the tournament. Consequently, he missed Mumbai Indians’ first two matches in the second leg and did not bowl for the second IPL in a row. Even with the bat, he had a rough time.While he has retained his spot in India’s 15, will the team management back him to perform as a specialist batter? Not to forget, Hardik did play as a batter last December in Australia and won the Player of the Series award.

Likely XI

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (capt), Suryakumar Yadav/Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami/Bhuvneshwar Kumar