All posts by h716a5.icu

And what’s the lowest number of bowlers who took all 20 wickets in a Test between them?

Steven Lynch04-Jul-2023In the Lord’s Test England’s new-ball pair had a combined age of more than 78 years. Was this a record? asked Jeremy Lambton from England
England’s opening bowlers in the gripping second Ashes Test at Lord’s were Jimmy Anderson, who’s nearly 41, and 37-year-old Stuart Broad. In terms of combined age they were the oldest pair to take the new ball in a Test since 1951, when the South Africans Eric Rowan (41) and Dudley Nourse (40) did it in the second innings at Lord’s. Rowan and Nourse were really batters – neither ever took a Test wicket – who had a trundle because England needed just 16 to win.The only England new-ball pair with a higher combined age was Gubby Allen (45) and Harold Butler (34) against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1947-48. This is actually the highest instance of all with two supposedly fast bowlers: there are two older new-ball pairs, both involving the venerable Australia left-arm spinner Bert Ironmonger. “Dainty” was 46 when he made his debut against England in Brisbane in 1928-29; in the second innings he took the new ball with fellow spinner Clarrie Grimmett (36). Two years later, against West Indies in Sydney in 1930-31, Ironmonger – by now 48 – opened in the second innings with medium-pacer Ron Oxenham, who was 39; their combined age was around 88½ years.These instances are taken from ESPNcricinfo’s database. But Charles Davis, the distinguished Australian statistician who has re-scored many early Test matches from the original scorebooks, warns: “There are many cases of incorrect second-innings bowling order in the ‘received’ scorecards for older Tests. Both the instances mentioned about Ironmonger are actually incorrect: in the fifth Test of 1930-31, Oxenham opened with Stan McCabe in the second innings, while in Brisbane in 1928-29, Grimmett and Stork Hendry opened in the second innings. Ironmonger and Oxenham did open the bowling in Melbourne in 1930-31, but in different innings.Where does Ben Stokes fit in the list of the highest scores in the fourth innings of a Test? asked Martin Steele from England
Ben Stokes’s valiant 155 at Lord’s was the 27th time a batter has reached 150 in the fourth innings of a Test.Only 21 of those innings were higher than 155, and just four were for England, whose highest remains Bill Edrich’s 219 in the timeless Test against South Africa in Durban in 1938-39. Highest of all is George Headley’s 223 for West Indies against England in another drawn timeless Test, in Kingston in 1929-30. (Both these games had to be left unfinished as the England teams needed to catch their boat home.)Of those 27 scores of 150 or more, 13 came in wins (the highest was Gordon Greenidge’s 214 not out for West Indies vs England at Lord’s in 1984), nine in draws, and five (including Stokes’) could not prevent defeat – the highest in vain was Nathan Astle’s 222 for New Zealand vs England in Christchurch in 2001-02.Stokes was the first to score 150 in the fourth innings of a Test from as low as No. 6 in the batting order. Adam Gilchrist hit 149 not out from No. 7 for Australia against Pakistan, in Hobart in 1999-2000. The previous-best from No. 6, before Stokes’ innings, was Asad Shafiq’s 137 for Pakistan vs Australia in Brisbane in 2016-17.Six Australian bowlers took wickets in England’s first innings at Lord’s. How unusual is this? asked Kasey Anderson from Australia
England’s first innings at Lord’s provided the seventh instance in the Ashes of six different Australian bowlers taking at least a wicket each. It was, however, their first such instance in the Ashes for more than 60 years, since Sydney 1962-63.England have done it eight times, and also have the only case of seven men taking a wicket in an Ashes innings, in Melbourne in 1897-98. In all Tests, there are three further instances of seven, and over 100 cases of six.Tony Lock takes a catch off Jim Laker in the Test where the two spinners took all 20 wickets – between them – Laker 19, Lock one•PA PhotosWhat’s the lowest number of players involved in taking all 20 wickets of an opposition in a Test? I am guessing one answer at least involves Jim Laker. And what’s the number for an entire Test match? asked Ashwin from India (not that one, I don’t think!)
The Old Trafford Ashes Test of 1956 – when Jim Laker took 19 wickets and Tony Lock one – is one of six Tests in which just two bowlers shared all 20 opposition wickets. It happened to Australia again a few months later, in Karachi, when Fazal Mahmood took 13 wickets for Pakistan and Khan Mohammad seven.The only instance since then was at Lord’s in 1972, when the Australian debutant Bob Massie took 16 of England’s wickets, and Dennis Lillee claimed the other four. The earlier instances were by Australia against England in Melbourne in 1901-02 (Monty Noble took 13 and Hugh Trumble seven), England vs Australia at Edgbaston in 1909 (Colin Blythe 11, George Hirst nine), and South Africa against England in Johannesburg in 1909-10 (Bert Vogler 12, Aubrey Faulkner eight).There are two Tests in which just six bowlers shared all 40 wickets: England vs South Africa at Headingley in 1998, and Sri Lanka vs Australia in Kandy in 2003-04. Only five bowlers took wickets in the 1901-02 Melbourne match mentioned above, but one batter was run-out.Who was the first man to score 42 in the second innings of his 24th Test? asked Sudarshan Narayanan Poondi via Facebook
This one made me smile, as I think it’s a variation on those old jokes about cricket statisticians pointing out things that had never happened before at Lord’s on a wet Tuesday afternoon. But it did make me wonder whether anyone had ever done this – and it turns out four people have.The first to score 42 in the second innings of his 24th Test match was the allrounder Charles Kelleway, in the course of Australia’s innings defeat against England in Melbourne in 1924-25. He was followed in 1971-72 by Bruce Taylor, who made 42 not out to help New Zealand force a draw against West Indies in Port-of-Spain.This exclusive band was boosted in the current century by Chris Gayle, for West Indies against India in Mumbai in 2002-03, and Martin Guptill, for New Zealand vs West Indies in Kingston in 2012.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

And who has played the most Tests without bettering the score he made on debut?

Steven Lynch19-Dec-2023I heard that Saud Shakeel had set a record for reaching 20 in the most successive Test innings. What are the details? asked Zaigham Irfan from Pakistan
During the Test in Perth at the weekend, the Pakistan left-hander Saud Shakeel had his 14th and 15th innings in Tests since his first match in December 2022. All 15 innings so far have resulted in scores above 20, which is the best such run from debut: Everton Weekes, the great West Indian, started with 14 (one of which was exactly 20) before being out for 1 in the second innings against England at Old Trafford in 1950.Shakeel is also in sight of the record for most double-figure scores in succession from debut. The 1950s Australian opener Colin McDonald reached ten in his first 16 Test innings before making 7 not out in his 17th (he then reached ten in his next six attempts before finally being dismissed in single figures, making 1 and 6 against England at Trent Bridge in 1956). An earlier Australian opener, Sid Barnes, also reached double figures in his first 15 Test innings, as did England’s Geoff Pullar.All four team totals in the Mirpur Test were between 100 and 199. How rare is this? asked Afzal Ahmadi from Bangladesh
The recent second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Mirpur was a good reminder that low-scoring matches can be gripping. It provided only the 14th instance of a Test having four totals all in the hundreds (between 100 and 199). The previous instance came at The Oval last year, when England (158 and 130 for 1) beat South Africa (118 and 169) by nine wickets.My first thought was that most of these would have been long-ago games, when pitches were less well prepared and batting generally less scientific – but actually there was only one case before 1950, in the match at Lord’s in 1890 when England (173 and 137 for 3) beat Australia (132 and 176) by seven wickets.Deepti Sharma took a five-for after making a fifty in the Test against England. How rare is this in the women’s game? asked Samira Ghosh from India
Deepti Sharma scored 67 and then took 5 for 7 in India’s crushing win in last week’s Test against England in Mumbai. This was the 21st such instance in women’s Tests, but Deepti was only the second Indian to do it, after Shubhangi Kulkarni (79 and 6 for 99) against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 1984-85.There have been eight instances in women’s Tests of a player scoring a century and taking a five-for in the same match, three of them by Betty Wilson of Australia and three by England’s Enid Bakewell.Tim Southee made 77 not out on debut, and the closest he’s come to it again is his 73 against England earlier this year•Getty ImagesWho played the most Tests without ever bettering the score he made on his debut? asked Andrew Banks from England
The record-holder here is Tim Southee of New Zealand, who hit 77 not out on his Test debut, against England in Napier in March 2008, and hasn’t bettered that in 95 further matches so far, even though he has made five more half-centuries. Next comes England’s Darren Gough, who hit 65 in his first Test, against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1994, and never surpassed that in 57 further matches.Romesh Kaluwitharana of Sri Lanka made 132 not out on his debut, against Australia in Colombo in August 1992, and never bettered that in 48 further Tests. The South African opener Andrew Hudson made 163 in his first match, against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1991-92, and did not beat that in 34 further appearances.The equivalent record in ODIs is held by Abdul Qadir, who scored 41 not out on his debut for Pakistan, against New Zealand at Edgbaston during the 1983 World Cup, and did not improve on that in 103 further matches (67 innings).What unique feat befell the South African wicketkeeper Tommy Ward on his Test debut? asked Kelly Robinson from Zimbabwe
The Indian-born keeper Tommy Ward had an eventful time in his first Test, for South Africa against Australia at Old Trafford during the Triangular Tournament of 1912. In his first innings, he entered at No. 11 with offspinner Jimmy Matthews on a hat-trick – and was lbw first ball.South Africa had to follow-on, and later the same day Ward – surprisingly, perhaps, promoted to No. 9 – again came in with Matthews on a hat-trick. This time Ward chipped his first ball back to the bowler, who took a fine diving catch. According to EHD Sewell in his book Triangular Cricket, “The best wicket of the six was the sixth… He banged down a slightly shorter ball – in order to get the necessary ‘rise’ from the pitch – and he pitched it on or about the leg stump. Having been lbw the first innings, the batsman would be sure if the ball was straight to try to make bat and ball meet whatever else he did. Even then a catch had to be held! But it all came off, and that second hat must have been the last straw.”Matthews could celebrate becoming the first (and still only) bowler to take two hat-tricks in the same Test. Oddly, as Sewell colourfully put it, “his brace of hats [were] his only wickets” of the match. Ward, meanwhile, had started his Test career with a king pair, which also remains unique.Ward played 22 more Tests, and did make 64 against England in Johannesburg in 1922-23. He died in 1936, at the young age of 48, after being electrocuted in an accident in a gold mine in Transvaal.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

While Stokes’ leadership style has attracted all the attention, Rohit has achieved better results with more obvious calls

Karthik Krishnaswamy29-Feb-20242:04

Harmison: Rohit’s captaincy applied pressure on England

Some choices feel obvious in hindsight, but are anything but that at the time of making. It wasn’t that long ago, for instance, that Kuldeep Yadav vs Washington Sundar felt like a legitimate debate. India were 1-0 down, having lost an un-loseable Test in Hyderabad, and were going into the second Test in Visakhapatnam with Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul ruled out, with 119 Test caps snatched away from an already depleted line-up.India were bringing in a debutant in Rahul’s place, but how would they replace the irreplaceable Jadeja? He wasn’t just one of their two main spinners but also their regular No. 6 and top-scorer in the first innings in Hyderabad. Would they bring in Kuldeep, a brilliant, wicket-taking wristspinner who wasn’t yet a proven quantity in Test cricket, or would they hedge their bets with Washington, an allrounder who could slot in at No. 6 but was a considerable downgrade on Jadeja as a bowler?When Jadeja returned for the third Test in Rajkot, it still felt legitimate to ask who would go out to accommodate him. Would it be Kuldeep, or would it be Axar Patel? At roughly the same time in 2023, when Australia were touring India, the same question had done the rounds, and Axar had won out thanks to his batting and style of fast, into-the-wicket fingerspin.Related

Rohit's batting shines spotlight on value of instinct and adaptability

India and Australia are still the top dogs in Test cricket

Wretched Patidar isn't just about his low scores, and India know it

Crafty Kuldeep undoes Bazball in 12-over spell for the ages

Ranchi win epitomises current era of India's Test team with promise for the next

Axar’s bowling returns had waned since then, but he was averaging over 50 with the bat in the same period. Kuldeep had outbowled Axar in Visakhapatnam, but it was only one Test and only his first Test since December 2022.India backed Kuldeep this time around, and left out Axar.India still had a way of shoehorning Washington or Axar into their line-up if they wished. They had two opportunities to play the extra spin-bowling allrounder at the expense of an inexperienced second fast bowler, but they ignored or resisted that option both times, picking Mukesh Kumar in Visakhapatnam and Akash Deep in Ranchi.In hindsight, it feels that India made the obvious choice each time. They weren’t anything like obvious when India made them.Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have built a culture where players feel empowered to express themselves•Getty ImagesThe choices did, however, follow a logic that was easy to discern if you’ve followed India for any length of time. Home or away, India tend to pick the attack that’s likeliest to take 20 wickets, even if it’s at the expense of their batting – even the exceptions to this rule, Axar and Shardul Thakur, lost their places when their wicket-taking returns declined. India followed this broad philosophy during the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri regime, and they have stuck with it under Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid.Sometimes, the best decisions are the obvious ones, the ones that every reasonably informed viewer expects you to make.Those kinds of decisions, however, don’t make for a great story, or hours of commentary-box dissection.Which brings us, belatedly, to the thrust of this piece, which is that, for all the attention lavished on Bazball over the last month or so, Hitball, or Jammyball, or whatever else you may want to call it, has quietly gone about the business of winning Test matches.Last year, Pat Cummins found himself in the unusual position of having his tactical calls pilloried when he was in the process of retaining the Ashes. At various points during this series, particularly until India’s rousing show of strength on day three in Rajkot, Rohit has been subject to something similar.Hitball has outdone Bazball in this series•AFP/Getty ImagesIt can happen to any captain when they’re pitted against Ben Stokes, a man who seems unusually becalmed if he changes his field every second ball rather than every ball. That hyperactive style of on-field captaincy is always easier to observe, because its effects can’t help but be immediate. It’s much likelier for a wicket to look like a tactical masterstroke if the fielder catching the ball has only just been moved there, rather than if he’s stood there for an hour.And there’s a self-fuelling cycle of discourse at play. England’s players talk endlessly about playing under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, in large part because they’re endlessly asked about it in interviews and press conferences.None of this is to say Stokes isn’t an excellent, inventive captain, and that England haven’t built a culture where players feel cared for, and empowered to express themselves and enjoy the blessed fact that they play sport for a living. Win or lose, these are good things.It’s the fate of Bazball’s opposition captains, however, to be judged harshly unless they win.Take this example from Rajkot. On day two, Rohit brought Kuldeep on before R Ashwin, with a ball that was only six overs old, and Kuldeep took a hammering from Ben Duckett. When it happened, it was the easiest thing for any viewer to point to Ashwin’s brilliant record with the new ball, against left-handers, and against Duckett in particular, and wonder how Rohit made such an obvious blunder as delaying his introduction.

Sometimes, the best decisions are the obvious ones, the ones that every reasonably informed viewer expects you to make. Those kinds of decisions, however, don’t make for a great story, or hours of commentary-box dissection

It took until Kuldeep’s match-defining 12-over spell on the third morning for a simpler truth to dawn on the viewer, that Rohit, in bowling Kuldeep ahead of Ashwin, had merely brought on one brilliant bowler before bringing on another. He had made a perfectly sound choice, and sound choices come with no guarantee of working.And if it seemed that Kuldeep bowled better on day three than he did on day two, it was also the result of switching from one reasonable plan – attack the stumps against a batter happy to sweep – to another – force the batter to sweep from wide of off stump. Either plan could have worked; in that instance, one did and one did not.That Kuldeep’s change of line was so effective also had something to do with the field Rohit set. He stationed both a deep-backward square leg and a deep midwicket, asking Duckett either to take even more of a risk than he had already been taking to play the slog sweep, or to put away the shot.You could call it a brilliant plan, because it worked. You could also call it defensive captaincy, and it wouldn’t be an incorrect definition. It’s always been difficult to use the word defensive in a non-pejorative way, though, and it’s only become harder in the time of Bazball.Kuldeep Yadav and Rohit Sharma celebrate Ben Duckett’s wicket in the Ranchi Test•Getty ImagesRohit has also given us examples of aggressive captaincy through this series. Take Kuldeep’s dismissal of Zak Crawley in the second innings in Ranchi. Crawley was batting on 60 and going at a 65-plus strike rate, but Kuldeep bowled to him with no one in the covers. Crawley looked to punch through that gap, off the back foot, and was bowled, beaten by one that turned sharply into him.Was it really aggressive, though, or just a routine field setting on a pitch where the odd ball was turning sharply and liable to keep low as well? Ashwin and Shoaib Bashir, who turn the ball into the right-hander like Kuldeep, also bowled with 6-3 leg-side fields for much of this Test match, and having only three fielders on the off side generally means you leave either cover or backward point open. Neither Ashwin nor Bashir happened to pick up a wicket that seemed like a direct outcome of their field, but it was just as sound an option for them as it was for Kuldeep when he got Crawley out.This, in essence, is the issue with the bulk of captaincy discourse. Captaincy looks good when it works, and looks even better when it works in obvious ways. And given how many heads get together to come up with a team’s plans in this day and age, it’s not even clear that we’re praising or burying the right person when we praise or bury Rohit or Stokes.What has been clear, though, is that India have played relentlessly good cricket through this series, and made relentlessly aggressive selections. They have always played five bowlers, and picked the better bowler over the hedge-the-bets allrounder when they’ve had the choice. England, in their reluctance to play a fifth bowler, and in entrusting Joe Root with as heavy a bowling workload as they have, have not demonstrated the same sort of aggression.In that most basic way, then, Hitball, or Jammyball, or whatever else you may want to call it, has outdone Bazball by quite a margin.

India’s Under-19 star on the importance of family, playing mind games with his brother Sarfaraz, and more

Shashank Kishore29-Jan-2024Musheer Khan is three weeks shy of turning 19. It’s an age where teenagers are excited to escape from their parents’ clutches and leap into the unknown. Musheer is slightly different, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. (father) charts Musheer’s plans on a weekly basis. Their life revolves around the , with Naushad Khan instructing net bowlers and throwdown specialists to target his weakness. Practice sessions are relentless.If it’s raining, the 18-yard turf besides their residence in Mumbai’s Taximan Colony is the training ground for practice against the short ball with wet tennis balls. If there’s sunshine, one of the several in Mumbai, or at their home town of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, is where they are at.Related

Sachin Dhas is playing his father's dream – live in Benoni

Kwena Maphaka is making things happen, and things are happening for him

Kulkarni ton, Tiwari four-for take India past USA and enter Super Six unbeaten

India's next-gen arrive for World Cup amid changed perceptions, new landscape

Famous surnames at the Under-19 World Cup: Shah, Rowe, Khan and others

All this, of course, is when Musheer, and older brother Sarfaraz Khan, are meant to have some downtime, away from the plethora of cricket they play at various levels. At the Khan household, downtime means rest between training sessions.The sons are as busy as they’ve ever been, and Naushad currently has some time at hand. Musheer, the youngest, is currently at the Under-19 World Cup, traversing the same journey his oldest son Sarfaraz did over a decade ago. At the 2014 edition in Dubai, Musheer, all of nine at the time, watched Sarfaraz from the stands. Today, he’s a key allrounder in the Uday Saharan-led team that has entered the Super Six stage on the back of three convincing wins.In three outings, Musheer has picked up two wickets with his thrifty left-arm orthodox. Both those scalps came against Bangladesh at a crucial juncture in the chase. His economy of 2.85 has largely been down to batters unwilling to rake risks against him and fellow left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey. With the bat, at No. 3, Musheer has knocks of 3, 118 and 73 in his three outings.So what sort of a batter is he?Musheer Khan is an industrious batter who can accumulate runs quietly•Getty ImagesIndustrious is a decent place to begin. He can accumulate runs quietly. And then suddenly he’ll grab your attention with some audacious sweeps and scoops, like older brother Sarfaraz. He’s got a stable base, and also tackles the short ball well. Coaches vouch for his backfoot game. Recently, the ICC put out a video package with Sarfaraz and Musheer on a split-screen. The similarities between the two are eerie.Musheer is away from the media glare at large in South Africa. When he wasn’t, in the summer of 2022, he chatted with ESPNcricinfo during the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy in Bengaluru. He’d just broken into Mumbai’s Ranji squad, on the back of a sensational run at the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy. He led Mumbai to the final, where he was named Player of the Tournament for his 632 runs and 32 wickets.Musheer was 17, and still very boyish, without a thin beard he sports today. His squeaky voice was a throwback to his pre-teen days. He was only in the mix as a reserve, but there was an enormous sense of maturity that stemmed from having grown up playing with Sarfaraz and training with . He didn’t carry a cellphone back then, because didn’t want him to be “distracted.”The team manager or Sarfaraz would relay any important information or details such as flight/hotel bookings. A pouch of cash – “only what is necessary” – stashed away in one corner of his kit bag for regular spending. These were ‘s way of ensuring his youngest son was solely focused on cricket.The brother seemed to share a great bond. Sarfaraz was the protective older brother, Musheer happily tagging along with big brother. They were ready to play table tennis when this correspondent bumped into them. There weren’t too many videos of Musheer the batter, so it’s obvious Sarfaraz would be the go-to person for any info on his younger sibling.Sarfaraz Khan (left) and father Naushad have both played an important part in Musheer’s development•Naushad Khan”He’s a better batter than me,” Sarfaraz quipped. “I’m not saying this because he’s my brother. Sometimes, I may be struggling but watching his technique and trying to work out what he’s doing would give me confidence. His mannerisms, bat flow is very good. Sometimes when I’m not batting well, I look at him and learn.”It’s natural that Musheer began bowling initially, being the youngest sibling. But Naushad wasn’t one to let him focus on only one aspect of his game. Naushad says his experience of training Sarfaraz taught him to ensure his youngest son would be multi-skilled.”If I batted 300 balls, Musheer would bat for 300 balls even if he’d done a lot of bowling,” Sarfaraz said. “Our middle brother, Moin, would do the throwdowns. Having two cricketers in the house, he decided to switch to training.”What are the aspects of their game where there’s healthy competition?”Musheer’s reverse sweep is better than mine,” Sarfaraz says spontaneously. “Sweep, I think mine is better since I have better judgment that has come from experience. We always want the other to do better. Now when he bowls and I bat, there’s a lot of healthy competition.”It wasn’t always the case.”When Musheer was very small, and I used to play Under-19s, we used to do a lot of match simulation. asked him to bowl spin and I think in one over, I hit him for three fours and three sixes. Musheer ran away crying.” said ‘we need to make him stronger. (until it doesn’t hurt him) he won’t learn . He didn’t stop anyone from poking fun at him. It was tough love. Musheer has improved a lot since. , bowler? (A bowler only learns from getting hit, no?)”These days if we’re playing on opposite sides, I sledge him if I hit him for a six (laughs).”At this juncture, a shy Musheer opened up. “.” (You need to play with your brother’s mind). He has a lot of shots. You need to play on his patience. Like toss it up wide, get him to slog sweep, have short fine in place.”The brothers shared a laugh and slapped high fives. The jovial and candid interaction is filled with some wonderful little nuggets, so much admiration for their father, and of course non-stop chatter about cricket, techniques, practice, matches and runs. It almost feels like there’s no life outside cricket.

“Musheer’s reverse sweep is better than mine. Sweep, I think mine is better since I have better judgment that has come from experience. We always want the other to do better. Now when he bowls and I bat, there’s a lot of healthy competition”Sarfaraz Khan on playing alongside his brother

During lockdown, Naushad and the boys packed up and left Mumbai to their hometown in Uttar Pradesh. With lockdowns in place, they drove across 1600 kilometres with several pitstops. Naushad had chalked out a map that involved them staying over to train at a number of private cricket facilities along the way to ensure they spent time better during lockdown.”Sometimes, we would practice (in the terrace),” Musheer said.”If we have to drive non-stop it takes a day. wouldn’t let me drive,” Sarfaraz chimed in. “He’d be like, you guys should rest because there’s training to look forward to. So we stopped and completed the journey across 10-12 days, with a lot of training sessions in between.”At this point, it’s only Musheer’s first tour with Mumbai. Naushad and Sarfaraz have been media friendly; at times the “friendliness” has possibly come in harm’s way. Musheer has been largely isolated. But things will change, should he return from South Africa as an Under-19 world champion.But even until a couple of years ago, Musheer remembers receiving an earful every time he was out playing a bad shot. “.” (I’ve also been scolded. Not for breaking glasses, but for playing rash shots). At home, he’s . Ground , I call him coach.”Musheer has come a long way in these last two years. The shy persona has given way to a more outgoing nature. He’s in the thick of things, cheering bowlers, at times playing mind games with the opponents, chiming instructions from slip, offering Saharan a helping hand with on-field strategy. The shy youngster is a lot more open and candid in interviews, pulling off dance moves, mimicking actors and team-mates.Behind all that, of course, is a mature 18-year-old firmly in charge of his own fortunes. And Naushad, not used to having such a lengthy downtime because both his sons are away playing cricket – Sarfaraz has just earned a maiden Test call-up – can’t be prouder.

The opener has a reputation for being a basher but in Harare he showed that he has more gears to his game

Ekanth07-Jul-20243:06

Takeaways: Abhishek gives a glimpse into India’s future

The risks attached to Abhishek Sharma come with the territory. Four-ball duck? Part of the territory. Three sixes to bring up a hundred next day? Territory. Eight dots in the first 20 balls? Well, that’s potentially a sign of the territory expanding.Abhishek earned his spot in India’s T20I side after blowing the roof off of IPL 2024, where he made 484 runs at a strike rate of 204. That included 42 sixes in 16 innings and 78 boundaries in 237 balls. Also, none of his innings lasted for over 28 balls.You know what you will get with Abhishek. It’s hit that puts all hitting to shame or, you know, that dreaded miss. It’s a dynamic that’s inherent to T20s, one that India are trying to take in their stride, to adapt to the changing demands of a fickle format and strip away the conservatism that stunted previous generations.The seniors who won the T20 World Cup a week ago had to do a lot of work and cope with a lot of failure before things fell into place. The youngsters who have come in now don’t carry such baggage, but also can’t afford to be binary.The test Abhishek was put to at Harare demonstrated why. The pitch was far from an IPL featherbed, he didn’t have Travis Head at the other end or Heinrich Klaasen in the wings, and India were trailing 0-1 after failing to chase 116 in the first game.While he duly deposited the first legal ball he faced out of the ground, he couldn’t just keep swinging, not after Shubman Gill fell early. Not with Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara hitting hard lengths and extracting sideways movement.Abhishek was beaten trying to nudge the ball and trying to belt it, but he wriggled out of trouble by running hard and turning the strike. He saw an opportunity to pounce when Luke Jongwe was brought into the attack in the eighth over, and that should have got him out for 27. Instead, Wellington Masakadza put down a catch.ESPNcricinfo LtdAbhishek carried on with the newfound freedom of a survivor. “After that [drop] I thought it was my day,” he said at the post-match presentation. “[I felt] I should take a bit of responsibility”. He did that by picking his targets. “Rutu[raj Gaikwad] was saying that it was a bit difficult to hit the fast bowlers, so we have to be a bit mindful. I felt that he was making sense. So, if you see, I didn’t play much shots to [Jongwe]. Just tried to get to the other end. That helped a lot.”Sikandar Raza brought himself on for the ninth over and he is a far cry from the traditional fingerspinner. When he skidded one slightly short, it was more like a seamer bowling a cutter on good length. But Abhishek pulled it away with a swift load-up and fast hands through the ball. Proactivity took over the next ball as Abhishek, expecting an adjustment in length, charged down and lifted Raza over extra cover.Maybe another day, he would try to launch the next ball too. At 71 for 1 in 9.2 overs, India were in need of big hits and had the resources to go for them but Abhishek was happy to hold fire. For now.He didn’t have to wait long as Raza replaced himself with Dion Myers. Myers started with a wide to Gaikwad but a half-stop by the keeper brought Abhishek on strike. Abhishek pulled the next bouncer to deep square leg for a single but an overthrow resulted in Abhishek retaining strike and carnage got a long-awaited call: 26 runs in five boundaries to five different areas. Three mis-hits, one ball out of the ground, T20 in excelsis. Abhishek on a joyride. He got to his hundred with three back-to-back sixes, prompting comparisons with Rohit Sharma at the post-match press conference.”Sixer king?” he replied, “If you look at me, you wouldn’t think I’m one. Special mention to my dad. A lot of kids’ coaches don’t allow players to play big shots, but he always told me that if I’m playing a lofted shot, it should go out of the boundary. So since childhood, I’ve felt that if I can execute a shot, then I just want to go and express myself even if it’s the first or the second ball.”My mindset today was like the one I had in the IPL and domestic cricket. It was all about the execution. It was better than yesterday. As a batter, I thought about all the balls I played, it wasn’t many, and I was calculating the risk I should take on the first over or if I should just play according to the ball. I think that execution went really well today.”Abhishek raced from 41 off 30 to 100 off 47, the joint third-fastest hundred for India in T20Is.This innings in isolation probably doesn’t outline the template in which Abhishek will construct an innings. He won’t always have weak links in opposition bowling attacks to pounce on, and even if he makes the same choices from a same situation in a future game, he might not get second chances. Zimbabwe dropped him twice and when they thought they had him, he used DRS to keep going.What it did show was a batter adapting to conditions and situations, while not going into a shell. That’s pretty much what India would have dreamed for while sending future stars to learn on the job.

Stats highlights from the first day’s play at the MCG

Sampath Bandarupalli26-Dec-20241:51

Manjrekar explains how Konstas took down Bumrah

19 years 85 days – Sam Konstas’ age on debut, making him the youngest Australian opener in men’s Tests. He’s also the fourth youngest Australian male cricketer, and the second youngest to score a fifty in men’s Tests.52 – Deliveries Konstas took to bring up fifty, the third fastest for Australia on Test debut after Adam Gilchrist (off 46 balls vs Pakistan in 1999) and Ashton Agar (50 balls vs England in 2013).66 – Number of not-in-control shots played by Australia’s batters in the first 40 overs at the MCG, but India were able to take just one wicket in this period. Since 2002, as per ESPNcricinfo’s logs, only two teams have played more false shots in a Test innings without losing more than one wicket: India (73) vs England at Trent Bridge in 2007, and England (67) vs Ireland at Lord’s in 2019.

The story of Anderson’s defiance and despair or Laxman and Harbhajan’s Chennai thriller? We identify The Greatest Test of the 21st century

Ashish Pant10-May-2025Update: This poll has ended. The IND-AUS 2001 Chennai Test moves to the round of 16.The defiance and the despair – Leeds, 2014A dejected James Anderson on his haunches with the Sri Lanka players all around him delirious became the parting image of the Test and the two-match series. The scorecard of the Leeds Test will say Sri Lanka won by 100 runs, but it was hardly as straightforward. England came into the final day on 57 for 5 with the 350-target a fair distance away. Sri Lanka had the Test and series in sight, but the last five England batters clung on… for all but two balls of the day.It began with Joe Root and Moeen Ali putting up a defiant 67-run stand off 186 balls for the sixth wicket. The rain also made its presence felt to add to the drama before Root fell to bring Sri Lanka respite. Moeen, however, continued to keep Sri Lanka at bay with crucial partnerships, first with Matt Prior and then Chris Jordan.But, when Stuart Broad’s 24-ball naught ended with Herath trapping him in front, the end seemed nigh. That’s when Anderson stepped up. A blockathon followed and along with Mooen, he frustrated the Sri Lanka bowlers, adding 21 off 121 deliveries for the final wicket. Just when it seemed England had done enough for a draw, with two balls left in the day, Shaminda Eranga produced a vicious short-of-a-length ball that Anderson could only fend to backward square leg. Sri Lanka took the Test and series and England were only left with the what-ifs.Singh is King – Chennai, 2001It was fitting that a series which had kept the players and spectators on the edge of their seats throughout ended with a last-day thriller. After Matthew Hayden’s epic 203 had taken Australia to 391, India responded by racking up 501, with the top-order stepping up.Like he had in the first innings and the series on the whole, Harbhajan Singh ripped through the Australia middle order in the second innings. The visitors ended day four on 241 for 7, and a lead of 131. On the fifth morning, Harbhajan wasted little time and picked up the last three Australia wickets, bundling them out for 264. He returned second-innings figures of 8 for 84 and match figures of 15 for 127, finishing with 32 wickets for the series. His job was far from done.Chasing 155 on a fifth-day Chennai surface was never going to be easy. India lost opener Shiv Sunder Das early, but Sadagoppan Ramesh and VVS Laxman added a 58-run stand to give the hosts the advantage. But a middle-order collapse brought Australia right back. India, 101 for 2 at one stage, lost five wickets for 34 runs, which included Laxman falling for a defiant 66.But wicketkeeper-batter Sameer Dighe, on Test debut, held his cool as he took India closer. India lost Zaheer Khan just four runs shy of a win, but Harbhajan sliced a Glenn McGrath delivery past point to give India a famous Test and series win.