All posts by h716a5.icu

Marlon Samuels talks about his disagreement with Dwayne Bravo over West Indies’ pullout from their India tour and holds WIPA president Wavell Hinds responsible for the payment dispute with the board

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Oct-2014Why are you not part of the West Indies Players’ Association?
Why I am not part of WIPA? My reason is I was a part of WIPA. Since I got the two-year ban I was left in the cold, on my own. I have to get my own lawyer. I have to do everything on my own. WIPA wasn’t there for me. So I come back into cricket and choose not to be a part of WIPA because WIPA did not help me. So I do not feel like I should do anything for WIPA.So you don’t mind being on your own, fighting your own battle while Dwayne Bravo and others battle as one unit against the WIPA?
If you look at the situation, the real, real person here to be blamed is WIPA. Wavell Hinds, the (WIPA) president, basically messed up everything. If you look at the situation you can’t really blame the board for accepting what Wavell has done. Wavell is the main problem here. But remember I am not part of WIPA.How many players’ meetings did you attend in India?
I went to a couple of meetings.How do you react to Bravo’s letter in response to your making your feelings public in an interview last week?
Nothing in this lifetime surprise me when it comes down to mankind. Expect the unexpected.What were the main questions you raised with Bravo?
One of the questions I asked was the public don’t really know what is happening. The public are being misled. They need to know the truth behind this (pullout). They need to go out there and explain what is really happening. He wasn’t willing to go and do that. That is why I say that if you are not up to doing what I want to go there and do, which is the right thing, then you are not going to get my full support. Otherwise everything is going to continue to go back and forth, back and forth and there is going to be a lot of discussions and nobody really knows what’s really going on.If he knows what is really going on go out there and speak. He came back to the Caribbean and until now he hasn’t spoken. All he is doing is sending letters to this place. If he had gone and listened to my interview he wouldn’t have sent a letter. My interview is saying that situation is handled badly. Wavell is wrong.The (WICB) president (Dave Cameron) should have taken a flight down to India and come and have a talk. To sit in the Caribbean and not come and speak to the players cannot be the right way to deal with things. So right across the board it is wrong.All these youngsters don’t know where their future lies. They have to be getting lawyers and that is a serious matter. You need to reach out to those youngsters because these youngsters in the team do not know where their future lies. And that is more important than sending a letter to my interview. My interview was straightforward.

“This has nothing to do with India. This is our problem. So finish the tour and then go back to the Caribbean and sort out the problem. India is the most important team that West Indies play against. India is the greatest team that West Indies play against in every way possible. The relationship with India is too great. It is a wonderful relationship. You would never see an Indian player and a West Indian player having words against each other or cursing the other. It is not like against Australia or South Africa. There are a lot of Indians in the Caribbean. It is like a family.”

Reacting to the interview you gave to a radio station last week, Bravo said that you contributed “vigorously” to the players meetings and said you would stand by any decisions made. Do you agree?
No. I did not say that I am going to stand by any decision. Because nobody asked me questions like that. It is up to the individual to say okay I am with you. You had people in the room that didn’t even open their mouth or say anything. At the end of the day I went there and asked my questions and I wasn’t satisfied (by the response). If I was satisfied then I will be the first person to come out because I am an outspoken person. Then I will be the first person to come out and defend everything with him.Would it be better if Bravo had called you directly to sort out the difference in opinion?
That is the thing to do if he wants to be in this position because this is a very serious matter. He didn’t even listen to my interview because in his letter he is not even sure of what I did. What he should have done, if you are a true leader, is to go out and call the player and ask him did you say things like this?I am not basically swinging with nobody in this matter. If you cannot go out and talk it as it is then I am not up to it.Have you spoken to any regional players and how do they look at this situation?
I am in Jamaica and saw Jason Holder yesterday (Sunday). We have a long discussion. My words to him was his future is bright. This should not affect him… whenever he goes back to Barbados and focus and put in some hard work. He didn’t get the opportunity that he wanted on the tour. The first game he get on the tour he was trying to do well. So he was putting in too much effort basically. So he wasn’t getting it right and going for lot of runs. So I tell him next time in a situation like that do not pressure on yourself. Whenever you get the opportunity just go out there and try to be relaxed. You need to perform but without adding pressure on yourself. So we had a long conversation. These guys listen to what I have to say.That is why I said, I was in that room. And I go and ask my questions. And I am not satisfied with the answers I get. And so you cannot expect to go and fight a war if you are not willing to go out and speak.Do you think this situation can be resolved?
It has to be resolved because the most important thing is cricket. All I am saying is that we are already there in India. Right. Finish the tour. This has nothing to do with India. This is our problem. So finish the tour and then go back to the Caribbean and sort out the problem. India is the most important team that West Indies play against. India is the greatest team that West Indies play against in every way possible. The relationship with India is too great. It is a wonderful relationship. You would never see an Indian player and a West Indian player having words against each other or cursing the other. It is not like against Australia or South Africa. There are a lot of Indians in the Caribbean. It is like a family.So you reckon West Indies will tour South Africa and play the World Cup, the immediate assignments in the near future?
It has to be open. The matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible because as I said the most important thing is cricket. Remember for the young players this is their job. So administrators need to do something very fast so we can get back and try to put the best team possible back on the park. That is the main thing because West Indies cricket is falling behind. We cannot afford this situation to destroy everyone for much longer. So the sooner we can deal with this situation and the faster we can get back into the groove and start focusing on cricket again that would be the best thing for West Indian people.Would you like to be part of the WIPA?
I am willing and ready to be part of WIPA but a lot of changes need to be made.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2015The Chris Gayle factor loomed large, but Ireland kept him quiet•Getty ImagesThe Irish dealt two blows in quick succession. First, Kevin O’Brien removed Dwayne Smith, who was playing his 100th ODI…•Getty Images… and three balls later Darren Bravo was run-out without facing a delivery•Getty ImagesAfter grinding out 36 off 65, Gayle perished to a mistimed swipe in the 22nd over•Getty ImagesGeorge Dockrell removed Marlon Samuels two balls later, and then trapped Denesh Ramdin in front to leave West Indies tottering at 87 for 5•Getty ImagesThe Irish faithful were full of smiles…•Getty Images… while West Indies fans didn’t have much to cheer about•ICCDarren Sammy, however, counterpunched with some belligerent strokes•Associated PressLendl Simmons joined in the act, and the duo ran Ireland’s fielders ragged•AFPSammy and Simmons raised 154 runs in 21.1 overs, paving the way for a healthy total•Getty ImagesAfter Sammy’s exit, Simmons motored on and brought up his hundred in 83 balls to charge the score to 304•Associated PressWest Indies fielded an all-seam attack, leaving out an injured Sulieman Benn•ICCIreland’s openers began well, Porterfield and Paul Stirling adding 71 runs•Getty ImagesStirling scored 92 off 84 balls which featured nine fours and three sixes•Getty ImagesAfter Stirling departed, Ed Joyce tormented West Indies along with Niall O’Brien•Getty ImagesJoyce and Niall O’Brien shared a 96-run alliance to take Ireland past 250•Associated PressJoyce’s dismissal led to a minor collapse, but Niall and John Mooney saw Ireland home with four wickets in hand. It was Ireland’s third successful 300-plus chase in World Cups•Getty Images

This contest brings together a belligerent bunch of brats and braggers from two countries that are so different, yet share rampant egotism and a high opinion of themselves

Jarrod Kimber25-Mar-2015Australia and India are part of the “axis of admin” currently running world cricket. That shouldn’t mean you confuse them for friends.Administrators from both countries happily badmouth each other. Cricket Australia tells people they will hold the BCCI to their ethics. The BCCI tells everyone that they won’t be given moral lessons by the same Cricket Australia that runs the bully Australian teams.On the field, it is often much the same.There was a time when Australians completely ignored India. On the field, off the field, as a country. Australia spent decades without winning a Test series in India, but they also spent decades hardly playing a series there in the first place. Australia toured India five times in their first 50 years. They played for the first time in India 24 years after India’s first Test, which even when the Second World War is accounted for, is quite some time.Even when Kerry Packer went around the world looking for players for World Series Cricket, the Indians weren’t tapped on the shoulder. Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Bedi could have played, but one was a blocker and the other a spinner; it wasn’t box office. They weren’t playing the game the right way, the Australian way.Before 2001, this was kind of how Indian cricket was seen in Australia. As this effeminate version of cricket that really wasn’t for Australians. They didn’t bowl fast. They didn’t smash the ball. They didn’t travel well. And Australians had to take food to their country just to survive it.Australia hadn’t won in India since 1969, but now it was just a matter of time. Coming into India’s enforced second innings, Australia had won their last 16 and a half Test matches.Then, VVS.VVS didn’t just beat Australia; he beat their entire system•Getty ImagesAustralia first tried to take his wicket driving. He drove, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket pulling. He pulled, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket with slower balls. He waited, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket with ring fields. He pierced, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket with bowling in the rough. He smashed, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket in the slips. He middled, they took no wicket. Australia then tried to take his wicket by giving up. He batted, they took no wicket.VVS made 281. When India started to follow on, they were 274 behind. VVS beat the follow-on.If you were taking on a team of Don Bradman, George Headley, Barry Richards, Viv Richards, Victor Trumper and WG Grace, you would not be unhappy to take Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne with you. By the end, Steve Waugh used every player on his roster other than himself, probably due to health reasons, and Adam Gilchrist. Waugh had one of the greatest bowling attacks in cricket, and he was bowling Justin Langer.VVS didn’t just beat Australia; he beat their entire system. He beat their will. He beat their ego. And he did it in such a way that Australia had to give up. India could no longer be ignored. India didn’t play cricket the Australian way, they played it the Indian way.From there on in, you could buy DVDs of an Indian tour in Australian supermarkets. This was a country that only shortly before were happy enough to laugh, or at least cringe in silence, as former Australian Greg Ritchie did a long-running racist portrayal of Indians on TV. Australia went from a country that called Indians “curry munchers” to a country that was now desperate to beat them.Then there was the money. India meant money. Not DVD sales but TV rights. The money jumped up every time Australia hosted India. Hosting 70,000 people at the MCG was nice, hosting India in a Test series was the greatest show on earth.Then the Sydney Test of 2008 happened. Not many people come out of that Test well. Not either cricket boards or key players from either side. And when India threatened to travel home, Australia for the first time truly realised that they were no longer the masters of their relationship. To use the language of George Costanza, they had no hand.Thanks to the IPL, Australian cricketers are treated like rock stars in India•BCCIThis was India’s relationship, this was India’s sport, this was India’s money.Matthew Hayden had called India third world and he had called one of their players an obnoxious weed. Yet, in the corner of N Srinivasan’s India Cements office there is a bat given to him by Hayden. Now Hayden can be seen doing embarrassing video selfies for an Indian TV company.Thanks to the IPL, Australian cricketers were treated more like rock stars in India than they ever had been at home. At the Wankhede stadium there was once a 30-foot-high picture of Aiden Blizzard. In Australia he could wear an “I am Aiden Blizzard” sandwich board in Bourke St and not be recognised. Before most Australians knew who Aaron Finch was, he could be seen in hair product ads in India.Steve Waugh had taken to India out of love for the country. And Australian cricketers had always felt much love from Indians. But now they felt it in their wallets. Brett Lee ended up in Bollywood films. Even John Buchanan has given speeches on business in India.Then there is the Australian success in the IPL. They win a lot of titles, as captains, as coaches. Their players win a lot of personal awards. Many have pointed to the amount of useless Australian players in the IPL as a weakness of the tournament, but they are there because they have shown a lot of success. The IPL rated David Warner and Glenn Maxwell as much as, or in some cases long before, the Australian selectors did.These same players are often now team-mates one week, adversaries the next. It has forged strong friendships and epic feuds. The more you know someone, the more chance you will like them or despise them. And with the IPL, Champions league and Australia v India matches being seemingly played 11 months of the year, it can brew a lot of hate.You could see that when India lost the last Test series. Even during the Test that was as close to a memorial game as Test cricket has produced, the players got in each other’s faces. Some former team-mates, others constant rivals.India were easily beaten on the field, but with their mouths they fought out more than the two draws they managed. They didn’t seem to even turn up for the ODIs in the tri-series; they even lost to the second-tier ODI side England. They haven’t lost since.Team-mates, constant rivals•Getty ImagesThis is all different. This is a bragging right over your friends and enemies for life. This can help a cricketer turn from a hero to an immortal. Madan Lal played 39 Tests, but he is remembered for one ball in a World Cup. This matters to virtually all fans. Even the Test fans who still look down on ODIs. This is a World Cup semi-final. Australia are playing for a home final. India are playing for back to back. And they are playing each other.For years India wanted to prove they could be the best. Now they want to prove they are better than the best. They’ve won three ICC tournaments since their World T20 in 2007. They probably should have won more. Last World Cup they lost to South Africa and tied with England. This time they have been magnificent. So a loss now, as champions, to Australia, is unthinkable.For Australia, this is their World Cup. Even the promos have sometimes forgotten that New Zealand existed. Even their loss to New Zealand was so tiny, dramatic and chaotic that it was seen more as a great bad game of cricket than an actual loss. But a loss to India, at the SCG, will not be explained away, it will fester.Australia are attacking with bat and ball. Their only spin option is a batsman who often talks better than he bowls. They have so many players who can hit sixes, a few of whom do it better than they rotate the strike. Their fielders are loud and athletic. Their bowlers are fast and aggressive. There is no doubt, even at a glance, that this is an Australian ODI team.India are batting slower than they did last tournament. They seem to be backing themselves to get near 300 on autopilot. Their batsmen are almost all below 100 strike rate. Their fast bowlers seem excited by the two new balls and the bounce in the tracks. The rest of us are excited by their wickets. R Ashwin is in control. MS Dhoni wrote the program on modern ODI cricket. It’s sensible caution with flashes of all-out attack.This is a clash of strategy. And of methods, culture and politics. This is a new-era rivalry. Not as ancient as the Ashes, or as passionate as India-Pakistan. Two countries that are so different, yet share rampant egotism, high self-opinion and a belief that being born in their country is superior to other births. This brings together a belligerent bunch of brats, bullies and braggers.This is the “battle of the bullies”.

After serving as the catalyst for KKR’s 2014 IPL title run, Robin Uthappa’s early season struggles typified the Knight Riders’ fortunes. But Thursday’s win over Super Kings showed last year’s magic was still there just waiting to be stirred

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata30-Apr-2015Earlier that over, Manish Pandey had pulled a long-hop straight into deep midwicket’s hands. Now Robin Uthappa skipped down the track, looking to clip Pawan Negi to long-on. He didn’t quite reach the pitch of the ball. It gripped, turned past the closed face of his bat and clanged in and out of MS Dhoni’s gloves behind the stumps.This was the ninth over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings. They were 57 for 2, chasing 166, and their required rate was approaching 10 an over.Uthappa had made 34 and 39 in his last two matches. Knight Riders’ had lost both of them, losing steam after getting off to good starts in chases. Had Dhoni completed the stumping now, Uthappa would have been out for 28.At a similar stage in Chennai Super Kings’ innings, Uthappa had been similarly iron-gloved behind the stumps, failing to catch Dwayne Bravo when he nicked a googly from Brad Hogg. He had also shown lead feet twice in the early overs, diving late and awkwardly to let through five wides and then four runs off Brendon McCullum’s gloves, both off Pat Cummins’ bowling.Uthappa is no keeper. He performs the task eagerly and he presumably works hard on it, but he doesn’t move like someone who has done it all his life. Why would he? It is a difficult job. It is a specialist job. Like Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu – who wear the big gloves on and off for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians – Uthappa keeps wicket to give his team the option of lengthening their batting or, occasionally, to fit in an extra bowler.It is an uneasy compromise, and it is likely Knight Riders treat his occasional lapses behind the stumps as a price they are willing to pay because of what he gives them with the bat.Knight Riders won nine straight matches on their way to the 2014 title and most of those wins followed a simple formula: field first, restrict the opposition to 160 or less, and chase it down with minimal fuss. The lack of fuss was largely down to the starts Uthappa gave them. He made ten successive 40-plus scores.After a slow start to the season, Uthappa had fallen just short of 40 in successive games and Knight Riders had fallen just short of chasing down reasonable targets. Now Uthappa had another shot at taking his team home.Given the start Chennai Super Kings made racing to 64 for 2 in five overs, it was quite a feat that Knight Riders restricted them to 165. A spin-friendly pitch played its part, but part of the reason had also been Super Kings’ overly aggressive approach.Suresh Raina yet again showed a tendency to throw his wicket away after an early sequence of dot balls. Brendon McCullum rushed to 32 off 11 before falling lbw to Hogg, trying to heave the spinner’s first ball across the line. Faf du Plessis, who had spanked Piyush Chawla for three gorgeous fours through the off side in the previous over, ran down the pitch and swiped at thin air playing across the line to Hogg’s googly.Knight Riders batsmen had shown the same sort of tendency too. Pandey was out to a soft dismissal. Gautam Gambhir top-edged an attempted leg-side swipe to third man. Immediately after Uthappa’s let-off, Suryakumar Yadav fell exactly like Gambhir.All those batsmen, from both sides, were either batting fluently or new to the crease when they were dismissed. Uthappa, on the other hand, was looking scratchy. He began his innings with a beautifully timed clip off his legs against Mohit Sharma, but since then had quietened, especially against Negi’s darts which were spinning sharply and causing problems.A lot of these problems were down to Uthappa’s tendency to play around his front pad. He has worked hard on this over the last couple of years. He has remodeled his pick-up and backlift to ensure his bat comes down in a far straighter line than it used to, and after every ball he plays a shadow front-foot drive – from that half-forward trigger movement, with his wrist cocking simultaneously to bring his bat up near his right shoulder, to the checked finish with the full face showing.Against the fast bowlers, Uthappa was generally getting it right. Against Negi, who was angling the ball into him with his low, round-arm style, Uthappa’s old instincts were taking over. On a surface with less help for the spinners, he might have got away with it chanceless. Here, he only got away thanks to Dhoni’s hard hands.If Uthappa had been out, it would have been out to a mixture of a good ball and a genuine weakness. He wouldn’t have thrown his wicket away. In Twenty20, the concept of ‘throwing your wicket away’ doesn’t carry the same weight of meaning that it does in the longer formats, but in this game, in this Kolkata Knight Riders chase, Uthappa’s role was to stay in the middle. They had the batting depth to be able to pull it off around him.Therefore, Uthappa didn’t attempt anything outrageous. He continued to flounder against Negi for a while and popped one off the leading edge not too far from short cover while trying to work Negi across the line again, but in between he simply drove down the ground or clipped off his pads, and picked up a couple of smart twos into the deep-set leg-side field.At the other end, Andre Russell gave him the room to play this way, carving Negi for a big six over cover, hoicking Ravindra Jadeja through midwicket and crashing Dwayne Bravo through point.The equation had come down to 63 off 36 when Ashish Nehra came back into the attack. The first ball was nice and full, within Uthappa’s driving arc. Down came that perfectly straight bat and the ball whistled low and flat over the long-on boundary. Nehra shortened his length a touch, Uthappa waited on him and used his pace and left-arm angle to guide him for two fours to the fine third man boundary. In the expanded repertoire of Twenty20, these were old-fashioned percentage shots. Fifteen came off that over and Knight Riders could see the finish line.With Russell doing the heavy lifting at the other end, Uthappa kept playing the percentage shots – even when it came down to six off six balls. He faced three balls in the final over, drove all of them down the ground, and picked up two singles and a double. He had set out to bat just this way, from start to finish.

Mustafizur Rahman’s record-breaking exploits were watched by his family all over Bangladesh, and it proved he was not going to be easy to read

Mohammad Isam21-Jun-2015Mustafizur Rahman’s family watched him intently from all over Bangladesh – his sister and cousins watched him from the Shere Bangla Stadium, his father and a couple of his brothers watched from his Tetulia village, and his eldest brother and mother from Khulna. At a newspaper office in Dhaka, one of his uncles watched with cheering colleagues. They celebrated every time he picked up wickets, some times even calling each other and celebrating his wickets on the phone.Mustafizur followed up his five-for on debut with a six-wicket haul on Sunday, becoming only the second bowler after Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori to take five-fors in their first two ODIs. He took one more wicket than Vitori when he dismissed Ravindra Jadeja just after the long rain break, giving himself a unique place in history by getting 11 wickets.After Mustafizur had taken 5 for 50 in the first game, there were suggestions that India would read him better in the second. After all, all five wickets fell to offcutters. Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha had said Mustafizur would have to be on his A-game now that the world has seen a bit of his variation.On Sunday, however, Mustafizur brought out some of his other skills. Unlike in the first game, Mustafizur took a wicket in his first spell when he got Rohit Sharma with the angle he created. The second spell remained similar. He first got Raina to edge a cutter that bounced to the wicketkeeper, and MS Dhoni, with whom he had collided in the first game, was also sucked in by his slower delivery. Dhoni got out in the last over of the batting Powerplay, giving Bangladesh the advantage heading into the last 10 overs.What Mustafizur did next set his bowling in the second game apart from the first game. He surprised Axar Patel with a straight, quick delivery that struck him right in front. In the 42nd over, he got R Ashwin to edge behind with another offcutter. After the two-hour rain break, he came back and stung Jadeja with a full ball, quicker one again. He had completed a six-wicket haul, doing what he knows best, but the look of surprise on his face was the expression of someone who wasn’t expecting such results.All this time, his family kept calling each other. They wished they could have been together, watching him bowl in an international match against India, in front of a TV set without any power cuts. But they had to make do with wishing each other from long distances.According to his uncle Shariful Islam, deputy chief reporter of the , the family members tried their best to be in front of a TV. There was a power cut before the presentation ceremony in the first match, and his brother in Khulna called up Sharif to ask what Mustafizur was saying after winning the Man-of-the-match award.”We were not sure whether he would be playing the first game but when we heard that he got selected in the XI, we were anxious how he would do,” Shariful said. “When he was selected in the 14-man ODI squad, my brother who lives in Ohio promised to gift him an iPhone if he took three wickets. After he took the five-for in the first game, he immediately bought the phone and is now trying to find someone to send it to Dhaka.”When Mustafizur couldn’t get to play for a club in Dhaka, it was his brothers and uncles who communicated with the right people to get him a place or a trial in the pace foundation. Mustafizur, according to them, is grateful to have the full support of his family.

Shreyas Iyer on his initiation to cricket, going for big bucks in the IPL auction, and the impact Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had on his career

Shashank Kishore06-Nov-2015You wanted to be a footballer?I used to be a striker for my school, but my father felt cricket had more scope. I grew up admiring Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, so I chose cricket. Initially it used to be rubber-ball cricket in my colony, but because of space constraints, invariably, there used to be complaints. So my father enrolled me at the Worli Sports Club opposite my house when I was 11. That is when I began taking the game seriously.School cricket in Mumbai is serious business. How was your experience of it?My school wasn’t really cricket-oriented, so we used to compete without the pressure of having to win. I used to be petrified at the thought of facing tall and over-aged bowlers initially. Maybe that helped.Not many know you were picked as a bowler who could batThat’s an interesting story. I was not picked immediately at any level, be it Under-14, Under-16 or Under-19. So apart from my batting, I bowled legspin. In one of the selection tournaments for Mumbai Under-19, I happened to pick 34 wickets. So I was finally picked, but as a bowling allrounder.Was that the turning point then?Not really. I batted at No.8 in a Cooch Behar Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh (2012). I made a duck and wondered if I I would get another chance. In the same match, we were following on, and the coach thought it would be better to send me in so that I could shield the other batsmen. We were fighting for a draw, but I went out and made a century. It was my first century at any level for Mumbai. After that I knew, I will be picked in every game from there on. That helped.How did you get over the disappointment of the Under-19 World Cup?I used to cry in the team bus on our way back after every game, but was determined to prove it to everyone I could bat. I was disappointed to have been left out till the quarter-finals. In the qualifying games, I got my chance and made two fifties. That boosted my morale.And your initiation into first-class cricket was not easy eitherAfter I failed in my first two games, I did not expect to be picked. But on the eve of our match against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur, Pravin Amre sir came to my room and gave me the confidence that I was playing. So excited I was on match day that I left my whites and shoes in the hotel itself, and I only realized it before going to bat, I think it was the second day. I borrowed Shardul Thakur’s whites. Pravin sir was unhappy. In my head I was being knocked. I knew if I did not score runs there, I would have been bombarded from all sides. Luckily, I got 75 and we won the match.

Before the IPL, the girls who I used to message didn’t care to reply. After the IPL, the same girls who used to talk to me occasionally started messaging me everyday. After that I stopped talking to them

Then the auction that shot you into stardom..We were playing the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Delhi in Cuttack and our coach strictly said that we will not go to the dressing room and switch on the TV. All of us had one side of our brain on the auctions, and the other on the match. So, we really could not concentrate in the first innings because all of them were keen what price we will be picked up for or if we will be picked up at all. Later in the evening, after the match when I switched on my phone, it was flooded.How did the IPL change you? It didn’t change me, but it changed other people (laughs). Before the IPL, the girls who I used to message didn’t care to reply. After the IPL, the same girls who used to talk to me occasionally started messaging me everyday. After that I stopped talking to them.What was your IPL debut like?I could not move my legs. When I took my first run, I felt I was stuck between the wickets. I was thinking if I could make it to the next ball or not. It was really one of the best experiences I have ever had, facing some of the best bowlers. Seeing all the international bowlers walk past by you is a great feeling.When did it dawn upon you that you were being touted as a batting star for the future?Once at the nets I kept clapping for every shot that someone hit. Amre sir yelled loudly “Saale, kal kuch kar. Pichhle do match mein bahaar baithkar dusron ke liye taali maar raha hai. Wahaan jaake khel, log tereko taali bajayenge.” [Bugger, do something tomorrow. You’ve been sitting outside and clapping for others. Go out there and score, others will clap for you].How do you switch off between matches?I’m on the playstation, or else I go out and play football. I enjoy movies and sitcoms. I love reading motivational books too.Which book has left a lasting impression on you?Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography. That was one of the best books I have ever read.What did you learn from that book?That attitude is everything. I mean, in a positive way. I was a shy boy, but that book turned me into a rebel. The confidence he has is amazing.

Stats highlights from the first day of the second Test between Pakistan and England in Dubai

Shiva Jayaraman22-Oct-20157 Hundreds by Misbah-ul-Haq while leading Pakistan – the joint-most by a Pakistan captain in Tests. Inzamam-ul-Haq also made seven Test hundreds as captain.4 Test hundreds by Misbah after the age of 40 – he has now made the second most centuries after that age. Jack Hobbs made eight such hundreds. Four other batsmen – Warwick Armstrong, Geoff Boycott, Tom Graveney and Patsy Hendren – made three hundreds each after the age of 40. Misbah is also the first batsman to make a Test hundred after the age of 41 since Boycott in 1981. Overall, this was Misbah’s ninth Test hundred.418 James Anderson’s wickets tally in Tests – he passed Harbhajan Singh in the all-time wicket-takers list when he dismissed Shan Masood. Anderson is now just four wickets short of overtaking Shaun Pollock in the eighth position on the list.93 Runs added by the stand between Younis Khan and Misbah. Of the 19 50-plus stands between the two in Tests, this partnership was the tenth to come when Pakistan had lost their top-three for less than 100. In the last ten instances when Pakistan have lost three wickets for fewer than 100 runs, these two batsmen have put on seven fifty stands including three century partnerships.2005 The last time a Pakistan captain made a century against England in Tests before Misbah. Inzamam made hundreds in both innings of the Faisalabad Test. Misbah’s century was only the seventh by a Pakistan captain in Tests against England.6 Fifty-plus scores in Tests by Misbah in Dubai, including this innings. This is the second venue at which Misbah has now scored 500 or more runs after Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where he has 898 runs at an average of 99.77. Misbah now has 597 runs in Dubai at an average of 49.75.84 Misbah’s previous highest against England in seven Test innings, which came in Abu Dhabi in 2012. His unbeaten 102 in this Test is now his highest and the fourth fifty-plus score against them. He has made 336 runs against England at an average of 48.00.106 Number of dots batted out by Misbah out of the 120 balls he faced from England’s fast bowlers. Misbah managed to score just 26 runs off them at a strike rate of 21.67. In contrast, his strike rate against England’s spinners was 105.55 and he hit five fours and five sixes off them.

0s 4s 6s Runs BF SRv pace 106 3 0 26 120 21.66v spin 41 5 5 76 72 105.552005 The last time a Pakistan opener made a Test hundred against England. Salman Butt made 122 in Pakistan’s second innings in Multan. Since then there have been seven fifties by Pakistan openers against England, including Masood’s 54 in this match. Pakistan’s openers have averaged only 22.74 against England since that hundred by Butt.

While most of the ground at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was unaffected by rain, a few damp spots caused by sweating under the covers, played spoilsport

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bangalore17-Nov-2015It was not exactly sunny in Bangalore, but more light penetrated the grey skies than at any point during the two previous days. There was no rain. The promise of cricket, any cricket, was enough to draw to the Chinnaswamy Stadium a decent crowd – nowhere as big as on day one, but bigger, certainly, than anything seen at Mohali during the first Test.The covers were off, the stumps were up, and the outfield, from a distance, looked good to play on. At 10 AM, the umpires had had a look at the ground. They decided to inspect it again at 11.30. That inspection brought another in its wake, at 1 PM.At the time of the 11.30 inspection, a couple of the TV commentators were out in the middle, too.”The bowlers’ run-up is not an issue, between the wickets is not an issue. Nowhere does the water come out when I press my boot down into the field,” former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said. “So it’s really up to the umpires. If they say, ‘Okay let’s play,’ we can. The concern, though, is parts of the outfield which are admittedly damp, but not wet.”According to K Sriram, the KSCA curator, the damp spots – near one of the square boundaries – had been caused by sweating under the covers. The umpires felt those patches might not be safe for fielders to run or slide on. The rest of the ground, Sriram said, was fit for play as early as 11 AM.”We put sawdust for the bowling run-ups,” Sriram said. “It was not soggy in that place. That was in perfect condition, not a problem at all. Only one particular area, because of the covers, there was sweating. The umpires felt moisture level on that particular area was on the higher side.”On the third afternoon, when the rain was at its heaviest, large puddles had formed in a few uncovered areas near the edges of the ground. Sriram said the groundstaff had managed to clear those areas as well.”That was not an issue,” he said. “Almost 70% was covered. Whatever we had exposed was not a problem at all. Where we had covered, around the practice wicket area, a little moisture was there.”You know for the last 10 days we have been having rain. We have not removed the covers for the last three days, so naturally there will be too much of sweating.”Apart from the ubiquitous Super Soppers, Sriram revealed that the groundstaff were also armed with a machine called the Pro Core. This, he said, makes incisions around two or three inches deep, allowing air to permeate and speed up the evaporation of moisture under the surface of the outfield. Despite all this, the sweating-induced damp spots took their time drying up.During the 1 PM inspection, the umpires were finally satisfied with the state of the ground. The announcement that play would begin at 2 PM brought forth the biggest cheers of the day.Two minutes later, the groundstaff were bringing tarpaulins and covers back onto the field. A mild drizzle – barely a spray – had begun. It intensified some ten minutes later, and everyone at the ground knew the end was near. For the third day running, there would be no cricket at all.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2016Jason Roy ran himself out for 20 after a strong start•Getty ImagesAlex Hales followed his 99 at Port Elizabeth with a hard-earned 65•Getty ImagesHales and Joe Root added 125 for the second wicket•Getty ImagesRoot was the mainstay of England’s innings•Getty ImagesHe brought up his seventh ODI hundred from 95 balls•Getty ImagesJos Buttler failed for once, Kagiso Rabada removed him for a first-ball duck•Getty Images… and Eoin Morgan struggled for timing in his 8 for 24 balls•Getty ImagesHe was eventually caught at midwicket off David Wiese•Getty ImagesRoot’s innings ended with a run-out on 125 after a mix-up with Ben Stokes•Getty ImagesJoe Root salutes the crowd after another magnificent innings•Getty ImagesStokes pushed England on towards 300 with a brisk 53•Getty ImagesKyle Abbott picked up two in two balls, including Stokes…•AFP…but David Willey and Adil Rashid struck a six apiece to help England to 318 for 8•Getty ImagesSouth Africa launched their run-chase under the floodlights•Getty ImagesQuinton de Kock continued his magnificent recent form…•AFP…while Hashim Amla returned to run-scoring ways•AFPThe pair produced the highest first-wicket stand in ODIs against England•AFPDe Kock brought up his tenth ODI hundred as South Africa eased towards their target•AFPAmla got to his own hundred shortly after•Getty ImagesBetween them, they added 239 for the first wicket and broke the back of the chase•Getty ImagesBoth fell before the end but Faf du Plessis sealed a seven-wicket victory with 22 balls to spare•Getty Images

Shane Watson skipped from the field when he imagined Australia had won and there was still a spring in his step after Virat Kohli ensured that his T20 career ended two games earlier than he wanted

Jarrod Kimber27-Mar-20163:54

Chappell: Watson did a terrific job for Australia

Shane Watson and Peter Nevill ran giggling from the ground, high fiving in self-congratulation, and looking like two boys who had just tricked the teacher into letting them out early. Nevill had just put the last ball of the innings into the crowd, but it was Shane Watson who was practically skipping; such was his excitement that Australia now had enough.This was not the skip of a man about to retire. This was not even a man who skipped.Watson was a man who smashed or trudged. Yet, that was not how he went about this innings.In a team of Warner, Maxwell, Finch and Faulkner, suddenly it was Watson who looked like the proper batsman, the man who started as the heaving, thumping muscle was now the wise head to the new group.His innings wasn’t bad, but he didn’t have the impact he did against Pakistan. It was Nevill who provided the last minute fireworks, Watson’s last boundary was an edge through a vacant third man.It was not how you remember Watson at his best. At Test level you often remember him not at his best, but in limited-overs cricket you remember him as an occasional beast. Whether it was the World Cup of 2007 where he suddenly had the game to fill those shoulders; the IPL that followed where lifted Rajasthan to the championship; or the 2012 World T20 where he was the only Australian player to turn up, and yet they still made the semis.

The Watson scream: we have all seen it. His neck flaring. His mouth wide open. His hands clenched.

Then there was Watson the bowler: parsimonious, canny and often shocked that anyone could take a run off him. And then came his celebrations.”Come on” screams Watson. The Watson scream: we have all seen it. His neck flaring. His mouth wide open. His hands clenched. As he poses in a victory squat.That’s what is happening moments after he has slipped one through the lost charge of Rohit Sharma. Watson hits the stumps, we have seen it so many times before. Not hitting them hard, but hitting them more than most. And there are only three runs from his first over. Maybe he wasn’t as fast as his youth, maybe his body never let him bowl enough, but Watson only leaked runs over his broken dead body.Next over Watson was bouncing Raina. His bouncer always hinted at the pace of his youth, but without the actual speed. It was never as funny as a Steve Waugh or Craig McMillan bouncer, but it was, let’s face it, only good as a surprise ball.This one is slow, very slow, it loops up outside leg stump and Raina waves at it, it takes the top edge, and were it a faster ball, on a pacier pitch, it would have flown away. Instead it gently plops down into Nevill’s gloves. Watson is ecstatic, he is bowling Australia to the semi-final, he is bowling himself to one more chance at glory.While resting his 2-0-8-2 body in the field, Watson finds himself at cover. Faulkner is bowling to Yuvraj and he changes the pace. Yuvraj, in many ways India’s Watson, knocks it up in the air with a lack of timing. There are many Australian fielders better equipped to take this catch running back, but none of them are anywhere near it. Instead Watson is there. He’s running back and on an angle, he tumbles towards it, and he comes up with the ball. His team mob him, he looks shocked at pulling this catch off.Shane Watson takes a stunning catch to dismiss Yuvraj Singh•Associated PressThis brings Dhoni in with Kohli. Watson is these two men away from getting one more game. They have not yet started their victory push, and Watson is bowling well, but he gets one slower ball just a bit wrong, it sticks in the slow pitch. Maybe another batsman mishits it, or turns it for one, Dhoni pulls it for four.Watson stays on for his last over. Kohli and Dhoni are now going for it. Dhoni tries to charge him, but Watson changes his length and yorks him. A bad ball from Watson gets hit only for one. Watson bounces Kohli who hooks for one and barely celebrates his 50. A great yorker from Watson gets Dhoni only a single. An even better yorker to Kohli takes him on the pad, and a strangled fruitless appeal follows as they take a leg bye. It’s the last ball, and Watson bowls a quicker back of a length ball, Dhoni tries a helicopter slap over cover, he edges it. Fine.Watson bends over at the waist. He doesn’t get up. He doesn’t get up as the ball beat third man, as the umpire signalled four, or as the teams swapped over for the end of the over. It was only when his team mates come over to pick him up that he moved at all.Watson slowly moves to short fine leg and put his cap on with frustration. He kicks at the turf several times as Kohli’s first shot of the 18th over was a four. He kicks the turf again after Kohli’s next ball also goes for four. And then he shakes his head when Kohli plays an on-the-up off drive for six the ball after.Watson made 18 off 16, took two wickets, took the catch for the third, bowled eight dot balls, counselled the quick bowlers, and beat the bat of Virat Kohli when Kohli was in Mechagodzilla mode. And, it still wasn’t enough.

At that moment, all the disappointments, all the frustration, all the what ifs, didn’t matter. Watson had given it his all, but the man on the other end of the handshake was just better

Australian fans are used to seeing Shane Watson being disappointed. It has been a constant cricket meme over the last few years. His Test career ended with that Shane Watson trudge after another lbw went against him. It was a sad moment, but he had not done himself any favours.This time was not the same. This time he had to watch the end of his career come at the hands of someone else’s perfection. Something he never quite attained himself. Watson has won World Cups, Ashes, been in the No. 1 side on earth, and yet there was always a feeling that he could have been more.After the game Watson was out on the ground, playing with his kids, chasing his son on the outfield, posing for pics with his daughter. Then Virat Kohli came by, they shook hands briefly.At that moment, all the disappointments, all the frustration, all the what ifs, didn’t matter. Watson had given it his all, but the man on the other end of the handshake was just better. It was time to leave the ground, but Watson didn’t look sad, he looked happy. It wasn’t a Watson slow walk when he left. He still had a bit of a skip in his step.