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Three overs of hypnotic, new-ball swing was all it took for LSG to be blown away in the mountain air

Karthik Krishnaswamy04-May-20251:04

Rayudu: Skilful Arshdeep takes pitch out of the equation

It helps to swing the ball both ways, but if you are a left-arm quick in a world dominated by right-hand batters, you don’t have to. Most left-arm swing bowlers only shape the new ball into the right-hand batter, with their usual angle – across the batter from over the wicket – allowing them to test the outside edge should the odd ball refuse to swing, or swing less than expected.The away angle, the inswing, and natural variation are enough by themselves to turn the task of facing a new ball delivered by Trent Boult or Mitchell Starc into a hellish test of alignment. If you’re a right-hand batter, you’ll want to open your stance up to get a clear sighter of the left-arm bowler thundering in from over the wicket. But you can’t get too open, because you’ll just be throwing your hands at the ball slanting away from you if you don’t line it up with your front shoulder. And you can’t get too closed-off either, because here comes that inswinger, threatening your front pad and stumps.Imagine, then, the effect of a left-arm fast bowler not just angling the ball one way and swinging it in the opposite direction but also getting the odd one to bend the other way. Imagine that this left-armer is doing this while maintaining perfect length, and with enough control over his wrist that he barely ever strays down leg with his inswinger or offers width with his outswinger.Related

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Ball after ball, going one way or the other, at pace, always finishing on top of your stumps or in the corridor outside off.Arshdeep Singh bowled a spell like this on Sunday night, a spell from hell that transformed the contest between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Until his intervention, there had been nowhere for bowlers to hide in Dharamsala’s first match of IPL 2025. The pitch was benign, the boundary only a miscue away. PBKS had hit 16 sixes – the joint second-most in an innings this season – on their way to 236 for 5.Then Arshdeep, barely needing the pitch at all, took 3 for 10 in three overs of hypnotic new-ball swing. The wickets were of Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran, a top three who, coming into this game, had scored nearly 63% of LSG’s runs off the bat this season.And Arshdeep made a profound impact even before he picked up his first wicket. He forced both Markram and Marsh into hurried blocks to keep out full inswingers. He beat Marsh’s outside edge with a jaffa that started outside leg, finished outside off, and forced the keeper to collect the ball over his head. He got Marsh to swing in vain at another awayswinger.”I think his first over tonight really set the tone for our bowling innings,” PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting later said. “It was a fantastic first over. The ball bounced and moved around. So, you know, he’s a, he’s a star, no doubt about it. And we’re very lucky to have him in our team.”Where other formats allow batters to watch the bowler’s release and seam orientation and adjust to the second line and defend, this was a T20 chase of close to two runs a ball. It almost forced LSG’s batters to commit early and hope.2:39

Are PBKS primed for a top-two finish?

Marsh had fallen for a golden duck to Arshdeep’s awayswinger when these teams last met, on April 1, squaring up and sending a leading edge ballooning to short third. He fell in similar fashion on Sunday, swinging harder this time but miscuing just as badly. A duck of prolonged agony to follow a first-baller.Three balls later, Markram was gone too, with Arshdeep profiting from the ball stopping on the batter and contributing to a chop-on.LSG were two down, but their most dangerous batter was in the middle. Arshdeep, therefore, was called on to bowl a third powerplay over for the first time this season.The over began with a rare half-volley, the outswinger to the left-hand batter, and Pooran drove it handsomely past mid-off. But no ball is a bad ball if you have the right follow-up: Arshdeep went full again, but corrected his length so it wasn’t quite as full as the previous ball, and swerved this one the other way, into the stumps. Pooran swung, looking to go leg side, and missed.Arshdeep had only bowled 14 balls, and LSG had only faced 26. The match would stretch on for 94 more balls, but the contest was over.”Yeah, once again, great stuff by the captain to bowl him that third over,” Ponting said. “I think once we had the two early wickets and then I think Rishabh [Pant] and Pooran together, I think Shreyas [Iyer] understood how important it was to try and break that partnership early.Arshdeep Singh accounted for both LSG openers in an over•BCCI”So he gave Arshdeep the third over and bang, he knocks Pooran over. And at that stage, with Pooran out and them being three down inside the powerplay, it was always going to be hard work for them to get back into the game.”This was the high point of Arshdeep’s season, but a performance like this was coming. The two-way swing hasn’t always looked as dangerous as it did on Sunday – Arshdeep noted that the low night-time temperatures in Dharamsala may have contributed to more swing being available – but there’s usually been enough of it to keep batters on their toes. Of all bowlers to have delivered at least ten overs in this phase, only one – Sandeep Sharma (6.83) – has a better powerplay economy rate in IPL 2025 than Arshdeep’s 7.00.He now has the wickets to go with the economy: eight in the powerplay as of Sunday, level with Mohammed Siraj with only Khaleel Ahmed (nine) ahead. Overall, Arshdeep has now moved to 16, which puts him third on the Purple Cap leaderboard.Three more league matches remain for PBKS, two of them in the swing-enabling mountain air of Dharamsala. With Arshdeep in the rhythm he’s in, the top orders of Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) might have a task on their hands.

After a break to recover from Lord’s, Stokes’ men have chance to close out series with game to spare

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Jul-20252:03

Harmison: Fire in the belly makes players play better

It was during Ben Stokes’ four days in bed, while recovering from bowling 44 overs in the Lord’s Test, that he hammered the streaming platforms.After burning through the whole first series of on Amazon Prime, he ticked off both and .That now opens up the prospect of a cinema visit to see the third instalment of the zombie franchise this week. Having trained on Tuesday morning, a number of the squad had pencilled in a trip to the movies, though very few have Stokes’ appetite for horror. He will likely have to brave alone.During the 2022 one-off meeting with India at Edgbaston (the collateral of a different kind of virus), a Stokes-led group watched Baz Lurhmann’s . Among a few aspects they took to heart was the entertainer’s persona. Giving the people what they want, hips to the wind, squares be damned, we’ll do it our way.Related

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Three years on, very little of that remains among this group, barring the little-finger salute the England captain and Joe Root still occasionally share to signify the latter’s reluctant rockstar status. Their 2-1 lead over India has come without truly flexing, beyond the chase at Leeds in the first Test. Victory at Lord’s in the third was achieved with the second-slowest run rate (3.31) in 39 matches under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and the slowest at home. Entertainment is now second to winning by any means.Perhaps Danny Boyle’s latest post-apocalyptic offering will carry more applicable jumping-off points: a society attempting to re-adapt and restart, learning the lessons of two movies’ worth of human error and grief.Come to think of it, England probably have more in common with Boyle’s latest interpretation of zombies. These semi-undead are more evolved, cannier, and still sharp out of the blocks. From McCullum’s mantra of running towards the danger, England are now keen to run *as* the danger. Less in their own world, more right up in yours.”It was a real nice moment as a team when you speak about something like that, and then everyone buys into it,” Stokes said, recalling the notion floated by McCullum that they were too nice. That intervention triggered verbals on the field that spilled over into Shubman Gill’s press conference on Tuesday.3:30

Gill questions England’s conduct at Lord’s

“It is not something we are going to purposely go out and start, that will take our focus off what we need to do out in the middle,” Stokes said. “But… we are not going to take a backward step and let any opposition try and be confrontational towards us, and not try to give a bit back.”Other teams will be amused to hear that the England sides they have faced over the last three years have been too amenable. It is, however, worth noting that some of the more aggressive players are no longer around, particularly those with clearly assumed roles when it came to on-field verbals, such as James Anderson (instigator), Stuart Broad (facilitator), Jonny Bairstow (magnet) and even Ollie Robinson (starter).At Lord’s, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook yapped like veterans. The likes of Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer and Stokes intimidated with their actions as well as their words. It has not taken much to ignite this fire, in either this England team or their opponents. No amount of rain over the next five days at Emirates Old Trafford will quell it.The danger, of course, is taking it too far, although the addition of former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka – and his famous “no d*ckheads” policy – should, in theory, help guard against that.The aggro between the two teams was ramped up during the Lord’s Test•Getty ImagesIndeed, Enoka’s presence this summer, even on a freelance basis, is a nod to necessary humility. McCullum and Stokes had been consulting with him across the six months between last year’s New Zealand series and the start of the English summer. Having articulated their vision around culture, behaviours on and off the field, and standards expected as best they could, Enoka went away and brought back something the rest of the group could digest. A code.”Baz and I are very big on the choices and options you take, that they should not just be involved around you, but around your team-mates,” Stokes said. “Having someone come in and speak from experience, with an unbelievable team like he worked with in the All Blacks, and almost share certain values. That was nice to hear, that we were similar in terms of our mindset of what we want to be doing as a team.”It’s a lot better from someone who has been there and done that, and been very successful in team sport like Gilbert has.”The series is fascinatingly poised, and the winter’s tour of Australia sits on the horizon like another mountain to conquer. While there may be cynicism towards England’s pursuit of a sharper edge alongside a more holistic vibe, these do feel like necessary adjustments. They offer structure to a previously boundaryless outfit.4:59

Stokes: We won’t back out of confrontations

The scoreline does not lie, although England will be the first to admit they are ahead because they have won more of the big moments rather than outright bossed their opponents. They also feel they have more levels to hit.They are still searching for that sweet spot of clinical yet engaging play. Might we see that in Manchester?It was here in 2022 that they demolished South Africa by an innings, a retaliation to their first, humbling defeat under Stokes. A year later, they dogwalked Australia, seemingly on their way to their most complete performance, before rain washed away hopes of a first Ashes series win since 2015.Here in 2025, a first series victory over India since 2018 is on the table, in a Test that will be more febrile than the previous three. England have deliberately set a dramatic scene for a statement win. Now they must go and seize it.

Rahul has not been among the luckiest batters in recent years, but when he got a life on Monday at Headingley, he cashed in and made it count

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-20251:18

The curious case of KL Rahul

A total of 335 batters have had reprieves in Test cricket since 2020, which is when ESPNcricinfo started maintaining a log for such things. Ben Stokes has been missed 31 times, Marnus Labuschagne 26, and Rishabh Pant 24. This is catches and stumpings put together, of all kinds: regulation, tough, half-chances.When Harry Brook dropped KL Rahul on 59 in the second innings at Headingley – a return gift of sorts after having been missed twice himself, though not by Rahul – it was only the seventh time in 23 Tests since 2020 that Rahul had been given a life. Arguably, nobody deserved a chance more than Rahul.Bear with this repetition for a second. In terms of skill, Rahul has been the second-best India batter of the Virat Kohli era, but it is inexplicable that he had averaged 33.57 coming into this Test, his 59th. Even allowing for the notably bowler-friendly conditions that have prevailed in recent years, particularly since the WTC came into being in 2019, it is a bit underwhelming. The overall batting average for the top six in the Tests he had played was 33.88. A player of great innings, yes – seven of his eight hundreds came away from home – but a pretty average player overall.Related

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Rahul has indeed failed to fill his boots at times – including in the first innings here – but he is not the luckiest batter going around either. And that is not insignificant. Forty-seven batters have offered 30 or more catches since 2020, and 24 of them have had a lower percentage of catches held than Rahul. The luckiest batters happen to be Pant, Labuschagne and Stokes. Rahul was being dismissed every 11.67 mistakes, leaving 22 luckier batters than him out of 57 that have been dismissed by a bowler 30 or more times.Of course, you’ll never hear players complaining about a lack of luck, even though they know the role that it plays, especially in Test batting. They won’t say it because they don’t want to stop improving, they don’t want to stop repeating their processes.Rahul, filthy with himself for throwing it away on 42 in the first innings, pulled himself up and repeated his processes all right. Actually, what Rahul did in the first innings also was part of a process. Through that breezy first-innings knock, he played more cover drives than he usually does outside Asia and the Caribbean. It seemed to be a plan: being slightly proactive denied England the freedom to keep bowling a good length. The ball that got him was full enough for the drive. What hurt him more was that he had done the hard work, then failed to convert the start into a big one.In the second innings, when the bounce became a bit more uneven, he went to stumps on day three unbeaten with 95% control and 47 off 75. He had put out all the best hits in that evening session. A back-foot punch off Chris Woakes in front of point, three gorgeous cover drives, one square drive on one knee, an on-drive and a pull off Shoaib Bashir.On the fourth morning, the uneven bounce and nip off the surface increased. India lost Shubman Gill in the first full over. Pant tried to counter the movement and the new ball in his own idiosyncratic manner. Rahul, at the other end, was a proper, classic Test batter. In the first hour he scored just 7 off 44 balls, with a control rate of 89%.3:12

Rahul: ‘I’ve forgotten what my batting position actually is’

When it got difficult, Rahul trusted his method and processes to take him past the new ball. Or, in the event he didn’t succeed, at least his efforts would give the incoming batters an older, softer ball. He also just about managed to nudge Pant when he tried one slog too many. Not everyone has the tact to speak to Pant. He famously got upset with Cheteshwar Pujara for asking him to be watchful in Sydney 2020-21 in the last over before the new ball. He still tried to hit a six to get to his hundred before the new ball, but maintained that the doubt planted in his mind caused the mis-hit for him to be caught on 97.Rahul managed to get through to Pant. He spoke three languages: Tamil with B Sai Sudharsan, Hindi with Pant, Kannada with friend and fellow Bangalorean Karun Nair. The real language he spoke was that of proper Test batting, playing the ball on its merit because he has the ability to do so. He shifted gears seamlessly as the ball got older. When he was scoring the first 47 off 75 or the next 7 off 44 or the next 46 off 83 or 37 off the 44 after reaching his hundred, you couldn’t look and tell he was doing anything out of character. Every tempo seemed natural to him, in his own bubble, almost a meditative state.In the last five tours outside Asia and the Caribbean, Rahul now has had superb starts: 84 and 129 in the first two Tests in England in 2021, 123 in the first Test in South Africa later that year, 101 in Centurion in the same fixture in South Africa two years later, 26 and 77 late last year in Perth, and now this century in the most difficult conditions in this Test so far. However, incredibly, he doesn’t have a single blockbuster series. The highest he has ever aggregated in a series is 393.Rahul acknowledged how disappointed he was that, despite batting well in Australia on the last tour, he didn’t have that defining series. He also said he knows that effort, preparation, skill and application don’t always translate into results in this game. That, if you let the outcomes play on your mind, you will be paralysed playing this game. How sweet it will be, though, if he can use this rare stroke of luck and finally go on to chalk up that big 500-run series.

Ahead of the Ashes, Australia offspinner says Shoaib Bashir, England’s current No. 1 spinner, “has been okay”

Alex Malcolm31-Jul-2025Australia’s greatest ever offspinner Nathan Lyon believes that left-arm spinner Jack Leach is still England’s best spinner, and says offspinner Shoaib Bashir, England’s currently injured No.1 spinner and likely Ashes tourist for 2025-26, “has been okay”.Speaking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney on Thursday, Lyon said former England seamer James Anderson had revealed to him that Bashir had been selected to try and replicate what Lyon does in Australia. But Lyon believes Leach is still the best spinner England has.”I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and they basically said that they’re picking Bashir to do what I do,” Lyon said. “So I took a little bit of pride out of Jimmy respecting a little bit of what I’ve been able to do in my career. But Bashir has been okay.Related

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“Jacob Bethell is playing this Test match [at The Oval against India], and he looks like he’ll take up the spin bowling from Liam Dawson. But in my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner.”Leach, 34, has not played for England since last year’s tour of Pakistan, where he had a modest series compared Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who spun Pakistan to victory in the final two Tests. Leach’s return of 16 wickets at an average of 31.43 and a strike rate of 50.75 in three Tests in that series were still well ahead of Bashir’s nine wickets at 49.55 and 79.44, respectively.England have since committed to Bashir as the No.1 spinner across their last three series – against New Zealand, Zimbabwe and India. When he suffered a series-ending finger injury in the Lord’s Test of the ongoing series against India, Liam Dawson returned as England’s sole spinner for the fourth Test in Manchester after eight years in the Test wilderness. Dawson has since been left out for the fifth and final Test at The Oval, with England picking four fast bowlers as well as Jacob Bethell as a part-time left-arm spin option in place of Dawson.Leach took 6 for 63 in his most recent outing, for Somerset against Durham at Taunton, in what turned out to be a two-day game on a pitch that was described as “appalling” by Ian Botham. Leach is currently the fourth-leading wicket-taker, and the leading spinner, in division one of the County Championship this season, with 39 wickets at 24.76, including two six-wicket hauls.Jack Leach played three Tests on the last Australia tour in 2021-22•Getty Images

Leach played three Tests in Australia on the 2021-22 Ashes tour, taking just six wickets at 53.50, and was left out of the final Test in Hobart. Instead, England picked four seamers in a pink-ball game where Lyon did not bowl a single delivery as Australia won inside three days.Bashir, meanwhile, was sent on the England Lions tour of Australia earlier this year to play three four-day games against Cricket Australia (CA) XI and Australia A, although none of them was played at Test venues.He returned match figures of 2 for 91 and 1 for 109 in the two fixtures against the CA XI in Brisbane. Against Australia A in the unofficial Test at Cricket Central in Sydney, which the Lions lost by an innings, Bashir got 1 for 74 in the only innings he bowled.Lyon himself was left out of Australia’s most recent Test match, against West Indies in Jamaica, as the selectors opted for four quicks in a pink-ball game that ended inside two-and-a-half days. But he believes spinners will have their share of role to play in the Ashes in Australia despite the pitches being very seam-friendly in recent years.”It is a massive role, and it can be a massive challenge for people who haven’t done it in the past in these conditions,” Lyon said. “But I’m not going to let my secrets out so they come out and perform well out here. Our guys know how to play spin really well in this country. That’s probably what helped me produce my skill to where it is at the moment. I know I’ll keep trying getting better, and we’ll see how their spinners go.”

Aston Villa have now joined the race to sign an “insane” new striker, having identified the need to have greater strength in depth in attacking areas.

Villa keen on new striker amid Watkins' struggles

Villa are very much back on track in the Premier League, having made it five wins in a row courtesy of the 1-0 victory over Manchester City at the weekend, but there are still a few problems for Unai Emery to deal with beneath the surface.

There has been plenty of discussion about the manager’s decision to omit Harvey Elliott from the squad entirely on Sunday, while Jeff Stelling was less than impressed with the decision to substitute Jadon Sancho in the second half, claiming “it was wrong.”

There will also be concerns about some of Ollie Watkins’ performances, with the striker scoring just one goal in nine Premier League games so far this season, and he was once again ineffectual against Pep Guardiola’s side.

The 29-year-old recorded an xG of just 0.13 prior to being replaced by Donyell Malen with just under five minutes left to play, finishing the match with a SofaScore match rating of 6.3, the joint-lowest of any Villa player.

Perhaps with that in mind, Aston Villa have now joined the race for a new striker, according to a report from Caught Offside, which credits them with an interest in Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee, amid his uncertain future at Old Trafford.

It has been revealed that Zirkzee wants to leave Man United, having only played a limited role this season, and his current employers could choose to cash in for a fee of around €35m – €40m (£31m – £35m).

Aston Villa take hilarious swipe at Haaland after victory against Man City

The Villans defeated Pep Guardiola’s side 1-0 at Villa Park on Sunday.

By
Dominic Lund

Oct 27, 2025

A January exit is deemed likely, and there is no shortage of interest in the centre-forward’s signature, with a number of Serie A clubs set to battle it out, while Brighton & Hove Albion are also keen, and West Ham United have made initial contact.

"Insane" Zirkzee may need fresh start

Despite being lauded for his “insane” quality by scout Ben Mattinson, the 24-year-old has been unable to force his way into Ruben Amorim’s plans, having featured for just 82 minutes across four appearances in the Premier League this season.

However, it is always difficult to make an impact when predominantly featuring as a substitute, and there are signs the Dutchman could flourish if given more regular game time, having regularly chipped in with goals and assists for Bologna across the 2023-24 campaign.

That said, the former Bayern Munich man’s unhappiness stems from a lack of game time, so it would be a questionable decision for Villa to sign him, given that Watkins is likely to remain ahead of the United ace in the pecking order.

While the Englishman hasn’t been at his best this season, he is Premier League-proven, unlike Zirkzee, having scored 76 top-flight goals, which indicates it may only be a matter of time before he rediscovers his top form.

Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been handed a massive cash windfall linked to his illustrious football career, which has also revealed his vast net wealth. Following the closure of a company he used for his image rights, Rooney has secured a significant tax worth £800,000 ($1.05m) from HMRC.

• Rooney rakes it in as net worth receives boost

  This latest financial development follows Rooney's past disputes involving HMRC over the years. The recent payout is not connected to the film financing schemes, such as Ingenious, in which he and other celebrities previously invested, resulting in large tax bills. 

  The closure of the image rights firm has simply resulted in a final accounting and the return of a tax rebate to the former footballer. The incident highlights the complexities surrounding professional athletes' earnings and tax affairs, with companies often set up to manage a player's image rights separately from their football wages, including deals with global brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and EA Sports, according to a report from . 

  Rooney has previously faced intense scrutiny and disputes with the taxman, this recent rebate is a direct result of the company's winding up. It adds to his considerable net worth, which has grown through his playing career and subsequent ventures, believed to be as much as £170 million ($223.7m).

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  Spat with Liverpool captain Van Dijk

  Following Liverpool's recent Champions League victory over Real Madrid, Virgil van Dijk confronted pundit Rooney, who had publicly questioned his leadership. The dispute began with Rooney criticising Van Dijk's performance on his podcast, claiming "body language tells you a lot" and suggesting the Reds captain and talisman Mo Salah had "downed tools" after signing new contracts. Van Dijk initially called the comments "lazy criticism," adding, "I didn't hear him last year" when Liverpool were successful. 

  In their TV confrontation, the Netherlands international took exception to Rooney's suggestion that he had become complacent after his new deal, stating, "I think that was a bit… but that's my personal opinion and we move on". Rooney defended his analysis, saying, "I think what I've said was fair" and that a team losing multiple games would naturally draw questions about its captain. While Rooney later conceded on his podcast that his comments might have been "a bit unfair because I don't know him that well as a person," he stood by his assessment of Van Dijk's on-field performance, saying, "from a performance point of view, I think I was speaking what I felt and what I was seeing, and I felt I was right". 

  The encounter culminated in a handshake, but underscored the tension between modern players and pundits.

• Slot's shot at Rooney

  Rooney also faced-up to Liverpool boss Slot and the Dutch boss was asked whether the mood has lifted on Merseyside, to which he responded: "It's clear that it’s nicer when you win games than when you lose games as a manager. Am I right or am I wrong heh?" When making the comment, Slot turned sideways to look at Rooney with a big smile on his face. 

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  Rooney's right to reply

  Rooney has a twice-weekly BBC podcast, , and occasionally appears as a pundit on the and Amazon Prime's Champions League coverage. He is also scheduled to be part of the BBC's coverage for the 2026 World Cup which kicks off next July, hosted in the USA, Canada and Mexico.