Tendulkar’s googly to Moin, and what made it special

Dinker Vashisht 23-Apr-2016As the whispers of “Is Virat better than Sachin?” started turning into a resonant chorus, MS Dhoni handed over the ball to Virat Kohli in the semi-final of the World T20. Kohli secured a wicket on the first ball. “Is there anything he cannot do?,” screamed an animated commentator. Yes sir, he can’t pull off a heist in the final over.Now, while the Venn diagrams of Sachin Tendulkar fans and Virat Kohli fans are not mutually exclusive, the fans in both the sets were reminded of Tendulkar’s genius with ball. The most popular memory that flashed past was his impossibly heroic over in the Hero Cup semi-final in 1992. But this fan was reminded of a piece of Tendulkar’s genius with the ball that came in Test cricket in 2004.To a lot of people of my generation (whom marketers unimaginatively refer as Generation Y), this moment of Tendulkar bowling Moin Khan through his legs on the last ball of day three of the Multan Test carried a far deeper meaning. In a lot of ways it was our “ball of century”, and for this fan in particular, that googly remains his “favourite Sachin memory”.For the better part of our early cricket-watching days, Pakistan had this stifling domination over India. The most traumatic for our generation was this series of matches between September 1998 to 2000, where Pakistan won 14 out of 18 ODIs. Quite often in these victories, a big role was played by a pack of lower-order gusty Pakistani cricketers who had an abundance of audacity. An Indian fan’s trite description for this factor was “killer instinct”. How much we “yearned for it” and how much “we lacked it”. The leader of this pack, which included the likes of Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood and Wasim Akram, was Moin Khan, whose quickfire 30s and 40s in the slog overs often took the Pakistani total beyond the chasing capacity of Indian batsmen – if only we had Virat back then! Moin would then rub salt in the wound with his incessant chatter from behind the stumps, nagging at our batsmen, as if the Pakistan bowling line-up wasn’t sufficiently threatening.Things started looking up when Sourav Ganguly led India’s renaissance from 2000 onwards. If the Centurion encounter in the 2003 World Cup, where Tendulkar arguably played his greatest ODI innings, was the first sign that India wasn’t wary of Pakistan anymore, India’s 2004 tour of Pakistan started a trend of India dominating Pakistan.Despite its brevity, the YouTube clip of this ball conveys a lot. I haven’t seen Tendulkar more animated in his 25-year-old career. Whooping, jumping, cheering and high-fiving like a teenager who just received a call from his crush. The chorus of exultation and laughter in the background is of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman – the triple centurion, the Wall, Zak the ripper, the Prince who hit six sixes and the Mozart of batting – Tendulkar’s new team-mates whose performances ensured that Sachin could play with a freedom he never enjoyed before.The commentator during that moment, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin’s team-mate from the 1990s, mentions how Moin Khan “looked nervous”. India now had players who could make Pakistanis nervous! Moin may have looked nervous but Tendulkar looked supremely happy. This was an image, which was a far cry from the Tendulkar of the 1990s, when he looked perpetually in stress. In contrast to the Tendulkar of the nineties, the Tendulkar of the noughties smiled, laughed, leaped and celebrated more often. His team-mates were now winning matches but inconspicuously he was still playing a critical role in his team’s success. In the famous Test victories in Kolkata (2001) and Adelaide (2004), it was Tendulkar the bowler who took key wickets at the perfect time. In the same tour of Pakistan, Tendulkar clinched a sensational catch of Inzamam, which turned match in India’s favour, in the decider of the one-day series that preceded the Test match series.The ball was the last act of a day, when sections of broadcast media had made stand-in captain Dravid’s decision to declare with Tendulkar 194 not out the previous day a major talking point. Tendulkar’s spontaneous joyous dance, temporarily nipped some people’s habit of smelling rats.One of the innate appeals of sport is its uncanny ability to become a metaphor for life. It is difficult to recollect the words verbatim, but describing Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England from the viewpoint of Argentine population ravaged by economic recession and Falklands war, a journalist wrote that for a common Argentine, it was akin to a boy stealing apple from the marketplace for his hungry mother back home.To an India growing up in 1990s, Sachin Tendulkar epitomised that we too could excel and become the best in the world in our chosen fields. Tendulkar’s achievements and conduct never didn’t have a shadow of suspicion unlike Maradona’s, but it is revealing that when people talk about their favourite SRT moments, they often include his superlative efforts in losing causes – Desert Storm part-I in 1998, the Perth classic in 1992, the Cape Town tango with Mohammad Azharuddin in 1996, the Melbourne classic in 1999 and so on.The most heartbreaking of these lone ranger efforts was his backbreaking innings of 136 against Pakistan in 1999, when he got India to brink of victory but the team lost, capitulating in a manner that had become painfully frequent in those days. Declared Man of the Match, Tendulkar didn’t appear to collect the award. As per subsequent interviews, he wept that day. The whole of India wept with him and for him that day. Five years later, when he exulted at Multan, all of India felt his elation. He would not have to break his back again, carrying the burden of the team. His team-mates would share his load and India would go on to win some of its greatest victories in the years to follow. That is why it is my favourite Sachin moment.What’s your favourite Sachin moment? Send your entries to us here, with “Sachin moment” in the subject line.

Plays of the day from the World T20 match between West Indies and Afghanistan in Nagpur

Mohammad Isam27-Mar-20162:38

Chappell: Terrific to see Afghanistan win against WI

The spirit
Usman Ghani tickled Andre Russell down the leg side, only to see Denesh Ramdin pull off an acrobatic catch. It must have left the 19-year old Ghani, playing his first World T20 game, heartbroken. He began a long, and slow, walk back but the umpires asked him to wait because Ramdin had signalled he wasn’t sure if he had full control over the ball. And replays went on to establish that. As if to reward the West Indian wicketkeeper’s spirit, Ghani got himself out in the very next over.The tag team
Mohammad Nabi produced a stinging cover drive in the 17th over and the man in the firing line was West Indies captain Darren Sammy. The shot had so much power that all Sammy could do was pop it up but luckily for him the ball deflected towards mid-off where Marlon Samuels completed a relay catch. Tag-team efforts like that are usually seen in the slips or on the boundary, but hardly ever between cover and mid-off.The dare
What was Samiullah Shenwari thinking when he tried to guide Sulieman Benn past Sammy at slip? Among the tallest men with the largest reach on the field, Sammy dived full length to his right to complete a fine catch and Shenwari, a usually savvy middle-order batsman, was left to rue a simple mistake.The nonchalance
Rashid Khan is the second-youngest man ever to play the World T20 but the way he took Evin Lewis’ revealed composure beyond his 17 years. Lewis skied Amir Hamza in the third over and the ball hung in the air for a long while. Afghanistan needed an early wicket – they were only defending 123 runs – and Rashid absorbed all the pressure as he ran back a few yards and took it calmly over his head.The jig is on the other footWhen Amir Hamza removed Evin Lewis, he celebrated like Chris Gayle, but was not the focus of the TV cameras. However, when Denesh Ramdin was stumped, the wicketkeeper and the showman Mohammad Shahzad, and the bowler Rashid Khan tried out the Dwayne Bravo “champion” dancing jig. Much of it though was in the arms with very little hip movement.Shahzad repeated the dance, this time a solo effort, when his direct hit ran out Andre Russell. Gulbadin Naib joined in when he removed Darren Sammy in the penultimate over. And when Afghanistan completed the win, the whole team did the jig together. Then, to make it sweeter, Shahzad did the jig with Chris Gayle, who also posed for a photo with the Afghanistan team.The headgear exchangeWest Indies stuttering at 37 for 3 in the seventh over meant that Afghanistan had an option to attack. Asghar Stanikzai positioned himself at silly point for Bravo’s first ball. But not wanting to ask for a helmet from the dressing-room, the Afghanistan captain gave Shahzad his cap and took Shahzad’s helmet. West Indies took a single, Stanikzai went back to slip, gave back the helmet, and took back his cap.The winning handNajibullah Zadran would have been a distant memory even if Afghanistan had won without his final hand. But it would be his catch, running about 20 yards to his left from deep midwicket, to get rid of danger man Carlos Brathwaite that really won them the game. Najibullah got injured taking the catch, which prevented him from picking up the Man-of-the-Match award himself, but it was all worth it.

What will be on the home side’s minds heading into the Old Trafford Test?

Andy Zaltzman22-Jul-2016CONCERNING STAT 1: Since the start of the 2013 Ashes, England have converted 24% of their fifties into centuries. All other Test teams combined have a conversion rate of 34.5%; the other six teams ranked in the top seven have converted 37%.Alastair Cook, the erstwhile Honours-Board-Bothering machine, the one-time avaricious hoarder of three-figures scores, has scored only three hundreds in the 38 Tests he has played since the 2013 Ashes began. He has reached the half-century mark 23 times in 70 innings in those games; in the 40 Tests he played before that (from the tour to Bangladesh in 2010 to the end of the New Zealand micro-series earlier in the 2013 summer), he had made 22 fifties in 69 innings, but converted 15 of them into centuries (including six in a row from July 2012 to May 2013, the last five of which were in his early months as captain).So, although he has continued to reach fifty almost once every three innings, his conversion rate has collapsed from the best in Test cricket to the worst. Of the 25 players to have made ten or more fifties in Tests since July 2013, Cook’s conversion rate of 13% is the lowest – other than he, only Kaushal Silva (two out of 13) has converted less than a quarter of his fifties into hundreds. In the 2010-2013 period, Cook’s 68% conversion was the best of the 40 players with at least ten scores of 50-plus. To give some context to his excellence at that time, the next seven batsmen in the conversion-rate list were Kallis, Dravid, Sangakkara, Clarke, Younis Khan, Chanderpaul and Amla.To add further curiosity to the stats, conversion rates in all Test cricket have risen since July 2013 – excluding Cook, the rate has increased from 28.8% in the 2010-2013 period, to 33.4% since the start of the 2013 Ashes (and, for all other openers, from 27.5% to 35.1%). The England captain’s conversion stats have been swimming upstream like a randy salmon.Cook was similarly ineffective at converting fifties earlier in his career. After his stellar 2006 entry to the Test arena (five of his first nine fifties were converted into hundreds), in 70 innings between the New Year’s Ashes Test in 2007 and that 2010 Bangladesh tour, he made 25 fifties, and converted only six, four of which were against the lowly ranked, ineffective West Indies.Just as his fifty rate has remained relatively steady through these three wildly divergent conversion-rate periods in his career, so has his proportion of single-figure dismissals. In fact, his failing-to-trouble-the-tens-column rate was actually higher in his most successful phase. He was out in single figures 14 times in the 2007-2010 period; 19 times in his peak 2010-2013 phase; and 15 times from the 2013 Ashes to now.

Perhaps Edward Snowden’s disclosure in June 2013 of the covert surveillance programmes of the US government made Cook worry that his batting was being spied on by the CIA

Cook, it seems, is almost exactly as adept at beginning his innings as he ever was, but he has become (again) vastly less effective at prolonging it. His average since the 2013 Ashes began is a solid 41.5 – very solid for a player playing so few big innings. Many of his non-hundreds have been important innings.However, this is a batsman who used to be one of the toughest to dismiss when set – in the 2010-2013 phase, once he had survived the first 15 overs, it took on average 161 balls to dismiss him, more than any other regular Test batsmen other than Chanderpaul (166 balls per dismissal from over 16 onwards), and his after-the-15th-over average of 81 was comfortably the highest of those who batted more than ten times in that part of Test innings. Since the 2013 Ashes, Cook’s figures are down to an average of 49 (25th best of those with ten or more relevant innings), and a dismissal once every 116 balls (seventh best) – still impressive, still adhesive, still valuable to his team, but significantly declined.Is there a reason for this? Perhaps bowlers have become more persistent in challenging his weaknesses. Perhaps the burden of captaincy has fractured the impregnable cocoon in which he used to bat once established, or a decade of Test-match opening has worn down his mental stamina. Perhaps the added pressure of being a prime lynchpin in a more fragile batting line-up has added strain to his batsmanship, and made opponents treasure and target his wicket even more. Perhaps Edward Snowden’s disclosure in June 2013 of the covert surveillance programmes of the US government made Cook worry that his batting was being spied on by the CIA; perhaps Croatia’s accession to the European Union on July 1, 2013 made the Essex man fret about the potential geopolitical implications of the rapid expansion of the EU in the aftermath of the collapse of the communist bloc. We may never know.Cook is the most striking example, but England as a team have struggled to capitalise on their half-centuries. In the 2010-2013 period detailed above, England’s 36% conversion rate was second only to South Africa (41%) of the nine regular Test-playing teams. Without Cook, at 30%, they would still have been third. In the 2013-2016 block, England are eighth in the conversion league, at 24%. With Cook’s 3-out-of-23 figure removed, England’s rate is 26%, still eighth in a table led narrowly by Pakistan (42.6%) from South Africa (42.1%).Joe Root has made only one century from his past eight 50-plus scores, having turned eight of his previous 19 half-centuries into tons. Ian Bell, after his momentous, career-defining 2013 Ashes, converted only two of the 11 Test half-centuries he made subsequently into three figures. Recently the entire England team has struggled even to convert three-quarter centuries into centuries. Since the start of last summer’s home international season, English batsmen have reached 75 in a total of 33 innings. They have converted only 12 of those into centuries (36%). All other Test teams collectively have converted 60% of their 75s into hundreds over the same period. Only West Indies (one out of six) are below 50% at converting 75s into tons. Australia have converted 77% (24 out of 31).”Yes, we’re poor against lefties. So what? I’m no commie”•Getty ImagesAll in all, curious and unhelpful from an English perspective. Explanations on a postcard, please, addressed to The ECB, No.1 Cricket Street, Cricketsville, Cricketshire, England. Soon, preferably. By 11am on Friday morning, if you have the time.CONCERNING STAT 2: Since 2006, England have collectively averaged 18% less against left-arm pace than against right-arm pace (28.4 to 34.6). No other team has a such a pronounced comparative weakness against left-arm quicks. (India, oddly, average 45% more against left-arm quicks than against right-arm ones.) Of those who have played a significant quantity of Test cricket, none of England’s current batting line-up, nor any likely potential replacements, has a better record against left-arm seamers than right-arm seamers. Root averages 37.4 against left-arm pacers, 47.6 against right-arm pacers, Bairstow 28.3 to 48.5, Ballance 21.2 to 53.2, Moeen 26.7 to 32.8, Stokes 24.6 to 44.4. Furthermore, Bell’s figures are 33.6 to 42.0, and Jos Buttler’s 23.7 to 40.1.Cook is the closest – 40.4 against left-arm pace, 42.5 against right-arm pace. Even so, he was dismissed by a decent but hardly devilish Rahat Ali delivery in the second innings at Lord’s, having scored, in effect (after being aided by some rather Kamranakmalian catching) 25 for 3 against Mohammad Amir in the first, which does not suggest that England’s leader is in tip-top flourishing-against-high-quality-left-arm-seamers form.Since the beginning of the 2006 English summer, 20 England players have faced at least 30 overs of pace from both left-armers and right-armers. Only three average more against left-armers – Matt Prior (48.8 to 39.1), Adam Lyth (a not very good 23.2 to an even worse 17.3), and, intriguingly, the recently-departed-from-the-team Nick Compton (54.6 against left-arm seam, the best of the 20 England players involved in this stat; 19.3 against right-arm seam, second worst of any non-specialist bowler who has faced at least 500 balls of right-arm pace since 2006, ahead only of Lahiru Thirimanne [18.4]).Part of the disparity must be due to the fact that England have played several recent Tests against some very good left-arm pacemen, and have faced some less-than-Marshallesque right-armers, but still those are numbers for Pakistan to pin on their bedroom ceilings at night to help them get to sleep. (I assume international cricketers pin statistics to their bedroom ceilings.) (I cannot imagine why they would not.) (I would, if I was an international cricketer.) (I do, and I am not an international cricketer.)Stats, of course, are made to be broken. Or flatly ignored. Or tweaked, or reinterpreted, or counter-statted with another stat. Or used as legal evidence, quiz questions, or chat-up lines. England’s batsmen will need to start declamping these two unwanted numerical albatrosses from around their statistical necks, or this series could become very problematic indeed.

Ajinkya Rahane talks training, temperament, learning, captaincy and more

Interview by Arun Venugopal25-Jun-2016Do you train even during your downtime?
It’s important to train even if you’re not batting. You just have to do that routine every time. After IPL I didn’t bat for almost 20-25 days. I was just training, did my pool sessions. I just started my batting seven-eight days back. It’s important to get into that rhythm. It’s a long season ahead.You played with wet rubber balls ahead of the Australia and South Africa series, and practised with a plastic ball before the England tour. How are you prepping for the West Indies tour?
In West Indies, from whatever I have heard, a few wickets have good bounce and pace. Jamaica has good bounce. Few wickets might have some turn, some help for the spinners. So I am just practising according to that. It’s rainy season in Mumbai, so I am just practising indoors, but just simulating whatever conditions I am going to face.I was practising with wet rubber balls just to get my reaction right, my hand-eye co-ordination right. Because sometimes wickets are softer, two-paced wickets, it helps to practise with a tennis ball. The tennis ball comes [on to the batsman] slightly slower than a rubber ball. So I have been practising with a tennis ball, rubber ball and leather ball.This is going to be a long but rewarding home season in terms of the quality of opposition. What are the personal and team goals you want to achieve?

Personally, I am right now just focusing on the West Indies series. Yes, it’s a long season for us. We are going to play 17 to 18 Test matches, but it is important to stay in the present. Right now, our goal is to do well in West Indies because we did pretty well in Test cricket in the last one, one and a half years. It’s important to continue that form. We are going to play Test matches after a long time. The start will be very important for us as a Test team.You are now the vice-captain. Did you expect that appointment?
I never think about such things, but I am really happy, really excited. Thanks to BCCI, who gave me this new opportunity, new challenge in my career. It’s very good to see that selection committee actually believes in you, so that gives me confidence, motivation to do well for my country.

“I spend half an hour, 45 minutes the day before the game visualising. I sometimes sit, sometimes I hold my bat and do shadow practice”

Do you see yourself as a natural leader? Are there any situations you remember – on or off the field – where you demonstrated leadership qualities?
I was captaining the Mumbai Under-19 team in the Cooch Behar Trophy and we were playing against Odisha in Cuttack. It was a four-day game, and for the first-innings lead they needed ten runs, with five to six wickets in hand. I was a bit confused whether to give the ball to a spinner – the wicket was turning and there was low bounce – or fast bowler. I backed my instinct and gave it to a fast bowler, and he actually took all the wickets. We took the lead by two to three runs.I think as a leader, as a captain, it’s important to back your instincts, whatever you feel. Yes, it is important to take advice from your colleagues, but in the end what your instincts tell you, you should back that. Whenever I am on the field, I always try and think: If I am the captain, what should be my field? What will I do in certain situations, certain conditions? I always think that way, so that whenever opportunity comes I am ready for that.How important was the Zimbabwe series last year where you led a young side?
It was a very good experience for me as a captain. Because, I remember the first game, it was so close. Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] bowled really well. With ten runs to win in one over, he just gave four to five runs. That actually taught me a very good lesson – that as a captain you should back your team-mates, you should support them, give them confidence all the time. And as a captain, you also learn so many things from your team-mates, from your opponents, how they think, how they play with you, their composition and tactics against you. So you should be very open-minded to learn new ideas.Was it an opportunity to discover a side of you that you weren’t aware existed?
Maybe, yes. I was captaining after a long time – I just captained Mumbai U-19, and after that I went straight to the Indian team.You have to think for your team-mates and give them positive response. Whatever happens as a captain you have to take the responsibility. Backing my team-mates and supporting them was the biggest learning.When did you start expressing yourself more in team meetings and strategy discussions in the Indian team?
I think it started maybe two years back. Actually it started when I was with Rajasthan Royals and when Rahul [Dravid] or Rahul preparing here even before his 200th Test match. You have to have that dedication, that determination, that willingness to prepare.I believe that preparing before the series is important rather than going into the series and thinking about the game, thinking about the series. Your mind is already occupied. I always want to prepare ten to 15 days before the series. Once you are into the series, you just go into game mode. You just think about your game, just keep it really simple. You don’t want to strain yourself mentally.Before the Delhi Test against South Africa, you were averaging about 8 in India, in contrast to your fantastic record overseas. What was your mindset going into that game, where you eventually scored two hundreds?
I wasn’t looking at my average. It was just a number. I knew that if I played one or two good innings… I mean, it was just a matter of spending time at the crease.I actually didn’t spend time at the crease in that particular series. I was batting well but somehow I got out. I made that conscious effort before the Delhi Test. Me and Sanjay [Bangar] ). I get the best out of me when I think, but you should know when to think about your game and when you should completely switch off.”What I like about Virat is his consistency and his hunger to score runs in all formats. Keeping that mindset all the time is very challenging. It’s very important to learn this thing from Virat”•Associated PressHow do you avoid overthinking?
I have made one rule – after every practice session or a game just think maybe 15-20 minutes about what you did on the day. Good decision, bad decision, just analyse that day completely and just switch off after that. Then I don’t think about cricket, I don’t talk about cricket. That is actually helping me because keeping your mind fresh in this era is very important, because we play so much cricket, we play all the formats.Who are the contemporary batsmen across the world you enjoy watching? What have you picked up from them?
I enjoy watching Virat and Rohit [Sharma] in my team. [Among the] foreign teams I enjoy watching Kane Williamson because of the way he plays in Tests and one-dayers. Our game is a bit similar because we normally play cricketing shots even in T20s, and his consistency in Test matches and one-dayers is incredible. I enjoy watching Steve Smith’s game. He’s a different player. He has a different method of scoring runs. It’s important you learn many things from different batsmen, how they score runs, what their mindset is.What I like about Virat is his consistency and his hunger to score runs in all formats. Keeping that mindset all the time is very challenging. It’s very important to learn this thing from Virat. From Rohit, scoring big hundreds in one-dayers. He has got three-four 150s and two double-hundreds in ODIs. After scoring a hundred the 40 or 50-plus runs are very important because once you are set, you know how the ball is coming. These 40-50 runs will give us a good cushion. I am the kind of person – I just sit back and observe them. What they are doing on the field I just try and learn from it.On pitches where the ball doesn’t come on to the bat quickly, you find it difficult to rotate strike. How have you worked around that issue?
I did pretty well against South Africa in India. Sometimes, if the ball is not coming [on to the bat] it’s difficult to rotate strike, but you don’t want to hurry or play some rash shot. So I prepared myself really well. I was actually playing on rank turners and unprepared wickets here at the BKC [facility in Mumbai]. I wanted to make it really tough for myself so that I would be comfortable during the game. Making myself uncomfortable during practice is the key factor.On the slower tracks, it’s important to play as late as possible and use your feet against spinners. If you look to hit the gaps the ball will go to the fielder. If you look to hit towards the fielder the ball will eventually go into the gap. If you look to play towards midwicket the ball will go here () but if you look to play towards mid-on the ball will go to the midwicket fielder because of the slowness. I am working on getting those angles right. I keep the cones and I try to hit in the gaps. I think using my feet is helping me.

“Preparation is something you can control; results you can’t. I saw Sachin preparing here even before his 200th Test match”

This is something people have often wondered: does Ajinkya Rahane ever get angry? How does he show his anger?
Yes, I do get angry. In the end I am also a human being. But I don’t like to show it. I always like to keep it cool and calm. Anger is inside me. I don’t like to show it on my face. I have never sledged or showed my anger in the cricket field. Never. Whenever I stay cool and calm, I actually perform better.In the Indore ODI against South Africa, you were involved in a mix-up with Kohli, after which he reacted angrily against you. What goes on in your mind in situations like these?
Sometimes misunderstandings happen on the cricket field, but it is important to stay calm. Everyone has a different personality. Being aggressive helps Virat to perform better on the field, and staying cool and calm helps me perform better. I think you should respect each and every one’s character. Are you the odd man out in a team that has a lot of flamboyant characters?
Everyone wants to carry themselves differently on and off the field. Everyone has a different character, and so do I. My focus is to perform consistently on the field. Off the field I am just a normal human being.I always want to respect every individual on and off the field. It’s important to carry yourself really well off the field. My managers are looking after that. It’s important to build your image as well. As a cricketer you focus on your game, but off the field they focus on your image. Their job is to focus on my image, but my job is to keep contributing for my country.In a world where you are surrounded by PR agents, is it difficult is to be the person you are because there is an image they want you to have?

My mantra is simple: I will work hard on my cricket and completely love the game. For me it’s important to score runs on the field. For them it’s important to take care of me off the field. It’s important to trust your manager completely. From a player’s perspective, you can’t think of stuff off the field. That’s their bread and butter. They will take care of your image. If you take care of the game, other things will happen automatically.You have said your wife, Radhika, has been a reason for your opening up a lot more recently. Could you tell us about the impact she has had on your life?
We were dating for six to seven years, and in September it will be two years since we got married. She’s been helping me a lot. Whenever we’re at home, whenever we travel together, whenever she’s there on tour, she always tells me it’s important to say what you feel. Because I am a guy who just sits quiet and doesn’t say much. She is like, “As a celebrity, as a sportsperson, it’s important to say what you feel.” She also helps me keep researching new things, so I can get some knowledge about what’s going on around me.”If you are willing to help your team-mate, if you are willing to improve your team-mate’s game, eventually your team will go up and you are helping yourself also”•AFPHave you taken some of your team-mates by surprise recently by being more talkative or cracking a joke or two in the dressing room?
Not yet. Maybe in the West Indies series they will be surprised. ()Going back to the personality question, how do you blend in with some of the more flamboyant guys in the team?
We gel well together. This group has been playing together for the last two to two and a half years together. We have a good combination, we enjoy with each other not only on the field but off the field. We go out for dinner, go out for lunch, sometimes we just talk not only about cricket but in general about what’s going on in the world. I think that journey together is what we have. We enjoy each other’s success in the team. Things like these actually help you stay together and build the team. You get to know so many different things about different players and their character, how they think about certain thing.As top batsmen and athletes you are in a sense competing with one another, but are also working towards the same goal as a team. How do you balance the two?
Competing with each other would be the wrong word. I think we help each other. That’s the right word. During our fitness sessions, during our net sessions, we try and help each other to improve our game and improve our fitness. We motivate each other – that’s the important thing.If you are willing to help your team-mate, if you are willing to improve your team-mate’s game, eventually your team will go up and you are helping yourself also.You have also spoken about how carrying drinks is a very good thing. What are the things you learnt when you sat out so many Tests before making your debut?
From those 17 to 19 Tests I really learnt a lot. I was fortunate be there with those legends. That time everyone – Sachin , Viru [Sehwag], [VVS] Laxman , Rahul – was playing. I learnt a lot about how to approach different situations and how to react to them. Carrying drinks is a very good thing. You are helping your team-mate. I actually wanted to run on the field every time and give water to my team-mates. And sometimes you have discussions on the field. When you give water to your team-mates, they tell you about the conditions and that this is what is happening.Even sitting in the dressing room your mindset is to learn many things. My only motivation was to improve my game, improve my fitness, all the time. I used to wake up early and do my gym and running sessions. The intention was to just learn, learn and learn.Are you a fitness addict?
It’s important to stay fit all the time. We play so many games throughout the year. As an individual it’s your responsibility to look after your fitness, look after yourself and look after your diet as well. If you want to play 15 to 20 years you will have to sacrifice certain things.Do you still practise karate? Have you ever used it on anybody?
No, I don’t. I have never used it on anyone and I hope I don’t ever have to use it. ()

As South Africa’s slump gets deeper after the triangular series exit, ESPNcricinfo looks at three areas that need special focus and could possibly salvage them

Firdose Moonda25-Jun-2016For South Africa, the tri-series in the Caribbean ended in the same sorry way it has so many times before. With “a lot of disappointment.” AB de Villiers said that after his team was knocked out after the round-robin stage.In the bigger picture, this series did not really matter. The next major 50-over event is a year off. But after South Africa had tumbled from No. 1 to No. 6 in the Test rankings, and were booted out of the World T20 before the semi-finals, 50-over cricket was the only thing going right for them. Until now.”It’s difficult to put a smile on your face after a horrible performance like that,” de Villiers said after their 100-run loss to West Indies on Friday. “There’s definitely a belief in the camp that we can win from any position and make it work from anywhere. It’s sad that we couldn’t do that today and in this series. When it mattered most, we couldn’t pull through. That’s very disappointing.”A new season looms, with 11 Tests, including tours to Australia and New Zealand, and a Champions Trophy next July. Considering South Africa are back on square one of their rebuilding phase, here are three things they need to focus on to put things right.Coaching staff Though de Villiers threw his support behind Russell Domingo, calls for the sacking of South Africa’s head coach have only increased.Under Domingo’s tenure over the last three years, they had to settle for an 8-8 win-loss record in Tests but enjoyed have had a better time in limited-overs cricket – 39 wins from 65 ODIs and 20 wins from 35 T20Is.But the wins that really mattered can be counted on two hands: the final of a tri-series in Harare against Australia, the 2015 World Cup quarter-final against Sri Lanka, the three in October to beat India in India, and a hat-trick of victories over England in February to bounce back from 0-2 down.Despite the addition of specialist coaches, South Africa seem to lack for both confidence and a cohesive game plan. Domingo has with him former Test cricketers as fast bowling, spin bowling and batting coaches in Charl Langeveldt, Claude Henderson and Neil McKenzie respectively. So there is no shortage of experience at the highest level.Is it just a matter of change then? CSA has the option to replace Domingo before his contract expires at the end of April, but for a lasting solution, they need to also find a way to incorporate an outsider’s perspective. South Africa no longer have a sports psychologist or motivational guru like Mike Horne in their ranks. And since Michael Hussey’s short stint as batting consultant, they have not had the benefit of working with someone who hasn’t come up their own system.The declining Rand makes it more difficult to attract overseas coaches, but with CSA recently adding a new sponsor, Standard Bank, to their books, it may be worth spending some of the money for this purpose. Though there may be danger of too many cooks, South Africa’s broth seems to need whatever spice it can get.CaptaincyAs good as de Villiers is, captaincy seems to weigh on him, especially in the shorter format. His disappointment over a loss is often nothing more than raw emotion, which is touching, but not problem-solving. The number of times he admits to just not knowing what went wrong is enough to suggest South Africa may need someone more astute.De Villiers is so often assisted by Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla that it is fair to say South Africa captain in committee, which would mean any of the three could assume the label. But Amla has asked not to have it attached to him too often to make him a viable candidate and du Plessis has had issues with injury and form.So it seems the only way forward for South Africa is to find a way to take better care of de Villiers. They could appoint a mentor for him – Graeme Smith, perhaps – or send him to some form of leadership training.They should also groom a successor, because it may not be too long before de Villiers walks away. There was suggestion in some local media that he was so distraught after the 2015 World Cup semi-final loss that he considered stepping down. His own utterances about needing rest throughout the previous season have led to questions over his commitment, and with Test captaincy also thrust on him, there is a danger that he might consider winding his career down under less stress. Like playing T20 cricket around the world.Selection clarityThe worst kept secret in South African sport is that the four codes that were sanctioned by the minister – cricket, rugby, athletics and netball – have signed memorandums of understanding to confirm their commitment to change. That means they have agreed to put transformation targets close to the top of their agendas, which is not inherently a bad thing, but it will have wider implications that can no longer be ignored.For South Africa to meet the target – 60% representation – they need to field seven players of colour. And they did on two occasions in the tri-series. They even had eight players of colour once. But in their remaining three matches, that number came down to six, which is likely to have a major impact on whether their ban to host major tournaments is lifted.CSA have made clear their aim to comply with the minister’s requirements as far as possible. It is also worth mentioning that the players of colour selected into the XI for the tri-series merited it. Even JP Duminy, who has not scored a fifty in 10 completed innings, was as out of form as de Villiers.The question now is how the team plans to meet transformation targets without compromising on its balance. South Africa were a batsman short in the Caribbean. Their reserves – first Rilee Rossouw, and then, Dean Elgar – were both white and including them would have come at the cost of Duminy or Farhaan Behardien – both players of colour. South Africa could have sacrificed an allrounder, perhaps even the in-form Chris Morris, to lengthen the batting line-up, but that would have left them short in the bowling department.Morne Morkel was benched for two legs of the series – when South Africa fielded more players of colour – and only included for the Barbados games – when they fell short of their transformation targets. His bounce may have been wasted on the slower surfaces in Guyana and St Kitts anyway, but the upshot was he was short on game time and could not find rhythm when it was needed.This is the reality facing South African sport at the moment, but it might help them if there was greater openness and honesty about team selection, which in turn could help the understanding of what is trying to be achieved.

Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan may look innocuous, but they have led unsuspecting Australia into a dark alley, drawn shivs, and merrily stabbed away

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle05-Aug-2016Sri Lanka’s spin bowlers are as innocuous a group of people as you may care to encounter.The gang’s kingpin, Rangana Herath, is approaching the age and shape whereupon Sri Lankan men begin taking abrupt daytime naps on the verandah while the tea they had been drinking is incrementally spilt upon themselves. He has never been known to sledge, through a career that now spans 318 wickets. And such is his commitment to cricketing honesty, that he once famously walked with five balls remaining in a Lord’s Test, when he wasn’t actually out, and only Nuwan Pradeep stood between a draw and defeat. (Pradeep, by the way, had been out comically falling onto his stumps in the first innings, and bless him, has the batting competence of a coconut husk).Dilruwan Perera, meanwhile, seems more likely to produce vomit than a coherent reply when a reporter poses a question. Lakshan Sandakan is chattier, and more excitable – but in the way of a toddler still discovering the world around him. When he appeals, you can almost picture a child on the supermarket tiles, pleading for a chocolate bar.But in Pallekele, and now in the first two days in Galle, these men have led unsuspecting Australia into a dark alley, drawn shivs, and merrily stabbed away. They have smiled their way through the brutality. They have benigned their way through 29 wickets. And seven days into the series, it’s time to start preparing the large black trash bags. It is time to make room in the boot of the black sedan, and pick out a spot in the woods.Rangana Herath on

His hat-trick: “The hat-trick is very pleasing. I haven’t taken a hat-trick since my school days. It’s a good achievement, especially considering the Aussies are the number one ranked team in the world, and ours is a team that has not got much experience.”
His batting: “If you put in the hard yards at training, then it gets easier in the match. Since Starc is playing in this game, I practice playing for yorkers and bouncers a lot and then as Lyon is there, I practice the sweep shot a lot.”

A spinner’s menace is often in the turn he extracts. Yet in this series, Steven Smith has repeatedly warned Australia about that seemingly harmless straight ball. In being dismissed by that very ball by Herath early on day two, Smith was like the police commissioner who read out the description of a known area suspect, then was found in a city dumpster the next day, all rolled up in an old carpet. Usman Khawaja was out to Perera’s slider, just the previous ball. Late in the day, the same ball, from the same bowler, took his off stump out again. So stricken by fear of this sliding mass-murderer was he, that not even a stroke was offered. Not a shot was fired in self-defence.Mitchell Marsh and Adam Voges attempted to solve the case of the non-spinning delivery through their 8.3 over morning stand, but were beaten lavishly and repeatedly throughout. Marsh blocked out a Herath delivery to end the 23rd over. When he got to bat again, three wickets had fallen at the other end. In this he was like the inspector who gets knocked unconscious in a gang fight, and finds his team completely overrun when he comes to. People have woken up from long comas with less having changed in their world.Nathan Lyon then fell prey to the same ball. Josh Hazlewood was gone almost as soon as he appeared. Sri Lanka are sometimes criticised for never considering an XI with five frontline bowlers, but the incredible thing about this innings, is that for its majority, two of their four main bowlers were completely superfluous. Sandakan finally got the ball in hand with nine wickets down, and he struck almost immediately, what else, but with a ball that drifted a little, but pitched and went virtually straight on.In the afternoon, like criminals who receive plea deals and begin working for law-enforcement, Herath and Perera picked up their bats, and made Australia’s bumbling seem even more ridiculous. They swept gaily away as Lyon told Perera, that he can “only play f***ing Tests at home” because he is the second spinner. They drove Mitchell Starc down the ground, and pulled Hazlewood to midwicket. Just to rub it in, it was with a six that Perera moved to a score that was higher than any Australia batsman had mustered so far in the series. They put on 61 together. Australia’s best partnership in Pallekele had brought 62.The visitors will now begin day three 388 runs adrift, on a pitch they do not like, facing bowling they do not understand, playing for a trophy they are very likely to lose. All this thanks to the work of three undemonstrative men who, on the surface, appear as inoffensive as a slow, loopy ball that lands on the pitch, and continues in the same direction.If a Sri Lankanised Scorsese character introduced any of these spinners, he’d say: “You’re going to like this bugger. He’s all right. He’s one of us, no? He’s a good fellow.”

An analysis of some salient highlights from the third day’s play in Indore

Aakash Chopra10-Oct-2016The face of Latham’s batTom Latham has shown two important facets of his batting against spin in this series. Since the ball was turning sharply in Kanpur, he swept quite regularly. Here, in Indore, he has used the same shot sparingly because the spin is manageable on this surface. He chose to play with a straight bat more often. He also used the depth of the crease nicely to punch the ball through the midwicket region with a straight bat. The only area where he has not been targeted as much is full and outside off by the spinners. He got out nicking to R Ashwin in the second innings of the Kolkata Test, and here also, he has driven through the off side only once. In fact, he has scored only one run through mid-off against spin in the entire series.Guptill’s long stride doing the trickFrom the outside it felt that Ravindra Jadeja was bowling too full to Martin Guptill, for the ball rarely hit the top half of his bat. It is a new Test match on a different pitch and therefore the thought is plausible. But did Jadeja actually bowl too full? If you look closely at his pitch map to Guptill in this innings and compare it with his pitch map to how he bowled to the right-handed batsmen throughout the series, you will not find a huge difference. What made the difference in Indore was the length of Guptill’s stride. He is a tall man and has used his height to good effect. In addition to that, Guptill has always put the bat ahead of the ball against Jadeja and that allowed him to negate the ones that came in straight after pitching.Pitch map of Ravindra Jadeja to Martin Guptill in the first innings in Indore•ESPNcricinfo LtdAshwin’s seam positionSeam position is something you follow closely while playing the fast bowlers, for it is an indicator of where the ball is likely to go. The same is true for spinners who use the seam to extract drift in the air and response from the pitch; Ashwin is one from that clan. For the stock ball to a right-handed batsman, the seam points towards fine leg with the shine facing the fielders at covers. Since the ball is reverse-swinging, the shine would take the ball away from the batsman in the air and then spin into him after pitching. The one that is designed to go straight after pitching has the seam pointing towards square leg with the shine on the same side. What makes it tougher for batsmen on dusty pitches is that some balls land on the seam and turn, and some land on the leather and go straight.Where are the bouncers?The first two days in Indore emphasised the difficulty posed by the bouncers because the bounce and pace are not trustworthy. Ajinkya Rahane was in more than a spot of bother on many occasions. Incidentally, Indian fast bowlers did not try the bouncer throughout. Instead, they focused on keeping the ball fuller and targeted the pads. It must also be acknowledged that Indian seamers got far more reverse-swing than their counterparts.Catching in the slipsEveryone grasses catches in the slips and therefore the ones who catch more than they drop are revered. Rahane is undoubtedly India’s safest fielder in that region. What works for him? Well, the fundamentals of fielding in the slips are to distribute the weight equally on both feet and also keep them slightly inside, for that allows you to push out sideways. In addition to that, staying low in the stance is critical because going up is a lot easier than going down. Lastly, you must receive the ball and not snatch it. Some fielders like going towards the ball but fielders in the slips must allow the ball to come to them. Rahane ticks all these boxes.

But it’s all rosy and cosy in our Twitter round-up

Alex Bowden15-Oct-2016Tino Best’s preferred reading matter is of course…

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… his own autobiography.He’s also partial to an empty glass and an unopened bottle of wine, it seems.But who are we to judge? People relax and indulge themselves in all sorts of different ways.

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A poor return – but then it was also a poor investment.Sticking with dietary matters, last time around, Ravi Bopara was attempting to introduce Chris Gayle to the concept of “brunch”. Did he make any headway?

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Still not quite got it.Gayle also saw fit to treat us to this photo.

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We don’t have much to say about that, but felt like we should share it.We’re similarly lost for words with this one.

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Meanwhile, TMS’ Charles Dagnall is lost for letters.

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By this point you’re probably wondering why there hasn’t yet been anything from column regular, Kevin Pietersen.Fear not! Despite his growing fear of social media…

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… he’s been as noisy as ever, sharing nuggets of wisdom such as this.

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The strength of the immune system is apparently measured in hours.Such an explicit renunciation of anger invites an easy follow-up for an irreverent social media column that can scour his tweets for examples of just that emotion.Never let it be said that we have a fear of making obvious jokes.

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Watch that immune system, Kev. Maybe reserve your ill temper for issues of greater significance than teenagers’ sartorial idiosyncrasies.Issues such as differences of opinion on the merits of Wayne Rooney as a footballer, for example.

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If there’s one thing all sports stars agree on, it’s that it’s for some reason impossible for a human being to perceive flaws in someone else without having first mastered the activity in question themselves. Let’s say a fireman for some reason added fuel to a fire rather than extinguishing it. By Pietersen’s reasoning, only fellow firefighters would be qualified to take issue with that.Returning to more familiar ground, we all know by now that selfies should always be taken in-flight.

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But sometimes the excitement gets to a man and he just can’t wait.

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Then again, it can sometimes be a long wait.

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That’s right – cricketers are now so adept at air-travel selfies, they’re taking them in their sleep.

Niroshan Dickwella’s scoop, Kusal Mendis’ missed opportunity and West Indies’ poor running in plays from the penultimate tri-series fixture

Shashank Kishore23-Nov-2016Fiery Gabriel softens KusalAs a batsman, Kusal Perera’s favourite scoring area is behind square on the leg side. And so with Shannon Gabriel, clocking in excess of 145 clicks quite regularly, he looked to use the pace and simply lend direction. All of it, of course, seems easier on paper than out on the field. Gabriel proved why.First, Kusal was struck flush on his toe by a yorker, which demanded medical attention. Kusal, in visible discomfort immediately after coping the blow, decided the best way out was to counterattack. Seeing Kusal walk across, Gabriel speared a superb yorker at serious pace on leg stump. Kusal overbalanced in his attempt to flick and was late on the shot. By the time his bat came down, the ball had crashed into the middle and leg stumps.Dickwella brings out the ‘Dilscoop’It was in Zimbabwe, over 17 years ago, that Tillakaratne Dilshan broke through in international cricket. On Wednesday, Dilshan, perhaps watching his mates from the comfort of his couch, may have grinned ear to ear when he saw Niroshan Dickwella play a shot named after him. Seeing the batsman swing freely to full deliveries, Carlos Brathwaite shortened his length and bowled a slow offcutter. Dickwella was already down on one knee, trying to use the pace and paddle it fine. But with the ball not coming on at the pace he would have liked, a delicate little deflection was turned into a full-blooded scoop with the bat moving upwards in a lovely little arc in a fraction of a second or two. He found the middle too, clearing short fine leg to get a boundary.Cheeky attempt thwarts KusalKusal Mendis’ dismissal was somewhat like that of a man who walked blindfolded on a highway, only to be run over by a cycle. Adventurous in his outlook at the crease, he first fetched a slog-sweep off Ashley Nurse from outside off to hit it into bleachers at cow corner. Then he got down on one knee and swung a full delivery for six over long-on. He was suddenly six short of a maiden ODI ton. Seeing the batsman line him up for a third hit, Nurse shortened his length and fired it wide. Kusal re-adjusted and tried to run the ball past the keeper, but could only manage a faint nick. And with that the wait for a maiden ODI hundred continued.Lakmal’s three-card trickOne didn’t know whether it was a deliberate plan from Suranga Lakmal to test Johnson Charles with three different deliveries in the eighth over of the chase, but it worked. First up, a full ball was drilled down the ground for four. Then he dug one short, seemingly in an attempt to target his ribcage. The ball didn’t bounce as high as he would have liked. Charles shuffled across and helped it along to fine leg. Then, he unleashed a slow offcutter, which foxed Charles. The batsman was through with the swing even before the ball arrived, and toe-ended a catch to Upul Tharanga at mid-off.Of mix-ups and missed opportunitiesEvin Lewis had just got past a hundred and was cramping. The frustration of a few swings and misses resulted in him attempting cheeky runs. He survived a run-out chance on 114 when Dickwella dislodged the bails before he could collect the ball cleanly from the cover fielder. He continued to swing his way to make 148 before being stranded mid-pitch courtesy a mix-up with his captain Jason Holder, with West Indies slipping to 262 for 6, needing 69 off 57 balls. Sri Lanka’s fielding nightmares extended into the end-overs when Upul Tharanga put down a skier at mid-on to reprieve Carlos Brathwaite on 3.Both the missed opportunities may have cost Sri Lanka on another day, but on the face of pressure, West Indies wilted again, much like they did in the previous game, against Zimbabwe, that resulted in a tie.

An analytical look at some of the technical highlights from the second day’s play in Mohali

Aakash Chopra27-Nov-2016Not just release bowlers anymoreIn Indian conditions, we often see fast bowlers are used as release bowlers. Since the conditions are never conducive enough for faster bowlers to inflict serious damage, they are used in shorter spells to give spinners a break and also, to break the monotony. A wicket from their side is considered a bonus. But in this series, both Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have not just bowled with pace but also penetration. The moment your pacers start contributing in these conditions, the team’s reliance on spinners decreases manifold.The ball takes a piece of the pitch with itThe first ball of the 11th over, from Adil Rashid to Parthiv Patel, pitched on the good-length area, which forces you to come on to the front foot, right in front of the stumps. Upon landing the ball took some piece of the pitch with it. This is the first instance in this game when the ball has disturbed the surface and that could be seen as a sign of things to come. While you can get used to the rough outside off or leg stump, it becomes a little tough to handle if the area in front of the stumps starts wilting.Moeen Ali and the defensive approachIn the next over, Moeen Ali operated without a fielder close to the bat. In case you wondered why England became so defensive so soon, the reason, apparently, is to wait for the ball to start reverse-swing. Alastair Cook has accepted that there is not enough help for spinners while the ball is new and the best chances of taking a wicket lay with seamers and therefore it is prudent to avoid leaking boundaries.Which day, which pitchThe pitch on the first day wore the look of a day two pitch, for some pieces were moving before the start of day’s play. Incidentally, the pitch on the second day was also looking almost identical to the pitch on the first day. There has not been any significant wear and tear. The footmarks are not that prominent and the cracks have opened marginally. Also, it seems that none of the balls pitched on the pieces that were moving.The outside-off tacticIn the post-lunch session, the English seamers adopted the outside-off line with a heavily guarded off-side (7-2) field. The execution of this plan depends on two factors – maintaining an eight/ninth-stump line throughout and also, bowling a length that is neither drivable nor cuttable, and that’s what the English seamers did relentlessly. The ways to counter this plan is to either walk across and reach out to the balls or have the patience to let everything go to the keeper. Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli chose the second option and showed the patience to execute it well in that session.The other outside-off tacticIn the second innings of the second Test, Kohli got out to Rashid while driving a full ball that was fairly wide of outside off. It is not surprising that Rashid tried the same tactic a few times here too. There has not been as much turn and bounce in Mohali and Kohli has also played the shot with more control. But it is visible that every form of dismissal leads to further probing in Test cricket.A beehive of Adil Rashid to Virat Kohli in the first innings•ESPNcricinfo LtdHow not to handle a bowlerGareth Batty’s first over was the 47th over of the innings and that too close to the tea break. He leaked 22 runs in the three-over spell and then was reduced to being a spectator for a long time. His next spell comprised only 12 balls and, once again, close to the time when the second new ball was available. It’s a fine example of how one must not handle a bowler.