All the records Glenn Phillips and New Zealand broke on Sunday

Shiva Jayaraman29-Nov-202046 – The number of deliveries Glenn Phillips took to hit his first T20 international hundred. It’s the quickest for New Zealand in the format. Colin Munro’s century off 47 balls against the same opposition and incidentally at the same venue in 2018 was the previous best. Click here for the fastest hundreds in T20Is.171* – New Zealand’s previous-highest partnership in T20I. Back then, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson achieved this feat for the opening wicket against Pakistan in 2016. The 184-run stand between Devon Conway and Phillips is now the highest.182 – The most runs added by a non-opening pair in T20Is before this match was by Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan for the third wicket against New Zealand in 2019. Phillips and Conway hold that record. Click here for a list of the highest non-opening partnerships in T20Is.154 – Runs scored by New Zealand in the last 10 overs – the third highest ever by a team in T20Is. The highest of 159 was scored by Sri Lanka against Kenya in the first World T20 in 2007. Afghanistan had made 156 runs in the last ten against Ireland in a T20I in Dehradun last year, which is the second-highest.2 – New Zealand have made two totals higher than their 238 in the second T20I against West Indies. Their best of 243 for 5 was also against the same opposition at the same venue in January 2018. They had equaled that score in another T20I against Australia the next month. Click here for the highest totals by New Zealand in T20Is.0 – Among the top teams, no one has made more than Phillips’ 108 while coming in to bat in T20Is after the powerplays. The previous highest was David Miller’s 101 against Bangladesh. Miller had come in to bat in the 10th over in that game. Phillips came to the crease in the 7th over in this match at the fall of Guptill’s wicket. Overall, Belgium’s Shaheryar Butt holds that record for his unbeaten 50-ball 125 after walking in to bat in the eighth over in a T20I against Czech Republic.

He’s taken four five-fors in six Tests, and he’s kryptonite to left-handers. How far can he go?

Danyal Rasool06-Jan-2021It’s the height you notice first. At 6’8″, he’s the tallest man to ever play cricket for New Zealand, and that’ll lead you to make assumptions about the kind of bowler he might be. He is perhaps a length bowler who exploits the bounce. Or a short-ball fiend being groomed to take over from whenever Neil Wagner has to be dragged off the cricket field. Or an enforcer following on from the nice-guy acts of Tim Southee and Trent Boult.Kyle Jamieson is all of those things, and yet if you feel you have a read on him, you’re wrong. In the six Tests he has played so far, he has shown he can take wickets at every stage of an innings, and it isn’t the height that appears to enable him – though it must surely help – as much as the frightening skill he possesses. He has taken wickets because of that frame – the ball to dismiss Fawad Alam in the first innings at Hagley Oval the most striking example – but he has struck with new ball and old ball, with swing and seam, at the top and tail of the order, and against right-handers and left-handers.Kyle Jamieson averages a scarcely credible 8.61 against left-hand batsmen•Getty ImagesOf the 11 wickets he claimed during the second Test against Pakistan, five were of right-handers and six of lefties. Five wickets fell to length balls, two to shorter deliveries, a further two to bouncers, while the full ball claimed another couple. He broke partnerships, and he ran through innings.But for now, he remains kryptonite for left-handers. When he finally did the decent thing and brought Haris Sohail’s miserable tour to an end – he had provided a similarly generous service for the struggling Shan Masood yesterday – it was his 12th career wicket against left handers. His 13th, Faheem Ashraf, brought his average against that type of batsman down to a scarcely credible 8.61 runs per wicket. This Test was the first time in Pakistan’s Test history that they fielded six lefties; for Jamieson it was like Christmas had come, a week late.But it was the man he would dismiss for his fifth second-innings wicket – the one that brought up a 10-wicket haul that showcased his prodigious talent. The ball was 52 overs old, and Southee, the most in-form New Zealand quick of the past couple of years, was having limited success with it. Facing him was Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, and man with five successive Test half-centuries before this innings.Related

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Looking to be positive, Rizwan transferred his weight forward convincingly to lean into a cover drive. It’s a motion he has repeated often, on the treacherous tracks of Pakistan’s domestic cricket as well as against Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, and each New Zealand bowler this series. The gap between bat and pad was small, but with Jamieson in this sort of mood, so was the margin for error. The ball landed outside off stump and tailed in so sharply and at such pace there was no hope of readjusting. By the time Rizwan was through his cover-drive motion, the bails lay flat at the feet of the stumps. It was the Aucklander’s 35th Test wicket, his average a shade over 13; he has so far struck every 33.4 balls in Test cricket. Among bowlers with at least 30 wickets, only Duanne Olivier boasts a better strike rate.So little is known about Jamieson outside New Zealand that cricket’s equivalent of the CIA might well be maintaining a dossier on him. While being among the top three wicket-takers in each of the three series he has played has catapulted him to global attention, he has ploughed his trade impressively for years, albeit in the relative obscurity of New Zealand’s domestic circuit, for over six years. Jamieson’s first-class average of 21.14 across 34 matches outdoes the equivalent numbers of any of Southee, Boult, or Wagner, but while Southee was handed his Test cap as a teenager and Boult shortly after his 21st birthday, Jamieson was allowed to continue developing without the distractions and pressures of international cricket until last year.

The ball might not do as much some days, the lengths might be off some others. But even over leaner periods, Jamieson will appreciate the value of being part of this tight-knit, well-managed and supportive unit

This is both the best and worst time to be a New Zealand fast bowler. The level of competition for those slots is beyond compare, but in the secure hands of Kane Williamson, Gary Stead and New Zealand’s management skills, the harmony of the squad is beyond reproach. It is a side that continues to feel niche and in touch, far away, (literally, geographically speaking) from the big-time trappings that have made England, India or Australia powerhouses in a more palpable way. But when it comes to the stuff they produce on the field, New Zealand match, and at times exceed, what those three produce; the fact that they played the last two World Cup finals, and are in pole position to qualify for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s next summer, are evidence of this.Jamieson won’t need telling, but it can only get worse from here. He hasn’t yet played abroad, which will offer a deeper glimpse of his adaptability, as well as a sterner test of his quality. You dread to say it, but that frame and the exigent demands of modern cricket means there likely will be injuries. The ball might not do as much some days, the lengths might be off some others.But even over leaner periods, Jamieson will appreciate the value of being part of this tight-knit, well-managed and supportive unit. Boult has been relatively injury-free for this long because he’s been taken good care of. Southee remains lethal in both Test and T20I cricket because his back injury and drier spells have been handled with sensitivity, and Wagner bowled out Pakistan on one foot through excruciating pain because he believed this was a group he was willing to suffer for.After the series was all wrapped up, Jamieson said he viewed himself “very much as the fourth prong of this four-man attack”, and that he was looking to “sit back and learn from what these world-class bowlers have done over a number of years”. In just a year of Test cricket, he’s brought a whole new dimension to an attack that was already New Zealand’s greatest. Imagine how much scarier he can get with all that sitting back and learning.

Thirteen years ago, a greenhorn fast bowler announced his arrival on the world stage with a fiery spell to Ricky Ponting. Sharma revisits that spell

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi23-Feb-2021On Jan 19, 2008, Ishant Sharma, still in his teens, bowled a defining spell against Australia at the WACA in Perth. Playing only his fourth Test, Sharma rattled Australia captain Ricky Ponting with his lengths and pace in nine overs in the second innings – a spell so good that even Steve Waugh, not one quick to praise, complimented it. It possibly also changed Sharma’s life: a month later, he was bought for $970,000 in the inaugural IPL auction.Weeks before the Perth Test, India were playing Pakistan in Bengaluru in a home series. Sunil Gavaskar reckoned, in a syndicated column, that perhaps it was “too early” for Sharma to play that Test. Sharma went on to pick up his maiden five-for there, in just his second Test. It is the story of his life: to surprise when no one expects him to. And Perth 2008 remains perhaps the most memorable such example.Now on the verge of his 100th Test, Sharma looks back at his battle with Ponting, and at his other memorable spells down the years.You were not even supposed to go on that tour to Australia, but injuries to Sreesanth and Munaf Patel gave you the spot.
I don’t remember that. But I thought I got selected for the Australia tour because I took a five-for against Pakistan in Bangalore, which happened just before the selection.Then you played in Sydney because Zaheer Khan returned home. You took 0 for 146, which did not really showcase the effort you put in. Can you talk about your first time in Australia and understanding what lengths to bowl?
The biggest adjustment I had to make was that we had not played any practice match [before the Test series]. It was my first tour of Australia. I didn’t have much of an idea of the bowling conditions. I had never bowled with the Kookaburra ball, [didn’t know] how much it swings, what kind of lengths to bowl in Australia.We were on top in the first innings. We had taken their top four or five wickets early [134 for 6]. Then Andrew Symonds edged early on, but Steve Bucknor did not give him out. If he had been given out, that series would probably have been totally different, because Symonds scored 150 or something [162], Brad Hogg scored [72]. After that, the situation changed completely for us.At the time I felt I was bowling short. I spoke to Venky [Venkatesh Prasad], who was our bowling coach at that time. He told me I was bowling a bit short. It was proving very difficult for me to find the right length. It was not like I was playing at home, bowling with the SG ball, which swings even late [when old], which Kookaburra does not. It was a learning experience.You played in the practice match in Canberra, before the Perth Test. Richie Benaud on commentary said he’d spotted that you’d made adjustments between the Sydney and Perth Tests, and how there was a big difference in the lengths and how consistent you had become. What did you work on?
Once you know that you are playing all the games, you get more confident. Then you prepare yourself accordingly. When I played the practice match, I bowled as if I was bowling in a Test match. I was trying to bowl fuller, to get more swing. I was talking with Venky about that in the practice game. Even Anil [Anil Kumble, India captain for that series] said, bowl as if you are bowling in a Test match with the new ball.In fact, I bagged three wickets in my first spell with the new ball. You then get the confidence. You bowl long spells. My body is such that the more I bowl, the better my bowling becomes. Venky helped me a lot at that time.

“Sometimes a fast bowler achieves rhythm: when you want to bowl where you want to, and that starts happening, suddenly things start changing”

You were 19 years old when you played your fourth Test, at the WACA. Had you heard about the history of the ground before the match?
I remember one incident. I was marking my bowling run-up. Sunny [Sunil Gavaskar] was there at the time of the toss [as TV commentator]. He told me I was doing well, but he cautioned me, saying, “Don’t bowl too short. Don’t get carried away.” He said he was alerting me because every fast bowler thinks since it is Perth you can bowl bouncers. I told him I will try and bowl fuller. He said that was the best way to go. In the first innings I got Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting [by sticking to that plan].[During the Perth Test] I also remember Gary Kirsten had come just for one match [as consultant coach], because he was taking over as India head coach after that series. The evening before Australia’s second innings we spoke about how I should go about it. It was a good experience for me [talking to Kirsten].On the third evening I had bowled just three or four overs, but I was literally bowling full tosses because I was trying to pitch fuller. So I was unable to stick to the plans. On the way back to the team bus that evening, Gary asked me, “What do you think?” I said, “I didn’t bowl well.” Gary actually looked shocked. He was like, “How can you say that? You are just 19 and you are taking the blame that you didn’t bowl well.” I told him, “That’s the truth, right? So I need to pull up my socks and do better tomorrow.”I am from Delhi and we speak directly. I told him clearly that I was bowling full tosses. Then after that, spell happened.Fourth morning, you came on to bowl the fifth over of the innings. What was the plan?
At 19 you don’t plan, to be honest []. You just bowl. When you play a lot then the planning starts, about what you should do and not do. I knew just one thing: I have to bowl in good areas and after that somehow I should get a wicket. And the more consistently I bowled in good areas, the greater the chances of me getting a wicket.On the fourth morning when I arrived at the ground I felt a bit of pressure. I was nervous because I felt then that if I don’t bowl well here then it might be the end for me. But I tried to stick to my basics.Ponting earned a reprieve in the 24th over when the ball hit him on the knee roll, but umpire Billy Bowden overruled the appeal•Getty ImagesIt was not so hot, so the Kookaburra ball was actually swinging despite being 30 overs old. That was a surprise for me. In Sydney that didn’t happen. [In Perth] the ball was swinging, coming in and everything, and when that was happening I was actually enjoying it. I was just bowling. I was then not thinking this or that will happen, how will I get the guy out.Sachin [Tendulkar] was standing at mid-on at the time. He asked me [initially]: “What are you doing?” I said, “Nothing, I am just bowling.” He said that’s great, just carry on doing that, just enjoy your bowling.He just kept on telling me after every ball, “Don’t try anything [different]. Don’t change anything. He [Ponting] is not comfortable with whatever you are bowling and you’ll get him out.” I said, “”. With the ball moving in naturally, I did not even need to try hard.Related

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There was a ball that hit Ponting’s pad early on. He did not play a shot. It appeared the ball hit him under the knee, but Billy Bowden overruled India’s appeal. TV replays showed the ball would go on to hit the bail. When you walked back to your mark, what did you think?
Nothing. Good thing was said, “Don’t worry. Keep bowling. You’ll get him out.” Like I said, I just kept bowling. I wasn’t thinking whether he [Bowden] gave it out or not.Sometimes a fast bowler achieves rhythm: when you want to bowl where you want to, and when that starts happening, suddenly things start changing. You can say that like a batsman enters a zone, a bowler also enters a similar zone – you are running in well, you are bowling well, your ball is swinging, automatically the ball is going straight from the same spot. So when I myself did not know, how would the batsman know when the ball was straightening? ().And your speeds were the same throughout the spell, around mid-130kph?
I have never been a fan of the speedometer. If I was running in well I didn’t get worried about the speeds.Did you get tired at all during that spell?
No. I just wanted to carry on bowling.

“Anil asked me: ‘Will you bowl another over?’ I said, ‘Yes, I will.’ Ponting got out next ball”

When did Kumble tell you that he was going to replace you?
After the eighth over [of the spell] Anil said, “Okay, you stop now. Bowl later.” He felt having already bowled in the first innings and then now eight overs on the trot, it was better I took a break. But Viru [Virender Sehwag] told Anil that I was bowling well and Ricky was uncomfortable. He also said that I can bowl long spells. In the entire domestic season before the Australia tour, Viru was the Delhi captain. So he had seen I had bowled quite a few long spells.Viru said that even if you bowl him continuously for an entire session he will not tire. Anil asked me: ” dalega?” [Will you bowl another over?] I said, “” [Yes, I will.] He said, okay, come bowl. Ponting got out next ball.What was the length you were bowling, about six metres from the stumps?

Yeah. But the ball [Ponting] got out on, it was slightly fuller. It did not come in that much. That ball just went straight. That was the first delivery of the ninth over. There was only just one more delivery that had straightened, which was around the sixth or seventh over, in which again he was beaten.Otherwise the rest of the deliveries mostly moved in or were swinging in the air or seaming off the pitch. I really did not know it would straighten. If you ask me now, I can tell you when I’m bowling straighter and when I’m swinging it.Can you recount the delivery as it happened?
The way I held the ball as I ran in to bowl, I wanted to swing it in. It did swerve a bit in the air, but after pitching it went straight. [Ponting] did play the right line, because the seam position suggested it would come in, but the ball went straight and took the outside edge.What was the difference from the dismissal in the first innings?
The difference was that I wanted to get him [Ponting] out early. [Harbhajan Singh] was not playing that Test, so I told him, you are not playing, so I will get him [Ponting] out. and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh] made us comfortable by joking around. [Harbhajan] said, “If you get him out I will come out on the balcony and clap because he is such a big player.”Sharma and Harbhajan Singh celebrate after India’s win•Getty ImagesIn those days, you didn’t, and still don’t, go by the name – who is playing in front of you and who the batsman is. In the first innings the ball pitched and went away a little, but there was a bit more bounce. His bat was hanging and the edge went to slip. It was a similar delivery against Michael Clarke [in the first innings in Perth], but that ball was slightly fuller compared to Ponting.Did Bhajji come out on the balcony?
Yeah, he did come out. After that, during the lunch break, he said, ” out [You would have got him out anyway].Did that ball change your life?
That ball changed my life! But to be very honest, I’m still surprised. Because, such spells, in Ranji Trophy, in first-class, you need to continuously bowl them. The more consistently you bowl, you get that much bigger an opportunity to get a wicket. First-class cricket is all about patience – only then you can get the batsman out. If your aim is only to get a wicket then you can go for runs.That patience, in my bowling, has come only after playing first-class cricket – that having bowled two balls inswing, now I will try to bowl one going-away delivery. With experience you can do such things.So, actually, I was surprised when I saw that spell, and all the hype that followed. I felt it is my job – I do this daily in first-class cricket – that if I am bowling 20 overs in a day, I have to give 40-45 runs and I can get three wickets. So what I was doing in the Ranji Trophy, the same thing I was doing in the Test match.Not long before that, you delivered a spell of 15 overs in Vijayawada in the Ranji Trophy.
Yes, I had bowled continuously throughout the session. It was against Andhra Pradesh. We [Delhi] had to win the match outright or save it, and one of our bowlers had got injured. Mithun Manhas, who was the captain in that match, asked me to just keep bowling, so I bowled 15 straight overs.

“I never watch that spell. There are a lot of people who tag me on social media in clips of that spell, but I never watch it”

At that young age it is about adrenaline, isn’t it? You don’t bother about workload and all that, you just go with the rhythm.
Yeah, at present everyone tries to manage their workload, bowl so many overs in the nets and all that. That was not the case when I started. And for that I should say thanks to my coach, Shravan Kumar. Because when I started to play, whether it was the afternoon heat or the cold, you started to bowl at 1pm and until it got dark you could not stop bowling. If you stopped [you would be scolded]. That is why I am used to bowling long spells.Ponting wrote in his book that if he had survived, he was confident he could have scored a century. Did he ever speak to you about that spell?
No, he never has spoken to me.Has that been the spell of your life so far?

Can’t really say that. I feel that spell became famous because I was young, was playing my fourth Test, bowling to a legend, making him struggle a bit. That is why it became big.I don’t know if you remember a similar spell I bowled in Galle with the new ball, where I got [Mahela] Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews out. Same kind of spell I bowled in the 2008 Irani Trophy when Rest of India were playing against Delhi. I bowled five maidens on the trot to [S] Badrinath in the second innings. Do you watch videos of that Perth spell?
I never watch that spell. There are a lot of people who tag me on social media [in clips of that spell], but I never watch it. Okay, that spell gave me the confidence, it was pretty good. Yes, people started to recognise me.When people have confidence in you and have expectations, then you get confident, right? After that spell, I realised I deserve this praise. That was very important.”The Wellington spell that told me there is no limitation: that if you don’t put the burden of expectation on yourself, you can go on”•Getty ImagesWhich are your top five spells in first-class cricket?
Obviously, Lord’s 2014.My first five-wicket haul against Baroda in Delhi [2006].That New Zealand Test series [2019-20], in Wellington where I took five wickets. That is special for me because I had torn my ligaments and I was not sure whether I would go on that tour or not. Just two days before the Test match, the team asked me, “You want to play or not?” I said, “I’m here to play cricket. I’m not here on holiday.” Yes, I was struggling, no doubt about that. I was jet-lagged. But I had bowled a lot at the National Cricket Academy [during rehab in Bengaluru]. But that is one spell that told me there is no limitation: that if you don’t put the burden of expectation on yourself, you can go on. It taught me that if I can just focus on bowling in good areas… that spell taught me to trust myself more.And that spell in Jo’burg in 2013-14 where I took four wickets [in the first innings]. Around that time I had been hit for 30 runs in an over by James Faulkner. After that I could have gone wrong any time – both emotionally and mentally, I was struggling. But suddenly something clicked in me. I was like, I can’t play like this. If I have to be the best version of myself then I have to pull up my socks and do well. So something sparked inside me and suddenly I picked up four wickets.I am talking about these spells from memory. I can’t really pinpoint one spell [as the best].You will obviously add Perth to that, to make it a top five?
I am still thinking ().

With the country co-hosting the T20 World Cup, Pankaj Khimji believes the national team will be stronger contenders in their second appearance in the tournament

Interview by Shashank Kishore03-Oct-2021A decade ago Oman didn’t have a single grass cricket field. Today, there are two, next to each other, in Al Amerat, a short drive from the capital, Muscat. These two venues will put Oman on the cricket map when it hosts six matches in the first round of the 2021 T20 World Cup. With the national team participating and looking to qualify for the Super 12s, it’s widely seen as a landmark moment for cricket in the country, as Pankaj Khimji, chairman of Oman Cricket, says.Give us a sense of how big it is for Oman to be hosting a World Cup.
How often does an Associate nation get to host a World Cup?I’m told by Star Sports [the host broadcasters] that this might turn out to be the third-largest televised sporting event of all time, potentially reaching an audience of 3 to 3.5 billion people. Even if Oman gets a billion people watching the first six games, and showcases itself just to the Indian subcontinent, it’s massive. It has never happened before, so we’re over the moon. We have the full blessings and support of every authority in the country, right from the highest body to the local municipal council, saying let’s put Oman on the map.Related

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What is the mood among the cricket fraternity in Oman about the team’s participation?
Two things. One, Oman is going to be seen by a global audience. Few people remember we made history by beating Ireland at the T20 World Cup last time [in 2016 in India]. Now we’re probably one of the only Asian Associates to qualify for the second round of a T20 World Cup. It’s no fluke.Two, we’ve defined our purpose. We are here among the top 20 in the world in white-ball cricket. No one can tell us we made it to one World Cup and vanished. We’re hoping to qualify for the Super 12s. The team is focused on that. If we do that, we will automatically qualify for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia too. So the motivation is high. Suddenly a whole new band of football-loving people are saying we’ve done an amazing thing by bringing a World Cup to Oman.How have you managed to prepare the team in these Covid times, where match time has been elusive?
We’re all amateur cricketers in Oman. We play weekend cricket. Our domestic season comprises weekend tournaments from September to April. All our boys have come back from hibernation five, six weeks ago. In this time, the trainers have got them back into shape, getting them to lose the kilos they’ve put on. That said, the team is in super shape.We played a very good T20 series against Mumbai, beating them 2-1. After the series, at a dinner, Amol Muzumdar [the Mumbai coach] told me, “You guys managed to ignite the kind of fire [within the Mumbai team] even I couldn’t.” The T20 series loss spurred Mumbai to beat us convincingly in the one-dayers, but then we couldn’t have got better practice than playing a quality side like Mumbai. When you train against a tougher opponent, you learn. Weaker opponents just help you to loosen up. A side with an average age of 22-23 against ours, whose average is 33-34. It was literally like a young team against a veteran’s team. The preparation has been excellent.The Mumbai team that toured Oman for three T20Is and three ODIs in September•Oman CricketTell us about your director of cricket, Duleep Mendis, and his influence over the team.
He’s been with us for ten years now. I don’t think he thought he’d hang around for this long. At Oman Cricket, we count our blessings to have him shaping our team. Since qualifying for the 2016 T20 World Cup, we’ve moved somewhere from being ranked 40th to about 14th or 15th in white-ball cricket. What more can we ask for? He has built it step by step.The World Cricket League (WCL) is a measure of our qualifying pathway to the 2023 ODI World Cup, and after a third of the matches, we’re on top of the standings. The only thing I tell my colleagues is, let’s not interfere with the cricket, let’s leave that to Duleep. We’re just administrators. So as long as you draw the line and let him get on with the cricket, it’ll be terrific. Cricket isn’t a judgmental sport like football, where you sack the manager if you lose five in a row. Losses are part and parcel of the progression. Fortunately, we’ve won more than we’ve lost [in the last five years].Is there a feeder system in place for talent?
We have a wonderful school system here, and currently four players have come through to the national team from the Under-13s to 16s, 19s, to the main side. The Indian and Pakistani school system is very strong here, and we’re trying to strengthen it further. We have a mix of home-grown players and expats. A lot more players who haven’t had the opportunity to flourish back in their country may now consider Oman as a place to pursue their interest.We rolled out our grassroots development programme in January 2020 [before Covid hit]. We adopted ten government schools, where our coaches teach boys and girls aged as young as eight-nine the basics of the game and then see if they can take it to the next level. We get them over to our main ground and allow them to train at the indoor centre, try to inculcate the fun factor. They don’t get to watch much cricket at times, so we try to ensure they play as much as possible. We have a strong residential block around our main venue in Al Amerat, and we’ve thrown it open to the residents to come over and have their evening walks, use our lawns to exercise. We’re doing what we can to see if in another ten to 15 years we can have 50% of Omanis constituting the national team.Oman’s players, most of whom have day jobs, have only recently returned to training ahead of their series against Mumbai and the World Cup•Oman CricketHow long before you think cricket goes fully professional in Oman?
We’d rather be realistic and keep it as a semi-professional structure. All our players have nine-to-five jobs. They still find it difficult to get leave for camps and big tournaments. Some players are on a semi-hybrid contract, where they’re employed by an organisation but paid for by Oman Cricket [when they’re absent from work]. We’d honestly much rather be rookies pulling the carpet out from under some of the higher-ranked teams rather than regularly beating the smaller teams. You can’t hope to go fully professional when you have a team largely comprising expats. That doesn’t sound right.A tournament of this magnitude calls for massive infrastructure upgrades. How have you gone about it?
Our ground [at Al Amerat] was like a glorified English countryside venue. We had a clubhouse on one side, which is one-third the size of the CCI [Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai] club house. The rest of it was full of neem and gulmohar trees, and benches of the kind you see in parks across London, where two or three people sit on each bench and enjoy a game of weekend cricket. But as World Cup hosts, we had to change that, so we first chalked out how many people we want to allow. With Covid protocols coming in, we said 3000 could be manageable. So from 200-300 we’d host on park benches, we’re now ready to host 3000.We’ve put up 30 air-conditioned corporate boxes and a media centre at a vantage location above the sightscreen. One commentary box isn’t enough because we now have commentary in multiple languages, so we had to develop a huge area for that. I can’t say we have the Lord’s media box, but we’ve got a nice little set-up. Then we were told 1000 lux [for floodlights] is a thing of the past. If you want to televise an event on 4K HD imagery, you need a minimum of 3500 lux. Then we were told you don’t use metal halide lamps anymore, we need LED lamps that you can switch on and off with a flick of a finger. So we got that done up.One by one, everything is now in place. It’s just six games, but it’s the World Cup. So these are exciting times.

In modern T20 cricket, genuine allrounders like Watson are as rare as Faberge eggs, and just as valuable

Matt Roller10-Nov-20213:09

Can Australia end Pakistan’s 16-match winning streak in UAE?

There have been a number of breakout stars in this T20 World Cup, but perhaps the best of them has not been on the pitch. Ever since his first game as a commentator, Shane Watson has provided a sharp and incisive, even inquisitive, voice on the tournament’s broadcast.He gave an early example on his World Cup commentary debut. South Africa were rebuilding against Glenn Maxwell while four wickets down in the tenth over in their opening match. “What I’d really like here from Aaron Finch is for him to bring up this midwicket,” Watson said. “I want David Miller to have to take a risk, hitting across the line at this early stage of his innings.” Right on cue, Miller knocked an early single out to the boundary-rider.Related

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In Australia’s second game, Watson realised within a single shot that Sri Lanka would look to target the weak link in their bowling attack – the combination of Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis. “He’s set his intentions,” he said, after Charith Asalanka slog-swept Maxwell’s first ball for six. “The Sri Lankan team game plan, you can see it: that fifth bowler, they’re going to be lining him up.” Maxwell and Stoinis would concede 51 runs in four overs between them.There was an irony in Watson pointing all this out. It has gone unnoticed that this is Australia’s first-ever T20 World Cup without Watson in the squad. The result has been that balancing their side has been an issue that has dogged them throughout the tournament.Australia’s general dismissiveness of the format meant that T20 World Cups rarely saw the best of Watson, although he had a fine tournament in 2012, spearheading their run to the semi-finals. But across his career, he was a hall-of-fame T20 player: along with Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, he is one of three men to win the IPL’s MVP award twice; only Kieron Pollard exceeds both his total runs and wickets tallies.As such, the gap he has left since his last T20I – the defeat to India in Mohali in 2016 – has been vast. Under Justin Langer, Australia spent three years balancing their side by picking five specialist bowlers including Ashton Agar at No. 7, only to rip up that blueprint on the eve of this World Cup. For four of their five group games, they picked an extra batter instead, leaving Maxwell, Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh to fill in as their fifth bowler.

“If we get seduced into looking purely at match-ups, then you probably go away from your own strengths quite a bit”Aaron Finch

All three might loosely be categorised as allrounders, but none is a genuine one in the sense Watson was. Across Watson’s T20I career, he was with either bat or ball for 33.3 balls on average: he faced 17.3 balls per appearance, and bowled 16.0. None of Maxwell (15.0/9.0), Marsh (18.7/6.7) and Stoinis (9.3/8.2) comes close to that figure.”It can be a tough balancing act,” Finch said on Wednesday, the eve of their semi-final against Pakistan. “The fact that we’ve got the three allrounders in Maxwell, Marsh and Stoinis to bowl them four overs has been really beneficial for us. We know how good Maxi can be in the powerplay but also through the middle overs when the match-ups are right and that’s given us a lot of confidence to be able to go in with the four specialist bowlers plus the allrounder.”That’s probably something that we’ve wrestled with in the past. It obviously makes it a really tough decision, but having those allrounders there, especially ones who offer so much flexibility to the side… it does give us a lot of flexibility with the selection.”Finch accepted that Pakistan’s string of five right-handers in their top six would make a recall for Agar’s left-arm spin a tempting option, but hinted that Australia would maintain their existing balance.Finch: “The fact that we’ve got the three allrounders in Maxwell, Marsh and Stoinis to bowl them four overs has been really beneficial for us”•Getty Images”We obviously look at the opposition, their strengths and weaknesses, and what resources we have got to match up against that, but we also have to look at what we do really well and stay true to that,” he said. “If we get seduced into looking purely at match-ups, then you probably go away from your own strengths quite a bit. That’s really important to keep in mind – that it’s not purely just based on what the opposition looks like, it’s also about how we want to structure up our 20 overs with the ball.”Picking the extra batter means that teams can target Australia’s fifth bowler, as Sri Lanka demonstrated; picking the extra bowler renders their top order unable to keep attacking after early wickets, as shown in their struggle to 125 against England. The balance that Watson used to offer them is hugely missed.Australia are not the only team grappling with this: England have gone batting-heavy throughout the tournament, while Pakistan have gone in with five specialist bowlers; New Zealand started with an extra batter, but changed to a bowling-heavy structure after their first game.The results of this week’s semi-finals will not prove that one strategy is inherently better than the other. But the fact that all four teams have wrestled with decisions over balance makes one thing clear: in modern T20 cricket, genuine allrounders like Watson are as rare as Faberge eggs, and just as valuable.

From a newcomer in 2014 to a seasoned campaigner in 2021, his return to Kanpur will complete a circle of sorts in his career

Shashank Kishore25-Nov-20215:16

Pravin Amre on Shreyas Iyer: ‘He is mentally strong, and backs his instincts’

[Bugger, do something tomorrow. You’ve been sitting outside and clapping for others. Go out there and score, others will clap for you].Pravin Amre knew in his mind he was firing up Shreyas Iyer, the boy he’d known as a 12-year-old, ahead of what he believes was a make-or-break Ranji Trophy fixture in Kanpur in December 2014.Amre, Mumbai’s head coach then, had staved off opposition from certain quarters, but eventually had his way with Iyer’s selection, despite two failures in his first two matches. It didn’t help that Mumbai’s campaign was in doldrums. A first-ever loss to Jammu & Kashmir was followed by Railways grabbing first-innings points.Related

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Amre’s job, and Iyer’s position, were both under scrutiny. But four days later, Iyer, all of 19 then, not only made his mark as a red-ball batter, but perhaps ended up saving Amre’s job, too. In Kanpur, a Mumbai batting star had emerged.Seven years later, Iyer returns to this very scene of his emergence. At the same Green Park where he made a competent UP attack, comprising Praveen Kumar and Ankit Rajpoot, look pedestrian. On Thursday, Iyer will be India’s 303rd male Test cricketer. A cap that has taken its time coming. One that has come after 4592 first-class runs in 54 matches at an average of 52.18.”He deserves it,” Amre says.

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The circumstances of his breakout knock deserve a mention.On a green top, Mumbai had sunk to 53 for 5 in response to UP’s 206. As wickets kept tumbling, Iyer was making a mad dash of his own in the dressing room. He had forgotten his kit in the team hotel. A furious Amre looked on even as Iyer hurriedly put on Shardul Thakur’s gear and walked out to bat.”Pravin sir was unhappy. In my head I was being knocked,” Iyer said after that breakout knock. “I knew if I did not score runs there, I would have been bombarded from all sides.”He went out and flayed his third ball over the bowler’s head. Standing two steps out of the crease, he whipped Praveen Kumar from outside off to the midwicket fence off his fourth ball, and crashed a glorious extra cover drive off the next delivery. Before UP could react, Mumbai were on the march once again.Shreyas Iyer receives his India Test cap from Sunil Gavaskar•BCCISix boundaries flowed off Iyer’s first 10 balls. By the time Iyer walked off, he’d blasted 75 demoralising runs against UP. Mumbai built a lead, went on to win and turned their disastrous Ranji campaign in style. Iyer finished the season with 809 runs. And to banish any murmurs of second-season blues, he followed that with a blockbuster 1321 runs, ending just 95 runs short of VVS Laxman’s then record for the most runs in a Ranji Trophy season, in the 2015-16 season which Mumbai won.”It proved to be a turning point for him,” Amre recounts. “It’s amazing he’s now debuting at the very venue where he first made a mark.”

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This isn’t Iyer’s first brush with the Indian Test team. In March 2017, he was called in as Virat Kohli’s replacement for the fourth and final Test against Australia in Dharamsala. He only joined the squad on the eve of the Test but got to spend the week and soak in a series-defining victory.That call-up was a result of a dominating display a few weeks earlier in a warm-up game that was accorded first-class status. Iyer copped a mouthful from the visitors but gave back in kind.”Show us what you’ve got, I can’t see anything in your game,” David Warner sledged Iyer as he took strike. He responded by stepping out and hitting Nathan Lyon for six off the very first ball he faced. Iyer would go on to make 202*, his highest first-class score till date.The fearlessness in Iyer’s game stems from the immense self-confidence he has. And it’s unique because at the time of his emergence, Mumbai players swore by the “” mentality. Iyer was different. He not only veered away from it, but spoke refreshingly about how khadoos wasn’t his style.He wanted to take the game head on, and not get bogged down. It’s instead about instincts and without any half-measures. It perhaps explains his incredible strike rate of 82 over 54 first-class matches. At the Ranji Trophy final in 2015-16, Iyer made a match-winning 117 at a strike rate of 82.That double-ton against the Australians in 2017 came off just 210 deliveries. In the same year, against a competent New Zealand A attack, comprising Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi, Iyer scored 108 and 82, both at better than a run a ball, in the two unofficial Tests in Vijayawada.On Thursday, Shreyas Iyer became India’s 303rd male Test cricketer•BCCI

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Amre, a man with a sharp eye for talent, remembers giving Iyer a million instructions as head coach, only to see his ward attempt the complete opposite. The fearless look in Iyer’s eyes and a calm assurance while explaining his methods convinced him of the need to let him hone his own style.”He’s got his own style, I was criticised so many times [about the need to change his style],” Amre says. “Most of the time as Mumbai batters, we’re not just , but also copy book. He was the guy who used to go and whack the first ball to the on side, and some experts never liked that. Mumbai cricket was based on taking your time in the middle, getting settled, but from ball one he wanted to dominate. I also promoted him because this was his own style, and I didn’t want to lose his style.”He started off at No. 6-7, I challenged him he has to be batting at 3. And then I was looking for options [as coach], he came up and said he’ll do the job at three. It was his self-confidence that spoke volumes of his ability.”Four years ago, after he missed his India debut by a whisker, Amre remembers a disappointed Iyer expressing hurt.”He’s a good student of the game, knows the competition he faces,” he says. “Four-five years back he said, if I’d been playing for any other country, I would’ve played Tests. I told him, it doesn’t come easy, it’s worth waiting to get your Test cap. He’s generally outspoken but respects his seniors but knows his game and backs his instincts. He won’t show-off, he’s a confident guy who likes taking up challenges.

Mumbai cricket was based on taking your time in the middle, getting settled, but from ball one he wanted to dominate. I also promoted him because this was his own style, and I didn’t want to lose his style.Pravin Amre on coaching Shreyas Iyer back in 2014

“When you’re playing T20s, one-day and four-day, the challenge for Iyer was to adapt quickly. And he was very open and receptive. He had complete trust in me, open to listen to the changes I had the authority to tell him. This season it was key for him to emerge from the shoulder surgery, those months were key for him to refresh.”Any cricketer is anxious, given the middle order we have with India,” Amre says. “As a coach, the challenge was to return to the benchmark we had set before his injury, and we had to build our way towards it. Sitting at home, it was really frustrating for him, he hates sitting indoors. So those two months were critical. He was spot on with his rehabilitation, we built gradually towards his resumption.”What are the aspects of his red-ball game that has tremendously improved since he first saw him in the Mumbai set up?”His knack to hit boundaries, his ability to get the game moving, get hundred runs in a session can take the game away from opponents,” he says. “He focuses on driving the game forward, not just occupy the crease.”When Iyer walks out to bat at Green Park, it’s safe to assume he’ll have thousands clapping for him. From a newcomer in 2014 to a seasoned campaigner in 2021, his return to Kanpur will also complete a circle of sorts in his career.

The pair registered a number of records during their 122-run partnership

Sampath Bandarupalli06-Mar-202211 – India have defeated Pakistan in all 11 Women’s ODIs they played. Only three teams have played more ODIs against an opponent with a 100% win record – 15 by Australia against Ireland, 12 by Australia versus Pakistan and 12 by India against Ireland.122 – Partnership runs between Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar, the highest stand for the seventh wicket or lower in Women’s ODIs. The previous highest was 104* by Nicola Brown and Sarah Tsukigawa against England in 2007, while Danielle Hazell and Nat Sciver also put on 104 against Sri Lanka in 2016.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – The Rana-Vastrakar partnership is also the first-century stand for the seventh wicket or lower at Women’s World Cups. The 85-run stand between Katherine Brunt and Jenny Gunn against Australia in 2017 was the previous highest.1 – Rana and Vastrakar also became the first pair to score fifties in the same innings in women’s ODIs while batting at No. 7 or lower. There is only one previous instance of two fifty-plus scores by a No. 7 and lower in the same ODI – Sophie Devine (74*) for New Zealand and Jess Duffin (68) for Australia in 2010 in Queenstown.0 – Number of players before Rana and Vastrakar to score fifty-plus runs while batting at No. 6 and below on Women’s World Cup debut. The previous highest for a World Cup debutant while batting outside the top five was 48 by Shandre Fritz against Ireland in 2005. In all, only three Indians had scored a fifty in their maiden Women’s World Cup match before Rana and Vastrakar.