Plays of the Day from the fourth tri-series match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Dambulla

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla20-Aug-2010First-ball jitters
Upul Tharanga had been cleaned up on the first delivery of the match against India by a beauty from Praveen Kumar which nipped away to take offstump. Tharanga would have collected an unwanted second golden duck in a row when he nearly nicked Kyle Mills’ first delivery, only to be just beaten by the movement. He didn’t last too long anyway, swinging a short ball to short fine leg to walk back for 12.Dilshan’s fast start
Usually in one-dayers, teams look to smash some quick runs during the initial Powerplay overs, but that hasn’t generally been the case so far in the tri-series, with the top-order batting being generally more cagey than carefree. Tillakaratne Dilshan put an end to that trend: a violent flat-bat crack down the ground for four got him going in the third, backed up by two more boundaries in the next. Those were preludes to the fireworks in the fifth over when Dilshan pinged the midwicket, square leg, point and cover boundaries for four consecutive fours.Silva’s confident beginning
With plenty of competition for middle-order spots in Sri Lanka, it was a crucial innings on Friday for Chamara Silva, walking out for his first match of the tournament. Silva showed no signs of nerves on his first audition for a World Cup berth, getting off the mark with a wonderfully timed punch past the bowler for four. He ended unbeaten on a fluent 41, which should be enough to earn him more time to press his case for next year’s showpiece tournament. He has previous experience doing this, hitting form at the right time four years ago to become a regular for the Caribbean World Cup in 2007.Camera tricks
With rain dampening the mood for the second day in a row at the Dambulla stadium, there was not much for the fans to cheer about. During a brief dry spell, a playful cameraman distorted images so that people’s heads were outrageously large and their legs spindly. Those images on the giant screen were the only things the few faithful who stuck around had to chuckle about, before another shower washed out the match.

Plays of the Day from the fifth day of the second Test between India and New Zealand in Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2010Stamp of the day
Brendon McCullum was on 197. He had erased his previous best – a 185 against Bangladesh – and he had saved the Test. On the verge of his maiden double-century, McCullum displayed a wonderful sense of occasion by bringing it up with a shot he hadn’t played so far in the innings, and one that he invented. He moved slightly towards the off side, got down on one knee, waited for Suresh Raina’s delivery to reach him and played the McScoop over MS Dhoni to the fine-leg boundary. The celebrations were disproportionate to the magnitude of the achievement: he merely took off his helmet and raised his bat, acknowledging the cheers of the little boy wearing a No. 42 New Zealand jersey with McCullum’s name on it.Over-the-top reaction of the day
Another celebration on the final day was disproportionate to the magnitude of the achievement. Harbhajan Singh had just had his long appeal for lbw against Kane Williamson upheld by umpire Simon Taufel. And the moment he saw that finger go up, Harbhajan let out a fierce whoop and punched the air. It was probably a release of frustration rather than elation for he had been wicketless for 34 overs and victory had long slipped out of India’s reach. Replays indicated the ball would have missed leg stump comfortably as well.India’s chance of the day
It came just after the first hour, in the 92nd over of the New Zealand innings. McCullum was batting on 148 when he pushed forward at Harbhajan and got an inside edge and flew towards the left of the fielder at forward short leg. Cheteshwar Pujara had taken a sharp catch off Tim McIntosh at that position on the fourth day, but this time he was slow to react and the ball hit his hand before he was ready to grab the opportunity.Paybacks of the day
Daniel Vettori had suffered at Harbhajan’s hands. He had watched helplessly as Harbhajan charged and smashed him over long-on and long-off for several sixes. Today, facing his third ball from Harbhajan, Vettori got down on one knee and swept to the deep midwicket boundary. Small consolation. Sreesanth had also suffered at Tim Southee’s hands, wearing several bouncers on his body while he supported Harbhajan in a century last-wicket stand. He waited one ball before banging it into Southee’s chest this afternoon and followed up the bouncer with a lingering, cold stare.Mini-tussle of the day
The 129th over. McCullum decided it was time to let Sreesanth have it. He stepped out to the first ball and smashed Sreesanth over mid-off. The next delivery was shorter and wider and the fielder at point trudged to the boundary to collect it after a McCullum lash. The third was slower and McCullum attempted to whack it for six but skied it over the bowler’s head instead. As McCullum ran past Sreesanth, knowing that India’s best fielder Suresh Raina was settling under the ball, Sreesanth, who normally celebrates animatedly, folded his arms across his chest with a flourish and remained in mock motionlessness until and after the catch was taken.Attack of the day
Williamson had been struck flush on the helmet by Sreesanth late last evening. This morning, he was doing the striking. Williamson glanced his first delivery, from Sreesanth, to the long-leg boundary. The shot that followed a ball later was a little Tendulkar-like: a neat, compact punch between the bowler and the stumps for four. Williamson wasn’t done and he steered the next ball to the third man boundary. New Zealand took 13 runs off the first over of the day and a giant stride mentally towards saving the Test.

Shahid Afridi has always been an uncertain choice as captain and how Pakistan performs in the World Cup will provide vindication for either his supporters or his detractors

Osman Samiuddin22-Feb-2011Until 2009, the words Shahid Afridi and captaincy were used only in the lingo of left-field cranks in Pakistan. Captaincy, they said, would settle down an intrinsically hyper man; the rest, in generally exasperated tones, asked how such a personality could bring any stability to ten others?Those leftists won when he took over first as T20 captain in 2009 and then again when he became ODI leader last year (he had captained two ODIs as stand-in before). But they lost when he chewed on a ball in Perth and did so again when he abruptly walked away from the Test captaincy after losing to Australia last year at Lord’s.Even the PCB isn’t sure about Afridi’s captaincy credentials, though that is about par for the course for them. They’ve only ever appointed him captain on a series-by-series basis. Until two weeks before the tournament began they still weren’t sure. It probably suits him, the uncertainty of it, given how he plays every game potentially as his first and last: lose and be gone, win and there won’t be a hero like you.And yet, here he is, as captain in a World Cup, the biggest platform of them all, and one on which he has been a miserable presence: 125 runs and seven wickets in 12 games. Over the next many weeks, one side will claim victory.For what little its worth, this scribe has come round to the idea of Afridi, the captain. Nine wins and 11 losses say little, but he hasn’t done a bad job really. He’s consultative but strong-minded enough to ignore advice he doesn’t like. He has an involved presence in the field, though it might not be a bad option for the bowlers to carry around earplugs. This is Afridi, so nuanced understanding of strategy and tactic need not take up too much time here. In any case, barring two, possibly three, the great Pakistani tactician-leader does not exist: personality and the ability to create and seize a collective vibe are far more important.And it’s not as if he has had the greatest luck with the personnel available, or that he has led in particularly settled times, or that alternatives are overflowing. In fact, you’d be right to question the mind of any man who take on the captaincy. Like the Presidency of Pakistan, if it brings rewards, arguably it brings greater tension and pitfalls, as Afridi noted a day ahead of his side’s opener against Kenya in Hambantota.”It’s difficult to be the captain, in India or Pakistan it’s difficult to handle it,” he said with an old, worn smile. “Situations are tough at times but you have to come out of that, you have to give sacrifice at times, but my effort is always that I do well as captain. It was difficult in the beginning, when we had all those issues, we had to rebuild, we had to lift the team again and that was affecting my performances but now our team is settled and we have a good combination. I think in my 13-14 year career, we haven’t done as much hard work as we are doing now.”Publicly he has said that the delay in appointing him and the criticism from various ex-players doesn’t affect him. Here, he said it again. “My chairman had already announced me captain for the World Cup but I never felt worried about whether I am the captain or not. I am enjoying my cricket both as captain and player. That is the main thing.”But inside, it has bothered him as, naturally, it would anyone. He is quick to tell anyone who questions his position and place, for example, that he was Pakistan’s top ODI run-scorer and joint leading wicket-taker in 2010. Lead by deed in Pakistan and half the job is often done.A semi-final spot is a realistic target he believes. Any further, and not for the first time in Pakistan, left-field cranks will have won the day.

As England piled on the runs with a Kevin Pietersen double hundred, the local supporters were grateful for other attractions at the Adelaide Oval

Peter English at Adelaide05-Dec-2010Adelaide is the best ground in the world for not watching cricket. Barbados and Antigua have their pools, and Perth has its neighbouring race track, but at Adelaide Oval there is lawn and marquees. Which is just as well, because this is a game Australian fans don’t want to see.But if you’ve bought a ticket or a membership, it’s rude not to turn up. So while the Barmy Army was magnetised to every ball aimed at the pads of Kevin Pietersen, thousands of the South Australian members were out the back of their new stand, pretending they were at the races instead of a demolition derby masquerading as a Test match.”Bring back Warney,” one unhappy local said as he sought relief from the torture. Warney was actually in the nets at the time, but he was there batting in a tea-break hitting contest, largely content in retirement. No amount of sponsorship or hair plugs could entice him back to bowl at an enemy that is no longer submissive.Four summers ago England scored 551 in their first innings and it wasn’t enough. This time they have 4 for 551 and already it is plenty, thanks to Australia’s inadequate first-innings of 245 and a diligent but ineffective attack. The bowlers ran in, the England batsmen waved them away, and the drinkers in the bars tried to talk about something else.”Four for 500-and-***ing-20,” another disbelieving home supporter slurred. England weren’t even close to being finished and only summer rain, with drops the weight of champagne corks, was able to stop the day’s carnage. When the weather closed in it was possible to smell the dust which Australia have been ground into over the past three days, or six, if you count Brisbane.The lawns out the back of the members’ area are not as lush as the Nursery End at Lord’s, especially after the weekend of heat and trampling, and the crowd is not as genteel. But the bars serve Pimm’s, an ideal drink for a regatta, or a wedding, or discussion of anything but cricket. In other tents the sippers enjoyed bottles of Knappstein followed by a nap. Seen one KP boundary, seen them all.Mitchell Johnson was working in the nets after lunch with his failing bowling coach Troy Cooley. He was disappointed to be dropped, but has been saved another week of punishment. Johnson was used as a fielder, fulfilling his 12th man duties, but even if Australia were allowed another bowler it would not have helped.Even England supporters who have been through the Down Under disasters of the past two decades were showing restraint. Just like the Australians on the trips over there, I’m sure, in ’89, ’93, ’97 and ’01. Mostly it was better to talk about the weather, or the exchange rate, or the oysters, or the match here four years ago, which was being replayed during the rain. Anything but this game, Australia’s fast-bowling problems, or Xavier Doherty’s inaccuracy.Have you heard the music out the back? Or visited the beautiful gardens behind the Chappell Stands? What about the new statue of Jason Gillespie, which already has a cup of beer in his left hand? Or have you hidden under an umbrella to escape the heat – and a Pietersen double-century.At the back of the Western Stand, a big television screen sits on the tray of a truck offering the members a chance to watch if they want to. When Pietersen ran his single to mid-off to bring up his double-century, there was a smattering of applause from those around the tents. They are a knowledgeable lot, the South Australian members, and that’s without including the former Test players, such as Greg Blewett, who were in their ranks.Still, it’s possible for them to go a whole day without watching a ball live. On days like this it’s hard to blame them. As the Eagles almost sang in Hotel California, “Some drink to remember, some drink to forget”. On the grass under the hill, the Barmy Army fans were setting their photographic memories, but out the back in the marquees it was easier to be blind.

Delhi’s dumping of tradition, the story of Sreesanth’s career in an over and more in a review of the action from the third week of the IPL

Abhishek Purohit29-Apr-2011Kotla’s green break with tradition
“Grass is for cows,” said Ivan Lendl. Curator after curator at Feroz Shah Kotla agreed with the tennis champion, and resolutely refused to let even a blade of green appear on their pitch. But the IPL has left hardly anything unchanged, and after consecutive losses at home, Delhi Daredevils decided to dump tradition into the Yamuna. Suddenly, the brown surface sprouted grass. It was the kind of green that suited Delhi as they proceeded to smash Kings XI Punjab for 231 in a rare win. More curiously than it had appeared though, some of the grass disappeared for Delhi’s next two games, bringing them two more losses, and keeping them in familiar territory, at the bottom of the table.The Shane Warne monitor
Taking a cue from Delhi, Rajasthan Royals took a look at their squad, realised they had Shane Warne, and gave him a dry Jaipur surface that had different-coloured patches, and plenty of unpredictable bounce. Warne, delighted by the Rajasthani hospitality, bamboozled his way to three crucial wickets against Kochi Tuskers. He tossed them up, he slid them in, he even welcomed former team-mate Ravindra Jadeja with a 109 kph bouncer. He also found time to doff his cap and shake hands with the endless assembly that was the presentation party as he collected his Man-of-the-Match award. All was well with the world.The aesthetic accumulator
S Badrinath is doing for the Chennai Super Kings what he usually does for Tamil Nadu. He comes in, pitches tent at the crease, splits the field with the most graceful of high elbows, and just refuses to get out. The man one commentator called India’s version of Mr. Cricket eased his way to 145 unbeaten runs in three games last week. He comfortably beat even Rohit Sharma, no small competitor, in the elegance stakes. Badrinath makes the mow over midwicket appear mellifluous, lofts languidly over extra cover, and slams the straight six with rarely seen serenity. And he makes truckloads of runs. Yet he’s been dumped from the India side after two Tests and three ODIs. Staggering.Thank you, come again
0-4-0 is the national dialling code for Hyderabad. Ishant Sharma decided to add 0-0-0 to it, and put it down on the Kochi scoresheet as Deccan Chargers’ calling card. Kumar Sangakkara had made a masterly half-century on a surface where the ball was talking rudely, and had given Kochi 130 to chase. Sangakkara needn’t have bothered. Ishant was in a tearing hurry, and delivered a spell that brought back memories of Perth 2008. He blew Kochi away with five wickets in eleven deliveries. At one stage, he had figures of 2-0-6-5, Kochi were 11 for 6 after four overs, and that was the end of that.My story, in six balls
If ever an over has revealed everything about the bowler, it was Sreesanth’s second one against Deccan. After seeing Sangakkara carefully defend two straight deliveries, Sreesanth, as has been his wont, went for something extra and the short ball ended up being pulled to the midwicket boundary. True to form, Sreesanth came back with an unplayable brute that pitched on off and took out middle stump. Truer to form, Sreesanth had over-stepped, and Sangakkara lived on. Truest to form, Sreesanth lost it and let the to-be “free-hit” rip, getting an official warning for bowling a beamer, albeit unintentionally. For good measure, he even bowled a wayward wide outside off. Firdose Moonda, ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentator for the game, called it “a mixed bag from the Kerala Express”. It was the story of Sreesanth’s career in a nutshell.Sreesanth’s jaffa of a no-ball•AFPThe nail-biter
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s game against Delhi turned so many times that Bangalore’s owner Siddhartha Mallya was out of nails to chew by the end. After Bangalore’s seamers had made the Delhi top order hop around on the pacy Kotla wicket, James Hopes lifted them to a fighting 160. Delhi got Tillakaratne Dilshan second ball to start their ascendance but ran into Virat Kohli, who threatened to drown them in a deluge of boundaries. Delhi began another round of counter-punching with three wickets in three overs but Saurabh Tiwary and Daniel Vettori resisted again. Not to be outdone, Morne Morkel winkled out two in three balls as the Kotla crowd roared with anticipation. Before Mallya could turn his attention on Deepika Padukone’s nails though, Vettori and J Syed Mohammad somehow managed to drag Bangalore home.The double payback
After Chris Gayle gave it back in style to his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, it was the turn of Deccan to be paid back, twice over this time. Rohit and Andrew Symonds, who had prowled the cover cordon and scored prolifically for Deccan until last year, made their former franchise pay for not retaining them ahead of the auction. Rohit caressed, Symonds bludgeoned, and a wobbly 70 for 4 turned into a match-winning 172 for Mumbai Indians. Deccan were themselves reduced to 70 for 4 in the chase, but they no longer had the luxury of Rohit and Symonds to mend matters. Soon, a crushing defeat followed.

Having lost his way after a sparkling start, Ishant Sharma has returned stronger, wiser and more effective. He credits his senior partner, among others, for his comeback

Interview by Sriram Veera06-Jul-2011″I am lucky to be bowling with Zaheer. He is so aware of his own body. I didn’t know about my bowling and my body at the start of my career. Now I know when to train, when to relax, and how much bowling I must do”•Associated PressYou seemed to have got your rhythm back in the West Indies…
The rhythm is back. The important thing is, I am now enjoying my bowling. I visualise every ball and what I need to do. I focus on my strengths. I believe in my strengths more now – the pace and bounce. The last one and a half years have been up and down. I struggled a lot. I would just like this form to continue .Were there times when you wondered about what was going wrong at the start of your run-up?
I was trying to copy Zaheer Khan’s action. No doubt he is a great bowler, but I guess I shouldn’t have tried to copy his action. We are entirely different in styles. Zaheer told me that I am too much into the technical side of things and that I shouldn’t be. Now I just stick to my basics and my strengths. When I started, I was just looking to enjoy and bowl fast. Slowly the expectations grew, my responsibility in the team grew, and I didn’t know how to handle that pressure.When and why were you copying Zaheer?

When South Africa came to play in India, I started to copy him. I wanted to be a swing bowler. I was forgetting my natural strength of bounce and hitting the deck. When I bowl with my natural style, the ball automatically starts to inswing. That was my strong point, and I should have just stuck to that. That was my greatest mistake.I wanted to swing it from a fuller length and in trying to do that I was copying his action. I thought I could copy his action release, just to get my length fuller. The way I ran, the action, the whole thing was affected.Did you tell him you were trying to copy his action?
I didn’t. I didn’t want his bowling to get upset, or for him to feel bad that this was why my bowling was going wrong. I just realised that it’s all right to learn things from others but you shouldn’t be copying actions.I had become too technical, instead of being tactical. When you are in the Under-17 stage, if you are concentrating on your technical stuff, it is fine. Your body and muscles accept the changes in action. But when you try to change it later, it gets difficult. So you lost your rhythm?
Yes. The ball doesn’t land where you want to it to. You forget your positives and your mind starts focusing on the negative. You go into a shell. Everything is going against you. That feeling is really bad. I didn’t know why these things were happening, why what I was trying to do was not happening. I didn’t realise it then, especially as I was swinging the ball at the start of my career. Even in the second IPL, in South Africa, I felt I was bowling well. Then the bad patch started through World Twenty20 and the New Zealand tour. Things were going bad. I was putting too much pressure on myself.Did you start to do that in the nets too?
In the nets I used to be relaxed, and I enjoyed it, so I bowled well. In cricket as long as you are relaxed and enjoying yourself and your game, you will do well. In the middle, I had forgotten that. I wasn’t focused on the process but more worried about the results. As I had more experience, I became aware of my body and bowling, and things started to improve. That I learnt in the last IPL.How bad was that phase of struggle? Did you stop laughing and enjoying life?
Yes, I did. During that time, even, say, if I was talking to you, I would be constantly thinking about cricket. How should I get that batsman out? What I should do, how I should bowl. I wasn’t enjoying it. There was too much pressure. I was almost obsessed with cricket. Too much thinking about one thing isn’t good.I wasn’t able to sleep well when I was dropped. I used to worry about what was going to happen to me. Suddenly from being a top bowler in Indian cricket you are nowhere. That time I was depressed. But seeing these good times I feel [God will eventually reward you for your effort]. I now know how to react even when things are not going well. How did you come out of that phase?
I met a man, Ramesh sir, during the IPL. He told me how to think positive, do meditation, visualisations, how to focus on your own strengths. He doesn’t know cricket, but the mental power he taught me really helped. And with the help of friends and family, I recovered.Then I spoke to Zaheer in the IPL. He talked to me about the importance of training. That has really helped me. I didn’t much go to the gym earlier. I went to the National Cricket Academy, where they made a training schedule for me: what muscles I should develop and which ones I load more in my bowling style. That systematic training helped and I am sticking to it.When did you sense the turnaround during the IPL?
After two or three games I became confident. What I was trying to do was coming through. I started to enjoy my life around cricket. That’s important to me. On the field give 100% and then switch off. I wasn’t doing that before.Ramesh sir made me change that. He made me meditate and visualise my bowling. He told me ” [Just think about what you want to do, not what you don’t want to]”. That was an important point.How was the emotional support at home?
There was a time I was really depressed that I wasn’t in the team. I used to sit alone and think cricket. About this and that. My mother and my sister backed me. They really believed in me and made me believe in myself, that I can do it again. When you have that kind of support, you feel you can do anything. They said it is just matter of time. It happens to every sportsman. They told me to accept the reality of my life and work hard, and that I would be back.Did you learn about the drawbacks of being famous?
Absolutely. When you are doing well people ask for your autograph. Otherwise no one asks about you. That made me mentally stronger. I have now learnt to balance. I know how to handle success and failure.

“Sometimes even I don’t know which ball is going to straighten, so how can the batsmen know? I try to swing with the new ball. I usually know when it’s going to straighten or swing out when I try to do that, but on many occasions even I don’t know”

Did any of your team-mates help you then?
I would like to thank Gautam [Gambhir] .You went back to play Ranji Trophy. What was that like?
I was happy to play cricket. I just wanted to play. I wasn’t used to sitting out and handing drinks. That irritates me. With Ranji Trophy I was playing cricket, and that was always helpful.The wrist release at one point had become skewed. Your wrists used to be behind the seam initially, but later you seemed to be pushing the ball sideways.
When you play too much cricket, bad habits creep in. You don’t realise it. There is no one to tell you what’s happening. The body gets tired, and you suddenly don’t know what’s happening. Now I know more about my bowling – how to train and recover. My wrist position gets bad when I get really tired. Training is very important for me. I have to put in more effort in my bowling than say Munaf, Praveen or Zaheer. I have to run in hard from a long run-up, and my style demands more effort. So I need to put in more training.Venkatesh Prasad has praised you as the most hard-working fast bowler he has worked with.
I doubt if anyone else enjoyed bowling with Venky sir as much as I did. It was a great learning experience. After a point, we stopped being teacher and student and became friends. I could go up to him and discuss anything, from bowling to my life.You have a great incoming delivery. These days you seem to be getting the odd ball to straighten as well. How much control do you have now?
My stock ball is the inswinger. The odd balls straighten on their own. Sometimes even I don’t know which ball is going to straighten, so how can the batsman know? I try to swing with the new ball. Of course I usually know when it’s going to straighten or swing out, but many times I don’t know. It hits the seam and it can straighten. The ones under my control I know.Many have noted a stutter in your follow-through.
It has been there since I started playing. I never worried about it. It all depends on how firm and still you are in your run-up and release. The follow-through follows from that.What’s your routine on match days?
I try to wake up happy and just stay away from cricket. On the field you are thinking so much about cricket, so off the field I try to get on my phone, chat with my team-mates, enjoy. Even if my day hasn’t gone well, just enjoy the good times in it.Tell us about your relationship with Zaheer.
I am lucky to be bowling with Zaheer. He is so aware of his own body, his bowling, and has so much knowledge. I didn’t know about my bowling and my body at the start of my career. Now I know when to train, when to relax, and how much bowling I must do. Zaheer advises me a lot. He even sets fields – where to bowl, how to bowl. It was a great help. He is always positive. He never talks negative. He always wanted to dismiss the batsmen irrespective of whether he is set or not. He won’t think, “Okay, let me give this guy a single and target the other.” He used to say, “We must do the difficult thing.” So to share the ball with someone like him is great, and good things are going to rub off on to you.Do you remember any wicket in particular that came about after a plan with Zaheer?
During Australia’s tour – when I was Man of the Series – I took Brad Haddin’s wicket. I bowled a series of bouncers and then slipped in a slower one. It was in Bangalore. That’s what we had planned: let’s bowl bouncers at him, and then slip in a slower one, as he doesn’t pick it up sometimes.Are you confident enough of setting your own fields and planning dismissals in his absence, like here in the West Indies?
I now know my bowling, and have control over my body. So I am confident. I have done my homework. I have learnt to set my fields. I know what I want to do. I visualise at the end of the day. Go back on the good things and what I can add.Visualisation is about feeling good about yourself and landing the ball where you want it to land it. Before I bowl a ball I visualise that I have bowled the ball where I want it to land. By doing that your heart has already gone there. If your heart has gone, the brain follows. So I visualise the end result as if I have already done it, and then I bowl. I learnt this from Ramesh sir.I tug at my sleeve at the start of each ball. It has become a habit. I do it because I feel something’s sticking onto my skin there.A lot of people believed that playing ODIs was spoiling your bowling in Tests.
I didn’t think so. My strong point is Test cricket. I bowl for long, pick up wickets, and I am aggressive. These are the things that help you in ODIs as well.People say I shouldn’t be playing in the IPL. I take everything as a challenge. I set goals for myself and see if can achieve them or not. I want to be a regular member of the Indian squad and play all three formats of the game.How did you handle the money coming in?
It depends on the individual. I saw early success and then failure. I must thank my family. I never thought more of myself just because I was an Indian player. My father is always down to earth. He never complains. When I was doing well, he used to thank God. When I wasn’t doing well, he would say it’s all thanks to God and it is a learning experience.You seem to have started concentrating on your batting.
I need to thank Gary Kirsten. He used to tell me that I can bat. When he came for the first time, in Australia, he saw me and said I can bat as well. I never took batting seriously. I never thought one day I can help India win a Test. I need to be really thankful to Gary for that. As a bowler, you know how much you struggle to take a wicket. So when I struggle so much to get a wicket, why should I give my wicket easily? Scoring runs is not the issue for me. I just concentrate on sticking around.How has Eric Simons been for you guys?
He doesn’t try to change the things I am comfortable with. He adds to it. When you gel well with a team, your relationship with players and coaches should be good in order for the team to be good. That relationship you develop over a period of time. Now my relationship with Eric Simons is how it was with Venky. He has a good bonding with the fast bowlers. Players listen to what he says. Like Venky, he allows our natural ways to be and then tries to add on.I never used to bowl round the stumps to left-hand batsmen. I have learnt to go round now. Eric has helped me in that regard. I used to bowl a little too wide to left-handers, but that has changed now.”To relax, the best thing is to spend time with Munna . He has a great sense of humour”•Associated PressWhat has been your most satisfying dismissal since returning?

Every single wicket is satisfying when you are making a comeback. You learn that just because you had one bad spell it’s not the end of world. You can always come back and pick up three wickets, and then at the end of the day you have bowled well. It’s not like batsmen; we bowlers can always come back. There is more clarity with regards to my bowling.What about reverse swing?
I love bowling reverse swing. Touch wood, I have control over it, but I don’t think in cricket anyone is a master. I have better control over lengths but it all depends on how good you feel and in what rhythm you are. You can bowl seven overs on the trot when you are in rhythm; if you are not, it’s a struggle to bowl even five. Some days you just wake up happy and everything and everyone around you feels good. There is this happy atmosphere around you. You go to the ground and feel you can do whatever you want. I think all fast bowlers know it.How has it been bowling alongside the likes of Munaf, Praveen and Sreesanth?
Munaf and Praveen are really helpful. It’s not that Sreesanth is not helpful, but it’s all about bonding and gelling. Our thinking is the same. We hang out, enjoy, laugh, and we share that thinking on the field as well. When I am bowling, and Munna is getting the drinks, he will tell me what I should be doing. It’s great for team spirit.Define enjoyment for you on tours.
Sitting in the hotel, enjoying each other’s company. We don’t get time to go on holidays together. We sit in the room, talk and laugh, or sit in the bus and laugh. It makes a great difference. You are able to switch off. Now I think about cricket when I have to. I relax at other times. I speak to mummy or to my friends. To relax, the best thing is to spend time with Munna . He has a great sense of humour.What’s your career goal?
It’s to play 100 Test matches for India and take as many wickets as possible. To play 100 Tests it will take 10 years. I hope my body lasts that long.

Despite teams chasing down stiff targets far more easily this season, the absence of huge scores suggests a fairly even contest between bat and ball

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan18-Apr-2011Each of the four editions of the IPL has had one dominant trend. While the first one had a number of high scores, the second and third seasons were much more balanced, with spin proving to be a valuable wicket-taking and run-curtailing option. In this season so far, teams have been unable to make huge scores, but have chased competitive targets far more easily than in earlier seasons. Here is a look at some of the key stats from the first ten days of this tournament, and a comparison with the corresponding periods in 2008 and 2010, when the tournament was played in India. (IPL 2011 has had 17 matches in the first ten days. In the same duration, there were 16 games in 2010 and 14 in 2008.)Teams struggle to defend
From the results of the matches played in the first ten days, IPL 2011 has been the most successful one for teams chasing. Thirteen out of 17 matches have been won by the teams batting second, an even better record than the first season, when chasing teams won ten of the first 14 games. The 2010 season in India was far more even, with teams batting first winning eight and losing seven of the first 16 games. The IPL 2008 and 2011 seasons have been quite similar in terms of successful chases of 150-plus scores: in 2008 a 150-plus target was chased successfully six times in the first ten days, compared to seven in the current tournament so far; in 2010, this happened only three times in the first ten days. From the table, it can be seen that both the average and run-rate for chasing teams have been significantly better than those of the teams batting first in the IPL 2008 and 2011 seasons. The stats for the first and second innings are however much closer in the 2010 season.However, unlike in earlier seasons, teams in the 2011 season have not been able to post massive scores. There were seven 200-plus scores posted by teams in the first ten days of the first IPL season and five in the same period of the 2010 season. But so far, there has not been a single scores over 200 in this year’s IPL. This could perhaps partially be explained by the fact the average run-rate of teams in the first six overs of the innings (7.21) has been much lower than the corresponding figure in IPL 2008 (8.07) and IPL 2010 (7.98).Another surprise in the 2011 IPL has been the lack of close finishes. There have been only two wins by a margin of 15 runs or less, and one win with six balls or fewer remaining with the loss of five or more wickets. In contrast, there were five close games in the first ten days of IPL 2008 and seven (including a tied game) in the first 16 matches of IPL 2010.

Bowlers have their say
The overall run-rate in the first season (8.61) remains the highest among the three editions played in India. The run-rate in the 2011 edition (7.96) is the lowest and only marginally higher than the overall run-rate in the first ten days of IPL 2009 played in South Africa (7.76). While the run-rate for the first-six over period in IPL 2011 is the lowest, the average is much better. The percentage of runs scored in boundaries has also decreased considerably in the later editions when compared to the first season.In the first season, spinners bowled just five overs in the first-six over period of the first 14 matches. In 2010, they were extremely successful, bowling 26 overs in the same period and conceding just 6.23 runs per over. The performance of spinners in IPL 2011 has, however, been poorer: they have picked up just five wickets in the first-six over phase and have an economy rate of 7.44, which is higher than that of the pace bowlers (6.79). While IPL 2008 is still on top in terms of the scoring rate of teams in the last six, the run-rate in the 2011 season in the corresponding phase of the innings is 9.88, which is much higher than the figure for IPL 2010 (8.94).

Spin still a key
The role of spinners has steadily gained importance after the first season when they were ineffective and sparingly used. In IPL 2008, they picked up only 36 wickets and conceded 8.12 runs per over. Despite not taking too many wickets in the second season in South Africa, their economy rate (6.62) was far better than that of the fast bowlers (8.04). In the 2011 season so far, spinners have picked up 57 wickets at 33.87. Although spinners have a better economy rate (7.55) than fast bowlers (7.94) in 2011, their average and economy rate are much higher than their corresponding numbers in the 2010 season.

There were six centuries scored in the 2008 IPL of which four came in the first ten days. The number of centuries fell to two in IPL 2009 in South Africa, but was back to four in the 2010 IPL in India. While the 2010 edition had just one century and 27 fifties in the first ten days of the tournament, there have been two hundreds and 26 fifties in the same period of this year’s IPL. Interestingly, the first ten days of all three IPL editions held in India had the same number of 100-plus stands.

Behind Sri Lanka’s understated, unfussy style is a team performing with ruthless efficiency and playing with confidence

Sambit Bal in Mumbai31-Mar-2011Away from the arch lights and drum beats, Sri Lanka have arrived at the final not quite unnoticed but in the unfussy manner that befits a team that plays vibrantly but rarely boisterously. Their journey to the final has been quiet and efficient; they have rarely been stretched and, apart from a brief middle-order stutter against New Zealand in the semi-final, their progress through the knockout phase has been so smooth it’s almost eerie.From the beginning this has been a World Cup of two halves. From the moment Virender Sehwag crashed the first ball of the tournament to the cover boundary, Group B remained a constant whirl of action and drama whereas Group A flowed along serenely and predictably, simmering and occasionally bubbling but never really boiling over. The pattern has continued through the knockout stages: India have been through the wringer with two high-octane and emotionally draining matches against Australia and Pakistan – two finals before the final, if you insist – whereas Sri Lanka have cast away their opponents as gently as blowing away a feather.And now these two contrasting worlds are to collide. It could work either way. India could be so exhausted that one more tough match could break them; or they could be so battle-hardened that nothing would faze or shake them. Sri Lanka, having eased through to the final, could be the fresher and the more relaxed team for the biggest match or – never having really been challenged, their only loss in the tournament coming more than a month ago – they could be ill-prepared for the rigour and the pressure of a final.The reality is that not being overwrought suits the way Sri Lanka play their cricket. They are fortunate that of all the cricket-playing nations in the subcontinent, their fans, though not lacking passion, are the most balanced. While they celebrate their victories with as much vigour as their neighbours, they retain the perspective to take defeat in their stride. Consequently, Sri Lankan cricketers lead the most normal life among their peers on the subcontinent.In India, no one is ever allowed to forget that this is a World Cup that must be won for Sachin Tendulkar. Sri Lanka too have in their ranks a legend playing his final World Cup. In fact, Muttiah Muralitharan, fitness permitting, will be playing his final match for his country on Saturday. But it can be safely said that it will barely be a distraction for Sri Lanka.Mahela Jayawardene, who gave up the captaincy of his own volition but is happy to assist Kumar Sangakkara as vice-captain for this tournament, was asked if Sri Lanka were playing to win this World Cup for Muralitharan. His answer carried simple clarity. “When we started this World Cup campaign our goal was to win this for Sri Lanka,” he said, “we haven’t changed our thinking.” The Sri Lankan team isn’t shorn of high achievers – Muralitharan is a colossus of the world game, and Jayawardene and Sangakkara are among the most prolific batsmen in contemporary cricket – but Sri Lankan cricket has rarely been about superstardom, and it’s a strength they will carry to the final.Jayawardene also spoke candidly about the significance of the first all-Asian final. Did it mean that the balance of power – in the cricketing sense – had shifted decisively towards Asia? “We mustn’t forget that this is a World Cup on the subcontinent,” he said, “and obviously home conditions suit us. In fact, it would have been disappointing if Asian teams hadn’t made it to the final. The World Cup will be played on a different continent the next time, and we can say the balance of power has truly shifted if two teams from the subcontinent make the final then.”Sri Lanka have done their bit. This is their second consecutive appearance in a World Cup final and it can be said to their credit that both in 2007 and 2011 the finals have featured the tournament’s two best teams. Added to their 1996 victory, they have now made it to three finals in the last five World Cups. And as an aside, each World Cup final since 1992 has featured a team from the subcontinent.That Sri Lanka and India have played each other with mind-numbing regularity over the last three years confers on neither team a natural advantage. But that the teams are so familiar with each other does lead to a sense of anticipation with regard to strategy. Sri Lanka have played with three frontline spinners almost throughout the tournament, trusting Angelo Mathews with a few overs of medium pace in the bowling Powerplay. Will they change their team to adjust to their opponents? Will Virender Sehwag force them to opt for another quick?When they played a group match at the Wankhede, the pitch was so tinged with green that Jayawardene said they struggled to separate it from the square. On Thursday, though, it looked a perfect brown and it is unlikely that grass will be allowed to grow on it over the next couple of days. Though this is Sachin Tendulkar’s home turf, this is an entirely new surface, and Sri Lanka are the only finalists to have played on it. Does that somehow negate the fact that Sri Lanka have managed to win only one ODI against India in India in the past year?In reality, none of this will matter when the teams step on to the field on Saturday. As Sangakkara said after his team made it to the final, nothing of what they have achieved so far will mean anything if they fail to get over the line on Saturday. That India will start as favourites, however slightly, will suit Sri Lanka. They have never been the glamour boys of the subcontinent, but they are a team of substance. Tendulkar and Sehwag have cornered all the attention during this World Cup, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga have been the most successful opening pair of the tournament, and, for all the buzz about the Indian batting machine, three of the top five run-getters in the World Cup are Sri Lanka batsmen.But they would rather not talk about it.

Of the 23 wickets to fall on the second day, four of them were given out with the assistance of DRS. Nine decisions were reviewed in total, six that were initially called not-out

Firdose Moonda at Newlands10-Nov-2011Some Test matches produce such compelling contests, are filled with intrigue or are simply so unusual that they need to be named. Test No. 2016 played at Newlands, the first in Cape Town in November in 90 years, is one of them. It will be called the Technology Test.Of the 23 wickets to fall on the second day, four of them were given out with the assistance of DRS. Nine decisions were reviewed in total, six that were initially called not-out. Cricket has not seen this many wickets fall on a day’s play in over a hundred years, and that number would have plummeted today had it not been for the presence of technology.The day’s play was remarkable for many reasons. For three hours and 45 minutes between between the morning and evening session, the Cape Town’s cricket field appeared to have been transformed into Johannesburg’s high-speed Gautrain. Wickets whizzed by at the rate of one every 11 and a quarter minutes. Every ball was at risk of being appealed and referred, no batsman was safe and anyone who could bowl would have backed themselves to try and add to the carnage.Then, technology had it say, turning deliveries that would have previously been judged as close but no cigar, into wicket-takers and showing why moving cricket into the modern age can only be a positive thing.It started when Hashim Amla was struck on the pad by Shane Watson and on first glance, the not out decision did not appear to be obviously questionable. The replays were comprehensive in showing that the naked eye can sometimes err in the worst way possible, and that Amla was not only struck in line but the ball would have gone on to hit middle and leg. The hackneyed expression about technology eliminating the obvious errors has found a way into this piece, largely because of that.It was the next two referrals that may become the DRS’ best case studies of why the system works and should be used. Neither Jacques Kallis nor AB de Villiers would have been given out had technology, and Hot Spot in particular, not been available.Watson was convinced that Kallis had got bat on ball when his attempt at a pull went wrong. At first glance, it looked as though the ball brushed his shoulder, which it did, and nothing else. Hot Spot knew better and the white mark showed a massive edge. It symbolises a major development for the equipment, which has now progressed to picking up when the ball has made contact with the bat, even when the bat is in rapid motion.”Our main problem, over the last year or so, has been the blur, particularly when the player swings quickly,” Warren Brennan, managing director of BBG Sports, the company who pioneered Hot Spot, told ESPNCricinfo. “On the dead bat shots, I don’t think we’ve missed many of those. That [Kallis decision] surprised me. It still was quite blurry but he obviously smacked the cover off the ball so there was a big Hot Spot. But on the ones where they swing quite hard and get a very small tickle are hard to pick up for us. We’ve been trying to improve that.” The Hot Spot camera was the only one at the ground that picked up Kallis’ edge, rubberstamping its worth in the game.de Villiers may not even have faced a review, had Australia not been in such a dominant position at that stage. The appeal for lbw seemed optimistic and it looked like South Africa’s No. 5 had inside-edged onto his pad. Hot Spot immediately dismissed all notion of that, leading to a decision an umpire would likely had been criticised for making if there was no evidence to back it up. “It was quite clear that it hit the pad before it hit the bat,” Brennan said.Mark Boucher, later, had questioned the height of the ball that would give Watson his fifth wicket after being hit above the roll on the back pad. That time it was ball-tracking and Hawk-Eye that showed that the ball was destined for the top of the stumps and so endorsed the on-field call. Brennan said that decisions like that show that, “if you are not going to technology [fully], don’t use all of it.” “Hot Spot with the ball-tracking covers most of it,” he said.The absence of ball-tracking had bothered Brennan, who covered the four Test series between England and India earlier this year, with only Hot Spot. The series resulted in a renewal of the BCCI’s suspicions about the DRS system as a whole and ICC U-turning on their decision for it to be a mandatory part of all Test and one-day series. It was a testing time for Brennan and his team, who felt Thursday’s play in Cape Town was vindication for their work. “In the UK, in the middle of the year, we probably had a couple of bad days where we missed a couple,” he said. Over the last three months, we have tried to do a lot of things to try and improve it like changing different settings on the cameras. There’s a lot of pressure on us to get everything right.”Now, there is also pressure on the players to know when and how to use the technology. Shane Watson could have avoided being the first Australia wicket to fall in their second innings had he reviewed his lbw decision against Dale Steyn – replays showed the ball was going over the stumps. Ricky Ponting asked for his to go to the third umpire, which turned out to be a waste of an Australia review. Vernon Philander called for a review when he thought he had trapped Shaun Marsh lbw, only to be turned down.With players from both sides appearing stunned at the sheer volume of events that took place on the second day of what will become a truncated Test, the one positive thing they agreed on was that the use of technology benefitted the game. “For the big inside edge or the big caught behind with Hot Spot, its working well,” Michael Clarke said. Jacques Rudolph, who had a catch he had taken checked by the third umpire, agreed. “I like it [DRS], because I think if you can bring technology into the game and maybe help the umpires a bit that’s a good thing.”

Ravindra Jadeja arrived in England only on the eve of the third ODI but managed to make significant contributions with bat, ball and in the field

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval10-Sep-2011Ravindra Jadeja trudged off The Oval with head bowed, having done everything possible to try and secure India’s maiden win on this tour of England. He led them back from the depths of 58 for 5 with a half-century, took two wickets at critical moments during England’s chase, and threw himself in the field to choke the flow of runs. He did all this despite landing at Heathrow only at 7.30 am on the eve of the third ODI.When Manoj Tiwary played the second match at the Rose Bowl hours after arriving in England, Jadeja was in Mumbai, waiting for his UK visa to arrive. Tiwary’s call-up as a replacement for Rohit Sharma had been announced on September 4, while Jadeja had been named as Gautam Gambhir’s replacement on August 31. Yet, Jadeja had to wait nearly a week in frustration before he could join the squad.Jadeja, however, has already had to face greater tests in his fledgling international career. At 22, he is part of the wave of young cricketers whose fortunes have been shaped by the IPL. Soon after being part of India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2008, Jadeja played a significant part in Rajasthan Royals’ victory in the inaugural IPL. His success coincided with the Indian selectors’ and captain MS Dhoni’s push for youth in the Twenty20 and one-day squads.Jadeja was a fit for the second allrounder’s role, after Yuvraj Singh, but failed to secure his place despite several opportunities. His inconsistent batting hurt his cause at a time when Yusuf Pathan’s big hitting attracted a lot of attention. Jadeja eventually had to make way.The BCCI then barred Jadeja from playing the third season of the IPL because he had tried to sign deals with other franchises when his contract with Rajasthan did not allow it. Jadeja admitted his fault and sat on the sidelines. A year later, however, demand for him had not dropped. Kochi Tuskers Kerala paid $900,000 for him and he repaid them with all-round performances, finishing the fourth IPL season as the franchise’s second-highest run-scorer.Jadeja brought all his IPL learning to The Oval today. At 58 for 5, with 31 overs to go, he was up against Graeme Swann, who has phenomenal success against left-hand batsmen. Jadeja paid him respect, playing predominantly on the back foot, a method Rahul Dravid, India’s best batsman on the tour, used successfully against the world’s leading spinner.Alastair Cook, the England captain, did not set attacking fields, perhaps assuming Jadeja would try to battle his nerves by doing something rash. Like Suresh Raina had. Jadeja, however, batted with composure. Even when subjected to a short-ball barrage from Stuart Broad, Jadeja stayed in his crease, rode the bounce and scored behind point.Ravindra Jadeja helped rescue India’s innings from disaster•Getty ImagesIt helped that he had Dhoni with him. They annoyed England’s bowlers, Swann in particular, with their swift running between the wickets. They stole singles and took two when other Indian batsmen would have settled for one.Before he tapped James Anderson delicately to the fine-leg boundary, Jadeja had barely played two scoring shots on the leg side. There were plenty on the off though. With three overs to go, Anderson surprisingly had four fielders deep on the leg side. Jadeja capitalised by lofting twice over the fielder at mid-off for successive boundaries. He added 60 runs with R Ashwin in the last five overs, leading India to a modest total of 234 for 7.A bigger encouragement for India than Jadeja’s batting, though, was his slow left-arm bowling. To arrive on the eve of the match and adapt to English conditions without any overs under his belt was a significant achievement.”[When] I was batting, Graeme Swann was turning the ball, so I thought if I bowl slow I can also get the turn,” Jadeja said after receiving the Man-of-the-Match award. He did bowl slowly but he also gave the ball a hard rip on a pitch that turned more as it got older.Not having faced an Indian left-arm spinner on this trip, England’s batsmen were not at ease. Bowling an off-stump line, Jadeja mixed his orthodox deliveries with arm balls. Craig Kieswetter, who had given England a brisk start, could not read a straight delivery, having been beaten by turning deliveries the previous two balls.With the penultimate delivery of his final over, Jadeja angled the ball sharply into Tim Bresnan and bowled him, breaking a 60-run partnership for the sixth wicket. England needed 25 from as many deliveries. Jadeja had finished his quota of nine overs and, as he had done with the bat, had brought India back into the contest.”His bowling was always up to the mark. Maybe it was the batting which was a bit of a concern,” Dhoni said about why Jadeja was dropped last year. “He showed improvement from the IPL, where he faced bowlers who bowled close to 140kph, and he was able to play those big shots needed when you bat at No. 7. Overall he looks more complete right now.”