Jadeja jokes, Raina’s sixes and Steyn’s antics kept the crowd in good spirits, while the home team got routed

Videh Ranjan09-May-2013Team supported
I have always been a keen follower of CSK, because they are an entertaining and a balanced side with a lot of big names. I did hope for a Chennai win but surely wanted a closer contest than what transpired.My dream final will be between Chennai and Rajasthan Royals, with the latter winning a hard-fought contest marginally. I like the two men leading these teams, with very different approaches to cricket and leadership – they are both inspirational and cool-headed men who love competing and never give up without a fight.Key performer
This game was a Suresh Raina special. He once again demonstrated how much of a team player he is. He started by supporting Michael Hussey who was going strong, but once Raina crossed 50, he joined the run frenzy. The giant screen kept bestowing him with catchy monikers after each blow – Red-hot Raina, Smashing Raina, Hammer shot Raina and so on.The last ball of the Chennai innings had Darren Sammy bowling at Raina who was on 93. The Chennai fans, including our little party was praying for a no-ball. As luck would have it, Raina sprinted through for a tight second and somehow managed to make his ground – and yes, it was indeed a no-ball. It seemed that fate had conspired to give Raina the opportunity to reach a ton, but it was not to be. He could only pick up four runs off the last ball and finished on 99.One thing I’d have changed about the match

After the massive run-fest that was the Chennai innings, even the most optimistic Hyderabad fan would’ve been apprehensive. Everyone was hoping someone would play a David Miller hand – perhaps Shikhar Dhawan. I wish he had not been run-out so early in the chase. His presence might have ignited the fight in Hyderabad’s batsmen.Face-off I relished
Dale Steyn v Michael Hussey. Steyn, among the best bowlers this season, started off wonderfully with a maiden. Hussey bided his time, though, and capitalized against the other bowlers. In the end Ravindra Jadeja put him away for two exquisite off-side boundaries, but Steyn still finished with enviable figures.Accessories
We were the spies in the Sunrisers camp for this game. We wore the Sunrisers jerseys, but cheered for the Super Kings.Close encounter

Jadeja, whose jersey has the name ‘Jaddu’ on it, was fielding in front of us – and all the jokes were out of the bag. Every save was cheered, and every time he looked back at us, the mob went hysterical. He waved shyly but the crowd never let go of the Jadeja jokes.Steyn threw a water bottle across to the crowd in the stand above ours and a wild roar went up as a young guy caught it superbly.Shot of the day
By the time Sammy came on for the last over, Raina had discovered his golden touch and was simply unstoppable. The absolute disdain with which he dismissed Sammy’s first ball was a thrill to watch.Crowd meter
I have been to quite a few matches in Hyderabad – including the Test matches with New Zealand and Australia and a few IPL games. However, the atmosphere at the stadium today was easily the best. It was packed with people from all walks of life – kids aged five already fiercely loyal to their teams, and older people who were dancing to the Mexican wave as enthusiastically as the young ones.Perhaps because of the evening showers, the heat had eased a bit, prompting the crowd to dance and make merry. Surprisingly, there was plenty of support for Chennai. MS Dhoni was welcomed like a legend – and it was sad to see him disappoint the crowd with a couple of loose shots and a quick exit.Hardship factor
The parking facilities at the ground leave a lot to be desired. The stadium is quite far from the city and it takes quite some time to reach there. After having fought through the peak city traffic, we dread searching for a parking spot at the stadium. It is quite an ordeal, and we often end up parking very far away from the gate we are supposed to enter.TV v stadium

At a match like today’s, the stadium experience cannot even be compared to the TV. The atmosphere, the anticipation, the impromptu dance jigs, the Mexican waves and the big-hitting, all contribute to a very memorable experience.Marks out of 10

Definitely a 10 for the crowd, but only 9 for the match itself. We had gone along with a friend’s mother, who is a keen follower of cricket and it was her first time at a stadium. Even she got sucked into the Mexican wave and the other assorted revelry. If only Hyderabad had put up a fight.

The David Warner incident is the latest in a string of discipline issues that have hit Australian cricket recently

Jarrod Kimber12-Jun-2013″Drink within your boundaries,” said a pre-recorded Michael Clarke on the Edgbaston big screen a few moments before the match against New Zealand. It’s possible he said it before the game on Saturday as well. Clarke is currently in London, getting intensive treatment on his back. Had he been in Birmingham, he may have been powerless to stop Warner from getting in trouble.Despite what David Gower said, Australia does have culture, and at the moment that culture is toxic.It’s easy to overreact to a man punching an opponent a few hours after a game. Or even to take that one problem, and extrapolate it so that the system and all players are to blame. Young people today, eh. Wasn’t like this in my day. These kids are running wild.But Warner’s punch isn’t a one off for him, and many young Aussie players are doing things that are either blatantly stupid, or amazingly unprofessional way too often over the last couple of years. It’s as if Australian cricket has turned into a giant crèche. Some of these things can be explained by Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting retiring, but it’s deeper than that, and was around even before they left.Brad Haddin’s recall to the side, despite his replacement Matthew Wade averaging pretty much the same, shows that CA knows there is a problem. But bringing back one father figure isn’t enough, this problem runs deep.In this team is Mitchell Marsh. Marsh arrived at the cricket academy out of shape, he was almost sent home straight away. Eventually he was kicked out for being unfit to train after a big night out. That was July last year. A few months later, in October, Marsh was left out of a Champions League match for Perth Scorchers because his 21st birthday celebrations meant he wasn’t in a fit state to play. His brother Shaun Marsh was also dropped from that game for the same incident.Their former Western Australian team-mate, Luke Pomersbach, was in trouble during IPL 2012 when he was detained by police for alleged assault. The case was eventually settled out of court. Pomersbach has more than enough batting talent to slip into any of the three Australian sides.Allrounder Daniel Christian was suspended after damaging not one, or even two, but three separate changerooms during the last Sheffield Shield season. Christian was fined and warned during the first two incidents, but still committed the third act.Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja were suspended from one Test in India after they didn’t provide any plans on how they or the team could improve. Watson, the then vice-captain, left the tour straight after the incident, for the birth of his child. That followed on from the World Twenty20, where a player was heard undermining the captain George Bailey to opposition players.Young Queensland batsman Chris Lynn was fined for attacking the alleged victim in an assault case on Twitter. Saying “She should serve 2 months in jail for her make up! #booyah”. Lynn later apologised and noted, “Violence against women is not acceptable and I’m sorry that my words could been seen to condone that.” Even Shane Warne was running around the Big Bash League, throwing balls at people and making a fool of himself.Now there is Warner. Before last weekend, Warner’s off-field history was fairly minor. Some bad tweeting with Brett Geeves a few years back, rumours of a personal curfew, perhaps some skinfold issues and being sent home from the academy for untidiness are hardly crimes. And neither is arguing with some press on Twitter. Sure, as a contracted player he was stupid to swear, but I am sure many players and journalists have sworn at each other in bars without us ever having to know about it.

A punishment will not do. A punishment won’t stop the cause. These players have been warned, fined and suspended; they are still making mistakes, still being unprofessional and still making it harder for Australia to win matches

This latest incident is not fully known. And in some ways it’s barely an incident. It took days to hit the press. Joe Root’s jaw is undamaged. Perhaps Warner had a few too many one quid vodka and redbulls at the wrong time of night and did something stupid. But he did try to punch an opposition player. It is far worse than breaking a door in a changeroom or failing to fill in some feedback reports.In the past, events like this happened all the time. A player gets a bit stroppy when he goes out. A young player enjoys the good life a bit much. A player is involved in a late-night incident that he should’ve steered clear of. A player bad-mouths his captain.In the 1970s, it would have been sorted out, and the player would now be doing after-dinner speaking about the good old days. On Sky talking about his days, which were fairly recent, Jason Gillespie said, “If you stepped out of line off the field, you got into strife from the captain and the coach.”So how has Australia regressed since then? How is that a potential captain of the Australian team, in CA’s own words, can take a swing at another player? I don’t expect James Sutherland to be standing in the bar making sure Warner doesn’t do anything stupid.Culture is not an easy thing to fix. But this has happened under CA’s watch. It has happened after their Argus review. It is affecting their marketing off the field. It is affecting their performance on it. They must find the problems and fix them.A punishment will not do. A punishment won’t stop the cause. These players have been warned, fined and suspended; they are still making mistakes, still being unprofessional and still making it harder for Australia to win matches.Ex-cricketers were quick to abuse Pat Howard and Mickey Arthur for treating players like school kids. But they’re acting like them, consistently. It’s time for CA to look at the what is wrong with their current crop of cricketers. Or what is wrong with CA itself. This is a team that is losing on the field, and losing off of it.This is 2013, if you want to be the best team in the world, you can’t afford to be anything but professional. South Africa is the best side in the world, they are the best behaved, led, managed and performed in the world. Their players don’t get caught in scandals, their team just works as hard as it can to win every match. They even managed to improve while there was a scandal around their board.This Australian set-up is not behaving, the leadership is not around, the management is not working and the team is not performing.Point no. 4 on CA’s new strategy for cricket to become Australia’s leading sport is, “Provide world-class leadership and management and unify Australian Cricket”. This is the time when CA proves that is not some lip service that looks good on a plaque in their offices.Clarke has not attended any of Australia’s games in this tournament. The only cricket he has attended was Shane Warne’s charity match on Sunday in the Cotswolds, a couple of hours from London. Warner was also there.After Warner’s twitter moment, Clarke said to the press, “Davey has great potential to be a leader of the Australian cricket team, he’s a wonderful guy, he’s a wonderful player, I know he’s learnt from this”. That was only a few weeks back.Whatever Warner did learn, it didn’t seem to help him on early Sunday morning.

In his new brief at No. 6, Phillip Hughes showed an improved technique and greater awareness of his team’s needs to register a first Ashes fifty

Daniel Brettig at Trent Bridge11-Jul-2013One of the recurring themes of Michael Hussey’s career was that many of his finest innings were overshadowed by someone else. Whether it was Michael Clarke cracking 329 not out against India or 259 and 230 against South Africa or Adam Gilchrist murdering England in his 102 at the WACA ground in 2006, Hussey was often cast as a minor character in his own life story. Possessing a tremendous ability to complement the batsman at the other end in whatever way was most required, Hussey thrived on partnerships, even if it meant playing the accomplice to Jason Gillespie when he had the cheek to turn a nightwatchman’s shift into 201 against Bangladesh.So it was for Phillip Hughes on a day of dreams at Trent Bridge. While Ashton Agar produced a performance that no one who witnessed it will ever forget, Hughes quietly crafted an innings that was arguably the best and most significant of his Test career. If Agar’s display was one of the most striking examples of a selection hunch rewarding its architects, then Hughes’ effort offered vindication of his retention in the team after a dire tour of India, as well as a remarkably promising glimpse of his batting future.Where Agar walked out to bat with few expectations to live up to, and doubtless even fewer plans to counter among England’s bowlers, Hughes faced up to opponents who had twice threatened to wreck him as an international batsman even before he had matured as a man. Five Ashes Tests spread across two series had reaped a meagre 154 runs at 17.11. Hughes’ highest score in that time was 36. No wonder there was a quite palpable sense of English anticipation among the Nottingham crowd when he walked out to bat at 53 for 4 on the first evening.Such a feeling had to be shared by James Anderson, Steven Finn, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. After all, Hughes had been turned from a bright young batting hope to a jittery mess on his first encounter with England in 2009, and then skittered nervously and fruitlessly around the crease in Australia two years later. Nothing, it seemed, had underlined Australian flaws and English superiority more than the sight of Hughes struggling for traction against the aforementioned bowlers.But Hughes has travelled far in his journey from boy to man since then, moving from New South Wales to South Australia, regaining confidence during a stint with Worcestershire last year, and finally accepting a commission to move down the batting order to No. 6. This change was most significant, changing Hughes’ role from that of a top-order dasher to a more considered job holding the team’s mid-section together. It was tested out during the tour matches, and a string of healthy scores suggested Hughes would be comfortable reacting to the circumstances that confronted him.England to assess Hughes plans

For the first time in six Tests and three series, England’s Plan A to Phillip Hughes did not work. England will be forced to re-examine their attack on Hughes after an unbeaten 81 more than doubled his previous best in an Ashes match, while contributing to a world record 10th wicket stand with the debutant Ashton Agar.
James Anderson, who claimed five wickets for the hosts at Trent Bridge, said the team would have to look over video footage of Hughes innings to assess the quality of their bowling, while also praising his ability to tough out several difficult periods.
“I’m not sure he’s changed much,” Anderson said. “He obviously played very well. He showed a lot of skill to get through some tricky periods of play. I thought he batted well with Agar at the end to build a partnership and frustrate us. We’ll have a look and see if we actually bowled that well at him.”

In his first attempt at the role, the scenario was dire indeed. Four wickets down for very little, the Dukes ball swinging and seaming, the crowd baying for more wickets, the Nottingham light dull and augmented by electricity. Accompanying Hughes in the middle was none other than Steven Smith, another young man from NSW who had been a figure of English ridicule in 2010-11. Both had tightened their techniques and bolstered their confidence since then, and both would go some way to proving it by establishing a stand that bridged evening with morning.Hughes would lose Smith soon after the team tally had passed 100, amid another bewitching spell from Anderson. The wickets tumbled quickly, Australian groans matched by English glee. But for the first time, Hughes was not part of the procession. He survived, batting grimly but near enough to neatly, playing many balls under his nose and occasionally stretching out to drive. Leg-side deflections not in his repertoire two years ago allowed him to get off strike at regular intervals. And after the trials of India, Swann’s spin and flight was handled in the kind of manner Steve Waugh fended off short balls for most of his 168 Tests – not much style, but plenty of guts.A mere nine runs after Smith had fallen, Hughes was joined by Agar. The liquidation of the lower order had been swift and brutal. In his partner, Hughes perhaps saw a little of his younger self, Agar not knowing the fear or self-doubt that invariably envelops a cricketer when the first troughs of form and performance are encountered. The pair had never batted together before, and Hughes initially followed the received wisdom of most batsmen with the tail by attempting to farm the strike. How they must have chuckled about that later.As time ticked by, however, Hughes began to show the kind of awareness that had made Hussey such a fine batting partner. Witnessing Agar’s accomplishment, he did not worry about trying to dominate, and played comfortably in a most unexpected slipstream. Agar sprinted to his half-century in 50 balls; Hughes fought gamely to his in 94. He spread his wings a little more from that moment, driving and cutting through the off side with plenty of vigour but greater control than his younger self had demonstrated when commencing so boldly in South Africa. England, for the first time in their encounters with Hughes, did not appear entirely sure of how to dismiss him. Given what had gone before this was some achievement.Ultimately, Agar would fall two runs short of his century, leaving Hughes 19 shy of his own. He offered a consoling word and pat on the back for Agar, before standing aside in respect to allow the 19-year-old wonder his moment of adulation from a crowd still getting to know him. Though they may not have noticed, those assembled at Trent Bridge had also witnessed a new man at the other end. The dancing, struggling, edging Hughes of the past was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood a batsman of far greater composure. Agar had earned a revered place in history, but he could not have done so without Hughes. Hussey would have been proud.

Pilloried for much of the summer before playing a quite brilliant innings at its conclusion, Shane Watson had a funny old Ashes series

Geoff Lemon16-Sep-2013It was one of those golden days that a player may be lucky enough to have once in a career, where the world outside the ground slows to a hum, where every strike is crisp and clean as sliced apple, where everything falls solely to the benefit of a man standing still at the eye of his cricketing hurricane.As Shane Watson walked off The Oval late on the first day of the final Ashes Test, the Australian response to his 176 went three ways. Some soaked up the present, that moment when a cricketer was untouchable. Some wondered if this could be the making of Watson’s future. And a great many looked back, to the series lost and the patchiness of Watson’s career. “Watson and England both have achieved their first objective this morning,” wrote Australian journalist Greg Baum on Twitter. “He’s playing in Brisbane.”It was tongue in cheek, but referenced a very real Australian sentiment: that Watson is a liability, a source of trouble, a weakness for opponents to exploit. Two of the last four Allan Border medals for Australia’s cricketer of the year have gone to Watson. In the same period, he’s generated more home-grown antipathy than anyone. The narrative is of Watson as selfish, demanding and self-absorbed. As with most assessments of public figures, it leans less on evidence than conjecture.Watson is not helped by having one of the most expressive faces in cricket. On-field, there is always the sense he has just been dealt an injustice. Bowling, his hands fly to his head every other ball, mouth twisting into a lupine O. When hit, he looks aggrieved. Hitting a bowler, he looks righteous. Troubled by one, he looks seasick. Dismissed, he looks betrayed, shaking his head in lamentation at the cruelty. In one Test, edging toward slip, the stump mic picked up an agonised “Ohhh no!” before the ball had even hit the catcher’s hands. Watson knew what that edge meant, and the depths of his unhappiness formed a dark sea that lapped into our living rooms.The tradition of Aussie gruffness says he should pipe down and get on with it. And so we extrapolate: sooky, soft, preoccupied by his own fortunes. The desire to do well is never interpreted as concern for the team. His tortured path to his first hundred is tendered as further evidence. But to criticise Watson here is to forget Ashton Agar’s swat at Trent Bridge, Rogers’ painful crawl at Durham, Smith’s false bravado at The Oval. Added to the mix are genuinely thoughtless moments – publicly coveting the opener’s role while Ed Cowan tried to establish a Test career, marginal DRS referrals, frustrated threats of retirement.Confirmation bias is the filtering of information to support an existing opinion. In this way, negatives from Watson’s career accrue while positives are discounted. Partly the angst is down to simple volume of opportunity: he’s been in the national line of sight longer than anyone but Michael Clarke. Resentments become disproportionate as the cause persists; we’ve all lived with someone who raged over bin liners or the location of soap. Nor is the sentiment universal – disapproval is louder than satisfaction, unless it’s coming through a motel wall. But it’s not just personality. Attitudes to Watson exist not in spite of his talents but because of them.Australian cricket in my lifetime has always been seduced by the romance of the allrounder. Mostly it’s because we never had one. While I was in bunny jumpsuits, the firmament brought Imran, Kapil, Botham and Hadlee into alignment. Australia got Simon O’Donnell. Steve Waugh’s bowling ossified along with his spine while we cast envious eyes at Kallis. However great Australia’s sides, we were always six and four, straight up and down, the only kid at the party wearing a tie. Commentators circled back to Keith Miller, or in desperation, Dougie Walters. Even Mark Waugh’s best offspin or the haircuts of Colin Miller couldn’t replicate that unlikeliest thrill of cricket: a man who could make a hundred then bowl the other mob out.

Watson wasn’t the next big thing, he was Luke Skywalker. He was talked up by all the last big things. He also proved to have the structural integrity of Mr Potato Head

In this context, Watson wasn’t the next big thing, he was Luke Skywalker. He came along, blithe and blond, batting top four in the Shield and bowling straight-out fast. He was talked up by all the last big things. He also proved to have the structural integrity of Mr Potato Head. And so it began, a stop-start career that never let him settle. He’s been a bowler who slogs, an opener who bowls as cover, an opener who doesn’t and a middle-order lynchpin who can’t. His bowling retirements are like Johnny Farnham farewell tours. He’s managed to look invincible and incapable; his periods of dominance have never become eras.Jarrod Kimber brilliantly explored the Australian obsession with the “natural”: the ferocious talent who would sweep all before him. When a young Damien Martyn panicked in Sydney, 1994, he was made scapegoat for his team-mates’ failings. “Any hopes of him becoming a captain, a legend or even a 10-year player left once he showed in one innings that he was not the one. His papers were stamped ‘non legendary’.”Watson has been similarly processed publicly, for a career that couldn’t deliver on its entirely unrealistic promise. But in an era short on talent he is not so easily discarded, and frustration with his performance is not entirely fair. At Old Trafford I badgered Darren Lehmann on whether he saw Watson as a proper batsman. “What I do see,” said Lehmann, “is when you can play an extra bowler in your top six, it’s such an advantage… So as an allrounder, no dramas.”It was an important distinction. And on reflection, my thinking was shaped by an Australian era where Justin Langer was the batting exception for averaging 50. Clarke’s 52.08 is the only remnant of that time. Of 11 top-seven batsmen since Mike Hussey retired, the best are David Warner and Watson, who top 36. The rest range from 35 to 9.Even against great allrounders, Watson is only a run behind Imran and Miller, and between three and nine ahead of Botham, Kapil, Mankad and Hadlee. His ratio of innings exceeding 50 is the best of the lot, once every second Test, with Miller and Botham closer to one in three, Imran three and a half, and the others toward four and beyond. Of course he doesn’t bowl like any of them, averaging fewer than half the overs and wickets per match, but we’re talking legends of the game’s history.As the numbers settle, we find ourselves looking at a man who may not have made the best teams of his country’s past but is among the best cricketers in his country’s present. Those who admire him are less vocal than those who don’t. What has plagued his career is uncertainty, and it’s here that the real antipathy is born. Ricky Ponting was hounded into retirement because we couldn’t stand not knowing when he’d retire. Watson is hounded because we don’t know if, when, and in what capacity he’s going to deliver.While resentment manifests itself at a personal level, the bulk of its cause is not inherently personal. If Watson’s 176 – and his recent technical work on his lbw problem – can prompt a more consistent phase of his career, concerns about his wicket-taking face will begin to seem strangely less important.

Daniel Brettig12-Oct-2013Australia’s solitary Test series victory in India since 1969-70 is one of the more humbling statistics in the record of the world’s ‘winningest’ cricket country. The series ledgers alone – 2-0, 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-0, 4-0 – tell a tale of ignorance, difficulty in adjusting, and lessons often learned too late in a tour, then invariably forgotten in time for the start of the next one. Those results would suggest that there is no more difficult place on earth for an Australian cricket team to prosper, not least in the years after the greats began to retire in 2007.Yet the Antipodean ODI tale on the subcontinent is more about triumph than humiliation. Starting with a 1987 World Cup victory that marked the official start of Australian cricket’s regeneration under Allan Border and Bob Simpson, the 50-over format has brought something near to consistently strong results in India. Since 1998, when regular international series contact between the two countries was resumed after a mid-1990s freeze-out phase, Australian teams have emerged triumphant in five out of the six limited-overs series contested there, whether they be triangular tournaments as in 1998 and 2003, or bilateral visits on other occasions.They also won the 2006 Champions Trophy and reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup. In 2009, Ricky Ponting’s team managed to claw to a 4-2 victory despite having a full XI first-choice players absent injured.These series victories have come in a range of circumstances, whether after a Test series or standing alone. The only time Australia have not won a limited-overs contest against India in recent times is 2010, when the one match of three not to be washed out resulted in a home victory at Vizag after a high-scoring chase. But otherwise, the tourists have found themselves excelling away from home at a vast assortment of venues, from Bangalore in the south and Mumbai on the west coast, to Mohali in the north and even Guwahati on the distant eastern fringes. A multitude of factors can be pointed to by way of explanation, but here are a few of the most salient.A history of successConfidence in the knowledge that those before you have achieved great things in India has helped Australia’s ODI teams ever since Border lifted the Reliance Cup aloft at Eden Gardens 26 years ago. The doubts, phobias and conspiracy theories that cloud the mind of an Australian Test cricketer on the subcontinent tend to fall away for one-day matches, while the roars of Indian crowds feel less claustrophobic and distracting for the knowledge that they have not stopped the visitors before. Individuals, too, have benefited from strong records there. Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting have all fared better in ODIs than Tests, while the likes of the tweakers Nathan Hauritz and Brad Hogg have held their own in coloured clothing despite being swatted away in the five-day game.More familiar pitchesAustralia’s stand-in captain, George Bailey, believed this to be one of the most critical factors in the team’s greater level of comfort relative to Tests. Where five-day wickets are commonly worn, spitting and spinning, Indian groundsmen prepare their most even-tempered surfaces for limited-overs contests, sometimes allowing grass to hold them together and so granting fast bowlers a little more assistance. Add this to the swing that can be occasionally generated in early starts and the picture becomes far more familiar to Australian players. Damien Fleming, Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger and Johnson all profited from early morning seam and swing at various times, while Shaun Marsh, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Ponting and Watson have played freely without worrying too much about the ground beneath their feet.Less reliance on spinAnother notable quality to Indian ODI surfaces is the fact that they seldom require the selection of a team brimful with quality spinners. Australia’s preferred reliance on fast men with the odd slow bowler for variety has worked effectively, with Shane Warne, Hauritz and Hogg playing fair supporting roles. It is arguable the ability of the pacemen to make headway in 50-over matches on the subcontinent has at times lulled the national selectors into thinking that the same might occur in Test matches, but the differences in pitch preparation have generally conspired against the success of such a tactic.A lower keyIt cannot help a team to view anywhere as the final frontier, even if the 2004 tourists managed to accomplish a Test series win while embracing the idea of India as their last mountain. The pressure Australian Test players feel in India, both in the middle of the ground and from the edges, has inhibited their performances at times, timid strokes and indifferent bowling spells reflecting the sense that the world is closing in around them. By contrast, that feeling tends to be on the other side during ODI series. No nation loves the one-day game more than India, and the expectations upon the home team for ODI tournaments that mean little in the wider scheme have allowed an unfancied Australia to sneak up on them more than once. The 2011 World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad is a notable exception.Ricky Ponting’s captaincyThree ODI series in India for three victories is one of many garlands Ponting gained over a storied career, though as he has noted it will be one of many obscured by the loss of three Ashes series. Nonetheless, his calm leadership, sparkling but sturdy batting and peerless example in the field contributed greatly to a legacy of limited-overs confidence on Indian shores. In this, Ponting shares something in common with Border. Both men provided a solid core around which transitional teams swirled and bubbled, while they showcased a greater tactical alacrity in 50-over matches that occasionally eluded them in Tests. His binding together of the injury-strewn 2009 tour party was something few on the tour will forget. Before departing, Bailey consulted Ponting about how best to tackle the current series. There was no better man to ask.

Steve Smith’s innings at the WACA was patient and significant, and showed how far he has come.

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA13-Dec-20130:00

Smith savours first Test ton on home soil

It’s one thing to score a Test hundred in a dead rubber, quite another to do it when your side is in a bind with a series win on the line. An win.The centuries scored by Steven Smith and Shane Watson at The Oval in August were meaningful for the individuals, but not for the team. Big runs early in this home campaign against England, not after the Urn has been regained, that is what Australia needed from Smith and Watson. So far one has delivered, one has not.Australia came to Perth 2-0 up and confident, but aware that an England victory could undo all their good work. When Australia lost their third wicket before lunch and Smith walked to the crease, the pressure was immense. Chris Rogers had run himself out. Michael Clarke had been caught attacking the spinner.Watson had edged a ball he should have left. Leave on length – that’s the old WACA cliché. At slip, Graeme Swann caught the ball above his head; Watson’s stumps were not in danger from that Stuart Broad delivery.Smith walked to the crease with an awful first-class record at the WACA, averaging 17.20 in six games.”My patience now has changed a bit. Going out there, it’s pretty key to watch the ball closely and leave well early,” Smith said on Tuesday when asked about how he would approach such an unsuccessful venue. “That’s going to be part of my game this week.”When Smith reached his century with a boundary pulled through midwicket, the graphics said it all. Eighty of his runs had come on the leg side, from muscular pulls when the bowlers dropped short, as they did often, and flicks off the pads when they strayed in length. Only 20 had come through the off side. He chose his strokes well. The pitch map was just as revealing; a big cluster of good-length balls outside off, nearly all of them dots. This was an innings of patience.Steve Smith made his second Test hundred at the WACA and it was one that really mattered•PA PhotosHis century at The Oval was brought up with a six down the ground; his hundred at the WACA began with one. It took until his 16th ball to get off the mark, a lofted drive over long-on that was struck firmly and safely with a straight bat. As he would for the rest of the day, he respected the balls that would cause him danger, and acted decisively against those that would not.Smith faced 147 dot balls. The Steven Smith of two or three years ago did not have that kind of patience. That is precisely why the WACA led him astray. He was the type of player commentators say “likes to feel bat on ball”. Not anymore. Against the fast bowlers, he was so resolute that his only scoring shots through the off side came when they dropped short or extremely wide. He more or less refused to drive them through cover or mid-off.At times he showed he was human. On 85, he played the one shot batting coaches say you should forget about at the WACA – the drive with a bat angled at 45 degrees. He was lucky he missed, smiled, and chastised himself. He edged just short of slip on 92. But to bat for two sessions in Perth’s extreme heat and not let your brain wander, you’d need to be super-human. After reaching his hundred, as stumps approached, he was again watching and leaving.

Before today, there were casual Australian fans who viewed him as lucky to be in the side, a bits-and-pieces player promoted too early. That is patently not the case.

It was revealing of Smith’s character, for as fidgety at he appears at the crease, as awkward as some of his limited-overs strokes look, he is the kind of cricketer who learns. He takes things in – usually. After stumps, he said he had not heard a chirp when he came out to bat, when an England player seemed to say that Smith was “one game away” from being dropped. Certainly, he had failed in Brisbane and Adelaide, but No. 5 must now be his for some time.He is Australia’s third-highest Test run scorer in 2013, behind Clarke and Warner, and the only Australian besides Clarke averaging over 40 this year (leaving aside Michael Hussey’s one Test in the first week of January). Before today, there were casual Australian fans who viewed him as lucky to be in the side, a bits-and-pieces player promoted too early and favoured over others more deserving. That is patently not the case.Smith and Brad Haddin, Australia’s saviour throughout this series, set the team back on course after their early troubles. That there were early troubles again was a worry. So far in this series, Australia have been 6 for 132, 4 for 174 and 5 for 143 in their first innings. Three of the top six – George Bailey, Rogers and Watson – are averaging under 25 in the series. They are fortunate the runs are coming from elsewhere, and not from England.Australia entered this match with an unchanged side for the third consecutive Test, the first time that had happened since the 2006-07 Ashes. It is a rare luxury, and while they keep winning, the selectors will maintain the status quo. They were lucky that Smith stood up at the WACA. His innings was patient, mature and significant.It was a hundred that meant something, not like those dead-rubber tons at The Oval. Smith is 24, and he delivered when it counted. Watson is 32, and he has not – yet. He could learn from his junior colleague.

In the most high-pressure game of his young career, Sarfaraz Khan soaked up the early nerves and produced an all-round performance that turned the contest India’s way

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Dubai15-Feb-2014In any match involving India and Pakistan, be it at the senior or Under-19 level, pressure and increased expectations are inevitable. Sarfaraz Khan had played against Pakistan before, but on this occasion, there were many more eyeballs watching his every move. For this may have been the first time a worldwide television audience had its glimpse of the promising 16-year-old batting allrounder from Mumbai. The crowd was significantly bigger in Dubai compared to the opening day, given that this was the most anticipated clash in the World Cup’s group stages. Sarfaraz didn’t let stage fright get to him, either on the field or off it.Having scored 74 in a rescue mission, taken a wicket and grabbed four catches, the job for the Man of the Match adjudicators was ridiculously simple. Having fronted up to the television cameras at the presentation, he then had the spotlight on him in front of the media. Insisting that he speak in the language of his choice, Hindi, he cut a confident figure on the podium, visibly pepped up by his all-round show against the arch-rivals. He didn’t need a coach or manager by his side for moral support.Even at 16, Sarfaraz can say a thing or two about handling pressure and expectations. His father, Naushad, is also his coach and a hard taskmaster. He has stopped at nothing in making sure his son plays for the country, like installing a synthetic pitch near their house so Sarfaraz can devote most of his time to practice. His showing today would have made any parent proud.Sarfaraz walked in with his team in trouble at 94 for 4 in the 20th over and joined Sanju Samson, who was batting on 15. Sarfaraz looked ill at ease against the spinners initially, beaten in flight by a googly from the legspinner Karamat Ali. An edge was fluffed at slip even before he opened his account. After 15 scoreless deliveries, he banked on his favourite shot – the sweep – and smartly negated the spinners. Young Indian batsmen are not renowned for employing the sweep regularly, but Sarfaraz played it compulsively. His education on batting in turning tracks in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan was clearly paying off.”I read that it turns a lot here and the ball keeps low,” Sarfaraz said. “So I was not able to play straight and that’s why I could not score runs. And then when my catch was dropped, I decided to bat freely. Since the sweep is one of my favourite shots, I was confident about it and I went for it. As I started reading the wicket, I started growing in confidence.”Sarfaraz and Samson batted in different styles during their match-turning 119-run fifth-wicket stand. Samson was more passive compared to his partner, pushing the singles. It was a mature approach from the two since there wasn’t a great deal of batting to come.”Sanju and me were talking after each over and telling ourselves to bat deep into the innings. After us, there was only Deepak Hooda [who could bat],” Sarfaraz said. “Sanju was sharing his IPL experience with me and I was playing accordingly. It is fun playing with Sanju.”Despite his slow start, Sarfaraz had motored to his fifty off only 60 balls, throwing the Pakistan spinners off-guard. When he departed for 74 off 78 balls, India were looking at a total of over 250 and given their spin options, it was always going to be hard work for Pakistan.And Sarfaraz was one of those spin options. He is a versatile spinner, in that he bowls offspin to left-handers and legspin to right-handers. Given that the top four in the Pakistan line-up bat left-handed, the choice was easy.Though he only bowled three overs, he managed to pick up a wicket, bowling Hasan Raza, who stayed back to a fuller ball. Sarfaraz was everywhere in the field, taking four catches. His first catch broke Pakistan’s opening stand of 109. It was the breakthrough India needed, just when Pakistan were consolidating their position in the chase.Luck was still by Sarfaraz’s side during the bizarre run out of Kamran Ghulam. He stood near the bowler’s stumps looking to collect the throw from Deepak Hooda but accidentally knocked the stump with his elbow, dislodging a bail. Fortunately, Hooda’s throw was on target and the ball knocked down the other bail, with Ghulam well short of the crease. “Thankfully, one bail was there,” Sarfaraz said with a smile. “Or else the coach would have reprimanded me.”

Building on the chances he got in the field, Brendon McCullum scored his toughest hundred yet, ensuring India’s substantial lead was wiped off, in spite of some diligent play

Abhishek Purohit in Wellington16-Feb-2014’McCullum growing in stature as a Test player’

Brendon McCullum has grown in stature as a Test player, New Zealand batting coach Bob Carter has said. McCullum began the home summer with 113 against West Indies in Dunedin and then hit a game-changing 224 against India in the first Test in Auckland. He has followed that up with an unbeaten 114, rescuing the side from 94 for 5 in their second innings in Wellington.
“He is now using his defence,” Carter said. “Brendon has really shown his defensive game has come forward. And as well as he still likes to attack. I think he is growing in stature as a Test player and I would like to see him play a lot more.”
McCullum also battled pain in his arm and back during his innings, taking treatment on occasion. Carter said McCullum had been consistently putting his body on the line, and he preferred the captain was more cautious on the field.
“You see how he is in the field. I sort of prefer him to just run to the boundary and just knock the ball back but he sets our tone all the time,” he said. “And you have seen him dive – he dived on about seven or eight occasions while he was fielding and sets that example to everybody.
“I think it has been a tough summer all round but the funny side of it is that Brendon had a little bit of a shoulder injury from shining the ball yesterday. He was trying to get it to swing a lot as well trying to get it changed a lot. And then he was joking today that his bottom hand was playing up. I prefer it to be his top hand actually.”

For the second time in as many Tests, India were left applauding a Brendon McCullum century. MS Dhoni walked to the edge of the boundary at the end of the day’s play, waited for McCullum, who was being congratulated by several India players, and clasped his counterpart’s hand. You can talk all you want about strategies and execution and momentum. At times, you just have to admit that you threw everything you had at the opposition, and they still came out on top. In the absence of Ross Taylor, it was McCullum who extended New Zealand’s glorious summer by another day.In Auckland, McCullum was helped by India bowlers, who lost their lines and lengths after having New Zealand at 30 for 3. The only assistance he had in Wellington was the two dropped catches. He got nothing else from India. They tried to force him into playing a rash stroke by bowling restricting lines to leg-side fields. McCullum defended, without giving them a chance. They tried to force him into playing a rash stroke by bowling teasing lines to an open off-side field, especially with the second new ball. McCullum attacked, without giving them a chance.Ravindra Jadeja was at New Zealand all day, doing the job he had failed to do in the first Test. His 26 overs went for 120 in the first innings in Auckland. He conceded 49 runs in 26 overs this time. He choked McCullum and BJ Watling with a leg-side field and a line from over the stumps. Both batsmen defended, and then defended some more. On the rare occasion that Jadeja was too short or too full, they made sure he was taken for boundaries. There was nothing in the pitch for the spinner, and New Zealand ensured they were not going to create anything for him on their own.Jadeja’s run squeeze meant India’s fast bowlers had more reason to come hard, which they did. Zaheer Khan has been largely accurate with his lines in this series, but the intensity had been palpably lacking. He made up for it with an eight-over opening spell that yielded two wickets. He never let McCullum and Watling feel they were in. Over the stumps. Round the stumps. Moving midwicket back, moving square leg in. Seaming it in, seaming it out. It was a terrific display from the bowler. The batsmen needed luck to survive Zaheer today. They needed the ball to beat that outside edge, for there were plenty they were not going to middle. You could argue that McCullum and Watling deserved that luck for the way they denied themselves.Mohammed Shami could have tested New Zealand more had he been more consistent. He is a bowler who will produce an unplayable one every now and then, and he did that today as well. However, he also dropped it short on occasion and when he did, McCullum and Watling were around to take toll.Ishant Sharma had been awkward to handle in the first innings, and he made the ball kick and seam in again. McCullum and Watling were hit on the pads several times. Even after playing 195 balls and batting on 94, McCullum missed and took one on the leg off Ishant. Just when you were pondering over the replay with the ball-tracker, he walloped the next one for six and was raising his bat for another hundred.”Him going from 94 to 100 with a six certainly caught me by surprise,” said Bob Carter, the New Zealand batting coach. “Suddenly I was sitting down thinking about the ball that had just beaten him. All of a sudden he was hitting it for six.”What more could India have done against McCullum? Dhoni had men in catching positions through the day. Slips, gully, short mid-on, short midwicket, short leg. He tried in-and-out fields. He tried reducing and increasing the number of slips. He left third man vacant. He brought point in, he sent him back. He left cover and extra cover vacant with the second new ball. He still kept going with his specialist bowlers, not trying any part-timer.But here was the king of indulgence starving himself, gorging in between, then returning to starve again. Alongside was a sidekick in perpetual hibernation. It was the day McCullum batted nearly six hours, and yet made only 114, despite going almost run a ball from fifty to hundred. It was a day to come out second-best despite giving it all. It was a day to hold a hand out to your opponent and say: “Well played, captain.”

After a forgettable start, Kolkata Knight Riders built strong with foundations brick by brick and withstood the Kings XI Punjab storm to emerge winners again

Devashish Fuloria02-Jun-2014

Where they finished

Winners, for the second time in three years

What went right

After what seemed a customary start, everything. Match by match, brick by brick, Kolkata Knight Riders built themselves into a formidable team with rock-solid foundations, something they needed to withstand the rampaging Kings XI Punjab team in the final. To win nine games on the trot was no mean feat; to do so after losing five games out of seven was truly special.Knight Riders’ bowling prowess was never in dispute. With Sunil Narine continuing to be the mystery he has been in the two previous seasons, the team only gives their opposition a maximum of 16 hittable overs. That is 10% of the game in your hand even before the start of the match. Add to that the potency that Shakib Al Hasan’s left-arm spin has brought to the team this season and it’s easier to see why even a team like Kings XI Punjab have struggled against them. With an economy of 7.51, Knight Riders were the most difficult attack to score runs against.It was Knight Riders’ batting ability that was under some doubt and the results in the first seven matches only accentuated it. Unlike most other teams, they didn’t have any explosive players. But unlike other teams, they didn’t need that too much because of their strong bowling. What they needed was consistency, some clarity on their batting orders. And it came when the team landed back in India. Gautam Gambhir had shaken off his misery at the start of the tournament and was scoring runs and Robin Uthappa’s promotion to the top totally swung things around.After two losses in their first two games on the India leg, Knight Riders rode along with Uthappa to chase down five targets in five matches – all of them with ease. Among those five, the six-wicket win against Mumbai Indians was the tightest one, showing the high note their batsmen had hit. Uthappa piled on runs with unheard of consistency; the rest rallied around him to soon make it eight wins in a row as Knight Riders marched to their second final in three years.In the final though, Uthappa failed, so did Gambhir after their bowling had already cracked under Kings XI Punjab’s onslaught. Faced with the gargantuan task of chasing down 200, Knight Riders eventually quelled the doubts about their big-hitting capability. Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan powered 10 sixes between them during a 71-run stand between them. Then just at the right time, Piyush Chawla hooked Mitchell Johnson for a six too, rounding off a perfect campaign.

Key stat

Seven of Knight Riders’ nine wins came batting second. It was no wonder they chose to bat second in the final and even though it looked like the plan had backfired, they managed to pull it off.

Best player

When the league had moved back to India, Robin Uthappa, with 97 runs from five matches, was 23rd in the list of leading run-getters in the season, 203 behind Glenn Maxwell. In the next 10 matches though, Uthappa added 558 from 10 matches, driving past everyone else in the race and assuming the lead position. It has been some acceleration from Uthappa, who was thought to be a spent force in the IPL circuit. His remarkable run though not only brought rewards on a personal level – he is back in the national team for the tour to Bangladesh – but it also lent Knight Riders concrete-like solidity. With a lowest score of 40 in 10 innings (before the final), Uthappa became to batting what Narine was to Knight Riders’ bowling.

Poor performer

For someone who smashed the ball around to register the fastest IPL fifty, it would probably be a bit harsh to say he was the weak link in the team. But it is not actually. Take out that 72 and all Yusuf Pathan has to show are 196 runs from 11 innings. He threatened to play an important role in the final, but left the team in lurch after giving them hope. In four season with Knight Riders, Yusuf has received so much support from his team management but has only had a spike or two to show for it. When Knight Riders were struggling to start well in the early stages, a lot depended on Yusuf to take the team to safety. However, he continued to falter game after game. Gambhir turned around his poor run, but not Yusuf. In India, he had the advantage of strong starts, but still couldn’t fire, continuing to live up to the billing of the promise that never was.

Surprise package

For someone rated as one of the best allrounders in international game, Shakib Al Hasan had played smaller, defined roles in the Knight Riders set-up in the past. Bowling has been his stronger suit, but this year Shakib raised the stakes as a batsman. His 227 runs gave the fragile middle-order some girth and his ability to ramp up the pace of scoring lent much-needed intent. It all came together in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore when he partnered Uthappa in a 119-run stand for the fourth wicket that took less than 12 overs and scored 60 off just 38 balls. Shakib’s all-round form kept Jacques Kallis, a proven stalwart, out of the Knight Riders’ XI.

Memorable moment

Chris Lynn’s acrobatic effort at the boundary in the match against Royal Challengers helped Knight Riders sneak out a two-run win has to be the wow moment. It was a catch that one cannot rehearse during practice and is likely to remain part of cricket’s freak moments show reel. As he moved to his left, Lynn slipped, then steadied himself on his one knee, kept eyes on the ball, dived backwards and managed to keep the composure to stay inside the boundary. The catch won Knight Riders an important match during the early stages when their batting was suffering collapses in almost every game.

Unused players

Veer Pratap Singh, Sayan Mondal, Kuldeep Yadav and Debabrata Das

The World T20 has been simmering during its qualifying round, but the big boys have descended and Bangladesh have almost made the Super 10. It’s about to boil over

Alan Gardner20-Mar-2014The first few days have established the atmosphere nicely, aided by Bangladesh’s sashaying around their own party looking like a million dollars, but the hubbub is about to increase noticeably. The A-listers have arrived, hoovering up the remaining canapés, distracting the snappers and showing off their entourages. Only the bolshevism shown by Ireland looks like preventing the Super 10 stage from resembling a Full Members’ club, as notions of equality and opportunity are replaced by the established batting order.The World T20, in all its unpredictable, telegenic, effervescent glory, has established itself as a tournament that gives with both hands: the games come thick and fast, high in calorie content and E-numbers, but the weight is quickly shed. With a few vigorous blows a batsman is back in form, while bowlers can “leave it all on the field” during a maximum of four overs, safe in the knowledge that they are expected to get tonked anyway. Supporters gorge themselves on boundaries and ambient pop (sic), then go home, move on.Neither is it just a warm-up for the forthcoming IPL. International rivalry has always been cricket’s strongest conduit of support and the near certainty that the hosts will qualify for the Super 10 stage sets up Dhaka as the jumping-est joint in the country. Group 2, while forbiddingly tough, will allow Bangladesh the opportunity to have a fresh crack at snooty neighbours India and Pakistan, who will resume their own argument over the garden hedge in a hotly anticipated opening to the second round on Friday evening.The port city of Chittagong, once known for its Portuguese settlements, will welcome hopefuls from Europe, Africa and Australia, though Sri Lanka’s local knowledge will be expected to help them chart a course through Group 1. At around the same time, an expanded women’s tournament will also begin in the more genteel surroundings of the new Sylhet stadium, located in a tea garden.Bangladesh and Ireland will be making their maiden appearances at the Women’s World T20, with ten teams contesting 27 matches over 15 days. Two-time defending champions Australia are in the opposite pot to England, winners of the inaugural competition in 2009, with West Indies, New Zealand and India likely to also come into contention. The semi-finals and finals will again take place as double-headers with the men’s events, though in a country with a female prime minister and where crowds in the thousands turned out to watch games at the women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2011, healthy attendances will be hoped for throughout.In the men’s competition, it is simpler to suggest who probably won’t win it than who will. In four previous tournaments, there have been four different winners, which is indicative of T20’s capacity for mischief. The specialist planning and bespoke technique teams come up with for the format has made it something akin to hit ‘n goggle but good old-fashioned confidence and momentum will play a key role in whoever carries off the title this time.Of the eight sides entering at the second round, England and South Africa look the most peaky, especially given the conditions. India’s recent results have also been poor and they have only played one T20 international since December 2012. A few weeks ago, West Indies, the defending champions, would have also been bracketed with the long-shots, having suffered a fifth T20 defeat in a row, against Ireland, but the signs in the warm-ups games suggest that they are rousing themselves at the perfect time once again.One of the favourites, Australia, have Aaron Finch, but no Mitchell Johnson. One of their spinners is a veteran, the other is very raw•Getty ImagesSri Lanka, ranked No. 1 in the world, certainly have form. They have an unenviable record of failing in recent finals – including at the last World T20 at home – but will gain confidence from putting away mercurial geniuses Pakistan in the Asia Cup earlier this month. Will the impending retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene inspire a dash to victory or could the emotion cause Sri Lanka to choke up again?Pakistan have been the best team in the World T20’s short history, never failing to make the semi-finals. The charge against them is that they bowl with brio but bat like brioche (soft, light and easy to tear apart). The latter tendency came to the fore again on Wednesday, dismissed for 71 by South Africa in Fatullah. Best get them out of the way beforehand, eh?According to the bookmakers, the mantle of favourites apparently lies with Australia, perhaps draped especially around the broad shoulders of Aaron Finch, one of the few men who can rival Chris Gayle in a destruction derby. The loss of Mitchell Johnson to injury will deny them a valuable weapon on slower pitches, however, and exacting questions will be asked of their spin options, which include 43-year-old Brad Hogg (international debut: 1996) and 20-year-old James Muirhead (international debut: January 2014). Then there is New Zealand, who a wise man never discounts.The Commonwealth Games are known as the “friendly games” and so far Bangladesh has united in a display of colour and confraternity to put on the “friendly T20”. There are likely to be some flashes of enmity on the field but T20’s spirit of hedonism should quickly subsume all other emotions. The first five days of the tournament served something of a noble purpose; now, at least until the knockout stages begin, it is time for guilty pleasures.