Plays of the day from the match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, in Dubai

Devashish Fuloria23-Apr-2014The catchsmith
The moment Brendon McCullum made contact with the ball on the second delivery of the sixth over, it looked like the ball was aiming for the top of Burj Khalifa. It didn’t have the legs though. As the ball descended behind midwicket, three fielders converged towards it. Abhishek Nayar, running backwards from midwicket was the closest to it. Stuart Binny, running in from deep midwicket probably had the best chance. But Steven Smith hared along from mid-on, going backwards, slightly sideways, dived, overtook Nayar while in mid-air and let the ball be absorbed into his spongy palms.The whacksmith
Dwayne Smith probably still remembers James Faulkner’s barbs from the World T20. His four consecutive hits that quickly put the lid on the bowler’s post-Steven-Smith-catch elation certainly showed his liking for Faulkner. The first ball after McCullum’s dismissal was smashed over long-leg, the second was delicately cut past short third-man, the third drilled past the bowler and the fourth whacked over long-off. He also had taken eight runs from four balls off Faulkner earlier.The run-out
Chennai Super Kings’ innings hit a roadblock as soon as the slower bowlers were introduced. The dismissals of Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina in quick succession meant a lot depended on MS Dhoni and Faf du Plessis to take Super Kings to safety. However, as Dhoni punched a Rajat Bhatia delivery back towards the bowler, his heart would have been in his mouth as the bowler dived to his right to attempt the catch. Bhatia didn’t get the ball, but did get a wicket – he managed to get a touch before the ball hit the stumps. Du Plessis was faffing about a couple of meters down the pitch.The wides
You could see what Dhawal Kulkarni was trying to do in his third over – the 17th of Super Kings’ innings. Afterall, not too long ago, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara had employed the same plan of bowling wide yorkers to dig India into a hole in the World T20 final. It didn’t quiet come off as well for Kulkarni. Targetting the wide marker, Kulkarni bowled four wides – three of them in a row – which took the sheen off his otherwise impressive spell.The juggle
The army-camouflage print wicketkeeping gloves that MS Dhoni so loves proved to be less than useful as the white-ball refused to go into them after Steven Smith had missed the ball in the 10th over of the chase. Smith, out of the crease, turned back in despair to see the ball had hit Dhoni on the wrists before popping up. Dhoni still had time to grab the ball and takes the bails off, but the ball kept on going away, allowing the batsman to get back into the crease.The misjudgement
Dhawal Kulkarni sent a few tremors down towards the Super Kings camps as he hit 14 in three balls in R Ashwin’s final over to bring down the equation to 10 needed off the last two deliveries. Although he wasn’t able to time the penultimate delivery, he needed at least two from it to keep the possibility of a tie open. Pravin Tambe, however, showed a lack of awareness of the situation as he tried to turn down the second. He belatedly responded to Kulkarni’s call only to be run out at the non-striker’s end and bring the match to a close.

The one-time master of a vast arsenal of strokes has smelted down his technique as age catches up with him. How he and his side have benefited

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-May-2014Eventually we all get old, and time erodes the faculties that quickened us in youth. For athletes, the slide is more acute. By 35, age has begun to diminish most batsmen; the reflexes slacken, the power fades, the feet grow heavy.For so long, TIllakaratne Dilshan had defied this inevitability of life. He was the man who refused to grow up – an impetuous whirr of wrists and blade, coiled menacingly at the crease, slashing outside off and hooking on the front foot. He has been the oldest man in the Sri Lanka team for some years, but as he smirked on behind his designer beard, it had been an odd truth to comprehend. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were elder statesmen. Dilshan was always a rogue.But there is no escape. Age gives no quarter. Over the past 18 months, fans watched as Dilshan’s feet became less sure. The whips through midwicket used to send the ball clattering into the advertising hoardings, but now the stumps were rattled instead. The bouncers he once bludgeoned to the fence, left bruises on his chest.It can’t have been an easy truth for Dilshan to accept. At 37, he is still said to make the most mischief in the dressing room. When he takes a fine catch, or claims a tough wicket, no one celebrates with more vigour. Yet, for all his on-field arrogance, he has come to terms with a kind of defeat. Finally dimmed by time, the one-time master of a vast arsenal of strokes, smelted down his technique. Now only a few sharp weapons of torment remain.On Sunday, Dilshan hit 28 of his 88 runs in boundaries. Not one of the seven fours was from his rasping cover drive. There were no wristy flicks to the legside fence. He pulled twice for four, but of those, one was off Ravi Bopara’s ambling pace, and he had waited on the back foot for the other, off Chris Jordan. Even the scoop he played off Bopara, was the garden-variety over-the-shoulder variant, not the overhead deflection he had ridden to acclaim several years ago. Once a peddler of ravishing early-innings impetus, Dilshan has become a prolific purveyor of the mundane.

A street fighter through and through, Dilshan knows only to roll with the punches, even those as bruising as his own waning talents.

And how he and his team has gained from it. Since his breakthrough 2009, Dilshan’s strike rate has dipped gradually every year, but his innings have grown in substance. In 2013, he had his richest 12 months yet, piling on 1160 runs at 61.05, though he had not scored so slowly since 2006. He had been the slow-burn that helped sink South Africa in a home series, while Sangakkara lay waste to that attack around him. He had ground New Zealand down late in the year, and defied Australia at home at its beginning.Dilshan has only played four ODIs in 2014, thanks to a hand-injury, but the 88 off 101 balls at Chester-le-Street was formed of the new measure and forethought a younger Dilshan might have scoffed at. He came down the track five times to James Tredwell, who went slowly through the air and pitched mouth-wateringly full, but until the bowler dropped one short and wide, Dilshan had no greater ambition than to push him away for a single. Even Sangakkara would not be so patient, sinking to his knees as he tried to heave Tredwell over the infield, against the turn. That stroke brought Sangakkara’s end.The smart running between wickets that had once been a sidelight of his cricket has now become its bedrock. When he strikes the ball well, he tears out of the crease, almost in reflex, before reason kicks in and he looks up to see where the fielders are.”That was an exceptional performance from Dilshan,” captain Angelo Mathews said after the match. “The character he showed – he was in doubt before the game, he was carrying a niggle – but the physio worked on him and his character paid off.”For all his new prudence with the bat, Dilshan still does the work of young men in the field. In the Powerplays, he stalks at backward point, where the sharpest earn their keep. In the middle overs, he ranges the deep, square of the wicket, where only the quick survive. At the death, he guards the straight boundaries that batsmen seek to clear. There are no cushy positions at short fine leg or mid-on. Here is the last bastion of his defiance.An 18th ODI hundred beckoned when Dilshan let an indipper from Jordan pass between bat and pad. It had been a fine delivery, but a batsman with tighter technique might have kept it out. Dilshan is no technician. A street fighter through and through, Dilshan knows only to roll with the punches, even those as bruising as his own waning talents.

South Africa need search no more for a batting successor to Jacques Kallis in one-day cricket

Firdose Moonda02-Sep-2014There’s just something about Australia that gets Faf du Plessis’ back up. His first Test ton came against them in a declaration of determination. His first ODI century was against them too, an announcement of aggression.Now du Plessis has moved past the introductions with a second one-day hundred against the team considered the most confrontational around, and it is this innings that will secure him his preferred position for the foreseeable future. “It was one of the best hundreds I’ve seen in a long time,” AB de Villiers, South Africa’s captain, said. “I am very proud of Faf. He has cemented that No.3 spot.”One-drop is a soft spot for South Africa because for the better part of the last two decades it has belonged to Jacques Kallis or – when Kallis was see-sawing between availability and unavailability – to a place-holder. Colin Ingram was one, JP Duminy another, and du Plessis the third, though he was always the one most likely regarded as the crown prince should the king ever need permanent replacing.Du Plessis successfully took over Kallis’ position in Tests and has now started doing the same in ODIs. He is able to step into the giant shoes not because he is more talented than the other candidates but because he has a better understanding of the role.Like Kallis, du Plessis’ job is to provide stability. “My job is to score hundreds, so I tick that box,” he said. But unlike Kallis, who often performed rescue jobs for South Africa but seldom won 50-over games later in his career, du Plessis sees his job as being to see South Africa through. “But when you score a hundred, getting a team across the line is always sweeter.”This time he was not able to do that because he lacked support. Du Plessis acknowledged a middle-order meltdown left him stranded and he did not feel in control. “Even though we were going well and I was scoring the runs, it was a little too far away with us losing wickets all the time. I never felt quite close enough to get us over the line,” he said. “That was the difference with the previous game. We had a good partnership there – myself and AB. Forty and 30-run partnerships are not going to win you the game.”Neither is bleeding 60 runs in five-over bursts, and when asked to identify where South Africa lost the match, du Plessis said it was more with the ball than the bat. “If we have to pinpoint where we lost the game, it’s probably in Mitchell Marsh’s innings,” he said. “We probably took our foot off the gas to Marsh and he demolished us and that’s the difference between winning and losing. In that period, we weren’t on the money.”Even after Marsh had proved stroke-making did not have be stuttering, no South African batsman besides du Plessis played fluently and he believed conditions had something to do with that. “The way the wickets play here is a big reason for that. The ball gets slower so it’s difficult when you come in as a new batter to score runs because they bring the field up and it’s tricky to get singles. Once you push them out, it becomes easier.”When du Plessis gets the balance between attack and defence right, like Kallis, getting into his head or under his skin is difficult, and he seems to be in such a place now. “I am batting nicely but definitely not on top of my game. I can improve a lot,” he said. “What’s really important is that when you are in some sort of form you need to make sure you get big runs, because it can change very quickly and then 30 runs seems a long way away, so I need to make sure I keep putting in big runs for this team.”That may serve as a warning for Australia, after Marsh said seeing du Plessis step on his stumps was, “probably the only way we were going to get him out,” and that he had played a “special innings.”For du Plessis, the method of dismissal was not as amusing as it was disappointing. “It was ridiculous. It’s not nice when you are hitting the ball nicely like that. I knew I had to do something to get us across the line but you learn from these things,” du Plessis said. “Next time I will make sure I am not as deep in the crease.”Next time Australia know they will be in for another fight.

The Plays of the day from the final league match, between Zimbabwe and South Africa, of the tri-series

Firdose Moonda04-Sep-2014Dot of the day After two first-ball ducks in his first two matches, Rilee Rossouw must have been nervous when he geared up to face the first ball in his third match. It would be delivered by Neville Madziva, who he had not faced before. Although it would not stop the possibility of a run-out, which is how Rossouw was dismissed on debut at least Madziva was unlikely to make it turn and take the edge, which is how Rossouw became part of Prosper Utseya’s hat-trick in his second game. Rossouw was greeted with a good length ball on offstump which he blocked boldly, striding forward and presenting the full face of the bat. The stroke was met with cheeky applause from the change-room because, for the first time in his ODI career, Rossouw would face a second delivery. He smiled, mostly in relief.Run of the day And on the next delivery, Rossouw registered his first international runs when Madiva grew a little too generous. He bowled it a little full, a little wide and Rossouw leaned into a cover drive and watched the ball roll to the boundary. This time the dressing room’s clapping was genuine and Rossouw’s grin was much wider and even Faf du Plessis, who was batting with him, walked to Rossouw’s end of the pitch to offer congratulations which included a pat on the helmet and a hug. Almost the stuff of a half-century.Stat of the day Rossouw would not go on to enjoy the festivities that accompany a fifty because he was foxed by a sharp turner from Sean Williams and was bowled for 36 off 39 balls. His first three innings: 0(1), 0(1) and 36 (39) which is eerily similar to someone else’s first three ODI knocks which read: 0(2), 0(2) and 36 (39). Guess who the second person is? Sachin Tendulkar. Rossouw will likely take that as a good omen.Run-out of the day After AB de Villiers was run-out thinking the ball had been flicked fine of the keeper when it had in fact dropped at his feet in South Africa’s first match of this triangular, he may have thought things would not get more bizarre but they did. De Villiers was going nicely on 16 off 18 balls and was at the non-striker’s end with Faf du Plessis on 49 and was anxious to get his team-mate and childhood friend to a sixth fifty on the Zimbabwe tour. De Villiers had stepped well out of his crease at the non-striker’s end when du Plessis pushed a Nyumbu delivery back to the bowler who fluffed the return chance. But in moving across the pitch, Nyumbu was in the line of the ball’s path and it deflected off him and hit the stumps. De Villiers had his bat in the air as he tried to get back in time and was short of his ground. .Wicket of the day Rossouw’s day had cause for a double celebration when he was called on to turn his arm over because South Africa did not have a third spinning option. During Rossouw’s first over – the 26th – South Africa were assured of their place in the final because that was when Zimbabwe needed to reach the target by if they wanted to play on Saturday, but during his second, Rossouw picked up a wicket. He sent down a juicy short ball that asked to be hit over midwicket but Elton Chigumbura could only find the fielder. Not only did that gave Rossouw his first international run and wicket on the same day, but it also gave him his first wicket in any limited-overs match.Idea of the day Without a second specialist spinner in the XI, South Africa were toggling between Aaron Phangiso, JP Duminy and Rossouw but when AB de Villiers ran out of ideas, he chose to go with what he knows best – himself. De Villiers marked out a run-up at the start of the 35th over and gave the ball a little twirl before jogging up and delivering his first. It went down the leg-side and kept moving away to trickle for a wide plus one. De Villiers’ second delivery was no better – also a wide. And later in the over he was hit for six by Brendan Taylor. Maybe that was not such a good idea after all.

With four overs to go, Australia’s chances of victory were slim, but not impossible. Instead, Steven Smith was simply content that the Border-Gavaskar trophy was back in their grasp

Brydon Coverdale30-Dec-20143:24

‘Our priority was to win the series’ – Smith

In the first innings in Adelaide, India lost their last three wickets in the space of 20 balls.In the second innings in Adelaide, India lost their last three wickets in the space of 18 balls.In the first innings at the MCG, India lost their last three wickets in the space of 16 balls.In the second innings at the MCG, India’s last 24 balls did not get bowled.Australia’s captain Steven Smith chose not to bother. Instead, he shook the hand of his Indian counterpart MS Dhoni and walked off, happy with a draw. Content that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was won.Five days this Test match had been going, 2623 balls had been bowled. With a win still possible, if unlikely, Australia chose not to worry about the last 24 deliveries. The fans in the stands wondered why, why did we sit around waiting for this limp conclusion?A lot can happen in 24 deliveries. It is a Twenty20 bowler’s entire match workload. It is three balls longer than it took Misbah-ul-Haq to score the fastest fifty in Test cricket, against Australia last month.Four overs to go. Four Indian wickets. Given the fragility of their tail, breaking the Dhoni-Ashwin partnership would have given Australia a chance of victory. A slim chance, maybe, but a chance all the same. They denied themselves that chance, happy to take a 2-0 lead to Sydney.”I don’t think there was a win still there to be honest,” Smith said after play. “All our bowlers were pretty cooked and it was time to finish. There wasn’t much breaking up in the wicket, there wasn’t much going on. I think that was it.”It is true that the Melbourne drop-in surface was offering little assistance. And it was true that Smith’s fast bowlers had worked hard. But they didn’t have to bowl those last four overs.Smith could have bowled them himself, with Nathan Lyon. Or David Warner could have sent down some leggies, if his bruised arm allowed him to. Yes, a win was unlikely, but you just never know what can happen.Against India at the SCG seven years ago, Michael Clarke took three wickets in one over to deliver one of the most remarkable victories, in a match overshadowed by on-field and off-field spitefulness. He did it with six minutes remaining in the Test.Here at the MCG, there were 24 balls left. Four overs that will never be bowled. Three Indian tailenders thanking their lucky stars that Smith was so generous. More than 14,000 spectators wondering why.A lot can happen in 24 balls.

Several Zimbabwe players, both fringe and veteran, impressed in a recent internal practice game, and with only five ODIs scheduled till the World Cup, the team will be looking to make the most of their upcoming tour to Bangladesh

Firdose Moonda14-Oct-2014Zimbabwe’s key batsmen, including Test captain Brendan Taylor and openers Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, scored half-centuries in a practice match ahead of their trip to Bangladesh, but their promising form was overshadowed by impressive displays from the fringe players.Middle-order batsman Peter Moor and left-arm spinners Wellington Masakadza and Herbert Chikomba put in performances which may force their way into the touring party, as Zimbabwe embark on their first three-Test series in more than a decade, and the only ODIs they will play ahead of next year’s World Cup.Preparation for the visit to Bangladesh has been intense, with a lengthy training camp in Harare followed by a Chairman’s XI v President’s XI internal game played at the Triangle Country Club in Masvingo. Conditions in Masvingo are thought to be as close as Zimbabwe can get to replicating the conditions in the subcontinent, with heat, humidity, low bounce and slow turn on offer. Head Stephen Mangongo told there is a “huge similarity,” to what Zimbabwe will face in Bangladesh.As a result, Mangongo was pleased to see Taylor and Masakadza prosper in those conditions, but was equally excited by the pressure put on them from that.”Senior guys like Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor have batted for more than 40 overs and that is what we expect of them,” Mangongo said. “But Craig Ervine has also shown good occupation at the crease.”Ervine returned to the Zimbabwean fold this month after an 18-month absence in which he played club cricket in Ireland and Australia and waited for the financial situation in Zimbabwe to stabilise. When he last played for Zimbabwe, on their trip to West Indies in March 2013, he was their top scorer in all formats and is expected to be part of the squad to tour Bangladesh to bolster the team’s middle-order.Another possibility for that role is Moor, who was a member of Zimbabwe’s Under-19 World Cup squads in 2008 and 2010. Although Moor’s domestic numbers have not been outstanding, he scored a century for President’s XI and was identified by Mangongo as one of the “exciting upcoming players,” to keep an eye on.In the bowling department, Zimbabwe are also likely to see some new faces, as they search for a replacement for Prosper Utseya, who was suspended from bowling because of an illegal action. Greg Lamb has come out of retirement and is likely to be taken to Bangladesh along with John Nyumbu but Zimbabwe will need other options too. “Utseya is a big player and would have added value to the side,but when one door closes another one opens,” Mangongo said. “It could be a chance for the younger players to show what they can do and that also includes Wellington Masakadza.”Wellington, the younger brother of Hamilton and Shingi, claimed eight wickets in the match, including six in an innings for President and six in one innings for the President’s XI. He will likely compete for attention with Chikomba, who was part of Zimbabwe’s most recent Under-19 World Cup squad and took three wickets on Tuesday to dent President’s XI’s chase.Ultimately it was not enough, as the team led by Taylor won the fixture by three wickets, but individual performances, rather than the result, were more important in this game. Zimbabwe are expected to name their squad to tour Bangladesh on Wednesday. The three-Test series gets underway on October 25.

Stats highlights from the game between Bangladesh and Scotland in Nelson

Bishen Jeswant05-Mar-2015156 Runs scored by Kyle Coetzer, the highest World Cup score by any batsman from a current non-Test nation. The previous highest was Klaas Jan van Noortwijk’s 134 not out for Netherlands against Namibia in the 2003 World Cup.141 The partnership between Coetzer and Preston Mommsen, the highest for Scotland in a World Cup match. It was their first 100-plus stand for any wicket in a World Cup match.95 Runs scored by Tamim Iqbal, the most for any Bangladesh batsman in a World Cup game. The previous highest was Mohammad Ashraful’s 87 in Bangladesh’s win against South Africa during the 2007 World Cup.2 Number of Bangladesh batsmen who have scored 4000-plus ODI runs. Tamim became the second batsman to reach this mark during his innings of 95. He now has 4085 ODI runs. The other Bangladesh batsman to have gone past this milestone is Shakib Al Hasan.139 The partnership between Tamim and Mahmudullah, the highest for Bangladesh in World Cups. Bangladesh’s only other 100-plus stand in World Cups also came during this tournament, against Afghanistan in Canberra, where Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib posted 114 runs for the fifth wicket.318 Scotland’s total, their highest in World Cups and the second-highest for any non-Test nation. The only higher World Cup total by a non-Test nation was Ireland’s 329 during their successful chase against England in the 2011 tournament.0 Number of times Bangladesh had previously chased down a 250-plus target in World Cups. They achieved their target of 319 in this ODI, which was in fact their highest successful chase in ODIs. This is also the second-highest score in a successful chase in World Cup history.1 Number of times that an Associate batsman has made a 150-plus score in a losing cause. Coetzer’s 156 in this game was the first such instance. Overall, this has happened 10 times in all ODIs.

Since India’s line-up comes with a reputation for piling it on, South Africa want everyone firing, and Faf du Plessis is the batsman who needs igniting

Firdose Moonda in Melbourne20-Feb-2015A South African, an Australian and a cricket pitch. You think you know where this is going, right? Wrong.The protagonists were eye to eye but only for as long as it took for Michael Hussey to adjust the grill of Faf du Plessis’ helmet. The South African No. 3 may not let many Australians get that close to his face but Hussey is different.For much of the tail end of a lengthy training session – South Africa’s third in as many days – Hussey gave du Plessis throwdowns. “Start on a good length and then we can do a bit more,” du Plessis instructed. After a few deliveries, Hussey noticed something. He stopped delivering the ball, approached du Plessis, rearranged the helmet and then seemed to explain something about du Plessis’ head falling away as he stepped into his stroke.Those little things are what Hussey is there for as South Africa prepare for a crunch clash with India where they expect the battle lines to be drawn on batting prowess. Since India’s line-up comes with a reputation for piling it on, South Africa want everyone firing and du Plessis is the batsman who needs igniting.He last scored a century 13 innings ago, in the triangular tournament in Zimbabwe and although he has managed three half-centuries since then, he had a particularly poor tour of Australia last November. He scored just 97 runs across the five matches and was out to short balls three times, a delivery which rose off a length once and a slower ball delivered by Pat Cummins in the final game. His struggles seem to be in shot selection and that was what Hussey appeared to be assisting him with.But there would have been other things Hussey would have been talking to du Plessis about too. The Australian media have dubbed Hussey South Africa’s “anti-choking” coach, whose calm demeanour and patience they hope will rub off on a team which has proved pliable under pressure in the past. Du Plessis is one of the men who have cracked before, notably at the 2011 World Cup where he was involved in the on-filed scuffle and run-out which saw South Africa’s quarter-final chase unravel and even though he has matured much since then, he has not been tested under similar heat.If anyone has the advice which will cool him down, it will be Hussey. The duo are IPL team-mates whose relationship developed from competition for the same spot and has blossomed into a friendship celebrated with wine, appreciative tweets and now, net sessions.When Hussey was unavailable for Chennai Super Kings for the first half of the 2012 season because of international commitments, du Plessis was asked to replace him at the top of the order. He exceeded expectations and struck three fifties in 12 innings which caught the eye of even the South African selectors who saw the sense in deploying du Plessis higher up the order. It took time before the No. 3 spot become permanently available in both Tests and ODIs but in that time, du Plessis established himself, both at the IPL and as international cricketer.He made his Test debut in Adelaide and on the eve of the match, Hussey presented him with a bottle of some of his country’s best. Du Plessis may have thought he’d have to use it for drowning sorrows after Australia posted a towering 550, of which Hussey contributed a century. Instead, du Plessis drank the wine in celebration of his own maiden century and a saved Test.Later that summer, Hussey retired from Test cricket and du Plessis posted this: “Mike Hussey = Mr Cricket. Enough said.” His respect for his IPL team-mate was obvious, especially over the past three days in Melbourne.Hussey spent a lot of the first session he had with the team at St Kilda Cricket Club chatting with du Plessis and a significant part of the third working with him. Should it to translate into a big score come Sunday, South Africa will have another reason to eye a trophy come March 29. And the jibe about the South African, the Australian and the cricket pitch may be made a lot more times.

The modern tactic is to hold the big hitter back in T20s, but Rohit Sharma is much more than that and using him at No. 4 means he has to play a game he is no longer used to

Sidharth Monga in Ahmedabad14-Apr-20151:26

‘We haven’t found the perfect foundation’ – Pollard

When he was injured and when Ajinkya Rahane was scoring runs at the top of India’s ODI batting line-up, Rohit Sharma insisted he wanted to come back as an opener. Luckily for everyone involved, when Rohit came back to full fitness, it was time for Shikhar Dhawan to rest, and the returning opener announced his comeback with his second double-century in ODI cricket. Rohit at top and Rahane at No.4 went well for India in the World Cup except for the odd innings when Rahane struggled to turn the strike over in the middle order. Overall though, India had gone the conventional way: give your big century-maker enough balls to attempt that century.Not surprisingly Rohit wanted to continue opening for Mumbai Indians, but there had been resistance. While he has been opening for India in T20 internationals, Rohit had opened only twice for Mumbai before the start of this season. The think-tank still wanted him to bat in the middle, the modern way of wanting to give an explosive batsman only a certain number of deliveries lest he get confused. Rohit, who backs himself as better than just an explosive batsman, insisted he wanted to open. Being the captain, he had his way, and scored an unbeaten 98 in their first game of this IPL. The trademark Rohit explosion, though, came too late. Mumbai lost comfortably.You couldn’t blame Rohit, though: batsmen around him kept getting out, and the other big hitters – Aaron Finch, Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard – had struggled until this game. After the defeat to Kings XI Punjab, coming into the Ahmedabad game, the think-tank seemed to have convinced Rohit against his instinct. Admittedly it wasn’t the most auspicious of starts for this new experiment with Finch getting retired hurt on 10, but by then a slow platform had already been laid. Parthiv Patel and Unmukt Chand, both sent in ahead of Rohit, didn’t do much better either.Without using the hindsight of Rohit’s failure in this innings, he finds himself in an unusual situation. Unlike India, where other batsmen can pick up the slack if he falls early or even if he falls without making up for a slow start, this team is mostly Rohit or Nohit. Pollard and Anderson came good, but a bit like Harbhajan Singh’s fifty the other night, it shouldn’t have come to that, and once it did the rescue came too late.More importantly he will be asked to play a game that doesn’t come naturally to him if he asked to bat at No. 4 again. Or rather he has now scented a position that he feels is even better for him than the No. 4 where he has been pretty successful as a T20 player.When Rohit opens, especially in T20s, he gets just enough time to suss the conditions before cutting loose. Here Mumbai are sending ahead two batsmen, at least one of whom is there only to see out a few overs so that Rohit, Anderson and Pollard don’t have too long to bat.This is one of the modern theories. Like sneaking in an over from a part-time bowler just after the Powerplay, some teams consider it a success if a lesser batsman can see off a few overs and score at a run a ball. Sometimes it works – it used to with Parthiv and Chennai Super Kings – but by doing so you are not giving yourself the best possible chance to succeed; you are bringing luck into it. Luck is not getting a reprieve because the bowler overstepped – as it happened with Anderson today – luck is when Parthiv keeps slashing and edges keep falling safely. Mumbai didn’t have much of it in Ahmedabad.While Mumbai are the latest to encounter it, this is not an issue new to T20 and modern ODI cricket. Delhi Daredevils tried the same with Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy. There is no definite strategy that will work: Kings XI succeed with best batsmen in top slots, Super Kings by holding a big hitter back. Mumbai don’t have a straightforward answer either. This is not looking a batting line-up in form, and their bowling has weakened significantly from the time they won the title. One thing is for sure, though: wherever they use Rohit, they can’t afford to waste their best batsman.

He has been much derided, has had his share of luck and tested the faith shown in him. Now he has paid it back, and with this win, so has Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam09-Mar-2015If you like an underdog character in an underdog story, Mahmudullah is your man. He rode through a lot of criticism, tested the establishment’s faith, survived a bit of fortune, worked hard to lose some weight in the last two years and it culminated in him becoming Bangladesh’s first World Cup centurion. It was apt that the record went to a batsman who needed a big score on a big occasion.Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque had publicly stated they wanted the honour. Tamim missed out against Scotland by five runs while Anamul had to be withdrawn due to a shoulder injury. Mushfiqur Rahim is now the batting leader. Shakib Al Hasan the best allrounder in the world. In his 114th ODI, Mahmudullah needed this century more than any of Bangladesh’s top order players.From 8 for 2 in the third over, Mahmudullah held off James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who looked to be recovering from a lacklustre campaign. He rode his luck, provided stability at one end and looked after Soumya Sarkar when he played a couple of bad shots. They put on 86 runs for the third wicket and to a player like Soumya, only five ODIs old and in the middle of a high-pressure match, those mid-pitch talks are likely to stick for a long time.It is said when Shakib falls early, Bangladesh lose half the battle. Mahmudullah debunked that, adding 141 runs for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur. He reached fifty off 69 balls, with three fours and a slapped six over midwicket. He maintained that pace and reached his maiden ODI hundred from the next 62 balls, with four more boundaries and another six. Mahmudullah ended up on 103 off 138 balls, substance on a big occasion he has treasured for long.He slowed down after getting his century, but this was the tenacious Mahmudullah England know all too well. He was there to turn around a hopeless chase in the 2011 World Cup and ensure Bangladesh won by two wickets in Chittagong. The difference was he was a late-order spare batsman then, only necessary when the top and middle order failed.The last time we saw as big a smile in Mahmudullah’s face was when he led the team in a Gangnam jig, following Bangladesh’s 3-2 series win over West Indies in 2012. It was against West Indies again that he turned a corner in 2014. Later, he struck two smooth fifties against Zimbabwe and at the start of the World Cup, made sure an early wicket against Scotland didn’t bother Bangladesh’s chase.But things hadn’t gone quite so well in between. Mahmudullah averaged 34 and 26 in 2013 and 2014 (6.40 and 38.18 in Tests) during this time.At his best, Mahmudullah is a stylist. When out of form, he gropes and flounders. Within 12 months, he was stripped of his vice-captaincy, dropped once and was suspected of favoritism due to his relation with then captain Mushfiqur. There was no end to the vitriol and even the BCB president was getting impatient. He was dropped ahead of the Asia Cup, which drew the ire of Mushfiqur, who never openly backed Mahmudullah without cricketing reasons.An injury in the team brought Mahmudullah back, but he still wasn’t convincing in the regional 50-over tournament and the ODI series against India and West Indies.Mahmudullah was lucky to have lots of faith from Bangladesh set-up more luck, in tangible form, came in St Vincent in September last year. On the fourth day of the first Test against West Indies, when Bangladesh were trying to avoid a disaster, Mahmudullah scored his first Test fifty after 21 months. But within minutes, he pulled across the line and skied the ball and began to walk off, his head bowed. Kirk Edwards dropped the catch, he batted a little longer to repay the faith.He came back home, worked hard with trainer Mario Villavarayan to shed some pounds and continued his good run leading up to the World Cup. His celebration was evidence that Mahmudullah is not one without emotion. The last time he scored a century before this game was in a domestic first-class match in May last year. After reaching the three-figure mark he threw a hissy fit at his own team management and was banned for three matches.Shakib is perhaps the first superstar of Bangladesh cricket. But Mahmudullah, in essence, is Bangladesh. Much derided, riding on a bit of luck but operating on faith. He has paid it back, and with this win, so has Bangladesh.