The New Zealand quick is playing his third ODI World Cup, but the understated way he goes about things means he doesn’t always get the acclaim

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Oct-20233:22

Why has Matt Henry been so successful recently?

Four matches into this 2023 ODI World Cup, Matt Henry has nine wickets at an average of 18, and an economy rate of 4.84. This leaves him sandwiched between Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi (who also has nine) – two of the biggest names in fast bowling.Henry, 31, made his ODI debut in 2014, before Bumrah, and long before Afridi. His average of 25.67 and economy rate of 5.15, is broadly in the vicinity of Bumrah (23.52 and 4.61) and Afridi (23.17 and 5.50).Is he close to being among ODI seam bowling’s biggest names, then?Related

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Uhhh.Top ten?Eeeish.Has he played in two ODI World Cup finals – two more than Bumrah or Afridi have appeared in? Oh wow.Henry slides low, partly, you suspect, by design. No branded celebrations here, no dazzling actions, the limelight is fine way over there, thank you. He has been party to New Zealand’s greatest cricketing era as well as their finest fast-bowling years (closely linked phenomena, obvs), but has not known the popularity that Trent Boult and Tim Southee enjoy, not bowled with the fire that Neil Wagner hails from the skies, and not had the open-mouthed gasping over pure pace that Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne before him have had.Henry is a seam bowler from New Zealand’s great 2010s and early 2020s, but feels like a New Zealand seam bowler from the 2000s. Which is to say, aww well, y’know, he runs in every ball, bungs it down on a good length, and gets the new cherry to move in the air quite a bit and, oh, maybe he’s pretty good on his day don’t you worry. Often he has been the spare broom in the closet – the seamer New Zealand reach for when the higher-profile bowlers are unavailable.Over the last few years, however, he has won a place in the starting XI, displacing the likes of Southee, through sheer consistency of performance.Since the 2015 World Cup, only Boult has a better ODI average among bowlers with 35 or more wickets in the opening 10 overs. In that powerplay, and roughly the last eight-and-a-bit years, Henry averages 21.13, with 59 wickets and an economy rate of 4.19.Matt Henry has always been good with the new ball, but in this World Cup he’s striking in the middle as well•AFP/Getty ImagesIndia will remember him from the semi-final at Old Trafford four years ago. On as drizzly and miserable a Manchester morning that still allowed cricket could be imagined, Henry moved one away deliciously late to Rohit Sharma and took his edge, did virtually the same thing to KL Rahul, and had Dinesh Karthik caught at backward point. This was all in the first 10, which as we know, Henry dominates.He was less impressive when the swing disappeared, but even outside of Old Trafford, this has been the theme of his career. Since the start of the 2019 World Cup, his average through the middle overs (between the 11th and 40th overs) rises to 37.50.Yes, it is spinners who are expected to take wickets during this phase, but just to put Henry’s numbers in context, his average is worse than that of uninspiring dobblies merchants such as Dasun Shanaka and Colin de Grandhomme, but also Shardul Thakur who, by the way, is crushing this category, averaging 23.21 during the middle, which perhaps helps explain his ongoing inclusion by India.Even at the death, Henry has been modest. He’s had a worse economy rate than South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo, or West Indies quicks such as Sheldon Cottrell or Alzarri Joseph, whose team of course did not make this World Cup.But in this World Cup there has been an upending. Henry has been menacing when he has bowled early, sure. But in the middle and the death – this is where he has shined. If shining isn’t exactly Henry’s vibe, then glowed.Some highlights include the massive wicket of Jos Buttler in the 34th over of New Zealand’s tournament opener, when Henry got the ball to dart away a touch off the deck. Against Mushfiqur Rahim two games later, he bowled a slower one that deceived a supremely experienced batter, and rattled his stumps. This was in over 36.And then against Netherlands, two of his wickets came at the death.Of his nine wickets in this World Cup so far, six have come after the 33rd over. And he is about to bowl against India at a venue at which seamers tend to prosper even outside the first 10, in which Henry is a specialist. In 14 ODI innings in Dharamsala, seamers have taken 69 wickets at an average of 27.66.New Zealand, the only other team so far to go unbeaten apart from India, have plenty going for them outside of Matt Henry. But for once, it is impossible to ignore that Matt Henry has been instrumental to their advance.

In difficult batting conditions, with his team in a hole, KL Rahul held the fort from No. 6 – once again succeeding in a new role, something he’s done across formats

Sidharth Monga26-Dec-2023A Star Sports teaser for an interview with KL Rahul, aired during the Boxing Day lunch break, caught the eye as much as the hectic on-field action on a pitch loaded heavily in the favour of the fast bowlers. In the teaser, Rahul seemed to be talking of the mental and emotional toll criticism has taken on him over the years. He seemed to be talking calmly but what he said still sounded raw. “I couldn’t get out of my own head,” he said at one point.Only once the entire interview is aired will it be know if Rahul was talking about criticism from experts or online abuse. Either way, we sometimes assume too readily that professional cricketers are all trained to effectively block out unnecessary noise. Some of them cannot block it out, even when it is not well-informed and rigorous criticism.Besides, batting is such a capricious activity, it hardly needs outside help to drive its practitioners up the wall. Especially in conditions in which Rahul has often played Test cricket. While his average of 33 in 47 Tests (not counting this one) attracts raised eyebrows, the openers in Tests involving Rahul have averaged only 31. He spent two years out starting in 2019, and his stellar comeback in 2021 lasted all of 11 Tests, which included two superlative series in England and South Africa.Related

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The ups and downs of batting were on full display on day one of a yet another Rahul comeback. Rohit Sharma kept out good lengths before he found the one man in the deep with his favourite shot, the pull. He had middled the shot. Had it actually bounced higher – and thus been tougher to negotiate in theory – it would have cleared the fielder. Shubman Gill gloved one down the leg side even as the inexperienced South Africa struggled to find the full length.When Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli counterattacked, they enjoyed luck through dropped chances but both got unplayable deliveries from a fired-up Kagiso Rabada, who has single-handedly kept South Africa in the contest. Despite occasional luck on an otherwise unlucky day – lost toss, unexpected movement both horizontally and vertically, the nature of the dismissals – India found themselves at 107 for 5, soon to be 121 for 6.What a day then for Rahul to extend the batting line-up by agreeing to and wanting to keep wicket in Rishabh Pant’s absence. He has done this only once before in his first-class career. The physical toll it takes on someone not used to that kind of workload is immense, but Rahul would rather the physical toll than the mental one of sitting out. Team managements have also tried their best to have him on the park because he is too good to not be so.

Carrying out a craft whose practitioners tend to compulsively hang on to routines and batting positions, Rahul has now been successful in two completely different roles in all three formats. He is, quite simply, India’s most versatile batter of his time.

At the risk of indulging in some pop psychology, this scenario seems to be the perfect place for Rahul to be. It is clear by now that he is good enough to approach batting in many different ways and in all formats, which can sometimes give him too many options when he is beginning on a clean slate, when he has to set the tone at the top of the order. In the middle order, he has to purely react to situations. Even if you zoom out a little, when he has no choice but to do something specific to be in the side, that seems to work out better for him as we have seen in the shift to the middle order in the ODIs.Today, reacting purely to the uneven bounce, the sideways movement and the match situation, Rahul probably made one out and out mistake in a 105-ball stay for an unbeaten 70. Early on in his innings, he reacted instinctively to extra bounce and tried to hook from well outside off, and missed by a mile. After that, he did play and miss – it is impossible not to do so in these conditions – but hardly made any judgement errors.Immediately after that failed hook, he was presented another lifter. This one, though, was at his body and not as high. He still backed his shot given the ball was in the right area, and kept it down beautifully.The way South Africa were bowling, the first session was mostly about surviving Rabada and the debutant Nandre Burger. The others provided scoring opportunities too regularly. India were unlucky they couldn’t see off Rabada’s spell post-lunch without damage, but Rahul made sure he kept South Africa’s inexperienced support cast under pressure.Gloves or no gloves? KL Rahul’s happy either way•ICC/Getty ImagesRahul managed to hit a boundary every nine balls, and offered false response every 4.77 balls on a day that errors were committed every 3.64 balls overall. Batting with the lower order only freed him up more. The pitch anyway called for an attacking approach because pure survival was not easy.”He did what he does actually,” India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said after the day’s play. “He is turning out to be the man for crises for us. Every time there are tough situations, most of the times he’s there. He’s the guy who handles those situations very well.”India were quietly confident Rahul had carried them to a good total for the conditions. If he somehow manages to add 30 to his overnight score, Rahul will have scored a staggering six out of eight centuries outside Asia. He is a man who scored a 14-ball half-century when opening in T20s, and also had arguably his best IPL season batting in the middle order. He has bossed ODIs both as an opener and as a wicketkeeper-batter in the middle order. In different kinds of difficult conditions, he had waited 108 balls for his first boundary in England and today hit 12 boundaries in 105 balls.Carrying out a craft whose practitioners tend to compulsively hang on to routines and batting positions, Rahul has now been successful in two completely different roles in all three formats. He is, quite simply, India’s most versatile batter of his time. He just needs to do it for long enough now. At 31, he has the time on his side.

A recap of what’s happened with the pink ball at the Gabba, and someone overall numbers for Australia in day-night Tests

Andrew McGlashan24-Jan-2024

vs Pakistan, 2016-17

Asad Shafiq almost pulled off a miracle for Pakistan, getting them to within 40 of what would have been a world-record chase. Adding 71 with Yasir Shah into the final afternoon, Australia were getting nervous before a brute of a delivery from Mitchell Starc removed Shafiq for a brilliant 137.For the majority of the game, it never looked like being so close. Australia were in the early stages of rebuilding their batting order after the series loss to South Africa a few weeks earlier. Peter Handscomb had scored a maiden Test century in a stand of 172 with Steven Smith, while fellow newcomer Matt Renshaw made 71.In reply, Pakistan were blown away under lights on the second evening as Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird wreaked havoc. Hazlewood was on a hat-trick when he removed Babar Azam and Younis Khan.After opting not to enforce the follow-on Australia quickly built their lead before leaving a target of 490. There was more top-order resistance this time, but at 220 for 6 a comfortable victory was on the cards, particularly with another night session to come. That wasn’t how it worked out.

vs Sri Lanka, 2018-19

Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson enjoyed themselves against Sri Lanka five years ago•Getty ImagesDespite Australia coming off a series defeat to India, Sri Lanka were predictably overwhelmed by their pace attack. Pat Cummins led the way with what remains his career-best match figures while Jhye Richardson made a mark on his Test debut.It was Nathan Lyon who claimed the first wicket of the Test, but from then on it was the home side’s quicks who got to work. Sri Lanka were bundled out in little more than two sessions on the opening day, although Australia didn’t initially have it all their own way with the bat.Early on the second day they were 82 for 4 before Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head – at the time junior members of the team – added 166 for the fifth wicket.Cummins struck with the final ball of the second day and Australia did not even need the assistance from the night-time session to complete victory with Cummins taking the first four wickets of the innings.

Key stats

All of Australia’s bowlers have formidable records with the pink ball, led by Starc in terms of the wicket tally.Australia have never lost a day-night Test with their batters finding a way to score enough runs, and sometimes filling their boots. Labuschagne and Head have been particularly profitable.Although the sample size is small with just the two matches, the third session of the day has the lowest bowling average in day-night Tests at the Gabba. In Adelaide, which has hosted seven day-night Tests, it’s the first session of the day.

Bedingham says they plan to bat big and take the game deep by bowling last with two spinners

Firdose Moonda13-Feb-20242:56

‘Definitely a first’ – Bedingham on his bizarre dismissal

One of the “many ways in cricket to ruin your day,” happened to David Bedingham on the first day of the second Test in Hamilton.He had spent just over two-and-a-half hours at the crease, saw off Neil Wagner’s bouncers, survived Tim Southee’s swing and Will O’Rourke’s pace and had just found some rhythm against Rachin Ravindra. In the particular over we’re examining, Bedingham stayed deep in his crease to carve Ravindra to deep third and pull him over midwicket for back-to-back boundaries. Ravindra adjusted his length fuller for the next few balls and eventually reached a near-yorker length. Bedingham moved across to flick, it wasn’t immediately clear what made contact with the ball as it looped to Will Young at short leg, who collected and fired it back to Tom Blundell, who removed the bails as Bedingham made his ground. There was an appeal for … something.”I saw when they appealed they were taking it as a bit of a joke and then they asked me what I thought, and I thought, ‘I am not exactly sure’,” Bedingham said at the press conference.Related

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But he had some idea of what had happened. “It felt like it came straight off my boot.”Replays showed Bedingham had played the ball onto his shoe, from where it popped up to Young, without touching the ground. And that meant his patient performance, and a fourth-wicket partnership of 36 with Zubayr Hamza, came to an end with only 39 runs to Bedingham’s name. “These things happen in cricket. It’s a weird way to get out and a disappointing way to get out,” he said. “There’s so many ways in cricket to ruin your day and that’s one of them.”South Africa were 99 for 4 at one point and 101 for 5 two overs later, and their decision to bat first looked less brave than stupid. If not for a half-century from Ruan de Swardt, whose 70-run sixth-wicket unbeaten stand with debutant Shaun von Berg means the game “hangs in the balance,” as Ravindra put it, many more South Africans’ days would have been ruined. As things stand, South Africa are fighting. Wounded, but still fighting and New Zealand expect nothing less.”It’s a testament to the character of them, not just as a cricket team but as a nation,” Ravindra said. “They are very, very proud sporting people and it shows that they are not just going to die and roll over. They are going to still come out and deny us and potentially put pressure back onto us for a period of time.”Rachin Ravindra got among the wickets after starting with four maidens•AFP/Getty ImagesRead the last sentence with a 2020s cricketing lens and you may think South Africa are scoring quickly or bombastically. They’re not. They’re going at 2.47 runs to the over and have run as many singles – 33 – as they have hit fours. There is a sense that they’re about survival first, as Raynard van Tonder’s 71-ball 32 and Hamza’s 99-ball 20 suggest and so, there is no great urgency to what they’re doing.That’s understandable given the combination of conditions and quality of attack. Now the next step is to know what to do when it all gets too much. Eventually, van Tonder could not keep a Wagner short ball down and Hamza fell to a top-edge off a rash slog sweep. Both of those are shots of frustration, which could have been minimised with more regular strike rotation and more experience at this level. At least, South Africa have identified the issue.”We were disappointed to lose six wickets because I thought we batted quite well the whole day. But when you create pressure, false shots happen and New Zealand did that really well,” Bedingham said.Still, South Africa can be fairly satisfied with their showing after making the rare choice to bat first in New Zealand. Only five teams who have won the toss in the last 51 Tests, dating back to 2012, have asked New Zealand to bowl at them first and South Africa have been that team on four occasions. They are yet to lose a game going that route.This time the decision was based less on history and more on resources. South Africa left out a quick, Duanne Olivier, and a batter, Edward Moore, in favour of two spinners: Dane Piedt and von Berg. “Our team make-up means – we’ve picked two spinners – we were keen to bat big and then take the game quite deep and hopefully our spinners can come into it,” Bedingham said.And they believe that’s a possibility because although there is a lot of green grass on the surface on day one, it could burn off quickly and create an opportunity for spinners to pose a threat. Already, Ravindra is the most successful of the New Zealand attack, who went seamer-heavy for this match, but used him as much as they did Southee.His success came from discipline and a hint of turn, as could be seen in the way he dismissed Keegan Petersen, who edged a good length ball to slip “I can count on my hand how many loose balls he bowled,” Bedingham said of Ravindra. “He had good control on the ball, it was drifting nicely and the occasional ball was turning and bouncing.”But at least one of his wickets – Bedingham’s – was the result of nothing more than good fortune, which ruined one person’s day but made a few others’. “I wouldn’t call it magic. I would call it more luck,” Ravindra said. “It drifted a little bit but it was pretty unlucky for Bedders. It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime way to get out. That’s cricket sometimes.”

Opinion divided after first two rounds of 2024 County Championship produce glut of runs and only one positive result

Vithushan Ehantharajah and Matt Roller16-Apr-20243:58

Roland-Jones reacts to Kookaburra chaos in County Championship

Sixteen matches played, 27,840 balls bowled, 16,817 runs scored, 378 wickets taken – yet only one outright result. The first two weeks of the Championship season have been a grind. The second round of games was historic: for only the third time when all 18 counties played simultaneously, not a single one registered a win.The first two weeks of April rarely produce gripping cricket in England, but this year has been worse than usual for a number of interdependent reasons: wet weather through the winter creating particularly soft, slow pitches; the trial of a Kookaburra ball instead of the usual Dukes; and the loss of hundreds of overs due to rain.In the first two rounds of the 2023 season, there were 11 positive results in 16 completed matches. But bowlers across the country have struggled to get batters out in the early stage of this season: a wicket fell every 54.9 balls in the first two rounds last year, compared to one every 73.7 balls to date in 2024.Related

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The difference between the balls is well-established: the Kookaburra is machine-made in Australia, while the Dukes is hand-stitched in the UK. “It doesn’t swing as much as the Dukes,” James Anderson explained on the Tailenders podcast. “There’s a different lacquer that coats it… the Dukes, for some reason, swings more and for longer.”The idea came from Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review, which highlighted the dearth of genuine pace and spin in English domestic cricket. “We aren’t encouraging the development of the ‘extreme’ skills required to succeed in international cricket,” the review said. It proposed a pilot trial to “test the impact on bowlers’ skills development”, and two rounds were played with the Kookaburra last summer.The pilot has not been universally popular. Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, has described the Kookaburra’s implementation as “the worst decision ever”. Alfonso Thomas, the Leicestershire coach, said it has “made average batters look very good”. When Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory was asked for his view, he replied: “Can I swear?”The need to hit the deck hard with the Kookaburra has been offset by the fact that early season English decks are not hard. That also meant short-ball plans — something bowlers turn to when a ball of any shape stops moving through the air — were ineffectual. Some teams were also bemused that no two balls seemed to behave the same.Others saw the merit. Grant Bradburn, Glamorgan’s coach, believes the trial will “help bowlers become better”. Cameron Steel, Surrey’s legspinning allrounder, is the leading wicket-taker in Division One. “Spinners around the country are happy to have had more of a bowl than they probably otherwise would’ve in previous seasons in April,” he said after his second five-wicket haul in as many games.And Sam Cook, the Essex seamer, pressed his England case when forcing the only win of the season so far, taking 10 for 73 at Trent Bridge. Cook has been a consistent wicket-taker for five years but was particularly pleased to prove himself with a Kookaburra. “When it does get a little soft, it’s about using your skills, whether it’s a little bit of wobble-seam or reverse-swing,” he said.Seamers across the country will breathe a sigh of relief when they get the Dukes back in their hands on Friday, which will be used for the foreseeable future. This year’s trial will see two more rounds played with the Kookaburra in late August and early September, at which point pitches should be drier, firmer, and therefore more receptive to the ball.Use of the Kookaburra ball has come in for much scrutiny•Getty ImagesSpeaking on Monday, England men’s managing director Rob Key hailed a “fantastic” first two rounds, not least because it seemingly nullified those seamers who lean heavily on the movement of the Dukes. If it were up to him – rather than the ECB Professional Games’ Committee – the red Kookaburra would be the default county ball.”You see what four-day cricket is meant to be,” Key told the . “I’ve watched quite a bit this week and seen some bloody good cricket. I would use the Kookaburra all the time. English cricket would be much better off for it.”The pitches are slow this time of year but watching medium-pacers is a waste of time. Teams need to find quicker bowlers or ones who will force a wicket. You can’t just keep running up bowling at 75mph. And in terms of those guys who are not express, you really work out who can bowl. Sam Cook, that was seriously impressive what he did.”Why do we think in India their batters come into the Test side averaging 70 [in the Ranji Trophy]? Do you think they’re playing with a little nibbly Dukes ball where it’s doing all sorts? What do we want to be? I want us to be the best team in the world for a generation; this will be one way to do that.”Key’s words might seem harsh, but they tally with his view on county cricket before the success of England men’s teams – particularly overseas, and especially the Ashes in Australia – fell under his brief. As he described in his autobiography, : “County cricket exists only because of the money from Test cricket, the England Test team only because of the Championship conveyor belt. They are the ultimate odd couple: worlds apart, but unable to get divorced because they are so utterly reliant on one another.”Ultimately, the debate over the ball boils down to a fundamental question: what is the purpose of the County Championship? It has two main functions: to help develop English cricketers who go onto play internationally; and as a sporting competition in its own right, which still attracts interest both at home and overseas and which every male professional in the country would love to win.If using the Kookaburra emboldens counties to bowl their spinners and throws up a contender for England selection, like Cook, does that outweigh the drawbacks of a single result in 16 matches (with two complete abandonments) and some dreary cricket played in front of sparse crowds? That is the question that Key and the ECB must weigh up when they decide whether this experiment should continue.

The Victoria batter would have been the first choice as a Test opener but his continuing concussion issues have taken him out of the reckoning

Ian Chappell18-May-2024Australian cricket has a serious Will Pucovski issue at the precise time they are desperate to unearth skilful openers competing for a Test spot.Pucovski is comfortably the most talented potential Australian opener but he’s suffering a major health issue. He has endured an alarming number of concussions – many in the cricket arena – but his latest one raises an even more disturbing element.In a Sheffield Shield match Pucovski turned his head and ducked into a Riley Meredith short ball to collect his latest concussion. It was bad enough that the blow added to his double-digit concussion bouts but the method he employed displayed poor technique.Even though weeks have elapsed since his latest concussion he’s still suffering symptoms. Recent disturbing news says he hasn’t yet been cleared for inclusion in the Victorian contract list. His contract status now depends on a medical panel review which includes independent expertise. This follows Pucovski’s withdrawal from a county stint with Leicestershire because of the latest blow sustained in the Sheffield Shield competition.Related

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There’s no doubt his regular concussions are disturbing but even more concerning is his mental health.If Pucovski were healthy he’d be ensconced as an Australian Test opener. However he’s only represented Australia once, against India in a 2021 Test.If he plays again it would be an extremely audacious selector who chose Pucovski in the Test side. If he were prematurely included in a Test XI and then suffered another serious blow the selectors would receive some of the blame. Consequently there’s a major dilemma involved in choosing a fragile player in the Test side.Then there’s the matter of whether Pucovski would make himself available for Test selection. It’s not just the health issue he has to conquer; his technique against the short ball is sub-standard and that problem needs to be resolved. Fixing what is a mountainous shortcoming will take a lot of hard work.

Short-ball problems have dogged Pucovski but they are more relevant now Australian opener David Warner has retired from Test cricket. Raising the stakes even further, another Australian opener, Usman Khawaja, is at the tail end of his career

Not that you could blame them but if he plays again, fast bowlers will bowl short at Pucovski because they know he has an issue with that delivery. No bowler aims to deliberately hurt a player but when they are performing for their living they have to give themselves the best chance of success.Realistically, Pucovski should play a full season of Shield games without suffering concussion before he’s considered for Test selection. If he were able to achieve that feat it would be reasonable to assume he’d done the required hard work to reduce any danger he faces from bouncer issues.Short-ball problems have dogged Pucovski but they are more relevant now Australian opener David Warner has retired from Test cricket. Raising the stakes even further, another Australian opener, Usman Khawaja, is at the tail end of his career. The situation is complicated enough but there’s also a shortage of talented openers in the Shield competition and a healthy Pucovski would be the ideal candidate.Of the current potential openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matthew Renshaw, the latter is the only player on the right side of 30.Controversially the selectors promoted Steve Smith, a substantial figure at No. 4, to open following his request to take on the task. Despite the move, which accommodated two allrounders in Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh in the Australian Test XI, Smith is far better suited to No. 4.Pucovski’s absence also comes at a time when Australia are endowed with a strong bowling attack. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have formed a formidable pace triumvirate for a lengthy time and they are ably backed by the reliable Nathan Lyon.This talented quartet ensures that Australia rarely chases large totals but they won’t play forever, so a stable opening partnership is imperative.Pucovski’s presence at the top of the order would’ve been an important element to Australia’s future success. Now, instead of being a steady Test performer, the main consideration is ensuring Pucovski returns to good health.

Having dealt with injuries and the age-fraud ban, he is shining for Delhi Capitals at IPL 2024

Shashank Kishore11-May-20243:30

How Irfan Pathan spotted Rasikh Salam

Rasikh Salam was 18 when he broke into the IPL in 2019, but it has taken him five years and three franchises to finally announce himself.In this period, Rasikh has battled a stress fracture of his back, poor form, a two-year ban for age fraud that put him out of contention for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and a slightly difficult reintegration into Jammu & Kashmir’s cricket system that has been riddled with administrative upheavals.To get him to this point, it has taken extensive rehab for his injuries, counselling sessions to de-clutter his mind, motivational chats from his mentor, Irfan Pathan, and complete ownership from a franchise – Mumbai Indians – with whom he wasn’t even contracted to because of his ban.Last week, in what was his fourth game of this IPL season, Rasikh picked up three wickets to help Delhi Capitals stay in the playoffs race. Coincidentally, that performance came against MI, the franchise that nurtured him all those years ago.Related

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“This is a sort of a reinvention for me,” Rasikh tells ESPNcricinfo. “The Rasikh you saw four years ago is different to the Rasikh you see today. I understand the circumstances a lot better now. I have an understanding of the world. I didn’t understand a lot of things back then.”Rasikh’s admission is a mark of his maturity. His current personality is in itself a remarkable change from his introverted self, who cut himself off from the outside world for the two years of his ban.”What could I do?” he asks. “It happened, I have to accept it. It was a mistake but I’ve learnt to accept it. I can’t change the past, I can’t be bitter about it. It took me a while to realise this, but I’m a better person today. I won’t say it’s been easy. But I have certainly learnt a lot.”Rasikh moved to Mumbai for most of the period of his ban, training at Reliance’s private facility in the suburbs under Rahul Sanghvi, the former India spinner and a talent scout at MI. Sanghvi was Rasikh’s single-point contact for anything he needed. He was assigned a full-time trainer, a sports psychologist, a physio and, of course, given plenty of opportunities in intra-squad matches to ensure he wasn’t lost to the game.But this was also a period when he became “isolated”. Pathan sensed something amiss and personally took him under his wings. The association felt personal because Pathan was the one instrumental in ensuring Rasikh was a cricketer in the first place.Rasikh Salam began his IPL career at Mumbai Indians in 2019•BCCIA fast bowler who until 2018 was only seen at trials, and a handful of district games, Rasikh immediately impressed Pathan two balls into his first-ever session at a talent-hunt exercise in Srinagar. Pathan had been named the mentor of J&K by a court-appointed committee, and one of his tasks was to streamline talent from the districts.”I remember he had come to a camp where 75 kids were called up,” Pathan said on ESPNcricinfo’s show. “I saw him bowl two balls – a yorker and a short delivery – and told him to go to the side. He stated walking away. I called him back and said, ‘I didn’t tell you to go away.’ He said, ‘No, but I thought so. This is what has been happening for the last few years. They ask me to come to the camp, they see two-three deliveries and then ask me to leave.'”I got him into the senior squad, into the 30 probables, and made him play a few practice matches. In the first game, he picked up a hat-trick. I still have that video recording. On my way back, when I was at the Mumbai airport, I met Rahul Sanghvi. He mentioned about the upcoming trials. I told him to have a look at the video of this young guy. He liked what he saw and when there was a gap after the [2018-19] Vijay Hazare Trophy, he asked me if I could send him.”It’s at these trials that Rasikh impressed TA Sekhar [MI’s talent scout at the time], Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan. “He could swing the ball, he was like a young Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar],” Pathan says. “And then he got picked by MI at the auction.”Rasikh featured in just one game that season. The dream appeared to have been short-lived when he came under the BCCI’s scanner for age fraud shortly after. It turned out Rasikh was two years older than what he claimed to be.This became public after a BCCI investigation pointed to a mismatch between two “original birth certificates” obtained from two different sources. There were also discrepancies between these and his school-leaving certificate. In July 2019, he was handed a ban.When he returned to become eligible for selection, Rasikh had been in “decent rhythm”, according to Pathan, only because he had been training at MI’s private facility all along. He was to be on an exchange tour to the UK but was pulled out of it to avoid getting into the media glare while he was still serving his ban.It’s during this time that Rasikh worked on his variations, which he has been executing with supreme confidence this IPL.Rasikh Salam has impressed with his variations in IPL 2024•BCCI”That back-of-the-hand slower delivery that he bowls, it’s second-best to Mohit Sharma,” Pathan says. “It has taken him a while to master that. He has got some wonderful slower variations, bowls a good yorker, has learnt to bowl cutters into the pitch and extract bounce. A lot of this is down to him being relatively injury-free.”At the IPL 2022 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders signed him but he soon picked up a back injury that put him out of cricket for close to a year. On Pathan’s recommendation, he went to Ashish Kaushik, the former India and NCA physio, who runs a private facility in Bengaluru for his rehabilitation. He spent the off-season in rehab, and eventually made his comeback in the 2023-24 domestic season.At the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Rasikh was J&K’s highest wicket-taker with 11 scalps in seven matches at an economy of 6.76. It was there that his execution of the wide yorker and slower deliveries in the death overs impressed scouts at DC.”I was immediately bowling at their camp,” Rasikh says. “I also had an opportunity to bowl a lot to Rishabh Pant as he was coming back from rehab. During this period, I learnt a lot talking to Rishabh . He spoke to me about life, his challenges, how you should come back, how tough circumstances don’t define you. That period was very enlightening for me.”That bond I formed with him there has made it so much easier. He trusts me to execute. Even now at the IPL, in the previous game [against Royals], I started poorly [conceded 18 in his second over] but he still backed me to bowl the penultimate over. When your captain and team management show that faith in you, it makes a world of difference.”Rasikh could have easily been lost to the game. Today, he is a glowing example of how the IPL ecosystem has come together to mark the coming of age of a young bowler with promise and potential.”I’m very grateful to the Capitals,” he says. “It’s like a second coming for me. I’m determined to not let anyone down and keep learning and improving every day.”

It is rare for teams to pair left-arm spinners together, but West Indies look set to stick with them in pursuit of a third T20 World Cup

Matt Roller18-Jun-20243:29

Bishop: Confidence the key for West Indies at the business end

Their great Test teams were built around fast bowlers, but West Indies have a proud history of spin-bowling partnerships: Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine were immortalised by Lord Beginner’s calypso; Lance Gibbs would bowl offspin at one end while Garry Sobers bowled his left-arm variations from the other; and more recently, West Indies’ T20 World Cup successes were built around a pair of spinners too.Samuel Badree was the constant – bowling his flat, fast wristspin in the powerplay. In 2012, Sunil Narine would take over from him through the middle overs; four years later, with Narine still sorting out his bowling action, the towering left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn took over and bowled containing spells through the middle, finishing the tournament with an economy rate below seven.Related

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And when West Indies had faced England last December, they landed on another such pair: selecting Guyana’s Gudakesh Motie to play alongside Trinidad and Tobago’s Akeal Hosein. Both are left-arm fingerspinners, but are very different bowlers with complementary strengths. They have played 11 matches together since, taking 35 wickets at 15.57 between them, 16 of which came in their group stages of this World Cup.The formula is simple: Hosein takes the new ball and often bowls three of the first five overs. He flights some balls but also relies heavily on his arm ball, which drifts sharply into the right-handers. “He’s a very, very integral part [of the side], especially for controlling the powerplay for us,” Rovman Powell, West Indies’ captain, said.When the field spreads, Powell brings Motie on and empowers him to flight the ball, varying his pace and looking to spin the ball hard. “Right as we come out of the powerplay is Gudakesh Motie time,” Powell said. “It’s like Akeal Hosein passing the baton onto Gudakesh Motie, and it’s been very good so far.”West Indies geared their selection to conditions, knowing that their pitches can play slow and low, and may turn more as the World Cup wears on. “We’ve been playing our entire career on these pitches: we’re not surprised when it’s slow, it’s low and it’s low-scoring,” Nicholas Pooran said. “The reason why most of our averages are 20-25 is because we bat on pitches like this.”

“[It’s been] pleasantly pleasing to me to see how [the] same type of bowlers – two left-arm spinners turning the ball in the same direction – have complemented each other so well. That’s something that is new to me”Ian Bishop to ESPNcricinfo

In St Lucia, where West Indies face England on Wednesday night, conditions have been much more favourable for batters: against Afghanistan on Monday, Pooran hit 98 in a team total of 218, the highest score of the T20 World Cup so far. But with England likely to field a batting line-up filled with right-handers, Hosein and Motie should still play a role.In terms of average and economy rate, they were West Indies’ best bowlers in their 3-2 series win against England in December too, and Powell said they would “definitely” match-up well against England’s batters in a few days’ time: “When we pick the two left-arm spinners, we know that in West Indies conditions, whether the wickets are good or the wickets are bad, they’re going to be a handful because they’re world-class.”Hosein has reached an intriguing stage where he has played enough T20 cricket around the world – over 150 matches in his career, one-third of which have come in the last 12 months – that his arm ball no longer takes teams by surprise. Batters know the cues: he tends to bowl it from significantly wider on the crease, and with a slightly lower trajectory.”[It’s been] pleasantly pleasing to me to see how [the] same type of bowlers, two left-arm spinners turning the ball in the same direction – although Akeal Hosein has the arm ball – have complemented each other so well,” Ian Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “That’s something that is new to me.”They’ve got Roston Chase there [as well] as the option to turn the ball the other way. Ideally, in a perfect world, they’d like a wristspinner. They don’t have that, so they’ve gone with the two left-arm spinners. I wouldn’t mind seeing them change it up though at some point, because teams are planning for Akeal Hosein in that powerplay.”1:37

Ganga: Hosein and Motie are two ‘very different bowlers’

England are well aware of Hosein and Motie’s strengths, to the extent that they chose an uncapped slow left-armer in Tom Hartley as their back-up spinner ahead of Rehan Ahmed’s legspin following December’s tour. “There’s no question both teams know a lot about each other,” Sam Curran said. “The two spinners are probably one of their strengths.”Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, England’s openers, both have good head-to-head records against Hosein, and Salt in particular has made huge strides since he was dismissed by left-arm spin five times in six innings on a tour to Bangladesh last March. Salt has become much more confident playing through the off side, and scored two hundreds against West Indies in December.Motie is more of an unknown for England, though. He has an extensive first-class record but is relatively new to T20 cricket, only making his debut in the format in 2021, aged 26. He has never played in a franchise league outside of the CPL, where none of this England squad feature regularly, and only played against them during the December tour.Motie is short, and has a low release point, but puts significant overspin on the ball, meaning some balls are quick and skiddy, while others turn sharply off the pitch. In the group stages, he bowled arguably the ball of the tournament to date, which drifted into Daryl Mitchell from a wide angle at 62mph/99kph, before turning sharply to hit the off bail.It is rare for teams to pair left-arm spinners together in modern T20 cricket, but West Indies believe they have found a winning formula and look set to stick with it in pursuit of an unprecedented third men’s T20 World Cup. If they achieve it, it might even be enough for Hosein and Motie’s names to feature in a calypso.

The visitors will be looking to strengthen their position on the Women’s Championship table too

Srinidhi Ramanujam23-Oct-2024New Zealand’s batting in focusSince the start of 2023, New Zealand have batted first 11 out of 15 times but have posted totals over 250 only four times. Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates haven’t had strong partnerships up front and Amelia Kerr – though she is the second-highest run-getter for New Zealand this year in ODIs – hasn’t been able to convert starts into big ones. Brooke Halliday’s two fifties in five innings have provided stability in the middle order but their batting otherwise hasn’t taken off.Related

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Mithali Raj: Time for 'saturated' India to move on from Harmanpreet as captain

Eyes on Harmanpreet the captainSince the T20 World Cup exit at the group stage, Harmanpreet’s leadership has been in focus, with former captain Mithali Raj even suggesting India should move on from her as captain. A change at the top is unlikely with an ODI World Cup coming up next year, and Harmanpreet has a chance to turn it around in this series. There are no question marks over her batting form though. She is coming off an unbeaten 103 and 42 in the second ODI against South Africa in June this year.Championship points at stake for New ZealandThat the core of the T20 World Cup-winning side including the experienced trio of Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu has flown directly from Dubai to Ahmedabad is an indication of how important these three games are for New Zealand. The ODIs are part of the Women’s Championship where New Zealand are currently placed sixth on the table with 18 points from 18 matches. Pakistan are seventh (17 points from 24 games) and West Indies are eighth (14 points from 18 matches). With the top five teams and hosts India qualifying directly for the Women’s ODI World Cup next year, New Zealand have only six matches in the cycle – New Zealand will host Australia for a three-match series in Wellington in December – to strengthen their spot.New Zealand have announced a full-strength squad for the series•Getty ImagesIndia’s No.3 problemIndia are yet to find their No. 3 batter in the white-ball formats. Yastika Bhatia was filling that position in ODIs but had average returns. In the last 12 months, India have tried three other players at this position in ODIs – D Hemalatha, Priya Punia and Richa Ghosh. Ghosh is unavailable for this series due to her board exams while Punia was dropped after just one innings on her comeback. In Ghosh’s absence, Yastika will be India’s first-choice keeper in the XI and is also likely to slot in at No.3. Jemimah Rodrigues has batted in the top order in 21 out of her 30 matches – will India push her up from No. 5?Arundhati Reddy’s time to step upWith Pooja Vastrakar being rested from the series, medium-pacer Arundhati Reddy has big shoes to fill. She made her ODI debut against South Africa in June and picked up three wickets in two matches at an economy of 5.44. Since returning to the national side in T20Is this year, she has looked promising. She was also India’s joint-highest wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup. With the ODI World Cup coming up next, Reddy would want to nail down her spot with consistent performances, with India also waiting to test out uncapped seam-bowling allrounders Sayali Satghare and Saima Thakor for the third pace option.Recent formAfter a 3-0 defeat to Australia in Mumbai, India bounced back to complete a 3-0 series sweep of South Africa in Bengaluru. Even though India are playing at home, the conditions are unfamiliar having played their last ODI in Ahmedabad in 2013. From the current squad, Harmanpreet is the only player to feature in all four previous ODIs at this venue while Mandhana had played three of those.New Zealand though are coming into the series on the back of two series defeats against England – a 3-0 loss in England and a 2-1 loss in New Zealand. With five wins in nine matches in the last 12 months, New Zealand, full of confidence after the T20 World Cup win – will be keen to turn the tables in the 50-over format.

The game is moving from the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, the site of many memorable matches, to the shiny new Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium

Daya Sagar05-Oct-2024When an international cricket match was last held in Gwalior, Sachin Tendulkar scored the first double-century in men’s ODIs. Fourteen years after that historic game, international cricket is set to return to the Madhya Pradesh city.However, cricket is not back at the historic Captain Roop Singh Stadium but at the newly built Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where the first T20I between India and Bangladesh will be played on Sunday. The Captain Roop Singh Stadium, though, is inextricably linked to cricket in the city.When you arrive at the old stadium, located near the railway station in the heart of the city, it feels like you have arrived at a single-screen cinema hall in a small town. Built in the shape of a hexagon, it doesn’t look like a cricket stadium from the outside. There are no cricket-related hoardings, no floodlight towers visible from a distance.Related

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Once inside, there is a gallery that leads you past some offices and the scorecard featuring the details of Tendulkar’s historic knock. With the exception of some VVIP seats towards the pavilion end, all the seats – the stadium has a capacity of around 20,000 – are in the form of cement steps. At both ends stand small floodlights, erected in the lead-up to the 1996 World Cup.Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) scorer Sunil Gupta’s eyes light up as he recalls Tendulkar’s double-century. According to him, it feels like yesterday, when Tendulkar played Charl Langeveldt past point and achieved an “impossible historical feat”.”We couldn’t believe we had seen something that was almost impossible in one-day cricket at that time,” Gupta says. “This match was accidentally moved from Kanpur to Gwalior 20 days earlier. Our pitch and ground were ready, but international cricket requires a lot more preparation. Our association completed these preparations in a very short time and what happened after that, the whole world knows it now.”Gupta, who is a believer in destiny, says, “That is why it has been said that on every grain is written the name of the one who eats it. We were destined to watch the double-century of [God] and when he waved his helmet and bat in the air, many people, including me, had tears in their eyes. These were tears of joy.”The entrance to the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoThe stadium has played host to many other memorable ODIs too, including the India-West Indies match in the 1996 World Cup, the fourth India-Pakistan ODI in 2007, India’s win against Australia in the TVS Cup months after their 2003 World Cup final defeat to the same opposition, Kenya’s first win over India in an international match, and two ODIs against England in 1993 on consecutive days. The 1997 Ranji Trophy final was also held in this stadium, the only day-night Ranji Trophy final till date.”At times, this stadium has come in handy for the BCCI during crises,” Gupta says. “When the first India-England ODI was cancelled in Ahmedabad due to riots in 1993, two ODIs were held on this ground on two consecutive days. This is the only ground in the India where ODI matches have been held on consecutive days.”Apart from this, in 2010, when the preparations were not deemed to be complete in Kanpur, we were given an ODI match in a hurry. At the same time, when we did not have that much funds for the 1996 World Cup, we made smaller floodlights on three stands instead of four, so that day-night matches could be organised.”The stadium once hosted ODIs regularly, with a match every two or three years in the 1990s and 2000s. But as the facilities became dated, this stadium, which has hosted 12 ODIs, gradually faded into the background.The stadium belongs to the Gwalior Municipal Corporation, and was leased by the Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA) for 25 years; the lease ends in 2025. So the MPCA decided to build its own stadium in Gwalior. Named after former BCCI president Madhavrao Scindia, plans for the new stadium were laid out in 2011 and it was completed in 2024 and inaugurated by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and former India captain Kapil Dev.Gwalior scorer Sunil Gupta with the scorecard from Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI double-century•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoLocated on the outskirts of Gwalior, on around 30 acres of land near the Mumbai-Agra highway bypass, surrounded by the hills of Chambal, the new stadium has all the modern frills: towering floodlights, the latest drainage system, indoor-training facilities, plush dressing rooms, a separate practice ground, nine cricket pitches, a gym equipped with new machines, a TV broadcast control room, a closed and air-conditioned media centre, and PVC seats for spectators.But like the new stadium in Mullanpur in Punjab, the stadium is still open, with canopies for the stands to be installed only later. At present, the capacity is 30,000, with an increase to 50,000 planned by the MPCA. This is why there are exposed pillars on both sides of the square boundary – to allow for another round of construction later on.India vs Bangladesh will be the first top-level match at this stadium – not a single domestic match has been held here yet. In June this year, however, the Madhya Pradesh Premier League was held here and, in a total of 12 matches, a lot of runs were scored.How many runs are scored on Sunday remain to be seen, but off the field security will be tight. Prohibitory orders – aka Section 163 – have been imposed in the city, which means that more than five people cannot gather and hold any demonstration. The orders were passed after right-wing organisations called for a boycott of this match in the wake of media reports of violence on Hindus in Bangladesh. There had been similar calls for a boycott of the Kanpur Test.The effects of these developments are visible in the preparations for the match. The road to the stadium, which is located around 8km from the city, has already been blocked by a barricade at about the 4km mark, with only those working inside the stadium and the media allowed access to the stadium. Section 163 will remain in place even after the end of the match, until October 7, when both teams leave for Delhi for the second match of the series.For now, though, Gupta is happy that the cricket is back, after a 14-year “exile” from his city. He is ready to score another historic match in the annals of Gwalior cricket.