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In 2005, the Atlanta Braves were winning the National League East Division title, center fielder Andruw Jones was hitting 51 home runs, and a Braves starting pitcher was busy being born.

Atlanta is set to start pitcher Didier Fuentes on Friday against the Miami Marlins, the Braves announced Friday afternoon. Fuentes, a native of Tolu, Colombia, celebrated his 20th birthday on Tuesday.

Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Fuentes will be the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Braves since 19-year-old Mike McQueen started June 23, 1970, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. McQueen wound up spending five years in the major leagues with Atlanta and the Cincinnati Reds.

Fuentes is 0-7 with a 4.81 ERA in the minors in 2025, and Bowman indicated that "this will likely be just a spot start."

The Braves, recovering from a poor start to '25, are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They currently hold a 34-39 record and sit 10 games behind the first-place New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

Part of the India side at the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, Zeeshan Ansari has had to fight for opportunities, till he got the platform he had been waiting for at IPL 2025

Daya Sagar25-Apr-2025This Eid, the at Mohammad Naeem Ansari’s house tasted sweeter than usual – just the evening before, his son Zeeshan Ansari played his first IPL match after waiting for long. He didn’t just make his IPL debut, he made it an occasion, with the wickets of three international batters: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul.Soon, people from the neighbourhood started gathering outside Naeem’s small, half-built house in Chaudhary Tola in Lucknow. Even the ones that had taunted Naeem for Zeeshan “wasting his time” and “dreaming big”.The idea had struck Naeem in the early 2000s. Naeem was married, had children, and didn’t want them to do the same work – of running their tailor shop – his brothers and he did. He felt that if a child from the family did well in a sport, a government job could come with it, and that would help the family.Related

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In the late-2000s, Naeem got four children from his joint family enrolled in the Government Sports Academy not far from their house. That’s where Zeeshan learnt the basics of cricket and now, almost two decades on, has been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s primary spinner at IPL 2025, though not with the kind of success that debut had promised: he has picked up just two more wickets in five subsequent matches.Zeeshan started playing cricket at the age of four or five, like many kids in India do, on the streets around his house, but unlike most others, he was more interested in bowling than batting. Apparently, even at that early stage, Zeeshan tried to give the ball a rip.Gopal Singh, Zeeshan’s coach at the academy, tells ESPNcricinfo, “He came to me when he was 11 or 12 years old. Before that, he had gone to another academy in Chowk [an area in Lucknow] for a year, but that was a little far from his house. Even though his deliveries didn’t quite reach the batters, he used to bowl legspin from the very beginning.”Some children have a body language that suggests that they can become good players in the future. When Zeeshan used to train, run, and play cricket with a tennis ball, that quality was visible. However, it was only after two or three years of training that I was convinced he could become a good legspinner.”Zeeshan would wake up early and go to the academy, where he would catch hold of whichever batters he could and bowl at them throughout the day. When one batter got tired, another would be summoned, and this continued. It didn’t stop when he got home either. His uncle Gayas Ansari would bat for him in the lane adjacent to the house. Gayas had been given the responsibility of ferrying Zeeshan to and from the academy and playing with him at home. In exchange, Gayas – who played his share of tennis-ball cricket in his youth – didn’t have to spend as much time at the tailor’s shop as his brothers did.Naeem Ansari (extreme left) poses with members of the family in front of the old house Zeeshan is helping repair•Daya SagarIn 2014, when Zeeshan was 15 and had performed well at the club and district level, he was called for the Under-16 state (Uttar Pradesh) trials. He was not selected but, remarkably, got into the Under-19 and Under-23 teams the same season.At the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy in 2014-15, Zeeshan took 40 wickets – the highest – and at the Colonel CK Nayudu Under-23 tournament, he got 18 wickets, including three five-fors, at an average of 13.44.Zeeshan was rewarded immediately by being named in India’s 2016 Under-19 World Cup squad, led by Ishan Kishan. But, with spin-bowling allrounders like Washington Sundar, Mayank Dagar and Mahipal Lomror in the squad, Zeeshan got a chance to play only two matches.He got paid, though, and used it to repair the leaks in his house.After the World Cup, Zeeshan took 30 wickets, the most for Uttar Pradesh, in the CK Nayudu Trophy in 2016-17, and was selected for the Ranji Trophy the following year. Making his debut under Suresh Raina’s captaincy against Railways, Zeeshan returned twin three-fors, but his name was missing from the playing XI for the next match. He has only played five first-class matches so far for 17 wickets to go with one wicketless outing in T20s at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in February 2019.

“No matter how disappointed he was, he would be found at the ground the next morning for training. He is a fighter, and had no option. What would he have done if he had left cricket?”Gopal Singh, Zeeshan’s childhood coach, on the latter’s difficult times from 2017-20

“That was a bad phase. After playing for India in the World Cup, we thought that our good days had arrived; but it was not so,” Naeem tells ESPNcricinfo. “He was getting very few opportunities, while his team-mates like Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Khaleel Ahmed, Washington Sundar and Sarfaraz Khan have all played for India and also in the IPL. Along with him, we also felt dejected. However, we never asked him to quit cricket and he never gave up. He always said that the ones who were getting opportunities were better than him and that his chance would come.”Gopal adds, “He would cry at times. We would also get sad, but we motivated him. One of the best things about him was that no matter how disappointed he was, he would be found at the ground the next morning for training. He is a fighter, and had no option. What would he do if he had left cricket? His father also wanted him to play.”Zeeshan continued to play elsewhere, though, at the district and state level, in the corporate circuit with Indian Oil Corporation, and in Lucknow’s local A-division tournaments, where players like Akshdeep Nath, Vipraj Nigam and Mohammad Saif played with him. Apart from this, he also went to play in the Kolkata club circuit in 2023. Last year, Zeeshan also got an offer from Mizoram to play for them as a professional, but turned it down.Zeeshan Ansari hasn’t had much success after a three-wicket haul in his first match•BCCIThe turning point in Zeeshan’s life came when he won the Purple Cap with 24 wickets in the Uttar Pradesh Premier League in 2024, and his team Meerut Mavericks won the title. Multiple IPL franchises called him for trials. Eventually, Zeeshan was bought by SRH for INR 40 lakh in the big auction in late 2024, which Zeeshan’s father called “God’s miracle” – “Nobody gets anything before it’s time for it.”In IPL 2025, after Adam Zampa picked up an injury – and was later ruled out – Zeeshan became SRH’s frontline spinner despite the presence of Rahul Chahar in the squad and has continued to play despite not being among the wickets much.Zeeshan is on TV every other day and that pleases his 90-year-old grandmother, who does not know what her grandson is doing but smiles when she sees him in action.As for Naeem and his family, the ambitions aren’t too big, They don’t want to leave their old house and live in some upmarket colony. They just want Zeeshan to help get the rest of the house repaired, which he had started doing after the Under-19 World Cup.

James Wood put on a show during his first round performance at the 2025 Home Run Derby.

The Washington Nationals star crushed 16 home runs in the first round to open up the competition. One of those homers flew outside of Truist Park in Atlanta—yes, you read that right—to go a whopping 486 feet.

Woods's blast went further than any homer has gone during the 2025 season so far. Mike Trout currently holds that lead with a 484-foot home run he hit earlier this season.

This home run sparked a lot of good reactions from Woods's fellow MLB stars. His Derby opponent Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins had a spot-on reaction when the camera panned to him. His jaw was dropped, similarly to how a lot of MLB fans at home looked when Wood crushed that ball.

Although Woods's homer was extremely impressive, it's not the farthest hit home run in Derby history by any means. That record is held by Juan Soto, who hit a 520-foot homer in 2021. There's been quite a few 500-plus foot home runs recorded in Derby history.

Chelsea could sell Axel Disasi to make room in the squad for a “monstrous” new centre-back, who is highly-rated by manager Enzo Maresca.

Blues looking to sign new defender amid injury crisis

Injuries have plagued the Blues at the beginning of the Premier League season, and they are currently particularly light on options at centre-back, with Wesley Fofana and long-term absentee Levi Colwill still sidelined.

Against Liverpool, both Josh Acheampong and Benoit Badiashile were withdrawn due to injury, but Maresca’s side miraculously managed to come out on top in a 2-1 victory, with Estevao bagging a stoppage-time winner.

Disasi technically remains an option for the west Londoners too, but the 27-year-old is part of the ‘bomb squad’, and Maresca has previously made it clear he has no plans to reintroduce the Frenchman.

The Italian said: “Since the season started, I haven’t seen either of them. I haven’t seen Axel or Raheem. They train at a different time and on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since the start of the season.”

As a result, it would make sense for Chelsea to cash in on the defender, and a report from Spain has now revealed they could sell Disasi to make room in the squad for Nottingham Forest defender Murillo, who is also being targeted by Bayern Munich.

The centre-back is highly-rated by Maresca, given his ability to play the ball out from the back, but a deal could be on the expensive side, with a price tag of £80m being touted back in the summer.

There is a belief the Brazilian would be the perfect fit in Maresca’s squad, and the Blues are confident they will be able to convince him to move to Stamford Bridge, despite the interest from elsewhere.

"Monstrous" Murillo could be ideal addition for Chelsea

Under BlueCo ownership, Chelsea have set out to sign young, high-potential players, and the 23-year-old certainly fits the bill in that regard, having already made a name for himself in the Premier League.

Chelsea join race to sign £17m German forward who Bayern Munich also want

The Blues have set their sights on a new target, who is also of interest to the reigning Bundesliga champions.

By
Dominic Lund

Oct 12, 2025

Journalist Ryan Taylor has been left particularly impressed by the Forest star’s performances, lauding him as “monstrous” earlier this year, and the former Corinthians man has caught the eye across a number of key metrics over the past year.

The only real doubt over the signing of the Brazil international is the fact he isn’t accustomed to playing in a side where keeping possession is a priority, as evidenced by the fact he places in just the seventh percentile for his pass-completion rate over the past year, compared to other centre-backs.

That said, Murillo is still young, and clearly has the talent to succeed at Stamford Bridge, having already made 72 Premier League appearances at Forest, and a January approach would make perfect sense, amid Chelsea’s injury troubles.

Every call is critical in the three-game series between the Guardians and Tigers that's helping decide the wild AL Central race. First base umpire Chris Guccione may have taken that a bit too seriously as he waited entirely too long to make his call on a close play at first Thursday night.

In the bottom of the fourth inning with a runner on second, Guardians second baseman Brayan Rocchio hit a dribbler to second base, which Gleyber Torres fielded with his bare hand and flipped to first. It was a bang-bang play, but Guccione took some time making his call, which caused C.J. Kayfus to dash for home. Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was unsure what to do, but threw home after a moment of reflection to try and get Kayfus.

Home plate umpire Brennan Miller didn't make a call either, mainly because he wanted to know what was going on at first. Guccione eventually called Rocchio out, which ended the inning in an incredibly strange sequence.

On the replay, Rocchio was clearly out and Guccione made the right call. Better late than never, I guess.

The Guardians took the first two games of the series in Cleveland to claim the AL Central lead in miraculous fashion. They trailed the Tigers by 15 1/2 games on July 8 and 10 1/2 games at the start of September. Cleveland has won 17 of their past 19 games while Detroit has dropped eight in a row and 11 of their last 12. The Tigers were able to jump out to an early lead Thursday in what's continuing to be an incredible race in the division.

Although a strange play, at least the odd moment didn't cause any controversy.

Are bettors for some MLB playoff madness? 

The last week in MLB has seen a ton of changes to the playoff picture, starting with the San Diego Padres briefly taking the division lead in the NL West from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A Dodgers win on Sunday put the teams into a tie atop the standings, but San Diego has been making a serious push to win this race for quite some time.

In the American League, the Boston Red Sox shot themselves back into the top spot in the AL wild card race, taking three of four games from the New York Yankees. 

New York’s win on Sunday gave it a slight edge over the Seattle Mariners — who are just two games back in the AL West — for the No. 2 wild card spot.

Injuries have taken a toll on a contender as well, as the Philadelphia Phillies lost ace Zack Wheeler for the rest of the season due to thoracic outlet syndrome, which will require surgery. 

Philly has a massive lead now over the New York Mets in the NL East standings, but can it make a deep playoff run without Wheeler? 

Speaking of the Mets, they have just a 1.5-game cushion in the wild card over the pesky Cincinnati Reds? Once again, I’ll examine the chances of the Reds sneaking into a playoff spot based on the latest odds.

A new week means that we’re taking a look at the latest betting odds to make the playoffs at SI Betting, and there may be a couple teams with some value to either win the division or make the postseason via the wild card.

American League Playoff Odds

Division Leaders

• Toronto Blue Jays: N/A
• Detroit Tigers: N/A
• Houston Astros: -2000

The division leaders in the American League have remained the same, only now oddsmakers have taken both the Blue Jays and Tigers off the board – a sign that they are locks to make the postseason.

Houston still has a lot of work to do, as it only has a two-game lead on the Mariners in the AL West. 

Wild Card Race

• New York Yankees: -1400
• Seattle Mariners: -575
• Boston Red Sox: -575
• Kansas City Royals: +290:
• Texas Rangers: +550
• Cleveland Guardians: +1000
• Tampa Bay Rays: +2000
• Minnesota Twins: +4000
• Los Angeles Angels: +4000

Even after dropping three of four games to Boston, New York’s playoff odds increased from -1100 to -1400. Vegas appears to be very high on the Yankees, even though they’ve been awful against their own division, going 17-22 overall and 5-15 against division teams that are over .500.

Boston isn’t getting much love in this market, as it remains tied with the Mariners in the odds to make the playoffs despite moving back to the top wild card spot.

Kansas City, the only team that has a chance to really dethrone this top group, sits three games back of Seattle at the moment. At +290, the Royals certainly have a chance to get in, but they’re not nearly as close as the Reds in the NL – despite having better odds. 

National League Playoff Odds

Division Leaders

• Philadelphia Phillies: N/A
• Los Angeles Dodgers: -20000
• Milwaukee Brewers: N/A

Even with Wheeler’s injury, the Phillies have joined the Milwaukee Brewers as the only teams in the NL with their odds off the board to make the playoffs. Both squads have sizable leads in their division races heading into the home stretch of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are in a dead heat with San Diego in the NL West, although both teams are -20000 to make the playoffs this season. 

Wild Card Race

• San Diego Padres: -20000
• Chicago Cubs: -20000
• New York Mets: -350
• Cincinnati Reds: +310
• San Francisco Giants: +2500
• St. Louis Cardinals: +2500
• Arizona Diamondbacks: +3000

San Diego and Chicago appear to have locked up wild card spots – at least – in the NL, but the final spot appears to be a two-team race between the Mets and Reds.

Despite remaining just 1.5 games out, the Reds’ odds to make the playoffs actually fell from +280 to +310, although the Mets fell from -370 to -350 in the process.

Cincy is certainly within striking distance, but it has the second-hardest remaining schedule in MLB.

MLB's hot stove cooked up a stunner during the winter meetings on Tuesday, as three-time All-Star closer Edwin Díaz, who was being pursued by both the incumbent Mets and the defending champion Dodgers, chose to leave New York for Los Angeles on a three-year, $69 million contract. The deal set an average annual value record for a relief pitcher.

It was a major coup for the Dodgers, who, despite spending big on two relievers last offseason, never had a reliable closer emerge throughout the regular season.

But it was a big blow to the Mets, who seemingly did everything they could to bring back the talented reliever. New York's offer was reportedly $66 million over three years.

So why didn't Díaz return to Queens if the money was similar between the Mets' and Dodgers' offers?

Díaz miffed by Mets, Dodgers' recruitment aided by brother

Díaz was reportedly unhappy with the Mets' decision to part ways with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, according to Mike Puma of . While manager Carlos Mendoza's status was safe in the aftermath of New York's stunning collapse, Hefner was one of five coaches New York decided to let go in a coaching staff shakeup on Oct. 3. Evidently Díaz, who recorded the three lowest ERA marks and two highest strikeout rates of his career during the six seasons Hefner was with the club, was not pleased to see the coach heading out the door.

Plus, Los Angeles, already a desirable destination with the Dodgers coming off back-to-back World Series titles, had a secret weapon in its free agent recruitment of Díaz: Díaz's brother. Alexis Díaz, an All-Star in 2023, was acquired by Los Angeles in May of 2025 but he struggled to the tune of a 5.00 ERA in nine innings pitched for the Dodgers. Los Angeles in September of 2025 designated Díaz for assignment. But he still spoke glowingly of the Dodgers organization to his brother, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN and Puma.

Prior to Díaz's departure, the Mets signed free agent reliever Devin Williams to a three-year, $50 million contract. According to Passan, Díaz was unhappy that Mets brass did not give him a heads up about the signing of Williams. New York president of baseball operations David Stearns, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, couldn't acknowledge the Díaz deal but seemed to indicate that the Williams signing impacted the club's desire to bring back Díaz.

“I'm not going to talk about any specific negotiation," Stearns said. "What I'll say is once you add to a certain part of our team that will change the calculus in how you look at your team in general.”

CA’s leaders must show humility about their own actions, and curiosity about the needs of their owners and partners

Daniel Brettig05-Jun-2020A week ago, Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison announced that the 28-year-old system of state and territory leaders meeting twice every year with the federal government was going to be scrapped. It has been replaced by more regular contact that emerged out of the Covid-19 pandemic: fortnightly or monthly “national cabinet” video conferences. This change was not just the fruit of all involved realising that regular, less formal communication was more functional and practical, it was also the result of lobbying behind the scenes and on camera, by two former state New South Wales and South Australia premiers Mike Baird (Liberal) and Jay Weatherill (Labor).Nowhere in Australian life is there a greater contrast to this than what has overtaken cricket over the past two months. Baird has had a front-row seat here too, as a board director with Cricket NSW, and it would not surprise if he has wondered aloud at how government has leaned on greater collective communication while in cricket the conversations have been far less rounded and less effective.Perhaps the most extraordinary single fact of a period in which Cricket Australia has stood down more than 200 staff on 20% pay, and every state but NSW has followed by cutting a total of more than 150 staff thus far, is that 49 days have passed since the chairmen of CA and the six states held their own “national cabinet” meeting. The Australian Cricket Council, a body notionally formed after a cultural review in 2018, has not met even once, having last convened in October 2019.A mess of confusion, disillusionment, anger and mistrust has swept into this vacuum, as opportunistic decisions have been made in some quarters, survival efforts attempted in others, and previously sound relationships have frayed or cracked up altogether. CA has, based on modelling put together in March, forged on with a plan for stand-downs followed by redundancies that have undeniably talked down the game, and completely contradicted last week’s announcement of the international schedule for next summer.In Victoria, some 60 staff, most from community cricket, have lost their jobs, while the Cricket Victoria board, composed primarily of delegates beholden to Melbourne’s club competition, ring-fenced cash and assets valued at some A$70 million. Most of the money contributing to CV’s A$1 million financial loss for 2018-19 – a primary justification for the “restructure” – had been spent on severance settlements for the ex-CEOs of the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades as part of the previous restructure only a year before. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.

Roberts has lost the confidence of a wide range of figures in Australian cricket who gave him a second chance after the 2017 pay dispute with the ACA, partly by deflecting much of the blame for that and other issues to the former chairman David Peever. Eddings, a more natural communicator than Roberts, has a greater supply of goodwill but cannot escape blame for the chaotic way the cost-cutting has unfolded, and is also distracted by conflicts and conundrums at the ICC.

Events in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland have been a little less dramatic but, in many cases, just as damaging to the game’s future growth. Queensland were forced, with just A$7 million in reserves, to cut some 32 staff though still disputing CA’s request for a 25% reduction in their annual grants, while SA was compelled to move first with some 23 job cuts due to the loss of immediate revenue drawn from their co-dependency on Adelaide Oval’s postponed AFL fixtures.CA is planning to make as many as 20% of its total staff redundant as soon as next week, and is still arguing individually with NSW, Queensland and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) over terms of their own cutbacks. After a failed first attempt to articulate its position in April, CA’s chief executive Kevin Roberts went out on an information campaign this week, but both the dissenting states and the ACA were unimpressed at being handed forecasts more or less unchanged from those cobbled together in March.In the simplest terms, a 50% revenue drop for the 2020-21 season may have been possible to contemplate three months ago, but now that India have committed to a tour worth some A$300 million in broadcast revenue and sport has resumed in Australia? No chance. If broadcasters had been making undeniably panicky noises in March about the need for reductions in rights fees, it was only in a moment where the loss of an Australia international summer was possible. Now the schedule has been announced, and there is a contract to honour for another four years.This is all to say that CA, the states and the ACA have used up more than eight weeks of precious time not available to the winter football codes in squabbles over a course of action the central governing body committed to before it had any way of knowing how Covid-19 and its financial shocks would unfold. Now that much more is known, a fresh round of conversations must be had, and fast.Relationship-building has been one of Earl Eddings’ key strengths•Getty ImagesUndoubtedly, cricket in Australia is due a reassessment of its cost-base, but that much was obvious even before. When CA returned a surplus of just A$18 million for a 2018-19 summer featuring four Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs against India, the same programme as 2020-21, it was clear that the commitment of cash to operating activities had gone too far – beyond even the windfall provided by effectively doubling CA’s Australian broadcast rights deal to A$1.18 billion in 2018. This is without mentioning big overseas deals with Sony (India) and BT (UK).But such a conversation requires unity, transparency and shared purpose – anything but the dog’s breakfast of individual negotiations and arguments that have bubbled across since March. Roberts and the CA chairman Earl Eddings must have realised this much after they watched aghast at CV’s indiscriminate job cuts, which mean CA must take more responsibility for developing community cricket in the state, while also seeking a way to bring the state association’s self-destructive elements to heel.Realisation, of course, is not the same thing as action. Plenty of scar tissue must be overcome. Roberts has lost the confidence of a wide range of figures in Australian cricket who gave him a second chance after the 2017 pay dispute with the ACA, partly by deflecting much of the blame for that and other issues to the former chairman David Peever. Eddings, a more natural communicator than Roberts, has a greater supply of goodwill but cannot escape blame for the chaotic way the cost-cutting has unfolded, and is also distracted by conflicts and conundrums at the ICC.Inaction by CA will only add weight to the arguments of those who would like to see the Board overturned, with the current system of nine independent directors replaced by a hybrid model of six direct representatives from state boards and three independents. That model would, at least, ensure that the states are privy to major strategic and budgetary decisions in a more natural way, even as it carries the risk of what has taken place in Victoria, where the delegates have run roughshod over the bigger picture.Such a shift would require constitutional amendments that consume time, energy and grey matter best used in a quieter moment. For now Eddings and Roberts need to be practical, seeking solutions through a method akin to that pushed by Baird and Weatherill in an opinion piece for : “leaders of different levels of government with different affiliations gathering as peers, looking for joint purpose and creating constructive ways of managing differences.”CA’s leaders must show humility about their own actions, and curiosity about the needs of their owners and partners. Fire up Microsoft Teams, Zoom or even House Party, get the state and ACA chairs together, and work out how to move forward in a sporting economy that, for the first time in decades, is less likely to grow than to shrink. Australian cricket’s health depends on it.

Kings XI Punjab could do with quicker runs – and not more runs – from their captain

Karthik Krishnaswamy10-Oct-20207:41

Did KL Rahul’s sedate strike rate cost Kings XI?

It feels almost unfair to begin with that quote, but then again, how can one not? On a day when KL Rahul made 74 off 58 (strike rate 127.58) and his team lost by two runs while chasing 165 for a win?How can you not begin with that quote when Rahul wears the Orange Cap with 387 runs at a strike rate of 134.84, while his team sits at the bottom of the IPL table with just one win in seven games?How can you not draw a line connecting all the runs Rahul has scored, and his manner of scoring them, with his team’s results?There are other factors behind where Kings XI sit halfway through their league campaign. Their bowling, for one, particularly in the death overs. But think of it this way: Rahul has been on strike for 287 of the 824 balls faced by Kings XI’s batsmen this season. That’s just under 35% of all the balls they have faced. No other batsman has had as much influence on how their team’s innings have been shaped. No bowler, by the simple fact that they are restricted to delivering at most a fifth of their team’s overs, has had a comparable influence.KL Rahul’s smart runs in his last five innings•ESPNcricinfo LtdAn overall strike rate of 134.84 doesn’t sound terrible. But over the first 30 balls of all his innings, he’s made 195 off 174 balls, at a strike rate of 112.07. Keep in mind that if he has faced 30 balls, he’s used up a fourth of his team’s quota of deliveries.It isn’t that Rahul can’t play any other way. In IPL 2018, he had a first-six-overs (powerplay) strike rate of 157.57. Since then there’s been a perceptible shift in approach, with his strike rate in that phase dropping to 120.83 in 2019 and 116.00 this year.There are reasons behind why he is playing this way, of course.One, Rahul and the Kings XI management probably believe he has the game to make up for his slow starts if he spends a certain amount of time at the crease. So he has a certain allowance to put a price on his wicket – a bit of a luxury in T20s – and play risk-free cricket for a certain amount of time.When it comes off, it can be spectacular. For instance, he smashed 42 off the last nine balls of his innings against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and finished with 132 not out off 69.But how often will he get that deep into his innings, and once there, how often will he explode as spectacularly? Rahul made 90 off 39 (strike rate 230.77) after crossing the 30-ball mark against the Royal Challengers, but in the three other games where he’s gotten to that point of his innings, he’s made 32 off 24 (against the Rajasthan Royals), 31 off 22 (against the Chennai Super Kings) and, on Saturday against the Knight Riders, 39 off 28.

Compare the situations Maxwell has walked into with the relative blank slates Rahul has at the start of his innings, and you might begin to see that different types of players get judged by different standards in T20 cricket. Recognising that, ask yourself this: what exactly does being the leading run-getter in a T20 league mean if your team has lost six out of seven games?

That’s not a whole lot of payoff. And if Virat Kohli hadn’t dropped him twice just before he went on that late blitz against the Royal Challengers, Rahul would have finished with 83 off 55 (41 off 25 after the 30-ball mark) or 89 off 59 (47 off 29).Rahul certainly can make up for slow starts, but he hasn’t been doing it consistently this season. It can’t be easy for anyone to bat with a certain rhythm for a significant length of time and suddenly change their approach and pull it off time and again.The second reason behind Rahul’s approach could be that he’s often batted alongside someone scoring rapidly enough to make him – or the team management – believe that his best role is to give that batsman the strike and keep the partnership going. Mayank Agarwal has been the quicker-scoring partner in two century opening stands this season, and in both games, Kings XI seemed to be in an impregnable position when he and Rahul were at the crease.Kings XI, however, have lost both those matches. It’s not an unexpected outcome. Data drawn from all seasons of the IPL shows that long partnerships with one partner scoring slowly are often counterproductive. Perhaps Rahul and the Kings XI know this, but feel it’s the only option left to them. That could be another reason behind Rahul’s approach. He may be batting in this manner because the Kings XI either don’t bat that deep – they have played an extra bowler in their last two games and ended up with a long tail – or don’t trust their middle and lower order to build on smaller but more explosive starts from their top order.KL Rahul was dismissed at a most inopportune time for his team•BCCIThat the Kings XI sent in Prabhsimran Singh – who had 258 runs in 15 T20 innings, at a strike rate of 139.45, before Saturday – and not Glenn Maxwell when they needed 21 from 16 against the Knight Riders would suggest they haven’t invested a whole lot of trust in at least one of their regular middle-order batsmen.The fact that Maxwell had only made 48 off 56 balls over six innings before Saturday might suggest that the Kings XI had a reason to not trust him, but that begs two questions: One, why play him at all? And two, could his lack of form and rhythm have something to do with how the Kings XI have used him, or at least be part of the same vicious cycle?Maxwell came into this IPL season having just played two counterattacking, match-winning knocks – 77 off 59 and 108 off 90 – in three ODIs against England. T20 is an entirely different format, but that sort of ball-striking form surely can’t just disappear so quickly.But it can get misplaced if you’re playing in entirely different conditions, and you walk in time and again with not a lot of time to get used to those conditions.In three out of his seven IPL innings this season, Maxwell has finished not out having faced fewer than ten balls. On three of the other four occasions – against the Delhi Capitals, the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad – he’s failed to make a significant contribution after walking in with the Kings XI struggling in chases. He’s not been at or even close to his best, but he’s usually not come in with time to play himself in.It’s the job description of the middle-order hitter in T20s, of course: a lot to do in not a lot of time. But compare the situations Maxwell has walked into with the relative blank slates Rahul has at the start of his innings, and you might begin to see that different types of players get judged by different standards in T20 cricket. Recognising that, ask yourself this: what exactly does being the leading run-getter in a T20 league mean if your team has lost six out of seven games?

Until Sunday, he had gathered consistently. Then came that one barnstorming performance

Saurabh Somani02-Nov-2020After their last-ball defeat against the Chennai Super Kings on October 29, the Kolkata Knight Riders had done a dance routine down the IPL 2020 points table going 5, 6, 7, 8 after every subsequent game because while they had lost, the teams clustered around them were winning. Before their last league match, against the Rajasthan Royals, it didn’t seem anomalous that the Knight Riders were at the bottom of the table, even though five teams were on 12 points.In a way, the Knight Riders’ position mirrored that of captain Eoin Morgan, who had become the batting mainstay of his side almost seamlessly. His team had gathered as many points as the others, but without quite as much of a flourish. Morgan had gathered runs as consistently as anyone else, but without that one barnstorming performance.It took one match, for both perceptions to course correct. The Knight Riders needed a spectacular win, and it was delivered on the back of a spectacular innings against the Rajasthan Royals.Morgan almost downplayed his 68 off 35 that drove the Knight Riders to a total of 191, saying dew had set in early which meant the ball was coming on to the bat better from the first innings itself. The facts are, that in a must-win game for both teams in which both came out swinging hard, only Morgan could score at the pace at which he did, for the length of time he did. Nobody else on either side made more than 40. Nobody who faced at least 20 balls approached his strike-rate. Pat Cummins’ bowling played its part in an eventual 60-run win for the Knight Riders, but arguably, Morgan’s contribution was even more important.His innings ticked some minor boxes in getting him a first half-century in IPL 2020, but that was incidental. Measuring the number of half-centuries for a batsman without context is anyway archaic in T20 cricket.But even by conventional measures, Morgan has had a quietly standout season for the Knight Riders. He’s crossed 400 runs, and in 14 innings, failed to go beyond single-digits just twice. Half of his innings have been scored at strike rates above 140. He’s been the team’s best batsman by some distance. And he’s done all this in a season where he was part of a captaincy change midway through the tournament.Before 2020, Morgan’s record in the IPL was decidedly tepid: an average of 21.35 at a strike rate of 121.13 across 52 matches. This year, the average has been 41.80 and the strike rate has jumped to 138.41. The value his batting has brought for the Knight Riders is understood better when seen through ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which give weightage to performances based on oppositions, match situations and the period of play in which runs are scored. Morgan’s Smart Runs tally is 445 – the highest in the league. Only KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Mayank Agarwal have more Smart Runs than Morgan.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt’s illustrative of just how valuable Morgan’s runs have been that the four men ahead of him are all openers, the position that has the maximum opportunity to pile on big scores in T20 cricket. Morgan has come in to bat on an average in the tenth over this IPL. If he has come in earlier, it’s because there has been a top-order failure. To still outscore a whole bunch of pedigreed batsmen who bat from Nos.1 to 4 in various teams, speaks to the dual aspect of Morgan’s batting this season: he’s got runs consistently, and he’s got them at rates that have been above-par for the match.Sometimes, like on Sunday against the Royals, stunningly above par.Morgan himself focussed more on the collective effort than his own knock. “Given the conditions, how good they were…. everybody in the middle order felt that you had a few balls to take your time and then you could hopefully take advantage later on in the innings,” he said at the press conference after the game. “Managed to do that, Andre Russell managed to do that, and a number of our other batsmen managed to contribute in posting a score of 190.”The words were understated, much like his tournament has been. It could be the way the tournament ends for Morgan and the Knight Riders, with their progression now dependent on the results of the two league stage matches that remain. Morgan himself didn’t appear too fussed, saying he was satisfied the Knight Riders had done all they could to stay in contention with that dominant show against the Royals.”I’ll have an eye on it in the background, but there’s nothing that we can control in that, so what will be, will be,” he said.Regardless of whether the Knight Riders make the playoffs or not, it’s been a breakthrough season of sorts for Morgan, the batsman. He has had sustained success in a competition he hadn’t cracked previously. He’s handled a transition of leadership mid-season, a tricky enough thing to manage on its own. And he’s done it when two of the greatest T20 players of all time in Russell and Sunil Narine have been unavailable for selection at various points.If the playoffs happen, he’ll get another chance to add a striking innings to the IPL 2020 memory bank. If not, he’ll have to wait and see if this batting upswing can be carried over when the IPL is played in India. Either way, what will be, will be.