He seems to have gone back to trusting his hands and eye, and allowing his innate attacking game to flourish

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Jan-20224:05

Ashwin: ‘Maybe our total is a bit short’

It’s not often that anyone outscores Rishabh Pant in a partnership, but R Ashwin on a good day is a plausible candidate for doing so. And after four years when his gifts of eye and timing lay frustratingly dormant, the good days are growing in frequency.Having averaged 16.72 and scored just one fifty in 39 innings from the start of 2017 to the end of 2020, Ashwin has been back among the runs. He’s averaged 26.73 since the start of 2021, and his manner of run-scoring in this period has been as encouraging as the scores he has made.Related

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His 46 on Monday was of a piece with other counterattacking knocks he’s played of late: the 27-ball 22 in the World Test Championship final, and a pair of 30s against New Zealand in Kanpur in November. He moved into strong positions from which to drive down the ground and through the off side, prompting mental flashbacks to his early years in Test cricket when the languid elegance of his strokeplay routinely drew comparisons with VVS Laxman.That fluency had been missing for most of the 2017-20 period, a time when he tinkered constantly with his technique in an effort to get back among the runs.Over the last year or so, Ashwin seems to have gone back to trusting his hands and eye and allowing his innate attacking game to flourish – particularly against fast bowling. Since – but not counting – his stonewalling efforts to save the Sydney Test last January, he’s scored at a strike rate of 69.17 against pace, with 30 fours in 292 balls, a rate better than one every ten balls.Ashwin says he hasn’t made any conscious effort to go after fast bowling; his scoring rate, he reckons, has simply been an outcome of getting into better positions at the crease.”Look, in between, somewhere, for a couple of years, trying to get very technically right or whatever it is to try and build on scores, I think I lost a bit of my flow with respect to getting into good positions at the crease,” Ashwin said, at the end of the first day’s play at the Wanderers.”Even before that I have always batted at a good clip, so there’s not been a conscious effort to go out there and keep playing those shots. If it’s there, it’s there. For me, I get into positions where I can play some of those shots which maybe some of the other specialist batters might not be able to play, but this freedom is what gave me success in the past.”R Ashwin – “I get into positions where I can play shots which maybe some of the other specialist batters might not be able to play”•AFP via Getty ImagesThat line about playing shots that specialist batters might not be able to play is, of course, no idle boast. Even his briefest innings have sometimes been lit up by an incandescent stroke; think of the back-foot drive that he hit off Josh Hazlewood on a pitch of hugely uncertain bounce in Bengaluru, back in 2017, before being bowled by a grubber while attempting a repeat.There were at least three shots in Monday’s innings that might stick in your memory: an effortless push straight of mid-on off Lungi Ngidi, an inside-out drive through the covers off Keshav Maharaj, and an on-drive over midwicket off Kagiso Rabada.”It’s still about choosing [shots] correctly and also getting the flow of my hands right, which I think I’ve been able to get back ever since Australia, or a little bit before Australia,” Ashwin said. “[Batting coach] Vikram Rathour has been very helpful in terms of having those communications and also trying to get those things sorted in the nets.”Ashwin acknowledged that his innings got off to a flier because he got a few balls in his area first up, but he also felt South Africa’s bowlers may have helped him get into rhythm by attacking him with the short ball when he came to the crease.”The moment I went in I got a straight ball which I hit down the ground, then I got one which I hit on the up off Lungi Ngidi on the off side,” Ashwin said. “So the balls presented themselves, and I responded. There was no attempt to try and go there and play at that strike rate; sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, that’s the beauty of playing the game.”And also, I thought, getting a hang of the pitch. Initially they started with the short ball again, so I feel like whenever I get started off with the short ball, it gets me going a bit, so yeah, I had gameplans. Glad it worked out, and it’s also about building on and trying to be more productive for the team.”

They were up against it after losing two key tosses, but their anchor-heavy, allrounder-light structure made it even harder for them to compete

Sidharth Monga01-Nov-20212:47

Gambhir: India have all the skills but not the mental toughness

There was a Virat Kohli press conference before Virat Kohli press conference. Kohli was asked if Rohit Sharma should be left out for Ishan Kishan. Kohli, speaking from a seat of power, mocked him at the mere thought. The reporter had no shout at a counter. Social media went berserk. King Kohli had “bodied” an ignoramus. Fire emojis. Taught him a lesson. Gangsta memes. What “self-control” from the skipper to not go harder at the gentleman.Related

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The joke, however, is on anyone who, in 2021, thinks it’s blasphemy to suggest that maybe, just maybe, a T20 XI is not big enough for both Rohit and Kohli. They are both anchors who have an ordinary record against spin in T20 cricket over recent years. If they bat together, both ends can get stuck. They work for their IPL teams because they are the only such batters in their XIs. Kohli has AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell to score quick runs. Rohit’s whole line-up is dynamic. Rohit and Kohli are important to an XI to guard against collapses and difficult pitches, but two of them is a luxury, and jeopardy if they end up batting together.To be fair to them, India are not on the brink of elimination because of them, but the fact that it is such a crime to even question their presence in a T20 XI tells you about the structure of India’s squads and attitude to T20Is.India were in luck this year, though. If ever there was a World Cup where their anchor-heavy structure could work, it was this one. This was a squad built for games where 150 is par. They had the bowlers for the slow pitches of the UAE, and the batters for risk-free accumulation. That’s why they were one of the favourites.In an ironic twist of luck, though, India found themselves in the group of sudden death, on pitches that changed character dramatically during the course of the match. These pitches were already used extensively during the IPL, but 6pm starts in October in desert conditions give chasing sides a huge advantage with heavy dew setting in after the first innings. By the time India lost to New Zealand, 13 of the 16 Super 12s games had been won by chasing sides. Of the three successful defences, two came against Namibia and Scotland, and the third against Bangladesh was won by three runs by West Indies.In a group with three clear contenders fighting for two semi-final spots, and where these three teams are facing each other at the start, there is no room for error or bad luck. If you lose a match early in the other group, you can hope for other teams to help you out. Here you’d need a major upset to get such help.2:04

Bumrah: We played a lot of attacking shots that didn’t come off

Batting first in T20s is considered a difficult task, but when conditions are such, you need to do extraordinary things to stay in the competition. Even West Indies – who possess better team structure and understanding of the format than India – have not been able to compete, winning one out of three games after losing the toss. Their win over Bangladesh was in an afternoon match, a possible equaliser India didn’t have access to because all their games are played at primetime.To ignore the role of luck in such a short format will be unfair on the teams. Against New Zealand India did try, within their limitations, to do what they could to counter the loss of the toss. They knew 140 was not going to be enough, so they were willing to risk 110 while looking for 170. They opened with Kishan to break up the two right-hand batters who allowed Pakistan to bowl two left-arm bowlers upfront. Just how Pakistan had Shaheen Shah Afridi and Imad Wasim, New Zealand had a similar combination of Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner who could tie right-hand batters up. Also, India wanted quick runs in the powerplay because they knew how difficult it could get in the middle overs.It didn’t work out, but there was clear attacking intent. Kishan and KL Rahul were slightly unlucky to find the only boundary rider on the leg side, but both Rohit and Kohli played uncharacteristic innings to look to balance the toss disadvantage. Rohit, who likes to get in before playing big shots, tried to hit a six first ball. Kohli, who barely attacked spinners in the middle overs in the entire UAE leg of the IPL, slogged the sixth ball he faced and kept looking to go inside-out through the covers as opposed to his usual approach of taking risk-free singles.Both eventually got out trying to hit sixes, which points to noble intent, but with their struggle it was also apparent they were playing unfamiliar roles, batting in a manner they would otherwise only reserve for worst-case scenarios. India’s team structure is not built for those scenarios. The pitch made it even more difficult.The biggest partnership of the innings was between Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, but when the selectors picked this squad, they were hoping for a different kind of partnership between the two. They were hoping they would regularly share four overs between them, saving each other from unfavourable match-ups. That hasn’t happened.Jadeja has made a remarkable comeback to India’s white-ball sides, but he’s probably being asked to do too much in this line-up. In his last 16 matches for Chennai Super Kings, he’s only bowled 49 overs, as one of usually six bowling options in their XI. Having those options allows Super Kings to use him when the match-ups are favourable. Because of the mystery surrounding Pandya’s fitness, however, India played Jadeja as a full-fledged fifth bowler. That leaves them with a thin attack that can make any captain look ordinary on the field.The BCCI needs to investigate why the selectors believed Pandya was fit to bowl four overs in each game when they announced the squad, and why Mumbai Indians were less than forthcoming about his fitness status. Did Pandya take his fitness tests at the NCA as others do when they come back from injury? Did Pandya’s IPL team tell the BCCI whether this was a new injury or a relapse?The uncertainty around Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness left India with only five bowling options•AFP/Getty ImagesNot that India had all-round options knocking on the door once they learnt Pandya wasn’t going to bowl, though. The selectors had to choose between hedging their bets with a less-than-ideal allrounder and banking on Pandya’s primary skill, which is death-overs hitting. They went with the latter, which, in the circumstances, was not unreasonable.At any rate, no selection or structure can guarantee you success against the odds that sides batting first in this tournament have faced. You can only hope to be able to compete if you are asked to bat first. That India have not been able to compete is not down to lack of bravery, as Kohli said, but a lack of role clarity. The Super Kings and Mumbai Indians T20 empires run on the basic formula of identifying the right roles for their players and then letting them play that role again and again, never mind early failures.India’s post-Kohli T20 leadership will have to ensure the same. They will also have to ensure that they don’t select too many batters who fulfill similar roles in their IPL teams, leaving them wondering where to bat them. They will have to make it rewarding to do well in the middle order even though that may not result in numbers that are as sexy as those the openers churn out. They will have to re-evaluate how much their batters value their wickets. Finding allrounders, extreme pace and left-arm swing is a matter of luck, but they have Jasprit Bumrah and spinners to build around; can they tap into the potential of someone like Umran Malik?All told, the reality is that India are heading towards their first failure to make the semi-finals of an ICC event since 2012. But it is not a disaster for Indian cricket. It is a year in which they have achieved incredible things in whites. While mentioning the lack of an ICC title since 2013, do note that winning ICC trophies involves more luck than winning four-Test bilateral series away from home. It’s not to say that a restructure of India’s T20 cricket has not been long overdue, but only early tournament exits tend to facilitate such change.

Whether it’s bowling at the death or playing the ukulele, this has been a season of learnings for the left-arm spinner

Deivarayan Muthu21-Nov-2021In the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, R Sai Kishore had an economy rate of 4.63 – the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 20 overs. In the 2020-21 tournament, the left-arm fingerspinner had an economy rate of 4.82 – the second-best with the same cut-off.This season his economy rate has jumped to 6.50, which is nevertheless impressive, considering his new role as Tamil Nadu’s middle-and-death-overs spin option in their run to their third straight T20 final.In the last couple of years, when Dinesh Karthik was the captain, Sai Kishore was the side’s new-ball specialist. He has now fronted up to bowl at the slog for the Vijay Shankar-led side, in the absence of their designated death bowler T Natarajan, and Sonu Yadav, who did the job during Tamil Nadu’s run to the title last season.”When DK was the captain, I think we were a little sorted in terms of our death bowling,” Sai Kishore tells ESPNcricinfo on the eve of the final. “It was in the powerplay that he wanted me to bowl, but this year we were playing around our roles a little bit because we weren’t particularly sure of who will bowl when.”I also bowled at the death in the TNPL and this year I had a slot to bowl at the death. I read [the intentions of batters] Vijay (Vijay Shankar) and Jaggi (N Jagadeesan) when I bowl at the nets and the coaching staff has so much belief in me to bowl anywhere. Whenever they want to plug the runs or go for the wickets, they’re trying to use me.”On his 25th birthday, in Lucknow, Sai Kishore netted a hat-trick in the last over against Puducherry, pinning them down to 129 for 8. Sai Kishore says the birthday hat-trick hasn’t sunk in yet and that his job isn’t done yet.”I really didn’t know it was a hat-trick. Jaggi only told me it was a hat-trick,” Sai recalls. “I was worried because the first ball went for six, so I just wanted to end the over well because they had scored 120-125. I didn’t necessarily go for wickets and I just tried to be as defensive as possible. It happens in T20 when you get wickets by luck… I didn’t feel much and it didn’t hit me and I’ve to perform the next match. So, maybe after some time, in hindsight, it will hit me.”Being part of the CSK squad has made Sai Kishore ‘more confident in my game and my game-reading skills have improved’•R Sai KishoreSai Kishore hasn’t got a game for Chennai Super Kings in the past three years but being part of an IPL set-up and a stint as net bowler for India on their Sri Lanka tour last year have helped him grow into a more rounded T20 bowler. He has bowled in various phases for TN in the past three years in both the Vijay Hazare (50 overs) and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments, forging a potent partnership with legspinner M Ashwin.”In the last two years my game has gone up, having been part of CSK, though I didn’t get a game,” Sai Kishore says. “I would have learned, but it would have taken more time had I not been there at CSK. I’m more confident in my game and my game-reading skills have improved. So, in a game situation, I’m even willing to go for extra runs, if I can finish the match for the team.”I’m also grateful to have been picked in the India squad from domestic cricket without having played IPL. That experience has given me a lot of confidence as to what that level of cricket is, what is actually needed there and for all those things I’m grateful.”Previously, I also had the ego of bowling one more ball to dare him [the batter] to hit it. If they need 15 runs an over, I can actually be smart here and if I bowl tightly at my end, the other guy has the chance of picking the wicket. When me and Ash (M Ashwin) bowl together, we plan like that. If the target is huge, we can finish it off if both me and Ash bowl well together. That game-reading skills have gotten better that way.”On the flip side, Sai Kishore has had to shift from one bubble to another in recent times, going from the one in Sri Lanka to the TNPL to CSK to Tamil Nadu. Two days after the Sri Lanka tour, Sai Kishore joined the TNPL bubble and bowled Chepauk Super Gillies to victory with 4 for 30. Sai Kishore says he has learned to embrace the bubble life and that he has found other ways to keep him occupied.”CSK bubble was good fun,” he says. “I had Rutu (Ruturaj Gaikwad) with me and the atmosphere was very good. In Sri Lanka, the first one month was spent in quarantine and moving around the hotel. In the TN bubble, I always enjoy being with these boys, so I’m just trying to look at things that are working well.”If I don’t play here and be at home, I know I definitely won’t be happy. After coming from Sri Lanka, I felt I needed match-time, so I played the TNPL, and we won the tournament, so it was a very good feeling.'[Variety] has been there in the repertoire for some time, but I haven’t been able to use it’•TNPL”The bubble has gotten us closer and I’ve got into a bit of music and trying to learn new instruments. I tried violin and the mouth organ but didn’t work for me [laughs]. Ukulele, I guess, came decently to me.”Sai Kishore has also expanded his variations, but has put them back in his locker, instead trying to fit into roles defined by the team management. However, he hints that it might not be too long before he goes funky and unveils those variations.”It’s a work in progress,” he says. “There was one game in the TNPL where I tried to do something different, and I guess sometimes I should come out of the shell sometime soon. I’ve been working on a few variations, but I haven’t bowled anywhere. [when the team wants you to bowl that over for them], it’s slightly harder to go out of the pattern and maybe I should work on a way to bring it out somewhere. It [variety] has been there in the repertoire for some time, but I haven’t been able to use it. It’s similar to a batsman having a sweep and him not having the need to use it right now.”Sai Kishore was padded up in the dug-out when Tamil Nadu suffered a heartbreaking one-run defeat at the hands of Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in 2019 in Surat. Two years on, he has become a more versatile bowler and one of the faces of a new-look Tamil Nadu side that continues to dominate T20 cricket despite the absence of Karthik, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund.Sai Kishore and Tamil Nadu are now set to face Karnataka in another T20 final in Delhi, and he believes the 2019 result will not have an impact on Monday’s game.”To be honest, there aren’t too much emotions [from the 2019 final],” Sai Kishore says. “When we lost then, I was in my second [full] season – that was when guys like Jaggi, Hari [Nishaanth], Momi [M Mohammed] got regular game-time. Since then, most of these guys have played consistently together but at that time we didn’t have that much experience of playing a final.”I feel we haven’t played to our best yet this season – we’ve been here, been there, but yet to put together a complete game. So, we’re just trying to learn from the semis, quarters and just try and put on a show.”

Also: what is the record for the most ducks in a first-class innings?

Steven Lynch01-Mar-2022Yash Dhull played his first first-class match last week, and made 113 in both innings. Has this happened before? asked Sanjit Srivastava from Canada, and many others
In his first match since leading India to victory over England in the Under-19 World Cup in Antigua, the exciting Delhi prospect Yash Dhull marked his first-class debut by scoring 113 and 113 not out against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy in Guwahati.Dhull is the ninth to score twin centuries on his first-class debut, but the first of those to make the same score in both innings. The previous record for a debutant was two scores of 56, by Bert “Poddy” Davie for Tasmania against Victoria in Launceston in February 1922, almost exactly 100 years before Dhull’s effort.Overall, there had been 24 previous instances of a player making the same score of 100 or more in both innings of a first-class game. The highest such double is 146 (run out) and 146 (not out), by John Langridge for Sussex against Derbyshire in Worthing in 1949. The highest in Tests is a brace of 105s by Duleep Mendis for Sri Lanka against India in Madras in 1982-83.Who was the first man to score two centuries in the same Test? asked David Johnson from Ireland
Scoring two centuries in a Test has become relatively commonplace (it has been achieved 87 times now) but the first instance – and the only one in the first 45 years of Test cricket – was by the durable Australian Warren Bardsley, who made 136 and 130 for Australia against England at The Oval in 1909. Seventeen years later, aged 43, Bardsley carried his bat for 193 against England at Lord’s.In the first innings of a recent Ranji Trophy match, five Mumbai batters were out for ducks – was this a record? asked Siddharth from India
Mumbai’s five duck-makers in the first innings of their match against Goa in Ahmedabad last week might be relieved to know they are well short of the record. There are many instances of six ducks in an innings (the most recent by Sussex – who still totalled 300 – against Derbyshire in Hove last September), and 34 cases of seven, the most recent by Sui Southern Gas against Multan in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Multan in September 2018.But there are eight first-class innings that contained eight ducks, most of them in the far-distant past. The most recent of these came in July 1942, when Barbados skittled Trinidad for 16 in Bridgetown, with medium-pacer Derek Sealy taking 8 for 8. Trinidad’s openers made 13 between them, but all the other batters were out for 0, apart from Gerry Gomez who remained undefeated with 3.The previous instance of eight ducks in an innings came during a famous County Championship match in 1922, when Warwickshire dismissed Hampshire for 15 at Edgbaston: Hampshire followed on, made 521, and won by 155 runs.Hazratullah Zazai’s 236-run stand with Usman Ghani against Ireland is the highest partnership for the first wicket in a T20 match•Getty ImagesMultan Sultans had two hundred partnerships in their innings in a recent Pakistan Super League match. How rare is this? asked Sheraz Muzafar from Pakistan
In the match you’re talking about, for Multan Sultans against Quetta Gladiators in the PSL in Lahore last month, Mohammad Rizwan put on 119 for the first wicket with Shan Masood, then 103 for the second with the South African Rilee Rossouw, who clouted 71 from 26 balls. This was the 12th occasion that a senior T20 innings had contained two separate hundred partnerships.Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers put on 229 for RCB in an IPL game in 2016. Is this the highest in any T20 match? asked Peter Manford from England
That partnership of 229 came for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Gujarat Lions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2016; Virat Kohli hit 109, and AB de Villiers 129 not out. It’s the overall IPL record, and the highest for the second wicket in all T20s – but there has been one higher opening partnership. For Afghanistan against Ireland in a T20I in Dehradun in February 2019, Hazratullah Zazai (162 not out, with 16 sixes) and Usman Ghani (73) put on 236 for the first wicket.In all, there have been 15 partnerships of 200 or more in senior T20 cricket, three of them in international matches.And there’s an update to one of last week’s questions, from Sameeranga Patwari from India
“Regarding the question about the most runs added after the loss of the fifth wicket, in one-day internationals the highest is actually 267, by New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Dunedin in January 2015. They were on the back foot at 93 for 5, but recovered to 360 for 5 – so added 267 – mainly thanks to the No. 7 Luke Ronchi, who scored 170 not out.”This is correct, so I’m sorry for misleading everyone last week – I must have entered something incorrectly when I did the search for ODIs. There was another instance higher than the two I mentioned: in Chennai in June 2007, the Asian XI were 72 for 5 against Africa, before Mahela Jayawardene (107) and MS Dhoni (139 not out), lifted them to 331 for 8. For what I believe is now the correct list, click here.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

And is Mumbai Indians’ eight consecutive losses the worst start to an IPL season by any team?

Steven Lynch26-Apr-2022Mumbai Indians just crashed to their eighth defeat out of eight this season. Is this the worst start to any IPL campaign? asked Narendra Vohra from India

Mumbai Indians’ horror start to the 2022 IPL does indeed turn out to be the worst yet: defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on Sunday meant they had lost all eight of their matches up to that point. Two other teams started an IPL season with six straight defeats – Delhi Daredevils in 2013, and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019.Apparently there was a suggestion online that Kings XI Punjab lost their first eight games in 2010, but that’s incorrect: their sequence included seven defeats and a Super Over win after a tie.There have been four cases of a streak of nine consecutive losses mid-season, by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009, Pune Warriors in 2012 and 2013, and Daredevils in 2014. The record straddling seasons is 11 straight defeats, by Pune Warriors in 2013 and 2014, and Delhi in 2015-16.There were three double-centuries in the recent County Championship game between Derbyshire and Sussex. Has any match had more? asked Robert Sponder from England

The three double-centuries in that match in Derby earlier this month came from Shan Masood, with 239 for Derbyshire, and the Sussex pair of Tom Haines (243) and Cheteshwar Pujara (201 not out). I was slightly surprised to discover that this equalled the first-class record: there had been ten previous instances of three double-hundreds in the same game, the most recent two coming in India’s Ranji Trophy in 2016-17, in the matches between Delhi and Maharashtra in Mumbai and Baroda and Punjab in Delhi.The first such instance was by Barbados and Trinidad in Bridgetown in 1943-44, and it happened again two years later in the same fixture in Port-of-Spain (Frank Worrell reached 200 in both). It’s happened twice in Tests – by Australia and West Indies in Bridgetown in 1964-65, and Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2008-09.Which bowler has the worst strike rate in Test cricket? asked Michael Robertson from England

Given a minimum of 50 Test wickets, the worst strike rate belongs to the former West Indian captain Carl Hooper, whose 114 victims came at a strike rate of 121 balls per wicket – that’s more than 20 overs for each one. Next comes Australia’s miserly medium-pacer Ken “Slasher” Mackay, who went for well under two runs an over but didn’t take many wickets: his 50 came at a rate of one every 115.8 balls. The worst among those with more than 200 wickets is another West Indian captain, Garry Sobers, whose 235 came at a strike rate of 91.9.Ben Compton became the 12th opener to bat through both innings of a men’s first-class match•Andrew MillerBen Compton batted through both innings of Kent’s recent Championship match against Lancashire – has anyone else ever done this? asked Norman Davidson from England

Kent’s new opener Ben Compton carried his bat for 104 in the first innings of the recent Championship match against Lancashire in Canterbury, and was last out in the second innings for 115. This was the 12th instance of a man batting throughout both innings of a first-class match, the first since Derbyshire’s Luke Sutton (140 not out and 54) did it against Sussex in Derby in 2001.Surrey’s Harry Jupp did it twice – against Hampshire in 1866 and against Yorkshire in 1874, both at The Oval. The only instance in a Test was by Desmond Haynes, for West Indies against New Zealand in Dunedin in 1979-80; he was the last man out in both innings, after making 55 and 105.Thanks to an odd-looking lbw decision, Compton was deprived of the distinction of carrying his bat through both innings – a feat achieved just six times in first-class cricket, most recently by Andhra’s Sudhakar Reddy against Kerala in Calicut (now Kozhikode) in 1991-92, and Jimmy Cook for Somerset vs Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1989.Sunil Narine was run out without facing from the first ball of a recent IPL innings. How often has this happened? asked Josh Willmott from England

Opening with Aaron Finch for Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunil Narine was run out without facing against Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai last week. He was actually the fourth batter to collect what some call a “diamond duck” in the IPL, following Karan Goel for Kings XI Punjab against Royals in Cape Town in 2009, and M Vijay for Chennai Super Kings against Delhi Daredevils in Delhi in 2012 (both from the first ball of the match), and Colin Munro for Delhi against Royals in Jaipur in 2018, which like Narine’s dismissal was from the opening delivery of the chase.In all T20 cricket there have now been 22 instances of a batter being run out without facing from the first ball of an innings – rather neatly, 11 from the first ball of the match and 11 from the opening ball of the second innings.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Is Prasidh Krishna’s hit-the-deck style the way to go? Talking points ahead of India’s three-match ODI series against England

Shashank Kishore11-Jul-2022It is entirely possible the 2019 ODI World Cup final still feels recent, but the fact is that there is another 50-over World Cup upon us next year. While the build-up to it may still be muted, India, like many others, have some work to do. The three-match series against England beginning on Tuesday at The Oval will provide an opportunity for a few players to set things right, while at the same time being an audition for the others.Can Kohli banish talks of a decline?
The numbers are out in the open. It is likely that even the most disconnected fan of the game knows a century has been loading for close to three years. But it hasn’t entirely been doom and gloom for Virat Kohli the batter.Adelaide 2020, Chennai 2021, The Oval 2021, and Cape Town 2022 are a few shining examples. Ever since he gave up the captaincy last year, every innings has brought with it that much more scrutiny.Related

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Even for someone as zoned out as Kohli from external chatter, he is unlikely to forget that the count of century-less innings in international cricket now stands at 77. His struggles have been analysed threadbare, and mindset scrutinised to the extent that there has been a chorus from former players and coaches for him to take a break, which he has received in plenty; fair call to the BCCI there.But the men who matter – Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid – have continued to back Kohli.All said, the upcoming ODIs may be his best chance to shred talks of being on the decline and bring back that air of inevitability to his batting and hundreds, something that was commonplace when Kohli was at his peak between 2015 to 2019. For the record, he has six half-centuries in his last 11 ODI innings.Shreyas Iyer will need a big score to keep someone like Suryakumar Yadav out of the ODI side•AFP/Getty ImagesSuryakumar vs Iyer
Such stifling competition for places isn’t new to Shreyas Iyer. He wasn’t even a first-choice player in India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2014. But the reality is that while he hasn’t done much wrong in the opportunities he has got, his methods of handling the short ball have come under scrutiny.Iyer was in the form of his life last year before a shoulder injury sidelined him for six months. But in the time since, he has lost his IPL captaincy, was released by a franchise that he led to their first-ever IPL final a year earlier, and then saw Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda catch up with him as far as the middle-order stakes go.An average of 41 and a strike rate of 97 across 24 ODI innings means he should be an automatic pick, but the competition for places is such that he will need a big score to keep someone of Suryakumar’s calibre out. Suryakumar’s most recent knock was an unreal T20I century on Sunday. Like Iyer, he too has cashed in on every opportunity so far in the 50-over format. This middle-order jostle is a healthy one, though.Hardik Pandya last bowled ten overs in an ODI innings during the 2019 World Cup semi-final•PA Photos/Getty ImagesPandya’s return to 50-overs cricket
He has returned to bowling, and has done quite well so far in T20s, but can his body tune up to the rigours of the longer format? Can he deliver ten overs if required? How will the change in format affect his workload? There are a few questions which Hardik Pandya could potentially answer in this series. He has only featured in nine ODIs since July 2019, the last of which was in Sri Lanka last year when he was part of a second-string squad led by Shikhar Dhawan.In fact, Pandya last bowled ten overs in an ODI innings during the 2019 World Cup semi-final. So clearly, there is plenty to look forward to because the bowler in him lends India a new dimension and squad balance.Prasidh’s hit-the-deck style the way to go?
With Jasprit Bumrah being the pace spearhead and Mohammed Shami clearly still in the ODI plans, the third-seamer spot could be a juicy toss-up with a number of claimants in the ring.There is Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and now Arshdeep Singh. Among them, Prasidh has so far had an impressive initiation. Even on the most docile surfaces, his height and release allow him to get deliveries to rear up awkwardly on batters. Moreover, Prasidh does this at a fair clip too, at above 140 clicks. These, combined with a perfect seam that gets the ball moving both ways, make him an even more dangerous prospect on surfaces with some assistance.Prasidh had a breakthrough ODI series earlier this year against West Indies, and is being groomed to be the kind of bowler India saw in Ishant Sharma in his early days. Of course, the 50-over format wasn’t one that Ishant always favoured, but Prasidh has shown there is enough to work with if persisted.He is just seven ODIs old but has already picked up 18 wickets at an average of 16.42, and an economy of 4.84. But England’s destructive batting line-up could offer a stern test.

Dour application and discipline from MP’s top four kept Siddarth Kaul and co. at bay

Daya Sagar07-Jun-2022The first four overs of the day were all maidens. The first 11 yielded just 14 and not a single boundary. By the time a four was struck in the 30th over, the score had swelled to a grand total of 56 for no loss.In era of T20 cricket, the way Madhya Pradesh went about their batting would probably be classified as “super-slow”. The KSCA stadium in Alur is hosting three quarter finals of the Ranji Trophy, and while they just can’t stop scoring at Mumbai-Uttarakhand, Karnataka-Uttar Pradesh is just producing wickets by the bucketful. Over on the corner ground, there are no such events worth talking about between Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.For the Punjab bowlers, the lack of wickets was not down to lack of effort, but for their opposition, the slow run rate was a clear sign of game awareness and a considered strategy. One that helped them push ahead in the contest in the closing stages of the second day.For Punjab, the experienced new-ball pair of Siddarth Kaul and Baltej Singh started well after their batters had put together 219. There was a generous cloud cover and a breeze blowing cross-field, and Kaul and Baltej kept bowling in a good channel outside off, varying their lengths ever so slightly, to keep Yash Dubey and Himanshu Mantri quiet. A wicket looked imminent at all times. Punjab would have to wait till the 33rd over for their breakthrough, though, as Dubey fell to an injudicious slog-sweep against Mayank Markande.That was half of all the success Punjab would have as a bowling side on the day, with Madhya Pradesh finishing the day at 238, with a handy lead of 19. With eight wickets in hand and three whole days to play, they have the perfect opportunity to put this match beyond the reach of Punjab. While Madhya Pradesh managed a century, an 89 and a pair of round 20s on the day, the manner in which they scored these runs were a throwback to the best traditions of red-ball batting. They left as many balls as possible while it was new, and scored at a fairer clip once the bowlers had tired and the ball had softened. For Chandrakant Pandit’s wards, this was the perfect game-plan given the conditions and the match situation.The right-handed Dubey faced 89 balls for his 20 and didn’t hit a single boundary. He left so many deliveries outside off that it drove the Punjab bowlers to offering some loose balls, which his left-handed partner Mantri pounced on. Mantri was the more enterprising of the two, striking Vinay Choudhary for a couple of sixes in the first session. However, it was only after tea that he exhibited a wider repertoire of cuts, drives, flicks and inside out shots. His 89 was his first half-century in first-class cricket, and he would have been disappointed with his mode of dismissal, when in sight of a century, stumped off Markande.Their best batter of the day was No.3 Shubham Sharma, though, who struck nine fours and a six in a 211-ball 102 which oozed both control and discipline. Shubham had only three centuries in his first eight years since his debut in 2013, but this year he has already struck his third hundred in five innings. Like his predecessors, Shubham wasn’t ‘excessively slow’ in his approach and took full toll of all scoring opportunities at his disposal. Against the quicker bowlers, he was happy to respond with cuts, drives, back-foot punches, pulls and flicks, but used his feet well against the spinners.He was lucky too, with a couple of edges falling short of fielders when he tried to take the attack to the spinners. As they say, fortune favours the brave. Or in the case of the Madhya Pradesh batters on Tuesday, it smiled on the traditional and the disciplined.

“The next three or four weeks is going to be about challenging ourselves outside of our comfort zones,” says the middle-order batter

Firdose Moonda21-Nov-2022South Africa’s red-ball batters are trying to make themselves as uncomfortable as possible as they prepare for their three-Test series in Australia next month. All the Test batters, with the exception of white-ball captain Temba Bavuma, who has been given time off, will play in at least one of the three rounds of domestic first-class matches taking place before the squad leaves in early December.For Rassie van der Dussen, who is returning from a finger injury, which sidelined him for over two months, his training is as much about runs as it is about readying himself for a hostile reception in Australia.Related

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“The next three or four weeks is going to be about challenging ourselves outside of our comfort zones,” van der Dussen told ESPNcricinfo at the launch of the SA20 league recently. “When you go to Australia, from a skill point of view, they have some of the best in the world. Their bowlers hardly bowl any bad balls and keep you under pressure. And then, from a pressure point of view, the media, the crowds, it’s those kinds of things you need to expect when you go there, from what I have heard. So the next few weeks will be about pushing myself out of my comfort zone and making sure I address all those factors so, when I get there, I know I have done the hard yards and the uncomfortable yards in practice.”Van der Dussen, like most of the line-up barring captain Dean Elgar and Bavuma, has never played a Test match in Australia. South Africa have not toured Australia over the Christmas-New Year period since the 2008-9 season, when they won a series there for the first time. They have not lost a series in Australia since, but haven’t played Tests there since late 2016.That may suggest South Africa head to Australia with some advantage. But Australia are currently the top-ranked team on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. South Africa sit second, and one of the main reasons for it has been their bowling unit. In the current WTC cycle, South Africa’s attack has the best bowling average (22.98) and lowest strike rate among all teams, taking a wicket almost once every seven overs. Contrastingly, their batting has struggled. Only Bangladesh and West Indies have scored fewer runs than South Africa since July 2021, during which time South Africa have only crossed 300 five times in 19 innings, and gone past 400 just once. They have been bowled out for under 200 eight times and have the fewest number of centuries: two.

“Numbers-wise, we haven’t done what we have wanted to, which is to score more hundreds and get the team to 400-plus, but the Test Championship table shows that we’ve done all right”Rassie van der Dussen

Van der Dussen acknowledged that the numbers have not been up to standard, but he suggested that difficult conditions were somewhat to blame. “If you look at the averages of the batters, it’s not up there. But you have to see the context, in terms of the conditions we’ve played in for the last two years – it’s been very bowler-friendly. For example here (in South Africa) against India and in New Zealand and England.”Numbers-wise, we haven’t done what we have wanted to, which is to score more hundreds and get the team to 400-plus, but the Test Championship table shows that we’ve done all right. We’re sitting second and we will definitely look to improve.”Asked if the line-up’s inability to convert their starts into big scores was an indicator of a systemic problem, van der Dussen moved to quell serious concerns. “I am not worried. I know what we are about as a batting unit. I refer to some characters and backgrounds. I know the types of people we have in our batting line-up and the resilience we’ve shown,” he said. “There’s got to be a time when it’s going to click. We’ve got to keep doing the same things in training, keep doing the hard yards and the uncomfortable work and we’ve got to believe we are one innings away from your next big innings.”It feels like the idea of runs being just around the corner is a line South Africa consistently use. It was used when asked about South Africa’s dearth of hundreds or more recently, Bavuma’s form in T20 cricket and specifically at the recent World Cup. After missing South Africa’s tour to England because of an elbow injury, Bavuma returned to score 70 runs in five World Cup matches, the least among South Africa’s specialist batters, and with the lowest strike rate, apart from Tristan Stubbs (31 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 100.00).Rassie van der Dussen is hoping to get his white-ball place back after missing the T20 World Cup with a broken finger•Getty ImagesVan der Dussen backed Bavuma, and said strike rate could be over-rated at international events, where temperament was more important. “In domestic tournaments, strike rate, boundary count is a big thing. But sometimes the value of a calm head gets overlooked. I think people make too much of it at international cricket,” he said. “In domestic leagues, it’s a big thing, people want to see sixes being hit and a lot of action but when the pressure is on in an international tournament, I believe we need guys with calm heads and clear thoughts.”That’s what van der Dussen hoped that the likes of Bavuma, Elgar and he would provide to a Test squad that heads to Australia without their No.3, Keegan Petersen, who tore his hamstring in the domestic T20 competition. They also have an interim coach, Malibongwe Maketa, following Mark Boucher’s departure. They have added two back-up batters in Heinrich Klaasen and Theunis de Bruyn, who have 13 Test caps between them but have been playing professionally for a decade and eight years respectively.”If you look at the squad, we have guys who have been seasoned domestic cricketers for years and years,” he said. “It’s guys who have been around the block, maybe not in terms of number of Test matches played but we are hardened first-class cricketers and we are going to lean on that going to Australia. We hardly have any youngsters in the batting line-ups so it’s up to us to step up.”Klaasen, Elgar and wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne all warmed up with centuries in last week’s round of fixtures, where van der Dussen made his comeback. He scored 45 and 10 in his first match back and his progress is on track for the first Test in Brisbane which starts on December 17. “I’ve been batting for the last four weeks and I’ve been back to facing full bowlers for the last two weeks. It went better than I expected.”He was also aiming to get his white-ball place back after missing the T20 World Cup as he recovered from a broken finger, and would be in action for MI Cape Town in the SA20 before pushing for a place in South Africa’s ODI squad. “I like to think I will be back in the mix, seeing that I am fit again now,” he said. “I love white-ball cricket and I love the challenge of T20, and the tactical and strategic part of T20.”

On an evening when it really mattered, the 19-year old soaked in the pressure and won it for his team – this time, with the bat

Danyal Rasool08-Sep-20223:21

Is Naseem Shah now second to only Shaheen Afridi for Pakistan?

It’s the 18th over of Pakistan’s first game at the Asia Cup, and Naseem Shah already looks done. He’s bowling to Ravindra Jadeja as India close in on a scrappy win. He’s been thrown the ball because Pakistan need wickets, but his 19-year old legs can barely support his body weight. He slumps to the floor almost every delivery, that expressive face contorting in agony. Oppressively muggy Dubai evenings and bowling at 145kph, evidently, do not go together.He’s helped to his feet, is basically hopping on one leg as he starts his run-up and then, like the flick of a mental switch, he canters in, gathering pace as he approaches the bowling crease once more. There’s no let-up in pace, and yet, the moment the ball leaves his hand, his body remembers what it’s being put through, and the pain overcomes him once more. He goes down again. Then gets up and again. And he does it over and over, showcasing a level of mental resolve that belies his teenage years.

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The occasion is finally here – Pakistan against Afghanistan. A city so full of migrants from both countries each of them has learned to call it their second home of sorts. Significant Indian interest in the game too, lending it an extra edge – a Pakistan win would put the giants of this continent out of the tournament.Related

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Like it or not – and very few do – India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen their fates inextricably linked together in the world of geopolitics. That, for one surreal evening in Sharjah, it also holds true as far as cricket goes is an unusual case of sport imitating life. The narrative is delicious enough to be used as a cliché; of sport bringing people together, or, less pleasantly, chest-thumping jingoism depending on how the game goes. Thankfully, at this Asia Cup, there has been almost none of the latter.The hype around the game, though, seems misplaced at half-time. Pakistan keep Afghanistan’s batters in check, the 129 they manage the third-lowest first-innings score all tournament. Naseem allows just 19 runs in his four overs, the most economical bowler among his team-mates.

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If there’s such a thing as the opposite of a city, that’s what Lower Dir – where Naseem hails from – must be to Dubai or Sharjah. It’s chilly, mountainous, small-time and tribal as opposed to the desert metropolis that is the UAE. It was perhaps understandable the father tried to talk his son out of pursuing a professional cricket career in his early teen years, but telling Naseem not to do something is perhaps the fastest shortcut to making him do it. Even when it comes to a long shot. The boy was willing to take that chance, and the pain of almost certain failure was just the price he might have to pay.The route to the Pakistan national set-up sometimes feels less a pathway and more a maze, but the generational nature of Naseem’s raw pace and brimming potential was blindingly obvious. You didn’t need a pathway to discover him, only a set of eyes. And so, from the day he made his first-class debut, the national side had eyes for him. He picked up a five-for in just his second first-class match. He had not yet turned 16.But the road from there to here in the UAE wasn’t a straight line. There were doubts, setbacks, moments of exaltation, and, of course, a lot of tribulation. There was the loss of his mother on the eve of his debut, when the 16-year old Naseem was on the other side of the world in Australia. Things like this shouldn’t happen, a child far from home playing professional sport in the hour of his greatest grief, but Naseem does it anyway. It isn’t just physical pain barriers he plays through.Naseem Shah is joined by his team-mates in celebrating an epic win•AFP/Getty ImagesNot that there aren’t physical pain barriers to contend with, mind. There was a multiple stress fracture of his back that saw him in the hospital more frequently than on the field. Talk of wrist positions and run-ups quietly – ominously – gave way to chatter about PET scans and period of recuperation. There were issues with his shoulder as recently as this year, so any sense of his presence at the Asia Cup being an inevitability would be misguided.But as twilight gives way to the night, Sharjah, no stranger to cricketing drama, is adamant not to let this occasion become a footnote in history. This game might still be viewed by some as a proxy between India and Pakistan (and haven’t Afghanistan tired of hearing that before?), but Afghanistan have fought for their place in cricket’s biggest continental cup, and they will not let anyone else tell their story. Fazalhaq Farooqi (3-31), Mujeeb Ur Rehman (4-0-12-0), Fareed Ahmed (3-31), Rashid Khan (2-25) and Mohammad Nabi (3-0-22-0) take the attack on, landing blow after blow until a punch-drunk Pakistan just about sink to their knees. Asif Ali, ostensibly their last hope and the second-last wicket, is dispatched – first with a short ball, and then a bit of a sledge and a shove. He doesn’t like it – Pakistan don’t like it, but Afghanistan don’t feel they owe Pakistan any pleasantries.Finally, the boy from Lower Dir comes in. The last obstacle to a famous Afghan win. They’ve come agonisingly close each of the last two times against Pakistan, but this feels different. For Naseem might be a boy wizard with ball in hand, but wielding the blade, he’s a regular old Muggle.Farooqi steams in. An hour earlier, he had dismissed Babar Azam, probably the best batter in the world, for a golden duck. Mohammad Nawaz, Pakistan’s hero against India, and Khushdil Shah, slayer of Hong Kong, had proved no match either. So why would Naseem, with zero career T20I runs and just 63 in all T20 cricket, prove any match?Eleven needed off the last over. Farooqi strides in and misses the yorker. Naseem has a swing, and it connects, heading straight for a pocket of Afghan fans behind the sight screen who find their celebration give way to nervous anxiety. But one is no judge of success, and Naseem must do it all over again.It’s another full toss, and Naseem has another swing. This one isn’t as clean, and for the briefest fraction in time, the ball hovers in the air within reach of long-off, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s fates hanging on the path it takes on its descent. But Naseem’s thrown his arms at it, and if those arms can support a 19-year old bowling at 145kph, then there’s strength enough. The ball still teases long-off, but by the time the man puts in a despairing dive, Afghanistan’s fate is sealed.Naseem drops his bat, and, by the look on his face, his guard. Incredulous, he sprints towards the onrushing Pakistan players and staff. With the ball, there might be no end to what he backs himself to do, but with bat in hand, he is subconsciously giving himself the ultimate compliment: even he’s surprised by what he’s done.As the mood in the crowd turns sour and ugly, Afghanistan sink to their knees, their eyes shimmering as they take in the bitterest of defeats. This wasn’t meant to happen, but Naseem has done it anyway.

“I see a bit of myself in him,” Lewis says of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who he is expected to open with at Sharjah Warriors in the ILT20

Deivarayan Muthu02-Jan-20231:41

Evin Lewis: ‘UAE players should use ILT20 as a stepping stone’

Evin Lewis has called West Indies’ first-round exit from the T20 World Cup in 2022 “a tough pill to swallow”, but says he has moved on and is ready for the inaugural ILT20, where he will represent Sharjah Warriors.During the T20 World Cup, Lewis had also sustained a hamstring injury, which sidelined him from the Super50, West Indies’ premier domestic one-day competition, but he is good to go now.Related

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“Yeah, it [the T20 World Cup] was a tough pill to swallow, to be honest,” Lewis told ESPNcricinfo. “I had the help of my family, which was the most important thing. When I came home, I tried not to dwell on it too much. These things can actually hurt you a lot if you go too deep into it. So, I had to give that responsibility to my family and the support that they’ve been giving me since I reached home… I’m very thankful for that.”I think I’m in a good space now – both fitness-wise and mentally. I’m happy with the way I’m going about my cricket at the moment. I think Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah – all these are pretty good wickets for batsmen. I think, as batsmen, we have to make the best use of it.”Lewis: ‘I see a bit of myself’ in Gurbaz
Lewis is particularly excited at the prospect of combining with Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top of the order for Warriors. Having watched him from close quarters at the CPL – Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Gurbaz played for Guyana Amazon Warriors last season – Lewis saw shades of his own attacking style.”I’m looking forward to batting with him [Gurbaz],” Lewis said. “He’s actually a great guy and as everyone knows, he’s a very aggressive batsman and probably someone who can take a bit of pressure off you [while] opening the batting. So, I’m looking forward to opening with him.”I see a bit of myself in him as he’s a guy who looks to get on with the game and tries to score as fast as possible in the powerplay to give the team a good start. So, I think that’s something teams look forward to as an opening batsman.”Evin Lewis and Rashid Khan were team-mates at St Kitts & Nevis Patriots last season•Getty ImagesLewis has played just 12 T20s in the UAE, returning 260 runs at a strike rate of 142.07, but he believes that his most recent T10 stint with Bangla Tigers in Abu Dhabi and the experience of having faced unorthodox spinners like Rashid Khan and Akila Dananjaya at the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots nets in CPL 2022 will hold him in good stead.”I haven’t played much T20 cricket in UAE, but I think the T10 has actually helped me a lot [to get used to conditions] and how to go about my innings,” he said. “You don’t have much time in T10, like in T20, but you always need to get a good start for the team, which is important.”Rashid is someone different when it comes to bowling legspin. I don’t think there’s anyone who is playing cricket like him at the moment. It’s difficult to pick when you’re batting [against] him, but I try my best to pick his mind at times; probably try to analyse which ball he’s going to bowl when. These guys [Rashid and Dananjaya] are professionals and they go about their games very seriously and I respect them for that.”Lewis: ILT20 ‘can open the way’ for UAE players
In a T20 World Cup warm-up game last year at Junction Oval in Melbourne, UAE made West Indies sweat for victory. Fast bowler Zahoor Khan, who picked up two wickets in that game, turned out for Kandy Falcons in the Lanka Premier League last December. Legspinner Karthik Meiyappan, who bagged a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup proper, will now be Lewis’ team-mate at Warriors. Lewis reckons that impactful performances in the ILT20 will open up more opportunities for UAE’s local players in franchise cricket.

“Sometimes, we, as batsmen, tend to focus more on strengths than weaknesses and it’s something we have to learn to do”Evin Lewis

“It would be great for cricket for these guys, playing a huge tournament like this,” Lewis says. “People all around the world will see what these guys can do and probably can open the way for them in terms of different franchises, so I think they should use this competition as a stepping stone more or less and just go out there and perform.”Earlier, Lewis was vulnerable to the incoming delivery, with his head often falling over, but he has recently tweaked his stance, which could serve him well on his return to the Emirates.”Yeah, I’ve worked on that,” he said. “Sometimes, we, as batsmen, tend to focus more on strengths than weaknesses and it’s something we have to learn to do. I made a slight change in my batting stance and not trying to shuffle as much. I try to stay as still as possible and I think that has been going quite well for me thus far.”I haven’t worked specifically with anyone on this. I just have a couple of friends – supportive friends who will go with me when I want to hit balls. Throw balls at me, use bowling machines – these guys have been very supportive in this aspect.”Warriors will open their ILT20 campaign against MI Emirates in Abu Dhabi on January 14.