Tag Futebol

USA batsman Fahad Babar has left the ICC Americas squad midway through their WICB Regional Super50 campaign in Barbados on the recommendation of his immigration lawyer

Peter Della Penna04-Feb-2017USA batsman Fahad Babar has left the ICC Americas squad midway through their WICB Regional Super50 campaign in Barbados on the recommendation of his immigration lawyer. Babar, a Pakistan national who qualified to play for USA under the ICC’s seven-year residency rule, said he returned to the USA as a precautionary measure in the wake of the executive order from US President Donald Trump blocking entry for 90 days to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.Babar left Barbados on Wednesday night after ICC Americas’ 66-run loss to Jamaica and landed in Chicago on Thursday morning.”I had no issues coming in and out,” Babar told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “But there’s always that fear which bothers you. So that’s the issue. Other than that I’ve had no other problems.”He is one of six Muslim players in the ICC Americas squad. Ali Khan and Akeem Dodson, both American citizens, are the two other USA players while the rest reside in Canada.Babar said the uncertainty over his own immigration status weighed on his mind during his time in Barbados, where he scored 29 runs in two innings. Leaving the team to come back to Chicago was a difficult decision, particularly because one of the incentives for the ICC Americas squad members is an opportunity to be drafted by a Caribbean Premier League franchise through their performances at the Regional Super50, but he said he felt this was the best course of action after speaking with USA head coach Pubudu Dassanayake, other members of the ICC Americas staff and his lawyer, William McClean.”Cricket is a mental game and you have to be mentally fit enough to play the game and I think it affected me a little bit in my performance,” Babar said. “I worked really hard to get into the ICC Americas team. I had to perform and prove myself before coming here. I was in Sri Lanka to gain experience to work hard towards this. Unfortunately, it’s not my time right now. That’s what I can say and I will work hard in the future to get another opportunity. It’s disappointing but it’s life and you have to be strong sometimes to get through this.”Currently, the US travel-ban specifically applies to nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. McClean said he was wary of the list being expanded beyond the initial seven countries and wanted his clients to be protected in case that happens.”He’s [Fahad] from Pakistan which is close to those other countries and might be next on the chopping block,” McClean told ESPNcricinfo. “If he’s out of the US when they say, ‘okay we’re extending the ban to Pakistani people’, Fahad will be barred. He will not be allowed to come back into the United States even if he’s travelling for cricket and that’s what we’re scared of.”Babar, 24, came to the USA as a 14-year old and went on to represent the USA Under-19 team in 2011 before making his senior team debut in 2013. He has developed into one of USA’s most consistent batsmen and was named tournament MVP at the 2015 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Indianapolis.Babar recently spent two months in Sri Lanka playing first-class cricket for Kalutara Physical Culture Club through an opportunity organised by Dassanayake. He came back through Miami on January 24 on his way to Barbados for the Regional Super50, just days before President Trump’s executive action was signed halting immigration from certain countries.USA’s next international competition is the ICC WCL Division Three in Uganda in May. However, McClean said he will continue to advise caution because Babar was flagged for “secondary inspection” on his arrival back to the USA this week.”The only thing that happened to him, in my opinion, that shouldn’t have happened when he came back to the United States is that they put him in secondary inspection,” McClean said. “A lot of people have to go through that but there was no reason for him to have to go through secondary inspection and they made him go do that anyway. Secondary inspection is a room with no windows and a locked door.”That 120-day rule, that should not apply to Fahad because he’s not a refugee and he’s not from any of those countries that are affected by the ban. But he’s not a citizen. Green card holders are being excluded from the United States but for Fahad himself, the actual bar should not have an effect on him.”No replacement player has been named for Babar, who was replaced by Dodson in the starting XI for Friday’s match against Barbados, and an ICC Americas source indicated that none would be added for the team’s final three matches at the Regional Super50.Babar’s departure leaves the squad with essentially 13 available players from their original 15. Ali Khan has not played since aggravating a hamstring injury in the team’s first warm-up match prior to the start of the Regional Super50 and his fitness is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.

Allrounder R Sathish sealed a thrilling one-wicket win for Tamil Nadu to take them to their first Vijay Hazare semi-final in five years

The Report by Sidharth Monga in Bangalore24-Dec-2015
Scorecard
File photo: R Sathish played a vital knock under pressure to take Tamil Nadu home•Sivaraman Kitta

Allrounder R Sathish sealed a thrilling one-wicket win for Tamil Nadu to take them to their first Vijay Hazare semi-final in five years. At the start of the 41st over, Tamil Nadu needed seven runs with three wickets in hand, but Piyush Chawla struck twice to bring the last man in. Rahil Shah kept his head and handed the strike over to Sathish, who had shepherded the chase from an earlier crisis of 81 for 5.When Chawla began that eventful over, Sathish and captain R Ashwin looked set for the win with their partnership having added 35 assured runs. It seemed a questionable move to hand Chawla the ball when the wreckers of the top order – Kumars Praveen and Bhuvneshwar – had overs left. Chawla, though, produced two special deliveries. With a slider he trapped Ashwin lbw, and with a big legbreak he took the edge of Aswin Crist. In between the two dismissals, Crist had eased the nerves somewhat with a cover drive for four. Rahil had to come in with three runs required.On the fifth ball of the over, UP spread the field. They were prepared to concede the single, and have a go at the No. 11 in the next over, but Rahil got a full toss fifth ball, which he played to long leg to bring Tamil Nadu closer by one run. Now with one ball left, UP had two choices: invite the big hit and thus the risk by bringing the field up or keep the fielders back to keep the game alive for another over. They went for the latter, Chawla bowled short, and Sathish gladly accepted the single and retained strike.Praveen bowled the 42nd over. He had started the defence of 168 with Dinesh Karthik’s wicket in the first over. He had bowled seven unchanged overs in the company of Bhuvneshwar, who took three wickets, to reduce Tamil Nadu to 17 for 4. The Kumars had then seen the pressure they created slip away as M Vijay and B Indrajith, who added 64 for the fifth wicket against the back-up bowlers.Now was the chance for Praveen to try to produce that one final bit of magic to tie the match, and have the winner decided by a coin toss. He nearly did so first ball with an accurate yorker. Sathish kept it out. He tried another yorker, which turned out to be a low full toss. Sathish hit it straight to mid-off. It was tense stuff. Sathish had battled hard before he had hit left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar for three straight fours in the 40th over to all but end the match. Now he was against a canny bowler with international experience. He was prepared to wait.In the back of his mind was the past. “In many games in the past, I have got out during such scenarios and we have ended up losing,” Sathish said later. “So this time I wanted to stay in the middle and make it count for my team.”The wait produced the right ball; a slower one that Praveen dragged too far down. Sathish pulled it over midwicket to end the match. It was his unbroken spell of 10-2-14-1 in the morning that had helped restrict UP, who had chosen to bat first on a pitch adjacent to the one used for the quarter-final a day ago. Sathish was introduced in the fourth over amid a manic early exchange: Ashwin used five bowlers in the first nine overs, Praveen was opening the batting and Crist surprised him by bowling round the wicket. Funky fields were employed, and three wickets fell in those nine overs. Those unorthodox measures were on view in the second innings as well when L Balaji was pushed up to No. 5.In the absence of Suresh Raina, and with some unremarkable batting at the top, young Sarfaraz Khan was UP’s big hope, coming in at 30 for 3. In the 11th over, though, he went for an ambitious single and was run out to make it 38 for 4. Had he dived he would have made it to the striker’s end, something experience should teach him as he heads to Bangladesh for the Under-19 World Cup. Umang Sharma then swept Ashwin straight to square leg in his first over, and Akshdeep Nath fell lbw to Balaji to make it 79 for 6 in the 26th over.Not for the first time Chawla rescued the UP batting with a dour 66-run partnership with Rinku Singh, the left-hand batsman who produced his fourth fifty in just his seventh List A game. The two took UP’s innings deep, but couldn’t provide the finishing kick. They failed to face the quota of 50 overs, and that final finishing kick went missing even when they bowled later.For Tamil Nadu it is sweet success after the early ouster in Ranji Trophy and the devastation caused by the floods in their state. “The presence of Ashwin and Vijay has helped a lot,” Sathish said. “They are coming straight from the South Africa series, and they have given their full effort and that’s a motivation for the players.”We were charged up right from the league game. Close games like these do happen. We lost a game against Punjab despite being in a good situation and Ashwin was there with us even in that match, backing the players.”

Saqlain Mushtaq has said the contribution of left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak’s in Friday’s 121-run over Zimbabwe has not gone unnoticed

Mohammad Isam04-May-2013Saqlain Mushtaq has said the contribution of left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak’s in Friday’s 121-run over Zimbabwe has not gone unnoticed. Saqlain is now with Bangladesh was their spin bowling consultant, as part of his deal with the BCB to be in the role for 100 days in 2013.He has been credited for guiding offspinner Sohag Gazi since his debut and has offering his advice to Razzak as well. Saqlain said that one wicket, that of Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, was a vital contribution from a bowler who also had to adjust to the conditions.”When someone comes back to the international arena, he needs some time to adjust to that climate,” Saqlain said. “But I’m happy, because he got the wicket of the key man, Taylor. The captain was in very good form, he got hundreds in each innings of the first Test and I think he is their main player, and he took his wicket.”I don’t care about if he bowled flat. I just care about wickets, figures and how much a bowler contributes. He did a good job for us, took the main man out.”Saqlain revealed his conversation with Razzak in the dressing-room ahead of the Zimbabwe innings. “When he went inside I told him, ‘we have done our preparations in the nets and we talked a lot about strategies. But now you are going on the field. You adjust according to the pitch, conditions and the situation. Try to play your game’.”Razzak’s wicket of Taylor was the only one picked up by a spinner in the opening match of the series with the other eight being shared by the seamers Ziaur Rahman, Shafiul Islam and Robiul Islam. The pace bowlers also took 21 wickets in the Test series, while the spinners picked up 15. Saqlain sees the domination of the pace bowlers in the wicket-taking stakes as a welcome addition to the team’s strength.”We are improving not just in the spin department, but the fast bowling department as well. In the future hopefully we won’t rely on just one department. We will play together and we will perform in all the areas; fast bowling, spin, batting and also in the field.”We shouldn’t say that we depend on the spinners. We play as a team, and the team plays together and they perform in all the departments. You can’t win depending on just one department. The seamers are performing really well, in the Test matches and the ODIs as well. This is a good sign.”

South Australia’s captain Michael Klinger dominated the state’s awards night on Friday, being named the Redbacks’ best player in the Sheffield Shield and the Ryobi Cup, and the best Adelaide Strikers T20 player for the summer

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2012South Australia’s captain Michael Klinger dominated the state’s awards night on Friday, being named the Redbacks’ best player in the Sheffield Shield and the Ryobi Cup, and the best Adelaide Strikers T20 player for the summer.Klinger finished one vote ahead of Daniel Christian in the Lord Hampden Trophy, awarded to the state’s best Sheffield Shield player, after a season in which he scored 835 runs at 46.38. The Redbacks had a disappointing Shield season, failing to win a match, although they had plenty of success in the Ryobi Cup.South Australia took out the 50-over title for the first time in 25 years, with a tied home final against Tasmania. Klinger made 498 runs at 55.33 in the Ryobi Cup and ended up as the tournament’s leading run scorer, so it was no surprise that he finished on 112 votes, ahead of Tom Cooper on 103 votes.But Cooper, who had been named the Ryobi Cup Player of the Year at the annual State Cricket Awards in Brisbane, won the Barry Jarman Most Improved Trophy after a breakout season. In the Adelaide Strikers voting, Klinger finished one vote ahead of Johan Botha and Aaron O’Brien to be the team’s best T20 player of the Big Bash League.

Umpiring in the World Cup has run into fresh controversy with William Porterfield criticising Asoka de Silva’s decision to give Gary Wilson out lbw despite replays showing he had offered a shot and was hit outside the line

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mohali11-Mar-2011Umpiring in the World Cup has run into fresh controversy with Ireland captain William Porterfield strongly criticising Asoka de Silva’s decision to give Gary Wilson out lbw despite replays showing the batsman had offered a shot to a delivery that replays clearly indicated had hit him outside the line. Porterfield’s comments – unusually sharp for a team captain – came after a match which, he said, turned on that decision.”I am still trying to understand it myself. The feedback we have got so far is that the ball hit him outside the line and the umpire judged him [to be] not playing a shot. I don’t know how many people agree with that,” Porterfield said after Ireland’s 44-run defeat against West Indies.The ball in question, delivered by West Indies captain Darren Sammy, pitched outside the off stump and cut in to hit the outside of Wilson’s front pad. Wilson was trying to nudge it but failed but the Sri Lankan official thought he was offering no shot and raised his finger instantly. A surprised Wilson asked for a review. Third umpire Bruce Oxenford told de Silva that the ball had hit outside off and would, according to HawkEye, go on to hit the outside of the off stump. Replays on the big screen made that clear as also the fact that Wilson was actually trying to play the shot. Disappointed and confused, Wilson asked de Silva to refer the review this time. It was an extraordinary moment, which bordered on the comical, as de Silva went back to Oxenford once again. In the end, de Silva stuck to his stand and Wilson charged out, furiously shaking his head.”If you see the replay on the big screen he could have still been able to reverse his decision from there. It was clearly seen he was playing the shot. (And) even though he [de Silva] judged that (wrongly) in the first place he saw the replays on the big screen,” Porterfield said. He said that he did not have much time to discuss the issue with Wilson, who was not “in a great state of mind” when he came off the ground. “The word we are getting at the minute is the umpire went back upstairs to check if he hit the ball before the impact on the pad and if it was pad first, or bat first. Surely if you are asking if it was pad first or bat first, you know he is playing a shot. In my opinion they got it wrong.”Asked if the DRS was proving to be a nuisance rather than a help, Porterfield said he would not blame the reviews per se. “I would like to say it (DRS) was working but if you get a decision like that then I don’t know. When you have all the technology, it is supposed to eradicate the mistakes and for me that did not happen this time.”Interestingly, Porterfield – speaking at the post-match press conference – had to stop briefly as Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, walked in to have a few private words with a team official, who in turn relayed the message to Porterfield. The exchange, the media was told, was “off the record”.Porterfield admitted that Wilson’s wicket was the turning point in Ireland’s chase. Wilson had showed a wise head in the company of Ed Joyce, sharing a vital 91-run partnership for the fourth wicket. After Joyce departed Wilson took the onus on him and was playing fluently. Ireland needed 77 from 51 balls and the batting Powerplay was yet to be taken when Wilson was ruled out. “It was the pivotal moment in the game. It was not one of the things that cost us the game as there were other things we did,” Porterfield said. “But it was a pretty crucial decision. He was going well. If we had taken the Powerplay we never know especially with Cusy [Alex Cusack] and John boy [Mooney] to come there.”One man who was more than happy to see the back of Wilson was Sammy. “I was happy that we got him out. That was the main focus for us, he back in the pavilion,” he said.But at the time of the incident, Sammy was intensely chatting to Wilson after de Silva’s original decision. Asked if he saw Wilson’s point, Sammy said personally he would not have argued with the umpire. “Umpires have been in charge ever since I started playing cricket. He did what he had to do,” Sammy said. So what was he was making Wilson aware of? “I personally tried to tell him you know what, at the end of the day, the umpire said you are out so don’t hang around because you don’t really make an issue and get fined. We learned as a team that if the umpire says you are out, unless he tells you to hold on, you walk. You can always give your feedback in the captain’s report.”Incidentally, Ireland were fined. But for another crime. Apparently they had bowled an over short and as a consequence Porterfield was penalised 20% of his match fee while the rest of the team had to take a 10% cut.

The South Africa coach has outlined consistency as the primary aim for the team, as they prepare for the World Cup in 2011

Cricinfo staff02-Mar-2010South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl has outlined consistency as the primary aim for his team with an eye on the 2011 World Cup. “For me, one of the biggest goals for the team will be consistency,” van Zyl told . “We spoke about it in Ahmedabad and it’s the one thing we must improve if the team is going to get to number one. Our consistency obviously needs to pick up and it is a concern.”He said the ability to handle pressure was one the most important factors in ensuring consistency. “The players have to make sure that when they are under pressure, they win the big moments,” van Zyl said. “They must be calm and able to think clearly so they can execute the game plan under that sort of pressure. Only then will the consistency change, and that is one of the big goals for me.”South Africa’s recent tour of India got off to a rousing start, as they outplayed India by an innings in the first Test in Nagpur. The momentum was with the visitors as they managed 228 for 2 by tea on the first day of the second Test in Kolkata before collapsing to 296, and eventually conceding an innings defeat. More than the manner or the margin of defeat, van Zyl was disappointed with the way his side handed over the initiative in one bad session.”Obviously, after the very good start we had, it was a huge disappointment to lose the second Test, although I thought we played really well on the last two days to try and save the game,” van Zyl said. “But it was especially disappointing on the first day, one session basically cost us and we gave the advantage away.”van Zyl’s appointment as coach for the India tour was an interim one, after Mickey Arthur resigned days before the team’s departure. van Zyl was confirmed as coach soon after, until the next World Cup, a decision that he welcomed.”It was a relief not just for me but also for the team, they also felt the uncertainty and the effect of that cannot be underestimated,” van Zyl said. “Fortunately, it’s no longer something we need to worry about. Going into the [India] tour, it was quite difficult because I didn’t have time for any preparation. The positive now is that I have a much clearer picture of what we need to do to be a force in India for 2011.”van Zyl believes that the tour to India will stand his side in good stead for the 2011 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “I’ve been in India now with a lot of guys who will most probably represent South Africa there next year. I’ve picked up a lot about the conditions and the way individuals perform under pressure. We’ve started the first building block.”South Africa conceded the three-match ODI series through a narrow one-run defeat in the first match and a big loss in the second game. They then recovered well to register a thumping win in the dead rubber in Ahmedabad, an effort that pleased the coach. “Before the last match, we spoke some harsh words and the guys responded unbelievably. It was a nice comprehensive win,” van Zyl said.

Both fast bowlers will face India in the ODI series with Hazlewood then due to miss the latter part of the T20Is

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-20252:26

How is England’s attack shaping up ahead of the Ashes?

Josh Hazlewood is confident one Sheffield Shield game will be enough for him and Mitchell Starc before the Ashes, with the quick likely to skip three T20Is against India to play for New South Wales.Hazlewood and Starc were on Tuesday both named in Australia’s squad to face India in three ODIs later this month, which kicks off the main part of the home summer.Related

• 'He doesn't need much' – Starc says Cummins can play off limited preparation

• Maxwell hopes to be fit for back-end of T20I series against India

• Doubts over Cummins' fitness for first Ashes Test grow, return remains unknown

• Ashes tracker: Labuschagne shines as Konstas stumbles

• Hazlewood: England will bring an 'unbelievable' batting line-up for the Ashes

Five T20Is then follow, and while Starc has retired from that format, Hazlewood has been listed in the squad for the first two of those games on October 29 and 31.Australian officials are keeping an open mind to Ashes preparations, ahead of the first Test in Perth beginning on November 21.But the most likely scenario remains having the duo play for NSW against Victoria in a Shield match from November 10, before a one-week preparation into the first Test.”We’ve definitely had chats about fitting in a Shield game,” Hazlewood said at a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement with Woolworths on Monday. “I do think it’s important when there’s time for it. You don’t want to squeeze things in or rush for it.”This year I’m going to miss a couple of T20s to do that. Which I certainly don’t like doing, missing games for Australia. But in the long run it is about getting the best prep for the Ashes as well. You can’t have everything and that’s the trade off at the moment.”Josh Hazlewood will work through ODIs and T20Is during October•Getty Images

It creates the potential for a star-studded NSW side to take the field at the SCG. Nathan Lyon is eyeing three out of the first four Shield matches before the first Test and is expected to miss the round two fixture at Junction Oval which would leave him to face Queensland at the Gabba then Victoria in Sydney.It’s understood that Steve Smith is also in line to play while Sam Konstas will likely line up, although by then he will know his Test fate with the squad due to be named after the third round of Shield fixtures.Pat Cummins will sit out the white-ball matches against India as he fights to recover from his back issues in time for the first Test.Hazlewood said playing the ODIs would also help with preparation, with three games in the space of a week offering a reasonable workload.There is a fine balance for the 34-year-old to strike, given he is still eying off playing in the T20 World Cup in February before another ODI tournament in 2027.”That’s why I put my hand up for as many tours as I can,” Hazlewood said. “Even if I only play two out of three on a tour, it just means I am still touching base with those formats.”My game doesn’t change too much. I have been around long enough to duck and dive in each format and chop and change.”Hazlewood said it was possible for him to play all five Ashes Tests, with lengthy gaps between the first three helping bowlers manage their fitness.

Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Shubman Gill contributed in a comfortable chase in Ahmedabad

Sreshth Shah31-Mar-20242:41

Rapidfire Review: Why is Mohit so effective with his slower ball?

Pat Cummins won the toss in Ahmedabad, but unlike the ODI World Cup final, he did not make the right call as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s score of 162 for 8 was comfortably chased by Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad to make it 11 wins out of 12 for home teams in IPL 2024.Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma and former Sunriser Rashid Khan suffocated the big-hitting team in orange to keep them down to a below-par score, and as the surface got better in the evening, the Titans rode on contributions from Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and David Miller to see them through.

Noor, Rashid rock Sunrisers

An afternoon start in Ahmedabad promised a dry surface with help for spinners, and that’s why Cummins wanted Sunrisers to make first use of the pitch. Expecting the same, the Titans dropped fast bowler Spencer Johnson to give left-arm wristspinner Noor his first outing of the season.Noor struck in his first over when he got a googly to rattle Travis Head’s stumps right after the powerplay before the opener could do heavy damage. Noor’s googly was particularly effective on this surface. He bowled 13 of them and only conceding ten runs. His spell of 1 for 32, numbers partly ruined by some late hits from Sunrisers, gave Titans their first foothold in this game.Related

• It's all in the plan – how Gill and his bowlers brought SRH down to earth

Noor’s bowling also lifted his senior Afghanistan team-mate Rashid, who conceded 49 against Chennai Super Kings in his last game and started Sunday’s spell with a 15-run over courtesy Abhishek Sharma’s twin sixes.However, Rashid returned strongly to keep Heinrich Klaasen relatively quiet, and eventually he took him out as well, a skiddy legbreak going on to shatter the stumps in the 14th over. Rashid then made an equal contribution next over in Aiden Markram’s dismissal when he dived forward to complete a difficult catch running in from long-on. He finished with 1 for 33 and apart from that catch, also played a role in Abdul Samad’s run-out in the final over.

Mohit leaves Sunrisers short

Unlike the Mumbai Indians game – where every Sunrisers batter who got starts went big – they fell after getting set this time. Perhaps the idea was to maximise the runs that a hard-hitting batting-order could generate, but on this occasion, they were dismissed before the big flourish.One of them was Abhishek, dismissed for 29 via a Mohit cutter. Mohit slowed things down and forced an error from Abhishek by getting a length ball wide and forcing a mis-hit to cover. With the surface assisting pace-off deliveries, Mohit bowled another tidy over against Klaasen and Markram to finish his first spell for 1-12. Titans saved the rest of his overs for the death and he showed just why they do that, conceding only 13 further runs and picking up two more wickets.Mohit was instrumental in Sunrisers scoring only 40 runs in their last five overs. The only six he conceded was when he delivered a full toss, but otherwise his playlist of change-up deliveries worked wonderfully. After dismissing Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar in the 20th over, Mohit led the team out with only 163 to chase, and earned a well-deserved rest, substituted by Sudharsan for the second innings.David Miller and Sai Sudharsan ensured Gujarat Titans did not slip up in the chase•BCCI

Titans’ top three gel well

Like the Titans, the Sunrisers too made a strategic change from their previous game by opting for Washington as the impact player instead of Umran Malik. They also started the bowling innings with Shahbaz’s left-arm orthodox spin.But it soon got clear that as afternoon turned to evening, the pitch had eased off. Wriddhiman Saha began in trademark fashion, attacking the new ball and hit his former Bengal team-mate Shahbaz for a six in the opening over. He then ran down the pitch to hammer Bhuvneshwar Kumar straight back and accepted a gift from Umesh Yadav to deposit a full toss over the leg side. Even though Saha fell in the fifth over to Shahbaz, his 13-ball 25 had given Titans a quick start and allowed Gill to find his feet.From scoring only 11 in his first 12 balls, Gill hit 25 runs off his next 16 to accelerate after the powerplay. He relied on the odd boundary amid risk-free grounded shots to keep the score moving. Even though Gill holed out for 36 right after the first time-out in the tenth over, he did what Saha helped him do, letting the No. 3 Sudharsan also settle.Sudharsan struggled to put Markande and Cummins away initially, but changed gears in the 12th over when he found his second boundary against Jaydev Unadkat by driving over mid-off. He then clubbed Cummins and Washington in the space of three balls and played his best shot when he came down the track to hammer Markande for six. Cummins did dismiss him with a slower ball for 45 in the 17th over, but by then the win was almost guaranteed.

Miller puts finishing touch

The year 2024 has been a forgettable one for Miller after two fantastic years of T20 cricket. Coming into the game, he had a strike rate of 119, his lowest in 13 years, and his struggles looked to surface when he could not find a boundary in his first 16 deliveries. But then came a small break as Miller got some treatment for a niggle. After that, he looked a player transformed.With his mobility hampered, Miller decided there was no point holding anything back and pounced on Markande’s predictable full-and-wide deliveries to club a 26-run 16th over. He then picked Cummins’ slower balls to club both of them for four in the 17th. And when Unadkat delivered the first ball of the 20th, Miller saw it land in his arc, and expectedly, sent it out of the park to finish unbeaten on 44.

Jadeja took career-best figures of 7 for 42 as India won the second Test inside three days in Delhi

Sidharth Monga19-Feb-2023
This is what a Test on steroids looks like. Australia started the day effectively 62 for 1, had India worried as they raced to 86 for 2, then lost their last eight wickets for 28 runs, as India went on to win a Test that seemed lost on more than one occasion, retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the process. Ravindra Jadeja registered his best Test figures, 7 for 42, and his second 10-wicket match haul; the other three second-innings wickets went to R Ashwin, who had looked more threatening when Australia were running away with the game.When Test matches in India are hurtling towards results at such breakneck speed, what we see doesn’t always make sense. Like Ashwin looking the better bowler, but Jadeja coming back from an ordinary start to run through Australia. Or the sweep shot, and the variations thereof, going from Australia’s best friend to their biggest enemy within minutes.The sweep, which resulted in six wickets in the second innings, had actually put India under immense pressure. At one point, Australia had scored 71 runs off 27 sweeps for just two wickets. Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne had used it distract India, forcing them to put fielders back for the shot. It was the shot that opened up the field for Labuschagne as Australia had India worried: Jadeja went for 31 in his first six overs, Ashwin was going over four himself, and Australia looked set to go well past 150, which would have been a challenging target on this pitch.That despite a beauty from Ashwin early on to take out the threatening Travis Head, beating the left-hander in the flight and then taken by the keeper. However, when Steven Smith played the big sweep off Ashwin, it was only the 18th time he was playing the shot in India. He missed the offbreak and was adjudged lbw.With a lead of 86 and seven wickets in hand, Australia still had the advantage. Ashwin, though, had created that bit of an opening. Warner’s concussion replacement, Matt Renshaw, didn’t look as assured. He began with two unsure sweeps first two balls, and eventually fell lbw to Ashwin on the sweep.Between the Smith and Renshaw wickets, Jadeja had struck a big blow by dismissing Labuschagne. In the second innings in Nagpur, Labuschagne had gone back to a flat but full ball to lose his wicket to Jadeja. He spent a lot of time looking at those replays, and worked hard between the Tests to identify the right ball to go back to. Eventually, perhaps because runs were at a premium, Labuschagne again went back to a fullish ball and was bowled by a straight one that stayed low.With the bit between his teeth, Jadeja was about to get lethal, bowling at high pace, one ball turning the other going straight. Peter Handscomb edged the one that turned, Pat Cummins missed the straighter one on the slog-sweep. Nathan Lyon survived the hat-trick ball, but the panic had well and truly set in.Things had happened so quickly – four wickets had fallen with the score on 95 – that there was hardly any time to regroup. Australia’s attacking approach – which had given them a first-innings lead despite batting fewer overs than India – meant the price to pay was steep once things went wrong.This is also where Jadeja proved dangerous by attacking the stumps. Alex Carey missed a straight ball on the reverse-sweep, Lyon played on going for a big hit, and Matt Kuhnemann played on while reverse-sweeping.If there was a criticism of Australia’s approach, it wasn’t about their aggressive approach or sweep shots, but that they didn’t give themselves a chance to bat later in the day. On the first two days, batting got easier as the day progressed.Rohit Sharma was aggressive in the chase of 115•BCCI

Still, 115 was not going to be an easy target to chase down. Funny things happen during such chases in India. Like a struggling batter flicking one cleanly but getting out caught by the wicketkeeper after the ball bounces off the short-leg fielder’s pads. KL Rahul was the 10th wicket of the first session.India’s response post lunch was a proactive one. The idea was for Cheteshwar Pujara to try to bat through while the others put pressure back on the bowlers. Rohit Sharma did that as well as anybody. In the second over after lunch, he skipped down and lofted Lyon over wide long-on for a six followed by a paddle-sweep for four.Then Rohit went after Kuhnemann too, going past Ian Botham’s 67 Test sixes to move to No. 21 on the all-time list. However, he ran himself out when he called Pujara for a second run and then stopped midway. He didn’t assert himself though he was looking almost flawless in his 31 off 20, but accepted his mistake and kept on running.Pujara could have possibly sacrificed his wicket by running back, but he went on to be the anchor around whom the others could put in the cameos required to take India through. Virat Kohli made a breezy 20 off 31 before he was stumped, Shreyas Iyer took 12 off 10 before holing out to deep midwicket, and India now needed 27 with six wickets in hand.KS Bharat then scored a confidence-building unbeaten 23 off 22. In his 100th Test, Pujara might not have scored a big knock, but he scored the winning boundary in an innings of 31 off 74. Ashwin and batting coach Vikram Rathour would have noticed that he did finally loft a spinner after stepping out. Twice.With the win, India all but ensured they will face Australia in the World Test Championship final. Even if India lose the remaining two Tests, it will need Sri Lanka to beat New Zealand 2-0 in New Zealand to deny India a place in the final.