England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket

Will Luke at Lord's28-Jun-2008

	It was a tough first outing as captain for Kevin Pietersen, but he doesn’t believe it’s all doom and gloom © Getty Images

England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket. In falling to New Zealand by 51 runs, they lost the series 3-1 – a generous result, some might say, had fortune not been on England’s side at Edgbaston. Today, chasing a gettable 267, they were rolled over for 215 in 47.5 overs – a batting performance that Kevin Pietersen, in his, first match as England captain, was at a loss to explain.”I really don’t know. I can’t answer that question, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a very difficult question for me to answer for how the batting has gone. When you get to 20s, 30s and 40s…the key to it is to go on. I don’t mind if a guy gets nought or whatever, but when you get in, it’s definitely the key to take the responsibility. The onus on the individuals is there for the taking – to become a hero at the end of the day. That’s what we’re after.”There were no heroes today, and apart from Pietersen himself – whose scorching 110 led to their Chester-le-Street win – there have been precious few in the series. Owais Shah again proved his aptitude for a fight with a courageous 69, combing the deft with the explosive in pleasing measure, but his was very much the dying embers of an innings that never truly caught alight. And how often have we had cause to say that in this series?The situation was far more promising earlier, however. Alastair Cook returned from injury, replacing the banned Paul Collingwood, and together with Ian Bell staged a solid opening stand of 53 in 11 overs. That this was England’s highest opening stand of the series tells a sorry tale, though not one that should necessarily cut short the career of Luke Wright, Ian Bell’s partner at No.2 for the first four matches. Wright is impetuously youthful and needs a run in the side, but it is Bell, a man of such obvious gifts, who most frustrates. Scores of 46, 0, 20, 46 and 27 may indicate a batsman who has struggled to time the ball, or at the very least found conditions at the top of the order difficult. Yet with the exception of his duck at Edgbaston, in each of his stylish innings he has batted with the poise of a demi-god.Today, he was off the mark with the creamiest of fours through midwicket. Another gift on his legs was happily accepted before he played the day’s most orthodox stroke off the back foot through extra cover. He, and England, were cruising very nicely until he walked across his stumps. However, Bell is not alone: England’s woes with the bat was a collective failure all series, and one Pietersen insists needs addressing.”It’s very easy to say you need to get hundreds because the wickets are flat. In England, it nibbles,” he said. “New Zealand didn’t get a hundred. I’d like to see the stats from the New Zealand top six and compare [to England’s]. It’s hard because in England you don’t see many hundreds, so it’s hard to say you’ve got to get hundreds to win a series.”But I have said you need to get 70s, 80s, 90s…those are big scores in the UK. It’s an area we can improve but I don’t think it’s a catastrophe by any stretch of the imagination.”It wasn’t just with the bat that England struggled. Without their captain and allrounder, Collingwood, England also lacked a fifth bowler. And Pietersen’s decision to opt for Owais Shah’s part-time off-breaks ahead of Ravi Bopara’s neat seamers cost them dearly. Jacob Oram – who gives such balance to New Zealand’s side – had eased himself to a breezy 36, and welcomed the introduction of Shah like a cold beer on a roasting hot day. Oram heaved him into the Mound Stand over midwicket and over long-on before depositing a third into the Edrich Stand. Shah’s three overs had cost 30 and England had again let New Zealand escape.”I think Owais’ job today was good,” Pietersen said, forthrightly. “He had a dart in New Zealand. I’ve bowled in Tests but not much in one-dayers, so I thought the option of Shah bowling was good. You realise your options and, unfortunately, Colly was banned and we don’t have Andrew Flintoff. So you’ve got to look at your options and say ‘right. This is the England team I’m captaining. And this is what I have to do to make a good go of it.’ And that’s what I tried to do.”England’s defeat casts a shadow over their preparations for South Africa, who they face at Lord’s on July 10. Pietersen, however, remained confident that their feeble one-day effort will have no impact on the outcome of the forthcoming tough Test series.”It’s not a case of drawing a line under what’s happened. In the Tests we played fantastic, fantastic, amazing cricket against New Zealand,” he said. “We really cleaned them up, and that [a Test match] is what we have got against South Africa in two weeks. When we come to play in that week, we can have our heads held up really high. The captaincy of our big man, Michael, and everything will be great.”

India once again look like world-beaters, riding on a wave of momentum created by sensational batting from Virender Sehwag, canny bowling from Harbhajan Singh and a devastating new-ball burst from Ishant Sharma

Dileep Premachandran in Galle03-Aug-2008
Harbhajan Singh got his maiden overseas ten-wicket haul © AFP
The great escape artists have done it again. As has so often been the case in recent times, India finished the first Test of a series like a man holding on to the edge of a cliff by his fingernails. A week later, they once again looked like world-beaters, riding on a wave of momentum created by sensational batting from Virender Sehwag, canny bowling from Harbhajan Singh and a devastating new-ball burst from Ishant Sharma. Sri Lanka, so dominant at the Sinhalese Sports Club, capitulated dismally on the fourth afternoon and now it’s they that teeter nervously on the edge of a precipice.For them to make the 307 required to clinch the series, someone needed to come out and emulate Graeme Smith. But the two individuals most capable of doing that, Mahela Jayawardene andKumar Sangakkara, were both back in the pavilion by the time 10 runs were on the board, undone by an Ishant spell that Anil Kumble reckoned was every bit as good as the one he bowled to Ricky Ponting in Perth. Thilan Samaraweera, who batted beautifully for his unconquered 67, and Tillakaratne Dilshan briefly relit the flame, but Ishant, bowling as quick as the wind that whips in across the Galle Fort, was on hand soon after tea to extinguish the last hopes of home success. Some of the strokes that followed weren’t too distinguished, but as Jayawardene said later, 10 for 3 wasn’t the ideal platform from which to scale improbable heights.Much has been written about India’s inconsistency, but it’s an affliction that Sri Lanka also suffer from. Just a few months ago, they played West Indies off the park in Guyana, only to squander an opportunity to win the series in Trinidad. Going back a little further, they held the first-innings lead in all three Tests against Australia – including a massive 161-run buffer at Galle – but managed to lose every game.It will irk the supporters no end that Ajantha Mendis picked up a 10-wicket haul in his second Test, and still finished on the wrong side of a 170-run hiding. Muttiah Muralitharan, his more illustrious colleague, finished with 5 for 200, but was never the threat that he had been at the SSC. For that, India can thank Sehwag, whose batting against both the spinners was incandescently brilliant. Over the two innings, he faced 181 balls from the duo, and struck 12 fours and four sixes on his way to 150 runs. It was an unmistakable message of intent after the SSC surrender, and with Gautam Gambhir following his lead, India weren’t left to rue the fact that their more celebrated batsmen couldn’t convert cameos into innings of substance.Sehwag’s batting was so sublime that the Man-of-the-Match adjudicators wouldn’t have had to think too much, but it’s safe to say that you won’t often see a game where a bowler takes 10 for 153 and has to be content with a supporting role, however significant. This was a huge step for Harbhajan on the road to redemption, and his bowling had all the vitality and guile that has often been absent when he plays away from home.
Over the two innings, Sehwag faced 181 balls from Murali and Mendis, and struck 12 fours and four sixes on his way to 150 runs © AFP
This was his first ten-for in 31 overseas Tests, eclipsing his previous best figures of 8 for 180 at Sabina Park in 2002. His interventions in the first innings, when he dismissed the well-set Malinda Warnapura and Sangakkara, were especially critical, giving India an advantage that they would never squander. Unlike the Kanpur Test against South Africa, where he picked up 7 for 96 last April, there was nothing dubious about the quality of this playing surface. With no gaping cracks or craters to land the ball on, thoughtful controlled bowling was the name of the game and Harbhajan came up with exactly that, varying trajectory and pace cleverly to confound the same batsmen who had played the Indian spinners with comfort bordering on contempt at the SSC.The last time Harbhajan took 10 in a match, against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabadin 2005, it helped seal an Indian series victory. With Rahul Dravid ill and in hospital, Sehwag was his captain in that game. Between the two of them, they have breathed life into this series, and it’s Sri Lanka who now have to show their resilience with the decider just four days away.

History is written by the victors and this year South Africa have made
so many alterations to the accepted version that the past is now
irrelevant

Brydon Coverdale in Perth21-Dec-2008

	The chase was so well calculated that it even allowed de Villiers to reach his century in the dying stages and Duminy to finish with an invaluable unbeaten 50 on debut © PA Photos

History is written by the victors and this year South Africa have made
so many alterations to the accepted version that the past is now
irrelevant. Their brilliant chase of 414, orchestrated by their two
youngest batsmen, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, proved again that no
target is out of reach these days and that despite what Australia
wanted to believe, South Africa hold no demons from past failures.They are two matches from potentially climbing the biggest mountain in
world cricket. Apparently, 2008 is the international year of the frog
and it could well finish with South Africa poised to leap over
Australia and into the top position on the world Test rankings. Wins in
the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney will get them there
and on the evidence displayed at the WACA, and with Australia to visit
South Africa in February, it will be only a matter of time.The key difference in this South African side compared to the older
versions is their self-belief. Australia have daunted South Africa so
much over the years that had Mitchell Johnson’s eight-wicket haul come
in a previous series the team’s confidence would have been shattered.
But the calmness of the captain Graeme Smith and the coach Mickey
Arthur has rubbed off on this unit and the way they fought back to
restrict Australia to 319 in the second innings was the key.”There’s only really one statement that stands out in the game,” Smith
said. “If we didn’t rock up on the day after Mitchell’s spell and bowl
as well as we did, put that statement in place that we’re here and
we’re not going away, then we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”Smith was the hero when his team chased down 281 to win at Edgbaston this year, which gave them their first series victory in England for 43 years. He again made a century in this triumph, the second-highest
chase of all time, which he was still struggling to comprehend after
the match.”We’ve had such an incredible last year and a half,” Smith said.
“Victories in the subcontinent, in England, a really big victory at
Edgbaston, which was very emotional. But I think the emotions that we
felt through this game, where we were and the way we came back,
everyone has contributed so from that perspective it’s got to be a
great Test win for South Africa. It’s got to go up there with my best
wins ever.”Smith was underplaying the significance of the victory slightly. A
visiting South African journalist said the win would rank alongside
any of the nation’s sporting achievements and it’s hard to disagree.
The enormity of the chase was one thing but defying the trend between
the two sides made it all the more exhilarating. South Africa’s most
recent two wins against Australia had come in dead rubbers in Durban in 2001-02 and Centurion in 1996-97. Only once since readmission had
they prevailed in Australia.

	The key difference in this South African side compared to the older versions is their self-belief © Getty Images

It was the perfect chase, every bit as impressive as India’s 387 in
Chennai last week, not the least because it was away from home against
the world’s top-ranked team. It began with Smith and Hashim Amla
building a platform, continued with de Villiers and Jacques Kallis reeling the
target to within sight and culminated in de Villiers and Duminy
completing the order. It was so well calculated that it even allowed
de Villiers to reach his century in the dying stages and Duminy to
finish with an invaluable unbeaten 50 on debut.Both men thoroughly deserved the milestones and it completed their
remarkable journey from the Under-11 tournaments they used to play
against each other. They have taken different paths to the top, de
Villiers being rushed into the side at 20 and being tried in just
about every position over 47 Tests; and Duminy waiting on the fringes and
watching enviously until a thumb injury to Ashwell Prince opened up a
spot in this match.When de Villiers was last seen in Australia in 2005-06 he was being
tested as an opener and made a couple of promising half-centuries but
was still learning on the job. He has matured immensely since then
and, much like the string of brilliant catches he took during the
match, he wasn’t about to let this game slip through his hands. There
was no streakiness and apart from a drive that just cleared mid-on,
barely any half-chances.He had come to the crease with 235 runs still required and but the
target wasn’t weighing on his mind. Small goals were set and
partnerships were built, first with Kallis and then with Duminy. The
century took care of itself and he celebrated enthusiastically when it
came, not so much because of his score but because he had helped his
team set up what by then was a certain victory.”It was never really an issue if I get a hundred or not against the
Aussies,” de Villiers said. “It was just important to get through
today. It’s more important to win a Test match over here than get my
own hundred. But it’s done and it’s great to have gotten a hundred and
win the Test match in one game. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s a
dream come true for me.”At 24, the men are younger than all of Australia’s players bar Peter
Siddle, who was born in the same year. That it has taken South Africa
several years to build this side should not be lost on Australia, who
are battling to balance struggling stars with new men still finding
their feet. Australia have written the script between these sides for
so long that it is hard to imagine a new author. Within the next
fortnight, South Africa could write their own names into the history
books.

India have lost the last four times they’ve turned up for a Test at the Basin Reserve, and some of their heaviest defeats against New Zealand have been at this ground

S Rajesh01-Apr-2009After India’s dogged fightback in Napier, they will go into the Wellington Test as favourites to wrap up the series, but if past stats are any indicator, New Zealand will fancy their chances of turning the tables on India despite spending three days in the field in the previous Test without a positive result. More than New Zealand’s good record here, the home team will be encouraged by India’s struggles at this venue.New Zealand have themselves lost about as often as they’ve won here, but India have lost the last four times they’ve turned up for a Test at the Basin Reserve. (They’ve only lost to New Zealand nine times in all, which means almost 50% of their defeats have come at a single venue.) Some of their heaviest defeats against New Zealand have come here too – their innings-and-33-run loss in 1976 is their only innings defeat against them, while they also lost by ten wickets the last time they played a Test at this ground. Their innings-by-innings list doesn’t make impressive reading either, with seven scores of less than 225 in ten innings.

Stats in Wellington

Team and periodPlayedWonLostDrawnNew Zealand – overall48141618New Zealand – since 200210442India – overall5140If the trend from the previous New Zealand-India Tests at this venue continues, expect batsmen from both teams to struggle to get the runs. In five previous Tests, New Zealand’s batsmen average 24.43 runs per wicket, which is four runs better than what the Indians have managed. There have been 13 fifty-plus scores from the home team, but Geoff Howarth was the only one to convert it into a century. The Indians have had three centurions here – Sachin Tedulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajit Wadekar – but they’ve also had many more low scores.

New Zealand and Indian batting in WellingtonTests

TeamTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sNew Zealand5185724.431/ 12India5183420.153/ 4Recent stats also suggest the conditions here are excellent for seam and swing: in the last ten Tests here, since 2002, fast bowlers average 26.47 runs per wicket. The average for the spinners – who have only taken 55 wickets during this period – is exactly ten runs more.

Pace and spin in Wellington since 2002

TypeWicketsAverageStike rate5WI/ 10WMPace25426.4751.814/ 1Spin5536.4779.12/ 2Among the New Zealand bowlers in the current squad, the fast men have all done well here: Kyle Mills has taken 15 wickets in four Tests; Chris Martin has 40 from nine, with four five-wicket hauls. The strike rates for the fast bowlers is excellent too: it’s in the late 40s for Martin and James Franklin, while Mills, who has the best average but the poorest strike rate among the four, takes a wicket every six overs. The stats aren’t as impressive for Daniel Vettori, though – in 16 Tests he has taken 44 wickets, and average of less than three wickets per match, with each costing him 38 runs. His only five-wicket haul here was against Sri Lanka in 2006 in a rare match dominated by spin – Muttiah Muralitharan took 10 for 118 to take his team to victory.

New Zealand bowlers in Wellington

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMKyle Mills41523.9353.40/ 0Iain O’Brien2625.6650.00/ 0Chris Martin94026.4547.54/ 0James Franklin41728.0049.71/ 0Daniel Vettori164438.1182.01/ 1With the stats so heavily in favour of fast bowlers, it’s hardly surprising that teams winning the toss have mostly put the opposition in to bat: in the last ten Tests, the captains have taken this route seven times, and five times they’ve gone on to win the match.The innings-wise average runs per wicket indicates, there isn’t much difference in the first three innings, but in the fourth innings teams have done significantly better, suggesting again that bowling first have historically been a good option here.

Innings-wise runs per wicket Wellington in Tests since 2002

1st innings2nd innings3rd innings4th innings28.8728.6424.1343.19The partnership stats too suggest that batting later in the innings is easier than tackling the new ball: average partnership for the first two wickets is less than 30, but it increases to 43.78 for the fourth wicket.Among the Indian batsmen in the current squad, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the only ones to have played more than one Test at the Basin Reserve. Tendulkar has done well here, with three 45-plus scores in four innings. Dravid, though, averages 27.75.Those who only played in 2002-03 have hardly scored any runs here, which isn’t surprising since India totalled 161 and 121 in their two innings: Virender Sehwag scored 14 in two innings, while VVS Laxman failed to score a run in the match.

Everybody hopes that the next three matches go the full distance, but don’t rule out contingency plans for rain intervals being discussed in team meetings

Sidharth Monga in Wellington06-Mar-2009

	Blame it on the rain: The repeated shower interruptions have given the captains plenty to think about © Getty Images

So one-day cricket has become predictable, eh? It’s not the same old formulaic stuff when there’s rain around. With constant rain intervals, as at the Westpac Stadium tonight, teams have to keep thinking on their feet. Equations and circumstances keep changing with every drop that hits the green.Take a look at this scenario. Before the rain arrived the first time, India were 130 for 1 and looking at a 300-plus score. After two brief stints and three rain breaks, if the game had started, India would have had to defend 165 in 20 overs. On a pitch that Daniel Vettori said was much better than the one for the Twenty20 last week, with a wet outfield and ten wickets in hand, New Zealand would have fancied a win. So from being the favourites at one stage, India would be forgiven if they thought they escaped tonight. Such are the shenanigans of the Duckworth-Lewis system.It is always tricky to bat after a rain interval. All of a sudden the overs are reduced, the batsmen have to think of a target that is safe, and they have to change their style. Let’s not forget that they have to play themselves in before they can go for the big hits. Not to take the credit away from Vettori and Kyle Mills, but India came out a little distracted after the first rain break, and lost two wickets for 21 runs in five overs before rain struck again.The strategising for games when rain is forecast – and the forecasts in New Zealand have been fairly good so far – begins at the toss itself. Does a team want the runs on the board? Or does it want to chase a target? It is often tempting to go for the latter, but

Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked at the other side of it before he chose to bat.”If it rains for the amount that you lose eight, 10 or 15 overs, the side which has batted first has a bit of advantage,” said Dhoni said, “but in the same way for the side batting, if they are given a target in 20 overs, it becomes very easy. For New Zealand today, if it was a 20-over game, they would have required around 166-odd runs, but if it was a 28-over game they would have needed about 217-odd runs.”Also the side batting first stands to gain in terms of Powerplays from a situation when the game has been reduced. Today India got 15 overs of Powerplays before the rain interval, and with the game reduced to 34 overs, got three more overs of batting Powerplay. Had the rain not intervened, New Zealand would have got only 13 overs of fielding restrictions as opposed to India’s 18. It will be one complex system that takes all this into account and then reworks the target. In a similar scenario late last year, India got 18 overs of Powerplays as opposed to England’s nine, in the Bangalore ODI that had to be reduced to 22 overs a side.Generally the shorter the match, the more it favours the fielding side. But like Dhoni said, who can predict how much it will rain? It helps, though, to have a Virender Sehwag at the top of the order to take the pressure that the duo of Duckworth and Lewis put on a batting side.India knew it would rain in Napier and they knew it would rain in Wellington. Both times they decided to bat, so it seems like a policy decision. “It’s like a gamble because you don’t know how much it would rain,” said Dhoni. “That’s a gamble you take more often, and we are a good batting side so we back ourselves on that. If we get a good start we can get a decent score if the amount of overs are reduced by 15 or 20. And definitely, in 30 overs the opposition will get a big target to chase.”Vettori would have batted too if he had won the toss, but for a different reason. “The wicket was a lot better than it was for the Twenty20 game, so we wanted to make sure we could put a score on the board,” he said. “And in a way, try and put the pressure back on India because they have done so well with batting at the start.”India’s tour of New Zealand so far has been shorn of mind games and quotable quotes, but the rain breaks have added an interesting twist to both off-field planning and on-field implementation, especially when dealing with factors beyond one’s control. It is not always fair, but like the batting Powerplays they add a whole new dimension.Everybody is hoping that the next three matches will go the full distance, but you can be sure contingency plans for rain intervals will be discussed in team meetings.

Dhoni has adapted his game superbly to the needs of his team over the last couple of years, and it was again evident in a blazing century

Sidharth Monga in Nagpur28-Oct-2009The ball was full, but not quite a half-volley. The shot that followed was something of a topspin forehand hit on the half-volley, bouncing close to the baseline. The knees were not bent like a tennis player’s but the bigger bat and massive twirl did the job, depositing the ball wide of long-on for one of the flatter sixes you’re likely to see. MS Dhoni can still play those shots.That he does not do as freely or as often as he used to is not lost on fans and colleagues alike. When Dhoni hits big shots in the nets, Virender Sehwag is usually quick to point out, in banter, “MS, ? [Where do these big shots disappear in the matches?]”It should also not be forgotten that Dhoni refrains from such audacious shots because he has explosive batsmen all around him, and his solid batting in the middle allows those flashers to play their flashier game. Nor should it be forgotten that Dhoni has managed to maintain a respectable strike-rate in one-day cricket while tempering his approach.Since becoming captain, Dhoni has played 63 ODIs with a visibly more responsible approach. In that time he has hit 34 sixes compared to 71 in 84 prior ODIs, and 160 fours to an earlier 206. In fewer matches, though, he has scored more runs at a slightly lesser strike-rate and hugely improved average. In the last two years, Dhoni has become a complete and remarkably consistent one-day batsman. Still he can’t keep everyone happy, as Dhoni readily reminded: “At some of the venues, people still expect me to hit those big sixes every time, so it is different.”Today was the best of both of Dhoni’s worlds. When he came in at 97 for 3 in the 16th over India were threatening to have aimed too high, and thus losing too many wickets too early. The first ball he faced hit him on the back of his head. He had taken his eyes off the ball, and found it following him. “It went blank,” said Dhoni. “That’s what happens when you get hit on the head. “It was a good delivery. It’s not like I was hit in the head for the first time. I am quite used to it. If you want to put together a package, you’ll get at least 15 shots of my getting hit in the head. It’s not the best way to start the innings.”He still had the presence of mind to steal a leg-bye. The first half of the innings was all about stealing and haring between the wickets; the robbing could wait. Ricky Ponting tried to make that stealing difficult, keeping mid-off and mid-on in for the best part of first 40 overs. The boundary riders stayed off the ropes, trying to cut the twos on a huge ground. At that point Dhoni didn’t feel the need to clear mid-off or mid-on; he kept taking ones and twos despite a proactive approach from Ponting.Suresh Raina, a younger man with a lesser workload and fresher legs, kept raising his bat and patting it in appreciation of every scrambled single, and every one turned into two. It is this sort of commitment, this attitude of doing it first before demanding it of others, that earns Dhoni his team-mates’ respect.Dhoni hit one boundary in the first 28 balls he faced and two more before he raised his half-century off 55 balls. That is the new Dhoni for you. “You play by instinct, but at the same time there is a cautious attempt to see what the demand actually is,” he said. “If there is a youngster playing at No. 4, and he tries to play a big shot and gets out, its okay, people say he will learn and he will improve. But when it comes to a senior who has played around 100-odd international games, people rip him apart.”At times that’s in the back of your mind. Earlier when you went for a big shot, you backed yourself and went for it. It’s not the same as I was three or four years ago, less responsibility and more flair. But now I have more responsibility every time I turn up on the field. A lot depends on what kind of pressure you are handling.”Still some yearn for the old Dhoni, especially when the situation asks for it, during a difficult chase or while setting targets. He has managed that, like he did in the West Indies earlier this year, having promoted himself to No. 3 and scoring a 34-ball 46. Amid his nudging and nurdling, which is not the most pleasant sight on a cricket field, such innings get forgotten. Even Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, couldn’t hide his glee when announcing that the old Dhoni was back.And back the old Dhoni was. Walking down and hitting Shane Watson, heaving and slapping Mitchell Johnson, hitting three bottom-handed sixes in two overs, he scored 54 runs in his last 27 balls, putting it past Australia, barring a freak innings or poor bowling. Even as the crowd went wild, it couldn’t be escaped that this man had earned the right to go berserk after having built an innings, having worked hard through the most part of his piece.India need both the Dhonis, but there are other batsmen who can compensate for the old Dhoni, and more often than not it’s the new Dhoni that nobody else evokes. Dhoni, more than anybody else, knows that.

It was plain from the start of the ODI series that, for some reason, West Indies’ spirit of the Tests had evaporated in the interim. It reflected a general problem of attitude – the one common factor in their desperate decline of the past 15 years or so

Tony Cozier21-Feb-2010Much like his batting, Chris Gayle’s reputation has gone through several phases these past few months. He arrived in Australia in November for the series of three Tests castigated by the Australian media as a villain, a reinstated captain who had openly dissed Test cricket in favour of Twenty20 and a pivotal figure in the disruptive players’ strike that preceded the tour.By the end, he was being widely hailed as a champion, Man of the Series for leading a spirited West Indies revival with two high quality hundreds in the last two Tests and his general leadership.”Gayle has brought some muscle and pride back to West Indies cricket,” Peter Lalor, a previous doubter, wrote in the .Now, just over a month on, at the end of an ill-starred return series of ODIs, Gayle finds himself the butt of the kind of derision usually reserved for clairvoyants who prophesise the end of the world every other Friday.Never shy of expressing an opinion, he proclaimed that his team, even though hamstrung by injuries to several key players, would somehow defeat the most powerful exponents of the 50-overs game–and by 4-to-1, no less.It might just have been another of Gayle’s casual lines to wind up the media. Perhaps he felt it would have given comfort to the new players in his patched-up outfit.Surely he could not have believed his forecast for, through strained backs, damaged fingers, pulled hamstrings and wonky knees, he was without his two most experienced batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, his vice-captain and key allrounder Dwayne Bravo, left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, fast bowler Jerome Taylor and the talented young opener Adrian Barath.Possibly, Gayle expected that the same unity and commitment that was obvious in the last two Tests in December would carry them through, in spite of such handicaps.Had the ODIs immediately followed, as they used to, that might have given them the necessary state of mind to be competitive, if hardly earn a 4-1 triumph.Instead, there was a gap of three weeks between the two during which the players went their separate ways.In spite of contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Gayle and Bravo skipped the WICB’s own first-class tournament to remain in Australia for the Twenty20 Bash (during which both were injured).A few sought medical attention for the ailments that would prevent their return. Others went home for a couple of meaningless, sub-standard four-day matches.It was plain from the start of the ODI series that, for some inexplicable reason, the spirit of the Tests had evaporated in the interim.Even from the other side of the planet, the same ‘don’t care’ approach that prevailed during the shameful campaign in England last May was clear through the television coverage.Faces were sullen and shoulders quickly drooped. Straightforward catches were spilled, slack strokes cost wickets.Even David Williams, the always upbeat coach, was moved to say after Friday’s latest humiliation: “It is a blessing for us the ODIs are over. We played terrible in all three departments and to drop five catches in 50 overs tells a lot about our performance.”Reliable, long-standing colleagues in Australia reported that it reflected a general problem of attitude. It is nothing new. It is the one common factor in the West Indies’ desperate decline of the past 15 years or so.The reports of Gayle, Williams and manager Joel Garner, never one known to hold back, should make instructive reading for the WICB. If they correspond to the unofficial accounts out of Australia, it must act on them as it has failed to do in the past.For all Gayle’s braggadocio, no one expected the West Indies, No.8 in the ODI rankings, to win even one match against the No.1 opponents who had just thrashed Pakistan in nine successive matches (three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20).What was not expected was the pathetic capitulation. The margins were overwhelming – 113 runs, eight wickets with 141 balls remaining, 50 runs and 125 runs. In each of the last two matches, Australia amassed 324 (for seven and for five). The West Indies could not bat through 40 overs in three matches and only once raise more than 200.It was mystifying why Kieron Pollard languished down the list at No.6 and 7 until the last ODI•Getty ImagesAustralians once flocked in their hundreds of thousands to watch what was their favourite team. Now the smallest crowds on record turned up for the match.Gayle’s failure at the top (7, 0, 34 and 14), each time to his bogey-man, the strapping left-armer Doug Bollinger, was clearly a significant factor.Without Sarwan and Chanderpaul, it exposed Travis Dowlin, Runako Morton, Lendl Simmons and Narsingh Deonarine for the modest players they are at this level. None seemed interested in buckling down, as Dowlin and Deonarine had done when given the chance in the TestsIn the circumstances, it was mystifying why Kieron Pollard languished down the list at No.6 and 7 until the last match.While he has made his global reputation as Twenty20 hitter, the big Trinidadian has shown at regional level that he is more than just that. He compiled 174 against Barbados last year and averages 37 in first-class cricket, better than most of those previously preferred to him in the longer game.With his controlled batting, stiff medium-pace bowling and sharp fielding he has at least provided one bright spot from this series.Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards are already out of action with hip and spinal injuries. The sore ankle that eliminated Kemar Roach from the last three matches came as another major worry at a time when fast bowling stocks are in short supply.He is an outstanding prospect who has just started his career. A long layoff, such as both Taylor and Edwards had soon after they began, would be a setback for him personally and for the West Indies.There was apparently such a lack of confidence in Gavin Tonge, the third fast bowler in Australia, that he remained on the bench in all five matches, leaving Ravi Rampaul (another with a history of injuries) to carry the attack.That Dwayne Smith shared the new ball with his unthreatening medium-pace prompted disturbing memories of Clive Lloyd doing the same in the early 70s before the arrival of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding et al.A couple of Twenty20 matches remain in Australia until, as Williams might say, it’s a blessing it’s all over. Zimbabwe at home follow immediately. They are even further down the rankings than the West Indies but, if the attitude isn’t right for their Twenty20 and five ODIs, more embarrassment could be on the way.

As he stands on the brink of 100 Tests, we look at where New Zealand’s jack of all trades ranks in his country’s pantheon

David Leggat25-Mar-2010There’s an advertisement running on New Zealand sports channels at the moment featuring Dan Vettori.He is watching television when several of his New Zealand team-mates turn up, wanting to switch channels. Argument ensues. To cut to the chase, it finishes with Vettori putting his head in his hands and slowly shaking it.It might not have been the intention, but when you consider his importance to the New Zealand cause, and the half-baked efforts of others in the team at various points this summer, it is amusingly appropriate.In this week’s second Test against Australia, starting in Hamilton on Saturday, Vettori brings up his 99th or 100th Test, depending on how you view the ill-starred World XI game against Australia in 2005. Include it, and Vettori’s bringing up his ton this week; treat the relevant mark as nation against nation, it will happen in Bangladesh in a few months’ time. Either way it’s a remarkable achievement for the bespectacled allrounder, who joins the man he replaced as captain, Stephen Fleming, as New Zealand’s only 100-Test cricketer.There are statistics that bear testimony to his influence within the New Zealand game. Consider just one: Vettori’s Test batting average is 30.9; in the period he has taken over the captaincy, 26 Tests beginning in November 2007, that number is 44.07. His bowling average is also fractionally superior in that shorter period. Therefore it is a short hop to contend that the 31-year-old seems to be thriving, in personal terms, with the leadership.Recently a sports commentator posed the question: Is Vettori New Zealand’s finest cricketer?These sort of subjective topics are great for whiling away idle hours, but if there are firm and conflicting viewpoints, you usually don’t get far. In this instance, the answer is no. Here’s a handful of names to ponder, in rough chronological order: Bert Sutcliffe, John R Reid, Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe. You’ll find any number of supporters to argue each of those players has credentials superior to Vettori’s.How does he sit among the finest spinners New Zealand has produced? Now we’re talking.The answer is, head and shoulders clear of the rest.New Zealand does not have an especially rich tradition of spin bowlers. Only one other has got to 100 Test wickets, offspinner John Bracewell, who was an immensely competitive, combative player. In his prime, a team of Bracewells wouldn’t lose many matches, but there would be plenty of trips to the match referee’s room.There have been three other left-arm orthodox slow men of note: Tom Burtt, burly and gifted, but a liability in the field, in the years after the Second World War; Hedley Howarth, who churned through a mountain of overs in exhausting conditions in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the subcontinent and in the West Indies; and Stephen Boock, a thoroughly competitive and humorous man, who once kissed the Eden Park pitch en route to one for a bucketload against Javed Miandad and his chums 21 years ago.Vettori is not among the biggest turners of a ball. His strengths include flight and variations, accumulated wisdom gleaned from 13 years in the big time. He is a treat to watch at work. One of his strongest attributes is best seen in side-on replays of an over. He uses changes of pace, with no noticeable change in action, and to excellent effect. As they stretch out, or advance down the pitch, batsmen find they are not quite there.At times Vettori has had to be more defensive than he might wish – a case of necessity rather than preference. Rarely has he marked out his run with 450 or more runs to work with.

One of Vettori’s strongest attributes is best seen in side-on replays of an over. He uses changes of pace, with no noticeable change in action, and to excellent effect. As they stretch out, or advance down the pitch, batsmen find they are not quite there

So try this question for size: How important a figure has Vettori become to New Zealand cricket?Tom Lowry and Walter Hadlee were the early giants of the game. Reid was captain on the occasion of New Zealand’s first Test win, against West Indies at Eden Park in 1956; he added Test wins No. 2 and 3 in South Africa six summers later to his resume, and was a colossus of the game.
Among his claims to a place at the game’s top table in New Zealand was his longevity as a national selector. He wanted a say in who he was leading through the gate and got it.Now Vettori is in the same situation: captain and selector. It is not a double role for which he has received universal support. His fellow selectors are coach Mark Greatbatch and former captain and batting champion Glenn Turner. One advocate in his corner is Reid, who knows why Vettori wanted the extra responsibility, and supports his right to a strong say in who walks onto the field behind him.It is an old argument: should there be a clear line between the occupiers of the dressing room and those who put them there? How do players view their captain when they know he is one of those who hold the key to their immediate place in the side? Vettori has maintained he will make hard calls when required.At this moment he is his team’s best bowler, possesses among their safest pair of hands in the field, and is perhaps their most reliable source of runs. Throw in the captaincy and selectorial roles and he has a full plate. Remember, he was also doubling up as de facto coach during the gap between the departure of Andy Moles and the appointment of Greatbatch, although he didn’t much care for the terminology and didn’t feel he was doing anything differently in his handling of the team.Vettori’s significance to his country’s game can be traced back to his debut, against England in 1997. There was no gentle introduction, no bedding-in period for New Zealand’s youngest Test player, at 18 years 10 days. He bowled more overs than anyone else in England’s only innings, at the Basin Reserve, during a hefty innings loss (and he batted No. 11, below Simon Doull and Geoff Allott, which on reflection is a hoot).A few days later he was asked to square the series in the final Test in Christchurch. Chasing 305, England won by four wickets. Of the 146.4 overs it took, Vettori wheeled through 57, more than double anyone else. It was a ludicrous load on slender shoulders.So, being an integral part of New Zealand cricket is nothing new for Vettori.New Zealand’s finest cricketer? A matter of opinion, so no. Their most influential? Right up there.

Delhi’s underachieving top order has laid obstacles in their march to the semi-finals

Siddarth Ravindran at the MA Chidambaram Stadium16-Apr-2010Pre-tournament favourites Delhi Daredevils may have broken their three-match losing streak with the win over Chennai Super Kings to move closer to the semi-finals, but the worries over their vaunted top-order remain. A target of 113 should have been a snap, but the loss of three wickets in the first two overs made it a strenuous trek towards victory.It started when offspinner R Ashwin continued his trend of providing early breakthroughs, removing Warner in the first over, after the batsman failed to keep the cut along the ground. In the next over, Australian fast bowler Doug Bollinger, who has already won over Chennai hearts with his bustling displays over the past couple of weeks, increased his fan-count by nipping out Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the space of four deliveries – Sehwag chasing a wide, full delivery and Dilshan bowled when attempting an extravagant cover drive.Delhi were 6 for 3, and the deafening cries of ‘Bollinger, Bollinger’ ringing round the MA Chidambaram Stadium made it hard to believe the home side had scratched their way to one of the lowest totals of the tournament less than half an hour ago. Sensible batting from Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas, who cut out the big hits and dealt mainly in singles initially, took Delhi to a vital win.However, in a crucial match the feared Delhi hitters at the top had flopped again. Despite the presence of three of the world’s most explosive batsmen (Sehwag, Warner, Dilshan) and two of the most consistent run-getters in recent years (Gambhir and AB de Villiers), the Delhi batting hasn’t clicked as often as one would expect.Sehwag has one half-century in the past ten innings, de Villiers and Dilshan have none this season, while Warner has four single-digit scores in six knocks. There have been too many blazing cameos and not enough starring roles. All of which means Delhi were drawn into a mid-table scrap, jostling with five other teams in the scramble for the semi-finals.Ten days ago, a place in the final four seemed a formality, after thrashing a strong Royal Challengers Bangalore to soar into second spot and 12 points. They are now in the comfort of third spot, but like today’s victory, qualification to the next stage is proving more troublesome than it should have been.With the race remaining tense, captains have lashed out at their teams following shoddy performances. Sourav Ganguly termed his term’s effort “absolutely rubbish” after the loss in Bangalore, and Gambhir didn’t spare his big-name batsmen after the win today.”Chasing 113 was not an easy job and you can’t just bat irresponsibly,” he said at the post-match presentation. “The top order needed to bat with some responsibility. You can’t bat just like that and leave the job for the lower order.”Gambhir himself has had a bit of a lean spell, with three run-outs in his past four innings, and was thrilled to have anchored the side to victory. “We lost the top order without scoring much and I had to ensure that I stayed till the end. I am happy to have led from the front to get a win.”With Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra both recovering from injuries, Delhi had their first-choice new-ball combination together for the first time in the tournament, and the pair delivered by taking out three of the opposition’s batsmen early. Now, Delhi need the duo that faces the new ball to get back on track.

Between the two teams, England have changed a lot more since the fourth Test last year, and India will recognise the giddiness around that

Osman Samiuddin29-Jun-2022If the Indian captain had gone down with Covid a week before a Test last summer in England, imagine the calamity. He didn’t, but an outbreak among the support staff caused enough panic for the BCCI to have the Test called off.A lot of it was to do with where the world was with the pandemic. The UK was leading a new, post-vaccine laissez-faire response by easing restrictions throughout society, but sport hadn’t caught up. Players were still in bubbles; they underwent regular PCR tests; close contacts were still being identified and told to isolate; travel was a nightmare.But some of it would also have been because the captain last summer was Virat Kohli. And such is the frenzy that accompanies Kohli, it’s quite possible that if only he had gotten Covid and no one else, the Old Trafford Test might have been cancelled anyway.Related

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It’s a measure of how much has changed that Rohit Sharma got Covid this week and there’s no question of the Test being in danger: the only question is who replaces him, if he doesn’t recover in time. We’ve just seen the end of a series where a number of New Zealand players or staff got Covid, the England wicketkeeper got it during a Test and nobody really cared. Last summer was a different world, though it also doesn’t feel that long ago; one side effect of Covid, regardless of whether you’ve had it or not, is a distorted sense of time.Also, this is Rohit. Great batter, fine captain but not that stratosphere. He doesn’t hold the fate of entire ecosystems in his hands. He does not appear on Forbes rich lists. He is not hanging with the LeBrons, the CR7s or the Messis on a global sporting icon list. In fact, one of the most interesting things about Rohit’s appointment is that for the first time in well over a decade, an Indian captain is not obviously the biggest, most significant figure in the sport.No team is really built in the image of one man alone, but that this was in some way, until very recently, Kohli’s India is difficult to argue against. Now? There is a new coach to consider as well, a man who, albeit in a diametrically opposite way to Ravi Shastri, brings serious presence.Ordinarily, this would all be considered serious change. And it is, except it doesn’t come across that way. If Shastri brought the yang to Kohli’s yang then, instinctively, Rahul Dravid brings the yin to Rohit’s yin: two men attuned to the details and not just a big picture. Shastri, meanwhile, will end the series as a blustering, cheerleading commentator, having begun it as a blustering, cheerleading coach.1:45

Who opens and captains if Rohit Sharma can’t play at Edgbaston?

India don’t do crisis or panic, now they merely move along unperturbed. KL Rahul, second-highest run-scorer in the series, is not here. No problem, here is Mayank Agarwal, who Rahul had replaced in the first place as opener at the start of this series last year after Agarwal sustained a concussion.Many countries might bungle transitions involving their second-most prolific Test fast bowler ever, when he is still only 33. Ishant Sharma might have played his last Test and nobody appears overly concerned, or sentimental. Why would they when Mohammed Siraj is already so well established? Or when next man in could be Prasidh Krishna: tall and gangly like Ishant but quicker and bouncier, averaging less than 17 in ODIs and less than 18 in first-class cricket? R Ashwin is arguably India’s greatest spinner but will probably not play this series. And India won’t lose it. Ashwin not playing would simply underline how little has changed for India. With Rohit leading (assuming he plays), India could field as many as eight from the XI that took the series lead at The Oval.But this Test isn’t really about India, which itself is an unusual position for India to be in. This is about England. Usually, England are just some shade of England: a great orthodox batter, a charismatic allrounder, a couple of grand old seamers and seven others. They win at home, but never dominate. They don’t win that much abroad. There is always angst, about some player, about techniques, about county cricket, about the health of Tests. Boring is not the right word for it. Familiar, oddly comforting, reassuringly there, might be.The best thing about this Test is that this is not usual England. This is not another shade, it’s already half a painting. England too have a different captain and coach since the last Test of this series. They will only play four from the XI that played at The Oval. That says that a lot has changed but it doesn’t even begin to capture a fraction of it – or the speed at which it has happened.Less than a month ago they were still that England. Now they are this England and even if we can get our heads around the Covid time warp, we might struggle to explain that three months ago, seven of this England side scored 324 runs across two innings in 154 overs. In doing so, they lost by 10 wickets.If they were simply waiting to be told that this is a way to play the game, then it’s a nice reminder that words retain power, that they are consequential, especially when coming from Brendon McCullum. But without Ben Stokes’ actions, they might still have meant a lot less. Stokes has been good as captain – a revelation, even, particularly with his handling of Jack Leach – but his two dismissals in Trent Bridge and Headingley now appear as the precise moments of revelation, when The Word became The Deed.It can easily be argued they were reckless dismissals: England were still 148 behind in Trent Bridge when he fell and he left them 55 for 5 at Headingley. They probably were. But they also epitomised precisely what, presumably, he and McCullum had been instructing England to do. Run into the fear, not away from it. And if the captain was doing it, there was no excuse for others not to.India could field as many as eight of their last Test XI that appeared in England last year•Getty ImagesThe most vivid illustration of this emboldened mood is Jonny Bairstow. Last summer, at The Oval, as he was bowled – a calling card that dismissal – by Jasprit Bumrah for a four-ball duck, it was possible to ask where his Test career was going. He was in his ninth year as a Test cricketer, with decent periods but he was averaging 23 in the three years until the end of that Test. Shunted around through the middle order in that time, half his Tests as wicketkeeper-batter, half as batter, he wasn’t this, he wasn’t that, so what was he?Batting is a feeling, Kumar Sangakkara said during a recent Sky Masterclass, inadvertently landing upon the truth of Bairstow in this last month. Bairstow already had two Test hundreds this year but his last three innings (369 runs, twice out, 293 balls, 46 fours and ten sixes) means even he might struggle to remember those two.He has best understood batting as a feeling, not chained by strictures of technique or batting order or situation or even format. “Sometimes your own thoughts sabotage your ability to see the ball,” McCullum said once, years ago, articulating a purity of state athletes strive for, only knowing that the more they strive, the further away it gets and that it is attained generally by accident, not design. Rarely can Bairstow’s place in the Test side have made more sense.Jonny Bairstow has turned Test batting on its head under Mccullum and Stokes•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesJonny solved, not even county cricket seems such an intractable problem. All it needs, it turns out, is for county cricketers to start playing like England’s Test cricketers. Not the scheduling, or the pitches, or the number of counties, or the quality of the ball: just a sprinkle of this ethos from up above. Trickle-down economics has never made this much sense (to be fair, it did happen with Eoin Morgan’s white-ball revolution, but that is a different beast).India will recognise some of this giddiness. They are much further down the arc of this seismic change. Typically, they traversed it in a more considered way, but it was no less radical. Kohli did change the way India approached games, and those fundamentals are firmly established by now. They bat as we have known Test batting this century (rather than this last month). Cheteshwar Pujara is not going to reverse scoop anyone, though Rishabh Pant is a born Baz-baller.Their eureka moment happened to their bowling – and hasn’t stopped happening (Hi Umran Malik); in having a battery of strong, quick and durable bowlers; in being more capable of attack than ever before; in picking five of them. That will be the half of this contest with all the sexy in it: England’s batting against India’s bowling (and I don’t think England will let Ravindra Jadeja bowl 30-11-50-2 like he did last time).There’s probably something to be said about the contrast in coaches though nothing beyond the superficial. Suffice to say, Dravid is fully aware of the sudden, whirlwind impact of Baz-ball: he was the captain caught in the headlights all those years ago of McCullum’s era-defining 158 in the IPL opener.There is probably also a little lament to be made: last year’s series never got the end that it deserved. And this Test won’t get the series it deserves.