Rishabh Pant’s accident is a cause for concern, as is the lack of a credible back-up for Hardik Pandya

Sidharth Monga09-Jan-2023The top order – has Dhawan dropped out of contention?It is a little too late to drop someone you have invested in for the last three years, even making him the captain in the absence of the regular captain, but Shikhar Dhawan has made himself droppable. In the last couple of years, his returns have dipped, and it’s not like his replacement is going to debut at the World Cup: Shubman Gill has played 15 ODIs, Ishan Kishan ten.It will take extraordinary circumstances for Dhawan to return so close to the World Cup, but he remains an outside shot given his experience should both Gill and Kishan hit wretched form. At the moment, though, they have only strengthened their case with runs in New Zealand and Bangladesh. Kishan has even scored a double-century.ESPNcricinfo LtdOther top-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
Rohit Sharma
Innings: 18, Runs 745, Average 44, Strike Rate 96Made a comeback after injury during the ODI series in Bangladesh. It is important he gets a string of matches and some rhythm under his belt in the lead-up to the World Cup. Time for resting might be over.Ishan Kishan
Innings 6, Runs 401, Average 67, Strike Rate 127Brings the dynamism and left-handedness needed at the top of the order to capitalise on the powerplay. Was only an outside contender two series ago, but the injury to Rohit left a gap in the door for him, which he has burst open with the double-century.Shubman Gill
Innings 13, Runs 671, Average 67, Strike Rate 102Wasn’t a part of the squad in Bangladesh, but scored a 50 and 45 not out in New Zealand. Will definitely be part of the plans.Virat Kohli
Innings 27, Runs 1169, Average 45, Strike Rate 93Master of the format, scored a century in the shadow of Kishan’s double-century. ODIs also happen to be his best format.Middle order – the Pant situation is a worryRishabh Pant’s road accident means he may or may not be able to present a case for the World Cup in time. On the other hand, it will be heartening that Hardik Pandya is back.ESPNcricinfo LtdMiddle-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
KL Rahul
Innings 14, Runs 698, Average 58, Strike Rate 106Back to the middle order, where he has scored runs, after having been tried in other positions. Might also keep wicket if Kishan doesn’t play in the series against Sri Lanka.Shreyas Iyer
Innings 24, Runs 955, Average 45, Strike Rate 97Keeps going from strength to strength in the middle order in both ODIs and Tests. Important spin hitter in the middle overs.Hardik Pandya
Innings 10, Runs 429, Average 48, Strike Rate 116Time to take this vital cog out of cotton wool. The only doubt over his place in the XI can be fitness-based, if it prevents him from bowling.Suryakumar Yadav
Innings 14, Runs 350, Average 29, Strike Rate 98Hasn’t yet had a proper run in ODIs, but there are those who believe he can challenge Rahul in the middle order based on his exploits in T20s.Rishabh Pant
Innings 17, Runs 638, Average 40, Strike Rate 111A definite force in the middle order, or even the top order, if he is fit and ready in time.It might be time to move on from other outside contenders except maybe Deepak Hooda, that too because he bowls.Allrounders – still no back-ups for HardikThere is no seam-bowling allrounder to be back-up for Hardik should he get injured again. All the other allrounders are spinners. India will still play at least one of them or possibly two depending on the pitches.ESPNcricinfo LtdRavindra Jadeja
Matches 18, Runs 335, Strike Rate 95, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 5.4On the weight of his improved batting, the first choice, but his injury layoff mysteriously keeps getting longer. Might he have to prioritise formats when he is back?Axar Patel
Matches 8, Runs 168, Strike Rate 120, Wickets 10, Economy Rate 4.39A better bowler than Jadeja in limited-overs formats, and his batting has only been improving, as seen in his crucial innings when promoted in a tense chase in the Mirpur Test, followed by a blinder of a T20I half-century against Sri Lanka in a chase that India lost.Washington Sundar
Matches 11, Runs 212, Strike Rate 87, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 4.4Providing variety as opposed to the two left-arm spinners is his biggest draw. Has been injury-prone himself.Spinners – will Chahal or Kuldeep pip a fingerspinner?If pitches assist spin, India might not play either of them in the XI because then they can bank on their fingerspinners. However, on flatter pitches, a wristspinner is extremely valuable.ESPNcricinfo LtdYuzvendra Chahal
Matches 21, Wickets 34, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 5.7India’s second-highest wicket-taker since the 2019 World Cup, taking one every 30 balls. Unlucky not to have played a single game in the last two T20 World Cups.Kuldeep Yadav
Matches 22, Wickets 26, Strike Rate 46, Economy Rate 5.76Not being fielded in ODIs, but slowly being rehabilitated into international cricket after massive drop in confidence. Left-arm wristspin could be a point of difference.Fast bowlers – Shami and Malik in the frameThere has been no clear direction here either, which is only getting compounded by the extended injury layoff for Prasidh Krishna. They need to get a middle-overs enforcer back-up. It just brings Mohammed Shami and Umran Malik into the picture.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah
Matches 14, Wickets 18, Strike Rate 38, Economy Rate 5.16Coming back from a stress reaction of the back, which kept him out of the T20 World Cup. His performance on return will be followed with bated breath.Prasidh Krishna
Matches 14, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 27, Economy Rate 5.32Has an excellent strike rate of 27 balls per wicket, but needs to get back on the park soon.Mohammed Siraj
Matches 15, Wickets 24, Strike Rate 31, Economy Rate 4.62Continued bowling well in Bangladesh. Can bowl with the new ball and also bang it in in the middle overs. Minus the height of Krishna.Arshdeep Singh
Only just coming back from an illness. Left-arm angle, swing each way, experience of bowling death overs in T20s could go in his favour, but needs some more ODIs under his belt.Mohammed Shami
Matches 15, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 6.16Has kind of become the man India go to for all World Cups even if he plays little cricket in that format in the intervening years. Great seam position, lot of experience, bustling pace.Umran Malik
Matches 5, Wickets 7, Strike Rate 28, Economy Rate 6Raw pace, but is showing signs of higher accuracy having stayed in the India bubble. Is an outside chance especially if Krishna’s fitness remains under a cloud. His selection for the Sri Lanka ODIs says as much.Deepak Chahar
Matches 12, Wickets 15, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 5.58Again, fitness dodgy, but when available, he is a genuine swing bowler with decent batting ability in the lower order.Shardul Thakur
Matches 26, Wickets 38, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 6.23If batting down the order is something India hold dearly, Thakur is that man. Takes wickets quickly but concedes runs just as quickly. Not part of the current squad.

Both players were carrying injuries that might have ruled them out in normal circumstances

Matt Roller23-Apr-2023Abdul Basith walked to the middle at Bengaluru’s imposing Chinnaswamy Stadium needing to hit 10 runs off his first two balls in IPL cricket to clinch a victory for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore.He looked around briefly to scope out his boundary options, then limbered up as Harshal Patel ran in to bowl. He shaped to power him over the leg side, lining up the stands at deep midwicket, but was foxed by Harshal’s slower ball. The ball dribbled away for a single, and the game was RCB’s.Related

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How much impact has the Impact Player rule had on IPL 2023?

Maxwell and du Plessis set RCB up for tight victory

This was a moment that exposed the difference in utility that these two teams had extracted from the Impact Player rule, a rule which has fundamentally altered the nature of selection in T20 cricket. IPL games can – and often do – turn in a single ball; off the penultimate one of the game, RCB’s substitute got the better of Royals’ and clinched the points.Faf du Plessis is having a phenomenal IPL. Nearly halfway through the league stage, he is the Orange Cap holder, has scored five half-centuries in seven innings, and is striking at 165.30. Most top T20 batters are either destructive or dependable; this version of du Plessis falls into a rare category that are both.This stellar run of form has come at 38, an age where most cricketers are long retired and working in coaching or broadcasting. Remarkably, du Plessis has done it despite suffering a grade-one intercostal strain, which would have ruled him out of his team’s last two games in any other franchise league.But the Impact Player rule has enabled him to play despite his injury. Against Punjab Kings on Thursday, he made 84 off 56 as a specialist batter, before he was replaced at the innings break. Back in Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon, he set up a second consecutive win against Royals with 62 off 39 before again being replaced at the interval.Faf du Plessis has been carrying a grade-one intercostal strain•BCCIRCB have twice made late decisions over du Plessis’ participation as a fielder. He may be able to return to his role as captain – and boundary-rider – in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, but for now he can console himself with the knowledge that he has made major contributions in games he would not otherwise have played.During their win over Kings, du Plessis admitted his inclusion “probably wouldn’t have been possible” but for the Impact rule. “I saw some of the boys were trying to do this new rule now where they bat and they don’t field, so I thought I’d try it out,” he joked to the host broadcaster.The injury has clearly caused him discomfort. Thirteen overs into Sunday’s game, at the second strategic time-out, du Plessis ran straight to the dugout after batting for over an hour in the afternoon sun; two balls later, he was run out, the first time in three IPL seasons he has been dismissed by that method.Harshal, his replacement on Sunday, provided further evidence of RCB maximising the new rule. He suffered an injury while fielding during their victory over Kings; like du Plessis, he might well have missed the game but for the Impact Player rule allowing him to feature in one innings only.He arrived at the Chinnaswamy with the little finger on his left hand heavily strapped, limiting his ability to grip the bat; he later suggested that he hopes it will heal “in a week or two”. As a result, he was used exclusively as a bowler, replacing du Plessis at the innings break and bowling his four overs in the run chase.After a slow start to the IPL, Harshal put in his best performance of the season, taking three vital wickets as Royals fell just short in their run chase: Yashasvi Jaiswal, mistiming a full toss to long-on; Sanju Samson, fencing an effort ball to short third; and R Ashwin, dragging a slower ball to deep midwicket after giving RCB a scare.The injured little finger in Harshal Patel’s left hand would have limited his ability to bat, if he had been required to do so•BCCI”The way we’ve been able to use Faf as a batter and myself as a bowler in this game has been really good for us,” Harshal said. “Both of us are carrying injuries which don’t allow us to execute one of our skills: for him, it’s fielding; for me, it’s batting. The Impact [Player] rule allows us to just go out and take care of our primary skills.”RCB were even able to find another loophole which they happily exploited. When Harshal briefly went off the field at the start of the fourth over, after fielding a ball at deep third, the fact that du Plessis was off the field enabled them to use an overseas player – Finn Allen – as a fielding substitute for two overs, since they otherwise only had three overseas players on the field.But while most teams have used the rule in a similar fashion to one another this season – effectively picking a 12-man team, and replacing a specialist batter with a specialist bowler – Royals have differed, as their captain Samson suggested at the toss. “We’re starting with the same XI [either way],” he said. “We might add, or we might not add.”Royals have generally selected the same balance regardless of whether they have batted or bowled first this year, featuring six batters and five frontline bowlers. They have often delayed a decision on their substitution until midway through the second innings; some calls have worked well – bringing on Adam Zampa at Chepauk, for example – but others have not.Sunday’s game appeared to expose the issues with their method. In limiting themselves to five bowling options, Royals did not have much flexibility with the ball, with no choice but to use Sandeep Sharma at the death despite his off-day. And in the absence of Riyan Parag, who did not travel to Bengaluru, they found themselves bringing in an IPL debutant at No. 8 – leaving Jason Holder unused with the bat for the fourth time in his six appearances this season.Royals’ results this season have been significantly better when batting first (played three, won three) than chasing (playing four, lost three), and perhaps their use of the Impact rule is a reason behind that. As the conclusion to Sunday’s game confirmed, the rule has suited some teams much better than others.

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

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

Allrounder carries New Zealand to victory after years of near-misses and heartbreak

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Nov-20213:40

Jayawardene: Daryl Mitchell drank the magic potion

Jimmy Neesham’s first six is a mishit over the deep midwicket boundary. He’d come to the crease with his team needing 59 runs off 29 balls. He’d faced a wide first up; Liam Livingstone firing one down leg side. The next ball Neesham had tried to bash across the line, but managed only to get it as far as midwicket. A single. Even the wide and the single put together wasn’t much help. The required rate was over 14.

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The six at the start of the next over, though, provides some small squirt of hope. It isn’t a giant Livingstonesque hit. It isn’t a lusty Asif Ali blow. Chris Jordan misses his length a touch, and because Neesham swings at this with every molecule of his being in the direction he seems most comfortable swinging in, he hits it well enough to clear the midwicket boundary by five metres, even off the inside half of the bat.Relax, though. New Zealand still need 51 off 23.It wasn’t quite enough.

****

Lance Cairns hit one over the ropes one-handed. Brendon McCullum occasionally rolled towards point as he scooped balls over fine leg. But arguably the most iconic six in New Zealand’s modern history came in semi-final in 2015. Dale Steyn, one of the greatest cricketers ever to play, needed to defend five runs off two balls, and conceded a six against Grant Elliott, whose selection for that World Cup might fairly be described as one of New Zealand’s most unexpected payoffs.Perhaps Neesham should have been picked ahead of Elliott. But when Elliott hit that six, Neesham was ecstatic. “Holy f***** shitballs,” he had tweeted. “This is the best day of my life.” An allrounder who had taken his place, clinching a tight semi-final.Neesham himself, though, hadn’t been required in a World Cup campaign that players described as “the time of their life”.Related

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He was a talented allrounder, having done well in Tests, plus having been impressive in limited-overs cricket.Much as Neesham promised at the time, though, he hadn’t done anything like Corey Anderson’s record-breaking ODI hundred.And for that reason, it seemed as if what Neesham offered – it wasn’t enough.

****

Neesham’s second big shot went in that arc between long-on and deep midwicket.Ben Stokes had once hit that boundary at Lord’s – remember? He’d hit a ball over wide long-on, and although the fielder Trent Boult had taken the catch, he’d touched the boundary with his boot.Pretty much the same thing here. Neesham had launched one over wide long-on, but although Bairstow took the catch, he touched the boundary before he flicked it back infield. When the replays are consulted, it’s clear it’s six.Jonny Bairstow’s knee touches the rope before he can flick it back in•Getty ImagesBut then, England are masters at the death.It wasn’t quite enough.

****

For followers of Neesham, these sixes over midwicket are not unfamiliar shots.In the climax of probably the best limited-overs game in history, he had swung in the same direction. On that occasion, it had been Jofra Archer, in the second (legitimate) ball of the Super Over, who missed his yorker slightly, Neesham stepping across the stumps, whipped it waaay over deep midwicket, deep into the stands. He brought his team’s required runs down to seven runs from four balls.He hit the next two balls for twos and then managed a single. But with two required off the last delivery, his partner Martin Guptill couldn’t quite get back for the second, and Jos Buttler took the bails off in one of modern cricket’s iconic plays.Neesham had claimed his team’s best figures of 3 for 43. He had been trusted to hit big in the Super Over, and had struck 13 off 5.But even though New Zealand didn’t clinch that World Cup. Neesham did plenty.Still, it wasn’t quite enough.

****

The third of Neesham’s sixes is the ugliest. He’s a leftie, and as such, has the match-up against Adil Rashid. He gets down on one knee and throws his entire life into a slog over midwicket. He connects and gets six. Nobody thinks this is a pretty shot. But also nobody cares.This is the last of Neesham’s big shots, though. He gets a single. And when he gets the strike later in this over, tries to hit an offside four, and gets out. By this stage, New Zealand need 20 off 12 balls.Ideally, Neesham would have hung around, hit another one of his big leg-side shots, and even perhaps scored the winning run. But then, for a player who had been through this much, this was asking a lot. When he’d arrived at the crease a New Zealand victory was barely conceivable. Through the course of his 11 balls at the crease, he’d swung the match definitively in New Zealand’s direction.There are two photographs doing the rounds on social media. One in which the entire New Zealand team are ecstatic, celebrating the win (Daryl Mitchell hit the winning runs) while Neesham is sat expressionless in his plastic chair, in front of the dugout.

Job finished? I don’t think so. https://t.co/uBCLLUuf6B

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) November 10, 2021