Having been out of action for 18 months, the quick wants to take a leaf out of Pat Cummins’ book as she gets back to competitive cricket

Valkerie Baynes25-Jun-2023There was a time when just walking 200 metres to grab a coffee without needing crutches or a lift home in the car was the biggest achievement in Tayla Vlaeminck’s bid to play for Australia again.Vlaeminck was one of the fastest bowlers in the women’s game before suffering a recurrence of a stress fracture in the navicular bone of her foot, which kept her out of two T20 World Cups either side of the ODI edition in 2022. She made the last of her 24 appearances for Australia during the 2022 Women’s Ashes, 18 months to the day before she played for Australia A last Wednesday as part of their T20 series against England A running alongside the current Women’s Ashes Test. Vlaeminck picked up the wicket of opener Bryony Smith as England A won by 74 runs at Loughborough.”It was so much fun getting out there,” Vlaeminck said at Trent Bridge after stopping by to see her senior team-mates locked in battle with England. “It’s been a while in the making… it was an lbw and I almost lost my voice I shouted that loudly. I don’t know that the umpire had a choice, to be honest. The girls got around me and I suppose it makes it all worth it in those nice moments.”Related

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Making it all worth seemed a long way off, even when she progressed from that short coffee errand to a ten-minute walk listening to a podcast. Or when she spent four months working with the Australian Ballet, just a stone’s throw from the MCG which Vlaeminck credits with playing a crucial role in helping her back to cricket.”It’s one of the key reasons I’m back,” she said. “It was awesome because building calf strengthening stuff is literally their gym, so for me to go in there not talk cricket, not even have to talk to people about where I’m at or even see it at all, it was really refreshing. It took away the fact that I was doing rehab and just felt like I was training with another person. I walked in first day and some of the stuff I was like, ‘oh, this will be so easy,’ and I’d get two reps in and I’d be sweating and shaking. They were incredible. They just let me come in whenever I wanted, they dropped everything for me basically, so I definitely wouldn’t be back playing without them.”Vlaeminck has also worked closely with Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria, remodelling her action to try and prevent a recurrence of the injury.Tayla Vlaeminck suffered a recurrence of a stress fracture in the navicular bone of her foot•Getty Images”I’ve made a few technical changes that we identified as probably a reason why my foot kept going on me,” she said. “That took a while to get the hang of. I was probably in the indoor nets at Junction [Oval] for maybe three or four months, just literally walking to the crease, and relearning that pattern I’d done for so long.”I still feel like I’ve only probably bowled at 100% a handful of times. And going into a game is completely different to the nets, so I think it’ll take me a little bit. But everyone’s been so supportive of me, no one is forcing me or putting pressure on me to perform straight away, so I feel like I’ve got a bit of freedom and a bit of time to get back into it.”It was just some feet alignment stuff. My arms and legs kind of go everywhere when I bowl so I was going into some real weird positions which my body obviously couldn’t handle. I was just trying to straighten a few things up and just make my action a bit more efficient and hopefully that’ll keep me on the field longer this time.”

“I’m a shocker for if I get the ball in my hand in the nets it was like, 120% or nothing. The last 18 months have been a steep learning curve, I actually just can’t do that if I want to play cricket and play regularly.”Tayla Vlaeminck

Vlaeminck also needed to change her attitude towards training. While her all-or-nothing approach was laudable in an elite athlete, it’s unsustainable for a body that has also endured two knee reconstructions, a dislocated shoulder and a partial anterior cruciate ligament strain.”I won’t go crazy on the games and just have some more rest time and more games off,” Vlaeminck explained. “We’ve changed my training a little bit as well, less intense overs at training. I’m a shocker for if I get the ball in my hand in the nets it was like, 120% or nothing. The last 18 months have been a steep learning curve, I actually just can’t do that if I want to play cricket and play regularly. So just those little things – making sure I keep them going now that I’m actually back playing is going to be hard but something that I’ll have to get my head around.”She sat out the second T20, which England A won by five wickets but was expected to feature again in Sunday’s series decider as her comeback is carefully managed. But the Test being played simultaneously remains a good way down the comeback trail, with the 24-year-old Vlaeminck saying, “If I could get a T20 game for Australia, if I could even get back in the squad, that’d be incredible”.There are precedents for such a revival, however, if Vlaeminck wants to add to her one Test appearance, in the 2019 Ashes. Australia men’s captain Pat Cummins was a gifted teenager with a fierce bouncer who had to overcome heel and back stress fractures to go on and play 51 Tests and counting.Tayla Vlaeminck has vowed to go a bit easy during her training sessions•Getty Images”I see what he’s done and I think that’s pretty cool,” Vlaeminck said. “And the same thing happens to a lot of young athletes in lots of sports, right? People come in, they have two or three years where they just get one thing after the other and then all of a sudden something happens and you’re fine. It’s cool to be able to see that and see that other people have found a way out but I suppose when you’re actually in it, it doesn’t necessarily always feel like that’s going to be the case.”While what Pat’s done is incredible and hopefully I can do the same thing, I’m also not Patty and so it’s hard to be able to be like, ‘I’ll be sweet from now on and I’ll play 50 Tests’. But it does give you that little growing sense that once you start to mature in your body a bit more your bones hopefully harden up a little bit then yeah, but there’s a lot of cricket to go.”Such is Cricket Australia’s faith in Vlaeminck’s talent and potential that they renewed her national contract with no expectations attached as to when she would play for her country again.Shawn Flegler, Cricket Australia’s Female High Performance and Talent Manager, described Vlaeminck’s return in the Australia A game as a “massive relief” especially as her injury was such a rare one, giving medical and coaching staff little by way of a blueprint for her rehabilitation programme.”There’s not many in the world who bowl 120-plus,” Flegler says. “You have to be patient, you always have to be with fast bowlers, but even more so with those who bowl 120-plus. We made that commitment a couple of years ago. She has something special, let’s hang in there. I know she is really grateful for it, but she is the type of person you want to see do well because she is committed to being the best she can be, on and off the pitch. I have no regrets about offering her a contract.”The good thing now is she understands she doesn’t have to bowl at 100% all the time. When she used to train, it was 100% from ball one in training, 100% in the game. Now she is learning how to control that a bit. Being 90% is good enough to get wickets and at training being at 70%, you can still improve your action. And then you can still go to 100% now and then. It’s just her understanding, being a fast bowler and learning her craft. I think she will get back to 100% again.”

England seamer embraces her vulnerabilities and becomes the hero that her team needed

Vithushan Ehantharajah13-Jul-2023There cannot be many more open cricketers than Kate Cross.Part of that is the nature of being a high-profile women’s cricketer. So much of the game’s future is over-reliant on your personality, time and accessibility to cover for decades of under-investment. Media requests are accepted as they come in. Not a selfie or autograph is denied. No stakeholder left behind. Cross is one of the best at it.She co-hosts the No Balls Podcast with good mate and former England cricketer Alex Hartley. In between the insightful cricket chat, they either talk borderline nonsense – as we all do with our best mates – or have deep and productive conversations about mental health, which we probably don’t do enough.Cross has long been open about matters of this nature. She’s never afraid to reopen scars to show us all these anxieties. Only so much of that can be cathartic, but Cross always does so to inform better and show others their struggle is not and should not be alone.In the last few months, she revealed that a tropical virus contracted during a pre-season tour of India in March had left her in doubt for this Ashes series, which could be her last on home soil given she will be 35 in four years, and other younger quicks are already nipping at her heels. But then, on Thursday, in just her second appearance in the multi-format series, she stepped across to the off side to show the world – and most importantly Megan Schutt – her stumps.England needed nine runs to win this first of three ODIs, not just to square series 6-6 but to prevent Australia from retaining the Ashes there and then. Again. Cross had walked in at No.10 with 29 runs remaining, joining her skipper, Heather Knight, who was beginning to wonder if a fifth successive Ashes was slipping away.And as Schutt delivered one of her patented inswingers and Cross stepped across, there was a moment when the 5,731 crowd at Bristol County Ground fell silent. The majority supporting England feared the worst. A moment later, that silence was broken. Even Australian legend Mel Jones on commentary, who has seen more than most, was in awe. “What has just happened?”Well, the scoop shot happened. Away the ball went, over the keeper’s head and, eventually, for four. Cross crashed a drive through the covers two balls later to draw England level with Australia’s 263. Knight had the honour of finishing the match at the start of the next over, cutting the winning boundary through point to take her to a remarkable 75 not out, and immediately flinging her bat away to embrace the player whom she regarded as the hero of the hour.”She loves it, she absolutely loves it!” Alice Capsey said afterwards, buoyed as much by Cross’s outlandish shot selection under pressure as by her own 40 from 34 balls that had jump-started the pursuit of a target of 264. As Hartley put it: “Death, taxes, and Crossy playing the paddle.”Cross herself will be the first to tell you it is her favourite shot, and her team-mates will be queuing a close second to inform you no-one does it better. “She plays it probably the best in the group,” Capsey added. “If you don’t see a ramp, you’re probably asking [Cross] ‘are you okay?'”Heather Knight embraces Kate Cross after the chase•PA Images/GettyTruth be told, Cross was not okay when she walked to the crease, and, typically, had no qualms stating as much. She told BBC Sport her internal dialogue was full of fear of adding to past regrets: “I do not want to lose another Ashes. I have seen us lose too many Ashes.”This had by no means been her best performance. Opening the bowling after being left out of the T20Is, she was struck for two boundaries off her first three deliveries of the match by Alyssa Healy, the second a full toss whipped through midwicket. Though she would snare Healy lbw with the fourth, she went on to have Ellyse Perry dropped on six before dropping a catch of her own to give Beth Mooney a life on 19. Both cashed in with 41 and 81 not out, respectively.Cross’s figures of one for 42 from six overs were comfortably the worst of her team. And she owed thanks to Capsey and Tammy Beaumont for a 74-run stand in 9.1 overs that gave Australia’s quicks – Darcie Brown, Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath – even worse economy-rates. But as she walked to the middle, you could understand why Cross was apprehensive. Her upcoming struggle was to be endured publicly.Her captain – her friend – knew what needed to be said. A fundamental tenet of England’s build-up to this series, dialled up to instigate the fightback from 6-0 down, has been to strip this Australian team of their aura. Knight reiterated that: think of Ash Garnder as an off-spinner, Jess Jonassen as merely left-arm orthodox and even Schutt, with all her craft and Australian mongrel, as just another inswinger. No matter who is sending it down, swing if it’s there to be swung at.Having stolen the strike for the 45th over, Cross played out two dots from Jonassen before pouncing on a loose ball to turn it around the corner for four. When Jonassen corrected her line and length with the next delivery, Cross slapped an on-drive for another four. At the time, it seemed like the best shot she’d play.Given the strike a ball into the next over, Cross immediately found a single into the leg side and watched on from the non-striker’s end as Knight dropped to one knee and treated Gardner like just another off-spinner by depositing her over the midwicket fence for six. Two overs later, when Schutt was brought back to do what Schutt does, Knight saw fine leg up in the circle and had an idea. “Paddle’s on.”It was. Out Cross stepped to the off side, up the scoop went over Healy’s head. Cross assumed she was close to being caught by the keeper, and confirmed to the rest of us the contact was not her usual best when she scampered back for the second. Brown had seemingly stopped the ball at the boundary, only to palm it into the advertising sponge. Though Cross would tie the scores two balls later, the audacity of the scoop was a statement in itself that only one team was winning this.Related

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She almost finished it herself, thumping a drive down the ground but straight at Schutt, who could only deflect the ball away. No matter – Knight finished the job at the start of the next over. With two matches to play, England’s first women’s Ashes victory in almost a decade is very much back on the agenda.The finish in the third men’s Ashes Test at Headingley and this first ODI here in the women’s has led to familiar soundbites. Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and now Cross have all spoken of the fact that, while they are not used to being there at the end, and would certainly prefer not to be, being out in the middle at least gives you a say. Even if you want no part in a chase, to be at the crease is to be in control, which in a sport open to chaos, is a blessing.It can also be a curse. You are never more exposed than when you’re out there, particularly indulging in your weaker suit. All those hopes on unfamiliar shoulders, all those past failures just a wrong turn in your mind away from consuming you.Cross, however, had left those thoughts on the other side of the boundary, bringing instead the courage to do right by Knight at the other end, her teammates watching on from the dressing room, and her country. She came armed with that familiar strength emanating from vulnerability. And, of course, her scoop shot.That she walked off to all those cheers before indulging in more media, selfies, and autographs – an emergency podcast in the works – carried a unique feeling this time. Given how forthcoming she has been with her darkest moments, it was only right that so many could share in arguably her brightest.

Four years after Brandon King shot to fame with Guyana Amazon Warriors, he stands poised to play a key role in West Indies’ bid to qualify for this year’s ODI World Cup

Deivarayan Muthu17-Jun-2023This was how Ian Bishop introduced Brandon King to the wider world on commentary after the batter had smashed a 60-ball century for Guyana Amazon Warriors in front of a full house in the first CPL Qualifier in Guyana four years ago. King went on to convert it to an unbeaten 132 off 72 balls, which is still the highest individual score in CPL history. Shoaib Malik, who was King’s batting partner and captain at the time, patted him on his head as part of the celebrations while Shimron Hetmyer and the rest of the Amazon Warriors’ dugout gave him a standing ovation. The hundred left Johan Botha, who was the coach at the franchise at the time, in tears during a pitch-side interview.It was Botha who had transformed King into an opening batter in the CPL although King had done the job for Jamaica in regional cricket previously. Before CPL 2019, King had never opened in T20 cricket and had fairly modest returns as a middle-order batter. After being bumped up to the top, King responded with a chart-topping 496 runs in 12 innings at an average of 55.11 and strike rate of nearly 150.King was immediately elevated to West Indies’ white-ball sides after CPL 2019, but he largely batted out of his (best) position in the middle order, which exposed him to spinners and slower bowlers. King is a pace-hitter who is adept at maximising the powerplay – traits that had made him a batting royalty in the CPL but in the West Indies middle order, he was far from it.ESPNcricinfo LtdKing was expected to open the batting for West Indies more recently in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, but the return of Evin Lewis prompted the team management to separate King and Mayers, with King dropping down to the middle order. Lewis also slid down the order during that tournament, another move that shook up West Indies’ balance even further.But, in the lead-up to the 2023 ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe, there is a greater sense of stability around West Indies’ batting line-up. Shai Hope has been the leading run-getter in ODI cricket since the 2019 World Cup, with 1967 runs at an average of over 50. But he has had a strike rate of only 75.45 during this period – the lowest among batters from Full-Member nations with at least 1000 runs.With captain Hope selflessly demoting himself to No. 4 and taking on the spinners, King has moved up to the top and has been given freedom by the new team management, under Hope and Daren Sammy, to do his thing. He also works particularly well with the left-handed Mayers, who is fresh off a successful IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants.”His [King’s] role is a lot more important now because he’s now opening the batting for us, so he has his work cut out for him,” Hope had said ahead of the three-match ODI against UAE in Sharjah. “I’m very sure he’s capable of doing the job for us and hope he can continue in this way.”King marked his promotion to vice-captaincy with his maiden ODI hundred in the series opener in the Emirates. Rovman Powell will take back ODI vice-captaincy for the World Cup Qualifier, but King has been identified as a future leader in the Caribbean. After Jamaica Tallawahs had beaten the odds to win CPL 2022, their then captain Powell publicly said that King was part of the leadership group and now with Powell shifting to Barbados Royals, King could be among the contenders to take over as Tallawahs’ captain in their quest to defend the title this year.Brandon King acknowledges his maiden ODI hundred•Emirates Cricket BoardKing has reeled off scores of 72,112 and 64 in his last three innings as an ODI opener and has also been working on improving his game against spin to become a more rounded batter. In the CPL 2022 final, he countered mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman with sweeps and earlier this month in Sharjah, he threw wristspinner Karthik Meiyappan, who has also had an IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings as a net bowler, off his lengths and lines with sweeps as well as down-the-track swings.”As a batsman and as a professional, you’re always looking to improve,” King told CWI media in Sharjah. “I have conversations with other batsmen and coaches. I watch footage of myself in games and see what can be improved through discussion and put into practice. I think [when] batting [against] spin, it’s important you put them under pressure, and you don’t want them to settle and bowl to you. So that’s something I try to apply in my game.”King also credited Hope for helping him ease back into the role of an opening batter. “Listen, Shai has been opening for West Indies for a number of years successfully,” King said. “I have a lot of conversations with him about cricket and how he approaches it [the game]. I try to take what I can and put it into my game. We’re obviously different types of players but nothing is better than the experience of doing it yourself. We have regular conversations, and he has given me advice on what he thinks it takes to be successful opening and I’ve tried to put those into my game as well.”West Indies had failed to make it out of the Qualifier to the tournament proper of the 2022 T20 World Cup, but they look in much better shape for the ODI World Cup qualifier.”The atmosphere is good,” King said. “We’re building towards something, and I think this group has a lot to offer – even coming from the last series we played in South Africa. We’re playing really well together and we’re gelling well, and the camp is very positive. We have new staff as well that’re bringing a lot of positive energy, so I’m very excited to be amongst this group.”Johnson Charles is also back in West Indies’ opening mix, but King and Mayers are set to start the Qualifiers as West Indies’ first-choice openers. Mayers has already graduated from the CPL to IPL. If King flourishes at the top, in a cut-throat tournament which allows just two teams to progress to the World Cup in India, it could well mark the beginning of his reign as an elite international opener.

Plenty is going well for Pat Cummins’ team, but an ongoing concern nearly came back to bite them against New Zealand

Alex Malcolm31-Oct-20231:53

Moody: ‘Warner bringing a T20 approach to ODIs’

The Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne question

Australia have become the first side in men’s ODI history to post three consecutive totals of 350 or more. It’s hard to believe that there are any weaknesses in the batting armour when such scores are being posted so consistently. But the middle-order has not contributed greatly in those innings and has even been a hindrance at times that has only been rescued by the incredible late-order hitting of Glenn Maxwell, with support from Josh Inglis and Pat Cummins in the last game in particular.Australia slumped from 252 for 0 to 363 for 9 against Pakistan, scoring just 108 in the last 16.1 overs. They fell from 244 for 2 to 290 for 6 against Netherlands before Maxwell unleashed fury with a 40-ball century, and against New Zealand crawled from 200 for 1 in the 24th over to 274 for 5 in the 39th over before Maxwell, Inglis and Cummins clubbed their way to 388. But they also lost 4 for 1 in the last two overs.Related

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“They’ll be relief from the Australians, no doubt about it. If it [the New Zealand game] had snuck away from them, their batting through the middle of their innings was deplorable,” Ricky Ponting said on the host broadcast.The openers, led by David Warner alongside either Travis Head orMitchell Marsh have been laying superb platforms, but Australia have been unable to maintain the momentum.Marsh looked very uncomfortable starting against spin having been moved to No. 3 against New Zealand following Head’s return and was a big reason for the go-slow. Meanwhile, Smith has voiced his displeasure about batting at No. 4. Labuschagne played well against Netherlands but has not been able to capitalise on starts otherwise in the tournament with an overall strike-rate of 77.30.Unlike the two other form sides in the tournament, India and South Africa, and to a lesser degree New Zealand with Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, Australia’s middle order looks like a weak point. Marsh and Smith in particular need to find a way to gel at No. 3 and 4 if the openers have made a big start. Or Australia need to be more flexible with their order, as they were without success against Pakistan, and send out better starters against spin ahead of Marsh to keep the momentum moving through the middle-overs.Marcus Stoinis has only played three games in the tournament due to injuries•AFP/Getty Images

What is the role for Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green?

Australia had long planned to play a bevy of allrounders in their line-up in this World Cup to give them options in this tournament. They had played XIs in the previous 12 months with four allrounders in them, including Marsh, Maxwell, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis with one of them batting at No. 8 to strengthen the batting and give a multitude of bowling options.In the last game, they picked just Maxwell and Marsh and the latter only bowled two overs for 18. Stoinis’ fitness is a major concern. He’s played just three matches in five weeks and bowled just nine overs in the tournament. He missed the first game against India with a hamstring problem and has missed the last two with a calf niggle.It was telling, too, that Green, who had already been dropped for Stoinis, played against the Netherlands but didn’t bowl and then was squeezed out when Head returned against New Zealand. Australia’s selectors preferred the more in-form specialist batter in Labuschagne to retaining Green as an all-round option, showing faith in their specialist bowlers and Maxwell to do the job, which they were just barely able to do.But if a bowler goes the journey again, like Mitchell Starc did in Dharamsala, it leaves them vulnerable, particularly if they don’t score enough runs. If Stoinis is fully fit, he will likely be named in their first-choice XI as it strengthens the bowling and the death-hitting and potentially means the middle-order is less one-dimensional.However, it means one of Smith or Labuschagne would make way leaving the middle-to-lower order heavily reliant on Maxwell who has been most effective when he is held back for the final 12 overs.Pat Cummins relied on Mitchell Starc to bowl the last over against New Zealand•AFP/Getty Images

Mitchell Starc yet to sparkle

Mitchell Starc is not the same bowler he has been in past editions of the World Cups where his record marks him down as an all-time great. His record 22-game World Cup wicket-taking streak ended against New Zealand when he gave up 89 from nine overs. He found a way to survive the final over with 19 runs to play with but it wasn’t pretty.The Dharamsala surface was not kind to the faster bowlers in general which puts his off-colour performance in context, but his overall tournament has not been great. Australia have been one of the poorest-performing teams in terms of new ball bowling, which is Starc’s specialty.He did have a compromised preparation due to ongoing groin soreness that has lingered since the Ashes and it may explain why he hasn’t been as explosive. But Australia need a bigger contribution from him. They do not have a like-for-like left-arm option in the squad if Starc does need a rest with Sean Abbott the only back-up pace bowling support.

Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to assess England’s stuttering World Cup defence after their shock defeat to Afghanistan

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2023England travelled to India as the reigning champions but their World Cup has got off to a difficult start, following two defeats in their opening three games. In the wake of a shock loss to Afghanistan in Delhi, Alan Gardner was joined on the podcast by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to assess the state of play. Is Ben Stokes going to be England’s saviour again? What has happened to Chris Woakes’ form? And can they turn things around in time to keep their World Cup defence attack on the road?

Much like in the semi-final, he found himself walking out to the middle when his team was in trouble, but this time, Mumbai were batting first

Hemant Brar10-Mar-2024Shardul Thakur would have been forgiven if he thought he was living in a simulation and the semi-final between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu was being played all over again. Because when he walked out to bat in the final against Vidarbha, Mumbai found themselves in a similar position they were in against Tamil Nadu.In that game, Mumbai were 106 for 7 before Shardul’s blazing hundred changed their fortunes. On Sunday, the scoreboard displayed 111 for 6 when Shardul came to the crease.There was a key difference in the match situations, though. In the semi-final, Mumbai were batting second, after having bundled out Tamil Nadu for 146. They knew another 40 runs would put the pressure back on the opposition.Related

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That was not the case here. They were batting first, and Vidarbha were dictating the terms without any worry of conceding a first-innings lead.After winning the toss, Vidarbha had no hesitation in opting to bowl – the thought process being to take advantage of the early moisture in a grass-covered pitch. But Prithvi Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani not only survived the first hour but also put on 81 in just 20 overs.Vidarbha persevered, which seems to have become a part of their DNA now. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey got the ball to turn and bounce, and the seamers induced edges, and in the next 30 runs Mumbai lost six wickets. Suddenly, the run-scoring was not as easy; by the time Shardul walked in, it had been 77 balls since the last boundary.But Shardul did what he does best: counterattack. Facing his third ball, he jumped out of his crease and hit Dubey wide of long-off for four.That shot was as much a reminder of what had happened in the semi-final as it was a harbinger of what was to follow.Shardul had attacked the Tamil Nadu spinners in a similar manner, smashing them for 99 runs off 80 balls. And he continued meting out the same treatment to Vidarbha’s spinners.In Dubey’s next over, he slog-swept him to the square-leg boundary before taking two more boundaries off seamer Yash Thakur.Shardul had hit his maiden first-class hundred during the semi-final against Tamil Nadu•PTI Vidarbha knew how quickly Shardul could change the complexion of the game. So Akshay Wadkar turned to veteran spinner Sarwate to try to control the proceedings.Shardul did not let him settle down. On the spinner’s second ball, he went down the pitch and launched him into the sightscreen. He and Shams Mulani added 43 for the seventh wicket, in which the latter’s contribution was only 13.Yash got rid of Mulani and Tanush Kotian to leave Mumbai on 176 for 8, but Shardul kept steering Mumbai singlehandedly. Another straight six off Sarwate took him to 49, and a single immediately after that brought up his fifty off 37 balls. In the company of Tushar Deshpande, he guided Mumbai past 200 at the stroke of tea.Vidarbha tried a different tactic after the break. Until then, Dubey had bowled all his 19 overs from around the wicket. Now he changed the angle, probably to attack Shardul’s pads. It made no difference. Shardul once again used his feet and sent the ball over the long-on boundary.That was the main feature of Shardul’s innings: shots down the ground. He hit 32 runs in the V, including all three sixes. In fact, twice he was guilty of playing too straight, when the ball smashed the stumps at the non-striker’s end. The first of those looked a certain four, while the second resulted in Deshpande being run out as the ball brushed Umesh Yadav’s shoe on its way.Deshpande might consider himself unlucky but Shardul can have no such complaint. He survived a run-out chance on 29. Soon after, Yash could have had him three times in the same over. On the first two occasions, the outside edge evaded the gully fielder. On the third, a leading edge fell just out of the reach of mid-off.He was eventually dismissed for 75 off 69 balls but not before steering his side to 224.And he was not done for the day yet.In his second over with the ball, he got one to nip back just enough to beat Dhruv Shorey’s inside edge and ping him above the knee roll. The on-field umpire ruled the lbw decision in the batter’s favour but Mumbai got it overturned on review, as the Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump.Shardul could have had the other Vidarbha opener as well. Bowling around the stumps, he got Atharva Taide to chip one back at him but the ball did not stick in his outstretched right hand. Dhawal Kulkarni’s two wickets, though, meant Vidarbha were 31 for 3 at stumps.In a way, the final has so far lived up to its billing of being a contest of contrasts, between Vidarbha’s workhorses and Mumbai’s superstars. Vidarbha’s bowlers put in a collective effort but Shardul’s all-round performance has kept Mumbai afloat.

Even in the age of T20 cricket, India’s U-19 captain likes to take his time and take the game deep without worrying much about the strike rate

Raunak Kapoor11-Feb-20240:58

Saharan: Good to have a close semi-final before the final

Sri Ganganagar, the northern-most city in the state of Rajasthan, no more than 225 square km in area and, with a population of around 200,000, is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of the legendary Indian ghazal singer and musician, Jagjit Singh.By Sunday evening, the city might well have given India their sixth Under-19 Men’s World Cup-winning captain.Uday Saharan made the move from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan to play age-group cricket in Punjab when his father Sanjeev, who is also his coach, decided it was time to take cricket seriously.Singh’s music and Saharan’s batting both share an element of timelessness.Related

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Going into the final against Australia, Saharan has batted for 644 minutes in this tournament, facing 493 balls and scoring 389 runs, the third highest for an India batter in a single edition. Shikhar Dhawan’s 505 in 2004 remains the record. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 88 in the final in 2020 took him to 400. A hundred for Saharan may well put him at the top.But it isn’t as much about his own runs as what, and more importantly how much, has happened for India while Saharan has been at the crease. Nearly 53% of India’s runs have come with Saharan in the middle.He has forged a partnership of more than 50 in every game, including four in excess of 100 and three over 150. His stand of 215 with Sachin Dhas against Nepal is a record for India in the Under-19 World Cup.In India’s two most important games this tournament, against Bangladesh and the semi-final against South Africa, Saharan walked in at 31 for 2 and 8 for 2, respectively. While Adarsh Singh (against Bangladesh) and Dhas (against South Africa) played the match-defining innings, Saharan is what kept the team from falling apart.The earliest any team has been able to dismiss India’s captain is the 37th over of the innings.Saharan is a throwback to the old school of batting. Take your time to get in, eliminate risk almost entirely, and don’t worry about the strike rate. Something he learned and inherited from his father.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”My father told me from the beginning to always take the game deep, as deep as possible,” Saharan told Star Sports ahead of the final. “These days, batters like to play shots and try to finish things off early, but my father’s thought process, which I know is old school, has always been to keep wickets in hand and take the game deep, because if you get to such a situation, then you can chase down anything, given the kind of batters you have today.”Saharan’s style of batting is often one that stirs up the intent debate at the senior level, particularly in white-ball cricket. But in a World Cup where surfaces have generally been challenging for batting, with just three scores in excess of 300 in 40 matches, two of those by India, his methods have worked wonders for his team.”If I’m completely honest, of course I want to go out there and play big shots,” he says. “Play shots in the air, try to hit sixes, because that’s what people like to watch today. But in reality, I want my team to win, I want my country to win, that’s what makes me proud. So if my game needs to be different, where I need to play a secondary role to keep the team in the game, I’m more than happy to.”Saharan’s team values his contributions. While his 81 off 124 winning him the Player-of-the-Match award ahead of Dhas’ 96 off 95 in the semi-final might seem debatable, the emotions of the Indian team right after, roaring and applauding their captain receiving the award, was perhaps an indication they might not have got to the final without him.

“I’ve played a lot of pressure games already… Those games taught me how to react to different situations, how the opposition is likely to react to what has happened, how the bowlers are going to bowl”Uday Saharan

Adarsh, Musheer Khan and Dhas, who had won Player-of-the-Match awards in previous games, have all credited Saharan for his game awareness and communication throughout the partnerships, on what to expect from different bowlers at different phases of the innings, something that even at 19, he feels comes naturally to him.”I’ve played a lot of pressure games already,” Saharan says. “I’m only 19, but from my cricket at the club, district and state level, I’ve played these innings before. Those games taught me how to react to different situations, how the opposition is likely to react to what has happened, how the bowlers are going to bowl. I feel I picked up a lot of knowledge from the cricket I have already played, so I just want to share that with the rest of my team. If my information helps my partner and makes him think about the situation of the game better, then that helps my team.”Ahead of the final, Saharan has become the leading run-scorer in the tournament. He wasn’t on the top at any point before the semi-final. He has also predominantly run his way to the top with just 29 boundaries (27 fours and 2 sixes) in his tally of 389, the least among the top six, which is also a testament to his fitness, inspired by his role model Virat Kohli.”Virat Kohli set the benchmark for fitness in the Indian team,” Saharan says. “That is something I’ve always admired. The benefit of fitness on your game is immense, and that inspired me. Also, the way he aces chases by taking the innings deep, that and his passion is something I try to emulate.”Sachin Dhas and Uday Saharan struck up a record 215-run partnership against Nepal•ICC/Getty ImagesSaharan has already outscored his role model, and any other India Under-19 World Cup captain. But Kohli’s 235 runs in 2008 came at a strike rate of 94.75, which caught the attention of Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the inaugural IPL season and paved the way for Unmukt Chand, Prithvi Shaw and Yash Dhull to follow suit.Saharan may well be different despite the demands of the modern white-ball game. It is unlikely his runs at a strike rate of 78.90 would have impressed the IPL scouts who have been in attendance throughout the World Cup.Saharan is only 19 and may still evolve his game with time. But his ability to withstand pressure and exercise restraint in a tournament where every player grew up in the age of T20 cricket is what has brought India within one game of their sixth title.At a time where conversations linger on about the future of the ODI format, India winning 50-over World Cups, senior or junior, can only help with reviving its popularity.Jagjit Singh was widely credited for the revival and popularity of ghazals, a form of Indian semi-classical singing, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses. His work was regarded as genre-defining. Uday Saharan is one innings away from beating Australia, poetically, in an ICC final in the 50-over genre. Nothing is more relevant to India’s masses than World Cup wins.

They are a competitive side that has continued to improve

Ian Chappell29-Jun-2024Afghanistan beating Australia and eventually reaching the semi-final of the T20 World Cup constituted a major upset but it wasn’t a surprise.Afghanistan is a competitive side that made their intentions clear in the 2010 Caribbean T20 World Cup. “We are not here to make up the numbers,” they said and then lived up to that lofty claim. Afghanistan has continued to improve and they are mentally strong.In addition to producing some world-class cricketers, Afghanistan continues to challenge the better teams. This is not always the case with minnows or even some Test-playing nations – take Bangladesh, for instance.Related

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Bangladesh have threatened improvement at times but they regularly fail at the big hurdles. You could never accuse Afghanistan of being overawed by their opponents.Australia has refused to play Afghanistan in the past because of their Taliban rules, especially regarding women, which would only add to the satisfaction of beating the former T20 World champions. It also doesn’t help that Australia has a reputation for succumbing against good spin bowling. This is an unwanted flaw that is quickly understood by opposing teams.Afghanistan then produced a magical win over Bangladesh, albeit clouded by controversy, to make the semi-final. The controversy concerned a player’s cramp and brought into focus the position of the coach, in this case former England player Jonathan Trott.A persistent concern of mine around the position of coach is that they can favour their own interests (retaining a coaching contract) over those of the team’s priorities. This appeared to be the case when team captain Rashid Khan made clear his displeasure with the Afghanistan player’s antics.The important thing was the result, as Afghanistan earned their semi-final spot.However, the integrity of the tournament was flawed from the moment it was decided India was playing the second semi-final in Guyana whether they finished first or second in their group. This blatant scheduling bias accommodated the morning start time of the second semi-final, which favoured Indian prime time television.This was further confirmation – if any was needed – that the bottom line is a major deciding factor among cricket’s administrators. Cricket’s financial integrity will continue to be a problem as long the imbalance remains, with India providing at least 70% of the finances.Afghanistan’s magical run came to a sudden halt when South Africa avoided their trademark World Cup semi-final meltdown by producing a bowling masterclass. They dismissed Afghanistan cheaply and then batted sensibly to enter the final.

Cricket’s financial integrity will continue to be a problem as long the imbalance remains, with India providing at least 70% of the finances

In the other semi-final India proved to be far too strong for England, as skipper Rohit Sharma led the team with a typically brave batting performance. The spin bowlers, with the revived Kuldeep Yadav displaying his vast improvement, then dismantled the England batting and India were safely into the final.The India versus South Africa final is a battle of two unbeaten sides and most importantly the best teams in this competition.The hope in a major tournament is that the final will feature the two best teams and they then provide a spectacle worthy of the occasion. South Africa have blatantly focused on T20 cricket lately, so they’ll claim this is vindication of that policy but they still have to overcome their bad habit of wilting in major World Cup matches.If that South African trait continues, India will win comfortably. Nevertheless South Africa maintain that this team is a different proposition and its captain, Aiden Markram, has already experienced World Cup success, albeit at the Under-19 level in 2014.India, on the other hand, has plenty of World Cup big-match experience and a captain in Rohit who has a pedigree of success. Both teams have well balanced pace attacks, but India’s spin bowling is superior.A lot will depend on the way South Africa reacts to the pressure of a final. In the compressed nature of T20, a mistake can be terminal and judging by South Africa’s previous World Cup history, India is the team most likely to be lifting the trophy.