Bumrah’s return, Suryakumar’s reliability, and the fresh spark from new recruits changed their fortunes

Vishal Dikshit29-May-20254:25

Can MI cope without Bosch, Rickelton in the playoffs?

After only one win in their first five games, Mumbai Indians (MI) were close to the bottom of the points table in IPL 2025. Around the halfway mark of the league stage, MI turned a corner and made it to the playoffs with a six-match winning streak along the way. They will now face Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Eliminator on May 30. Before that, here’s a look at the performers who helped MI, last season’s wooden-spoon holders, bounce back.

The boom with Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah’s absence for the first four games this season hit MI hard. They were forced to throw new-ball specialist Deepak Chahar and the inexperienced Satyanarayana Raju in the death overs, and they stumbled to one loss after another with an economy rate of 11.04 between overs 17-20 in their first four fixtures.Related

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Enter Bumrah to turn MI’s fortunes around. Chahar and Boult could now focus on the powerplay, Hardik on the middle overs (7 to 16), and Bumrah led the attack with his pin-point accuracy, frugal economy and death-overs speciality.Bumrah’s presence also took bowling workload off Hardik, who sent down 10 overs in his three games before Bumrah joined, and then only another 20 in the 10 matches since. Trent Boult, the second-most experienced bowler in the line-up, and he and Bumrah pulled down the death-overs economy rate from over 11 to just 9.48, the second-best in that phase among all teams since Bumrah joined.The Jasprit Bumrah effect for MI•ESPNcricinfo LtdBoult’s plan was clear in the death: nail the yorker, the weapon he has used most often in that phase, to pick up wickets and stem the flow of runs. His 19 yorkers in the death during the league stage were not only the second-most (behind Avesh Khan’s 21), they fetched him the most number of wickets, with the second-best economy rate of a mere 2.75 (behind Josh Hazlewood’s 3.00).Bumrah, meanwhile, bowled like he was never injured, waltzing his way to the top of the charts for both overall economy rate (6.33) and bowling average (14.64) with the 17 wickets in just 39.2 overs.Trent Boult’s yorkers at the death in IPL 2025•ESPNcricinfo LtdWith Chahar and Boult taking care of the new ball – MI were the only team that didn’t change their opening pair this IPL – and the death overs in the hands of seasoned pros, MI’s bowling attack worked like a well-oiled machine, bringing their overall economy rate also down from 8.87 in the first four matches to 8.40 in the next 10 – the best in those matches. Credit to MI’s plans, their average in the middle overs without Bumrah was always the best, and it continued that way even after he arrived.

The three new recruits

That MI were looking to bank on their experience and core was clear from their retentions. After the mega auction, their head coach Mahela Jayawardene said the reason for bringing in Boult (who played for them in 2020 and 2021), Chahar, Mitchell Santner</a and Karn Sharma, was because they wanted players who had the taste of winning an IPL before.However, there are three players who have played nearly all league games and are, at best, in their second IPL season. MI invested in opener and wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton, England allrounder Will Jacks, and used the RTM option for Naman Dhir.Naman Dhir and Suryakumar Yadav company played crucial innings through the league stage•MB Media/Getty ImagesRickelton, who was bought at the auction for his base price of INR 1 crore, has been MI's second-highest scorer so far after Suryakumar Yadav. MI needed a wicketkeeper after letting go of Ishan Kishan and they showed their preference for a left-hand opening partner for Rohit Sharma. They did that by picking Rickelton, whom they had seen closely with MI Cape Town in SA20 for two seasons already – he was the top-scorer in the 2024 edition and then fourth on the runs charts in their title-winning run in 2025.When Rohit was struggling for runs early on, Rickelton, meanwhile, scored quickly. By the time Rohit got his first big score, in MI's eighth game, Rickelton had 180 runs at a strike rate of 150, and he has since more than doubled that count to 388, sharing the team's lowest balls-per-boundary ratio (4) with a few others. His form gave Rohit the comfort of time to regain his rhythm and often set the platform for the remaining batters.One of those batters was Dhir. His stock had risen from INR 20 lakh to INR 5.25 crore this year because of his big shots, especially the towering sixes he hits down the ground. It's no surprise that his strike rate of over 180 is the best for an MI batter this season, despite batting at No. 3, No. 6 and No. 7, excelling in each of those positions.He took down the international trio of Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar and Mohit Sharma in the death overs in Delhi; his 25* off 11 lifted MI to a match-winning 215 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and his last two knocks saw him strike two fours and four sixes in a combined 20 balls to emerge as a reliable finisher. For a batter at No. 7 or below, Dhir has the second-most runs for an MI batter in a season. Another 19 runs and he will top that list. Apart from his batting, Dhir has also been a handy fielder in the deep, pouching the second-most catches.Will Jacks's bowling has been equally useful as his batting•AFP/Getty ImagesThe third cog in the trio is Jacks, who has played 13 of their 14 matches, but has headed home like Rickelton. With centuries to his name across the SA20, BPL and IPL in the span of just three months in early 2024, it would have been fair to assume MI selected him for his top-order bashing.But the surprise element – testimony to his six-for on Test debut – came in the form of his offbreaks, used astutely by MI against left-hand batters. Jacks often bowled soon after the powerplay, and has bowled two-thirds of his deliveries to them so far. The match-up peaked against LSG when he took out Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant, both caught in his first three balls. Earlier in April, he had bagged a similar feat opposite SRH, when he had Kishan stumped for two and Travis Head caught for 28. On both occasions the oppositions were kept to 160-odd and MI won comfortably, with Jacks the Player of the Match.All his six wickets came against left-handers with a far better economy rate (7.50 compared to 10.71 against right-hand batters), but such has been his efficacy that he has the second-best economy rate and the best average for a spinner against them this season.

SKY-rocketing his way through the middle overs

If there were any doubts about his T20 form coming into the IPL because of the low scores against England at the start of the year – which included two ducks – Suryakumar put them all to bed by marrying two factors, of which one often comes at the cost of another for top-order batters: consistency and a high strike-rate.Even before MI began to pick up the pieces after the initial defeats, Suryakumar had started churning out the runs in the middle overs. The crescendo of MI registering one win after another along with Suryakumar’s form went hand in hand. He first put on steady scores of 25-plus every time and then hit the high notes in the second half of the league stage with match-winning performances during the crunch games, both home and away. If he swept his way to 54 against LSG and peppered the boundaries on flat tracks, Suryakumar also chaperoned the batting on challenging pitches in the last two outings, first at home with an unbeaten 73 against Delhi Capitals (DC), and then with a 57 opposite Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Jaipur.Suryakumar Yadav in middle overs in IPL 2025•ESPNcricinfo LtdHis T20 mastery is not a surprise anymore but the fact that he averages 71.11 this season proves that no bowling attack has found answers for his 360-degree play. His 14 straight 25-plus scores are a world record now, his tally of 640 is the highest for an MI batter in an IPL season. He is also the first non-opening batter in IPL history to have scored over 600 in a season two times (2023 and 2025). If he scores another 48 runs, he will hold the record for the most runs by a non-opener in a season, going past AB de Villiers’ record of 687 from 2016.If MI play on more tricky surfaces in the playoffs or face a crisis situation, Suryakumar will hold the key for them, especially in the middle overs where he has scored 75% of his runs and he is, not surprisingly, the leading scorer in that phase by a big margin. He has scored 41.17% of MI’s runs in overs 7 to 16, which is also the biggest contribution by a single batter in the middle overs towards his team.A lot has come together for MI in the last couple of months to put the string of losses behind them, boss different phases of the game, and rely on different match-winners to make it to the last four. The next challenge will be to continue this streak even in the absence of those who have left for national duty.

And who is the oldest man to debut for Pakistan in Tests?

Steven Lynch28-Oct-2025The Afghanistan seamer Ziaur Rahman took 7 for 97 in the first innings of his Test debut. Where does this stand overall for debut performances? asked Len Harrison from England
Ziaur Rahman’s figures of 7 for 97 against Zimbabwe in Harare last week are the best on debut for Afghanistan, beating Amir Hamza’s 5 for 74 against West Indies in Lucknow in 2019. Nijat Masood took 5 for 79 on his debut, against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2023.Ziaur, whose only previous international was a T20I against Ireland more than six years previously, was the 24th man to take seven or more wickets in an innings on Test debut (there have been 26 instances, as Bob Massie and Narendra Hirwani took two lots of eight in their first match). The best figures of all by a player in his first Test are 8 for 43, by Albert Trott for Australia against England in Adelaide in 1895. There have also been three instances in women’s Tests.All seven of Ziaur’s victims were bowled or lbw: he’s the first to take seven wickets in an innings on Test debut without any help from a fielder. The Pakistan pair of Mohammad Nazir (7 for 99 against New Zealand in Karachi in 1969) and Mohammad Zahid (7 for 66 against New Zealand in Rawalpindi late in 1996) both had six, plus one to a catch by a fielder. The only previous players to take an unassisted five-for on Test debut were the old England pair of Douglas Carr (5 for 146 in his only Test, against Australia at The Oval in 1909) and Wally Hammond (5 for 36 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1927), and Pakistan’s Shahid Nazir, with 5 for 53 against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura in 1996.When did Zimbabwe last win a Test by an innings? asked Tinashe Ndlovu from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s big win over Afghanistan in Harare last week was their 15th win in all Tests – they have played 129 now – but only the third by an innings. The first of those was by an innings and 64 runs over Pakistan in Harare in 1995, and they also beat Bangladesh by an innings and 32 in Bulawayo in 2001.Last week’s win was Zimbabwe’s second in six months, but their first at home for more than 12 years, since they beat Pakistan by 24 runs in Harare in 2013.Asif Afridi is the third-oldest player to debut for Pakistan in men’s Tests•AFP/Getty ImagesWhat was the most overs bowled by spinners in an ODI before West Indies used them for all 50 against Bangladesh recently? asked Jason Jandu from England
You’re right that the West Indian spinners bowled all 50 overs in last week’s ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur: Akeal Hosein (who only arrived in Dhaka a few hours earlier), Roston Chase, Khary Pierre, Gudakesh Motie and Alick Athanaze all delivered their full allocation of ten overs. It worked – just – as West Indies won in a Super Over after a tie.Before this there had been three ODI innings which contained 44 overs from spinners, all of them by Sri Lanka: against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1996, New Zealand in Colombo in 1998, and Australia in Dambulla in 2004.Two Indians scored centuries in their Women’s World Cup match against New Zealand last week. Has this happened before in a World Cup match? asked Milind Ekanth from India
India’s openers Pratika Rawal (122) and Smriti Mandhana (109) both scored centuries in an imposing total of 340 for 3 against New Zealand in Navi Mumbai last week. This was the ninth occasion a Women’s World Cup innings had contained two centuries. Mandhana was also involved in the previous instance, against West Indies in Hamilton (New Zealand) in 2022, when she scored 123 and Harmanpreet Kaur 109.Asif Afridi made his Test debut last week aged 38. Is he the oldest to win a first cap for Pakistan? asked Akhtar Nasir from Pakistan
Slow left-armer Asif Afridi was born on Christmas Day in 1986, so was around 38 years ten months old when he made his Test debut last week against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.Two players made their debuts for Pakistan when older, both in the 1950s. Offspinner Miran Bakhsh was 47 years 284 days old when he played against India in Lahore in 1955, and legspinner Amir Elahi was 45 days past his 44th birthday against India in Delhi in October 1952. That was Pakistan’s inaugural Test match: Elahi had previously played one Test for India, aged 39 in 1947-48.The next oldest debutant for Pakistan was seamer Tabish Khan, who was 36 years 146 days old when he won his only cap, against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2021. For the list of the oldest debutants from all countries, click here.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Zak Foulkes made a huge impact in New Zealand’s 3-0 sweep of England and Peter Fulton expects him to be an all-format allrounder soon

Deivarayan Muthu04-Nov-2025The OG swing kings Trent Boult and Tim Southee are done with their New Zealand playing careers. Matt Henry is currently on the sidelines with an injury, and is approaching the wrong side of 30. But there’s a new swing bowler in New Zealand cricket. Meet 23-year-old Zak Foulkes, who is “almost Trent Boult-ish,” according to New Zealand bowling coach Jacob Oram.In his first ODI bowling innings in Mount Maunganui against England last month, Foulkes made the world sit up and take notice of his swing, more specifically his late swing, when he stormed through the defences of Joe Root with a hooping inswinger in his first over. It was full, but not a drive ball, and veered back in late to make a world-class batter look like an amateur. The wind was blowing from left to right and Foulkes harnessed it to his advantage like Southee and Boult used to do back in the day. Then, in the third ODI in Wellington, Foulkes bested Root with another booming inswinger, this one rapping his pads.Foulkes made a huge impact in New Zealand’s 3-0 sweep of England, coming away with seven wickets in three innings at an average of 14.42 and economy rate of 5.05. Only Blair Tickner took more wickets than Foulkes.Related

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Foulkes’ stock ball to the right-hand batter is the inswinger and to the left-hand batter, it’s the outswinger. After his 4 for 41 in the first ODI, Oram was so impressed with Foulkes that he likened his skills to Boult’s.”It’s his talent and composure,” Oram said. “We know he can swing it at a decent enough pace – mid-130s – and he’s got a bit of a funky release point, which is a bit different for batters to get used to. The fact that he swings it and swings it late is so handy and you saw that ball to Root that went late through the gate and also to left-handers. It’s tough to play, almost Trent Boult-ish with the swing away from the lefties to play and when he gets it right, it’s hard for batters to overcome.”Late swing is Foulkes’ forte, according to former New Zealand batter and current Canterbury head coach Peter Fulton, who has had a front-row seat to Foulkes’ rise from domestic cricket to the New Zealand team.

“His action is just a little bit unusual – he doesn’t quite bowl off the wrong foot, but I think just the nature of his action means he rushes on to guys a bit quicker than probably what the speed gun shows”Peter Fulton on Zak Foulkes

“Look, he swings the ball late, which is a really good attribute to have,” Fulton tells ESPNcricinfo. “Probably, there’s not too many players in international cricket that swing it into the right-hander the way or as much as what he does. So I guess that gives him a little bit of an advantage because it’s not that common.”Foulkes usually operates in the lower 130-kph range, but has the tendency to get the ball to skid off the pitch and hit the bat hard.”Probably the other advantage he has is his action is just a little bit unusual – he doesn’t quite bowl off the wrong foot, but I think just the nature of his action means he rushes on to guys a bit quicker than probably what the speed gun shows,” Fulton says. “So yeah, he’s certainly a little bit quicker than probably what he appears to be.”There was a bit of a running gag that Foulkes could only dismiss left-hand batters – “[Mitchell] Santner was leading that charge,” Foulkes had joked at a press conference – but the twin dismissals of Root provided ample proof of his ability against right-hand batters.Zak Foulkes can bat too, but hasn’t got too many chances to prove that internationally yet•AFP/Getty Images”There’s strengths and weaknesses for every bowler,” Fulton says. “He’s been very, very dangerous to left-handers [in domestic cricket], especially with the ball swinging from around the wicket. But there’s no reason why he can’t be equally as threatening to right-handers. He’s got Joe Root twice now, who is obviously one of the top batsmen in the world. So, Zak is certainly not a one-trick pony.”In his first full Super Smash season, Foulkes was entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the difficult overs and he responded by emerging as Canterbury’s joint-highest wicket-taker, with 12 strikes at an economy rate of 7.36 in their run to the final. Two years on, he took a match haul of nine wickets on Test debut in Zimbabwe and made a striking impression against England in his first ODI innings.Club and T20 stints in England have contributed to his development as a bowler. Besides playing for Warwickshire and Durham in the T20 Blast, Foulkes has turned out for Lytham, a club that Fulton had also played for in the past, as an overseas professional.

“I have no doubt in the next two or three years, if he gets those opportunities with the bat, then hopefully he can be the guy that maybe bats at seven in all three forms for New Zealand”Peter Fulton on Zak Foulkes’ batting

“It [playing in England] definitely helped,” Foulkes said at his press conference after the first ODI against England. “Just being around the type of guys like… played a few games with Jacob Bethell a couple of years ago and played with Matt Potts at Durham. Familiar with a few players, which is cool, and you just learn as much as possible from those guys and hopefully holds me in good stead to go forward.”Foulkes hails from a cricketing family – his father Glen and his brothers Liam and Robbie have all represented Canterbury country. Robbie also played for New Zealand in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.Fulton reckons that Foulkes’ time away from his family in New Zealand and taking on the responsibility as an overseas professional in England have also shaped Foulkes as a person.”It was probably just a good life experience for him to be away from friends and family,” Fulton says. “I suppose, you have to sort of stand on your own two feet. I was happy to obviously send him to a club where I knew people and knew he was going to have a good experience. Then he picked up some county opportunities with Warwickshire and with the [Birmingham] Bears. So, those sorts of experiences have probably also helped him as a cricketer. I’m sure it’s definitely helped him as he’s made that transition to international cricket.”Foulkes is also a capable batter. He had slotted in at No. 3 for St Andrew’s College in the Gillette Cup, a one-day competition for secondary schools boys, before bowling became his primary skill. In the third ODI against England in Wellington, he showed his batting chops with an unbeaten 14 off 24 from No. 9, which helped seal New Zealand’s 3-0 series win. Fulton believes that Foulkes’ ceiling is so high that he can bat at No. 7 and become an all-format player for New Zealand in the future.Ben Foulkes’ emergence will give New Zealand’s selectors a happy headache when the likes of Will O’Rourke, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears and Adam Milne are back•Getty Images”I think all through age-group cricket and high school cricket, Zak was probably more of a batsman,” Fulton says. “He probably bowled medium pace. He finished school and maybe just got a little bit fitter and stronger and decided to run in a little bit harder and try to bowl a bit quicker. Yeah, the part about his game that really excites me is his batting; there’s a lot of potential there.”He’s shown glimpses of that at first-class level for Canterbury, but he just hasn’t had the opportunities in international cricket yet. I have no doubt in the next two or three years, if he gets those opportunities with the bat, then hopefully he can be the guy that maybe bats at seven in all three forms for New Zealand.”Foulkes’ immediate challenge is a five-match T20I series against West Indies, who are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh in Bangladesh.”They [West Indies] are obviously a great team and they have been in Bangladesh recently,” Foulkes said on the eve of the first T20I in Auckland. “We know they’re going to come pretty hard with the bat, especially in this T20 stuff. Things I’m expecting as well, which is quite cool.”Foulkes’ emergence will give New Zealand’s selectors a happy headache when the likes of Will O’Rourke, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears and Adam Milne are fit. It’s also a reflection of New Zealand’s depth despite a limited talent pool.

With conditions in Guwahati nowhere near as bowler-friendly as Kolkata, India were skilful enough to keep South Africa in check on day one

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Nov-20252:46

Did umpires stretch play despite fading light?

There are 20s, 30s and 40s, and there are 20s, 30s and 40s. On a pitch like in Kolkata last week, getting that far felt like a triumph. Not so on an entirely different surface in Guwahati, where South Africa’s batters kept getting out for similar scores.This was the classic first-day Indian pitch. A small window of help for the seamers at the start, and bits of encouragement for the spinners to keep coming back for another ball, another over, another spell. But the batters could trust their defence, and feel fairly secure if they had spent a bit of time at the crease.This was a pitch where converting starts felt like, A: a meaningful phrase, and B: a reasonable expectation. And yet, six South African batters fell for scores between 13 and 49.Related

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It’s natural temptation, while looking at such a scorecard and watching some of the dismissals — two batters caught at mid-off while looking to clear that fielder — to conclude that the batters threw away promising starts and only had themselves to blame.That scorecard and those dismissals, however, were also products of relentless excellence from an India attack of high quality and depth. For over after over, hour after hour, they gave South Africa only so much, and as avoidable as some of the dismissals looked, they didn’t come about from rash shots as much as errors committed by humans under pressure.This wasn’t the pressure of survival that batters faced in Kolkata. It wasn’t the pressure of slow, low pitches that cut off scoring options. It was the incremental pressure of spending time in the middle, surviving good bowling, getting through good spells, and even scoring runs, but somehow not feeling like you’re getting ahead in the game.India have done this many times to visiting teams over many years, but not so much in recent months. For at least a year now, India have not bowled in these sorts of conditions at home, against strong opposition.And finally, here it was, at 1-0 down in a two-Test series, with the toss lost and the opposition probably getting the best batting conditions of the match. This was India’s attack reminding viewers of its greatest strength: not just high levels of skill, but the ability to execute skills at a high level, with exacting control over long periods, as a collective.2:45

ten Doeschate: ‘These sorts of wickets suit us better’

On days like this, reward doesn’t always come in explicable ways. Jasprit Bumrah had bowled as good a new-ball spell as you can hope to see in these conditions, inducing nine false shots and conceding just seven runs in six overs, without reward and with one chance dropped in the slips. When he finally broke South Africa’s opening stand at 82, he did it with a ball that didn’t seem to do much at all; Aiden Markram seemed to play ever so slightly down the wrong line, and inside-edged his drive onto the stumps.For most of the second session, India bowled with a grim sense of purpose, looking to make the most of a little bit of help. The spinners extracted bounce from the red-soil surface, and the seamers were beginning to get a vague hint of reverse swing. But the bounce also encouraged the batters to use their feet and hit over the top, and the ball was coming on nicely enough for them to find the boundary by transferring their weight into checked drives and pushes and placing them into gaps.And yet, India went at under three an over through the session despite taking just one wicket, despite Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs going to lunch having put on 74.Hard Test cricket involving deep, skillful attacks can be like this. Batters can get in and build partnerships without moving the game through any great distance or at any great speed. This is the long game.And if you’re batting on 41 in these circumstances, and you see a ball that looks vaguely hittable, when mid-off is up saving the single, you can end up doing what Bavuma did in the third over after lunch, off Ravindra Jadeja. This was a bowler who had conceded just 21 in his first nine overs, and here was a ball that seemed to be right in the slot. Why wouldn’t you go after it?”I think we kept pressure on for long periods of time,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said after the day’s play. “And when scoring’s not that easy, when you can only really score off bad balls, it sort of adds pressure onto the batting units. And maybe that’s the reason for guys getting in and no one getting a big score yet.”The other reason was that India have at least two bowlers who don’t need a lot of help from the conditions to be a constant threat. Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets on a flat first-day surface•BCCIKuldeep’s dismissal of Stubbs was probably the highlight of the day, coming off a brilliantly conceived delivery, the first of a new spell. On Indian pitches with lower bounce, Kuldeep attacks the stumps relentlessly. On this surface, though, Kuldeep often hit the sticker of the bat when batters defended him off the front foot. This bounce broadened the possibilities of dismissal, bringing the right-hand batters’ outside edge into play.Stubbs tends to stride forward down the line of leg stump regardless of the line of the ball, with his front leg seldom going across to the off side. From this position, he relies on his reach, hands and head position to do a lot of work.So Kuldeep dangled the ball wide of off stump, well outside Stubbs’ eyeline, and drew his hands fatally towards the ball. It turned a little less than Stubbs probably expected, and KL Rahul caught it at slip. Stubbs was on 49; did the possibility of a pushed single to get to fifty play a role in the dismissal?”No, not at all,” Stubbs said. “To be honest, I’ve faced him quite a few times on his first ball [of a spell], and that was I think the best one he’s bowled. From my angle, it sort of beat me in the drift.”That’s why my hands got away … On a day-one wicket, that’s probably how he’s trying to get you out, but for him to bowl that first ball of his, coming back, I thought it was quite impressive.”A spinner needs to be able to beat batters in the air, as Kuldeep did with his drift away from Stubbs, to be able to threaten wickets constantly on normal day-one pitches. It helps if he can get the ball to turn sharply too, as Kuldeep did with the one that dismissed Ryan Rickelton at the start of the second session, inviting the drive, beating the batter with dip and turn, and finding the edge to the keeper.And Kuldeep has done these things many times when he has bowled on flat or flat-ish surfaces, whether it be his four-for on debut in Dharamsala in 2017, the first-day five-for against England at the same venue last year, or his eight-wicket match haul against West Indies on a slow, low Delhi pitch last month.Ravindra Jadeja drew a false shot from a vigilant Temba Bavuma•Associated Press”We know Kuldeep’s strike rate is phenomenal as it is,” ten Doeschate said. “He’s a wicket-taker and that’s why we’re picking him … But maybe the fact that he sort of gets overspin, and with the red soil and a little bit more pace in the wicket, maybe it was slightly more effective in the conditions today.”I think later on the fingerspinners are going to come into it. But certainly in terms of strategy and how we wanted to set up the first day, it’s a real bonus for him to pick up three wickets and get us a foothold in the game.”A foothold, but there is a long way to go, though India must count themselves in a good position with South Africa 247 for 6. Their anxiety about toss advantage, which has often led them to be suspicious of traditional home pitches, isn’t entirely unfounded; if this pitch begins breaking up early on day two, India will start their first innings in very different conditions.”I don’t think there was any evidence to suggest that it’s deteriorating quite yet,” ten Doeschate said, when asked how the pitch evolved through day one, and what they expect over the next couple of days. “I thought it played really nicely, particularly with the seam bowlers, it didn’t look like they could extract much from length or back of a length. So hopefully it stays in this sort of shape for at least an even amount of period for both teams to sort of cash in on the first-innings scores.”There’s some footmarks and some tiny ball marks, but nothing to suggest it’s dry or cracking at the top. So fingers crossed that it lasts and plays well for the next few days.”India’s efforts with the ball on day one could be making their team management wonder if these pitches may not, after all, suit them better than surfaces like Kolkata’s that weaponise the opposition’s bowlers too.”It’s a really tough one,” ten Doeschate said. “And my personal point of view is that the wicket very rarely determines who wins the game. If we’d played better in Kolkata, I feel we could have won the Test on that surface.”But having said that, you’ve got to introspect and look at recent results. I think these sort of wickets maybe suit us a little bit better. You’ve got to be prepared to fight really hard and this game is going to go deep. And the only thing I would say is maybe the toss becomes even more important in these conditions.”So if you are going to be prepared to lose the toss, you have to put on a display like that today and really fight for every run. Make sure you stay in the game. And at some point the pressure is going to come. It’s just going to come later in this game.”But that’s a very fair question. And yeah, the template for us is probably closer to this than, you know, playing on some of the wickets we have played on.”As big an achievement as it was, then, for India’s bowlers to keep South Africa to 247 for 6 on this pitch, it was perhaps an even bigger one to get a member of their coaching staff to make this statement.

The South Africa captain’s composed fifty and his gutsy call to bowl Maharaj proved to be the difference in a nervy win

Firdose Moonda16-Nov-20254:55

Philander: ‘On that surface 123 was like 350-400’

Sometimes a captain gets a feeling of what to do. With tea looming at Eden Gardens on a tense day three, Temba Bavuma had one of those times.India needed 47 runs with three wickets in hand. In reality, they had only two because of Shubman Gill’s injury-enforced absence. Left-hand batter Axar Patel was on strike. He had 10 runs off 12 balls and looked steady but not particularly dangerous. Aiden Markram’s three overs had cost just five runs and he had burgled a wicket, so it seemed sensible to keep him and build pressure. Bavuma had a different idea.Despite the risk that would come from turning the ball into Axar, Bavuma turned to his left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. Immediately, it looked like a stroke of genius.Axar could not resist the offer and slog-swept Maharaj to deep midwicket, where Ryan Rickelton was positioned for that shot. But looking into the sun and with spectators in the background potentially blurring his view, Rickelton lost the ball. What could have been a catch became a boundary and suddenly, Bavuma’s decision looked like a tactical blunder, especially with so few runs to play with. It got even worse when Axar hit Maharaj for two sixes in the next three balls and shaved off a third of what India needed in four balls and wasn’t done.Related

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Axar went again off the fifth ball, another slog sweep, but he top-edged it. The ball hung and then dipped through the Kolkata air for the longest few seconds of the last three days.Bavuma sprinted from midwicket to almost long-on and initially looked like he had run too far. The ball was almost behind him when, looking back, he got his self-labelled “small hands” to it and held on by his fingertips. “There’s not much time to think during those moments. The ball went quite high, so I was just trying to make sure that I caught the ball,” Bavuma said after the match.When he did, Bavuma also proved his own plan, which seemed to be unravelling over the previous four balls, right. How had he felt in the moment when Axar was attacking? “You try and keep to your wits. The decision [to bowl Maharaj] stays a decision. It doesn’t change because of the way the guy is batting,” he said. “I knew there was sense behind the decision, so at no point did I second-guess the decision.”That was the way Bavuma played for most of this match.After his first-innings dismissal for 3, when he fell to Kuldeep Yadav’s leg-side trap, Bavuma rewrote his role in the game with a match-winning second-innings 55 not out, which showed a level of self-assurance of a player at his peak. No other batter made more than 39 in the match as variable bounce and, what Bavuma called, “spin that was a little bit on the extreme side yesterday” planted confusion through their game plans. “He went against the grain of everybody else in the match,” Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s coach, said.One of the biggest differences between Bavuma’s innings and everyone else’s was the way he absorbed pressure in the early stages. He scored just four runs off the first 23 balls he faced, and 17 of those deliveries were from the spinners, who were brilliant in squeezing South Africa. “You feel suffocated as a batter but Temba was comfortable. I don’t think anybody’s ever happy to be suffocated but he was comfortable that if he stuck to his game plan, knowing he was going to get beaten by balls on the outside, but as long as he didn’t get beaten on the inside, he knew he could bat through this,” Conrad said.Bavuma explained that given the conditions, he had to rely on the blueprint that is built around the block more than usual. “I found it a bit tricky to trust the bounce of the wicket. Some balls were bouncing nicely, others were squatting, so that was a bit tricky, which made cross-batted shots a bit harder but I always back my defence. My game is that simple. I try to play around my defence,” Bavuma said.2:08

Philander: Conrad’s done himself justice as South Africa coach

In total, he defended 59 of the 136 balls he faced, and the bulk of that was on the second evening, when some of South Africa’s shot selection left much to be desired. While Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs were done by lack of turn, Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi by extra bounce, Markram swept straight to short leg and Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen got slog sweeps horribly wrong. Bavuma was on 29 off 78 balls overnight. His only two aggressive shots were a sweep off Ravindra Jadeja and a backfoot punch off Kuldeep Yadav that went for four.The sweep came out a few more times on the third day, when Bavuma had to drag South Africa to a defendable total and could not have done it without support from Corbin Bosch, with whom he added 44 for the eighth wicket. Their approach on the third morning was to “just try and play what’s in front of me and try not to have too many preconceived ideas”, Bavuma said.That mindset brought what Conrad called a “calmness” to South Africa overall because they know that even though Bavuma is as likely as anyone to get a ball he can’t keep out, he very seldom gives his wicket away and works for every run. Bavuma created his own opportunities to accumulate singles (33) and twos (3) by playing with soft hands and setting off for his runs quickly, often just as he had hit the ball. “The fact that he’s been here before might also have given him that bit of confidence,” Conrad said.But being in India before was also humiliating for Bavuma, especially his most recent visit in 2023, at this very ground. Eden Gardens was where he finished the ODI World Cup as the only member of the top five not to score a century and where he played in the semi-final with a hamstring injury. He hasn’t hidden away from what he called his own “poor record” in the country and had come on this Test tour determined to improve on that and prove himself in these conditions. Now, South Africa are unbeaten in 11 Tests under his captaincy.That he has achieved something special was evident when the almost 40,000 people who came to watch the match on Sunday gave him a standing ovation when he reached his half-century. Though they were stunned into silence by his catch later on, it was clear that the Kolkata faithful appreciated South Africa’s efforts, and Bavuma may well have won them over. “It was crazy. Obviously the crowd cheers quite loudly when India has done something good but it gives us energy and keeps us connected to the game. As much as it spurs on the Indian team, it also has a positive influence on us,” Bavuma said.And sometimes when you have a feeling that things are going your way, you end up with a result like South Africa’s.

Seamers share eight wickets as table-toppers face awkward final day at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Sep-2025If Leicestershire’s vision was to clinch promotion to Division One with a resounding victory, it looks unlikely to come to pass this week after a truncated third day of their Rothesay County Championship match left them trailing Gloucestershire by 150 runs.Shan Masood compiled a typically elegant 111 to mark his first-class debut for the county with the 30th hundred of his career but Leicestershire then lost their last six wickets for 22 to trail by 140 on first innings, bowled out for 342 as Gloucestershire seamer Matt Taylor finished with five for 70, backed up by new-ball partner Ajeet Singh Dale’s three for 78.Gloucestershire – who need a victory to keep their outside chance of promotion alive – were eight without loss from four overs in their second innings before a three-hour interruption due to rain, adding just two runs before a resumption at 5.30pm was curtailed after just 13 deliveries due to bad light. With earlier rain having delayed the start by 70 minutes, just 30 overs and one ball were bowled in all.Even if a win eludes them, Leicestershire’s lead in the division is so large that a top-two finish can still be confirmed this week if this match ends in a draw and the clash between third-placed Derbyshire and fourth-placed Middlesex at Lord’s is also drawn.Masood faced 176 balls and hit 13 fours on the way to his eighth first-class hundred in county cricket, having previously made them for Derbyshire and Yorkshire. The left-hander will be 36 next month but retains the capacity to produce moments of sublime skill at the crease, which he underlined with some beautiful strokeplay in this innings.After his 152-run partnership with Lewis Hill on Tuesday had seemed to set up Leicestershire for a substantial reply, there seemed little to suggest that would not happen as a second batting bonus point was secured in a morning session reduced to 50 minutes with Masood and Steve Eskinazi, also making his Championship debut for a new county, having added 82.But that all changed with the last delivery of the session, which resulted in Masood being given out leg before, the former Pakistan Test captain’s body language leaving no doubt that the decision did not meet with his approval.Masood’s dismissal was the catalyst for an unseemly collapse from 320 for four to 342 all out, with the follow-on only just avoided.Having put off taking the second new ball until after lunch, Gloucestershire took it immediately after the break and needed only 10 overs’ use of it to claim the remaining five Leicestershire wickets.Taylor, who had three wickets overnight, beat Ben Cox for pace and had Ben Mike nicking behind to complete his first five-wicket haul in two years.New-ball partner Singh Dale, bound for Lancashire at the end of the season, gained deserved rewards as ex-Middlesex batter Eskinazi’s county debut innings ended on 34 with a catch at second slip. Logan van Beek and Chris Wright became the fourth and fifth batters in the innings to fall leg before, Wright having at least hung around long enough to ensure that the visitors would bat again after the ninth wicket had gone with still one run needed.

Manchester United are a club who have been known to possess one of the best academies in world football – often producing a conveyor belt of elite-level talent.

Arguably one of the best to ever come out of the Red Devils youth ranks is winger Ryan Giggs, with the winger coming out of the academy and making an immediate impression within the first-team.

The Welshman spent 23 years at Old Trafford, subsequently becoming a one-club legend, whilst also racking up 632 Premier League appearances – the most of any Welshman in the division’s history.

Giggs also won 13 Premier League titles during the Sir Alex Ferguson era, forever cementing himself as one of the best ever players to operate in England’s top-flight.

However, in the present day, Ruben Amorim has his own crop of talented teens who could emulate the attacker’s success should he hand them the chance to thrive at the Theatre of Dreams.

Man Utd’s most promising youngsters in 2025/26

Numerous youth players have constantly been on the fringes of United’s first-team squad over the last couple of years, but none more so than centre-forward Chido Obi.

The Dane joined the Red Devils from Arsenal last year and made an immediate impact at youth level, subsequently scoring 17 goals in just 21 appearances across various age categories.

He was rewarded with eight senior outings under Amorim at the back end of last season, but is yet to score his first senior goal – something which will no doubt come in time given his tender age of just 17.

However, Obi isn’t the only youngster who could make the jump in the next few months, with winger Shea Lacey undoubtedly champing at the bit to become a first-team regular.

The 18-year-old made 13 appearances across all competitions last campaign, netting just twice, but he’s already matched such a tally in his first three outings of 2025/26.

Like Giggs, Lacey is a left-footed forward who loves to drive at the opposition and cause carnage within the final third – potentially emulating such success at Old Trafford in the years ahead.

However, despite the promise generated by the aforementioned duo, the club could well have another gem on their hands in the form of one other academy prospect.

The United star who could become the next Giggs

Youngsters making the jump into the senior ranks at United hasn’t been alien to fans over the last few years, with numerous players making an impression on the fanbase.

Alejandro Garnacho ended up making 144 appearances for the Red Devils over a three-year period at Old Trafford – scoring 26 times and registering 19 assists.

However, his attitude often came into question under various managers, which resulted in the Argentine forward departing in a £40m deal to join Chelsea this summer.

Marcus Rashford matched Garnacho in making the jump up from the youth ranks, even scoring a double on his debut in the Europa League against Midtjylland back in February 2016.

Like the aforementioned star, he’s been out of favour under Amorim, subsequently leaving on loan during the off-season to join Barcelona until the summer of 2026.

However, the supporters may have another young star to back in the coming years, with forward JJ Gabriel, a player who has been touted with a huge future at Old Trafford.

He may be just 15 years of age, but he’s already a regular within the club’s U18 ranks – taking to the age group like a duck to water over the last couple of months.

Gabriel has scored seven goals in just six outings, a run of form that has allowed him to be called up to the England U15 setup – highlighting his rapid development at Carrington.

Man Utd – Youngest PL players

Player

Age

1. Angel Gomes

16y 8m 20d

2. Shola Shoretire

17y 19d

3. Chido Obi

17y 2m 18d

4. Mason Greenwood

17y 5m 7d

5. Federico Macheda

17y 7m 14d

6. Alejandro Garnacho

17y 9m 28d

7. Nicky Butt

17y 10m

8. Kobbie Mainoo

17y 10m 1d

Stats via Transfermarkt

Given his tender age, expectations will no doubt need to be managed, but one insider has already claimed that the teenager is “already better than Premier League players”.

It’s unclear how close to the first-team Gabriel is, but it’s rapidly become apparent that boss Amorim is a huge admirer of the youngster and sees him as a future gem for the Red Devils.

In recent days, the 40-year-old boss has included Gabriel in his first-team training sessions – something which is often unheard of for a player of his youthful years.

Generational talents very rarely come around in the modern game, but the club already have a star on their hands, but the staff behind the scenes desperately need to keep his feet on the ground.

His early form in 2025/26 is nothing short of remarkable, with Gabriel having the chance to emulate the success of former academy star Giggs if given the chance in the not-too-distant future.

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It doesn’t often occur in the Premier League, but Manchester City – even with Erling Haaland leading the line – drew a blank away at Aston Villa on Sunday.

In the end, a fiercely hit effort by Matty Cash in the first half would be the difference between the two sides, as the Citizens fell to their first league defeat since coming unstuck away at Brighton and Hove Albion at the close of August.

Tijjani Reijnders, in particular, struggled at Villa Park, with the number four’s early fall from grace at City a concerning tale to keep tabs on.

Why Reijnders was disappointing against Aston Villa

When the Dutchman has been given the freedom to express himself further up the pitch, he has been a joy to watch; however, with a goal confidently put away on his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers, even seeing statistician Statman Dave herald him as being “De Bruyne’s heir.”

However, the ex-AC Milan man wasn’t played in a De Bruyne-style position against Unai Emery’s hosts, with Reijnders not looking so comfortable as an anchor figure for Guardiola’s side on their travels, who are still presumably reeling that Rodri remains in and out of the Etihad treatment room.

Tackles won

0

Interceptions

0

Clearances

1

Blocked shots

0

Ball recoveries

2

Total duels

0/7

While Reijnders did trudge off at the end of the 1-0 loss with just two passes not reaching their intended target, the 27-year-old did noticeably find it tricky to battle away for his losing side, with an alarming zero duels won from seven attempted.

Moreover, the £46.5m summer purchase also failed to win a single tackle, with Amadou Onana for the hosts – in stark contrast – winning a combined tally of two tackles and six duels, as Reijnders routinely lost every 50/50 and scuffle that came his way.

With Nico Gonzalez also out injured, it remains to be seen what option Guardiola will go with in the games to come in the defensive midfield spot on the pitch, with Reijnders clearly not cut out for the demands of the position long-term.

He isn’t alone, though, in being worried about his first-team spot moving forward, with this “wasteful” attacker – as he was branded by journalist Amos Murphy – also in some bother about his immediate future in the Spaniard’s main XI.

The 5/10 City star who must be dropped

Watching back over the highlights from Villa Park, it’s clear that City could have nicked at least a point on another day if they had packed their shooting boots and weren’t so “toothless”, as they were branded by journalist David Mooney at the full-time whistle.

Indeed, Haaland uncharacteristically fluffed a one-on-one opportunity directly after Cash’s sweetly struck opener, with Savinho also falling victim to some poor finishing himself, when two chances in quick succession in the second 45 minutes passed him by.

Minutes played

84

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

50

Shots

2

Accurate passes

22/31 (71%)

Accurate passes in the opposition half

15/28 (54%)

Accurate crosses

0/5

Possession lost

18x

Successful dribbles

1/4

Total duels won

3/9

His overall play in attacking positions, away from spurning some big chances, also makes for some pretty grim reading, with Savinho only managing to make 15 accurate passes when in the opposition’s half of the pitch, leading to him giving away possession a mammoth 18 times.

On top of that, the lacklustre Brazilian could only muster up one successful dribble from his 84-minute stint in the West Midlands, alongside further failing to complete a single accurate cross to try and pick out the likes of Haaland, who can strike fear into any defenders he’s coming up against at a moment’s notice.

Savinho will surely now sense that his starting spot is on thin ice, with only one assist next to his name from his four Premier League starts this season, not exactly the most glowing track record.

Manchester Evening News journalist Simon Bajkowski would hand out a low 5/10 rating to the 21-year-old, subsequently, who stated that Savinho was ‘largely poor’ when attempting to unlock Villa, away from a promising effort here and there on Emiliano Martinez’s well-guarded net.

Cutting a forlorn figure at the close of the slim 1-0 defeat, Guardiola will have many a selection issue to address ahead of City facing off against AFC Bournemouth at the beginning of November, with both Reijnders and Savinho potentially removed from his starting lineup for the test of the Cherries.

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The New York Yankees stunningly designated veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu for assignment Wednesday, putting an abrupt end to his tenure with the organization just days after the team announced plans to demote him to a bench role.

Aaron Boone spoke to reporters after the news broke of LeMahieu's release, and he offered an explanation as to how things unraveled to the point where the 36-year-old was DFA'd.

"It's been a tough couple days. Some hard conversations and then ultimately coming to this conclusion (to DFA LeMahieu) for what's been a great player and who has done a lot of great things for this organization. Difficult, but in the end (we) feel like this is the right thing to do at this time," Boone said.

Boone clarified that although LeMahieu did not take the news of his demotion too well, he did not ask to be released by the team. He added that he, LeMahieu and GM Brian Cashman had all had "respectful" conversations about the situation.

LeMahieu had been playing second base for the Yankees since returning from injury in May, but the organization opted to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to the position, leaving LeMahieu as the odd man out. Boone said that playing third base was something the veteran was open to but it proved to be too physically demanding.

It was a rather unceremonious end to LeMahieu's time in New York, especially considering how important he was to the team in the early 2020s.

Do Arsenal lack attacking firepower?

The arrival of Viktor Gyökeres this summer was supposed to end the Gunners’ search for a centre-forward but, so far, the Swede has scored just four Premier League goals, with supporters yet to be truly convinced by their new number nine.

The Swede, as well as Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Ødegaard, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are all likely to remain sidelined ahead of Sunday’s North London derby, meaning Mikel Merino will continue as the makeshift centre-forward.

So, could Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta address this issue in January by targeting “one of the best strikers in Europe”?

Arsenal searching for more attacking firepower

The January transfer window is often a quiet one for Arsenal, albeit they have pulled off some memorable winter signings down the years.

Nacho Monreal, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, Leandro Trossard and Andrey Arshavin all arrived in various Januarys, as did current club captain Ødegaard, albeit the most exciting mid-season addition surely remains Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who joined from Borussia Dortmund for £56m in January 2018.

So now, in a deal that would be very reminiscent, reports in Spain claim that Arsenal are ‘seriously considering’ a January move for another Dortmund centre-forward, this time Serhou Guirassy.

They claim that the Guinea international has a €50m release clause (around £44m) in his contract, making him an attractive proposition for any potential suitors, including Arsenal.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Former national team head coach Kaba Diawara is the only Guinean to ever feature for Arsenal, scoring zero goals in 14 appearances in 1999, infamously hitting the woodwork with pretty much every shot he took, so Guirassy would certainly surpass that legacy, should he swap North Rhine-Westphalia for North London.

How Serhou Guirassy would repeat Aubameyang's success

When Aubameyang joined Arsenal, he was 28 years old and had just scored 141 goals in 213 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, winning the previous season’s DFB-Pokal, scoring the winning penalty against Eintracht Frankfurt in the final at Olympiastadion.

Once at Arsenal, the Gabonese international netted 92 times in 163 outings, sharing the Premier League golden boot in 2018/19, while only five players have ever scored more goals for the Gunners in the competition.

For those wondering, this quintet are: Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Robin van Persie, Dennis Bergkamp and Olivier Giroud.

Now 36, Aubameyang is proving that goal-scoring instincts never fade, having netted six times for Olympique de Marseille already this season, most recently breaking the deadlock during Friday night’s 5-1 demolition of Nice, having also scored when les Phocéens crushed Ajax 4-0 at Stade Vélodrome in the Champions League in September.

So, with Gyökers earning mixed reviews, Arsenal might just lack a striker with that killer instinct, but could that be Guirassy?

Well, let’s compare his and Aubameyang’s time at Borussia Dortmund to see if he would be able to replicate the ex-Gunners star’s career?

Appearances

50

46

Minutes

4,244

3,959

Goals

38

40

UCL Goals

13

7

Assists

9

5

Shots per 90

2.9

3.4

Shots on target per 90

1.8

2.2

Shot accuracy %

60.54%

63.11%

Big chances missed

31

32

% of touches in the box

15.9%

20.5%

As the table documents, Guirassy’s form last season is remarkably similar to that of Aubameyang during his final campaign with die Schwarzgelben.

​​​​​​​

The current Dortmund centre-forward scored two fewer goals than peak Aubameyang, albeit he did net 13 times in last season’s Champions League, thereby picking up the competition’s golden boot.

Other numbers that are similar are the pair’s shots per 90, shooting accuracy and the percentage of their touches that come in the opposition’s penalty area, while the duo both missed more than 30 Opta-defined big chances, which, statistically speaking, is a lot!

Nevertheless, Guirassy’s form at Westfalenstadion​​​​​​​ led to Germany’s all-time record appearance holder Lothar Matthäus asserting that he has become “one of the best strikers in Europe”, underlining how highly rated he is by regular Bundesliga observers.

Thus, should Guirassy arrive at Arsenal in January, he would undeniably have a massive impact, one that could fire Arteta’s team to that elusive first Premier League title in 22 years.

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