And have England found a way to counter the extraordinary Steven Smith?

Mark Nicholas24-Jul-2023You’d be unlucky if it rained pretty much solid for two consecutive days in July, said someone. Really? In Manchester? And so it was that Clive Rice’s old barb about England having nine months of winter and three months of bad weather came to haunt Ben Stokes. This was the gods of cricket at their meanest.As Test cricket continues its fight for salvation in the face of the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is all things T20 and private, 2-2 going to The Oval was what any level-headed lover of the game ached for. Such anticipation is rare: most five-match Test series are done before the scheduled denouement, upon which we hear all that witless rhetoric about playing for pride when we would prefer daggers. Still, in this instance The Oval will roar its emotion. The English feel cheated, claiming their team to be better than Australia’s, and gratifyingly, more entertaining. If the weather is a cheat, they may be right. If run rate is the benchmark, they are certainly so.The England team gave itself the best chance at Old Trafford by going at a lick for the 592 total and the 275 lead. In trying to write this without mentioning the “B” word, the players have been chosen specifically for the job. Years ago, in South Africa, Graeme Hick asked the England batting coach John Edrich how best to get out of his rut. “Keep buggering on,” replied the former Surrey and England grafter, as was his special subject in the days when batting was more about occupation of the lines than bursting out of the traps. That was the tour when Michael Atherton saved the Johannesburg Test with a valiant, unbeaten 185 across two days of gunfire from Allan Donald and Company. On return to the dressing room, he was seen punching the air, a rare moment of animation from one so introverted. Atherton faced 492 balls in that defiance, balls that included the first and the last.Related

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• Zak Crawley bats like no one is watching

On Thursday last, Zak Crawley opened up, and out, for England, making four more runs than Atherton in 310 fewer balls. Of course, their ambitions were very different but the point is that neither could have done the other’s job. The Lancastrian was chosen for his resilience, concentration and accomplished technical skills against the new ball; the Kentish man for his strokeplay. Perhaps the most telling of all of Stokes’ comments on selection is: “We pick teams and players for what they can do on their best days”. It is a leap of faith.This was one of Crawley’s best days. He rode both his luck and the race at hand with a splendid sense of adventure. There really was no telling what would come next. He flapped around against Mitchell Starc pre-lunch and panned him into the bleachers post. He treated Pat Cummins like a medium-pacer, Josh Hazelwood like a has-been, and Travis Head as an imposter. If only the great Ted Dexter was still with us to rejoice. Ted loved Crawley’s batting and the reasons make for good reading.

• Zak sets up to attack and is therefore, in theory at least, in the best position to defend when required.
• His best form has come when he plays the ball alongside his body, a detail he should pursue always.
• He has a clear idea of the way in which he wants to play whatever is in front of him. This suggests a strong mind.
• He appears completely unfazed by the opponent and therefore plays the ball, not the man. This is not so easy as it sounds.
• On the outside, it appears as if he doesn’t much care what others think. Ted loved that.

In fact, it’s all quite Dexter. Richie Benaud used to say similar things about Norman O’Neill, the brilliant Australian batter of the 1960s. At the time, the two of them stood out: both tall and powerful right-handers whose games were based on an organised technique and a complete lack of fear. When they walked to the wicket, the spectators took their seats. There is no greater compliment. It will apply to Crawley now.In the face of criticism and the many feeble digs about the Kent opener being the luckiest England cricketer to have retained his place in the team, he has had to look within. His father, Terry, once said, “My dad was the toughest man I ever knew until I met my son.” Aha, so that fresh, boyish face is a disguise. And if you don’t trust his dad, ask the England dressing room; there are no cheap shots at him in there.It is not easy to stick with a method that is publicly scrutinised and frequently criticised. But having tinkered a little with his footwork along the way, he has done so and now has 385 runs in the series. Some innings that might not have seemed much have meant a great deal, not least the start at Edgbaston when he creamed the first ball of the match through extra cover and went on to 61 without raising a sweat. There have been other accomplished 30s and 40s against a fine new-ball attack that critics then complain about when he “nicks off”.Steve Smith hasn’t been at his best in this series, but expect some big runs from him at The Oval•Getty ImagesOf course, if you get in, you should go on. But if only it were that simple. The mindset of the current England players is for the moment, not its future. There were little somethings of Ian Botham’s two great, freewheeling 1981 innings in Crawley’s buccaneering assault on the Australian attack. It is an approach that all of us on the outside should buy into as enthusiastically as those on the inside. We continue to live, and judge, in a world pre-Stokes and McCullum, but we must awake to the zeitgeist.Somewhere in approach between the Atherton trot and the Crawley gallop is Steven Smith’s canter. Smith averages 58.56 in Test matches – a rare dip, he has been 60 and more for the most part. It is a number nothing short of mind-blowing once you have looked anywhere other than the Don Bradman page. He began as a legbreak bowler and No. 7 batter. They said he was the next Shane Warne; it turns out he was the next Bradman. This is a guy who concentrates like Atherton and can take you apart like Crawley. He can mark time or push on; defend gallantly or attack with venom. He is not one for the aesthetics but neither is his play unattractive. Rather, it is a fascination.Were you asked how many teams Smith had played for in his career at the top level, you might say six or seven. It is nearer 20. He has been from New South Wales to Worcestershire and Sussex and back again via Toronto, Antigua and Barbados, Bangalore, Rajasthan, Kochi, Delhi and many more. He is wedded to the game, one-dimensional perhaps but no worse a team man for that. In Australia he’d be known as a cricket tragic, which is mainly a compliment.At Lord’s, Smith peeled off a Smith classic – all angles and gaps and fidgets and squawks. He cover-drove better than ever, occasionally cut square, and otherwise manoeuvred the ball to the leg side with dancing feet and contorted wrists. He defies lbw like it was a law for everyone else, walking deliberately across his stumps and standing right there in front of all three as if it were French not Anglo-Australian cricket he was playing. Come to think of it, you could read Bradman’s The Art of Cricket and wonder if the Don and Smithy were even at the same game. For certain, they are two of the strongest minds to have played the game.England fans can take heart that their team has played entertaining cricket throughout the summer•Getty ImagesHas anyone ever batted like Smith before? Will anyone? Does he have the best hand-eye coordination of them all? Can it last forever? At both Headingley and Old Trafford, he has looked fallible. Is this simply the fading of the light or are we witnessing an unravelling? Have England found a way to counter this extraordinary, unorthodox talent?Some yeses and no’s there. Mark Wood trapped him lbw the other day, then bounced him out in the second dig. At Headingley, he nicked off against Stuart Broad and walked off embarrassed against Moeen Ali after a miscalculated chip into the hands of the man at midwicket. Four very different outs.England are right to bowl gun-barrel straight at Smith and pack the leg side. Heaven knows why everyone hasn’t been at it for years. Given the extreme trigger movements and the fact that he ends up in front of all three, lbw has to be brought into play. One former captain told me they didn’t dare bowl too straight because he picked them off so easily. I guess it depends who “they” are. A strength is invariably a weakness too. Stokes has posted fielders in both old-fashioned places (leg slip and gully) and new-fashioned places (square leg and midwicket sweepers, short mid-on, short square leg, short, fine third man) and Smith has had to adapt. By definition, the tactics have worked to good effect.Occasionally – Wood in the first innings at Old Trafford, for example – the England bowlers have switched to wide of off stump, drawing Smith across almost to fourth stump in his final position of guard. Upon which Wood zoomed in on middle and off and trapped his man. Given out by review, Smith looked perplexed not so much by the decision as by the place at which the replay showed his feet to be.This needed Wood’s fierce pace to be effective – remember Jofra Archer against him four years ago and imagine Harold Larwood thundering in to Bradman – because even a player this good is wary of looking to get back into the ball by edging forward, in case the skidding bouncer is up next. When we all bang on about the brilliant cricket we have seen in the series, such vignettes drive our excitement. Finding ways to outsmart Australia’s prolific No. 4 are uppermost in the minds of all opponents. Random hook shots have cost his wicket in this series; the bouncer is now on the list of options.Smith will come to The Oval bloodied but by no means beaten. Generally, with the true bounce it is a good place for batters, so he may well be licking his lips. This is not yet the fading of the light, not at 34 years and with energy to spare. It is reasonable to assume no one before has batted quite like him and worth adding how we will miss the often bizarre idiosyncrasies when they have gone.Right now, Smith is not listed in the top five run-scorers of the series. Expect that to be corrected in South London. Crawley, it is worth repeating, is top of that list. Don’t change a thing, Zak.

They came with great expectations in Ahmedabad, but many left before the last ball was bowled

Shashank Kishore19-Nov-20232:06

Should one of Kohli or Rahul have taken charge?

Twenty minutes past eight on the night of their dreams.Scores of fans begin to move towards the exits of the Narendra Modi Stadium. The all-encompassing blue of tens of thousands of India jerseys dissipate to reveal bright orange seats beneath. The World Cup final is not yet over but many have had enough.Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had raised their century stand. India’s defence of 240, which looked so promising when Australia were 47 for 3, was failing. The pitch they had hoped would aid the spin of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav was getting better to bat on as the night progressed. The day before the game, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins had spoken of there being no greater satisfaction than silencing a huge crowd. And 11 Australians did just that to more than 90,000 in Ahmedabad.The day had begun very differently. First a hush when Cummins won the toss. Then a roar when he put India in to bat. Those roars grew louder as Rohit Sharma began to do his thing. Where the stadium DJ had failed to rouse the crowd into a Mexican wave, Rohit got them going with a towering six off Glenn Maxwell. The footwork, backswing, timing, and the nonchalance as he turned his back on the ball after following its trajectory – all stunning and typical of Rohit.Related

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The roar was louder next ball as Rohit flayed Maxwell through the covers. He was staying true to the “” he’d beautifully elaborated on the previous evening. He was walking the aggressive talk like he’d done all through this World Cup. Two successive boundaries, however, weren’t enough for Rohit. He charged Maxwell and tried to go big again to make the most of the fielding restrictions.Most watching wouldn’t have thought it possible for Head to latch on to the miscued shot that quickly – turn around from cover, sprint a considerable distance, and dive full length to take a game-changing catch. For two previous balls, there had been bedlam in Ahmedabad. Now silence. As Head picked himself off the ground and began to celebrate before being mobbed by ecstatic team-mates, the parallel with Kapil Dev’s iconic catch off Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup final was impossible to miss. Rohit threw his head up and walked off for 47 off 31 balls.Four balls later, more silence, as Cummins found the outside edge to have Shreyas Iyer, who had scored hundreds in his two previous innings, caught behind. Left hand up, finger pointing skywards, Cummins took off on a celebratory run, the cheers of the Australians cutting through the silence.At 81 for 3 in the 11th over, India’s batting depth was facing its toughest test of the tournament and it was on Virat Kohli to lead the repair job. He’d scored three successive boundaries off Mitchell Starc in the seventh over to kickstart his innings, but once those two wickets fell, risks had to be reduced. So Kohli knuckled down. He ran the hard runs and defended like his life depended on it. The man with the most hundreds in ODIs, the man with the most runs in a World Cup, was now playing one of the most important innings of his life.The stands began to empty at the Narendra Modi Stadium even before the final ended•ICC/Getty ImagesKohli and KL Rahul rebuilt the innings slowly. India didn’t score a boundary for over 15 overs after the powerplay. Two batters at the peak of their powers curbing their instincts for the team’s cause. As Kohli raised his ninth 50-plus score of the World Cup off 56 balls, the crowd found its voice again. Seven balls later, he chopped Cummins on.Kohli was stunned. Couldn’t bear to look back. And it took a while for him to leave the crease. He glared at his bat as an overjoyed Cummins took off on another celebratory sprint, having made good on his pre-match promise a second time. Rahul also fell after his half-century and the mood at the stadium remained sombre for the rest of India’s innings.There was renewed hope after the innings break, though, as India began their defence of 240 with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami zipping the ball past the flailing bats of the Australian openers. The crowd began to find its voice as an edge went between first and second slip, and then raised the roof when the next edge – off Warner – was held by Kohli in the cordon.Bumrah grazed the under edge of Mitchell Marsh’s attempted smash, and then pinned Steven Smith lbw, but little did any of the Indian fans at the ground know then that there would be no more cause for joy for them.By the time Head was caught for a World Cup-winning 137 off 120 balls after a partnership of 192 with Labuschagne, with Australia needing only two runs to win, the final had wound down to its conclusion in eerie silence for a stadium that held nearly a 100,000 fans.

India are 410 for 7 – the second-highest team total after a full day’s play in women’s Test history

S Sudarshanan14-Dec-2023Silent treatment hurts. Dads know it. That’s why they give it when you’re desperate for their permission to go on that trip with your friends. Partners know it. That’s why they turn their heads when you’re trying to win them back after forgetting your anniversary.On Thursday, all Shubha Satheesh and Jemimah Rodrigues, two of India’s three Test debutants, offered was a silent raise of the bat. No loud celebrations, no running around. A warm hug followed by an acknowledgement towards the dressing room. It was their first half-century in their first outing in India whites. You could feel England’s hurt.A picture perfect cover drive – good forward stride, bent back knee and a straight bat – got Shubha off the mark in international cricket. Rodrigues was off in Tests with a push towards cover for a run. No fuss. Both Shubha and Rodrigues have had similar yet contrasting paths to the Test cap.Related

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• Stats – India Women score 410 in one day

Rodrigues made her Under-19 debut for Mumbai at 13, while Shubha did so at 12 for Karnataka. Rodrigues made a name for herself with her attacking play while Shubha was known to be an accumulator and an excellent timer of the ball. Shubha led the batting charts in the Under-19 Women’s Zonal One Day League in 2016 – 341 runs in five matches at an average of 113.67 – with Rodrigues second with 289 at 96.33.In the following season, Rodrigues scored 1013 runs in 11 Under-19 One Day League matches. All of this led to an international debut in 2018 but the Test cap had to wait. Shubha, meanwhile, continued to ply her trade for Karnataka at the top of the order, adding new strings to her bow including becoming an agile and athletic fielder.When India were set to play their first Test after seven years in 2021, Rodrigues was part of the squad but did not make the XI in either of the matches in England or Australia. Meanwhile, a couple of stellar seasons in domestic cricket saw Shubha named for India’s first home Test since 2014. And the DY Patil was where both made their Test bows.If there was any pressure when India slipped to 47 for 2 after winning the toss, it did not show in the pair’s body language. India were to treat the Test match as an extension of their white-ball game, but Shubha and Rodrigues showed immense patience, be it while leaving deliveries outside off or when defending the good balls. They were also quick to forget the super good deliveries that had them in trouble and regrouped quickly.Like when fast bowler Lauren Filer, who impressed with her high pace during the Women’s Ashes, surprised Shubha with a mean bouncer that she just managed to evade. Or when Filer beat Rodrigues’ inside edge with a nip-backer at 118kph. Their footwork, after being roughed up, was as assured as it was when they walked out to the middle.On either side of lunch, Shubha and Rodrigues got to their half-centuries – a straight drive with a half-forward stride back past the bowler got Shubha to her mark while Rodrigues unfurled a lovely extra-cover drive to get to hers.That England couldn’t create enough pressure or bowl consistently in the right areas helped Shubha and Rodrigues add 115 for the third wicket. Fifty of the 76 balls Shubha faced for her 69 were dots; yet she managed to score at a strike rate of over 96 with the help of 13 fours. She finished with a control percentage of 81, the same as Rodrigues did for her 68 off 99 balls.”We were just having normal conversations about our plans,” Shubha said later. “Jemimah and I have played a lot of junior level cricket, so we know each other from quite long. It’s just that we keep talking all the time.”It was a beautiful wicket to bat on. Jemimah and [I] were just talking about it – just have to play proper cricketing shots to keep going.”India had a lot of unknowns heading into a first home Test in nine years. They weren’t fancied to make 410 for 7 – the second-highest team total after a full day’s play in women’s Test history. But here they are thanks to the silent treatment their two debutants gave their much more experienced opponents.

They have a strong batting line-up but will that carry them through if pacers get injured or can’t step up?

Ashish Pant17-Mar-2024

Where Delhi Capitals finished last season

Ninth on the ten-team points table. Delhi Capitals lost their first five games of IPL 2023 and could never recover. They only won five out of their 14 matches.

Delhi Capitals squad for IPL 2024

Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), Prithvi Shaw, David Warner*, Mitchell Marsh*, Ricky Bhui, Swastik Chikara, Abishek Porel (wk), Yash Dhull, Jake Fraser-McGurk*, Shai Hope*, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Tristan Stubbs*, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Praveen Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje*, Vicky Ostwal, Rasikh Salam, Jhye Richardson*, Ishant Sharma*Overseas players

Player availability – No Ngidi or Brook for DC

The biggest name in terms of player availability not just for Capitals but for Indian cricket is Rishabh Pant. The wicketkeeper-batter will be returning to competitive action for the first time since suffering a horrific accident in December 2022 and will lead the side.But Capitals have other injury concerns. They head into IPL 2024 without the services of Lungi Ngidi who is still recovering from a lower-back injury he suffered during the SA20 earlier in the year. They have signed 21-year-old Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk as his replacement.Related

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Capitals had earlier lost Harry Brook, who pulled out of the IPL for personal reasons. They are yet to name a replacement for the Englishman.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo last month, Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal had also said that the Australia fast bowler Jhye Richardson is unlikely to be available for at least the initial part of the tournament. Richardson had suffered a left side strain at the BBL in early January and has since been on the sidelines.Capitals will also be sweating on the match fitness of South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who is coming off a long injury layoff. He has been out of action since September 2023 after suffering from a stress fracture of the back. Nortje only recently returned to competitive cricket in the opening game of CSA’s T20 domestic tournament, turning out for Warriors against Kwa-Zulu Inland, and will be under the watchful eye of South Africa white-ball coach Rob Walter through the IPL.

What’s new with Delhi Capitals this year – Pant is back

Lisa Sthalekar reckons Pant could get a bigger welcome-back roar than even MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, but how the wicketkeeper-batter goes on the field after a 14-month layoff remains to be seen. Pant has been cleared to keep wicket by the BCCI’s fitness and medical teams, and he will also be captaining the Capitals franchise taking over from David Warner who led the team last season.At the auction in December 2023, Capitals splurged on Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, getting him for INR 7.2 crore. Apart from being a hard-hitting batter, Kushagra could slot in as a back-up keeper for Pant. Capitals also went big for Richardson (INR 4 crore) and Haryana fast bowler allrounder Sumit Kumar (INR 1 crore), who has had a good few months in domestic cricket. Capitals could also look to unleash Fraser-McGurk who has made heads turn in the Australian domestic scene.

The good – A strong batting unit

Capitals have a power-packed batting unit with David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Pant slotted at the top of the order. They will also be keen on cashing in on Ricky Bhui and Tristan Stubbs’ form.David Warner and Prithvi Shaw are part of Capitals’ strong top order•BCCIBhui recently finished as the highest run-getter in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy and had a fruitful Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023 as well, where he scored at 184.25.Stubbs is coming into the IPL on the back of a triple-century, against KwaZulu-Natal Inland in CSA’s division one tournament. Before that, he finished the SA20 2024 as Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s highest run-getter in the SA20, helping them secure a second straight title.Kushagra and Sumit can also give the ball a fair whack.

The not-so-good – Where are the fast bowlers?

Ngidi has been ruled out of the tournament. Richardson is a doubtful starter. Nortje is coming in after a long injury layoff. Ishant Sharma has been short of match practice.Capitals’ fast bowling-roster seems to be thinning by the minute, which is why it was surprising that they brought in a batter in Fraser-McGurk to replace Ngidi. They could still bring a seamer in Brook’s place, but even so they are thin in the department. A lot of the fast-bowling load could fall on the shoulders of Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar, who haven’t always excelled in the T20 circuit. Capitals will desperately hope for Nortje to hit his straps from the get-go.

Schedule insights

With the Arun Jaitley Stadium hosting 11 WPL games right ahead of the IPL, Capitals have chosen Visakhapatnam as the venue for their first two home games, to give the pitches and ground in Delhi time to recover, according to Jindal.Capitals open their campaign in an afternoon game against Punjab Kings on March 23 in Mullanpur, Kings’ new home base which is making its IPL debut. They will then travel to Jaipur to face Rajasthan Royals on March 28 before hosting Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on March 31 and April 3 in Visakhapatnam. Capitals face Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on April 7. The schedule for the rest of IPL 2024 will be released once the schedule for the national elections is revealed.

The big question

Mumbai still hold all the cards, but Nair’s resistance ensured Vidarbha lived to fight another day

Hemant Brar13-Mar-2024Before his famed 303 not out against England, Karun Nair had scored another triple-hundred.It was the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede. Bowling first, Karnataka had skittled out Tamil Nadu for 134. But when Nair walked in, Karnataka were 16 for 3, which soon became 84 for 5. From there, Nair scored 328 – the highest individual score in a Ranji Trophy final – to help his side win their second successive title.Nine years later, Nair was once again at the Wankhede, playing yet another Ranji Trophy final. This time as a professional for Vidarbha. His team was in an even worse situation. Chasing an unprecedented 538 against Mumbai, they were 64 for 2, having lost their openers in a space of three balls.To keep alive the little hope they had, Vidarbha needed Nair to repeat his 2014-15 heroics.Related

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Nair had moved to Vidarbha after Karnataka dropped him across formats for the 2022-23 season. But before joining them, he had a short stint with Northamptonshire in the County Championship. In his three innings there, he scored 78, 150 and 21.”I didn’t play for a year, so that was quite hard – to sit at home and watch others play,” Nair said on Wednesday. “But that [runs in county cricket] gave me a lot of confidence before coming here. If I could score runs at The Oval, score a 150 when the conditions are much tougher, I could score runs anywhere.”Nair carried that confidence and form into the Ranji Trophy as well. Coming into the final, he was the leading run-scorer for his team, with a tally of 616 at an average of 41.07. But now, on the fourth day of the final, he had his work cut out.Offspinner Tanush Kotian had just bowled Dhruv Shorey with a delivery that turned square. Nair was welcomed in the same manner. Only that Kotian got his line slightly wrong this time and the ball thudded into the batter’s pad.Soon after, Kotian bowled a similar-looking delivery around off stump. Nair played for the turn only for the ball to hold its line and take the outside edge. But wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore grassed the chance.To counter Kotian, Nair tried the reverse sweep, but it did not help. He looked more comfortable against the left-arm spin of Shams Mulani. But the runs were hard to come by. After facing 42 balls, Nair had scored only 9.Akshay Wadkar and Karun Nair added 90 for the fifth wicket•PTI At one stage it looked like even if Vidarbha batted for two full days, they might not reach their target. Having conceded a first-innings lead, a draw was not an option for them, but Nair felt that was the best approach.”I could have taken many, many chances but at the cost of what? It was not an easy wicket to score runs on. So the thought process was to not give them any chances. To keep batting and score the runs that they give you rather than trying to convert things. To bat as long as possible and you never know.”That’s exactly what Nair did.When Mulani’s spell ended, Ajinkya Rahane brought on Musheer Khan, another left-arm spinner. He troubled Nair even more than the other two spinners.In his second over, Musheer got one to turn past Nair’s outside edge and hit the back leg. Nair was saved by the turn.After lunch, Musheer beat his inside edge and hit the front pad. This time the umpire raised his finger. But Nair got the decision reversed on review, as Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have missed leg stump.Musheer then decided to go over the wicket. Turning the ball from the rough around leg stump, he beat Nair’s outside edge repeatedly but could not dislodge him.When Nair reached his fifty, off 174 balls, he hardly celebrated. After all, it was not even 10% of Vidarbha’s target.Akshay Wadkar was far more positive at the other end, which meant Vidarbha at last made some perceivable progress.Karun Nair’s wagon wheel during his 74•Getty ImagesWith the pitch slowing down and no reverse swing on offer, Mumbai took the second new ball as soon as it was available. Dhawal Kulkarni bowled a couple of overs with it but with nothing happening, Rahane turned to Tushar Deshpande for what the latter described as “the short-ball therapy”.All six deliveries of Deshpande’s over were short. Nair ducked under or swayed away the first four times. On the fifth occasion, Deshpande erred down the leg side and Nair pulled it fine for four.Nair and Wadkar had added 90 for the fifth wicket. But with 20-odd minutes left in the day’s play, Musheer finally got his man when Nair edged one to the keeper.Nair’s 74 contained only three fours. But his innings was more about the shots he did not play, the restraint he showed. During his 220-ball vigil, he did not score a single run in the V.When asked about it, Nair said: “The ball was turning from very close to the bat, so it was not easy. I could have tried but it could have gone either way. So I was just waiting for something really full or short to score runs.”At stumps, Wadkar was unbeaten on 56. But Vidarbha are not even halfway to their target. They need another 290 with five wickets in hand. Nair was asked if they still had hope.”We need to be realistic that it’s a tough task,” he said. “But if I can say anything about this team, it’s that they never give up. You never know what can happen. I would have loved to be batting overnight and then I could have given you a better answer.”Vidarbha, too, would have loved that.

In this excerpt from his first book, the India spinner tells us about why bowling to some of his heroes at training was not what he thought it would be

R Ashwin23-Jul-2024India play against West Indies in an ODI match at Chepauk as part of preparations for the World Cup later in 2007. I am asked to bowl at the nets for both teams. International teams invite local bowlers to bowl in the nets because they don’t want to exhaust their own bowlers before the actual match. This is my first such invitation.I am excited at the prospect of bowling to Chris Gayle, Brian Lara, my hero Sachin Tendulkar, and the hottest name in Indian cricket today, MS Dhoni. I have read about how Imran Khan plucked Waqar Younis out of a nets session even before he had started playing proper domestic cricket. Appa has told me how Kris Srikkanth impressed Sunil Gavaskar in a local game, and that’s how he ended up playing for India. These thoughts are not entirely out of my mind. I am going to be bowling in flesh and blood to players I have dreamed of playing with and against.The West Indies team is the first to arrive for training. Chepauk doesn’t have separate nets, so the nets are arranged on the side pitches at the main ground. I bowl to Gayle first. I get him out caught and bowled. Later, I have him edging. I look at him for a reaction because in nets, be it at club level, Ranji Trophy level or anywhere else, the batter nods at you, appreciates you or just says “bowled”, to acknowledge you. Gayle just picks the ball up and throws it back at me. No eye contact. No reaction.Related

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He gets out, no reaction. He tonks me, no reaction. I think Gayle is probably peculiar, but as I bowl to other batters, it is the same. They smack you, no reaction. They struggle against you, no reaction. Just pick up the ball and bowl again. I find it weird.And it is not limited to the West Indies players either. India batters are the same. During the India nets, a friend comes and watches from the stands. He wants a photo with Dhoni after the nets so that he can impress girls in college. I, too, am crazy about Dhoni. The way he hits, the way he finishes games, the long hair. He is just a phenomenon.After we are done, I click a photo with Dhoni myself. I tell him about my friend, and he obliges. My friend is over the moon, but I tell him I am not coming as a nets bowler again. He is stunned. Not only does he want to come and take more photos tomorrow to impress girls, he is generally shocked at me giving up a chance to bowl at these guys.I tell him what happened. I feel heartbroken. I don’t exactly know what I expected when I came to the nets. Yes, those fairy tales of selections of net bowlers are a thought in my mind, but not an expectation. It is something else that has hurt me. I tell my friend I have never been to a cricket match or practice session where nobody has acknowledged me. People try to find out which club you play for or which school or college you study at, but here nobody even asked me what my name was.Penguin Random HouseI call up the nets organiser who had offered me the gig and tell him I will not be coming tomorrow. Instead, I go to Chemplast and train on my own. I think playing street cricket is more fun than bowling at these internationals. Over the next few days, though, I realise they didn’t do it to me because they are bad people. It is just that these are professional cricketers in their bubble, striving for excellence. They must be facing hundreds of bowlers like me. They can’t be acknowledging everyone’s presence. Worship your heroes from a distance; when you get close to them, be good enough to be one of them.I don’t think any less of my cricket heroes because they didn’t acknowledge me when I bowled, but I also don’t want to be servicing them with nothing in it for me. I still feel like an ordinary person for servicing them without any acknowledgement when I do well or generally of my effort. So, I don’t regret pulling out of the nets. Nor do I want to be just a nets bowler ever again. I Have the Streets: a Kutti Cricket Story