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Team faces questions around captaincy and fast-bowling combination ahead of IPL 2021

Sruthi Ravindranath02-Nov-20203:37

Aakash Chopra: Rajasthan Royals’ bowling attack didn’t have enough

Where did they finish?
They finished last, with six wins in 14 games and a net run rate of -0.569.What went right?
Jofra Archer’s brilliance with the ball – and at times with the bat – throughout the tournament, along with some outstanding individual performances from a few batsmen and spinners.An in-form Sanju Samson got their campaign off to a rollicking start with two big wins. Rahul Tewatia came along and produced the innings to remember from IPL 2020. They were on the top of the table one week into the tournament, and there were questions about whether they were missing Ben Stokes at all.However, their campaign derailed a bit from there, with four consecutive losses, before reviving with a superb chase led by the young Riyan Parag against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Later, there was a masterclass from Stokes against the Mumbai Indians in a tall chase. He played another match-winning innings against the Kings XI in their penultimate fixture.Royals have been a side known for promoting young Indian talent, and there was some of that time around too. Kartik Tyagi – whom they picked in the last auction – and Parag provided a glimpse of a bright futures.What went wrong?For one, they never got their batting order right. The inconsistency in their performances, to a significant degree, could be down to the constant chopping and changing. They never quite settled on an opening combination until the very end, trying five different combinations at the top.A few questionable captaincy decisions also hurt them at crucial moments in a few matches – for instance, bowling Jaydev Unadkat instead of Archer in the penultimate over against the Royal Challengers when the Royals had 35 to defend, and not giving Archer another over in the powerplay against the Delhi Capitals when he had picked up two early wickets. Steven Smith had a dull season with the bat, to boot, so having him as captain meant the other overseas options such as Tom Curran, David Miller and Oshane Thomas got few or no chances at all, especially after Stokes’ arrival.Key numbers Archer finished with 20 wickets in the tournament while the other seven fast bowlers in the side tallied just 21 Tewatia finished the league stage as the only Indian player to score over 200 runs and get 10 wickets in IPL 2020 Star performersNeed early wickets? Want to rattle a set, experienced batsman? Want to keep the opposition quiet in the death overs? Call Jofra.Fast bowlers, in general, had a great tournament, but Archer was on a different level. He carried the team’s bowling load single-handedly, impressing in the powerplay and at the death alike. He bowled regularly in excess of 145kph, used the bouncer to full effect and nailed the yorkers consistently. He conceded just 4.34 runs per over in the powerplay – the best in the period this season; in fact, he has the best economy rate (5.35) for a fast bowler in this phase in the IPL overall (minimum 100 balls bowled).Tewatia was a revelation for the Royals this season. The superb comeback he staged in the match against Kings XI made oppositions wary of him in the games to follow. Still, he was the complete all-round package for the Royals – he was explosive with the bat and also had good returns with his legspin on a few occasions. He racked up 255 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 139 and finished with 10 wickets. After the Royals crashed out with a loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders, Smith conceded that there was not enough support for Archer and Tewatia, especially from the top-order batsmen.What needs immediate fixing?A change in captaincy – albeit unlikely – could possibly help them. If the mega auction does happen before the next season, they can look to rope in an Indian captain. They have one of the best overseas units in the tournament so having an Indian captain could help rotate and utilise their overseas options more effectively.They are also in need of an experienced Indian or an overseas fast bowler to bowl alongside Archer, especially at the death. Tyagi, although quite impressive at times, is a tad too inexperienced to share the load, while the likes of Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot and Varun Aaron were expensive.

And which batter has the highest Test score away from home?

Steven Lynch17-Aug-2021Joe Root twice survived hat-trick balls during his unbeaten 180 in the Lord’s Test. Has anyone else managed this? asked James Hampshire from England
Joe Root entered on a hat-trick in the second Test against India at Lord’s, after Mohammed Siraj dismissed Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed with successive balls in the 15th over of England’s first innings, and later faced up to Ishant Sharma’s next ball after he’d removed Moeen Ali and Sam Curran in his previous over (the 111th).The only other man known to have to faced two hat-trick balls in the same Test innings is Mohammad Ashraful, during Bangladesh’s match against India in Dhaka in 2004, when he thwarted Irfan Pathan on two separate occasions during a defiant 60 not out.In Bridgetown earlier in 2004, Brian Lara did something very similar. In the 17th over of West Indies’ second innings against England, he survived a hat-trick ball from Andrew Flintoff, although the wickets had actually fallen in the first innings. Not long afterwards Matthew Hoggard really did take a hat-trick, with the last three balls of the 21st over. Lara faced his next delivery – the first one of the 23rd – and prevented Hoggard taking four wickets in four balls, which some people call a double hat-trick. (Thanks to Charles Davis for his help with this one.)Was India’s tail in the Lord’s Test, with the four fast bowlers at Nos. 8-11, the worst in Test history? asked Ivan Sowry from New Zealand
This is very difficult to work out, as there are some Test sides – notably in a country’s early matches – where Nos. 8-11 have very few runs. India’s late order at Lord’s did look pretty flimsy on paper, with Mohammed Shami (Test average 11) at No. 8 in the first innings – although it must be said that Shami and the others made a nonsense of this in the second. But I also remember an England team, against New Zealand at The Oval in 1999, which had the worst tail anyone could remember – Andy Caddick (final Test average 10.37) at No. 8, followed by genuine No. 11s Alan Mullally (5.52), Phil Tufnell (5.09) and Ed Giddins (2.50).Shiva Jayaraman, one of the hard-pressed ESPNcricinfo stats team, crunched a few numbers for recent first-class cricket, although he did warn that lack of detailed data for first-class matches meant he couldn’t go back very far. But he did manage to come up with a statistically worse last four than India’s at Lord’s. Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj had 2476 first-class runs between them before the game, at an average of 9.30: Pakistan’s last four in their Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi in December 2019 – Usman Shinwari, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah – had previously amassed 1043 first-class runs at an average of just 8.34.Some earlier games might well beat this: for example, none of South Africa’s team in their inaugural Test, against England in Port Elizabeth in 1888-89, had ever played a first-class match before.Don Bradman scored 6996 runs in Tests and was run out only once. But which player scored the most Test runs without ever being run out? asked Jamie Stewart from Australia
The man who made the most runs in Tests without ever being caught short of his crease is the great Indian allrounder Kapil Dev, with 5248: he was never run out in 184 Test innings, another record. Next comes the former England captain Peter May, who was never run out while compiling 4537 runs in Tests. The current South African opener Dean Elgar is not far behind – he’s so far made 4347 runs without being run out.You’re right that Don Bradman was run out only once in his 80 Test innings – against England in Adelaide in 1928-29, beaten by a return to the wicketkeeper from the covers. The fielder was 46-year-old Jack Hobbs. Two batters have scored more Test runs than Bradman while being run out only once: Alastair Cook made 12,472 in 291 innings, and Chris Gayle 7215 in 182.Hanif Mohammad’s 337 against West Indies in Bridgetown remains the highest Test score by a batter away•PA Photos Which batter has the highest score away from home – I know Sachin Tendulkar made his highest score in Bangladesh? asked Venkata Praveen Puvadi from the United States
The highest score of Sachin Tendulkar’s illustrious Test career was 248 not out, against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2004-05. But there are a number of higher scores by batters in away Tests: biggest of all was Hanif Mohammad’s epic 337, in more than 16 hours, for Pakistan against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58.Don Bradman made two triple-centuries away from home, both at Headingley – 334 in 1930, and 304 in 1934. Eight other batters have completed Test triple-centuries outside their own country.This excludes performances in Tests at neutral venues, mainly Pakistan’s matches in the UAE. Azhar Ali made 302 not out in a day-night match against West Indies in Dubai in 2016-17, while AB de Villiers hit an unbeaten 278 for South Africa vs Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2010-11.Is it true that Lord’s has hosted more Tests than any other ground in the world? And which grounds hold the corresponding records for one-day and Twenty20 internationals? asked Sunit Kumar from Sri Lanka
The just concluded match between England and India was the 141st Test to be played at Lord’s since the first one there in 1884. That is indeed the record: three other grounds have staged more than 100. The Melbourne Cricket Ground has so far held 113 Tests, Sydney 109, and The Oval 102.Lord’s is, however, well down the list when it comes to one-day internationals: there have been 67, fewer than 13 other grounds worldwide, including The Oval (74). Right at the top of the list is the Sharjah CA Stadium, which has staged no fewer than 240 ODIs. Sydney comes next with 159, then Harare with 154 and Melbourne 149.The UAE also leads the way when it comes to T20Is, although this time it’s the Dubai International Stadium that is top, having staged 62. Next come Mirpur with 49 and Abu Dhabi with 48.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Anderson is unique because he gets movement all the time without losing one of his regular deliveries

Ian Chappell29-Aug-2021When the Indian side has a batting collapse, they don’t do it by half measures. They were dismissed at Adelaide Oval for a paltry 36 and then at Headingley for a miserable 78. Both were monumental batting disasters and they occurred in the space of just eight months.At least India have the minor consolation of knowing that on both occasions they nicked a lot of deliveries rather than playing and missing, and were brought undone by some very good bowling.The collapse at Headingley was engineered by a master of his craft. James Anderson is the best at his art; his ability to control swing in both directions and disguise his intentions is masterly. The remorseless way he sets up batters with the skill of a seasoned copper makes him an unstoppable force on his day.Related

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Anderson’s longevity, and the fact that he achieves consistent movement without periodically losing one or other of his main deliveries, means he’s unique as a swing bowler.I had the pleasure of watching close up as Bob Massie conducted a masterclass in swing bowling at Lord’s in 1972. He captured 16 wickets on debut – eight in each innings – and mesmerised the English batters with prodigious swing.There were other occasions when Massie consistently swung the ball and troubled batters but his Test career was over less than 200 days after his Lord’s epic.Anderson has done it successfully for 166 Tests, with no end in sight to his swing-bowling supremacy. India’s top order may have been humiliated by a 39-year-old taunter, but it’s easier to accept when you succumb to a champion.The big wicket that really put the skids under India was that of their captain, Virat Kohli. This was the seventh time Anderson has dismissed Kohli in Test matches, and despite knowing how the ambush was planned, Kohli was unable to avoid such a deftly laid trap.On my retirement, a number of cricket enthusiasts gleefully reproached me, “Gee you got out to John Snow a lot.”My response was, “At least I was getting out to one of the best.”Not that it’s any great consolation, but Kohli will have similar sentiments. It also stands to reason that Kohli, as the biggest danger in the Indian line-up, is going to be regularly confronted by Anderson unless Joe Root misplaces his captaincy marbles.It’s not much fun being bowled out for 78 in a Test match, as I found out at Lord’s in 1968. At least Australia had the excuse of batting on a damp pitch after a rain shower sent water scuttling down the Lord’s slope onto the uncovered pitch.After being bowled out so cheaply, India’s only recourse was to hit back quickly and effectively. In those situations a bowling leader needs to stand up and propel himself into the contest.Western Australia had a superman in that category and he donned his cape in the 1976-77 Gillette Cup semi-final as Queensland chased a mere 78 for victory at the WACA ground.Before WA went out to bowl, their captain, Rod Marsh, exhorted his troops: “There’s a big crowd out there, let’s give them some entertainment.”Brushing past his captain, Dennis Lillee turned as he reached the dressing room door. “Don’t worry about entertainment,” he exploded, “let’s win the [adjectival] match.”It’s one thing to say it, but Lillee did it, quickly sending Viv Richards and Greg Chappell – the two opposition champions – on their way as WA charged into the final.In India’s case their response was a disaster. Kohli’s opening choice, Ishant Sharma, bowled a horrendous first over and England were quickly on their way to a huge total. Sharma was a strange choice in a situation where early wickets – Root’s, especially – were essential to India’s hopes of containing England’s lead.Having produced an amazing comeback to win the series after a disastrous collapse at Adelaide, India are now faced with a similar mountain to climb following the Headingley debacle.

After being hit by injury last season questions have been asked about whether Warner can dominate Test cricket again

Alex Malcolm06-Dec-2021Chris Rogers is frustrated that his memory of specific moments of his playing career is not as clear as he would like. But when asked to sum up David Warner’s talent as a Test match opener, one moment rang clear as a bell.”I’ll never forget the four fours he hit in a row against Morne Morkel at Port Elizabeth,” Rogers told ESPNcricinfo.It was the second Test in the tight 2014 series. Australia needed 448 in the fourth innings to win the series 2-0. They were 0 for 37 in the 11th over when Warner unleashed on Morkel. He thrashed a 144kph back of a length delivery through point. South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith sent point to the rope. Morkel delivered the same ball and Warner smashed him forward of point to beat the man in the deep for four more. Morkel then changed the angle and went around the wicket. Again he delivered a ball back of a length, climbing outside off, and Warner stepped back and across and hit in Rogers’ words a “half pull, half back foot punch through midwicket.” Morkel went back over the wicket only to see his fourth ball fly fine of gully for four in a row. Australia would go on to lose the game, but they won the series, as Warner was in the midst of a string of consecutive Test scores of 115, 70, 66, 135, 145, and 133, all away from home.”Morne was not bowling medium pace either and he’s nearly seven-foot tall,” Rogers said. “It was just…it was some of the best batting I had ever seen. At that stage, he had this ability to pick up the length. That’s probably what separates him from others.”There will be those who point to the fact that the batter Rogers is describing is nearly eight years removed from the man who just turned 35 over a month ago.Related

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Father time is undefeated and opinions have been cast about how George Bailey and Australia’s selectors may have a tough decision to make on Warner sooner rather than later. How the frantic search for a player to partner Warner might not be the biggest elephant in the room, but rather, Warner’s form itself.Australia’s selectors have a problem for sure. But it is not about Warner’s form, it is replacing him in the long term whenever he does finish playing.Never mind his player of the tournament performance at the T20 World Cup. Test match openers with 7000 runs at an average 48 and 24 Test hundreds don’t grow on trees. You can’t just order one for Christmas, let alone two.Only four men in the history of the game have scored more Test centuries opening the batting, Sunil Gavaskar, Alastair Cook, Matthew Hayden and Graeme Smith. Warner’s average is within two runs of the best of that group, and his strike-rate is in a different sphere.”Without a doubt, he’d be among the most talented players I have batted with,” Rogers said. “And I’ve been lucky enough to bat with some good ones. But he definitely stands out from that point of view.”When you bat with him, the opposition wasn’t actually overly concerned with what you were doing. They were always concerned with what he was doing.”It was almost like a mark of respect for him because they knew that he could ruin the game within a session. Whereas the guy down the other end, they were comfortable that he would have to bat two or three sessions or more to change the game.”But David could turn the game just like that. So, it was one of the benefits of batting down the other end with him. It was almost like you didn’t exist.”Since Warner’s debut, he has 10 more centuries than the next best, which is Cook, and his run-tally is unrivalled. Of the 15 Australian Test openers used in that same period, Warner has more runs and 10 more hundreds than the other 14 combined. Incidentally, no opening pair in world cricket, have scored more runs or century stands together than Rogers and Warner in that time.But the questions have started about what he has left. He was prolific during the 2019-2020 home season where he averaged 131.00 with three hundreds including the career-best 335 not out against Pakistan. Since January 2020 he has played just two Test matches, and he did so with a damaged groin against India that had not fully healed.However, it’s the spectre of Stuart Broad and the 2019 Ashes hangs over him. While Steven Smith won back hearts and minds with an Ashes for ages, Warner averaged 9.50 for the series with Broad removing him seven times.”Broad’s always been a bit of a bogey,” Rogers said. “And what people don’t understand, I found Broad really difficult as well. Somehow he would scramble the seam and even though it looked like he was shaping the ball one way, it wouldn’t always come out that way.

Watching him go out and take down some of the best bowlers in the world against the new ball is extraordinary because everyone wants to be able to do it but you can’t do itChris Rogers on David Warner

“There were times when I thought the ball was going to swing out and it would dart back in. It was really hard to line up.”We’re not overly sympathetic of guys at times. Once you get to a certain level of performance, it’s not automatic that you’re going to stay at that level. You’re going to go in and out of form.”As Warner proved in the World Cup, form is temporary and class is permanent. His axing by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL fueled his motivation to solve the problem of his lack of runs.”That’s probably one of the things I was most impressed with, how good a problem solver he is,” Rogers said. “I just expected him to have the attitude that, ‘I’m going to take down everyone’. But I would have conversations with him where you could see him think his way through situations.”That seems like it should be pretty obvious, but it actually isn’t. Some guys would always have the mindset of ‘see ball, hit ball’, and that’s how they always played, but the best are not like that. The best are the ones who will manage the waves of the game and he would do it.”Finding a permanent partner for Warner in recent years has been hard enough, let alone a replacement. The likes of Joe Burns, Matthew Renshaw and Cameron Bancroft have all had multiple cracks at it without cementing their place. Marcus Harris gets another chance this series but there are question marks over him given he averages 23.77 in 10 Tests. Since Warner’s Test debut no Sheffield Shield opener has scored more runs or centuries than Harris and only four men globally have scored more first-class runs in 2021.David Warner’s previous Ashes series was record-breakingly low-scoring•Getty ImagesEven when Warner has been absent, during both his ban and his groin injury last summer, such has been the distrust of the potential candidates in Shield ranks, he has been replaced by the likes of Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Matthew Wade who either had little recent experience opening at first-class level, or none at all in the case of Wade. Will Pucovski, who walked out alongside Warner last summer in his Test debut in Sydney, had opened in just five first-class innings prior to his selection.Australia’s selectors have turned to Henry Hunt and Bryce Street as the Australia A combination to face England Lions this week. Both are specialist openers who have shown exceptional fighting qualities in their short first-class careers to date. But neither yet averages 40, let alone 48. It might be easier to find a needle in a haystack than Warner’s long-term successor.”It’s a bit like when Gilly finished,” Rogers said. “Watching him go out and take down some of the best bowlers in the world against the new ball is extraordinary because everyone wants to be able to do it but you can’t do it.”There are very, very few people who have been capable of that. Obviously, Hayden did, but that came with his size and his brute strength. In Australian conditions, most guys have got to grind their way through.”One thing is for certain, Australian fans need to appreciate Warner while he is here. Because sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

The numbers that sum up the New Zealand quick’s ability to unsettle batters with his bouncers

Shiva Jayaraman27-Feb-2022Experts in the commentary box at the Hagley Oval wondered if Neil Wagner’s bouncers at Rassie van der Dussen were leaking valuable runs to South Africa. The visitors’ lead had crossed 150 and van der Dussen was negotiating Wagner’s short balls pretty well. The one real chance that Wagner created by bowling short at van der Dussen had been spilled by Colin de Grandhomme. Surely, the South Africa batter wouldn’t give another one? May be it was time to change tactics?But that’s not how Wagner operates. He is a few days shy of 36, but continues to bowl every ball of every spell in every Test match he gets to play with relentless intensity. That relentless intensity was what got van der Dussen in the end. Like he did in South Africa’s second innings, Wagner has repeatedly delivered for New Zealand when they desperately need him to. And it’s often been through aggressive short-pitched bowling. No bowler has taken more wickets bowling short balls than Wagner since his debut in July 2012.

In 2012, he was busy topping bowling charts for West Indies at a World Cup in Australia. Could he do the same with the bat later this year?

Deivarayan Muthu03-Aug-2022Kyle Mayers began his career as a bowler who could hit some sixes lower down the order. At the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia, he emerged as the highest wicket-taker for West Indies – and the fourth highest overall – with 12 strikes in six matches at an average of 11.83 and economy rate of 3.78. Three years later, on his first-class debut for Windward Islands, he took the new ball and bagged a duck from No. 8 in his first innings.Mayers to open the batting for West Indies at a T20 World Cup? Who’d have thunk it? A series of unexpected events now means he could well be returning to Australia as an opening bowler batter.Related

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Chris Gayle hasn’t officially retired yet, but his West Indies future is uncertain. Gayle, 42, has not played for West Indies since the previous T20 World Cup in the UAE. He will not be in action in CPL 2022 either and has instead turned his focus to 6IXTY, a T10 tournament.Evin Lewis’ immediate future with West Indies seems uncertain as well after he failed to complete a fitness test that had been arranged for him by the CWI during his recent IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants, according to chief selector Desmond Haynes. Much like Gayle, Lewis has not played for West Indies since they bowed out of the 2021 T20 World Cup.So, let’s talk about Mayers now. An ankle injury sustained in 2018 forced him to reduce his bowling workload and remodel himself into a batting allrounder. In 2018, Mayers didn’t have a CPL contract and, after he recovered, he worked his way back into action, with high returns in a low-profile setting in Oslo.When his side Eagles didn’t have an opening batter at the Norway T20 Premier League, Mayers stepped in and cracked 528 runs in six matches at an average of over 100. Once he returned home, Mayers told his father Shirley Clarke, the former Barbados allrounder and now Level-3 coach, that he preferred to continue at the top for his local club as well.

“He is one of the West Indies’ most important players at the moment and, [in] every game, he continues to grow and improve and that’s something wonderful.”Pooran on Mayers

“Norway was where I opened the batting for the first time,” Mayers told last year. “Then, when I came [back] from Norway, I went home and my dad asked me where I wanted to bat at the club. So we had T20s and I was saying: ‘you know what? At the top (laughs).'”I broke a record in Norway, then I broke a record for Carlton [club] as well in the domestic T20. So, I thought it [opening in Norway] was a stepping stone and it gave me another option. It showed me what I’m capable of doing.”At the CPL for Barbados Royals, Mayers had shown what he is capable of at the top. On Tuesday, against India’s IPL superstars, on a used pitch in St Kitts, Mayers once again showed everyone that he could be explosive as an opening batter.When Avesh Khan dug in a hip-high delivery at 140kph, Mayers jumped into position quickly and short-arm jabbed it over midwicket for four. Most quicks in modern T20 cricket rely on heavy lengths to stop batters from driving and pulling, but Mayers has developed this short-arm jab to counter them and manufacture scoring opportunities. The next ball was even shorter from Avesh, but Mayers was one step ahead of him. He sat back for this exact length and pulled him with the strong wind over square leg for six.The ball didn’t swing for Bhuvneshwar Kumar but he still kept things tight by targeting the stumps, with protection on the leg side. Mayers, however, found a way to score once again by backing away and belting a leg-stump ball through extra cover. Mayers was responsible for 29 of the 45 runs West Indies had scored in the first six overs.Since the start of 2022, Mayers has struck at 147.44 in the powerplay – the highest among openers who have played at least 10 innings in T20I cricket during this period. Rohit Sharma (140.16), Regis Chakabva (137.60), Andy Balbirnie (136.36) and Paul Stirling (123.21) are the others in the top five on this list.Kyle Mayers took on the fast bowlers in the powerplay•AFP/Getty ImagesImmediately after the powerplay in the third T20I, Rohit matched up R Ashwin with Mayers, but the left-hander kept up the intent high by stretching out and pumping the offspinner to the left of long-off. Mayers then briefly appeared clueless when Hardik Pandya hid the ball away from his swinging arc with a mixture of slower cutters and on-pace back-of-a-length deliveries.But, after slogging and missing three times in a row against Hardik, Mayers adjusted and played late, deliberately opening the face of the bat and dinking a four between backward point and short third man. When Avesh, one of India’s most inexperienced seamers on tour, returned to the attack in the 14th over, Mayers went after him once again.He then launched Bhuvneshwar with the wind for another six, but when tried to repeat the shot, the bowler took pace off and took him out for 73 off 50 balls.Of course, Mayers is no Gayle or Lewis but he can give it a good whack and with Brandon King also showing some improvement against spin, West Indies could have a promising left-right opening combination at the World Cup.”It’s about communication,” Mayers said of his partnership with King. “Whoever gets off to the flier, you continue to give him the strike. Once the person is hot, you continue to feed him to get him going and give the other person that’s not going the time to get in and click at the end.”Batting aside, Mayers can also play on the egos of batters with his floaty legcutters and legrollers. In the second ODI against India in Port of Spain, he tricked both Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav with lack of pace in successive overs. In the same game, he had pulled off a spectacular sliding catch at deep third to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan.Mayers is only into his second year in international cricket but has already established himself as an “important” all-format player for West Indies, as captain Nicholas Pooran suggested in his glowing appraisal of Mayers’ all-round abilities during the ODI series.”Kyle has been impressive so far in all formats,” Pooran had said. “He is one of the West Indies’ most important players at the moment and [in] every game, he continues to grow and improve and that’s something wonderful.”Going forward, we do hope he can continue going from strength to strength and, you know, he is working really hard as well. He is now getting rewarded and we are really happy for that.” Australia calling, then?

Test your knowledge and memory as the India batter becomes the second cricketer to play 100 internationals in all three formats

Sreshth Shah28-Aug-2022

There are concerns elsewhere too: in taking on quality spin, and in assembling a solid pace attack if Shaheen Afridi isn’t good to go

Shashank Kishore13-Sep-2022The Babar-Rizwan conundrum
We have talked about this before. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have scored over 60% of Pakistan’s runs in all T20Is since the start of last year’s T20 World Cup and have been, over the last two years, a wildly prolific pair. But, like in the semi-final loss at the T20 World Cup last year, the Asia Cup has made it clear there’s merit in trying to break them up.Related

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Rizwan top-scored at the Asia Cup, but he struck at just 117.57. There’s a growing chorus over how his approach might not be the most optimal for Pakistan. Where middling targets haven’t been that much of a problem – their World Cup game against India last year being a prime example – bigger targets have magnified their issue with strike rates.In the Asia Cup final, for example, Rizwan played 22 deliveries in the powerplay while striking at 72.72 – in a chase of 170. Iftikhar Ahmed’s 31-ball 32 sucked the air out of that chase as well and by the time Rizwan was dismissed for a 49-ball 55, the pair had left Pakistan with a few too many to get – 61 off 23.Babar, meanwhile, has just one half-century in seven T20I innings this year. That half-century was in a losing cause against Australia, where Pakistan collapsed around his 46-ball 66 and finished with a below-par total that was chased down comfortably. Questions about his striking in the powerplay have lingered for far longer than has been the case with Rizwan.For a pair, their run rate is the second-lowest among all Full Members, behind Danushka Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka. In 13 games, they have scored 401 runs at a strike rate of 122.27. On the face of it, it’s not too bad, but it has invariably put a lot of pressure on the middle order.2:59

Is middle-order batting Pakistan’s Achilles’ heel?

Given Pakistan play seven T20Is at home against England and a tri-series with New Zealand and Bangladesh, in New Zealand, in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, they could yet change the opening pair: one of the moves could be to have Fakhar Zaman open the batting, and one of Rizwan or Babar drop down the order.”I think they should [separate Babar and Rizwan],” Mickey Arthur, their former coach, said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out programme during the Asia Cup. “Fakhar hits the ball in different areas, it frustrates the bowlers a little bit. It is the different angles, you’ve got a left-hand and a right-hand. So, spread Babar and Rizwan and you put Fakhar Zaman back at the top.”More power for the middle
As things stand, because teams know the openers occupy the crease for a good length of time and score the bulk of the runs, there isn’t a lot below the top three, even though the middle order has typically scored their runs quickly enough.But there is a larger problem there – against spin.Versus Afghanistan, Pakistan’s move to promote Shadab Khan to No. 5 [with good effect] was largely to shield Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah from Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. In the Super 4s game against India, Ravi Bishnoi kept them quiet in the death overs. And if it wasn’t for Asif’s reprieve – after top-edging a slog off Yuzvendra Chahal – who knows how that game could have turned out? Such luck may not come their way all the time.Khushdil’s record at No. 4 across T20s is impressive, striking at 146 at an average of 27. But the disparity between his domestic T20 record [strike rate 138, average nearly 29] and his international one [strike rate 110, average 20] is vast and over an increasing sample size. He also has struggled against spin.Shan Masood is more comfortable as an anchor, but has reinvented himself in T20 cricket of late•Getty ImagesIn fact, Shadab’s record at No. 4 is stellar enough to wonder why he has never played there for Pakistan. In 19 innings, he’s averaging over 28 at a strike rate of nearly 160 . He was especially impressive for Islamabad United in the last PSL, until an injury disrupted his season.Other options include Haider Ali, who could be elevated from the bench, where he spent the whole of the Asia Cup. However, he hasn’t featured in any T20I since December last year. Having travelled with the national team, he has also missed out on any form of game time in the shortest format since March.Another option gaining traction among observers of Pakistan cricket is Shan Masood, who has been in the form of his life. Though uncapped in T20Is, Masood, the tall left-handed opener, has amassed 1257 runs in the format in 2022, striking at 136.68. He set tongues wagging at the Vitality Blast, where he was the fifth-highest run-scorer with 547 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 139.89 for Derbyshire.However, in the ongoing National T20 Cup, he is batting in the middle order, seemingly in a bid to make the T20 World Cup squad. But, like Rizwan and Babar, Masood is primarily an anchor. This may not work in the middle order, but the plethora of games in the lead-up could give him an opportunity to present a case for making the first XI in Australia.The real outside shots are Sharjeel Khan and Azam Khan, the latter currently playing in the CPL for Barbados Royals in the middle order.Sharjeel hasn’t featured in T20Is for over a year now, while Azam’s selection eligibility – given he has obtained a no-objection certificate from the PCB to play in the CPL rather than in the National T20 Cup – is unclear. On Monday, opening for Sindh, Sharjeel struck an unbeaten 62-ball 107 to help raze down Balochistan’s 158, with three overs to go. But, again, much of his success for Pakistan has been at the top.Pakistan would dearly love to have Shaheen Afridi back, and firing, at the T20 World Cup•ICC via GettyWhat happens if Afridi misses out?
Pakistan don’t have problems with their allrounders, with Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz certainties. But in the pace department, they are anxiously waiting on Shaheen Shah Afridi’s recovery from a knee injury.The nature and extent of that injury has only become clearer over time and Shaheen has now missed the Asia Cup and will likely sit out the seven T20Is against England as he undergoes treatment. If he returns, Pakistan have a gun pace attack with Shaheen, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, with all his BBL experience, being the top three pacers.If Shaheen misses out, Pakistan will be banking on one of Mohammad Hasnain, like they did at the Asia Cup, or Shahnawaz Dahani, who featured in just one game, against Hong Kong. If Mohammad Wasim doesn’t recover in time, it could mean Hasan Ali remains in the mix, even though he may have not played much cricket recently, leaving the back-up options a tad undercooked.Which is why drawing a balance between results and providing players opportunities against England will become all the more crucial.