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While the rest of the New Zealand top order struggled against the Bangladesh attack, it seemed like he was batting on a different surface

Sreshth Shah in Potchefstroom06-Feb-2020Ten New Zealand players came out to bat in the semi-final against Bangladesh. Nine of them combined to score 122 runs in 218 deliveries at a strike rate of 55.96. The tenth, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, scored 75 at a strike rate of 90.36.It seemed like Wheeler-Greenall was batting on a different surface than the rest of his team-mates. While the rest of the New Zealand top order struggled to find the gaps against Bangladesh’s varied and effective bowling attack, Wheeler-Greenall continued to drag New Zealand out of the quicksand they were apparently sinking in.When he walked in to bat after 25.4 overs, New Zealand were at 75 for 4, struggling to even score at three runs per over. It seemed he had a plan, to take the team through the 50 overs. At some point, the runs would come, and they did in the final ten when the team scored at a run rate of more than seven. The way he paced his innings, is what makes him one to watch out for in the future.He took his time at the start. Facing two quality spinners from both ends, he scored only two runs in his first 11 deliveries. He let himself settle in. But as soon as he took strike in the 29th over, he smashed the left-arm spinner, Rakibul Hasan, for consecutive boundaries.Nicholas Lidstone and Wheeler-Greenall added 65 for the fifth wicket, but when the former fell, the New Zealand innings still had 56 balls remaining. When the wicketkeeper Quinn Sunde fell for 1, leaving Wheeler-Greenall with only the tailenders to play with, they had 50 balls left. In those 50 balls, New Zealand made 69.Trusting his skills, he ramped the Bangladesh quick Tanzim Hasan Sakib for a six over fine leg in the 43rd over to begin his charge. He then thumped two fours off left-arm spinner Hasan Murad in the 44th to reach his second fifty of the tournament. It looked like New Zealand’s push for a 200-plus total had begun, but another couple of wickets left them with the very real prospect of being all out without lasting the 50 overs. So Wheeler-Greenall reined himself in once more, knocking the ball around till the end of the 49th over. With six balls left and two wickets still in hand, he unleashed his strokes, clattering 10 runs off the first two legal deliveries of the final over to take New Zealand past 200. A couple of scampered byes in the last three balls of the innings helped New Zealand finish on 211 for 8.This, however, wasn’t the first time Wheeler-Greenall has held New Zealand’s batting together. In the must-win game against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, it was his 111-ball 80 that had taken New Zealand close to the rather stiff target of 243. He had very nearly taken the team home too, but a search for a quick single had him run-out in the 49th over. That day, his team-mate Kristian Clarke’s two-ball six had saved New Zealand the blushes as they won in the final over, and on Thursday, he hoped to do the same. While his efforts could not take his team through to the final, it at least ensured the much-awaited semi-final wasn’t a damp squib and that his team could leave the field with their heads held high despite their six-wicket defeat.Before he became a serious cricketer in consideration for a spot in the New Zealand Under-19 side, Wheeler-Greenall used to play football regularly in the winter months as three members of his family have played club football for Otago United. It’s not surprising that he gets his first name from former England football captain David Beckham.One of Beckham’s most famous goals is from the halfway line against Wimbledon. Wheeler-Greenall’s most memorable moment from the football pitch, too, is a half-line goal he scored for his Dunedin-based high school during the quarter-final of the country’s youth championships. For New Zealand, Wheeler-Greenall wears jersey No. 23. Beckham had the same digits at Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.After this tournament, Wheeler-Greenall will go back to schools cricket, and a first-class debut is still relatively far away in the pipeline for the 17-year-old. But one thing has been proven. If Beckham could bend it, Wheeler-Greenall has shown he can mend it.

The story of a player who was very nearly lost to Pakistan cricket, only to make a stirring comeback

Umar Farooq21-Feb-2020Where did he come from?
Akhtar was born in Haripur, a district in the Hazara divison of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, in the northern part of Pakistan. But he isn’t a , as most locals there are. He speaks Hindko and grew up around the Khanpur Dam and Wah Cantonment area, an hour’s drive from Islamabad.The most popular cricketer from this region was Arshad ur Rehman (popularly known as Arshad ), but he had to settle for playing in grade two for all of his 20-year career. Akhtar, too, could have been lost in the same way. He was in his early 20s when he picked up hard-ball cricket, but with lack of opportunities, he had been stuck playing district-level tournaments until Lahore Qalandars him at age 30.How did he get into competitive cricket?
Akhtar was 24 when he made his debut for Haripur in the PCB’s inter-district senior tournament. That was in 2010. He marked the occasion with an explosive hundred, an early sign that he would end up as his team’s leading run-getter – 307 runs in five games at 51.17. On that form, he might have expected a ticket to the 2011 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with Abbottabad, but it never happened. And then the runs dried up. He did get a shot at first-class cricket, though, but perhaps after he was past his prime.Why did it take so long for him to make the grade?
Akhtar was a victim of inter-district politics. While every district had due representation at the top level in the domestic circuit, players from the ones with stronger lobbies found it easier to break through. As a result, his senior career was restricted to 12 just first-class matches, between 2013 and 2017.With Abbottabad Falcons relegated from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy after finishing bottom in 2014, Akhtar returned to playing in grade two for a private confectionary maker, Candyland, and also for his home district. Finally, after playing for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) team in 2017, he gave up on his first-class dreams and took up a clerk’s job in Pakistan’s atomic energy department.What made him come back?
Well, T20 cricket. He chose to stay active in the shortest format and has been especially productive over the last three years. Between 2017 and 2018, he scored 303 runs for FATA at 33.66 with a strike rate of 126.25. It was around this time that the Qalandars’ player development programme was gaining recognition and PCB coach Ayyaz Akbar Yousafzi recommended his name to Aaqib Javed.Akhtar didn’t make much headway on his first try – actually he wasn’t even given one, largely because he was seen as overweight – but then Fakhar Zaman requested the Qalandars management to reconsider and at least let him play in the trials. Once there, Akhtar put on such a show that he eclipsed Umar Akmal with his big-hitting and was soon admitted into the Qalandars’ ranks.Okay, but how did he become their captain?
Qalandars have long struggled to make a mark in the PSL, never getting past the group stage and often finishing last. In their search for new leaders, they turned to one of their more solid performers, Akhtar, who had taken to the role of middle-order power-hitter quite well over the last two seasons, scoring 556 runs at a solid average of 37.06 and a healthy strike rate. Under his captaincy, the team won the 2018 Abu Dhabi T20 trophy.While one random title win does not herald a new era, the manner in which Akhtar achieved it impressed the Qalandars staff. His hundred in the opening game was a watershed moment. Watching him steer a chase of 184 against Yorkshire gave the management all the confidence they needed to put him in charge for the upcoming PSL season. It helped, as well, that Akhtar emerged as the Qalandars’ highest run-getter in the Abu Dhabi competition, suggesting that he enjoyed the extra responsibility.

The New Zealand batter took a break to have a child, and now returns to the top level to play her 100th T20I

Andrew McGlashan23-Sep-2020For all the players involved, the Australia-New Zealand women’s series which starts in Brisbane on Saturday is important, bringing international sport back to the country for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, but for Amy Satterthwaite there will be added significance as she returns to the game after having her first child with wife and team-mate Lea Tahuhu.Grace Marie was born on January 13 and nine months later Satterthwaite will join what remains a select group of sportswomen to return to the top of their field after starting a family. Providing selection goes in her favour, the opening match of the T20I series will also be Satterthwaite’s 100th T20I.”It’s a pretty special story to think I’ve gone away, had a child and my first possible game back will not only be for New Zealand but also be my 100th T20,” Satterthwaite told ESPNcricinfo. “And for Grace to be able to be around and see that, hopefully it will be a special day.”

Grace has been with us on tour and it’s been awesome, think the team has really enjoyed having her around bringing a lot of smiles to faces

While the decision to start a family when playing elite sport was nothing to do with making statements for Satterthwaite, she admitted becoming more aware of what it can stand for and how it can further show that it is no longer an either/or decision.”More people have pointed it out as we’ve gone along and what it means,” she said. “It certainly wasn’t something we set out to do, but you come to realise just the nature of what we are doing, you are setting a bit of trail as people call it.”I’ve played for a while now and I’ve seen people who were playing for New Zealand or Canterbury and they’ve stopped to have a family then not come back. From our point of view, it would be an awesome result to be able to show that people can have a family and still play.”The Covid-world has brought a new set of challenges, especially as Satterthwaite and Tahuhu are at the start of a long stay in Australia with the WBBL for Melbourne Renegades to follow this series. Originally the plan would have been to have family join them to help look after Grace, but quarantine restrictions has meant that isn’t possible so they organised separate nannies, who will be within the biosecure bubbles, for their stays in Brisbane and then Sydney.Amy Satterthwaite sweeps•Getty Images”It threw a bit of a spanner in the works like it did for most people,” Satterthwaite said. “Grace has been with us on tour and it’s been awesome, think the team has really enjoyed having her around bringing a lot of smiles to faces. It’s been a nice distraction while we’ve been in quarantine.”Satterthwaite, who has lost the New Zealand captaincy to Sophie Devine, will resume the role in the WBBL with last year’s Renegades’ skipper, Jess Duffin, having also given birth in June.Both New Zealand Cricket and the Renegades “have been brilliant,” she added. “It takes a lot of stress and pressure off you to able to know that’s all taken care of and that support is there, you and enjoy training and playing.”Satterthwaite returned to training a few months ago in the depths of the New Zealand winter and while she admitted to occasional thoughts about the reality of the challenges the hunger remained.”You start thinking of the road ahead, the fitness that you’ve got involved, you sort of think ‘will I be up for this?’ but for the most part that fire was still in the belly to come back,” she said. “Definitely there was an element of having this new life, and having Grace there I knew it was going to be pretty tough to be able to leave her to train but the more I got into it the more normal it became, that was probably the hardest part leaving her to go and work.

I’ve played for a while now and I’ve seen people who were playing for New Zealand or Canterbury and they’ve stopped to have a family then not come back. From our point of view, it would be an awesome result to be able to show that people can have a family and still play

“That first hit I had with [New Zealand coach] Bob Carter was certainly an interesting one. That feeling of apprehension about whether you’ll be able to hit the ball, but at the same I had low expectations because I hadn’t played cricket for a while. In a roundabout way I was pretty relaxed and it went quite well. After a long break you have that slight nervousness as to whether or not you will really want to come back and for me to enjoy that session reinforced that I was looking forward to it. So that was a nice feeling.”In the three years before her break, from 2016-2019, Satterthwaite had risen to be the No. 1 batter in ODI cricket and she will return to that format in early October still ranked No. 7. In that period she averaged a phenomenal 61.35 and it included four hundreds in consecutive innings which equalled the world record held by Kumar Sangakkara. On the route back she has delved into the archives of that memorable time.”I have certainly had a look at the footage to remind myself of how I played and what worked. When you haven’t played for a while it’s nice to refresh the memory and hopefully take that into when I do get back onto the park, remember the feelings I was having at the time when it was working well. I think too often as cricketers we look at what isn’t going well and it’s very important to look at strengths and what has been successful.”By contrast, her T20I record is less eye-catching with an average of 21.19 and just one half-century in 89 innings. However, she believes her domestic T20 record where she averaged 28.87 in the WBBL and 31.35 in the now defunct Kia Super League is a truer reflect of where her game sits although she continues to strive to expand her batting.”Over the last few years at domestic level my record has certainly been better there than it has been at international level,” she said. “It’s probably taken longer to work out my game in the T20 format where I’ve been relatively comfortable at 50-overs.”In my career I’ve batted in all sorts of positions in T20 and I know trying to score from the get-go has been something I’ve had to work on over the years. When you have the quality of Sophie [Devine] and Suzie [Bates] ahead of you, you have to learn to play your game and not copy how they play.”There are no guarantees for how the comeback will go for Satterthwaite – “the test will be when you get back out into the middle, competing in matches,” she said – but her return is significant beyond just the runs and wickets.

KKR played out 72 dots in all, which is the second-most in an IPL innings

Bharath Seervi21-Oct-20202 – Mohammed Siraj became the first bowler to bowl two maiden overs in an IPL match. He bowled his first two overs without conceding a run and picked up three wickets – Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, and Tom Banton – in that period.4 – Four maidens were bowled by the RCB bowlers – two by Siraj and one each by Chris Morris and Washington Sundar – a first in IPL history. Not more than two maidens were bowled in the same innings before this.72 – The number of dot balls played out by the KKR batsmen in this innings, which is the second-most in an IPL innings. The highest is 75 dots, also by KKR against CSK in Chennai last year. The previous most dots by a team in a game this year was also KKR – 57 dots against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.ESPNcricinfo Ltd84 – KKR’s total is the lowest non-all-out total for a team batting first in the IPL. The previous lowest in a full 20-over innings was the Mumbai Indians’ 94 for 8 against the Rajasthan Royals in 2011.3-8 – Siraj’s figures in this innings – the most economical figures of IPL 2020 (minimum 12 balls in the spell). Incidentally, before this match, Siraj’s IPL career economy rate was 9.29, the worst among 92 bowlers who had delivered 100-plus overs.2 – Runs scored by KKR’s top-three batsmen, which is the joint second-lowest for a team in the IPL. The lowest is three ducks by the Deccan Charges’ top-three against CSK in 2009.4 – Wickets picked up by RCB in the first four overs of the innings. Only once before had they achieved this – against the Mumbai Indians in 2017.

Allrounder hits the ground running in first first-class innings since Pakistan Test six months ago

Andrew Miller06-Feb-2021For a few glorious overs, either side of an acceptable time to be waking up on a weekend in the UK, the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year was just threatening to go loco once again; and give all of those disenfranchised voters of his, a rare chance to see him in full flow once more, back on the same rival terrestrial TV channel where so many of them would have witnessed his heroics in the World Cup final at Lord’s. Alas, it wasn’t to be in the long term, and by approximately 7.20am GMT, Ben Stokes had holed out to a juggling Cheteshwar Pujara at deep midwicket during the first Test against India in Chennai, causing a wave of the sort of early-morning disappointment more usually associated with the realisation that you’ve forgotten to buy any milk.While it lasted, however, Stokes’ 82 from 118 balls was invaluable and calculated – a formidable display of mind over matter from a cricketer, lest we forget, who had not played a first-class innings in exactly six months since been granted compassionate leave during the Pakistan series in August, and whose absence from the Sri Lanka tour meant that he had been permitted just five days of post-quarantine acclimatisation for Chennai’s heat and humidity.”I bowled, batted and did a lot of running,” Stokes said of his unconventional preparation back in England. “That was pretty much it. Physically, it was making sure I was ready for the Test match, with workload in my body when it comes to the overs. And to be honest, having been around [for] a while and understanding what was best for my game from a batting point of view, I just made sure that I didn’t overkill too much. If I felt good and felt like everything was going alright, then I’d just come out of the nets.”Related

• England dominate after Root's second double-century of 2021

• Root: 644 runs (and counting) in three Tests

• As it happened: Ind vs Eng, 1st Test, Chennai, 2nd day

When compared to the exhaustive sang froid of Joe Root at the other end, there’d be a temptation to wonder why Stokes felt the need to get so rowdy so soon, particularly in light of Root’s bold assertion at the close of the first day, that England needed “600-700″ to be competitive in this first innings. Sure enough, they did manage to bat into the third day of a first innings for the first time since Graham Thorpe made a century containing a solitary boundary in Lahore in 2000-01, but they still seem destined to end up on the marginally shallower side of that ambition.And yet, there is a proven method in Stokes’ madness these days – not least against spin, for which his aggression has its foundations in a defence every bit as rock-solid as Root’s. The confidence of his stride to the pitch of the ball may contrast with Root’s predominantly back-foot approach, but there are few bats in world cricket that look broader at the point of impact than his.Ben Stokes took on the sweep shot when the ball started misbehaving out of the rough•BCCIBut unlike Root, whose game is built around release shots – predominantly on the sweep – Stokes’ defence has a violent element of attack factored into it. That’s not to say it’s infallible, and for the first hour today – one pick-up for six aside – he was kept broadly in check by his most familiar Test nemesis R Ashwin, who has dismissed him seven times in nine previous encounters, more than any other bowler. He had two other key moments again today, a flick off the glove that landed safe on the off side, and a fierce return catch as he drilled hard back through the line.However, Stokes’ confidence in his base does mitigate those moments when he decides to put the hammer down – such as in a thrilling second hour, when the left-armer Shabhaz Nadeem dragged his line wider outside off, and started spitting some vicious lifters out of the crumbling footholes. It was the earliest evidence of Root’s assertion that this pitch would break up over time, but it also meant that for the left-hander, conventional entrenchment was suddenly fraught with danger.Stokes’ response seemed skittish at first, but it was replete with game-craft – not least his innate understanding with Root at the other end. A brace of boundaries in the morning session was the sum of the captain’s intent, as he focussed on working the singles and letting his team-mate drive the agenda.”Things didn’t really change for me until those couple of balls in an over spat out of the rough at me,” Stokes said. “And so I took a decision that, ‘Right, I’m going to put the pressure back onto him as a bowler with balls that have done that’. I had to decide I’d rather get caught at deep square in the way that I did, as opposed to going back into my shell and being a bit defensive and spooning one up to short leg. I thought I might try and take a few runs with me before not the inevitable happened, but before I got out.”And Stokes did so with burgeoning confidence. Out came his sweeps – a very different beast to the surgical instrument that has carried Root to 644 runs in three Tests this year. A flog clean out of the rough against Nadeem, high over deep midwicket; a rifled reverse sweep for four one over later and another next ball to rush through to his half-century.Ben Stokes’ 82 from 118 balls was invaluable and calculated – a formidable display of mind over matter•BCCIWashington Sundar was treated with little more respect when he entered the fray, as Stokes rattled along to 63 not out at lunch, more than two-thirds of England’s runs in a wicketless morning session. He might have been tempted to wind it back thereafter, but with Root at that stage looking as entrenched as any England cricketer in history – and no doubt grateful for someone else to borrow the limelight after more than 1500 minutes of batting this year already – the opportunity to drill home the advantage was too good to turn down.Such are the reasons why Stokes is revered by his peers as the ultimate team man. He will play any given situation with the requisite tenacity, whether that means clinging on for dear life for sessions at a time, flogging quick runs in pursuit of a declaration or something in between, as was the case today – a calculated upping of the pressure from a position of obvious dominance.And by the end of his first red-ball innings since the opening Test against Pakistan in August, Stokes’ first thoughts were not for any missed milestones, but for the net effect his efforts had had on England’s victory hopes.”I’m obviously happy after a couple months away, it’s always nice coming back in and spending some time in the middle,” he said. “But the most pleasing thing that we’ve started the tour off really well and I don’t think we could really have asked for anything better. Win the toss, bat first and we’re still batting on day three, so we’re really pleased.”

A look at the form in the first half and the challenges ahead for the top four teams on the points table

Gaurav Sundararaman15-Sep-2021The IPL resumes on September 19 with its El Clasico, Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians. A lot has happened since it came to an abrupt halt in early May after the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the tournament bubble. Players have pulled out due to fatigue, workload management and injuries. Not only will there be some new faces, but the remaining 31 matches will also be played at different venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah – as opposed to the first half of the IPL, which was played at four venues in India.The second half of the IPL is vastly significant not just for the franchises but also the players and the various international teams as the men’s T20 World Cup will be played in the UAE and Oman from October 17. ESPNcricinfo runs a comb through the eight teams identifying not just the strengths but also the areas they need to work on.Related

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• IPL 2021: Rishabh Pant to continue as Delhi Capitals captain

• IPL 2021 returns: Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad look to turn fortunes around

Delhi Capitals

Squad changes from first phase
In: Shreyas Iyer, Ben Dwarshuis, Kulwant Khejroliya
Out: Aniruddha Joshi, Chris Woakes, M Siddharth
Strengths
A strong start in the first half has ensured Delhi Capitals are now favourites to make the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Two further victories will assure them of that prize. Despite the absence of regular captain Shreyas Iyer (who is back having recovered from shoulder surgery), Capitals’ batting did not suffer with the opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan adding 512 runs at a run rate of 9.25 and a handsome average of 64. It was in the powerplay phase where Capitals sealed the deal in most games. They also displayed adaptability in terms of conditions by winning in Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. They boasted the best performing spin attack in the competition during the first phase.2020 UAE strategy
Their bowling was their strength last time around. Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada were crucial to their success as was the variety provided by spin twins Axar Patel and R Ashwin.Challenges for 2021
While Avesh Khan emerged as a match-winner during the first phase, the rest of the Capitals fast men struggled. They took just nine wickets at an economy of 11.17, which was the second-worst among all teams. Avesh’s success meant Capitals could afford to leave out Nortje but expect him to be back in the UAE. The other issue will be picking between Steven Smith and Shimron Hetmyer for the middle order, which will be reinforced by Iyer’s return. Last year in the UAE, both Shaw and Rishabh Pant, who will continue as captain*, had struggled. How they fare this time could decide whether Capitals win a maiden IPL title.Potential XI: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Steven Smith/Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh Khan

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will kick off the second phase•BCCISquad changes from first phase
In: Josh Hazlewood
Out: Jason BehrendorffStrengths
If not for a Kieron Pollard blinder in Delhi, Chennai Super Kings would have been sitting on top of the table with six wins from seven matches. Having finished in the bottom half in 2020, MS Dhoni’s team surprised everyone by shedding their usual conservative approach to batting. With an unmatched depth – Deepak Chahar slots in at No. 11 – Super Kings scored at a rate of 9.47 between overs 7 to 16. A lot of credit goes to the opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis who set strong foundations upon which the likes of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja could build big totals. On the bowling front, Chahar and the spinners were the key playmakers.2020 UAE strategy
The UAE was not a happy hunting ground for Super Kings last season. Injuries, absentees and lack of practice meant they peaked too late. Hardly any of their moves worked because virtually everyone was out of form. This time around they have been practising for over a month and would look to keep faith in what has worked in IPL 2021 rather than going back to what worked in previous seasons.Challenges for 2021
The form of their fast bowlers – Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo – will be crucial for the multiple-time champions to extend their good start. There will be pressure on Suresh Raina too, who has managed 123 runs in six innings at an average of 24 with a solitary half-century. If Raina can perk up the middle order with some impactful cameos, it will ease the burden on the finishers.Potential XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Dwayne Bravo/Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Will Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore make it to their second straight playoffs?•BCCI/IPLSquad changes from first phase
In: Tim David, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, George Garton, Akash Deep
Out: Finn Allen, Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Washington SundarStrengths
Contributions from Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal showed that Royal Challengers Bangalore were no more dependent on just Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. The franchise has also got some attractive replacements who have the potential to be X-factor players.2020 UAE strategy
That revolved around Yuzvendra Chahal and Chris Morris, both of whom played a key role in the last IPL. Chahal will be hurting after failing to make the World Cup squad, but he remains the lead spinner for Royal Challengers and his form could once again be a key factor.Challenges for 2021
Can Royal Challengers qualify for the playoffs as they did last year? Perhaps, if they find the right balance in the absence of Washington Sundar, who is recovering from a finger injury picked up at the outset of the Test series in England. For a like-for-like replacement, they might have to look at their overseas contingent, which will force at least one more change. Also, in case Harshal’s cutters fail on the faster UAE pitches, the team will need to find the right bowling combination without losing momentum.Potential XI: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Kyle Jamieson, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai Indians

Covid-19 was bad enough, but mixed messages and indifference on the part of the BCCI have made matters worse

Shashank Kishore07-Jul-2021Until February 2021, Chetan Sakariya was known mainly for his performances in domestic cricket with Saurashtra. Before that, Sakariya, the sole breadwinner in his family, juggled between helping his uncle run his stationery business and trying to make a name for himself as a cricketer. He made his first-class debut in 2018. In March 2020, he was part of the Ranji Trophy-winning Saurashtra team. Sakariya’s share of the prize money was “big” but it paled in comparison to his INR 1.2 crore IPL deal with the Rajasthan Royals in 2021. Sakariya has now been picked in India’s limited-overs team for the Sri Lanka series.”People are saying stop IPL [because of the pandemic]. But it has helped families like ours,” Sakariya told ESPNcricinfo recently. “My father [who died in May this year] was down with poor health. Had this tournament not happened, I couldn’t have afforded treatment for him. Now, I can think of my sister’s education. Or building a house for the family in Rajkot.”Related

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• Azharuddin part of BCCI's working group to oversee 2021-22 domestic season

Sudip Gharami, the Bengal batter and Sakariya’s opponent in the Ranji final last year, has been in lockdown for a better part of the last 15 months in the absence of top-flight cricket.Like Sakariya, Gharami comes from a family with modest means. As a kid, he used to play with a bat his father had fashioned from processed wood. The money he earned from the Under-23s for Bengal was just about enough to build a small house for his family in Naihati, around 50 kilometres from Kolkata. He admits to worrying about finances but is even more hassled about the lull in his still-nascent career.”It has been difficult for everyone, but some of us, who don’t live in Kolkata but in the suburbs or villages, have been affected more,” he says. “There is no proper place to train here. I stay with my relatives and train in Kolkata. That has been tough this year.”Money is an issue, but it isn’t the biggest thing for me at this stage of my career. I am not a contracted player anyway. But yes, not playing properly for a year is tough. I have now signed with East Bengal, and I hear that this year we will have a full season in Bengal. Last year we only had the one-day matches and T20s. CAB [the Cricket Association of Bengal] has arranged for vaccination for everyone, so once that happens, it will be best for everyone.”Sourav Ganguly’s promise of prioritising first-class cricketers remains just that, a promise•BCCI‘Passing the parcel’ of accountability
Sakariya and Gharami. Two players whose lives, and livelihoods, follow a similar track. Until one gets an IPL contract and the other doesn’t. It’s the story of many others in Indian cricket: between 750 and 800 players feature in any men’s domestic season on an average; barely 10% of them get an IPL team.The differences in salaries has been stark since the IPL began; the pandemic has made it worse, by wiping out chunks of the domestic calendar. Last season’s men’s calendar featured only the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. And the IPL. No Ranji Trophy, which forms the bulk of a domestic cricketer’s match time, and income. The women’s calendar – in urgent need of a facelift anyway, especially in the absence of multi-day or Under-16 tournament – too was shortened, with only the one-day competition held.The coming season looks more promising, with the BCCI announcing a lengthy calendar from September 2021 with 2127 matches – men’s, women’s and age-group categories included. The players’ response, though, has been muted. They want clarity on compensation for the missed domestic tournaments. And those who haven’t been paid for the matches that were staged last season want that issue sorted too.When he took over as BCCI president in November 2019, Sourav Ganguly had said that one of his priorities would be to introduce central contracts for domestic players. Eighteen months on, nothing has moved. In June, the BCCI announced the formation of a three-member apex panel to investigate the issue of compensation “at the earliest”. Three weeks on, no one knows who the members of the panel are, and what the solution is. A senior player described situation as a game of “passing the parcel” between the board and the associations.

“It’s a misconception that those who have government jobs are paid handsomely. That said, we are still much better off than many hundreds of cricketers who don’t even have a job to fall back on”Chhattisgarh allrounder Vishal Kushwah

Until the 2017-18 season, the domestic players were paid in two instalments: a flat match fee and a bonus calculated on a pro-rata basis based on the BCCI’s Gross Revenue Share (GRS) – essentially its non-IPL revenue from media rights, team sponsorship rights, apparel sponsorship rights, series sponsorship rights etc. This would be paid the following year after the accounts were ratified at the annual general meeting.Since 2018, though, the GRS component has been added to the match fees, leading to a near 200% hike. The players now get INR 35,000 per day for a first-class game and one-dayers, and INR 17,500 for T20s.The problem, though, is the need to calculate and ratify the GRS component, exacerbated by the absence of an AGM over the past three years, first because the BCCI was run by the Committee of Administrators and then because of the pandemic.”Sometimes there are delays in the invoices coming from the associations to the BCCI, and there have been delays because a lot of state associations had not adhered to the BCCI constitution,” a BCCI insider explained. “I think some players received money on time because their invoices came on time; players from some association faced difficulties and delays. Some new associations didn’t know what to do.”Saurashtra won the Ranji Trophy when it was last played, in 2019-20•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhere the grass is greener…
Some players have been exploring other avenues. Yes, players who are within the system, the system of the richest cricket board in the world, are looking for opportunities elsewhere.Vishal Kushwah, the Chhattisgarh allrounder, featured in the limited-overs competitions in 2020-21, and even trialled with a few IPL teams – without luck. While he is employed with the auditor-general’s office in Raipur, the lack of a cricketing income led to him looking for opportunities in the UK.”It’s a misconception that those who have government jobs are paid handsomely,” he said. “That said, we are still much better off than many hundreds of cricketers who don’t even have a job to fall back on.”He is now with Colony Bay Cricket Club on a five-month contract that pays him £ 1000 a month, “just about enough” to get by. “The club has given me an accommodation, but all other expenses are mine. It’s not easy to save from the contract, but at least my essentials are taken care of,” he said. “I have loans to pay back at home, so I thought at least this will give me something to keep going. My employers have been kind enough to grant me leave, although a portion of my time in the UK is on leave without pay.”Ravi Yadav, the Madhya Pradesh left-arm seamer who entered the record books when he became the first to pick up a hat-trick in his first over on first-class debut, used his fees from his debut season to build a cricket academy on the outskirts of Firozabad, his hometown (in Uttar Pradesh).”I spent my savings of the past two years to build a small facility,” he said. “I don’t have a job outside of cricket, so I need to find a way to run my house not just alongside my cricket but even afterwards. I am [almost] 30. I only play days’ cricket. Last season, I wasn’t picked for the T20s or one-dayers, so there was zero income.

“What is disheartening is the association asks us to contact the BCCI and there is no one in the BCCI to tell us where we stand. All we want is a point of contact with regards to domestic cricket. I don’t think that is asking for too much”Anonymous domestic cricketer

“The lockdown came and my academy shut down, so that income stream was cut off too. I’ve struggled to make ends meet over the last 18 months. Hopefully, things will improve.”The announcement of a proper season offers a glimmer of hope to the less privileged of these cricketers. The prospect of two new teams being added to the IPL and the impending mega auction before it could also serve as motivation for many.”When we keep playing regularly, you tend to ignore certain aspects,” Kerala allrounder Jalaj Saxena said. “I had personally worked on the mental aspect, in the absence of match practice or a regular season. When you go on to the field, there are so many emotions you go through. When you’re bowling, you’re at times anxious to pick wickets. When you’re not scoring runs, you’re eager to get in that one big score. Sometimes, when you let emotions rule, it gets difficult. There are breathing techniques I have practiced that have made me calmer and helped me make better decisions.”I am a lot more relaxed now. Sometimes, emotions and performances don’t go hand-in-hand, so you have to detach yourself. I’ve practiced yoga every day in this period, it has helped me connect with each and every part of my body.”Until December last year, Saba Karim, the former India wicketkeeper, was the one-point contact for matters relating to domestic cricket in his capacity as BCCI’s general manager – cricket operations. More than one player has said that his departure has led to a disconnect between them and the people in charge.”What is disheartening is the association asks us to contact the BCCI and there is no one in the BCCI to tell us where we stand,” a senior player said. “All we want is a point of contact with regards to domestic cricket. I don’t think that is asking for too much.”Domestic contracts are a reality for players in most top cricket-playing nations. However, the sheer volume of players and associations they deal with on a regular basis makes BCCI’s job that much more challenging.But the BCCI has pulled off more challenging tasks in the past, like moving an IPL season to South Africa in under three weeks, or finding ways to even fit in the remainder of the IPL season in the UAE amid a crammed international calendar and the pandemic. As a number of players have highlighted, it perhaps comes down to – that word again – intent.

His Test aggregate of 1708 in 2021 is the third-highest ever, but his numbers are even more astonishing given the general mediocrity around him

S Rajesh28-Dec-2021There is little doubt that 2021 has been a dismal year for England in Test cricket: they have lost more matches (nine) than they ever have in any previous calendar year. At the heart of this debacle has been the batting: an average of 24.13 runs per wicket is the lowest for England in any year when they have played at least 10 Tests, and the second-lowest with an eight-Test cut-off. Not only has 2021 been a terrible year for England’s batters, it has been tough for batters in general: the average runs per wicket is the second-lowest its been in the last 40 years.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the midst of these batting lows, Joe Root has gone ahead and amassed 1708 runs, the third-highest ever by a batter in a calendar year. His aggregate is 802 runs more than the next-highest in 2021 – Rohit Sharma’s 906 – and 1178 more than the next-best from his own team: Rory Burns’ 530. Never before in Test history has there been such a wide gap between the top two run-scorers for the year, whether for the same team or overall among all teams.