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A former cricketer who was part of an ICC delegation sent to assess the security on offer at the PSL final reports

Mike Selvey15-Mar-2017It is 0200 hours on the morning of Sunday, March 5. The night is crystal clear with a slight chill in the air after the heat of the day, and I am standing on the tarmac outside the VVIP reception terminal in a remote corner of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International airport. Behind me are maybe a couple of dozen armed Pakistan commandos and elite police. Five snipers are perched on the roof of the single-story building. To one side are four military helicopters, while ahead stretches the airport runway towards the main terminal, where the tailfin of Emirates flight EK622, newly landed from Dubai, stands out. A vehicle convoy, headlights blazing and red-and-blue lights flashing, has left the environs of the aircraft and is making its way rapidly towards us.It pulls up by us, police vehicles topping and tailing the line. Sandwiched in between are two 16-seater Toyota Coaster buses, armoured to a B6 ballistics rating, and so designed to withstand bullets from assault rifles such as the commonly used AK47. There is also protection underneath from landmine-type blasts. Faces peer through the windows. The Peshawar Zalmi cricket team has arrived in the city to contest with Quetta Gladiators the final of the Pakistan Super League T20 competition.The small convoy, joined now by the armoured bus I am in, makes its way through three security gates, plain-clothes close-protection officers running alongside. Beyond, a maelstrom of flashing lights and military presence, is the convoy that will take the team to the Pearl Continental hotel. We move forward, and are surrounded by the main body of the cavalcade that will deliver the team. In the last 24 hours, the route we will take has been swept for explosives and a practice run made.A full house attended the match despite the rigorous security checks and the tighter arrangements for ticket purchasing•Associated PressThe whole route, one of two alternatives and chosen at the last minute, has been lit with temporary floodlights every 100 metres. Officers likewise are staged every 100 metres and police vehicles every 200. Each kilometre sees a pair of motorcyclists, members of the new 670-strong “Dolphin” rapid-response teams, linked to a control centre by mobile cameras and GPS, and with the capability to upload and download visual information. Housing alongside the route has been swept and occupants vetted. Intermittent rooftops have snipers installed. Hospitals are on alert and safe houses have been readied. A helicopter throbs above, with others on standby for evacuation if necessary. All intersections are sealed off to a distance of 200 metres from the route and any cars not driven away voluntarily have been removed by forklift truck (as they will be from the environs of the Gaddafi stadium): the route is entirely free of traffic and scanned by perhaps the most advanced CCTV system in the world.A cavalcade of 21 vehicles forms with the two team buses at the centre. In the vanguard is a motorcycle traffic “pilot” and behind him two traffic vehicles, each containing a high-ranking traffic officer. The buses are surrounded on either side and in front by seven vehicles containing elite heavily armed troops, the one in front armed with a light machine gun. Behind the rear bus comes an ambulance and a fire truck, and to either side of these, a vehicle that can jam signals and another containing the senior officer in charge of the operation. Two more elite vehicles and a rear traffic pilot complete the main cavalcade, while two more elite vehicles will run parallel to it down the other side of the dual carriageway that will be employed.We move off, at high speed. The journey from the airport to the PC hotel generally can take up to an hour, such is the traffic. Here it takes precisely six minutes to reach Gate 3 of the hotel, which opens. The close-protection officers decant from their vehicles and take up their positions alongside the buses and escort them into the hotel grounds, where the team steps down from their bus and into the hotel lobby.Paramilitary soldiers armed and armoured stand outside the stadium•AFPThe hotel itself has been secured. Individual guests have been vetted for the duration of the team’s stay. All booked functions have been postponed. Armed police are everywhere, and plain-clothes special-branch officers are by the lifts and occupy positions on the dedicated floors. No one can move around without protection at hand. It is close to 3am by the time the team get to bed, with a game starting in 17 hours.I am in Lahore at the invitation of the Pakistan Cricket Board as part of an ICC security delegation, which includes representatives from Australia, the UK, South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the ICC itself. My brief from the ICC was to spend some time beforehand talking to the various experts with a stake in the very high level of security that was being put into place, and at the end of it all, make an honest and independent personal assessment on how I, placing myself in the shoes of an overseas cricketer, felt during that time. Did I feel secure in the knowledge that the security provided was intended to be, and was, of the highest standard, or despite this, did I still feel uneasy, particularly given the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Lahore in particular? I was being paid for my time but not, I insisted as a condition, to write an ICC or PCB public-relations piece. I was fully aware of the proposal for a series of matches between Pakistan and a World XI to be played in Lahore in September 2017, and knew that the successful staging of the PSL final, with the security road-tested, was an integral part of the plan. I had travelled to Lahore with assurances but still less detailed security information than the two finalists had been given.It is the afternoon prior to the team’s arrival and we are at the Punjab Police Integrated Command, Control and Communication centre (PPIC3), a white block building set in a compound in central Lahore. The manner in which Punjab is policed has been redrawn in the wake of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, and restructured in the past 12 months into the Safe Cities Authority, which includes, among other functions, integrated emergency response and counter-terrorism. Incidents of terrorism, we are told, have declined dramatically since the inception of this body, from 43 in 2012 down to seven last year.Darren Sammy dances and entertains the crowd before the final, which his team, Peshawar Zalmi, won•Associated PressWe are in a wood-panelled first-floor conference room, and through plate glass see below a vast space with perhaps 50 or 60 screens on the wall, each monitored 24/7 by pods of specially trained IT graduates. This, we are told, is considered the most advanced and comprehensive CCTV coverage of a city in the world, the installation of which was overseen by the Metropolitan Police of London. Fifteen-thousand cameras monitor Lahore, 8000 of which are fixed at 1800 sensitive locations across the city, and the remainder mobile, including those assigned to the Dolphin teams. Fifteen-hundred kilometres of optical fibre were installed. The whole thing cost US$137 million. The capability and clarity are hugely impressive.It is around the conference table that the protocols for the final are explained. The Gaddafi Stadium lies within Nishtar Park, a sporting complex containing hockey, swimming and football stadiums, as well as the cricket ground. The whole complex has already been secured and is being swept by dogs and detectors. Within the hockey stadium there is a dedicated control centre with its own bank of screens monitoring 81 on-site cameras (59 fixed and 22 with pan, tilt, and zoom capacity). There are two 20-bed temporary hospitals set up in the complex and two mobile hospitals. Contingency is in place for aerial evacuation of the teams.The stadium is expected to be full to its 22,000 capacity. Tickets for the event have been sold through special outlets such as banks, with biometric identification required, and identities verified through the National Database and Registration Authority. The biometrics will be used again when spectators enter checkpoints in each of the four concentric zones with the stadium at the centre. There will be body searches and scans at each stage. Within the crowd, plain-clothed police and special-branch officers will mingle.For the journey from the hotel to the stadium, the same cavalcade will form and again take one of two routes. Two hundred and twenty-seven cameras have been installed at 71 sites to monitor progress. The journey, as with that from the airport, will take around six minutes.Now, though, we have some confusion. The team have been told that there will be a 4.30pm departure (three and a half hours before the match, although there is a closing ceremony first), while our delegation, due to travel in the same convoy, has been told it is half an hour later. The difference is split, but outside, in the hotel forecourt, it becomes chaotic. The players are installed in the buses, but a tidal wave of team owners and sponsors with their families and guests also disgorges from the hotel. Buses are boarded and disembarked again. There are too few places for everyone. At one point, some of the Pakistani players in the teams are placed in an unarmoured bus, which is far from satisfactory; the overseas players were unaffected and perhaps oblivious. It takes 20 minutes to sort it all out, all within the confines of the hotel grounds, but that, and the melee inside the hotel as the teams leave, will need rectifying in future. The cavalcade to the ground is rapid and uneventful.Fans express their delight at the return of high-profile cricket to Pakistan•AFPInside the stadium, the ground is already filling fast when the teams arrive, but it is some time, after the entertainment of the closing show, before they take the field and walk a lap to greet the crowd. The perimeter of the playing area is around 20 metres from the fencing in front of the stands, but there were perhaps a hundred people within that area: performers, VIP guests and families for the most part. At one point some players were surrounded by well-wishers and selfie-seekers, attention they might have done without. The sterile Players, Management and Officials zone that embraces the dressing rooms seems less secure than it ought.Perhaps this is nit-picking but that, as my fellow delegates are quick to point out, is what they are here to do: be mindful of the weakest link. The vetting procedure has been immense and the level of protection within the hotel and on the roads staggering. The chaos on the hotel forecourt can easily be addressed, and likewise the limited intrusion at the ground.Throughout, I was afforded the same level of security as the teams (a visit I made on my own to the stadium the day after the match saw my car preceded by an outrider and flanked by two vehicles of elite forces). I felt completely comfortable in regard to my own safety. I subsequently was told that in any case, intelligence service intercepts had discovered that the intense nature of the security had acted as a deterrent, which prior knowledge might also have served to ease the doubts of those who while taking their own safety as a given, were nonetheless concerned about any incidents in the crowd beyond the stadium’s security blanket.The day after the match, Colonel Azam Khan, 20 years an intelligence officer and now the PCB’s head of security, said that overall he was very satisfied. The process had begun ten days previously, he said, and 90% of the objective was to secure not just Lahore but the whole of Punjab. There was still some fine-tuning, he admitted, with “maybe a lack of some coordination at some operational points”. But these too could be readily addressed and not repeated.There will be natural questions. With so many resources concentrated at this event, did it dilute security elsewhere across Lahore and Punjab? How sustainable is such a security exercise in the future?To the first: all major sporting events anywhere in the world require concentration of resources, so Pakistan is no different, but the short answer is that bringing international cricket back to Pakistan will be a slow and lengthy process. This has been a first tentative step in the right direction. The economic benefits of regular international cricket, even as a representation of a more normal society, would far outweigh the security costs. This security is merely a manifestation of the total revamping of policing in Punjab.To the second, the most senior officials from across the province were drafted in for this exercise, but as Colonel Azam suggested, the security of the stadium was only 10% of the objective, with that of the whole of Lahore and the province paramount. In the next few years, resources such as those for Lahore will be rolled out in other cities: Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur.It is my hope to return in September, and, as things stand, I will do so without hesitation or any of the apprehensions I might have had this time. Between now and then, world-class players will be approached and asked if they will participate in what will be a second significant staging post on the way to bringing regular international cricket back to Pakistan. The success of the PSL final, and the testimony of those overseas players who took part, such as Darren Sammy and Dawid Malan, should go some way to assuaging doubts, and it may be that the advice of the security advisers to the national boards will have softened somewhat.It was a fine occasion, and a small first step, but one that needed to be taken. Pakistan, not just Pakistan cricket, deserves it.

They’re best mates, but on three occasions AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis have been involved in run-outs in big games

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2017Faf du Plessis and Ab de Villiers have been friends since they were 15 and have grown into two of South Africa’s most prolific batsmen. They are also two of the quickest members of their team. Yet, in three crucial games in global ODI tournaments, the pair have been involved in a run-out. On all three occasions, de Villiers was the man dismissed and each time, South Africa fell apart once he was gone.AB de Villiers was run out for 35 in South Africa’s stunning loss to New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final•AFPThe loud call in the big choke
New Zealand v South Africa, quarter-final, 2011 World Cup, DhakaSouth Africa were cruising into the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup before two quick wickets reduced them to 121 for 4 in their chase of 222 against New Zealand. With de Villiers and du Plessis at the wicket, there was still no need to panic; there were more than 20 overs in which to get the 101 remaining runs. But du Plessis worked the second ball he faced to the right of short midwicket and set off for a run. De Villiers, who was batting on 35, did not begin running immediately, but du Plessis could be heard desperately calling him through for the single. Despite a dive, de Villiers could not beat Martin Guptill’s throw. South Africa never regained momentum and ended up folding for 172 in what is still considered one of their most disappointing losses in one-day cricket.AB de Villiers’ run-out against India in the 2015 World Cup sparked a collapse•Getty ImagesDe Villiers overestimates his own speed
India v South Africa, Pool B match, 2015 World Cup, MelbourneIn their second game of the 2015 World Cup, South Africa were chasing 308 against India. De Villiers and du Plessis had put on 68 and taken South Africa to 108 for 2 in 22.4 overs when de Villiers drove Ravindra Jadeja to sweeper cover and decided to take on Mohit Sharma’s arm and come back for a second run. A fast and accurate throw from Mohit found him short of the crease. There was no real misunderstanding between the batting pair in this instance. It was merely a case of de Villiers misjudging whether he could get back for the second run. After the dismissal, South Africa collapsed to 177 all out. The loss didn’t hurt them too much, however, as they made it to the knockout stage.Another failed dive for de Villiers in a crucial game•AFPIndia get de Villiers again
India v South Africa, Group B match, 2017 Champions Trophy, The OvalThis time, both de Villiers and du Plessis set off for the single as soon as the shot was played. But they were both wrong about it being on. South Africa were 140 for 2 against India in a 2017 Champions Trophy game that both sides had to win to make it to the semi-finals. South Africa started slowly, so de Villiers and du Plessis needed to infuse the innings with some urgency. But when de Villiers tapped a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to Hardik Pandya at point, there was never a single on. Neither batsmen recognised that, and an accurate throw from Pandya meant another de Villiers dive went in vain. The dismissal sparked a collapse that left South Africa 191 all out.

Reactions to high-profile cricket returning to Pakistan next month with the announcement of the World XI series

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2017

Also, how many times has a wicket fallen off the first ball of a Test?

Steven Lynch15-Aug-2017How many people have hit their maiden first-class century in a Test, as Hardik Pandya did in Pallekele? asked Chandrakant Sarwate from India
Hardik Pandya, whose previous highest score was 90, was the 41st batsman – the 14th in the current century – to score his maiden first-class hundred in a Test match. The first instance was in the very first Test match of all, by Charles Bannerman for Australia against England in Melbourne in 1876-77. Bannerman’s famous 165 retired hurt in that game was actually his only century in a career of 44 first-class matches. The list includes four other Indians: Vijay Manjrekar (1952), Kapil Dev (1978-79), Ajay Ratra (2001-02) and Harbhajan Singh (2010-11, in his 88th Test).How many wicketkeepers have been out for 99 in a Test, as Jonny Bairstow was? asked Michael Ward from England
Jonny Bairstow’s important 99 at Old Trafford was only the third such score by a wicketkeeper in a Test. The first to fall for 99 was Brendon McCullum, for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Napier in 2004-05. He was followed by MS Dhoni, for India against England in Nagpur in 2012-13. Bairstow was the unlucky 13th batsman to be out for 99 in a Test for England, but the first since Kevin Pietersen against Bangladesh in 2009-10. Mike Atherton and MJK Smith were both dismissed for 99 twice, while Geoff Boycott – who was out for 99 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1973-74 – was also stranded on 99 not out against Australia in Perth in 1979-80. Alex Tudor, against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999, is the only other man to make 99 not out in a Test innings for England.Who was the first man to play 100 ODIs? asked Wayne Johnstone from Australia
The first man to reach the milestone of 100 one-day international appearances was Australia’s Allan Border, in January 1985. The record he overhauled shortly before was held by another Australian, Rod Marsh, with 92. Border was also the first to play 200 ODIs, reaching the mark in February 1990, at which point Viv Richards had played 177 and Desmond Haynes 171. First to 300 was Mohammad Azharuddin, in September 1998; he had gone past Border’s final tally of 273 earlier that year. And the first of the four men so far to reach 400 was Sanath Jayasuriya, in October 2007. At that time Sachin Tendulkar had played 397 ODIs; he went past Jayasuriya in February 2011, and finished with 463 one-day caps.Hands up if you think he’s out for a golden duck•Getty ImagesThere were four first-ball ducks in South Africa’s second innings at The Oval – was this a record? asked George Symons from South Africa
South Africa’s disappointing second innings in the third Test at The Oval was indeed the first in Tests to contain four golden ducks – Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel all perished first ball. With the proviso that there are several matches for which we don’t have complete ball-by-ball records, there appear to have been 12 previous instances of an innings containing three golden ducks, most recently by India (Abhinav Mukund, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar) against England at Trent Bridge in 2011. The first such instance was in an Ashes Test at Edgbaston in 1902, when the Australian trio of Warwick Armstrong, Ernie Jones and Bill Howell were all out first ball. In Melbourne in 2003-04, Sachin Tendulkar, Parthiv Patel and Ajit Agarkar were all out first ball, while Zaheer Khan also faced just one ball, but finished with 0 not out.I know that the first delivery of a Test match was hit for six only once, but how many times has the first ball of a Test match resulted in a wicket, and which team has done it most often? asked Allan Alexander from the United States
There have now been 30 instances of a batsman being dismissed by the first ball of a Test, most recently when Mitchell Starc dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne in the second Test in Galle in August 2016. West Indies have done it most often – eight times, helped by the fact that Pedro Collins three times dismissed Bangladesh’s Hannan Sarkar with the opening delivery of a match. Australia have started five different Tests with a first-ball wicket, England four, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa three, and Bangladesh one.Just in case anyone doesn’t know about the first-ball six you mention, it was struck by Chris Gayle off Bangladesh’s Sohag Gazi in Mirpur in 2012-13. It was actually Gazi’s first ball in Test cricket!Leave your questions in the comments section

It may not be enough for Australia at the MCG but, in a team beset by batting problems, Shaun Marsh has played a key role in regaining the Ashes

Jarrod Kimber27-Dec-2017Australia lost 7 for 67 at the MCG. They were 4 for 76 in their first innings at the Gabba. In Adelaide, they were out for 138 in the second innings. Only once in the series have more than two batsmen scored higher than 57 in an innings. Peter Handscomb is already gone and Usman Khawaja might miss Sydney.Australia are 3-0 up but there is little doubt their batting remains poor. You can’t walk down the street in Australia for someone telling you how ordinary the English bowling is. They’re dud medium pacers, their spinner is a joke, and Stuart Broad is bowling like he’s older than Jimmy Anderson looks. And yet, Australia aren’t dominating with the bat. They’re winning with the ball, and hanging in with the bat. No one personifies that more than Shaun Marsh.”He shouldn’t be playing.””He’s s***house.””Oh no, why him again?””What are the selectors smoking?”Stuart Binny, Shane Watson, Wahab Riaz. It doesn’t matter the team, there will always be a player who’s continually picked and fans hate it. Sports fans know best; they hate that guy, he’s no good, or only okay when things are good, or bloody lucky. He has pictures of the selectors on his phone, or some other even-more-ludicrous suggestion.This is before the media’s role, the never-ending look for the next bloke who’s out of the team, or the guy who shouldn’t have been in there.Everyone mentions the selectors but, as also happens for player contracts, we somehow blame the player for management mistakes. As if any player will say, “No, I don’t want to play this Test match”, despite dreaming of cricket his whole life, desperately trying to get selected. Now he has been, he should say, “You know what, I reckon I’m not quite good enough, why don’t you pick someone else.”Shaun Marsh drives through the off side•Getty ImagesIt’s not something professional athletes often do, so Shaun Marsh and his three Shield fifties accepted the team’s offer.Marsh was a late bloomer, especially by Australian standards. Most top-quality Australian batsmen are dominating Shield cricket by the time they are 25. In Marsh’s first eight years of Shield cricket he made only four hundreds. That, and his career first-class average of 41, is the first knock on him. He has never, year in, year out, been a Shield star. He was over 30 when he started dominating first-class cricket year after year and, by then, everyone was looking at his Test record.Marsh also had to overcome the alleged nepotism of being the son of Geoff Marsh. Geoff’s career record was not brilliant, four Test hundreds in 50 Tests at 33.18 is hardly inspiring, but he was a battler, who took on the Windies’ quickest quicks. For a while, it seemed every time you turned on the TV Geoff was making an ODI hundred in an era when they were not that common – his conversion rate was the sixth best in ODI cricket during the 80s and 90s. Marsh Snr’s career also spanned almost every generation of Australian cricket due to his coaching: he played with the 70s crew, was an 80s fighter, and coached in the successful 90s. Almost everyone in Australian cricket has some relationship with him. And coming into the Perth Test, Mitch Marsh was the other player in the Australia team everyone ridiculed; often it felt like a failure by one of the sons was a failure by both.Australian batsmen seldom fail at home. Since Shaun Marsh’s career started, Australia top-six players have averaged 53 with the bat at home; Shaun Marsh has gone at 41. In an era when Australian batsmen average far more at home than away, Marsh only averages four more at home. It is at home where Australian players build their legacy; most of the country watch cricket for those couple of magic months when Australia is at its hottest. Marsh’s best work has come in Sri Lanka, where he made two big hundreds. He made a good, albeit lucky, score at the start of the last South Africa tour. Marsh has five Test hundreds in 27 matches, which is fine. But home audiences have only seen two of them.Marsh also has one of those bodies that breaks down. There is a point at which you are unlucky and fans are sympathetic to your plight, and then it tips over and fans see your injuries as your fault. Marsh is ensconced in the second part of that phase. Now when he’s injured, people often can’t remember if it is his back, calf or hamstring, and by this point, they don’t care. It means he has played a Test every year since his 2011 debut, except 2013, despite only playing 27; this is his eighth recall. He’s always around, just not always there.Australians don’t play the moving ball well, and neither does Marsh, despite being an opening batsman for Western Australia. According to CricViz, coming into this series, Marsh averaged 17.60 against balls moving off the seam by more than 0.75 degrees, versus an average of 40.60 against ball that seamed less; and he averaged 11.60 to balls swinging more than 1.50 degrees, but 36.00 to balls that swung less.

Marsh looks pretty, when he is batting well. Batsmen who look like it’s easy are the ones who annoy people the most

Marsh, despite his decent hundreds ratio, has an underwhelming Test average. He has batted in all of the top-six positions, without specialising in any. He was averaging 36 coming into this Ashes, but has pushed it up higher during this series, with a not-out 126 in Adelaide. In 47 innings, he has only two not outs. But his average is low because of how often he’s out early in his innings. A third of his innings don’t cross 5, which places him fourth worst during his career for top-six batsmen with over 20 Tests to their name.And he looks pretty, when he is batting well. It’s as if he’s got the feet up, playing games on his phone. Batsmen who look like it’s easy are the ones who annoy people the most (see Bell, IR).To recap: Marsh didn’t ‘knock down the door’, has to overcome people thinking there is nepotism involved in his selection, is fighting against the canary-yellow memories of his father, has his brother’s failures attached to him, doesn’t cash in at home, can’t play the moving ball, gets injured a lot, bats in every spot, has been in the side on nine occasions, doesn’t get many not outs, does get a lot of scores 5 and under, and makes the game look so damn easy people seem to hate it when he goes out.There’s a reason he is there. Because Australian selectors don’t trust the other options.With Australia 3 for 258, Ian Healy was talking on commentary about how he hoped Australia would be creative with their declaration. If it seemed too early to speculate, it was. But that is how the Channel 9 team commentate, and Steve Smith was batting. From the moment Smith went out, the word declaration evaporated from the commentary vocabulary.There is a gap between Smith and the rest of the world, and that includes Smith and the other Australians. In the last two years, Smith averages 71.31 in Tests; no one else for Australia is above 50. Smith has made 31% of the top six’s runs (22% overall). There is no one following Australian cricket who could argue he isn’t carrying the team’s batting. The second-best average in the last two years is Handscomb, at 47.35, and he’s been dropped. Below him is David Warner, who was struggling in this series until this Test. That rounds out all the players averaging over 44. Usman Khawaja’s figure is 41.58, and his place is under threat. Adam Voges (38.08) retired after being dropped, and Matt Renshaw (36.64) was let go before the series. So that makes three players who have been dropped, one who might be dropped, Warner and Shaun Marsh, whose average in that time is 41.68.Based on his own numbers, Marsh should be in trouble, and if you take out his Ashes scores, he shouldn’t have been picked at all. But Marsh was not picked in isolation, he is part of a team, and he’s there because Australia’s batting is broken. Marsh’s recall wasn’t just because of some okay Shield form; he is also there because Australia had picked a wicketkeeper who hadn’t scored a hundred since One Direction formed, and they spent most of last summer picking the first person to respond to their WhatsApp message. They know Shaun Marsh. They might know what he does wrong, but they also know what he does.2:43

Shaun Marsh is back. Yet again.

The first is how he plays spin, really damn well. He averages 60 against spin, which is enough on its own, but he also makes hundreds against spin outside Australia, so he fills two holes this team has straight away. In this series, he has averaged 94 against spin for once out. With him and Smith being the best-performing batsmen, Moeen Ali has been an endless creepy void in England’s bowling line up.Also, although Marsh doesn’t score that many runs, the few times he has scored they have been important, or tough. Not one, but two hundreds in Sri Lanka; the first-day hundred in South Africa against Steyn and family; the 236-minute 53 to help draw the game on the fifth day in Ranchi; the patient 66 in Bangalore, which was Australia’s top score; and his 51 at the Gabba that came after a collapse and the whole country saying he shouldn’t be in the team. The hundred that followed it in the second Test was the reason Australia won the match, and even more important because Smith and Warner failed to make fifties. And then he made 61 at the MCG.It was a slow, tough innings that ended just as he had the chance to put England out of the game, and also when Australia were without Smith. And it was only 61. But he had to start twice, fighting his problems, and he then had to face the second new ball, which is not his strong point. With England starting their innings so well, it still might not be enough – which seems like the story of Marsh’s career.At his age, with his body and record, he will probably never be a consistent Test match player for Australia. There are too many flaws in his game, and too little time to sort them all out. But in this batting line-up, there will be times when Australia need him. He won’t stand up for all of them, and sometimes he won’t stand up for long enough, but in this series, Marsh has been given three tough jobs, and has accepted each time.Even if his career finishes in another duckathon like he performed against India, or he fades away like his mate Voges, or one of his injuries stops him, he will have this one series, when Australia needed him, and he stood up, hung on, and Australia won the Ashes.

Ashish Nehra analyses India’s fast bowling attack ahead of the Test series in England

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi29-Jul-20183:18

Ashish Nehra breaks down India’s seam attack in England

The main reason for Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s belief that India can be a dominant side overseas is their bowling attack, which took 20 wickets in each of the three Tests on the tour of South Africa in January. The fast bowlers combined to take 50 of those 60 wickets, and this, more than anything, gives India hope that they can compete against England as well when the five-match Test series begins next week. Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who played 17 Tests, including two in England, and now works as a bowling coach, runs the rule over India’s quick men.Ishant Sharma – “Needs to pitch it up”
Strengths The strongest point is his physical fitness. That’s how he has managed to play for so long. Although he does not take too many wickets, as a captain I would want him in my team because he can bowl long spells. This summer, the way the weather is in England, the wickets are not swinging much. He can give you 22-23 overs a day, and his long spells will help the other two [fast] bowlers. He is a hit-the-deck bowler. Although he might come on one-change, he is experienced. He has played seven Tests in England. For him to be fit will be very important for India.Lengths He is a back-of-a-length bowler. People might feel that he does not bowl the ideal length for Test cricket, but I’m sure he can alter his length a little bit. I am not asking him to change his bowling or do something different – just a little bit of alteration will work for him. He puts pressure, he doesn’t give runs. He has become more accurate in the last year and a half.Length he needs in England Especially against someone like Alastair Cook, the length should be up, because he will bowl across him. Cook is very good at cutting and pulling, so if Ishant can bowl up to him and keep him quiet, it will be really good on any kind of wicket.Area he needs to focus on Consistency. I know he is a workhorse and the captain will look to him for long spells, but he has to be careful not to burn out. He should be able to tell the captain [if he is] being overused. Also, he needs to focus on not giving runs. If he is not picking up wickets, no problem. He might bowl 10-4-15-0, but he is still doing his job for the team, so he should focus on what he knows.Area he needs to work on Length. I completely understand that he has that length, which is really short. You can easily say, “Oh, this is my length.” But he should be able to alter that length a little bit, according to the pitch, according to the batsman. He knows he needs to bowl up.”Even if the ball is not swinging, Shami can land it on the seam regularly and the ball does something”•Getty ImagesMohammed Shami – “There is something in his hand”
Strengths He is a very skilful bowler. He has pace, especially when he has good rhythm. He might go ten to 12 overs without a wicket and suddenly in 18 overs he might take five wickets. He is that kind of a bowler. In one spell of five overs, he can pick up three wickets even when the ball is not doing anything. His hand is really straight. Even if the ball is not swinging, he can land it on the seam regularly and the ball something. There is something in his hand.Length he bowls Generally, he bowls up. He is not a [Jasprit] Bumrah or an Ishant Sharma – hit-the-deck bowlers. He can reverse the ball. In England this summer, the ball might reverse, especially at Lord’s and The Oval. At the Headingley ODI, Mark Wood was reversing on a dry wicket. Shami’s hand is so straight that he can use the reverse swing well, even with the red Dukes ball. If the Dukes is reversing, it is more lethal than a Kookaburra. If he is fit, in that second spell or the late spells around tea, Shami can be really handy. But the key thing is fitness.Length he needs in England If he is bowling with the new ball, if it shapes, it is fine. Even if it is not shaping, he should look to bowl up, because then he can trouble guys like Cook and Joe Root. He needs to bowl up. If he is hit for a four, it should be past long-on or long-off rather than square leg or point. Guys like him, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar need to bowl up – that is their strength.In Test cricket, it does not matter how much variety you have. You might be able to bowl a good back-of-the-hand slower one or a good yorker, but those things are secondary. About 85 to 90% of the time you have to bowl the good-length delivery – your stock delivery. It goes out, it comes in, you bowl 145kph, you bowl 130kph – that is all secondary. So Shami needs to focus on a good, top-of-the-stump kind of length, which has been his strength.Area he needs to focus on Fitness. He has had a bad knee. He has not played a lot of cricket recently, including in the IPL. The captain also has to look after Shami. He is not like Ishant, who can give you an eight- or nine-over spell. Shami can be given six to seven overs in the first spell and then a short burst of four to five overs, where he bowls all out.Area he needs to work on If he is fit, he will definitely do well. He might take a Test match to come back into that rhythm, but he needs to bowl more and more. The last Test he played was in South Africa six months back. He should look to bowl long spells in the practice sessions.”Whenever there is some assistance from the pitch, Umesh should look to bowl up and try to swing the ball”•Getty ImagesUmesh Yadav – “Don’t give freebies”
Strengths When it comes to fitness and athleticism, Umesh is the No. 1 in this team. He is also the best fielder among the Indian fast bowlers. He has not played Test cricket in England, but he has done well in Australia. Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] is injured; Bumrah is coming back from an injury; Shami has not played much cricket; Ishant has played county cricket and Tests [against South Africa and Afghanistan]. Umesh played all the games for RCB in the IPL and he played all the T20Is and two ODIs [on the limited-overs leg of the England tour], so he is one bowler who has been playing constant cricket. There will be responsibility on him.Pace-wise he will be up. He also has the length. He likes to bowl up. If his outswing gets going, he is a 140-plus bowler.Length he bowls Fuller.Length he needs in England When the conditions are really hot, Umesh will be handy. He can bowl good reverse. Even in India, when he played 17 to 18 Test matches non-stop, he was constantly picking up two to three wickets. Whenever there is some assistance from the pitch, he should look to bowl up and try to swing the ball, which he was trying to do with the Kookaburra in the T20Is and ODIs in England.Area he needs to focus on Umesh will go for runs, more than Bhuvneshwar or Ishant. He is like Waqar Younis, who used to pick up wickets but go for runs. He does not need to try too many things. He is a hit-the-deck bowler, bowls up, swings the ball. He has a skiddy bouncer, which he does not use much, but he should look to bowl it at the right time.Area he needs to work on His line. Even in 50-overs cricket, he bowls the odd ball down leg – that is a freebie, a four. You don’t want to do that in Tests. In Test cricket, 90% of the time you will focus on bowling the stock delivery. Umesh looks to bowl up, but he needs to do everything [within] the stumps. He should not bowl too many deliveries that a batsman can flick to leg or cut to off.Mentally he needs to be strong, even if he goes for runs. He needs that confidence from the coach and captain. If he needs a deep square leg and deep point in the second session, so be it, but Umesh should look to take wickets.”Bumrah should look to use the bouncer as a surprise weapon. He has good pace and a different action, so the bouncer will work for him”•AFP/Getty ImagesJasprit Bumrah – “Don’t be reluctant with the yorker”
Strengths His X-factor is his action. If you haven’t played him much, it is not easy to pick him. He has pace and the ball comes a lot quicker than you think. Out of the lot of Indian fast bowlers he has the best yorker, the most difficult ball to bowl. He also has a very good slower delivery. If you are playing on a wicket that is dry and the ball is old and reversing, Bumrah will be really handy.Length he bowls Back of a length, but the good thing is, he is a very quick learner. He is not somebody who bowls only into the right-hander or takes it away from the left-hander. He can bowl – I will not say outswing, but he can bowl a straight delivery at will. That is his strength. He is not a one-dimensional bowler. He can bowl a slower one, too.Length he needs in England He needs to make adjustments to bowl fuller.Area he needs to focus on He is a bit reluctant to bowl the bouncer. Maybe he is underestimating it. He should look to use the bouncer as a surprise weapon. He has good pace and a different action, so the bouncer will work for him.Area he needs to work on It will be very important to get into a rhythm as soon as possible. Bumrah should stick to the strengths he utilises in limited-overs cricket. If the ball is reversing in the second or third session, he should not be shy to bowl a yorker. He can have a deep square leg. In Test cricket, you can keep a defensive field but bowl aggressively. At times you can bowl defensively with an attacking field. You can have three slips and a gully but bowl wide outside off stump. Or you might keep a deep square leg or a deep fine leg, but that does not mean you are bowling defensively. If you miss the yorker and the batsman flicks it, it is still only a single.Bhuvneshwar Kumar – “Keep him sharp, bowl short spells”
Strengths Everybody knows he’s a good swing bowler. More than that, he has a good head on his shoulders. He knows what he is doing. He is quicker than you think.Length he bowls He bowls the Test-match length – good length – and he has good control. If the ball is not swinging and the batsman is hitting fours through mid-off and the covers, Bhuvneshwar can alter the length and bring it back. He is very sharp that way.Length he needs to bowl in England He does not need to do anything different.Area he needs to work on The team management should make sure he does not bowl too long a spell. Any bowler will get tired if he bowls a ten-over spell. I have seen him bowl nine- to ten-over spells at Lord’s [in 2014]. As long as he is fresh, there is zip in his bowling.”Shardul Thakur generally pitches it up. That is the perfect length in England”•AFPShardul Thakur – “Focus on swinging the ball”
Strengths He is stocky guy, but he is a skiddy bowler. He can bowl 138 to 140kph.Length he bowls He generally pitches it up. That is what I saw him doing in the Ranji Trophy. That will be the perfect length in England.Length he needs in England If you need the length altered in dry conditions, he should be able to do that.Area he needs to focus on He should understand very quickly that this is not white-ball cricket, where he is a one-change bowler. Even in the Leeds ODI, he was one-change. He relies on the knuckleball, slower ball, slower-ball bouncer. In Test cricket he should understand that all that will not work.Area he needs to work on He is a good outswing bowler. He should focus on swinging the ball from a good area. But he should be mentally ready for Test cricket. He should try and get into the groove as soon as possible. He has already played one four-day game – for India A, which would have given him an idea of what to expect.The interview was conducted in the City Sports Bar at The Grange, St Paul’s in London

The explosive middle-order batsman talks about India’s preparations for the World T20 and her own form this year

Sruthi Ravindranath27-Oct-20182:32

‘Powar has picked the traits of the players very quickly’ – Veda Krishnamurthy

Better communication of decisions and allowing all members of the team to express their grievances and issues openly have been the standout aspects of Ramesh Powar’s short tenure as head coach of India women, according to senior middle-order batsman Veda Krishnamurthy.”The best part about Ramesh is that he is getting everyone to talk,” Krishnamurthy told ESPNcricinfo. “Communication has improved. He has asked us to speak out more. If there’s anything running in our mind, he wants us to openly have a conversation about it, which wasn’t the case earlier. Players are sitting and discussing what their role should be in the team and what they should actually do. There’s a lot of cricket being spoken. That’s the one thing he’s been stressing on ever since he joined us, he wants everyone to come together and work towards it.”Powar was appointed on an interim basis following internal discord that eventually led to Tushar Arothe’s resignation five months ahead of the Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean. Under Powar, India tasted success across formats on their tour of Sri Lanka last month. Since then, the players have had a rigorous camp in Mumbai and have topped off their preparation for the World T20 by combining as an India A outfit that whitewashed Australia A 3-0 in an unofficial T20I series.It was only in June that the same team underwent a torrid time at the Asia Cup, where they were beaten twice by Bangladesh, including in the final. In the aftermath, reports of rifts between the senior players and the then coach Arothe first surfaced. This eventually led to the BCCI calling off a scheduled fitness and skills camp in Bengaluru. Things have improved for the better since, and Powar, who has had previous coaching experience with Mumbai’s Under-23s, has gone out of his way to foster camaraderie and confidence within the group.”It’s a different atmosphere around him. We’ve been used to a similar kind of coaching for a long time, and for him to come in and change the atmosphere completely, it’s a big deal,” Krishnamurthy said. “I think everyone likes it. There ‘s conversation between the players as well as the coaching staff now. You don’t hold back anything and you’re speaking your mind. That’s the biggest change in the dressing room.”India head coach Ramesh Powar and fielding coach Biju George have a chat•Annesha GhoshThings have not been as upbeat as expected for India since their run to the World Cup final last year, and their inadequacies have been exposed, especially in the shortest format. While they won the T20I series against hosts South Africa earlier this year, they couldn’t qualify for the tri-series final against England and Australia at home. The final nail in Arothe’s tenure were the Asia Cup losses to Bangladesh, which Krishnamurthy put down to “over-planning”.”We planned too many things for the Asia Cup. We should have just stuck to our basics instead,” she said. “There were so many things the management was doing and the players were doing but at the end of the day it taught us all something – that we shouldn’t overdo anything. We knew there was a World T20 coming up and our focus should have turned towards that. But now whatever happened during that phase does not hurt us much as we’ve shifted our focus.”Krishnamurthy’s form in recent times has particularly come under scrutiny. She has made just 177 runs in 11 T20I innings this year, her highest score being a match-winning unbeaten 37 in a chase of 165 against South Africa in February. Following her poor run in the format, she was left out for the last two matches against England and Australia in the tri-series. Her only other significant contribution – an unbeaten 29 off 23 balls – came against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup. In the final against Bangladesh in Kuala Lumpur, she walked in amidst a batting collapse, and was out for 11. The recent failures, however, haven’t deterred Krishnamurthy in her quest to be the X-factor in the middle order.”I think I’m the most suitable person to bat in the position in the team,” she said. “Not everybody can do it and I have been doing it for a really long time. I’ve been a middle-order batsman ever since I started playing. I’m experienced enough to handle that position, it’s very tricky. I’m aware that my wicket is like the final nail in the coffin. In a collapse if I get out, it is like I’m nailing my team’s coffin. It’s a very tricky position to bat in but I like that kind of pressure. I would definitely want to keep that spot unless the team thinks someone else should replace me.”While she has earlier spoken about the mental challenges she faced, especially after a spate of poor performances, Krishnamurthy now seems more confident in her abilities and also seems to have grown more understanding of what the team expects from her. And again, she stressed on how communication within the team has enabled everyone to dovetail their roles and responsibilities.”It’s pretty clear what I have to do for the team and that gives me a lot of confidence,” she said. “I don’t have to break my head anymore over what exactly my role is. It’s important for me to go and get those quick runs and make sure I put the team in a commendable position. It makes life easier for a player when that happens. Since the Sri Lanka series we’ve been very clear with our plans and roles, everyone knows what to do. It all now comes down to how we are going to implement that during the World T20.”

From Pakistan’s pace and India’s muddled middle, to Sri Lanka’s silkiness and Bangladesh’s Fizz, here’s what you should watch out for this Asia Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-20181:40

Can Babar Azam fire in his maiden Asia Cup?

Sri Lanka’s top order of ball-timers
No one can reasonably claim that Sri Lanka have mightier batsmen than India or Pakistan, but their probable top four are perhaps the most watchable bunch in the tournament. Upul Tharanga has velvet offside shots; Kusal Mendis plays serenely on the legside; Niroshan Dickwella is dynamic behind the wicket; and Dhananjaya de Silva – if he plays – is the most pleasing of the lot, his cutting, driving, sweeping and pulling so languid you wonder if the whole thing is happening in slow motion. The challenge, as ever, for this Sri Lanka batting order, is to survive for long enough to give themselves a chance of unfurling those dazzling attacking strokes.Meat in the middle
If the top order is smooth, skilful and subtle, Thisara Perera and Dasun Shanaka – both seam-bowling allrounders – are the batting order’s muscle. Thisara is having a resurgent year to follow several lean ones, averaging 40.28 in 2018 with a strike rate of 134. Shanaka, meanwhile, comes into the tournament in white-hot form, having hit a matchwinning 65 off 34 balls in one of his two matches of the recent series against South Africa (he and Thisara had walloped 109 off 67 balls together, in that game), before going on to dominate Sri Lanka’s premier domestic T20 tournament, hitting 81, 60 not out, and 105 not out in his three most-recent innings. Both batsmen have flaws in their games, but if either can bat 25 balls towards the end of the innings, Sri Lanka may achieve the kinds of rapid finishes that have often eluded them in the past.Getty ImagesPakistan’s pace battery
Nothing quite tells you a side values the art of fast bowling more than picking six seamers for a series on the traditionally placid pitches of the UAE. Pakistan, who’ve played more in that country than any other of late, surprised many with their squad selection.Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi and Junaid Khan all feature in the 16-man squad, and this might have something to do with giving all legitimate contenders a chance to stake their claim for a slot in the World Cup in England, where their abilities are likely to carry far greater menace. Besides, such an array of capable options means Pakistan can afford to rest their pacers more frequently than any other side at the Asia Cup – something any fast bowler would be thankful for in hot, tough conditions – and every opposition would do well to be wary of well-rested Pakistan quicks.A fielding coach for Pakistan, at last
While the details of why Pakistan didn’t have a fielding coach for three months have been foggy, it is clear the situation was dealt with in a somewhat ham-fisted manner. It was a surprise Steve Rixon was leaving in the first place, and to let him go following internal disagreements reeks of a situation that might have been handled better, particularly since Rixon himself revealed to ESPNcricinfo that personal reasons had no part to play in his departure.Then, Darren Berry’s appointment was considered all but a done deal months ago, but as the situation lingered on and Pakistan didn’t have a fielding coach present in Zimbabwe, there were whispers Berry might not be joining after all. Last week, Pakistan finally settled on former New Zealand international Grant Bradburn.Head coach Mickey Arthur was effusive in his praise for Rixon’s contribution for Pakistan’s improved fielding standards over the past two years, and, sure enough, those standards dipped during Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe. Bradburn now has the not inconsiderable job of ensuring Pakistan’s fielding, their most persistent bete noire, continues on the upward trajectory it’s been on of late.Associated PressBangladesh’s Fizz at the death
Mustafizur Rahman is expected to do the bulk of Bangladesh’s bowling in the death overs, invariably closing out the innings. In 14 matches in the last two years, he has conceded at 5.53 runs per over in the last five overs of an ODI, and picked up eight wickets in this period. His variations obviously come into play, but so do deliveries which simply run past right and left-handers. Rubel Hossain has taken 11 wickets in the same phase of the innings (since 2016), but he doesn’t have Mustafizur’s control and can leak runs.Two Ms to kick things off for Bangladesh
Bangladesh have a steady pair with the new ball: Mashrafe Mortaza and offspinner Mehidy Hasan. They did a great job in the West Indies, particularly Mehidy, who was mostly successful in keeping Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis in check. Mashrafe too remained persistent, using both subtle and stark variations in seam and pace to attack and defend in the first Powerplay. Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain are unlikely to open the bowling, as both are heavily used in the middle and death overs. That has reduced Bangladesh’s attacking options to just one pace bowler in Mortaza.AFPAfghanistan’s bare pace cupboard
Afghanistan’s vaunted spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi propelled them through to 2019 World Cup in March and more recently to a 2-1 ODI series win over Ireland in Belfast. But the heavy reliance on them to win matches has partly been a consequence of increasingly thin pace-bowling depth.At the 2015 World Cup, Aftab Alam was the reserve seamer behind three superb options in Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran and Dawlat Zadran. All three have suffered injury or loss of form since, meaning Alam has been thrust into the role as the leader of the pace attack. Alam fared okay with five wickets in three ODIs against Ireland while allrounder Gulbadin Naib filled out the rest of the overs as a makeshift second seam option. But the lack of a genuine frontline seamer to support Alam is a concern and it may be the weak link that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh look to exploit when the Group B games get underway.The Najibullah question
Najibullah Zadran has been an explosive T20 player for Afghanistan and was the only batsman from the country snapped up this summer in an overseas T20 franchise league when he was taken by Montreal Tigers in the Global T20 Canada. The hard-hitting left-hander has been the country’s designated finisher in the shortest format but team leadership’s usage of him in one-day cricket has been a bit more muddled.Against Ireland, he only played two of the three ODIs, batting once at No. 8 to top score with 42 off 52 balls. Most of his success has come at No. 6, where he has scored five of eight ODI fifties, but often team management has pushed him down the order to accommodate others rather than the other way around and the result is his often being stuck with the tail. The time has come for him to be facing more, not fewer deliveries, in the same manner as the rest of the world’s best 50-over finishers.BCCIIndia’s middle-order conundrum
KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu are all jostling for positions in the middle order. How do India go about picking from among these options?Karthik’s struggles in England against the red ball and his subsequent ouster from the Test squad makes his Nidahas Trophy heroics and sparkling IPL form seem distant. Pandey had a horror IPL, but has been in a prolific white-ball form: his last four innings – all against the A teams of India, South Africa and Australia – read 73*, 117*, 21* and 95*. Rayudu has overcome the yo-yo setback by showing consistency for India A, and KL Rahul has shown flashes of brilliance across formats but hasn’t been able to marry it with consistency. But none of them can bowl, and, in England, India dearly missed someone from the top six who could bowl.This, therefore, gives Jadhav an obvious edge on two counts: he is the only one among the middle-order options who can bowl, and his slow offspin with a low-arm slingy action creates difficulties for batsmen on sluggish surfaces. But his fitness has always been a concern, even more now as he is returning from a five-month layoff due to a hamstring injury. With Virat Kohli rested, an extra spot could open up. This means three of these five could feature in any given XI. The race to own these spots will be an interesting one.Something old, something new
Doubts over Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s fitness arose when he wasn’t named in India’s squad for the last two England Tests. He dispelled them by featuring in a match-winning spell for India A late last month. Now, as India’s senior-most fast bowler in the touring party, he will have to play mentor to the other fast bowlers.Among them is Khaleel Ahmed, the uncapped 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler, who has been effusive in his praise for Bhuvneshwar and the lessons he learnt during their time together at Sunrisers Hyderabad. MSK Prasad, the chief selector, believes that looking ahead to the World Cup, a fast-bowling slot is still up for grabs. Given the left-arm variety of fast bowler suddenly seems to have become rare in Indian cricket, and that Khaleel is likely to bowl a lot in the nets this series, he has the chance to impress his way into the XI and occupy that slot.

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2019

In the final over of the match, the Chennai Super Kings captain stormed onto the field to debate an umpiring decision

Karthik Krishnaswamy11-Apr-2019What was Dhoni thinking?This season hasn’t been a great one for player-umpire relations. “‘We are playing IPL, not club cricket,” Virat Kohli fumed after the last-ball no-ball that wasn’t called in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase against Mumbai Indians. “That’s just a ridiculous call off the last ball. The umpires should have their eyes open, it was a no-ball by an inch.”In today’s game, a dramatic final over from Ben Stokes also included a high full-toss to Mitchell Santner when Super Kings needed eight off three balls. Umpire Ulhas Gandhe signalled no-ball at the bowler’s end, only for his square-leg colleague Bruce Oxenford to overrule him.In the pandemonium that followed, a possibly unprecedented act (at this level, at least, notwithstanding questions over whether the IPL is or isn’t club cricket by definition) took place. MS Dhoni, who had been dismissed off the previous ball, stormed onto the field to remonstrate with the umpires.Dhoni is surely in line for official sanctions, but for what offence? The IPL’s code of conduct doesn’t seem to have foreseen acts of dissent from players entering the field from outside, and only concerns itself with dissent from batsmen given out and from the fielding team.

Article 2.1.5 includes: (a) excessive, obvious disappointment with an Umpire’s decision; (b) an obvious delay in resuming play or leaving the wicket; (c) shaking the head; (d) pointing or looking at the edge of his bat when given out lbw; (e) pointing to the pad or rubbing the shoulder when caught behind; (f) snatching the cap from the Umpire; (g) requesting a referral to the TV Umpire (other than in the context of a legitimate request for a referral that may be permitted in such match); and (h) arguing or entering into a prolonged discussion with the Umpire about his decision. It shall not be a defence to any charge brought under this Article to show that the Umpire might have, or in fact did, get any decision wrong.

2.1.6 Excessive appealing during a Match.
NOTE: For the purposes of Article 2.1.6, ‘excessive’ shall include: (a) repeated appealing of the same decision/appeal; (b) repeated appealing of different decisions/appeals when the bowler/fielder knows the batter is not out with the intention of placing the Umpire under pressure; or (c) celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given. It is not intended to prevent loud or enthusiastic appealing. 2.1.7 Using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his dismissal during a Match.

Jos Buttler cuts a ball square through the off side•BCCIButtler’s dilemmaBefore this match, Rajasthan Royals had the worst batting-first Powerplay run rate of all teams this season: 5.25. They had only batted first twice before this, but on both occasions their caution in the Powerplay may have cost them big.They were 35 for 1 after the first six overs in their away game against Sunrisers Hyderabad; they eventually posted 198 for 2, but went on to lose that game with an over to spare. Then, at home to Kolkata Knight Riders, they made 28 for 1 in their Powerplay; their opponents cruised to 65 for no loss in theirs, on their way to a punishing win.Royals perhaps realised they needed to push harder early on when Chennai Super Kings sent them in, and both Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane showed a marked urgency against the fast bowlers, often dancing down the pitch to try and upset their lengths.Buttler was more successful using this tactic, and he also benefited when the bowler overcompensated by dropping short. Deepak Chahar, who had been a major factor in Super Kings’ successes with a Powerplay economy rate of 5.61, conceded 20 in his first two overs.ESPNcricinfo LtdShardul Thakur replaced Chahar, and Buttler hit him for successive fours off his first three deliveries. But then, having made 23 off nine balls, he fell attempting an ambitious back-foot slap down the ground.Buttler’s approach is theoretically the ideal one in T20, given the ideal line-up with significant hitting depth – West Indies in the 2016 World T20, for instance.But in the Royals line-up this season, with a middle and lower order composed of batsmen struggling for form or batting away from their preferred slots, or both, it’s less clear what the ideal approach is – it’s the dilemma of the high-impact superstar in a misfiring line-up.Buttler made a cautious 34-ball 37 in his previous innings, against Knight Riders, and Royals ended up with 139 for 3. He batted with a lot more freedom today, was dismissed much earlier as a result of it, and Royals’ middle order took them to 133 for 7 by the start of the last over. They could have ended up with 139 again, but Shreyas Gopal’s final-over assault on Thakur dragged them past 150.Sixes trump athleticismIt was a close-run thing, but Super Kings’ eventual triumph came from the one ingredient that wins more T20 games than any other: sixes. On one of the bigger grounds in the IPL, they cleared the ropes eight times, including twice in the last over – a falling straight pick-up flick from Ravindra Jadeja, and a clean last-ball strike back over the bowler’s head from Mitchell Santner. Before that, the six-hitting from Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni – they hit three each – in a fifth-wicket partnership of 95 kept Super Kings within reach of their target even when they needed 10.20 per over at the halfway mark of their chase.Royals, in contrast, only hit two sixes in their entire innings.That lack of hitting was their undoing in a match that they otherwise scrapped extremely hard to stay in, particularly with their fielding. A direct hit from Jofra Archer sent Suresh Raina back early, Kedar Jadhav’s innings was cut short by an astounding flying catch from Ben Stokes, and a running catch at square leg from Shreyas Gopal broke the Dhoni-Rayudu partnership. All these efforts helped Royals come incredibly close to defending a below-par total, but a couple more big hits when they batted would have made a much bigger difference.