The tri-series is Yuvraj Singh’s first chance to steer the focus back to his cricket, away from the fitness issues, away from Page 3

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla09-Aug-2010At his best in limited-overs matches, Yuvraj Singh gives Indian fans and the dressing room a feeling of assurance few others can, and that is the reason he is integral to the country’s dreams of a World Cup victory at home.A case in point is India’s ill-fated campaign to defend their World Twenty20 crown in 2009. Having entered the tournament as one of the hot favourites, with the country’s love affair with the newest format burgeoning, India were staring at a humiliating early elimination during the second Super Eights game against England at Lord’s. The top-order was floundering to a bouncer barrage and after the youngsters, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, fell cheaply, Gautam Gambhir and Ravindra Jadeja poked and plodded at one-day pace. With the asking rate touching double-digits and the title defence in tatters, Yuvraj walked out in the 11th over and gloriously lofted his first ball for a huge six, the first of the innings. There was another nonchalant hit for six more before a brilliant, quicksilver stumping from James Foster ended his 14-minute stay. India went on to lose but for those 14 minutes, irrespective of the odds, fans believed victory was possible.That is where Yuvraj towers over the gaggle of youngsters with whom he is now jostling for a middle-order berth. He has always been a man for the big occasion, whether it was the dazzling 84 in his first one-day innings after a top-order collapse against Steve Waugh’s Australians, the star-making turn in the NatWest series final in 2002 or the jaw-dropping 70 off 30 balls in a take-no-prisoners semi-final against Australia in the inaugural World Twenty20.There hasn’t been any addition to that highlights reel in 2010. A spate of injuries, a ballooning waistline, indifferent form and those never-too-far-away questions about his attitude culminated in his axing from the one-day side for the Asia Cup. That was meant to chasten a man who had perhaps taken for granted a spot in the ODI middle order after eight years of being a guaranteed starter. And it left Yuvraj in the peculiar situation of being in the Test side and out of the one-day team.Ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka, he spoke of the tough training his father put him through as part of a bid to regain full fitness. It seemed to have paid off as Yuvraj, more streamlined than the butt-of-all-jokes who turned up in the IPL, started with a flawless century in the tour game against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI and followed it up with a brisk 52 under pressure in the first Test.It started to unravel again when flu forced him to miss the second Test. Raina grabbed his chance to make a debut hundred that ensured the match was a draw and elbow out Yuvraj, bringing an end to his first extended run as a Test starter in a decade of trying. And, to make things worse, he responded to taunts from visibly drunk fans provoking a flurry of unflattering headlines which reinforced the impression of Yuvraj the brat.The tri-series is his first chance to steer the focus back to his cricket, away from the fitness issues, away from Page 3. It is his first chance to remind us of the man whom MS Dhoni calls “the main strength of our middle order”. It is his first chance to add to that highlight reel.As the most experienced player in the line-up, Yuvraj remains the proven performer India need in a middle order in which several players still have the learner’s wheels. It’s a middle order that looks particularly shaky if there is an injury to Dhoni, who has managed to so far steer clear of fitness troubles despite playing the triple role of wicketkeeper, key batsman and captain. It’s a trick Yuvraj will love to learn after an injury-filled year.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the World Cup, Group B match between India and Netherlands in Delhi

Sharda Ugra and Nagraj Gollapudi 09-Mar-2011Slip of the dayJust the ball before he trapped Wesley Barresi plumb in front, Yuvraj Singh had his butter-fingers moment (which would have made Netherlands’ shirt sponsors Amul guffaw). Funnily enough, he had gone through his bowling action but instead of the ball pitching in front, it lobbed out of his hands in the reverse direction and almost took umpire Steve Davis’ head off. Both men could only laugh at the freakish incident.Tendulkar moment of the dayRyan ten Doeschate lined up to bowl his first ball. Facing him was Sachin Tendulkar. The Dutchman immediately pushed the short fine leg, which was square originally, finer. Tendulkar glanced at the change and ten Doeschate pitched fuller. The ball seamed in towards Tendulkar’s legs. The aim was to trap him in front of the wicket. But Tendulkar had smartly moved in slightly and flicked the ball delicately, exactly past the point where the fielder was originally standing. Ahem.Shots of the dayIn ten Doeschate’s second over, Tendulkar skipped a step and then two steps forward to cream him in front of square. Even Yashpal Sharma, one of the Indian selectors, was so impressed at the master’s technique, that he started shadow-playing the straight arc of the bat that only Tendulkar draws while playing his stroke.Flop of the dayAll the buzz around Netherlands coming in to the game was to do with ten Doeschate, the only Associate player with an IPL contract; the only big fella among the little guys; the only one in a team of Bas Zuiderents and Peter Borrens worth watching. When he came to the wicket at 70 for 2, opportunity and the big stage called out his name. Less than half an hour into a brief, unremarkable innings, ten Doeschate was lulled by one of Yuvraj’s lollies, which dipped on him. His expansive strike down the ground carried only as far as Zaheer Khan on the long-off fence. When he bowled later in the evening, he was munched for 23 runs in his first two overs.Invisible men of the dayWho would have thought guys called Szwarczynski and Barresi could be anyone other than deep defenders for a 1990ish AC Milan? Who could foresee that at this World Cup, Szwarczynski and Barresi would belong to a tribe that includes the pairs of Watson and Haddin, Pietersen and Strauss, Sehwag and Tendulkar, and Tharanga and Dilshan? Netherlands openers Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi, both South African born, put together 56 in 15 overs. When they crossed 50, like Cold War spies exchanging briefcases, they met each other at the centre of the wicket, quietly tapped gloves, nodded and went back to their ends. No one noticed; no one applauded.Mess of the dayVirat Kohli steered a Peter Borren delivery towards an unmanned backward square leg and raced for what he thought was a possible double. His partner Gautam Gambhir seemed to have settled for a single. But at the behest of Kohli’s call, Gambhir turned back and set off for the second run while Kolhi, who had taken a few strides, suddenly stopped having noticed ten Doeschate’s swift charge from deep square leg. By then Gambhir was stuck halfway down the pitch. Unfortunately for Netherlands, captain Borren, standing mid-pitch failed to cleanly collect the throw, and his fumble allowed Gambhir to scamper home. Fortunately for Netherlands, Borren made quick amends in his next over, beating Kohli’s defence and hitting off stump.

The Ireland side are a better-prepared side this tournament because 2007 happened. They have been able to focus on cricket without having to bother about their other jobs, because 2007 happened. Now they will need to make 2011 happen

Sidharth Monga in Dhaka 23-Feb-2011Four years ago, a farmer, a painter, an electrician, a postman, a textiles salesman, and a couple of teachers joined their mates and set off to train for the World Cup of cricket. Two months later, they lived the best six weeks of their lives, tying a game with Zimbabwe and beating Pakistan and Bangladesh in a manner so delightful the world celebrated with them. The Irish cricketers were an instant hit with everyone: they were not only underdogs doing well, they were amateur underdogs doing well, they were journeymen underdogs doing well.Except for the talent and the hard work, they were like you and me, enjoying six weeks of top-flight cricket, fully prepared to going back to taking Physical Education classes or lambing or delivering letters. One of us fans, Paul Davey, was so inspired he left Australia and travelled with the Irish team, without much money, sharing players’ allowances, documenting Ireland’s journey on camera. turned out to be a heart-warming story, and Ireland cricketers now even had IMDB pages.It all changed a lot back home in Ireland. People in pubs, on streets, in offices talked cricket. The likes of Boyd Rankin, 6 foot 8 inches in height, started getting recognised on the street. Football and rugby, albeit for an odd day or two, were pushed off the back pages. Sponsors started getting attracted towards the game. Young players now, the likes of Paul Stirling and George Dockrell, who were 16 and 14 respectively then, call it as their best memory in cricket and an inspiration. This group of then-journeymen did an unimaginable amount for the game in their country.Still by the end of that year, Niall O’Brien, the wicketkeeper-batsman who scored 72 in the win against Pakistan, was headed towards the ICL, a possible end of international ambitions. Two years later, Trent Johnston was on the verge of retirement because he was getting too old to manage both cricket and his day job. The recession had hit, people were being laid off, a job had to be kept. The few who played county cricket couldn’t simply choose to play for Ireland whenever they got international fixtures. The counties were their primary employers. Cinderellas were well and truly back to mopping floors.That is the reality of Ireland cricket, of being an Ireland cricketer, despite there being much advertisement – not without merit – about the fact that 13 of their squad are full-time cricketers now; four years ago, 13 of them had day jobs. On July 4 in 2005, with Eoin Morgan gone for 4 and Ireland’s score 23 for 4, their dream of making it to the World Cup was slipping away. They were chasing UAE’s 229 at Civil Service Cricket Ground. Had they lost, they were gone. Out came Ed Joyce, scored a century, chased the target down, and kept the dream alive. He still rates that innings his best ever. However, he was not one of those who had the six weeks of their lives in the Caribbean. He, like every cricketer does, wanted to play Test cricket, and that took him to England. Ironically he faced his countrymen wearing the three-lioned jersey in the World Cup.Four years on, Joyce is back, seeing no future for himself as an England cricketer, but Morgan, who in alliance with Joyce and O’Brien would have turned Ireland’s into a middle order to contend with, is now an England Test cricketer. What do you do Jack?The players keep themselves under no illusions when it comes to the clash with county contracts or losing the best talent to England because nowhere else can they play Test cricket. “From my point of view, I am contracted to Northamptonshire and Cricket Ireland,” O’Brien says. “I don’t know financially what some of the guys are earning, but without the Northamptonshire contract, it wouldn’t be a viable option just to pay for Ireland.”Does he feel helpless when he has to represent Northamptonshire when Ireland are playing? “My main employers are Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, so I have to give them preference on many occasions. At the same time, I love to play for my country. I wear my green with absolute pride, and I want to play for Ireland as much as I can, but sometimes that choice is taken out of your hands. It is tough. Life is tough sometimes. You have just got to get on with it, and make the most of it.”Nor does the team begrudge the players who make a living in England. Johnston is one of the six who are employed only by Cricket Ireland. “It’s a sacrifice. I would be earning more money out working, but it’s given me an opportunity to be a professional cricket 24-7.””The county players that we have here, their major employers are the county sides. They can’t do much about that. We have a good relationship with the counties, we certainly don’t push them. There’s new rules that the ICC has brought in, that when we are playing ODIs, they have to be released. Even if it’s not a big game. [However] Simmo [Phil Simmons, the national coach] doesn’ go down that path every time.”If the county guys have a game, we don’t always force the issue. We know there are certain times when we do need them. Personally, even without the four-five guys we are good enough to beat the Associates, which we proved last year in Holland when we won the World Cricket League. County guys weren’t available for that. Disappointing, but on the other hand, those guys have come forward, with the facilities and the cricket and that sort of stuff. So, it’s a give-and-take situation I suppose.”Rankin, a farmer until he finally got to make a living playing cricket, was one of the brightest prospects from the 2007 World Cup. He grew up around Strabane in Northern Ireland, where cricket has always been big. Rankin is one of those who have always wanted to play cricket, and play cricket at the highest possible level. To play cricket at highest level, he has already done his time and qualified for England.”I have been involved with the ECB programmes over the last couple of years,” Rankin says. “And so it is an ambition of mine to play Test cricket, which is the highest level you can play at. At the minute you can’t do that for Ireland. The only option I do have is to play for England. That’s my thing, I just want to be able to play at the highest level. Quite a few guys have asked me the same question, but that’s my feeling. The fact that Ireland don’t play Test cricket at the moment. That’s my ambition. To play Test cricket.”I have been involved with the ECB’s fast-bowling programmes over the last few years, and I came to MRF [pace academy in Chennai] with the ECB. I am part of their plans I think, but at the moment I am trying to concentrate on playing with Ireland.”It is a good time to ask, now that he is still trying to do his best for Ireland, whether Rankin’s team-mates will feel let down or betrayed if or when he does get to play for England. “I would hope not,” says Rankin. “I would hope to think that the same way I saw Eoin first play for England, I was really happy for him. So were the rest of the guys. I don’t think any guy would hold it against me if I did go and play Tests for England. I feel everybody has the same ambition to play at the highest level. That will be quite tough, but just from my personal experience, hopefully it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”George Dockrell is a bright new talent who emerged after 2007•Getty ImagesGoing by the Morgan example, it indeed isn’t much of a problem. “We knew he was going to play for England from the age of 15 or 16, that’s how good a cricketer he was,” O’Brien says. “Since he has played for England, he has become even better. Ireland cricket probably took him as far as it could take him, which is probably a sad state of affairs.”Did O’Brien feel betrayed when Joyce turned up for England in the 2007 World Cup? It’s a natural question to ask, for Joyce’s experience and calm in the middle order could perhaps have taken them farther, who knows? “I wouldn’t say there’s any betrayal at all,” says O’Brien. “Ed wanted to play Test-match cricket, and everybody loves to play Tests. Can’t hold that against Joycey. Now he is back where I believe, and he believes, he belongs, and I know he is enjoying it thoroughly, and he is going to score a lot of runs because he is playing really well.”Depending on how you see it, it is both good and sad. It’s good that the really good players need not feel guilty if they join another nation; it’s sad that the really good players’ mates know their ultimate aim in life is not to just help their side win. Nor does Cricket Ireland have the finances right now to feel bad about the state of affairs.”We have the same problem with other sports too,” says Basil McNamee, Cricket Ireland’s president. “Our very, very good players have gone to play football, and even rugby in England. I don’t think that people in Irish cricket will blame the boys who are attempting to play well for England. We will be sad, and we will welcome them back with open arms, but we can’t do much about it right now.”On the contrary in fact. “If we have two boys playing Test cricket for England, that will give the game a big boost in Ireland,” McNamee says. “We will be getting more people playing the game, we will have a higher profile.”On paper, the easiest solution is the Test status, which will mean the players won’t even have the choice of playing for England. There has been a previous too, when Bangladesh got the Test status after only one upset in the World Cup, back in 1999. However, they are well aware of the pitfalls of a premature promotion.”Don’t think Bangladesh have it easy,” says O’Brien. “They are constantly up against the odds every series they play. [Moreover] it’s a different situation to us. They have got millions and millions of people playing cricket day in, day out. You only have to walk in the street to see kids play cricket in every corner.”McNamee knows Ireland are not ready. “We don’t want to go too far too quickly. We have a small playing base. You are talking about a thousand people. The player base in Bangladesh could be a hundred thousand. And they are having problems playing at this level. So it would be an enormous task for us. Secondly we are trying to promote a game that is very, very tiny part of Ireland sport.”There’s a TV next to where I am sitting and talking to Rankin. As he leaves, he sees it is showing highlights of an England game. He stops and watches, having spotted Morgan batting. That one moment says a lot about where Ireland cricket finds itself. And I thought of four years ago, and what the cricketers thought worked for them then. The unanimous answer was the unity, the bonding that can only happen among people who make sacrifices for a common goal, among people who work 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, fit in a few gym hours in the week, then drive hours to train on the weekend, and back to work 9am Monday morning. They say when they are down they think of those six weeks, trying to go through the same motions. On this World Cup tour, they are playing for the Snip Mooney Trophy, a routine of playing competitive touch rugby before their games and nets sessions that began during the 2007 World Cup.They are a better-prepared side this time because 2007 happened. If they make it to the next round this year, they won’t be calling school head masters to extend leaves, because 2007 happened. They have been able to focus on cricket without having to bother about their other jobs, because 2007 happened. To retain the talent in the country, to play the highest level of cricket for Ireland and not England, to not tear themselves up between country and county, they know they will need to make 2011 happen.

Ricky Ponting’s eight years in charge of Australia brought miserable lows but also unparalleled highs. It’s those peaks that deserve to be remembered

Brydon Coverdale30-Mar-2011Two years ago in South Africa, Ricky Ponting led a touring party that was as green as the baggy cap to which the new players aspired. When they landed in Johannesburg, four members of the squad were yet to debut, while other newbies were still finding their feet after a home series loss to Graeme Smith’s men.Throughout that trip, Ponting stood in the umpire’s place during net sessions and monitored his younger team-mates, dispensing advice and encouragement. When the first Test arrived, he positioned himself in the slips with debutants Marcus North and Phillip Hughes on either side of him, where once Matthew Hayden and Shane Warne had been.Once upon a time, captain Ponting could steer the Australian ship through any conditions and rely on his experienced crew to help him find the way. Now he was teaching a new outfit, and avoiding the icebergs was naturally much trickier.Winning that series was a wonderful achievement. That Ponting didn’t lead Australia to more successes in the couple of years that followed was not a shock. It would have been a surprise if the victories pile up as they had when he could call on Warne, Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer et al.Unlike Australia’s other recent captains, Ponting had to deal with two distinct eras of his reign – with champions and without. Will he be remembered for his unrivalled list of achievements as skipper? There were two World Cup triumphs, Australia’s first Ashes whitewash in 86 years, a record-equalling 16 consecutive Test victories, and a couple of Champions Trophies for good measure.Or will it be the fact that he was the first Australian captain in more than a century to lose three Ashes series? Will the mention of his name bring to mind the acrimony of the Sydney Test in 2007-08, when Australia’s slide was beginning? How will the nine-year, two-stage Ponting era be considered in years to come?He should be remembered as a fine captain with a wonderful record, though not without flaws. At the end of the 2006-07 Ashes clean-sweep, when Australia farewelled Warne, McGrath and Langer, Ponting had only endured three losses in his 35 Tests in charge. After that point, Australia played another 42 Tests under Ponting and won exactly half.Compare that to Graeme Smith, whose South Africans have won only 45% of their Tests under his leadership. In their day, Michael Vaughan and Hansie Cronje were highly regarded leaders, the latter’s match-fixing scandal notwithstanding, and they each only won 50% of their Tests in charge.After the champions left, Ponting’s team became normal. Not terrible. Not substandard. Normal. They could have plummeted into freefall, like West Indies after their dominant era came to an end. Instead, Ponting held them together well enough to enjoy away series wins over South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand, as well as home successes against India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand.

After the champions left, Ponting’s team became normal. Not terrible. Not substandard. Normal. They could have plummeted into freefall, like West Indies after their dominant era came to an end. Instead, Ponting held them together well enough

And as great as the men surrounding him were in the opening years of his leadership, they may not have achieved what they did without an uncompromising captain, committed to complete domination. It was a trait Ponting learned under Steve Waugh, the master of mental disintegration. But unlike Waugh, Ponting eventually had a team that couldn’t always back it up.There were times when his on-field leadership lacked imagination. Like a horse wearing blinkers, Ponting was prone to bouts of tunnel-vision. The 2009 Ashes might have been different had he trusted his best bowlers in the final hour in Cardiff, instead of the spin of North and Nathan Hauritz, and in Nagpur a year earlier he had made similar strange decisions by allowing Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke to bowl when a victory could have been set up.But no captain is without his faults, and Ponting’s team-mates were fiercely loyal to him, the sign of a leader respected by his troops. Australia’s gradual slip from all-conquering to just all right did not happen because of Ponting. The retirement of stars, a decline in the standard of domestic cricket and the selection panel’s poor handling of the spin-bowling stocks were important factors.Even in the difficult Test times, Ponting managed to keep his one-day international team at the top of the ICC’s rankings, which was no small achievement. It was appropriate that his final act as captain was a fighting century in the World Cup, eight years after he lifted the trophy for the first time as leader, having made a brilliant 140 in the final.When he announced his resignation, Ponting nominated that 2003 World Cup, when a Warne-less team went through undefeated, as his fondest captaincy memory. Even more remarkable was the way he lifted his men to another perfect World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007, given the poor form his one-day side had displayed in the months prior.Achievements like that must be remembered. In Ponting’s nine years in charge, Australia’s low points were miserable, but their highs were unparalleled. Like Ponting the batsman, Ponting the captain deserves to be held in great esteem. His successor will be grateful to do half as well.

Not only was Shane Warne among the best bowlers, he was also one of the most successful and highly-regarded captains in the IPL

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan20-May-2011In addition to an exceptional Test and ODI career, Shane Warne can lay claim to having been among the most prolific wicket-takers and one of the most successful captains across the four seasons of the IPL. Right from the first season in 2007-08 when he led unfancied Rajasthan to the title, his consistent bowling performances have complemented his astute captaincy skills. Although his economy rate of 7.27 is not among the best, it is his accuracy combined with the ability to regularly pick up vital wickets that has set him apart.With 57 wickets across the four seasons, he is only the fourth spinner and ninth bowler overall to pick up 50 or more wickets in the IPL. Warne’s aggressive bowling, though, has also meant that batsmen have been able to score many boundaries. The 56 sixes conceded by him is second on the list of most sixes conceded by a bowler in the IPL. Among spinners, the 700 boundary runs conceded by Warne is second only to Piyush Chawla’s 742. The table below summarises the bowling stats of top spinners across the four seasons.

Top spinners across the four seasons of the IPL

BowlerMatchesWicketsAverageEconomy4WI/5WI4s/6sBoundary%Pragyan Ojha535922.087.110/088/4547.73Piyush Chawla545723.717.591/0100/5754.88Amit Mishra445720.076.960/169/5150.87Shane Warne545725.387.271/091/5648.37Harbhajan Singh424721.126.641/170/2845.11Anil Kumble424523.516.572/172/3547.06Muttiah Muralitharan454227.026.480/070/4246.87Apart from a poor 2010 season, Warne has been very consistent in the IPL. He picked up 19 wickets in 2008, his highest in a single season. His wickets though, came at an economy rate of 7.76, by far his highest in a season. In a fairly successful second season in 2009, his boundary-run percentage and dot-ball percentage improved over the corresponding numbers in the first season. The third season was his least productive and he picked up only 11 wickets at an average close to 35. His economy rate and boundary-run percentage were also high. Remarkably, in the fourth season, he has been at his best. Along with an excellent economy rate of 6.31, his boundary-run percentage and dot-ball percentage figures also improved considerably.

Shane Warne’s performance in each IPL season

SeasonInningsRuns concededBalls bowledEconomyWicketsAverageBoundary%Dot-ball%2008154043127.761921.2650.9935.892009133653007.301426.0747.1237.662010143813007.621134.6349.8633.002011122972826.311322.8444.4441.84Generally, Warne has done better in the second innings of matches. He has a better economy rate in the second innings in all seasons. His second-innings average is also better in the first three seasons when compared to the first-innings performance. His best performance has come in the first innings in 2011 where he has picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6.62 and average of 19.27. His worst showing, however, was in the first innings in 10 when he picked up only three wickets at an economy rate of 8.47 and average of 59.33.

Warne’s performance in the first and second innings of matches

SeasonMatch inningsInningsEconomyWicketsAverage4s/6s2008197.941027.0012/162008267.44914.8811/32009187.32637.8313/92009257.26817.259/52010168.47359.3313/72010287.00825.3712/82011176.621119.2714/72011245.66242.507/1Warne has generally bowled in the middle overs of an innings. In the first six-over period, he has bowled only six overs and picked up one wicket at an economy rate of 9.66. In the middle overs (7-14), he has bowled more often and has been much more impressive. His 36 wickets have come at an economy of 6.71 and average just over 27. In the final six overs, he has conceded 8.54 runs per over and picked up 20 wickets at an average of 20.50.

Warne’s performance across various phases of an innings

Period of innings(overs)Runs concededBalls bowledEconomyWicketsAverage4s/6s1-658369.66158.007/27-149838706.773627.3059/3115-204062888.452020.3025/23Across the four seasons, quite a few batsmen have found it very difficult to handle Warne. While Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa have scored at a fast clip, they have been dismissed three times each. Virat Kohli and S Badrinath have struggled, though: they have scored at less than four runs per over. Albie Morkel has been the best batsman against Warne, scoring 89 runs off 37 balls with eight sixes. Sachin Tendulkar, who faced Shane Warne in his last game, has been dismissed once while scoring 44 runs off 36 balls.

Batsmen v Warne (min 20 balls faced)

BatsmanRuns scoredBalls facedDismissalsSR4s/6sSuresh Raina656136.395/1Robin Uthappa352339.135/1Rohit Sharma525236.001/1Virat Kohli162813.421/0S Badrinath142413.501/0Albie Morkel8937014.436/8Andrew Symonds6537010.573/4Yuvraj SIngh6940110.352/7Perhaps even more significant than his bowling performance has been Warne’s contribution as captain. In the first season, when Rajasthan were virtually given no chance against much stronger teams, he led them to victory. The success in the first season was built on a stunning home record. Rajasthan won all seven of their home matches, including five while chasing. In the inaugural season, along with Sohail Tanvir (best bowler in IPL 2008) and Shane Watson (player of the tournament in IPL 2008), Warne was among the top five wicket takers in IPL 2008.Overall, across the four seasons, Rajasthan’s chasing record at home has been very impressive with 11 wins and two losses. Their performance has, however, suffered in recent seasons because of a poor away record. Warne’s 30 wins as captain is second only to MS Dhoni’s record of 34 wins. The win-loss ratio of 2.50 at home is the best among all teams.

Most successful captains in IPL

CaptainMatchesWins/Losses (overall)Wins/Losses (Home)Wins/Losses(away)Wins/Losses(bat first)Wins/Losses(chasing)MS Dhoni5634/2217/717/1522/1512/7Shane Warne5530/2415/615/1810/1320/11Sachin Tendulkar4728/2012/516/1518/1110/9Adam Gilchrist5325/289/816/2014/1211/16Yuvraj Singh4221/218/613/157/1214/9Virender Sehwag3618/185/813/107/1211/6

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the fourth quarter-final between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo

Sidharth Monga at the Premadasa26-Mar-2011The misunderstanding
Jonathan Trott and Ravi Bopara did a good job of knocking the ball around later on during their partnership, but the there was the odd potential run-out thrown in too, especially because of the extensive employment of the reverse-sweep. One such effort from Trott, in the 23rd over, lobbed over Kumar Sangakkara’s head, and he got so engrossed in watching over his wicket that he didn’t realise the ball had reached the vacant short third-man region. Bopara wanted the run, Trott didn’t, Bopara wanted it more, Trott was even more opposed, until he realised Bopara had reached his end and there was enough time for him too to make it to the other.The cat
At least half a cat for sure. Eoin Morgan may as well head off to the casino after the game. They just didn’t seem to be capable of catching him. He was dropped by Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath, on 16, 33 and 34 respectively. In between was the usually argumentative Sri Lankan captains’ failure to dispute a not-out call when Lasith Malinga had Morgan lbw on 29. Murali’s reaction when Herath grassed one at point was priceless: pointing at the fielder, shouting, cursing, competitive as ever at 22 days short of 39 years.The break
When Morgan dug out a yorker from Malinga in the 43rd over, the ball flew square on the off side, and a piece on wood square on the leg side. On first look it looked like Malinga had bowled him, but it was a chunk of the bottom of the bat that had come off. The single that Morgan took was also his 50th run, so in one wave of a broken bat towards the dressing, he acknowledged the applause and also asked for a new piece of wood.The switch-hit
It went horribly wrong, by the way. England have tended to promote Graeme Swann during the batting Powerplay overs, and Swann in turn has tended to employ the switch-hit to the first ball he faces. When he came to bat in the 44th over, despite all England’s unpredictability, it was clear to all who have followed the World Cup that Swann was going to try the switch-hit. Mendis bowled straight, within the stumps, Swann swung, missed, and was caught dead plumb.The slip
It’s humid in Sri Lanka. If you didn’t know it already from the two cramping centurions, go back to the highlights package, and check out Tillakaratne Dilshan’s attempt at a pull shot in the 34th over of the chase. It was a good slower bouncer from Tim Bresnan, and Dilshan gave it a mighty thwack, except he didn’t connect and the bat went flying towards square leg. Good that there was no square leg in place, and the umpire was deeper than where the bat landed.The drama
With seven runs required for a win, and Upul Tharanga on 98, Dilshan – already past his century – cut Graeme Swann for a four to send a surprised murmur across the partying stands. He had played a part in denying Virender Sehwag a century last year, surely he was not going to deny his partner one here? Two balls to go in the over. Cheekily Swann bowls short and wide, this time Dilshan goes right across, and defends to send across a wild cheer. Now Swann tosses it up, and Dilshan stretches well forward for a defensive. And all is right with the world with Tharanga on strike for the next over.

In the toughest conditions of the series so far, he has come through as the toughest batsman on both sides

Sharda Ugra at Trent Bridge30-Jul-2011The grey skies at the start of the Nottingham Test had slotted first day into what English cricket folk call a “bowling day”; as the clouds parted on Saturday and sunlight flowed over Trent Bridge, naturally it was the advent of that other phenomenon: “batting day.”For this Test match, surely, they needn’t have bothered with the descriptives. In terms of batsmanship, the first two days of the Trent Bridge Test have both just been, quite simply, Dravid Days.The wicket at Trent Bridge is known for its propensity to swing. The theories behind that phenomenon include the Duke’s ball, the new stands built at the ground, the airflow around them, the neighbouring river Trent, the sky, the clouds, the weather, everything and nothing. Wherever the swing came from, Rahul Dravid’s response to it, and his second Test century of the tour, came from skill, memory and cussedness.In the toughest conditions of the series so far, Dravid has come through as the toughest batsman in either side. In passages of play when the bowling has been unrelenting and spells in which the ball has darted, jagged, leapt and thrown flying kisses at the bat’s edge, Dravid has been instinct and calculation in perfect sync.With this 34th century, he has now drawn level with Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara, to go with his No. 2 spot on the list of all-time Test run-scorers. If there ever was a poll conducted to identify the most hardy and considerate of international batsmen of this age, Dravid has a very good chance of topping it. In this series already, he has done whatever he is capable of: opened, batted at No. 3, kept wickets, fielded at slips – and he will say with his droll humour, also dropped a few. Asked a question about his ability to bowl after his century, he laughed and said, “If I bowl, my shoulder will come out off my back.”Rahul Dravid was dismissed after century No. 34, which draws him level with Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara•Getty ImagesOn this tour of England, it is a shoulder his team has leaned heavily upon. Of all the India batsmen, he has adjusted the quickest in England, looked the most composed and scored the most heavily. India still find themselves gasping because he has had very little company. He was out in an outrageously flashy manner, a wild, short-game cut off Tim Bresnan, as out of place in his innings as pink hot pants would be at an awards presentation. Given that his partners had been unpredictable in the last 10 minutes, and four wickets had fallen for six runs, it was hard to blame him for going for broke.It is worth remembering that his first-innings century at Lord’s had been rendered paltry because of a similar effort from the rest. So maybe, if Dravid is seen attempting reverse hits or Dilscoops at The Oval, we’ll know how the Indian batting has gone in the rest of the Test matches. After Harbhajan Singh was out, he said he wanted to go for the runs, the extra 20-25 runs that could all add up at the end. Essentially, Dravid wanted to borrow from Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann’s ninth-wicket approach on Friday. “I thought let me do what they did and the first one I tried went into third man’s hands … that’s just Test cricket, it happens.”Dravid’s second century of the tour had begun with a bruising hour of play on Friday evening. He was hit on his wrist, jammed in the fingers, worked out, worked over. He had kept batting through two more sessions, sometimes hobbling, sometimes cramping but always pushing forward. He was hit in the wrist again this morning, and after the initial spasm, his hand lost sensation for a few overs. What Dravid never lost was the purpose of what he had to do: bat one ball at a time.In his epic innings – and he’s one of the few who has produced regular epics as against memorable stanzas – Dravid can often bat like a clock that ticks over reliably. Tap. Single. Back again. Forward. Defend. Dot ball. Beaten. Dot ball. Forget. Off stump. Leave. Dot ball. Late. Nudge. Two. Soft hands. Kill. Dot ball. Width. Cut. Four. Ball after ball, over after over. The craftsmanship does not lie on the surface. Dravid’s batting is not the stylish face of the clock, it’s the moving parts inside. He called Nottingham one of his better hundreds because of the “hard-working, fighting” aspects of it that he said he “really enjoyed”. He said the conditions in Headingley back in 2002, when India batted first on a green track to put up a total that set up victory, were tougher, but the bowling in 2011 was far more demanding and precise.He emerged with VVS Laxman on a bright morning and within three overs they cracked four consecutive boundaries. Two each, off rare lapses from Anderson and Broad, that erased the dread that had built up last evening among the small but vociferous Indian fans at the ground.Dravid called the hundred one of his better ones, terming it a “hard-working, fighting” knock•Getty ImagesThe partnership hummed along like it always has, at varying paces. The two men farmed the attack cleverly, Dravid facing Broad and Laxman against Anderson, with few singles, several twos and the quick boundary at a juicy sighter. Laxman melted the conditions – driving, pulling and cutting savagely to score his second half-century of the series. At the other end, Dravid was in his own bubble of concentration, found often at the non-striker’s end shadow-practising the leave as much as he did the forward defence. Andrew Strauss’s team believes it’s all the leaving from Dravid that the England line-up should take a cue from when they bat on Sunday.Broad later said Dravid’s wicket, off Bresnan, had been his favourite in a day when they fell in a clatter and had included his stunning hat-trick. “He [Dravid] has been so hard to bowl at in this series.” Dravid’s game is based on technical classicism and attached to it is the awareness of how valuable a wicket can be. Unlike items on the English retail market right now, Dravid’s wicket in this series is not going to be on discount sale.In Nottingham, there was measured driving, his runs earned by tucking balls away off the pads, countering the swing by playing the ball late and easing them through to third man. Closer to his century, the new ball nearing, Dravid saw the slower bowlers and the sun come on, and decided to show off the rest of his repertoire of shots: a back-foot cover drive, a glide through slips, and Swann, in particular, was taken apart, going for 42 in 37 balls to Dravid.After more than six hours of batting against the swinging, darting ball, Dravid put all the acclaim in perspective. “I played and missed a lot in this game. I could have nicked the first one and people would have said he’s not leaving well. When you get beaten you have to fight back. You have to say, ‘As long as I’m here, I’m going to make it count,’ and not try to do something silly.”If Dravid’s batting this series was to be set to music, it could possibly be to Elgar, in both its pomp and circumstance. This is his last tour of England, a country where he has always enjoyed playing his cricket; he has scored five centuries (average 73.18) here and soaked in its best traditions. His grim, beautiful fights in these two Tests for India have also carried with them gratitude for the grounds he is playing on.In Nottingham as he tried to push his team ahead in the contest run by run, inch by inch, he was also giving the crowd his farewell masterpiece. Dismissed in an unDravid-esque manner, he walked back through stretching shadows and the golden light of a dipping sun. Having shaken off his own annoyance at his dismissal, he raised his bat to all sections of Trent Bridge as he neared the gate. Then he disappeared up the steps into a pavilion that is 125 years old, with an honours board that will have his name up a second time. When Rahul Dravid leaves Nottingham, he will leave a part of his best self here.

ESPNcricinfo looks at the highlights of the third round of the Ranji Trophy 2011-12

Abhishek Purohit22-Nov-2011If it’s the Kotla …
… the pitch has got to be upto something. After dishing out the low variety of bounce for the second Test against West Indies, the Kotla brought out the other version which batsmen dread even more – uneven bounce, for Delhi’s game against Tamil Nadu. The surface had an unusual green tinge which was masking a web of gaping cracks. Mithun Manhas, the Delhi captain, soon found out just how much was happening when he got hit on the box by a Yo Mahesh delivery that nipped in. Some minutes of wincing, catching his breath and stretching did it for Manhas but Abhinav Mukund wasn’t as lucky. Pradeep Sangwan isn’t someone who you would fear facing but he got a delivery to misbehave enough to hit Mukund on the jaw. Mukund had to leave the field but came back later to find deliveries beating both batsman and keeper as they scooted close to the ground. He did earn Tamil Nadu a substantial lead before being dismissed on 99. By Sangwan.The chase that wasn’t
After they almost chased down an improbable 146 in 13 overs against Haryana in the previous round, you would have expected Tamil Nadu to go after the target of 218 off a maximum 49 overs against Delhi. It would have required more skill against a better attack on a tricky Kotla surface but with Mukund not available to bat, Tamil Nadu had reason to be warier this time. A watchful start, followed by the quick departure of Arun Karthik and M Vijay meant it was down to Dinesh Karthik. He hit ten boundaries in making 52 but his dismissal brought a tame end with Tamil Nadu requiring 89 off 14 overs in fading light. “We had decided not to go for the runs knowing we will get some 15-17 overs less due to bad light,” Karthik told the . If only the Delhi fog hadn’t delayed the start by a couple of hours in the morning.What not to do on the eve of a game
Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Rajat Bhatia was playing with his pet dog a day before the start of the match against Tamil Nadu. Which wasn’t dangerous by itself. There was some new glass being fitted into the house windows. Which also wasn’t dangerous by itself. The combination of the two proved to be. While playing with the dog, Bhatia slipped and fell onto a sheet of glass, ending up with eight stitches in his batting, bowling and throwing hand, the right one. Bhatia managed to see a brighter side to the incident though. “Thankfully, I did not hurt my fingers or split the webbing between them,” Bhatia told ESPNcricinfo. “Or I would have been out for far longer.” He hopes to be back for Delhi’s next game against Baroda which starts in a week.A different league
Bat the opposition out of the game. Rajasthan won their maiden Ranji Trophy title last season with this strategy. This approach was backed up by the new-ball duo of Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar who were ran through sides in the Plate League and later restricted the might of the Mumbai and Tamil Nadu batting line-ups in the knockouts. The start of this season has been an entirely different experience. Karnataka beat them at their own strategy in their opening game, posting 623 after which Rajasthan crumbled. They returned to their big-scoring ways against Mumbai and Railways, posting totals in excess of 500 each time but still ended up conceding the lead as the bowling failed to click. With three points from three games, the defending champions have a lot to prove.The record
It is said that a wicketkeeper who goes unnoticed is doing a fine job. But there was no missing Hyderabad keeper Ibrahim Khaleel’s performance against Assam. Hyderabad roared back with a big innings win after having lost to Maharashtra by an innings in the previous round. There were two centuries, a five-for and two four-fors for Hyderabad but Khaleel grabbed all the attention with a first-class record 14 dismissals in the match. Seven in each innings, 11 catches, three stumpings. “Actually when the match ended we all thought that it was an Indian record,” Khaleel told the . “But then we checked the internet and saw that it’s a record in first-class cricket. Definitely, we had some disappointing outings but hope my performance and the big win changes things for us.”The comeback
A familiar figure ran in for Delhi against Tamil Nadu, sending back M Vijay and Arun Karthik off consecutive deliveries with movement and nip. The last time Ashish Nehra played first-class cricket was in November 2008. Injuries took over after that, and Nehra decided to play only the shorter formats to prolong his career. This time he was returning after breaking his fingers during the World Cup 2011 semi-final against Pakistan. Would he be able to bowl across three sessions in a day? Turned out that wasn’t his biggest worry. “I know my body cannot handle two four-day games with a gap of only three days between them. It’s not the bowling that is a problem, it’s the 90 overs in the field that in the past, have caused strains and injuries,” he told ESPNcricinfo. He got through the game in the end. Uninjured.The results
Saurashtra’s demolition of Punjab was the only outright result in the Elite League with the other six games being drawn. The Plate League, as always, provided more excitement, producing four results in six matches. There would have been a fifth result as well, but captain Yashpal Singh’s unbeaten century helped Services avoid an innings defeat to Vidarbha.The quote
“I did not feel under pressure at the start of the day, but I was thinking, ‘will I be okay, will everything go well?’ And so far it has.”

Why is it that pitches that produce three-day results are scrutinised but ones that lead to dull draws are not?

S Aga24-Nov-2011Whose game is it anyway? Three days of play at the Wankhede Stadium have seen just 13 wickets fall. For the bean counters that want to see five days of play, it’s the ideal scenario. For anyone who wants to see a semblance of a contest between bat and ball, it’s a reminder that Test matches in India these days usually don’t offer such indulgences.The same venue hosted a nail-biting Test match in 2004, when just over 200 overs of play saw India earn a 13-run victory over Australia. In Kanpur in 2008, another seesaw contest against South Africa saw India victorious in three days. Both pitches were severely criticised by match officials, despite producing results and exciting contests.Needless to say, concrete-like slabs in the Middle East and at venues like Motera – they could double up as mortuary tables for bowlers – escape such harsh scrutiny. If you extend such perverse logic to another sport, it’s like saying that a 12-round contest between two lumbering heavyweights who barely touch gloves is preferable to a hell-for-leather Hagler-Hearns fight that ends in four rounds.Bowlers from both sides, and MS Dhoni, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the surfaces that this series has been played on. When informed of that, Gautam Gambhir suggested that they should just get on with it, that batsmen have to cope with green tops from time to time.”You don’t get five wickets or a century easily in Test cricket,” he said.That cliché has been exposed often enough in recent times, with pitches getting more and more placid around the world. The lowest completed score from a top-order batsman in this game is Virender Sehwag’s 37. Everyone else has made at least 50.Darren Bravo batted beautifully for his 166, but if you were to compare it with Michael Clarke’s 151 in impossibly hard conditions at Newlands, you might think you were watching a different sport. Not one innings played so far is worthy of comparison with VVS Laxman’s marvellous 69 in that 2004 game. And it’s precisely because batsmen don’t get tested often enough that you see the collapses that routinely occur when there’s a hint of swing, seam movement or sharp turn.With Sehwag not batting long enough to make a result a strong possibility, there’s every likelihood this match will descend into nothing more than a statistical exercise. Something worthwhile will emerge from it only if the harsh sun succeeds in causing the pitch to crack and crumble a little over the final two days.Gambhir seemed to think that it might happen. “Things change very quickly in India, especially on red soil. If we can make 550, we have two quality spinners to put some pressure on them and get a result.”We can only hope that the soil listens. If not, this match will join an inglorious list of recent no-contests that act as nails in Test cricket’s coffin in this part of the world.

The South Africans hope that Alviro Petersen’s calm, no-frills demeanour will translate to results with the bat, in Graeme Smith’s company at the top of the order

Firdose Moonda in Cape Town02-Jan-2012Very few people believe a problem can be solved through talking, rather than doing. Last week, Sri Lanka showed that sometimes it can. After their innings-and-81-runs humiliation in Centurion, it emerges that a team talk was one of the key factors that sparked Sri Lanka’s exponentially superior determination and commitment in Durban.Members of the Sri Lankan think tank had spoken – frankly, honestly and even harshly – about the reasons for their underperformance. They discussed areas that needed improvement, they tried to map out plans to ensure that improvement and they addressed other concerns, mostly mental ones, about playing in a foreign country. They also held two extra training sessions, gruelling as always, to get themselves ready for Durban. The result was a famous win, and now South Africa are trying to mirror the visiting team’s methods.South Africa’s first step towards recovering from a loss that Graeme Smith termed “embarrassing”, has been to address the concerns in the mind and the worries in the heart. “It’s been a pretty tough time. We needed to overcome a few emotions. You go through the down time where you start reflecting and then you start picking yourself up as a team,” Smith said. “We’ve had some really good chats about areas where we feel we’ve been poor.”South Africa held an extended three-and-a-half hour training session on Sunday but had to cancel their practice on Monday because of a nagging drizzle. The team spent the best part of two hours in their change room, chatting. The main topic of conversation was the mental shift that needs to be made when playing on wickets that are not tailor-made for the attack and are more like brown house snakes than green mambas.The Durban pitch fit that category, since it provided a more even contest between bat and ball rather than overly favour of quicks. South Africa’s batsmen fell apart, unable to adjust to slightly uneven bounce while their bowlers battled to make use of a pitch that did not assist them as much as they hoped. “We played on fairly juicy wickets throughout the season and then we got on one wicket that was a little different to that and we didn’t adapt well enough,” Smith admitted. “It’s more of a mental shift. When we are thrown out of the loop with a wicket that is not like that [green] we need to make that mental shift quicker.”Although dotted with tinges of green, the Newlands pitch is likely to be another good cricket wicket and South Africa will have to be ready for a five-day duel, instead of a straight shoot-out. One of the players who could assist them in getting accustomed to the long haul is the recalled opener Alviro Petersen. Since being dropped, Petersen has scored three first-class hundreds, the most notable of them against the touring Australians on a spicy pitch.The South Africans hope that Petersen’s calm, no-frills demeanour will translate to results with the bat, in Smith’s company at the top of the order. The two have a fairly solid record together. They have eight fifty-plus stands, including two century-partnerships, in the nine Test matches they have opened in together. Although Petersen has not progressed much after making a century on debut in India, he has shown immense development in the domestic game. Smith hoped they could resume their relationship successfully.”Opening the batting, you both front up to a lot of things so you need to be there for each other and understand each other,” he said. “We’ve got to know each other pretty well and we need to resurrect that pretty quickly. He is carrying some terrific form at the moment and hopefully we can gel that together.”When Petersen was dropped, he was thought to be a victim of another’s prolific form, since Jacques Rudolph stunned the SuperSport Series with 954 runs in his comeback season. Now, there is a perceived sense of justice in Petersen’s recall, after Rudolph’s failure to push on from his domestic successes. Rudolph and Smith opened together in four matches, with only one half-century partnership and Rudolph managed a top score of just 44. Petersen’s return means Rudolph will bat at No. 6 in Cape Town.Another player whose frame of mind could be important for this Test is Imran Tahir. After debuting in a cloud of hype, Tahir has not lived up to his domestic form and was substantially less successful than Herath in Durban. He is expected to make a bigger impact at Newlands, and Smith said the team management had put a lot of work to help him make the step up to international cricket.”It’s more that he needs an understanding of how to be successful at Test cricket. It’s not that he doesn’t have the ability,” Smith said. Paul Adams has spent a lot of time with him, talking about spin bowling so if he can have a mentor in that way to talk to about how to be successful, it will help. We’ll give him as much as time as possible to develop and to grow.”While time may on Tahir’s side, it is not on South Africa’s. This Test will be their last opportunity this season to break their jinx at home – they haven’t won their last four home series. Smith said he hopes all the talking will pay off. “We can play tougher cricket,” Smith said. “We can make Sri Lanka earn a few more things than what they earned in Durban.”