Brathwaite stresses on “fight” and “discipline” for inexperienced West Indies to take the fight to the world champions in the two-Test series

Alex Malcolm16-Jan-2024Discipline is the key word skipper Kraigg Brathwaite is stressing on to his young players, with West Indies set to unveil an extremely inexperienced XI against Test world champions Australia in Adelaide – Shamar Joseph, Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves all set to make their Test debuts.West Indies are expected to field an XI with only five members who played in the two-Test series against Australia in Australia last summer, with seven players, including the three debutants, Tagenarine Chanderpaul (eight), Gudakesh Motie (four), Alick Athanaze (two), and Kirk McKenzie (one) combining for just 15 Tests. Wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva is West Indies’ fourth-most experienced player and has played the same number of Tests, 24, as Australia’s least experienced player, Cameron Green.Brathwaite, who is only 13 Tests away from playing 100, says his side can compete with Australia if they maintain their discipline for long periods.Related

• Cricket's great divide: no quick fix to level the playing field

• Odds stacked against brave and talented West Indians

• Meet the seven uncapped West Indians in Australia

“All I want to see from the team is fight,” Brathwaite said. “We’re obviously playing against the number one team but I believe we do have the potential. It all revolves around discipline – how long we can be disciplined for as a bowling unit, because we don’t want to go in fours and fives obviously. So once we can be disciplined and obviously put partnerships on the board, anything is possible. But we’ve got to work extremely hard and we have to believe in ourselves.”West Indies took great heart from the Pakistan’s performance against Australia in recent weeks, despite the 3-0 scoreline.Alzarri Joseph noted on Monday that West Indies’ bowlers needed to adjust their lengths from last summer, having bowled too short to an Australian top order that had a feast in Perth and Adelaide.Brathwaite said his bowlers had taken a close look at the success of Pakistan’s Aamer Jamal in his debut series as the blueprint of how to bowl in Australia.

“Early on, I think it’s very important for us to build that foundation and spend time. Make it easier for the guys to come. That’s always the role of an opener. We’ll go out there and fight hard and look to do that for the team”Kraigg Brathwaite

“We saw his lengths. He really attacked the stumps a lot and his length, it was quite a bit fuller than the other guys,” Brathwaite said. “I think, especially early on, you can always get carried away as fast bowlers. Obviously in the Caribbean, we are not accustomed [to bowling those lengths], we don’t see many pitches like this. So for young fast bowlers to come, they get a bit excited and bowl a little shorter.”But we were in discussions in terms of lengths. Watching guys bowl here over the years, we do agree a bit fuller [works], especially early on with the new ball. The new ball will be quite crucial. So we also got to utilise that and be disciplined. That’s a big word for us: discipline.”It will take doing it not just for a half-hour. You’ve got to do it for the entire day if it takes that long. Hopefully not. But if it does, it’s just having the strength mentally, despite your body maybe being tired as bowlers, to be able to do it for long periods. That’s what makes guys world-class bowlers. They do it not just in the first spell but they do it throughout the day. They keep coming at you. So we’ve got to do that. It’s simple and I believe that the guys have the potential to do it and they have my support.”As vital as it will be for the bowlers to have an impact, an even heavier burden will fall on West Indies’ openers in Brathwaite and Chanderpaul given the middle order of McKenzie, Athanaze, Hodge and Greaves have played three Tests between them.Kavem Hodge is one of the players expected to make his Test debut in Adelaide•CWI Media/Philip SpoonerBrathwaite and Chanderpaul shared stands of 78, 116, 35 and 15 last summer against Australia, with Brathwaite scoring 64 and 110 in Perth, while Chanderpaul made scores of 51, 45 and 47 in his first three Test innings, showing extraordinary grit against Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Green.Brathwaite was aware of how important good opening stands would be. “Very, very important,” he said. “We know it’s never easy. Obviously, they have a world-class attack. Early on, I think it’s very important for us to build that foundation and spend time. Make it easier for the guys to come. That’s always the role of an opener. We’ll go out there and fight hard and look to do that for the team.”He was hoping the presence of Brian Lara at training over the past few days, in a mentoring capacity, might help inspire a few of the newcomers to great heights in Adelaide.”It’s always amazing to have Brian around,” Brathwaite said. “He has a good set of runs here at Adelaide, so if he could give some of the guys [an idea of how to score] that would be great. But obviously, his wisdom is always good, his advice. He’s been through many situations, especially here in Australia and against Australia. My advice to the guys will always be to tap into him.”

All the numbers that mattered as Australia defeated India by 79 runs to claim a fourth crown

Sampath Bandarupalli11-Feb-20244 Under-19 World Cup titles for Australia. They lifted the trophy in 1988, 2002, 2010 and 2024. Only India have won more titles – five of them – including the previous edition in 2022.4 The 2024 edition is the fourth instance of India finishing as runners-up in an Under-19 World Cup tournament, which is also the most by a team.253 for 7 Australia’s total against India is the highest by any team in an Under-19 World Cup final. England’s 242 for 3 in a chase against New Zealand to win the 1998 edition was the previous highest.Related

Saumy Pandey: the cricketer who cried at the thought of being anything else

Red-hot Australia defend 253 to win fourth Under-19 World Cup

Saharan bemoans 'rash shots' from India: 'We didn't spend enough time in the middle'

1998 Australia’s win on Sunday was their first against India in an Under-19 World Cup game since 1998. Since then India had won all six outings against Australia between 2000 and 2022, including twice in the finals – 2012 and 2018.2012 The last instance of Australia defeating India in a youth ODI. In ten meetings since then, India got the better of Australia each time before the 2024 Under-19 World Cup final.22 Consecutive youth ODI matches won by India while chasing before their 79-run defeat on Sunday. Their previous defeat in a youth ODI game while chasing came in August 2018 against Sri Lanka.1 Only once has a team defended their Under-19 World Cup crown: Pakistan in 2006, after winning the trophy in 2004. Australia (in 2012) and India (in 2020 and 2024) finished runners-up in pursuit of defending their title.Oliver Peake’s cameo helped Australia go past the 250-mark•ICC/Getty Images3 Previous instances of India conceding 250-plus totals at the Under-19 World Cup. Two of those came in wins when they were defending 300-plus totals. Their only loss was against South Africa in 2002 when they conceded 268 for 5 and went down by 112 runs.397 Runs scored by India’s Uday Saharan, the second-most for a captain in a single edition. Cameron White tops the list with 423 in eight matches which he recorded in Australia’s victorious 2002 campaign.46 India’s opening stand against USA in the group stage game turned out to be their highest of the tournament. The 2024 edition is now the first where India failed to stitch an opening partnership of at least 50.

He has also equalled Kumble’s record of 35 five-wicket hauls, the most by any India bowler

Sampath Bandarupalli25-Feb-20241:11

Manjrekar: Ashwin’s artistry on show once again

354 Wickets in Test cricket for R Ashwin in India, the most by any bowler, surpassing Anil Kumble’s tally of 350. Ashwin is ranked fourth in the list of most Test wickets by a bowler at home.35 Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket for Ashwin, the joint-most by an Indian, alongside Kumble. Only three bowlers have bagged more five-fors in Tests – Muthiah Muralidaran (67), Shane Warne (37) and Richard Hadlee (36).27 Five-wicket hauls for Ashwin in home Tests, the second-most for any bowler, going ahead of Herath’s 26. Ashwin is now only behind Muralidaran, who tops the list with 45 five-wicket hauls at home.ESPNcricinfo Ltd16 Five-wicket hauls for Ashwin while opening the bowling in Tests. He has picked up 170 wickets at an average of 19.09 in the 51 innings where he opened the bowling. Thirteen out of those 16 opening-the-bowling five-fors have come in home Tests.91 Test wickets for Ashwin at home against England, the most for an Indian bowler against any opponent. Ashwin went past Harbhajan Singh’s 86 strikes against Australia in 14 Tests played in India.12 Five-wicket hauls for Ashwin in the third innings of a Test match, the joint-second most for any bowler. Muralidaran has the most third-innings five-fors in Tests with 21, while Kumble and Warne also have 12. Four of Ashwin’s 12 five-fors in the third innings have come after India conceded a first-innings lead.37y 159d Ashwin’s age coming into the Ranchi Test. He is now the second-oldest Indian to claim a five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Vinoo Mankad remains the oldest having got one aged 37 years and 306 days, against Pakistan in Peshawar in 1955.12 Venues where Ashwin has taken a five-wicket haul in India, out of the 16 grounds he has played Test cricket. Ranchi is now the 19th Test venue where Ashwin has bagged a five-wicket haul. Only three bowlers have five-fors at more venues than Ashwin – Muralidaran (25), Warne (20) and Wasim Akram (20).

Mumbai respond with the highest total in a losing cause, as both teams combine to smack the most sixes ever in a IPL match

Sampath Bandarupalli27-Mar-2024523 – Runs scored by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians on Wednesday in Hyderabad. It is the highest match aggregate for any T20 match, surpassing the 517 runs between South Africa and West Indies in Centurion in 2023.38 – Number of sixes hit in Hyderabad – 18 by Sunrisers and 20 by Mumbai – the most in any T20 match. The previous highest was 37 sixes in a 2018 Afghanistan Premier League game between Balkh Legends and Kabul Zwanan in Sharjah, and a 2019 CPL match between St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs.277 for 3 – Sunrisers’ total against Mumbai is the highest in the history of the IPL. They broke the record set by Royal Challengers Bangalore with 263 for 5 against Pune Warriors in 2013.3 – Men’s T20 totals higher than Sunrisers’ 277 against Mumbai. The highest is 314 for 3 by Nepal against Mongolia in the Asian Games last year, followed by Afghanistan’s 278 for 3 against Ireland in 2019 in Dehradun and Czech Republic’s 278 for 4 in the Continental Cup in 2019. The 277 by Sunrisers is also the second-highest T20 total on Indian soil, behind Afghanistan’s effort.ESPNcricinfo Ltd246 for 5 – Mumbai’s total in the chase is their highest and the joint-fifth highest for any team in the IPL. It is also the highest total for any team in a run-chase in the IPL and the highest in a losing cause in the league.0 – Previous instances of an SRH batter reaching fifty in less than 20 balls in the IPL. Travis Head set the record for the fastest fifty for the franchise, taking 18 balls to get to the landmark, only for Abhishek Sharma to break it less than four overs later, taking only 16 deliveries for his fifty. The previous fastest fifty for SRH was off 20 balls by David Warner (vs CSK in 2015 and vs KKR in 2017) and Moises Henriques (vs RCB in 2015).1 – Head and Abhishek became the first pair of batters to complete fifty in less than 20 balls for the same team in an IPL match.148 – Sunrisers’ total at the halfway stage is the highest for any team in the first ten overs of an IPL innings. Mumbai Indians’ 141 in the chase on Wednesday ranks second.14.4 – Overs needed for Sunrisers to reach the 200-run mark, the second-fastest by any team in the IPL. The previous fastest team 200 in the IPL was off 14.1 overs by Royal Challengers against Kings XI in a shortened game in 2016.66 – Runs conceded by Kwena Maphaka – the joint-third most by any bowler in an IPL innings. These are also the most by any bowler on IPL debut, surpassing the 62 by Michael Neser against Royal Challengers in 2013.81 – Sunrisers’ total in the powerplay, which is their highest-ever in the IPL, surpassing the 79 they scored against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017. It is also the second-highest powerplay total against Mumbai, behind the 90 by Chennai Super Kings in 2015.18 – Sixes by Sunrisers in their innings – the most by them in an IPL match. Their previous highest was 15 sixes during their last game this season, against Knight Riders.

After seven failed attempts, their men’s World Cup semi-final jinx is broken. After plenty of scrapping at this World Cup, they were clinical in their quest for history

Firdose Moonda27-Jun-20242:45

Jansen a ‘real nightmare’ with bounce and movement

The complete game. After seven games of scrapping at the T20 World Cup 2024, that’s what Aiden Markram was searching for. Five overs into the semi-final, his bowlers seemed to give him that.Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada relied on South Africa’s traditional strengths of seam movement and bounce, before Anrich Nortje brought express pace to floor Afghanistan and end their fairytale. Overall, South Africa’s seamers were excellent at moving the ball back into the right-handers off good length, and used their height to vary that with back-of-length deliveries that surprised the batters. Afghanistan lost their leading run-scorers early and were never able to properly counter-attack, and that may be for several reasons.The quality and aggression of South Africa’s attack is one, the difficulty of the surface another, and Rashid Khan admitted the team had not slept much since qualifying for the semi-final late on Monday night local time. Some of the reasons for the latter was because of a travel delay and some of it because they were celebrating so much. The logistics of the tournament’s travel aside, Afghanistan’s emotional over-expenditure was understandable and few teams will relate to that better than South Africa. Historically, it has been them that have been overwhelmed by expectation and the statistics show it: seven men’s World Cup semi-finals, no wins. But on Wednesday night in Tarouba, they were ice-cold.Related

• For South Africa, and those who know what they know

• South African team delayed in Trinidad because of runway closure in Barbados

• Shamsi: 'It's a huge achievement, but we didn't come here to get to the final'

• 'That's not the pitch you want to have a World Cup semi-final on'

• Report – SA demolish Afghanistan to book spot in World Cup final

The wickets fell so quickly there was barely time for the South Africans to celebrate but the absence of major outbursts was noticeable. In fact, the most animated of the South Africans was someone not involved in any of the dismissals at all – Tristan Stubbs. He is also the youngest member of the squad and the only one who has not experienced knockout heartbreak. Stubbs’ air punches, leaps and whoops at the fall of every wicket gave a glimpse of the joy the others kept inside and, from a distance, were a delight to watch. South Africa have never had cause for raw ecstasy in a men’s World Cup semi-final and Stubbs showed what that could look like.

****

The perfect game. After seven games of scrapping at this World Cup, Aiden Markram must have known tournament runs are rarely flawless. Three overs into the chase against Afghanistan, South Africa’s batters would have known it was not going to be easy.South African fans’ support was on display in Tarouba•Getty ImagesThey had only six runs on the board, Quinton de Kock had been bowled by a Fazalhaq Farooqi inswinger and Markram should have been out but Afghanistan did not review when he nicked off against Naveen-ul-Haq. With the bounce becoming more variable, South Africa had to resurrect the resilience of New York, where runs were also hard to come by but they were always able to get just enough. They knew it would not be pretty. And then two overs later, against the run of play, Markram stood tall and played the perfect cover drive. He took a step forward, leaned into the ball, struck it on the sweet spot and held the pose. On a difficult surface, shots of that quality were rare and that one, in the middle of a 13-run over, shifted momentum and opened South Africa’s door to the final.It was not the perfect game South Africa were after, just a series of perfect moments to give an imperfect country reasons to hope that what seems impossible was not.At 4.37am Thursday morning South African time, when Reeza Hendricks hit the winning runs, ordinary South Africans would have been waking up in mid-winter (happily with electricity, which makes a welcome change), most of them getting ready to take long commutes to work and more than likely seeing the news that the team had reached the final through social media because they would not have the cable television subscription needed to watch the match. And when they realised what had happened, they may have reflected on 18 months of unprecedented success in South African sport.Tabraiz Shamsi welcomed Aiden Markram after their dominating win•ICC/Getty ImagesSince last February, these are the achievements: the women’s national cricket team reached the final of the home T20 World Cup, the women’s national football team became the first senior side to get out of the group stage at the FIFA World Cup, the Springboks won a fourth World Cup, and the men’s national football team had their best finish in the African Cup of Nations since 2000. Winning is contagious, it seems, and the feeling that South Africans are winners has finally come to men’s cricket. And it could not have happened at a more opportune time and place.In 2007, in the semi-final against Australia in St Lucia, South Africa were 27 for 5 on their way to 149 in a game they eventually lost by seven wickets. Of all their semi-final failings – and there have been seven, remember – that was the most limp. Seventeen years later, they have gone back to the Caribbean, won eight out of eight, and produced the most dominant knockout performance in their history.South Africans have a habit of believing every tournament will be the one that they win and when they don’t, they console themselves that there will be a next time. This time feels different. Perhaps after all that waiting, their next time is right now.

Home is now on the other side of the world for two bowlers who are squaring up against the side they once longed to play for

Nagraj Gollapudi and Shashank Kishore12-Jun-20243:55

‘We’re standing up for the national anthem, just on the other side’

“I did not know. That’s news to me.”Saurabh Netravalkar expresses surprise and delight on being told India head coach Rahul Dravid followed the Super Over he bowled against Pakistan while in the New York subway.Netravalkar, the USA left-arm fast bowler, successfully defended 18 runs by a comfortable margin to help his team record the biggest shock of the T20 World Cup 2024. It was the biggest day in the history of the game for USA, who had gained entry to the 20-team tournament as co-hosts along with West Indies.Related

'Iceman' Netravalkar creates the moment, and then lets it pop out

Major League Cricket's conundrum: who exactly is an American player?

'We are no walkovers' – USA's Harmeet Singh after win against Bangladesh

A day to believe cricket is not just an American Dream

From computers to cricket: how Saurabh Netravalkar coded USA's greatest script

On the surface, Netravalkar, who led USA between 2018 and 2021, showed no nerves through the over, which stretched to eight deliveries because of a couple of wides. The only thing he was concerned with, he says, was if he had got right how many runs Pakistan needed off the final delivery.”I actually confirmed two-three times with the umpire as to how many runs they need – six or seven,” Netravalkar says over a Zoom call from New York two days after the win. “When he said seven, I gave a sigh of relief that I just have to prevent him from hitting a six.” He sank to his knees in relief and joy after Shadab Khan squeezed out just a single.”I felt very grateful and relieved that, yes, we came over the line, because each individual in the playing XI had made very important – small, yet very important -contributions throughout the game.”Was it was the most important over of his career? Netravalkar has no doubt.”This was the closest game that I have played. And obviously the top-most quality team that we have played so far in our cricketing career. So yes, it was a really special game for each one of us and we will remember it for a long time.”Netravalkar in 2009, in a U-19 World Cup game against Afghanistan•Getty ImagesWhile the US players, who beat arch-rivals Canada in the tournament opener on June 1, soaked up the aftermath of their second win of this World Cup, celebrations were also underway in the middle of night in the housing society in the northern Mumbai suburb of Malad where Netravalkar’s parents live. While his mother Rama was in the US to watch the World Cup, Netravalkar’s “building friends” joined his dad Naresh in the revelry. “We grew up playing in the building, playing rubber-ball cricket in the streets,” he says. “They’ve all been part of this journey. So it’s really special to them as well.”Netravalkar got a second crack at playing top-level cricket when he qualified for the US, where he arrived in 2015 after having abandoned the dream of playing for India earlier that year. He represented India Under-19s in 2010, and made his Ranji debut for Mumbai in 2013, but decided to study computer science at Cornell University in New York in 2015 after he failed to secure a permanent berth in the Mumbai side.Netravalkar, who is now 32, developed his interest in cricket thanks to Naresh. Father and son avidly watched international matches together in the 1990s and early 2000s. Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas and Zaheer Khan were some of the fast bowlers Netravalkar imitated during those impressionable years.In 2009, he was picked for a camp organised by the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for potential future India players. There he remembers bowling to Dravid, still an active international at the time. Netravalkar says Dravid was approachable despite his stature, and happy to pass on tips. “I was a big fanboy of the ’90s and 2000s cricket team. They are like my idols.”The following year Netravalkar was India’s leading wicket-taker at the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, which also featured the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Jason Holder and Ben Stokes. India’s quarter-final loss to Pakistan meant the adulation Virat Kohli’s team received for winning the championship two years before did not greet the class of 2010, and Netravalkar quietly slipped back into the domestic grind.

****

During most of the Pakistan innings, USA left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh fielded on the boundary. The Pakistan green enveloped the Grand Prairie stadium.Harmeet Singh bowls in a schools game in Mumbai in 2007, when he was 14•Prasad Gori/Hindustan Times/Getty Images”It was very solid support for Pakistan throughout the game,” Harmeet says on the same Zoom call after we finish the chat with Netravalkar. “A lot of green shirts.”He says that as underdogs USA were not expecting big support despite being the host country. With cricket not on the radar of the average American sports fan, the support mainly comes from the South Asian diaspora. “Till the time we actually made 18 runs in the Super Over, the Pakistani fans were really loud,” Harmeet says. “But a lot of them live in the US, so I think you are pretty much able to convert a lot of Pakistani fans into US fans. From shouting ‘Pakistan ‘, by the end of the match I heard those change to ‘USA, USA.'”Harmeet moved to the US in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020, when he received an offer from USA Cricket, who back then were making a concerted effort to recruit overseas players to play for them soon after getting ODI status.Harmeet decided he would take the plunge, and it proved a turning point for the talented left-arm spinner, whose career had stalled after a promising start. He has permanent-resident status in the US now, like Netravalkar. Also like Netravalkar, he comes from Mumbai. He played two U-19 World Cups for India – in 2010 and 2012. Among his contemporaries were Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who are currently playing for India in the World Cup.Having watched Harmeet during the 2012 U-19 World Cup, former Australia captain Ian Chappell, in column on this site, urged India to blood the spinner soon so he didn’t stagnate. It was prescient advice.In the 2013 IPL, where he was part of Rajasthan Royals, Harmeet’s name was dragged into the spot-fixing scandal. Although he was cleared by the BCCI subsequently, Harmeet struggled to find opportunities to play for Mumbai, his home side. He had stints playing for Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura in the Ranji Trophy, but derived no joy. So when USA Cricket called, he took the offer.Answered prayers: Netravalkar in a huddle during practice ahead of USA’s first game, against Canada•AFP/Getty ImagesFour years on, with the USA now one win away from making the Super 8, Harmeet says that back then if you had told him he would be playing in a World Cup, he would never have believed it.”When I made the move in 2020, mid-Covid, it was like investing in a property with no building [on it]. So I invested in just the land. And now we have structures. Now we have things coming up. The guys who came with me [team-mates from South Asia] – we all call ourselves early investors in USA cricket.”Like Netravalkar and the rest of his USA team-mates, Harmeet has played cricket mostly indoors over the years, worked day jobs (at times more than one, in the case of some players) and travelled around the country to play weekend cricket. All so they can be ready for big days like in Dallas against Pakistan last week.”Personally, thinking about a World Cup, getting into a World Cup from a situation where all the club cricketers were practising indoors, and then beating Pakistan on a world stage, it is a big deal,” Harmeet says. “Everybody’s goal is to play the World Cup for your country and win it and everything, which [playing for India] couldn’t happen for whatever reasons, but I’m trying to live my own dream in a different way.”

****

Netravalkar and Harmeet are part of a group of five players in the US World Cup squad who were born in India. The others are US captain Monank Patel, the player of the match in the Pakistan game, who moved from Gujarat; former Delhi batter Milind Kumar, who took a brilliant catch to dismiss Iftikhar Ahmed in the Super Over; and Nisarg Patel, who too was born in Gujarat.On Wednesday, Netravalkar and Harmeet get to play against the country they originally dreamed of playing for at the World Cup. Both men say it will be an emotional moment.Harmeet (second from left) does his thing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in 2009•Getty Images”It’s been a very transformative journey for me, filled with ups and downs,” says Netravalkar, who works for software giant Oracle in San Francisco. After the Pakistan win, a screen grab of his Slack out-of-office message was all over social media. It said he would be away from work until June 17, when the group phase of the World Cup ends. Netravalkar is not thinking ahead to whether he might have to extend his leave of absence in case USA make it to the Super 8s. His employers have been cooperative and understand he has stretched himself to fulfil his responsibilities at work, he says.Netravalkar is a man of varied interests. Among other things, he plays the ukelele and sings along in Marathi. It was his “destiny”, he says, to become eligible to play for USA; in 2018, soon after he moved, the ICC relaxed the norms for a player to be able to represent an Associate country from seven years as a resident to three. “But [destiny] comes only when you have the right intent and you put in those extra yards that things then start aligning for you,” he says. “You can look back and connect the dots, but you can’t look forward. So the best thing you can do is be in the present moment and do the best that you can.”Harmeet, who is 31, lives in Houston with his wife and two young kids. In an interview with the before the World Cup, he spoke about the harrowing experience of watching his mother, Paramjit’s, last rites on a screen after she died of Covid in 2021. Back in Mumbai when he was a teenager with stars in his eyes, she regularly accompanied him from Borivali in the north of the city to Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Dadar – a trip of about an hour from their home – on the local train so Harmeet could get the best coaching possible. He says he is living her dream too, playing the World Cup.By Harmeet’s reckoning, the first turning point in his career came when he watched Rohit Sharma play the 2006 U-19 World Cup. Harmeet had enrolled at Swami Vivekanand International School in Borivali, the school Rohit had studied in, to help launch his cricket career. “He was someone who gave us the hope that this [dream of playing for the country] is achievable. And he was going out there like a rock star and performing as well. He played a big role in India winning the 2007 [T20] World Cup. At that point I said I want to play the U-19 World Cup. And in 2010, I lived that dream, and then 2012 again.”In 2009 when Harmeet made his Ranji debut, Rohit was in the Mumbai side. Does Harmeet fancy opening the bowling against his former team-mate and Virat Kohli, who are favourable match-ups for left-arm spinners in the powerplay? “Looking forward to catching up. Hopefully we get him out early,” Harmeet says, laughing.Netravalkar with his brothers in red, white and blue. “It’s been a transformative journey for me, filled with ups and downs,” he says•AFP/Getty ImagesNetravalkar wants to meet Rohit and Dravid, as well as Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. He is also keen on meeting his good friend Suryakumar Yadav, his old captain at Mumbai, who put out a post on social media in appreciation of Netravalkar’s Super Over performance against Pakistan: ” [Respect, brother.] Very happy for you and your family back home.”

****

For Harmeet, Netravalkar, and every Indian in the US squad, it will be a proud day to play the mother country in the World Cup.Harmeet doesn’t want to get carried away by the emotion. He believes USA can look Rohit’s India in the eye. “I’m trying to think less about the India factor,” he says. “They are one of the best in the world, but it’s T20. It’s a helpful wicket.”I said this before the World Cup as well, especially for [playing against] India and Pakistan, that these morning games bring us big time into the game. In the morning you don’t see a lot of 200-run games. If you bowl half-decent, you can get someone [out for] 150 or 160. And if you get that, any Associate team or anybody feels that they can chase it because a couple of big overs and you are run a ball. Like you saw New Zealand upset [by Afghanistan]. On reasonable, helpful wickets Associate teams can do a lot of wonders.”The way we played the first two games, we’ve not worried about the results. We have been right up there on the body language. We have been right up there on the attitude. We have shown character. We have not panicked under pressure. We played the best of the best fast bowling now [Pakistan]. It just shows the world that US has so much potential and so much to offer.”Before the Pakistan match, you saw Netravalkar sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and while he will do so again on Wednesday, he says he will also sing the Indian anthem. “Oh, absolutely! I mean, I’m an Indian, so I would put it like, ‘India is my [birthplace] and this is my [workplace]. So I respect both.”It’ll be nice for me, a great feeling for me.”

In the absence of their first-choice attack, South Africa’s bowlers were found wanting against West Indies

Firdose Moonda28-Aug-2024West Indies did as West Indies have done and won another T20I series – their third against South Africa in 18 months and fifth out of six matches in that time – and remained what coach Daren Sammy called a “series-winning team.” They won’t be able to test whether they can repeat that in tournaments until an actual tournament, but there the signs they can cope with changes in personnel.West Indies’ bowling depth shines through They were without Alzarri Joseph, Jason Holder and Andre Russell but Matthew Forde, Shamar Joseph and Romario Shepherd stepped into their spots seamlessly. While Shepherd was not really required with the bat, he filled the role of the third seamer to perfection and was a threat every time he had the ball in hand. Forde and Joseph had each only played two T20Is before this series but each picked up – and in Forde’s case equalled – career-best figures and showed an ability to take wickets at the top and bottom of the innings. Between them, Shepherd, Joseph and Forde were the three highest wicket-takers in the series and collectively ensured West Indies won the series.Their standout performances, according to captain Rovman Powell, was the way his bowlers responded when defending 179 in the second match. South Africa were 129 for 3 in the 14th over and on course to level the series when Akeal Hosein started a collapse that caused them to lose 7 for 20. Shepherd and Joseph both took wickets in that period as well. “When we put on the pressure in that second game, the way the bowlers replied was fantastic,” Powell said.Related

Shepherd, Pooran and Hope help West Indies sweep South Africa 3-0

Shepherd, Joseph seal West Indies' third consecutive T20I series win over South Africa

Pooran and Forde lead West Indies' demolition of South Africa

But South Africa’s needs work In the absence of their entire first-choice attack – Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were rested for the series while Gerald Coetzee and Lungi Ngidi were ruled out through injury – South Africa’s back-ups were found wanting. Nandre Burger was expensive in his only outing, Ottneil Baartman did not have enough firepower around him to be effective and 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka faced a baptism of fire. Still, white-ball coach Rob Walter was pleased to give Maphaka a run at the highest level impressed by his pace (he often bowled above 140kph), his confidence to change it and the movement he got.”He bowled well in different periods as a young cricketer and this will be a great experience for him,” Walter said. “Left-arm always gives a different angle, he is able to swing the ball when there is a bit of shape, we saw some really exciting change-ups, and he bowled some seriously good overs in the death phase of the game, which has shown his ability to deal with the pressure of T20 cricket. It is early days, so we don’t want to put too much pressure on a young cricketer and just allow him to make his way into international cricket. But all the attributes are there for him to be a really good cricketer for South Africa.”Maphaka will return home to complete his final school exams and has spent most of the tour studying, but allowed himself to completely soak in the experience of being around some of his heroes. “Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi are some of the best players in the world and it’s always nice to share a change room with guys like that,” he said. “A year ago, I was watching these guys on TV so being in the change room with them and chatting about the plans that I’ve seen them execute on TV is definitely something quite surreal.”Tristan Stubbs finished as the leading run-scorer in the series•AFP/Getty ImagesBatting blunders abound The rest of South Africa’s line-up do not have the excuse of inexperience and have shown how much is lacking when Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller are not in the XI. Reeza Hendricks and Ryan Rickelton were unconvincing as an opening pair and both are struggling with form, as is captain Aiden Markram. Hendricks has only scored one half-century in 15 T20I innings this year, and three other scores over 30. Rickelton has played 13 internationals across all formats and is yet to score a half-century, and Markram has not scored fifty in 12 T20I innings this year. That meant the middle order was constantly under pressure and without Klaasen and Miller, South Africa did not have the firepower to step up.Stubbs was the exception and finished as the leading run-scorer in the series and also had South Africa’s highest strike rate. His 76 in the first match meant West Indies had to chase the highest successful total at the venue and his 15-ball 40 in the shortened third match meant South Africa could put a competitive score on the board. Walter singled him out as a “standout in terms of his personal performances with the bat,” which also extended to the Test series, where he scored his first fifty in his new role at No.3.South Africa’s problem was that they did not have anyone to support Stubbs as Rassie van der Dussen struggled and the allrounders barely contributed. Patrick Kruger had one good innings – in the first T20I – but on the evidence of this series, it is difficult to see how either he or Donovan Ferreira will displace Jansen.Overall, Walter described it as a “tough series,” which South Africa will have to use as a building block in their journey to 2026. Their next T20Is are against Ireland in September.

He squeezed vital runs with the lower order to set England a target much bigger than what seemed possible

Danyal Rasool17-Oct-2024This has been an odd Test match, existing in its own realm: stripped of any kind of context, offering no glimpse into the future, or information about the past. Pakistan’s most important characters in Multan are two spinners aged 38 and 31, whom they thought they had moved on from, and will invariably soon have to discard again. The core of the bowling attack has been released from the squad, and will likely return for the next series away in South Africa. England don’t play another Test in Asia after this series till February 2027, and will swiftly move on to higher-profile challenges against India and Australia next year.You’d think it matters less for that reason, but in some primal way, the opposite is true. It is professional cricket’s equivalent of a backyard game against your siblings, where it seems nothing quite matters more than the result. Despite the unusual circumstances of a recycled pitch, a weakened Pakistan, and an empty stadium, this is the game boiled down to its most basic form, where two sets of 11 people just want to win for no reason other than it’s better than losing it.When Salman Agha steps out, both of those outcomes appear equally plausible, in no small part to his value all series, and indeed ever since he made his debut. No batter has scored more runs than him at No. 7 or 8 this WTC cycle, and only Harry Brook’s triple hundred keeps him off the top spot in the run-scoring charts this series.Related

• Salman Agha: Pakistan win would be 'massive' after horror run

But having the most prolific lower-order batter in the world is a bit like being mayor of a city with the highest number of successful drug busts; they may outwardly appear markers of success, but hint at deeper underlying problems. Salman’s runs, after all, are at least in part down to few other sides having to deal with a top order that folds with quite as much alacrity as Pakistan’s has of late. There may be a time to talk about those problems, but when an election approaches, you push that statistic out, eyes only on the result.And Pakistan are in campaign season, so it’s little surprise Salman gets so much airtime. Perhaps it’s because everyone seems to have spent far too much time in Multan, but everything seems to blend into one. The heat is always oppressive; the sun always bakes down. The crowds are always sparse, albeit gradually building up towards the end of the day. And Salman Ali Agha is always trying to add bonus runs with the top order having clocked off work early. On Thursday, Pakistan offered further proof they’re no closer to solving that problem, and he was wheeled out one more time as their get-out-of-jail-free card.Salman Agha and Sajid Khan added 65 off 73 balls for the ninth wicket•AFP/Getty ImagesThe value of the 37-run stand Pakistan have put on for the fifth wicket belied its scratchiness, and when Brydon Carse got Mohammad Rizwan to nick off to the slips, this game was on a knife-edge. It was also the most threatening a pace bowler had looked all game, and Salman, who doesn’t always start confidently, looked vulnerable.That was demonstrated in the 34th over, from Carse, that was as probing as it was unfortunate. A fourth-stump line drew the faintest edge, but it dipped ever so slightly and Jamie Smith fumbled the chance. Two balls later, Salman prodded at another one. This time, it was Joe Root at first slip who spilled it as Carse let out an anguished roar that indicated how much this moment, and this game, mattered.Pakistan’s lower order is like the cocky schoolkid without the muscle to back him up: there to be picked off. The reason it hasn’t is, in large part, down to Salman. Pakistan have made a recent habit of scoring these back-end runs. In the previous Test, the last five wickets added 142 and 140. In the first innings here, it was 104; in all three innings, there was at least one significant partnership Salman had been a part of.Salman said in post-match duties that he initially wanted to bat up the order, but doesn’t necessarily feel as strongly about it anymore. There is a peculiar kind of psychological warfare to a lower-order contribution. Runs given away to top order can be tolerated as part of a broader plan, a bowling set up or impending change in the field. Lower down, the opposition almost question a batter’s right to be there, an impediment to moving the game on. Every run becomes an irritation, each boundary a gut punch.Carse was seen off in the heat, and though Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir chipped away with wickets, Salman found, in Sajid Khan, a man able to stick around, and intensified his attack. Leach was swept when he overpitched, driven over cover when he dragged his length back. There were plenty of those jabs, but also the odd haymaker. He danced down the wicket to clobber a colossal six over long-off to bring up his half-century, and carved Matthew Potts through the covers for four. Pakistan’s lead had long raced past 250, and now nudged closer to 300.”We have scored more than 100 runs [with the lower order] in both innings,” Salman said. “That’s what we talk about all the time, that if we can add more runs lower down the order, that will be helpful. Those are the kind of runs you sometimes need to score . Because we looked like we’d set about a 230-run target and then that partnership with me and Sajid got us [close to] 300. They are always vital runs.”Since he breathed fresh air into this side, it is increasingly Salman who scores many of these vital runs. He carries himself with the air of a backyard cricketer catapulted into a Test arena, someone for whom the concept that a game of cricket may not really matter all that much is alien. And in a Test that matters simply because it’s taking place, that might make all the difference.

New Zealand allrounder primed for debut having worked his way from small town to big stage

Deivarayan Muthu26-Nov-2024He imagined himself as Tim Southee when he bowled in backyard cricket, and Kane Williamson or Ross Taylor when he batted. He then watched Matt Henry hurl bouncers at Steven Smith from the grass banks as a spectator at the Hagley Oval in 2016. Eight years on, he is set to step into the Hagley Oval as a Black Cap and share the stage with some of his heroes.He can get the new ball to hoop around. He can get the old one to reverse-swing and skid off the pitch. He is also a capable batter down the order. Meet 26-year-old allrounder Nathan Smith.Just two weeks after making his white-ball debut for the Black Caps, in Sri Lanka, Smith will likely feature in his first Test with World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake. He was handed his first NZC central contract in September, even before he had played an international game for New Zealand. Although that owed something to Devon Conway and Finn Allen opting out of contracts, it highlighted the all-format promise that Smith brings and the faith New Zealand’s team management have in his skills.Related

• 'New conditions, new team' – Latham wants NZ to switch focus to England challenge

• Bethell to debut for England in first Test against New Zealand

• New Zealand and England to compete for Crowe-Thorpe Trophy

• Williamson's return creates 'selection headaches' for NZ after Young's stellar India tour

The road to the New Zealand Test side, though, has been a long and twisty one for Smith. Hailing from small-town Oamaru, Smith had made his first-class debut in April 2016 as an 18-year-old and spent his formative years under Rob Walter, currently South Africa’s white-ball coach, at Otago before a reshuffle of personnel prompted him to move to Wellington ahead of the 2021-22 domestic season.Smith immediately impressed in his first Plunket Shield season for Wellington, coming away as the joint-highest wicket-taker. A serious back injury, which needed surgery, then left him on the sidelines next season, but he bounced back spectacularly in 2023-24, his chart-topping 33 wickets central to Wellington’s run to the title.A fitter, stronger Smith is now prepared to withstand the load of international cricket.”Yeah, I suppose the last couple of years, barring the last six months, the 18 months before that, they were challenging,” Smith said recently. “A couple of back stress fractures, it’s quite testing times, but I think through that you sort of learn a lot about yourself. It gives you a little bit of perspective as well and it’s a hell of a lot better playing than spending a lot of time sitting on the couch watching.”So, it’s nice to have a sort of a prolonged period of playing consistently and I think that’s probably why the results are so good, you know, just playing all the time.””It felt like it was only going to be a matter of time. Nathan’s had that taste in white-ball cricket and hopefully he gets an opportunity in Test cricket as well. Because it would be nice to think that Worcester were a very, very small part of his journey towards that.”Smith is certainly quicker than Colin de Grandhomme – he can touch 140kph – and though his batting isn’t as explosive as de Grandhomme’s yet, he is being talked up as a compelling package. In first-class cricket, Smith has scored 13 fifties and one hundred, while on his ODI debut, in Dambulla, he pulled off a sensational catch at the deep third boundary to dismiss Pathum Nissanka.”He was batting probably at No. 7 the majority of the games for us and anywhere between No. 7 and No. 9, he did score some really useful runs,” Richardson said. “He knows his game well but [is] probably not as powerful as de Grandhomme. For me, all three skillsets – he ticks those boxes with the field as well. Awesome in the field, ultra-athletic, has the impact and has a real wow factor about him.”Smith had a low-key ODI debut in Sri Lanka and facing Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ Bazballers will present a bigger challenge for him, but Richardson has backed him to cope well.”I think I’ve only known Nathan for a small period of time, but he was a very impressive character and very calm,” Richardson said. “Knowing Nathan, I’d like to think he’ll probably try and shift that mindset around to say that it’s going to create opportunities for him and that he’ll back his skills and know that if he does it really well, he’ll have a chance at any given time that can go one way or the other. It will be quite intimidating because England will look to score at a [high] rate and he knows that.”So, I’m sure he’ll have some things in place, but just watching how he goes about it, you know, he’s a very ambitious cricketer. It’s something that he put on his radar and speaking to us very early on, he wanted to play international cricket. I don’t think he will back down from that.”From small-town Oamaru, Smith is certainly ready for the big stage.

And in conditions that didn’t offer the bowlers much, this exorcism was distinctly Australian: disciplined, clinical, perfect

Alex Malcolm30-Dec-2024Australia’s cricket team performed an exorcism at the MCG on Monday. They exorcised the ghosts of the Gabba.Modern Australia is one of the most secular societies in the world. Most wouldn’t know what an exorcism is, let alone ever need one performed.Cricket isn’t a religion like it supposedly is in India. But it is fundamental to the national psyche, even if at times Australians show a clear indifference.Related

Golden-arm Head was helping with Australia's over rate

Report – India lose seven in final session, Australia go 2-1 up

WTC final scenarios: India need a win in Sydney to stay in contention

All-time attendance record for a Test in Australia broken at MCG

Stats – A sorry end to 2024 for India and Rohit

Regardless, this exorcism wasn’t sacramental. It was very Australian; disciplined, clinical, perfect. A bowling unit working as a collective. No dropped catches. No wasted reviews. Some Joel Wilson decisions got in their way, like at Headingley in 2019. Australia might have exorcised that ghost as well keeping all three reviews intact and overturning two key decisions that made victory possible.It was fitting too that Nathan Lyon claimed the winning wicket. Having been denied at Headingley and nullified at the Gabba, there was special feeling in the celebrations of both his wickets, snaring India’s first-innings hero Nitish Kumar Reddy before pinning Mohammed Siraj lbw for the win.That it all happened in front of a final-day crowd of 74,362, in a week where the Australia-Test-attendance record was smashed, added to the sweetness of the victory for Pat Cummins and his team.”When you take all that into account, it’s probably the best Test match I’ve been involved in,” Cummins said. “Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Sam Konstas and Pat Cummins celebrate Australia’s win•Getty ImagesIt was clear that the Gabba ghosts weighed heavily on Australia’s minds. This surface did not appear to suggest a similar chase was possible. Plenty of rational judges thought Australia were exceedingly conservative in not declaring last night, and even batting on again on the final day with 333 already in the bank. But three of the four key bowlers had been in Brisbane in 2021. They knew what Pant was capable of, what India was capable of. Only two days earlier they had India 221 for 7 and Nos. 8 and 9 combined for a 127-run stand to drag them back into the game.In the end Australia had around 13 overs up their sleeve and didn’t even need the second new ball to take all ten wickets.”I thought the wicket was pretty good,” Cummins said. “You saw our tail bat reasonably comfortably on it. So I felt like we needed at least 300-odd. It wasn’t playing too much tricks. You saw today, it didn’t really spin heaps, didn’t play too many tricks.”We had 90-odd overs that gave us 12 or so overs with potentially a second new ball today. So I felt like there was enough time. And also it felt like the way it had played out, [if] we had a good first session and kind of took the win out of the equation for them, then we could really go in for the attack with plenty of catchers, and didn’t have to worry about the runs as much.”

“Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Australia captain Pat Cummins

That is where this exorcism was distinctly Australian. Unlike the Gabba four years ago where India made an aggressive start reaching 132 for 1 to set up the chase, Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland sucked the life out of India’s chase with a suffocating spell of sustained fast bowling. For 26.1 overs before lunch the trio hammered away with pristine lines and lengths, and only four overs of support from Mitchell Marsh and Lyon. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma survived 16 overs without losing a wicket, but had progressed to just 25 for 0. Starc, bowling in pain with a sore back, beat the bat eight times, all past the edge of Jaiswal with 140kph outswingers. Boland beat the edge five times and Cummins once.Rohit was 9 off 39 and his patience eventually cracked, slicing a catch to gully trying an expansive whip wide of mid-on. Cummins breached the resolute defence of KL Rahul five balls later. Starc got his reward on the stroke of lunch as Kohli nicked another wide one. Usman Khawaja, who had dropped three critical catches early in the series, pouched two sharp ones at first slip. India were 33 for 3 and going nowhere.”I reckon that first session today was close to perfection from a bowling point of view,” Cummins said. “I thought we were excellent. All the guys didn’t really give any bad balls away. I don’t know what their plan was going to be but, honestly, I don’t think we really gave them a chance to fight back at us too much.Two hours later though the win looked improbable. India were still three-down at tea with Jaiswal and Pant cruising. Australia had one moment where they could have lost all hope. Starc thundered one into Jaiswal’s pad only to see Wilson shaking his head to a huge lbw shout. The review showed two reds and an orange. You could almost see Australia’s souls leave their bodies as the ball-tracking projection showed what looked like 49% of the ball smashing leg stump.Australia fans in the stands react to a close call•Associated PressThe pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop, which Pant hoicked down Marsh’s throat at long-on.It opened the door and Cummins seized the moment. He pulled Head from the attack and brought back Boland. The MCG specialist extracted life from a lifeless surface to spit one at Ravindra Jadeja’s gloves on the way to Alex Carey.Lyon then roared as Steven Smith held a gem at slip to claim Reddy.Then Cummins dug deep as only he can. A brute of a bouncer off the pillow-like surface hurried Jaiswal hooking on 84. Wilson kept his finger down. Cummins, armed with three reviews had no hesitation. Jaiswal protested the third umpire’s finding but even Rohit admitted he had hit it after the match.

The pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop

A similar sequence happened when Boland had Akash Deep caught at short leg. Smith then held another beauty at slip to remove Bumrah before Lyon roared again. It was shades of Old Trafford in 2019 when Australia got to celebrate twice, first with Michael Gough’s raised finger and then again when the DRS showed three reds.But just like 2019, Australia’s job is not done. They blew a 2-1 lead with an emotional let down in the final Test on a short turnaround. They face the same challenge here.”It’s a short turnaround,” Cummins said. “I think we’ll definitely savour this one. You work so hard over five days to win a Test match like this, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of sitting around tonight and a couple of beers, a couple of boys might have a beer, some others might have water and some protein shakes and an early night. But we’ll savour this for a couple of hours at least, and then it’ll be recovery for the next few days. I’m sure the batters will have a hit. The bowlers, I dare say, will be very light on [training], and then you gear up again for the last Test of the [home] summer.”The ghosts of Gabba might have been exorcised, but the Border-Gavaskar series and a World Test Championship final is still up for grabs. A weight has been lifted off Australia’s shoulders for now, but they must put their shoulder to the wheel again in Sydney if they want to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in a decade.