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Leeds United have been in excellent form over the last few weeks. The Whites suffered a last-minute defeat against Manchester City, before beating Chelsea 3-1 and then drawing with Liverpool 3-3 in consecutive games at Elland Road.

The number of goals scored across those three games is a real positive. They scored twice in East Manchester and bagged another six combined in the games at Elland Road.

That takes the West Yorkshire outfit up to 19 goals for the season, better than six sides in the Premier League.

There has been a real upturn in form for two of their strikers, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.

How Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha have turned it around

Leeds were savvy in the summer when it came to their business. Their two new number nines were a prime example of that, both of whom came on a free transfer.

Calvert-Lewin joined upon the expiry of his Everton contract, and Nmecha his Wolfsburg contract.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

26-year-old Nmecha has begun the season strongly. He already has four goals in 14 games for the Whites, including a goal against City.

He went on a run of three goals in as many games during November.

As for Calvert-Lewin, it was a slow start to life at Elland Road for the Sheffield-born attacker, but his form has really picked up of late.

He also has four goals in 13 appearances this term, bagging in each of the games against their last three opponents.

Someone who has been full of praise for the striker is his ex-teammate at Everton, Conor Coady. The defender described him as an “outstanding footballer” and said playing in a front two is beneficial for him.

However, this upturn in form in front of goal isn’t great news for all Leeds players, with someone on the periphery now seemingly set to struggle even more for a spot in the side.

Leeds' "best finisher" is now out of favour

It has certainly not been an easy campaign for a few of Leeds’ promotion heroes. Daniel Farke has not been able to find a regular place in the side for Ao Tanaka or Daniel James, who have become squad players.

However, it has perhaps hit Joel Piroe the most out of any Leeds star.

Last season, the former Swansea City striker was pivotal as Farke’s side got promoted at the second time of asking. Piroe bagged 19 times and assisted seven in 46 appearances.

His form last term in the Championship was summed up by some impressive underlying stats.

For example, the Dutchman averaged 0.8 goals and assists and created 1.1 chances per 90 minutes.

Goals and assists

0.8

26

Key passes

1.1

39

Dribbles completed

0.4

14

Aerial duels won

0.9

31

Expected goal involvements

0.59xGI

20.44xGI

He had some huge moments in the Whites’ title-winning season, too.

Perhaps the standout was when he bagged four goals inside the first half against Stoke City in the third-to-last game of the season, helping them to a 6-0 thrashing.

Things have not been so straightforward for the former PSV Eindhoven attacker. Piroe has only played eight times in the Premier League, racking up just 197 minutes in that time.

That is a surprise given his form last term, but even more so when you factor in Farke calling him “the best finisher” he’s ever coached.

Yet, it seems like time could be up for the 26-year-old in a Leeds shirt. The fact that he has played so little this term, combined with how well both Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha are playing, does not bode well for his future.

Leeds paid Swansea a reported £16m, including add-ons for the striker, back in 2023. He has certainly justified that price tag with his performances in the second tier, but the fact that there has been no opportunity for him this season is worrying.

It certainly seems as though the man who helped steer Leeds back to the Premier League might not have a future at Elland Road much longer.

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ByKelan Sarson 3 days ago

Newcastle United have now reportedly been offered the opportunity to finally sign James Trafford in a deal that would see Tino Livramento head in the opposite direction to Manchester City.

The Magpies certainly have a lot to think about ahead of 2026. With new sporting director Ross Wilson in place, they’ll be hoping to avoid the chaos of missing out on top targets to hand Eddie Howe some much-needed reinforcements.

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Howe’s side enter this weekend’s clash against Man City in desperate need of three points, having entered the international break off the back of a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford. Currently sat as low as 14th in the Premier League, the Newcastle boss reiterated that he’s looking for a response from his players on Saturday night.

There would be no better way to get back on track than a victory against a side with Man City’s quality, but then it’s about consistency for the Magpies. On the pitch, they must turn things around in preparation for what could be a busy January transfer window.

Already, reports are claiming that they’re still interested in signing Trafford and could be handed an interesting opportunity to do so in 2026.

Newcastle offered chance to sign James Trafford

As reported by TeamTalk, Newcastle have now been offered the chance to sign Trafford by Man City, who are looking to strike a swap deal involving Livramento. The Citizens were interested in the versatile right-back in the summer, but were priced out of a move thanks to the Magpies’ eye-watering £80m price-tag.

Now, just months later, it looks as though City are once again interested in a move for the England international and are already willing to cut ties with Trafford to make a move happen.

The shot-stopper returned to the club with the hope of finally becoming their number one, only for Gianluigi Donnarumma’s arrival to bring an end to those plans. Left to watch on from the bench ever since, he could certainly do with another call from those in Tyneside.

That said, whilst Newcastle’s admiration for Trafford is clear, it remains to be seen whether he’s valued higher than Livramento in Tyneside. The goalkeeper has been described as “incredible” by Pep Guardiola, but even that may not be enough to convince Newcastle to sacrifice their star defender.

Bigger talent than Anderson: Newcastle have 'one of the world's best teens'

Head coach admits team “exposed” in record defeat, despite having already sealed series

Firdose Moonda07-Sep-2025

South Africa’s coach Shukri Conrad labelled his team’s record 342-run defeat to England in the third ODI “embarrassing” while captain Temba Bavuma said the performance “doesn’t do us justice” after their recent ODI success. South Africa have beaten both Australia and England 2-1 in series over the last month.Their loss in the third match in England, which was a dead rubber, came after a comprehensive win in game one and a nail-biting triumph in game two. That secured a first series in England since 1998. But the magnitude of the defeat in Southampton, which comes after a 276-run loss against Australia – also in a series that was already won – asks questions of how quickly and dramatically South Africa switch off, especially when the result does not matter.”Any excuse is better than none. We were definitely off today. And against a top side like England, when you’re not on top of your game, you do get exposed,” Conrad said at the post-match conference. “A similar thing happened in Australia, where after going 2-0 up, it was a complete aberration. They got in excess of 400 as well. But if we were going to be poor at something, we’d rather be poor at games that aren’t clutch games. We’re not making light of today’s defeat. That was slightly embarrassing.”Related

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Both defeats – South Africa’s two heaviest in ODIs – have come when they have fielded first and were accompanied by lack of discipline and dropped catches. Against Australia, South Africa bowled 15 wides and put down Alex Carey, who went on to finish the innings strongly. Against England, they bowled 19 wides and dropped two catches including Jamie Smith on 23 and Jacob Bethell on 44. Bavuma said at the post-match presentation that bowling that many extras was “far from ideal, not good enough” and said it “could be complacency”, while Conrad believed a wayward bowling performance impacted the rest of their skillset.”The bowling affects the fielding and the other way around, but nine out of ten times, Matthew Breetzke is taking that catch [off Smith, who offered a chance off a leading edge in the covers],” Conraid said. “We’re not going to read too much into that, but it’s a difficult one because when that edge is not there and something doesn’t go your way and the harder you try, it’s just not there. I’m not offering it as an excuse because it’s not supposed to be like that, but the fielding wasn’t at the usual high standard that we set. All in all, yeah, it was an embarrassing performance in the field.”Among South Africa’s bowling lows were Nandre Burger’s 0 for 95, which was the most expensive in their history, and Codi Yusuf’s 0 or 80, the worst by a South African debutant. Some of that may be down to inexperience especially in the absence of pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who has not played an ODI in either Australia or England as he recovers from ankle inflammation.Conrad confirmed Rabada could have been “really pushed and forced through today” but South Africa decided they “didn’t want to take any risks with him” ahead of the T20Is next week. “The T20 is the priority for us. When we earned the right to give him another rest, we definitely exercised that because with the T20 World Cup looming, we want to make sure that we get a good take on that. We’ve obviously got two massive Test series [against Pakistan and India] coming up.”Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, who was rested, and Marco Jansen, who has not played since the World Test Championship final where he broke his thumb, will all be back for the T20Is. A new concern is Bavuma, who could not bat after hurting his calf – but as he is not part of the T20Is, he will be assessed on his return to South Africa. Bavuma’s injury was among the reasons South Africa’s batting stumbled to their second lowest total in ODIs – 72 – as they went in pursuit of a target of 415 for which Bavuma said there is “no real formula”.In the end, they were blown away by a searing opening spell from Jofrra Archer, who took 3 for 1 in his first three overs and finished with 4 for 18. Archer’s first wicket was Aiden Markram, who nicked off against a short, wide ball and sent the rest of the line-up into freefall.”Aiden lost his wicket to a pretty innocuous delivery, and that probably summed up the day,” Conrad said. “And then from there, before you know it, you’re four down. Obviously, the disruption of Temba not being able to bat, that played a part as well but it is very difficult to explain. If you’re not on top of your game, if the edge is not there, then you’re going to get exposed.”Bashful as they were in this match, Bavuma also highlighted South Africa’s achievements over the last month after beating both Australia and England with a game to spare. “There are lots of positives in the series, coming to England away with a fairly inexperienced side and we wouldn’t want today’s performance to diminish that,” he said. “There are shining moments so we’ll try to highlight those. They can’t be wiped away by one performance.”

Somerset’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit a typically aggressive half-century against his old club as only 42 overs were possible on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match with Yorkshire at Taunton.The home side had reached 155 for 3 after losing the toss when a thunder and lightning storm engulfed the Cooper Associates County Ground at shortly after 2pm, Kohler-Cadmore having made 76 and James Rew 54 not out. George Hill claimed two of the wickets.Heavy rain left the outfield saturated. Umpires Rob Bailey and Mark Newell inspected at 4.30pm, but decided conditions were not fit for play to resume.Yorkshire’s decision to field first looked set to reap dividends when Hill struck twice in the opening ten overs of the match. Archie Vaughan edged through to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and departed for 10 with the total on 20. Then Tom Lammonby played down the wrong line to a ball angled into him and saw his off stump sent cartwheeling.That was as good as it got for the visitors in the morning session. Rew overcame a scratchy start, while Kohler-Cadmore was not afraid to advance down the pitch to seam and spin alike in moving to a 55-ball half-century.Twice the former Yorkshire player lofted ex-Somerset offspinner Dom Bess back over his head for six as he and Rew took the total to 114 for 2 off 30 overs at lunch. The shortened afternoon session saw Rew bring up his fifty, off 91 balls, with eight fours.Kohler-Cadmore took one chance too many when advancing to a delivery from Jordan Thompson and edged a sharp shoulder-high catch to Hill at first slip to make 147 for 3. He had faced 110 balls and extended his boundary count to 11 fours and two sixes.Tom Abell made a watchful start and only eight more runs were added before the first crash of thunder sent the players to the pavilion with black clouds closing in.

Arsenal’s 18-game unbeaten run is over. In that time, they have defeated their arch-rivals 4-1, defeated one of the most in-form sides in Europe in the shape of Bayern Munich 3-1. They have also been to St James’ Park and to Stamford Bridge without losing.

It’s typical, therefore, that the man who Mikel Arteta succeeded, Unai Emery, brought it to an unsavoury end.

This game will always be Emery’s cup final and that showed on Saturday. The Gunners were far from their best. They looked tired, shaky at the back. A 2-1 loss occurred and after Manchester City won later in the day, the gap at the top of the table was narrowed to just two points.

How Emery got the better of Mikel Arteta

A week ago, Arsenal looked like the runaway leaders in the Premier League. They’ll definitely win the title, some cried. Well, how quickly things can change.

While Arteta’s side are still in the driver’s seat to win it next May, they will need to improve on their last two away games with Chelsea and Villa.

This match was classic Emery. He loves facing his former employers and despite amassing plenty of possession in the Midlands, Arsenal seemed powerless to stop the Villans.

While Arsenal were missing Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba due to injury, Villa’s swift transitions, counter-attacking football and their willingness to get runners in behind really made life difficult for Arteta’s side.

Ollie Watkins – who was once the subject of a bid from the Gunners – didn’t score but several times he was able to get in behind. Jurrien Timber, who was playing at centre-back, was made to look rather silly.

Watkins could well have scored the opening goal of the game when he got in behind Timber and Piero Hincapie, turning them inside out before forcing a strong save from David Raya.

The combination play between him and Morgan Rogers, as well as Youri Tielemans, posed a colossal threat. Between them, they made three key passes.

Usually an offensive line would be met with a brick wall in the shape of Saliba and Gabriel but Arsenal’s centre-backs were a shadow of what we’ve come to expect with Arteta’s usual centre-back pairing on the sidelines with injury again.

That said, it was a moment of pinball that led to the winning goal. Arsenal failed to clear their lines and despite throwing several bodies in the way, Emilio Buendia was the calmest man in the Midlands, firing the ball past Raya. Bedlam erupted inside the stadium.

Arsenal's summer signing costs them big time

The defensive line of Arsenal has undoubtedly been the best in the country this season. Before their clash with the Villans, the Gunners had shipped just seven goals in the top-flight. Make that nine now.

Any team in world football would miss players of the calibre of Saliba and Gabriel but the league leaders have found out in recent matches just how tricky life is when both of them are unavailable.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Cristian Mosquera was forced off with injury in the 2-0 win against Brentford in midweek which meant Arteta was forced to select Timber at centre-half at Villa Park. Smaller, not as physical, and keen to go to ground, he was no match for Watkins and Co.

Equally, Hincapie – who could sign permanently in a £45m deal – endured a topsy-turvy afternoon in what was just his fourth start in the Premier League. The Ecuador international is a physical beast but arguably lacks the same level of composure we’ve so often seen from Gabriel and Saliba in recent years.

He is, of course, new to the English game but his performance levels in the last two away fixtures have left something to be desired.

Against Chelsea last week, he and Mosquera looked rather unsettled and nervous. Fair enough, really, particularly when you consider they had only played together as a pairing once before.

Hincapie improved against Brentford and for the most part against Villa, he looked strong. Against a robust offensive unit, he won all three of his aerial duels, made a whopping seven clearances, six recoveries and won 50% of his ground duels.

This was not a bad performance until one mistake cost Arsenal the game. It was a moment you’d typically associate with the later days of Arsene Wenger’s reign, or even the Unai Emery era.

During those years, you’d associate Arsenal’s defenders with lapses in concentration and mistakes. Hincapie wasn’t riddled with errors on Saturday but his blunder deep into injury time cost Arsenal.

In the words of The Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid, he has been “pretty poor since Spurs” and while that may well feel harsh, the inability to clear his lines late on was certainly poor.

Mins played

90

90

Touches

66

68

Pass accuracy

94%

82%

Tackles won

3/3

1/3

Interceptions

2

1

Clearances

3

7

Recoveries

4

6

Duels won

4/8

6/9

GOAL’s Charles Watts handed the defender a 6/10 rating at full-time and called out his lack of awareness at the end. He had a chance to clear his lines, but instead ran the ball out of play. It was from the Villa throw-in that they ultimately scored the winner.

It felt insignificant when it happened but there was a lack of game awareness. It was like something out of the Emery era. Saliba and Gabriel wouldn’t do that. The dogged defence Arteta has created wouldn’t do that. It could subsequently cost him his place in the team against Brugge in midweek.

Perhaps it’s time to see what Riccardo Calafiori can do at centre-half with Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back?

Fewer touches than Raya & only 7 passes: Arsenal star must be dropped

Arsenal’s title charge got a whole lot trickier after defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.

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Having declared overnight, India completed their demolition of WI after lunch on day three

Alagappan Muthu04-Oct-20255:02

Chopra: Gulf between India, West Indies there for everyone to see

Ravindra Jadeja has been building a case to be one of the best allrounders in the game. A four-for to follow a hundred against West Indies to start the new home season was just the latest evidence he offered in favour of that argument. On the back of his 104 not out and 4 for 54, India completed an innings win with two-and-a-half days to spare.A proud record stood tall between February 22, 2013 and October 25, 2024. It buckled 24 hours later. India lost a Test series on home soil for the first time in nearly 12 years. Many of the players who had contributed to that run are now retired, including Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara. But Jadeja remains.He was there when India began that run against Australia in Chennai. He was there when New Zealand broke them last year in Pune. And he was there once again, lifting them back up against West Indies now. At 36 years old, it is unclear how much cricket is left in him but it was poetic that in the first of 66 Tests that India had to play at home without R Ashwin, his old pal came up with a hundred and a four-for.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Alick Athanaze carried the West Indies flag, showing why he is rated as a good player of spin. He picked up length well. He was decisive going forward or back. And he remembered to put pressure back, two rock-solid reverse sweeps for four and one sumptuous cover drive for three highlighted his process. All of those scoring shots were against half-volleys that were well wide of the stumps. This is the judgment and the competence that convinced the coach Daren Sammy and the management to bring him back into the Test side.India, though, kept placing new threats in front of Athanaze. Jasprit Bumrah hit him on the helmet. Washington Sundar tested him with the ball turning away. They were waiting for Athanaze to be just slightly off with his process and eventually, after 73 balls, he was, closing the face of the bat, baited by an offbreak that pitched on middle. Washington took a simple catch, which then led to a symbolic representation of West Indies’ batting in this Test.Jomel Warrican tried to impose himself on Mohammed Siraj, swinging as hard as he could, only for his bat to fly out of his grip and land at square leg. The ball meanwhile settled in mid-off’s hands.Alick Athanaze offered some resilience for West Indies•Getty Images

West Indies are a side still building its best batters. Ahead of this tour, they were shorn of two of their best bowlers. This informed the challenge they could pose. They are struggling to find a better opener than John Campbell, 32, who is the third-most experienced player in this XI. He has 23 caps and in all that time, he has no centuries. Even in first-class cricket, after 101 matches, he has only nine centuries. In Ahmedabad, he fell for 8 and 14. The only slightly younger Tagenarine Chanderpaul finished with 0 and 8. Top-order returns like that just won’t do.Jadeja is sometimes accused of being that left-arm spinner who just fires the ball in and lets the pitch do its work. But he knows how to work batters out too. He saw Brandon King lunging forward to try and smother the turn and that helped him once. He hit a crisp cover drive for four. It also led to his downfall as Jadeja recalibrated his flight. It was still full so it triggered King’s instinct to get on the front foot. But he had no way of getting to the pitch of this one. Having committed to the shot, he ended up vulnerable to the turn and presented a straightforward catch to slip. All this happened in the space of two overs. In that small period of time, Jadeja turned what the batter thought was a strength into a weakness.Siraj was the other bowler among the wickets, taking five or more over the course of a home Test for the first time.West Indies lost 10 wickets in two sessions on the first day. They did it again on the third day. Only two players got into the 30s. Only two faced 50 or more balls. They have five days to address these problems before the start of the second game in Delhi. The wait to win a Test match against India in India, which is into its 31st year, continues.

Also returning for the three-match series in Harare were Brad Evans and Tadiwanashe Marumani

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2025Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe’s veteran wicketkeeper-batter, is back in their T20I squad, more than three years after he last played in the format. Taylor, who returned from a three-and-a-half-year ICC ban in August, was named in Zimbabwe’s 16-man squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The other notable inclusion in the squad was Sean Williams, who is back in the T20I fold after more than a year.Taylor had been banned from all cricket in January 2022, for failing to report an approach from alleged corruptors without delay. With the ban ending earlier this year, Taylor subsequently returned to the international fold in the Bulawayo Test against New Zealand, before playing the ODI series against Sri Lanka last month. Taylor’s last T20I, though, was in April 2021, against Pakistan in Harare.Williams, meanwhile, had previously played a T20I in May 2024, and he’s set for a comeback into the format ahead of the Africa regional qualifiers later this month for the T20 World Cup in 2026. Zimbabwe will be competing in the tournament alongside Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, with two World Cup spots on the line.Zimbabwe had missed out on qualifying for the T20 World Cup 2024 despite 20 teams participating in the tournament, as they couldn’t finish in the top two of the Africa Region Qualifier after suffering losses against Namibia and Uganda.Among other changes for the T20Is against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe left out Newman Nyamhuri, Wessly Madhevere, Vincent Masekesa and Tafadzwa Tsiga from the squad that played the tri-series against South Africa and New Zealand in July. Apart from Taylor and Williams, those back in the squad were fast bowler Brad Evans and top-order batter Tadiwanashe Marumani.Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have so far faced each other in only six T20Is, the last of which was in January 2024. Sri Lanka had won the three-match series after Zimbabwe levelled it with victory in the second match.Zimbabwe’s T20I squad vs Sri LankaSikandar Raza (capt), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor (wk), Sean Williams

The Delhi Capitals medium-pacer talks about his most memorable final overs in T20 cricket, the guidance he has received from Ashish Nehra, and more

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi15-Apr-20254:56

‘Preparation is my greatest strength’

Mohit Sharma corrects me and points out he is not 34 but 36 years old. “I will take it as a compliment, though,” he says, chuckling, during our meeting in Chennai earlier this month. Despite his international career falling off the map due to a combination of back injuries and the emergence of younger, fitter, highly skilled fast bowlers, Mohit, who last played for India in 2015, has managed to find a second wind in his IPL career. In 2022, eight years after he topped the IPL wickets table for Chennai Super Kings, he joined Gujarat Titans as a net bowler, and the following season was the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He delivered the eventful last over in the 2023 IPL final, where his former CSK team-mate Ravindra Jadeja denied Mohit and Titans what would have been their second title in a row.The backbone of Mohit’s fast bowling has been his variations, delivered with a grunt. Cutters, slower balls and slow bouncers are the weapons he uses to counter the batting carnage in the second half of T20 innings, where he normally operates. In this interview, he speaks of having only gratitude and no regrets about that 20th over in the 2023 final, and opens up on a career that is now limited to just domestic T20s and the IPL.How’s life at the moment?
My life is in peace right now. It is going good. Pressure is part of the process, and personally, I feel it is important to have pressure. Even if, at times, the pressure can be too much, it always teaches you something.Related

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When I say “last over”, what comes to your mind?
A lot of things have been associated with the last over for me ( [Ashish Nehra, the head coach] was repeating the same things from sidelines throughout the match: “Pandit [Mohit’s nickname], breathe, relax.” He always says when you are at the top of your bowling mark, you need to be clear about what you are going to do. The ball is in your hand. It doesn’t matter what others come and tell you. You have to execute it, so there shouldn’t be two things in your mind.

“I thought there is no bigger thing than education. I started reading up on biomechanics of fast bowling. Then I started dabbling in a course on sprint mechanics. If you want to pursue coaching, you need to understand what coaching is, because it is totally different to playing”

Before 2023, you had last played a full IPL season in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, you played one match each. In 2022, you went unsold in the auction, but Nehra called you to train with the Titans squad. Is it true that around this point you were thinking of ending your career but that Nehra advised you not to?
A lot happened for me between the end of the 2018 IPL and the start of the 2022 season, including having back surgery. I had a good domestic season [in 2021-22], including the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy. My body was responding well post-surgery. When I went unsold, Ashu videos of my bowling. Ashu ). He is like an older brother in my life and has always guided me. If not for that chat, I might have taken a call on my career that year or the following season. After that I thought I will continue playing till my body supports me.I have been lucky that in the second phase of my career, the coaches I have encountered have been like my older brothers more than coaches. They don’t think it is my decision, so I should take it [alone]. They jump in to guide me to the right path. They have experienced more in life. If I have encountered such a situation once or twice in my life, some of these coaches might have been through it 20 times.Mohit chats with his Titans captain Hardik Pandya during the 2023 IPL final against CSK. At the start of the final over, CSK needed 13. Mohit conceded only three from the first four balls, but Ravindra Jadeja hit him for a six and a four off the last two balls•Associated PressLike, the Delhi Capitals coaching staff – Hemang [Badani] bhai, Munna [Munaf Patel] nicknamed me “Maria Sharapova” [the former Grand Slam champion known for her loud grunt]. I’d say: “With the grunt, batsmen will feel the ball will come at 145-150kph even though the ball comes slower, so it is a plus point for me!”What is the fastest you have ever bowled?
After the 2015 World Cup, in the T20 series against South Africa, I clicked 145.4kph once. At that World Cup, Umesh [Yadav], Shami and myself were consistently operating at 140kph.One has to accept things change with age, and in T20 cricket speed is not everything.
Absolutely. You have to accept that. You can’t have an ego. Cricket will not stop for you. You will have to adapt yourself according to the way cricket is evolving.When we spoke back in 2014, you mentioned that you write down your positive and negative feelings on two separate sheets and bin the one with the negative thoughts. Do you still do that?
Yes, I still do that. I tear up the negative ones. Regardless of the result, I have ensured the work ethic that I have had since my Under-19 days does not change. As long as I’m playing I will continue doing things the way I did when I started.”When I am bowling at the death now, my options include bowling a dot ball, but I also have an option to get a wicket every second ball”•Deepak Malik/BCCIDoes doing those things keep you sane?
[stillness, stability] is probably the right word. I get clarity on what I should focus on and what I should not focus on. In current times, our minds get scattered even if nothing much has happened in two balls. So my work ethic has taught me that if I have only three things, then I need to stick to those three rather than thinking that if I get hit for a six off a bouncer with pace then I ) The bowler runs in saying: I will get you out; the batsman says: I will hit you for a six. When there’s nothing to lose, a person learns a lot. If you disregard some of the early matches of this IPL [as of April 3], and three-four matches from the last IPL, the bowlers have started to dominate.If you noticed last evening [in the RCB vs Titans game], how brilliantly [Mohammed] Siraj bowled [against RCB] and Prasidh [Krishna] too. Our bowlers are also learning how to execute the plans more accurately so that [the carnage] that starts from the first ball, we can delay that a bit and at least we [bowlers] get some breathing space.Has the planning changed or have the pitches also become more supportive of bowlers?
It sounds nice hearing such a thing, but with the bounce, you also get hit for sixes! The wicket in [the RCB-Titans] match was good, but it was not like it was seaming or there was extra bounce. It was RCB’s home ground, they provided that wicket. But how GT’s bowling unit executed plans was magical for me. They were bowling in such good areas and the ball was swinging amazingly. If you saw, Siraj was not just swinging the ball, he was also bowling cross-seams and other variations, and his plans were very clear. I am not saying the wicket should not be supportive, but whatever pitches we get, our plans need to be clear.

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