While he is not by any means untouchable anymore, Michael Clarke is still an aggressive, adaptable batsman, Australia’s best slip fielder, and crucially, their most proactive leader

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-2015Few workplaces share the notions of permanence and transience quite like the Australian cricket team. Tenure can appear endless, as it seemed for Ricky Ponting and Allan Border, before suddenly becoming as tenuous as the swinging vote of a solitary selector. A player can look undroppable, even untouchable, before form or injury intervenes to render them neither. Cricket Australia do hand out multi-year contracts, but they are the property of a favoured few, seldom more than five or six cricketers at any one time.The situation is not dissimilar for support staff, who sit on a range of contract lengths but all share a 30-day termination clause. It’s not much really, particularly given how much one’s life has to be uprooted by the constant travel demands of the job, and how much scrutiny entailed in most roles. Mickey Arthur had a contract until after this year’s World Cup – his sacking and replacement by Darren Lehmann arguably saved the skin of their superior Pat Howard, who can now look forward to a contract renewal sometime this year should he want it.Since his return to the Test team following a year’s absence in November 2006, Michael Clarke has enjoyed near enough to a decade of the aforementioned untouchability. The closest he has ever come to looking like he did not merit his place on a performance basis was actually in 2010-11, the season before he was appointed captain, and there was little chance of Clarke being dropped before getting the chance to succeed Ponting.So the current debate and discussion about Clarke’s future is new territory, not only for him but also for the team and Cricket Australia. Suddenly, the natural order of the past few years has been reversed: Clarke is not sitting in judgment on his fellow players and team staff as either a quasi or official selector. Instead, judgments on his potential value are being made by those around him, whether they be coaches, selectors, administrators or fellow players. All are aware of how ruthless Clarke has been in the past, pursuing victories without fear or favours for others, no matter how loyal or deserving.This overturning of the prevailing climate has done some strange things. Relationships within the team have in some cases evolved in ways unforeseeable on the day Clarke lifted the Ashes urn at the SCG followed the 5-0 sweep of England last January. Alliances once sturdy are now far less so, and younger players who once looked up to Clarke are now taking advice from elsewhere.Several of the key players in this environment have experienced the sensation of being unwanted or unfavoured at other points of their careers. Lehmann was an outsider and outlier for far longer than his relatively recent transformation into the man holding most of the keys to control over the team. Brad Haddin was on the outer ring throughout the summer of 2012-13 after excusing himself from the team for personal reasons in 2012. Shane Watson’s security and certainty was eroded greatly over the previous summer due to injuries that left him vice-captain in name alone, while the two years combined left many wondering whether Mitchell Johnson would ever be back, or whether indeed he needed to be.Suggestions that the team have “moved on” from Clarke are perhaps a tad too strong. He has always had a way of operating not enjoyed by everyone, but its effectiveness – provided the right support from those around him – is largely born out by his results as a batsman and a captain. If anything, team-mates who might once have rankled at Clarke’s ways have in recent times come to accept that he is who he is, and by the same token age has softened a few rough edges when it comes to man management. It was significant to hear Steven Smith say during the UAE tour that he saw relationship management as captaincy’s greatest challenge.

The last thing any supporter of Australian cricket wants is for there to come a time during this year’s Ashes tour when everyone present wonders how useful a Clarke hundred with the bat or brainwave in the field might have been, and is instead left cursing that he is sitting at home on the couch, tweeting

“The toughest part of the job is managing all the players around you,” Smith said, proving himself to be a quick learner. “The on-field stuff, setting fields, changing bowlers, that’s the easy part. It’s making sure all your players are on the same page with what your plans are and what you want from your players and the team. That’s the biggest challenge and what you really need to get right if you want your team to be successful.”What cannot be overstated is the fact that Clarke’s future is up for discussion, and that he has far less say in this debate than he had become used to. Martin Crowe has called it a “strange cooling” by CA towards its captain. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster has written of a “collision course” between captain and selectors. Unusually for him, Shane Warne has remained strangely silent, while nary a single CA figure has stood up to pour cold water on the story.That silence is more than enough to confirm a divergence of views on whether Clarke is in the best team for the World Cup, whether his body is still strong enough to handle the rigours of a Test series, or whether the team in England later this year might be happier without him. The prospect of Smith being named permanent captain, leaving Clarke to fight for his place as a batsman alone, seems less plausible than it was when Ponting stood aside for his successor.Clarke’s position as incumbent captain of the Test and ODI teams does complicate matters a little. Were he merely a player, the question of his retention would be down to the selection panel alone, among whom Lehmann’s vote carries plenty of weight. But as he is also a leader, the Clarke question takes in the oversight of Howard, James Sutherland and the CA board itself, due for a change in chairman later this year when Wally Edwards steps down for David Peever. That is a lot of “stakeholders” to unify into one strong and coherent point of view.Whatever is felt about Clarke’s history of man management, or about his controversial time as a selector, there are two incontrovertible facts that should not be lost. The first is that when fit he is still more than worth his weight in the team as an aggressive, adaptable batsman, the finest slip fielder in the nation, and a quick-thinking and proactive captain. The second is that measuring the gap left by Clarke is difficult to quantify in the comfortable surrounds of a home summer, particularly a Test series against a team so allergic to travel as India. Smith and the team did well enough, but only in favourable circumstances and familiar climes.In the recent past, when it was decided that Haddin was inferior to Matthew Wade, that Johnson should be ranked behind Mitchell Starc as a Test bowler, or that Watson was an optional choice in addition to a four-man bowling attack, these judgments were made hastily and at home. Subsequent events on more challenging assignments overseas proved them wrong. It is hoped this will be a lesson in how CA’s decision makers deliberate on Clarke.The last thing any supporter of Australian cricket wants is for there to come a time during this year’s Ashes tour when everyone present wonders how useful a Clarke hundred with the bat or brainwave in the field might have been, and is instead left cursing that he is sitting at home on the couch, tweeting.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2015When Swapnil Patil was bowled, UAE had slumped to 46 for 6•Getty ImagesAmjad Javed was one of the batsmen to resist West Indies’ dominance. He struck 56 off 99, his maiden ODI fifty•ICCJaved and Nasir Aziz, who made his first ODI fifty as well, shared in a 107-run partnership for the seventh wicket and took the score to 153 for 7•ICCAndre Russell broke the partnership and UAE were bowled out for 175 soon after•ICCWest Indies began their chase rapidly and were 33 for 0 in the third over before Dwayne Smith was caught behind•AFPMarlon Samuels never looked convincing and was dismissed for 9 off 18 balls leaving West Indies at 53 for 2•ICCJohnson Charles, playing his first World Cup game, took over and made 55 from 40•AFPJonathan Carter raised his own maiden ODI fifty and saw his side through to a six-wicket win•ICC

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2015Paul Stirling and William Porterfield put on 89 for the first wicket in quick time•Associated PressR Ashwin and Suresh Raina stifled Ireland in the middle overs and picked up key wickets•Getty ImagesNiall O’Brien top-scored for Ireland with a run-a-ball 75 helping them to 259•Getty ImagesThe Chase: Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma put on 174, India’s highest opening stand at World Cups•Getty ImagesDhawan raced to his second ton of this World Cup, off just 84 balls•ICCAfter Dhawan fell, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane combined to guide India to an eight-wicket win•Getty ImagesThe win hands India their best-ever run at World Cups, with nine consecutive wins•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Imran Tahir talks about overcoming adversity, finding love, and the worst bowling performance in Test history

Arya Yuyutsu11-Jun-201516:16

‘I want to play with utmost passion’

There’s something about Imran Tahir. He’s a cricketer you can’t but like, but not someone you buy posters of to stick on your wall.He isn’t a muscular hunk. His beard isn’t sexy. His celebration is liberatingly endearing but not one that kids imitate on school grounds. He takes wickets, he talks shyly, almost sheepishly, and rarely engages in verbal battles with batsmen. He holds the record for the worst bowling figures in a Test match. You can’t but like him and that spark in his eyes.At the end of this interview, I thanked him as he undid his collar mic and asked if he wanted me to leave out some parts of what he had said. “I’m okay with whatever you put up,” he replied. “I just spoke from my heart. And now the rest is up to you.”Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood in Pakistan? Did you dream of representing Pakistan?
Yes, definitely, that was my childhood dream. At one stage I didn’t think I would go so far, as I was the eldest in the family – I had to start working, and I found a job which taught me a lot about life. I was packing people’s things. I was in a retail store in Lahore. One day, I went for a cricket trial with a friend and that is where things changed for me. I would like to mention Mr Shahid, who was a selector at that time who encouraged me and picked me. He gave me an opportunity and I took 11 wickets in the first game and I realised that I could achieve my dream.Adelaide 2012: your figures of 37 overs, none for 260 against Australia were the worst match figures in the history of Test cricket. How did you cope with that?
For me, nothing can break me. I’ve never said that in an interview before. I came through a lot of hard hurdles and I crossed them, and I don’t think anything can be tougher than that. It was just a game for me and I tried my best. It was the worst game of my life, though. The good thing was that we didn’t lose the match. We played good cricket as a team and Faf du Plessis played the innings of his life. I got dropped for the next game and I understood that I did not deserve another opportunity. I worked hard and waited for another opportunity. When I made my comeback, I proved that I could play Test cricket.Tell us about the role Abdul Qadir has played in your cricketing career.
Abdul Qadir is a genius, a legend, and the best according to me. I always wanted to be like him on the field. I am close to his family and I asked him for tips to improve my bowling and about his experiences. He gave me advice which I will never forget. The advice from him really helped me. Obviously, I cannot be like him because he was naturally gifted and I had to work hard on my skills. I am a different bowler and if I try to emulate him, I might end up being an average bowler. I believe you should stick to whatever suits you best rather than being someone else and end up being nothing.

“I don’t believe in playing for the sake of it. I believe in playing for the people I represent and doing justice to the hard work I’ve put in”

I would also like to mention Shane Warne, who helped me when I was playing for Hampshire. Dimitri Mascarenhas was the captain then and he is good friends with Warne. So, I requested him to arrange a meeting with Warne and I got to spend an hour with him. It was a great thing for me to learn from this legend of the game.I am really grateful to both of them for helping me, more mentally than in terms of bowling variations and techniques. Their advice really helped me a lot on the field.Did you long to play in the IPL when you were not a part of it?
I always wondered why I couldn’t be a part of the IPL. At that point of time, I wasn’t playing international cricket, so I had to bide my time. I always felt I had the ability to do well in the IPL. Since it is believed that Indian players are the best players of spin, I did not make it initially, which I can understand, but from my point of view, I always felt I was good enough to be a part of the IPL. My overall one-day and T20 records are up there with the very best. So I felt sad when guys who had an inferior record to me got to play in the IPL while I was not a part of it.I decided to look at it positively and thought that my opportunity will come – maybe when I am 40-41! But I always had the belief to do well in the IPL. I think that if you want something desperately, you will get it. I think this is probably the best T20 league in the world as you get the kind of environment you will not find anywhere else.I try to give 100% every single time I step on the field. Then I can sleep well at night knowing that I gave my best. I don’t believe in playing for the sake of it. I believe in playing for the people I represent and doing justice to the hard work I’ve put in – if not in bowling, then through my fielding or batting. I try to ensure that the paying public get their money’s worth.Tell us about the game between India and Pakistan in Durban when you met a special person in your life.
It was actually after the game. I saw a girl standing and tried to catch her attention but she ignored me. We then met at the airport after a week, when I was returning to Pakistan. I spoke to her dad and got their address and contact number, after which I started writing letters to her. It took me ten years to win her heart.I didn’t see her in those 10 years. I then decided to make things happen and moved to South Africa. We wrote to each other but she was busy with her studies at that time. I was playing in England and I decided to go and see her. It was pretty difficult for me as I don’t have family in South Africa.The celebration artist: “It is spontaneous and something that cannot be explained”•Getty ImagesI didn’t know how to ask her parents. It took me a couple of weeks. I asked her mother first as I was scared of approaching her father. I am really grateful to my mother-in-law. She cooked for me every day and showed a lot of trust in me. I have a lot of respect for her. Without their support it would have been a different story as I am extremely shy.We then decided to get married and we now have a child as well and feel blessed to have him. I feel we were destined to end up together.What is the toughest phase you’ve gone through? And how did you come out of it?
There have been a few hard patches in my life. In those years, there was no one around to help. I lost my parents, which is the toughest thing to overcome. After my father passed away, I started taking cricket really seriously as he had told me the year before he passed away that he will pray a lot for me and he would like me to do well in cricket, and become like Imran Khan (). I wish he could see me and where I am today.That was the turning point in my life. I decided that if I was going to do the things my father told me to do, I had to toughen up. I always wanted to do that, but I guess I just needed a kick in my life and his passing away was that. I did well the next year and got a central contract, which made me happy.When did you first start celebrating the way you do?
I think this has always been inside me. I once played a charity game where I took a brilliant catch. Even then I celebrated in my usual way. Normally guys don’t mind getting hit in charity games, but I wanted to take a wicket there as well and not get hit. I am the kind of person who will give his best every single time. I cannot underperform unless I’m playing with kids. Actually, I’d probably still get angry if they try to hit me! The celebration just comes naturally. I don’t sit in my room and decide how I’m going to celebrate. It is spontaneous and something that cannot be explained. It is just the love I have for the game. It’s just the passion.You’re 36 now. What are your goals for the future?
One of my dreams was to win the World Cup. It was a pretty good team effort [in the 2015 World Cup] and we went pretty close. That is one thing I want to achieve.Other than that, I want to be committed all the time I play cricket. I don’t want to just keep playing for the sake of playing. The day I realise I’m not good enough, I’ll go. I want to play as long as I can – not just to make up the numbers but to play with utmost passion.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2015David Warner also failed to fire, and when Jayant Yadav accounted for Eoin Morgan, the visitors fell to 64 for 3 in the 11th over•BCCIComing in at No. 3, Moises Henriques led a counterattack, drilling one four and five sixes•BCCIAmit Mishra felt the brunt of the punishment, leaking 34 from his three overs•BCCIHenriques remained unbeaten on 74 off 46 balls, helping Sunrisers to 163 for 4•BCCIDelhi Daredevils’ chase did not begin well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar set up Shreyas Iyer and dismissed him for a duck in the third over•BCCIBut Quinton de Kock was unfazed and helped himself to a much-needed half-century in only his first game of the season•BCCIKarn Sharma, though, tilted the advantage back Sunrisers’ way with the wickets of de Kock and Duminy off successive overs•BCCIBetween those two dismissals, Parvez Rasool got the wicket of Yuvraj Singh, Daredevils’ record buy once again falling for a disappointing 2•BCCIKedar Jadhav injected some hope, scoring a 34-ball 63 and sharing an unbroken 91-run stand with Saurabh Tiwary….•BCCIBut they couldn’t quite take the team home. Bhuvneshwar bowled a tight penultimate over, and Daredevils failed to gather the 16 runs required for victory in the last, ending their hopes of making the playoffs•BCCI

Drafted in as a replacement for Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood produced a match-turning and potentially match-winning fourth-innings century in Pallekele

Umar Farooq in Pallekele06-Jul-2015In a time of never-ending transition, Pakistan keeps producing exceptional cricketing talent, except in one category – opening batsmen. But just when they seem to have settled on a reasonably settled combination at the top of the order – Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad average 51.14 as an opening pair – a third name has staked a powerful claim for a long-term berth with a match-turning and potentially match-winning century.

‘My career starts now’ – Imran

Imran Khan, the Pakistan fast bowler, has said his maiden five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s second innings has given his international career a major boost. He said he and his team never gave up, even after three bad days, and this belief was behind their turnaround on day four of the Pallekele Test.
Imran wrapped up Sri Lanka’s five remaining wickets in the morning session, ensuring they wouldn’t stretch their lead past 400. Pakistan were 230 for 2 at stumps, leaving them 147 to get on the final day.
“We had a simple plan to bowl in the right areas,” Imran said. “I am happy that I was able to contribute with a five-wicket haul, which was a dream come true. I think my international career starts now with this performance.
“I always admired Umar [Gul] , who has been my idol and supported me a lot. And Waqar [Younis] and Mushy [Mushtaq Ahmed] are now working a lot with me, helping me thrive. I had fitness issues in the past and I want to thank [Grant] Luden [Pakistan’s fitness trainer] who worked really hard on this aspect.”
On Pakistan’s unexpected batting display, Imran said: “the team was given a lot of confidence back in the dressing room, recalling our run feast against Australia and New Zealand last year, and that was the major driving force for the batsmen. The ability was always there but they were lacking confidence and the team management give ample motivation to make this happen.”

When Shan Masood and Younis Khan joined hands, Pakistan were 13 for 2 and their target of 377 had begun to flicker out of sight on the horizon. At the end of day four, both batsmen were still undefeated. They had put on Pakistan’s highest-ever fourth-innings partnership. Younis had become the first batsman to make five fourth-innings centuries in Test cricket; Masood had become only the fifth Pakistan batsman to score his maiden Test hundred in the fourth innings.Born in Kuwait, Shan was only three years old when his family was forced to leave the country amid the Gulf war in 1991. They shifted to the United States. He spent two years there before moving again, to his native country Pakistan. His journey wasn’t over yet, though; he was sent to Stamford School in England, and scored 1237 runs for them during the 2009 season. He had come extremely close to the schoolboy record of another left-handed opener, Alastair Cook, who scored 1287 runs for Bedford in 2003.Within Pakistan, Masood’s selection has been viewed with a certain degree of scepticism, due to his privileged background and connections – his uncle holds a powerful post in the government, while his father is part of the PCB governing board. But he can always retort that he was only called up when his performances merited it.After four unspectacular seasons in domestic first-class cricket back home, Masood blossomed in 2012-13, scoring over 1000 runs for the season. He was called up to replace Mohammad Hafeez, who was axed after the Zimbabwe series in 2013. After making a solid 75 on debut against South Africa, Masood had been a regular part of Pakistan’s Test squads, even if opportunities to play in their XI were scattered. Even his chance to play in Pallekele only materialised because Hafeez had to get his bowling action tested.Masood endured periods of struggle during his innings, especially early on. The first ball he faced was a Dhammika Prasad jaffa that opened him up completely, and it took him 14 balls to get off the mark. But he soon got going, and a flowing straight drive off Prasad in the fifth over was a sign of what Sri Lanka could expect from him through the rest of the day. Generally sure outside off, where he left well, he was occasionally troubled by the incoming ball or the ones banged in short, but he grew increasingly secure in Younis’ company.He opened out when spin came on, and he used his feet to pick up two fours off one Kaushal Silva over. The fifty came up with a single off Kaushal, and later, the big landmark came up with the biggest shot of his innings, a straight six into the sightscreen, also off Kaushal. Against the offspinner, Masood picked up 52 runs off 63 balls, and to a great extent neutralised a bowler who was expected to provide Sri Lanka a fair amount of their fourth-innings threat.Against the seamers, Masood was more circumspect, scoring 56 runs off 130 balls – it showed he was aware of his own game and his confidence in that game: that of an old-fashioned English-style opener. His partnership with Younis was built on the familiarity of playing together for Habib Bank Limited. Younis, who scored his 30th Test hundred, has been involved in 60 century stands with 19 different partners, and he always makes life easier for his partner.No career is guaranteed in Pakistan, and the life of an opener is particularly insecure. Masood, though not a regular in the eleven yet, has been in the scheme of things for a couple of years, and in the squad for several series. He is technically solid – he credits his English cricketing upbringing for this – and is one of the fittest players in the Pakistan circuit according to a recent PCB fitness test report.It might be premature to say that Pakistan have found the genuine article, but with Hafeez now 34 – and with Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq approaching the end of their careers in the middle order – Masood has a genuine shot at making one of the opening slots his own.

As Kumar Sangakkara’s runs tally has grown, his cheekiness on the field has declined. Has the flawless batsman made the flawless man then?

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Aug-20154:17

‘There are two sides to Sangakkara’ – SL players and staff recall their favourite moments

No matter how much he attempts to distance himself from it now, Kumar Sangakkara was once a serial sledger. He has often been asked about his verbal spats in recent interviews and has usually been quick to assert he has “probably mellowed over the years”. It’s true. He has rarely gone looking for trouble this decade, and has only occasionally added his voice to the volleys his team-mates fire at batsmen – rare in themselves. But on the eve of his farewell, a jaunt into his combative past might help us better gauge the man he has become.It’s important to put his sledging in context. Early 2000s Sangakkara was basically a batting limpet. That desire to become the best has always blazed inside him, but his cricket was a little limited. He specialised in looking like he won’t survive the next over, yet was the man oppositions just could not shake off. He batted long and slow. The likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva and Mahela Jayawardene slashed and drove around him.It was while he was this top-order medicine in Sri Lanka’s candy shop of aggressive delights that Sangakkara spent his most garrulous years. Behind the stumps in a famously spicy 2002-03 tour of South Africa, he was a mosquito buzzing around batsmen’s heads, always yapping on about a slip-up in a recent press conference, about an opponent’s poor form, or the pressure they were under. His “weight of all these expectations” rant to Shaun Pollock is the most famous example. Other times he delivered scathing one-liners. “Hey Bhajji,” he was heard saying to Harbhajan Singh when he came out to bat on one occasion, “you look handsome in your short sleeves. Why don’t you wear them when you bowl?” He copped a fine for the minor altercation that followed.In public, he sometimes seemed caught between owning his reputation for being one of the wittier sledgers in the game and playing down his use of words. As a 26-year-old, he spoke professorially on the subject: “The public perception of sledging is to go out there and abuse someone in obscene language, questioning their parentage or sexual preferences. That kind of abuse does not belong on the field of play. Sledging, as coined and pioneered by the Australians, is a measured comment designed to get a reaction out of a player.” Okay, poindexter, but what are you trying to say? That the Australians never made jibes about sexual orientation? That you didn’t either?About eight months later, not only did he say he “would never practise sledging or use it as a tactic” unless heckled first, but that sledging altogether “doesn’t belong on the cricket field” and is “not the way the game should be played”. Words at clear odds with his actions here, he comes off looking a little like Genghis Khan wearing a “make love, not war” t-shirt.The picture of Sangakkara that emerges from these early interactions with opposition and media is of a young man seeking to set himself apart and become noticed, but also of someone a little unsure of himself. The barbs which dug at opposition insecurities seem to have been made sharper, in hindsight, by his own experiences with self-doubt.As the years wore on, Kumar Sangakkara shed his mouthiness and earned the admiration of most•AFPLatter day Sangakkara, though, is a transformed man. He is now more likely to cast aspersions on his own cricket than jab at opponents. Before the last Test match in Galle, he said he did not understand how anyone could find his batting attractive. At other times, when he has been held up alongside other batting greats, he has been self-effacing. “If I’ve matched Brian Lara, I’ve matched him in very little,” he said last year, when he drew level with Lara’s nine 200-plus scores. He would go on to score two more within 10 months.In his latest, most sublime years, Sangakkara has mauled attacks with a creativity and fearlessness that had eluded him in the first half of his career, but his lips have become ever more still (apart from, of course, when he is appealing). Maybe he has learned to save his best lines for when a standing ovation is on offer. More likely, after crossing the 30 Test hundreds and 10,000 runs threshold, he has been at peace with himself. In some innings, like against England at the recent World Cup, a century has seemed almost inevitable since the early moments.The tons now are celebrated with restraint. The bat comes up slowly. The helmet usually stays on. Sometimes he even looks bored. In 2014 he struck more international runs than anyone has managed in a calendar year, but his most animated moment was at the non-striker’s end in Bangladesh, when team-mate Kaushal Silva reached his maiden hundred.As his farewell Test arrives now, it seems like the whole occasion is not really for Sangakkara, just as a funeral is not really for the deceased. Sangakkara has been adamant that no exorbitant fanfare is made of his exit. There were no cutouts on the Galle Fort, as there had been for Muttiah Muralitharan and Jayawardene. The board had offered to move his final Test to his home town of Kandy, but the man himself had wanted no change of plans. It is the fans who need the closure. Sangakkara has been ready to depart for some time now.The island has been divided along its many fault lines this week. The general election on Monday was peaceful, but closely contested. Rural Sri Lanka went one way. The cities went another. The north and east headed in another direction entirely. But so complete has Sangakkara’s metamorphosis as person and cricketer been, that the nation will come together to celebrate him as one. Once a mouthy prick, now the sultan of slick, Sangakkara retires content.

Stats highlight from the first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Dhaka

Shiva Jayaraman07-Nov-2015 145 Runs Bangladesh won by – their third-biggest win while batting first in ODIs and their biggest against Zimbabwe. They had won against Zimbabwe by 124 runs at the same venue last year which was the previous largest margin against them. 0 Number of five-wicket hauls Shakib Al Hasan had taken in ODIs before his 5 for 47 in this match. His previous best was the 4 for 16 he took against West Indies in Chittagong in 2011. Shakib has now taken 68 wickets against Zimbabwe in ODIs at 21.83. His next-highest against any team in ODIs are the 28 wickets he has taken against New Zealand. 3 Centuries by Mushfiqur Rahim in ODIs before the one in this match. Two of these have come against Zimbabwe. Mushfiqur has made 1122 runs at 40.07 against them in ODIs. 4 Man-of-the-match awards won by Mushfiqur in ODIs including the one in this match. This is his second such award in 2015 – he had won it in an ODI against Pakistan in April this year. 75.40 Average stand for the fifth wicket for Bangladesh in ODIs in 2015 – the highest any team has averaged for that wicket. The stand between Mushfiqur and Sabbir Rahman in this match was the third century partnership for Bangladesh’s fifth wicket this year – also the highest for any team. 15-6 Bangladesh’s win-loss record under Mashrafe Mortaza’s captaincy; among those who have led full-member teams to at least 15 wins, Mashrafe win-loss ratio of 2.50 is currently the fourth highest. 1 Number of times Zimbabwe have been dismissed by Bangladesh in ODIs for a lower total. They had been bowled out for just 44 runs in an ODI in 2009, which is their lowest. In a separate instance last year, Zimbabwe were dismissed for 128 – exactly their total in this game. 15 Centuries by wicketkeeper-batsmen in ODIs in 2015 – the most in any calendar year. Last year saw 13 hundreds in ODIs by wicketkeepers which was the previous highest in a year.

A fan is overjoyed and overwhelmed at seeing his childhood cricketing heroes playing together in New York

Sheikh Minhaj Hossain09-Nov-2015Choice of game
There is a famous quote which ends the Brad Pitt movie “Troy”. It says, “Men rise and fall like the winter wheat but these men will never die.” As I passed my childhood by watching 90s cricket players, I want to change the quote of Troy to: “I lived in the time of Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and many more and these men will never fade away!”I had goosebumps when I first heard that all the cricket stars of last 25 years who have retired from the game will be playing together in a match, and that too in the United States! For a cricket lover like me this is like a fairytale to even think of. But with the leadership of Sachin and Warne, all these stars turned this fairytale into a reality. This is the time when we could watch Sachin vs Wasim, Lara vs Warne, Shoaib vs Ponting again! All these years we could only imagine a dream scenario where two greatest legends of the game Lara and Tendulkar would be batting together on the same pitch! And Cricket All-Star 2015 made this possible.Team supported
Before the match, I didn’t have any prediction for a win. But I thought that the match would be competitive. Although it looks like that Sachin’s Blasters are stronger on paper but players like Ponting, Kallis, Sangakkara from Warne’s Warriors would make any day tough for the opponents. I was just there to enjoy the show, not thinking much about the win-loss scenario.About the series, I would be very happy if both the teams could share the trophy. As Warne’s Warriors won the first game, I deeply want Sachin Blasters to win the second match. And the third match will end up in a tie! This series cannot be valued by a trophy. This is beyond that.Key performer(s)
Shane Warne should be considered as the key performer of this match. The way Sehwag and Sachin started Basters’ innings, they could easily get to a total of 200. But Shane dismissed Sachin, Lara and Laxman, and Blasters were bundled out for 140 runs. The underestimated bowler in this match was Vettori. He bowled all four overs and gave only 13 runs with the precious wicket of Sehwag. Sangakkara and Ponting built a partnership to give Warriors a real chance of winning.Things I’d have changed about the match
All the people in the crowd were waiting for Lara to come and bat with Sachin Tendulkar. When Sehwag was hitting fours and sixes for Blasters, even some Indian fans in the gallery were discussing that Sehwag should retire hurt after completing his half-century and Lara should come to bat with Sachin. That would be a dream moment. But Sachin got out to an astonishing flying catch by Kallis and the scorecard looked like “Tendulkar c Kallis b Warne”! You never can have such precious one-liner in the scoreboard!One more thing I would like to change is the size and shape of the field. A baseball field can never be as good as a cricket field. Some of the sixes hit by both teams’ players could easily be caught if the ground was slightly bigger.Just like old times•Rob Tringali/ESPNWow moment
One of the most incredible experience at the match was the mentality and emotion of Indian people towards Sachin Tendulkar. I always heard of it, but never experienced it myself. In this match I witnessed Indians’ love for Sachin in front of my eyes. One example can describe this scenario: before the match, I saw a booth from one of the sponsor companies which was providing a big, white placard to write on. I was standing in the line to write something like “Reminisces of Childhood” and around 10 Indian people were standing in front of me, writing different placards. They were from different groups but all of them had written one common word. That was “GOD”! All of them were calling Sachin Tendulkar the GOD! Someone was writing “Thank you GOD for bringing cricket to America”, while other people were writing that famous dialogue, “Cricket is our religion and Sachin is our GOD”.Yes, if you never experienced this in person, I promise you this is completely different and unbelievable! The whole stadium was chanting “Sachin, Sachin” almost all the time. But the biggest cheer was heard when he came in to bowl the 18th over. The whole crowd went crazy! They knew that they are going to lose the match but still chanting the name of Sachin!Honestly, I never had the experience to watch a match live in India with Indian crowd before. But today in presence of most of the Indian crowd, I understood how they treat Sachin. They really worship him like GOD!Also when Shoaib Akhtar came in to bowl and bowled those deadly bouncers to Kallis and Rhodes, an Indian, who was standing beside me said, “It seems like Shoaib Akhtar is still the fastest bowler of the world! Is he still faster than Steyn, Johnson etc?” Well, I hardly had any doubt about that after watching those lethal bouncers. People were chanting “Shoaib, Shoaib” when he was bowling. Definitely those bouncers from Shoaib were a huge surprise for the whole crowd! Nobody expected this pace from him. Beside that there were chanting for “Viru” when he was in full form and hitting Walsh and Donald out of the park!One of the best parts of this game was not having cheerleaders! Cricket never needed any cheerleaders when these legends were playing. The main attraction of cricket is to create the battle of bat and ball on the field. These legends made sure that their play is more enjoyable than cheerleaders’ dance! They were and they are still successful.And last but not the least was the Mexican Wave! This is something which crowd enjoys for pure entertainment. And we did it too in the gallery.Banner of the day
One of the crowd changed the famous saying “God bless America” to “Sachin GOD blessed America!” Genius!Shot of the day
I’m not going to pick only shots from batsmen. I think some ‘shot’ can be created by bowlers too! In the death overs Akram bowled some beautiful swinging slower yorkers. We were mesmerised after watching this. We were also thrilled to watch Ponting’s hook again. When he hooked Shoaib Akhtar on the last ball of his spell, that special shot reminded me that he is one of the greatest hooker/puller of the history of cricket! And Jonty Rhodes reminded his trademark reverse sweep to finish the match!Overall
There were many wonderful moments in the gallery and on the field. The moment when Sachin and Sehwag were taking guard and Wasim Akram was waiting to run in to bowl was awesome. We all had a thrill, excitement to begin the dream. The famous movie “Back to the future 2” was celebrated on 21st October 2015. This match is like a real version of “Back to the future” movie in the USA. It is like we all have a time machine on which we are riding and going back to the past to watch that surreal scene again.When the match was about to start, the feelings we were having cannot be described by words! This was surreal and the atmosphere was absolutely unbelievable! I saw a number of people were in tears when they saw these players in front of their eyes, playing together after many years. I myself also got deeply emotional by thinking about all of the most precious cricketing moments of childhood. The experience of that moment can only be felt by a hardcore cricket lover who loves cricket wholeheartedly. Overall the organising capabilities were superb. Everything was electrifying! I enjoyed each and every moment thoroughly.Marks out of 10
The match deserves 10/10

Kraigg Brathwaite gutted Sri Lanka, and moved his team briskly towards parity, surprising his captain as well as the opposition

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo24-Oct-2015Kraigg Brathwaite, owner of three first-class wickets, wasn’t so sure his captain Jason Holder believed he could take wickets when he came on to bowl the 53rd over. Through the course of the third innings, Brathwaite would be caught in a flush of self-confidence. He gutted Sri Lanka’s middle and lower orders, moved his team briskly towards parity, and forcefully proved to Holder that he had been absolutely correct not to believe in him, because come on, the guy only had three first class wickets.Perhaps if his wickets had come cheaply; but they had not. Each had cost 67, and had been achieved across 80 matches. To put the number three into unnecessary perspective, consider that even Kaushal Silva – a wicketkeeper – has only two fewer first-class scalps, at an average of 33. Which means that this morning, Brathwaite’s first-class bowling average was twice as bad as that of a man so small his approach to the crease would have to have included being shot out of cannon in order for him to get the ball above the batsman’s eyeline.After the day’s play, Brathwaite revealed he had been asking for the ball for a while. “Jason knows I like to bowl,” he said. “I was always in his ears telling him I could get the breakthrough. It came a point where he said he’d give it to me.”It’s easy to sympathise with Holder’s plight here. All around the world, at all levels of cricket, deluded top-order batsmen are forever pleading for the ball, and the chance to break a partnership. When the captain succumbs to the buzzing of this mosquito, the top-order batsman proceeds to be smeared around the ground. It is then customary to blame the field that had been set. It’s a no-win scenario for the captain usually. As Brathwaite’s haul grew heavier through the afternoon, Holder himself looked like he couldn’t quite believe how lucky he had struck it. But then again, this is the Sri Lanka batting order. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised.The hosts can now add “part-time offspinner with three first-class wickets” to the long list of bowlers who have run through them in the past year. Carelessness, rather than incompetence, was the basis of this slide. Milinda Siriwardana had sparkled during his 42 from 60 balls, but edged his first ball from Brathwaite to slip. Kusal Perera got a bottom edge to a delivery that stayed lower than he expected. Importantly, Brathwaite wasn’t trying too much. He just maintained a tight line, and surrendered each delivery to the whims of a dusty surface.Rangana Herath came up the order to strike a lively 18. He had apparently had a special batting practice session at Khettarama in the days leading up to this Test. In this late stage of his career, he has added two shots to the three he had previously possessed. Incredibly, one of these is the reverse sweep, which, say, Virat Kohli is not known to play. Herath keeps stacking improbabilities in a career that is unlikely to begin with. I mean, who would guess that Brathwaite bowling to a fired-up Herath could ever come to be the juiciest contest of a Test-match day? Herath reverse-paddled him to the third man boundary twice in two overs before Brathwaite struck back.”He played two reverse sweeps so I moved around the field a bit with a short third man,” Brathwaite said. “My main thing was to keep it tight and to stick outside off stump as much as possible. He tried the sweep and top-edged it.”Brathwaite’s chief ally was Jermaine Blackwood, who threw himself around to take four catches off him, and five in total. West Indies’ catching had been woeful in Galle, but by the end of the day, Blackwood was moving so well, he could have pouched slip catches in his back pocket. The diving effort to dismiss last man Nuwan Pradeep was particularly memorable, and saved West Indies one, maybe two awkward Pradeep runs.West Indies need 224 runs draw the series. The way they have been batting, this seems unlikely, but not impossible. It hasn’t been difficult to spook Sri Lanka in recent times. A rapid Darren Bravo fifty, or a Marlon Samuels charge could still expose the hosts. They owe it to the delusion of a top-order batsman for keeping them in the match. Brathwaite, of course, maintains it is self-belief. Who is to tell where the line is?