Increasingly, performances in domestic long-format cricket don’t carry much weight as a criterion for national selection

Abhinav Mukund22-Jan-2025Amid all the talk of India’s marquee players being asked to play domestic cricket, it’s business as usual for a few.Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan, in particular, will be itching for some game time. The only image of note that I saw of Easwaran in the entire series in Australia was when he ran on to congratulate Nitish Reddy after his hundred at the MCG. For Sarfaraz, it was when he was keeping in the tour game and appealed for a double touch. Otherwise these two players didn’t warrant a mention, and largely didn’t even when teams were discussed on social media.There is much talk about the need for Indian cricketers to make domestic cricket a priority, but how much does red-ball performance count for while picking the India XI?Related

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Sarfaraz made a fighting hundred in the second innings in Bengaluru after India were shot out for 46 by New Zealand. Four Test innings later, he finds himself low in the pecking order for a slot in the middle order. Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal and others were preferred ahead of him on the tour. Sarfaraz has averaged over 75 in first-class cricket in the last five years, with 15 hundreds and 11 fifties in 41 matches.Easwaran has been knocking on the doors of the Indian team for years now. Over the last five years he has averaged 50 with 14 hundreds and 12 fifties in 44 first-class matches. He has been on multiple A tours but has never got an opportunity in the Test side. Sarfaraz and Easwaran are among the best in the country in their respective positions. Though the selectors thought they were good enough to make the squad for the Australia series, they weren’t picked by the team management for any of the Tests.India were prepared to fix their top-order problem in Australia with KL Rahul, who was a middle-order specialist leading in to that series. In the Duleep Trophy game that was a precursor to the domestic season, Easwaran opened for India B, while Rahul batted at four for India A in the first game.

The only currency we all knew growing up as batters was runs. Now the questions are: Can the runs be scored at a faster pace by someone else? Or do they have experience of facing high-quality international bowling in leagues around the world?

Mayank Agarawal, who opened for India A in that tournament, got 150 and 62 for India against New Zealand in December 2021. He played his last Test for India in March 2022.Red-ball cricket is a tough gig. The hours are long and the conditions vary a lot more than in limited-overs cricket. It is more marathon than sprint. Moreover, it is often not as financially lucrative as white-ball cricket, so there is little incentive other than a Test cap to motivate a player. Remember also that it may take years for a vacancy to open up in the position you as a first-class player have specialised in.Three balls are currently used in Test cricket, the SG, which we use for our domestic and international games in India, the Kookaburra that is used in Australia and New Zealand, and the Dukes that is used in England and the West indies. Each comes with its own challenges. Meanwhile, one ball is used for international white-ball cricket around the world.I have no qualms about saying that the easy way out is to become a freelance cricketer in today’s world. Players now see potential in becoming white-ball specialists and honing their techniques and skill towards the shorter formats.Abhimanyu Easwaran has over 7500 runs in first-class cricket at an average of close to 50. What does that count for when it comes to potential selection for the India side?•Tanuj/ Ekana Cricket StadiumJames Vince is not the first cricketer to take this route – nor will he be the last. Trent Boult in some sense was the OG in turning down a central contract. His countryman and Test legend Kane Williamson followed suit last year. Interestingly, Vince played for Hampshire, a team that is now majority-owned by the GMR group – co-owners of Delhi Capitals. This trend, if I may call it that, is likely to take off around the world and global franchise contracts will become the norm rather than state and national contracts. But while becoming a freelance cricketer is an attractive option for players in the rest of the world, it isn’t available to Indian cricketers unless they retire.Sam Konstas who made a dramatic debut in the Melbourne Test, reverse-scooping Jasprit Bumrah and getting to 62, only played a handful of first-class games before he was fast-tracked into the Test squad. He had made just two first-class hundreds, in the same game, before his call-up. Jacob Bethell was handed the No. 3 spot for England despite a first-class average of just 25.44 from 30 innings. He became the first specialist batter since Mike Gatting in 1978 to get an England Test cap without scoring a first-class hundred. Bethell has made three fifties in three Tests, validating his selection.There is a 2019 article on this site about Priyank Panchal and Easwaran and how they were regulars on A tours, fighting for one spot. Six years later Panchal is not in the minds of selectors, and Easwaran hangs on in hopes of getting a Test cap, in spite of having toured around the world with the India A side. What happened in those six years is that India have found an exceptional opening batter in Yashasvi Jaiswal and he has leapfrogged all of the other suitors for the opening spot and made it his own.The only currency we all knew growing up as batters was runs, and that still remains true, except with a caveat: Can the runs be scored at a faster pace by someone else? Or do they have experience of facing high-quality international bowling in leagues around the world? With players around the world renouncing first-class cricket for better opportunities and financial stability, there is a huge question mark over the value of first-class experience.

After being on the circuit for over 15 years myself, I struggle to explain the benefits of first-class cricket to a young player

There are five selectors in India looking at 32 Ranji teams that play at the same time around the country. Conversely, there are multiple scouts at many domestic white-ball games, and some at state league games as well, looking at potential candidates who might in future make it to their IPL franchises.Even if a player gets picked for the Test squad, it is the team management that picks the XI. Largely, the only opportunity for the management to have a look at the first-class cricketers who make it to the squad is in the nets, and that is unfair on both parties and an inadequate measure of a player’s ability. Recent instances seem to prove the management is happier to pick those who have played the shortest format against the best players in the world. Take Jurel, or even Nitish Reddy, who were given an opportunity largely or partly on the basis of the potential they showed in the shortest format. This is another reason why performances in first-class cricket aren’t valued enough to warrant a place in the XI.I am not suggesting revamping the system, or even saying Indian internationals must play regularly in the Ranji Trophy. It is unrealistic to expect those players, who have such a tough schedule, to turn up consistently for domestic cricket. To ask them to do so seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the losses in Australia, and while it is understandable, to me at least, it isn’t sustainable in the long run.The stakeholders involved need to trust the domestic system and the players it produces. They need to be given sustained opportunities at the highest level. After all, these are guys who have built their game and have had sustained success over a period of time.Jacob Bethell had only 20 first-class games under his belt when he made his Test debut last year•AFP/Getty ImagesIf you look at the Test caps handed to India players since 2019, you can clearly tell their white-ball abilities have had an influence on their Test selection. The vast majority of these players are regulars in their IPL teams. I am not saying this is wrong, but what happens to players looking for Test caps who aren’t part of the IPL?You have to admit, it just shows the growing irrelevance of first-class cricket. After being on the circuit for over 15 years myself, I struggle to explain the benefits of first-class cricket to a young player. It’s somewhat like explaining a typewriter and its functions to a youngster wielding a smartphone.The second phase of the Ranji Trophy begins on January 23. For some its utility might lie in the chance to sharpen their skills, for some it may be a way to play themselves back into form, and for some it might just offer game time before the white-ball season begins. It is the last opportunity this season for the red-ball specialists to shine, with all the top stars returning, before we shift our attention to the T20Is against England, ODIs, and eventually the IPL. Players like Easwaran, Sarfaraz, and other fringe cricketers who aren’t a part of the IPL, will eventually have to find a way in the summer months to keep their form and fitness, and if possible, find some game time to stay in tune and in contention for selection for the England series in June.

With only six overseas players in their roster, LSG’s management could be in for a challenging time

S Sudarshanan20-Mar-20254:10

Moody: ‘Tantalising thought to have Pant and Pooran batting together’

Where they finished last yearSeventh. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) started with three wins in their first four IPL 2024 matches, but couldn’t win more than two in a row after that. They had the lowest net run-rate (-0.667) among the four teams that finished with 14 points, with the best of the quartet making the playoffs.What’s new in IPL 2025Ahead of the last mega auction, LSG let go of KL Rahul, who had led them to two playoffs in 2022 and 2023, their first IPL two seasons. Rishabh Pant, purchased for a record IPL auction fee of INR 27 crore, has since been named captain. LSG’s first game of IPL 2025 is against Pant’s former team, Delhi Capitals (DC), in Visakhapatnam.Related

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New recruits Aiden Markram and Shahbaz Ahmed are vying for middle-order spots alongside the retained pair of Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni. Fresh picks David Miller and Abdul Samad are the finishing options. LSG also have Matthew Breetzke, who struck 150 for South Africa on ODI debut, as a back-up opener. Mitchell Marsh, who has been cleared to play IPL 2025 as a batter only, could be the preferred opener. But that could leave LSG an allrounder or spare bowler short.The bowling attack is very Indian. Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan (both retained), Avesh Khan and Akash Deep were expected to shoulder fast-bowling responsibilities, but are all recovering from injuries. That could push Prince Yadav (the leading wicket-taker for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy), Akash Singh and Rajvardhan Hangargekar to the fore, though that might not strike too much fear in the hearts of oppositions. That leaves only the retained Ravi Bishnoi as a certain starter among the bowlers.Rishabh Pant became the most expensive buy ever at an IPL auction•Lucknow Super GiantsLSG are one of two teams – Rajasthan Royals are the other – with only six overseas players, the fewest among all teams, and the staff, including new mentor Zaheer Khan, will have a job to do.Likely best XII1 Yuvraj Chaudhary/Arshin Kulkarni, 2 Mitchell Marsh*, 3 Nicholas Pooran*, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller*, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Shamar Joseph*, 12 Akash Singh/Prince Yadav
Full LSG squadBig questionWatch out forIn the 20 matches India played since winning the T20 World Cup last year, Pant appeared in just two, with the focus being on Test cricket, rest and recovery. Sanju Samson’s form as opener and wicketkeeper has made him the go-to in the India team, for now. With LSG missing an established Indian opener in their squad, Pant could move towards the top of the order, with one eye on India ambitions. Of his IPL batting positions between Nos. 3 and 5, it is at No. 3 that he has the best average (39.36) and strike-rate (169.14), although the sample size is only 13 innings.The other opening options, if Marsh or Markram are preferred, are Arshin Kulkarni and Yuvraj Chaudhary. Kulkarni opened for LSG in the two games he played last season and was Maharashtra’s leading run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. Chaudhary made a splash in the Uttarakhand Premier League 2024 at the top of the order, striking at 192.80 and averaging 80.5. At the SMAT, Chaudhary was also Uttarakhand’s leading run-scorer with 234 runs, including a century, at a strike rate of 168.34. Both also offer some bowling – Kulkarni with his medium pace and Chaudhary with his left-arm spin.LSG could be hampered by the unavailability of their fast-bowling core in Mayank, Mohsin and Avesh (at least for some chunks of the tournament). That leaves their bowling vulnerable. It also points towards surfaces in Lucknow likely being spin-friendly.Questions around Mayank Yadav’s fitness remain•BCCIKey stats LSG’s home venue, the Ekana Stadium, has the lowest average score in the last three seasons of the IPL. Since the T20 World Cup 2024, Bishnoi has picked up the second-most wickets for India in T20Is. Shahbaz scored his maiden T20 hundred this season in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and had a strike rate of 176.86 in the tournament, the best for Bengal, primarily batting at Nos. 5 and 6. He also returned seven wickets, the most by a spinner for them.Who’s out or in doubt?LSG would have hoped for all-round balance from Marsh. But he has been cleared to play as a batter alone as he is returning from a back injury and could be their impact player. LSG’s first-choice bowling attack is also a bit brittle. Mohsin has an ACL injury, which he picked up during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Mayank has been ruled out of the first half of IPL 2025 owing to a back injury. Avesh is recovering from a knee injury. Akash Deep is recovering from a back injury that ruled him out of the New Year’s Test in Australia.Shardul Thakur and Shivam Mavi have been at the LSG training camp, but are yet to be drafted in officially as injury replacements.

Also: how many players have scored a hundred in their last Test?

Steven Lynch29-Apr-2025Delhi Capitals scored 203 the other day without an individual half-century. Was this the highest T20 total without a fifty? asked Deepak Krishnan from India

The match you’re talking about was in Ahmedabad on April 19: Delhi Capitals made 203 for 6, with a highest individual contribution of just 39, from their captain Axar Patel. Gujarat Titans passed them with four balls to spare.There have been four higher innings totals in the IPL that didn’t include an individual half-century. Highest of all is Mumbai Indians’ 234 for 5 against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in 2024, when the highest individual contribution was Rohit Sharma’s 49. Punjab Kings made 208 for 5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Navi Mumbai in 2022 (Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa both made 43); Delhi had 207 for 8 against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede in 2022 (Rishabh Pant 44); and Kolkata Knight Riders made 206 for 5 against RCB in Bengaluru in 2019 (Andre Russell 48 not out from 13 balls).I was looking at some old scorecards, and noticed that the West Indian captain Gerry Alexander was run out four times running while on tour in India in 1958-59. Was this a record for poor running?! asked Henry Mitchell from England

You’re right that the West Indian captain and wicketkeeper Gerry Alexander was run out four times running during that tour. Two of the dismissals were in Tests; the sequence also included an innings in which he was not out. That turns out to be not quite the worst exhibition of running between the wickets in first-class cricket: the Yorkshire seamer Bob Platt was run out five times running between 1957 and 1959 (his sequence included four not-outs). Six other players have had four successive run-out dismissals.The Test record is three successive run-outs, suffered by England’s John Jameson in 1971, and Guy Whittall of Zimbabwe in 1997-98 (that sequence was punctuated by an innings of 203 not out).Have any Test cricketers been born in Kenya? asked Niranjan Shah from Kenya

It’s one of cricket’s endearing oddities that three Test players have been born in Kenya, and they were all active at around the same time, mainly during the 1980s. The first to make his Test debut was Derek Pringle, in 1982 while still at Cambridge University. Pringle was born in Nairobi in 1958 while his father – who appeared for East Africa in the first men’s World Cup, in 1975 – was working there. Derek went on to play 30 Tests and 44 one-day internationals, including the 1992 World Cup final.Qasim Omar, born in Nairobi in 1957, made his debut for Pakistan in 1982-83 after some high-scoring feats in domestic cricket. In 26 Tests he scored three centuries – two of them doubles – before falling out with Imran Khan.Kenya’s third man was Dipak Patel. Born in Nairobi in 1958, he was a Worcestershire regular at a young age, but eventually became a naturalised New Zealander after spending several northern winters there. He made his Test debut in 1986-87, and eventually played 37 Tests and 75 ODIs, including the World Cups of 1987, 1992 and 1996. His highest Test score was 99 in Christchurch in 1992, an innings ended when he was run out from a return from near the boundary by Pringle.Mahmudullah was the last player to make a hundred in his final Test, in 2021•Getty ImagesHow many men scored a century in their final Test match? asked Anupam Sircar from India

At present there are 47 men who scored a century in their last Test match. That number includes Essex’s Jack Russell, who actually made two, and eight current players who will presumably appear again. First on the list was the Kent wicketkeeper Harry Wood, who made 134 not out in his fourth and final Test for England, against South Africa in Cape Town in 1892.Most of the men concerned were not selected again for various reasons to do with form or sometimes big gaps between matches. A few of them had already announced their intention to retire before bowing out with a hundred, notably Bill Ponsford, Raman Subba Row, Seymour Nurse (who made 258 in his final innings, in Christchurch in 1969), Greg Chappell, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum and Alastair Cook. Both Nasser Hussain and Mahmudullah seem to have decided to retire in the middle of Test matches in which they went on to score hundreds in what they would have known to be their final matches.I noticed that three of this year’s Wisden Cricketers of the Year play for Surrey. Has there ever been a year in which all five came from the same team? asked Michael Broughton from England

You’re right that three of this year’s Wisden Five – Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Dan Worrall – play for Surrey. In case anyone missed last week’s announcement, the other two were Sophie Ecclestone and Liam Dawson (and a reminder that the award, which can be won only once, is based on performances in the previous English season).Three from one county is a rare achievement, but is perhaps not surprising as Surrey completed a hat-trick of County Championship titles last year. It’s not quite the English record: Yorkshire had four of the Five in 1901 – Schofield Haigh, George Hirst, Tom Taylor and John Tunnicliffe. The exception was Reginald “Tip” Foster of Worcestershire, who would soon score a record 287 on Test debut in Sydney in 1903. Surrey also had three in 1907 and 1958.No English side has ever provided all five of the Five, but in 1949 all of them were members of Don Bradman’s “Invincible” touring team the previous summer – Lindsay Hassett, Bill Johnston, Ray Lindwall, Arthur Morris and Don Tallon. The 1962 Almanack also featured five Australians – four from the previous summer’s touring team (Richie Benaud, Alan Davidson, Bill Lawry and Norman O’Neill), plus the 42-year-old Bill Alley, who scored more than 3000 runs that season for Somerset.In addition, in 1997, 2000 and 2002 there were no England-qualified players among the Five. For the full list of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year, click here.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

If the first five games of the ongoing season are an indicator, IPL 2025 will break records for big totals, sixes and fours count, and expensive overs

S Rajesh26-Mar-20253:14

Cricinformed – SRH’s six-hitters set for a new IPL high?

Going by the extremely early trends, it looks like the bar will be raised, as the current season has got off the blocks in turbo-charged fashion. Here’s a comparison between the first five games of IPL 2024 and IPL 2025.ESPNcricinfo LtdA 37% jump in sixesThe overall run rate in the first five matches has gone up by 17%, but the numbers that really jump out at you are those of boundary count and boundary intent.There has been a 37% increase in the number of sixes, while the count of fours is up by more than 34%.A whopping 32 more sixes have been struck so far this season – 119 vs 87. In fact, the most sixes in any previous season after five matches was 88 in IPL 2023. The sixes count this year after four games was already 87, while 146 fours were struck, ten more than in the first five games last season.Batters have found the boundary more often because they are also looking for them more often: the percentage of boundary-intent shots has gone up by 66%.Last year, only two team totals in the first five games exceeded 200, both at Eden Gardens when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and neither of them exceeded 210. This season, six out of ten innings have exceeded 200, with five exceeding 210 and three going past 240. There were 11 scores of 240 or more last season, but the first of those didn’t arrive till the eighth game, when SRH played Mumbai Indians (MI).The powerplay is for power-hittingESPNcricinfo LtdIn ten innings so far this season, there have been eight scores of 60 or more in the powerplay, including a highest of 94 by SRH against Rajasthan Royals (RR). The lowest so far this season is 52, by MI against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In 2024, the highest after five matches was just 65; there are five higher powerplay scores already in 2025.The overall powerplay run rate has jumped by almost 30%, which is the highest among the three phases. The middle overs have gone up significantly, too, by almost 17%, with four instances of 100-plus runs in this phase, including the highest of 125 by SRH versus RR. In 2024, the maximum runs scored in the middle overs in the first ten innings was 98.The death overs have seen a relatively smaller change of just 5%, though the highest here – 77 by Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Gujarat Titans (GT) – is higher than the maximum last year – 71 by SRH versus KKR.Zooming strike rates and expensive oversESPNcricinfo LtdThere have been 13 instances of batters going at a strike rate of 200 or more when facing 15 or more balls, from Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 106 off 47, to Vipraj Nigam’s 15-ball 39. Last year after five games, there were only four such innings.Similarly, overs yielding 20 or more runs have become commonplace. There have already been 20, compared with just eight after five games last year. The highest this year is 28, when Tristan Stubbs was taken to the cleaners by Pooran. Three other bowlers, Simarjeet Singh, Nigam and Prasidh Krishna, have leaked 24 or more in an over. Last year, there were only eight such overs, the highest being 26.

Stats highlights from the opening day at the Oval, where India lost yet another toss

Sampath Bandarupalli31-Jul-2025

Karun Nair crossed fifty for the first time since 2016•Getty Images

3393 – India’s aggregate in the series against England so far, their highest for any Test series, surpassing the 3270 in a six-match series against West Indies during the 1978-79 home season.India’s series tally so far is also the highest for any team in a Test series since 1995.3149 – Days between Karun Nair’s two 50-plus scores in Test cricket – 303* against England in December 2016 and 52* on Thursday. It is the second-longest gap for an India batter between two 50-plus scores in men’s Tests (excluding the gap owing to World War II).Related

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Parthiv Patel has the longest gap, 4426 days, between his fourth (54 vs Australia in October 2004) and his fifth (67* vs England in November 2016). 743 – Runs Shubman Gill has scored in this series so far, the highest by an India captain in a Test series, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar’s 732 against West Indies in 1978-79. This is also the third-highest runs scored by a captain in a Test series.Gill’s series tally is also the second-highest for India, only behind that of Gavaskar’s 774 against West Indies in 1971.Shubman Gill’s bad luck at the toss continued•Getty Images15 – Consecutive tosses lost by India across formats since the the win in January this year against England in Rajkot. It is the longest streak of tosses lost by any team in men’s internationals – the next longest is 12 by West Indies in 1999. The probability of losing 15 consecutive coin tosses is 0.003%.5 – India lost the toss in all five matches in this Test series against England. Only one other team has lost all tosses in a five-match Test series since 2000 – also India against England, on their tour of 2018. India have won the toss only once in 15 matches across their last three Test series against England in England.This was the fourth instance of India losing all tosses in a Test series of five (or more) matches, having lost all tosses against West Indies in 1948-49 and 1983 earlier.4 – England and India made four changes each for the fifth Test at The Oval. This is only the second instance of both teams making four (or more) changes during a Test series since 2003. Sri Lanka and Pakistan made four changes apiece going into the third Test in Kandy in 2015.