ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2016Shikhar Dhawan wasn’t convincing initially, but survived a short-ball examination in the first half hour of play•Associated PressA fired up Gabriel clocked an average speed of over 145kph in a lively opening spell of 4-2-6-1•Associated PressCheteshwar Pujara blunted the attack in a manner he knows best, seeing India through to lunch on 72 for 1•Associated PressLegspinner Devendra Bishoo struck in the first over of the second session to dismiss Pujara for 16•Getty ImagesDhawan had started to look fluent and attacked Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder•Associated PressVirat Kohli was in sublime form; he was quickly off the blocks and had Holder worried•Getty ImagesThe pair had added 105 before Dhawan fell to Bishoo at the stroke of tea. When Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed, India were 236 for 4•Getty ImagesKohli soon brought up his 12th Test century off 134 balls, an innings that contained 11 fours•Associated PressHe found an able partner in R Ashwin, who was unbeaten on 22. Kohli ended the day on 143, India were 302 for 4•Getty Images

The former South Africa allrounder is best remembered for his 169 in an ODI against New Zealand in 1994

Luke Alfred22-Aug-2016Once or twice in a lifetime, a batsman will play an innings of such thoughtless brilliance that he’s at a loss to know where it’s come from. Each innings in this category takes some of its shape from the batsman’s personality. Mike Atherton, for example, played an innings of cussed charm against South Africa at the Wanderers in late 1995. His 185 not out was long, stubborn and heroically restrained. No one else could have played in quite the same way.A little less than a year before that, up the road at Centurion, Dave Callaghan played another type of memorable innings – the quick blaze, the shooting star – all the more remarkable for being so quickly and absolutely forgotten. South Africa were in the midst of a prolonged quadrangular series against Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka that lasted from early December 1994 until the middle of January 1995. Against the run of things, Callaghan was pushed into service at the top of the order.”Hansie [Cronje] came to me after the Saturday game [against Pakistan at the Wanderers] in which Gary [Kirsten] and Andrew [Hudson] had opened and sort of raised the possibility that I might play the next day,” remembers Callaghan. “Gary had been struggling slightly and they were looking for a proper batsman to give the innings some impetus up front. Bob [Woolmer] and Hansie were always thinking about things, always experimenting, there was very much that kind of attitude around the side at the time, and I was keen.”I was usually a pretty sound sleeper but I don’t think I slept as soundly that Saturday night as I usually did.”New Zealand’s last game had been against Sri Lanka in Bloemfontein a couple of days previously. Sanath Jayasuriya had opened for Sri Lanka and carved the New Zealand bowlers to all corners of the largest ground in South Africa, scoring 140 in 143 balls with nine fours and six sixes. Richard de Groen had figures of 10-0-75-0. Callaghan remembers that the South African management took note of the innings but doesn’t give the idea that it made too much of an impression. He was aware, however, that the New Zealand attack – de Groen, Simon Doull, Chris Pringle and Chris Harris – was ill suited to the harder Highveld wickets. “We got there on the Sunday and the track was just like glass,” Callaghan says. “Those Kiwi attacks needed a bit of give in the wicket. They liked it when perhaps it wasn’t coming onto the bat as the batsmen would like, and Centurion wasn’t really like that – it was just perfect for batting.”

“One guy came on with a two-litre bottle of Coke and I remember being so thirsty that I just grabbed it out of his hand. The problem was that I think there was more brandy in that bottle than Coke”

Callaghan was part of a talented group of South African allrounders – Brian McMillan, Hansie Cronje, Richard Snell, Eric Simons, Steven Jack and Mike Rindel – but if you were neither Cronje nor McMillan, there was precious little job security for you and your allrounder kind. Callaghan would bounce up and down the batting order and boomerang in and out of the side. It was both the best and the worst of times, so he knew when Cronje opted to bat first that it was time to take advantage.That said, he wasn’t greedy. He never set his sights above getting fifty, and when Hudson, his opening partner, went early, a half-century looked an awfully long way off.”Andrew cut it down Mark Priest’s throat off Doull at third man early on and I played exactly the same shot to get off the mark a little later. I got away with a one-bounce four but ten metres either way and I might have followed Andrew to the pavilion. I just had an inkling that it was going to be my day.”Callaghan and Cronje, the next man in, put on 149 for the second wicket. They knew each other well, and Callaghan was buoyed by the fact that his captain clearly had faith in him.”The previous season, I think it was, I’d played for Rochdale in the Central Lancashire League,” says Callaghan. “Hansie had played as Norden’s overseas pro and the two clubs were virtually neighbours. We trained together and although I was slightly older, we became mates. Towards the end of the season we’d train together in preparation for our return to South Africa, running sprints and shuttles and even doing some 400m laps.”As the innings unfolded, Callaghan stepped into a sacred realm. Everything he tried came off. He was driving well and hitting it crisply through square on the off side – his bread-and-butter shot. He’d always liked batting at Centurion because it provides value for shots, and he became aware that there was no need to hit the ball too hard, as opposed to simply stroke it into the gaps he seemed to find everywhere he looked.Sensing a growing imperiousness, Doull tried to bounce him as he came on for his second spell. It didn’t work. As a small man, Callaghan was always a good puller and cutter and the strategy ended as quickly as it had begun.”We watched Doull, obviously, but the guy we were aware of was Pringle,” Callagahan says. “His second spell was impressive: he was one of the first cricketers to bowl slower balls and slower bouncers. If you’d talked to us about slower-ball bouncers in those days, we would have thought you had rocks in the head.”Centurion, where it all unfolded•Getty ImagesWith the total on 159, Cronje (68) holed out to Bryan Young in the deep off the offspinner Shane Thomson, bringing Daryll Cullinan to the wicket.”I remember us coming down for a mid-pitch chat between overs and him saying: ‘Look, you can get a hundred here’,” Callaghan says. “I looked at him before it sunk in and then I thought to myself, ‘Yes, he’s right, isn’t he. I can get a hundred too.'”With the seed planted, Callaghan snuck up on a century. He had been in this position of total command a couple of times before. He remembers once hitting a Clive Rice beamer over the Firestone Pavilion at St George’s Park for six. Now, again, he found that everything he touched came off. If fine leg and third man were brought up, Callaghan would find a way to ease the ball past them; if they were placed on the boundary, he somehow managed to find the ropes. Eventually, three figures hove into view. Callaghan brought up his century with a lap off Mark Priest down to fine leg for two. “Hansie was one of the first guys to get up and start clapping in the dressing room. He was so pleased for me. He was supportive throughout.”There was no standing back after Callaghan had hauled himself onto the summit of a hundred. Several mortar-like lobs sailed over the long-on boundary off Doull. Callaghan destroyed the left-arm seamer, Murphy Su’a, and milked Thomson through midwicket.”Those were still the days when fans could flood over the boundary, and a whole wave of them came onto the square to congratulate me on reaching my 150,” says Callaghan. “One guy came on with a two-litre bottle of Coke and I remember being so thirsty that I just grabbed it out of his hand. The problem was that I think there was more brandy in that bottle than Coke. Sometimes I pull out the video and my son and I watch it and I tell him that was the day when I celebrated my 150 with a brandy.”Thanks, in part, to their victory over New Zealand in that match, South Africa marched into the final of the Mandela Trophy. Callaghan opened in the first final with Kirsten, falling to Aaqib Javed for 4. Two days later at the Wanderers, Cronje and Woolmer were rearranging things yet again – Callaghan losing his position as opener to another of his allrounder ilk, Rindel. The left-hander, known as Guava for his habit of going pink in the sun, eased to a maiden ODI hundred and was involved in an opening stand of 190 with Kirsten (87). Callaghan was back in the familiar middle-order netherworld, scoring 7 not out.Chasing 267, Pakistan could only muster 109, with Fanie de Villiers and Allan Donald sharing six wickets between them. It was a comprehensive victory against a gun Pakistan side, South Africa’s embarrassment of allrounder riches meaning that Callaghan’s crisp, brandy-slugging brilliance was quickly overshadowed by other things. He played his last ODI six years later, never scoring a fifty, let alone a hundred, his 169 not out so oddly miraculous that it must feel like an innings in a dream.07:25:30 GMT, August 22, 2016: The summary for the article originally identified Callaghan as a wicketkeeper-batsman

Jimmy Neesham talks Twitter, rating himself as an allrounder, and the most annoying thing about Brendon McCullum

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi23-Sep-2016You tweet in an unfiltered way. Not many athletes do that.
I don’t really see the point of filtering things too much. There are times when your opinion is not popular and you have to tone down a little bit. But I think the more you are yourself, the easier it is to get on with daily life.Who is the second-best cricketer at Twitter, who you follow?
A lot of people tweet me saying Virender Sehwag is quite good, but a lot of his stuff I can’t understand because it’s not in English. A lot of Indians tell me I am the second funniest behind him.Which cricketer would you would pay to watch?
I will pay to watch AB de Villiers. You don’t really pay to watch a lot of international cricketers if you are an international cricketer because it is a little hard to go in the stands and watch with the members of the public. It can get a little inconvenient, for obvious reasons.

“If a person has a very tidy, trimmed, well-maintained beard, he probably is more conscious of how he comes across to other people. And you have guys like Kane, who just lets it run wild. He doesn’t really care what everyone else thinks of his beard”

One match you did watch from the stands, with de Villiers playing, was the 2015 World Cup semi-final.
It was a crazy experience. I actually wasn’t going to go to the game. And then one of my friends who I knew through media work had a pass in a private area, so I could watch the match from a private room and not have to deal with the kerfuffle that goes on with that sort of situation. But it was a really special evening for New Zealand cricket.“Holy f****** shitballs this is the best day of my life.” – you wrote, sitting in the third tier immediately after Grant Elliott hit the winning shot in that semi-final.
It was a pretty authentic reaction to what was happening at the time. Just like most of the rest of the nation, I certainly got swept up a little bit with the passion of the moment. It was deleted later for obvious reasons.Why?
There were some naughty words in there which I did not want to repeat. I try to stay away from those kinds of things. As I said I got a little bit excited, clearly.What quiz question do you most fancy being in?
A few friends of mine do public quizzes and they say this one: “Who was at the other end when Brendon McCullum scored his triple-hundred?” Seems to be a reasonably popular one.”A lot of Indians tell me I am the second funniest [tweeter] behind Sehwag”•Getty ImagesYou hit a hundred in that Test. On the morning when McCullum walked out to bat in the 290s, he said he was feeling really nervous. But once he got to the pitch, you looked around and said, “Gee, I didn’t think so many people would turn up to see me score a hundred.” McCullum said he started to laugh and felt a lot more clear-headed when play began. Do you remember that?
It was in the morning, during the warm-ups. Brendon was pretty fatigued and was sort of struggling to get up for the occasion. It is always nice to try and break the ice in a situation like that. Now that McCullum has retired, can you tell us anything about him that was really annoying?
He’d never let you pay for anything. He always managed to find a way to sneak off in the middle of a meal and slip some notes to a waiter. You’d go to pay at the end of the meal and the waiter would say it’s all been taken care of. A few of the lads have only just found out what a beer costs since he’s retired!What about his superstition about not changing bat grips?
Yes, he did not like to change his grip in the middle of an innings. During the 300, when he batted for two and a half days, every time he ripped his grip he would wrap strapping tape around it. A little bit of repair on the fly. And by the time he got to 290 on the fifth morning, his bat had probably more strapping tape than grip, so it was more difficult for him to get bat on ball.If you had to conceal something inside your bat what would you carry in it?
Ah jeez! Something that will make the ball go a bit further would be quite useful, but that is obviously illegal. Maybe some sort of speaker so I can listen to some music while I am in the middle batting.Can you learn anything about a cricketer from the beard he sports?
You can learn a lot. If a person has a very tidy, trimmed well-maintained beard, he probably is more conscious of how he comes across to other people. If you have guys like Kane [Williamson] who just lets it run wild, he doesn’t really care what everyone else thinks of his beard. I think it can show a little bit of a window to a person’s conscience.

“Brendon would never let you pay for anything. He always managed to find a way to sneak off in the middle of a meal and slip some notes to a waiter”

Is there anything that Williamson can’t do with the bat in hand?
He is always trying to explore new shots in training. If he does see a shot that he can’t play, it will only take him a couple of weeks to sort.Why are guys like McCullum and Williamson good at what they do?
Brendon was much more explosive. He could come out and dominate anyone on his day. His attitude was: get ’em before they get me. Try and take bowlers down. Kane plays more of a waiting game, wears the opposition bowlers down, and his record is second to none in all formats of the game. The main thing I have learned from playing under both of them is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Use your own method and success will come once you are true to yourself.Are you patient as a player?
I don’t think I am, really. That is one of the things that I probably struggle with a little bit in Test cricket – trying to find a natural tempo to play at. My natural game is being more aggressive. In the last few months I have watched guys like David Warner, Virat Kohli, and Kane to a certain extent, who go out and still play quite aggressively in Test cricket. And now I realise you can play aggressively in the longer format of the game.What is your favourite stroke?
There is nothing better than a hook shot. When a fast bowler comes in and tries to dig it in short and a batsman just stands tall and hooks it away. Something like what Kevin Pietersen used to play is the best shot to watch.You are being talked about as a Test allrounder. How good do you think you are?
You have to think you are one of the best going around to succeed in the international game. I have been hindered by a back injury in the last couple of years. But having come back and played county cricket [for Derbyshire], I still believe if I am putting my best foot forward in both departments, then I am one of the handful of the best allrounders in the world. And hopefully over the next six months or so I can begin to prove that on the field with results, because you can think of yourself as much as you want, but that doesn’t really count unless you can put the numbers on the board.Quiz question: “Who was at the other end when Brendon McCullum scored his triple-hundred?”•Getty ImagesWhat is one cliché you want commentators to cut out?
The one that most annoys me is when commentators talk about pulling off the front foot. Any pull shot is off the front foot by definition. So when the batsman pulls off the front foot and the commentator says he is taking the bowler on, I find that really strange.How exactly do you plan to tackle R Ashwin on Indian pitches?
He is a high-quality bowler, a top-ten bowler at the moment, and in his own conditions he will be a big challenge. But we have got some pretty good players of spin in our top order. We have been talking of ways to combat him. But I certainly won’t be giving away my plans here.You have already wondered why airports don’t have hairdressers. What about hotel rooms?
It would be quite nice if hotels had Netflix in the rooms.What if you could introduce a new Law in the game?
I would quite like to see what would happen if there were no rules on ball-tampering. If you could just do whatever you wanted to the ball. That would probably make Test cricket more interesting. It could make more tedious sessions more exciting with the ball reversing more.What about cricket at the Olympics?
I think the ICC should be doing everything within their power to get cricket into the Olympics. One of our main aims as a sport should be expanding playing numbers throughout the world, and the Olympic Games is a perfect way to achieve this.What has cricket taught you so far?
Cricket has taught me that you can’t get too down during the bad times. Everyone through their career has their highs and their lows, struggle mentally and physically. If you can continue to take one day at a time and not get too disillusioned by your failures then you will probably have a lot more fun, a lot more play, a lot more success than failures.

Jonny Bairstow played another fine hand but too many of his team-mates gave their wickets away and squandered the opportunity to bat big in the first innings

George Dobell in Mohali26-Nov-20162:24

Compton: Too many soft dismissals for England

If England go on to lose this series, they may well look back on the first day of this Test as the time it slipped away.It was hard to fault them in Visakhapatnam. Yes, they might have batted better on day two and, yes, they missed a key (though tough) chance on day one. But they were minor moments in a game in which the opposition took advantage of winning an important toss.Here England had every opportunity. They not only won a toss that should have proved every bit as important but they benefited from some poor fielding from India that had reprieved the highest run-scorer in Test cricket this year (Jonny Bairstow) and the highest run-scorer in England’s Test history (Alastair Cook). They should have punished such profligacy. They should have established a match-defining platform.

England still ‘fighting’

Jonny Bairstow admitted England were “disappointed” by their failure not to capitalise on winning the toss. But Bairstow insisted things could have been worse and that England were still “in the battle”.
“Having won the toss, it was disappointing to lose the wickets we have,” Bairstow said. “But at the same time, it could have been a disastrous day. If we didn’t knuckle down and work hard through that last bit of the morning session, we could have been bowling tonight.
“We were disappointed losing those early wickets. The pitch is probably going to be at its best on the first day, but we’ve also seen some uneven bounce. We’re fighting; we’re in the battle. It’s been a bit of a scrappy day. But we’ve dealt with worse in the past.”

Instead, they will start day two scrapping to remain in the game.That they have any chance of doing so is largely due to two facts: the sustained fine form of Bairstow and a pitch that has already misbehaved a little – Haseeb Hameed was dismissed by a delivery that reared and Chris Woakes by one that kept a little low – and may well deteriorate. Perhaps England’s total is not quite as modest as it appears at first glance.England will know, though, that they have allowed India a strong foothold in this game that they might have denied. And they will know that they squandered the chance to record a substantial first-innings total through some unnecessarily aggressive batting.We have to be careful with criticising England’s batting. We cannot praise them for their bold approach when the aggressive strokes land in the stands and chastise them for their carelessness when the same strokes land in hands. We cannot judge just by results.So Cook, for example, cannot be faulted for his shot selection. The ball that dismissed him was short. He was right to try and cut it. He simply executed the shot poorly. He should still play that shot the next time he faces the same type of delivery. He should do it better. He will know that.But some of the other batsmen need to ask themselves: what was the hurry? What was the necessity for Ben Stokes, who had been playing so straight and with such discipline, to skip down the pitch and even bring the possibility of a stumping into the equation? What was the necessity for Jos Buttler, who had done the hard work in reaching an increasingly assured 43, to skip down the pitch and try and drive through extra cover?Why did Joe Root, whose best Test innings (arguably, at least) came at Old Trafford earlier this year, when he demonstrated his denial as much as his strokeplay, think that he should pull the first delivery he received from a spinner before lunch on the first day, when he had not had time to assess the surface?The answer, as so often, is that England had decided to take the attack to the bowlers. They had decided ‘not to let them settle’ and to ‘be positive’. They have embraced the modern approach – especially visible in Australia where attitude has largely replaced technique – that, to be successful in Test cricket, you don’t just have to score runs, you have to score them fast.Jonny Bairstow was frustrated to be dismissed but his 89 kept England in the game•Associated PressIt is an error. While long-form cricket survives, there will always be a place for accumulation. The balls not played will always be as important as the balls that are. The likes of Cook will continue be as valuable as the likes of Stokes. There will always be a place for denial and discipline and determination. There are times when England have to dare to be dour, dare to be dull, dare to be different.As Bairstow put it: “Grinding out the runs was something that we had to do.” It’s just that too few of them did it.England have to learn that there are different way to gain the upper hand on a bowler. One of them, no doubt, is to score at four an over. Another is to make them bowl for five or six sessions. Success doesn’t have to be rushed. Erosion’s impact tends to last longer than a storm’s.This was, in some ways, an oddly low-quality day of Test cricket. After all, two of England’s top three were dismissed by long-hops and some of India’s fielding was more Monty than Jonty. We had deliveries that bounced twice before reaching the batsmen and deliveries that were so wide the keeper had no chance.All of which prompted the thought: might, by 2025, the best Test side be the one whose long-from cricket has deteriorated least quickly? Might it be the side who exhibit the fewest characteristics of T20? And, if so, will anyone want to watch them?Modern Test cricket is wonderfully entertaining. It may never have been more so. But is it as high quality as it once was? On days like this, it doesn’t seem so. On days like this, it seems more circus than theatre.

Three fast bowlers, three different approaches and common relentless discipline have shaped South Africa’s success with the ball on the tour of Australia

Firdose Moonda in Hobart15-Nov-2016The idea of a South African pace pack should conjure up images of fire and fury, speed and snarling, aggression and attitude. It’s (fast) Fanie, angry Allan Donald, dramatic Dale Steyn. There’s not much room for boring, even less for subtle, except now.In Hobart, South Africa showed not just their skills but also the consistency with which they can execute that talent. They have mastered the margins and operate within them with such accuracy that they’ve taken 10 wickets for under 100 runs seven times in the last five years. That’s more than any other team. In this series, they’ve already done it twice.Their three-pronged pace pack, even without Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, can apply consistent pressure. “They bowl on a ten cent piece,” Steven Smith, Australia’s embattled captain, said. “They don’t give you any freebies. They challenge your defenses.”As a collective, they challenge batsmen’s defenses, albeit in different ways. First there is Vernon Philander, whose strategy is the simplest. On a surface which offers any assistance, he is doubly effective. He showed it on the first morning: fourth stump, outside off, move the ball a little. He chases the edge and targets the pads, limits the runs but does not search for speed. “It doesn’t matter if you bowl 115 or 150,” he said. He reeled off five successive maidens on the final morning as proof.From the other end, there is Kagiso Rabada, who can send the speed gun soaring towards 150kph and can unleash a yorker as dangerous as his bouncer. Rabada has endless energy, the stamina for long spells and the sensibility to know what to do during them. “A thoroughbred,” former bowling coach Allan Donald called him.With endless energy, the stamina for long spells and a canny sensibility, it’s little surprise that Kagiso Rabada has been called a “thoroughbred”•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesThe ace for South Africa in this Test was Kyle Abbott. Coming off the bench, having last played a Test match in January and considering himself outside the “first three or maybe even four seamers to play” he looked the part. Abbott was picked ahead of Morkel not only because the latter is still searching for match fitness, but also because seam movement was going to be a factor. Abbott more than justified his inclusion. He worked Usman Khawaja over on the final morning by pitching it up and either moving it away or straightening; eventually he cashed in on Khawaja’s uncertainty. Adam Voges also misjudged the length, underlining Abbott’s ability to force the batsmen into a shot.”I stick to top of off with the odd bouncer. My theory is always to make the batsmen play,” Abbott said.Especially because when they are playing, they can never be quite sure what they playing at. Abbott told the that seam movement is something that surprises him as much as it does the batsmen. “I actually don’t know when it’s going to do that. If you watch my seam closely, the ones that nip back – it’s quite upright, but then when it gets a bit towards second slip to the right-hander it hits the shiny side and goes the other way. That’s a little bit of inconsistency in my wrist but I suppose if I don’t know when it’s coming how the hell does the batsman know? I try and hit the stumps – off, middle, whatever it is – as hard as I can and let the natural variation do the work.”It must be noted that discipline of the South African attack has gone up a notch since Charl Langeveldt took over as bowling coach after the 2015 World Cup. He was a relentless bowler himself – not emphatic – but insistent and he seems to be passing on the baton.The skills South Africa have were on display, not on the final morning, but on the third evening. Abbott termed it “the investment session” when they beat the bat repeatedly but failed to find the edge. Philander showed some frustration but in general, South Africa were gearing up for a protracted battle against batsmen Quinton de Kock said looked “determined” to hang around. “From the start of a Test match, we talk about winning it on the last afternoon, willing to take it deep and be as patient as possible,” de Kock said after the day’s play.Australia did not have the same idea. They collapsed for the third time in the series, against an attack that made it clear they could keep coming at them for as long as it took. “Test cricket is a ruthless environment. It’s about who can hold those pressure situations most and be ruthless with just wanting more. It’s about never being happy with what you’ve done and always trying to be your best for the team,” Abbott said.

Australia’s selectors are set to announce the squad for the Test series in India on Sunday

Daniel Brettig14-Jan-2017At the end of Australia’s humiliation in Sri Lanka last year, we were told emphatically that the team’s plans for Asian conditions had to change fundamentally if they were to succeed next time. The announcement of the touring party for four Tests in India in February and March will be a measure of the selectors’ resolve.The coach and selector Darren Lehmann has overseen five consecutive Test losses in Asian conditions, from the 2014 tour of the UAE to the Sri Lanka visit. He was appointed coach in the aftermath of the previous trip to Asia – the infamous 2013 visit to India that featured a 4-0 defeat and the “homework-gate” fiasco. His words after the conclusion of the Sri Lanka series bear repeating:

Possible squad

Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon

“The difference is we’ve got to change in the subcontinent. Results will say that with India, UAE and now Sri Lanka. We’ve got to change the way we pick and shape up the squad for a subcontinent [tour]. We have to look at all different angles I suppose. The shape-up of the side, whether you need one quick, two quicks, three quicks, allrounders, and see how we play.”It certainly hasn’t worked the way we’ve played. We think we’ve had the right balance but our batters haven’t made enough runs. It’s pretty simple. When you look at [Sheffield] Shield cricket, it’s very hard to determine who’s going to be a good player of spin and not on Australian wickets. So for us somehow we’ve got to find a way.”To that end, the likes of Peter Handscomb, Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar were shuffled into the Test squad over the course of a tumultuous home summer. Others, like Shaun Marsh and Travis Head, were present in Sri Lanka. Glenn Maxwell, who has spent much of the season dealing with the fallout of his attempt to move from Victoria to New South Wales, appears to have rehabilitated his reputation, and has past experience on his side.More problematic for the selectors are the Queensland duo of Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw. Khawaja has never passed 50 in four Tests in Asia and looked no closer to unlocking the secrets of playing spin on the last Sri Lanka visit. Renshaw possesses many of the natural attributes that once aided Matthew Hayden in India, but at 20 years old he will have to prove a rapid learner.One thing in favour of both batsmen is the keen sense among Australia’s planners that the touring team will have to bat for long periods of time in order to succeed. Renshaw and Khawaja love nothing more than to spend hour upon hour at the crease: the question is whether they have the requisite methods to stay there.While wicketkeeping skills are tested to extremes by the variable bounce and degree of spin expected in India, the selection of Matthew Wade as the gloveman does not appear to be in dispute. Though his work behind the stumps lacks the polish of others, notably the man he replaced in Peter Nevill, Wade’s ability to help contribute to a winning attitude in the team – evidenced by his century in the Gabba ODI against Pakistan on Friday – will help him.”I’d be nervous if we’d lost four Test matches in a row, but we’re winning games,” Wade said. “The team’s going well, the young guys are playing well and I feel like we’re in a really good spot. “Selection is selection. The team will get picked and hopefully I’m in it, but I don’t feel nervous when the team’s winning the way it is.”Nothing will stretch the captaincy skills of Smith, nor the coaching abilities of Lehmann, like the trip about to be undertaken. The squad unveiled on Sunday will need to be, above all else, resilient.

The strengths and recent form of five domestic players who went for several times their base price in the 2017 auction

Deivarayan Muthu and Akshay Gopalakrishnan20-Feb-20172:39

Top Indian uncapped sales of the auction

Basil ThampiBasil Thampi’s pace has impressed the important people•BCCIA product of the MRF pace foundation, Thampi has a reputation of bowling at 140 kph or more. He claimed eight wickets in five matches for Kerala in the inter-state domestic T20s last month, at economy of 6.22 with best figures of 3 for 19 against Goa. Thampi has been a regular figure in Chennai league cricket having played for Globe Trotters over the last two seasons.K GowthamK Gowtham enjoyed a good first-class season with Karnataka in 2016-17•PTI Gowtham’s ability to bowl slowly and maintain tight lines helped him overcome a three-year break from first-class cricket and thrive in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, picking up 27 wickets in eight matches for Karnataka. He had a fruitful Karnataka Premier League as well, taking 11 wickets from eight T20s at an economy rate of 5.58. Gowtham took five wickets in the inter-state T20s earlier this month and also struck a half-century.”For the first time in my life,” Gowtham told ESPNcricinfo, “my mom shook my hands and said congratulations. Usually, she only talks, but today, it was very special. She shook my hands and hugged me, and it felt really nice.”Aniket ChoudharyAniket Choudhary’s burly build helps him generate extra bounce•AFPChoudhary recently played his second game for India A – the warm-up tie against the visiting Bangladesh team – and took four wickets, including Tamim Iqbal, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim. He is noted for being able to bring the ball back into the right-hander and to make it bounce more than expected. Choudhary took five wickets in three matches at the inter-state T20s and maintained an economy rate of under six. The next stage of the tournament – the zonals – fetched him six wickets in four matches, although they cost 10 runs an over.”I don’t have any big plans of doing anything with the money,” Choudhary said. “I’ll spend it in a good way, invest in my fitness. I’ll probably hire a good trainer or a good physio.”Mohammed SirajSiraj was the second-highest wicket-taker – 41 – among fast bowlers in the Ranji Trophy and played an important part in Hyderabad making the Ranji Trophy knockouts for the first time in five seasons. He has a strong action, the bouncer is one of his go-to deliveries and enjoys playing big matches, which is clear from his nine-wicket match haul in a tightly fought Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Mumbai. Siraj made a smooth transition to T20 cricket, snaring nine wickets in the inter-state tournament, with an economy rate of 6.57. He was also selected to the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy.

From Ishank Jaggi’s transformation as Jharkhand’s No. 1 batsman to Deepak Hooda’s ‘hurricane’ knocks, ESPNcricinfo looks at the five best domestic performers from the 2016-17 season

Deivarayan Muthu and Shashank Kishore29-Mar-2017India’s domestic season that kicked off in August with the Duleep Trophy – played with the pink ball for the first time – drew to a close on March 29, with Tamil Nadu emerging winners of the Deodhar Trophy. They completed a phenomenal season, in which they also reached the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy and won the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over competition.
ESPNcricinfo picks out five players who sparkled across formats this season:Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu)Could he have forced his way into national reckoning for a spot in India’s Champions Trophy squad, much like he did in 2013, as a specialist batsman? That Tamil Nadu achieved the double of Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy titles was down to his batting brilliance. He amassed 854 runs in 12 innings – the fourth highest in a List A season in India. It also included two centuries in two finals, the first of which resulted in TN clinching the Vijay Hazare Trophy for a record fifth time. Karthik’s form wasn’t as prolific in the Ranji Trophy – he made 704 runs in 10 matches – but it helped Tamil Nadu into the semi-finals.Kuldeep Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)The culmination of his first-class exploits resulted in a Test call-up and an unlikely debut in the season-ending fourth Test against Australia in Dharamsala, where he picked up four wickets. The eight first-class games he played in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy are the most he’s played in a single season since making his debut in October 2014. While UP fared poorly and just managed to avoid being relegated, Kuldeep’s performances stood out. Along with his 35 wickets in eight matches, including two five-fors, he also top-scored for the side with 466 runs in 13 innings, including a maiden first-class century. Having not been a first-choice pick in UP’s XI because of the presence of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep forced his way in by topping the wicket-takers’ chart (17 wickets) in the pink-ball Duleep Trophy, the season’s curtain-raiser.Aswin Crist (Tamil Nadu) No seamer had bowled more overs or picked up more wickets than Aswin Crist across the Ranji Trophy, the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season. Playing only his fourth domestic season, Crist was at the forefront of Tamil Nadu’s rise, claiming 60 wickets in 405.4 overs at an average of 23. His 6 for 31 wiped out Karnataka for 88 on a green Visakhapatnam surface, and propelled his state into the Ranji semi-finals. He finished as Tamil Nadu’s second highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 35 scalps and followed it with a chart-topping 20 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Crist’s breakthrough season culminated in a call-up to the India Under-23 squad for ACC Emerging Players’ tournament in Bangladesh.Deepak Hooda became one of only three players ever to be stranded in the 290s in the history of the Ranji Trophy•PTI Deepak Hooda (Baroda) Hooda had only three centuries before the start of the 2016-17 Ranji season. He scored those many in his first four innings alone this season, including an unbeaten 293 as captain against Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Hooda’s effort was the second-highest individual score for Baroda, after Gul Mohammad’s 319 in the 1946-47 final. In all, he scored 789 runs in 13 innings in the Ranji Trophy, but it was not enough to carry Baroda into the knockouts. Hooda’s 302 runs in eight innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, however, ensured Baroda progressed to the semi-finals. In the Inter-State T20s, he also showed why he had been nicknamed “Hurricane” with a 48-ball hundred against Gujarat.Ishank Jaggi (Jharkhand) The Jharkhand vice-captain proved there was more to his side’s batting stocks than just MS Dhoni and Saurabh Tiwary. His aggregate of 890 in 10 matches coincided with Jharkhand’s entry to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time. He also upstaged the previous record held by Saurabh Tiwary (854) in 2012-13 for most runs by a Jharkhand batsman in a Ranji season. He carried that form into the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 279 runs in eight matches at 55.80, including a century against Railways and a half-century. The reward for his consistency was a berth in India A’s squad for the Deodhar Trophy.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the SSC

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Apr-2017The wicketkeeping wit
Mushfiqur Rahim played a memorable hand in Bangladesh’s World T20 loss to India in Bangalore, and it was in that match that the opposition wicketkeeper – MS Dhoni – effected an excellent stumping, by snapping the bails off in the split seconds Sabbir Rahman’s back foot hung in the air. Mushfiqur dusted off a version of that dismissal at the SSC, when, having collected a throw from deep point, he dislodged the bails as batsman Dinesh Chandimal sauntered into the crease. Chandimal initially grounded his bat, but it was just he lifted it again that the bails were disturbed and, as such, was ruled out by the third umpire.The near-fumble
Danushka Gunathilaka would have been feeling pretty good about himself when no fewer than five team-mates rushed to congratulate him on a terrific diving stop at short cover. So good, that he almost fluffed the next ball that came to him – this one an important catch. When Shakib Al Hasan picked him out again immediately after he made that save, Gunathilaka parried the ball on first attempt, but managed to grab it on the second.The botched celebration
When Nuwan Kulasekara took a return catch in the first over, his eagerness to celebrate almost got the better of him. Attempting to throw the ball in the air immediately after he had caught it, Kulasekara lost his grip on the ball and sent it rolling into the infield. The batsman, Tamim Iqbal, was convinced to stay on the field by batting partner Soumya Sarkar, and the third umpire was required to give a definitive decision. Upon review, it was found that Kulasekara was sufficiently in control of the ball to complete the catch.The hoarding removal
In an age where cricket is increasingly intruded upon by ads and commerce, the game fought back a little at the SSC, forcing the removal of five advertising hoardings from just beyond the boundary. It was a batsman that asked for them to be taken down. Soumya Sarkar complained that the hoardings glinted too brightly in the afternoon sun, so umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge nipped over to the boundary to remove the first one. As Soumya continued to find them distracting, one by one, four further boards were removed.

Hashim Amla’s 51 runs off Lasith Malinga on Thursday was the second-highest in batsman v bowler records in IPL history. Here’s a look at other such hammerings

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2017Virat Kohli v Umesh Yadav52 runs off 17 balls, Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils, 2013
It now seems incredulous that Umesh Yadav had conceded just 18 runs off his first two overs. Such was Virat Kohli’s domination in the death overs, that he smashed 37 runs off just 10 balls he faced in the 18th and 20th overs. It was a familiar tale – Umesh would pitch it up on length, and Kohli would launch one into the stands. When it got a little tighter, he would play a gorgeous cover drive that pierced the field. By the end of it all, there was enough time for Kohli to run himself out for 99, off Umesh’s final ball. It was still not enough to surpass Ishant Sharma’s 66-run spell from just two days before.Hashim Amla v Lasith Malinga51 runs off 16 balls, Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, 2017
This is the first time in his illustrious T20 career that Malinga has conceded 50-plus runs in two consecutive games, and this time it was Amla who tonked him over the ropes every other ball. Earlier in the innings, the IPL’s official website had run a poll asking if Amla’s batting was hindering Kings XI’s innings, and over two-thirds of the audience had agreed to the motion. By the end of his innings, Amla was putting the ball on the Holkar Stadium roof, and smiled as if he could barely believe it all himself. Rohit Sharma trusted Malinga to bowl the final over, after the latter had been smoked for 22 runs off his third. Things improved marginally, and Malinga ended up falling just short of the all-time IPL record.Kieron Pollard v Amit Mishra47 runs off 18 balls, Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2014
Amit Mishra’s bowling figures for his first two overs read 2-0-8-0. History and Mishra’s reputation in the tournament suggested it was going to be just another day in the office for the legspinner. Pollard, though, was waiting for the first mistake to upset his rhythm. As Mishra sprayed full tosses and half-trackers, Pollard feasted on them, taking him for 43 runs off the next 11 balls he faced. While it was one of Mishra’s worst IPL bowling performances, Pollard’s lone hand was not enough to prevent Mumbai from slipping to a 15-run defeat.Chris Gayle v Ali Murtaza
43 runs off 10 balls, Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors, 2013
During Chris Gayle’s record-breaking 175 off 66 balls, the highest score in T20 cricket, Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza came in for special punishment. Of the 10 balls he bowled to Gayle in his two overs, only two didn’t go for a six or four. Gayle edged his first ball for four past short third man, then slog-swept two sixes. Murtaza tried everything: a flat ball was smashed for four past long-off, a flighted one was slogged over long-on, one on the pads was mowed over midwicket and a wide one was slapped over extra cover. Murtaza played just two more IPL games.Ajinkya Rahane v S Aravind
43 runs off 14 balls, Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2012When Ajinkya Rahane scored his first and only Twenty20 century, 43 of his 103 runs came off one bowler, S Aravind, and, remarkably, those included just one six. Rahane stroked the first ball he faced from Aravind for a four between point and backward point. He got another boundary through the off side before, in Aravind’s next over, lifting the ball over long-on for six. All that was just the curtain raiser for Aravind’s third over. Rahane hit every delivery of it for a four. Two were smashed down the ground, one stroked through the covers, one pulled over midwicket and two played behind square.