All posts by h716a5.icu

Rollover contracts to get Australia’s cricketers back to work would effectively end the pay war, so why is Cricket Australia so eager for arbitration?

Daniel Brettig29-Jul-20173:46

What is the Cricket Australia-ACA pay dispute all about?

From a point where the national team came within days of going on strike in December 1997, resolution of Australian cricket’s previous pay war was the result of compromise on both sides to take the heat out of the situation.The players, having previously indicated their willingness to down tools for the nascent Australian Cricketers Association, announced they would withdraw the threat of industrial action and thus end the prospect of major dislocation to the game, its broadcasters, sponsors and fans. The Australian Cricket Board, meanwhile, agreed to negotiate in private with the ACA and accept the principle of revenue sharing, despite the objections of numerous board directors who had advocated letting the players strike rather than give up a fixed percentage.Two decades on, and a similar pathway to peace appears within reach, but will again require compromise within compromise – no easy task. Most important from this week’s public proposal by Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland, geared at ending perceived “stalling” by the ACA, is that if no heads of agreement are reached in the next few days, the male players will be offered contracts under the terms of the previous MoU, and the women under the vastly improved terms of CA’s recent offer.Like every other perceived movement in a bitter and lengthy dispute, CA’s proposal was not all carrot. The stick arrived in the form of stating that if a heads of agreement cannot be reached, the contract offers would apply only if the ACA accepted the prospect of submitting the argument to private arbitration, as distinct from submitting to FairWork Australia, the national body for industrial relations dispute resolution.As an industrial relations process, arbitration has been likened to the proceedings of a divorce court, whereas the ACA’s previous request for mediation looks a little more like marriage counselling. In his flurry of media activity after months of silence, Sutherland referred repeatedly to the board’s preparedness to “accept the umpire’s decision”. In the same breath CA is clearly backing its prestige and networks to offer up the right kind of umpire.Already it is being said that CA would like the arbitrator to be Gordon Lewis, the former county court judge who has been a CA and ICC code of conduct commissioner for years. Lewis is widely respected, and a singular figure who earlier this year released an engaging autobiography called . Among numerous code of conduct cases, Lewis famously threw out the heated accusations between James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja during the Trent Bridge Test of 2014, and also ruled on David Warner’s confrontation with Joe Root the previous year.Lewis does have some industrial relations background also. In 2008 he advised the Victorian state government against handing any powers of veto to the United Firefighters Union, stating that clauses “requiring union agreement before implementation” could cause problems for the smooth operation of the firefighting service. That view is not a million miles away from CA’s present rhetoric about not allowing the ACA to have any control over how money in the game is spent. In the words of Sutherland to – the board’s chosen mouthpiece of late – such powers are “unthinkable”.”The players have a really important role to play in the success of our sport but whether they should be decision-makers about where we invest our grassroots funding is a completely different matter. What would the players know about that? What would the ACA know about that? Our decision-making authority being compromised by some form of veto is unthinkable.”More unthinkable, of course, is the looming scenario whereby CA is unable to send a Test squad to Bangladesh, an ODI squad to India and present men’s and women’s teams for dual home Ashes due to commence in October. Such a turn of events would not just be ruinous to CA’s standing as a national board, but also see all manner of commercial deals, both actual and prospective, go to pieces. By pushing their respective positions to that extreme, both CA and the ACA would lose enormously, or to quote Shakespeare’s Prince in Romeo and Juliet: “All are punished.”That’s why the offer of rolled over contracts for the men and lucrative new deals under the proposed terms for the women is the most significant element of this week’s events. Instantly, it removes uncertainty from the game, ensuring Steven Smith’s men go on tour, and that the game’s many “stakeholders” can get back to work in preparation for their summer deals and campaigns. Critically, it allows for heightening levels of commercial anxiety to ease, and so avoid CA having to accept vastly downgraded fees for the game’s sponsorship and broadcasting rights – downgrades that would ultimately hurt the players as well as the board.Less convincing is CA’s desire to ensure that arbitration ends the dispute as soon as possible. Without the time sensitivity implicit in tours and series being threatened by out of contract players, there seems no obvious need for any “residual” issues between CA and the ACA to be settled in such a manner. The end of the very public 1997-98 standoff was followed by a period of more than eight months in private discussions before the first MoU was finalised in September 1998. Meanwhile Australia’s Test team defeated New Zealand and South Africa at home but lost in India. In other words, the show did go on exactly as Sutherland is hoping for, and the players followed up the MoU’s announcement by winning in Pakistan for the first time in 39 years and then retaining the Ashes.But at the moment, having judged the ACA to be advantaged by running down the clock, CA is seeking to start another clock in its favour. CA’s acceptance of continuing negotiations or mediation, instead of arbitration, would require the board – whose “not for quoting” hand in this week’s proposal was as evident as the sight of a director quietly entering CA’s headquarters via the car park as Sutherland’s Thursday press conference got underway at the front door – to accept something less than their ideal resolution.Recent history, rather than the events of two decades ago, suggests that sort of humility does not come easily.

Samuel Badree talks perseverance, giving back to the community, and the art of legspin in T20

Interview by Mohammad Isam20-Dec-2017You have become an icon of slow bowling in T20s.
When I first started, a lot of people thought spinners wouldn’t have too much of an impact on T20 cricket. They thought the spinners would be hit out of the park regularly. The economy rates would be high, but since then to now, we have seen that wristspinners have been match-winners in most teams.They are quite a valuable asset when teams are sorting their squad. We have seen the likes of Imran Tahir, myself and other wristspinners doing really well, not only in international T20 cricket but franchise cricket throughout the world.What would you attribute it to?
I think the wristspinners provide a wicket-taking opportunity for the teams. For the most part, both right- and left-hand wristspinners have the legspinner and the wrong’un. It presents a challenge for most batsmen, especially if you are not picking.Traditional fingerspinners – right- or left-arm orthodox – tend to go one way most times. They are the ones who are more or less taken apart, unless you are like Sunil Narine, who has a good knuckleball.Wristspinners have that deception and guile that can work well against both right- and left-hand batsmen. They are wicket-taking and attacking options, so they get a lot of wickets, and that puts a lot of pressure on the opposition teams. Most successful teams in the world have quality spinners in their team at the moment.You place a high premium on bowling accurately.
My type of spin bowler is a bit different from the traditional legspinners, like Tahir and [Tabraiz] Shamsi. I normally bowl in the first six overs, when there are only two guys outside [the circle]. I have got to be accurate. I have to look less at spin and more at pace and variation, because the protection is not there. The slower I bowl, it becomes a little easier for batsmen.After the Powerplay, it becomes more of a case of trying different varieties. Bowling in the Powerplay is especially difficult on a good pitch when you are coming up against top-class batsmen. In that case, you have to work a lot on your variety and accuracy, and there has to be a lot of planning against the opposition team.What is it like to bowl against someone who is thinking about you, trying to attack you in different ways, not just simply going after you from ball one?
A lot of teams try to capitalise in the first six overs – it is the time when most of the runs are scored. It is always a game of cat and mouse – you against the opposition batsman. Trying to figure out what he is coming with and you trying to counteract that. It is quite a challenge and something that I have tried throughout my career. It is something that I will continue to enjoy.

“I have got to be accurate. I have to look less at spin and more at pace and variation, because the protection is not there. The slower I bowl, it becomes a little easier for batsmen”

Name five legspinners who you consider T20 specialists.
I think Imran Tahir is up there as one of the best. There’s Kuldeep Yadav from India, who has done really well in the IPL. I must include Sunil Narine, although you said legspinner. He is a genius. He is someone who has been successful throughout the world. Brad Hogg, even at the age of 40, has been exceptional. He has done well in the Big Bash.There’s one more: Rashid Khan. He is really good. He is so young, he has so much potential. No batsman in the world seems to have got the better of him as yet. It is early stages in his career, he will need to develop some more variety as batsmen get more familiar with him. But he has tremendous potential.But you’re the one who started it all in T20s. You made legspin viable. Do you remember the first day you opened the bowling in a game?
I would like to take credit for being the pioneer in that regard. I started bowling for Trinidad & Tobago. I did it for my club team, a local rural country team. I was quite successful, so they decided to give me a go in the territorial team. I did really well in the Stanford T20s. From there, I had consistent performances for a number of years.Eventually I did get my chance in 2012 in Sri Lanka, in the World T20. Even then I had to wait out a couple of matches in the tournament until the seam bowlers were taken apart. They decided to give me a go against England. I remember that game quite well. I had a strong performance, and then I continued to play through the tournament.I opened the bowling in the World T20 final against Sri Lanka. We ended up winning that tournament. It went upward from there. I went to the IPL, and then I have been a consistent member of the West Indies team.I think I have opened the bowling every single time for the West Indies. I have currently, I think, the most amount of wickets, tied with Dwayne Bravo. I started quite late, at the age of maybe 29. I am really happy at the way my career panned out thus far.Who has been the most challenging batsman you’ve faced?
In the West Indies, Chris Gayle, obviously. David Warner has been really difficult to bowl at. This might sound strange but Sunil Narine had the better of me twice. He knows all my tricks. Aaron Finch is the right-hander that I find difficult.Was it frustrating to sit out most matches in the BPL recently?
It becomes frustrating. The tournament becomes that much longer when you are sitting on the sidelines. But it is a team sport and I understand the dynamics of the team, especially with five foreign players and the composition of our team. I have been around the circuit long enough to know what’s required in a team environment.I support the younger guys. We have some good spinners. [Sohag] Gazi and [Nazmul Islam] Apu have done well. I try to encourage them, share my experiences. At the end of the day, it is about the team winning; it is not about me as an individual. If I can contribute off the field, then I am happy.”Cricket has given me everything in my life. I think it is my turn now to give back to the youth in my community and country.”•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo you have any plans to open a legspin academy?
I have a youth academy in Trinidad, called Badree’s Academy of Sport Education. It is where I coach children aged five to 15, both boys and girls. It is using cricket as a vehicle to teach life skills such as discipline, tolerance, production and commitment. I have an intake of about a hundred students in rural Trinidad. I have some sponsors on board.It is my way of giving back to the community. Cricket has given me everything in my life. I think it is my turn now to give back to the youth in my community and country.You are also a curriculum officer.
I used to be a PE teacher. In 2016 I was promoted to a curriculum officer for physical education and sport. My role is basically to help teachers implement the physical education and sport curriculum in primary and secondary schools in Trinidad & Tobago.We see more and more children are inactive. They are more engaged in social media, computers, iPads and televisions. When I was a kid, after school we used to play a lot. Our parents used to bring us back from the field to do our homework. Now it is the other way around. They have to carry the children outside. We need children to be more physically active, more engaged and healthy.As someone who got your break quite late, what would you say to anyone who is still awaiting their chance in cricket, at any level?
I think you only fail when you give up. If you never give up, you will never fail. I think that was the credo throughout my career: don’t ever give up.I would admit that I was frustrated many times after having performed really consistently in the domestic competitions. I have seen spinners who didn’t do so well get opportunities ahead of me in the West Indies team. But I never gave up. I was always persistent. My frustration only gave me encouragement to continue to work hard.I had good family support. I always had a stable job. I never depended solely on cricket for my livelihood. It gave me the hope that when my time comes, it will come, and when it does, I have to grasp it with both hands. It was a never case for me to put all the eggs in one basket. I always had something on which I could fall back. I think that gave me the balance in my life, so I was never too disappointed.Some people who have all their eggs in one basket and it doesn’t work out for them. They might get so frustrated that they might want to give up. But in my case, I had the balance in my life that I was still able to push myself in both areas. If one worked out I was happy, if both worked out, it was even better.

The RCB captain slowed down despite a rising asking rate, but he was doing it to keep his team’s net run-rate up

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-20181:36

Coach’s Diary: RCB can’t rely on just Kohli and de Villiers

Is Umesh smashing it or getting smashed? Within minutes of the match beginning, Umesh Yadav was trending on Twitter. He had taken two wickets off the first two balls. This is the third time this IPL Umesh has taken wickets in quick succession. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, he struck twice in his first nine balls, and against Kings XI Punjab, he took three in his second over. He also managed to keep the batsmen quiet early in those spells, and in this game, he had figures of 2 for 8 after two overs.So how come Umesh’s economy rate this IPL is 9.06? Because after those sensational starts, he falls off, equally dramatically. These are his economy-rates broken down: 3.75 in the first over, 7.6 in the second, 8.67 in the third and 15.75 in the fourth. Against Mumbai Indians, he conceded 28 off his final two overs to finish with 2 for 36.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy was Chahal v Rohit delayed? Rohit Sharma’s record against legspin is poor. He’s been out to them 22 times in T20s and strikes at just 110 against them. So why did Yuzvendra Chahal only come on in the ninth over when the Mumbai captain walked out in the first? Probably because of the guy at the other end. Evin Lewis smacks legspin at a strike rate of 191.Look at what happened when Chahal did bowl. Rohit got off strike and watched from the other end as Lewis hammered three sixes off Chahal’s first 10 balls. In the end, Chahal, Royal Challengers’ most consistent bowler of the past few seasons, didn’t even finish his quota of four overs. The dynamic could get teams thinking about deliberately having batsmen who have contrasting strengths and weaknesses at the wicket together so the bowling captain doesn’t know whom to bring on.Is millionaire Woakes out of favour?Royal Challengers picked Corey Anderson over Brendon McCullum to get a sixth bowling option. But few would have expected him to bowl his full quota of overs while Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar and Chahal didn’t complete theirs. The decision not to bowl Woakes out was a particularly curious one. He bowled his first two overs in the Powerplay and went for 16 and was then only brought on in the 19th over.Woakes was Royal Challengers’ most expensive buy in the auction, at INR 7.4 crore (USD 1.16 million approx). The decision to bring him on so late despite Mumbai scoring quickly off the other bowlers was either a miscalculation or a sign that Kohli has lost faith in him.Sarfaraz fails againA few eyebrows were raised when Royal Challengers retained the uncapped Sarfaraz Khan ahead of the 2018 season. After all, Kohli did say he needed to get a lot fitter before he could play consistently for RCB. Well, he has now become a regular part of the team, but after three innings, he has managed only 11 runs and has also eaten up too many dots. Against Knight Riders, he took 10 balls to make six runs and against Mumbai, with the required rate at 15.43 when he came to the crease, he took six balls to make five. That released the trolls on social media, though it may have been a case of finding a scapegoat for the whole team’s failure.Was Kohli batting for the not-out?When his team is chasing 214, you don’t expect to see Kohli batting on 40 at a strike rate of 111.11 in the 13th over. But, as he explained after the game, the RCB captain had given up on the chase, as too many wickets had fallen, and was trying to ensure they didn’t fall too far behind on net run-rate. In 10 completed seasons of the IPL, teams have missed making the final four because of net run-rate as much as four times. So clearly Kohli knows what he’s talking about.He started quickly, racing to 18 off 11 balls, but once Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers fell in the same over, he knuckled down and tried to avoid a huge loss. He got going again towards the end and finished with a healthy strike rate of 148.38. With Royal Challengers reaching 167, they stayed ahead of bottom-dwellers Delhi Daredevils on the points table.Getty ImagesThe young legspinner Mayank Markande also played a part in keeping Kohli quiet, conceding just 15 runs off 14 balls, including five dots. And it wasn’t like Kohli was just blocking him. He played just one defensive stroke, but could not find the gaps with his drives and cuts as Markande showed off his variations and accuracy.Is batting first the new bowling first?Teams batting second won nine of the first 10 matches this season. But just as everyone was thinking here was the secret to winning the IPL, the team batting first has now won four games in a row.This is partly down to the law of averages. While fielding first is statistically advantageous in T20s, numbers suggest it is only slightly so (3429 wins and 3228 losses). In the IPL, the gap is slightly bigger – 354 wins and 286 losses. So you have, approximately, a 10% better chance of winning if you field first.There could be a few other reasons the last four games have gone to the team batting first. There was no dew in Mumbai for the Mumbai v Royal Challengers game, and there wasn’t much in Mohali for the Kings XI v Chennai Super Kings game. This has allowed spinners to have greater impact in the second innings. Also, in all four games, the team batting first put up a big total against sides that don’t have strong middle orders, which made chasing difficult.

Netherlands’ upset win against England in the World T20 2009 spawned untold happiness – and in the case of Bas de Leede, a career in cricket following his father

Peter Della Penna at Lord's29-Jul-20181:46

‘Playing at Lord’s a victory for Associate cricket’ – Pieter Seelar

June 5, 2009, a date etched in Dutch cricket lore. It was the first day of the 2009 World T20 and organisers scheduled England to play Netherlands at Lord’s, trying to turn what normally would have been a low ticket game against unfancied opposition into a sellout by virtue of being the tournament curtain-raiser.Three hours later, the Dutch had pulled off one of the most improbable upsets in cricket history in a last-ball, four-wicket win. Few had expected Netherlands, a group of mostly amateur players, to be able to compete with England. That included a number of the Dutch players themselves.Nine years later, Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar is leading a near fully professional Dutch side for a T20 tri-series with the MCC and Nepal, the latter of which will be Netherlands’ first T20Is at Lord’s since the group matches played against England and Pakistan at the 2009 World T20. Seelaar and Ryan ten Doeschate are the only two members left from that famous win in a Netherlands side now full of professionalism and expectations, the pre-eminent Associate by virtue of their status as the only one included in the 13-team ODI League scheduled to get underway in 2020. It’s a far cry from how the team turned up at Lord’s nearly a decade ago.”We were back then a very amateur side and we were here more enjoying the experience, whereas now not only us but the whole Associate community, so to speak, expect themselves to put up a big fight against the big nations,” Seelaar told ESPNcricinfo. “Back then we were a very small, small country, as we still are, but we were very amateurish in the way we went about our cricket. We were just hoping to get a good experience out of Lord’s and it actually turned out to be one of the great victories – not only for Dutch cricket but also for Associate cricket.”Leading into the 2009 World T20, there was little indication that the Dutch would have even the slightest chance of standing toe-to-toe with England, let alone slay them. In their first two warm-up matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand, they conceded totals of 206 and 194 in a pair of lopsided defeats. A tied match with Ireland followed, with the Dutch losing in a Super Over after scores were level on 135.But all three of those matches were played without Dirk Nannes, who had recently been drafted into the Dutch squad. In their final warm-up match against Scotland, Nannes took the new ball and turned in a spell of 0 for 13 in four overs to restrict the Scots to 128 in an eventual seven-wicket win. Seelaar says that knowing Nannes was going to be making his official T20I debut at Lord’s gave the side a bit of a spark.”Obviously that gave us a bit of confidence because Ryan ten Doeschate was also in the squad,” Seelaar says. “But we were hoping for an upset because that’s generally what you do. You hope to play well and you never know what happens, whereas nowadays you expect to create an upset somewhere along the line.Pieter Seelaar leads the Netherlands through a training session•Peter Della Penna”What I remember vividly is just walking into the Long Room and you’re playing England. One of the things Darron Reekers mentioned is that, ‘Well, they’re probably going to be as nervous as us because they have to play a minor nation in front of their home crowd in the opening game of the World T20.’ So they’re gonna be as nervous as we were. As the game showed, even the full-time professionals playing the amateurs, it doesn’t matter who is on the field because you’re going to be nervous playing in any World Cup game.”Even though Nannes went wicketless once again, Netherlands managed to tie England down in the second half of the first innings. Despite a 102-run opening stand between Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara, England lacked the ruthlessness down the order they have now. Wright got out for 71 on the second ball of the 18th over, after which England failed to score a boundary.Just three days after turning 22, Seelaar bowled a pivotal 19th over, conceding only six runs and taking the wicket of England captain Paul Collingwood to wrap up his four-over spell of 1 for 33. Nannes then followed up by bowling a very tight seven-run over in the 20th to hold England to 162 for 5.That final over of the first innings was when Seelaar says the Dutch began to sense they might have an outside chance at an upset. It wasn’t until the halfway point of the chase though that those upset thoughts truly started to materialise.”Peter Borren slog swept Paul Collingwood into the second tier and I think from there, because that was such a not only a big six but a massive moment in the game where the slow bowlers were the most difficult to face, we actually started to play some decent shots as well,” Seelaar said. “Tom de Grooth hit a couple of fours off Adil Rashid over midwicket, even reverse sweeping him through point.”I think it was all around the 10th, 11th overs and that’s where we started to feel like we’re actually supposed to win this game now. That’s where it was quite handy that when the [fourth] wicket fell, Ryan came in and he coasted us home together with the other guys coming in.”

“I felt really proud of the Dutch cricketers as they were seen as amateurs back then. I was like, these guys can beat England and if I train more and harder than those guys, I can beat England when I’m big as well.”Bas de Leede

The victory made from page news in the Netherlands, which was quite handy since a nine-year-old Bas de Leede slept through the finish. His mom and dad, Dutch legend Tim de Leede, were at Lord’s that night but because they could only secure two tickets it meant that Bas stayed at home and was sent to bed early by his aunt who was there to babysit. But waking up to the news of the upset was inspiring.”For me, I felt really proud of the Dutch cricketers as they were seen as amateurs back then,” de Leede said. “I was like, these guys can beat England and if I train more and harder than those guys, I can beat England when I’m big as well. So it motivated me to really try and get something out of my cricket, start training harder and play as much cricket as I can because I saw what was possible with guys that to be fair were still amateurs.”The magnitude of such upsets against Full Members is tangible when witnessing an 18-year-old de Leede today, who is in London as the youngest member of the Netherlands touring squad. Seeing Netherlands beat England nine years ago filled him with hope. His burgeoning career as a cricketer today is tangible evidence for expanding the number of teams in World Cups instead of shrinking the numbers.”To be able to play in a World Cup and play against the big teams is more of a motivation. If you pull off a victory against India or England instead of playing World Cricket League matches against smaller sides, which are still good cricket matches but I think it motivates the youth less and makes them choose other career pathways instead of cricket,” de Leede says. “If the highest you can reach is playing against other Associate members, it isn’t what you aspire to be as a cricketer.”You aspire to play the best teams and beat them, and because of the reduction to the World Cup, you don’t get these chances to play the Full Members often anymore and some teams will not play them at all, which is bad for Holland because it’s already a small sport and it was only going to get smaller if we didn’t qualify for the ODI League.”Though he wasn’t at Lord’s for the win against England, he was able to fly in to join his dad a few days later for Netherlands’ encounter with Pakistan. Taking in the occasion of a World Cup match at Lord’s with Netherlands was further inspiration, even in defeat. Now, de Leede is looking to pay that forward with a possible appearance in the starting XI at Lord’s, having made his T20I debut last month in the tri-series against Ireland and Scotland.

“There’s obviously quite a few sportsmen who know what it is to create an upset like that but for me it was just pure emotion, happiness. What do you remember? Not a hell of a lot. I know after that we watched the highlights on the screen. That’s when I came to realise we actually won.”Pieter Seelaar

“When I was sat in the stands, I didn’t even think about playing at Lord’s one day,” de Leede says. “But now that the opportunity is there, I’d say it’s every cricketer’s dream to be able to play at Lord’s and if it comes true, then it’s one of the greatest moments of my cricketing career but if it doesn’t, I hope there’s plenty more chances to come.”I’ll definitely keep pushing myself until I reach the level to play at Lord’s more often. I remember the image of me sitting in the stands as a young kid and I hope to be playing out there for a lot of young kids as well and inspiring them to grow up playing cricket, be the best they can and try to play for their country.”In a summer that has seen record heat wave roll through the UK, the return for Netherlands has been spoiled somewhat by rain returning on Sunday morning at Lord’s, causing the scheduled T20 tri-series fixture with an MCC side captained by Mahela Jayawardene to be shortened ahead of the scheduled T20I vs Nepal. But it hardly dampens the impact of the occasion in de Leede’s life, nor the memories Seelaar has of the final moments of victory.”It was pure emotion that came out. What I know is it was a long sprint and after it was a lot of hugs,” Seelaar said. “I mean there’s obviously quite a few sportsmen who know what it is to create an upset like that but for me it was just pure emotion, happiness. What do you remember? Not a hell of a lot. I know after that we watched the highlights on the screen. That’s when I came to realise we actually won and it was a good day but in between that it was pure happiness.”

The stats highlights from Bangladesh’s extremely short innings

Gaurav Sundararaman04-Jul-2018All-time low for BangladeshBangladesh hit an all-time low when they were dismissed for 43 – their lowest score in Tests, and the lowest by any team since India were dismissed for 42 in 1974. The previous lowest score by Bangladesh was 62 against Sri Lanka in 2007. This is also the lowest score for which West Indies has dismissed any opposition in Test cricket, and the lowest score in the Carribean. In 1994 they dismissed England for 46 at Port of Spain.ESPNcricinfo Ltd Roach enters the record books Kemar Roach entered the record books by becoming only the third cricketer alongside Monty Noble and Jacques Kallis to take five wickets in a span of 12 balls. These are the fewest balls that any bowler has taken to pick up five wickets. Incidentally Kallis also achieved this feat against Bangladesh in October 2002, while Monty Noble did it against England in 1902. Four of the top five instances are against Bangladesh.

Fewest Balls to take five wickets Balls Opposition YearMonty Noble 12 England 1902Jacques Kallis 12 Bangladesh 2002Kemar Roach 12 Bangladesh 2018Waqar Younis 13 Bangladesh 2002Jim Laker 13 Australia 1956Roach took a wicket once every six balls, making it the joint-fifth best strike rate in an innings when a bowler has a taken five or more wickets in an innings.Short but not sweetBangladesh and West Indies are meeting for the first time since 2014 in a Test, and only the seventh Test in West Indies. However, it did not go very well. Bangladesh were dismissed in 112 deliveries – the second-shortest first innings in a Test. Australia hold this dubious record having been dismissed in 111 deliveries against England at Nottingham in 2015. Only Liton Das managed to enter double figures with a score of 25, scoring 58% of the team runs – a record for Bangladesh in Tests. This was also only the sixth instance ever in Tests when the fourth, fifth and sixth batsmen were dismissed for a duck.

After going wicketless in the first two sessions on a flat pitch in inhospitable weather conditions, the bowlers hit back to make inroads into Pakistan’s line-up

Daniel Brettig in Dubai07-Oct-2018″Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson’s succinct summary of boxing came easily to mind as Australia toiled on the flattest of Dubai pitches, after losing the toss and being sentenced to a day or two’s hard labour against a Pakistan side well versed in batting time on slow, low surfaces.In fact, it cannot have been far from the thoughts of the new coach Justin Langer, a renowned pugilist who once sparred with the former world champion Vic Darchinyan in the Sydney gym of Jeff Fenech. The shock of a Pakistan opening stand lasting all of 63 overs and 205 runs resembled that of a near-knockout punch in round one of a bout, but Langer had to be heartened by the way his team persevered, refusing to yield and even landing a blow or two of their own in a final session of enormous effort.”Inside the boxing ring it’s the same as when you’re playing Test cricket–nowhere to hide,” Langer had said at the time he met Darchinyan. “You’ve got to face a lot of your own fears. If you punch someone properly it’s like hitting the ball in the middle of the cricket bat–it’s a really nice feeling.”Emotional addresses to debutants

Australia’s three debutants, Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, were each handed their baggy green cap by a more senior member of the same exclusive club, with the South Australian captain welcomed by an emotional address from his former Redbacks team-mate Nathan Lyon.
Allan Border presented Finch’s cap and Mike Hussey did the honours for Labuschagne, but it was Lyon’s words, as the spin bowler fought back tears, that left the most striking impression. “I was there for your SACA debut, cap No. 609, I’ve looked at you as my little brother that I never had,” Lyon said in a huddle of the Australian squad, support staff and multiple family members. “This cap means more than just a game of cricket. It impacts your family, it impacts your friends, and it makes me extremely proud to hand you No. 454.”
While Border spoke about Finch’s opportunity arriving after years in which it seemed this might never occur, Hussey’s words to Labuschagne could have applied equally to all three batsmen. “It is a great honour to wear this baggy green cap, but with a great honour comes great responsibility,” Hussey said. “And I guess what’s most important for you is to just focus on that next ball, play that next ball as best as you possibly can.
“And the second piece of advice I have for you is how you view pressure. I can assure you you’ll be under enormous pressure pretty much every day of your Test cricket career, but some succumb to the pressure, and some see it as a privilege. And pressure is a privilege because it gives you the opportunity to do something really special. So good luck, I hope you enjoy your journey with the Australian team, and I’ll certainly be the first and the loudest to cheer when you score your first Test hundred.”

Fearful or not, no-one imagined the first Test match for Tim Paine’s team since the Newlands ball-tampering scandal would be a simple task, particularly given the trouncing of a far stronger team in these parts four years ago. There have been oodles of meetings, plans and what Mitchell Starc termed “really, really constructive conversations” about how Australia would tackle this assignment, focusing as much on how the bowlers would work in concert in adverse conditions as how the batsmen would deal with spin and reverse swing.Equally, Cricket Australia as a whole and the men’s national team, in particular, have been subject to dual reviews of their culture and behaviour, the better to ensure that the events leading to the banned trio of Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft watching this match on television at home are never repeated. All those high-minded intentions and aims are undoubtedly harder to think about when the thermometer reads 39 degrees Celsius in the shade and Imam-ul-Haq has just clouted the last ball before tea into the all but empty stands at Dubai International Stadium.The way Australia started certainly suggested a team finding their way. Paine posted only two slips in acknowledgement of the conditions, and the early overs from Starc and Peter Siddle were serviceable rather than fire-breathing. Nathan Lyon similarly dropped onto a length without being able to draw too much in the way of false strokes, and at the other end Jon Holland experienced some struggles with finding the right rhythm in the face of batsmen seeking to attack him, a sight familiar to those who watched him bowling, albeit with far inferior preparation, in Sri Lanka two years ago.Scarcely a ball beat the bat as Mohammad Hafeez provided a masterclass in how to sculpt a bowler-blunting top-order century. His only misstep along the way had been a skier to long off from Holland’s bowling, whereupon the vice-captain Mitchell Marsh tried to leap for an AFL-style mark rather than a catch and saw the chance slip through his fingers – in fairness, the Grand Final at the MCG was only a week ago. Otherwise, glimmers of a wicket were as rare as Dubai raindrops.The first signs a change was going to come did actually appear in the overs before tea, as Starc began to gain sharp reverse swing, and created what should also have been a chance. Leaning forward, Hafeez edged one tailing away from around the wicket, but Paine had dispensed with all slip fielders and could only dive helplessly as the ball sailed into the position Aaron Finch would somewhat belatedly occupy in the following over.Getty ImagesNevertheless, that over was a source of possibility for the Australians when the final session began, and it was Siddle who led the way with a spell of grinding discipline and sometimes fiendish curve. After Lyon had managed to coax an edge from Imam that slapped straight into Paine’s gloves, Hafeez’s stay was ended by an inswinger that swerved into his pads and, on the DRS ball-tracker, the outside of the leg stump after Richard Kettleborough raised his finger.Siddle’s spell was ultimately worth 5-4-4-1, with a single boundary being the only scoring shot off the bat, as the tourists began to climb back into the contest after surrendering what in the boxing ring would have been a lengthy points deficit after a few rounds. The high level of fitness insisted upon by Langer, and the acclimatisation provided by two weeks in the UAE, were proving their worth.”We were still positive, still up and about,” Siddle said of the tea break. “We knew that they’d batted well, the wicket hadn’t offered a lot, there wasn’t a lot of movement as such yet, so we knew we had to keep grinding and we got close to that reverse swing early on, but it probably took a bit longer being a day-one wicket, it’s always a lot harder. As we saw this evening once that ball started reversing, yes it was a little bit soft, but we saw some inroads, the boys stuck together and we had some really good partnerships to be able to maintain that through the whole session.”It’s always a tough challenge going over to the different Asian conditions and digging in with the heat but the boys handled it really well – today was one of the cooler days we’ve had since we’ve been here, so that was quite refreshing actually walking out this morning and a little less humidity, so that was nice for the boys. But it’s going to be about how we back up tomorrow, we’ve got the new ball ready to go whenever we want to take that, so we’ll have some discussions whether we want to stick with this one for a little bit or take it straight away. But it was well toiled by us and you look at it at tea time, it could’ve been a lot worse.”Others rallied to join in the fight in the final hour, as Holland crept closer to his best and Starc summoned a swift final spell, despite the obvious discomfort of cramp. Siddle, a longtime team-mate of Holland for Victoria, observed the left-arm spinner’s day with plenty of empathy. “I’ve played a lot with him over the years and watched him bowl,” he said. “He wasn’t far off bowling his best, but it did look like they were a lot more aggressive against him and sitting on Nath a little bit.”Once we saw later in the day there it was starting to grip a bit more, a little bit of spin and bounce, he started to trouble them. That showed with the wicket he got, a couple of close calls along the way, it isn’t going to be as easy to do that in the rest of this match. The way he dug in, you have to, but sometimes it can be hard and you lose your way, but he kept going and to get that breakthrough at the end was a great reward for us.”At final drinks, Pakistan had added a mere 25 runs to their tea-time tally, and by the close it was still only 56, at the cost of three wickets. The Australians were tired and sore but far from despondent, knowing they had fallen behind on the day but won the session that looked at first glance to be the hardest proposition of all three. In doing so, they walked much of the talk of the past two weeks – and indeed the past seven months since Newlands – a team that toils hard and can win admiration as well as cricket matches.”Everyone around that last session bowled superbly. Building pressure, bowling in partnerships, things we’ve spoken a lot about in the lead-up, that last session summed up what we’ve been working on,” Siddle said. “To only go for 50 runs at the back end of a day when a team is none down at tea, I think that’s a tremendous effort from the whole group to be able to restrict them to that, but get wickets along the way it showed the hard work’s paying off.”After his 2006 meeting with Langer, Darchinyan had expressed surprise at how well the batsman had boxed. “I was quite surprised,” Darchinyan said. “He can hold a punch. I did not go very hard because he is not boxer, but he is fit, I can see. He’s not scared, coming forward. Not punching hard, but he’s good.” There will, undoubtedly, be harder punches thrown in this series, but Australia have already risen once from the canvas.

Kuldeep and Narine removed Kohli and de Villiers in successive overs and could have had both much earlier if only their fielders had held on to catches

Srinath Sripath05-Apr-2019RCB couldn’t defend 92 off 42, and it wasn’t their worstESPNcricinfo LtdLast year, it was MS Dhoni hunting down 105 off 48 balls. This time, chasing the same target of 206, Andre Russell smashed six after six to fly past the finish line with five balls to spare.Each of their bowlers – including Tim Southee, who finally got a game – misfired at the death, their radars all over the place. With the exception of Nathan Coulter-Nile, who hasn’t arrived in India yet, Royal Challengers Bangalore have exhausted their major bowling options in just five games.

7 overs more than 90 runs to get in the IPL. It has been achieved only 9 times and guess what? RCB have been the bowling team on 6 occasions. #RCBvKKR– Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) April 5, 2019

Russell’s assault aside, consider this: with Kolkata Knight Riders needing 67 off 27, Nitish Rana skied one to backward point. He had been dropped just the ball before, and was struggling to get going late in the innings. Should Royal Challengers have put him down again, and kept Russell out for a while longer?When will tactical drops become part of the game? And will batsmen start retiring out as a result? Those answers we don’t have yet. For now, the pertinent question remains: what target is safe enough for this Royal Challengers attack to defend?Pawan Negi puts in a shift; Will RCB stick with him?Q: Among all bowlers who have bowled at least 100 balls since 2017 in the IPL, who holds the best average?A: Pawan Negi (14.00)Negi has been playing in the IPL since 2012, and made it as far as India’s World T20 squad in 2016, having picked up an INR 8.5 crore deal with Delhi Daredevils along the way. From then on, things went downhill for the then 23 year-old. His price tag weighed his performances down, and after just a season, it fell steeply down to INR 1 crore, when Royal Challengers picked him up for the 2017 season.In a season where they finished bottom of the table, Negi was among their rare bright spots, picking up 16 wickets, going at just 6.12 an over. Next season, he found himself out of favour, playing only twice, bowling just four overs, despite being fit throughout the tournament.Once again, in a game that will be remembered for Russell’s manic hitting towards the end, Negi delivered an exceptional middle-overs spell, picking up the wickets of Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn. Returns of 2 for 21 in three valuable overs. Will Royal Challengers stick with him or will he be another casualty in their selection roulette?KKR spinners do the job at the death, once again
ESPNcricinfo LtdKolkata Knight Riders’ spinners had these combined figures on Friday: 14 overs, 115 runs, 3 wickets.On their own, those are reasonable returns in an average T20 game. And when Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are going hammer and tongs in Bengaluru, those are outstanding returns.With their pace bowlers all wicketless and knocked out of the park – they went for 0 for 89 in just six overs – Dinesh Karthik turned to the spinners at the death, once again. Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine removed Kohli and de Villiers in successive overs, potentially knocking a few off that final Royal Challengers Bangalore score of 205. They could well have had both much earlier in their innings, if only their fielders had held on to catches.Knight Riders are a team who have been trendsetters throughout this decade’s IPLs, and bowling spin in the final few overs is a trend they have owned over the years, to a great degree of success. Knight Riders’ spinners have bowled nearly double the number of balls in the last four overs than any other team, conceding a barely believable 8.64 runs an over. Since 2017, through higher-scoring seasons, that rate has gone up to a middling 10.64, but they still toss the ball to their spinners more often than anyone else.On a high-scoring ground, against two of the world’s best, Narine and Co delivered yet again.

KL Rahul likely to play at No. 4, while Ravindra Jadeja could pip Kedar Jadhav to the final spot in the XI

Nagraj Gollapudi in Southampton03-Jun-2019India’s World Cup campaign will finally get underway in two days’ time, in Southampton against South Africa.Virat Kohli’s team is the only one to not have played a single match in the tournament yet. It’s been a topic of debate; the reason is the mandatory 15-day gap between the IPL final and the next international fixture for the Indian team as laid down by the Supreme Court of India, which the ICC honoured.Not that Kohli and Co. are complaining. Far from being restless, the Indians have mixed training with leisure. Since arriving in England, Kohli has travelled to London to meet the queen and the royals at the opening ceremony, returned to join the others in training, and also partnered his squad members in a game of paint ball. Sunday was an off day, but training has resumed since.Based on the evidence, here are some talking points to emerge before India’s tournament opener.Will Bhuvneshwar be the third seamer?
The forecast suggests a cloudy day in Southampton come Wednesday. Will that tempt India to play Bhunveshwar Kumar, who also batted first in the nets on Monday, as the third frontline pacer?The other reason to field Bhuvneshwar could be the success of short-pitched bowling so far in the tournament on mostly flat pitches. Having three fast bowlers, along with Hardik Pandya, could add muscle to India’s fast-bowling arsenal.If Bhuvneshwar is included then how does it affect the combination? Six batsmen, including Hardik as the allrounder, and at least one spinner – Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal – plus three seamers leaves one slot, which could be a tussle between Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja.Will it be Jadeja, who excelled in the warm-up against New Zealand in overcast conditions at The Oval? Or Jadhav, who has just recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up in the IPL, but is yet to play? On Monday, Jadeja was among the first set of batmen in the nets and then bowled extensively in the main nets in the company of Kuldeep. Keeping in mind South Africa’s cautious batting on Sunday against Bangladesh, Jadeja might just have the edge.Rahul will be the No. 4
From being the third back-up opener, KL Rahul has jumped the queue and will occupy the crucial No. 4 position in the batting order. His century against Bangladesh in the warm-up game last week has left no option for the team management, and Vijay Shankar, who chief selector MSK Prasad had marked for the spot, might have to wait his turn.Today, although he trained, Vijay mostly bowled to the main batsmen and then took throwdowns for a bit. Rahul, meanwhile, had a complete batting session carrying forward the touch he had shown in Cardiff, playing the ball under his eyeline and timing it nicely.… which brings us to the pitch
Till about 1.30pm today, pitch No. 11, where the match will be played Wednesday, was lime green. Within 15 minutes, the grass was shaved and the strip suddenly became a wheatish brown, bald patch.In the last five completed ODIs at the ground, the average first-innings score is 311, with the team batting first winning three of those matches. The average for fast bowlers has been 58.4, with an economy rate of 6.4, while the spinners average 60.1 with an economy of 6.0. That must surely affect the team combination for the Indians.

Trent Woodhill, who coached Australia’s Ashes colossus early in his career, talks about why unconventional approaches are harder to get away with down under than elsewhere.

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2019As a coach, seeing Steven Smith when he was very young, I was always just amazed at his capacity and the joy he derived from batting. Nothing surprises me about his prolific run in Test cricket. He was always talented, he was always successful.His biggest challenge, even back then, was being able to maintain his technique in the face of others not understanding how it works. Young players need protection from both themselves and others who don’t like difference. A cricket dressing room can be a brutal place for a young player, who might be forced to conform – more so in Australia than any other country I’ve been in. In Australia we struggle with things that are different. We like a sexy Shaun Marsh thirty, made with a conventional, attractive technique, rather than an unconventional Steven Smith hundred.If Steven was Indian, his technique and mechanics and the strategy around his batting would just be accepted. We see Kohli, Gavaskar, [Rohit] Sharma, Ganguly, Sehwag – all these players have unique techniques. The Indian system is all about output, about scoring runs, “We don’t care how you do it as long as you do it”, whereas in Australia we wanted you to score well and we wanted you to look good. I recently had a Facebook conversation with Greg Chappell about top-hand dominance. I’ve never had a conversation with an Indian cricketer about top-hand dominance.That’s all in-built in a conservative cricketing nation. Other nations just find a way to accommodate such players. Like a Rashid Khan, who holds the ball like an offspinner but bowls legspin, an Anil Kumble – seam-up, wristspin, predominantly wrong’un. Australian cricket likes to pass the baton on: this is how you do it, this is how it’s always been done. Steven’s come along, and to some extent, David Warner’s come along and said, ‘No, we’re gonna do it this way now’, and they’ve had a lot of success.His bowling is a good way of looking at where his batting could have gone. To me, young Steven was an Anil Kumble-style, Rashid Khan-style bowler, with unconventional technique, who used to run in, was all right-sided, all right shoulder. But he was accurate, spun the ball, had a really good wrong’un, bowled a flipper. But then the Terry Jenners of the world, the spin doctors, got involved, and had a theory that everybody had to bowl like Shane Warne. Likewise, when it came to batting, it was a cookie-cutter mentality. If you want to succeed, you had to bat like Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke. This mentality has been to Australian cricket’s detriment. Unconventional techniques and uniqueness should be celebrated, and young coaches and players should work out what style suits them.Jacques Kallis and Damien Martyn were unbelievable off-side players. They could have no leg-side play and still score at an amazing strike rate because they were that good on the off side. VVS Laxman, Mohammad Azharuddin, Steven Smith and Virat Kohli are all unbelievable leg-side players. That doesn’t mean their off-side game is not good. It’s just working out where your dominance lies.With someone like Steven, I saw him and went, “Wow, I don’t really understand this. But, I know that it works, so I need to understand why it works, so that I can help if something goes wrong.”The old guard, the older Test greats, still can’t understand how it works. So they still think, especially bowlers, “Well, if I was bowling, I’d sort this guy out.” And that’s the thing with cricket, especially in England and Australia: “If I can’t understand how it looks, it can’t work.” Steven has proven them wrong. He’s the best since Bradman; this is not even an argument anymore.He was a little bit fortunate that in Peter Smith, his father, he had a really good mentor in terms of his batting. When I came along, it was all about protecting what Peter and Steven had created. Then he moved to Michael DiVenuto [Australia’s batting coach at one time] from around 2012. Diva taught him about day-to-day batting, getting up, getting better, how to graft out an innings, how to take down bowling day in, day out, to the point where, when Diva left, Steven became the best coach of himself, and he understands his game better than anyone else does, including all of us.Someone just told me that Steven has scored 17% of his runs in the V between mid-off and mid-on since 2013, which is unusual compared to most conventional batsmen. I’d like to know Viv Richards’ stats for runs in the V. As a coach, I feel playing straight is overrated. If you play with a straight bat in England consistently, and if you take [seriously] that old adage of playing in the V early on, you’ll nick off for fun. The ball moves too much.

The old guard, the older Test greats, still can’t understand how [Smith’s technique] works. So they still think, especially bowlers, ‘Well, if I was bowling, I’d sort this guy out.’

I think players that are able to target the square boundaries to balls of all lengths are the players that are going to have the most success, especially in England, and in India as well, where the ball doesn’t bounce so much. It’s so difficult to beat the bowler, mid-off and mid-on by playing straight, and not only that, the ball only has to move an inch and you’re out. Or you play and miss. That stat backs up why Steven Smith is successful – it’s because he doesn’t play in the V.In England or Australia, targeting the top of off stump is always spoken of by bowlers and teams; I’d set up batsmen to dominate balls targeting top of off. That’s where IPL and T20 cricket has come to the fore. In the early days of the IPL, you could bowl top of off stump and trouble certain batsmen. Now batsmen are set up to hit those balls, whether it’s with a front-foot pull or a back-foot slash-drive or cut over cover.I see a lot of similarities between Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Steven. They all have the ability to change their grip on the bat without it affecting their performance. In my experience with all the great players around, whenever there’s a slight grip change, it affects them massively. But those three guys, they are able to change their grip depending on what format they are playing. And I think that’s because their focus isn’t so much on convention but to go with what works for them.Somewhere along the line, in Australian and English cricket, the word “technique” was embedded into the commentary, the preparation, the coaching, the senior players. The beauty of something like the IPL is that it has changed that chat. Because the cricketing world has come closer together, there’s more conversation between players of unbelievable talent across nationalities, and the focus is now on performance.I don’t think England bowled well to Steven this Ashes. I agree with Nasser Hussain: to Steven, you have to bowl full, fifth stump – not fourth stump, not top of fourth stump – with an off-side field. That’s the best way, if you want to be conventional. They could have gone to more white-ball bowling to him with defensive fields as well. Players like Kohli and Smith like to set the batting tempo, they like bat on ball, as good as they are at letting the ball go. But there’s a rhythm that they like to play red-ball cricket in, so you should try and take that rhythm away from them. In the first Test, in Birmingham, they focused on Nos. 10 and 11, rather than bowling to Steven. So he got away. They kept bowling in the channel to him and he was able to score easily. That was the time they should have bowled a lot more slower balls.And later on in the series, Jofra Archer bowling change-ups, bowling three of those an over to Steven, just so he couldn’t get into rhythm, would have been worth a go. It doesn’t mean you’ll get him out right away, but you’re affecting his rhythm. I think Jasprit Bumrah would be a good match-up with Steven, when they face off in Tests next year in Australia.Listen to the podcast with Trent Woodhill here

The India and Karnataka opener talks about a glorious 2019 and how he aims to take forward the confidence into the new season

Interview by Varun Shetty09-Dec-20192:41

‘Winning matches and tournaments motivates me’ – Agarwal

Can you believe the year you’ve had?Definitely didn’t believe any of this. It’s unreal. Now it just feels like I’m in a dream. It feels terrific to have all of this and I’m very grateful for whatever has happened. There was a debut at MCG, then a World Cup call-up and some other things.If you could pick a favourite moment, which one would it be?I’m not a man of much comparison. I don’t believe in comparisons, but I would say winning the Test series Down Under. I’ve never felt something like that. When we won the series Down Under, that was a special feeling. Never felt anything like that. Getting picked for the World Cup was also a very different feeling, a very nice feeling. And India being on top of the World Test Championship right now and the kind of cricket we’re playing – it’s also a very great feeling to be part of such a set-up.Do you feel like you have evolved in this phase?Having experiences like these has changed me as a person. I have a lot more confidence now and I’m a lot more sure. [So I have evolved] On those aspects and [I am] also able to understand what are the things a person requires to keep continuing to grow.

“I have a lot more confidence now and I’m a lot more sure. [I’ve evolved] On those aspects and [I am] also able to understand what are the things a person requires to keep continuing to grow”Mayank Agarwal

Did you notice it specifically during any of your Test innings?I would say that I would be in a bit of a hurry previously. When I was batting on 70-odd, I would be in a hurry. But now having gone through that, I understand that I can be a lot more calmer through that.You’ve had immensely positive, attack-minded mentors at the domestic level in J Arun Kumar and RX Murali. Did it feel like an extension of that with someone like Ravi Shastri, the India head coach?The conversations we had were about playing your natural game, understanding the situation, adapting to the situation, [and] being smart about it. But also not losing your strength, not losing your key factors as a player – that X-factor which is special to you. But also understanding where you need to curb what to suit yourself to that situation.What was your first conversation with him like when you joined the squad?He (Shastri) said, ‘[It’s] good to have you score these many runs and come (into the Indian team) and obviously having scored that many runs, confidence is definite’. With that said, when they decided that I’m going to play the game, the talk was about what are the things I need to prepare. What are the challenges I could be facing going into my first game.So, were the challenges along the lines of calming your nerves down?And just giving that assurance, that positivity that you are good enough and that you don’t have to do anything drastically different. Stick to what you’ve been doing because that’s been working but understand that you also need a little more. Or you need to do things a little more differently. Don’t have to do different things, but things a little more differently than domestic cricket.

…domestic cricket in India is very valuable. You could’ve played international cricket, but when you come back and play domestic cricket in India, it challenges you. And challenges you in different ways.Mayank Agarwal

A lot of people are surprised by the intensity of how some established players train, among other things, when they enter the dressing room. Did you feel anything like that? Yeah! I was nervous when I walked into the dressing room. But KL [Rahul] was there. We’ve been the best of friends since a very young age so having him around helped. But the environment there was very calm, very relaxed and they were very welcoming. I never felt uncomfortable. Everyone did chip in to make me feel at home.How are you looking forward to the coming three months? You might get almost a full Ranji group stage with Karnataka?Really looking forward to playing Ranji Trophy. It is this tournament – and having scored runs in this tournament – that got me going up. So, obviously it is big. And domestic cricket in India is very valuable. You could’ve played international cricket, but when you come back and play domestic cricket in India, it challenges you. And challenges you in different ways. With that said, Karnataka having won the two tournaments [Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy] that we’ve played this year, we’re still hungry; we’re not satisfied. We want to play more and I want to try and see what are the best possible ways I can contribute to that.You only played two Ranji matches last year (2018-19 season); the tense semi-final against Saurashtra being one of them. Is that game something you guys still talk about, in terms of what went wrong?There was a lot we could learn from that semi-final game. We’ve had talks about what we could have done better. Obviously, it’s a pressure game and when pressure’s there, different people react differently – and how we could get better at a few things. But also not just looking at the negatives. We did a few things right as well. So, try and build on that while we reduce the negativity and improve.BCCIIt must have been a heartbreaking result, and a lot was going on – bad decisions, angry crowd. What was the immediate chat after that match?See, it was very disappointing, very heartbreaking. With that said, I think we gave our everything as a team. Yes, the result didn’t work out. We were sad. There was not a lot that was spoken. Lot of us were just quiet, trying to soak in our emotions to feel and understand what happened and then sit back and also give ourselves time to reflect. But just feel that staying quiet and being observant around what’s happening in those times helped because when emotions run high, it’s better to just be quiet at that time and see how it goes from there.Are you now focussed on getting that treble?To be honest, we’re not focussing on the end result. We’ve played good cricket this year. So there is a process that we’ve followed to play the kind of cricket that we’re playing. And we’d like to stick to that. Obviously, with a different format you’ve got to make a few changes. The goal is to reach there (the title and complete a treble), but still looking at following the process and being well within ourselves. Just doing things that have worked well for us.What would the ideal end of the home season be for you?It’s been a tremendous season for us. Getting full points from all the Tests we’ve played is something great. There is nothing more you could ask for as a player [than] being in a side which has played and won all the games at home.[The] Ideal end would be get a lot of runs for the side and Karnataka winning games going forward, and then again wherever the chance is given to [me to] represent India and Karnataka, score runs and win matches. There is something about winning matches and winning tournaments that motivates me. And probably not just me, motivates everybody else. So, it’s winning more number of matches. More number of trophies, that’s something you crave for.Not putting a number on it, like, a 1000 runs?(laughs) No. No I think I don’t believe in too many numbers. I believe in contributions or performances that win games. I give a lot of value to that.