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On a day when Pakistan offered him a second chance, Ricky Ponting turned to his trusted ally – the pull shot – to take him to safety

Osman Samiuddin at Bellerive Oval14-Jan-2010Time was when a Ricky Ponting pull was the central symbol of Australia’s dominance and the root cause of an opposition’s misery. His pulls were not brutal as, say, a West Indian one might have been in the 80s, but they were as emphatic. In a very different way they were just as good to look at, for the straightness of the lines he drew with his movement.Everything about the shot rubbed it in. Ponting’s movements when batting have always been so decisive, be it the forward lunge or the early backlift, and the pull is no different. The sound of the ball hitting the bat was enough to kill most bowlers; so clean, so middled and just so pulled. If bouncers were door-to-door salesmen, Ponting’s pull would be the door firmly shut on their face.He could hit it in front of square or behind it; up high or along the ground, rolling his wrists to keep it down. But he has always pulled. Michael Clarke reckoned, probably only half in jest, that the one shot has got him 6000 of his Test runs. It is the way Ponting and the Australian team is – no backward step ever taken.”The fast bowler is testing your courage and your speed of reaction and you are trying to hit him either to, or over the boundary,” Viv Richards said of the hook once. “You are telling the bully with the ball that you are not scared of anything he can send down at you.”The inverse applies now. The batsman is the bully and to pull is to be strong. But the heart of the matter with pulling is that as a stroke, it is mostly a consequence of ego. Despite all the talk this summer about Ponting’s susceptibility to the shot, this has fundamentally remained the same. Instinct, which Ponting says drives his pulling, is simply a part of that.Since being hit by Kemar Roach attempting one, Ponting has seemed doubly keen on pulling whatever came his way. He has talked about it almost as much as he has done it. “Keep bowling short to me and I’ll keep pulling,” he has said often. Twice against Pakistan, he pulled and paid the price. When he did it first ball at Sydney, it seemed purely out of conceit.For the first thirty runs of his innings today, Ponting lived off it, pulling relentlessly, trying to prove a point. He should have been out fourth ball doing it of course but such are the gifts Pakistan bring with them. Caution was absent from Ponting’s approach, for that is also weakness. He carried on pulling and doing it poorly; one hit him flush on the helmet, a couple got the bottom edge of his bat, he jerked his head away a few times, got on top of them rarely. He ducked just once. At that moment, Ponting’s shakiness with pulling seemed emblematic of Australia’s decline over the last two years.Perhaps it is the years – and reflexes – and perhaps it is nothing, just one of those freakish phases batsmen, bowlers and cricket is replete with.Mostly today he was early on the shots rather than late, a result he said, of a surface that was holding up the ball. And it isn’t as if he has been succumbing to the pull consistently. He’s been dismissed twice driving loosely too in this series, though no one seems to worry about that much.”I don’t look at it as being a statement,” he said. “It’s just one of those shots that comes more naturally to me than it does to most. It’s a lot to do with the way I pick the bat up and the way my foot movements are, is the reason I play the shot as much and as often as I do.”Fortunately Ponting’s genius is of many shades and resilient, even if in the last few years it has begun to fade. At various stages Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Asif asked him questions and though he stuttered, he answered back. Once he had survived a tricky path to fifty – only his third in 10 innings – the day was his.Thereafter he drove and swept and punched through covers off the back foot as if the summer and the last three years had never happened. There were even a couple of proper pulls, more controlled and played as if he knew he needn’t really have done it, but did so to merely prove a point.A first hundred in 16 innings, a second on his nominal home ground seemed inevitable after the fifty, though Pakistan-watchers sensed it the moment he was dropped on zero. The last two pulls he played for the day rolled the years back, as he kept his eyes on the ball and rolled his wrists over them to bisect two fielders in the deep.”The bottom line with me is if I can’t stop playing it, I’ve just got to play it better. I’ve played it well through my career and it has brought me a lot of runs,” he said. Bowlers will keep bowling it to him, but they are stubborn beasts anyway. The debate is closed for now, but rest assured it will be revisited in time to come.

Australia fought hard, but the lack of a good spin option was a huge handicap in the two-Test series

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan15-Oct-2010India reasserted their home dominance with a seven-wicket win in Bangalore which was their first at the venue in 15 years. The 2-0 defeat was the first time Australia lost all Tests of a series of at least two Tests since 1982-83. Australia are yet to beat India in a Test since the acrimonious Sydney match – they have lost five and drawn three out of eight matches played. Since 2000, India have challenged them both home and away, and have won 12 Tests to Australia’s 10 since the inception of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996. Both teams have been much more convincing at home, though Australia have won a series in India while India are yet to triumph in an away series.

India’s Test record against Australia

PlayedWonLostDraw1990s113712000s overall229762000s in India13733 2000s in Australia9243The first Test at Mohali was incredibly close, but VVS Laxman’s superb 73 guided India to a narrow one-wicket victory. The Bangalore Test hung in the balance for more than three days, but excellent bowling on the fourth afternoon and disciplined batting on the final day swung the fortunes India’s way. In both the matches, the first innings proved to be a high scoring one, but witnessed collapses in the latter half of the innings. India lost their last five wickets for nine runs in Bangalore and for 23 runs in Mohali, which must be a source of concern before the tour of South Africa later in the year. Australia, on the other hand had strong starts, but were let down by poor middle-order batting in both games. In an otherwise closely contested series, India’s more experienced and skillful bowling attack proved to be the difference.

Overall performance of both teams

TeamInningsRunsBatting average100s50sWicketsBowling average5WI10WMIndia38122138.15273833.2810Australia44122930.72273140.0610The difference between the batsmen of both teams was immense: India had three who averaged 75 or more; Australia had none. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting were clearly Australia’s best batsmen , but Ponting let the team down by his conversion rate: he had three fifties, but his highest score in the series was 77. Watson and Marcus North were the only centurions, but apart from his century, North scored 13 runs in three innings. Australia were let down most by the failures of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey – both are considered good players of spin, but both had a rough time, with Clarke being especially poor. Hussey’s average fell below 50 for the first time in his career since November 2005 while Clarke, who entered the series averaging over 46 against India, did not reach 20 even once in four innings.For India, Sachin Tendulkar reiterated the value of his experience by aggregating more than 400 runs in the two matches. His 214 in Bangalore is his sixth double-hundred in Tests, bringing him level with Virender Sehwag in the list of Indian batsmen with the most double centuries. Murali Vijay demonstrated excellent technique and patience in the course of his maiden century. Vijay and Tendulkar shared a 308-run stand for the third wicket which is the second-highest for the third wicket against Australia. Suresh Raina and Sehwag had starts but failed to convert them. Rahul Dravid struggled a bit, but he has an opportunity to regain his touch in the forthcoming home series against New Zealand. (Click here for the series averages of India, and here for Australia.)In terms of partnerships, India’s top order did significantly better than Australia’s. The visitors’ opening pair was consistent, but failed to convert their starts into bigger partnerships. Watson and Ponting were the best batsmen in the top order, but the poor form of Clarke and Hussey significantly affected the batting. India had just one fifty-plus opening stand but Vijay and Tendulkar made amends with a massive partnership in Bangalore. Marcus North and Tim Paine shared a 149-run stand for the sixth wicket in Bangalore and the lower order also contributed substantially. India, on the other hand suffered lower order collapses in both Tests, but the 81-run stand for the ninth wicket in Mohali between Laxman and Ishant Sharma helped clinch the first Test.

Partnership stats for both teams

RunsAverageHighest partnership10050Top order (1-3)- India69157.5830813Top order (1-3)- Australia46538.7514113Middle order (4-6)- India50355.8812414Middle order (4-6)- Australia56146.7514915Lower order (7-10)- India12911.728101Lower order (7-10)- Australia29518.438202Among the Indian bowlers, Zaheer Khan was outstanding, while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha did their bits too. Zaheer used the reverse swing to great effect while the accurate and economical Ojha combined superbly with Harbhajan in the second innings of both Tests to restrict Australia to low scores. Ishant Sharma was inconsistent in Mohali, but brought India back in the contest with a three wicket spell in the second innings.

Performance of Indian bowlers

BowlerMatchesRuns concededWicketsAverage5WI10WMZaheer Khan22621221.8310Harbhajan Singh23651133.1800Pragyan Ojha2349938.7700Ishant Sharma1105332.6200Ben Hilfenhaus was Australia’s best bowler throughout the series, bowling testing spells in both matches without luck. Mitchell Johnson had a five wicket haul in Mohali but was quite ineffective in Bangalore. Doug Bollinger’s injury proved to be very crucial for Australia as he had proved to be the best bowler in the pre lunch session in Mohali. His absence in Bangalore weakened the attack considerably and Nathan Hauritz’s poor form only added to their woes. In the crucial second innings in Bangalore, he conceded over a run a ball while picking up just one wicket. Clearly the performance of the spinners was below par for Australia.

Performance of Australian bowlers

BowlerMatchesRuns concededWicketsAverage5WI10WMMitchell Johnson2261832.6210Nathan Hauritz2390665.0000Ben Hilfenhaus2261643.5000Doug Bollinger181516.2000In the end, the factor that separated the two teams was the performance of the spinners. In both matches, the first innings witnessed high scores, but on wearing tracks, the ability of the Indian spinners to contain and pick up wickets regularly proved to be the difference. The Indian pace bowlers, especially Zaheer, were highly effective with the old ball in both matches. Hilfenhaus was the most consistent bowler for the Australians but Hauritz’s innocuous display dented their chances.

Performance of fast bowlers and spinners

Type of bowlerMatchesRuns concededWickets takenAverage5WI10WMPace (India)24941729.0510Pace (Australia)27602333.0410Spin (India)27712136.7100Spin (Australia)2482860.2500Player-versus-player statsPonting sorted out his previous troubles against Harbhajan superbly. He scored at a consistent rate and was not dismissed even once by the off spinner. Ojha though, had a better time against Watson dismissing him on two occasions. North and Johnson were unable to cope with Harbhajan and Zaheer respectively, falling to them three times in four innings. Clarke, one of Australia’s finest players of spin bowling, had a poor series falling three times to the spinners while Hussey was dismissed by Zaheer in both Tests.

Australian batsmen against Indian bowlers

Batsman/bowlerRunsBalls facedDismissalsAverageRicky Ponting/Harbhajan Singh781120-Shane Watson/Pragyan Ojha64200232.00Marcus North/Harbhajan Singh48107316.00Michael Hussey/Zaheer Khan122126.00Tendulkar and Vijay completely dominated Hauritz in Bangalore during their record stand. Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the series, did not lose his wicket even once to Hilfenhaus, who was arguably Australia’s best bowler in the series. Sehwag though, fell to Hilfenhaus three times in four innings. Bollinger, whose absence in Bangalore proved crucial, bowled impressively in Mohali dismissing Dravid in both innings.

Indian batsmen against Australian bowlers

Batsman/bowlerRunsBalls facedDismissalsAverageSachin Tendulkar/Nathan Hauritz1612250-Murali Vijay/Nathan Hauritz59790-Sachin Tendulkar/Ben Hilfenhaus701460-Virender Sehwag/Ben Hilfenhaus3436311.33Rahul Dravid/Doug Bollinger82424.00

Plays of the day from the third day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Colombo

Andrew Fernando in Colombo25-Nov-2010The déjà vu feeling of the day
Yesterday, Kumar Sangakkara danced down the track to loft Shane Shillingford over mid-on for six and then four off consecutive deliveries. Another left hander, West Indies no. 3 Darren Bravo, must have been taking notes. In Rangana Herath’s sixth over, Bravo waltzed down to hit him over long-on for a six, and then dispatched his nex ball for four. Same ploy, same end, same area, same result.The catch of the day
Rangana Herath is, perhaps, the least athletic looking player in the Sri Lanka side. Standing at a smidgen over five feet and with a portly build, he is not known for his fielding prowess. But today he pulled off a blinder that would have made even Jonty Rhodes or AB de Villiers proud. Spotting a leading edge off Darren Bravo that spooned towards extra cover, Herath sprinted in from backward point and launched himself horizontally towards the plummeting ball with arms outstretched. His teammates swooped in delighted, and Bravo departed – scarcely able to believe what he’d just seen.The ramp of the day
Cricket helmets have changed a lot since they first arrived on the scene, and Kumar Sangakkara’s preferred model, which is sleeker and flatter than most other helmets, might just be the next wave of them. When Sangakkara was hit on the helmet by Kemar Roach in his third over of the morning, rather than lobbing lamely to slip or gully, the ball ramped up over the smooth beak and flew high over the wicketkeeper for four leg-byes.The riposte of the day
What’s the best way to reply to being hit on the lid by a pumped up fast bowler? Slam him for consecutive boundaries. After Kemar Roach caught a ducking Kumar Sangakkara in his second over of the morning, the batsman responded in style. The next delivery was dispatched emphatically to the square leg boundary, beating the man at deep backward-square and the following ball rocketed to the fence through the covers.The party pooper of the day
If there is one thing cricket in the West Indies and Sri Lanka have in common, it’s the music in the stands. But just as the band were getting warmed up for the day, Chris Gayle stopped Suranga Lakmal in his run-up to ask the musicians to stop playing. Apparently, if it’s not calypso, it’s distracting. He wasn’t even on strike.

With a pitch taking turn and his confidence rising, England’s offspinner is the key man as the tourists aim to secure a series lead

Andrew Miller at Adelaide06-Dec-2010Session by session, over by over, Graeme Swann has been finding his range in this series. In the first innings at Brisbane he was badly off the pace – at least by the exactingly high standards that he has set for himself this past year – as Michael Hussey in particular climbed into his exploratory lengths, and pulled him through midwicket with a certainty cultivated by years of cross-batted strokeplay at the WACA.But with every subsequent day that England have spent in the field, Swann has edged that little bit closer to the fore. It helped that, at Adelaide, he was allowed to attack from the outset after Australia’s top-order collapsed to 3 for 2, but with the decisive fifth day looming and Australia’s hopes of salvation rocked by the final-ball loss of Michael Clarke, Swann knows that the click of his fingers could decide the destiny of this match.”I don’t feel any extra pressure, it’s my job as a spinner,” said Swann, whose record as a Tests matchwinner stands up to the highest scrutiny. Of the 119 wickets that he’s claimed in his career to date, 65 of those have come in 12 England victories, at the world-class average of 19.95. So far in this final innings he’s claimed 2 for 72 in 34 probing overs, but the sight of Kevin Pietersen ducking in to extract Clarke on the stroke of stumps has changed the dynamic of the game.”It’s a massive bonus for us,” said Swann. “It was tough going for us in the last session, with their two best players against spin at crease, both playing well. Sometimes you need a bit of inspiration and who else but KP to come on and give you it. We’re confident, we’ve played some very good cricket since day four in Brisbane, we’ve been a very good side. If we can turn up tomorrow and continue in that vein then I think we are in the box seat.”On Tuesday, Swann will resume with two familiar left-handers in his sights. Marcus North was Swann’s first wicket of the series at the Gabba, where his teasing line and subtle turn proved too good for a nervous poke to slip, but his former Northamptonshire team-mate Hussey has been a far more formidable foe. He won the first round hands-down with a career-saving 195 up in Brisbane, and followed that up with a doughty 93 on Friday’s first day at Adelaide. But Swann ended his stay on that occasion with a well-flighted tweaker, and the confidence that is the hallmark of his game is starting to make itself count.

Sometimes a bit of inspiration just works in your favour. It was one of those sessions where I felt the world was against meGraeme Swann on Kevin Pietersen’s late strike

“It was very satisfying, and the ball felt great coming out of my hand today,” said Swann. “It wasn’t a very enjoyable last session after the rain because the ball gets wet and my fingers get sore, but that’s one of the beauties of being a spinner, you have to put up with that. It was very pleasing on the whole for the day. In an ideal world we probably would have them eight or nine down but it’s not an ideal world and we’re facing a very resilient Australian team.”The first signs that Swann would be a threat in this game came on the third afternoon when North entered the attack to bowl the 72nd over of England’s innings, and instantly extracted sharp spin from a perfect offspinner’s length – a prospect that had been aided in no small part by the footholes left by Doug Bollinger’s left-arm followthrough.Swann claimed not to have noticed that initial delivery – or any of the others that exploded out of the footholes – as he was having a kip in the dressing-room at the time. However, in a mock South African accent, he recalled the excitement with which Pietersen had returned to the dressing room at the close – “It’s turning square out there, it’s impossible to bat” – and ironically enough, KP went on to prove his own point with a ball that spat at Clarke’s bat to deflect to Alastair Cook at short leg.Though Swann jokingly reminded everyone that he’s the “only spinner” in the England team, he was more than happy for the wicket-taking burden to be shared, even if Pietersen needed just eight balls to break through compared to the 11 overs that Swann wheeled his way through before Simon Katich snicked him to the keeper. “Personally I couldn’t give a monkey’s who takes the wickets,” he said. “I’m so glad KP got that one in the last over. Clarke’s their best player of spin and to get him out like that was magic.Graeme Swann claimed two wickets and could have had a few more on the fourth afternoon•Getty Images”It is sod’s law but I love sod’s law sometimes,” he added. “Sometimes a bit of inspiration just works in your favour. It was one of those sessions where I felt the world was against me. I changed my field for two balls and the ball went straight to the leg slip that I’d just moved. Sometimes the best captains in the world’s are the ones who just say ‘take a break mate.’ I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to be taken off but it’s great when Kev can come on and do that.”Hussey, who has watched Swann’s game develop from his earliest days as a professional in the Northamptonshire dressing-room, is 44 not out at the close, and braced for another tussle with a player whom he admitted had “improved out of sight” over the course of the past decade. “I remember playing with him at Wantage Road, he’d be able to keep the pressure and bowl these amazing deliveries, then he’d just let it off with one or two bad balls an over,” he said. “Now he’s on the money all the time, he hardly bowls a loose ball and he keeps the pressure on the batsmen all the time.”Hussey also believed that the Adelaide wicket, combined with the fact that England are now far more comfortable with the series situation, would make Swann a far greater threat than had been the case at the Gabba. “Obviously the conditions are a little more conducive for his style of bowling here than up in Brisbane,” he said. “There’s a very small margin for error on that pitch up in Brisbane, it was obviously pretty flat by the end of the match, whereas here there’s a lot more in his favour.”There’s a bit more variable bounce, there’s obviously some footmarks for him to work in, and I’m sure everyone was really nervous in that first Test,” he added. “Now everyone can relax and focus more on their own game. Yeah, he’s bowling well, no question.”

Over the course of six weeks, and with their victory in the final, India busted a few old theories while proving several of their own ones right

Sharda Ugra at the Wankhede Stadium03-Apr-2011Just before the Indians left their Ahmedabad hotel for their first knock-out match of the 2011 World Cup, six men spoke to the team. They were players from the Class of 2003. Each of them told their team-mates his own story about what had happened at the Wanderers that day, about the mistakes of eight years ago that should not be repeated. They had tried too hard, they had been too eager, they had allowed the situation to overwhelm them. It was a cautionary tale. Their words were few, short, and plain and they gave the younger, newer, less-scarred group in front of them a simple instruction: not again.It is how India have performed at the tail end of the World Cup, looking at how their group stage had gone and saying “never again”. So that in the last fortnight of this World Cup, they could find a way to ensure that their early mistakes would not be repeated.It is often believed that finals somehow never turn out to be the events that are expected because the high stakes make athletes go cold and freeze up. Much is also said about what captain MS Dhoni called “peaking” in an event, which works more smoothly with individuals than it does with teams.On both counts the Indians came off at the Wankhede Stadium, like the fireworks that lit up the Mumbai night seconds after Dhoni’s bold signature six sealed their triumph. The final was the time when all the incomplete notes of India’s World Cup performance fell into sync.Gautam Gambhir, who had three fifties in the Cup but had not seized a game by its throat, produced his most convincing performance to lift India from the shock of losing their openers. He was central to two partnerships that took India from 31 for 2 to a six-wicket victory.Dhoni, whose top World Cup score up until the final had been 34, strode out and did not leave the field until victory had been achieved. Of course Yuvraj Singh, the Player of the Tournament and the Indian team’s totem through the early rough stages of the tournament, had to be with him at the other end. After defeat to South Africa in the group stages in Nagpur, India’s biggest stumble in the World Cup, Yuvraj had told a friend, “I have to take us to the World Cup final. Just you watch. I’m going to take them there.”There they were. Not a familiar India, dependent on their batting, but a more secure, self-assured India, batting as if chases in finals were like having a net, except with a crowd cheering them on. This was India in their most accomplished situational batting performance of the event, chasing down 274 with 99 singles, 24 twos and even a three. In every knock-out game, India have, through sheer consistency of method, exposed the weakness of their opposition. They made the most of Australia’s uneven bowling attack, defended against Pakistan by pressing hard in the field and forcing their batsmen to fumble, and stunned Sri Lanka by letting the weight and experience of their batting bear down, by taking the barest minimum of risks but making sure to always keep the score moving.India’s danger signs for the opposition in this World Cup lay not in their attacking openers or any flood of fours but in what their weakest links were able to do. When Indian fielders start diving, their batsmen start taking threes or sprinting surprising singles, or their most medium of pacers begin to repeatedly beat the edges and hurry batsmen, it is time for the opposition to worry. Or as the old says goes, to be afraid. In a World Cup knockout, that should have read be very afraid.After the game at the Wankhede, Dhoni said that the World Cup win had ended a chapter in Indian cricket that had opened with the World Twenty20 win of 2007. “Right now we can close the chapter. We need to build a team again. Because of the amount of cricket we play, we need quite a few reserve players to come in and bowl. We need spinners and batsmen to be at their best because if we want to do well at the international level, we will have to try out quite a few players and not think about the result.”Two weeks ago the audience would have guffawed. Now it must nod in agreement. Today it is perhaps wiser to give Dhoni and India’s theories the time to be tried out. After all, over the course of six weeks, with their victory, they have busted a few old ones and proved several of their own right.- That home teams are jinxed in the World Cup and chasing in finals is only a prelude to a meltdown. The Indians managed both at the Wankhede, setting the benchmark for World Cup final chases. If playing at home meant enduring the growing weight of public hope, it was also about enjoying the familiarity of conditions.Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were battle tested by the time India reached the final•AFP- That options exercised, whether in matches or training, can work if planned smartly. Dhoni said the Indians had known the group stages were going to contain “weak games” and they would need to keep their most seasoned players in prime condition going into the knockouts. “It was a big challenge, series by series we gave rest, or players opted for rest. And to be in a position where we were able to give 100% on the field, each individual throwing themselves around. They had a bit of reserve battery, which they applied throughout the tournament.”- That in a major event, covering the most trying of yards and being pushed to the edge is always more useful than coasting through to the final hurdle. In the final, Sri Lanka faced the heat for the first time in their World Cup and could not fall back into producing what their opponents know as their trademark move when defending a score: the mid-innings garotte. It begins with a few tight overs, the tap of runs suddenly shrinking to a trickle, moves onto a field closing in on the batsmen, and finally ends with one wicket and then another. On the contrary, the Indians had earlier survived several 31 for 2-like scenarios before. Had they lost Dhoni soon, the batsmen who followed – Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina knew how to resuscitate an innings because they had been there, done that. Yuvraj with Raina versus Australia, and Raina with the lower order against Pakistan.- That fielding can be lifted, no matter what vintage the players may belong to. All through the tournament Dhoni had constantly reminded outsiders that the Indians were not really good fielders, yet in the knockouts they stepped up a level with every game. No matter how clumsy or unpolished their techniques, the oldest and creakiest of the Indians were diving to stop boundaries.Had the India of the World Cup group stages, the India seen in Bangalore or Nagpur, been fielding at the Wankhede, the target could have touched 300, because the wicket had smoothed out towards the end of Sri Lanka’s innings. The dazzle of India’s batting is well known; the bowling, led by Zaheer Khan all through the tournament, had fought back to win territory in the early rounds, like they did against England.Where India were most astonishingly impressive during the knockouts was in cricket’s most “unselfish” art – in the field. All through the tournament Dhoni, who specialises in automobile analogies, had compared the Indian fielding to an old car engine trying to adjust to working with hybrid fuel. After the semi-final, he said that all he hoped for now was one more game. “After that, even if some of the cars fall down, it is okay.”Then there is this last theory: about India not really hacking it in recent ICC tournaments. Partly true. Not in the World Twenty20 after 2007, not in the Champions Trophy either. But in this one, the ICC’s biggest tournament, the Indians more than hacked it. When it came down to the rounds where both ability and nerve came into play, India became the team that refused to be beaten.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe may have been earmarked for the containment role in South Africa’s pace attack, but he’s going to do a lot more than just hold up an end

Firdose Moonda26-Oct-2011The first time Lonwabo Tsotosbe played an ODI, he claimed the wickets of Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson. His performance helped South Africa claim the No. 1 rank in ODIs, but he did not play for the national team again for the next nine months.South Africa had already won that series, and had decided to rest Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini and hand debuts to Tsotsobe and left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell as an experiment. That the bean in the petridish actually sprouted meant very little.It’s that feeling of being always on the fringes that Tsotsobe has struggled to shake off, even after a successful and complete first season in international cricket, in which he excelled against India.He has started his second international summer as the best performer in the South Africa XI. While Dale Steyn has been erratic and wayward against Australia, and Morne Morkel took time to get his bounce right, Tsotsobe was spot on from the first match of the home series, a Twenty20 international in Cape Town. He picked up the most economical figures by a South Africa bowler in a T20I (over a completed spell) in his next outing, at the Wanderers, was impressive in his first spell during the first ODI, in Centurion, and again in Port Elizabeth.With the deciding ODI and a two-Test series on the horizon, Tsotsobe has announced himself as a key player in South Africa’s attack. He wants to be perceived as one who can shine in his role.”I wouldn’t like to be seen as someone who is going to be the third bowler and is just going to hold up one end,” he said after South Africa’s series-levelling win in Port Elizabeth. “I want to be recognised as a person who can also get wickets.”His statement is particularly pertinent to South Africa’s Test line-up, which is expected to contain three attacking bowlers, Steyn, Morkel and legspinner Imran Tahir. The inclusion of Tahir means that Tsotsobe will be earmarked as the container, who will have to bowl more overs than any of the others and give away fewer runs.His fitness was thought to be a reason he would struggle to perform that role, but a noticeably leaner Tsotsobe now looks like he could easily bowl 30 overs in a day. He said he has been training with South Africa’s fitness expert Rob Walter and working on muscle strength as well as cardio activities.”Every time when we play, we go to the gym for a light session, and I think it’s paying off. When you bowl your first ball, your legs are fresh, but when you are about to bowl your 30th over, you are tired and maybe your legs are drained. We do a lot of work on our legs and upper body, so it’s helping a lot.”Pace is not as big a buzzword for seam bowlers in South Africa as it used to be, and Tsotsobe’s ability to change his speeds, bowl the cutter and vary his lengths makes him tricky to face. “I know when to bowl my slower balls, my bouncers, and I am using my variations quite well,” he said.He believes that he complements the faster bowlers and it showed when he opened the bowling with Steyn in the first two ODIs. “It’s worked out very well,” he said, while adding that even though Steyn has not looked his usual fearsome self, having a player of his experience has been of assistance.”I enjoy opening with Dale because he has played a lot of games and whenever I am not bowling well, he will come up to me and say, ‘You’ve always told me that when you are not bowling well, your front arm is not working.’ And maybe my front arm isn’t working that day. I’ve got someone who is backing me and telling me I can do it.”

“It’s a big role that I am playing for the team, but I can’t say just because I am bowling well I am unbeatable”

Having his franchise coach, Russell Domingo, in the national setup has also had its benefits. “When I’ve got something going on or when I am not performing well, he knows what’s going on,” Tsotsobe said. “It helps when I’ve got someone that I can talk to. Not that I don’t talk to the head coach, Gazza [Gary Kirsten], or Allan [Donald], but sometimes you feel more comfortable talking to the person you have known for a long time.”One of the things Domingo has instilled in all of the players he has coached, including Johan Botha, Colin Ingram and Parnell, is a sense of the importance of remaining humble. Tsotsobe is another example of the modest Eastern Cape attitude, and he has not let his success over the past year bloat his ego.”It’s a big role that I am playing for the team, but I can’t say just because I am bowling well I am unbeatable. This is the international level and bowlers get studied, and I have to keep working on my game.”His family has provided him with good grounding and support. It probably helps that he is not their only sporting superstar. Tsotsobe’s mother, Dorothy, is the only woman on the executive board of the Eastern Province Rugby Union.”My mom is always supporting me,” he said. ‘”Whether it’s a four-day game or an international, she is always there. His sister, Nomsebenzi, captains the national women’s rugby team, and she was present at the match in Port Elizabeth.Tsotsobe has maintained a shy and quiet approach in international cricket, but beneath the gentle-giant exterior is a strong, confident man who is determined to leave his mark on the country’s cricketing landscape. Other bowlers may have come along, like Parnell, Vernon Philander and Rusty Theron, who all, like Tsotsobe himself, thrive on variations rather than raw pace, but it’s not something that fazes him. “I don’t want anyone to take my spot,” he said. “I have been working very hard.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan in Mirpur

Siddarth Ravindran in Mirpur18-Mar-2012The slip
Virat Kohli’s sensational one-day form continued in Mirpur, and he had put India well on course to complete their largest successful chase. There were a few edges towards third man during his innings, but the major concern came when he was on 121. He tried to power a full ball from Umar Gul, but didn’t connect well. The ball rolled safely to the leg side, but he lost his bat during the follow-through. To his horror, it flew towards the stumps. Gul watched expectantly, but the bat narrowly missed off stump, and Kohli went on to mete out more punishment to the Pakistan bowlers.The interruption
The Shere Bangla stadium was already abuzz with the fans raucously supporting Pakistan, and the PA system blaring out the latest pop hits. All that was drowned out by the roar of a military jet flying around the stadium, and thrilling the crowd by doing a loop. Part of the military routines ahead of the independence day celebrations on March 26, the jet flew past the ground several times. The umpire Ian Gould even stopped Ashok Dinda from bowling till it had passed and left a slightly quieter atmosphere for play to resume.The doosra
Sachin Tendulkar was playing one of his carefree innings, and had completed a quick half-century. He had shown ominous signs of form, including an utterly effortless uppercut that went over slips and over the third man boundary. Pakistan’s fielding was in pieces, with 17 coming off the 17th over from Wahab Riaz, and India had the momentum. It was time for Saeed Ajmal’s doosra to work its magic, and it did. Tendulkar was looking for the turn, and closed the face, getting an edge to slip.The collision
In the 38th over, Umar Akmal gently played the ball towards square leg. Virat Kohli rushed in from deep midwicket, and Rohit Sharma from deep backward square leg, neither realising that the other was also closing in on the ball. Kohli crashed into Rohit’s shoulder and both men were down on the ground, reminding some of the recent collision between Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan in Sydney. Like then, neither player was seriously hurt, getting back on their feet after a bit of medical attention. At the SCG, though, Raina had managed to hang on to the ball for a catch, this time the ball trickled through allowing an all-run four.The catch
Even as India’s spirits were being crushed by the Pakistan batsmen, Raina gave it a lift with a blinder at extra cover. Younis Khan played a firm lofted inside-out stroke towards Raina, and would have felt he had enough on it to clear the fielder. Raina skipped to his left, before leaping and stretching his right hand across his body to pluck it out of the air. With Pakistan already at 323, there was little elation from Raina despite a spectacular effort.The late-effort
When Mohammad Hafeez clubbed the first ball of the seventh over above Gautam Gambhir at mid-on, Gambhir expected that the quick outfield would help it to the boundary. Initially, he only made a half-hearted amble towards the ball, before realising that Hafeez hadn’t timed it too well and that he had a chance of hauling it back. He then switched to full speed but it was too late, and the ball beat him to the rope.

Plays of the Day from the third day of the Galle Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Galle24-Jun-2012Akmal lashes out
Pakistan might have been at the wrong end of an umpiring error or two in the morning session, but there was one wicket they couldn’t blame on external factors. Adnan Akmal swept to fine leg, ran hard for the first run and then called for the second and set off, but his partner Mohammad Ayub wasn’t so sure. Ayub obliged rather late but hesitated and then headed back to his crease. By then it was too late for Akmal to head back as he was already more than halfway down. A peeved Akmal gestured to Ayub and gave him an earful as he walked back. The stump microphones picked up: My call, my call, I said ‘yes’. Not the warmest welcome to Test cricket for Ayub.No-DRS moment of the day I
If Pakistan thought they had seen the worst of the umpiring on the second evening, they were mistaken. A struggling Younis Khan was trying to play himself into form and resurrect the innings. His knock was cut short when he faced Rangana Herath. The flighted delivery drew him forward, the ball went straight through but Younis played for the turn, and the umpire failed to notice an inside edge onto the pads and gave him lbw. A stunned Younis stood his ground for a few seconds, but the decision was made. Pakistan had lost their most experienced batsman. Just another argument in favour of the DRS.No-DRS moment of the day II
This one went against Pakistan in the field. With Tillakaratne Dilshan racing away at nearly a run-a-ball, and the lead swelling, Pakistan were finding it hard to contain the hosts. Saeed Ajmal tossed one up from round the wicket, down the leg side and Dilshan, attemping to sweep fine, got a glove to it. Akmal and Ajmal knew they had had him, but the umpire wasn’t so sure. The following ball, Dilshan added further insult to injury by glancing it to third man for four. The coach Dav Whatmore took off his cap in frustration, Ajmal kicked the turf in disgust and Mohammad Hafeez came over and put an arm on his shoulder.Akmal rides piggyback
It was a day of contrasting moods for Akmal. When Thilan Samaraweera slashed Junaid Khan towards slip, the ball dipped to Younis’ left, where he took a sharp low catch. Akmal too could have gone for it but he wisely left it for the experienced Younis. Akmal went out of his way to extend his gratitude by clambering onto the prone Younis’ back – he refused to budge even after Younis had got to his feet and started walking. His mood a world apart from the morning then, when he lashed out at Ayub.

After a string of defeats since their Test comeback last August, this is a series victory to get Zimababwe cricket going again

Firdose Moonda24-Jun-2012Zimbabwe’s victory in the unofficial Twenty20 tri-series, which included a stunning nine-wicket win over South Africa in the final, is an indication that they are “on the right path” according to their coach Alan Butcher.Zimbabwean cricket started its upward trajectory since they made their Test comeback against Bangladesh last August but hit choppy waters soon after. Tough series against Pakistan and New Zealand set them back but their coup in this competition is an affirmation for Butcher that improvements have been made.”This is a real sign that we are on the right track,” Butcher told ESPNcricinfo. “It can sometimes get hard to convince people that things are going well when we don’t get the results so this has been really good from that perspective.” Since making their Test comeback with a victory over Bangladesh, Zimbabwe have lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in all formats, the latter both home and away.Their 2012 schedule is sparse, with no cricket from January until the World T20 in September. The tri-series was organised at the request of South Africa coach Gary Kirsten, who wanted to give his team match practice and a chance to experiment ahead of the World T20. It was initially supposed to be a bilateral five-match series played over five days. But, after Bangladesh had their tour to Pakistan postponed, they requested to join in. Their participation brought with it television coverage which gave the series a far higher profile, something Butcher said will add to the publicity of his team’s showing, albeit in a series of practice matches.”It didn’t matter that it was unofficial, we took it very seriously,” Butcher said. “We had training camps since the beginning of May and we worked very hard for this, so I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The guys worked well as a unit.”The coach had a few special words of praise for one of his stand-out charges. Hamilton Masakadza was named man of the series after finishing as the tournament’s top run-scorer with 267 runs at 66.75 and notching up four half-centuries in five matches. He also scored a hundred in the tour match against Bangladesh and is enjoying what some like Zimbabwe cricket committee chair Alistair Campbell, have called the form of his life.”I am very pleased for Hamilton. He had his problems and he was even left out of the side but he has worked on them,” Butcher said, referring to Masakadza’s exclusion from the 2011 World Cup squad. “He had an outstanding tournament and he deserved this.”Masakadza’s unbeaten 58 and Brendan Taylor’s 59 not out took Zimbabwe to a comfortable win in the final, but Zimbabwe gained the advantage first-up when their bowlers pinned South Africa down to 146 for 6. “We had a good start, which helped, but generally all the bowlers have worked well as a unit,” Butcher said. South Africa were 6 for 2 in the second over and had lost both their openers, Richard Levi and Hashim Amla.Chris Mpofu was the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with seven wickets and an average of 16.14. He showed good ability on a familiar surface to mix up pace with cutters and performed the role of the senior seamer that he is. Mpofu said he benefitted from being pushed by youngsters like Kyle Jarvis and now has another pace bowler to contend with as well.Richard Muzhange was the find of the tournament. He bowled with control and executed the yorker with perfection, especially at the death of an innings. Jason Gillespie, who coached Muzhange at the Mid-West Rhinos last season, identified him as a future star and Butcher could not be more pleased with what they have found. “He is definitely one for the future. He showed great composure and that he is willing to learn.”That is quality that could be associated with almost all of the Zimbabwe side. They have found that knowledge of what to do in certain conditions and how to play in certain situations has made them a more competitive team and Butcher said it has also had an influence on their mindsets. “The players are growing in confidence and self-belief. Hopefully, we will take that with us into the World T20.”

Israr Ali, Pakistan’s oldest living Test cricketer, had a short and frustrating career, but one in which he made an Australian batsman his bunny

Umar Farooq05-Aug-2012When 91-year-old Aslam Khokar died last January, Israr Ali became Pakistan’s oldest surviving Test cricketer. At 85, Israr lives a humble life, away from cricket, in his hometown, Okara, southwest of Lahore.Israr played in Pakistan’s first Test, 60 years ago, against India. But unlike his famous team-mates from that tour, Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood and Imtiaz Ahmed, Israr is a forgotten man today.A misunderstanding with his captain Abdul Kardar, then the most powerful man in Pakistan cricket, is what Israr believes kept his Test career to four matches. A left-arm fast-medium bowler, he was picked as a bowling allrounder for the 1952 India tour, but played mostly as a batsman, confused and frustrated by lack of clarity about his role.Israr scored a half-century in the first tour game, against North Zone in Amritsar, and was sent out at No. 3 in the first Test in Delhi. Dismissed for 1 and 9 by Vinoo Mankad, he was dropped for the next match, in Lucknow – where he became Pakistan’s first substitute fielder to effect a dismissal, catching Gul Ahmed off the bowling of Amir Elahi.”It was Kardar who fought to get me in the side [for the India tour],” Israr told ESPNcricinfo. “He believed my being a left-armer could be lethal, and that my reasonable batting ability could be an advantage. But surprisingly, he didn’t ask me to bowl and that was frustrating.”In the third Test, in Mumbai, he was relegated to the tail of the batting and bowling orders, getting only three overs in an innings that lasted 112.”Kardar was a dominating captain at the time and I paid the price for the occasional argument with him and also some misunderstanding,” Israr remembers.He was rubbed up the wrong way by Kardar once summoning him in a disrespectful manner at the Gymkhana ground in Lahore. The two might have come to blows had other players not stepped in. Kardar was also under the mistaken impression that Israr was against his captaincy and had complained to the chairman of the board about Kardar. Israr puts this down to Kardar being misled by people with vested interests.All that is water under the bridge now. “Life has been very simple so far and I am satisfied with it,” Israr says, “but fighting with Kardar was my biggest regret. He was truly the best man in the history of Pakistan cricket. I went to him in Karachi to talk about my attitude and we resolved all the issues but it was too late.”Israr was 32 when he was recalled to the side for two Tests against Australia, in 1959-60. He took six wickets but failed with the bat. He remembers the games for his complete domination of Australia’s opening batsman Les Favell. Israr dismissed him in all four innings without the assistance of fielders.”A remarkable day in my career was when I bowled Favell in Dacca [the first Test] and a crowd of 50,000 spectators was on its toes, cheering for the dismissal. For a while I was stunned.” He bowled Favell in the second innings in Lahore for 4, in the process breaking a stump that was then signed by the Pakistan president Ayub Khan and Israr, and handed over to the Lahore museum – from where it disappeared years later.With that Test, Israr’s international career ended, and not long after that he had to retire from first-class cricket too, when he was injured in an accident: a bus collided with his car, killing three of his friends who were in it. Israr escaped with a broken arm, but vanished from the cricket scene for a decade and a half, before returning to work in administration for a few years.A young Israr•PCB/Maqsood AhmedToday he spends his days waking at sunrise and being driven to his farm, where he supervises the cultivation of wheat, rice and occasionally corn. He has three sons none of whom played cricket competitively. “I took them to the cricket ground but it was a hopeless attempt. Maybe they didn’t want to work hard or were lacking interest. So I was the only one in my family who played cricket at the top level.”Israr was the president of Multan Region from 1981 to 1982, and a member of Pakistan’s selection committee in 1983 and 1984, before he decided to move away from the game. In 1997 he was a beneficiary of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series played in Sharjah. “I parted from cricket after 1987, maybe because I was losing the passion, and decided to stay back in Okara,” he says.Like many former cricketers, Israr isn’t happy with the how the game has evolved in the country. “The quality of cricket began to drop after the ’80s, and administration got more politicised. It has been going down since then. Pakistan cricket has been on top for decades but things don’t look good now. I feel cricket is reduced only to bigger cities like Karachi and Lahore. It’s very sad to see the talent around the outskirts of the cities being ignored.Inevitably, he thinks things were better in his time. “In our era we didn’t have to go to any coach to learn,” he says. “We just observed and applied it until we got perfect,”In his first over in first-class cricket, he could have done with some coaching guidance, though. Playing for Southern Punjab against Northern India in Patiala, he was warned by the umpire twice for stepping on the danger area in his follow-through. “I remember it because I was asked to bowl over the wicket and I struggled for a while with my follow-through and I ended up in the middle of the pitch. But I recovered well.”For Israr, the period between his playing days in the 1950s and the 1980s was “the best era”. “We didn’t have any inspiring figures in cricket to follow but we were passionate about the game and wanted to play it. There was a real competitive environment around us at school, in the nets, everywhere we played. We were out there to prove a point.”