His besting of Roy and Bairstow showed India shouldn’t just let match-ups dictate how they use their offspinner

Deivarayan Muthu15-Mar-2021In a time when T20 is all about match-ups, there’s sometimes a danger that teams can use bowlers in a formulaic way. Offspinner to left-hand batsman, left-arm orthodox to right-hander.In the first match of India’s T20I series against England, Virat Kohli held Washington Sundar back until the 12th over of England’s chase, and he struck immediately to pin Jason Roy lbw, but the game was already up by then. Axar Patel had taken the new ball against the right-handed pair of Roy and Jos Buttler, while Sundar was reserved for England’s left-hander-heavy middle order.Having slipped to a heavy defeat in that game, India put all their eggs in one basket and picked just five bowlers, including the allrounder Hardik Pandya, for the second.Sundar got to bowl in the powerplay role he so relishes, but it was in the middle overs that he made a stronger impression, and he did so by taking out two of the most dangerous right-hand batsmen going around in T20, Roy and Jonny Bairstow. Those two strikes set the scene for a slower-ball masterclass at the death from Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as India went on to level the series with a seven-wicket win.Related

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The evening, though, didn’t begin well for Sundar. He prides himself on hitting an awkward, in-between length, and threatening the stumps with the new ball, but on Sunday he marginally missed his length and watched Roy plant his front foot and clout him over long-on for a first-ball six. Sundar immediately began hitting the pitch harder and dragged his length back to give up just a single off the next five balls of the over.In his next over, Sundar applied greater pressure and made Dawid Malan manufacture shots. Malan took a little trip down the pitch, but Sundar dug one right into it, hitting that in-between length and drawing an inside edge to the leg side. Malan then searched for one of his go-to shots – the slog-sweep – but then Sundar doesn’t offer you the length or time for that shot. He speared a non-turning offbreak into Malan’s pads from round the stumps at 103kph, with that sharp angle pushing the ball past leg stump.All of his six balls in Sundar’s second over were over 100kph, cramping the batsmen for length or room. Dinesh Karthik, Sundar’s captain at Tamil Nadu, speaking to reckoned that the spinner “looked like the fastest Indian bowler on display” on an evening where Thakur, Hardik Pandya, and Kumar all regularly took pace off the ball.When Sundar returned for his second spell, he didn’t have a left-hander to work with. Instead, he was up against Roy and Bairstow, who has been shifted down to the middle order to thrash any variety of spin. England were well-placed at 91 for 2 in 11 overs before Sundar slowed it up to 95.8kph and dared Roy to clear the longer square boundary on the leg side. The opener couldn’t get underneath it and holed out to deep square leg.Bhuvneshwar Kumar took a sharp catch in the deep to remove Jason Roy•Getty ImagesThen, in his next over, Sundar slowed it up further to 85.6kph, shifted his line wider, and found extra bounce from a length to have Bairstow skying a slog-sweep to Suryakumar Yadav at deep square leg. Eoin Morgan’s England are pretty big on match-ups, so they probably felt that their right-handers could go after Sundar, but the spinner had trumped them.Sundar is a fairly traditional offspinner without a variation that goes the other way, but his T20 smarts allow him to hold his own even without a ball that turns away from the right-hander.”Definitely, the mindset [while bowling to a right-hander] differs for me,” Sundar had told ESPNcricinfo in 2019. “And it varies from batsman to batsman as well. One might be strong on the off side and the other maybe strong on the leg side. Especially at this international level, there’s no margin for error and it’s important to do your homework. You need to be really precise with the lengths and lines you want to bowl.”Contrary to expectations, he actually boasts a better overall T20 record against right-handers than left-handers. He has 28 wickets at an average of 24.39 against right-handers as against 21 at 34.61 against left-handers. His economy rates – 6.92 against right-handers and 6.86 against lefties – are near-identical.On Sunday, Sundar’s middle-overs besting of two big-hitting right-handers from the No. 1-ranked T20I team made a big impression on his captain.”Special mention to Washi,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “He bowled to only one left-hander in the middle, and to all right-handers, used the big boundary really well, changed pace.”The series had begun with Kohli saying there was no room in India’s T20 plans for R Ashwin as long as Sundar was bowling well. He didn’t have much of a role to play in the series opener, but handed extra responsibility in the second game as one of only five bowlers, he rose to the occasion, in both the powerplay and the middle overs.

How Bangladesh’s plucky keeper-bat rescued a shaky innings to set up their series win

Mohammad Isam25-May-2021The talk around Dhaka for the last couple of days was about the cyclone brewing in the Bay of Bengal. There was heavy rain on the eve of the match, and plenty more was forecast during the second ODI on Tuesday. Mushfiqur Rahim was aware of his surroundings, and made a mental note of switching on and off, according to the interruptions.An elite sportsperson will tell you when they are in that fabled “zone”, few things can pull them out of it. It could be especially tough for someone who has spent more time in a bio-bubble than at home in the last eight months.When the rain interrupted play for the first time, Rahim had to wait nearly half-an-hour on 84. Shortly afterwards when he moved to 96, there was a second downpour. Then, Bangladesh faced a difficult last 10 overs – they were already seven down with Rahim being the last recognised batter.But he made his final 29 runs off just 16 balls to take the game away from Sri Lanka, who had Bangladesh on the mat at 184 for 7. Rahim went on to score 50 of the 62 runs Bangladesh made from that point.”My main target was to bat for 50 overs, regardless of how much runs we get in the end,” Rahim said. “I felt 246 was a fighting score on this wicket. The more important thing was that I was mentally prepared to switch on and switch off due to the weather. I am happy with the innings, but we missed out on the last eleven balls, and in a close contest, those 10-20 runs becomes crucial for us. I want to improve my batting more.”That it came during a rescue act – Bangladesh were 15 for 2 after losing Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan – must have been more satisfying.
“We always try to lose fewer wickets in the first ten overs but I think it is quite normal to lose early wickets against the new ball,” he said. “We always practice against the new ball, so it wasn’t anything new for me. We looked to bat out the first five or six overs.”There was more pace and bounce on the wicket than the first ODI. The ball was coming on to the bat. I told Liton (Das) that we can shift the momentum by playing to the merit of the ball for those early five to seven overs. We planned to get 20-odd runs at that stage. Liton was batting well but unfortunately got out.”Having spoken about how he approached his knock, Rahim then touched upon how he’d like the next crop of batters, like Das, Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain to approach their innings. He underlined the need to be selective in their shot-making.”I think if a team has seven or eight performers, the team will more often than not come out on top if they perform regularly,” he said. “After Tamim and Shakib got out early, there was an opportunity for Liton, Afif and Mosaddek, who got a chance. They are trying but they have to be more selective. One has to know when to play a low-risk and when to play a high-risk shots on this type of wicket.”I hope they become more matured, but I’d be pleased if they can quickly take a lesson from here. It makes things difficult when the pressure comes upon us in big and normal matches. If they start contributing, Bangladesh will become a stronger one-day team.”These batters don’t have to go too far to find a playbook for such batting. They can have a look at the footage of Rahim’s 84 and 125 in these two matches. Particularly in this innings, Rahim’s wagon wheel was perfectly in tune with what was bowled at him, on a two-paced pitch, and the team’s need.He took singles and twos all around the wicket, but when it came to the boundaries, he understood where to hit hard and when to use the pace. He struck only three fours through the covers and one lofted hit down the ground. The rest came with tickles down third-man, a glide through fine-leg to reach his century, and using Dushmantha Chameera and Isuru Udana’s pace to paddle sweep fours through backward square-leg.”Like every century, this too is a special innings if the team wins,” he said. “It contributed to our first ODI series win over Sri Lanka, so it will inspire me to do better in the coming days.”Rahim however is known for being straightforward, and he didn’t let the chance to pass to talk about his reverse sweep, which garnered some attention after he got out playing the shot in the first game. He didn’t play a single one in the second ODI, but promised there will be more reverse sweeps coming up.”The reverse sweep is one of my favourite shots, and one of my go-to shots. If the situation arises, I can play four or five reverse sweeps, not just one.”

The England allrounder talks about facing India again, and what he has learnt during his time with the Chennai Super Kings

Interview by Alan Gardner03-Aug-2021It’s three years since you made your international debut, which was followed by winning Man of the Series for the Tests against India. Is that something you reflect on often?
I do. I’ve always said that summer was pretty amazing. Making my debut against Pakistan at Headingley probably came out of nowhere, but I managed to get through that and get picked for that first game [against India] at Edgbaston. It’s three years, but probably doesn’t feel that long ago. With the Indian side coming over, naturally I’ll have that at the back of my mind. Thinking how that series went gives me great confidence going into Trent Bridge. I haven’t played much Test cricket in the last six months, so it’s exciting for me to hopefully try and replicate 2018. India are a fantastic side, so I’m sure it’s going to be a fantastic series.You had quite an amazing impact – five wickets and a vital half-century at Edgbaston, top scorer at the Ageas Bowl, played a part in all four wins. Everything seemed to click for you.
As a player, you naturally have periods where you’re in form and you’ve got to ride those good waves. I always remember the exciting parts of that series. Luckily for me, it went well with bat and ball and we managed to win 4-1. Looking back on it, it gives you great confidence when you perform against that type of opposition. For me, there’s no better feeling. I always look back on that, thinking, yes, I can perform at this level. Naturally, anything that goes well gives you confidence, so it’s definitely been good and probably helped my game across all formats. It gives you belief that you can perform against high-quality players.Did you actually surprise yourself with how well you performed?
I wouldn’t say surprise yourself – you probably do better than you think [you would]. It probably helped me that I got called up due to Stokesy [Ben Stokes] getting injured [against Pakistan]. When you don’t have to actually think about what’s ahead of you, you go in with an open mind and perform like you’re in a county game. But when I’m in a tough place, I probably look back on series like that and that’s what gives you confidence.Related

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What was your standout memory of the series?
That Edgbaston Test was my favourite, the way we won that game on the last day, last session, where it could have gone either way. I think we needed four-five wickets. And yeah, the way I batted, the way I bowled. The whole atmosphere at that stadium – it was my first experience of Edgbaston, so great memories.You’ve not played a Test since Sri Lanka in January. What is your ideal preparation like? Do you like to keep it simple, or do analysis on who you’ll be coming up against?
I wouldn’t say I’m a very technical person. I don’t do too much analysis or overthinking. I’m quite an in-the-moment type of person, just reacting to situations. That’s what I feel is best, because if I’m overthinking things, I don’t think that’s a good place to be.Kumar Sangakkara, who was a team-mate of yours at Surrey, said you had very good “situational awareness”. Do you think you have a natural sense for the game?
I always feel I perform my best when I’m in the moment. I’m quite an instinctive player when it comes to deciding things. Don’t really watch too much in terms of analysis, what the bowlers do, what the batters do. I go on my gut feel quite a lot. I think a lot of players do that. There are players who love looking back on things, but I’m pretty easy in terms of moving on. More that I don’t want to overthink my game, because for me personally, that’s not helpful.You started so young – making your debut for Surrey at 17, England at 19 – but you seem to know what works for you.
The next couple of years, I may fall into wanting to do different things, but for now I just love the responsibility of playing for England, trying to perform in front of the amazing support. I never really get too down, because cricket’s a sport where you get so many ups and downs. But the pride of walking out for England in a Test match – there’s no better feeling.”I look up to someone like Stokesy [Ben Stokes, hugging Curran in photo], who scores big runs and takes loads of wickets”•Michael Steele/Getty ImagesYour exploits against India also helped win you an IPL contract when you were picked up by Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 auction. You must look back on it as a life-changing summer?
That’s how it worked out. I played that India series and then went to the IPL, and things progressed quite quickly. I’ve just enjoyed the journey so far. I’ve learned a lot of things. I guess I was pretty new to the scene then, but I feel like now I’ve played quite a bit in all formats, where you learn things, you improve on things, you find out things – certainly different players at the IPL, where you can pick their brains, especially the foreign players and the local Indian players. That’s benefited my game quite a bit.Moving to Chennai Super Kings for 2020, you had an immediate impact – albeit the team didn’t have a great season.
I think it’s a tournament where I got very lucky. I got thrown into it quite young, moved from Kings XI to Chennai, which worked out pretty well in terms of coming to a team where you had Stephen Fleming as coach, MS Dhoni as captain, some big foreign players. It’s just an environment where you eat and sleep cricket. You’re always around the guys and you can ask questions, see how guys train, learn new tricks. It’s an environment where you come across guys you never see in day-to-day life. It’s been fantastic for me. It gives you great confidence when you perform. At the IPL there’s no weak team, so whenever you play, you’re under so much pressure. You just go out there and do what you do and if it goes badly, you learn from it. If it goes well, you take confidence. It’s a great tournament for me. I’ve loved every minute of it.Dhoni called you a “complete cricketer” during that IPL out in the UAE, where you were used in a variety of roles and even opened the batting. That must have felt pretty good?
A player like Dhoni, he’s got such a big presence in the game. He’s achieved so many amazing things. Naturally you get confidence from that. There’s nothing better for me as a younger player to get put in those scenarios. It wasn’t the best season for the team but you learn so much and obviously this season when the IPL was going ahead [in India], we were second on the table. It’s a great franchise and hopefully I can contribute more in the coming years.”At the IPL there’s no weak team, so whenever you play you’re under so much pressure. If it goes badly, you learn from it. If it goes well, you take confidence”•Arjun Singh/BCCIIn Mumbai earlier this year, with Andre Russell on the rampage for Kolkata Knight Riders, you came on and bowled him around his legs as he attempted to leave.
It was just [one of] those moments when you come across players like that, where it’s you or him in the moment. He’s one of the most powerful hitters and you bowl to him: you execute and you get him out. If you don’t, you’re going into the stands. It really tests your game and that’s why I really do feel like I’ve benefited from being around such high-quality players and hopefully I bring that form into playing for England. I’d love to be part of a World Cup, so fingers crossed I can make the squad.Your flexibility is clearly an asset. Is that something you think can help your case with England?
You’ve seen how good the England white-ball sides are. Any time you get picked in the XI, you’re very proud and honoured to be playing, because it’s a phenomenal squad and whoever gets picked, you know you’ve got to keep performing because there’s so much depth. You saw that with the Pakistan series, where guys who hadn’t really been playing put on such a good performance, so it’s a great place to be.Will there be some messages flying around with the CSK guys ahead of the India Tests? Guys like Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur go from being team-mates to the opposition.
There are a couple of guys I got friendly with at the IPL, but come the series, they’ll obviously be enemies. They are really nice guys that I played with at Chennai and there’s a few I look forward to seeing.Going back to into Test cricket – this will actually be the fourth format you’ve played in the last month or so, after playing the opening game of the men’s Hundred, as well as ODIs and T20Is with England. Do you find it hard to make the switch?
I haven’t played a red-ball game for a while, so I feel pretty fresh. Got away from the game for a bit in terms of getting a rest. The basics stay pretty similar. The patience element comes into it a bit more [in Tests], but I don’t change too much. You’ve got to be prepared for bowling a lot more overs, batting a longer period of time. Fielding’s a longer situation. The group had a training day the other day at Loughborough, where we went through some nice bowling spells, getting those overs back in the body.High five: Curran took his first international five-wicket haul, against Sri Lanka at his home ground, The Oval, last month•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesWhat are you aiming to do once you get to the top of your mark in a Test?
I’m pretty open going into the game. Like I said, I don’t analyse too many players. I try and stick to my strengths and go out there with a clear mind. If I do play, it will be pretty stock standard how I go about trying to contribute – take a few wickets, score a few runs. Really excited – five Tests against India in England with the crowds back. I love playing in front of the fans. It gives you that extra adrenaline and rush to keep performing.For all your success with England so far, your first five-for only came last month, in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at The Oval. The way you celebrated suggested it was quite a significant moment for you?
That was really special that day – home ground at The Oval, played there so many years. I think it was just relief. It was my first five-for for England. Such an amazing feeling, one of those moments you cherish. You dream of scoring hundreds, taking five-fors, winning games. To do it on your home ground, with family there, it was very special.You also made 95 not out in an ODI against India in March, nearly getting England over the line chasing 330. Was that just a case of breaking it down ball by ball in your head or feeling it in the moment?
A bit of both. You try and read the situation, and we got very close. But you take confidence from doing well. I’m that type of player. Hopefully, the next couple of weeks and months will be good for myself and the team.You’ve made a couple of 90s in first-class cricket for Surrey as well. Presumably you’re keen to convert one?
Yeah, of course. I don’t think about those things too much. It’s in your head, but I don’t want to look too far ahead. Fingers crossed it comes soon.”I always feel I perform my best when I’m in the moment. I’m quite an instinctive player when it comes to deciding things”•Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat do you make of the theory that you might one day end up as more of a batting allrounder?
Yeah, I love contributing. I look up to someone like Stokesy, who scores big runs and takes loads of wickets. That’s someone I want to emulate, keep try to improve day by day and keep getting better.Eoin Morgan has said that you and your brother Tom are among the most competitive people he’s ever met. Where does that come from?
We’re a competitive family – three brothers [Ben plays county cricket for Northamptonshire]. My dad played cricket. In the back garden, messing around, you’ve got to be competitive. I love winning, I hate losing. It’s just in our blood. When you’re in a tough situation, I just try to get in the battle. I’m not a bad loser, but I don’t like losing.Did your dad being an cricketer, playing internationally for Zimbabwe as well as having a long career in county cricket, help with your drive to play the game professionally?
I think just being around cricket, my dad coaching, always being on a field messing around on the boundary while teams were playing. We just lived cricket, sleep cricket, a big cricketing family, loved the game. I’m sure he would have loved to be here to see us [playing now].Did you know that no left-armer seamer has ever taken 100 wickets for England? You’re already almost halfway there at the age of 23…
I’m not a massive stats person, but I just want to play as much Test cricket as I can through my career – it’s obviously the pinnacle, so fingers crossed I can become the first.You’re a multi-format player, but is Test cricket still the ultimate?
Absolutely. That’s why I think the next six weeks are really exciting. Sure, it’s going to be a fantastic series and I hope I can be involved in any way, shape or form. Just got to try and get in the side and never lose my spot.Have you heard the phrase, “Sam Curran: makes things happen”? What do you make of it?
I have come across it, yeah. Any player tries to make things happen. I don’t know why I’ve got that tag. I just love trying to impact games, whether that’s with bat, ball or in the field. I’ll keep trying to make it happen.

It took courage to make the radical changes to his game that we saw him make in England

Aakash Chopra14-Sep-20210:57

How Rohit Sharma tightened his front-foot game

When the ball is in what is often referred to as the corridor of uncertainty, it is designed to sow seeds of doubt in the batter’s mind: Is it too close to leave? Or a little too wide to attempt putting bat on ball? Watching a batter leave alone a ball that’s almost shaving the off stump can be as enthralling as watching the ball hit the middle of the bat and sail into the stands.Both are a vindication of good judgement and perfect execution, with radically different outcomes. While one decision gives you six runs, the other allows you to stay put for longer so you can look to score plenty more. Similarly, stonewalling a perfect inswinger with a solid defence can give you an equal amount of pleasure.There’s a subtle difference in the joy one derives from hitting fours and sixes and from exercising defensive options in challenging conditions – the lifespan of the former is usually limited, and often adrenaline is the fuel that drives it; the latter can go on for much longer and demands mental fortitude from the batter.Related

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How one gets addicted to the rhythms of batting in Test cricket is not a topic that gets discussed all that often. But for a striking example of a display of the latter kind of innings and how it can cast an enchanting spell, look at how Rohit Sharma has batted since he set foot on English soil earlier this year.Rohit is a runaway match-winner in white-ball cricket, but in Test cricket, his promotion to open the innings was considered a final throw of the dice to revive his career in the format, and also an attempt to get him to do what Virender Sehwag, another stroke-maker of high quality, did in the same role.While Rohit batted the way he was expected to bat in India in Tests, he changed his game radically to meet the demands of English conditions. He decided to play everything close to his body, focusing a lot on leaving balls as well as on defending.He went against his natural instinct, which is to attack at the first opportune moment. In fact, he buried that instinct so deep, it frequently took longer than usual for him to access it again when needed. Rohit’s attempt to play a totally different brand of cricket to that with which he got all his international success reflected two things: nurture is as influential as nature, if not more; and he has a burning desire to succeed in Tests.When someone doesn’t have anything left to prove in the two most popular and rewarding formats of the game, you can understand it if he didn’t put the same amount of effort into succeeding in the third format – a significantly less materially rewarding one.5:31

Laxman: Rohit’s adjustments more in his mindset than technique

Rohit decided to put himself out there, challenge himself, play a different game with unflinching commitment and belief in his new repertoire. He knew that this English summer had the potential to define his legacy as a Test cricketer. And it is remarkable that standing at such a crucial juncture so far into his career, he had the conviction to remould his game so drastically that he looked like a different batter altogether. The risk you run in these situations is that if you fail, you can’t forgive yourself for not going with what came naturally to you. Rohit took the risk and succeeded.The first instinct against James Anderson and Ollie Robinson was to be defensive. Unless the ball was really full, he wouldn’t attempt driving it. He would trust his judgement of where the off stump was and would leave a lot of deliveries alone. The ones coming in, once again, would be dealt with defensively.He earmarked Sam Curran in the first couple of Tests, and Moeen Ali thereafter, as his go-to bowlers against whom to score runs. He was so committed to this plan that he must have missed multiple scoring opportunities against Anderson and Robinson, but the fact that that did not bother him spoke volumes about his mindset. Sometimes you drift away from your initial plans of self-denial once the feet start moving freely and you’re more confident about the pace and bounce of the surface but Rohit’s discipline was quite similar to Sachin Tendulkar’s discipline in not playing the cover drive at all in his famous knock of 241 not out in Sydney in 2004.Of course, once in a while, Rohit got out playing the pull or hook shots but part of the reason for those dismissals was also his predominant desire to defend. The shot that dismissed him in the first innings of the Headingley Test was an example.The beauty of Test match batting and long stays in the middle is that you start falling in love with small things – the joy of leaving the ball alone, or simply defending it. I’m not suggesting that there’s less joy in white-ball runs, but the cadences of Test cricket are different, and they leave a deeper imprint. The joys of Test cricket are almost spiritual; once you’ve tasted them, nothing else can satisfy that craving anymore.In England this summer Rohit seems to have taken a giant leap towards writing his legacy, an effort born of his love for the longer format.

IPL title No. 4 for Chennai Super Kings and social media was bursting with praise for them

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2021From seventh in 2020 to champions in 2021. It was yellow’s day out in Dubai as Chennai Super Kings clinched their fourth IPL title.

We are the Chennai boys… Making all the noise… Everywhere we Gooo…

For all of you #SuperFans.! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #SuperCham21ons pic.twitter.com/6nQS9zWovf

— Chennai Super Kings – Mask P du Whistle P du! (@ChennaiIPL) October 15, 2021