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North Zone batsmen started their Vijay Hazare Trophy final against holdersEast Zone in style by piling up 398 for seven by the end of the first dayat the RSI grounds in Bangalore on Thursday. Centuries by Paras Dogra (110)and Gaurav Gupta (105*) were the highlights of the day.Put in to bat, North Zone were given a good start with openers VishwasBhalla (14) and Rahul Arora (39) putting on 36 runs off 8.5 overs. Bhallawas the first to be dismissed caught by SP Priyadarshan off S Sarkar. Hispartner Arora soon joined him in the pavilion as he offered a return catchto Avik Choudury in the 14th over. In the very next over Sarkar sent backHimanshu Mehta (2).This brought Paras Dogra and Deepak Soni (25) together and they steadiedthe ship with a 107-run fourth wicket stand in 29 overs. Dogra was thechief contributor in the partnership. Scoring his runs at will, Dograreached his fifty needing just 41 balls. The partnership was broken whenSoni was bowled by SK Ray. Then Gaurav Gupta joined Dogra and forged a77-run fifth wicket partnership. During the course of the stand, Dograreached his century, needing 114 balls in all. Dogra got bogged down alittle and by the time he was dismissed in the 61st over, he faced 177balls and hit 16 boundaries.The fall of Dogra brought Abhinav Bali (55) to the crease. Along withGupta, he further tormented the East attack for a 102-run sixth wicketstand. Gupta then lost one more partner that of Bhupinder Singh (8) even asthe score proceeded beyond 350. At the end of the day, Gupta remainedunbeaten ably supported by Abhishek Sharma (8). Arshad Iqbal was the mostsuccessful bowler for East with figures of three for 84.

The Bombay High Court has dismissed MSM Satellite (Singapore) Pte Limited’s petition asking it to prevent World Sport Group (Mauritius) from seeking to resolve their dispute over the IPL media rights ‘facilitation fee’ through international arbitration.The original agreement between WSG and MSM states that any disputes between the two parties must be settled by an international arbitration under English law conducted by the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. However MSM, the official broadcasters of the IPL, opposed the arbitration process and wanted the High Court to rule on the dispute.Justice Roshan Dalvi’s dismissal of the case means the arbitration process can go ahead unimpeded. “The court has taken a very clear stand,” Suhas Tuljapurkar, a lawyer for WSG, told Cricinfo. “If you have agreed to arbitration, you have to go through arbitration.” Cricinfo has learnt that these proceedings are already underway and typically take about a year to complete.The facilitation fee arose out of the restructuring of the television rights deal following the first IPL. WSG India had originally bought the worldwide telecast rights of the IPL for ten years (2008 to 2017) at a cost of over $1 billion. Meanwhile MSM had secured the rights to broadcast in India for five years (2008 to 2012) and had the option of securing the rights for the remaining five years (2013-2017) by paying WSG an option fee of $25 million.However, the board cancelled the original rights deal in 2009 and renegotiated its deal with WSG Mauritius. On its part, MSM did not want to renegotiate with WSG, wanting a direct contract with the board instead. The result was that MSM eventually negotiated a deal with the BCCI for the same price and duration as WSG Mauritius, in lieu of the latter relinquishing its rights.In a statement released by MSM on April 23, 2010, the company stated the payment of the fee to WSG Mauritius was “for the original option fee of $25 million (Rs 115 crores approximately) to extend the rights to years six till 10 and an additional fee over the nine years of the contract of Rs 310 crores ($55 million approximately).”These fees were to compensate WSG Mauritius for returning its rights for IPL season 2 – 10 to BCCI in favour of MSM, and were necessary if MSM was to secure the rights to IPL season 2-10. “The BCCI subsequently argued that the fee was an “improper payment” and restructured the media rights agreement with MSM in June to recover the facilitation fee from WSG. A representative for MSM declined to comment for this story.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman who hasn’t played since June 2011, has won his case against the WICB over comments made about his fitness and has been awarded $161,000 in damages. The matter was heard in arbitration.Though the verdict was delivered earlier this March*, details of the ruling have only emerged in the last week. Reportedly, one reason being cited, is WIPA wanted to make certain the players had got the money in hand.Sarwan had lodged the appeal, in conjunction with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), against the WICB in March 2011 for unfairly questioning in public his fitness and attitude. This, he said, effectively cost him not only a central contract for the 2010-11 season but also damaged his “reputation as a professional cricketer” and “sullied his career as an international cricketer.”Accepting Sarwan’s claim that he had suffered “loss and damage”, the arbitrator, Seenath Jairam, concluded that the batsman had been “denigrated” because the selection processes of the WICB were not transparent and the board had committed various breaches of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the player.The WICB called the verdict a “highly flawed ruling by the arbitrator.” A release issued on the board’s Facebook page stated it was treating the matter as “closed”.Earlier this summer Sarwan, who had a successful county season with Leicestershire even as West Indies were being beaten on their England tour, had said how he had been “mentally broken down by certain individuals”, while blaming the coaching set-up for his non-selection.

Simmons wins $117k in damages

In another setback to the WICB, opening batsman Lendl Simmons was awarded $117,203 in damages through arbitration in a case the player had filed against the board. Simmons, who is part of West Indies squad for the World Twenty20, had sought WIPA’s help last year after he was rendered jobless despite having a valid contract with WICB between October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010.
After Simmons missed the ODI series against Zimbabwe (March 2010), World Twenty20 (April 2010), West Indies A against Zimbabwe (May 2010) and Bangladesh (May-June 2010), South Africa series (June-July 2010) and West Indies A tour of England and Ireland, WIPA checked with the WICB if Simmons was facing any disciplinary issues. WICB said that was not the case.
However, Clyde Butts, the West Indies chairman of selectors, told the Caribbean Media Corporation that Simmons had some “issues” other than those related to performance. WIPA alleged that this had served Simmons badly as it had impacted his livelihood, “his professional reputation and has hampered his ability to procure and exploit other commercial and business ventures and future employment.”
Having heard both sides, Seenath Jairam, the arbitrator, awarded the damages for the same set of the clauses he had ruled on during the Ramnaresh Sarwan judgement.

The problems started when Ernest Hilaire, the WICB chief executive, sent a brief communiqué to Sarwan on January 11, 2010, immediately after West Indies’ Test series in Australia. Sarwan had played the final two Tests of the three-match series with injury, which he suffered on the eve of the first Test. Hilaire told Sarwan the WICB had done a review of the tour and was concerned about his “attitude and approach to fitness and physical preparation.””While this letter is not intended to highlight specific incidents, we hope that you take our concern as a statement of our desire for a higher level of commitment and application from you as a contracted player and a member of the West Indies cricket team,” Hilaire had said.Sarwan called up Hilaire for clarification, and in his testimony during the arbitration, Sarwan mentioned Hilaire had not been forthcoming. “Dr. Hilaire still refused to let Mr. Sarwan know what he meant by his words in his letter and, further, stated that ‘if I don’t change my attitude, my career would end’, and then he hung up the phone,” Jairam noted in his final judgement. Hiliare, who did not testify during the arbitration, denied that Sarwan was “threatened” in any way, as was reported during the hearing.”Mr. Sarwan had a telephone conversation with Dr. Hilaire relating to the letter. Mr. Sarwan, in that telephone conversation, contested that he was unfit and argued that the team physiotherapist and fitness trainer did not like him,” the WICB said. “Dr. Hilaire defended the professionalism of the staff. Mr. Sarwan was told that he would need to satisfy team management that he was sufficiently fit to play.”Sarwan noted the indifference of the West Indies team management during the Australian tour when at one stage he was denied an MRI scan; he eventually had it done, with the charges being borne by Cricket Australia. Then, during the home series against South Africa in 2010, Sarwan picked up a hamstring injury but was told by West Indies coach Ottis Gibson that he was not in charge of the matter and the physio was the best man to deal with it. Sarwan sponsored his own trips to Florida and later Canada to get treatment.When the WICB issued fresh contracts for the 2010-11 season, Sarwan was not given one. He was told by Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, that he did not get a contract “due to concerns about his approach and attitude to fitness, which resulted in the frequency of injuries sustained.” Sarwan said he was astounded as no one, including Butts, had ever raised any issue about his fitness or attitude in person in the past.However, a WICB media release, made public on September 2, 2010 put the onus on Sarwan. “The team management, selection committee and the WICB are concerned about Mr. Sarwan’s extremely indifferent attitude and sporadic approach towards fitness, particularly in recent years. It is the considered view of the selection committee, following consultations with the specialists in the team management, that Ramnaresh’s less than satisfactory and fluctuating fitness levels have directly contributed to multiple injuries thereby causing him to be unavailable for selection to the West Indies team.”Due to these multiple injuries, Ramnaresh was available for only two Tests and a total of only 13 international matches for West Indies in the past contract year, (October 2009 to September 2010) which is less than half of the total number of matches played by West Indies for the period.”Deposing before Jairam, Sarwan said he was shocked as no one from the team management or the WICB had sent him a report expressing any concern. He found the release to be a breach of the WICB’s MOU with players.While delivering the verdict, Jairam said he wasn’t in any doubt that the WICB had treated Sarwan unfairly, and that the board’s selection process and the appraisal procedure were far from transparent. Accordingly, he awarded Sarwan the following damages: $95,000 as damages for loss of retainer (original claim $120,000), $20,000 as damages for breach of contract (claim: $40,000), $18,000 for loss of provident fund contributions given his age (claim: $18,000), $13,000 as damages for loss of publicity/reputation (claim: $15,000), and $15,000.00 under his claim for further or other relief.*11:23 GMT, September 14: The story has been updated to incorporate the date of the ruling.

Bangladesh plagued by injuries

Bangladesh have a string of injuries that could affect them in the course of the ongoing Test. The biggest difficulty is likely to be behind the stumps as captain Mushfiqur Rahim will take the field but not as wicketkeeper.
Imrul Kayes has multiple injuries. He pulled his hamstring on the final ball of his innings, had hurt his groin and suffered a blow to his back on the second day. Abdur Razzak’s bowling in the second innings will depend on how he shows up as a batsman on the fourth morning.
“Imrul has cramps at the moment so after his pain goes away, I can assess his hamstring injury,” physio Vibhav Singh said. “I will see how Razzak bats in the first innings tomorrow, see how he turns while running. I will assess Mushfiqur on a day-to-day basis, but he is unlikely to keep wickets tomorrow.”

Nasir Hossain’s dismissal on the third day left the Bangladesh dressing room irked as they felt the batsman was erroneously given out caught behind by umpire Paul Reiffel. The decision brought back focus on the BCB’s continued avoidance of the Decision Review System (DRS) or the Officiating Replay System (ORS).Hossain had tried to cut an Ajantha Mendis delivery late in the day and was caught low by wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal. The Sri Lankan close-in fielders went up in a huge appeal, but the batsman and the non-striker Mahmudullah were crestfallen. After coach Shane Jurgensen saw a replay of the dismissal on the team analyst’s laptop, he let out a scream that showed the frustration in the team. Later, Shamsur Rahman termed it a “bad decision”.”Our day was ruined by one bad decision, which was of Nasir Hossain,” Shamsur said. “We would have had an altogether great day had Nasir not been given out like that. I think you have seen it on television what happened. I don’t think it touched his bat when he attempted the cut. We saw it in the replay several times. He has now had two such calls in two consecutive matches.”Nasir is a key player for us in that position. He performs in all formats, be it Twenty20s, ODIs and Test cricket. The whole team suffers if such a performer becomes victim of a bad dismissal.”There had been one questionable decision in the previous Test when Mushfiqur Rahim’s leg-before decision appeared to have an inside edge. Bangladesh have had issues with umpiring errors in the past, most notably against England at home in 2010 when several leg-before appeals from Bangladesh were turned down. The other prominent series in this regard was in Zimbabwe last year when umpiring decisions led the Bangladesh coach to visit the match referee’s room on several occasions.BCB’s stance on DRS has been peculiar. As the No. 10 ranked Test team, Bangladesh certainly could do with the aid of the DRS. This was first highlighted by Shakib Al Hasan during the 2010 home series against England, when he criticised the BCB for spending money on welcoming the then ECB chief David Morgan rather than employing the DRS.ESPNcricinfo understands that when the tender notice was placed for the broadcasting rights of the current series, the companies were given a choice to either include or not include the DRS in their bid. None of the bidders went for the “with DRS” deal.

The weather was expected to have a say in the Mohali semifinal and it did on the first day itself as rain wiped out play. With temperatures barely rising to double-digits, it was a cold and gloomy day. The lack of sunshine meant that even when the drizzle let up, there was little chance of the outfield drying up quickly.The forecast for Sunday is brighter though, with no rain expected. However, heavy fog has been a problem over the past few days, and it could cause delays. In case, the first innings of the two teams isn’t completed after five days, there is an additional day available to ensure at least a first-innings result.

ScorecardAfter taking seven wickets, Samad Fallah is just two short of 200 wickets in first-class cricket•Dainik Dabang Dunia

Twice before this season, Maharashtra had won the toss, sent their opponents out to bat on greentops, and rolled them over on the first day. On both those occasions – against Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh – their batsmen had backed up their bowlers’ efforts by coming out and scoring 400-plus totals.On the morning of Maharashtra’s first Ranji Trophy semi-final in 17 years, the pitch at the Holkar Stadium wore an even coat of green. Rohit Motwani, their captain, won another toss. His bowlers, yet again, exploited the conditions perfectly, and bowled Bengal out in 41.4 overs. The batsmen came out and made a still lively surface and an acclaimed bowling attack look more or less manageable. Maharashtra ended the day 50 runs ahead with six wickets in hand.On the eve of the match, his 50th in first-class cricket, Samad Fallah had reminded mediapersons that he was closing in on 200 wickets. When Saturday dawned, the left-arm seamer needed nine more to get there. When he bowled Shib Paul, Bengal’s No. 11, his tally had risen to 198.It wasn’t the best day for a Bengal batsman to make his debut. Koushik Ghosh, the left-handed opener, realised this when he pushed forward at Fallah in the third over of the morning, to a ball pitched on off stump. The line forced Ghosh to play, and the away-swing produced a healthy tickle to first slip despite the fact that his bat had remained close to his body and his head more or less over the top of the ball.Fallah changed his angle of approach frequently over the remainder of his spell, but never lost his direction. From left-arm round, wide of the crease, he swung one into the right-handed Abhimanyu Easwaran to trap him lbw. This was the last ball of his seventh over. First ball of his eighth, Fallah went over the wicket to the left-handed Sudip Chatterjee, and speared one into the blockhole for another lbw.The last five balls of that over, all to Wriddhiman Saha, went as follows: an imploring shout for lbw and the hat-trick (close, but not given); another lbw appeal (close again); a half-steer, half-edge to third man for four; one more lbw appeal (just as loud, perhaps not as close); and an inside-edge that dropped inches in front of short leg.Fallah bowled two more overs in that spell. At the other end, Anupam Sanklecha and Domnic Joseph were complementing him brilliantly. They didn’t attack the stumps quite as much, sticking instead to a fifth-stump line, and tightened the screws on Bengal’s batsmen. They took a wicket each, as did Harshad Khadiwale, who tempted Saha to flash at his gentle medium-pace and nick to wicketkeeper Motwani. In Khadiwale’s previous over, Arindam Das had attempted the same shot, with almost the same result; Sangram Atitkar had dropped him at first slip.Fallah cleaned up the rest. Extra bounce consumed Laxmi Shukla, while extravagant inswing did for Arindam – who had played an innings that contained as many plays-and-misses as elegant clips and drives. Sourav Sarkar and Paul, Nos. 9 and 11, slogged themselves out off successive deliveries, leaving Fallah on a hat-trick once more.When Paul went, bowled heaving across the line, Ashok Dinda at the other end aimed a similar heave at nothing in particular. He had been left not out on 0 off 1 ball. Dinda channeled that frustration into his bowling, leaping higher than ever into his delivery stride, and worked up pace of a sort that none of Maharashtra’s bowlers – barring Sanklecha, on occasion – had come close to producing.Dinda’s radar, however, wasn’t quite right. His first ball, angled into Khadiwale’s pads, was worked away for two. Four of the next five balls were similarly drawn to the batsmen’s pads. Khadiwale took a single, Chirag Khurana scored a boundary and a single, Khadiwale hit another four.That over set the tone for an opening partnership of 78. Dinda bowled too straight, his new-ball partner Sarkar bowled either too full or too short; Khurana, moving his feet decisively, drove or cut him repeatedly through the off side.In the first over after tea, Dinda broke the partnership with another ball angled down leg, Khurana getting a tickle to the wicketkeeper. An inducker from Shukla in the next over bowled Khadiwale. Bengal sniffed a chance, and filled the air with chatter. It grew in volume when Shukla curved one into the left-handed Vijay Zol to trap him on the shuffle.It didn’t let up for the rest of the afternoon, but it didn’t affect Kedar Jadhav and Ankit Bawne. Jadhav repeatedly walked out of his crease to the seamers, and struck eight crisply- timed fours – mostly whipped off his legs or driven through cover on one knee – before popping a return catch to Dinda.Bawne was watchful outside off stump but drove assuredly whenever the ball was pitched up, and had reached 37 at stumps. With him was Motwani, batting on 8. He hadn’t yet opened his account when Ghosh dropped him at gully off Dinda. It was a forgettable end to a forgettable first day for Bengal.

Michael Clarke has insisted he is living in the moment as Australia’s Ashes-winning captain rather than looking beyond the Boxing Day Test, because he knows how quickly perceptions can change as the result of success or failure. Clarke has endured an up-and-down 2013 that featured an awful tour of India, both on field and off, before a tumultuous Ashes tour of England on which the coach Mickey Arthur was sacked and the team lost 3-0.However, the Australians have turned their year around by regaining the Ashes within three Tests at home, ensuring Clarke’s legacy as an Ashes-winning captain. Australia’s challenges next year will include visiting South Africa to play the No.1 Test team in the world, before playing away against Pakistan, hosting India and then playing a World Cup at home.”I aim to win this Test match, probably because I’ve seen both sides of this game,” Clarke said. “I know how quickly you can be praised by the media and I also know how quickly you can be criticised. I’m not silly enough at 32 years of age to look past tomorrow to be honest because I know a couple of ducks and my job’s on the line or a couple of losses and I’m under the same pressure.”That has been my advice to a lot of players who come onto the international scene. It’s very easy to say don’t look too far ahead. But it’s so crucial in this world, and that’s where we sit as a team now. Two months ago, we were the worst Australian cricket team to ever tour India. Two months on, I think Ricky Ponting might have said, in an article the other day, it could be the greatest ever Ashes win by an Australian cricket team. So two months, things can change. I’ll make sure I stay focused on this Test match.”Clarke has previously said that he believed he might be dropped as captain if Australia failed to regain the Ashes in Australia, but instead his position is as secure as it ever has been. Clarke’s ongoing back injury could determine how long he continues to play but he said he was enough of a realist to know that continued success or failure of the Test team would determine his own captaincy future.”Until the selectors decide to drop me I guess, or I decide to retire,” he said of his captaincy tenure. “One or the other. Hopefully, retirement comes before getting dropped. That’s the sport we play. That’s the world we live in now. If you don’t perform well as an individual player, you’ll be dropped.”If the team doesn’t perform well then generally in our sport the captain’s accountable and he’ll probably be dropped. All I can do is continue to give my best. If somebody comes along who’s better than me or my best is no longer good enough then I’ll no longer be needed here.”The Australians are likely to enter the Test with the same XI from the WACA, which would be the first time in nine years that they would have played the same side for four consecutive Tests. James Faulkner remains with the squad despite fracturing his thumb in the WACA nets in the lead-up to the Perth Test, while Doug Bollinger and Nathan Coulter-Nile are also with the group as standby bowlers.”At this stage we’ve got the same 12 for this Test match and we’ll announce the 11 at the toss,” Clarke said. “But at this stage everyone seems fully fit. I haven’t looked at the wicket yet … I think it’s more about assessing the conditions tomorrow morning before we announce our 11.”

ScorecardFile photo: Chris Hartley’s unbeaten 78 went in vain as Queensland succumbed to a 150-run defeat to New South Wales•Getty Images

Queensland’s wicketkeeper Chris Hartley offered the only major resistance for the team, as New South Wales crushed them by 150 runs in the Sheffield Shield match at Allan Border Field.Resuming at 5 for 113 in pursuit of a distant target of 435, Queensland hit out on the final morning but lost wickets at regular intervals, as a result of which, the match was wrapped up by lunch.Hartley’s unbeaten 78, which included 11 fours and two sixes, was accompanied by cameos from Michael Neser and the last man Alister McDermott, who helped add 59 runs before Steve Smith ended the match with a full toss that struck the base of McDermott’s stumps.Steve O’Keefe claimed three scalps, while the Test spinner Nathan Lyon added the wicket of Ben Cutting to go with his two first-innings victims.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim wants his side to continue the consistency they showed in the first Test, and feels that New Zealand are the team under more pressure.”I think they are under pressure,” Mushfiqur said. “It is not easy to play in our home conditions. They wouldn’t want to lose to a side ranked lower than them.”We want to win this Test match. I think they would also want a result in this game. After the first two days, you can see which way the game is heading. The first innings is going to be vital in this Test. So we want to start well.”But in the last couple of years, Bangladesh’s record in second Tests of the usual two-match series that they play have been poor, particularly after they impressed in the first match of the series.Against Sri Lanka in March, they drew the first Test in Galle but were strangled in Colombo, to lose by seven wickets. Similarly at home in 2012, they ran West Indies close in the first Test in Dhaka before going down easily in Khulna. Against the same opponents in 2011, a similar theme continued when they drew the first Test but was crushed by 229 runs in the second game.Mushfiqur believes that since the home team dominated long passages of play and had more individual performances in Chittagong, they hold the upper hand over the visitors.”We are hungry to win the second Test,” Mushfiqur said. “We had a lot of gains from the first game, but it was a draw. We wanted to win. The whole team is keen to win the game and the series. It is a huge challenge to play well in two Tests in a row, but the players are responsible these days. So I hope we remain consistent.”We dominated three days of the Chittagong Test, so I would say we are ahead of them, mentally. Several players are just itching to get out there and perform. If we can combine it as a team, we will do well.”Some say that Mushfiqur’s biggest advantage is that two of his best players, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, are yet to make big contributions in 2013. They have had quiet times in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and in the Chittagong Test against New Zealand. Shakib did get a fifty in the second innings, but still hasn’t hit the level he has maintained in the last four years.”Shakib and Tamim are relaxed. They are always thinking about doing well in the next match. There are more performers in the team, around seven or eight guys. But the records of those two in Mirpur are great, so I am hoping that they do well here.”Bangladesh are likely to keep the same playing eleven, but there were some murmurs of a third seamer being given a go in place of Abdur Razzak.”It is likely that we will play the same combination. We will take a call tomorrow morning, but I am hoping to keep the seven batsman-four bowlers blend intact.”

Greg Chappell, the former India coach, has praised MS Dhoni, saying the current India captain had supreme confidence in his skills and had harboured no doubts about his ability to play cricket at the international level.Dhoni made his ODI debut for India in 2004 but made his Test debut in 2005, while Chappell was coach of the team. “His reading of the game was incredible. He had a calmness and an inner strength which wasn’t something I had seen a lot of in other cricketers,” Chappell told the . “He was very confident. He wasn’t cocky but there wasn’t any false modesty either. If he thought he could do something, he would go ahead and say he could do it.”Both in India and Australia you have a lot of players who are afraid to stand up because they feel they might be thought of as being ahead of themselves or setting themselves up for failure. He had no concerns about that. He was supremely confident in his own ability. He had some work to do with his wicketkeeping but you could see he had the basics. I saw him as far more than a one-day cricketer. I could see him as a Test cricketer. And I could certainly see him as a captain.”Chappell credited Dhoni’s success as a leader to the his ability to connect with the seniors and youngsters in the team. “His ability in the Indian dressing room to move between the seniors and the juniors was unique. There was nobody else I saw that could compare,” Chappell said. “Even some of the seniors struggled with other seniors. Not just physical strength but also an emotional strength … a spiritual strength. He knew who he was. He didn’t have any doubts about his ability to play at that level.”Chappell recounted a session he had with the Indian players shortly after he took over as coach: “It was an amazing story of where he [Dhoni] had come from and how he had learned his cricket playing on the streets with his friends, and at each level how he had to prove himself again because each time he came in he was the new boy. He talked very well about how each of those steps had given him something. Some confidence, some experience, some knowledge.”Chappell also said Dhoni’s confidence in his abilities and his unique approach to the game had helped him deal with pressures and failure in cricket. “This game is about dealing with failure. Bradman batted 80 times in Test cricket and he only got 29 hundreds. So he failed 51 times. The rest of us have had a huge struggle,” Chappell said. “It’s only those who accept that they are going to fail a lot and have a belief that their method will work, who will be able to keep at it. Dhoni’s method was and is unique. Not many people play like him, but he has immense confidence in it. And that’s all that really matters.”