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On Saturday, she became the youngest Indian to hit an international half-century

Annesha Ghosh10-Nov-2019There’s something about sports prodigies. For a little while, they can make even the biggest superstars look rather ordinary. Remember Wimbledon? Cori “Coco” Gauff, the 15-year-old American tennis phenom, knocked over five-time champion Venus Williams, once a teenage sensation herself.Gauff doesn’t quite get cricket, but if she wants to, there’s a fellow 15-year-old making the game look ridiculously easy. Shafali Verma, the youngest Indian woman to play T20I cricket, is now the youngest Indian to make an international half-century. And her 49-ball 73 against West Indies was completely headline-grabbing.In a very Gauff-like way, Verma broke into the limelight by upstaging her senior, and fellow half-centurion Smriti Mandhana, during a record 143-run partnership, her strokeplay nothing short of fearless.There was a moment in the 11th over when she lofted wristspinner Afy Fletcher down the ground and Mandhana was so enamoured with the strike that as she reached the keeper’s end, she raised her arms – that’s a cue for Gauff – prompting the umpire to signal a six. Except there appeared to be a little problem.Natasha McLean, the fielder at long-on who had dropped Mandhana on 43 and 59, had got under the ball and swatted it back into play forcing the Indian batters to hurry up and complete their single. Eventually, though, it was revealed that McLean was standing well beyond the boundary, with both feet on the ground, when she had attempted the save.It was the third six – and ninth boundary – of the night for Verma but it wasn’t the first time she had rattled an opposition. Back in May, she took apart some of the most established bowlers in the women’s game, with a breezy 34 against the Mandhana-led Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge.Still only 15, and playing only her second international series – first on foreign soil – Verma’s innings was so blinding that Mandhana’s own 46-ball 67 became a bit of a footnote, even though the senior opener had struck 11 boundaries with trademark flair.The buzz around 15-year old Shafali Verma keeps growing•IndianCricketTeam/InstagramPart of the reason for that was how Mandhana benefited from four reprieves – three dropped chances and a missed stumping – but the bigger contrast was the dearth of sixes in her innings, thrown into sharp relief by the four dismissive ones clubbed by Verma. Before this innings, all of Mandhana’s nine T20I half-centuries, save for the first that she struck at age 18, featured at least one six. Verma, meanwhile, walked back with twice the number of sixes she had hit in her four previous T20Is combined.This is not the first time that Mandhana, the de facto ambassador of the current pack of prodigies in the Indian T20I side who has collected runs, awards and rewards aplenty since her international debut at age 16, has played second fiddle to a younger wunderkind. Since the debut of the now 19-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues in February last year, Mandhana, the lynchpin of India’s batting across formats for the best part of the past two years, finally has some breathing space. And that is a good thing.”We worked hard on our opening pair,” Harmanpreet Kaur, the India T20I captain, said after the game. “We did well today, especially Shafali Verma because is young and she is giving so much contribution to the team [already], playing like a senior player. Smriti Mandhana also played really well, both of their contribution played a big role for us [today].”On Saturday, Rodrigues did not even have to bat and that is a rare occurrence indeed. She could just sit back and watch as a 15-year old bettered what she had done exactly a year ago and break the record for India’s highest partnership in women’s T20Is.But here’s the thing. The initial excitement at the appearance of a prodigy immediately gives way to expectation. Both the team and its fans will want plenty more from Verma – and even Rodrigues for that matter – especially with a T20 World Cup coming up in February-March. If both teens are able to get going on the same day, even a hundred from Mandhana, the current holder of ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year award, in a winning cause might just be spoken of as an afterthought as it was on Saturday.

Stats highlights from the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo, where the hosts chased down 388

Shiva Jayaraman18-Jul-20170:43

By the Numbers: SL’s highest successful chase in Tests

4 Number of higher targets successfully chased in Tests. The 388 that Sri Lanka chased down in this match is the highest any team has successfully chased in Asia. The previous highest in Asia was India’s chase of 387 against England in Chennai in 2008. The previous highest in Sri Lanka was Pakistan’s chase of 377 against the hosts in Pallekele in 2015.352 The highest target successfully chased by Sri Lanka in Tests before this one. It had come against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006. Overall, this is only the third instance of them chasing down a target in excess of 300 runs. The other instance had come against Zimbabwe at the SSC in January 1998.188 Runs added by Sri Lanka for their last five wickets in the fourth innings – the second highest by them in any Test match. This was also the second highest added by the last five wickets in a successful chase and only the third time Sri Lanka had added more than 100 runs.1 Number of fourth-innings totals in Tests in Sri Lanka higher than the home team’s 391 for 6 in this match. New Zealand had made 397 in a losing cause at the SSC in 2009. This is also Sri Lanka’s second-highest fourth-innings total in Tests.653 Balls from spinners played out by Sri Lanka in the fourth innings – the third highest played out by any team in the fourth innings of a Test in Asia. This is also the second-highest number of balls a team has faced from spinners in a successful chase in Asia.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 Number of individual scores higher than Niroshan Dickwella’s 81 in successful chases for Sri Lanka. Aravinda de Silva had made an unbeaten 143 against Zimbabwe at the SSC in 1997-98, which is the highest. Mahela Jayawardene’s 123 against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006 is the only other hundred in successful chases for Sri Lanka in Tests. Asela Gunaratne’s unbeaten 80 slots in at No.5 in this list.5 Number of times before this, teams had won scoring the highest total of the match in the fourth innings of a Test in Asia. The previous such instance too had come in Sri Lanka, in Pallekele in 2015, when Pakistan had made 382 – the highest total in the fourth innings chasing 377.9/275 Match figures by Graeme Cremer – the best by a Zimbabwe captain in Tests. Overall, Cremer’s effort ranks seventh in the list of best match figures by a Zimbabwe bowler in Tests.87.3 Overs sent down by Cremer in this match – the most by any Zimbabwe bowler in Tests. The previous most were the 79 overs bowled by Ray Price in the Bulawayo Test against South Africa in 2001. Overall, Zimbabwe’s spinners bowled 190.2 overs in this Test – the most they have bowled in any match.317 The highest target successfully chased down without an individual hundred in the fourth innings before this match. New Zealand had achieved it against Bangladesh in a Test in Chittagong in 2008. Sri Lanka’s highest individual score in the fourth innings chasing a target of 388 in this match was Dickwella’s 81. Overall, Sri Lanka’s 391 is the fourth-highest score in the fourth innings of a Test without an individual hundred. India’s 445 in the Adelaide Test in 1977-78 is the highest such score.

Brendon McCullum is a New Zealand icon because he’s equal parts good bloke, straight shooter and gambler – not an untouchable deity but rather the guy from two doors down

Paul Ford19-Feb-2016Brendon McCullum’s international cricket career comes to an end in a sliver of Christchurch cricket heaven, an oasis for our great game in a small pocket of the 164-hectare public park that is Hagley Oval.It’s appropriate that the park is for the people, because McCullum is a cricket fan’s cricketer – a man of the people. He’s the kid from King’s High School, South Dunedin – a place that is heartland New Zealand and a place where you play rugby, drink beer and don’t cry. McCullum is a product of his environment.He was a bloody good footy player, famously reprimanded for heading off to club rugby training after he had been named in the Black Caps for the first time. The reprimander? Mr Rhythm and Swing himself, Sir Richard Hadlee, chairman of selectors.He loves a beer. Or three. He is not the type of bloke you would expect to be popping the corks on a Dom Perignon and mowing into a super bowl of caviar. You get the feeling it’d suit him best if there was a telly with the Wingatui horse races on, somewhere close to that trio of beers too.He doesn’t cry. When he compiled the greatest New Zealand Test innings of all time that overcast day at the Basin Reserve, slashing a Zaheer Khan delivery to the third-man fence to surpass 300, he didn’t break down at the time or in the aftermath. Emotions in check – like the typical Kiwi bloke, stoked inside, proud as punch, but not revealing much on the outside. When asked if he got a bit misty-eyed, McCullum replied: “Nah, no tear in the eye. I’m from south Dunedin.”McCullum has become an iconic figure in New Zealand because of the way he plays the game and his reputation for being equal parts good bloke, straight shooter and gambler. He has not become an untouchable deity but is rather the guy from two doors down who knows how to swing a bat and is not prepared to die wondering.There is a dichotomy: McCullum is an intriguing, compelling character and a magnet for attention, but not an attention-seeker. He has also shown he is not afraid to stand up for himself when things overstep his line of reasonableness and call his integrity into question. The post-Taylor Parker Posse captaincy fiasco and the Cairns court case are two examples where he was prepared to endure off-field headlines and gossip because he saw it as the right thing to do.We love McCullum because he plays cricket like a backyard cricketer. A backyard cricketer with extraordinary hand-to-eye and possibly the most effective proprioceptors of all time. He is a freak.But more than just a freakishly good cricketer – we’ve had these before in our black caps and coloured pyjamas – McCullum has managed to connect with people. Credit here must go to the people around him, most notably coach Mike Hesson and manager Mike Sandle. They’ve let Brendon be Brendon. He is down to earth, but not devoid of personality. He is a swashbuckling cricketer who plays aggressively but he is no “bad boy”. He loves to win but won’t throw his toys if he loses trying to get there. We like that.

He loves a beer. Or three. He is not the type of bloke you would expect to be popping the corks on a Dom Perignon and mowing into a super bowl of caviar

When he took over the reins from Ross Taylor in controversial circumstances, he soon showed a trait unusual in highly paid, successful sportspeople: self-awareness. The cathartic moment was in the wake of the 45-all-out degradation in South Africa in 2012. Since that annihilation he has spoken about the fact that New Zealand fans can cope with their national XI losing but they could never embrace a team of “overpaid, under-delivering, lazy prima donnas”. McCullum put himself in that category, and set about the panelbeating required to put that right.His New Zealand team has subsequently become an awful team to play against – combining human decency and respect for opposition with relentlessly positive cricket and an absolute refusal to give up easily.On his watch, we see a New Zealand team prepared to damage limbs to stop a ball from crossing the boundary rope, and we see a team that plays the game with the same joy that emanates from kids playing cricket on Saturday mornings.The McCullum reign has been the catalyst for a fantastic renaissance in New Zealand cricket. As Sonia Gray put it so simply, translating Neil Manthorp: “Right here, right now, we are in a golden era for New Zealand Cricket. What a disaster it would be if we finally reached Peak Black Cap and failed to recognise it until it was over.”These are the halcyon days of New Zealand cricket, so we need to celebrate them and acknowledge that a little bloke from South Dunedin has played a critical role in making this happen.

A look at eight interesting numbers ahead of Monday’s IPL player auction for the tournament’s eighth season

Amol Karhadkar15-Feb-2015Rs 134.45 crore [approx $22.41 million] The total amount that teams can splurge on Monday. Of all the teams, Delhi Daredevils have the highest purse, with Rs 40 crore [approx $6.67 million] while Chennai Super Kings, with Rs 4.8 crore [approx 0.80 million] have the lowest purse available.344 Number of players shortlisted for the 2015 auction. Initially, 724 players had expressed interest to be auctioned. The IPL authorities then asked franchises to share names of players they were interested in and the list was pruned accordingly.Rs 2 crore [approx 0.33 million]. The maximum base price set during the auction. Four players have opted for it – Hashim Amla, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Kevin Pietersen.88 Maximum number of players that can be bought in the auction. Each squad cannot include more than 27 players. At the moment, 128 players have been signed by all franchises.60 Maximum number of Indian players available for purchase. No franchise can sign more than 18 Indian players for a season. Currently all eight teams have a total of 84 Indian players on their roster.28 Maximum number of overseas cricketers who can be signed on Monday. Each franchise can sign nine overseas cricketers at the most. Of the possible 72, 44 have already been signed.16 Maximum number of player slots available in a franchise. Having offloaded a major chunk of their players, Daredevils now have only 11 players on their roster. Slots available with other teams are: 14 [Sunrisers Hyderabad], 11 [Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians] 10 [Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore], and 8 [Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals].2 Kevin O’Brien, the Ireland allrounder, and Navdeep Poonia, the Scotland pace bowler, are the only two players from Associate teams to have been shortlisted for this auction. While Poonia has made the cut for the first time, O’Brien has featured in auctions since his exploits at the 2011 World Cup but has never earned a bid.

The most memorable moments from the sixth edition of the IPL

Devashish Fuloria27-May-2013The holy communion
Throughout their careers, they plotted each other’s downfall and divided fans the world over with their contrasting, but equally effective, methods of piling up runs. But when Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting walked out together for the first time in Bangalore, it was not just the confluence of more than 50,000 international runs, it was the coming together of two ideologies, two genres. Unfortunately, the partnership didn’t produce any music, but they inspired a new term for cricket boffins – Pondulkar.Gilly sheds his pads
What do you expect a legendary wicketkeeper-batsman to do for the last ball of his IPL career? Surely not take a wicket. But that is exactly what Adam Gilchrist did when he came on to bowl offspin, for the first time ever, in Dharamsala, and picked up a wicket immediately to end his IPL career with gleaming figures of 0.1-0-0-1. That Kings XI Punjab won the match was incidental; it is the romance of moments like these that leave a life-long impression.Angry birds
Two stalwarts, who throughout their careers had been ambassadors of good on-field conduct, decided to warm-up to the shorter format and the temperatures soared. The stone-faced Jacques Kallis had a go at the umpire in Pune, repeating “You’re calling me a cheat?” a few times after the third umpire had overruled his appeal for a run-out in the absence of evidence. That was the only instance for Kallis, but Rahul Dravid remained hot-headed throughout the tournament. At different points, he got upset with the umpires, with opposition players, and in one case, even upset with himself, the last instance resulting in a comical overthrow.Maradona impression gone wrong
In 1986, Diego Maradona had illegitimately scored a goal against England, and had called it the ‘Hand of God’. Yusuf Pathan tried the cricketing version of it, discreetly kicking the ball – or so it seemed – away from Wayne Parnell, the bowler, while taking a quick run during a close chase in Ranchi. Unfortunately for him, there was nowhere to hide as the numerous replays caught him, and he became the first batsman in Twenty20 to be given out obstructing the field.Irrelevance of the pitch
For a few moments during the second qualifier between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, the 22-yard strip became irrelevant. Dishant Yagnik employed the ingenious ploy of going outside off and the stumps to counter Lasith Malinga’s yorker, making it a half-volley in the process. For sheer chutzpah from a youngster, only Rishi Dhawan’s outrageous paddle-sweep in the same match, and Raiphi Gomez’s first-ball reverse paddle came close. In the same over in which Yagnik was inventive, Malinga defined new limits of waywardness by slinging the ball full and wide, once to an imaginary batsman standing at first slip, then to another one at leg slip.Three times lucky?
Kieron Pollard pulled a number of outrageous catches throughout the season, however the most memorable of his efforts were the ones he was not able to catch. Three of them off three consecutive deliveries, all at point and all from the bat of Mike Hussey. The catches were not difficult either, but somehow Pollard’s palm refused to wrap around the ball. The chances of this happening are perhaps less likely than winning a jackpot on a fruit machine, but life is never so benevolent for most.Angry young man
Virat Kohli, who has clearly grown out of the spoilt-brat image he adorned a couple of years ago, was named the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the season, a mark of respect for his enhanced reputation. But Kohli is never one to shy away when challenged in a war of words. Nor is Gautam Gambhir. During a match in Bangalore, Kohli and Gambhir were involved in a spat after the former was seemingly provoked by the latter. The two had to be pulled apart by their Delhi team-mate Rajat Bhatia before things got worse. For Kohli, it did get worse when he was booed by a section of the crowd at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, leading him to remind them that he was an “India player too”.Cricket goes for an original after an overdose of •BCCIFrom sir, with love
Chennai Super Kings needed two runs off the last ball with Ravindra Jadeja on strike and they got two with a ball in hand, something, as the Twitter jokes went, only ‘Sir’ Jadeja could have managed. RP Singh bowled a short and wide delivery that Jadeja cut in the air straight into the hands of the third man, sparking delirious celebrations among the Royal Challengers fielders. A moment later, their exhilaration turned to horror as they saw the umpire signal a no-ball. RP had overstepped by a long way.Sammy dumps Gangnam
Chris Gayle brought his Gangnam Style celebration to the IPL and Harbhajan Singh took it to a new level, introducing -inspired movements in his version. But the Gangnam clearly appeared so-2012 and was easily bettered by an original and more innovative style. Darren Sammy, who joined Sunrisers Hyderabad a few days late, due to the birth of his daughter, smashed a half-century in his second match. Raising the bat to the dugout may be popular, but not for Sammy, who began sucking on a pacifier tied around his neck, and mimicked cradling his daughter in his arms. A few days later, Brad Hodge, after hitting the winning runs off Sammy’s bowling in the eliminator, didn’t miss a chance to mock as he danced Sammy-style but without the pacifier. Asked later for the reason, Hodge said he had children too.

A timeline of Ijaz Butt’s tumultuous three-year tenure as chairman of the PCB

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2011October 7, 2008 – Ijaz Butt is named as the PCB chairman, replacing Nasim Ashraf. Two members of the three-man selection committee – Salahuddin Ahmed and Shafqat Rana – resign immediately.October 20, 2008 – Six months before Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson’s contract is about to expire, Butt claims that “we have no utility for Lawson.”October 22, 2008 – Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, reveals plans to sue Butt after being accused by the chairman of stealing official documents.January 13, 2009 – Butt describes the board’s financial status as “terrible” and claims reserves had been halved over the two previous years, in thinly-veiled digs at the administration of Ashraf.February 9, 2009 – Javed Miandad’s resignation as director-general of the PCB takes an ugly turn at a senate hearing as Butt and Miandad trade allegations over the fiasco.February 11, 2009 – Following a six-hour grilling of PCB officials in Islamabad, a standing committee on sports asks the president to dissolve the PCB because it was “incapable” of running cricket. Butt brushes aside calls for his sacking by senators, and says he continues to have the support of president Asif Ali Zardari, the board’s patron.March 5, 2009 – In the aftermath of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, Butt accuses Chris Broad, the match referee for the Lahore Test, of lying in claiming that security was lax for the visiting team and officials. A week after the attack, Butt is confident that teams would tour Pakistan in “six to nine months”. He is also confident that Pakistan would remain a co-host of the 2011 World Cup.April 17, 2009 – World Cup matches are moved out of Pakistan following the security concerns. Butt responds with a statement that suggests double standards in the ICC executive board, which he claims ignored security concerns in the other three host countries.June 30, 2009 – Butt abruptly disbands the national senior and junior selection committees without providing details on when the next panel of selectors would be named.August 7, 2009 – Butt seeks legal advice on the means to tackle unsubstantiated match-fixing accusations during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka.August 27, 2009 – Butt settles the legal dispute with the ICC over the hosting of the World Cup, and expects US$1.8 million as compensation.September 1, 2009 – Saleem Altaf is sacked as the COO of the board, after developing differences with Butt over administration matters.October 22, 2009 – Butt muzzles the centrally contracted players from speaking to the media without permission, in order to prevent controversies and leaks.January 9, 2010 – The head of Pakistan’s parliamentary committee on sports, Jamshed Dasti, calls for Butt’s sacking, calling him “physically unfit” and questioning his handling of the aftermath of the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan team’s bus.January 22, 2010 – With the tour of Australia still on, Butt announces that Pakistan will have a new captain replacing Mohammad Yousuf after the end of the tour in early February.January 24, 2010 – Miandad hits back at Butt’s public comments on the salary he was drawing as PCB’s director general. Miandad also writes to the Pakistan president that Butt is “too old” to head the board.Ijaz Butt had “solid reasons” for the removal of Shahid Afridi as ODI captain•Associated PressFebruary 10, 2010 – The PCB is served a legal notice by the Cricket Council of the United States of America (CCUSA), over comments made by Butt, where he had referred to them as an “illegal” institution.February 26, 2010 – The PCB initially indicates that two players from the current Pakistan squad are involved in match-fixing, but later insists that the players, cases and incidents were old ones and that nobody from the current squad was involved.March 10, 2010 – The PCB carries out the deepest cull of a senior cricket team in many years, banning and fining seven of its top players after the side’s disastrous tour of Australia. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are banned from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, while Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan get one-year bans. Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers are fined Rs 2-3 million [$24,000-35,000] for various misdemeanours and put on six-month probations. All banned players – except Yousuf who retires – appeal their bans, and are pardoned after lengthy wrangles with the board.September 19, 2010 – In an extraordinary outburst in the background of the spot-fixing controversy, Butt points a finger at the England players for their role in the batting collapse that cost England the ODI at The Oval and said the board was investigating a conspiracy, involving “august cricket bodies”, to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.September 23, 2010 – The ECB and the Professional Cricketers’ Association send Butt a pre-action letter, seeking a “full and unreserved apology” for alleging that England’s players were involved in fixing the outcome of the Oval ODI.September 29, 2010 – Butt apologises for claiming England’s players had taken “enormous amounts of money” to lose the third ODI at The Oval against Pakistan.October 20, 2010 – Younis Khan returns to the Pakistan team after a meeting with Butt to clear “all outstanding issues”, ending a nine-month exile.May 12, 2011 – Butt says the series of bans on seniors in the national team was part of his strategy to eradicate player power and maintain team spirit.May 27, 2011 – Butt says that there were “solid reasons” for the removal of Shahid Afridi as Pakistan ODI captain but that he will reveal those reasons at a later date.June 6, 2011 – The PCB sends a legal notice to the ICC raising questions about a proposed amendment to the ICC’s constitution, which would allow the governing body to suspend a member in case of government interference in the running of a national cricket board.October 13, 2011 – Zaka Ashraf, a top banker and businessman, replaces Butt as the chairman of the PCB

Plays of the day for day three of the third Test between New Zealand and India in Wellington

Sidharth Monga in Wellington05-Apr-2009The wiles of McCullum
When Rahul Dravid premeditated a paddle sweep off Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum started moving even before the shot was played but could not reach the ball. Dravid tried the same shot again later in the over but this time McCullum was quicker in moving down leg side and took the catch. It was a moment of amazing alertness from the wicketkeeper with the opposition on 184 for 1, leading by 366. It brings to mind a shot played by Manoj Tiwary in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal but, on that occasion, it was the batsmen who won the battle of the bluffs. Reproduced below is Cricinfo’s commentary of that shot:88.1 Suresh to Tiwary, FOUR, Bluffmaster, Manoj is premeditative in going for paddle sweep, Badrinath at first slip sees it, and starts running towards leg slip, Manoj feels it, and withdraws from the sweep and opens the face towards where the slip would have been. Shot of the dayHot dessert
Gautam Gambhir went into lunch on 96 not out, in sight of his sixth Test century. Off the first ball he faced after the break, Gambhir stepped out to Tim Southee and crashed it through covers to bring up his hundred, his second of the series. There must be a bit of Virender Sehwag in Gambhir.The revelation and the elevation
Sehwag said on television at the start of the day that Zaheer Khan, in Napier, had promised the batsmen a five-for in Wellington if they managed to draw the match. Zaheer kept his word yesterday.The upper-cut has been one of the most profitable shots in this series. Even Dravid is playing it. But what if the ball is wide and too high to reach? If you are Gambhir, you jump a foot in the air and then guide it over slips. For a six.Museum still saves daylight
There has been enough confusion around the end of daylight-saving in New Zealand. But like museums often do, the New Zealand Cricket Museum held on to time. They didn’t pull their clock back by one hour, so according to them, the game started at noon.

Dravid on Ollie Pope: “I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping in these conditions against that quality of bowling”

Alagappan Muthu28-Jan-20243:29

‘We shouldn’t have been chasing 230’ – Dravid

Where did India lose the game in Hyderabad? Was it when their spinners were unable to stop Ollie Pope and England running rampant in the second innings? Was it when their batting was unable to deal with the rookie left-arm spinner Tom Hartley on the fourth day? Nope. Head coach Rahul Dravid says the biggest mistake they made was leaving runs on the field when they batted in their first innings.”I thought we left probably 70 runs on the board in the first innings. You know, I think in our first innings, when conditions were pretty good to bat in on day two, I thought in the kinds of situations we got ourselves into, some good starts and we didn’t really capitalise,” Dravid said. “We didn’t get a hundred, you know, we didn’t get somebody getting a really big hundred for us. So, in some ways, in India, I just felt we left those 70, 80 runs back in the hut in the first innings.”Second innings is always going to be challenging. It’s one of those things that, you know, it’s tough. It’s not easy to chase 230 or it’s not done very often.”Related

• India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes

• A landmark Test for England, Pope, Hartley and reverse-sweeps

• Rohit feels India were not 'brave enough' in the chase

• Pope 196, Hartley seven-for script sensational England win

Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and, to a lesser extent, Shreyas Iyer were among those who were unable to convert their starts into bigger scores in the first innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja did better on that count but all of them were stopped in the 80s. Is this generation of batters not as good as the previous one when it comes to combating spin?”Look, I wouldn’t be too harsh,” Dravid said. “Rahul missed a really short ball. It just stopped. One of those things can go straight into deep midwicket’s hand. But, like I said earlier, I thought even in the first innings we could have converted some of those starts and probably got us closer to 500 and completely sealed the game. But, having said that, you know, I thought 190 was a really good score, to be very honest with you. But then again, not many teams come in and score 420 in the third innings in India and not many players go 196. So, you know, well done.”The final nail in the coffin – Tom Hartley has Mohammed Siraj’s number•Getty Images

Dravid also said that a majority of the batters in this India line-up were still learning the art of playing the long innings. “A lot of players are quite young, in the sense that a lot of these guys do play a lot of white-ball cricket and also maybe don’t get a lot of time to get to play a lot of first-class cricket as well. So they’re learning and I think they’re getting there.”To be fair, there have been challenging wickets as well over the last few years. And it’s been a bit of a challenge for some of our young batsmen to adapt. But they’ve got the skill and they’ve got the ability, and they’ve not come here just like that; they’ve come here by scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket, doing well in A-team cricket. So, you know, they are being picked on merit.”Sometimes it does take time for people to adjust. They’re working really hard. I will say that, I mean, there’s a lot of thought going into a lot of their batting and for them… it’s just a question of them looking to constantly keep improving and developing skills that maybe help them counter these kind of conditions a little bit better.”India’s spinners, though, are incredibly experienced. And a lot will depend on them finding a way to counter England batters playing the reverse sweep as if it’s the forward defensive in the next four Tests.”I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping [than Ollie Pope] ever in these conditions against that quality of bowling,” Dravid said. “Having said that, for us now, it’s important that we respond and come up with some plans and some strategies and see how we can maybe make him play those shots from probably even more difficult lengths and be even more disciplined and even more meticulous with our execution.”Because, I thought a little bit our execution went off. Not by much. Credit to him, but we were a little bit off and hopefully in the next Test match, if we get our execution right, then I hope he makes a mistake.”

Barishal eliminated despite Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s 69

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2023Rangpur Riders 172 for 6 (Shamim 71, Talukdar 29, Khaled 2-23) beat Fortune Barishal 170 for 3 (Mehidy 69, Mahmudullah 34, Shanaka 2-23) by four wicketsRangpur Riders kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the BPL final after beating Fortune Barishal in Eliminator by four wickets. They will now face the losing side from Qualifier 1, starting later this evening.The match went down to the wire with Riders needing eight runs in the last over. Mahedi Hasan, though, settled the matter with two fours – the first a scoop and the second a thick outside edge – off Kamrul Islam, with three balls to spare. But it was Shamim Hossain, batting at No. 3 for the first time this season, who kept Rangpur’s chase intact. He struck four fours and as many sixes in his 51-ball 71, his highest T20 score, before holing out to long-on off Khaled Ahmed.Rangpur had lost Mohammad Naim for a duck in the first over of their 171-run chase when the left-hander skied Shakib Al Hasan. Rony Talukdar and Shamim shook off the early wicket with a 61-run stand. Talukdar struck two fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 29, before holing out to deep cover.Rangpur captain Nurul Hasan and Nicholas Pooran, who returned to the BPL after four years, fell in quick succession. Shakib trapped his opposite number with a classic arm-ball, before taking Pooran’s catch in the covers off a Khaled full-toss.Batting first, Barishal posted 170 for 3, an underwhelming total given how well they were batting in the middle overs. Andre Fletcher, who arrived for Barishal last night, added 46 for the first wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before Mahmudullah took the side to 115 for 1 in the 14th over. It seemed like the perfect base but Mehidy and Mahmudullah fell in the space of 11 balls, leaving the rest of the Barishal batters to go big. But Karim Janat and Bhanuka Rajapaksa could add only 44 runs in the last 4.5 overs.Dasun Shanaka was the pick of the bowlers for Riders with figures of 2 for 23 from his three overs but it was Dwayne Bravo who dried up the scoring with his variations even if he didn’t pick up a wicket.

Neymar collected a yellow card and a subsequent one-game suspension during Santos' 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Vasco da Gama on Sunday.

Neymar suspended for one gameSantos battered in 6-0 defeatBrazilian superstar seen in tearsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Neymar and Santos suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat to Vasco da Gama on Sunday, heightening relegation fears among their fans. The Brazilian superstar was in tears at full time and had to be consoled by a member of staff. Manager Cleber Xavier was given the sack shortly after the loss, but Santos now face being without Neymar for their next game after he picked up a yellow card and a subsequent one-match suspension.

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Former Liverpool and Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho was among the goal-scorers during a bleak evening for Neymar and Santos. The one-game ban means Neymar, who has scored three goals in 11 Brazilian Serie A fixtures this season, will miss their next fixture against Bahia on Sunday and the 33-year-old admitted after the defeat it was one of the worst results of his illustrious career.

WHAT NEYMAR SAID

Speaking to reporters after the game, Neymar said: "I'm completely disappointed with our game. The fans have the right to protest in all sorts of ways, obviously without physical violence. But cursing and insulting people today is perfectly acceptable.

"I feel incredibly ashamed; I've never experienced anything like this in my life. I'm crying out of anger, at everything. Unfortunately, I can't help in every way. Today was terrible; that's the reality.

"To sum it all up: it was sh*t. It's a disgrace to play that kind of game wearing a Santos jersey. Everyone needs to put their head down, go home, and think about what they want to do. With today's attitude, if we have to do what we did on the field, we won't even need to show up again on Wednesday."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Santos are in a very real relegation scrap, sitting 15th with only 21 points. Things don't get much easier in the coming weeks either, with upcoming opponents Bahia and Fluminense both sitting ahead of the Vila Belmiro side in the league table.