Having done it twice in Rawalpindi, he stepped up once again in Dhaka, this time in Jaker Ali’s company

Mohammad Isam23-Oct-2024Mehidy Hasan Miraz projects an air of confidence, perhaps even bravado, when he walks to the crease. He thrusts his chest out, and his eyes in his stance are wide.Early in his innings, though, the viewer doesn’t always share that confidence. He plays the odd airy drive, followed by one or two shadow-leaves. Then he’ll leave the ball a few times, before edging one through the slips or driving uppishly past point. When his team is tottering at 26 for 6 or 112 for 6, your nerves are in shreds.Once you start to get used to Mehidy’s batting – scratchy at the start before rapidly gaining in solidity – you understand the confidence he projects. His footwork and strokeplay become assured. An air of calm descends, much needed in a Bangladesh batting line-up that keeps collapsing.Related

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Maharaj credits Tamim for helping him work out the Dhaka pitch

Mehidy is batting on 87 after the third day of the first Test against South Africa, his highest score in 2024. It’s his fourth fifty this year, all made from Nos. 8 or 7. He is Bangladesh’s highest run-scorer in 2024, having overtaken Mominul Haque to that position, and now averages above 50 this year.Time after time, Mehidy has walked into difficult situations and built big stands. In Dhaka, he came in at 106 for 5 in the third innings, which quickly became 112 for 6. From there, he proceeded to add 138 for the seventh wicket with Jaker Ali. When Litton Das was sixth out on the third morning, caught behind off Keshav Maharaj, Bangladesh had no hope. They were 90 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, and that was a good measure of the distance between the two sides over the first two days and a bit at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.When Jaker joined Mehidy, nobody really expected a repeat of Rawalpindi. On that historic Pakistan tour, Mehidy had featured in two landmark seventh-wicket stands – with Mushfiqur Rahim and then Litton – to turn the fate of successive Tests. The partnership with Litton came in a particularly precarious situation, with Bangladesh 26 for 6.This situation wasn’t dissimilar. Bangladesh were fortunate that they had Jaker, a debutant but a specialist batter, joining Mehidy at the crease. The seventh-wicket pair didn’t look scratchy for long, and quickly understood the pace of the wicket. Jaker later said that they knew they didn’t have to do too much but just stick around and get settled at the crease.”It was a crucial moment in the morning, we had lost three quick wickets,” Jaker told the host broadcaster . “We planned to bat normally. We didn’t want to think about what had just happened. We just tried to stick to our process. We didn’t want to rush. Our plan was simple. I am a specialist batter but I am batting down the order. He believed in me.”Jaker comes with a strong reputation as a middle-order batter in domestic cricket but was under pressure after a rash dismissal in the first innings. It had played on his mind, which Mushfiqur had picked up in the team hotel on the second evening. Mushfiqur reassured Jaker, and Jaker reminded himself of the senior pro’s words when he batted in the second innings. He made 58 off 111 balls, hitting seven fours.Jaker Ali scored a half-century on Test debut•AFP/Getty Images”[Getting the fifty] was a special moment, especially this being my first Test,” Jaker said. “Mushfiq actually calmed me down last night. He said don’t worry about the runs. I made only two in the first innings, so he said that I should enjoy my Test debut. He kept saying that I should bat in my own process. If I get out in my own process, it will be okay. This was my plan. I wanted to stick to my plan, and if I get out, I will be okay.”Mehidy had told Jaker one other thing.”He just told me we are going to have a big partnership,” Jaker said. “‘You just stay focused. Bat normally.’ I think we were mentally ready, and then we enjoyed the pressure moment.”That wasn’t arrogance from Mehidy, but just the confidence of a man who has seen this situation play out before. Mehidy is aware of the fragility of this Bangladesh top six, and knows how important he is with the bat.Mehidy is reaping the rewards of a long training period in May and June, when he wasn’t involved in Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup campaign or its build-up. He also got a chance to have an off-season in July and August, before the tour of Pakistan. He didn’t score too many runs in the two Tests in India, but he remains in form, as Dhaka has shown.It’s a blessing for a Bangladesh side that has struggled for top-order contributions. There have been no century partnerships for the first two wickets this year, and only two half-century stands. There have been three century stands for the seventh wicket, meanwhile, and Mehidy has featured in all three.Thanks to the latest of them, Bangladesh find themselves leading by 81 at the end of day three in Dhaka, with Mehidy still at the crease. There’s some rain forecast, but if he can coax the last three wickets to extend that lead to at least 150, Bangladesh can start hoping again. It is a bit of a stretch, but if anyone in this line-up can pull off such a feat, it’s most likely going to be Mehidy.

The opener broke a host of records as India smashed their way to 247 in Mumbai, setting up their second-biggest win by runs in men’s T20Is

Sampath Bandarupalli02-Feb-2025135 – Abhishek Sharma’s score against England on Sunday. It is the highest individual score for India in men’s T20Is, going past Shubman Gill’s 126* against New Zealand in 2023.Abhishek’s 135 is also the second-highest score by any batter against England, behind Aaron Finch’s 156 in 2013.13 – Sixes hit by Abhishek during his knock are the most for India in an innings in men’s T20Is. Rohit hit 10 against Sri Lanka in 2017, as did Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma against South Africa in 2024.37 – Balls that Abhishek needed to complete his hundred, the second-fastest for India, behind Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball effort against Sri Lanka in 2017. The 37-ball ton by Abhishek is also the eighth-fastest in men’s T20Is.ESPNcricinfo Ltd17 – Balls needed for Abhishek to bring up his fifty, also the second-fastest for India, behind Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball fifty against England in 2007.150 – The number of runs India won by on Sunday – their second biggest margin by runs in men’s T20Is, behind the 168-run win against New Zealand in 2023.The 150-run margin is by far the biggest defeat by runs for England in the format. Their previous biggest was 90 runs, also against India in 2012 and South Africa in 2022.8 – Instances of India winning a men’s T20I by a margin of 100-plus runs, the joint-most such wins for any team, alongside Japan.

After two days of intense bidding in Jeddah, here’s what each squad looks like – and where their strengths and weaknesses lie

George Binoy25-Nov-20241:48

Moody: Ghazanfar could be point of difference for Mumbai Indians

.

Mumbai Indians

No. of players 23/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: While MI’s contingent of Indian players is strong, their overseas picks were rather unconventional. Apart from Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner, the other six are untested or haven’t been regular starters in the IPL. England allrounder Will Jacks and fast bowler Reece Topley, South African quick Lizaad Williams and Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar are pretty inexperienced in the league, while New Zealand’s Bevan-John Jacobs and South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton haven’t played in the IPL before.
Possible first 12 (including impact player): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Will Jacks, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Naman Dhir/Robin Minz, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Allah Ghazanfar/Mitchell Santner, 10 Karn Sharma, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Trent Boult
SQUAD
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (retained), Rohit Sharma (retained), Tilak Varma (retained), Bevan-John Jacobs
Wicketkeepers: Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Krishnan Shrijith
Allrounders: Hardik Pandya (pace; retained), Naman Dhir (spin; RTM), Will Jacks (spin), Raj Angad Bawa (pace), Vignesh Puthur (spin)
Spinners: Allah Ghazanfar, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner
Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah (retained), Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams

****

2:04

Moody: Curran poses a left-hand conundrum with bat for CSK

Chennai Super Kings

No. of players 25/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: CSK bought back R Ashwin ten seasons after he last played for them in 2015, reuniting him with Ravindra Jadeja. They further strengthened their spin attack with the addition of Noor Ahmad, and otherwise stacked their squad with allrounders and fast bowlers.They’ve also bought a fair number of players whose IPL careers are in need of a revival: Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Gopal.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Devon Conway/Rachin Ravindra, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Sam Curran, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 R Ashwin, 10 Noor Ahmad/Nathan Ellis, 11 Khaleel Ahmed/Gurjapneet Singh, 12 Matheesha PathiranaSQUAD
Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad (retained), Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda, Andre Siddarth
Wicketkeepers: Devon Conway, MS Dhoni (retained), Vansh Bedi
Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja (spin; retained), Shivam Dube (pace; retained), R Ashwin (spin), Sam Curran (pace), Rachin Ravindra (spin; RTM), Vijay Shankar (pace), Anshul Kamboj (pace), Jamie Overton (pace), Ramakrishna Ghosh (pace)
Spinners: Noor Ahmad, Shreyas Gopal
Fast bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana (retained), Khaleel Ahmed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis

****

5:02

Moody: ‘Bhuvneshwar would probably have mixed emotions’

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

No. of players 22/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: RCB bought the explosive Phil Salt to partner Virat Kohli at the top of the order, and also spent a lot of money to acquire two experienced quicks in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to try and solve their long-standing bowling problem. They have batting reinforcements in the top and middle order and, for the first time in a long time, their line-up doesn’t seem reliant on a few star players.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Liam Livingstone, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk) 7 Tim David/Jacob Bethell, 8 Rasikh Salam, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Yash Dayal, 12 Suyash Sharma/Swapnil SinghSQUAD
Batters: Virat Kohli (retained), Rajat Patidar (retained), Tim David, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara
Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma
Allrounders: Liam Livingstone (spin), Krunal Pandya (spin), Swapnil Singh (spin), Romario Shepherd (pace), Jacob Bethell (spin), Mohit Rathee (spin)
Spinners: Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh
Fast bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal (retained), Rasikh Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi

****

Sunrisers Hyderabad

No. of players 20/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: SRH have an explosive top five and a first-choice bowling attack with plenty of pedigree, but the link between those two parts of their line-up is likely to be a bit inexperienced. Also, their back-up overseas players – Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse and Eshan Malinga – have never played the IPL before.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Adam ZampaSQUAD
Batters: Travis Head (retained), Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby
Wicketkeepers: Heinrich Klaasen (retained), Ishan Kishan, Atharva Taide
Allrounders: Abhishek Sharma (spin; retained), Nitish Kumar Reddy (pace; retained), Kamindu Mendis (spin)
Spinners: Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar, Zeeshan Ansari
Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins (retained), Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga

****

Kolkata Knight Riders

No. of players 21/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: KKR retained six players from their title-winning squad in IPL 2024 and bought back six more. They tried to buy back several others as well but couldn’t, having splurged INR 23.75 for Venkatesh Iyer, who could be their new captain. They replaced Salt and Starc with Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, which may not seem like an upgrade.Their bids for Manish Pandey and Ajinkya Rahane were a bit of a surprise, with their batting styles at odds with KKR’s crash-bang-wallop methods last season.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, 12 Manish PandeySQUAD
Batters: Rinku Singh (retained), Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Allrounders: Venkatesh Iyer (pace), Andre Russell (pace; retained), Sunil Narine (spin; retained), Ramandeep Singh (pace; retained), Anukul Roy (spin), Moeen Ali (spin)
Spinners: Varun Chakravarthy (retained), Mayank Markande
Fast bowlers: Harshit Rana (retained), Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik

****

3:24

Is Jansen a straight replacement for Curran at PBKS?

Punjab Kings

No. of players 25/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: PBKS spent INR 26.75 crore to buy Shreyas Iyer, who is likely to be their new captain. The influence of their new coach Ricky Ponting was evident in five of their eight overseas players being Australian. Their starting XII will look dramatically different with only Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Harpreet Brar likely to feature prominently from last season.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Josh Inglis (wk), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Nehal Wadhera, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Yash Thakur/Kuldeep Sen/Vijaykumar Vyshak, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Yuzvendra ChahalSQUAD
Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh (retained), Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash
Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh (retained)
Allrounders: Glenn Maxwell (spin), Marcus Stoinis (pace), Marco Jansen (pace), Harpreet Brar (spin), Azmatullah Omarzai (pace), Aaron Hardie (pace), Musheer Khan (spin), Suryansh Shedge (pace)
Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Pravin Dubey
Fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh (RTM), Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett

****

Lucknow Super Giants

No. of players 24/25 (6 overseas)
Hot take: LSG made history by making Rishabh Pant the most expensive player ever sold at an IPL auction (INR 27 crore) and will likely name him their captain. While they could boast an enviable top six (see below) they didn’t manage to pick up an established Indian opener. Their squad has a wealth of Indian bowling options – pace and spin – so expect them to load their batting line-up with overseas experience.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Abdul Samad, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Mayank YadavSQUAD
Batters: Aiden Markram, David Miller, Ayush Badoni (retained), Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke
Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran (retained), Aryan Juyal
Allrounders: Adbul Samad (spin), Mitchell Marsh (pace), Shahbaz Ahmed (spin), Yuvraj Chaudhary (spin), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (pace), Arshin Kulkarni (Pace)
Spinners: Ravi Bishnoi (retained), M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh
Fast bowlers: Mayank Yadav (retained), Mohsin Khan (retained), Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav

****

Delhi Capitals

No. of players 23/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: Who will lead DC this season – Axar Patel, or their new signing KL Rahul? With Rahul likely to slot in at the top of the order, there are dashers around him and all the way down the DC line-up. Their fast bowling was a concern last season but it looks far more potent this year.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Abishek Porel (wk), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Sameer Rizvi, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 T Natarajan, 12 Mukesh KumarSQUAD
Batters: Jake Fraser-McGurk (RTM), Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs (retained), Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair
Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Abishek Porel (retained), Donovan Ferreria
Allrounders: Axar Patel (spin; retained), Ashutosh Sharma (spin), Sameer Rizvi (spin), Darshan Nalkande (pace), Vipraj Nigam (spin), Ajay Mandal (spin), Manvanth Kumar (pace), Tripurana Vijay (spin), Madhav Tiwari (pace)
Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav (retained)
Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera

****

Rajasthan Royals

No. of players 20/25 (6 overseas)
Hot take: After retaining five batters and only one bowler, RR went shopping for many bowlers and picked up quality in Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, though Archer and Hasaranga have been rather injury prone. Their two overseas back-up players are rather low key – Kwena Maphaka and Fazalhaq Farooqi – so IPL 2025 could prove to be a test of their Indian bench strength.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Shubham Dubey/Akash Madhwal, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Sandeep Sharma, 12 Tushar DeshpandeSQUAD
Batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal (retained), Shimron Hetmyer (retained), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson (retained), Dhruv Jurel (retained), Kunal Singh Rathore
Allrounders: Riyan Parag (spin; retained), Nitish Rana (spin), Yudhvir Singh (pace)
Spinners: Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya
Fast bowlers: Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma (retained), Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma

****

Gujarat Titans

No. of players 25/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: GT did well to pick up three out of 12 marquee players – Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada – and adding Prasidh Krishna to their attack was a coup as well. It’s crucial these players remain fit, though, because their Indian fast-bowling back-up is thin. Their middle order doesn’t have a star cast but GT will hope Washington Sundar will shrug off his indifferent IPL form and have an impactful season with bat and ball.Best 12 (including impact player): 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Sherfane Rutherford/Glenn Phillips, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Arshad Khan/Sai Kishore/Mahipal Lomror, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Prasidh KrishnaSQUAD
Batters: Shubman Gill (retained), Sai Sudharsan (retained), Rahul Tewatia (retained), Sherfane Rutherford
Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat
Allrounders: Rashid Khan (spin; retained), Washington Sundar (spin), M Shahrukh Khan (spin; retained), Mahipal Lomror (spin), Nishant Sindhu (spin), Arshad Khan (pace), Jayant Yadav (spin), Glenn Phillips (spin), Karim Janat (pace)
Spinners: Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore
Fast bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gerald Coetzee, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya

Matthews has had a patchy season with the bat, but found her form in a 133-run stand with Sciver-Brunt

Sruthi Ravindranath14-Mar-2025Bat in the top three, bowl four overs, and do all of it consistently well. That’s a dream player for any T20 side. Mumbai Indians (MI) have not just one, but two of them.Nat Sciver-Brunt has been in an extended purple patch with the bat. Coming into the WPL Eliminator against Gujarat Giants (GG), she had been averaging close to 70 after eight innings with a strike rate of over 150. So GG’s plans might have centred on how they were going to attack Sciver-Brunt.But there was also Hayley Matthews. For most parts this season, she had looked scratchy with the bat. Her strike rate was around 119, and she had two fifties, but she was getting off to slow starts. She started similarly on Thursday. She also got a life when on 5 off nine balls in the second over. GG would have wanted to quickly make up for that.Related

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Sciver-Brunt, Matthews power Mumbai Indians into second WPL final

But then a bit of that purple from one rubbed off on the other, and GG’s plans just fell through.It started as soon as Sciver-Brunt came to the crease. A few fours had been hit till then, but MI had made only 31 off their first five overs. Only two runs had come off Tanuja Kanwar’s first five balls in the sixth over, but when she dished out a tossed-up delivery on length, Sciver-Brunt shuffled across and swatted the ball behind square. It was a shot that showed she had got her eye in.It was Danielle Gibson’s turn to bowl next. Gibson and Sciver-Brunt have played together for England. She probably knew how well Sciver-Brunt plays the short ball and that she wouldn’t let a freebie go unpunished. She bowled it anyway, and was pulled solidly between square leg and fine leg, while the slot ball was lofted over mid-on.Sciver-Brunt has always been a reliable player, but she’s also been getting off to stronger starts this season. She has mostly gone out to bat earlier than usual given the opening pair hasn’t clicked for MI this season. Before the Eliminator, she was striking the ball at 145 in the powerplay as compared to the 2023 season where her strike rate in this phase was 130. In this match, despite the openers – Yastika Bhatia was the other – scoring a few boundaries, MI were 37 for 1 in the powerplay but Sciver-Brunt took them to 89 for 1 at the end of ten overs along with Matthews.Matthews was on 17 off 22 balls at the end of seventh over. The two convened for a chat in the middle after that over and fist bumps were exchanged. And the first three balls of the next over off Priya Mishra were dispatched to different parts of the ground for fours with ease by Matthews.”Apart from this tournament, I haven’t really batted with Hayley, but we seem to click pretty well from the first year,” Sciver-Brunt said after the match. “So today she probably wanted to get off to a bit of a quicker start, but it was good that she stayed there and didn’t give her wicket away because we know how powerful she is. We had the time-out and then she probably did time it a little bit better after that. So [I was] just reassuring her that she only needed to time it, [there was] no need to absolutely whack it.”Nat Sciver-Brunt was quick out of the blocks•BCCIBefore this game, Matthews had also lost her wicket to spinners five times in eight innings this WPL; Priya Mishra and Kanwar had dismissed her cheaply the last two times these teams met. But Matthews looked better against spin on the day, having hit both Ashleigh Gardner and Kanwar for boundaries upfront. Gardner also didn’t bring herself on to bowl after her first two, despite her lesser experienced spinners being taken to the cleaners.Mishra was once again at the receiving end of Matthews’ brutal hitting, being taken for 6, 6 and 4 in the 16th over, just two balls after the batter was dropped a second time.Power and timing aside, Matthews also showed off her excellent footwork frequently to access all parts of the ground. It was only fitting that she deposited a short ball from Kanwar over deep midwicket to complete her fifty. The two came together to bump their fists once again, this time with big grins on their faces.Sciver-Brunt said after the match that the pitch was not as batting-friendly as it had looked, and that the pair had relied on their power to work around it.”I could see that it [the ball] probably wasn’t coming on as well because we played the other day and it came on a bit nicer,” she said. “But I felt like it was a bit stoppy. So I guess that played into our hands with the back-foot shots, that are both mine and Hayley’s strengths, I guess. As soon as we worked that out, it probably unlocked us a little bit more. Yeah, working together to get to that point was important.”Hayley Matthews contributed with bat and ball•BCCIIn between those overs, Sciver-Brunt had settled in comfortably and GG’s bowlers were only making her life easier. The pull is one of Sciver-Brunt’s go-to shots and they gave her several chances to play it. This season in the WPL, she’s scored 123 out of her 493 runs playing the shot. Since January 2023, she has averaged 125.75 playing the pull in T20s and has been dismissed playing it just four times in those 65 games. It was Gibson who was punished again, when she bowled two consecutive short balls to her which were dispatched for sixes, the first of which also gave Sciver-Brunt her fifth fifty of the season. Before the match against RCB the day before, Sciver-Brunt had hit 61 fours and no sixes. Her four sixes this season have come in the last two games.”I’ve stuck to my strengths quite a lot and played what’s in front of me,” Sciver-Brunt said. “The quick outfields have helped, and they are nice wickets to bat on as well. I’m really happy that I’m taking advantage of those conditions. Because form goes up and down, that feeling when you’re not so confident isn’t that nice. So taking advantage of it when you are is good.”To top it off, Matthews also picked up three wickets to take her tournament tally to 17, the most for any bowler in a season of the WPL. She dismissed the dangerous Gardner in the powerplay, the big-hitting Bharti Fulmali in the 16th over, and ended GG’s innings getting Meghna Singh out in the 20th over – effective in all phases of the games.”I think I tried to just control one side of the field really well and vary my pace, which is something that I’ve been working on a lot,” Matthews said at the presentation ceremony. “I think the last time we played GG, we were bowling in their hit zone quite a bit and they punished us for it. Definitely a lot of learnings from that. Glad I was able to execute better today.”MI had perhaps been over-dependent on one star allrounder through the season, but they had yet another of them step up on the day, and they have one more in their ranks – Amelia Kerr – who is yet to have her best season with the bat. They will have to prep for the final in less than 48 hours, and will hope that some of that purple off on Kerr too.

Eighteen years ago, Delhi had to choose between two local players. They did not choose Kohli and the rest is history

Matt Roller26-Apr-20252:23

Will it be another happy homecoming for Kohli in Delhi?

When Virat Kohli walks out of the away team dressing room in the pavilion that bears his name at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, it will be tempting to wonder what might have been. As the IPL turns 18, Kohli remains the only player to have represented the same franchise in every single season – but it is not the team based in his hometown.It remains the biggest missed opportunity in IPL history. In February 2008, two months before the league’s launch, Delhi Daredevils (as they were then known) were lining up local players for their first squad. “In the mandatory under-22 category, we have identified Virat Kohli, Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava,” TA Sekhar, their head of cricket operations, said at the time.The move made perfect sense: Kohli was the India Under-19 captain, born and raised in Delhi, and had already represented the state team in the Ranji Trophy and in white-ball cricket. And yet, one month later, Kohli was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the inaugural IPL season. He has never left, and has declared that he never will.The chain of events started with a frenzied backdrop as the league hurried towards its launch. “Everything was done with an unhealthy rush,” recalls Charu Sharma, who was appointed chief executive of RCB by owner Vijay Mallya in early 2008. “The juggernaut started in late 2007… To get a league of this magnitude up and running in three-and-a-half months was just ridiculous.”Related

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Five ‘icon’ players were signed before the initial auction in mid-February, after which teams began to approach unsigned players directly. Franchises were told to sign a minimum of four Under-22 players, and a minimum of four from their local ‘catchment area’, prompting a race for the best young talent – including India’s Under-19s.Sharma reached out to Karnataka’s Manish Pandey, who fit both criteria for RCB, and asked him to commit to the franchise in writing. “It wasn’t a contract, just a two-liner to say, ‘It’s OK by me’ because we wanted to make it legitimate,'” Sharma says. “Manish said, ‘Thank you so much, I’m very happy,’ but a day or so later, I still hadn’t heard from him. I said, ‘What’s going on?'”Pandey was with India’s squad at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, and agents had caught wind of an opportunity. “He told me that agents had landed from India and were running around the hotel, promising people all sorts of things,” Sharma explains. “The boys were being pestered by these agents saying, ‘Sign with me, I’ll get you a better deal.’ It was quite disturbing.”Sharma escalated the matter to Mallya and his fellow CEOs at other franchises. The BCCI soon issued a diktat that, for the duration of the World Cup, the Under-19 players were strictly off-limits. In the meantime, a new system was proposed: they would be selected via a draft at a second, smaller player auction in mid-March, with each team picking up two players.The mechanism was straightforward: each team would have two picks in a double-draft, with the first team drawn at random picking first and 16th, the second team picking second and 15th, and so on. Salaries were capped at US$30,000 for the Under-19s – or $50,000 for those who, like Kohli, had already played for their state teams in the Ranji Trophy.Virat Kohli is playing his 18th IPL season for RCB•Associated Press”Lo and behold, the first name to come out of the bag was Delhi Daredevils,” Sharma says. “There was a collective groan, with everyone thinking, ‘OK, Kohli is gone.’ He was captain of the team, the best player, and he was from Delhi. And to everyone’s surprise, they got into a huddle, and after a few moments, they said, ‘We’ll take the left-arm seamer: Pradeep Sangwan.'”The decision had cricketing logic: the Daredevils squad was already stacked with batting. In the first auction, they had signed Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Manoj Tiwary; in the interim, they had recruited Shikhar Dhawan and Mithun Manhas among their ‘catchment’ players.Sangwan, another Delhi boy, was considered a star in the making. “He was touted as one of the next big things for India,” recalls Abhinav Mukund, who was part of the India Under-19 World Cup squad. “India was going through a left-arm pace obsession at that point with Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan. He bowled really well throughout that tournament, and had some pace too.”Sehwag, the Daredevils ‘icon’ player, was an advocate for Sangwan’s selection. They both grew up in the same western suburb, Najafgarh, and Sehwag had played a role in Sangwan’s call-up to Delhi’s state teams in 2007. Sekhar, the franchise’s head of cricket operations, had also played a prominent role in his development, working with him at the MRF Academy.When RCB had the second pick, they had no hesitation at all. “We took about a quarter of a quarter of a quarter-second, and said, ‘Virat Kohli, thank you,'” Sharma says, laughing. “I don’t think anybody knew that he would become a big global superstar, but he was certainly showing all the signs of being the best Under-19 player in India.”Even as he was fast-tracked into India’s national set-up, Kohli was not an immediate success at RCB. Across the first three IPL seasons, he averaged 21.75 and scored only two half-centuries, primarily batting at No. 5 or 6; it came as something of a surprise when he was the franchise’s only retention ahead of the 2011 mega-auction. But the fact remains that no other team since has ever had the opportunity to sign Kohli; it is unlikely they ever will.”I’ve been approached many times to come into the auction,” he told an RCB podcast in 2022. “[But] what this franchise has given me in terms of opportunity in the first three years, and believed in me, that is the most special thing.” Kohli has been retained for 17 consecutive seasons, and declared when quitting the captaincy in 2021 that he would be an RCB player “until my retirement”.Sangwan, meanwhile, started well at Delhi: in 2009, he took 15 wickets as the Daredevils finished top of the table in South Africa. But as Kohli soared, he never kicked on as intended: he struggled to get a game when he joined Kolkata Knight Riders, and served an 18-month ban in 2013-14 after testing positive for a banned steroid. Now 34, he has not played a professional game in 15 months.Kohli’s standing in Delhi is as strong as ever, no matter his association with a rival IPL franchise: when he made an improbable return to their Ranji Trophy side in January, crowds estimated at more than 10,000 came to watch. Sunday will be his first RCB game in the city since 2023, with both teams chasing a win which will boost their chances of a top-two finish.But in that regard, at least, Sangwan has the upper hand. For all that Delhi’s decision to sign him ahead of Kohli is remembered as the IPL’s greatest recruitment blunder, Sangwan has been part of two title-winning squads: at KKR in 2012, and with Gujarat Titans a decade later. Kohli, RCB and DC are all still on the hunt for their first IPL trophy.

The India fast bowler recalls an epic Test tour of England, and reflects on the challenges life has thrown his way

Shashank Kishore and Daya Sagar26-Aug-20254:33

Breaking down where Akash Deep can improve

In the weeks leading up to India’s recent tour of England, Akash Deep had one thought weighing on him: “How do I survive five Tests?”For over two months, Akash Deep had spent several nights in hospital, attending to his sister Jyoti who was undergoing cancer treatment. Diet and sleep had become luxuries. His training was haphazard. Cricket wasn’t the most important thing in his life at that time.It’s why Akash Deep spontaneously remembered Jyoti and dedicated his 10-wicket haul in his first Test of the series to her, after India made it 1-1 in Birmingham.”It was tough,” he says while in Bengaluru, where he is preparing for India’s home international season. “As such, a five-Test series is not easy. Especially if you’re a fast bowler. And at a time when I had to prepare, I was dealing with a lot of things.”Being in and out of hospital, your diet and sleep often go for a toss. I was actually wondering how do I survive five Tests because even during the IPL because of my sister’s treatment, my training was haywire for one, one-and-a-half months. Luckily, I got time in the lead-up to the series thanks to the India A tour, where I had 10-15 days of preparation. I used that time to prepare well.”It’s been three whirlwind weeks since Akash Deep’s return from England, where he played an important role in India drawing the series 2-2. After a dash home to see his family, he was away on a pilgrimage for ” (peace of mind),” and then visited his ‘AB Cricket Academy,’ which he had begun last year in his hometown Sasaram in Bihar.”When I was growing up, there was nothing here,” he says. “No ground, no practice facility. I didn’t even see a red ball until I was 17-18. My thinking was when I have some money and resources, I’ll try and help kids who aren’t from financially sound backgrounds. So that they don’t have to go too far away to train.”Not being financially strong should not come in the way of living your dreams of playing the game or getting opportunities. I’m glad I’ve been able to realise my dream [of building an academy]. I have a team that looks after most things, but I guide them and insist, if there are kids coming forward from disadvantaged backgrounds and have the talent, they should be prioritised.”Akash Deep took 13 wickets on the tour of England•Getty ImagesAkash Deep’s story is one of courage. Sharing a 150 square feet room with eight others in Kolkata, surviving on (lemon tea) to play club cricket, staying with his cousin in Durgapur in search of opportunities, losing his father and brother in the span of a couple of months, he has seen it all. It’s why he treasures every moment on the field. “If you find even a little happiness amid all your problems, it’s enough to bring a smile.”He wasn’t smiling on that tense final morning at The Oval when he dropped Gus Atkinson at long on and palmed the ball over the boundary for six. England needed 11 after that to win the series, India needed one wicket to draw it.”Maybe I could have tried to palm the ball in to save the six,” he says. “But I went to take the catch. Luckily in the next over (two overs later) we got the wicket [of Atkinson]. Immediately after I dropped the catch, there was really no time to dwell on it. Maybe if something else had happened I may have been thinking about it. Luckily I didn’t have to worry much.”I ran really quickly to Siraj [laughs] once we took the final wicket.”That was just one of several memorable moments involving Akash Deep on the tour. Earlier in the fifth Test, he had put his arm around England opener Ben Duckett and said a few friendly words after dismissing him in the first innings.”He had been out four-five times to me. Before coming out to bat in that innings, he said, ‘this time you won’t get me out’. I got him out and then said, ‘bro, now go and rest please’,” he says with a laugh.There’s a memory from Birmingham that stands out. He’s watched replays of that dream wicket on loop.”Joe Root,” Akash Deep says with a smile. “The way I got him (bowled). Set him up, and got him out exactly the way I wanted to.” For those who don’t remember, he pitched on a good length and angled the ball in, before getting it to nip away and beat the outside edge of Root’s defence to hit the top of off stump.0:42

Tendulkar: Akash Deep to Root at Edgbaston was ‘ball of the series’

Apart from his 13 wickets in the series, he also made a vital contribution with the bat, scoring a half-century after coming in as a nightwatcher in India’s second innings in the fifth Test at The Oval. Akash Deep made 66 in his partnership of 107 with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the third wicket, helping India set a match-winning target of 374.”Everyone expects me to contribute with the bat, but I haven’t been able to do it to all the time,” he says. “That innings, I learnt a lot. It taught me to not take my batting casually. When the team needs me, that time I’m motivated.”He also recalls his innings in Brisbane in 2024, when he helped India save the follow-on, to explain what he needs to motivate himself at times. “I think I should put extra pressure on myself as a batter to contribute,” he says. “That’s what it (The Oval innings) taught me. I was just thinking of building a partnership with Yashasvi.”They [his team-mates] were happy because the batters used to taunt us in a friendly way, ‘kabhi toh kuch kardo (can you also contribute once in a while)’, ‘dus to bana do, bees to bana do (make 10 or 20 runs at least)’, so I felt they’ll keep quiet now for some time [laughs].”Akash Deep is now at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, gearing up for the two-Test series against West Indies from October 2. For the first time in months, he has the mental space to breathe, train, and focus on his game. He doesn’t have to go to the hospital at present and he’s enjoying the luxury of being able to stay in the moment and do what he loves most.

The Namibia batters are having their best year in T20Is and will be playing in front of a packed house at their new stadium

Firdose Moonda10-Oct-2025Some neighbours in the cricketing world won’t even shake hands anymore but others will go across the border to inaugurate a new stadium, albeit with a mish-mash side. South Africa’s experimental T20I squad is in Namibia to play a one-off match at the newly minted Namibia Cricket Ground and will finish their fixture about 13 hours before the Test side kicks off their World Test Championship title defence in Pakistan.Regular T20I captain Aiden Markram is standing in as Test captain in place of the injured Temba Bavuma, so he will not be in Windhoek. Neither will be Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen or Kagiso Rabada. All that may give Namibia, who recently qualified for a fourth T20 World Cup, hopes of pulling off a great upset. But this game is not so much about the result as it is a celebration for Cricket Namibia, who have built its first stadium under its own banner and will no longer need to rent facilities.The match is a sell-out, with Namibians as keen to see their own team as some of the superstars next door, and this is what they have to look forward to.Related

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Bavuma 'excited' to have de Kock back in ODI fold

De Kock’s comeback South Africa’s enigmatic wicketkeeper-batter, as described by coach Shukri Conrad, has decided to come in from the cold and make himself available to the national team again. Quinton de Kock only officially retired from Tests (and still is) and ODIs but his T20I status has been unknown since last year’s World Cup final. He was South Africa’s leading run-scorer at that tournament, and fourth overall, and seemed to have a lot more to give, but the pressures of international cricket took its toll. De Kock went silent, according to former white-ball Rob Walter, until he didn’t. He reached out to Bavuma and then Conrad in the last few months and is back in the fold.Exactly what caused de Kock to change his mind is not known, but it may have to do with staying relevant in big T20 leagues. His price of R2.4 million in the SA20 was less than an eighth of Dewald Brevis’ record of R16.5 million, for example, and the importance of strong international performance for league value can be seen globally.This year, de Kock had a poor SA20 (159 runs in eight innings with one fifty) and IPL (152 in eight with a best of 97*) but a good MLC, where he was the third-highest run-scorer. Most recently, he played in the CPL, where he scored 208 runs in nine innings with two fifties. After the Namibia T20I, he will play white-ball cricket in Pakistan as South Africa plan for next year’s T20 World Cup, but he will have to earn his place for that.Namibia recently qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup•Zimbabwe CricketThe new Don in chargeBefore this month, Donovan Ferreira had never captained any professional team in any format but he has since been announced as a stand-in T20I skipper. Ferreira was appointed as red-ball captain of Titans, the domestic team based in Centurion, and has led them in two games so far this season. In their opening match against Boland, he scored a century in the first innings and 70 in the follow-on but could not prevent a nine-wicket defeat. In their second game against North-West, he scored a first-innings 71 and is currently the competition’s third-highest run-scorer but Titans lost badly again. Now he will have to shift gears back to his “heater” role in the shortest format and will be keen to show off his six-hitting skills in his first international game in charge.Namibia on a batting highBatting is also the big strength of the home side, who topped 230 twice in the Africa T20 qualifiers and had two centurions. Playing against South Africa will be a step up from Malawi and Nigeria but Namibia will hope to continue a good year batting-wise. In 2025, they have a collective strike rate of 153.02, the highest in their history. In their first outing at the new home venue, they will want to live up to their boundary-hitting reputation and give the home crowd plenty to cheer.Coetzee’s chance to reclaim a regular spotIn Kwena Maphaka’s injury-enforced absence, Gerald Coetzee will lead the attack with an eye on making his case for the more permanent spot in the first-choice side. Coetzee’s attributes – aggressive, quick, good bouncer – all merit a place in the team but a country laden with options and his own history of injury has meant he finds himself in a queue for a spot. He hasn’t been part of a T20 World Cup squad and with the next one four months away, he will want to stake his claim. Coetzee has Nandre Burger, Lizaad Williams, and Andile Simelane as other seam contenders, while Bjorn Fortuin and Nqabayomzi Peter will make up the spin contingent.

His century, after 83 innings and 807 days, shows why Pakistan cricket refuses to move on from him

Danyal Rasool15-Nov-2025Above all, it was the authenticity. At a moment when all around him struggled to capture the moment, Babar Azam simply wanted to live it. Waqar Younis, on commentary, tried to come up with something lyrical to say. Ultimately, he only managed “here we go” as Pramod Madushan ran in, and then “there we go”, when Babar pulled him in front of square to bring up his 20th hundred. ESPNcricinfo’s own ball-by-ball strained for effect as it tried to sum up the magnitude of the event. Fans at the ground, and at home on TV, and on social media, had their phones out, looking for the shot that would surely go viral.The man himself cantered to the other end, his beaming smile shining through his helmet. When he removed it, there was no exaggerated celebration for the cameras, no feigned nonchalance. It was a relieved smile when the helmet came off. He glanced to the skies, he looked down at the floor, and then, he fell to his knees, his face out of the shot. At that moment, he was falling in love with cricket once more.Tellingly he had not, until now, raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd. The sport that has bestowed him with a level of individual fame and popularity perhaps not seen for a cricketer in this country since the days of Imran Khan has, of late, also felt like the chain that shackled him. For now, however, the moment was about him, as well as the uncomplicated joy of batting – a joy that first got him into this position of sport as a vocation, long before everything else about it became so very complicated.Related

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It was also just a reminder of how genuine Babar can be, in an age where sportspeople have even the semblance of a personality media-trained out of them. Babar had no contrived soundbites at the post-match presentations, and then the press conference, which stars tend to reserve for their comebacks. In fact, there really wasn’t anything beyond the banal at all.He was at the business end of criticism for similar banality during his stint as captain so often. On Pakistan’s bad days, he didn’t have much to say, and on the good ones, there wasn’t much to say at all. He hasn’t done much press in the years since, but as he stood in front of the mic after his century, the years appeared to melt away: he thanked God, he was happy to be back among the runs, and he was grateful to his supporters. He ignored his critics, and he wanted to win matches for his team. What more was there to say?The relief is palpable on his face after Babar Azam completes his century after a long wait•AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps nothing to say for Babar, but his fans and detractors alike haven’t exactly kept silent. We are all now beholden to a social media algorithm, and there is no name in Pakistan cricket that whirs it into gear as much as Babar’s. Whether he is captain or not. Whether he scores runs or not. Whether he’s even playing or not. After all, this is a man who – in a surreal period around late summer 2024 – saw the positioning of the big toe on his left foot become a focus of almost comical scrutiny as a potential explanation for his loss of form.Over the best part of the last three years, when all Babar may have wanted was just a little bit of space – to go away and be forgotten about for a little while – the asphyxiating attention only squeezed tighter. Fans and media alike kept him on display like an exotic animal at a tawdry petting zoo. Those who once prematurely anointed him as “King Babar” had, by now, turned it into something of a meme.But for all the toxicity in Pakistan cricket and the ferocity of its critics, legitimate and otherwise, they never stood a chance against his tsunami of supporters. At the depths of his nadir, stadiums across Pakistan – and indeed wherever its diaspora exists – would pack themselves to watch him bat, however fleeting his innings might be. In the Cape Town Test earlier this year, after he scored 81 and came to do press, the Pakistan team bus’s departure was delayed because Babar’s supporters tried to mob him, hoping for an autograph, a selfie, or indeed just a couple of words. Similar scenes have played out in Melbourne, London, and even New York.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.It was no different on Friday, with Rawalpindi Stadium never fuller than in the chilly evening when Saim Ayub fell in the tenth over. Babar’s knock began like any other innings – with a few solid shots, a brief scare here and there. It may have ended with a whimper very early on, as plenty of his 83 century-less knocks have over the past couple of years. Like when, after scratching five runs off his first 14 balls, he mistimed the 15th one almost straight back to Madushan. Or when he played a pull off a long hop and found short midwicket, who couldn’t quite cling on.It would also be a superb feat of narrative chicanery to suggest anything was written in the stars. The last two years have been littered by “predictions” from fans who are certain the next innings is the one Babar finally breaks his drought in, when every cover drive and every time he ticks up beyond 20 is a harbinger of something special. But things began to get serious when, instead of those prophecies, a tense silence emerged. On this site’s ball-by-ball commentaries, any references what he was approaching were angrily hushed by his supporters, afraid the mere mention of it would render it a mirage.Babar Azam was with Mohammad Rizwan when he broke his drought•AFP/Getty ImagesBut as the temperatures dipped into single digits and the spectators huddled together, for comfort as much as for warmth, Babar showed no signs of the mental or technical fragilities that have tripped him up so often in the recent past.If he needed further reassurance of the good old times, of course it was his mate Mohammad Rizwan at the other end: soon, the two were guiding Pakistan in a chase together, just as they used to do. It was Rizwan who took care of the asking rate, knocking off the runs and taking the pressure off his long-time T20 opening partner.In the press conference, when asked what he thought when the critics had piled on, he simply said, “I ignored them.” The arc of the rest of his innings itself might have demanded a scare here, a chance there; in truth, Babar similarly gave it nothing. His knock was becoming a routine march to three figures, and as he began to approach it, the tension seemed to ease instead of mount. He had, after all, been here before. More often, in fact than any Pakistan batter in the history of ODI cricket.The 90s were when he looked at his most comfortable, reserving the shot of the innings to take him to 97: a glorious drive past mid-off, in all its vintage Babar splendour. Often criticised for slowing down ahead of a personal milestone, he took just nine balls to get from 90 to his hundred – a milestone he seemed to greet like an old friend, rather than one he has been a stranger to for the better part of three years.As he brought up his century, his old friend Rizwan raised his arms aloft in delight, as if he’d been the one to just get to a milestone. In the years in between, these men have been appointed captain and then dumped at different times, somewhat unceremoniously in both cases. Bonds are never more brittle than they are with Pakistan’s cricketing stars locked in a power struggle, but Babar and Rizwan are too experienced to let those trivialities get in the way of a moment like that.Once he’d picked himself up off his knees, Babar raised his bat and gloves to the shivering huddle still within the cosy little ground as midnight approached. And then, he embraced Rizwan, the man he’d have wanted by his side for such a moment when, or in the darker moments as he might have wondered, if, it arrived. A journalist later on found himself in tears when he asked Babar about his return to form, with nearly the entire press pack – his fiercest critics among them – mobbing him for a group photograph after it was all done.No matter how hard the critics, or at times even those within the PCB, might try and move on, Pindi last night proved that there is still, in Pakistan cricket, nothing quite like Babar Azam. And when, in times when there is little uncomplicated joy to be found in Pakistan, he can deliver it like he did last night, you can begin to see why his supporters – and the man himself – refuse to move on and go away.

The Phillips brothers sparkle in the Plunket Shield while Abbas returns from injury in the tour game against the West Indians

Deivarayan Muthu29-Nov-2025In his first game for Northern Districts in a year, Williamson lasted only 27 balls across two innings. After scoring 17 in ND’s first innings, he was dismissed for just 3 in their second on the final day at Bay Oval, his home ground, against Auckland. Williamson fell to rookie left-arm spinner Rohit Gulati in both innings. In the first dig, Williamson stepped out and shanked a catch to mid-off before being bowled in the second. Williamson will look to shake off the red-ball rust when he lines up for New Zealand against West Indies in their WTC opener in Christchurch from December 2.Nicholls notches up twin tonsHenry Nicholls missed the cut for the upcoming three-match Test series at home against West Indies, which will kick off New Zealand’s new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, and was not needed as a reserve batter during the preceding ODI series, but he reminded the selectors of his worth with twin centuries for Canterbury against Otago in Dunedin. This, after he had topped the one-day Ford Trophy charts in the first chunk of the season, with 306 runs in five innings.Nicholls, Canterbury’s captain, emulated his coach Peter Fulton in scoring centuries in each innings. Only four other Canterbury players have achieved the dual feat in the Plunket Shield. After making 111 off 157 balls in the first innings, Nicholls was even more fluent in the second, cracking an unbeaten 109 off 119 balls, which strengthened Canterbury’s push for victory.Canterbury also had hundreds from Ish Sodhi and No. 9 Sean Davey. Their unbroken 204-run partnership was the third-highest for the eighth wicket in the Plunket Shield. Sodhi celebrated his maiden first-class ton in dramatic fashion, pulling off the D-Generation X celebration, perhaps inspired by wrestling stars Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

Ish Sodhi with the single greatest celebration of all time after reaching his maiden first-class 100! pic.twitter.com/QF2mqcN7Od

— The ACC (@TheACCnz) November 27, 2025