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Paul Collingwood has serious ambitions to regain the England place as he jets around the world playing Twenty20

Firdose Moonda13-Feb-2012Paul Collingwood has insisted he isn’t jetting around the world playing Twenty20 cricket just to inflate his bank account but has serious ambitions to regain the England place he lost after last year’s World Cup.On Monday he was unveiled as captain of a new franchise in South Africa’s Twenty20 competition, named Impi, where he will ply his trade before linking up with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL having recently completed his stint with Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League. Then there is his county career with Durham which will resume in mid-May following the spell in India.Collingwood remains the only England captain to win a global one-day trophy with the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. In September, England defend their title in Sri Lanka and, although chances of a recall are remote, Collingwood hasn’t given up hope of being there.”I am very ambitious and motivated to try and get back in. I know I will have to have six amazing months if I want to do that though,” Collingwood told ESPNcricinfo. “England know what I can do when I am in form and I know when I am out of form, I look pretty horrible.”Collingwood actually had a lean BBL, scoring 113 runs in seven innings and bowling three overs in nine matches, but believes his experience could play a part in turning around England’s one-day fortunes. They have struggled away from home, losing all five matches in their ODI series in India last October and going down 6-1 to Australia in January either side of the quarter-final exit at the World Cup.With a not-so-subtle hint towards England’s recent problems in India and UAE, Collingwood said he was “a decent player of spin” and admitted it wasn’t easy to see his former team-mates struggle.”They are still hunting for the right formula and it is a bit frustrating watching from the sidelines,” Collingwood said. “But it’s nice for players to have some security like I did when I was playing.”For now, though, he is concentrating on furthering his 20-over career in as many ways possible. “I see the IPL as a great learning curve because you get to play with against players from around the world, some of them who you have never even spoken to before,” he said. “You can take a lot of confidence from playing in a tournament like the IPL. I see it as a six-week crash course in 20-over cricket.”Although England did not get a single player sold in the recent IPL auction, Collingwood said he thought that was only as a result of schedule clashes and did not reflect the pedigree of English talent.Twenty-over leagues have mushroomed around the world with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh also launching marquee competitions but Collingwood does not think the franchise concept will work in England. “Cricket has a lot of tradition in England and the counties have been around for a long time. It’s very difficult to change traditions like that.”

Maddy Green and Katie Perkins have made it to the New Zealand women’s squad that will take on Australia in the Rose Bowl series later this month

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2012Maddy Green and Katie Perkins have made it to the New Zealand women’s squad that will take on Australia in the Rose Bowl series later this month. New Zealand Cricket announced the 14-player squad for the series in Australia, which will include five Twenty20s and three ODIs, starting from January 20.Suzie Bates, who has taken over from the retired Aimee Watkins as captain, will be assisted by Amy Satterthwaite. Rachel Candy, a medium pacer who last played for New Zealand in 2008, and Morna Nielsen, who was not in the squad that played the Natwest quadrangular series in England last summer, have made returns. The debutants, Green and Perkins, had done well in New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 tournament.”The squad has been picked on the back of a hard-fought domestic competition,” national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said. “Top order batsman Maddy Green has been on the radar for some time and deserves her chance after impressing for the Auckland Hearts in the Action Cricket Twenty20 competition, where she has hit 150 runs at an average of 37.50.”Katie Perkins also demanded a spot in the squad with strong performances in the domestic competition. In seven Twenty20 innings Perkins has hit 126 runs and only been dismissed once. Her batting along with her world-class fielding has played a major part in the success of the Hearts this season.”Squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Amy Satterthwaite (vice-capt), Kate Broadmore, Rachel Candy, Lucy Doolan, Maddy Green, Frances Mackay, Katey Martin, Sara McGlashan, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Liz Perry, Lea Tahuhu, Sian Ruck

Tendulkar, Kumble and Ganguly hail Rahul Dravid’s contribution in the limited-overs format for India

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2011Sachin Tendulkar has hailed team-mate Rahul Dravid’s contribution to the Indian team in the limited-overs format, describing him as “a role model” and “the unsung hero of the Indian team.”Dravid, who announced his retirement from the limited-overs format during the ongoing tour of England will be appearing in his last ODI in the fifth and final game in Cardiff on Friday. Tendulkar, who was ruled out of the ODI series due to injury, praised Dravid’s work ethic and his ability to “stay a step ahead of the game”.”When he started playing ODI cricket, he faced some initial difficulties, but he was never one to give up,” Tendulkar told the . “He worked very hard on his flaws, and he made sure to fight it out.”With a career strike-rate of just over 71, Dravid has often been labelled as being unsuited for shorter formats of the game, something that Tendulkar disagreed with. “He may not give you a quick start, but he will surely make his innings count in terms of time spent at the crease. You need such players in the team, and he was the best man for the job. Others in the team played around him, while Rahul batted as the situation demanded. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bat quickly; he just made sure that he batted according to the situation.”Rahul also had that ability to finish a game, and I remember he played the same role at No. 5, or for that matter at any other spot in the batting order. And that was one of the main reasons he sustained his role as an important member in the side.”Former India captain Anil Kumble who was also Dravid’s Karnataka state-mate echoed Tendulkar’s view.”He [Dravid] is not someone who will go out and tonk sixes at will but he gets the job done,” Kumble wrote in his column in the . “Rahul’s approach has changed in the way he uses the pace of the bowler, looks to take the early singles and keep the board ticking over.”Of the 343 ODIs that Dravid played in, he has kept wickets in 73 of them. He started keeping wickets when Sourav Ganguly was captain, a move that Ganguly said “Indian cricket should be thankful to Rahul for”.”Rahul has had a chequered one-day career and it took a new turn once he decided to keep wicket in 2002,” Ganguly wrote in his column in the . “His decision was absolutely for the team as it helped reorganise the middle-order and add more depth to it.”Both Tendulkar and Kumble said that one of the turning points in Dravid’s ODI career was when he started keeping wickets. “He is the perfect team man; when he was asked to keep wickets we all knew that he will do well because he was initially a wicketkeeper. It later helped him, and came as a big help to all of us in the Indian team during the 2003 World Cup. He got better by the day during that campaign, and also managed to score quick runs with the bat,” Tendulkar said.”The best phase of his ODI career was in the four or so years when he was the wicketkeeper, and batted at No. 5,” Kumble said. “He established himself as a great finisher, and it was while batting alongside him that the likes of Yuvraj and Kaif truly matured in the lead-up to the 2003 World Cup.”

Prasidh Krishna beat India C’s defiance with three quick wickets to secure the win

Shashank Kishore22-Sep-2024With 4.1 overs left and the light fading slowly, Prasidh Krishna beat India C’s defiance with three quick wickets to seal India A’s title triumph at the season-opening 2024-25 Duleep Trophy in Anantapur. Prasidh, playing his second straight first-class game after a long injury layoff, dismissed centurion B Sai Sudharsan, Baba Indrajith and Anshul Kamboj to secure victory.Sai Sudharsan, who had battled hard and defied the bowlers to make his fifth first-class century, fell for 111 when he was out attempting a scoop. In Prasidh’s next over, the 80th, he had the injured B Indrajith, who came out to bat only because a draw had seemed a possibility.But in trying to defend a short ball aimed at the ribs, Prasidh had Indrajith caught at leg slip, who had been specifically brought in for the short ball. And then, with a brand new ball taken at the first available opportunity in the 81st over, Prasidh bowled full and straight to dismiss Kamboj lbw to close out the game.Related

• Arshdeep Singh's career-best of 6 for 40 gives India D consolation win

While Prasidh did the late demolition job, it was young Uttar Pradesh seamer Aaqib Khan who did the early damage, nicking off Ruturaj Gaikwad with a superb outswinger, and then having Rajat Patidar bowled.Once those breakthroughs were achieved, Agarwal summoned his spinners on a final-day surface, which had begun to take turn, but not to the extent that made stroke-making impossible. Offspinner Tanush Kotian removed Ishan Kishan and first innings top-scorer Abhishek Porel, while his Mumbai team-mate Shams Mulani dismissed Manav Suthar to open up the possibility of victory.Until that point, it didn’t seem like India B would have the services of Indrajith, who had retired hurt on 34 in the first innings because of a hamstring injury. But with the possibility of a draw looming, he walked out to a packed close-in ring, but only lasted two deliveries. That strike turned a hopeful bunch boisterous as Prasidh and India A then picked up the final wicket after a tense few deliveries of playing and missing to seal the match.That India A were in a position to win outright was largely down to a superb back-to-the-wall century from Baroda’s Shashwat Rawat, who made 124 in the first innings to set up the game on the face of a batting collapse. Then in the second, he struck a half-century along with Riyan Parag to set up a declaration, which eventually helped them build scoreboard pressure on the final day.

This is Australia women’s first bilateral tour of Bangladesh, where the T20 World Cup will take place later in the year

Mohammad Isam20-Mar-2024Bangladesh’s cricketers are making full use of staying at the same hotel as the Australians in Dhaka, trapping Alyssa Healy at the toaster and gathering vital information about how one of the best in the world goes about doing her business.Australia are on site for a limited-overs series comprising three ODIs and three T20Is which kicks off on Thursday and their hosts are absolutely thrilled.”They are the legends of the game so our players are looking forward to meeting them,” Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said. “Already our players are going up to them in the breakfast table. This communication is important to grow as a team. Many of our players never played against them. We see them as idols so playing with them is a huge achievement.”This is the Australia women’s first bilateral tour to Bangladesh so starting from the players to the fans and media, there’s massive interest. Sultana’s opposite number Healy said that they will be looking to learn from the Bangladesh players too, specifically about the pitches and conditions they might face on this tour and beyond considering the T20 World Cup will be taking place here later in the year.Related

• Jonassen omitted for Bangladesh tour, Vlaeminck recalled

• Powerplay: 'Brave' parents make cricket an option for women in Bangladesh

• Uncapped Farzana and 15-year-old Nishita in Bangladesh's ODI squad

“I’m really proud of this group of people, who see it as a greater responsibility to continue to grow the game,” Healy said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean going over and above but there’s always opportunities to intermingle between the sides. To talk about the game as a whole. To gain some useful experience, and not just that’s not just on their part.”That’s me asking questions about playing here in Bangladesh and playing against sides that we don’t get the opportunity to play against either. I think it goes both ways. The girls are really excited to be here and be a part of this series. Hopefully those conversations will take place. I’ve already had one conversation today around the toaster at breakfast so excited for many more to take place.”2:09

Why Nigar Sultana Joty is happy to see Asian sides play top nations

Fatigue is a subject Healy touched on considering some of Australia’s players are coming off the back of the recently concluded WPL in India, before which they had been busy with national commitments. “I think there’s some differing levels of battery power around our group at the moment,” she said. “I think that’s part of the modern game. That’s exactly what is going to start happening moving forward. Playing right around the world 12 months of the year and managing those expectations are going to be a real challenge.”Fortunately for us, I feel we’ve got some great perspective within our group. We have Tayla Vlaeminck back in our in our squad for the first time for a long time. Sophie Molineux is back around the group. There’s enough perspective in there that if you’re feeling a little bit tired, there are players that are absolutely busting their gut to be here playing for Australia. That’s a nice reminder for each and every one of us. The group is really excited to be here and excited to pull on the yellow and play for Australia again, which I think tips it.”Sultana, meanwhile, has pointed out her team’s bowling as their strength. She also pointed out the bigger picture of playing against Australia at home. Bangladesh have been quite impressive in the last 12 months, particularly after they ran India close in the two white-ball series. They also beat Pakistan in 2-1 in a T20I series and an ODI series at home, and won two matches in South Africa too.Both Sultana and Healy welcomed the huge media presence at the pre-match press conference. “When we were playing against India,” Sultana said, “the journalists’ questions were very different. Whether we can win or not, you asked. I think it is a huge success for my team that you aren’t asking me these questions. The questions this time are about winning and doing better. I think it is a kind of a success.”We really want to do well against Australia. They are a big side. They get facilities that are equal to their men’s team. We are still a way from that, but the BCB is trying. They got us a team sponsor this time. There’s a lot of media attention this time, which wasn’t the case before. The word will spread more about women’s cricket. When girls will know that they have a professional future in this sport, they will be more interested to play cricket.”

Even though Sri Lanka have made large totals in recent games, a closer look reveals a deeper issue

Madushka Balasuriya16-Oct-20231:23

Maharoof: ‘Absolutely pathetic batting display from Sri Lanka’

Sri Lanka’s batting has been lopsided in all their three World Cup games so far but it was only against Australia that it was truly exposed. After racking up a 125-run opening stand, they lost 10 wickets for just 84 runs.While it’s easy to say it was just a bad day, it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge the signs leading up to this meltdown. While last month’s dire Asia Cup final – 50 all out – is still fresh in the memory, you could argue that was down to facing one of the best fast-bowling attacks in conditions that favoured them. What is of greater concern for Sri Lanka is how they have fared on more batter-friendly surfaces.If you include the two World Cup warm-up matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Sri Lanka have posted totals of 263, 294, 326, 344 and 209. A closer look, however, unearths promising positions wasted in each of those games.Related

• Angelo Mathews replaces injured Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka's World Cup squad

Against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka scored only 131 runs after the 20th over; against Afghanistan they went from 240 for 2 in the 30th to 294 all out; and against Pakistan they scored only 115 runs in the final 20 overs. Even against South Africa there is an argument to be made that after Kusal Mendis’ blistering start, he might not have lost his wicket as early as he did if he had adequate support from his team-mates.”Despite our promising start, we deeply regret not being able to sustain it, resulting in us being limited to a score of 209 runs,” Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka said after their five-wicket defeat to Australia. “On a wicket like this, I believe we should aim for a total closer to 300 runs, and this was a contributing factor to our defeat.”Nissanka, who scored 61 off 67 balls during the opening stand of 125 with Kusal Perera, is doing his job for the most part.
The Sri Lankan blueprint is pretty straightforward – lay a platform and then launch. But they haven’t been able to launch as far as they would have liked to.”To be candid, the opposition’s bowlers consistently hit good areas during the middle overs, which created a challenging situation for our batsmen,” Nissanka said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t handle it as effectively as we would have liked. Had we managed to play better, we could have achieved a total of 300.”Against Australia, the openers performed but Sri Lanka’s two centurions this tournament – Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama – did not, falling to Zampa for 9 and 8 respectively.”That’s the nature of cricket. We performed admirably in the previous two games, but such fluctuations can occur,” Nissanka said. “Our focus now is to learn from our mistakes and strive for strong performances in the upcoming matches.”The lack of consistent output from the middle and lower order is of greater concern, but when asked why such collapses were happening, Nissanka evaded the question.”As a team, we play every game hoping to win. Unfortunately, we lost the last three matches. we had played well before that. And we hope to play well in the remaining matches.”After suffering three defeats in three games, Sri Lanka’s middle and lower order need to start chipping in before it gets too late. If not, when the top four crumble under the burden placed on them as they did against Australia, such collapses will become more commonplace regardless of the type of surface they play on.

Neither man is seen in India’s limited-overs sides much these days, but with the IPL, they have a chance to return to the national consciousness

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu24-Mar-20194:15

Agarkar: Gayle could have a big say in the result

Big Picture

They seem to have match-winners galore but, put together, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals have only one IPL trophy between them. And addressing that fairly important issue are two captains who have been left by the wayside and aren’t particularly thrilled about it.Any conversation about Ajinkya Rahane in limited-overs cricket circles back to his strike-rate but the man himself suggests he has not been given enough chances by India. Facing him on Monday will be R Ashwin, who will not stand for becoming a one-format cricketer. India’s captain Virat Kohli has said that IPL performance will not matter towards World Cup selection, but these two will be keen to test that statement.

In the news

• Steven Smith is all set to resume his IPL career and said he expected to be available from the first game onwards despite coming off an elbow injury that required surgery and lengthy rehab. This on top of the one-year ban for ball-tampering. So it’s likely he’ll have a few camera lenses trained on him.
• Kings XI fast bowler Andrew Tye is still in Australia and so won’t be part of this game. David Miller too may not make it in time considering he was part of the South Africa squad that played the T20I against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Rahul Tripathi 7 K Gowtham, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni/Varun AaronKings XI Punjab: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 R Ashwin (capt), 8. Sam Curran, 9 Ankit Rajpoot/Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanAshwin and Rahane will be keen to change perceptions about their white-ball abilities•BCCI

Strategy punt

• Jos Buttler is phenomenal in the first six overs of an IPL game, averaging 92 – which means he rarely gets out early – even as he maintains a strike-rate of 168.5. But he’s not had great success against Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The head-to-head in the IPL reads: 27 runs in 21 balls and two dismissals. Both are Powerplay specialists and their battle could prove crucial to the outcome of the game.
• Offspin has always been a good ploy against Chris Gayle (strike-rate of 117) and in K Gowtham the Royals have a good option: he took 11 wickets last season (joint third-highest among uncapped spinners) at an economy rate of 7.8.
• Expect a (one-sided) captain v captain battle. Rahane v Ashwin in the IPL reads: 25 runs, 26 balls, three wickets.

Fall of the empire: Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes erupt in celebrations after Chris Gayle is stumped•BCCI

Stats that matter

• Gayle has made 3994 runs in 111 IPL innings. With one shot, he could break yet another record, the fastest to 4000 runs in the IPL. David Warner (114 innings) beware. Really, all those self-made claims about his being the best there ever was were not entirely unfounded.
• If Royals fancy objecting to that, they should put Dhawal Kulkarni up to make their arguments. The fast bowler has dismissed Gayle three times in 31 balls in the IPL. Also, the batsman’s strike-rate in this head-to-head is only 113. Kulkarni is favourite against KL Rahul too: three wickets in 18 deliveries.
• There’s another West Indian powerhouse on the block as well. Nicholas Pooran. He does his dirty work in the middle order, with T20 statistics from IPL 2018 indicating that No. 5 is his best batting position (strike-rate 171, average 50). That may also help make sure he’s around in the death overs because he hits a boundary every four balls between overs 16 and 20.
• The average score in Jaipur in day-night T20Is and IPL matches since 2013 is 158. Also, Kings XI have never beaten Royals at this venue.

Middlesex have made Dawid Malan club captain and that begged the question whether a man with leadership ambitions might one day fill the most demanding role of all

David Hopps01-Feb-2018Dawid Malan did not break into England’s Test side until shortly after his 30th birthday, but what odds that one day – even if just fleetingly – he might captain England?That thought might have crossed the mind of more than a few people when Middlesex announced that he had been appointed as their new club captain. Here is the chance he has long yearned for to make an impression.The need to find Joe Root occasional rest periods will exist as long as he remains a multi-format player, the vice captain Ben Stokes is facing charges of affray and the player who stepped into that role in Australia, James Anderson, is approaching the end of his career.Malan, one of the few figures to emerge in credit after England’s 4-0 Ashes thumping, struck a maiden Test hundred in Perth and showed resilience throughout, gaining a reputation as a tough cricketer with an appetite for the challenge. Even if he just steps in for a day, his odds have tightened considerably compared to only six months ago.Middlesex have been heavily reliant upon overseas players to lead the club in recent seasons as Angus Fraser, their managing director of cricket and also an England selector, testified.But Malan’s stock has risen and, with a certain irony, he has been entrusted with the job just as England can be expected to make more demands on his time.Malan takes over the captaincy of the club in all formats, with Sam Robson appointed as his four-day vice-captain. Middlesex will appoint a stand-in captain in T20 and 50-over cricket only if should that prove necessary.It has taken almost 350 appearances for Middlesex across all formats, with him amassing more than 14,000 runs in the process, including 23 centuries, before he was appointed – although he did lead Middlesex in the NatWest Blast in 2016 and also led the England Lions to a tri-series win against Pakistan-A and Sri Lanka-A in the same year, impressing Andy Flower along the way.Fraser said: “In recent years Middlesex Cricket have looked at overseas players and new signings to captain the club but I now feel the time is right for players from within to take on major leadership roles.Dawid Malan slugs one to the leg side•Getty Images

“Since my return to Middlesex there have been a number of players who have developed from promising youngsters into high quality and highly-respected figures in domestic cricket. No player has done this more than Dawid Malan and that is why I am delighted he has taken up the offer to be club captain.”Dawid has always held the desire to captain teams and we have for some time believed he has had the potential to captain the club, hence his appointment as T20 captain in 2016. Along with the belief I have that he will become an excellent leader, Dawid stands out because he is somebody who we believe will do the job for several years.Fraser conceded that England absences complicated the issue but said that such considerations should not prevent Malan from gaining his rightful rewards. It is a view recently taken by Yorkshire with Gary Ballance and, somewhat controversially, by Kent with Sam Billings, a decision that will see Sam Northeast leave the club.”England commitments – and I hope Dawid continues to thrive as an international cricketer – may mean we do not see him for periods of the season but, in my mind, that should not stop the right man from holding the position he deserves to hold,” Fraser said.”In light of this Middlesex Cricket have made Sam Robson vice-captain in County Championship cricket. Sam is another player that has been developed by Middlesex and is a cricketer that is ready to take on further responsibility and new challenges. The pair of them will bring fresh ideas and energy to the County Championship cricket we play.Fraser also had warm words for the outgoing captain James Franklin, the New Zealand allrounder, who he said had “selflessly stepped in to fill a leadership hole.”So Malan as an England captain, however briefly? It might be seen as a bizarre suggestion, but there was a time when people would have scoffed at the thought that Paul Collingwood, by then pushing 34, would be the man to lead England to their only success in a major ICC tournament.

The team’s success in levelling the two-Test series against England means Bangladesh may persist with surfaces that take spin quite early

Mohammad Isam03-Nov-2016Pitches that start turning quite early could become the norm in the Test matches Bangladesh play at home. The series against England was played on such surfaces, and Bangladesh competed admirably. They came within 23 runs of victory in Chittagong before taking all 10 wickets in single session to level the series in Dhaka.While it would certainly enhance their biggest strength – spin bowling – it may also pose a challenge to the batsmen. But Bangladesh’s top three have showed signs of being up for it.Tamim Iqbal avoided some shots, assessing their risk to be too much, on a turning pitch but still made a century at a strike-rate of 70.74 in the second Test. His opening partner Imrul Kayes was fully committed to being aggressive, his 78 off only 120 balls in the second innings helped set a target beyond England’s reach. Mominul Haque, at No. 3, was his usual composed self and contributed with his 10th half-century.With confidence that their batsman can handle it, Bangladesh are set to welcome touring sides – especially those with a reputation of struggling in the subcontinent – with tailor-made pitches for the spinners.”I think wickets at home will be made according to our opponents,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “If we are playing against teams from the subcontinent, then I don’t think playing on such wickets will help us, but it will be different when we play against teams like Australia, England and New Zealand.”Tamim added that standing up to tough conditions was quite pleasing. He was the only batsman from either side to score a hundred in the two Tests. “It feels really good to have made runs in these kinds of difficult tracks. The team took a decision, and we stuck by it. The planning meant that we had to work hard, so scoring around 230 runs is something good.”I think my 78 in Chittagong has its own value. The ball spun a lot with many things out of the batsman’s control. The 104 in the second Test is most valuable among my hundreds against England, considering the conditions and the fact that we won the game.”Mominul’s had an additional challenge. He isn’t a regular in ODIs and T20Is and was coming into the Tests having not batted in international cricket for over a year. He got a three-ball duck in his first innings of the series, the outside edge carrying off the wicketkeeper’s leg to gully, but adjusted better later on with help from batting consultant Thilan Samaraweera.”When I was playing and got four months [off], it was very hard [coming back],” Samaraweera said, “Especially in the first innings of the first Test. However you train and whatever you do, when you come to the game, you are under pressure. That’s a different pressure. Importantly, you have to stick to the routines to get your body right for the game.”In the first inning of the first Test, the way he [Mominul] got out, that’s hard. The first few balls, you don’t know. We talked a little bit, different things. They are willing to work, that’s the key thing. Whatever I say, if they don’t listen to, it won’t work. But these boys are absolute superstars. Straightaway they work [at it].”Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza also praised how the team read the pitches in Dhaka and Chittagong and attacked England.”The thing I liked the most was the batting approach, it was very positive. Since it was hard to stay in these wickets, the batsmen had to score rapidly. Batsmen like Alistair Cook and Joe Root didn’t do well, so it showed that settling in these wickets wasn’t easy.”Bangladesh’s batting was criticised because there were some bad shots and some untimely dismissals. While it is hard to deny such mistakes, what thrilled me was how they were able to read the wicket. They knew they had to play the shots, so guys like Tamim and Imrul batted very well. And at least one batsman stood up whenever necessary.”

On the tenth anniversary of their famous win over Australia in Cardiff, Bangladesh thumped a full-strength Indian team in front of a raucous Mirpur crowd

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu18-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMustafizur Rahman took 5 for 50 on debut to smash India’s chances of chasing 307•Associated Press

On the 10th anniversary of their famous win over Australia in Cardiff, Bangladesh thumped a full-strength Indian team in front of a raucous Mirpur crowd. Nineteen-year-old Mustafizur Rahman keeled over India’s batsmen with an assortment of cutters to become the second Bangladesh bowler after Taskin Ahmed to claim a five-wicket haul on debut. His performance came after a rapid 102-run opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar had formed the centrepiece of Bangladesh’s 307, their highest against India in ODIs.The 79-run victory, only their fourth against India, meant Bangladesh needed to win only one out of their next five ODIs to cement their spot in the 2017 Champions Trophy, which will be contested by the top-eight-ranked ODI sides as of September 30, 2015.This was Bangladesh’s ninth straight win at home, but for the first 15 overs of the second innings it seemed the streak would be broken. After an impressive start by Mustafizur and Taskin, Bangladesh looked like they were buckling under the experience and the class of the Indian batting. Rohit Sharma settled down and brought up his fifty off 53 balls, and Shikhar Dhawan was dropped twice by Mushfiqur Rahim.Taskin, whose debut five-for last year came in a defeat, began the turnaround when asked to come back for a second spell. After missing the first two, Mushfiqur made amends, pouching Dhawan and Virat Kohli, both batsmen undone by extra bounce from Taskin. The wickets were set up by tight and intense bowling. Tasking bounded in and kept bowling the in-between length away from the batsmen’s reach. The pressure contributed to the next two wickets, craftily snapped by Mustafizur.The pressure rose with every dot and diving save in the field until a period of 10 runs off 29 balls culminated in Rohit’s failing to read an offcutter from Mustafizur. Ajinkya Rahane was tied down similarly and succumbed to another offcutter, for nine off 27. That Rahane wicket reduced India to 115 for 4, and Bangladesh knew MS Dhoni’s wicket could be the game. Drama was to follow.Mustafizur had to leave the field for a while after colliding with Dhoni in the middle of the pitch, but arguably Bangladesh’s best player of all time, Shakib Al Hasan, took over the baton. Bangladesh celebrated angrily when Shakib drew an edge from Dhoni, which Mushfiqur took beautifully to redeem himself after the earlier drops. If there was indignation palpable at the man who knocked out their hero of the night, Bangladesh found a poetic end as Mustafizur returned to snuff out whatever remote chance India had by dismissing Suresh Raina and R Ashwin off successive balls. He could have become only the second bowler after Fidel Edwards to claim a six-for on ODI debut had he hung onto a return catch off his penultimate delivery. However, he had done enough and finished with outstanding figures of 9.2-1-50-5.The day had begun in similar vein for Bangladesh. In rare sunlight after some bleak weather, Tamim and Sarkar set to work immediately after Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bat, launching a relentless onslaught on the Indian bowlers. Bangladesh soared past 100 off only 79 balls, their fastest against a top-eight team. Tamim raced down the track to the fifth ball of the match, and though he inside-edged it towards fine leg, he had signalled Bangladesh’s intent. They weren’t going to hold back.Tamim found his groove quickly, hitting three fours and a six off Umesh Yadav in the sixth over. The first one was edged but did not carry to Dhawan at wide first slip, the second was lashed over point, the next pulled powerfully before the over ended with a belt over covers as Tamim brought back memories of assaulting Zaheer Khan in the 2007 World Cup.Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav erred on the pads, which was the theme of the early part of the innings and Dhoni was forced to bring his lead spinner – Ashwin – as early as the eighth over. The opening pair was separated in the 14th over by some indecision between the wickets, Raina’s accurate arm cutting short Sarkar’s promising innings at 54.Tamim reached a fifty too before a drizzle grew heavier, resulting in a delay of about an hour. It catalysed a shift in momentum with Ashwin striking thrice in four overs after the resumption. Ashwin had an able ally in Raina who settled into an asphyxiating rhythm in an uninterrupted spell, which read: 10-0-40-0.Sabbir Rahman, though, combined well with Shakib, assembling 83 runs in 14.2 overs before Ravindra Jadeja bowled Sabbir with a signature flat darter. Shakib could have also been dismissed on 38 had Jadeja held onto a tough return catch. Shakib would add 14 more before perishing to Umesh.Bhuvneshwar and Umesh tightened things up at the death, giving away only 35 while picking up four wickets in the last five overs. However, late cameos from Mashrafe and Nasir hauled Bangladesh to their second 300-plus score in four ODIs. Interviewed at the innings break, Shakib said that Bangladesh were 25 runs short. But as it turned out, they had ended with 79 more, capping off the night in a mood of revelry with Taskin and Mashrafe reprising their chest-bump from the World Cup.