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An off-day in Manchester suddenly leaves hosts in must-win as they ponder team balance and batting flexibility

The Preview by Shashank Kishore05-Jul-20182:22

Dasgupta: Don’t see India making any changes to their XI

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It is hot and dry, the pitches are flat and there will be lots of spin awaiting England. Add to this a huge Indian contingent that will be cheering their team at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. If there was any doubt before, there is none now – the main challenge of the summer has arrived.A game down, England know one thing already: scoring truckloads of runs against Ashton Agar was clearly no preparation for India’s spin variety. Already, discussion of wristspin and their failure to cope against left-armer Kuldeep Yadav has become a talking point. The second T20I, therefore, gives them an opportunity to prove the Manchester nightmare was an aberration.It is one thing executing badly against this rare bowling style, another not picking them at all, as was the case with four of the five England batsmen in the series opener. While two days between games is unlikely to change their foundation towards approaching spin, it sure could have given England time to ponder over batting strategies – knowing whom to target – and perhaps batting positions. Joe Root, for example, was a complete misfit at No. 6, especially when having at come in as late as the 14th over. His strike rate in T20Is since 2016 a modest 105.74 in seven innings.India have decided to play five specialist bowlers, leaving them vulnerable at times to a bowler having an off day and little else to fall back on. That perhaps explains the team management’s preference for Suresh Raina over the in-form Dinesh Karthik, because he can offer part-time offspin. England must look to capitalise on this.A game down, India may have discovered their best batting line-up too. KL Rahul’s success at No. 3 could mean an end to the musical chairs at No. 4, with Virat Kohli all but likely to settle there for the time being. The success may have come in the shortest format, but India are approaching what would otherwise be a context-less T20I series, with an eye on next year’s 2019 World Cup.

Form guide

England LWWLL (last five completed games, most recent first)
India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Moeen Ali took 12 wickets in five ODIs against Australia, but has little to show with the ball in the two T20Is since. Against Australia, he was clobbered for 58 off his four overs. On Tuesday, his 2.2 overs went for 37. He didn’t look great with the bat, either, out to an ugly hoick when England needed to arrest the slide in the wake of Kuldeep’s strikes. England may well be tempted to play a specialist bowler in his stead, given their batting depth. However, should they persist with Moeen, the onus is on him to deliver.Bhuvneshwar Kumar is India’s lead bowler, and one bad outing is unlikely to change that. He’s graduated to become a bowler who isn’t always dependent on swing and seam, and will want to get back to his usual ways after two wicketless matches in Dublin and Manchester. Umesh Yadav’s stunning IPL form that earned a comeback and his fiery spells since have given him a headstart. Should Bhuvneshwar also find his groove back, it will give the team management a healthy headache when Jasprit Bumrah recovers from his thumb injury.

Team news

England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Alex Hales, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Joe Root, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Adil RashidIndia (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 KL Rahul, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

Cardiff has tended to play much slower than other surfaces in the UK, the average score here is just 144. Weather-wise, all of UK is set for a scorching weekend. No prizes for guessing which team is happier.

Stats and trivia

• Umesh Yadav is the highest wicket-taker in Powerplays in T20s this year. In 16 innings, he has 17 wickets; he averages just 14.29 in this period. The only England-based bowler in the top 10 – never mind, he doesn’t qualify to play for them yet – is Jofra Archer (eight wickets in 22 innings at 34.75).
• Jos Buttler’s 69 in the series opener was his seventh fifty-plus score in his last eight T20 innings. All of them have come as an opener.
  Four of England’s top five – Buttler, Roy, Hales, Morgan – have been dismissed at least thrice to wristspinners in T20s. Buttler has been out the most: nine times in 16 innings.

• England are undefeated in four T20Is in Cardiff
• Tuesday’s win was India’s first in T20Is against England in England.

Quotes

“It has been made very clear that there will be few changes in the team and as a batting unit we need to flexible in our heads to be able to perform any role or responsibility that has been given to us by the team. We are all working towards it like you said, I might bat at No. 3 or 5 or 6. Someday we might want to promote MS Dhoni or Hardik Pandya if we get a good start to go and get us a few sixes or get the run rate up. So we will be flexible keeping in mind the World Cup.”

“It was a good spell from Kuldeep Yadav, first of all, and then a very good innings from KL Rahul. They thoroughly deserved the win, but we’ll be looking to bounce back come tomorrow.”

Spinners took six wickets on the final day as West Indies recorded their biggest run-margin victory at Queen’s Park Oval

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Jun-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
AFP

Sri Lanka hurtled to defeat either side of lunch on the final day, losing the last five of their wickets within 25 deliveries, for eight runs, as West Indies went 1-0 up in the three-Test series. The telling blow had been struck earlier in the day, by Shannon Gabriel, who has been outstanding in this Test. He pitched a ball just short-of-a-length to centurion Kusal Mendis, got the ball to erupt, and drew the outside edge. Though for much of the morning, wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich had been collecting balls at knee height or below, so menacing was this delivery, that he had had to complete the catch with arms outstretched over his head.Of the other Sri Lanka batsmen seen on day five, only Lahiru Gamage the nightwatchman showed any substantial resistance. He played out 49 balls for three runs, deadbatting almost anything that came his way, until he was eventually trapped in front of the stumps by a Devendra Bishoo googly. Everyone else fell in a heap.The win was special because West Indies’ bowlers were outstanding on a pitch that was never particularly treacherous. In the fourth innings, Roston Chase finished up with the best figures of 4 for 15, though two of those wickets were those of tailenders. More impressive were Bishoo, who took 3 for 48, and Gabriel, who was intense in patches in both innings. His match haul was 4 for 100 – figures that do not do him justice.Upon resumption in the morning, Mendis had been secure, moving smartly to his fifth Test century, with a flick to the deep square leg boundary. He celebrated with little fuss, knowing perhaps that his team still needed many more runs from him. It wasn’t to be. That Gabriel ball was nigh unplayable, and it was only because he was in good touch that he got an edge to it. No other Sri Lanka batsman crossed fifty in this Test – woeful returns, given the nature of the surface.Of Sri Lanka’s day five dismissals though, perhaps it was Dinesh Chandimal’s that was the most reprehensible. He had resumed his innings on 15, having retired ill the previous day, with early symptoms of sunstroke. He was cautious for the majority of his day five stay, only venturing a boundary off a Bishoo long hop. However, he lost his temperament and his wicket an over before lunch.Aiming to slam a Chase length ball over midwicket, he ended up miscuing the stroke badly, and looping a catch to near mid-on, where a running Kraigg Brathwaite completed the catch. Later that over, Niroshan Dickwella was struck in front of the stumps by a slider. He burned Sri Lanka’s final review in desperation, out for 19.The tail then went quickly. Herath gloved Bishoo short leg, not long after lunch. Next over, Chase had Nos. 10 and 11 caught behind – though Suranga Lakmal was unlucky to be given out, as he had not in fact made contact. Nevertheless, with all Sri Lanka’s specialist batsmen out before lunch, these were merely the last rites. The final margin of victory was an enormous 226 runs. The hosts having run the match from the second day onwards, it was a West Indies domination.

Shane Watson needs to find greater composure in order to become Australia’s batting barometer

Daniel Brettig at Kensington Oval09-Apr-2012If a cricket team’s character can be defined by that of its captain, then a batting order’s stability or otherwise is often dictated by the man who walks to the wicket at No.3. In the past decade the likes of Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara have set a high mark for the position, their strengths bolstering the batsmen around them.Before them the Australian and West Indian Test batting orders of the early 1990s were given their direction by the Nos.3 David Boon and Richie Richardson. While the latter was a little more flamboyant than the former, both were fearless. Were Boon to be unnerved by a pitch or a bowler, the rest of the Australian order would take uneasy note. Were Richardson to be deceived, as he was by Shane Warne on the final day of the 1992 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, there was every chance the rest would be similarly befuddled.So it was significant that Shane Watson set a jittery marker for Michael Clarke’s Australian team in his first innings at No.3. Watson is in the third phase of his Test batting career, having started in the middle order then graduated with some success to an opener’s post. His batting is strong, powerful and aggressive. But his mind is given to the occasional bout of the scattershot, and his knack for crease occupation remains under-developed. Watson knew the importance of his position when he walked out to the middle on the third morning of the first Test, and returned to the Garfield Sobers Pavilion bitterly disappointed to make a contribution that did almost as much harm to Australia’s cause as any West Indian bowler.Watson was not called upon until a 50-run stand had been posted, but his first foray into the world of No.3 batsmanship was far from comforting. He could have been out early lbw, padding up to Darren Sammy, and after David Warner perished he played a major role in Ponting’s run-out. As Ponting marched off Watson leaned on his haunches and cursed, with good reason. Eight times he has been involved in run-outs in his 33 Tests, a statistic to quicken the pulse of all batsmen to accompany him.Australia’s was racing second ball after lunch, when Watson drove expansively at Kemar Roach and edged into the gloves of Carlton Baugh. His innings had begun at 50 for 1 and ended at 133 for 4, leaving a sizeable salvage job in the hands of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey. Talented as they are, neither man has attempted to bat at No.3 for Australia, adding gravitas to the notion that such batsmen should be chosen carefully.When Boon retired in 1996, a wrestle for his position took place over five years. Ponting took the spot in Australia’s next Test, but held it for only two more. Justin Langer and Greg Blewett then claimed it with varying degrees of success, but the relentless march of Steve Waugh’s team was given noticeable momentum when Ponting returned to the post. Starting with the 2001 Ashes series, he carved up attacks with rare monotony and offered plenty of composure, too.Watson’s entry has come at the end of a period of experimentation, as Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh were also granted chances to enter at first wicket down. Both played innings of substance there – Marsh a laudable century on debut in Sri Lanka and Khawaja a strikingly calm half-century to help set-up a thrilling chase against South Africa in Johannesburg. However their limitations, both mental and technical, were laid bare after a time, and Marsh became particularly bereft as the selectors persisted with him over four Tests against India that grew ever more nightmarish amid a sea of Australian successes.Most of these lessons were learned while Watson convalesced after hamstring and calf injuries. In his absence the team performed strongly, Clarke rotating four bowlers as adroitly as he had five when Watson was available, while the cavalier Warner and circumspect Ed Cowan formed a balanced opening union. Leadership was also in plentiful supply, Brad Haddin serving as an able lieutenant to Clarke though Watson remained the official vice-captain. In this can be found the seeds of Watson’s return at No.3 – Marsh’s poor form made it the most easily available berth for a returning batsman, and so Watson travelled to the West Indies thinking about the role.On the second evening, before he went in to bat, Watson indicated that by moving out of the opening post he might also give his body and mind a greater chance of adjusting from the mental demands of bowling to those of batting. He was looking forward to the potential rest it offered, especially as Cowan and Warner stand a chance of making consistent starts.”There’s no doubt the more I do it the more comfortable I’m going to be about waiting my turn to go in,” Watson had said. “It’s a bit of a different experience to the last couple of years but at least, on the flip-side, it gives me a little bit more time to freshen up even after bowling a few overs today. In that sense, hopefully it’ll pay off tomorrow to give me a little bit more time to mentally freshen up. The more I do it the better I’m going to get, the more comfortable I’m going to be at finding the routines to make sure I can switch off, to make sure I’m mentally and physically ready to go when I need to.”With as much cricket as we do play even having that little bit of time to just chill out, even though you’re taking in every ball that’s going on out in the middle, but just from a mental perspective it’s just going to give me that little bit more time to actually relax and know that I can have a little bit of downtime to be able to get my head ready to start batting.”Watson had plenty of downtime to contemplate following his dismissal, and an unhappy Ponting to accompany him. As capable as he is with the bat and the ball, Watson must find greater composure – both between the wickets and at the batting crease – in order to become the batting barometer of a successful Australian team.

Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the SSC Test between Sri Lanka and India

Sidharth Monga at the SSC29-Jul-2010Raina or Sehwag?
A debutant is nearing a century, he has played at a few wide deliveries in the previous few overs, clearly he is nervous, and he moves from 95 to 96 with a single patted down to long-off off Suraj Randiv. In fact, during that over, Kumar Sangakkara had fielders at long off, long on, deep square leg and deep point. Sometimes modern captains confound.Raina-Sehwag, part 2
Raina reached his century on debut with Sachin Tendulkar for company. The last man to score a century on debut alongside Tendulkar was a No. 6 too, and Virender Sehwag hasn’t done badly at all since then. As for Raina, who was given his cap by Rahul Dravid and who hugged Sachin Tendulkar immediately upon reaching the century, his Test career seems blessed. Blessed.More Sangakkara tactics
Perhaps he knew this pitch wouldn’t yield a result, and hence wanted to keep his main bowler – relatively speaking – away from attention. But it sure was some privilege for Ajantha Mendis to have been asked to bowl only two overs in the first session on a day that was hard work for bowlers.Archaic cricket rules – a reminder
On a hopeless day for bowlers, Dammika Prasad managed to inflict a rare moment of discomfort on Tendulkar, and his team was charged four runs for that. With the score at 443 for 4 and Tendulkar on 134, Prasad got a bouncer to move in, stay low, and hit the batsman on the helmet. There was no intention of playing a shot, but the umpire had no choice but to signal four leg byes for the ricochet. The law, as they say, is an ass.Bad match for Bradman
This pitch seems to have been created with the sole purpose of taking away some of the many records Don Bradman possesses. I even smell an Asian Bloc conspiracy here. First Mahela Jayawardene broke Bradman’s record of most centuries at one venue, and then Tendulkar went past his tally of 18 scores of 150 and more. RIP Don.

Glasgow Rangers head coach Philippe Clement continued his unbeaten start to life in Scotland with a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Light Blues needed a stoppage-time penalty from James Tavernier, after Connor Goldson was pulled back in the box, to rescue a point away from Ibrox.

It meant that the Gers were unable to make the most of Celtic dropping two points on Saturday and they remain eight points behind their rivals, albeit with one game in hand.

Clement is unlikely to be pleased with the nature of the performance as a number of sloppy defensive mistakes could have seen the hosts comfortably in front during the first half and there was an alarming lack of quality forward play throughout the game.

Central defender Leon Balogun looked off the pace at times and struggled, particularly for the opening goal, but centre-forward Danilo was the real villain of the piece for the head coach.

Balogun's performance against Aberdeen in numbers

The Nigeria international was caught sleeping as a simple flick on through the middle of the pitch allowed Bojan Miovski to run through and slot the ball into the bottom corner with ease.

He should have been alert and across to cover behind Connor Goldson but was yards off the pace and that allowed the Dons forward with all the time and space that was needed to score.

That came shortly after Ester Sokler got in behind in a similar fashion only to be foiled by a terrific save from the feet of the excellent Jack Butland.

However, Balogun did win all seven of his duels on the ground and five of his ten aerial battles, to go along with two tackles and two interceptions, across the 90 minutes, which shows that it was not a completely dismal display.

Danilo's performance against Aberdeen in numbers

The Brazilian forward came into the match with three goals and three assists in his previous five appearances for the club in all competitions but was unable to carry on his impressive form.

Instead, the summer signing from Feyenoord struggled against the Dons and was a lightweight at the top end of the pitch throughout the game.

Danilo lost 70% (seven of his ten) physical duels, including three of six on the deck and all four of his contests in the air as the opposition's defenders were able to dominate him with relative ease.

The £26k-per-week centre-forward then failed to make the most of the opportunities that did come his way with one 'big chance' missed as the ex-Ajax man was unable to beat Kelle Roos from close range with a stabbed effort.

Along with that, the 24-year-old marksman did not create a single chance for his teammates from his 45 touches of the ball across 90 minutes on the pitch.

Therefore, Danilo was the real villain for the Light Blues with a disappointing display through the middle of the pitch as the spearhead of Clement's attack.

Balogun, at least, made a number of important defensive interventions to make up for his early mistake for the goal but Danilo did not offer much in or out of possession for the Scottish giants.

Sunderland star Jobe Bellingham rifled in a stunning long-ranger against Southampton as he continues to promise to match the level of brother Jude.

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• Sunderland went down 4-2 to Southampton
• Jobe was a bright spark against the Saints
• Scored from distance to stun the hosts

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  From being 2-0 down, Sunderland clawed their way back into the match courtesy of two second-half strikes from Romaine Mundle and Jobe. The second goal was a thing of beauty as Bellingham Jr. pounced on a loose ball a few yards outside the penalty box, took a touch to make space, and then pulled the trigger with utmost finesse to see the ball curl into the far top corner beyond the reach of Gavin Bazunu between the sticks.

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  Although Jobe's effort was not enough to salvage even a point at St. Mary's as Mike Dodds' side eventually went down 4-2, his thunderous effort is bound to generate more buzz in England and probably in the Spanish capital as well. It had been reported that Florentino Perez has asked Real Madrid's scouts to keep a close watch on the youngster as he finds striking similarities between his and Jude's playing style.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Jobe has been enjoying a scintillating start to life at the Stadium of Light since his £1.5 million ($1.9m) switch to Sunderland and boasts of scoring six goals in 36 Championship matches. He has been a regular under Dodd's watch and will be back in action against QPR next Saturday.

Lahiru Gamage claimed a second five-wicket haul in as many four-day matches, as the rain-affected second round of the Super Fours Provincial Tournament produced two further draws

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Apr-2018

Lahiru Gamage claimed a second five-wicket haul in as many four-day matches, as the rain-affected second round of the Super Fours Provincial Tournament produced two further draws. The matches at Hambantota and Dambullla were played under lights with the pink ball – SLC’s attempt to prepare the Test players for their forthcoming day-night Test in Barbados, in June. Although the rain ate up too much time for a result to be possible, the bowlers nevertheless returned good figures in this round, with Kandy seamers Kasun Rajitha and Isuru Udana taking four wickets apiece in the first innings against Colombo, and legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga claiming 4 for 40 for Colombo, in the same match.It was Gamage’s figures of 5 for 78 against Galle, however, that stood out from the round, and that his good form will put the national selectors at ease. With Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep and Shehan Madushanka all in doubt for the Tests against West Indies in June, Gamage will likely feature in Sri Lanka’s seam attack there. This performance – during which he took the wickets of Roshen Silva and Galle captain Dasun Shanaka – followed his 5 for 71 against Kandy last week. Led by Gamage, the seamers have continued to outperform the spinners in this tournament – a welcome trend in Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket, which is often overwhelmingly dominated by spinners.On the batting front, the Dambulla team’s Sachithra Serasinghe was the only one to make triple figures in this round, hitting 112 from 208 balls to help set Galle 315 to win. Elsewhere in that match, Kusal Mendis made 89, Chaturanga de Silva hit 54 and Ashan Priyanjan followed his century from the first round with a 95 in the second, putting on a 141-run stand with Serasinghe in the process.In the other match, former Under-19 captain Charith Asalanka, and Priyamal Perera hit half-centuries for Kandy. And, although, thanks to Rajitha and Udana’s four-wicket hauls, they reduced the Colombo side to 138 for 9 dec (in response to their own 270), the extended rain delays had long made a result impossible.

4:25

Manjrekar: RCB left the final overs to limited bowlers

Chennai Super Kings picked up their fifth victory through thunderous performances from two heroes – Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni – in an explosive performance. They made nearly half of the 206 target with the 17 sixes they hit at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Kohli fined for slow over rate

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has been fined INR 12 lakh (USD 18,000 approx) after his team maintained a slow over rate on Wednesday night against Chennai Super Kings. Kohli’s penalty was decided keeping in mind it was his team’s first over-rate offence of the season.

Super Kings survived an AB de Villiers onslaught to recover and chase just a little over 200 – it could’ve been much more. Then they slipped to 74 for 4 in nine overs, before coming back with blazing 101-run stand between Dhoni and Rayudu. Dwayne Bravo, then set it up for Dhoni to complete a win in his signature style – a six over long-on, thereabouts – to take them back to the top of the table.The sub-plot was a familiar one for Royal Challengers: they didn’t have the bowling to defend, again. They had seven bowling options on the night and their two best bowlers – Yuzvendra Chahal and Umesh Yadav – bowled out their overs for a combined 3 for 49. The two other spinners were given a combined four overs, the better bowler of their two allrounders – Colin de Grandhomme – didn’t have a bowl, and, yet again, a glaring lack of a death-overs plan resulted in an embarrassing collapse.The top does it again for RCBBy the time CSK had got into the third over after electing to bowl, Virat Kohli had figured out his method against the opening bowlers: short strides against Deepak Chahar’s swing and a few steps down at Shardul Thakur. He also exchanged notes with Quinton de Kock who aggressively kept gesturing about how Thakur’s knuckle ball was coming out.Thakur managed to pull it back momentarily with a quite remarkable feat – a wicket maiden off a T20 over faced by Kohli and de Villiers – but the bleeding wouldn’t stop. De Kock and de Villiers, together, put up 103 for the second wicket from there in under nine overs, starting with a 16-run punishment off three balls that took Harbhajan out for the rest of the innings.When the ball lost its shine, there did appear to be grip from the surface. But the South African duo weren’t averse to using their feet – de Villiers made 45 off his 68 runs against 17 balls of spin – to move laterally in the crease or down the pitch to open up the field. With their abilities to clear the ground in tow, that proved vital, because the spinners were forced into bowling faster than they should have been.Mighty fallThe next breakthrough, the wicket of de Kock in the 14th, also came in a maiden over. It might even have been a double-wicket maiden had CSK reviewed an lbw decision where Bravo got Corey Anderson on the back leg off a full toss. It didn’t do too much damage though as Imran Tahir claimed two: de Villiers – 68 off 30 – and Anderson, off consecutive deliveries.Suddenly, it was turning big. CSK could’ve had Mandeep Singh, but Dhoni failed to anticipate a spitting turner from Ravindra Jadeja and couldn’t get his hand on a stumping opportunity. What followed was a six over midwicket and a reverse-swept four to get Mandeep going. A missed opportunity and Royal Challengers looked like they would capitalise.But another collapse came. RCB lost seven wickets in the last five overs and played out two maiden overs in the innings. They didn’t have the bowling to afford such mishaps.How to lose a matchRCB had made the perfect start with the ball. Shane Watson, Suresh Raina and Sam Billings, who have all made winning contributions this season, were out inside seven overs and the pitch was allowing big turn. CSK seemed to have given them some help too, when they sent Jadeja ahead of Dhoni at No. 5. That move brought a 15-run fourth-wicket stand that consumed 16 balls.Umesh had bowled out his overs in a testing opening spell, though, and Chahal would be done in the 13th. The brutal effect of that reality in simple, numerical terms: CSK hit 12 sixes in 64 balls after Dhoni walked in.Rayudu didn’t exactly fly under the radar. Like he had against Sunrisers in Super Kings’ previous match, he dealt mainly in flat-batted shots. He was severe on Hyderabad Ranji team-mate Mohammed Siraj, and did not allow Washington Sundar a chance to settle.At the other end, Dhoni smashed the confidence out of Pawan Negi. Shortly after coming in to bat, he swatted the left-arm spinner over midwicket, and upon his return in the 14th, a visibly nervous Negi fired full ones flat into Dhoni’s arc. Two of RCB’s spinners had been neutralised on a spin-friendly surface.That was the beginning of an inevitable death-overs meltdown. With 70 required off 28 balls, Umesh put down a simple chance at extra cover that would have ended Rayudu’s innings. It was perhaps the only time Anderson’s plan of sliding cross-seam length balls across came close to working. By the end of that over, he was truly found out – Rayudu hit balls from the same line outside off over extra cover and then over midwicket.At 21 required off seven balls, even if Mohammed Siraj had completed the penultimate over without needing four attempts at the last ball, Anderson didn’t look like he would have defended the runs. The allrounder, had gone for 16 and 15 in his two overs before the last one, and conceded 17 runs off four balls to finish with figures of 3.4-0-58-0.De Grandhomme, brought into the XI on the night, did not feature in Kohli’s bowling plans. This meant that Royal Challengers would bowl their last six overs with two bowlers: a strategy scarcely seen in ODI cricket even, which shouldn’t have a place in T20 cricket. But it did have a place on the night. And it summed up why RCB’s economy in the death-overs this season – 13.29 – is the worst by any team in any edition of the IPL.

From giving up the game at a young age, to returning with a vengeance and forcing his way into the national side, life had come a full circle for Colin Ingram. Now the future is calling, and he seems to be listening keenly.

Sriram Veera24-Sep-2010Colin Ingram says he is not a shy, but a reserved young man. It is when he bats that he is able to give full expression to his personality. Perhaps, batting is a release from everything else, even from himself, and allows him to be what he wants to be. Many people go through life without finding out what they are meant to do; Ingram is lucky.”When I have a bat in my hand and when I am hitting the ball, I feel in my element,” Ingram says. “That’s when I completely feel comfortable with myself as a person. I feel I am doing something that I am meant to be doing. From a young age that feeling has grown inside me.”Ingram’s childhood revolved around cricket. He grew up in a farming district around a cricket field. His father was a club cricketer, a wicketkeeper cum lower-order hitter who is still going strong. His mother used to throw balls at him and one of his earliest memories is standing on the cricket field on Saturday mornings when the local people would cut grass, and make tea. He grew up listening to cricket stories and loved giving the ball a good thump. The coaches tried to temper him but, luckily, his father encouraged him to just enjoy himself. “He used to say that lots of youngsters hit the ball well when young but when they grow up they focus too much on technique and suffer. He didn’t want me to do that.”His first major life lesson came at 18 when he wasn’t picked for the under-19 squad. It was a big blow to his confidence and he was ready to give up the game. He did for two months. “When you are that young you think that’s the end of the world and that you are done. But in the long run I guess that was the best thing that happened to me. It made me go back and find deep inside if I want to do this or not. Whether I thought it was really worth it or not.”He was in Bloemfontein then at the university, enjoying a different sort of life. He remembers the cold wintery morning when things turned around for him. “I remember thinking let me start all over again. I put on my running shoes and ran.” It was the longest jog he had ever taken. At the end of it he had decided on his future: Cricket was his first love and he would stick by it. “That morning is where it all restarted for me. There comes a time in everyone’s life when things become difficult in whatever you do. You have to restart. Stop, rethink and restart. That was my rebirth in cricket.”Ingram nails the most important factor in the turnaround: “Everyone was driving me in one direction from when I was young but I probably hadn’t thought about what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go. That setback helped me to find it and want it for myself.”

Everyone was driving me in one direction from when I was young but I probably hadn’t thought about what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go

Clarity was beginning to seep in. His head was clearing up. It seemed as if the future was bright. The blinds came down soon after, though. He was released from his contract as a junior cricketer. Once again he felt claustrophobic but this time he knew how to get out. He watched a lot of cricket. This time around, there were no doubts about his desire to play cricket. It was just a matter of getting smarter, wiser and developing his game.He did just that. He recalls the day when the confirmation of his transformation came. “I remember Davy Jacobs got off the plane and had a look at me. I had just rejoined then. And he said, “There is something different about you. You just look ready this time.” Jacobs was right.Ingram averaged 49 in first-class cricket in the 2008-09 season, 60 in List-A in 2009-10, and nearly 48 in Twenty20 in the same season. 2010 has been special. He got married to Megan Olivier this year – “She is the rock bed of my life. When your life is stable, your cricket will be stable and in balance.” He likes to go fishing with Megan. He used to relax to the quiet music of Jack Johnson and Goo Goo dolls; his wife introduced him to ‘Thirty seconds to Mars’.The rock and roll year flew by. The selectors contacted him in the end. Ingram thought his selection news would come through a telephone, but he was informed by an email. “I had this picture in my mind how it would happen, you know; it was always a telephone. My coach said you got a mail and we were all in the team bus then and I saw it.” Ingram rushed to share the news with Megan. He then spoke to his father, the man who introduced cricket to him. Life had come a full circle for the Ingrams. Now the future is calling, and Colin gives the impression that he is listening keenly.

The IPL controversy has included ministers, businessmen, cricket board officials and an assortment of family and friends. Siddarth Ravindran tells us who’s who

25-Apr-2010Shashi Tharoor: India’s junior foreign minister said he ‘mentored’ the Kochi franchise before the bidding process for new IPL teams last month. He firmly denied gaining any financial benefit from it, insisting he only wanted to see an IPL team in his home state of Kerala. However, when Modi released the shareholding structure of the Kochi franchise, Tharoor’s close friend Sunanda Pushkar was revealed to have a stake. Allegations of conflict of interest followed, and the ensuing controversy forced him to step down.

Sunanda Pushkar: It all sort of started with her. A marketing professional based in Dubai, she was given a 4.7% stake – worth approximately US$1.5 million – as sweat equity for her work in the franchise. Her problem was that Tharoor did not disclose it and – as she sees it – made her a victim of a vindictive media. She has since offered to return the stake, saying she wants no part of the IPL.Lalit Modi: The brain behind the IPL as well as its brash face. Three phenomenally successful seasons of the tournament, and his penchant for self-promotion had made him one of the most powerful men in cricket, but things started to unravel once he tweeted the Kochi franchise ownership pattern on April 11. The tussle with Tharoor put the spotlight on the IPL’s financial dealings, and the league’s offices were raided by tax men. There were allegations of bribery by the Kochi franchise, of kickbacks in the reworked broadcast deal, of Modi’s relatives owning stakes in several franchises, all of which led to a fall-out with several of his colleagues in the BCCI, ultimately leading to his suspension.Rendezvous Sports World: A group of seemingly disparate businessmen who came together to bid for the Kochi franchise. They got by with a little help from a friend, Tharoor, but that’s when their troubles – and his – began. Some important people, it seems, didn’t want them to win and allegedly went out of their way to dissuade them. They have stuck to their guns for now but it’s their books the taxmen are interested in.
Shashank Manohar: The BCCI president, and the man who is the front-runner to take over as interim IPL chairman after the ouster of Modi. Unlike the high profile that Modi has maintained, Manohar is low key, almost austere and inscrutable. A lawyer by profession, he mostly operates from his hometown of Nagpur. His biggest strengths are his simplicity and discipline – and, perhaps, his reluctance to entertain the media. Manohar has repeatedly turned down Modi’s pleas for the governing council meeting on Monday to be postponed, and his emails disagreeing with Modi over revealing ownership details of all franchises were widely publicised.

Pranab Mukherjee: The Indian government’s perennial trouble-shooter, he is also the finance minister and in charge of the two departments – income-tax and revenue – whose officials are unearthing the money trail. How far the investigations will go – and how much dirt will come out of them – is eventually his call. Pity he’s more of a football person.Sharad Pawar: He is the ICC’s president-elect, Modi’s mentor and still the most influential man in Indian cricket. Pawar was dragged into the controversy when reports alleging that his son-in-law was part of a consortium that unsuccessfully bid for a new franchise last month. He is also the federal agriculture minister, and leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and has had to defend his party colleague and aviation minister, Praful Patel, after Patel’s office was revealed to have forwarded a mail to Tharoor containing information on franchise valuations.VIP friends and family – They’ve always been part of the IPL but some of them have stayed below the radar. They are in high places – Modi’s brother-in-law owns a large part of Rajasthan Royals; his stepson-in-law owns the company that has the IPL’s media rights. Vijay Mallya’s two step-children work for the IPL, as does aviation minister Patel’s daughter.N Srinivasan: He is the BCCI secretary, owner of the Chennai Super Kings and member of the IPL governing council which has raised plenty of questions, and a lawsuit, over conflict of interest. He has defended himself on the grounds that he had sought the permission of Pawar before buying the Chennai franchise. Srinivasan called the Monday meeting of the governing council, soon after which Modi questioned his credentials to convene it.