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A truncated day’s play at The Oval, coupled with Surrey’s collapse, took a bit of sheen away from a day most memorable

Tawhid Qureshi21-May-2021The game
Despite the slate grey sky, which was more early winter than early summer, I was eager to sample the normality of a low-key day, watching cricket at my favourite ground, The Oval. I felt lucky to be watching the first day of Surrey’s County Championship game with Middlesex, along with a few thousand Surrey members and their guests.The occasion itself – live sport with a crowd – was probably more significant than the spectacle in the middle. The uncertainty surrounding the easing of lockdown measures meant that most of us were happy and relieved, in equal measure, to be doing something we truly value. Once inside the ground, it didn’t take long for things to feel familiar: random conversations with like-minded strangers, a nod towards a friendly steward and collecting a blank scorecard were all rituals that I’d missed, but perhaps I hadn’t realised how much. Most people wore masks and followed the one-way system as advised, but in many ways, the slow pace of a county cricket match ensured social distancing.The best part
I was hoping to be entertained by Surrey’s batting talent, a long partnership between Hashim Amla and Ollie Pope being the ideal scenario. Instead, it was the workman-like Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman, who spent the longest time at the crease. From my imperfect view, square of the wicket, it seemed that Burns had ironed out some of the more extreme idiosyncrasies in his technique. The Surrey openers put on 135 well-crafted runs before things went very wrong.The Middlesex bowlers were rewarded after a wicketless first session. The evergreen Tim Murtagh was unlucky not to make the initial breakthrough and, to an extent, the three wickets picked up by Martin Andersson were attributable to pressure exerted earlier by Murtagh and his new-ball partner Ethan Bamber. It was the youngest of the bowling pack, 19-year-old Blake Cullen, who showed the most promise and pace. I’d witnessed his first-class debut last year, a friendly match between the same teams, when his raw talent impressed. He’s certainly someone who should be filed under the “one to watch” category.Mark Stoneman and Rory Burns put on 135 for the first wicket•Getty ImagesThe wow moment
The opening phase of a four-day game between teams with indifferent form was never going to set the pulse racing. The morning session was dominated by the solid accumulation of runs between Burns and Stoneman. It was only after lunch, when Stoneman reached his half-century, that he showed signs of expansive strokeplay. Even then, a neatly-timed clip through square leg and a cut shot for four were pleasing rather than exhilarating.The most dramatic passage of play took place when the tea interval was approaching. Surrey’s position of strength was decimated by a stunning collapse; they lost six wickets for seven runs. Surrey’s steady progress up to that point made the collapse all the more surprising. The Middlesex bowlers quickly ripped out Surrey’s middle order by applying the simple virtues of a good line and length.One thing I’d change
The suspension of the IPL has given more exposure to the County Championship, with Sky Sports televising a number of games, which would otherwise have received scant attention. So it was frustrating that there were no action replays shown on the large screen, despite all of the broadcasting equipment that surrounded the periphery of the ground. It meant there was little way of judging the validity of numerous lbw decisions, unless you downloaded the delayed footage on a mobile phone.The day’s play was officially called off at 5.30pm just as sunshine began illuminating the outfield. Second-guessing British weather is a fraught pastime, but it seemed that umpires, ground staff and players were happy to end the day’s play as soon as rain arrived during the tea break. The stadium PA system relayed that the umpires didn’t think there was enough time to prepare the ground for a restart, which was rather surprising given The Oval’s reputation as one of the best-equipped grounds in the country.The crowd
The day began in chilly conditions and things hardly improved. Layers of clothing and hunched shoulders braced against gusts of wind were a common sight. Nonetheless, the crowd was always in good spirits. The low-level hum of chit-chat was often drowned out by a combination of south London traffic and construction work, going on at the new stand next to the pavilion.Even before the rain arrived, a steady trickle headed towards the exit gates, as two sessions of cricket in inhospitable conditions, compounded by Surrey’s batting collapse, persuaded many to seek the comforts of home. Few could blame them.Out of ten…
A safe 7/10. The long awaited return to The Oval was an occasion to savour rather than delight in. The truncated day’s play, coupled with Surrey’s collapse, took a little of the sheen away from the proceedings. I can only hope there are many more days of experiencing such enjoyment this summer. As I headed for my train at Vauxhall station, I caught sight of a trio of Surrey players doing the same – it was yet another sign of things becoming normal.
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He also believes his presence will open the door for the other Indian players to come to the SA20

Firdose Moonda10-Jan-2025Nineteen years ago, a young Dinesh Karthik played his first T20 match – an international – against South Africa at the Wanderers. Chasing 127, he came in to bat with India on 71 for 3 in the 12th over. These days, we’d call an easy win for the batting side. Then, it was nervy. It took until the penultimate ball for Karthik to hit the winning runs in a player-of-the-match performance. A year later, Karthik was part of the Indian squad that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa, a triumph that he believes paved the way for how the world game looks today.”Some of my best memories have come from South Africa, like winning the T20 World Cup and being part of something so special and that also started a very big trend in Indian cricket. It’s called the IPL today,” he said at the Paarl Royals pre-tournament press conference. “Things like that originated because of what happened in South Africa. So, I have very fond memories and I like the place in general.”He especially likes the place he finds himself in now: the picturesque Cape Winelands, where Paarl Royals have their base. “I’ve gone as far as to convince my family to come over as well. They weren’t planning to come, but they’re going to come because I said you don’t get more beautiful places than this.”Related

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But Karthik is on more than just a nostalgia and nature-gazing trip. He is the first Indian player to feature in the SA20 and was sought after as both a cricketer and an ambassador: someone who could talk the tournament up in the subcontinent. And he is doing that already.Asked if he thinks his presence will open the door for the other Indian players to come to the SA20, it was a firm yes. “Anybody who’s done with playing IPL will always look at SA20 because it’s the strongest comp. You get the best of players.”For this edition, that includes him. Karthik is here as a senior player for Paarl Royals, who finished third on the points table twice but are yet to make the final and have three of the youngest players in the tournament in their squad. Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Kwena Maphaka are just 18 years old and Dewan Marais is 19 and Karthik sees his role as key to their development.Dinesh Karthik is set to become the first Indian to play in the SA20•BCCI”One of the reasons why I’ve been picked here is not only just to come and showcase my skills as a batter or a keeper, but also help in the growth of young South African players to become the best version of themselves. So whenever I’ve had the opportunity, I’ve had chats with them,” he said. “I always feel knowledge learned is one side of it, but knowledge shared is a lot more fruitful. So in my experience, whenever a youngster comes and speaks to me about the sport, I’m happy to share my experiences. That is the least I could do.”Karthik will have a particular role to play with Pretorius, who is also a wicketkeeper-batter. While Paarl Royals will start with Karthik as keeper, “there could be opportunities that he (Pretorius) could be keeping and I could be fielding,” Karthik said. “In the practice matches, we shared the load where we kept 10 overs each in one game. In the other game, I ended up keeping the whole time.”That means Karthik will keep to Maphaka, who he identified as “one of those bona fide superstars”. Maphaka also accompanied him to the pre-tournament press conference.”I watched him bowl in the U19 World Cup and it almost felt like when you play against South Africa, you need to get past that first spell. That’s a feeling not many bowlers can give,” Karthik said. “He’s handled pressure, he’s come with expectations, and it’s great to see him grow into not only a good domestic cricketer, but today he’s playing for South Africa in all three formats. If I was him, SA20 would be a great opportunity to show my skills at the T20 level but also be the person who can win matches for the team. He’s a special player. He’s got the skill sets to be the superstar that I expect him to be. In Kwena, South Africa has found a gem, and they need to protect him.Dinesh Karthik said South Africa need to “protect” Kwena Maphaka•AFP/Getty Images”He needs to learn how to take care of his body. The one thing that will happen as he grows is he could drop pace, and he doesn’t want to do that,” Karthik said. “So how he takes care of his body and mentally, every time he gets on the park, it should be about winning the game for that team.”Maphaka sat bashful next to Karthik as the praise poured out and confirmed he would “watch my bowling loads and make sure that I’m stretching and keeping my body in tip-top shape,” after his “crazy” last 12 months. From the under-19 World Cup last January, to an IPL gig to a T20 debut in the Caribbean and his ODI and Test bow in the space of two weeks, Maphaka has barely had time to catch his breath.”It’s crazy to see how quickly things have moved and how quickly my life has changed,” he said. “But I’m just trying to keep my feet on the ground and continue being the player that I am, keep learning and keep striving for success, really.”That’s where the likes of Karthik will come in: where younger players are in danger of being swept off their feet by the speed of events, to help them hit pause and remember they are part of something bigger.”This team is a good blend of experience and some seriously prodigious talent. We speak about Kwena and Lhuan-dre but on the other hand, we have players like David Miller, Joe Root, who’ve been stalwarts for their countries over a period of time,” Karthik said. “My role is to make sure that I’m there for the tough moments, and when the game is on the line, that I’m doing something very special to help the team. I really wish that this experience and youthful exuberance meet somewhere in the middle and something special is created.”Paarl Royals will kick off their campaign against two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape on Saturday.

It was also the first-ever instance of three bowlers taking four or more wickets in an IPL match

Sampath Bandarupalli15-May-20231 – Shubman Gill and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the first opposing pair to score a century and claim a five-wicket haul in the same innings in the IPL. It has happened only twice before in all men’s T20s – Karun Nair (111) for Karnataka and V Athisayaraj Davidson (5 for 30) for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2017-18 and Saber Zakhil (100*) for Belgium and Aqib Iqbal (5 for 5) for Austria in a T20I in 2021.22 – Number of balls Gill needed to complete his fifty, during which he hit nine fours and no sixes. It is the fastest fifty by a batter in the IPL without hitting a six. The previous fastest was 23 balls by Sachin Tendulkar against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2010Related

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6.38 – Percentage of Titans’ total scored in sixes. They hit just two of them in their total of 188. It is the lowest percentage of runs scored via sixes in a 180-plus total in the IPL. The previous lowest was 9.14% by Rajasthan Royals, who hit only three sixes in their total of 197 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008.17 – Wickets taken by the pace bowlers in this match, the most for them in an IPL game. Spinners failed to pick even one wicket in the 13 overs they bowled in this match. The previous most wickets taken by pacers in an IPL match was 15, on four instances.

All the important stats as India came back after being one Test down to win the series 2-1

ESPNcricinfo stats team19-Jan-20212 – Bigger targets chased by India in Tests. This is also the fifth-highest successful chase in Australia. In the last 20 years, only South Africa have chased down a higher total in Australia, when they scored 414 at Perth in 2008.32 – Years since Australia lost at the Gabba. Last time they lost was against West Indies in 1988. In between these two defeats, Australia went unbeaten for 31 Tests. The only other venue to witness a longer streak is Karachi, where Pakistan remained unbeaten for 34 successive Tests between 1955 and 2000.3 – Previous instances in which a team has come back from losing the first Test of a series to beat Australia in Australia. On all the three occasions, it was England – in 1882-83, 1911-12 and 1954-55 – who managed that.1 – Instance of a higher score by a wicketkeeper in a successful fourth-innings chase than Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 89. Adam Gilchrist scored 149 not out against Pakistan at Hobart. Pant finished the series with 274 runs – the most for India in the series. Pant now averages 87 in the fourth innings of a Test. Only Bruce Mitchell from South Africa averages more with a cut off of 300 runs.India’s highest fourth-innings totals in Test wins•ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 – Batsmen scoring 50-plus in the fourth innings of a Test for India. This has happened 13 times for India so far but this is the first occasion they managed it in successive Tests. Last time three Indian batsmen scored at least a half-century in the fourth innings in SENA was in England in 2002.928 – Balls faced by Cheteshwar Pujara in this Test series, the fifth-most by a visiting batsmen in Australia in four or fewer Tests. Three of the top five batsmen are Indians, with Pujara’s 1258 deliveries during the 2018-19 series at the top.27 – Innings taken by Pant to reach 1000 Test runs, the fastest for an Indian wicketkeeper. He went past MS Dhoni’s mark of 32 innings.2 – Series won by India in Australia. Among the subcontinent teams, only India have won a series in Australia. Australia’s record: series played 34, won 26, drawn 6, and lost 2.2015 – The last instance when two consecutive Tests had the same result in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when the third and fourth Tests were draws. The last three series between these two teams have ended 2-1 in India’s favour with the series alive going into the final Test.76.08 – Batting average of left-handers at the No. 5 slot in the fourth innings of Tests since the beginning of 2019. There have been several top-notch performers in this period, including Kusal Perera (153* against South Africa), Ben Stokes (135* versus Australia), Matthew Wade (117 against England), Fawad Alam (102 against New Zealand) and Pant (97 in Sydney and 89* in Brisbane). On the other hand, right-handers at that slot average only 24.76 in this period.5 – Unbeaten Tests for Rahane as India’s captain. It’s early days yet but only nine players have led in five or more Tests and not lost a single one. Rahane is the only Indian on this list.

While his team-mates have fallen to flashy shots, the India opener has built his innings on leaving the ball

Alagappan Muthu17-Dec-20241:58

Pujara: Rahul’s preparation is the reason he’s being successful

To leave or not to leave? And how much to leave?Marnus Labuschagne was chided for overdoing it in Perth. Virat Kohli has been chided for not doing enough of it all series. KL Rahul was almost ridiculed for one in the tour game ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He played no shot and let the Australia A offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli bowl him between his legs.If trying him out in that match – a last-minute decision after India lost 3-0 to New Zealand – was to gather information on whether Rahul was still good enough to merit a place in the side – he was no longer an automatic pick, missing two of India’s six home Tests this year – the only thing they would have learned was face-palming can hurt. Prior to his opening the batting in Perth, Rahul had made only four fifty-plus scores in 21 innings since the start of 2022; 16 of them ended before he could reach 25. The idea that he would be India’s best batter in Australia clearly took the scenic route towards making sense.Central to Rahul’s success has been his ability to judge which balls to play and which to leave, and considering where he was at the start of November, maybe the only way it could have gone was up. He has left 102 balls so far in five innings this series. It’s exactly how he produced two of India’s best centuries away from home in 2021. Those tours – to England (223 leaves) and South Africa (189) – are the only times he’s left more balls, and considering he could have five more innings in Australia, he has time to set a new benchmark.The 84 Rahul made in Brisbane on Tuesday deserves a place next to his 129 at Lord’s and his 123 in Centurion because he was the only Indian top order batter who could impose himself on the Test match.Related

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Australia had great success pitching the ball up at the Gabba because immediately it gave the batter the cue that they could come forward and drive. That’s hard-coded muscle memory. Only the bounce here is different. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s flick that led to his dismissal was to a full ball but it hit high on the bat. Kohli’s nick to the wicketkeeper was to a full ball that rose well past the middle of his diagonal bat and took his outside edge. Shubman Gill could have left the ball he fell to on line. Rishabh Pant could potentially have left the ball he fell to on length.That was the way this Test match was going, except when Rahul was on strike. You can impose yourself on the game by being defensive too.Rahul was extremely choosy about when he was willing to go on the front foot and drive. The ball couldn’t just be on a good or full length. It had to be a shameless, unconscionable, blatant half-volley. Otherwise, he tried not to engage. And if he had to, if the ball was in line with his stumps, he didn’t just meet it with soft hands, he almost pulled the bat away on impact so that the likeliest place the ball would end up is straight back on the ground instead of in the hands of the Australian slip cordon. Once, he actually overdid it and had to protect his stumps from danger as the ball rolled backwards.”He knows his gameplans really well and that is the example he is setting for the other batsmen to follow,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo. “Because if you can bat like KL Rahul, the way he is defending the ball, the way he is leaving the ball, he’s playing close to the body. He’s picking the right balls to hit for four because whenever the ball is pitched up, which is right under his eyes, that’s when he’s driving. So he’s picking the right balls and that’s how you should be batting in Australia.”The rest of India’s top six tried to impose themselves as well. They came away with scores of 4, 1, 3, 9 and 10. Jaiswal, Gill and Kohli fell trying to hit boundaries and throw Australia off their lines and lengths. But in these conditions, success depends on seeing off the new ball, not taking risks against it.”The only thing you can do in the first 30 overs is to tighten up your defence,” Rahul said after India had scraped past the follow-on mark. “Try and respect that the first 30 overs is the bowler’s time and give them their time, leave balls, try and play as tight as possible and then really try to cash in once the ball gets older. So that’s my plan and that’s pretty simple.”That’s a good thing about playing here in Australia. If you get used to the pace and bounce, you can trust the bounce and you can leave balls on bounce and that’s something that they showed us in the last game and they did that really well. Yeah, so for me, I mean, [leaving the ball] as important [as scoring runs].”Rahul has an unusual leave. He brings the bat down from his back-lift inside the line of the ball and hides it behind his pad. He teases even his own bowlers with it in the nets. In Brisbane, he dealt it out to Jasprit Bumrah, who is better than most at making sure he keeps the stumps in play, and made the bowler grunt in frustration. The sound off the bat as the ball goes for runs is pretty cool. But the satisfaction of making all these world-class bowlers feel just a little bit annoyed with him has to feel pretty good too.

Having kept at it in Delhi club cricket after losing his coach to Covid-19, the talented teenager’s world changed one day in December 2022 with the tap of an auctioneer’s hammer

Sreshth Shah13-Apr-2023In late 2022, former India pacer Pankaj Singh got in touch with Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. Pankaj, the newly appointed Delhi Under-25 coach, had a recommendation to make. There was a new spinner, yet to play top-flight T20s, who was making heads turn in the Delhi circuit, and with IPL teams seeking new names for trials, Pankaj put forward the name of Suyash Sharma.Between IPL seasons, scouts from every franchise use their network of coaches and friends – mostly former cricketers – to find out about new talent. And Knight Riders were not the only side to learn about Suyash. Mumbai Indians – famed for their elite scouting that unearthed Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya – were also interested, and the teenager went for trials at both franchises.At the Knight Riders trial, Suyash impressed, and their staff – Nayar, assistant bowling coach Omkar Salvi and analyst AR Srikkanth – quickly recognised X-factor potential. With the murmurs that an Impact Player rule could come into play, he seemed a perfect fit for Knight Riders. At the auction, he was bought for INR 20 lakh (USD 24,000 approx.). Knight Riders’ CEO Venky Mysore would go on to say that he felt relieved that the franchise did not have to splurge for Suyash, having kept aside a significant portion of their small auction purse – they went in with the least money to spend – for the spinner.Related

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That auction was the first time the wider cricketing world heard of Suyash before last week, when he made his IPL and T20 debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and finished with 3 for 30 in a match-winning cause.For most young cricketers, a debut like that is nothing short of a dream. But Suyash’s thinking is a bit different, it seems.”Wickets don’t matter so much to me,” Suyash told ESPNcricinfo after his debut. “For me, my bowling graph matters, to see how many good balls I have landed. Whether I take five or seven wickets, it does not matter. What matters is if I’ve bowled well, and if I have, then even a one-wicket spell gives me satisfaction.”

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Only 19, Suyash comes from Bhajanpura in northeast Delhi. He wanted to be a batter like his elder brother, but soon learned that to stand out in Delhi’s competitive age-group circuit, he had to do something different. So he switched to spin bowling. After working closely with Delhi-based coach Suresh Batra – a childhood coach of Virat Kohli’s – he developed a fast action like Rashid Khan and added a googly to his repertoire which, from the hand, is not discernible from his legbreaks.Then, when Suyash was 17, Batra succumbed to Covid-19. Left unmoored with no mentor, Suyash approached another Delhi coach, Randhir Singh, for help. Randhir roped Suyash into the DDCA club-cricket competitions, and he enrolled with Madras Club.Madras Club in Delhi is famous for being the place where Virender Sehwag made his runs in his formative years, but a lesser-known fact is that it has been a breeding ground for spinners. Yuzvendra Chahal and Pawan Negi made their mark here, as did other IPL spinners like Pardeep Sahu and Tejas Baroka.

“As soon as I began my walk home, the phones started ringing to say [it has happened]. My uncle was crying, my family were screaming with joy. It was an emotional moment.”Suyash Sharma on being picked at the IPL auction

This is where Suyash polished his craft. He increased his pace and developed a strong wrist to allow his googlies and legbreaks to be delivered with the same speed. That made it tougher for batters to pick him, and he was unleashed as a non-paid amateur in the club circuit. That led to a Delhi U-25 call-up, and the IPL trials.But trials are relatively common for the innumerable amateur Indian players who dream big. For many, the stage is so big that they fail to impress, daunted by the watching scouts. If they do get past this first test, they are are left competing with Ranji-level players on the IPL auction list and, with no professional experience yet, there remains the question of whether such players could stand up and deliver under pressure with a million eyes watching on TV.So, despite the positive feedback from the trials with Knight Riders and Mumbai, Suyash knew an IPL contract was still far away. Suyash returned to the Delhi club circuit and tried to focus on that. But December 23, 2022, soon arrived, and it turned out to be the first day of the rest of his life.”I was returning from a trial match for the Delhi U-25 red-ball team,” Suyash says. “I was tired and had just got off from the rickshaw. I was watching the auction a few times but since my name was coming later, I didn’t catch mine.If you think mystery spin at the IPL over the years, Knight Riders and Sunil Narine probably come straight to mind•R Parthibhan/Associated Press”As soon as I began my walk home, the phones started ringing to say [it has happened]. My uncle was crying, my family were screaming with joy. It was an emotional moment.”Having struggled with his father’s battle with cancer for a few years, and the death of his coach, and taken the much tougher path towards becoming a recognised cricketer, now everything was falling into place.

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In the IPL, no team has been as obsessed with mystery spinners as Knight Riders. They’ve been a core part of the side’s plans right from the days of Ajantha Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake and KC Cariappa to more recently, when Sunil Narine was unconditionally backed despite an action change and Varun Chakravarthy was persisted with even after a horror IPL debut.At most other franchises, being the squad’s third mystery spinner would mean you’re a back-up of a back-up, but at Knight Riders Suyash could be more. His moment came when he was duly introduced in Knight Riders’ second game of the season, as an Impact Player, at the change of innings against Royal Challengers.

“I was prepared for this, but got nervous when I stood at my bowling mark. I cannot explain the feeling. When I had thought about my future debut, I was excited, but when I was there, I got nervous.”Suyash Sharma on debuting at the IPL

“I was prepared for this, but got nervous when I stood at my bowling mark,” Suyash says. “I cannot explain the feeling. When I had thought about my future debut, I was excited, but when I was there, I got nervous. At my run-up, there was so much [noise] from the crowd, that I got a bit flustered.”But I had been visualising my first ever ball for a long time. I practice visualisation a lot. So I wanted to start off with my best ball right from the first delivery.”Even though Suyash’s bowling wasn’t too accurate on debut, one thing that was undeniable was his ability to make the ball turn. Narine and Chakravarthy rely on variations to deceive batters but Suyash uses flight and sharp spin.Sporting a headband to keep his long hair out of his face, Suyash’s first ball to Dinesh Karthik was more half-tracker than good length, and two balls later when he repeated the same to Michael Bracewell, he was pulled for six. The first over went for nine and for a short moment it felt like maybe the step up to the IPL was a bit too much too soon.But he came back strongly to outfox both Anuj Rawat and Karthik in his second over, using his flight and turn to have them both top-edging slogs to short third. When Suyash hit Karn Sharma on his pads next over, he displayed the natural confidence he’s known to possess by going up to the captain Nitish Rana and demanding a review. Replays showed Karn was caught at first slip courtesy an edge, but even if he didn’t edge it, he was certainly lbw.Suyash Sharma takes off in celebration after bowling Gujarat Titans’ Abhinav Manohar in his second game•Associated PressHis spell impressed head coach Chandrakant Pandit enough for the youngster to get a special mention after the game.”He is just inexperienced but he has shown very good attitude,” Pandit said. “And it is fighting spirit that he has been showing in his camps.”Currently, Suyash has four different deliveries he is willing to talk about – the googly, the legbreak, the backspinner and the flipper. He says that he has been practicing more variations but will reveal them only when he’s ready. His challenge will be to stay mysterious as other teams actively look to demystify his bowling as he gets more game time.But that’s a challenge that Suyash is up for and he is in safe hands with Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and team-mates Narine and Chakravarthy guiding him. It’s been a while since an Indian spinner has drawn so much interest in such a short time, and if Suyash can keep focusing on his bowling graphs instead of the noise, it just might be the start of something significant.

Five key questions that Australia will need to answer during the three-match series

Andrew McGlashan25-Nov-20202:01

We like having an extra bowling option in ODIs – Langer

Does Green get a debut?There will be at least one change from the team that clinched the ODI series against England in September with the Glenn Maxwell-Alex Carey inspired run chase. Mitchell Marsh is sidelined by the ankle injury he sustained during the IPL, which means an allrounder is needed in the middle order. It might be that Steven Smith’s comeback – he missed the England series because of concussion – sees Marcus Stoinis slip down the order on the back of his impressive IPL 2020 campaign and share 10 overs with Maxwell (another option would be the recalled Moises Henriques). However, the name on everyone’s lips is the uncapped Western Australia allrounder Cameron Green although he has been picked on the strength of his first-class rather than one-day form: he has only played nine List A games for a batting average of 27.83 and seven wickets at 34.42. Justin Langer has made it clear that Green will only be selected if he can perform a full role with the ball as he continues his comeback to bowling following stress fractures of his back.Beyond the big threeMitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins make up a fine pace-bowling trio in any format. But depending on whether any of them are rested during the ODIs, it could be a chance to a have look at what’s just below them. Kane Richardson would normally be the first understudy, but he has opted out of the series to stay with his family in Adelaide, so it is Sean Abbott, Daniel Sams and Andrew Tye who are the pace-bowling reserves. The latter two are known more for – and selected on – their T20 skills, so Abbott could be in pole position. His one ODI cap to date came back in 2014 against Pakistan, but overall he has an impressive List A bowling record of 97 wickets at 24.87 and, while in a different format, was one of the standout players in the recent Sheffield Shield hub.Marnus Labuschagne bowls in the nets•Getty ImagesTop-order formA couple of key members of Australia’s top order come into the series with question marks over their form following the IPL. Captain Aaron Finch couldn’t get going for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and was dropped for a few matches towards the end of the tournament after a campaign where he made starts but did not convert. Smith was ever present as captain of the Rajasthan Royals, who finished bottom, and while he started with a brace of half-centuries and later added a third, it wasn’t his most convincing of tournaments. However, speaking on Tuesday, Smith said he had “found his hands again” and was ready to go. While the white-ball matches are important in their own right, it will be interesting to see if the India bowlers can score any points against Smith ahead of the Test series.Will Labuschagne bowl more?Marnus Labuschagne is settling nicely into Australia’s ODI top order at No. 4 – averaging 43.77 after nine innings – but with the second string of his legspin he has only sent down four overs. His bowling continues to be in the developmental stage and is perhaps more suited to the red-ball game where the occasional drag-down or full-toss does not really matter but, particularly with the next ODI World Cup being in India, his value will continue to increase if he can become a viable option for Finch. Australia tend to play with four frontline bowlers and then a collection of batting allrounders to fill the rest of the overs.The Maxwell factorTalking of the balance of the side, so much of that revolves around Maxwell. In the deciding match against England, he produced one of the best innings of his career – 108 off 90 balls – which followed 77 in the opening match of the series, which steered another recovery. They were his first ODIs since the disappointing 2019 World Cup and, even though he will be 35, he is a key part of the team’s strategy for 2023. Having been all over the order, it would appear the No. 7 position is now his home, albeit with the ability to move up if the situation dictates.

England slipped to a 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan but are already looking ahead to New Zealand. Alan, Miller and Vish discuss the fallout, and preview the West Indies white-ball tour

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2024England were sent spinning to defeat in Rawalpindi, as Pakistan completed their comeback to take the series 2-1. But England have stuck with much the same group of players for next month’s tour of New Zealand. On the podcast, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller, Vithushan Ehantharajah and, from Pakistan, Matt Roller to discuss the fallout from only the second series defeat for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum – and also look ahead to the white-ball series starting in the Caribbean this week. Topics included Ollie Pope’s place in the side, Ben Stokes’ captaincy and a Test call-up for Jacob Bethell.