At 17, he had Ashwin going “Wow, look at this boy”! Four years later, he had many others reacting the same way to his knock in the IPL final

Deivarayan Muthu31-May-20231:05

Sudharsan: ‘After having to retire out, I realised it’s best to be calm’

Baby Malinga Matheesha Pathirana marginally misses a wide yorker. B Sai Sudharsan stretches out, extends his hands, and laces Pathirana over the extra-cover boundary. Ravi Shastri, on commentary, describes it as the “shot of the match so far”. Sudharsan then immediately betters that shot by launching a 147kph fuller delivery over the bigger long-on boundary. MS Dhoni keeps his poker face and follows the trajectory of the ball. Sudharsan’s captain Hardik Pandya is so impressed that he walks up to Sudharsan, puts his left arm on Sudharsan’s shoulder, and wraps him up in a hug.Sudharsan’s parents Bharadwaj, a former athlete, and Usha, a former volleyball player who has also worked as a strength and conditioning coach with the Tamil Nadu cricket team, had travelled from Chennai to Ahmedabad for a three-day T20 final for these special moments. Sudharsan’s elder brother Sairam, who is pursuing Masters in supply chain and logistics management at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, had originally planned to fly from Australia to Ahmedabad for the final, but he couldn’t get tickets in the end.Related

• Sai Sudharsan: 'I'm more confident now, and that helps me express myself and play my shots'

• Sai Sudharsan counters Saurashtra's spinners to give Rest of India opening-day honours

• TNPL round-up: Natarajan's emotional homecoming

• IPL 2023 takeaways: Runs get quicker and bigger as Impact Players have their say

• Smart Stats IPL 2023 Team of the Tournament: Mumbai Indians batters, Gujarat Titans bowlers dominate

Sudharsan and Gujarat Titans didn’t get the fairytale ending that Ravindra Jadeja and Chennai Super Kings did, but once he returned to his hotel room in the wee hours of Tuesday, he watched the highlights of his shots against Pathirana and savoured them.”In the last over, the shot over extra-cover off Pathirana was my favourite,” Sudharsan tells ESPNcricinfo. “On such a big stage, on such an occasion, I didn’t expect to perform like this. But I was very happy. The trust that GT management gave [me]; in between I didn’t play a few games, but the management always had trust in me. I was ready to play any game. I was definitely very happy; I came back to my room, and I was seeing [highlights] of my shots. It took a long time for me to process it.”For Sairam, who had stayed up until 8am AEST in Melbourne for the IPL final, that extra-cover six made everything worth it. “I’ve always been a big fan of his extra-cover shot,” Sairam gushes. “We worked on it for months along with our parents during the Covid lockdown in Chennai. And the next shot I loved was his slog sweeps [off Maheesh Theekshana and Ravindra Jadeja]. I get nervous and start sweating whenever Sai bats, even during his [Chennai] league games. I feel sad that I couldn’t watch it live this time. Being in Australia and following IPL is one of the toughest things. But I’m very happy that his hard work is slowly reaping the benefits.”B Sai Sudharsan with his elder brother B Sairam, who followed Sudharsan’s sensational innings from Melbourne•B SairamSudharsan was even more emotional when asked about the standing ovation he had elicited from Titans’ dugout after he fell for 96 off 46 balls – the third-highest individual score in an IPL final. Rashid Khan tapped Sudharsan’s gloves as he walked in. Shubman Gill, David Miller, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma and the support staff were all were on their feet. Sairam couldn’t make it to Ahmedabad, but Sudharsan’s ‘big brother’ in the Titans and Tamil Nadu dressing room, Vijay Shankar, welcomed him back with a bear hug. R Sai Kishore, also one of Sudharsan’s closest friends, kept clapping for him until his hands hurt.”I still get goosebumps when I think about the reception from the dugout,” Sudharsan says. “The amount of confidence or the amount of support from my team-mates or support staff… Obviously me, Vijay (brother)… Sai Ki (Sai Kishore) are very close and share everything together. Vijay gave me my first TN cap. We speak a lot about cricket and life as well. To contribute in a big final and put the team in a superb position gives me a sense of satisfaction. Obviously, I didn’t score a hundred, but I felt a sense of satisfaction when I walked back to the dugout.”Sudharsan also received a message from Kane Williamson whose role he had slotted into after the New Zealand captain returned home with a knee injury.”My role was to take the game deep – same as Kane’s role,” Sudharsan says. “Even a few weeks back, after he had left for New Zealand, I was having a conversation with him over the phone. He’s sweet. How sweet? He himself messaged me saying I could call him anytime and have a conversation over cricket anytime. Even last night, Kane texted me: “Very happy. You’ve done a great job!” I feel very happy that I tried my best to fill in Kane’s role. Our roles were fixed during the preparatory camp before the start of the IPL. With that role, I tried to enhance my game and it worked out I feel.”At the innings break, Sudharsan was subbed out for left-arm quick Josh Little. He perhaps thought that he could just put his feet up and chill, but a tense finish left him anxious.”Actually, I didn’t have dinner after the innings,” Sudharsan recalls. “Around the first strategic time-out, I went upstairs [from the dugout to the dressing room] and then in the next over, we got the wickets of both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. So, I didn’t even move from that place and so I watched the entire game from that place (laughs) on TV. But, yeah, mixed feelings. I finished the first innings on a happy note, but the end was a little upsetting. But I feel we can learn from that and get better next year.”Wow, look at this boy: The Gujarat Titans dugout welcomes B Sai Sudharsan back after a stunning knock•Associated PressDespite the defeat, this was an incredible turnaround from Sudharsan, who had been retired out by Titans in the second qualifier against Mumbai Indians after he struggled to find a higher gear. It might have dented the confidence of most 21-year-olds. But Sudharsan is not most 21-year-olds. He took that strategic move in his stride and spoke about the significance of emotional detachment in T20 cricket.”I had mixed feelings during that game too,” Sudharsan says. “I think the first 20-25 balls went well for me. After a matter of a few dots, we had to make that strategic move, but that’s 100% accepted and I took it in my stride. Because the way our batters were playing – Nos. 4,5,6,7 were explosive this year and also last year. I also felt, instead of me, it would be more fruitful for the team if those power-hitters were there in the middle at that point. I take it as an opportunity to learn because if I want to be there with the best, in terms of skill, I have to get better. In a way, I’m happy that it happened on such a big stage because it is now known to me that I’ve to get better in certain aspects of the game.”I also had a chat with Vijay about retiring out after the MI match. If you’re emotionally connected to the match, it becomes difficult because the IPL happens very quickly. They come thick and fast. It’s about forgetting the previous game and moving onto the next game. If you do that, your season will be better. That was our conversation.”After being bought for his base price in the IPL 2022 auction, B Sai Sudharsan became the highest-paid player at the inaugural TNPL auction in 2023•ESPNcricinfo LtdSudharsan started slowly against CSK in the final, too – he was on 36 off 27 balls at one point – but he cranked up the tempo to smash 60 off his last 20 balls. Against Pathirana alone, he scored 34 off 14 balls. In the second qualifier against Mumbai, Sudharsan had tried to over-hit the ball and kept losing his shape. Against Pathirana, he sussed out that his balls were skidding on from the Ahmedabad pitch and focussed on maintaining his shape while meeting the ball.”Pathirana is a very skiddy bowler. If you go too hard at him, you find there’s less time,” Sudharsan says. “If you try to time it rather than over-hit it, you can hit the right spot on the bat. The more side-arm [darts] you face, you might get used to that speed too and you can develop the habit to time the ball.”As a batter, you have less exposure to such actions from a different release. I’d say I have a bit of an advantage facing slingers like R Silambarasan (net bowler at SRH) and G Periyaswamy (net bowler at RR) in the TNPL. I think subconsciously it might have been a little bit easier to face Pathirana.”The Junior CSK side during their tour of Yorkshire in 2018. Sai Sudharsan is seated to the left of Ambati Rayudu (second from right, middle row); S Sharath is to Rayudu’s right•Chennai Super KingsSudharsan also had a plan against R Ashwin when he was just 17. He had stayed back to defend balls, forcing the spinner to overpitch. Ashwin had left midwicket open, as he often does against left-handers, but Sudharsan stayed deep in his crease until he got a ball full enough to hit against the spin. He then played a cover drive, forcing Ashwin to adjust his line. Sudharsan then stepped out to hit Ashwin over midwicket for four. Recalling that Chennai league battle on his Youtube channel, Ashwin marvelled at Sudharsan: (Wow, look at this boy!)This boy has since won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, TNPL, IPL and helped Titans defend their title this season. Sudharsan has been rated highly in the Tamil Nadu cricket circles since his age-group cricket days. Also, around the time he was 17, he was picked in Junior Super Kings’ side, CSK’s grassroots programme, for a tour of Yorkshire under the mentorship of Ambati Rayudu. How strange was it to go up against Rayudu in his last game in Indian cricket?”More than being strange, I enjoyed playing against CSK,” Sudharsan says. ” (Chennai is CSK). (Chennai is Thala). It was a great opportunity to represent CSK’s Junior team. Reading the game was something I learnt from the Yorkshire tour. The conditions were cold, and it was new for me to play cricket there. I remember I used to ask Rayudu how he bats in the IPL, how he tackles bowlers in the IPL, and I used to ask him questions.”Sudharsan just has a two-day break in Chennai before he travels to Coimbatore to join Shahrukh Khan’s Lyca Kovai Kings for TNPL 2023. His TNPL contract (INR 21.6 lakh) is worth higher than his IPL contract (INR 20 lakh). If he keeps levelling up, the rest of the world will also go: “Wow, look at this boy!”

Mendis, Karunaratne, Mathews, Chandimal and de Silva refused to buckle, and that’s not happened often

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Mar-2023Sometimes you need only describe the scene at a cricket ground to know what is about to happen.The skies monochrome and heavy like a wet blanket that is about to be applied to the series at the first opportunity. The pitch so flush with vegetation, woodland creatures have taken residence. The outfield damp, as a cold drizzle descends occasionally on biting winds. And while the local bowlers – all tall and strapping – are lithe and powerful in their warm-up overs on the practice pitches, Sri Lanka batters swaddled in woollen sweaters face throwdowns, bearing the air of soon-to-be human sacrifices on an altar of seam bowling.Win the toss. Put Sri Lanka in. Watch the ball leap gleefully off bat edges into a pair of hands in the slip cordon, batter after batter clunking off like marionettes, the scoreboard showing 45 for 3, then 67 for 5, tail-end swipes pushing the total just beyond 100. Here are the familiar beats of a day one story for Sri Lanka at a ground such as Hagley Oval.Related

Seniors key in Sri Lanka's quest for a spot in WTC final

Mendis 87 leads Sri Lanka's batting charge on day one

Last time they were here, they didn’t have to bat first, but were nevertheless 104 all out. The previous time, they had the likes of Kumar Sangakkara in the XI, and were blitzed for 138. Barring second-innings near-miracles, which Sri Lanka do occasionally produce, these are match-defining mires. (And then New Zealand will go out to bat and put on half a million for six, wearing polite smiles that serve only to underscore the incompetence that had preceded.)And then, this. Four years after they had last played a Test in New Zealand (megaspanked by 423 runs, at this very venue), here was a day of astoundingly non-trash batting. Of gloriously semi-decent defensive play, of gobsmackingly okayish technique. Had Sri Lanka’s batters done the work to figure out the whereabouts of their off stump they started a Test on foreign soil? The mere thought should bring a tear of pure pride to the eyes of any Sri Lanka fan.Kusal Mendis, perhaps the form man in the XI, led the way. Key to his 87 off 83 was his judgment of length on a somewhat bouncy surface. When it was on a good length, he defended close to his body, almost always with soft hands, so that on the occasions the ball seamed and took the edge, the ball bounced short of the slips. Mostly, though, he defended inside the line, using his bat largely as an obstacle to deliveries that might pin him in front of the stumps, or sneak through to the wickets.When New Zealand’s bowlers bowled fuller, pressing hard for that catchable edge, Mendis committed fully to his front-foot strokes, sometimes driving imperiously, other times sending it squirting off the face of the bat through backward point, otherwise flicking deliciously off his pads.Angelo Mathews scored 38 of his 47 runs through the leg side, but looked gorgeous when driving down the ground•Getty ImagesHe hit 50 off 40 balls, as New Zealand’s bowlers had a modest morning themselves – 44 of those runs coming in boundaries. He and Dimuth Karunaratne, who was equally compact, but less aggressive against the hittable deliveries, put on a 137-run second-wicket partnership that formed the bedrock of Sri Lanka’s day-one progress. They would get out in successive overs, but their departure was unusually followed by further batting competence.Angelo Mathews waited for the shorter deliveries, scoring 38 of his 47 runs through the leg side, having also clipped a couple of boundaries off his pads. Dinesh Chandimal preferred the off side, hitting each of his six boundaries in that direction. Dhananjaya de Silva manufactured boundaries wherever he could, as he batted in the company of Kasun Rajitha towards the end of the day.Their scoring areas were diverse, but almost all of Sri Lanka’s top-seven batters covered the stumps, declined to lunge at balls until they were set, were unperturbed by the deliveries that beat their bats, and did not follow seaming balls outside their stumps. Collectively, they refused to collapse even in the face of probing bowling (mostly from Tim Southee and Matt Henry), as they often have in seaming conditions.Given the long tail, and the lack of experience in Sri Lanka’s attack (which New Zealand are very capable of exploiting), 305 for 6 is not an outstanding first-day score. New Zealand may well go on to dominate the match. But under the circumstances, Sri Lanka were passable. And you do not often say that of a Sri Lanka side on day one in New Zealand.

There was always something a little titillating about Broad’s best spells, a slightly guilty pleasure

Osman Samiuddin01-Aug-2023Most of us thought it would be Jimmy first, right? That made sense. Older, more miles in the legs, more grump in the soul. But the unexpectedness of Stuart Broad’s exit is a neat motif to his entire career in one sense, always not being what you thought he would be, or was becoming. And he may have emerged as teenaged prodigy but who could’ve expected Broad to build the career he has done while playing it entirely alongside the greatest fast bowler England has produced?Only a couple of days ago Ben Stokes went further and called James Anderson the greatest fast bowler to play the game. That’s a big call but when he is your weapon, it’s not a crazy call. At the least, Anderson is in those conversations. Nobody will call Broad the greatest fast bowler, though it is worth noting that in 2016, he – and not Anderson – was the first England Test fast bowler to be ranked No. 1 in the world since Steve Harmison in 2004.Anderson replaced him that year, which seemed not a correction but a bend towards a natural order. Anderson has since been back to that spot several times, most recently earlier this year; Broad has not.Related

• Did the teams catch up after the Oval Test? Yes, at a nightclub, Stokes clarifies

• Showman Broad entertains to the end in fitting finale

• Last-ball wicket to win Ashes Test was 'pretty cool'

• Broad conjures one last burst of magic at The Oval

Which is just fine. Not all fast bowlers are – or must be – great. It’s enough for them to create a great spell or two which aren’t spells of great bowling so much as total life events, occasions you will remember forever but will never quite be able to make complete sense of (see: childbirth, weddings, funerals and the day Elon Musk took over Twitter); days when the world was a little tipsy and so life moved fast very slowly.A great spell or two, but with Broad we were spoilt. Entire mornings, afternoons and days lost entirely, unexpectedly and indisputably, to Broad, ones that he had conjured from scratch and, lucky us, let us in.There was always something a little titillating about his best spells, a slightly guilty pleasure. You knew you should be sitting stroking your chin at the cant of Anderson’s wrist and his reverse-reverse wobble, but all you wanted to do was to be an absolute lout watching Broad wreck stuff. Anderson satisfied the intellect, an arthouse spectacle scaled up for mass consumption like a Chris Nolan film. Broad, for all his evolution over the years, for all the roles he took on, for all his smarts, remained at heart, an out and out big-action banger, all breath-taking, set-piece stunts stitched together to make the movie.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhich is why, as tempting as it is to treat with due deference the sheer gargantuan nature of the headline numbers of his career – only four bowlers, one fast bowler, with more wickets, only one bowler with more Tests played – Broad’s best self will always live in his brief, sharp jags of anarchy into an otherwise perfectly civil day’s play.Like the two Test hat-tricks, the second of which he didn’t even realise he’d taken and the first of which (against India) came with bonus and massive DRS schadenfreude; his breakthrough at The Oval, four wickets in 21 balls; eight in 9.3 overs at his home ground; six in 7.3 overs in Durham; seven in 11 at Lord’s; the smallness of these numbers, the compression, speaks to the truer magnitude of his work. In them is a distinct mood: Broad, full lengths, nibbling away at an edge, nipping into a pad, smashing stumps, careening away in celebration, total upheaval in his trail.Is it sacrilege to say there was a little bit of Warne in Broad’s theatre around a delivery, enough that watching him was as compelling as the bowling itself, that a spell could be measured and experienced purely through his expressions? The arms flung in the air at repeated play-and-misses, the frowns and eyebrow shrugs and wry smiles, the wide-eyed disbelief and cupped-hand-over-mouth shock and, of course, the teapots. Broad’s last day will always be memorable for clapping Zak Crawley when he spilled a catch off his bowling, a sure sign that this was the end, of Broad, and, perhaps, of times.The most endearing was when, after beating a batter, or even being hit for a boundary, he would stop in his follow-through, fold one arm across the chest and hold his chin with the other, absorbing what had happened professorially. It was an unusual pose for the occupation, though in hindsight it works alongside a visualisation of one of his great early quotes, in a interview from 2010: “Tea just helps me fight”. Tea? For fighting?Which was your favourite Stuart Broad reaction?•ECB via Getty ImagesThere was always some game within the game, especially when there wasn’t, the bail-switching last week an absolute Broad classic. Is it the imagination or did umpires have to be the most switched-on bodies on the field when Broad was on one, turning him down, answering a hundred queries, humouring him, regularly being proved wrong by him, admonishing him. Parents will recognise and sympathise.After all of it, the walk back to the mark, with the intent, form and purpose of a self-important civil servant. Some days his knees pumped more on that walk back than in the run-up.He was not the first celebrappealer but there’s never been a better one and it captured something central in him. The sense of entitlement in dispensing with the need for the umpire’s adjudication that his critics loved to hate, but also the rakish hustle that his fans loved. Some of that manifested itself in a mid-career trait of wasting reviews while batting, prompting an irritated Mike Selvey to coin the L’Oreal referral (because he’s worth it).If there’s an absence of an appreciation so far of the nuts and bolts of his bowling, it is only because, 17 years from his international debut, what is not known about it? Once you have taken as many wickets as he has, it kind of stands as monument to the career by itself. Of course, he’s a giant, because you don’t get that many wickets otherwise.2:10

Broad: I wanted to finish playing at the very top

Some might argue he got that many because he played so many Tests, like it’s some sort of a caveat. Well one, taking 604 wickets is in no way an inevitable consequence of playing 167 Tests. No wicket comes easy in Tests. Two, he played as many as 167 Tests because he was good enough. And three, staying fit enough to play that many is a feat on its own. None of this was inevitable.The other thing is that once we’re slicing up that many wickets and Tests, of course there will be skews, to home conditions, to specific opponents, to bits of stats padding. That is inevitable. It applies to every player with a long career. All of that is what makes a career, it doesn’t take from it.And Broad’s has been as rich as it is long, sustained by a thirst for self-improvement. He was never still, forever learning, adapting, tinkering, experimenting, right up to the start of this, his final series. One of the by-products of that, and what sets him apart from Anderson perhaps, is the suspicion that, had he really wanted, he could still cut it amidst the helter skelter of white-ball cricket.The end came as a career had gone, with proof of his durability. When Alex Carey nicked behind, it was the fourth ball of Broad’s seventh over in that spell. At the end of day five. Of a five-Test series. In which he played every single game. In which he bowled nearly 26 more overs than any other bowler. During which he turned 37.That was overshadowed by the set-piece moment to sign-off, the last two wickets to seal an Ashes win, a wicket off his last ball and hugs with Jimmy at mid-off. It’s a shame there weren’t more wickets left because with two in 13 balls, one dropped catch and numerous plays and misses to balls he was shaping in and swinging away as much as ever, we all had that sense, one last time, that Stuart Broad is about to get on one and we best be there.

Tectonic shifts in the game have marginalised ODIs severely. Still, the 50-over World Cup is the sport’s apex event – and it will be this year as well

Osman Samiuddin03-Oct-20232:08

What will this World Cup be remembered for?

In a way the arrival of Pakistan in India, and the heartwarming little reception in Hyderabad, is the moment the 2023 ODI World Cup really began. A World Cup does not happen every day. It is a special occasion, where we anticipate wonderful and rare and unexpected things to occur. Pakistan were always going to make it, of course, but we’re in a moment where all the bitter politicking over their participation over the last year was more reflective of the state of international cricket than of whether they would actually participate or not.So for Pakistan to finally arrive in India is one of those big-picture moments we crave from a World Cup. It’s the first time they’ve visited India in seven years and nearly two World Cup cycles. When they were last here, Shahid Afridi was captain of the side, not father-in-law to its biggest star – that’s how long ago it was. Only two members of their squad have ever been here before, and they are the only team at this World Cup, other than Netherlands, to not have toured India in those seven years. The IPL brings the world to India every year, the Asia Cup brings Pakistan and India together every year, but Pakistan in India is a sign – perhaps the surest sign – that a World Cup is upon us.And no sooner is it upon us than thoughts turn to the end, not of this particular edition, but of the larger idea of an ODI World Cup. To be clear, the World Cup is not going anywhere for now. All of cricket has signed on for two more tournaments over the next eight years (although, just saying, it’s not like all of cricket has never flip-flopped over its events). But given how swiftly the game’s calendar is changing, how the priorities are shifting for its players, how international cricket is being edged out, this may well be the last time a World Cup is as big a deal in the game as it is now, the last time it is the World Cup as we have known and loved it over the last 40 years.Related

ICC considering change to existing two-ball rule in ODI playing conditions

Attack with the new ball, don't lose momentum in the middle: where the 2023 World Cup could be won

World Cup FAQs – Who are the favourites? Which games should you call in sick for?

Will IPL franchise owners swallow international cricket whole?

It's a pity the ODI has been allowed to wither as a format

Because it is very cricket to have come to a situation where its showcase event is played in the one format whose future is so uncertain. The two opinions on what to do with ODIs these days stand at opposite ends from each other. Either they are totally dispensable and not worth playing at all until a World Cup year (a great idea because it frees up calendar bandwidth). Or the Super League ought to come back (a great idea because it gives context to bilateral ODIs). Meanwhile, nobody’s mentioned the next World Cup, back to its expansionist avatar, with 14 teams. More teams should mean more, not fewer, ODIs in the intervening years, to make Associates more competitive. But more teams also mean that a Super League becomes redundant, because narrowing it down to eight teams from 13 (and then two from a qualifier) carries the necessary jeopardy, but how do you retain that fairly when 14 have to qualify?Cricket, why you do this?The game has been confronted by such existential choices – mostly choices it has forced upon itself – almost non-stop since the last World Cup. Members want leagues all over the calendar, members want international cricket all over the calendar. Players want to be in all those leagues, players also want to play international cricket, and players also want some R&R. How much longer should we keep playing formats that we think are dying? No wonder cricket feels so fatigued by itself: these conversations are exhausting.Thankfully, that fatigue will wear off as soon as the first ball is bowled in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Cricket will no longer be one long doomscroll, or the disparate, siloed experience of following it now, where watching one game or series or league means you’re missing out on ten elsewhere at the same time. For the next seven weeks we’re all watching one and the same thing. In spite and love, with cheers and boos, and yes, in outrage, we will be, for once, united.Pakistan arrive in Hyderabad, their first time in India in seven years•Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty ImagesIt will, hopefully, also be a reminder of the virtues of the 50-over game, that it is more than the Fredo Corleone of formats (the modern choice would have been Connor Roy, except, one, he was the oldest sibling, though with middle-child vibes, and two, he didn’t die). That at its best it can provide naturally both the slow-burn satisfaction of long-form cricket as well as the instant rush of the shortest formats.Until that first ball is delivered, we exist in the vast, beautiful but unlit unknown; in the exquisite moment where we don’t know what is possible except that everything is. New stars, old stagers, fresh ideas, old thinking, rivalries, ball meet bat, life meet sport, all of it coiled before us, ready to be sprung.Going into 2019, we thought we knew what to expect. The game’s trajectory was unmissable. Between 2015 and 2019, England rewrote batting and other sides were catching up. They were playing on English pitches, where a lot of the rewriting had taken place. The World Cup was going to showcase the evolution of batting, and it was hard to look beyond England. It didn’t quite play out that way – delightfully – but expectations going in were clear.This time, as Nathan Leamon, England’s full time data guru and sometime zen philosopher, notes, nothing is quite so obvious or straightforward. ODIs were the biggest casualties of the pandemic, and even though the Super League eventually played itself out, the dishevelled, haphazard nature of it and the ensuing bilaterals has meant no pattern or outright trend has emerged over the last four years.Rashid Khan meets a young fan at one of the warm-ups•ICC/Getty ImagesInstead, T20s have land-grabbed the terrain. Since the last World Cup, there have been two T20 World Cups, four seasons of all the established T20 leagues, a season each of three new T20 leagues, four seasons of the Abu Dhabi T10, and three seasons of the Hundred. Chuck in two cycles of the World Test Championship and no wonder the middle overs of ODIs started to feel so long this year.It’s reasonable to assume that some of the early energy at this tournament might be spent working out the tempo of ODIs all over again, or at least in recalibrating to the needs of the format: when to go hard, when to go harder; when to pull back; when to chase; how to extract wickets in the middle and not just save runs. And given the large number of late and high-profile injuries – a direct result of the crush of this calendar – many sides will first be working out how to cope without key names.Maybe for most it all will simply fall back into place. After all, nearly half of the players in this World Cup took part in the last World Cup (across the nine sides that played both). And though the format may have faded, it isn’t gone yet. This is still, by and large, an era in which players have grown up watching and then playing ODIs.Unlike in 2019, when England began as clear favourites, there is little real form to draw on. Most people are happier to predict only a final four this time. England themselves arrive with an unusual confidence, having oscillated for much of the intervening four years between indifference to the format and a monstrous mastery of it. On paper, that is reflected in a 7-7 win-loss record (with two washouts) over the last 12-odd months, but such is the assuredness and depth of their white-ball cricket that the latter end of that scale is a truer setting.India have a powerful line-up, and the good wishes of over a billion if they need those•Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty ImagesIndia are at home, which would ordinarily be enough of an endorsement. But they have a truly formidable side, a batting order that, to be honest, is straining at the leash to be let loose, and a bowling attack that covers most situations and conditions. Opponents might have only the hope that they peaked at the Asia Cup to draw from.Australia are quirkier than usual, first with a captain who feels slightly stop-gap for the format, and a squad that is a retro tribute to England’s 1992 side (and almost every South Africa side of the ’90s). Full of allrounders who give them batting depth, but without compromising much on the bowling. They may rue not having enough spin options, though.Pakistan’s campaign is already accompanied by the rhythms that so often get them and their supporters going. They’re on the back foot simply by virtue of being in unfamiliar territory, part entertainers, part diplomats treading a geopolitical tightrope. They’ve lost the services of an electric young fast bowler. They’re coming off the back of a couple of big, bruising defeats at the Asia Cup; administrative turmoil is rumbling in the background. Forget that they have a pedigreed, if not complete, ODI side; a familiar narrative is peeping out over the horizon.South Africa are not as starry now as some of their recent World Cup sides were, so expectations are lower. But that might not be such a bad thing given their history at these events. New Zealand have a proper last-dance vibe going – as many as nine players from the 2019 squad and five from 2015. Throw in a couple of upgrades and a settled bowling attack (three of whom were together in 2015) and nobody can claim to be surprised if they do make the knockouts.Strap in now. And soak it up over the next month and a half because who knows if we will see a World Cup like this again.

Australia are annoying teacher’s pets again, India get gold stars for effort, England look for a place to hide their report cards

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Nov-2023Gather round children. World Cup term is out. Hey, Sri Lanka and Pakistan! How many times do I have to tell you to keep quiet in the back? Do you to be suspended? Sri Lanka, don’t you dare answer that.Where was I? Yes, you’ve played all your matches. Some of you I’m very proud of. Some of you must already know you can do better. Come up one by one in alphabetical order and get your report cards.AfghanistanPlace: SixthTeacher’s remarks: You cuties. You did so well! And you did so well without upsetting the regular balance of things, by which I mean not winning against India and Australia and thereby putting earnings at risk. Your plucky run through the tournament was as inspiring as watching the rebels in . That is, if the rebels did not have Princess Leia or any other female generals or women fighters involved in any way.Related

Tumbling down: how everything went wrong with England's World Cup campaign

If you're tired of the Mathews timed-out controversy, you're tired of life

For South Africa, everything isn't enough

Advance Australia, inevitably

Best work: Beating England to not only set your campaign on a good run, but also trip them down a set of stairs they would continue to tumble down to the amusement of many.Worst work: Giving away 201 runs to Glenn Maxwell, whose body was so lifeless it looked like every shot was a spasm powered by defibrillator shock.AustraliaPlace: FirstRemarks: You did your best to sabotage yourselves. You lost your first two games and were bottom of the table. You fell off golf carts and gave yourself concussion. One of you had a broken hand for half the tournament. And then you came first, yet again. No one can figure out how you keep doing this.Best work: Your captain getting the wicket of Virat Kohli and turning that final.Worst work: Your captain saying he was “sad to see” England’s downfall at this World Cup, when we all know he very much was not sad.Next time maybe just give Australia the trophy at the start of the tournament•ICC/Getty ImagesBangladeshPlace: EighthRemarks: Never got close to the top spots, as usual. But created a lot of drama, as usual. Full marks for consistency.Best work: Your captain delivering a consoling shoulder tap to the batter he’d just appealed to have timed-out, then going on to win that game and acting like the whole thing was nothing.Worst work: Everything else.EnglandPlace: SeventhRemarks: Strutted in like big dogs, with big attitudes and major expectations. Then proceeded to crap your pants pretty much all the way through the competition. Gross. Don’t see me after class.Best work: Beating Netherlands by 160. You rock stars.Worst work: Choosing to bat first when you won the toss against Pakistan, when they had a tiny chance of qualifying for the semis but only if batted first. As if tanking your campaign wasn’t enough.IndiaPlace: Second
Remarks: The best student through the course of the term, ticking all the achievement boxes, sometimes embarrassing the other students with how much better you are than them across all subjects. There were times when it felt like your dad was doing your homework for you, but he’s the main donor to this school, and who am I to dock points? Yes, you stumbled in the final, but note that I am still giving you a special 10/10 perfect score. Actually 100/10. And all the stickers you want from the gold star sticker book. Plus free fruit juices for all of next term. If it were up to me, you’d be first place forever. I would have redone the final. Please tell your dad I don’t want to lose my job.Best work: Beating Pakistan in a stadium of 250,000 at least, surely. Jai Hind.Worst work: If you’d had Hardik Pandya you’d have smashed the final too, wow what a shame, don’t be sad, here are more stickers.Déja boo: South Africa have seen this somewhere before•ICC/Getty ImagesNetherlandsPlace: TenthRemarks: You did not just make up the numbers. You were a valued member of this class. It doesn’t matter to us that you’re from humble backgrounds. The memories you created will stay with all of those who watched this World… See you when we see you and good luck with your life otherwise.Best work: Beating South Africa.Worst work: Would have been really fun if you beat England too, but you didn’t quite manage it.New ZealandPlace: FourthRemarks: Yes, you’re all so glad for the opportunity to be here, and this country is such a wonderful place to play cricket, plus the fans are so passionate, and the sky is such a beautiful colour today, but would it kill you to have more to your collective personality beyond being nice?Best work: Rachin Ravindra’s hair.Worst work: Rachin Ravindra telling the world his first name was a mix of Rahul (Dravid) and Sachin (Tendulkar), until his dad said it was “nothing of the sort”, proving that if you’re of South Asian descent it doesn’t matter if you’ve made the most runs ever for a World Cup debutant, your parents are still going to somehow find a way to shame you in public.PakistanPlace: FifthRemarks: You really need to stop living in 1992. We went through this in the last World Cup. Sometimes losing a lot is not a prerequisite to not losing, and is just a sign that more losing is about to come.Best work: Announcing your major captaincy reshuffle while the rest of the world was focused on the World Cup knockouts.Worst work: Some of your World Cup showings didn’t cover themselves in glory.Tissues are now a mandatory kit-bag item for South Africa in World Cups•Getty ImagesSouth AfricaPlace: Third (kinda)Remarks: You didn’t do what everyone expected you to do. But you also didn’t quite blow those expectations out of the water. But, okay, sure. In four more years. I agree, for sure, you have some young players with promise. Next World Cup, absolutely. You’re gonna crush it then. Not a doubt in my mind. Keep believing, etc.Best work: Not choking in the semi-final and just losing it despite your best efforts.Worst work: Not being good enough to even get into a position in the semi-final for choking to be an option.Sri LankaPlace: NinthRemarks: No matter how bad your playing XI is, it will never be as bad as your administration. But man, has your playing XI sucked.Best work: Beating England. Very least you could do. But nice.Worst work: Your administrators asking for the ICC to suspend their own board after the Sri Lankan courts gave a stay order ousting the interim committee that replaced the board for roughly 24 hours, off the back of you crashing out of the World Cup and out of the 2024 Champions Trophy.

Hailing from Bengal, she talks about learning from Jhulan Goswami and rising up the ranks to play for India

S Sudarshanan06-Jan-20242:33

Titas Sadhu: ‘Jhulan Goswami has been a big part of my life’

Titas Sadhu had a smile on her face as she walked to deep backward square leg during the opening T20I against Australia at the DY Patil Stadium. If she was a tad dejected, it did not show. Only moments earlier, she was denied her maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket but the damage was already done.Her T20I best of 4 for 17 helped India bounce back from the 3-0 loss in the ODIs and thrash Australia by nine wickets on Friday. In the process, she became the youngest woman to pick up a four-for for India in T20Is.It was a late decision to play Sadhu in the XI instead of a third spinner in Saika Ishaque. She was brought on as first change in the fourth over and troubled the Australia batters with her seam movement and hard lengths in the powerplay. Sadhu struck with her fifth ball by dismissing Beth Mooney, and in her second over, she had Tahlia McGrath edge one that fell just short of slip. A ball later, she eventually dismissed her – a hard slash flying straight to deep third.Related

• Accuracy and pin-point yorkers on world champion Titas Sadhu's mind

• New Test dawn for India, but focus firmly on road to T20 World Cup

• Sadhu, Shafali and Mandhana dismantle Australia with ease

On the next ball, Sadhu had Ashleigh Gardner caught and bowled for a first-ball duck with her in-between length. She could have had a fourth wicket in her next over had Richa Ghosh managed to hang on to a tough chance – an inside edge off Phoebe Litchfield’s attempted scoop.Sadhu then returned for her final over in the death – the 18th – and had Annabel Sutherland caught at mid-off a ball after she had been hit for a six. She also had Georgia Wareham given out lbw for her five-for, only for the DRS to deny her. Not even a Shafali Verma half-century in a stunning chase was to deny her the Player-of-the-Match honours, though.”I was really excited [to play] because I had been sitting out for a while now,” Sadhu said at the press conference. “I get really excited while playing a match and I was waiting for my turn to bowl. I just wanted to hit my lengths and make the ball move a little.”Her hard work with bowling coach Troy Cooley did not go unnoticed. Despite making the XI in only two of India’s home white-ball games against England recently, Sadhu kept at it during the nets and each session would have a single-wicket bowling stint with Cooley standing at the striker’s end a la a batter, but without a bat, and move at the crease.”What Troy does essentially is stand there [at the stumps] and move as the batter would move,” Sadhu explained about the drill. “I get a real-time feel of what the batter would do and keep following her. That helps as it gives a good simulation of what you have to do in the match.”Titas Sadhu had a near-perfect day picking four wickets for just 17 runs•BCCIFor someone who initially did not take an interest in the sport, Sadhu has come a long way. She was used to watching a lot of cricket in Chinsurah, a city 50 kilometres to the north of Kolkata. Sadhu used to score for the matches at the Chinsurah Rajendra Smriti Sangha, a club where her father was the secretary, and run drinks for the players before a rainy day gave her father a chance to get her to bowl. There was no looking back.”I was not interested in cricket before; I was not interested in sports per se,” Sadhu had told this writer after a T20 between India Under-19 girls and New Zealand Women’s Development side in December 2022 in Mumbai, a month before she played the Under-19 World Cup and won India the final with a Player-of-the-Match performance. “I was like proper (go to play in the evening and come back) and sit to study.”She started playing as a 13-year-old but then missed the 2018-19 season due to her 10th standard exams – needless to say, she was good in academics. The following cricket season was affected by Covid-19 and in 2020-21, she made her debut for Bengal’s senior women’s team.”Initially I used to only bowl, but then especially in Bengal, getting into the team as a pace bowler is very difficult,” she had said. “When I started Jhulan Goswami was playing, Rumi [Rumeli Dhar] was playing, Suku [Sukanya Parida] was playing. So, I had the conscious thing I will have to bat as well to get into the first XI.”A fast bowler from Bengal can perhaps never escape the glowing shadow of Goswami, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And the former India fast bowler, who retired in 2022, has been a big part of Sadhu’s life.”The first conversation I had with Jhulan , she had said, ‘stop thinking about everything else and just bowl fast. If you are a fast bowler, you have to bowl fast’. I first saw her when I was 13 and since then she has been a constant presence. Working with her is a great opportunity not a lot of people have. You get that experience. How many players have played more than 100 matches for India, for 20 years? I am not even 20 years old!”Titas Sadhu made her India debut at the Asian Games•AFP/Getty ImagesSadhu was picked by Delhi Capitals in the inaugural WPL auction but she did not get a game. It was a learning curve for her. “Coming from that U-19 high to sit [out] for the whole tournament was rough. After the first couple of matches, it was clear that I probably won’t get a chance until very late [in the competition]. But I had this conversation with our trainer Wayne.”In men’s IPL there are 25 players. Greats sit out for two-and-a-half months. Any opportunity you get, you have to make the best out of it. I think that became the key. After the first two weeks, I just went in every practice thinking I will learn as much as I can.”Sadhu made her India debut at the Asian Games last September and also had a couple of wicketless outings against England last month. But in her first match against Australia she put on a near-perfect show. The wise one that Sadhu is, she is quick to give herself a reality check.”Cricket is a very humbling game. Today’s high can be tomorrow’s low. Whoever you are, you always come back to the ground and the next match is a new match. What you have done yesterday is gone.”