Cristiano Ronaldo could be heading back to America for the first time in over 10 years, with the USMNT planning an exhibition match with Portugal.
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West Indies are waiting on injury updates for a couple of key players ahead of their next women’s T20 World Cup match, against Scotland on Sunday, where they will try to put their campaign back on track.A ten-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in Dubai on Friday was soured further when opening bowler Zaida James suffered a blow to the jaw attempting a return catch off Laura Wolvaardt, the ball deflecting off her hand and on to her face. It was the first ball of the second over as South Africa began their pursuit of 119, which they achieved with 13 balls to spare. James left the field but was later seen sitting on the sidelines with a plaster on her chin. After the game, she went to a clinic to have her injury assessed.Stafanie Taylor also looked in some discomfort during a gutsy innings of 44 not out from 41 balls. It emerged that she had been troubled by soreness in her knee. She was due to undergo a medical evaluation before training on Saturday morning.Related
Mlaba and Wolvaardt-Brits secure effortless opening win for South Africa
Deitz is trying to put more West Indies into West Indies cricket
“Zaida for sure, I know, it was pretty much just a knock on her face,” Hayley Matthews, West Indies’ captain, said immediately after the match. “I think the seam might have hit her on her face so she was in a bit of discomfort and [had] a bit of swelling around her jaw. But she’s a tough girl, so hopefully that’s just one of those knocks that you get on the field and she hopefully will be able to be back up for the next match.”Several other players also looked like they were struggling in the intense heat of Dubai, were temperatures soared to 38° Celsius.”It is pretty hot here,” Matthews agreed. “I have to say probably the hottest place I’ve ever played cricket, or have ever been on the whole, and I mean, that’s someone coming from the West Indies. Definitely some difficult conditions but we’ve been here for about two weeks now, thankfully, so we’ve been able to acclimatise as much as we possibly can with conditions like this. Thankfully we’ve got the rest of our games as night ones so I hope not as much sun.”Speaking about the pitch, where West Indies struggled pretty much all the way through their innings, Matthews said, “We came down here probably expecting some pretty good wickets. We camped here quite a bit before we went to Pakistan in April and we tend to spend a bit of time down here in training, so we knew what the ICC Academy grounds are like and those were pretty decent wickets early on so that’s what we’re expecting.Stafanie Taylor hit two fours and a six during her 41-ball stay on a hot Dubai afternoon•ICC/Getty Images
“It wasn’t a bad wicket today, I think South Africa showd that you can really bat on a wicket like that, even us in parts. Stafanie Taylor was able to really take charge of the game as well throughout the middle, so I don’t think the conditions surprised us too much, we probably just didn’t adapt to them as well.”With Matthews and Deandra Dottin both falling cheaply, for 10 and 13 respectively to Marizanne Kapp inside the first seven overs, Taylor proved crucial in West Indies putting up some fight in the face of Nonkululeko Mlaba’s career-best 4 for 29.”She’s a huge part of us and she has been to West Indies cricket from 2008,” Matthews said of Taylor. “Her importance within the team has never gone down, it’s probably only gone up more and more as the years have gone on so it was great to see her out in the middle today.”I think she still has a lot of doubters over the last few years so I think it was great that she could go out there and stand up and put her hand up when we were where in trouble. Once again the conditions, it’s obviously pretty hot, so it was hard to watch her stand up out there and fight but still good to see at the same time that she showed a lot of character with it.”
During the recently concluded LPL, spin held sway over pace in Pallekele – will that trend continue in this T20I series?
Hemant Brar26-Jul-2024
Charith Asalanka and Suryakumar Yadav pose with the trophy•AFP/Getty Images
Big picture: New beginningsIt will be the start of a new T20I era for both India and Sri Lanka when they come face-to-face in Pallekele on Saturday. For India, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the format and Suryakumar Yadav has been named the new captain. Sri Lanka have moved on from Angelo Mathews, while Charith Asalanka has replaced Wanindu Hasaranga at the helm. Both teams have a new head coach as well. India have got Gautam Gambhir and Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya, the latter in an interim capacity, though.While it is a new beginning for both teams, their starting points could not have been more different. India recently ended their long-awaited ICC trophy drought by winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, a tournament where Sri Lanka were knocked out in the first round.After that, India sent a second-string side to Zimbabwe where they won the five-match T20I series 4-1. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan players were busy with the Lanka Premier League where Asalanka led Jaffna Kings to the title.Both Asalanka and Suryakumar have previously led their national sides. Asalanka in two T20Is against Bangladesh earlier this year and Suryakumar in seven T20Is in late 2023 against Australia and South Africa.Related
Asalanka: 'If you perform in the LPL, you should get a chance in the national team'
Suryakumar Yadav: 'The same train will continue, only the engine has changed'
Calm and selfless Asalanka steps into SL cricket's melee
Shubman Gill keen to improve his T20I performance
India are still not at full strength for this series, though. Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best bowler in the world right now, has been rested. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have been dealt a few blows even before the start of the series. First, they lost Dushmantha Chameera (bronchitis), then Nuwan Thushara (broken finger), and now Binura Fernando, who has been hospitalised with a chest infection. There is a flu going around their camp, forcing them to call up allrounder Ramesh Mendis as a standby.Form guideSri Lanka WLLWL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
India WWWWLIn the spotlight: Matheesha Pathirana and Shubman GillPlaying for Colombo Strikers, Matheesha Pathirana was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the LPL with 15 scalps in nine matches. What stood out even more was his death bowling. In that phase, his economy of 7.02 was easily the best among those who bowled at least five overs at death. Throughout the tournament, Pathirana never bowled more than one over in the first half of the innings, a template likely to be followed by Sri Lanka as well. And having played in the IPL since 2022, Pathirana has plenty of experience of bowling to India batters.Shubman Gill is India’s new white-ball vice-captain•SLC
Shubman Gill has admitted that his performance in T20Is leading up to the T20 World Cup was not up to expectations. From August 2023 until the World Cup, he scored 133 runs in eight T20Is, at an average of 16.62 and a strike rate of 126.66. While he did much better in the IPL – 426 runs at an average of 38.72 and a strike rate of 147.40 – once India made their mind to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the World Cup, there was no room for Gill in the squad. But the selectors have shown their faith by naming him the vice-captain for both ODIs and T20Is. It is up to Gill now to repay it.Team news: India to play three spinners?Kusal Perera had an excellent LPL as an opener. But with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis being the first choice for that role, Perera will have to fight it out with Avishka Fernando for a No. 3 role.Sri Lanka 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando/Kusal Perera, 4 Kamindu Mendis, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Asitha Fernando, 10 Dilshan Madushanka, 11 Matheesha PathiranaGiven the conditions, India are likely to pick Ravi Bishnoi as a third spinner over Khaleel Ahmed. Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag will compete for one middle-order spot.India 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Ravi Bishnoi/Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Mohammed SirajMatheesha Pathirana had a successful LPL•SLC
Pitch and conditions: Spin over seamIn the LPL, the average first-innings total in Pallekele across five matches was 185. During those games, spinners fared much better, registering an economy of 7.64, as compared to fast bowlers, who went for 10.58 runs per over.There is a forecast for rain during the daytime but not in the evening. So the match should be largely unaffected.Stats and trivia: India’s dominance Sri Lanka have beaten India only once in a bilateral T20I series, when they won 2-1 at home in 2021. India have won 15 out of 16 T20Is they have played this year. Their only defeat came against Zimbabwe earlier this month. Suryakumar (133) is currently fifth on the list of most sixes in T20Is. Five more sixes and he will be third.Quotes”I don’t want to change a lot. I want to try to get the best out of my players, and build an environment where they can be free and do their best.”
“Hardik [Pandya] has had the same role throughout and that’s not going to change. He’s a very important player for the team and we want him to continue the things he did in the World Cup.”
Rival supporters will mock the continued lack of silverware at Arsenal, but it is hard to ignore the progress that is being made under Mikel Arteta’s watch, having notably enjoyed a thrilling Champions League run last time out.
Yes, it may have all ended in heartbreak, but football is a game of moments, and few have been better in the Emirates era than that night against Real Madrid, with Declan Rice coming up clutch for the Gunners.
Up against the holders and 15-time winners of the competition, Arteta’s men showed no signs of inferiority, with a collectively stunning performance epitomised by those two magic set-pieces from the club’s record signing. Who knew that the Englishman had that in his locker?
The recipient of the Gunners’ Player of the Year award – as voted for by fans – Rice is slowly but surely taking on talismanic status in north London, representing the leader without the armband in Arteta’s ranks.
While ÂŁ105m looked like a sizeable investment two years ago, the 26-year-old has since backed up claims from former West Ham United boss David Moyes that he actually could have fetched more than ÂŁ150m, such has been his “level of performance”.
If recent reports are to be believed, Arteta and co could be in the mix to make another similarly statement signing this time around.
Arsenal open talks for forward signing
The transfer circus is certainly in full swing, with things having reached the stage where the social media activity of a transfer target is even being scrutinised, as journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed that a certain Benjamin Sesko has begun following the club on Instagram.
Read into that what you will, although it is no real secret that the Gunners are working on a deal for the Slovenian striker, albeit with an issue over the 22-year-old’s price tag still to be resolved with RB Leipzig.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel has shed light on another potential attacking reinforcement that could be on his way to north London, with the respected insider revealing on the Latte Firm YouTube Channel that work has begun on a move for West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
As Mokbel hinted, talks have seemingly begun with the Hammers amid the claim that Arsenal are among one of the Premier League’s top six who have made an “enquiry” regarding the Ghanaian forward:
“My information is that all of the top six in the Premier League have checked in on the conditions of that deal. He’s got an ÂŁ85m release clause for Premier League clubs but I think West Ham would be willing to go below that.
“They wouldn’t take masses below that but they would be open to a negotiation. There is a long-term interest there and as I understand that, there has been an enquiry from the Premier League’s top six; Arsenal are one of them. That could be one to watch in the absence of getting Rodrygo or Gordon which would be difficult deals to get over the line.”
As Mokbel noted, the former Ajax man – who joined the Irons on a ÂŁ38m deal in 2023 – could be available for less than his ÂŁ85m release clause, with the race now on for his coveted signature.
Why Kudus would be a good signing for Arsenal
As already noted, it’s fair to say that Arsenal have got their money’s worth after their previous dealing with West Ham, with that man Rice providing 36 goals and assists from just 103 games in all competitions in his new surroundings.
The man who led his former employers to Conference League glory in 2023, prior to his high-profile exit, the Three Lions mainstay has certainly kicked on from his time in east London, where he provided just 28 goal involvements in 245 games across all fronts.
At one stage a defensive-minded midfielder, or even a centre-back, at West Ham, Rice has since been unleashed under Arteta’s tutelage, with the Spaniard having found the perfect role for his statement signing in an advanced number eight berth.
Centre-forward
51
16
3
Right winger
50
21
10
Attacking midfield
49
11
6
Central midfield
46
11
3
Left winger
19
6
3
Right midfield
3
0
2
Left midfield
2
0
0
Second striker
1
0
1
Hopefully, the former Manchester City assistant can replicate that feat with regard to Kudus, with the fleet-footed sensation in need of a settled role, after lining up on either flank, as a number ten, and even as a centre-forward during his time at the London Stadium to date.
Like Rice too, there is certainly room for growth, with the 24-year-old coming off the back of a disappointing campaign in which he provided just five goals and four assists in all competitions, as West Ham toiled under Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter.
Such woes should not overshadow Kudus’ undoubted talent, however, as he had previously registered 23 goals and assists in 2023/24 during Moyes’ final season in charge, having also been dubbed a “generational talent” by journalist Gary Al-Smith.
With 39 goals and assists also under his belt in just 87 games in Amsterdam, the dynamic left-footer is a figure who can wreak havoc in the final third when at his best, as shown by the fact that he ranked in the top 3% of his Premier League peers for successful take-ons per 90 last season, as per FBref.
That dribbling prowess also mirrors his ability as a ball carrier, something he shares with Rice. Indeed, the pair averaged 3.41 and 2.66 carries per 90, respectively, in the top-flight in 2024/25.
Such quality, if harnessed in the right way, could well be a real asset to Arteta’s forward line, with now the time for the Accra-born speedster to finally find a consistent, settled role for himself.
Lauded by Potter for his “really good” performance against the Gunners, during West Ham’s shock 1-0 win at the Emirates earlier this year, Kudus has also been described as something of an “example” at the club by the Englishman.
It could then be the case that after poaching Rice two years ago, Arteta could return with a fresh raid for another of the Hammers’ main men this summer.
Mikel Arteta personally wants Arsenal to sign ÂŁ94m forward this summer
They know the costs of what would be a marquee deal.
ByEmilio Galantini Jun 25, 2025
Liverpool’s pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz appears to be entering the endgame phase as they look to wrap up a deal for the Germany international.
Arne Slot is attempting to bolster his squad, having already signed Jeremie Frimpong in the summer transfer window, and the midfield creator is next up on his wishlist.
According to BILD journalist Christian Falk, an offer of ÂŁ110m from Liverpool for the German wizard has already been rejected by Leverkusen, as they want up to ÂŁ118m for his services.
The reporter claims that the Bundesliga outfit are expecting the Premier League champions to come back with a final offer for Wirtz, and that both sides are expected to agree on a fee of ÂŁ118m.
This deal for Wirtz looks set to smash the club’s record transfer fee, set at ÂŁ85m when they signed Darwin Nunez from Benfica in the summer of 2022, but is he worth the money?
Why Florian Wirtz is worth the money for Liverpool
The 22-year-old starlet is worth the gamble, even at a whopping ÂŁ118m, because the star could be a transformational signing for the Reds, even after they won the Premier League in the 2024/25 campaign, due to the impact he could make at the top end of the pitch.
No central or attacking midfielder for Liverpool managed more than Dominik Szoboszlai’s return of six goals and six assists in the top-flight for Slot’s side, which shows that none of the manager’s options in that area of the park were particularly prolific or creative.
Wirtz, however, is a number ten who can consistently provide quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals, as evidenced by his performances for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga over the past two seasons, in particular.
During the 2024/25 campaign, the right-footed dynamo racked up 16 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for the German outfit, including six goals in nine matches in the Champions League.
Appearances
32
31
xG
9.00
9.40
Goals
11
10
Big chances created
12
17
xA
9.75
9.44
Assists
11
12
As you can see in the table above, Wirtz has hit double figures for both goals and assists in each of the past two Bundesliga campaigns, which shows that he can provide a consistent threat in the final third from an attacking midfield position.
Whether the 22-year-old superstar can translate that kind of form over to the Premier League still remains up for debate, of course, but he has done it on the big stage for Germany as well.
The international star scored four goals and provided three assists in seven matches for his country on their way to the semi-finals of the Nations League, which is further proof that he would be worth the money for the champions.
Liverpool, alongside a deal for Wirtz, could unearth England’s answer to the German star by signing one of their reported targets, Morgan Gibbs-White.
Liverpool's interest in Morgan Gibbs-White
It was recently reported by a Spanish outlet that Liverpool are one of a number of teams eyeing up a possible move for the Nottingham Forest playmaker in the summer transfer window.
The outlet claimed that Chelsea and Manchester City are also in the running to sign the England international from the Tricky Trees, who qualified for the UEFA Conference League for next season.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
It also revealed that Nottingham Forest would be willing to negotiate with those three clubs for a fee in the region of ÂŁ70m, which means that he would be significantly cheaper than Wirtz as a number ten option.
The report, however, did not mention any incoming bids or imminent talks planned with the Premier League side for the Reds, so Gibbs-White may not be a priority target for the champions at this moment in time.
Irrespective of whether or not Liverpool finalise a move for Wirtz from Leverkusen, the Nottingham Forest star would be an excellent signing for the club as England’s own version of the Bundesliga star.
Why Gibbs-White could be England's own Wirtz
England fans watched on, likely in boredom, as their team struggled to break down Andorra and came away with a drab 1-0 win, thanks to Harry Kane’s 50th-minute strike from close range.
Despite the fairly dismal attacking showing from the Three Lions, Gibbs-White was brought on with just one minute left to play and did not have a chance to make an impact.
Moving to Anfield and playing in Europe, in the Champions League, would put the former Wolves starlet in the spotlight at the very top of the domestic game and make it incredibly difficult for Thomas Tuchel to ignore him.
A transfer to Liverpool could also help to take Gibbs-White’s output to the next level as part of a team that creates more chances and has more of the ball than Nottingham Forest.
In the 2024/25 season, Liverpool created 82.2 xG to Forest’s 45.5 xG and averaged 57.7% possession to Nuno Santos’ side’s 41.2%, as per FBref, which means that the English star would be part of a far more dominant and attacking outfit if he made the move to Anfield.
Appearances
34
xG
6.34
Goals
7
Big chances created
10
Key passes per game
1.5
Assists
8
As you can see in the table above, the 25-year-old playmaker still managed to produce 15 goals and assists combined in the division, despite his team’s lack of dominance and creativity on the whole.
Gibbs-White, once dubbed “exceptional” by Pep Guardiola, scored more goals and provided more assists than any of Liverpool’s central midfielders. Now imagine how many goal contributions he could rack up as part of Slot’s dominant side…
The Forest star has not had the chance to showcase his talent in a team as great as Leverkusen’s or Liverpool’s, like Wirtz, and could explode in the final third if given that opportunity, based on his outstanding output in Forest’s team.
Therefore, the Reds could unearth England’s answer to Wirtz and give themselves two versions of the German star by signing the Tricky Trees talent before the end of the summer transfer window to provide him with a chance to flourish in a dominant side.
Move over Wirtz: Liverpool can sign Salah's next Firmino in ÂŁ84m "magician"
Mohamed Salah is going to have some exciting new attacking talent alongside him next season.
ByAngus Sinclair Jun 8, 2025
Burnley didn’t blow anyone away in attack during their recent promotion-winning feat out of the Championship as their rock-solid defence instead stole all the plaudits.
That is understandable considering the Clarets only leaked a seriously impressive 16 goals all season long, but only 69 goals would actually be scored by Scott Parker’s men on the flip side.
To add context, Leeds United were crowned champions ahead of Burnley purely because of their heftier goal difference, helped by their mammoth 95 strikes.
Therefore, upon their re-entry into the top division, Burnley could be on the hunt for a new, potent attacker to call their own, with Parker praying he can uncover his next Aleksandar Mitrovic in the process, having worked alongside the lethal Serbian at previous employers Fulham.
Mitrovic's potency under Scott Parker
Mitrovic is the very definition of a modern-day legend at the Cottagers, having ended his 206-game association with the West London side by bagging a ridiculous 111 strikes.
30 of those would come under the bumpy reign of Parker, before the now Al-Hilal attacker became an even more ice-cold finisher of chances when Marco Silva took on the managerial reins after the 44-year-old’s dismissal.
Still, the deadly 30-year-old first kicked on donning Fulham white under the guidance of Parker with the Clarets boss arguably also playing a key part in Dominic Solanke’s development at AFC Bournemouth prior to his major switch to Tottenham Hotspur.
Off the back of this, Burnley could be tempted to go after an experienced striker to lead the line next season, knowing he has been as clinical as Mitrovic when previously performing at the peak of his powers.
Parker could sign his new Mitrovic
Most of the chatter involving Burnley this summer has honed in on the alarming amount of potential outgoings as both Maxime Esteve and Josh Brownhill reportedly continue to be eyed up by higher up suitors.
Thankfully, rumours involving who they could add to their promotion-winning squad are also now coming to the surface, with former hero Danny Ings being lined up for a stunning Turf Moor return.
Before the “phenomenal” veteran – as he’s been previously labelled by pundit Noel Whelan – would go on to cement himself as a Premier League distinguished striker for the likes of Aston Villa and Southampton, the 32-year-old first burst onto the scene as a dangerous goal machine in Lancashire.
After ripping up the Championship with Burnley by firing home 21 goals – much like Mitrovic had shown on the books of Fulham – Ings would get his first big break in the Premier League with the Clarets during the 2014/15 season, with a temptation surely on the ageing attacker’s end now to return to his ex-side shortly to try and recapture his frightening best and help Parker’s underdogs beat the drop.
24/25
West Ham
15
1
2
23/24
West Ham
20
1
1
22/23
West Ham
17
2
2
22/23
Aston Villa
18
6
0
21/22
Aston Villa
30
7
6
20/21
Southampton
29
12
4
19/20
Southampton
38
22
2
18/19
Southampton
24
7
3
17/18
Liverpool
8
1
0
15/16
Liverpool
6
2
0
14/15
Burnley
35
11
4
As can be seen looking at the table above, when Ings isn’t in and out of the treatment room with injuries, he is a reliable goalscorer at Premier League level which is what Burnley are crying out for after a mediocre campaign in front of goal in the league below.
It will all just rest on whether Ings can break free of his recurring injury issues, but with Parker’s track record with Mitrovic, he could well be an ideal figure for the 32-year-old to shine under.
The nervous Clarets will also be able to land their ex-number ten on a free transfer, meaning it could go down as a very shrewd deal if he rolls back the years on his return.
Their best ST since Wood: Burnley could now sign "clinical" PL star
Burnley could pick up their best striker purchase since Chris Wood with this summer deal
ByKelan Sarson May 25, 2025
Out for a duck in his first innings, he showed he can make quick adjustments to turn things around
Alagappan Muthu24-Nov-2024What is the most fun a batter can have on a cricket field?Scoring hundreds? Yashasvi Jaiswal is 15 Tests and 16 months into his Test career and he has four of those now.Hitting sixes? He has 35 of them this year which is a world record. Brendon McCullum has been bumped off.Related
England the next stop in Jaiswal's audacious journey
Age no bar: young India show skill and the stomach for a scrap in Perth
The Kohli hundred that snuck up on everybody
Undercooked Australia lose the plot in Perth
Australia's second-lowest total at home vs India, Bumrah levels with Kapil Dev
Doing well away from home? He made his debut in the West Indies and scored 171. He now has the highest score by an Indian batter in Perth. And this place is special. It might still be home to Sachin Tendulkar’s best Test innings.For the players themselves, a job well done is about putting the team in a winning position. Jaiswal left the field having contributed over 50% of the 313 runs that India had scored. A lot of them were hard-earned. He absorbed Australia’s new ball pressure. He withstood their temptation, which took many forms. Sixty two leaves in total, with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood probing away in the off-stump corridor. Another new high point in his career, beating the restraint he showed on debut in Roseau. Nathan Lyon was brought in early to try and sucker him into going hard at the ball. Four balls in, he did charge the Australia offspinner but seeing the ball was a bit flatter and a bit wider with the potential to turn past his outside edge if he weren’t careful, he switched from an attacking shot to a defensive shot.With time, those immense reserves of talent, and the concentration levels that he was demanding of himself, Jaiswal was discovering pleasures that do not make it onto the scorecards. He had the Australian bowlers sticking their heads in their hands. He goaded them and all they could do in response was offer a wry smile. This is not like the old Australian teams of the past, the ones who saw being aggro as a tactic. But still, a 22-year old on his first tour here telling their all-time great left-arm spearhead that he was “coming on too slow” and him having nothing to say in return was all kinds of cool. Especially when it took precious little effort to get rid of him in the first innings.Jaiswal threw his wicket away trying to hit himself out of trouble in the third over of an away tour. At the next available opportunity, he fixed it. That doesn’t happen too often. There have been – in the entire history of Test cricket – only 81 instances where a batter who scored a duck in the first innings turned it around to score a century in the second. And Jaiswal finds a pretty special place even among these guys. His 161 is the eighth-highest score on this list.2:50
Jaiswal: ‘I back myself to take brave decisions’
The fab four’s legend contains so many stories about combating difficult conditions and making off-the-cuff changes to their technique. Steven Smith’s shuffle across off stump. Virat Kohli ditching a practice of tapping his bat down at the point the bowler is about to deliver and instead waiting in like a coiled-spring position, with the bat up high, poised over middle and off stump. Jaiswal isn’t that stature of batter yet and the adjustments he made here weren’t really as drastic. He just willed himself to play closer to the body and get his runs squarer of the wicket when the ball was new. But showing a capacity to do so, along with the cricket sense to then capitalise on his good work as the bowlers tired does suggest the high ceiling he had already come on this tour with has gone even higher.These kinds of batters are able to exist outside the constraints of a Test match. This one, for example, was being played on a terribly slow outfield. A vast majority of the 27 threes so far in this game should’ve been fours. But there was this one time when the ball just flew off the turf. It happened when Jaiswal combined two shots – an off-drive powered by a flick of his wrists – and it looked so vicious the highlights should slap a warning on it. Seconds after this bit of genius, though, he was gone. He couldn’t believe, after all the ability he’d shown and the shots he’d played, he ended up cutting a short and wide delivery from Mitchell Marsh’s medium pace straight into the hands of backward point.Perth Stadium needed a little time to reconcile with that too but eventually silence was given the boot. The ovation they gave him was beautiful. There was something about it that said the crowd wanted more of him; that even after 161 runs, 397 balls, and 18 boundaries, they hadn’t had their fill; that they’d found someone worth the cost of a ticket; someone that would dominate pub conversations; someone that they could copy looking in the mirror; someone they could set as their phone wallpaper; someone to be a part of their lives for a long time to come.What is the most fun a batter can have on a cricket field? Ask Yashasvi Jaiswal about his time in Perth.
A crowd of about 35,000 got to watch a massive opening stand, wickets from the CSK spinners, and, of course, the good old Dhoni show
Deivarayan Muthu04-Apr-20234:36
‘Dhoni rises to the occasion for his fans’
Shivam Dube has just launched wristspinner Ravi Bishnoi for back-to-back sixes over wide long-on in the 14th over. A crowd of about 35,000 at Chepauk screams: (Hey, Dube get out). A similar chant rang around at Chepauk earlier this week during the intra-squad practice game that was thrown open to the public, who thronged the ground just to watch MS Dhoni smash sixes.Once Dube got out during that practice game, the Chennai crowd got what it wanted. But in Chennai Super Kings’ first home game in four years, they fear that they might not get to see their bat. When Moeen Ali belts Avesh Khan for a triptych of fours next over and when Ben Stokes smokes the fast bowler over mid-off for another four, the crowd becomes even more restless.Super Kings are 203 for 5 after the 19th over. Mark Wood has Ravindra Jadeja skying a pull and even before Bishnoi settles under it, the roof is blown off Chepauk. The DJ plays from Kamal Haasan’s recent blockbuster movie . Over the past four years, Chennai has had to live with only memories of Dhoni. Now, it finally gets to see Dhoni in the flesh.Related
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And Dhoni gives the Chepauk fans what they want. Wood, England’s speed demon, hits 149kph and hides the ball away from Dhoni’s reach. It finishes a set of stumps outside off, but Dhoni still reaches out and scythes his first ball flat and hard over point for six. He will turn 42 this July, but his hand-eye coordination and his power is incredible. Chepauk goes wild. Wood goes wide of the crease next ball and bangs a bouncer into Dhoni’s arm pit. He swiftly swivels on the back foot and hooks one of the fastest bowlers in the world into the top tier over square leg for a bigger six. Chepauk loses it once again.Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who have all never seen Dhoni do this at Chepauk before, are up on their feet, clapping in almost disbelief. But for the Chepauk faithful, this was old magic, even though Dhoni holed out next ball.
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The entire evening was about Super Kings recreating the old magic on their grand homecoming.It had all started with Gaikwad and Conway providing a throwback to M Vijay-Michael Hussey during their 110-run opening partnership. Much like Vijay back in the day, Gaikwad lined up the offspinner (K Gowtham in this case) and pumped him for three sixes in one over. After the powerplay, Conway took Hussey-esque trips down the pitch and took calculated risks against both spin and pace.Of course, there was a spin choke later in the evening, but it was a slightly unfamiliar one in a high-scoring fixture. The pitch on Monday wasn’t a turner, but Moeen and Mitchell Santner extracted enough turn and denied the Lucknow Super Giants batters easy access to the shorter boundary on one side. After being on 79 for 0 inside the powerplay, Super Giants fell to 130 for 5, thanks to Moeen and Santner.The crowd knows that Super Kings’ spinners have got this. But the presence of Nicholas Pooran at No. 6 for Super Giants prompts Dhoni to hold Jadeja back. However, with Deepak Chahar and Stokes leaking runs, Dhoni brings Jadeja into the attack for the 15th over. Pooran immediately smashes the left-arm fingerspinner out of the attack with two imposing sixes.Pooran’s hits hush the Chepauk crowd, but they soon find their voice once again when Tushar Deshpande has Pooran holing out in the 16th over and follows it up with a boundary-less 18th over.Super Giants need 37 of 12 balls. Super Kings are still waiting for the arrival of their death bowlers Sisanda Magala and Maheesh Theekshana after finishing their national duties. Hangargekar had conceded 6, 4, 4 to Pooran in his first over, but Dhoni backs an unheralded Indian seamer to do the job for him under pressure. The likes of Mohit Sharma and Sudeep Tyagi used to do the dirty job for him back in the day.3:13
Moody praises Moeen, Santner on their smart use of Chepauk dimensions
Having stacked the off-side field with his best fielders – Jadeja, Gaikwad, Santner and Stokes – Dhoni asks Hangargekar to bowl wide yorkers and pitch the ball away from the hitting arcs of both Badoni and Gowtham. Hangargekar, who is playing only his second game for Super Kings, marginally misses his line and gives up two wides in the over. But he doesn’t veer away from his plan and concedes just nine runs overall in the penultimate over to all but kill off Super Giants’ chase.The endgame at Chepauk has to feature Dhoni. He ticks that box as well by tracking down a skier from Badoni despite being wrong-footed initially.”[It] does mean a lot to be back here,” Dhoni said at the toss amid deafening cheers. “IPL started in 2008 but we’ve not played a lot of cricket here. Only about five-six seasons we’ve been here. This is the first time the full stadium will be operational, a few stands were empty earlier. Really glad that we get to play all our home games here at Chepauk, means a lot.”It certainly meant a lot to the Super Kings fans too.As the clock ticks past 12am, Dhoni has a reunion with former Super Kings Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa, who are on commentary for this IPL, capping a memorable return to Chepauk.
Refusal to massage senior players’ egos was unpopular but necessary
Andrew Miller21-Apr-2021Was it the fact that Ed Smith was too clever by half, and unafraid to show it? Or was it the backlash to England’s rest-and-rotation policy – an imaginative response to the ongoing Covid crisis but one that proved too rigid for the already daunting challenge of facing India on home soil?Or was it a simple act of cost-cutting from the ECB – a body that had to axe 62 jobs at the end of last summer due to a ÂŁ100 million hole in its finances, and which can point to the pathways programme fronted by the ubiquitous Mo Bobat, as well as the over-sized squads for England’s bio-secure tours, and claim with some legitimacy that the role of a bespoke selector really is surplus to current requirements?Whatever the reasons (and given the depth and complexity that Smith liked to bring to his role, it’s fair to assume they were myriad), his non-retention, or “dropping”, to use the word that selectors themselves are so averse to uttering in this day and age, is a remarkable turn of events. It marks the end of more than 100 years of independent selection panels for England Test teams, and ushers in an unlikely new autocrat in the guise of head coach Chris Silverwood – or “Kim Jong Sil”, to use the moniker that the Guardian‘s cricket correspondent doesn’t expect to stick.Rumblings abound about Smith’s relationship with the players he was tasked with picking – many of them are understood to have been prickly in the extreme – and there was always an accompanying sense of over-complication to his methods. After all, once you’ve factored in a few elements of horses for courses, as well as the familiar vagaries of form, selection ultimately comes down to a fairly simple case of “yay or nay”? If this bloke cuts it, he’s in for the duration; if this bloke doesn’t, he’s not. It’s pretty mundane, actually, especially when the team is functioning well – which to Smith’s credit, it was … at least until India cranked up the spin settings this winter.But it’s telling that, of the 28 players to feature in his 37 Test selections from May 2018 to March 2021, Smith’s most constant “other-ranks” pick (behind the captain Joe Root) was a player who might never have played the format again, had he not backed his first and biggest hunch to the hilt.Only a selector willing to approach the role differently – and willing to back up his leap of faith with a highly-evolved explanation – could have risked the recall of Jos Buttler for the Tests against Pakistan in 2018. Buttler had not played any Test cricket for 18 months, since a spare-part role on the tour of India, but Smith recognised that his rampant form for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL was there to be harnessed across formats, whether or not it offended any sensibilities in the process.Root and Silverwood’s responsibilities have grown with Smith’s departure•Getty ImagesSure enough, Buttler thrived on the faith that he had been shown, and translated that IPL confidence into a series of agenda-seizing displays : a player-of-the-match performance against Pakistan at Headingley, and an integral role in England’s 4-1 series win over India, when two other Smith hunches, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid – back in contention despite quitting red-ball cricket for Yorkshire – helped provide the lower-order with enough depth and indomitability to wrestle an improbably comprehensive victory out of a tightly-contested series.It’s arguable, however, that Smith’s vision was too all-encompassing for the remit of his role. When Andrew Strauss appointed him in the spring of 2018, his stated aim had been to usher in a new era of data-driven selection, and the early signs were undeniably fruitful in that regard. Yet his project stalled abruptly in the immediate aftermath of perhaps his finest hour.England’s 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka in November 2018 was a triumph for what was dubbed “total cricket” – the ability to be ultra-flexible and turn to players with specific skills in certain conditions, such as the subcontinent specialist Keaton Jennings or, less convincingly, Smith’s former Kent team-mate Joe Denly, whose job-a-day legspin would be consistently over-sold in red- and white-ball cricket alike.For three Tests against Sri Lanka, it worked a treat. In spite of fielding a team with more wicketkeepers than frontline fast bowlers, England’s line-up had enough moving parts to cover every facet of the game: three contrasting spinners (leg, off and left-arm), a variety of pace options with Ben Stokes as the pivot, genuine batting to No. 8 and competence all the way down, and an enviable blend of ballast and flair therein. He’d cracked it within six months. It really was a simple game, especially for such a clever-clogs.But unfortunately, Smith’s ultra-logical treatment of players as chess pieces ran counter to the need to massage a few egos along the way, and also rode roughshod over the unspoken truth within dressing rooms – that not all players are equal. The decision to back Curran’s ubiquity over Stuart Broad’s single-string class in the subsequent Test against West Indies in Barbados in January 2019 backfired so spectacularly, amid a series-defining 381-run defeat, that it’s arguable whether Smith ever quite had – or was permitted – the courage of his convictions again.Related
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Certainly, he seemed to pull his punches in subsequent selections – perhaps most notably in the decision not to turn back to Jennings for this winter’s subcontinent trip, even when Rory Burns dipped out of the Sri Lanka series to attend the birth of his first child. Likewise, we may never know now whether Dawid Malan – who took umbrage at Smith’s early suggestion that his game was better suited to Southern Hemisphere venues – would have been a bolter for this winter’s Ashes squad.The equally plausible reason for Smith’s belated conformity, of course, is that England had by that stage turned around their Test fortunes, thanks to the core of young players whom Smith himself had been instrumental in choosing: most notably, Ollie Pope (despite picking him at No. 4 on debut and, bizarrely, as a wicketkeeper in New Zealand), Zak Crawley, Curran and Dom Bess – yet another hunch pick, after Jack Leach broke his thumb on the eve of Smith’s first squad selection. His temperament at Test level could not be questioned until his technique deserted him in India, and at the age of 23, he’s got time to come again.As for England’s white-ball plans – the over-riding priority for 2019, his first full year in the role – Smith’s involvement was never allowed to evolve beyond peripheral. His attempt to shoehorn Denly into England’s World Cup plans was plain weird, and rightly kiboshed on the eve of the campaign, while his inability to offer any real hope of a recall to Alex Hales was the first true sign of Smith’s redundancy, in the literal sense. What, honestly, could his purpose be, if Eoin Morgan had such a powerful and unchallengeable veto?Bairstow’s role changed regularly under Smith’s watch•Getty ImagesThere were other mis-steps along the way – Jason Roy as an Ashes opener was the hunch that proved it’s all guesswork really, while Smith’s chastising of Jonny Bairstow for crimes against Test-match batting technique was inconsistent to say the least. Was he a wicketkeeper, was he a No. 3, was he both or was he neither? By the time he’s sloped off the India tour with three ducks out of four, the latter seemed the likeliest answer. Something similar might also be said of Moeen Ali, who featured in just 11 of the Tests of Smith’s era, despite for a 12-month run – up to and including his axing after the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston – being the leading wicket-taker in the world.Despite all this, Smith finishes his stint in credit. England were drifting as a Test team when he took the job in the penultimate year of Trevor Bayliss’ reign – they’d been trounced in the Ashes and bowled out for 58 against New Zealand, and were in the midst of an abject overseas run of 11 defeats and two draws in their previous 13 overseas Tests. Until the recent denouement in India, that record had briefly been transformed to six away wins in a row, but overall, a return of 21 wins and 12 losses in 37 Tests shows clear progress.From a stodgy start, England found themselves challenging for the World Test Championship final right up until the penultimate Test of the cycle – and, for all that the knives were out after the apparent scuppering of the India tour, Smith’s unapologetic adherence to England’s rest-and-rotation policy has set a course for Covid survival that may yet have more spin-off benefits than are being appreciated right now. Dale Steyn’s tweet said it best: England are creating an “army of amazing cricketers”, with the depth of options necessary to survive a horrific and never-ending itinerary.And if one or two England players are seething about the way they’ve been treated along the way, then it just so happens that professional sport provides a very productive outlet for such emotions. As Broad demonstrated in the wake of his snub at the Ageas Bowl at the start of the 2020 summer, sometimes it helps to have a voodoo doll in your hold-all to help channel that rage.When, in the coming months, England’s players find their style cramped within the dressing room, and have to bite their tongues for fear of getting on the wrong side of the captain-coach combination that now has a more official hold over their careers, they may yet have reason to miss Smith’s defiantly independent line of thought.
India are 1-0 down against South Africa, with only one day remaining of their two-Test series, and the best they can hope is for the scoreline to remain 1-0. Going into the fifth day in Guwahati, India are 27 for 2. They are chasing an all-but-impossible target of 549.A series loss against South Africa will be India’s second in their previous three home series. Last year, they suffered an unprecedented 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand, which ended a proud run of 17 straight home-series wins over a 12-year period.In this scenario, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja suggested that saving the Guwahati Test would be a “win-win situation” for India. Jadeja used the English phrase, and it must be noted that it isn’t his first language.”We will have to bat well, take it session by session,” Jadeja said. “If we don’t give a wicket in the first session, then there will obviously be pressure on the bowlers, that they need to bowl us out. For us, that will be the win-win situation – if we can bat out the full day tomorrow. For us, it’ll be as good as a winning situation.”Related
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This series has flipped the script on India’s previous home series against South Africa in 2019, which they won 3-0. Jadeja suggested South Africa hadn’t done too much differently between that tour and this one, other than winning tosses. India won all three tosses in 2019, and South Africa have won both this time.”I don’t find any difference from what we played against them in 2019,” Jadeja said. “I think they almost have the same squad. In cricket, I feel it’s all about timing. It starts from winning the toss. If we would have won the toss on this wicket, then we would have been in a good situation right now. But that’s part and parcel [of the game]. So, now, [it’s about] what comes next – that is, day five. We have to play good cricket and we have to trust our defence. That’s the key. If we play out day five, then, as I said, it’s a win-win situation for us.”Jadeja was an integral member of India’s teams through their 12-year winning run in home Test series. When asked how difficult it has been to go through India’s ongoing period of negative results at home, Jadeja said it was simply a challenge he and his team-mates had to accept.”See, it’s not difficult. In cricket, it’s always about the situation,” he said. “If you are 312-315 runs ahead in the game, then any batsman can come and play freely. They’re not thinking about spin or bounce, or how the wicket is. But when you’re 300 runs behind and you have to go out and play out a day, defend through it, and know you have a 550-run target, and you know the ball is turning and bouncing, that plays on the mind more.R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were crucial to India’s unbeaten 12-year run at home•BCCI
“We’ve also been [in winning situations]. Like, from 2012 to 2024, in 12 years we did not lose a series at home. In that time, we’ve handle these situations well. But the time was such that we won a lot of tosses and we scored big in the first innings. We’ve beaten oppositions by an innings. It has happened a lot of times.”The more you play cricket, the more new experiences you have. So as cricketers, me and the team, it is a challenge we accept. We will not deny it, and ask why we are having to play in this situation. If it has come, we as players have to take the positives and move on from it. Our attitude will be positive and it will help the team. All the individuals will look to give their 100%.”Whichever batter goes to bat tomorrow will look to give their best. But sometimes, even if you don’t succeed, you learn from [the situation] and know the mistakes you’ve made, and what you can improve on in such a situation again.”India have been in transition over the last year or so having lost a number of senior players. Jadeja felt going through a difficult time like this would help the young players in the team learn and grow,”Look, for the youngsters in the team, I think this is a learning phase. Their career is just starting. In international cricket, no matter what format you play, it’s not easy. No matter what format you play, it’s always a little challenging. So, in India, when a situation like this happens, and you play 3-4 youngsters in the team, it feels like the whole team is young and inexperienced. And that gets highlighted.”But when India wins in home conditions, people think it’s not a big deal. You have to win anyway. So people think that if you win a series in India, it’s not a big deal. But if you lose a series in India, it becomes a very big deal. But even the team that comes here and plays against is representing their country.”So that’s the beauty of cricket, there’s always a surprise. Something new happens year by year. So, for a youngster, it’s a learning phase. If they handle this situation well, they will become mature as players, and India’s future will be better.”