In this excerpt from his first book, the India spinner tells us about why bowling to some of his heroes at training was not what he thought it would be

R Ashwin23-Jul-2024India play against West Indies in an ODI match at Chepauk as part of preparations for the World Cup later in 2007. I am asked to bowl at the nets for both teams. International teams invite local bowlers to bowl in the nets because they don’t want to exhaust their own bowlers before the actual match. This is my first such invitation.I am excited at the prospect of bowling to Chris Gayle, Brian Lara, my hero Sachin Tendulkar, and the hottest name in Indian cricket today, MS Dhoni. I have read about how Imran Khan plucked Waqar Younis out of a nets session even before he had started playing proper domestic cricket. Appa has told me how Kris Srikkanth impressed Sunil Gavaskar in a local game, and that’s how he ended up playing for India. These thoughts are not entirely out of my mind. I am going to be bowling in flesh and blood to players I have dreamed of playing with and against.The West Indies team is the first to arrive for training. Chepauk doesn’t have separate nets, so the nets are arranged on the side pitches at the main ground. I bowl to Gayle first. I get him out caught and bowled. Later, I have him edging. I look at him for a reaction because in nets, be it at club level, Ranji Trophy level or anywhere else, the batter nods at you, appreciates you or just says “bowled”, to acknowledge you. Gayle just picks the ball up and throws it back at me. No eye contact. No reaction.Related

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He gets out, no reaction. He tonks me, no reaction. I think Gayle is probably peculiar, but as I bowl to other batters, it is the same. They smack you, no reaction. They struggle against you, no reaction. Just pick up the ball and bowl again. I find it weird.And it is not limited to the West Indies players either. India batters are the same. During the India nets, a friend comes and watches from the stands. He wants a photo with Dhoni after the nets so that he can impress girls in college. I, too, am crazy about Dhoni. The way he hits, the way he finishes games, the long hair. He is just a phenomenon.After we are done, I click a photo with Dhoni myself. I tell him about my friend, and he obliges. My friend is over the moon, but I tell him I am not coming as a nets bowler again. He is stunned. Not only does he want to come and take more photos tomorrow to impress girls, he is generally shocked at me giving up a chance to bowl at these guys.I tell him what happened. I feel heartbroken. I don’t exactly know what I expected when I came to the nets. Yes, those fairy tales of selections of net bowlers are a thought in my mind, but not an expectation. It is something else that has hurt me. I tell my friend I have never been to a cricket match or practice session where nobody has acknowledged me. People try to find out which club you play for or which school or college you study at, but here nobody even asked me what my name was.Penguin Random HouseI call up the nets organiser who had offered me the gig and tell him I will not be coming tomorrow. Instead, I go to Chemplast and train on my own. I think playing street cricket is more fun than bowling at these internationals. Over the next few days, though, I realise they didn’t do it to me because they are bad people. It is just that these are professional cricketers in their bubble, striving for excellence. They must be facing hundreds of bowlers like me. They can’t be acknowledging everyone’s presence. Worship your heroes from a distance; when you get close to them, be good enough to be one of them.I don’t think any less of my cricket heroes because they didn’t acknowledge me when I bowled, but I also don’t want to be servicing them with nothing in it for me. I still feel like an ordinary person for servicing them without any acknowledgement when I do well or generally of my effort. So, I don’t regret pulling out of the nets. Nor do I want to be just a nets bowler ever again. I Have the Streets: a Kutti Cricket Story

They’ve missed qualification for four ICC events since 2019, but players like Bennett and Campbell give Raza hope

Mohammad Isam13-May-2024Captain Sikandar Raza has said Zimbabwe will be looking to bring in new players and rebuild the side to “secure” their future in all three formats.Among those players is Brian Bennett, who put up an all-round show in the fifth T20I against Bangladesh to secure a Zimbabwe win.Bennet, who made his international debut last year after Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup, picked 2 for 20 and scored a 49-ball 70 ensuring his team did not suffer a 5-0 T20I series sweep. The 2024 T20 World Cup is the fourth ICC event that Zimbabwe have missed since 2019.Related

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“This is the vision,” Raza told ESPNcricinfo. “Because we are not going to the World Cup, we want to rebuild the team. We want to secure our future in all three formats. The senior guys will be there for a bit longer in ODIs and Tests, but in T20s we are trying to build a new team. The long-term vision is for these guys to gain the confidence from T20s to filter into ODIs and Tests.”I can tell those youngsters that we tried our hardest (in the qualifiers) but it wasn’t meant to be. For those coming into the changing room, there’s still the right guidance available. Hopefully, our advice and guidance will help you kids cross that hurdle, and get to the World Cup if you ever have to play the qualifiers.”Zimbabwe’s tour of Bangladesh was an eye-opener for the side in transition. After the first match, they dropped experienced batters Ryan Burl and Sean Williams for a few games. Craig Ervine was also replaced at one stage after the third T20I. They wanted to give the likes of Bennett, Johnathan Campbell and Tadiwanashe Marumani more game-time.Bennett batted in three positions in the five games. He struggled initially, but the 70 in the fifth game gave Zimbabwe hope. He also picked important wickets – Shakib Al Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto in the fourth T20I and Soumya Sarkar and Towhid Hridoy in the fifth – with his offspin.”I am very pleased with my performance,” Bennett said after the game. “It is Mother’s Day, so this one will be for my mum. I am grateful it came out today. I am fine batting anywhere in the order. I don’t really have a set position to bat. I can play my normal game during or after the powerplay.”It is much easier as an allrounder these days to get your name out there. I am working on my bowling a bit. Hopefully, it will get better as my career goes on. It is something that I am definitely willing to get better at.”Brian Bennett batted in different positions in the series•BCBBennett went after offspinner Mahedi Hasan, who had success in the powerplay in the first two matches in this series, early on.”We didn’t have a target today, we played freely, played our game,”Bennett said. “The result took care of itself. Offspin is my match-up in the powerplay with two fielders out (of the 30-yard circle). The ball was turning a lot. If you just watched the ball closely, it was easier to play.”We had wickets in hand. If we took six or seven an over, it was still fine. As long as the run-rate didn’t increase too much. When it got to nine (an over), we wanted to get a boundary early in the over. We know we have big finishers in the end to finish the job.”Raza was impressed by the attitude of his younger team-mates.”The beauty about that kid (Bennett) is that he is so selfless,” Raza said. “He batted at No. 3, then got a 44 at No. 6, then he went back to No. 3, and then he opened in the last two innings. He didn’t even complain once. We backed him fully whether he failed or not. We told him that we will give him a long run. Have a good attitude about it. We will see what position best suits you.””Another example of this selflessness is Wellington Masakadza wanted to send Faraz (Akram) ahead of him. Faraz is his junior but Wellington thought that Faraz was in better form. That’s the culture we want to bring into the dressing room where everyone is constantly thinking about winning the game. We think for the whole team and the country.”Johnathan Campbell was impressive on his debut for Zimbabwe•AFP via Getty ImagesMasakadza had a decent tour with bat and ball. Newcomers Faraz and Campbell fought hard with the bat. Blessing Muzarabani continued to be the leader of the bowling unit, and Raza was impressed with how he took on Richard Ngarava’s role when the left-arm quick was injured.”I am extremely proud of how well Campbell has responded in this tour. Bangladesh can be a tough place. He has batted and fielded really well. He can bowl as well. I was super impressed by these two kids (Campbell and Bennett).”It was impressive of Muzarabani to step up when Ngarava wasn’t around. Ngarava usually gives us the initial breakthrough. Faraz batted well, he bowled okay here and there. A lot of the mistakes these kids made was due to inexperience. Not for a lack of skill and quality. The more matches they play, they will get better.”Zimbabwe have a lot of work in front of them, but they want to ensure automatic qualification to the T20 World Cup in 2026. Raza said that they always keep an eye on the rankings and points system. “For some reason, Zimbabwe play great in qualifiers but in the do-or-die match, all of us tend to fall off. We just want to make sure we qualify directly, and we don’t have to play these qualifiers again.”

Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith burst onto the scene as Bazball 2.0 began to take shape

Vithushan Ehantharajah10-Sep-2024″Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”So said Joe Root after England succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their final Test of the 2024 home season. His point being that their style is such that, while they have reeled off five wins in a row, results like this are “going to happen from time to time”.It’s not quite how recording artists operate, of course. Certainly not a band who, if they were so inclined, could industrialise the production of their cookie-cutter tear-jerkers. One thing Coldplay do, however, is sell out stadiums, which England have not this summer. The Kia Oval was only a third full for what is usually a showpiece event in the calendar.To be fair to England, that’s not so much on them. Inclement weather and broadly uneven Tests have contributed to an unspectacular home season. Prevalent themes include underfunded opposition and overpriced ticketing.Related

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And yet at the same time, few summers have been this transitional as new blood was sourced to build towards the 2025-26 Ashes. Such has been the rate of change, the average age of England’s XI at the Oval was 26, compared to 32 for the corresponding 2023 Ashes fixture. In pursuit of Bazball refinement, England gave us a Bratball summer.

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James Anderson knew something was up when all of Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key invited him to a Manchester hotel in April. Good news is rarely delivered by three messengers.The meeting itself lasted 90 minutes, not that Anderson was oblivious to what was to be discussed before he walked through the door. England’s greatest ever bowler, fresh from breaching the 700 Test wickets mark, was being put out to pasture.Lord’s would be the farewell, creating a peculiar atmosphere around the season opener against West Indies. On the one hand, Anderson hated the fuss of his 188th and final Test appearance, though did grow to enjoy it. On the other, it acted as a neat distraction for those taking the team forward in a post-Anderson world.Shoaib Bashir played his first home Test after an impressive tour of India was followed by a loan move from Worcestershire to Somerset for first-team action. The Surrey duo of Gus Atkinson, a quick with just 19 first-class appearances to his name, and Jamie Smith, picked as wicketkeeper despite not doing the job for his county, made their debuts. All three were ever-presents for the summer.

“The flipside of introducing new faces is saying goodbye to old ones. Broad, Anderson, Bairstow and Foakes, staples of the first two years of McCullum’s era, are already fading in the rearview mirror”

Bashir came off a “thanks for coming” appearance in that first Test to bowl England to victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge. Second-innings figures of 5 for 41 made him the youngest English spinner to take a five-wicket haul at home, which also happened to be his third outright.Atkinson started with a bang, taking 12 for 106 in his first outing – the best figures for an Englishman on Test debut since 1890 – turning Anderson’s grand closing into his grand opening. A return to Lord’s against Sri Lanka brought with it another five-wicket haul, as well as completing the honours board set with a maiden Test century. All in, 34 dismissals at 20.17 represents an exceptional home summer. Particularly given Atkinson’s front-on, into-the-pitch action, along with his scrambled stock ball, which sets him apart from traditional English seamers.It was perhaps Smith who was the real find. The 24-year-old made the earliest impression – ultimately, by doing nothing at all. With McCullum and Stokes maintaining their stance on leaving training attendance in the hands of the individuals, Smith, ahead of his first cap, decided on having the day off.It was a bold call for someone ahead of such a big moment in their career. But with the team announced 48 hours early, Smith informed Stokes that he felt he had done all his necessary preparation and could probably do with a more relaxed lead-in. The skipper was impressed by the clarity, and, though he would not judge, the bravery of the call. Smith went out and strummed 70 in his maiden Test knock.A century would come at Old Trafford against Sri Lanka after a near-miss in his previous knock against West Indies. And with 23 catches to go with his 487 runs, Smith has rectified a problem position. The keeping conundrum of Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes has been solved swiftly and with remarkable distinction.It’s worth noting that all three youngsters have encountered challenges. Smith, a three-format player, noted the grind of Test cricket is something he must manage, even if it had not caught up with him just yet.Jamie Smith has nailed down the wicketkeeper position•Getty Images”Looking back on these six matches has been a learning experience for me of just day-to-day how I need to go about things, in terms of preparation,” he said. “There’s quite a quick turnaround between games.”So [it’s] almost, ‘what do I need to do to be ready?’ It’s a slightly unique situation that I’ve been full at it since back in April, and played nine Championship games in the lead up to these six Test matches. So it’s 15 first-class games, plus the T20s and the Hundred. It’s been a lot.”By the last Test at the Kia Oval, Atkinson’s pace was noticeably down, in part because of a thigh injury that has subsequently seen him rested for the upcoming ODI series with Australia. From a technical point of view, Bashir’s lack of “go-to” ball is something he needs to work on.

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With six Tests still to come this year, split evenly between Pakistan and New Zealand, such learnings will have to come on duty. McCullum and Stokes are keen to hot-house talent within the confines of the Test squad, as much because of the proximity of the next Ashes and the fact they believe their environment promotes accelerated progress.Josh Hull is the latest example of that. After being called up to replace Mark Wood – now out until the new year – Hull spent a week grooving in the Lord’s nets.Just seven weeks after walking out at the same venue, Anderson was back on the Nursery Ground. This time, as the team’s bowling consultant, fine-tuning a kid born 15 months after he made his Test debut.Josh Hull claimed three wickets on debut against Sri Lanka•Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesTall, left-arm, but with a Division Two bowling average of 182.50 this season, Hull needed work. Anderson set about shaving off a couple of rough edges. A slightly skittish run-up was tidied. An alignment at the crease that led a collapsed front leg was adjusted.There was nothing overly technical, but enough for Hull to shine in the lead-up to the final Test of the summer and sneak a spot in the XI. Impressing McCullum and Stokes with his movement and bounce helped, as well as a handy spell against stand-in captain Ollie Pope in the nets.Three wickets, all in the first innings, showcased promise, though the rawness was evident throughout with a lack of control. Nevertheless, a spot for Hull on the tour of Pakistan came through on Tuesday. England are keen on an extra month to polish, believing they are onto something special.

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The flipside of introducing new faces is saying goodbye to old ones. Broad, Anderson, Bairstow and Foakes, staples of the first two years of McCullum’s era, are already fading in the rearview mirror.Dan Lawrence, a passenger for the last 18 months, has been dropped off after unsuccessfully moonlighting as an opener in the absence of Zak Crawley. Jordan Cox, four years Lawrence’s junior, is now riding spare.The other knock-on effect comes within. Established players like Pope and Harry Brook have been shifted up in responsibility. In turn, the acting skipper and vice for Sri Lanka’s tour have been shunted into intriguing junctures as far as their Test careers are concerned. Neither can rest on “figuring things out” around more inexperienced company.By the end, England called upon 16 players during the Test season. Of the 15 still active, only six have experience in Australian conditions. It speaks to the volume of change, but also the need to try different things ahead of the next Ashes to rectify consecutive 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 losses.As such, the value of this near-perfect home season against imperfect opposition is something of an unknown. It may not have been a memorable summer, but it could be remembered fondly depending on how things pan out in two winter’s time.

Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000

Karthik Krishnaswamy21-Oct-2024Update: This poll has ended. Jasprit Bumrah’s performance goes into the quarter-finals. Check the other polls here.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah’s slower ball to Shaun Marsh remains one of his iconic deliveries•Getty ImagesJasprit Bumrah – 6-33 and 3-53 in Melbourne, 2018India won by 137 runs, lead series 2-1India had won in Adelaide, lost in Perth, and knew Melbourne would be a hard slog on a slow surface where only 24 wickets had fallen in a drawn Ashes Test the previous year. Time was precious, particularly with rain forecast on days four and five, so they declared seven down with less than 450, recognising they had batted nearly 170 overs.Turns out you don’t need much time if you have a game-breaker who can take the pitch out of the equation. India bowled Australia out twice in 156.2 overs, with nine of their 20 wickets coming from Jasprit Bumrah’s irresistible blend of brain and biomechanical brawn. They wrapped up victory shortly after lunch on day five, with even a washed-out first session powerless to stop them.Bumrah’s first three wickets, all on day three, all from round the wicket to left-hand batters, showcased how dangerous he could be even with minimal swing, seam or pace off the deck. A pinpoint bouncer managed to both rush Marcus Harris and cramp him for room. An unstoppable yorker, with a hint of reverse, burst through Travis Head.In between came the last ball before lunch, a devious, 113kph change-up that would go on to define not just this spell but all of Bumrah’s remarkable career. Shaun Marsh’s movements, tuned to Bumrah’s regular 140 kph rhythm, were entirely out of step with this ball out of a slow-motion nightmare. Fixated on a front leg that moved too far across and far too early, it dipped late to miss the cue end of the bat and pinged the pad on the full, plumb in front.Watch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from October 22 onwards.Cheteshwar Pujara put his body on the line for India in Sydney•Getty ImagesCheteshwar Pujara – 50 and 77 in Sydney, 2021Match drawn, series level 1-1Cheteshwar Pujara contributed three hundreds to India’s 2-1 win in Australia in 2018-19. He scored no hundreds when they pulled off an even more dramatic 2-1 win in 2020-21, and ended this tour with an average of 33.87, but he was still almost as much of a thorn in Australia’s flesh. The key number: 1366 minutes, the most spent at the crease by any batter playing four or fewer Tests in a series without scoring a hundred.Batting time. If an Indian team that lost all its premier bowlers to injury during the tour somehow triumphed over an Australian team that had its first-choice attack in every Test, a fair share of the credit must go to Pujara’s crease occupation. He kept asking Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to go back and bowl another ball over and over again, until they weren’t quite themselves in the back half of the series.Pujara made two fifties in Sydney, and one in Brisbane, at strike rates of 28.40, 37.56, and 26.59, batting with a finger injury sustained earlier in the series. He showed it’s possible to mount a serious challenge in a chase of 407 – there’s a chance India could have won rather than drawn at the SCG if Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja weren’t all battling injury – and haul down a target of 328 if one batter shuts one end down completely and tires the opposition while other, quicker-scoring colleagues bat around him. For hour after hour, Pujara just stood there, taking blow after blow to his gloves and body, and let Australia expend all their energy in the futile pursuit of his wicket.

There could be significant ramifications for an ageing side if the Adelaide Test doesn’t go well

Andrew McGlashan02-Dec-20241:57

Ferguson: A breather would do Labuschagne a world of good

A couple of weeks ago Australia were talking of cementing a legacy. They can still do that, but it’s become a lot harder after being demolished in Perth. For now, those lofty ambitions may come down to what happens over the next nine days in Adelaide.Australia were 1-0 down in the 2018-19 series against India but the defeat was narrower (31 runs in Adelaide) and expectations were lower with the side missing David Warner and Steven Smith. They levelled it in Perth but India pulled away in the third Test in Melbourne with Jasprit Bumrah taking 6 for 33 before the fourth Test in Sydney was drawn. Few reminders are needed that it was India who came from 1-0 down in 2020-21.It remains too early to suggest Australia can’t fight back – both India and Pakistan have come from 1-0 down to win series this year – but mentions of previous rare home calamities are beginning. One is the 2016-17 series against South Africa, when defeat in the second Test in Hobart led to mass changes in the team. Before that, in the 2010-11 Ashes they were trailing 0-1 after the second Test in Adelaide, briefly rose off the canvas in Perth, then came crashing down in Melbourne and Sydney. Reviews, sackings and recriminations followed.Related

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The team that crumbled in Hobart did not have the standing of this current squad, while in 2010-11 there were concerns around the bowling. It is also worth remembering Australia have suffered consecutive home defeats after West Indies’ Shamar Joseph-inspired victory at the Gabba earlier in the year. The last time Australia lost three home Tests in a row was 1988.All this is to say, Australia have not faced a home Test of such significance in a long time. Win it and the bad week in Perth will look a little less severe (and sets up a potentially classic series) but lose, be 2-0 down with three to play, and the prospect of a third-consecutive home loss to India would loom large. That could have significant ramifications.3:43

Moody: ‘There is frustration in the Australia dressing room’

They will have to do it against an India side strengthened by the return of captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Washington Sundar did his job in Perth, but it’s difficult to believe that R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja wouldn’t add further potency to the attack. Australia have never lost a pink-ball Test in Adelaide, but they were also unbeaten at Optus Stadium until this series. The number 36 will likely be mentioned a lot in the coming days, but it’s unlikely to have left many scars for the visitors, especially as they came back to win that series.Amid the concerns Australia had after Perth, they have increased with the loss of Josh Hazlewood for at least Adelaide due to a side strain and doubts over Mitchell Marsh’s fitness – who it has been conceded was underdone heading into the first Test. After such a carefully curated build-up to lose two players after one Test would raise some questions. The depth of both squads could be tested over the next phase of the series with only three days between the upcoming two games.

In Adelaide, the city of churches, there may be a few prayers being said that it’s not Bumrah who has the ball in his hands as night falls

There is no secret that this is a mature Australia side. Nathan McSweeney is the only player under 30 – effectively replacing Cameron Green as the one in that age bracket – although the selectors have insisted that isn’t a factor in selection. Beau Webster has fully earned his call-up but has just turned 31 while Scott Boland, likely to be Hazlewood’s replacement, is 35. It doesn’t have to be an issue when things are trucking along nicely but it can quickly become a focal point when problems start to emerge. For those closer to the end of a career than the start, time can catch up rapidly and rather unexpectedly.Another performance like the one at Perth would sharpen the focus. Smith has now gone longer than ever without a Test century, reaching 23 innings compared to the 22 it took from his debut to maiden hundred. He did look promising for his 17 in the second innings at Perth (the ball to remove him by Mohammed Siraj was a beauty) but the fact that was worthy of comment highlights the problem. Marnus Labuschagne has come under most scrutiny but of the incumbent batters, Alex Carey is now the only one to be averaging over 30 in Test cricket this year.Writing in his ESPNcricinfo column, Ian Chappell said: “If Australia do lose the second Test, the batting will come under the microscope. That’s when the paucity of potential batting talent in Australia will cause some selection headaches.”Steven Smith and Co have little room for error in Adelaide•AFP/Getty ImagesAs you would expect him to do, Cricket Australia’s head of high performance, Ben Oliver, defended the depth in the domestic game last week. To bring some encouragement about emerging players, Sam Konstas’ free-flowing century in Canberra was timely even if the circumstances were a little odd. It follows the impressive 73 not out he made in the second innings against India A at the MCG.While Australia’s hopes went south in Perth, analysis turned many commentators into body-language experts while a Hazlewood press conference when the match was effectively over has been picked apart for what it could mean about rifts in the dressing room. Whether there’s any truth or not, those types of things will only grow louder if there is not a swift response on the field.This week will also throw in the added jeopardy of the day-night element. Timing can be everything in these matches: face a new ball under lights and things can move quickly. That applies to both teams, but Australia don’t have much room left for poor sessions, let alone days. In Adelaide, the city of churches, there may be a few prayers being said that it’s not Bumrah who has the ball in his hands as night falls.

Not many, Indians or otherwise, have achieved what Nitish Kumar Reddy did at the MCG on Saturday

Sampath Bandarupalli28-Dec-2024105* – Nitish Kumar Reddy’s score at stumps on the third day of the MCG Test is the highest for batter from No. 8 or lower in Tests in Melbourne. Australian Reggie Duff’s 104 from No. 10 in 1902 was the previous highest.5 – Visiting batters to score Test hundreds batting at No. 8 or lower in Australia, including Reddy. It is also the first century by a No. 8 (or lower) batter for India in Australia, with Anil Kumble’s 87 in 2008 at Adelaide the previous highest.Reddy is only the second Indian to reach a century while batting at No. 8 or lower against Australia, following Wriddhiman Saha’s 117 in Ranchi in 2017.127 – Partnership runs between Reddy and Washington Sundar for the eighth wicket. It is the joint-third-highest for India against Australia, behind the 140 between MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the ninth wicket in the 2013 Chennai Test and 129 by Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh for the eighth wicket in the 2008 Sydney Test.The 127-run stand is also the fourth-highest for India in away Tests for the eighth (or lower) wicket in Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 – Instances of two players facing 150 or more balls for India in a Test innings while batting at No. 8 or lower (where data is available). Syed Kirmani and Shivlal Yadav did this against New Zealand in Auckland in 1981, and now Reddy and Washington have done the same in Melbourne.It is also the third such occurrence for any team in the past 25 years, with the previous two coming in the same Test – Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder for West Indies in their first innings and Zimbabwe’s Regis Chakabva and Graeme Cremer in their second innings in the 2017 Bulawayo Test.21y 214d – Reddy’s age coming into the Melbourne Test. He is the third-youngest India player to score a Test hundred in Australia, after Tendulkar (18y 253d) and Rishabh Pant (21y 91d). Reddy is the third-youngest visiting batter to score a Test hundred in Melbourne.2 – India batters to score their maiden Test hundred at MCG: Vinoo Mankad (in 1948) and Reddy. He is the first visiting batter to score his maiden Test hundred at the venue since JP Duminy in 2008.8 – Sixes by Reddy in this series are the joint-highest by a visiting batter in a Test series in Australia. Michael Vaughan in the 2002-03 Ashes and Chris Gayle in 2009 also hit eight sixes each.

How has the IPL 2025 been so far? We analyse the trends at the halfway mark

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-20253:05

IPL 2025 so far: CSK’s Chepauk shocker, Shreyas’ impressive captaincy

Perennial underachievers highlight benefits of mega auction

Only 12 matches into IPL 2025, all ten teams had won at least once: clear proof that the mega-auction has done its job. As the table starts to take shape, the early front-runners all have holes in the squads and even the stragglers have enough match-winners to take the two points on any given night.The IPL’s strict salary cap and regular squad turnover frustrate some franchises, and players would doubtless support an open-market system with no wage limits. But the transparency of the auction ensures that the league retains its competitive balance: owners cannot simply bankroll success as they do in many other sports, and teams cannot hoard their best players.Related

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Those dynamics have allowed perennial underachievers like Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings to make the running this season, while serial champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians lag behind. It is that sense of unpredictability which keeps us tuning in every night — and every season.

Local leagues as a path to IPL glory

The IPL trophy has an inscription, which translates to “where talent meets opportunity”. The tournament throws up new talents every season, and it’s no different in 2025. While some of the previous talents have had the benefit of domestic experience, there’s a new crop that is emerging from state or local T20 leagues. Despite little to no domestic experience, players plucked out from these smaller leagues have seamlessly stepped up to the biggest T20 league this season.Priyansh Arya, who has no first-class experience, demolished a Chennai Super Kings attack, which included Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, on his way to the fastest century by an uncapped Indian in the IPL. Just eight months after hitting six sixes in an over in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), Arya has emerged as one of the most impactful batters in the IPL.Priyansh Arya hit seven fours and nine sixes in his 42-ball 103•BCCIMystery spinner Digvesh Rathi, also from the DPL, has carried Lucknow Super Giants’ injury-hit attack, writing his name into the IPL. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Aniket Verma, a product of the Madhya Pradesh T20 league, had just played just one game in senior representative cricket before this IPL, but has hit more sixes than Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head so far this season.The mushrooming of local leagues, in the lead-up to IPL 2025, made scouts cast their selection nets far and wide. These newbies have rewarded them and impressed us with their breathtaking skills, proving that they belong in the IPL.

New spinners on the rise but Kuldeep still stands out

This is the year of the shiny new spinner in the IPL. Digvesh Rathi is signing his way into hearts, Sai Kishore is keeping the flag for orthodox spin flying, Vipraj Nigam and Vignesh Puthur have made it big despite hardly ever playing for their states. The more established wizards are struggling: R Ashwin has been dropped, Ravindra Jadeja is hardly getting a bowl, Ravi Bishnoi is not even the best in his team right now, Yuzvendra Chahal has had one good match. Even among the Afghan wristies, the younger Noor Ahmad has comprehensively outbowled Rashid Khan, who has just four wickets in six matches.Kuldeep Yadav has been impressive as usual•BCCIThe likeliest explanation for this is that familiarity has bred contempt, but atop Mount Bowling sits a usual suspect: Kuldeep Yadav. After six matches, he is only one wicket Noor’s 12, who has played seven matches, but more importantly, Kuldeep’s economy rate of 6.04 is more than one run better than Noor. He has bowled his allotment in each match; in four out of six, he has gone under a run a ball. He has taken at least one wicket in each of his outings. And, as usual, he has been delightful to watch.

One little change, one big difference

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has forgotten you can use it. Mitchell Starc believes it’s a myth that using it will make a difference. Mohit Sharma believes there will be a gradual spike in reverse swing now that it’s been added back to bowler’s toolkit. We are talking about the IPL’s decision to allow use of saliva on the ball this season.The advantage of applying saliva is well-known. It helps create the bias on the ball – one side shiny, the other rough – that enables it to reverse. Venues like Hyderabad, Delhi, possibly Mullanpur have dry pitches and abrasive outfields and are likely to favour reverse swing as the summer goes on.Reverse swing is an amazing art as the ball dips and swerves in late, just about a yard or so from the batter, leaving them dumbfounded if executed well. It is lethal as Starc has already shown. Revoking the ban on saliva is a significant factor this IPL, one that could tip the balance in favour of the bowler and impact the outcome of a match.

The class of 2016-17 returns

KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj all made their international debuts between June 2016 and November 2017. By the 2022-23 season, it looked like they had established themselves as the next generation of all-format players for India. Then, the entire idea of an all-format player was sent in for reevaluation. T20 batting strike-rates had passed the point where anyone who had ever practised a leave could keep up. The Powerplay was too brutal a place for a swing bowler.One by one, they lost their place in India’s T20I squad. Siraj, drained by the 650-plus overs he had bowled for India from January 2023 to December 2024, lost his place in the ODI squad too. None of the three were retained by their IPL franchises.3:36

Bishop: Shreyas the captain has always made teams better

At the midway point of the 2025 season, Iyer and Rahul are both among the top ten run-getters. Rahul is striking at 150-plus, Iyer at 200-plus. Siraj is among the top ten wicket-takers and has an economy-rate of 8.50. He and Rahul are two of four players with two Player-of-the-Match awards this season.All three have done their own reevaluations of their T20 games and have also found their core skills in demand again thanks to the variety of pitches in use this season. Plus, they have, no doubt, been invigorated by the desire to prove a point.

Don’t take me home, please don’t take me home

Several teams are finding little comfort at home this season. Eden Gardens, Chepauk, and Chinnaswamy have all failed to offer the familiar edge, with curators unable to consistently produce surfaces that suit the home side’s strengths.Kolkata Knight Riders, CSK, RCB, and LSG have all struggled to assert dominance at their bases, eroding the traditional “fortress” feel these grounds once had. This shift has led to significant away wins that defy pre-tournament predictions.RCB, for instance, broke long-standing losing streaks by defeating CSK at Chepauk for the first time since 2008 and MI at the Wankhede for the first time in nearly a decade. They also dismantled KKR’s spin-heavy attack led by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy at Eden Gardens in the season opener.Adding to the unpredictability, teams like DC and Rajasthan Royals and PBKS have had to navigate the complexities of managing two home venues each. Adaptation has become the buzzword in a season that’s testing flexibility more than familiarity.
Ashutosh Sharma and Kevin Pietersen revel in DC’s tight win•Associated Press

Now we know what team mentors do

Ashutosh Sharma was born in Madhya Pradesh in India. Kevin Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. Their paths might never have crossed if not for the IPL and in particular, IPL where Pietersen was elevated to the nebulous role of team mentor at Delhi Capitals. What do these guys do anyway?Well, apparently enough that when a player looking to make a name for himself actually does make a name for himself, he points straight to the mentor and pays tribute. Ashutosh pulled off that most adrenaline-y of all adrenaline-fuelled wins – the one-wicket win – early this season and the first thing he did was point to KP.Teams select mentors for various reasons. One of them is inspiration. Picture being in high school again, except this time the cool kids are accessible and they got your back. Isn’t it beautiful?

While Ireland have already qualified for the big tournament, Zimbabwe need to make it out of the Africa qualifiers this year

Sreshth Shah21-Feb-2025
The big pictureWe’re just 12 months away from the next T20 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, and Ireland already have their tickets for the event in hand. They made it there by virtue of their ranking, even as they had missed out on a Super Eights berth at last year’s T20 World Cup.Ireland’s squad for the T20Is against Zimbabwe represents the best going around in the country, and they’ll be looking to fine-tune their game before meeting West Indies for three T20Is at home in June. As it stands, Ireland don’t have any more T20Is lined up against Full Members until next year’s global event.Related

Curran's maiden ODI ton leads Zimbabwe to 2-1 win

For Zimbabwe, ranked No. 12, to make the next T20 World Cup, they need to make it out of the Africa qualifiers that they will be hosting in September this year. On paper, Zimbabwe should be favourites to make the cut, but they had failed to qualify for the 2024 edition, and won’t be taking anything for granted.Their T20I squad is going through a flux – just like their Test and ODI teams – and their short-term goal will be to make full use of the crucial playing time against a challenging opponent while also better understanding their best XI.How the two teams stack upWith Zimbabwe being led by Sikandar Raza, who recently won the ILT20 in the UAE as Dubai Capitals’ vice-captain, the hosts have one of the most dynamic allrounders in the format on their side.Brian Bennett and Johnathan Campbell will be looking to extend their good form with the bat, while Dion Myers returns to the squad with a point to prove after being left out for the ODIs. Ryan Burl’s presence gives Zimbabwe’s batting some depth, and the pair of Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava bring fast-bowling prowess.Zimbabwe have Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava as fast bowlers for the T20Is against Ireland•AFP/Getty ImagesIreland, though, begin the series on the back foot, with the ODIs not going their way, and their in-form seamer Mark Adair ruled out with injury. Josh Little, their swing-bowling left-arm seamer, has been off-colour on this tour, so Ireland will need Graham Hume and Matthew Humphreys to continue stepping up as they’ve done on this tour.Paul Stirling, Ireland’s captain, alongside Harry Tector and Curtis Campher, are their most explosive batters, and they’ll have to do the heavy lifting if Ireland are to win this series. Craig Young has been drafted in for the T20Is to make up for Adair’s absence.What to expectAll three T20Is will be played in Harare, the same venue as the ODIs. The pitches there were helpful for batters while the ball was new, but aided spin as the surface wore on. Like the ODIs, even the first two T20Is will be day games. The third one, though, will be played entirely under floodlights, thus starting at 6.30pm.When Zimbabwe played Afghanistan in Harare last December, the first-innings scores were 144, 153 and 127, and the chasing side won two out of three games. Ireland and Zimbabwe had also played T20Is in Harare twice in 2023 – first in January, and then again in December – with the chasing side winning all six games.

Pick between three Tests, with each of them having thrilling moments to offer

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2025Update: This poll has ended. The ENG-AUS 2019 Leeds Test moves into the final.

Dravid conquers Australia and Adelaide, 2003

It was Kolkata 2001 all over again, except the support act took over the lead role this time.Instead of 445, Australia scored 556 batting first here, with Ricky Ponting hitting 242 at a strike rate of 68.75. But unlike their 171 in Kolkata, India scored 523, keeping the match on an even keel, more or less, and it was the Rahul Dravid-VVS Laxman partnership for the fifth wicket, worth 303 runs, that made it possible. Here, Dravid scored 233 from No. 3, and Laxman 148 from No. 6.Like in Kolkata, Australia’s second innings was a letdown; all they got was 196, setting India 230 to win, and the star of the show, which gave India the upper hand, was Ajit Agarkar, whose 6 for 41 thwarted Australia as they were looking to put the game beyond India.Dravid had scored that many in the first innings alone, but this time he only had to make 72, hitting the winning runs when he cut Stuart MacGill through the off side. It remains one of India’s great victories in Australia, achieved at a time when they didn’t come as thick and fast as they do now.Kusal Perera’s one-man show in Durban, 2019
Sri Lanka were coming off a 2-0 pummeling in Australia, their captain had just been sacked, and an inexperienced team, led by Dimuth Karunaratne, landed in South Africa.Then, in what was one of the most dramatic Tests in history, Sri Lanka emerged victorious, chasing down 304 with one wicket to spare. They had lost their ninth wicket while still 78 runs off their target. Kusal Perera then scored 67 of the the remaining 78 runs in an incredible finale on the fourth afternoon, along with the No. 11 Vishwa Fernando, as they saw their team home. Towards the end, you knew where this was going, even if it was just a matter of one good delivery.At lunch on the day, Sri Lanka were 166 for 5, still 138 runs away, after which Keshav Maharaj ripped through the lower-middle order, leaving them at 226 for 9. That brought Fernando to the middle, and he was entirely focused on survival. He faced 22 balls before he got off the mark.As Fernando clung on at one end, Perera defended with unreal calm, and even took several blows to his body on his way to the target. Batting for 309 minutes, he farmed the strike, and picked his opportunities to attack and push the score forward. Along the way, he also made his career-best Test score of 153*.

The Stokes show at Headingley, 2019

A Test that might not have otherwise stayed for too long in the memory, it was the unbroken 76-run stand for the last wicket between Ben Stokes and Jack Leach that lifted it to where the greatest Test matches in history are clubbed together.And, of course, the fact that in those 76 runs, one batter scored 74 (in 45 balls) and the other 1 (in 17 balls)! Not to forget that the winners had scored 67 in their first innings and then hit 362 for 9 in a Test where 246 was the next-best total.Australia won the first Test, and the second was drawn, so England wanted to win this one at Headingley to stay in the Ashes contest. But after Australia were bowled out for 179 in the first innings, all England could put up was 67, with Joe Denly top-scoring with 12. Back to Australia, and this time they put up 246.Was the pitch getting better for batting? It didn’t seem so when England were 15 for 2 in their chase of 359, and then 159 for 4 with Joe Root gone, and then 286 for 9. Stokes, the No. 5, was on 61 at the time. Off 174 balls.But with last-man Leach for company, Stokes switched something on. He hit four fours and seven sixes from that point, keeping Leach away from the strike as much as possible, before finishing it off with a flay through the covers off Pat Cummins. Done and dusted!

He scored crucial runs down the order and took five wickets but the visitors are still staring at an innings defeat

Mohammad Isam27-Jun-2025Sri Lanka are on the cusp of a big win against Bangladesh in the second Test in Colombo. The visitors are still 96 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, and with just four wickets in the bag, a big loss is very much on the cards with two days left.While not a lot of positives have come out of the Bangladesh camp, particularly in this second Test, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is among their few success stories. Taijul battled on the second morning with the bat to give the Bangladesh total some respectability. The eventual 247 wasn’t substantial, but that they even got there was down to Taijul’s 33 off 60 balls.He then bowled seven spells of varying lengths to grab his 17th five-wicket haul, and fifth in an overseas Test, putting him on par with Shakib Al Hasan. Taijul’s 5 for 131 in Colombo was the umpteenth example of his doggedness and consistency. He also showed what a technically sound left-arm spinner he is. Taijul demands batters’ attention till the last moment they play or leave the ball. It adds a measure of thrill to his long spells.Related

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Kusal Mendis counterattack balloons SL's lead before Bangladesh collapse

In both Galle and Colombo, he kept his end of the bargain by bowling as tightly as possible. At times, wicketkeeper Litton Das would remind him to toss the ball a little higher or come a little straighter. And Taijul was mostly on the money.In Colombo, Taijul was a study of patience. He shared the new ball and bowled 23 overs on the trot. Nahid Rana and Ebadot Hossain went for plenty from the other end, so he had to be the captain’s banker. Taijul took one wicket in that spell. He bowled nine more overs on the second day, each time keeping his consistency intact. All this with an elbow injury he picked up while batting.When Najmul Hossain Shanto handed him the ball early on the third morning, it was to stop the bleeding. Sri Lanka had made an impressive start, so Bangladesh couldn’t afford to give runs freely. Taijul removed overnight centurion Pathum Nissanka early with the second new ball. He got one to skid rapidly, with the ball holding up ever so slightly for Sri Lanka’s centurion to chip to short extra cover. Taijul then beat captain Dhananjaya de Silva with his flight, building up to a delivery that had a hint of inward drift, beating his front-foot prod.Taijul was taken off after just four overs on the third morning, for Mehidy Hasan Miraz to bowl against the left-hand batter Kamindu Mendis. The match-up didn’t work and Mehidy had to be taken out of the attack soon. Taijul later came back to take two of the last three wickets to fall. It took his tally to 237, nine short of Shakib’s record 246 for Bangladesh. At the press conference after stumps, one couldn’t draw Taijul into that conversation, such is his introverted nature. He would rather talk about his seam position.Taijul Islam added some crucial runs during Bangladesh’s first innings•Associated Press”I did what comes naturally to me, from the start of my career,” he said. “There is always the odd variation for the spinner. Like sometimes you will check how the ball behaves in certain pitches or seam positions. I was trying that only. I prefer bowling in long spells. I am used to bowling long spells. I never think that I can’t bowl long spells. That’s how I bowl in the nets, too.”Taijul said that Nissanka’s wicket helped Bangladesh restrict Sri Lanka when they looked like running away with a mammoth total on the second day. “He [Nissanka] is in great shape. He has struck two big knocks. He was an important breakthrough for us. I think his wicket helped us bowl them out reasonably quickly.”Taijul lamented Bangladesh’s batting performance in the game, too, and he may yet have to put up another rearguard action on the fourth day, with the visitors struggling.”I am a bowler, but I bat as well,” he said. “Our batting wasn’t that good. In the first innings, the wicket was good. Each batter got out after getting set. Had there been two hundreds or two fifties, the situation might have been different.”Weather could have a say on the fourth day, but Sri Lanka only have to dismantle Bangladesh’s lower order on their way to the series win. Taijul will make way for the white-ball specialists and will get back to training in Dhaka, and maybe get to play some red-ball cricket when the 2025-26 season opens in October.He will eye Shakib’s record against Ireland, though it will likely pale in comparison to the attention that Mushfiqur Rahim will get as he is projected to complete 100 Tests in that series. Taijul probably wouldn’t mind the limelight away from him even then.