The ball is the fundamental unit of cricket, and with Warne, each one was a universe of possibilities

Osman Samiuddin10-Mar-2022If Shane Warne never took another wicket after Mike Gatting’s, he would still live on. Not in as many minds, and certainly not as rich a figure, but a ball like that has its own life. It does not go forgotten. The reason it endures and that it was so instantaneously acclaimed is for what it did in the milliseconds of its existence, the mad physics around it, but also because it was legspin as a platonic ideal.This is, of course, a truism. How else do all the great deliveries become great if not by doing something great? But that ball speaks to a fundamental often overlooked in cricket, which is that, broken down, the game is only the sum of the self-contained vignettes each of its individual deliveries represents. Only when stitched together do we then have a match, unto a series, unto a career. Each ball is a world by itself, of limitations and possibilities, and when you walked into the world of a Shane Warne delivery, you walked into a world with no limitations, where possibilities abounded. In this world the ball could, and did, behave in ways unlike any before Warne existed.Think of the circumstances leading to that ball. It was Warne’s first in a Test in England. Hardly anyone at Old Trafford that day would have seen him before. They might have heard of a new blond leggie who had helped win a Test in Colombo and run through West Indies, but few would’ve seen him. Then, without warning, he did .Related

There's a Warne-shaped hole in this Ashes

Legspinners look back at Shane Warne's ball of the century: 'That delivery will always be the pinnacle'

Facing Warne: the magic, the theatre, and the whole shebang

Shane Warne: the showman who could do hard graft

Shane Warne's greatest hits

And if he could do that, then what couldn’t he do every time he walked up to bowl?In the days since his passing, scouring YouTube for his best moments has been a comfort. Quite likely this has been a universal response. A connoisseur will argue that 90-second videos of only wickets falling is to miss the point of Warne. That experiencing Warne without what Gideon Haigh calls the pageant of Warne is to know of Warne but not to feel Warne.That theatre essential. That walk back to his mark, the occasional pause to fix the field or to let doubts fester in the batter, to make them think something is amiss when nothing is. Then the amble in, so utterly lacking in foreboding it was as if Jaws was coming to shore to the title music of . Then there were the traps, with ball but also with manner. The appeals, the gradual massaging of an umpire into his decision; the bluff of the oohs and aahs and smirks and sneers when he beat a bat, but especially when he found the middle of one. As much as Warne’s wickets, everything before and around them is the eulogy.But these videos make two points, the first a complementary one, that these grand and elaborate ploys and plots needed denouements to match and Warne delivered them with truly freakish quality and consistency. But second, that even as one-off deliveries that may never be bowled again, with no build-up or backstory or history, that only ever exist in bite-sized social media clips, these deliveries work. And how.Look back and weep: MSK Prasad is bemused at what has befallen him in Adelaide in 1999•Hamish Blair/Getty ImagesNot long after Gatting at Old Trafford, Warne would bowl Graham Gooch behind his legs at Edgbaston, coming in round the wicket. It is less iconic but notable because it became a leitmotif in the Warne canon: which other bowler, before or since, has bowled as many batters around their legs as Warne?In a way this dismissal is a legspinner’s ultimate flex. Sneaking in behind a batter is peak deception. And to do it, the ball must do what all leggies are supposed to make it do: spin leg to off and preferably big. The conceit is in treating the batter as if he is not there as an opponent: he’s there as a marker, an obstacle around which to find the best route to the stumps. The calibration needs to be so precise, it’s unfathomable: the angle, the spot where it must land, the degree of turn, all so that it misses pads, bat, and backside. In this instance the angles are even more outrageous because Warne, unusually, runs in from between the umpire and stumps.There’s an over to Craig McMillan that is priceless for how Warne sets his trap (Adam Gilchrist’s cackling provides an assist). But the wicket ball is an absolute WTF for the lengths to which McMillan has gone to prevent being bowled behind his legs. Ultimately, as he bat-pads to short leg, he appears to be playing a forward-defensive to a delivery bowled by the square-leg umpire.In no other sport is there an obvious equivalent to what is happening here. A fleeting kinship with football’s nutmeg? There’s greater consequence and a more acute geometry here, as when Warne famously nutmegged Basit Ali. Typical Warne that the tease – chatting with Ian Healy about whether to have pasta or Mexican for dinner (as if he wanted anything other than pizza) to stretch out the tension of the day’s last ball – is as sweet.Something of this mode, of the wrong-way-round-rightness, is elicited by the epic Roberto Carlos free kick against France in 1997. Carlos eschewed the obvious angle for his left foot by swerving the ball like an outswinger round the outside of the defensive wall, rather than curling it like an inswinger round the other side. That free kick was a one-off: Warne did it repeatedly.The best of the genre isn’t strictly of the genre. Poor MSK Prasad receives a Warne delivery from the wicket that doesn’t drift as much as get caught in a late and sudden patch of violent turbulence, pushing the ball down and to the leg side.A quandary. Prasad has taken leg-stump guard and instinct is telling him to pad this away. Training and tradition are telling him to get real, because balls delivered from there are not padded away. That’s not how cricket works. From flight, fight or freeze, Prasad chooses the last.Even as the ball then hits the stumps behind him and Healy is starting to celebrate, Prasad is unmoved, staring at the spot the ball landed on – around a sixth-leg-stump line. How did it land there, his mind is failing to process, and where has it gone, it is asking. And how did it get spun the ball. Somebody who had never seen cricket could watch a big legbreak from Warne and understand immediately it was an elite athletic feat, sexy and dangerous, compelling and superior, unique and evolutionary. A single Warne legbreak was the game’s gateway drug.As time passed that spectacle became rarer, though not extinct. The most vivid occasions were against left-handers, where, because Warne was at them from round the wicket, and that TV cameras mess up depth perception, some of those balls looked like they were breaking at right angles.Like with Andrew Strauss at Edgbaston, which nearly made it as the ‘s ball of the (21st) century. It would have done, probably, had Strauss not appeared as discombobulated as Prasad had been. Granted, Strauss did not freeze, but in displaying the worst footwork since Elaine Benes hit the dance floor, he tarred the delivery a smidge with his own cluelessness.Not that better positioning helped, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul once discovered at the SCG. He understood the ball’s intentions from the line, so preposterously far outside off that Chanderpaul would need a visa to play it. He knew this was going to spit back into him. Having figured out the length and leaned forward, he changed plans and nimbly shifted his weight on to his back foot. Until this moment – 71 off 67 balls – Chanderpaul’s plans against Warne had worked. Until ball 68, when Mike Tyson’s famous musing about plans came to mind: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit.” Or bowled by Shane Warne.This was a central truth about Warne. Not only did he always have a ball that punched through the opponent’s plans, he had one that punched through his own. As when he pulled off a near-exact replica of the Chanderpaul delivery in bowling Saeed Anwar in Hobart three years later.Like Chanderpaul, Anwar was set. Like Chanderpaul, Anwar knew as soon as the ball left Warne’s hand what it was going to do. Like Chanderpaul, he half stepped out but smartly leaned back, with aspirations to cut. Like Chanderpaul, those aspirations were swiftly turned to crud. Like Chanderpaul, he was bowled. Unlike Chanderpaul, this was the one time Anwar looked inelegant with bat in hand.Hobart heist: in 1999, Saeed Anwar was bowled by one that torpedoed in at a right angle almost, after pitching way outside off•Getty ImagesThere’s an even more cartoonish quality to this ball, an unreal defying of natural laws. For starters, it breaks the width of the Thames to hit leg stump. And ordinarily, when a ball lands on a pitch, it loses speed. This is science and we all signed up to science to understand how the world works. All except this ball. This ball springs off the pitch faster than it landed, so fast that it doesn’t hit leg stump, it knocks it clean out of the ground. A ball produced by a spinner, with the consequence of one produced by a fast bowler.What elevates this ball, though, is Richie Benaud. Prior to it, there’s a commentary preamble from Mark Taylor about the plans Warne might be working on against Anwar. Those plans are binned as Warne switches to round the wicket and bowls this ball. Only Benaud can process and articulate: “Whatever Warne was planning, he has suddenly produced a ball entirely different from the others he has bowled and it has ripped back.”Which is to say, whatever else you had been watching, or not, whatever Warne plan you might have intuited, however much you knew about the game, if you watched this one ball, then you saw everything you needed to and you didn’t need to know anything else.Except this last thing: the flipper. In later years when Warne stopped bowling it, he started relying on the bastardised slider. Not the legbreak that didn’t turn – let’s call that the bluffer – which did for poor Ian Bell at Lord’s and fooled even Benaud. The real slider got Andrew Flintoff later that same innings.Neither was a patch on the flipper, which seemed a hellish delivery to bowl, let alone bowl well. The flipper, Warne would explain, required the ball to be released from an actual snap of the fingers, which was difficult but totally apt because it was presaging magic. Unlike Warne’s big, showy legbreak, this was proper illusion. Batters saw that Warne had dragged it down, except he hadn’t. Batters saw a long hop, or one short enough to cut or pull, except it wasn’t. Batters saw it go straight and it did, except straight never felt so pretzelian.It would be cruel to pick any of Daryll Cullinan’s malfunctions; candy from kids Benaud said of one. It would also be impossible to pick just one. The one that got Richie Richardson, the world’s introduction to it? Cullinan one, two or three? Ian Bishop, ’96 World Cup, a place in the final on the line? Let’s go Alec Stewart, usually such an expert judge and executor of the cut, getting it so wrong at the Gabba. Not as short as he saw, not the legbreak he saw, not as slow as he saw.The flipper also didn’t care for science, such was its acceleration on landing. This question sounds wrong, but it isn’t: has a ball ever beaten batters for pace so comprehensively and so consistently as Warne’s flipper?Nothing does justice to the world of Shane Warne – to the world of a single Warne delivery – as watching these deliveries again the last week has made clear. Maybe they bring some succour. Maybe from them we see that even if Warne had lived long beyond last Friday, these deliveries could not be bowled again by anyone other than him. That even if he is now no longer of this world, we live on gratefully, eternally in his world. Rest in Peace, King.

Marcus Trescothick has described the current List A domestic structure as “not helping” England’s new era of white-ball players.In Barbados, a severely inexperienced England team fell to their third consecutive ODI series defeat since the 2023 World Cup, and a 13th loss in 20 one-dayers.With the series overlapping with England’s Test commitments, several first-choice players are missing with only Jordan Cox and Rehan Ahmed from the group that toured Pakistan also being in the Caribbean. Cox batted at No. 3 across the ODIs, despite only playing four List A matches before his selection, while the likes of Dan Mousley, 23, hadn’t played a 50-over game in over three years before his debut.When asked if the lack of domestic 50-over cricket was hindering England’s young players, Trescothick said: “Well, it’s not helping because you’re not getting the volume of games that players would like to get and really build an understanding of the game.”But you kind of know why that is and that is the structure we’re given to play, and we’ll make a fist of it and make it work as much as we can.”Currently, England’s One-Day Cup directly overlaps with the Hundred, meaning the top white-ball players in the country do not have any domestic List A cricket available for them to compete in.Related

• Marcus Trescothick defends quality of English white-ball cricket after crushing defeat

• England aren't good at ODI cricket, and they can't help it

• How many new faces are too many for England?

• Alzarri Joseph suspended for two matches following 'unacceptable' behaviour

• Keacy Carty, Brandon King hundreds seal series for West Indies

“I’m not going to speak against any other competition,” Trescothick said, referencing the One-Day Cup’s clash with the Hundred. “But of course we’d want more 50-over cricket somehow. How do we do that? That’s not up to me to try and work out.”Earlier this week, Phil Salt, who made 74 in the final ODI, pushed the case for England’s domestic structure to allow for more one-day opportunities.”I don’t think there’s many players in this team that you could go through and go ‘oh they’re doing a great job right now’,” Salt said. “That’s the reality of it because we’ve not played a lot of 50-over cricket. I’d love something like a domestic 50-over competition. I’d love the opportunity to play in that so you can get the rhythm and it’s not always stop-start.”I don’t think there’s many people that can just walk in and do it after not playing for a while. I know that I’ve not had the most successful time in 50-over cricket and not really been doing myself justice, but the more opportunities I get to play it, the better I will be at it. That’s the bottom line.”It is unclear what shape added List A opportunities could look like for England players, with the only realistic option being a dramatic restructuring of the English domestic calendar.”It’s really challenging,” Trescothick said. “We know how important Test cricket is in England and obviously having the domestic T20 competition and the Hundred, that’s vitally important to our game.”How do we get that balance right? That’s for the powers above to look at, but it’s not going to be easy.”There’s not a massive amount of experience in this current team right now. Of course there’s not. But part of the reason for bringing that youth across was to get the experience into them. It’s not always going to be easy to get games into them.”There’s not a massive amount to play back at home, and most of the white-ball cricket played now around the world is T20. So that is a challenge, and we’re aware of that.”Trescothick also provided an update on Jofra Archer, with the fast bowler successfully completing the series without any injury issues, meaning he has played in seven of England’s last eight ODI matches.The Bajan-born bowler only took one wicket across the series, but Trescothick was pleased with his efforts as England look to build Archer back to potentially playing Test cricket with the visit of India in the summer, before an away Ashes series next year.”He’s gone really well,” Trescothick said. “We’re really pleased with the progression he’s making. He can probably move it on to the next step, whatever that is. I think getting through these three games is important.”

Despite Leeds United having enjoyed a superb 2024/25 campaign in the Championship, this summer is a vital one for their future, desperately needing to get their business spot on.

Promotion to the Premier League brings in huge money for the football club, but there is a huge gap between the two divisions, with additions needed to bridge the gap this window.

Daniel Farke will need signings in key areas of the pitch to allow him to have the best possible chance of securing survival from the Premier League for the first time in his career.

The German has attempted to achieve such a feat with Norwich City in the past, but has so far been unable to do so, with this season crucial for his tenure at Elland Road.

With the new season already less than two months away, work has already begun behind the scenes in Yorkshire to help the manager in his quest throughout 2025/26.

The latest on Leeds’ hunt for new additions this summer

Over recent days, a new striker has been on the agenda for Farke, as he looks to add another dimension to his already potent attack, which helped claim promotion to the Premier League.

The likes of Jamie Vardy, Rodrigo Muniz and Callum Wilson have all been touted with a switch to Elland Road, but no deals have yet been completed this summer.

However, a new name has entered the mix in recent days, with Wolves striker Fabio Silva the latest player on their shortlist, according to ABC Sevilla via Birmingham World.

It’s reported that the Whites have entered talks with fellow Premier League outfit Wolves over a deal for the 22-year-old talisman, who only has one year left on his contract.

His current situation at Molineux remains unclear, but he’s demonstrated his quality over recent times, scoring 10 times in LaLiga this season whilst spending the year on loan at Las Palmas.

Why Leeds’ latest target could be their own Sesko

Beto is another striker who’s been hugely linked with a summer move to join Leeds, with the Everton talisman yet to reach his full potential at his current side, Everton.

The 27-year-old joined the Toffees in a £30m deal back in the summer of 2023, but has been unable to take the starting role on a consistent basis, often having to settle for time on the bench.

He’s managed to score eight times in the Premier League this season, subsequently being outscored by fellow target Silva, with the Whites needing to shift their focus to the Portuguese star.

The 22-year-old has been ranked as a similar player to RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko by FBref, with the Slovenian international linked with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United this summer.

He’s also valued at around £60m this summer, highlighting the impressive nature of Silva’s play if he’s been compared to such an impressive big-money talent.

When comparing the pair’s respective figures from the 2024/25 campaign, Silva has managed to match or better Sesko in various key areas, highlighting how much of a crucial addition he would be to Farke’s side.

Silva, who’s been labelled “generational” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, may have scored fewer goals, but has achieved a better goal per shot on target rate – highlighting the clinical threat he poses in front of goal.

The Wolves loanee has also registered more shot-creating actions and won more aerial battles, offering Farke’s side an all-round option within attacking areas.

His dominance doesn’t stop there, completing more passes and carries into the opposition box, handing other players around him the opportunity to impress in Yorkshire.

Whilst it’s unclear how much a deal for the Portuguese sensation would set the club back this summer, his talents are there for all to see – potentially being a bargain if he can reach Sesko’s levels.

Given the fact he’s outscored Beto, the hierarchy must look to prioritise a move for the Wolves star, with the youngster having the opportunity to improve further given his tender age.

Better than Beto: Leeds set to make bid for "one of the best CFs in the PL"

Leeds United could finally be about to land a talisman to catapult them to Premier League survival.

By
Ethan Lamb

Jun 11, 2025

Legspinner suffered muscle strain during England’s Ashes warm-up fixture at Lilac Hill

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2025Rehan Ahmed has been ruled out of any further participation on the England Lions tour of Australia after suffering a right lower leg strain during the Ashes warm-up match against England in Perth.Legspinner Rehan batted at No. 5 for the Lions, making 16 off 41 balls on day one before becoming one of six wickets for England captain, Ben Stokes. He played no part with the ball, or in the Lions’ second innings, with the ECB announcing afterwards that he would return home to begin his recovery.Related

• Rehan, Cox and Fisher in England Lions squad for Australia

• Jhye Richardson's return steps up with Cricket Australia XI outing

• Anderson says 'weak' Australia are still Ashes favourites

Rehan had signed up to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the 2025-26 BBL, but the BBC reported that the injury was not expected to impact his involvement in the competition, which starts in a month’s time.England Lions are scheduled to play another four-day match at Lilac Hill, against a Cricket Australia XI, next week, before a one-off unofficial Test against Australia A in December. The Lions are also expected to be involved in a pink-ball tour game between England and the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra between the first and second Ashes Tests.It had been speculated that Rehan, who missed out on selection as the second spinner in the main Ashes squad to Will Jacks, could stay on with England after the Lions programme concluded.

أجريت قرعة دور ربع نهائي بطولة كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية، كاراباو، موسم 2025-2026، وشهدت مواجهات قوية وأخرى متوازنة.

وانطلقت منافسات دور الـ16 من بطولة كأس كاراباو، أمس الثلاثاء، وشهدت ثلاث مباريات، بين جريمسبي وبرينتفورد، وايكومب وفولهام، ريكسهام وكارديف.

واستأنفت يوم الأربعاء، مباريات دور الـ16، والتي شهدت مواجهة بين ليفربول وكريستال بالاس، تشيلسي وولفرهامبتون، مانشستر سيتي وسوانزي سيتي، آرسنال وبرايتون، بالإضافة إلى توتنهام ونيوكاسل يونايتد.

وودع ليفربول المسابقة بعد هزيمته بثلاثية نظيفة أمام كريستال بالاس، وتغلب مانشستر سيتي على سوانزي بثلاثية لهدف، وحقق آرسنال فوزًا أمام برايتون بهدفين دون رد، وتشيلسي تخطى ولفرهامبتون بنتيجة 4-3، وفاز نيوكاسل على توتنهام بهدفين دون رد.

وتقام مباريات ربع نهائي كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية، كاراباو، يوم 15 ديسمبر المقبل، وسيعلن لاحقًا عن مواعيد المباريات بشكل محدد. الأندية المتأهلة لربع نهائي كأس كاراباو

برينتفورد.

فولهام.

كارديف.

تشيلسي.

آرسنال.

كريستال بالاس.

مانشستر سيتي.

نيوكاسل. نتائج قرعة ربع نهائي كأس كاراباو

آرسنال ضد كريستال بالاس.

مانشستر سيتي ضد برينتفورد.

نيوكاسل ضد فولهام.

تشيلسي ضد كارديف سيتي.

Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko described the 2024-25 season as the 'worst season' of his career, as he claimed that Mikel Arteta stopped believing in him. The Ukrainian defender started in only five Premier League matches throughout the campaign, including the opener against Wolves, despite limited injury issues.

Zinchenko described last season as his worst everPointed fingers at Arsenal boss ArtetaFulham were eyeing a move for ZinchenkoFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Zinchenko claimed that it was hard for him to digest that he was a regular member of Arteta's starting line-ups only a few seasons ago, but things drastically changed in the 2024-25 season. The defender claimed that the head coach no longer believed in him as he got very little chance to prove himself. 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT ZINCHENKO SAID

quoted some excerpts from the Gunners star's new autobiography, 'Believe', which read: "Unlike the year before, injuries were not to blame. A small problem with my calf kept me out of action in the month of September. A knock here and there. But I was otherwise fit for most of the campaign. I was basically out of the starting XI altogether, bar a few isolated matches. In pure personal terms, it was easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional. 

"A player who doesn’t play is nothing. It’s one thing when your body lets you down. That can happen. But going from one of the established play­ers of the side to an unused sub is much harder to deal with. The sense of rejection you feel if your manager no longer believes in you can take the stuffing out of you, even if you’re the most resilient guy on the planet. Sitting on the bench in the Premier League for a very generous wage packet is obviously still a privilege, the kind of problem that billions of people on this planet would swap their much tougher lives for in a heartbeat. Trust me, as a Ukrainian, I’m aware of that. Every single minute. But every footballer started playing because they love to play the game. A big part of your life is missing without it. Imagine this little boy who’s dedicated his entire existence to becoming good at one particular thing and then finds at 28 that he’s essentially no longer needed, that there are others who can do the job for him. It’s not a nice feeling."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

reported last month that Fulham had shown interest in signing Zinchenko this summer. Arsenal were open to selling him, with a reported £15 million ($19.8m) price tag placed on the Ukrainian, however, the Cottagers are yet to come up with a formal bid.

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

Arteta's men are all set to play their first match of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign on Sunday as they travel to Old Traffod to face Manchester United.

The Pakistan left-armer talks about his time at the T20 Blast, and his batting ambitions

Interview by Matt Roller07-Oct-2020Pakistan left-arm spinner Imad Wasim played nine Vitality T20 Blast matches for champions Nottinghamshire this season, taking eight wickets at an economy of 7.21. In this interview, he talks about becoming a new-ball bowler, developing a new delivery, and wanting to be recognised as an allrounder.You arrived in England in June ahead of the Test series and won’t go home until October. How have the last few months been for you?
It’s been great. I worked really hard during the Covid lockdown, so it feels like it’s paying off. I have family with me for this part of the trip, . It was tough for three months not having my family around, but it is what it is for everyone, so no complaints. I’m going back home next week to play domestic cricket – I’m missing a couple of games of the National T20 Cup but then will join my team [Northern], so I’m looking forward to playing that. And then the PSL knockouts – it’s going to be a really tough four or five months, but I’m excited to be back in Pakistan.You’ve had a strong season for Nottinghamshire, with Dan Christian using you as a new-ball bowler in the powerplay. Have you enjoyed it?
It’s been a really good season, my second year with Nottinghamshire. Dan is a really good captain. He’s been playing for a long time and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s used me in different conditions and at different times, depending on the situation and the opposition, but it’s been spot on.You have become one of the world’s most experienced T20 spinners over the last five years. How did that role come about?
When I was playing domestic cricket, sometimes I would bowl an over in the powerplay – the fourth or the fifth. But when I became captain of my domestic team, it came to my mind that I should bowl the first over as well. And in first-class cricket, I would sometimes take the second new ball. It started like that and I was getting wickets regularly, so I thought: why shouldn’t I do that with the white ball as well? I started doing it in white-ball cricket and it paid off. In international cricket they gave me the new ball because I’d had a great Pakistan A tour bowling with the new ball [in 2015 against Sri Lanka]. And from there, you become a new-ball specialist just like that.

“I am an allrounder. I’m ranked No. 3 in the world [in ODIs]. I don’t want to be considered a bowler. I just want to become a allrounder”

What are the keys to successfully bowling spin in the powerplay?
With the new ball, you can’t defend. You just have to attack. You try to take wickets early on to put the opposition on the back foot straightaway. If you try to defend, they’ll get away in the powerplay – if not against you then against the other bowlers. So my role is just to go out and attack in the first couple of overs I bowl and to pick up wickets. I don’t worry too much about the runs. The next two overs, you’re looking for defence as well, depending on the situation. But with the new ball, I just try to hit the stumps and leave the rest to the batsmen. If they play a good shot, they play a good shot, but for me, it’s a “you miss, I hit” kind of thing.Even when you don’t take wickets, your economy rate is generally very good. Does that help you create pressure at the other end?
Definitely. Partnerships are the most important thing in cricket – batting or bowling. When you’re out there, your partner has to understand your game as well. Wherever I go, most teams think I’m an aggressive option, so the other bowler might think differently, which is a very good thing. I don’t think there are many aggressive spinners in the powerplay. After the powerplay, yes, there are a lot of aggressive spinners, but in the powerplay, there aren’t a lot around the world, so I’m really happy that teams think I am one of them.Do you think batsmen have started to attack you less, knowing your success in that role, and are instead starting to play you out?
Not really. You make your game plan against any bowler, of course, but the number one thing you should do as a bowler is focus on your strength. Don’t worry about what the opposition will do too much. Just stick to your strength and see how it goes from there. Obviously there will be times when you get smacked, but if you stick to your strength, you’ll be successful 60 or 70 times out of 100, which is a very good ratio in international cricket. My advice: don’t do anything different if something is working for you. For me, that is to take wickets and be aggressive.ESPNcricinfo LtdInside the powerplay, do you think lines and lengths are more important than actually trying to spin the ball?
With the new ball, I try to take the pace off, but don’t try to spin the ball. It’s really hard with the new ball, especially with only two fielders out. I get my basics right. After six overs, I’ll start to spin the ball – and I’m developing a new ball, which hopefully you’ll see next time I play international cricket if I keep working hard on it. I want to learn new balls that make me a different kind of a bowler outside the powerplay.There is more analysis available than ever in T20 cricket in particular. Some players spend hours developing specific plans based on an opponent’s strengths. Are you one of them?
I really don’t care about what’s happening outside of me. Because I’ve played a lot of international cricket, I know what opening batsmen’s strengths and weaknesses are, but I don’t think about that much. I just go out there and bowl. I have my processes, my repetitions, and I don’t worry about the batsmen. If they hit me, they hit me, but I want them to hit me with a good shot rather than me giving them a bad ball. You have to respect good shots, which do happen, but I just try to do one thing with the new ball: hit the stumps.When you were growing up, you would have watched Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis opening the bowling for Pakistan. Did you ever think that would be something you would do?
Never. I never expected it, or even thought about that in my life. Even in franchise cricket – I never expected it. God has given me this. It’s not something spinners usually do.You were stuck down at No. 8 or No. 9 for most of the T20 Blast with Nottinghamshire, and your record with the bat is much better in 50-over cricket than in T20.
I don’t think I’ve got the opportunities I want. I got them in the World Cup. In one-day cricket I’ve had the opportunities and my performances have been not bad. I’m really happy in one-day cricket with where I am, but I want to express myself more. I have more to give my country with the bat. There have been glimpses in world cricket of me doing good things as an allrounder, but in T20, I haven’t got the opportunities like that anywhere in the world. I’m really working hard on my batting. Someday I could win a big game with my batting and then people will start thinking about me as an allrounder in T20 as well as one-day cricket. I’m really hungry to score runs for my country and for franchise teams.So you consider yourself Imad Wasim, Pakistan allrounder, not Imad Wasim, Pakistan bowler?
No, no, no! I am an allrounder. I’m ranked No. 3 in the world [in ODIs]. I don’t want to be considered a bowler. I just want to become a allrounder. I’m working hard and the rest is up to God. Whenever God decides to give me fame as a batsman, just like in bowling, it will happen, .

Questions around his fitness, his bowling, his captaincy, his new No. 4 spot, have all been answered, and how!

Karthik Krishnaswamy30-May-20222:59

Manjrekar on Titans’ success: ‘A lesson that you don’t win the IPL at the auction’

It might feel like a long time ago, but try and cast your mind back to the start of IPL 2022, and to the general sentiment around Hardik Pandya.You’ll recall the question marks over his fitness – specifically his ability to contribute with the ball – which had led to a double demotion in the BCCI’s contracts list, and to his non-selection for India’s last six ODIs and last nine T20Is.He had been appointed captain of a new IPL franchise, Gujarat Titans, and it was still not known what role he would play for them. In his IPL career until then, he had performed a highly specific function in an assembly line of superstars; how would he respond to a broader and fuzzier role in a weaker top seven?Related

How Gujarat Titans maximised their strengths and minimised their weaknesses

IPL 2022: Buttler, Livingstone, Mohsin in Hardik-led ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament

'I wanted to show what I have worked hard for, and today was the day' – Hardik Pandya

'The stuff dreams are made of'

All-round Hardik Pandya leads debutants Gujarat Titans to dream title

He hadn’t delivered a single ball over his last two seasons at Mumbai Indians; would he be able to bowl at all for Titans? If not, would they be able to live with playing an extra bowler and compromising their already iffy batting? And oh, Hardik had never captained a team at senior level; how would he lead this group of players who had never played with each other before?So many questions.It was remarkable, therefore, that nothing Hardik did on Sunday in Ahmedabad, in front of a crowd of 104,859 – possibly the largest ever to watch a game of cricket – came as a surprise, even though he turned in one of the most influential all-round displays in an IPL final.His biggest impact was with the ball, but even as he dismissed Rajasthan Royals’ three most dangerous batters and finished with a better economy rate than Rashid Khan’s – who went for just 18 in his four overs – he did nothing you hadn’t seen before.Ahmedabad is Titans’ home venue, but not quite Hardik’s. He plays for Baroda, which is one of three regional teams from the state of Gujarat in Indian domestic cricket. His bowling was entirely at home, though, on the pitch that was served up for the final. It offered steep bounce while being two-paced, and it perfectly suited his into-the-pitch mix of quick short balls and slower cutters.”[At the] right time, I wanted to show what I have worked hard for, and today was the day, from my bowling point of view, I saved the best for the best [stage],” Hardik said during the post-match presentation. “I think [that] the second ball of my spell that I bowled, after getting Sanju [Samson] out, I saw that if you hit the wicket hard and if you bowl on the seam, something is going to happen.”So, for me it was all about sticking to the right lengths and asking the batters to play a good shot rather than me trying something and giving a boundary.”ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo’s data illustrates Hardik’s precise and unwavering execution of this plan. Of the 24 balls he bowled, he pitched 17 either short or short of a length, six on a good length, and only one on a full length.Sometimes you just need to ask batters the same questions, over and over.With Royals 60 for 1 and going at less than eight an over, Samson went for a low-percentage option, aiming to flat-bat a short-of-good-length ball over mid-off. The ball kicked up awkwardly, and Samson skewed it to backward point.Then, in Hardik’s third over, Jos Buttler – whose slow start could have contributed to the risk Samson took – tried to open his bat face and guide the ball to third man. A bit of extra bounce, possibly, and a bit of nibble off the seam – neither in any way pronounced – caused him to edge behind.By then, Hardik had tormented Devdutt Padikkal as well, bowling seven balls to the left-hand batter and conceding only a leg bye. That sequence included a pair of offcutters that gripped and beat the outside edge, and a 143kph bouncer that left Padikkal late on a hook. Into the pitch with pace variations, and let the ball do its thing.When Rashid dismissed Padikkal in the 12th over, it felt like a little gift from the T20 gods. The pressure Rashid creates often brings other bowlers wickets, even on days when he himself goes wicketless; he was now a beneficiary of the same sort of favour from Hardik.Royals were sinking, fast, but they still had hope as long as Shimron Hetmyer was in the middle. Starting the 15th over having given away only seven runs in his first three, Hardik suffered his only dose of punishment on the day. First, Hetmyer made room and punched a length ball over mid-off for four. One ball later, Hardik bowled his one full ball of the evening, and Hetmyer opened his bat face to steer it between wicketkeeper and short third man.The next ball was Hardik’s last of the day, and it was back to basics: into the pitch, while angling the ball across the left-hand batter. There was a bit of wobble to the release, even if it wasn’t really a slower ball, and it gripped and stopped on Hetmyer. Looking to work the ball into the leg side and retain the strike, he only managed to pop a leading edge back to the bowler.3:11

Is this the best we’ve seen of Hardik the bowler?

Samson, Buttler, Hetmyer. All consumed by Hardik’s relentless execution of a simple plan suited to his natural style. With his four overs done, Royals were 94 for 5 after 15, with precious little left in their batting reserves for any chance of a fightback.They could, and did, fight back with the ball, though, and Titans, chasing 131, were 23 for 2 when Hardik walked in. He had performed a steadying role at No. 4 all through the season; all that remained was to do it one last time.In seven seasons for Mumbai in the IPL, Hardik had scored his runs at a strike rate of 153.91. He had hit a six every 9.8 balls, and had hit more sixes (98) than fours (97).After his innings on Sunday, this was his batting record for Titans: 487 runs at an average of 44.27 and a strike rate of 131.26. He had hit 12 sixes – one every 30.9 balls – and 49 fours.If you have watched Hardik bat over the years, you wouldn’t be surprised by his success in his new role. A former Test cricketer, Kiran More, coached him in his formative years, and his technique reflects it, with his drives in the V exuding a textbook purity. And when he has had a chance to settle into an innings in the longer formats, he has demonstrated a feel for constructing long innings. Before this season, he hadn’t had too many opportunities to begin a T20 innings with more than ten overs remaining, but at Titans, he has adopted that role out of necessity and relished it.”Any given day I’d take the trophy than me batting at [a strike rate of] 160 or 170,” he said at the presentation. “Team is the most important, whichever team I play for. I have always been that kind of individual. Outside noise does not bother me, and if I have to sacrifice and have a worse season and my team still wins, I’ll take that.”I’ve always fancied myself as a batter. Batting comes first to me, it’s always going to be close to my heart, so, obviously when we got the auction done, it was clear that I had to bat up the order to guide [the team through the middle overs]. I have been in this kind of situation before, so for my team, I thought that it’s the best position for me to bat, so that all the other batsmen can come and express themselves.”Hardik Pandya returned 3 for 17, this, the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer, one of the three strikes•PTI Like his bowling, Hardik’s batting on Sunday was defined by a rigorous adherence to a pared-down game plan. Titans’ asking rate was never going to be an issue, so he set out to soak up pressure and wait for the Royals bowlers to blink first and land in his arc.He had moved to 4 off 11 balls, for instance, when Prasidh Krishna pitched one right up, and Hardik put it away with a devastatingly clean strike, a full extension of the arms to launch the ball over mid-off while leaning back to create elevation. When Titans’ equation had come down to 63 off 51 balls, he tried to create room against R Ashwin, who followed him with a flat, full ball at his feet. Hardik couldn’t free his arms, but no matter, a whip of the wrists was enough to send the ball soaring over the midwicket boundary.These shots were of the kind that make you wonder whether Hardik’s new role, as well as it suits his team’s needs, is the best showcase for his T20 skills.In an ideal world, every team probably would look to send Hardik in at around the 14th over or so, giving him an over or two to get his eye in before laying waste to the bowling. When he next plays T20Is for India, he’ll probably get to play that sort of role, batting at No. 6 or 7.But in showing he can bat in another way, if needed, and by showing it over an entire season, Hardik has shown just how high his ceiling can be, across formats. ODI No. 4? Why not, if the situation calls for it? Test-match allrounder? Surely, if he can handle the workload?And if all this feels like we’re getting ahead of ourselves, that’s almost the point, isn’t it? Focusing on the process and controlling the controllables can be left to the cricketers. The rest of us, peering in from outside, are free to dream. We’re almost obliged to, after a season like Hardik’s, and a final like his.

The heat of the UAE has mirrored the intensity of the teams, who all have one eye on Australia in October-November

Shashank Kishore26-Aug-2022″If anyone asks how you are, the coach suggested we say, ‘well done’, because the weather here is like that.”Speaking ahead of the start of the Asia Cup, Bhanuka Rajapaksa made an entire room laugh by likening the experience of Dubai’s oppressive heat to that of meat on a grill. Daytime temperatures have touched 46 degrees Celsius, leaving teams needing to find a balance between going full-tilt and conserving energy.India have trained in the late evening, Sri Lanka have preferred the afternoon heat to acclimatise better, and Bangladesh have gone on into the middle of the night, while Pakistan and Afghanistan have mixed and matched. Hong Kong have already played a week’s cricket in the qualifiers in similar conditions across the border in Oman.Related

The lovey-dovey rivalry between India and Pakistan

India tactically more switched on, while Pakistan look too anchor-heavy

Virat Kohli returns to India's T20I squad for the Asia Cup; Jasprit Bumrah injured

All you need to know about the 2022 Asia Cup

Hasnain replaces Shaheen in Pakistan's T20 squad for Asia Cup

In the end, nothing can really prepare you for the gust of hot air hitting your face while running in against the wind, as bowlers have found out frequently at training in the open setting of the ICC Academy grounds.India have given their fast bowlers shorter and sharper stints, a luxury Sri Lanka haven’t had since none of their frontline fast bowlers have played T20Is; they have had little choice but to go all-out. Pakistan have held back, seemingly mindful of the injuries that have hit their camp, choosing to instead use local net bowlers to test their batters.The local liaison team have been at their busiest, arranging for kilograms of ice to be made available, sometimes at short notice, to help players recover post-training. The change rooms offer the cushiest seats and the best air conditioning, but it’s the ice bath that the players have tended to make a beeline for.The teams have also been able to mingle among themselves, exchanging banter and laughs – a constant feature over the past three days. Babar Azam and Virat Kohli have exchanged pleasantries, KL Rahul and Shaheen Afridi have enquired about each other’s injuries, and Rajapaksa has caught up with his Punjab Kings team-mate Arshdeep Singh.Bangladesh and Afghanistan are slotted alongside Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup’s Group of Death•AFP/Getty ImagesBut the fun and games have all been restricted to the sidelines. In the middle, the intensity has been cranked up several notches. This is the last chance for some of these teams to test their big-match temperament under pressure before the World Cup in Australia in October-November.India are missing their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who is recovering from injury. This gives Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan an opportunity to vie for spots in the World Cup party. Pakistan will have to make do without Afridi, while Sri Lanka will want each of their uncapped fast bowlers to gain some exposure.Bangladesh’s challenge under a new coach and a returning Shakib Al Hasan, who takes over the captaincy, will be to return to winning ways in their least favourite format – they’ve lost 23 of their 35 T20Is since the start of 2021, and they’re coming off a series loss in Zimbabwe.While India and Pakistan may seemingly have it easy in Group A, with Hong Kong as the third team, they will be wary of taking them lightly. At the previous edition in 2018, Hong Kong came genuinely close to beating India. In Group B, one slip-up could be the difference between having potentially four more games to play and an early flight home for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.In many ways, the Asia Cup is a microcosm of the elite cricket world. The tournament changes its identity frequently, to suit the needs of the participating teams. It does much for the “smaller” nations of the Asian bloc – in terms of finances – without actually giving them adequate exposure.For example: between the previous edition in 2018 and this one, in 2022, Hong Kong have played a grand sum of zero matches against the Asian Full Members. Hong Kong, mind you, are among the ‘elite’ Associates. Oman, Kuwait, Singapore and even Nepal, who’ve had to grapple with multiple issues including an an ICC suspension, have it much worse. But this, perhaps, is a debate for another day.Will he quieten the debate around his form, or will he raise its volume?•Getty ImagesThe first four days on tour for all the teams have set the scene nicely. Sri Lanka open against Afghanistan on Saturday, and the hubbub will increase noticeably when India and Pakistan square off on Sunday. It could be the prelude to potentially two more meetings. At least the broadcasters and fans will hope so.The A-listers in Kohli and Babar have set tongues wagging without even facing a ball. They’re at opposite ends of the form spectrum, but anything they do – and don’t do – is amplified.For all the criticism over the lack of opportunities it provides the smaller teams, the Asia Cup has established itself as a tournament that gives viewers plenty. Games come thick and fast – perhaps not so ideal in searing August heat in the UAE – and high-octane content is guaranteed.Kohli could put an end to talk of bad form, or raise the volume of the debates. Shakib could make a statement on the field without worrying about who he shouldn’t be endorsing. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman could boot Sri Lanka out of their own party – technically they’re still hosts, remember.The fringe players are all potentially one big performance away from putting themselves on the radar for World Cup selection. Imagine if Mohammad Hasnain, Afridi’s replacement, dismisses Rohit Sharma. Or if Arshdeep nails five yorkers in the final over to defend 10 runs. Or Rahmanullah Gurbaz brings his T10 magic to the 20-overs format.The cricket promises to be high-quality. Heat or no heat, the interest surrounding the competition has picked up significantly. Without bio-bubbles restricting their movements, the teams have mingled freely with teeming fans who’ve gathered outside their training venues. All of it feels so familiar, yet so different. The next two weeks could just be a teaser for the blockbuster that is to come two months down the line.

A team ‘never short of character’ is what India captain Ajinkya Rahane called his side after a thrilling draw at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2021

Bruised. Broken. But never short of character. Really happy with how the boys fought till the end. Lots to learn and improve as we look forward to Brisbane now. pic.twitter.com/4VBZGCvbnp

— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) January 11, 2021