They have been loyal even during the side’s more abject failures. And their faith is being tested some more

Madiha Khan26-Mar-2014Choice of game
Bangladesh v West Indies, the first game of the host team, my team, in the World Twenty 20 Super 10s. It is a fact that Bangladesh are going through a rough patch, possibly one of the worst patches of their cricketing history so far. The have disappointed before, they might disappoint again. But at the end of the day, Bangladesh is my country. How can I not put my belief in them?Key performer
Before the match, a thunderstorm was expected, as was a Gayle Storm. Neither arrived. Chris Gayle looked happy playing dot balls and rotating the strike, while his opening partner took charge of the run rate. Dwayne Smith scored four successive boundaries in one of Sohag Gazi’s overs, two successive fours in another. He seemed to enjoy the spin bowling as he took 11 off Sabbir Rahman’s over. Mahmudullah finally managed to take his wicket, but not before he too was hit for a six and a four. Smith finished with 72 off 43 balls.It is also worth mentioning that even though Chris Gayle ended up scoring a run-a-ball 48 runs, when Smith was dismissed he had only scored 19 runs off 28 deliveries. From then on he went on to hit two more sixes and three fours to maintain the run rate above eight.One thing you’d have changed
Multiple catches were dropped, boundaries were not saved, wickets were thrown away. I also thought the right bowling changes were not made in the first innings; Shakib could have been brought on earlier to try to break the partnership; Ziaur Rahman, who took one wicket and produced two other chances in the single over he bowled, was only brought on at the back end of the innings.Wow moment
Everything except for a stunner of a catch that Tamim Iqbal took went wrong for Bangladesh. He took a one-handed catch, flying to his right to send back Dwayne Bravo for a duck. Not that it made much of a difference in the context of the game, but his effort was excellent.Shot of the day
A flat six that Smith hit off Al-Amin Hossain to deep square leg.Crowd meter
As you’d expect for a World T20 game in a cricket-crazy nation, the stands were packed. The supporters manage to put the past in the past and find it worth their while to come back their team every single time. Or perhaps it is just the pleasure of watching a World T20 game live? Maybe the spectators arrive in numbers simply to dance in the aisles, spend time with friends and sing the national anthem altogether.Overall
The entire experience of this match was disappointing and frustrating. From the word go things were going wrong for Bangladesh. Mashrafe Mortaza started the match with five wides. That negativity lasted for the entire duration of the match for Bangladesh. By the end of it, I had given up hope. From the way they have been performing I don’t see Bangladesh winning any match in the near future. Unless, by some miracle all their issues are addressed and the team as we knew it makes a comeback.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the final Group A match between Bangladesh and Hong Kong

Alan Gardner in Chittagong20-Mar-2014The openerAfter Bangladesh’s convincing start to the tournament, Chittagong was ready to celebrate their serene passage into the next stage. The mood quickly became subdued when Tanwir Afzal swung his second ball back in to flatten Tamim Iqbal’s off stump. When the sixth delivery of his opening over snaked into Sabbir Rahman’s front pad as he played down the wrong line, Bangladesh were 3 for 2 and brows were beginning to furrow.The desperate crawlHaving lost those early wickets, Bangladesh went back into Associate-disciplining overdrive. Anamul Haque and Shakib Al Hasan thrashed 48 off 5.5 overs, with the former triggering a tsunami of cheering with three consecutive fours off the bowling of Nadeem Ahmed. The loudest noise came from the third of those, as Anamul slapped a lofted drive towards deep extra cover, where Babar Hayat let the ball slip through him. As he turned, groped and scrambled after the ball that then trickled on to the rope, the crowd howled in delight.The replay IWhen Mahmudullah played around a delivery from left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed and the bails ended up on the floor, cause and effect seemed pretty straightforward. While Nadeem pointed at the evidence, Mahmudullah hopefully hung around, suggesting that wicketkeeper Jamie Atkinson had maybe dislodged the bails with his gloves. It only took a quick second look from the third umpire to confirm that Mahmudullah had been bowled.The replay IIBangladesh were 101 for 6 with more than six overs left to bat when Farhad Reza extravagantly threw the bat at a wide delivery from Nizakat Khan to be caught behind off a thin edge. The next man, Abdur Razzak, took guard, watched Nizakat toss it up outside off and flailed at it hard, nicking off in identical fashion. The only difference was that Razzak was left-handed.The near missHong Kong’s opener Irfan Ahmed had established the rather ignominious record of being dismissed by each of his first two deliveries in T20 internationals. He nearly made it an unwanted hat-trick when, after Al-Amin Hossain had started with a leg-side wide, Irfan pulled the ball back towards the bowler. It was not the firmest of connections but Al-Amin could not stop the chance squirming out of his grasp above his head and Irfan has his first runs at the World T20.The tight second runAs Hong Kong battled to avoid being wiped out, Munir Dar, the 40-year-old spinner who is banned from bowling but remained in the squad as a batting option, steered a cut wide of third man. Thinking it was going for four, he ambled the first run, only for Al-Amin to make a terrific diving save on the rope and force Munir to turn on the gas in pursuit of a second. As Munir barrelled towards the crease, Mushfiqur ran across to collect Al-Amin’s throw and the two collided. The bigger (and older) man came off worse but Munir was able to continue.The moment of reliefWhen Mahmudullah pushed one past Munir’s outside edge with Hong Kong still needing 41 runs to win, there was no immediate reaction in the stadium. Bangladesh had bowled 13.1 overs and, although the possibility of a slew of no-balls and wides theoretically existed, the hosts were through. Moments later the message flashed up on the big screen, followed by the image of Shakib standing in the field grinning. Another banana skin avoided. Just.

Netherlands face an uncertain future, and their captain Peter Borren has indicated the World T20 might be the last tournament for some of the players. For now, they have four more chances to pull off a major upset

Alan Gardner in Chittagong23-Mar-2014″Having nothing to lose in Twenty20 can make you very dangerous.” Peter Borren said it after the incredible victory over Ireland that took Netherlands into the main group stage of the World T20 and the captain said it again ahead of their first Super 10 match against Sri Lanka.Unfortunately, this Netherlands side really doesn’t have a lot to lose. Alongside being the only Associate side left in the competition, they face an uncertain future due to a failure to qualify for the 2015 World Cup and the loss of their ODI status. The level of their continued funding from the ICC is yet to be confirmed and their coach at this tournament, Anton Roux, is still an interim appointment due to the KNCB’s financial situation.Coming into the tournament, two substandard performances in warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Hong Kong had left Borren visibly frustrated at the direction their cricket was going in. Then there was the controversy of Tim Gruijters being replaced in the squad by Tom Cooper, no longer required by his Sheffield Shield side.Since then Netherlands’ fortunes have, at least superficially, been given a lift. Borren and his at-the-double Dutch have returned to Chittagong with the chance to shake up the order and tug at the sleeves of the game’s decision-makers once again.”For us we’ve had a pretty tough few months,” Borren said. “Having failed to qualify in New Zealand we’re not quite sure what the ICC are going to do moving forward, with our status, but also with Associate cricket. We’re very proud of the fact that we’re representing the Associates here now. We hope that we can do them proud. It’s an achievement in itself that we’re the only Associate to have made it this far. It wasn’t easy.”At around 5pm in Sylhet two days ago, the odds of them being that front-running Associate had entered Headingley ’81, 500-1 territory. With Netherlands needing to score 190 in 14.2 overs or less, Irish fans would have been heading online to confirm hotel bookings in Chittagong. Borren, however, had not started making other plans.”We were sort of hoping to be here. I’m glad that that’s eventuated,” he said. “Otherwise we would have been back home in Holland. I was very much hoping to be here and it took something pretty special in the end. When we went to the ground to play against Ireland it wasn’t going to be quite as difficult as it ended up being. Zimbabwe thrashing the UAE as they did made our task quite a lot harder.”As we were preparing for the last game we did genuinely believe there was a chance of us making it here. By the time the game started the chance had become small, and by half time in that game it had become even smaller. Although we decided that we were going to have a go at getting the runs in 14 overs, perhaps the belief might have been there, but it was definitely in the back of the head that we might be going home. We’re excited to be here.”The emotions were more earthy a little more than a week ago, when Borren said he was “p**sed off” at continued batting failures. It did not require much to exceed expectations but Stephan Myburgh, Wesley Barresi, Cooper and Borren himself put on an incandescent display of brilliant orange against Ireland. It was a shot to nothing – that word again – and seemingly nothing could hold Netherlands back.”When we failed to chase a couple of manageable targets, I wasn’t happy,” Borren said. “But this last target, I wouldn’t have called manageable … It’s a captain’s nightmare, inconsistency. It is something we should look at, but it is Twenty20 cricket. You’ve heard that a million times, that anything can happen if you have a fearless approach. We’ve got guys who are capable of achieving really good things in the next few games. I’m not p**sed off after the last game.”Netherlands have form for this sort of thing, of course, although Borren said that the memory of their win over England in the opening match of the 2009 World T20 was beginning to fade. Now they have four more cracks at “knocking over a Full Member” and making sure the flame of Dutch cricket has fuel to burn, even as a period of hardship threatens to set in.”For some of us, this may be the last time at this level, so we’d like to leave this stage with the memory of orange shirts playing some good cricket.”

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Bangladesh and India in Mirpur

Alagappan Muthu in Mirpur19-Jun-2014The deer-in-headlights impression
Ambati Rayudu’s form has been flighty. All the symptoms of it were evident in his six-ball stay, none more so than his dismissal. Rayudu prodded forward to a Taskin Ahmed delivery that was not in his half and that initial movement did him in. The ball jagged back off the seam, kissed his helplessly open face and lobbed into the keeper’s gloves. Bangladesh celebrated with vigour and Rayudu watched them, flinging a look at the pitch as if he did not believe what had happened. It was Taskin’s first ball of the match.The three-way collision
An appeal for leg before was hurled at the umpire in the 11th over, but Suresh Raina who knew he had inside edged the ball was busy discerning if his partner Cheteshwar Pujara was interested a run. He was. The ball had not gone off the strip and Mahmudullah had to cover a bit of ground from the off-side ring. Both the fielder and Pujara reached the vicinity of the stumps at nearly the same time and Mahmudullah was the one who blinked first. He could not collect the ball cleanly, which ensured Pujara was safe, though his bat had scuttled out of his hands and was cartwheeling as he dived to make his ground.The umpire’s call
There were 18 overs of pace before Bangladesh opted for plan B, if Shakib Al Hasan can be called that. Under normal circumstances, he would have bowled a lot more than 8.3 overs in the previous two ODIs, but the pitch and weather in Mirpur encouraged bounce and movement for the quicks. Shakib may not have minded the lesser workload, but that didn’t mean he appreciated being denied a wicket. One of his sliders zipped through to hit Cheteshwar Pujara adjacent with off stump but umpire Enamul Haque disagreed. Shakib’s appeal went from buoyant to pleading to angry, but he managed to channel his aggression to become the top wicket-taker on a day the seamers called the shots.The reprieves
On-field umpires are prone to judgment calls, but the third umpire has greater resources to reach a conclusive verdict. Anisur Rahman’s first tough decision came when Nasir Hossain dived forward at slip to pluck a low catch off the outside edge of Stuart Binny. The fielder, however, displayed no excitement and rather belatedly signalled for the third umpire’s intervention. Replays tempted one to think Nasir had his fingers under the ball, but the benefit of the doubt was handed to the batsman. The process was repeated when Umesh Yadav lunged at his first ball and his toe seemed to be on the line when the keeper stumped him. This time the umpire’s decision to hit the green light was less defensible.

A range of new development programmes around the country is expected to help South Africa strengthen its schools cricket system and speed up transformation

Firdose Moonda08-Oct-2014Insufficient exposure to pressure situations at school level could be one of the factors behind South Africa’s poor record in the knockout matches of major tournaments. At least that is one of the things administrators have been mulling as the national side prepares itself for next year’s World Cup, and they are concentrating on strengthening the pipeline that will sustain the sport in the country in future.”There is not enough high-intensity, serious competition in schools cricket,” Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s CEO said, at the launch of a regional performance centre programme in Langa, Cape Town. “Fifteen and sixteen-year-olds need to be bowling that last over with the whole school’s fortune on their shoulders. When they do it then, it becomes a lot easier to face those crucial moments at international level. Some of our players face it for the first time at international level and that may be why we’ve struggled.”Lorgat pointed to Sri Lanka as an example of a more robust schools system which produces players who are equipped for elite level at a younger age. “In Sri Lanka, the majority of their players come competitively out of schools cricket. There is a huge gap between our schools,club cricket to international cricket,” he said.To try and bridge that gap, CSA, in partnership with local government and cricket clubs, is launching a range of development programmes around the country. It will focus on providing facilities and coaching for promising cricketers who may not have access to them otherwise.CSA is also hoping to achieve another aim through the same methods – speed up transformation, which the country’s sports ministry has emphasised over the last few months. Lorgat described the programme as a way for cricket to “access the majority of the population”, a reference to the almost 80% of black Africans in the country, of whom only five have played Test cricket and only one, Makhaya Ntini, lasted for a substantial enough period to earn more than 100 caps.The lack of black African cricketers, especially at international level, has been at the top of CSA’s list of concerns and the steps it is taking to change that start at grassroots, specifically schools and clubs. More than 80% of South Africa’s international players are products of previously advantaged schools, of which the country has many reputable ones, who play up to 16 matches a season. In contrast, players at disadvantaged schools manage just five matches, which leaves a vast amount of untapped talent.The new centres will seek to change that by identifying a minimum of four junior and four senior schools in each of the 46 areas CSA has chosen for the programme. Those schools will participate in league matches at clubs, that will receive assistance to upgrade facilities, access to qualified coaches and equipment and their transport will be taken care of. They will play a minimum of 20 matches a season, and some could be against more established schools teams to ensure the level of competition is raised across the board.Langa, just outside Cape Town, is one of the areas were the project will be rolled out. It is an area with a rich history in cricket, best documented by the one street on which Thami Tsolekile, Temba Bavuma and Malusi Siboto all lived. While Tsolekile now plays at the Lions, he will be involved in the Langa project along with Gary Kirsten and said it his goal that “cricket does not fade in our communities.”The heightened focus on transformation at lower levels does not mean CSA has ignored change higher up. This season, quotas were increased at franchise and provincial levels, where teams now have to field five and six players of colour respectively. At franchises, at least two of those five players must be black Africans while provincial teams should have at least three black Africans. “With a minority playing the game, we are the best in the world. Can you imagine how long we can sustain that if we access the majority?” Lorgat asked.But he warned that South African fans should not take their team’s status as a guarantee, especially as Australia could take the Test mace off them with a win in their forthcoming series against Pakistan. “It would be naive for us to sit back and think that because we are the No.1 team in the world today, we will stay there,” Lorgat said. “If you look at West Indies, they were the best through the 1970s and 1980s and then all the other teams developed and overtook them.”

India’s preparations at the nets, coupled with their policy of not dropping a player after just one game, suggest that Stuart Binny could keep his place in the team at Lord’s

Sidharth Monga at Lord's15-Jul-2014Two days before the Lord’s Test, there remained a right mystery around the Lord’s pitch. It was left uncovered for only a brief while, and looked green, a stark contrast to the sawdust-colour grass on the Trent Bridge pitch.Mick Hunt, the Lord’s groundsman, stayed unavailable for comment. Chris Wood, the ECB pitch liaison officer, was seen in a long conversation with Hunt, but there was no official communication as to how Lord’s was reacting to the widespread criticism and frustration Trent Bridge brought.Intrigue surrounded the pitch as Stuart Broad tweeted it looked similar to two days before the Test against Sri Lanka. The cover over the pitch was not the huge and well-ventilated hovercraft, but an orthodox one, which stayed on surface as opposed to hovering over it, in effect providing a bit of window underneath. A school of thought suggests this was being done to retain some moisture, which would disappear if kept under the hovercraft.There was little uncertainty around the India camp, though. Stuart Binny’s selection – his match-saving fifty on the final notwithstanding – raised a lot of debate, and drew criticism from such experts as Michael Holding, Ian Chappell and Martin Crowe. Those knocking Binny down have been of the view that he is much closer to bits-and-pieces than allrounder, that he bowled only 10 overs which was well short of what his primary role was, and that R Ashwin is a better choice if India do indeed want to go with an extra bowler. Those with Binny suggest the pitch at Trent Bridge was not conducive to his kind of bowling, and that he did play an important role with the bat.Possibly looking at the green grass on the Lord’s pitch, or possibly following their policy of not discarding a player based on just one match, India seem set to play the same XI at Lord’s. When in the nets, the Indians batted in the same order as before the first Test. The three main quicks got a separate net to finish their batting before they could come to bowl in the main nets. The remaining batting order in the nets remained the same as the first Test, with Binny bowling his bit before coming in to bat at No. 8.Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir did not do much in the nets, but Ashwin and Rohit Sharma bowled a few overs towards the end of the session.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul expressed confidence in West Indies’ ability to bounce back, but it did not extend to a point where he thought they could beat the No. 1-ranked South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth23-Dec-2014His arms hung at his sides, his feet were together and his gaze was at the height of his shoulders. Not quite unusual if he was just a man standing in a queue or waiting to cross the street. But Shivnarine Chanderpaul was standing in goal for his team and he did not seem too interested in protecting it.Twice, he was breached but then he had enough. While the rest of the West Indian squad regrouped on their makeshift football pitch, swapping bibs to decide who was on which team and generally buzzing about, a different Chanderpaul got into goal. He bounced from one foot to the next, his arms sprung up and down as though they had been freshly hinged and his eyes pierced the ground in front. There was no getting past him again.From that moment, Chanderpaul owned the fielding session. He was sharp, alert and took part in drills 40-year olds might prefer to avoid. It was as though he had been caught off guard for a few seconds and was overcompensating.When the observation was made a fellow team member, they answered, “It’s because he does all the things that he doesn’t to do, that he can still keep playing at this level.”Does Chanderpaul himself think that? Does he believe it will keep him in the game much longer than some of his peers, perhaps even long enough to play Test cricket with his son?”I don’t know what’s going to happen. Let’s see.”What Chanderpaul does know is West Indies cricket is hovering a little too close to the doldrums. He acknowledged as “a fact,” that they have blown every which way and as a result have become inconsistent, or as Faf du Plessis put it “they can be a hot and cold side.” But he does not think their temperatures are as extreme as the first Test suggested.”I think we’re a better team than that,” Chanderpaul said. “We’re disappointed after Centurion We just have to put it behind us and take it as a learning experience and do better in this next match.”For West Indies to do that, they need a vastly improved batting performance after they failed to capitalise on starts in the first innings and were annihilated in 80 minutes in the second at Centurion. Chanderpaul believes they have players who can step up, but did not go as far as suggesting they would reach the height to defeat South Africa.”They’re the No.1 team in the world, and to be there you have to have the best bowling attack in the world. It’s been a learning experience for the youngsters, and I’m sure they’ll come out of this stronger,” he said. “The guys we have here are the best in the Caribbean, that’s the reason they’re here. They’ve all scored runs in the past, scored a lot of hundreds in regional cricket. They all have talent and are bright stars for the future.”Apart from Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels, who was the highest run-scorer on their last tour to South Africa, West Indies have Devon Smith, who was had the third-best aggregate in last season’s regional challenge and was leading the charts in this season’s before embarking on the tour, Jermaine Blackwood, who was last season’s most successful first-class batsman, and Kraigg Brathwaite, who already has a Test double hundred to his name. What they seem to lack is the ability to translate that into something strong enough to compete with a top-ranked Test team on their home turf and even Chanderpaul has accepted that.Not even history – St George’s Park was the place where West Indies achieved their only Test win against South Africa in 2007 – would draw a positive prediction from Chanderpaul.”We had a good match then but some days you play well and some you don’t.”

Part two of our look at players who didn’t quite light up the tournament: this time, bowlers

29-Nov-2014James Anderson
4 wickets at 70.50 in 2011
A few months before the 2011 World Cup, Anderson was at the peak of his powers as he helped England to a famous Ashes series win in Australia. But by the time he reached the subcontinent those efforts were taking their toll and he was feeling the strain. During England’s topsy-turvy campaign he managed just one telling spell, getting the ball to reverse against South Africa and extracting AB de Villiers and JP Duminy in a narrow victory. He would only play once more before the exhaustion proved too much, and he was omitted against Bangladesh and for the quarter-final against Sri Lanka.Manoj Prabhakar
3 wickets at 53.33 in 1996
Prabhakar had a quiet but by no means miserable start to the 1996 World Cup, even taking 3 for 39 against West Indies in Gwalior. But all most people remember about Prabhakar in that tournament was the pounding he took at the hands of Sanath Jayasuriya during Sri Lanka’s chase of 272. Looking at the scorecard now – Jayasuriya making 79 off 76 – the ferocity of that initial onslaught isn’t apparent. After three overs, Sri Lanka were 42 for 0 and a typically enthusiastic Tony Greig was saying on air that the game could be done by 15 overs. Prabhakar’s first two overs disappeared for 33 and, famously, he switched to bowling offspin after that. He ended with 4-0-47-0 and was booed at his home ground. It turned out to be his final international appearance.Daniel Vettori
2 wickets at 129.50 in 2003
Vettori was among the few frontline spinners expected to make an impact in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, though he had never played an ODI in the country before. He was certainly among the more busy bowlers in the tournament, sending down 65 overs in seven matches, but his wicket-taking skills went missing. Vettori managed just two wickets (Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jacques Kallis), and as a result, his average shot up to 129.50 – the most for any bowler with more than 25 overs in the tournament. Even though his economy was below four, more remarkably he failed to make a dent even against the smaller teams – Bangladesh, Canada and Zimbabwe.The 2003 World Cup was no happy homecoming for Allan Donald•Reuters/Getty ImagesAllan Donald
1 wicket at 133 in 2003
The 2003 World Cup came towards the end of a glittering career for Donald. In three previous World Cups, he had picked up 37 wickets from 22 matches. His fourth, at home, could have been an ideal swansong. However, the start of the tournament signalled the end of his career. In the first match, against New Zealand, Donald leaked 52 runs in 5.5 overs and never really recovered. He was taken for 54 runs in the next match, against West Indies, and only played one more game, against Canada. It was also his last ODI.Chris Cairns

2 wickets at 103.50 in 1996
Cairns had a World Cup to forget in 1992, when he managed only two wickets in five games at 80.50 and struggled to hold down a regular place. Things got worse in the 1996 event, when he was a more established player. He again managed only two wickets, in six games, at 103.50. In the quarter-final against Australia, his 6.5 overs were taken for 51 runs as New Zealand lost despite making what was then their highest score in 63 ODIs against their neighbours. He improved his World Cup record in 1999 though, bagging 12 wickets at 27.75.

They could have ended up as team-mates but Swapnil Patil took a different route to international cricket than his Indian friends and they are set to meet on opposite sides

Abhishek Purohit27-Feb-2015The village of Darpale and the town of Dombivli are almost equidistant to the north from the maidans of south Mumbai. But they have to be reached by different suburban railway lines. Several years ago, two boys used to regularly take those separate, but equally crowded, trains to the city to play the game they loved. Over the years, they progressed through the ranks in junior cricket and represented the city at various age-group levels. They went on to play for the same club side too: Mulund Gymkhana. Naturally a bond developed between the two. Both were among the probables for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy side.But it has been said for good reason in the past that it was once tougher to make the Mumbai team than the India team. About a decade ago, wicketkeeper-batsman Swapnil Patil, three years senior to his friend, decided that he was not going to be able to break through into the Ranji team. For there are few cricketers grittier than Vinayak Samant, and for eight successive seasons after having himself being denied by Sameer Dighe, the veteran keeper held down a spot in the Mumbai line-up, keeping numerous youngsters out.In 2006, Patil received an offer to become a player-employee for Emirates Contracting in the UAE. The dream to play for Mumbai nowhere near fulfillment, Patil took up the job and moved countries.His friend stayed put in India, and the next year, debuted for Mumbai. Ajinkya Rahane went on to reel off century after century in domestic cricket. Three years later, Patil debuted for UAE. A year later, Rahane debuted for India, and another four years later, he is now an integral part of the national side.Separated by distance, Patil and Rahane gradually grew out of touch, but will meet on the field against each other next afternoon at the WACA. In a World Cup match, of all occasions. No wonder Patil is excited at the prospect of going up against Rahane, as well as Rohit Sharma, his team-mate in age-group teams. He has not been able to meet them yet since travelling to Perth a day ago after UAE’s previous game in Brisbane.Back home in Darpale, his family wants him to do well but his brother and neighbours have said that at the same time, they will be supporting India. Patil laughs when this is mentioned, but cannot wait to get on to the field.”From within my heart, I am liking it that I come from India and am playing them tomorrow. It feels really nice. I am very happy that I am playing a World Cup. More than me, my family and friends are happy. My coaches are happy that after going away from home, I have managed to play international cricket for UAE.”Patil says he does not have any regrets now about not having made it in India. “Now I have been here in UAE for ten years. I am settled and very happy.”He uses the Marathi word – fun – many times when asked how he is looking forward to playing against the Indians. “I’ll find out how I feel tomorrow. There will be a lot of Indian supporters. There will be a few UAE ones as well. Playing in front of such a crowd and against the Indian team will be great fun. Let us see what happens tomorrow. I do want to score against India.” If he does, he will have an old friend in the opposition camp feeling happy for him.

Arun Venugopal in Visakhapatnam22-Apr-2015Praveen Kumar is posted at third man. Dale Steyn wants him fine, really fine. He gestures him to keep moving leftwards until he is almost directly behind first slip, almost a deep first slip. There is clearly a plan here for Gautam Gambhir. Steyn has a string of fielders close on the off side, and doesn’t have anyone manning the boundaries square. He wants Gambhir to attempt the slog over covers, and get a thickish edge.Gambhir plays ball and offers a brutish slash. The edge is flying towards Praveen. Full points for planning. Only that Praveen advances diffidently and makes a mess of it. Negative marks for execution. Next ball, Robin Uthappa clips one over square leg for six. Steyn shakes his arms vigorously in frustration. And for good reason. In his previous over, Steyn had forced Uthappa to edge only for KL Rahul, at second slip, to fluff it.Praveen has little time to wallow – he doesn’t look that type anyway – as he is handed the ball the very next over. Uthappa pulls out another non-violent flick to send the ball soaring over midwicket. Praveen follows it up with one that slants belatedly. Uthappa merely has to re-direct it behind square.First a dropped catch and then 10 runs off the first two balls. The next one is a full toss and a crunching straight drive is screaming towards the fence only for it to be halted by the stumps at the non-strikers’ end. Jersey untucked, hand on the hip, Praveen’s familiar quirks are in place. It’s hard to see this over changing for the better for Praveen.Another full-toss follows. But Gambhir is looking mid-wicket and his wild swing catches the inside edge, then the stumps. 1-0-11-1. Praveen half-jogs to short fine, perhaps wondering how the rest of the night would play out. But then again, he doesn’t look that type.*****Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the most un-IPL cricketers. It’s quite an ask to trace him on the field for hardly does he draw any attention to himself. Almost unnoticed, he walks to the top of his mark to share the new ball with Steyn, who has just completed a searing first over.Each of his deliveries is full and swerving in. Bhuvneshwar goes for 11 runs as well. He collects his cap and calmly goes back to his fielding position. His life bears little likeness to Praveen’s. No drama. On and off the field.*****Praveen, meanwhile, is finding that his luck is getting better. Uthappa flits across, and uncorks the wrists to flick it straight to Praveen at short fine leg. More importantly, he has held on to it.He and Bhuvneshwar have a shared past. Hailing from Meerut, the pair honed its skills on the lush pitches of Victoria Park. Bhuvneshwar, three years Praveen’s junior, has often spoken about being fascinated by the latter’s coaxing, late swing.But admiration can wait. They haven’t done a great deal in the tournament thus far. They haven’t done too badly either. With all the talk surrounding Trent Boult and Steyn, there hasn’t been much focus on them.Kolkata Knight Riders require 37 off 18 balls, and two strong, if mercurial, strikers – Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan – are out in the middle. This is time to bring out their collective bowling smarts. Bhuvneshwar has the ball. Praveen is at short fine, but his eyes are constantly on the positioning of deep square leg, long-on and deep midwicket. Every other delivery, he makes a subtle adjustment, asking a fielder to move slightly to the right or another to fall back a little.Bhuvneshwar, meanwhile, is absolutely stoic, bowling a complement of full tosses and low full-tosses. Pandey can’t time it well, Pathan can’t even put bat to it. Bhuvneshwar finishes with an inch-perfect yorker. Five runs conceded.Praveen comes on at the other end. He is suitably animated, asking Shikhar Dhawan to move in front of square. His assessment is bang on as the ball is headed exactly in that direction. There is a similar medley of yorkers and low full-tosses, one of them tails Pandey, who has to get his right leg out of harm’s way at the last moment. Seven runs conceded.Bhuvneshwar bowls the last over, with an insurance of 25 runs. Pathan goes back after hitting the second ball straight to extra cover. Captain David Warner leads the loud celebration. Bhuvneshwar gives the obligatory high-five and walks back to the top of his mark. Three more low full-tosses and Knight Riders don’t have an answer. Bhuvneshwar, as if to rub it in, puts his last ball on a length, by which time Gambhir’s men are in need of 18 runs.The win is secured and Praveen is the first to rush to the striker’s end to grab a stump. You think he is going to keep the souvenir, but he drops it in the middle of the pitch, and runs over to put his arm around Pandey and share a laugh. Bhuvneshwar, job done, quietly heads towards the change room. No fuss.