Stats highlights from a run-fest in Bengaluru, which went Pakistan’s way after rain intervened

Sampath Bandarupalli04-Nov-202363 – Balls needed for Fakhar Zaman to complete his century, the fastest by a Pakistan batter at the men’s ODI World Cup. The previous fastest was by Saleem Malik, who scored a 95-ball 100 against Sri Lanka in 1987.11 – Sixes by Fakhar during his unbeaten 81-ball 126 are the joint-most in an ODI innings for Pakistan, levelling Shahid Afridi’s 11 against Sri Lanka in 1996. He is also only the fourth batter to hit ten or more sixes in a men’s ODI World Cup innings.194* – Partnership between Fakhar and Babar Azam for the second wicket, the highest for Pakistan in men’s ODI World Cups. Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti also had a 194-run opening partnership against New Zealand in the 1999 semi-final.401 for 6 – New Zealand’s total in Bengaluru is their second-highest in men’s ODIs, behind the 402 for 2 they scored against Ireland in 2006. It is also their highest total at the men’s ODI World Cup, bettering the 393 for 6 they scored against West Indies in 2015.1 – Previous instance of Pakistan conceding a 400-plus total in men’s ODIs – 444 for 3 by England in the 2016 Trent Bridge ODI. The 401 by New Zealand is also the highest for any team against Pakistan in the men’s ODI World Cup, comfortably ahead of the 367 for 9 by Australia earlier in this tournament, also in Bengaluru.ESPNcricinfo Ltd46 – The number of fours hit by the New Zealand batters against Pakistan are the most in a men’s ODI World Cup innings, surpassing the 45 by South Africa against Sri Lanka in Delhi earlier in the tournament. The 46 fours are the most that New Zealand have ever hit in a men’s ODI innings and the most conceded by Pakistan.3 – Hundreds by Rachin Ravindra in this World Cup. He is the first batter to have scored three hundreds in their first men’s ODI World Cup.1 – Ravindra also became the first player to score three centuries for New Zealand in men’s ODI World Cups. Six batters have had two World Cup centuries for New Zealand, including Kane Williamson, who fell five runs short of his third in this match.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Ravindra’s three hundreds are also the most for any batter before turning 25 in the men’s ODI World Cup, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s two. The two batters are currently level on 523 for most runs scored before turning 25 in an edition of the World Cup.3 – Pakistan bowlers to have conceded 80-plus runs on Saturday – Shaheen Shah Afridi (90), Hasan Ali (82) and Haris Rauf (85). It is only the sixth instance of three or more bowlers conceding 80-plus runs in a men’s ODI innings. The runs conceded by Afridi and Rauf in this game are the top-two most-expensive figures for Pakistan in the men’s ODI World Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd16 – Sixes conceded by Rauf in this World Cup across eight matches. These are the most sixes conceded by a bowler in an edition of the men’s ODI World Cup (since 1999). The previous highest was 15 by Tinashe Panyangara in the 2015 edition in six games.180 – The partnership between Ravindra and Williamson is the second-highest for New Zealand in the men’s ODI World Cup, behind the unbeaten 273 involving Ravindra and Devon Conway against England in the tournament opener. The 180 stand is also the second-highest partnership against Pakistan in World Cups, behind the 259-run opening stand by Mitchell Marsh and David Warner earlier in the tournament.2 – New Zealand’s 401 for 6 is the second-highest first-innings total in ODIs to end in a defeat. Australia’s 434 for 4 against South Africa during the 2006 Johannesburg ODI is the highest.4 – Consecutive losses for New Zealand. They lost to India, Australia and South Africa in their previous three games. It is the first instance of New Zealand suffering four successive defeats in an edition of the men’s ODI World Cup.

The left-arm spinner stopped being picked by India in 2014. Now she is back at the highest level, playing in the WPL

S Sudarshanan17-Feb-2024Gouher Sultana is on the verge of playing top-level cricket after a decade away.The left-arm spinner last played for India in 2014. She was dropped after the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh that year, where India merely managed to secure qualification for the 2016 tournament. From her debut in May 2008 till her last ODI, she was the fifth-most prolific spinner in the format. In fact, in each of her last two ODI outings – against Sri Lanka – she returned four-wicket hauls.She was 26 then.It was not how Gouher wanted her career to end, so she focused on plying her trade in domestic cricket. She played for Hyderabad, Puducherry, Railways and Bengal. There were some compelling performances along the way, like when she was the joint-third leading wicket-taker in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in 2019-20. Not that those showings put her in the reckoning for selection for India, or for the Women’s T20 Challenge – the exhibition tournament that preceded the Women’s Premier League and was played for four seasons.In sport, we applaud the new, but it can also often be a country for the old. Selectors, especially in women’s cricket, scoff at age, but birth certificates don’t reflect what athletes feel within. That has been especially true of Gouher, and her desire to stay in the game and her relentlessness bore fruit in December 2023, when UP Warriorz raised the paddle to take her on board for WPL 2024. “I was not convinced that I was finished,” she says.At close to 36 years, she now has another opportunity in top-flight cricket, and is one of only two Indians in the competition – Harmanpreet Kaur is the other – to have made their international debuts before 2010.”Even when I was about to give up, I was like, ‘No, this shouldn’t be the end. I want to end it the way I want it'”•Gouher Sultana”There was absolutely no communication [from the selectors],” she says of how her time in international cricket came to an end. “That’s how it is done here; it is the system. When someone is dropped, they are not told what is wrong, or what areas need to be improved, and things like that. Because I got those wickets in my last [ODI] series, I felt that couldn’t be the end to my career.”There were times when I thought of quitting – seasons I didn’t do well, my mental health was affected. But then even when I was about to give up, I was like, ‘No, this shouldn’t be the end. I want to end it the way I want it.’ It was not to prove anything to anybody, but I enjoyed playing and I still enjoy playing. That’s the primary reason I am still here.”The domestic circuit can make for an uphill trek for those who are close to the senior side; it is tougher when you are not even on the periphery. As the years ticked by, Gouher knew she had to be at the top of her game to make the cut.”If I am playing, I don’t want to be a burden to the team,” she says. “I don’t want people to think that it is okay to have me because I have represented India in the past and am a senior player. If I am playing for a team, I want to contribute to winning and want to be one of the best players. When that doesn’t happen – and when I stop contributing to the team’s success or growth – that is the time I will quit.”The culture in India is that you are considered ‘old for sport’ even when you are 26 or 27. Once you are dropped, nobody is looking back and getting you back in. After 30, you put on weight. I did not want to give anyone a chance to talk about my fitness.”The face of the sport has changed since the time she was an India international. The average scoring rate in T20Is that Full Members played in the seven years between 2008 and 2014 was 5.80. Since January 2015, it is at 6.57. The spotlight on the women’s game has increased manifold. Keeping up with the pace did take its toll on Gouher.Gouher dismisses Urooj Mumtaz of Pakistan off her own bowling in the 2009 T20 World Cup•Richard Heathcote/Getty Images”There were a lot of self-doubts even before WPL came up, and that affected my mental health,” she says. “There were a few years in which I was not able to land the ball where I wanted to. It was not because of lack of practice. It was because I put myself under unnecessary pressure – to make a comeback and play at a higher level.”In 2019 I was playing for Bengal for the first time, and they were the champions of the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy the year before. I did well in the T20 trophy for the team and we went to the knockouts, where we playing Baroda in the quarter-final. That was a televised game, and I was playing one after a very long gap. I was like, ‘Okay people are going to watch. Now that I have done well in the league stage, this is the time I want to show and prove people wrong and perform.'”A couple of tough years followed. That was when Nooshin Al Khadeer, India’s head coach when the side won the first Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, intervened. Gouher looked up to Al Khadeer, a former team-mate at India and then Railways, who insisted that she try speaking to a psychologist. “I was not very open about it because people don’t understand,” Gouher says. “And I was anyway not playing at the highest level at that time. I was like, ‘I don’t know if they will be interested in talking to me’ but [the psychologist] was kind enough.”Al Khadeer herself provided valuable inputs. “Noosh has always helped me in my career in every stage,” Gouher says. “I have had a lot of conversations with her, and she has always helped me with practice sessions or [work on] the kind of mindset I have. We still talk about how cricket is evolving. I try to take experience from her and put in the hard work required.”That’s when things got a bit better. I then started focusing on my process and not on the results. Since last year I have been much, much better, in terms of mental aspect, and even my practice sessions have been way better. I think my performance also got better.”Gouher’s ten wickets in the domestic T20s last year were the joint most for Bengal, with Sukanya Parida. She returned to play for Hyderabad this season and took eight wickets in the T20s, the second most for them. “Even if you take the last five seasons, this has been one of the best seasons in terms of the ball coming out of my hands,” she says. “The ball is in control. For a bowler, that is the best thing you can have.”Gouher says that her career and mental health took a turn for the better after she spoke to a psychologist. “Even my practice sessions have been way better,” she says•Gouher SultanaThe teams for the Women’s T20 Challenge used to be picked by the national selectors, unlike the WPL, where it is done by auction. Gouher found no takers in the inaugural season, and so putting her name up for the auction for 2024 felt like more of a gamble, but it was one she wanted to take. In the auction she drew no bids in the first round but Warriorz chose her at base price for their final pick.She was on the morning shift at her day job with the Indian Railways and kept an eye on the auction while at work. “After no one picked me in the first round, I was like, ‘Okay it won’t happen,'” she laughs. “Honestly, I was not expecting [to be picked] but since you have registered, you watch, and somewhere you hope. I wasn’t expecting especially UP Warriorz, because they already had two left-arm spinners [Sophie Ecclestone and Rajeshwari Gayakwad]. Other teams at least had a vacancy in that department.”I switched it off and went shopping. I was not feeling okay with all the anticipation. Then I got a call from Warriorz and did not know how to react. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Slowly it sunk in that I will be part of WPL 2024.”Despite the challenges she faced in her own career at various stages, Gouher’s desire to help other cricketers develop has been a constant. A fine reader of the game, she has offered tactical inputs and insights into technique to team-mates and others. In fact, she says wanting to do that was one of the driving forces behind her return to Hyderabad ahead of the 2023-24 season.She began her career with the side in 2006-07 and played most of her domestic cricket for them. Her performances there got her an India call-up, and she finished among the top three wicket-takers in the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and fourth in 2008-09.”After 30, you put on weight. I did not want to give anyone a chance to talk about my fitness”•Gouher Sultana”I want to make this team grow back again and be like how it was when we used to play,” she says. “There were a lot of occasions when we were in the top three or four for quite a lot of seasons. There are a lot of young and talented cricketers in Hyderabad. I want to help these cricketers grow.”Gouher credits her mother, who she says has been her pillar, for this characteristic. “She has taught me at every step of life that before yourself, try and help others, and it will come back to you. If I can help others and it helps them even 1%, that makes me happy. Irrespective of how I was doing, I wanted to help young cricketers as much as I could, pass on knowledge and experience I had.At Warriorz she will play alongside Gayakwad, who at 32 is no more a first choice in white-ball cricket for India. In fact, it was Gayakwad’s rise back in 2014 that helped India move on from Gouher.”We haven’t played a lot of cricket together but we have a bonding,” Gouher says. “Whenever we meet, playing against each other also, we have always greeted each other well. She has done a lot of good work for the country. She has contributed to India’s success more than me. If I can learn a thing or two from her and Sophie Ecclestone, it would be great to add to my armoury.”And so, Gouher is back, almost ten years since she last played international cricket. She is wiser and has unfinished business. All these years she has worked in the trenches, away from the world’s glare. Now every ball that comes out of her hand will be watched by hundreds of thousands, and be analysed by plenty. And she will have a shot at writing her destiny and getting the closure she desires.

For the first time in history, a tied T20 international was decided after not one but two Super Overs

Ashish Pant18-Jan-20243:53

Takeaways: Relief for Rohit, spin-allrounder conundrum for India

10.34pm IST Mukesh Kumar is having a long discussion with his captain Rohit Sharma. With 18 to defend in the final over of the third T20I in Bengaluru, after India had walloped 212 for 4, he’s already conceded 16 off the first five balls.There’s a lot of hand-waving and gesturing going around as the subdued crowd finds its voice once again, filling the Chinnaswamy Stadium with ‘India, India’ chants. At the other end Gulbadin Naib is batting like a man possessed. He’s clattered 53 off 22. Afghanistan need three off one, but finding the boundary is easier than running three at this venue.Mukesh runs in and nails a wide yorker almost on the tramline outside of. Naib is good enough to connect and everything that had slowed down up until that point speeds up 2X. The non-striker Sharafuddin Ashraf sprints and so does Naib. Rinku Singh hares to his right from deep cover but his throw to the wicketkeeper is weak. Naib makes it back for two but the third is out of the question. Cue Ian Smith’s iconic line “We’re going to a Super Over”!Naib looks spent on his haunches, the Afghanistan dugout appear stunned, Rohit and Mukesh allow themselves a smile, and there is absolute bedlam in the stands. After nearly three hours and 36 minutes, 40 overs and 424 runs, while the rest of the city is close to shutting shop for the night, the cricket is still alive.Related

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10.42pm, the first Super Over : Despite the inevitable hassle of a late commute home, barely a soul has left the ground. The air is filled with tension and anticipation. The DJ tries to play to the crowd but the occasion doesn’t need music.India appear relaxed. Avesh Khan cracks a joke, leaving Kuldeep Yadav and Virat Kohli in splits. Mukesh has the unfunny job of bowling the Super Over.Afghanistan appear more serious. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is padded up while Naib never even took his pair off after the 20th over of a stupendous chase. He looks like he’s in a trance. Has he even blinked in the last half hour?Naib takes strike and the roar reaches a crescendo as Mukesh nails his yorker again. The ball is played to long-on but this time the throw is anything but weak. Kohli fires it in on the bounce to Sanju Samson and Naib has no hope of completing the second. Pandemonium in the stands.4:28

Dravid: Really good gut call from Rohit to give Bishnoi second Super Over

Gurbaz and Mohammad Nabi manage a four and a six but it is the events off the final ball that takes the intensity into overdrive. After missing a yorker, Nabi attempts to run a bye to the wicketkeeper. Samson throws the ball towards the bowler but it hits Nabi’s leg – he didn’t know the throw was coming at him and did not change direction – and they run two more overthrows to Kohli at long-on.Rohit is fuming, both hands in the air as he protests with a “come on!” Kohli stops the ball with his foot and gestures in annoyance even before throwing towards the pitch. Words are exchanged; Kohli sarcastically claps and flashes a thumbs up; Nabi doesn’t back down. No one’s laughing now. A dead rubber? What’s that?After the game, when the adrenaline had slowed, India’s coach Rahul Dravid played down that flash point. “Sometimes when you play for your country, there is so much passion and emotion. Nothing in the rule stops you from actually running those runs,” he said. “There are some frustrations that at times can happen but it’s okay as long as it does not cross the line.”Back in the middle, India need 17 off their Super Over and are opening with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal. After scoring only two off the first two balls, Rohit hammers Azmatullah Omarzai for sixes off the next two. He takes a single off the fifth, and with India needing two off the last ball and Jaiswal on strike, Rohit retires seemingly to have the faster runner Rinku at the non-striker’s end. After the game, Dravid told the broadcasters: “[Rohit] Taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking. That’s Ash-level thinking.”Rinku eventually scampers a single after Jaiswal can only toe-end his shot along the ground to the keeper. Gurbaz collects and chooses not to risk an overthrow by attempting a run out, sending the game – for the first time in T20 internationals and only the second in all T20 cricket – into a second Super Over.Rohit Sharma wasn’t happy with Afghanistan running overthrows after the ball deflected off Mohammad Nabi’s leg•BCCIThis type of tiebreaker – Super Over after Super Over after Super Over – is relatively recent in cricket. It replaced the infamous boundary-count back rule that decided the 2019 World Cup final in England’s favour against New Zealand.Rohit, though, has been here before. He was the Mumbai Indians captain when their IPL game against Punjab Kings was decided only after two Super Overs in Dubai in October 2020. “We don’t even get a third hit in Test matches,” he said after the game in Bengaluru. “It was in the IPL where we played two Super Overs and I batted three times there as well [Rohit batted twice in that game].”11.06pm, the second Super Over: Scenes of utter confusion in Bengaluru. Among the fans but also the players. There are hands on heads and hugs as heightened excitement melds with mental and physical exhaustion. This time Rohit does come out to bat, along with Rinku, for a third hit. Whether he should have been allowed to is another story.Given this was only the second time a T20 had gone into a second Super Over, everyone was figuring out what’s what. Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said later that he wanted Omarzai to bowl again but found out the rules stated: [a]ny bowler who bowled in the previous Super Over shall be ineligible to bowl in the subsequent Super Over.”We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, but those sort of things will be explained … because it has happened, these things will be explained and done in writing in the future,” Trott said.India won the series 3-0 after a historic contest against Afghanistan•BCCISo instead of Omarzai, it’s the left-arm seamer Fareed Ahmed with the ball. Rohit, who has already scored 121 off 69 and 13 off 4 in this match, clobbers the first two balls for a six and four and then takes a single. India go on to lose their two wickets off the next two balls, leaving Afghanistan needing 12 to win in their Super Over.Now Naib can’t bat again because he was dismissed in the first Super Over so its Nabi who walks out with Gurbaz, both of whom can bat again because they ended the first Super Over not out. Avesh Khan is warming up to bowl for India and speaks to the bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. But Rohit has a late change of heart and gives the ball to the legspinner Ravi Bishnoi.”I think Rohit went with his gut,” Dravid said later. “I think he felt that the spinner had a better chance to take two wickets. It was one of those days where 11 wasn’t probably a huge score and with the power they had, they probably would’ve got the 12 runs. So, you needed to take two wickets.”The decision proves a masterstroke. Bishnoi has both Nabi and Gurbaz caught by Rinku on the straight boundary within the first three balls.Nearly four and a half hours after the first ball was bowled, this game is finally over. It had begun as a dead rubber and ended as the most glorious of dead rubbers.

Their captain, Rohit Paudel, and coach, Monty Desai, talk about the side’s dream run over the last 18 months and what they hope to achieve in their time on the big stage

Ashish Pant20-May-2024Rohit Paudel was 11 when Nepal last qualified for a T20 World Cup. He distinctly remembers running back from school to watch the side make history by qualifying for the tournament. On match days during the World Cup, the entire neighbourhood would get together and watch Nepal’s World Cup games, he says.Seeing the likes of Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla overcome odds to represent Nepal at a major world event captured Paudel’s imagination. He set his sights on becoming a professional cricketer, hoping to play in a World Cup someday like his heroes.Ten years later he is not just representing Nepal, he is the captain of the team that embarks on just its second T20 World Cup appearance since that 2014 tournament in Bangladesh.Related

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Growing up in Buddhabasti, a village in Lumbini Province about 200km west of Kathmandu, Paudel was introduced to the sport by his older brother. Cricket has always been popular in Nepal, but the lack of adequate infrastructure meant it wasn’t always a viable option professionally. The 2014 T20 World Cup, however, changed things for Paudel. He wanted to become a cricketer and play for his country at the highest level.It wasn’t easy. There weren’t many professional coaches and academies where he lived. So when he was barely in his teens, Paudel was off to Kathmandu to enrol at the Baluwatar cricket academy there.”Initially it was tough, very tough,” Paudel says about having to go live with his older sister in the capital. “Leaving your mother behind isn’t easy, no? Right from the start I have always stayed with her. Slowly I adjusted.”His rise up the ranks was swift. Paudel made his ODI debut when he was a month shy of his 16th birthday, and in just his third game became the youngest player in men’s cricket to score a half-century in ODIs, a record that was eclipsed by his team-mate Kushal Malla a year later. Soon after, he got his T20I cap, and then in November 2022, barely two months after his 20th birthday, Paudel became Nepal’s ODI captain, the second youngest ever in ODI history, behind Rashid Khan.The passion factor: crowds turned up in droves, even climbing trees outside the perimeter, for the games against West Indies A in Nepal in April•Subash Shrestha/Getty ImagesIt did not come in the prettiest of circumstances. Paudel replaced Sandeep Lamichhane, who was suspended by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and later sentenced to jail for rape. Also, between August 2021 and December 2022, three Nepal coaches – Dav Whatmore, Pubudu Dassanayake and Manoj Prabhakar – resigned from their positions.At the start of 2023, the team was languishing in sixth place out of seven on the World Cup League 2 points table. Only the top three teams could make a straight entry into the ODI World Cup qualifiers later in the year. But the bigger worry was that only the top five teams at the end of the league would be able to retain ODI status. Nepal were on the brink of losing that.They needed some inspiration and it came through two appointments that shouldn’t have been needed in the first place. Paudel was handed the captaincy because of Lamichhane’s suspension. In February 2023, Monty Desai was named the Nepal head coach, replacing Prabhakar, who resigned after only five months in the job.You might say scaling improbable summits is second nature for Nepalis, but even the most ardent fans cannot have foreseen the unprecedented rise that followed. Desai’s experience of working with several international teams, and Paudel’s brand of courageous captaincy, helped bring about a dramatic upswing in Nepal’s fortunes.In the next 12 months or so, Nepal retained their ODI status, made it to the World Cup qualifiers, won 11 out of their last 12 games in World Cup League 2, and became the first ever team to breach the 300 mark in T20Is. To round off a remarkable year, they qualified for their first T20 World Cup in a decade, in front of a boisterous home crowd.Coach Monty Desai during his time with West Indies as their batting coach. “[Nepal] keep saying that pressure is privilege,” he says of the upcoming World Cup. “If we can handle that pressure well, then probably we’ll be scripting a new story as well”•Matthew Lewis/ICC/Getty ImagesPlaced in Group A of the Asia Qualifier alongside Oman, Singapore and Malaysia, they finished the league phase second on the points table with two wins out of three. In the semi-final they defeated UAE by eight wickets to cause bedlam in Mulpani.What brought about the turnaround? Desai puts it down to Paudel’s effective leadership and “one big, happy dressing room”.”When we started off this journey, what set him apart was that he was so clearly and quickly aligned with our vision,” Desai says of Paudel’s captaincy. “He is someone who has a lot of enthusiasm – very energetic, very curious. He has an understanding of this vision about Nepal cricket and is hungry. He wants to lead, he wants to influence his team-mates, and he wants to leave a mark. And that is something which has set him apart in my eyes.”He is a young captain but he has earned a lot of respect on and off the field because of the consistency which he brings in his behaviour. There is an element of calmness in him. He is a very well-balanced personality.”While Paudel the captain has grown, Paudel the batter has excelled too. Since April 2023, no other Nepal player has scored more runs in T20Is than Paudel’s 732 in 27 innings at an average of 36.60. He is also heading into the World Cup in prime form, having been the top run-scorer in a T20 series against a touring West Indies A side that included the likes of Obed McCoy, Matthew Forde and Hayden Walsh in their ranks. In four innings Paudel finished with 265 runs at 132.50. And while Nepal lost the series 2-3, the result could well have been in their favour had a few things gone their way.Veteran Nepal bowler (and lower-order hitter) Karan KC during the Asia Cup game against India last year•Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images”I think I am in very good form, in a much better space now,” Paudel says. “My focus is on the process. The World Cup will be watched by so many countries, and the focus will be on presenting my skills”The time in between two balls, I am trying to utilise that. And I am focusing on every ball. That, I think, is working for me. The one-ball battles. That is something I am keenly working on, and I want to keep working on that in the World Cup.”Another key figure in the 15-member squad, who has made quite a splash in these last 15 months is Dipendra Singh Airee, Nepal’s six-hitting machine. Against Mongolia in the Asian Games last year, he smashed a nine-ball fifty, the fastest ever in T20 history. In April this year he became just the third man to hit six sixes in an over in a T20I, against Qatar. His blitzes also fetched Airee a contract in the ILT20 last season as a replacement player for Gulf Giants.”What he brings in, the enthusiasm and the energy which he brings in on the field, it’s amazing to watch,” Desai says of him. “He never doubts his abilities.”It’s not fair to compare great cricketers around the world. But, you know, in an excitement of imagination, if I have to say it, he is in his own ways the [MS] Dhoni of Nepal. And I know from him that he has admired Dhoni for years. He wants to be like him. He says he wants to be known as a finisher.”He has not come across, up till now, a lot of superior skills, so we need to still see [how he fares against] that. But whatever he has faced so far, in that definitely he has got an attitude of going in the last few overs. If he knows there is a weak link there, then he looks for the big over with those weak links, which is very similar to any professional players around in the world who are playing in T20 leagues.”Six-hitter extraordinaire Dipendra Singh Airee (second from left) is Nepal’s MS Dhoni clone•Alex Davidson/ICC/Getty ImagesAnother aspect of Airee’s abilities, which both Paudel and Desai want the world to see more of, is his fielding. Paudel thinks Airee is at the moment “one of the best fielders in the world of our generation”, and Desai agrees. They might not be wrong.”The angles from where he gets run-outs… He is just oozing with confidence always,” Desai says. “We are learning new coaching methods from him.”To give an example – we know there are the right mechanics and the right elements to create throws and power. But he says, ‘What if I’m imbalanced and I have to throw an accurate throw?’ So he trains with an imbalanced position to throw. He throws with his right hand. He’s practising throwing with his non-throwing arm as well.”An imbalanced way of throwing is something creative. And he’s brought this method. So, very interesting.”Desai wants Nepal to give special attention to their fielding, at the T20 World Cup. “Our fielding unit is where we have been working a lot more, because we definitely have defined fielding as our sixth bowler who will get us a wicket,” he says.Nepal are one of the youngest teams in the competition. Of the 15 going to the World Cup, only four players are 26 or older, of whom only Karan KC is over 30. But that doesn’t mean they lack experience. Rohit, Airee and Karan have all played 100 or more international games, while openers Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Bhurtel also have a good amount of experience at the highest level. Even 20-year-old Kushal Malla has 75 international games under his belt. And for inspiration, Nepal don’t have to look past Sompal Kami, the only player in the side now who was part of the 2014 T20 World Cup squad, who is still only 28.Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh have 188 internationals under their belts collectively•ICC/Getty Images”We will give credit to the management and previous captains and coaches who have invested in players like Rohit and Dipendra, and Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh. These are players who have played a lot of games. And I think these are the players that we as a team look forward to,” Desai says. “The others chip in and bring in their abilities.”So we have kind of picked the core group, where at least seven-odd players have played together a lot.”Placed in Group D, Nepal start their World Cup campaign against Netherlands on June 4 in Dallas, and will then face Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh. Paudel and Desai are not looking too far ahead. While the target certainly is to reach the Super Eights, they want to focus on the one-ball battles, take every moment as it comes, and be “fierce competitors”.”The first step in progress for us will be to win the first game,” Desai says. “We keep saying over here that pressure is privilege. If we can handle that pressure well, then probably we’ll be scripting a new story as well.”At the World Cup, all 20 teams start from the same point. In the Olympics, in 100-metre sprints, it’s the same for all athletes. Who crosses the line first is unknown.”Preparation-wise, there are expectations because of the recent results against the West Indies A team. For us, I would say my personal expectation as a coach with this team will be that I want them to stay connected with their identity, which is fierce competitors, and I want them to compete.Karan KC and Rohit Paudel after Nepal’s win against Scotland in a World Cricket League 2 game in Kirtipur in February 2023•Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images”I keep reminding them that you have to respect these opportunities, because once their brand of cricket is recognised around the world, just the way some of the A teams have happily accepted our invitations and come to this country and played, that is how we will get more exposure, that is how we will grow and that is how our team will develop.Are there nerves within the camp?”I am not feeling the nervousness at the moment because there is still [some time] to go,” Paudel says. “But when I am outside, the fans do constantly remind us that there is a World Cup coming up. Then, yeah, we do feel some nervousness. But having said that, it is a great opportunity for all of us to play better cricket and take Nepal cricket to greater heights. We want to give the fans a gift by winning.”Nepal’s rise in world cricket hasn’t gone unnoticed. Just this year, they’ve had Namibia and Netherlands coming over for a T20I tri-series, alongside visits from Ireland A and West Indies A. Last month, Nepal also travelled to Vapi in Gujarat, India, for a preparatory camp, where they played a triangular series with Gujarat and Baroda.The last year and a half has been nothing short of a dream for Nepal. Now that they are at the World Cup, they will want to show the rest of the world that they belong. Who knows, maybe along the way they can also conjure a few miracles.

With eight wickets in the T20I series, Glenn is the joint-leading wicket-taker with fellow spinner Sophie Ecclestone

Valkerie Baynes14-Jul-20240:54

Glenn: We’ve shifted to a resilient, aggressive style without forcing it

It seems whenever the England men’s football team play a big match, Sarah Glenn brings her A game.In England Women’s opening T20I against New Zealand, the footballers were about half an hour into their Euro 2024 clash with Switzerland – which England won on penalties to reach the semi-final – when Glenn walked off the field at Southampton with a crucial 3 for 16 to her name as the hosts went 1-0 up in the five-match series.On Saturday, some 24 hours before England face Spain in the Euro final, she sat in the post-match press conference at The Oval with 4 for 19 from yet another victory over New Zealand, who go into Wednesday’s fixture at Lord’s with one last chance to return home with a solitary win from eight matches.Glenn is the joint-leading wicket-taker in the T20I leg of New Zealand’s visit with fellow England spinner Sophie Ecclestone. Glenn has eight wickets at a better average of 6.87, and her economy rate of 4.34 is the best across both teams. Charlie Dean, the other prong to England’s enviable spin trio, was rested on Saturday as part of her side’s rotation policy throughout this series, but Glenn and Ecclestone – six of New Zealand’s eight wickets fell between them – had it covered.Ecclestone and Glenn are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings and Dean is at No. 8. Ecclestone has held the top spot since February 2020 but England now find themselves in a position where they have enough players in form with bat and ball to experiment ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.That is a testament to the depth they have been building, which appears to be peaking at the right time. It was only in May, after two home white-ball series against Pakistan that ended in victory for England but lacked the ruthlessness they have shown against New Zealand, that England head coach Jon Lewis suggested his squad faced a challenge keeping up with the standards of big stars Ecclestone and Nat Sciver-Brunt.Suzie Bates leaves the field after being bowled by Sophie Ecclestone on Saturday•Getty Images”Everyone’s performing at some point,” Glenn said. “I feel like we’re not kind of relying on big names anymore. Everyone has taken their turn to step up and I think that’s so exciting, especially the young ones and every single player. You could pick any XI at the moment, from not just this squad but also back into the regional teams. Everyone’s performing really, really well and pushing for their place. It’s really exciting.”New Zealand’s reliance on big names – Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr – has left them looking toothless on this tour. That was emphasised by the fact that the closest they have got to beating England was when Devine reached a first half-century for any of those three in the T20Is with 58 in the third game in Canterbury. There, England won by six wickets with just four balls remaining after Alice Capsey’s 67 not out.In both of Glenn’s pivotal performances, she has claimed wickets in clusters. She took three in an over in Southampton and had two double-wicket overs on Saturday. She bowled Georgia Plimmer with a straight delivery that crashed into middle stump, then sent down a half-tracker that Amelia Kerr slapped straight to Capsey at midwicket, a dismissal Glenn admitted she would take but wasn’t keen to see on replay.Glenn also bowled Jess Kerr and had Maddy Green caught at mid-on, the latter saying: “They’re a world-class spin attack and Sarah has been able to come in and change the game. Unfortunately, we haven’t played it very well. She’s bowling well and we need to be at our best to compete with the likes of Sarah Glenn and their spin attack. We just weren’t at that today unfortunately and that sort of swung the momentum of our innings pretty crucially.”Against the backdrop of a football game that will grip the country on Sunday night, Glenn was asked how she prepares for big occasions.”I think it’s just that balance of switching on and switching off,” she said. “We set meetings to chat through fields or certain batters on their team, for example, so we put those in place just to have those chats and clear our heads before the game. And then in between that, switch off. We’re in the changeroom, got the tunes on, chatting a lot of rubbish, to be honest. It’s just that real balance of being really clear on what we want to do before and giving ourselves the best chance to win, but also enjoying it and playing with a smile on our face.”For the record, Ecclestone is the dressing room DJ, and Glenn believes “it absolutely is” when asked, “Is it coming home?” That makes sense, given that the team bus has had “It’s coming home” written in lights above the windscreen, where the destination would normally show. Even though this series hasn’t produced a big-game occasion – despite a healthy crowd at The Oval playing their part – soon enough England will be preparing for just that, and hoping the destination is the same.

Standardised pitches and attack-minded batters have had an impact on the slow bowlers’ approach

Himanish Ganjoo and Sidharth Monga30-Aug-2024When Kuldeep Yadav burst onto the international scene in 2017, apart from the fact that he was one of very few international bowlers of left-arm wristspin, his slowness made him even more difficult to hit.Within two years, though, he was struggling to hold his place down in his IPL side, and his ODI numbers had started to suffer. The period from 2019 to 2021, during which he lost his place in his IPL side, was horrible for him.Kuldeep changed a lot in his technique to make a stellar comeback to limited-overs cricket, but the headline difference was increased pace while still putting similar action on the ball. Partly because of this, he isn’t turning the ball as much as before but is giving batters less time to adjust to any grip or movement off the pitch. The increase in speed has more than compensated for the slight reduction in turn, and he has become one of the best spinners in the world again.