A lack of ruthlessness – what a thing to say about any Australian side – that might yet do for them at this T20 World Cup

Danyal Rasool04-Nov-20221:56

Moody: This performance a reflection of Australia’s campaign

“It’s just that New Zealand game.”That was Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori’s taciturn response after his side’s four-run win over Afghanistan to a suggestion there might be wider issues for a side that now sits one game from elimination at the T20 World Cup.Australia’s humbling at New Zealand’s hands on the opening day of the Super 12 stage might have been surprising for the opposition it came against: New Zealand had not beaten Australia in Australia in any format since 2011, and found themselves comfortably outclassed when the two sides contested last year’s final. But New Zealand’s sensational 89-run win not only got Australia’s title defence to the worst possible start, it hobbled the hosts’ net run rate and has very likely cost them a semi-final place.Related

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While that evisceration might have been an exception, few have ever been convinced of Australia’s impregnability in this format, even on that run to the title in the UAE. Because T20 World Cups don’t necessarily throw up the best team as the winner so much as the side that manages to string enough knockout games together. In 2021, when an Australian unit that had, just four games ago, been thrashed by England with 50 balls to spare lifted their inaugural T20 World Cup title, it only seemed to underscore that point.A year isn’t a great deal of time between World Cups, but even so, this Australian side is strikingly similar to the one that won it all last November. Ten of the 11 who played against Ireland also started the World Cup final last year, and the 11th, Steven Smith, played today against Afghanistan. Whatever issues that side had has effectively carried over to this particular campaign, in completely different conditions. Also, it’s perhaps unsurprising a squad that already had the highest average age at last year’s World Cup began to see niggling injuries pile up; during that game against Ireland, three players went off the field nursing hamstring strains, and two of them would end up ruled out against Afghanistan.2:59

Moody: Much more to Starc’s exclusion than it being a tactical selection

Australia’s use of the resources they still had turned out to be a bit baffling too. All of which came to a head in a performance that, if not just as ordinary as that New Zealand showing, certainly finished a close second. Mitchell Starc has been struggling for form for the best part of three years, but having tied themselves in knots with how best to use him this tournament, they stumbled upon a novel solution: dropping him altogether. In a game Australia needed to win by – to use the technical term – lots and lots of runs, ditching perhaps the world’s best inswinging yorker bowler left everyone from Tom Moody to Michael Clarke to even Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott completely nonplussed.In addition, no international team has a worse T20I average against left-arm pace this year than Afghanistan, scoring 16.2 runs per wicket. Left-arm pacers take an Afghan wicket every 13.7 balls, the second-best strike rate among all sides. They only concede runs at 7.1 runs per over; no side struggles to score as much against that kind of bowling. The replacement, Kane Richardson, might have a better overall death-overs record than Starc, but taken apart for 48 runs as he was, did little to justify the tactical epiphany Australia appeared to drop their most explosive pacer on.Having eschewed arguably the most aggressive bowling option, opting against promoting Glenn Maxwell further up the order in a bid for a bigger score appeared equally perplexing. Tim David came into this tournament as Australia’s X-factor, but hasn’t quite seen things go his way. There was perhaps little Australia could do but recall Smith to start, but sending him in after David Warner fell with the fielding restrictions still active continues to show Australia’s inability to buy into a philosophy of all-out, fearless attack. That he fell for four off as many deliveries perhaps meant little damage was done, but what happened next appeared to surprise the side’s most lethal power hitter as much as anyone attuned to watching modern, progressive T20 cricket.Glenn Maxwell was strangely held back in a game where Australia needed big runs•Associated Press”We lost the first wicket and I came out thinking I was five,” Maxwell would say post-match. “But I was told I was at six, so I said okay. I left my gear and I went back inside. There wasn’t a whole lot of conversation around it, I knew it was going to be a fluid batting order.”When Maxwell eventually did come in, he smashed an unbeaten 54 off 32, by far the highest strike rate of his team-mates. But for a man who looked in sensational touch at the nets the previous day, not to mention the high ceiling a Maxwell in form offers, being deprived of the chance to face even more deliveries to pile on the runs hinted at an impression of stifling inflexibility that has never quite escaped this Australian side.To boot, Maxwell would admit the knowledge of limited batting to follow played a part in how gung-ho he chose to be with shot selection, a problem alleviated either by a promotion or the total abandonment of any fear of getting out in pursuit of high-risk runs. On both counts Australia came up short in the way that England – who, in their own must-win game against New Zealand, dropped Dawid Malan to No. 8 and posted their highest score of the tournament – likely wouldn’t have.It is that lack of ruthlessness – what a thing to say about any Australian side – that might yet do for them at this T20 World Cup. While they were clinical in making up for run rate dents against Bangladesh and West Indies last year, they blew a golden opportunity to do the same in Brisbane against Ireland, allowing them to post 137 after reducing them to 25 for 5. Against Sri Lanka, they would find themselves bogged down in a chase they ended up achieving at a canter, the early tentativeness costing them once again.This certainly isn’t the worst Australian T20I side, even as they stare elimination in the face. They have lost just one match all tournament, and were deprived of the chance to determine their own destiny by the Melbourne rain. But as the curtain draws down on a home World Cup Australia are likely to take no further part in, the idea it was “just that New Zealand game” appears thinner than ever. This is a side that will likely be dismantled before the next T20 World Cup comes around, and on current evidence, it’s perhaps about time it was.

The statistical highlights from a day that England dominated in Galle

S Rajesh15-Jan-2021168* – Joe Root’s score at the end of the second day in Galle. It is the highest by an England batsman in Sri Lanka, going past Kevin Pietersen’s 151 in Colombo in 2012. There are only three instances of an overseas captain scoring more runs in an innings in Sri Lanka: Stephen Fleming’s unbeaten knocks of 274 and 174, and Mushfiqur Rahim’s 200.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 – Test hundreds for Root in Sri Lanka, making him the first England batsman to score more than one Test century in the country. Eleven England batsmen have a solitary hundred here.173 – The partnership between Root and Dan Lawrence, who made 73 on debut. It is England’s highest stand for any wicket in Sri Lanka, going past the Nasser Hussain-Graham Thorpe partnership of 167 for the third wicket in Kandy 20 years ago. It is also sixth-best for the fourth wicket by an overseas team in Sri Lanka.52.53 – Root’s average in Asia: he has scored 1366 runs in 15 Tests, with three hundreds. He is one of only three England batsmen to score more than 1000 runs at a 50-plus average in Asia; the other two are David Gower and Alastair Cook.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 – Non-Asian batsmen who average more than 50 in Asia since 2010, with a 1000-run cut-off. Neither Steven Smith (1200 runs at 48) nor Kane Williamson (1545 runs at 46.81) are in this club.ESPNcricinfo Ltd73 – Lawrence’s score in his debut innings, which is exactly what Root scored on his Test debut in Nagpur eight years ago. In the last 69 years, only five England batsmen have made more runs when making their Test debut in Asia: Keaton Jennings (112 in Mumbai), Ben Foakes (107 in Galle), Cook (104* in Nagpur), Owais Shah (88 in Mumbai) and Haseeb Hameed (82 in Rajkot).

The Pakistan left-arm spinner and surprise-weapon batter looks back to his dream Asia Cup outing

Matt Roller22-Oct-2022″For two days, I had to switch my notifications off,” Mohammad Nawaz says, laughing, as he recounts the aftermath of a match that will forever be his own. Even if he never scores another run or takes another wicket in his Pakistan career, he will always have that night in Dubai in the Asia Cup.”It was a highlight of my career so far,” he says, speaking at Lahore’s Pearl Continental Hotel before travelling to Australia for the T20 World Cup via a tri-series in New Zealand. “The hype of the game is there all over the world, and when you perform against India, a lot of texts and notifications are going to come to your phone. I had to switch them off and just relax and sleep.”It was the sort of night every allrounder dreams of having. Nawaz’s first over, the fifth, cost eight runs and Suryakumar Yadav hit the first of his second for four over extra cover, but from that point, Nawaz conceded 17 runs in 18 balls and dismissed Suryakumar, arguably the world’s top in-form T20 batter, when he top-edged a sweep to deep backward square leg.Related

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In T20 cricket, Mohammad Nawaz's case is a curious one

“He [Suryakumar] is the kind of player who plays everywhere,” Nawaz says. “If you’re a little bit off, he can punish you. When I was bowling to him – and at the other end was [Virat] Kohli as well – every ball, I was just thinking, ‘I have to be accurate. Let him play however he wants, but don’t give him any loose balls.'”Relentlessly hitting a good line and length, Nawaz finished with 1 for 25 from his overs as India set Pakistan a target of 182 to win. Having only batted 14 times in his previous 32 T20Is, he was not expecting to play a major role in the chase – at least, not until taps on the shoulder arrived from Saqlain Mushtaq and Babar Azam. “I was sitting there and then my coach and captain said I must pad up,” he says.”There was a right-left combination. When I went in, I was just very clear in my mind that we needed ten runs per over. I had worked in the nets. I was just thinking that I have to execute that and bring that hard work into the game. When left-handed batsmen are at the crease, it’s a little difficult for the opposition.”With Shadab Khan: “We grew up playing together and have really good chemistry,” Nawaz says about pairing up with him•AFP/Getty ImagesHe walked out at 63 for 2 in the ninth over, with 119 required off 68 balls, and had licence to go hard: he steered his second ball away for four off Yuzvendra Chahal, then swung his third for six over midwicket off Hardik Pandya. By the time he was out, slapping Bhuvneshwar Kumar to long-off, he had made 42 off 20 and set the game up for Pakistan to sneak home with a ball to spare.”It depends how you utilise the opportunity,” Nawaz says. “They were saving me for that, because I had to counter the legspin and use the boundary dimensions as well. One side was a little bit shorter. I had a clear mind. I knew that I had to play a cameo so my team could come out of a difficult situation.”Pakistan vs India, people follow this game all over the world and there is so much hype. As a player, to perform in this kind of game, your confidence grows. You learn a lot from big games because the pressure grows.”Nawaz has become an integral member of Pakistan’s T20 set-up since the last World Cup as a like-for-like replacement for Imad Wasim, another left-arm fingerspinner who could contribute with the bat and bowl in the powerplay. “He is a senior player and whenever we’re together, we try to pass on things: his arm ball is something that I ask him about,” Nawaz says.”I’m used to bowling in the powerplay. I used to in domestic games and in the PSL as well, for Quetta Gladiators. When I bowl with the new ball, if I am bowling the second over, I sometimes try to swing the ball but it depends on the conditions. Most of the time I just stay with trying to turn it.”Nawaz had to turn notifications on his phone off for two days after his heroics against India•Surjeet Yadav/AFP/Getty ImagesHe has formed a strong partnership with Shadab Khan, bowling in tandem in the middle overs. “For the past year, we’ve been working together really well. We grew up playing together and have really good chemistry. It’s been working for the team because we’ve been getting wickets in the middle overs and putting opponents on the back foot.”Nawaz has also been used increasingly often as a floater, batting in the middle overs to take down opposition spinners, as he did in Dubai. He batted at No. 4 with success in consecutive games at the end of the tri-series with Bangladesh and New Zealand, making unbeaten scores of 45 off 20 and 38 off 22 as Pakistan won their last group game and the final.He will have the chance to play India again on Sunday in front of a sold-out crowd at the MCG, if the weather plays nice. “As a team, we are very excited,” Nawaz says. “It’s going to be a big day again. We try to take it like a normal game and just work on whatever we need to. Everything else is not in your hands.”Our first sport is cricket and people die for cricket here. They support us a lot and expectations are high – very high. It is challenging, but as a player I enjoy it. When the whole nation is supporting you and behind you, if you perform well, it’s a good way to spread happiness on their faces. We always try to do that.”My message for the fans is: keep supporting us. Their support is very important for us, always. We’ve got a good bowling unit and some top-quality batsmen, so team morale is very high. Hopefully, we can put in some good performances and, , win the World Cup.”

Under-used asset should be picked to perform for free-to-air TV outing

Matt Roller24-Jun-2021Whatever Eoin Morgan’s views on fiscal policy, it is safe to assume he places limited faith in the free market.When Moeen Ali’s name was called at February’s IPL auction, it sparked a bidding war between Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings, fetching him a fee of Rs. 7 crore (£690,000 approx.). It proved that while Moeen has been surplus to requirements for England’s T20I side for more than nine months, there is still high demand for his services in the biggest T20 tournament in the world, where competition for one of the limited number of overseas slots is fierce.And Moeen’s performances in the six games he played before the IPL’s curtailment vindicated Chennai’s faith in him. Batting at No. 3, he made 206 runs in six innings with a strike rate of 157.25 – only Prithvi Shaw and AB de Villiers made more runs at a quicker rate. With the ball, he bowled two overs a game on average, taking five wickets and conceding a miserly 6.16 runs an over.In an England shirt, by contrast, Moeen has not been required for nine consecutive T20Is and there is every chance that streak will extend to 10 games in Cardiff on Thursday evening (though Morgan has hinted there will be a handful of changes). He has played in just 12 of England’s last 37 T20Is and while he is certain to be named in the squad for the T20 World Cup this autumn, the fact he went unused during the five-match series in India in March was proof that he has been overtaken by Sam Curran as the luxury pick at No. 7, afforded by Ben Stokes’ presence in the top six. In all formats, Moeen has played only four times for England in nine months.England’s explanation for his ongoing omission is simply that conditions haven’t suited him. Pitches in Cape Town, Paarl and Ahmedabad offered very little turn throughout the winter and Cardiff, the venue for their thumping eight-wicket on Wednesday night, has such short straight boundaries that Morgan has always been reticent to use spinners there, particularly from the River Taff End. In Liam Livingstone – preferred to Moeen at No. 6 in the first T20I – he has a batter who can bowl both offspin and legspin in the same over, versatility which Moeen does not offer.But that rationale demonstrates the disconnect between how Moeen is viewed at club and international level as a T20 player: England see him as a second spinner who adds to their batting depth; Worcestershire, Chennai and Multan Sultans use him as a top-order batter who also offers an extra spin option when required. His offspin has been used increasingly sparingly in T20Is – he bowled a single over in each of his last six appearances and has been relatively expensive – but Morgan still refers to him publicly as their second spinner. For all England’s batting riches, it seems like a waste of his ability with the bat.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe elephant in the room is Dawid Malan’s form, which has dipped sharply since a superb innings of 99 not out against South Africa at the start of December. There is little doubt that Malan – still ranked the world’s No. 1 T20I batter by the ICC – would be a good option at No. 3 in a World Cup in Australia, where hard, bouncy pitches suit his strengths square of the wicket and off the back foot, but with the T20 World Cup due to be played either in India or on used pitches in the UAE, that has limited relevance.Malan struggled in India in March, being dismissed three times in 39 balls against spin, and with his runs drying up in domestic white-ball cricket, he is averaging 24.35 with a strike rate of 111.95 across all T20s since the start of the Big Bash. England’s unparalleled batting depth means that innings of 25 off 20 balls are significantly more damaging than early failures or flashy cameos, and Moeen – a quick starter, and a clean hitter of spin – looks like the ideal candidate to replace him if his lean patch continues.There is no guarantee he would have made a significant score, but it is hard to imagine Moeen nudging his way to 7 off 14 balls as Malan did on Wednesday night while England were cruising to victory. And if Morgan needs reminding about Moeen’s worth in Cardiff, he need only cast his mind back to his only T20I appearance there in 2015, when he hit 72 not out off 46 balls from No. 3 then dismissed Glenn Maxwell with the first ball he bowled.There is a wider context to consider, too. Thursday’s second T20I is one of two England men’s games shown live by the BBC on free-to-air TV in the UK this summer, and through no real fault of their own, the white-ball side has had limited opportunity to connect with the public at large since their World Cup final win.Related

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The first T20I last night was their first game in front of a home crowd since that Lord’s final nearly two years ago, and with the vast majority of their careers stuck behind a paywall, their players will want to serve up a better spectacle than Wednesday night’s; even Jos Buttler and Jason Roy – perhaps the most destructive opening partnership in T20I cricket – could do little to liven things up with such a low target to chase. The fact that tonight’s match falls on the first rest day in the Euro 2020 schedule means the scope to draw in casual viewers is all the greater.There are two moves to make. The first is that if they win the toss, England should bat first regardless of the conditions on what is expected to be a used pitch. Not only would it give their batting line-up valuable experience of setting a total before this autumn’s World Cup, it would ensure there is a chance to show off their wealth of batting options.And the second is to pick Moeen, if not for Malan then for either Curran or Livingstone, whose brief spell on Wednesday proved that Cardiff does not have to be a graveyard for spinners. The demand for him in the IPL suggests he is wasted carrying drinks, and there are fewer better sights in the game than Moeen’s smooth flow while hitting down the ground – it would be a missed opportunity not to open it up to a significantly bigger audience than usual.

He has played in just 14 of India’s 44 ODIs since the start of 2020 but remains crucial

Deivarayan Muthu21-Jan-20231:42

Shami on workload management: ‘I prefer playing matches’

The seam is bolt upright. Not even a hint of wobble. Finn Allen topples over like a house of cards. The ball clunks into the top of middle stump via a deflection off the back pad. Inducker after three outswingers. The perfect set-up. This is vintage Mohammed Shami. He strikes in the first over of the first-ever international game in Raipur to rouse a sellout crowd.Sure, there’s a smattering of grass on this pitch, though nothing as generous as a green seamer on the first day of a Test match in Hamilton. Shami keeps landing the ball on the seam to maximise the early juice. He keeps threatening both the edges. He doesn’t present width. He doesn’t offer the drive ball that New Zealand are searching for.Daryl Mitchell tries to manufacture that drive ball by shimming out of his crease, but Shami still beats him in length and has him weakly plopping a return catch. Mitchell throws his head back in despair. Shami throws the ball up in the air and wheels away in celebration.Replay – Ind vs NZ, 2nd men’s ODI

You can watch the replay of the second ODI between India and New Zealand on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

The drive ball never comes from Shami in the powerplay. Just one of his 24 in the powerplay was full, but even that wasn’t really hittable. Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya back Shami up beautifully as New Zealand fall to 15 for 4 in ten overs. They are eventually rolled over for 108 in 34.3 overs.”Conditions were not as helpful to the bowlers as it may have appeared,” Shami said at the post-match press conference. “They got out early but conditions were not overtly bowler-friendly. We dismissed them cheaply by bowling a testing length. It was a damp wicket but it was important to keep good line and length. All the bowlers were disciplined and the result is for all to see.”New Zealand captain Tom Latham admitted that the unwavering accuracy of Shami and Siraj handcuffed their batters in the early exchanges.1:39

Jaffer: Shami unlucky in previous games, deserved his wickets today

“They obviously bowled fantastically well,” Latham said. “And like you said they were pretty relentless with the lines and lengths they bowled and that didn’t give us any easy scoring options and then obviously to be five down reasonably early on, I think just after the 10th or 11th over… Yeah, it was hard to come back from there. When you get bowled out for just over a 100 obviously makes things pretty difficult. So, unfortunately it was just one of those days where everything India did turned their way.”New Zealand briefly threatened a fightback through Michael Bracewell (who else?) once the ball grew older and softer. Shardul Thakur finally gave Bracewell the drive ball, and the batter drilled him down the ground for four. Then, when Shami returned to the attack, Bracewell carted him for three fours in six balls. Bracewell had laid into him in the first ODI in Hyderabad too but here Shami beasted the Beast. He ditched his attempted yorker, which disappeared to the boundary, for the big bouncer. He switched his angle from around the wicket to over the wicket and let rip a head-high lifter close to the off stump. Bracewell had very little time and room to work with and ended up top-edging it to the keeper. Game over for New Zealand.Prasidh Krishna or Umran Malik have been India’s chief enforcers in the middle overs of an ODI in the past two years. However, Prasidh is now on the sidelines, still working his way back from injury while Malik can’t find a place in this XI because India want some batting insurance at No. 8 in the form of Thakur. In their absence, Shami has stepped up with the old ball too and kept himself in India’s World Cup frame and Raipur couldn’t have been happier. The city had waited for a long time for its first international game and Shami ensured it was worth it, despite the match lasting just 55 overs. After the game ended early, a laser show kept the fans entertained. The show ended with a message to the crowd: “Chhattisgarh thanks you”. Perhaps, that was a message to Shami as well.India’s bowling depth is as unprecedented as their batting depth these days. Just like how Ishan Kishan made way for Shubman Gill immediately after smashing a double-century, Shami might have to make way for Jasprit Bumrah once he regains fitness. Which isn’t anything new. Shami hasn’t been an ODI regular for India – he has played in just 14 of their 44 games since the start of 2020. Siraj’s emergence has pushed him into the background a bit. But Saturday’s events proved he’s not the kind of player who goes quietly into the night.That means advantage India because how many teams can say they have a bowler like Shami as their plan B?

Warwickshire debutant’s 3 for 29 offers reassurance amid autumnal gloom

Paul Edwards28-Sep-202112-6 looks more like an old-style price tag than a cricket score. Change the dash for a forward slash and knock off two bob and you have the label on the Mad Hatter’s topper. Such thoughts seemed only fitting on an unhinged morning at Lord’s, where Lancashire’s collapse to Warwickshire’s excellent new-ball bowlers looked something of a judgement on the decision to extend a five-day game into October. Those who called this match “a showpiece occasion” were stretching things a bit and those who referred to the Bob Willis Trophy should have consulted a dictionary.None of which is intended to criticise the late Bob Willis or the charities that will benefit as a result of this game taking place. It is merely to observe that the fixture seems something that has been tacked onto the end of a very long season.For many cricket lovers the curtain should have been brought down on Friday, when Warwickshire’s players piled on top of each other at Edgbaston after they had clinched the County Championship. Instead of which, we have an enormous encore which no one in the stalls has demanded. So as the number of wickets lurked menacingly just behind the number of runs one was grateful for Panzer’s, the St John’s Wood delicatessen whose almond croissants could even brighten any morning; even one on which the Jubilee Line had gone kaput because of signal failure at Baker St. I’d like to have seen Gerry Rafferty write a song about that.Related

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At which point Manraj Johal came on to bowl at the Pavilion End. Lancashire were already neck-deep in the Grimpen Mire when Will Rhodes threw the ball to his 19-year-old rookie but I doubt Johal cared too much that the scoreboard read 26 for 6. This was his first-class debut and it was taking place at Lord’s. Beat that with a stick.At first the nerves showed a little. They may even have been evident in the third over when Johal bowled a short ball only to see Josh Bohannon pull it straight to Dom Sibley at midwicket. Two overs later Tom Bailey was leg-before to one that nipped back and then Jack Blatherwick obligingly held his bat out and edged a catch to Sam Hain at second slip. When Lancashire were finally dismissed for 78 in 27.5 overs, Johal’s figures read 8-3-29-3.It is a lovely story for the last week of the season and one made all the richer when you know the circumstances behind it. Johal is 19 and opens the bowling for West Bromwich Dartmouth in the Birmingham League. He first played for a Warwickshire age-group side when he was 11; he has been a Bear since he was a cub.Five years ago, though, Johal was deselected from the county’s Emerging Player Programme (EPP), a decision he greeted with a courteous refusal to be dissuaded from his chosen profession. Last October, after a year in Warwickshire’s Academy and two further years on the EPP he signed his first professional contract.Manraj Johal celebrates his maiden first-class wicket•PA Photos/Getty Images”During his time in the pathway, Manraj has shown how determined he is to reach the top and he has also proved that he could overcome notable setbacks along the way,” Paul Greetham, Warwickshire’s high performance manager, said. “During lockdown he got stronger and fitter than ever by getting out running along the canals and by working on his skills by bowling to his dad in his garden.”He was deselected from the EPP but reacted by winning his place back the following year by having an excellent season in the county age groups and in the additional skill-set groups. Manraj has worked very hard to get to earn this rookie contract and it’s for him now to grasp this opportunity and to prove that he can make it in the professional game.”VVS Laxman used to give this advice to young cricketers; indeed, he probably still does. “Knock on the door. If you get no answer, knock louder. If there is still no answer, knock the door down.”To watch a young player make his debut in the last game of the season is one of cricket’s most encouraging sights. In its way it is rather moving for it offers reassurance that there will be another season, another spring. Manraj Johal will not give a fig that this game hardly stirs most people’s blood. It stirs his blood alright and for no other reason than that it is the next step on the way to the full realisation of his ambition.He has helped the Bears bowl out Lancashire for 78 and he has watched as his side’s opening batters make 120 without loss in reply. I might be risking things a shade here but I reckon Warwickshire have their noses in front.

Will Virat Kohli pick four bowlers or five in South Africa, and what about the Rahane, Vihari, Iyer conundrum?

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Dec-20212:32

India’s opening roulette since their 2018 tour of South Africa

Unless injury or illness intervene, India will have five certain starters on Boxing Day at Centurion – KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah – and three near-certainties – Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami. Picking the rest of their XI, however, could be a difficult task. Here are three major questions that India will potentially ponder over in the lead-up to Boxing Day.Five bowlers or four?
India have played 15 Tests since Boxing Day last year, and each of the XIs have included five bowlers, with either Ravindra Jadeja or Washington Sundar slotting in as a batting-weighted allrounder in 13 of them. Neither is part of the squad in South Africa, which could make a five-bowler combination tricky to balance.Related

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R Ashwin, however, has been a rejuvenated lower-order force this year. Having gone through a prolonged dip – he averaged only 16.72 from the start of 2017 to the end of 2020, with one fifty in 39 innings – he has lifted his batting back to a level near its best. He averages 28.08 in 2021, and apart from his century against England in Chennai, he’s made a few other useful contributions too. There was the unbeaten, 190-minute match-saving effort with a bad back in Sydney, of course, but also a series of valuable knocks against New Zealand – a 27-ball 22 in the World Test Championship final when Kyle Jamieson was running riot, and a pair of thirties full of crisp off-side strokes in Kanpur.India, therefore, could pick five bowlers if they feel Ashwin and Shardul Thakur – who has three fifties in four Tests – can provide enough with the bat at Nos. 7 and 8 to make up for the lack of batting ability among their Nos. 9, 10 and 11.