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Leeds United have been handed a potential injury boost concerning right-back Rasmus Kristensen.

What’s the latest?

According to a report by Leeds Live, despite the 25-year-old having missed out on the Whites’ defeat at Brentford after picking up a training ground injury in the week before the match, Kristensen has now been called up to the Denmark national team for their Nations League fixtures against Croatia and France later this month.

The report goes on to state that this is a clear indication of the severity of the defender’s knock, alleviating apparent fears that the former Red Bull Salzburg full-back’s injury was worse than initially revealed – as well as being something that should see the Dane available for the Whites’ next Premier League game against Aston Villa on October 2.

Good news for Marsch

Considering how impressive Kristensen has been for Leeds since his £10m move to Elland Road earlier this summer, should the right-back indeed be fit enough to feature for his country later this month, it would undoubtedly be good news for Jesse Marsch and his side.

Indeed, over his five Premier League so far this season, the £13.5m-rated defender has enjoyed a fine start to life in England, helping his side keep one clean sheet, as well as making an average of 2.0 tackles, 2.0 interceptions, 1.8 clearances and winning 3.4 duels per game.

These metrics have seen the eight-cap international average a SofaScore match rating of 6.82, ranking him as Marsch’s sixth-best performer in the league so far in 2022/23 – an impressive feat for a player who only arrived in Leeds in July.

Furthermore, while Luke Ayling did impress during his 20-minute cameo against the Bees last time out, considering just how shakey the Whites were without Kristensen on the right of their backline – shipping five goals against Thomas Frank’s side – it is evident just how important a part of March’s side the 25-year-old has already become.

As such, should the defender indeed be fully fit by the time Aston Villa make the trip to Elland Road at the start of next month, it would most certainly come as a huge boost to the club’s chances of picking up all three points against Steven Gerrard’s side – a result Marsch will be desperate for following the humbling defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium last time out.

How ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary recorded the moments that made up Jasprit Bumrah’s hat-trick

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-20198.2 Bumrah to Bravo, OUT, taken low at second slip! Bumrah remains unplayable to this West Indies top order. Length ball swinging away from middle stump. He had no choice but to play at that. Didn’t even look to push at it or anything. It’s off the high part of the outside edge and KL Rahul lunges low to his right to grab onto this. Bumrah got Campbell and Bravo identically with inswingers last match. He’s got them identically with outswingers this time.
DM Bravo c Rahul b Bumrah 4 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.008.3 Bumrah to Brooks, OUT, lbw appeal and given! Brooks reviews. That looked dead on front. Length and swung in from outside off. It’s hit his back pad…but was there front pad first? Yes, but that doesn’t matter. He was looking to go across the line, was trapped in front of middle stump and that is hitting leg. Review lost, wicket lost.
SSJ Brooks lbw b Bumrah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.008.4 Bumrah to Chase, OUT, Kohli reviews an lbw decision. It’s a full inswinger that raps Chase above the toe in front of middle stump as he looks to flick. Kohli was the only one interested in that review. It swung a long way down, did the others think it was going down? Well, they were wrong if they did! That is hitting leg stump. All three reds! Jasprit Bumrah has a hat-trick! You could hear Kohli screeching that there wasn’t an inside edge on that. it’s paid off. What a bowler. Chase was pinned with a stride across. He didn’t even want to review!
RL Chase lbw b Bumrah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Solomon Mire, who was the architect of the win, also racked up the fourth fastest ODI century for Zimbabwe

Gaurav Sundararaman30-Jun-20170 Previous instances of a 300-plus target being chased down successfully in Sri Lanka in 32 attempts. Zimbabwe’s pursuit of 318 was the highest successful chase in the country. The previous highest was 289 by Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 2009. Sri Lanka becomes the twelfth country to witness a successful 300-plus chase. Out of 67 instances of teams successfully chasing 300-plus targets, India has hosted 13, followed by 11 in England.

Host 300+ target Successful chases Win PercentageIndia 78 13 16.66England 55 11 20.00South Africa 54 7 12.96Australia 65 8 12.30New Zealand 39 7 17.94Pakistan 29 6 20.68Bangladesh 23 4 17.39West Indies 35 4 11.42Zimbabwe 23 4 17.39Kenya 13 1 7.69Scotland 5 1 20.00Sri Lanka 33 1 3.032010 The last instance when Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka in ODIs. Friday’s win in Galle was also Zimbabwe’s first win over the home side in Sri Lanka in any format. Overall, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have met 51 times with Sri Lanka winning 41 times. This was only the eighth win for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in ODIs.1 Number of scores higher than 317 successfully chased by Zimbabwe in ODIs. They have won chasing 300-plus targets on two other occasions in ODIs – both against New Zealand at home. Their highest successful chase is 329 in 2011 in Bulawayo .85 Balls taken by Solomon Mire to score his first ODI century. This is the fourth-fastest century for Zimbabwe. Mire’s 112 is also the joint-highest for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, equalling Grant Flower’s 112 in 1998.79Runs scored from 47 balls by Zimbabwe through the sweep or reverse sweep in their total of 322. Mire scored 33 of those runs. In contrast, Sri Lanka scored 25 runs from 15 balls through the same shots.28 Innings taken by Kusal Mendis to reach 1000 ODI runs, making him the joint second-fastest Sri Lanka batsman to the milestone, after Roy Dias who got there in 27 innings. Since his debut in June last year, no other player has made more 50-plus scores in ODI cricket, with Joe Root tied with Mendis at the top of that table, having made 12 such scores.

In a bold strategic move portended by Afghanistan’s starting XI in Nagpur a week earlier, New Zealand rode the unheralded spin trio of Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi to a stunning win over pre-tournament favourite India

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur 15-Mar-2016In September 2012, New Zealand went into a T20I against India, in Chennai, with Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Ronnie Hira and James Franklin making up an allrounder-heavy bowling attack. Between that match and Tuesday’s World T20 game in Nagpur, they played 35 T20Is, and at least one among Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan featured in 34 of them.The one match they did not was in December 2014, during a T20I series against Pakistan to which New Zealand sent a largely second-string squad. No one raised an eyebrow when New Zealand revealed their eleven for that game, an experimental combination in a largely inconsequential contest.No one could quite believe their eyes, however, when New Zealand left out Southee, Boult and McClenaghan in the opening game of their World T20 campaign. The big screen at the VCA Stadium flashed each player’s face, one by one, got as far as No. 9 without any mishap, and blanked out after beaming Boult’s face to the crowd. Someone must have told the operator Boult wasn’t playing; the operator clearly hadn’t taken the news well.New Zealand had their reasons of course. Over the course of the next three-and-a-half hours, they proved to be perfectly sound reasons. At that point, however, it seemed to make little sense. Yes, this was a slow pitch, and yes, it would probably take turn as well. But three spinners?Teams playing India in India don’t do three spinners, regardless of format. They might leave out one of their seamers and play a second spinner, and that too only if that second spinner also happens to be handy with the bat. But not three spinners. Not at the cost of leaving out your first-choice new-ball pairing as well as a bustling limited-overs regular.It was a brave move, but also a logical one. New Zealand must have watched the first-round matches that took place in Nagpur, and seen a slow pitch that offered increasing help to the spinners as one match followed the next. They must have seen Afghanistan benefit from packing their side with spinners against Scotland, even at the cost of leaving out Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan, their two most experienced quicks.The stakes for New Zealand were just a little higher.If their thinking had this level of openness to it, it was because they were trying to find solutions to a new problem. They hadn’t played any match in the subcontinent, in any format, since March 2014 at the prior World T20 in Bangladesh, and the tactics that had served them well in other lands since then would have required a tweak in some Indian venues and an overhaul in some others. Nagpur was overhaul territory.Approaching the same game, India’s thinking would have been entirely different. They were on a sensational run of results, winning 10 of their last 11 T20I games stretching back to the start of the year in Australia. The same combination, more or less, had featured in every match, and they had not needed to change their tactics too much from one match to the next. The only jolt they received was a defeat to Sri Lanka on a Pune pitch so green and bouncy that it belonged on another continent and in another era.India would have seen how the Nagpur pitch had behaved through the first round, but a slow turner wasn’t an unknown challenge. They had a team used to such conditions. They had most bases covered. They must have felt little need for changes in personnel.Things went largely India’s way through the first half of the match. There might have been a bit of concern, judging by the sheer degree of turn available, but they would have backed themselves to chase down 127.But now came their first taste of the unexpected. Most of India’s batsmen would never have faced up to a non-Asian limited-overs attack containing three spinners and none of Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner or Ish Sodhi are heralded names.Ish Sodhi and the rest of the New Zealand spin attack celebrated early and often on Tuesday in Nagpur•Associated PressShikhar Dhawan was probably looking to make an early statement when he aimed a sweep at McCullum in the first over of the second innings. It seemed like a bit of an ego shot. He picked the worst possible ball for it, pitching on the stumps and straightening, and executed it poorly, failing to get down low and get his head over the ball. He missed, the ball hit his front pad, and India were 5 for 1.When Santner replaced McCullum, Rohit Sharma jumped out of his crease to the left-armer’s second ball. This is Twenty20, and the relationship between risk and reward is nothing like it is in the longer formats, but you are always giving the bowler an advantage when you step out too early. Santner looped it slower, shorter, and ripped it past Rohit. And Rohit made it easier for the ball to spin past him by looking to play against the turn.Three balls later, another batsman perished to Santner. This time the ball stopped on a tentative Suresh Raina and popped up off his leading edge.”I think in every alternate over we lost one wicket,” MS Dhoni later said. “It becomes more and more difficult once the top order gets out. The batsmen who come in at five, six or seven, they have that pressure of an extra wicket falling, so it seems as if cricket becomes very difficult, but what’s important is that the batsmen get some kind of a partnership going.”Even if it’s not big, in terms of the number of runs scored, it just gives that calmness to the dressing room and the batsmen coming afterwards. So I think it was to some extent a lack of application. A few good deliveries, but today I think it was more about the soft dismissals than the good deliveries.”The one partnership that did threaten to develop was between Dhoni and Virat Kohli, who briefly showed how India could have approached their task against the spinners. They played with a straight bat, looked to take singles to the deep fielders down the ground or to the sweepers on either side, and twos when they hit the gaps between those fielders.But New Zealand, thanks to their selection, had plenty of spin overs in reserve. Sodhi produced the ball of the innings to remove the till-then faultless Kohli, flighting it above his eyeline, inviting the cover drive, and getting it to dip and turn away sharply to find the edge. Then he ended the only other partnership of note, a 30-run stand for the eighth wicket, beating the advancing R Ashwin in the air and off the pitch with another ripping legbreak.Ravindra Jadeja had turned it just as big in the first half of the game, but there was a sense, at least in the first few overs of the chase, that India may have felt New Zealand’s spinners wouldn’t be able to find as much purchase. Santner, McCullum and Sodhi proved otherwise.Somehow, at the start of the 18th over, with India needing an improbable 52 from 18 balls, Dhoni produced a horizontal-bat swat, against the turn, to bisect deep backward square leg and deep midwicket. On the next ball, Santner quickly reminded Dhoni of what he was up against, pitching one just short of a length on middle stump, and turning it almost at a right angle.There was no earthly way for Dhoni to play any sort of shot at that sort of ball. There was no earthly way for Dhoni to win this for India. There might just have been, had New Zealand baulked at playing three spinners.

Plays of the day from the second ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah

Rachna Shetty12-Dec-2014The roller-coaster
Matt Henry’s accurate first over had produced the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad, and New Zealand almost had another just two balls later, when Younis Khan was trapped lbw by Mitchell McClenaghan. Replays, however, brought an end to McClenaghan’s party, showing the bowler had bowled a huge no ball. His line strayed a bit in that over, but there was a happy ending to the tale after Younis poked at an angled delivery to give a straightforward catch to Ross Taylor at slip.The missed run-out I
Despite the assurance he showed at the crease, Mohammad Hafeez was lucky not to be run-out on a couple of occasions. In the 22nd over, Misbah-ul-Haq punched the ball back to Vettori. Hafeez was out of his crease and Vettori lobbed the ball between his legs towards the stumps to create a chance. Luckily for Hafeez, he made it back in time.The missed run-out II
That situation should have chastened Hafeez, then batting on 52, but he almost ran himself out again in the next over. Misbah defended a ball from Adam Milne on to the leg side and looked down the other end to see Hafeez charging halfway down the track. Milne got to the ball and threw at the stumps but missed, and the fielder at mid-on could only watch the ball race to the boundary.The missed run-out III
Pakistan were looking to get a lift in the run-rate at the start of the second Powerplay. With McClenaghan bowling, Misbah tapped the ball to the off side and it was swiftly picked up by Anton Devcich at point. Halfway done, Sarfraz hadn’t moved and as Misbah turned back, Devcich, who had time on his hands, hesitated between taking a throw at the stumps or returning the ball to Ronchi. He chose to do the latter. The New Zealand wicketkeeper, charging in towards the stumps, over-ran the lob and was left eventually exchanging embarrassed shrugs with Devcich.The run-out that actually happened
For all the uncertainty in the running between wickets during Pakistan’s innings, the first run-out of the game came in New Zealand’s chase. New Zealand were motoring along nicely when Kane Williamson, who had spent 22 balls in the middle, called Anton Devcich, batting on a well-set 58, for a single. Devcich wasn’t ready and started late, and the fielder at short third man didn’t miss the throw either.The climber
New Zealand’s fast bowlers made things uncomfortable for a few Pakistan batsmen with their bouncers and Mohammad Irfan added a few deliveries of his own to that list. Opener Dean Brownlie was at the receiving end of one in the fourth over that came at 145kph, rose up and caught the shoulder of the bat. Fortuitously for Brownlie, the ball ended up going for a four through gully.

In the face of so much expectation, Joe Root delivered when his side needed him and when his home crowd were so willing him to

David Hopps at Headingley25-May-2013Yorkshire was on its best behaviour for Joe Root. “Put tha’ best bib and ticker on, lad’s mekking his debut.” The crowd was expectant but never over-demanding, the pitch was bountiful and the skies were so sharp and blue that from the top floor of the pavilion you could even see the Emley Moor transmitter on the horizon. Tallest structure in Yorkshire, the locals will tell you. But there is no doubt after the magic of a maiden Test hundred on his first outing on his home ground that Root is standing taller today.It was a chance to make good, and Root had the ability to take it. His celebration upon reaching three figures will stick in the memory, a sort of ungainly jiggle which suggested that, although he hails from Sheffield, the Arctic Monkeys will never have him in mind when they sing I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor. “I lost it a bit, but you only get your first one once,” he said before confirming that it was not actually meant to be a dance move. “I suppose emotions took over and that was the result of it.”His disgust with himself when he got out weakly, chasing the first delivery with the second new ball, had even more to commend it.Kevin Pietersen was one of the first England players to tweet his congratulations, calling him the first England nine-year-old to score a ton. Root grinned at the ribbing and admitted that even at 22 he can still be asked for ID to get served in pubs. He must be the first England batsman to be more afraid of a pub landlord than a Test bowling attack. “I’m not too fussed,” he said. “I can’t help it.”Not since Darren Gough bowled out South Africa 15 years ago has there been such an outpouring of Yorkshire pride at a Headingley Test. Not since Geoffrey Boycott inched towards his 100th first-class hundred here in 1977 has a Yorkshire batsman in a Headingley Test borne so much faith. In both cases, it was as if the outcome was pre-ordained. Boycott was 36, his best days beyond him; Root was 22, many fine days surely still to come, but in the sort of prolific form that could not be ignored. Neither let their supporters down.The most striking thing about Root is that, for all his mild-mannered exterior, when it comes to cricket, he “gets it”. It is not just about his technique, or his range of shots, it is the fact that his mind is so attuned to it. It is rare to see a young player repeatedly make such sensible cricketing decisions.He must have realised as a youngster that he had an aptitude for cricket like discovering that he was gifted in computer code or foreign languages. In Root’s case, natural ability came hand in hand with a fierce desire for improvement. All that obsessive practice is worth it now.He has expanded his runs tally this season to 861 at an average of 123. Just think, some of us imagined after his heroic stonewalling in India and New Zealand, it might inhibit his game so much that he would not be able to play another shot until the end of June. How wrong we were.

Few England players of recent vintage have taken to the Test arena with such a lack of nerves and with so much obvious pleasure.

Boycott, now Yorkshire’s president, was bristling with pride that the county’s line of England batsmen had been affirmed so gloriously. They may be connected by county affiliation, perhaps even cricketing philosophy, but in style they are all very different. With Boycott, you could always sense the intense concentration, the unyielding desire to succeed. When Michael Vaughan, a Root mentor and the last Yorkshire batsman to make a Test hundred at Headingley, against West Indies in 2007, was on song, you were overcome by the elegance.Root is different again. He soothes the onlooker, never over-striving or over-hitting, a boy-man proceeding with immense repose, finessing the ball to areas where logic insisted he should send it. The biggest cheer came for a reverse sweep against the offspin of Kane Williamson. It was not random, it suited the delivery and the moment, but it communicated that he has batting cheek, too.Boycott was full of emphatic, brook-no-argument praise. “Joe Root’s played beautifully, but ever since he was about 15, we at Yorkshire felt we had a good player here and that he had what it takes to be pretty special,” he said.He could have suggested it was never as easy at Headingley in his day – and it would have been justifiable. Keith Boyce’s Test pitches were crabbier affairs, ever eager to betray a batsman in golden touch with a grubber or two, as if to say: “Play that one, let’s see you.” Boycott learned mistrust. Andy Fogarty’s creations are fairer surfaces. There was a bit in it for the bowlers as England lost 3 for 67, but as Root settled in, he was increasingly blessed by kindly batting conditions.Ultimately, though, how he made the Yorkshire crowd sweat. Twice in the 90s, he was spared only after TV replays. On 92, Jonny Bairstow’s firm straight drive deflected into the stumps off the hands of the bowler, Neil Wagner. How galling it would have been for Root to be run out by his Yorkshire team mate, a batsman who stood alongside him for much of the day. But Root’s back foot and bat were firmly entrenched.A run later, Root’s smile did not seem quite so scampish as Brendon McCullum appealed for a leg-side catch off Doug Bracewell and, when turned down, took the issue to a review. The replay showed pad. The crowd cheered, but they wanted it over. Root’s runs had dried, for the first time, and it was Bairstow, the stronger puncher, who looked the stronger, twice driving Wagner imperiously through mid-on as he passed his third England half-century.”I tried to get out twice in the two worst ways,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I was nervous in the 90s, more excited really. I was confident I was not out, but you just never know.”If Root departed angrily, Bairstow left with dejection, a second Yorkshire batsman to fall in successive overs, another victim of the Boult-McCullum combination. Two Yorkshire hundreds in one innings might have been too much to hope for.All that was galling for Yorkshire was that the ground was not at capacity. A crowd of 12,000 left the ground three-quarters full. What Bank Holiday attraction could possibly beat this? The Harewood Medieval banquet, the Swaledale Festival in the Dales or perhaps the Photography Bubble Exhibition in Malton?One thing that can be said confidently about Joe Root, or at least as confidently as anything can ever be predicted about any young cricketer: this does not look like a bubble which is about to burst. Few England players of recent vintage have taken to the Test arena with such a lack of nerves and with so much obvious pleasure about the challenge that lies before them.

No hundred for the hard work, and no win for India either, but a good time was had by all

Saurav Dey06-Dec-2011Choice of game
I had watched the second and third Tests of the series at the grounds, and had no plans to watch any of the ODIs, but a couple of scheduled meetings were cancelled, and I thought I could make good use of the time. So I came down to Ahmedabad from Mumbai to catch the game I expected would clinch the series for India.Key performer
Though Ravi Rampaul bowled a superb spell and Rohit Sharma showed glimpses of the greatness many expect him to achieve, Darren Sammy was my Man of the Match. Not easy to be in his shoes, since he carries the burden of possibly being the most criticised international cricketer around. When West Indies were batting, he took Abhimanyu Mithun to the cleaners in the 49th over, changing the complexion of the game completely. During the Indian chase, he ran Rohit out superbly to make up for a couple of dropped catches. The man never stops trying. Also, he kept his cool till the end and managed to get India all out, and did not panic when Rohit and Ashwin came close to the target. Good to see Sammy smiling for the right reasons at least once in the series.One thing I’d have changed
I’d have liked Rohit to get his century and take India home as he promised in an interview a few days back.Face-off I relished
Rohit v the West Indies. Sammy was sporting enough to congratulate him after his dismissal.Wow moment
When Kieron Pollard hit a Vinay Kumar delivery high, we all looked to see whether the ball would go over the rope. Then, suddenly, from nowhere came Ravindra Jadeja, hot on its trail, before lunging at the ball and taking a ripper, stunning the whole crowd into disbelief. This was followed by loud celebrations from the crowd, and all his team-mates ran towards Jadeja to congratulate him. The next moment, everyone turned towards the giant screen to see the replay, after which the crowd stood up in unison to applaud.Close encounter
Virat Kohli gets cheered everywhere he goes, and often looks a little hassled by it, but this time he waved graciously at the spectators when they chanted his name. But the one who pleased the crowd the most was Kieron Pollard – whenever the crowd cheered for him, he turned back and did a , sending the crowd into a frenzy.Shot of the day
Before the last ball of the 43rd over, it seemed like Rohit was asking Mithun to judiciously block the delivery. Mithun had other ideas, and hit it for a huge six. The crowd, who had been happy to watch him block the ball till then, went delirious and produced another standing ovation, with people calling him the “Mithun Chakraborty of cricket”.Crowd meter
The stadium was almost jam-packed. There was a constant buzz all the time, though it dimmed considerably after Jadeja’s dismissal, with India at 105 for 6. There were brisk sales of Indian flags outside, and I haven’t so many flags at a stadium, even at Eden or Wankhede.In this Indian team, it is usually Virat Kohli who gets the most cheers, but local boy Parthiv Patel was the apple of everyone’s eye today. An elderly gentleman walked in a little late, sat in my row and asked the people around: “Sachin ? Parthiv “? (Is Sachin here? Parthiv?) He asked later if Aaron and Yadav were the same or two different players.An elderly man and his grandson sitting in front of me watched the game with whole-hearted enthusiasm. Towards the end of the West Indies innings, the grandpa tried to explain to the boy that they should support Windies now so that they would score some runs and the game would become interesting. So when Andre Russell and Sammy hit boundaries, the grandpa beamed, while the grandson ( keen on the plan) sulked.Entertainment
A lady with a singsong voice announced at the beginning that India had won the toss and decided to field. During the break she announced with great seriousness that no one should make racist comments that can hurt other people’s feelings.During the break, all what we saw was one of the Indians (seemed to be Rahane) get some fielding practice. The spectators watched with great interest and applauded every time he took a good catch.Accessories
Nothing absolutely. I have enough stadium experience to know that the more things you take to a stadium in India, the more trouble you will have. As usual, the food was very badly managed, with the one stall for four gates overcrowded all the time; after an hour all it was selling was popcorn, which means most people spent much of their time without any decent food.Marks out of 10
An 8, easily. Would have been a 9, had the match gone to the last over, and maybe a 9.5 had India won with a Rohit century. It was a cracker of a match, with the Indian chase keeping our hopes alive. The last-wicket partnership between Umesh Yadav and Mithun kept us hanging on, and every run scored was celebrated with festival-like fervour.

Top-level international cricket now has two bowler-captains, Anil Kumble and Daniel Vettori, which is a whole lot more than there have been in recent times. We take a look at a little-understood breed

Sidharth Monga18-Feb-2008

Giffen: you have a problem if I bring myself on now? © Cricinfo Ltd
George Giffen, perhaps Australia’s first great allrounder, was more of a bowler than a batsman, with seven five-fors and one century from 31 Tests. As a captain he was, according to the , cantankerous and a bit too trusting of his own bowling. In , Don Bradman mentions a time when the crowd had to shout at Giffen to “take yourself off”. He acceded … and changed ends.In his four Tests as captain Giffen bowled 236.2 overs (1418 balls, as opposed to 4973 in his other 27 Tests) – and that after not bowling at all in one innings. In his first Test as captain, Giffen also became the first man to put an opposition in. Although he took 26 wickets in those four Tests, at an average of 22.34 and a strike-rate of 54.50, both better than his career figures of 27.09 and 62 respectively, that was the last series in which he captained Australia. Giffen possibly embodied everything what is traditionally thought of to be wrong with bowler-captains. He wasn’t the first bowler-captain in Test history, but none of the breed till then had had a run longer than ten Tests.A bowler leading a team somehow doesn’t sit well with traditional cricket thinking (win the toss and bat first, remember?). Bowlers are only the henchmen, the doers; batsmen are the shrewd planners. A bowler-captain is supposed to over-bowl or under-bowl himself, be imbalanced and over-aggressive, too simplistic and instinctive. It is no surprise that out of the 71 men in the history of cricket who have captained a team for 20 or more Tests, only ten are either bowlers or bowling allrounders or plain allrounders. The last time two bowlers went out for a toss in a Test match was in January 2003, when Shaun Pollock and Waqar Younis did the honours; 226 Tests have been played since then.A captain is at his busiest when his side is in the field. A batsman-captain can focus his energies on strategising and leading the side, which gives him an obvious advantage over a bowler, who has to think about his own bowling, apart from making sure he has the right fields set and that he has used his other bowlers judiciously. It is physically taxing, too, especially if the captain in question is a fast bowler. “You are worried about your own bowling, about the batsman you are bowling to, and then at the end of a tiring or frustrating over, rather than switch off, you have got to captain for the bowler at the other end,” Mark Taylor, one of the more acclaimed modern captains, points out. “As a batsman you field in the slips and can tend not to worry about the bowling, and can spend a lot of time thinking about changes of bowling if necessary.”It is tough for bowler-captains in other ways too. To return to popular perception: a bowler is regarded as a simple creature, when reduced to essentials – give him a set field and he will try to hit a rhythm of bowling to that field, and as far as possible not diverge. A bowler, especially a pace bowler, hates somebody coming up to him every ball and telling him what to do. Captaincy is a bit more complicated than that. A batsman is naturally more flexible and more innovative, and thus more suited to the task of leading a side.These are perceptions, and commonly held ones, and not always true. Is a bowler not best placed to understand the requirements of a side, considering the bulk of captaincy work happens when a team is fielding, and has to do with the taking of wickets? Imran Khan writes in All Round View how, at one point during the Barbados Test in 1976-77, Mushtaq Mohammad overlooked the wishes of Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran, who were reversing the ball at the time, and took the new ball. “We were right, and the new ball got thrashed about all over the park …” The secret is to pick a good bowler as a captain. The good bowling captain will only get better under his own leadership because he’ll have the right fields Ian Chappell Imran strongly believed that only a bowler-captain could understand what another bowler was trying to do. “… Allan Border tells me he did not fully understand what his pace bowlers were trying to do, and is honest enough to admit he didn’t know what advice to offer them when they were being hit.””The secret is to pick a good bowler as a captain,” Ian Chappell, himself a batsman, and one of the best Australian captains of all, says. “[Richie] Benaud and Imran are good examples … Then they will justify bowling a lot. The good bowling captain will only get better under his own leadership because he’ll have the right fields.”Imran concurs, referring to how he would get irritated by a batsman telling him what to do with the ball. “Being a bowler helped my captaincy a great deal,” he writes. “Having bowled in different conditions, I felt confident of handling my attack, and capable of advising the younger bowlers in the side. It was easy for me to advise and encourage them because I understood what they were trying to do.”I used to study a bowler’s run-up and delivery, and suggest what he might be doing wrong … If a bowler bowled a long-hop, my comment – if any – was not the parrot-cry of ‘pitch it up’. I’d ask if everything was all right.”With captaincy, a lot of it is about adjusting to the added responsibility. Imran did that well, was a good man-manager, and his captaincy brought the best out of his team and himself. Pollock took his own game to a higher level when leading South Africa, but he will also go down in history as a captain who failed to get the best out of his team. Daryll Cullinan, who played under Pollock, says that that period in Pollock’s career will be remembered for his lack of man-management skills and insight into what captaincy was all about.As Chappell says, “A bad captain, whether he is a batsman or a bowler, will make mistakes not because of what he does, but because of his ineptitude. Both a batting or bowling captain have to make adjustments once they have the extra responsibility. The good ones do it and the bad ones can’t.”Although Imran was self-admittedly helped in his captaincy by his being a bowler, and Pollock not necessarily hampered by the same, the truth is there hasn’t been a highly successful bowler-captain since Imran and Kapil Dev. It may be unfair to judge Courtney Walsh, Heath Streak, Waqar, and Andrew Flintoff solely on the basis of results: Walsh and Streak didn’t have the strongest teams to lead, and Waqar and Flintoff were way off their best when their selectors ran out of options or the first-choice captain was injured.A tale of two leggies
In recent times, a certain legspinner promised to make an innovative captain, and thereby prove bowlers could make for leaders the equal of batsmen. But one indiscreet phone call too many and Shane Warne, deputy to Steve Waugh at the time, lost his chance forever, leaving a host of questions unanswered.Would he have brought himself on as soon as he saw Cullinan at the crease? Would he have been instinctive or patient, just like Warne the bowler? Would he have raised his own game even higher? Would he have been aggressive – as he showed in the few ODIs he led Australia in? How ready would he have been to play out draws? How good an off-the-field captain would he have made?Following Warne’s retirement, Anil Kumble has done two things Warne never managed to: score a Test century and lead his national side in Tests.

In his Tests as captain Kumble has shown he possesses the qualities of a statesman – which not many credit bowlers with © Getty Images
When he captained Karnataka in Ranji Trophy games before he took over the Test captaincy, Kumble would walk up to the stumps to direct the point fielder to the exact angle he wanted him at. The mind immediately saw something special, something it was not used to seeing. In the Tests that have followed, the tough character of Kumble the bowler has accompanied that of Kumble the captain. He hasn’t glaringly under-bowled or over-bowled himself, has handled his young bowling attack well, and has emerged unscathed from the toughest tour a modern captain can make, Australia. In tricky times he has shown the qualities of a statesman – skills not many usually credit bowlers with.Yet he was not the first choice for the job, only getting it because Rahul Dravid resigned, Sachin Tendulkar refused the job, and Mahendra Dhoni was too inexperienced. Was it not the same prejudice against bowlers that Kumble was not thought of as a contender for captaincy till there were no alternatives at hand? Even after he started as captain, it seemed he was just keeping the seat warm. That should be far from the case now.Warne’s Australia against Kumble’s India would have been a dream contest. Two of the greatest legspinners of all time, two of the smartest bowlers of all time, trying to lead their teams in the prime rivalry in Test cricket, adding that final missing feather to their hats. That won’t happen now. One last gripe with Warne will always remain.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been appointed head coach of Washington Freedom ahead of the second season of the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States. He will take over from Sydney Sixers coach and his longtime mentor Greg Shipperd, who led Freedom to a third-place finish in the inaugural season.”I’m extremely excited to be joining the Washington Freedom in 2024,” Ponting said in a statement. “Cricket is really on the rise in the US and I’m looking forward to being involved in Major League Cricket. I’ve been impressed by everyone involved at Washington Freedom, and, while it’s a bit surreal to be replacing my mate Greg Shipperd, there’s probably no one better to set up a successful franchise. I’m ready to build on his work as we look towards the coming season.”Shipperd stepped down to focus on Cricket New South Wales Blues and the Sixers in Australia’s domestic circuit.Ponting is currently the head coach of Delhi Capitals in the IPL, and has previously filled roles in cricket’s short form with the Mumbai Indians and the Australian men’s team. He will be coaching Freedom for the next two years.Related

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Michael Klinger, the CNSW Head of Male T20 Cricket and General Manager of Cricket at Washington Freedom, said Ponting’s signing would have a significant impact on the organisation and cricket in the USA.”Ricky was one of the most recognised and revered cricketers in the world during his playing days and is now one of the most respected and coveted coaches on the global circuit,” Klinger said. “It is a huge coup, not only for Washington Freedom and the partnership with Cricket NSW, but more holistically for Major League Cricket and cricket in North America in general.”Players want to play for Ricky. He has an incredible eye for talent and a skill in bringing the best out of those players. Ricky will work with some of our CNSW coaches and players who are part of the Washington Freedom set up and we look forward to building on the foundations for success from the first edition of MLC.”Freedom owner Sanjay Govil said Ponting’s appointment would continue the positive evolution for MLC and build on the foundation of the first year.”Reflecting on the success of MLC’s inaugural season and the aspiration to elevate cricket in the USA, we are poised to build upon the foundations laid last year,” Govil said. “Our journey saw us capture the imagination of the cricket-passionate local community, showcasing the burgeoning talent within the US and igniting a passion for the sport. As we look to the future, it’s clear that our ambitions require a figure of unmatched stature and expertise.”It is with immense pride and anticipation that we welcome Ricky Ponting as our head coach. Ricky’s legendary status, characterized by his leadership, winning mindset, and commitment to nurturing talent, aligns perfectly with our goals. His understanding of our vision – to enhance the sport’s profile in the US and to develop local talent – resonates with our mission.Freedom have Cricket NSW as their high-performance partner, and had Matthew Short, Moises Henriques, Glenn Phillips among others turn up for them.

From nearly having to go home on his first day at the tournament to preparing to play for the trophy, the India pacer’s journey in this competition has been reminiscent of the rest of his career so far: a fight

Shashank Kishore in Mount Maunganui02-Feb-2018Ishan Porel’s Under-19 World Cup was nearly over even before he realised he was playing in one. In India’s tournament opener, against Australia, he landed awkwardly in his followthrough and hobbled off after bowling just 4.1 overs. For the next 12 hours, he’d be extremely anxious. The extent of injury would be known only in the morning, after which a call was to be taken on his immediate future. Just one thought kept replaying in his mind: ‘Would I fly home or would I stay back and train with the squad in the hope of being ready for the second half of the tournament?’Three weeks on, after picking up a four-wicket haul against Pakistan to bowl India into the final, a much calmer Porel looked back at the night of January 13. He is training hard for the final and should make the XI. When he does, it will be one of the biggest moments in his career, as in the case of all his team-mates.”I was shattered,” Porel said of the injury. “The doctor had a knock over my feet and it pained horribly just by touching it. I thought all my hard work will go waste. I felt my World Cup was over. But Rahul Dravid sir and others are very experienced and know how to handle the situation. They didn’t talk much about the injury, and tried to deviate my mind.”Paras Mhambrey sir (bowling coach) gave me examples from his Ranji days, how a piece of glass from the window pane fell on his feet and resulted in a ligament tear in the middle of a first-class season. I was hurting, because I had prepared so much for this World Cup and got injured in the very first game. Two-three days later, I gained my confidence. It was tough, I wasn’t feeling good, but slowly gained it back. My mom started crying [over the phone]. There’s a corner in the dressing room where I sat and cried for two hours. Alone. Nobody saw me.”It needed immense dedication from Anand Date, the strength and conditioning trainer, who put him through the paces and keep a watch on him every day for the next week or so, to bring Porel back to his cheerful best. At training, Porel was carefully monitored, but it was dealing with his emotions off the field that proved to be a challenge. Date, however, had seen it all.When Date first came across Porel, at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) four years ago, Porel was puny, weighing just 58 kgs, seven less than the prescribed weight for a bowler of his height – six feet and three inches. Over time, the two have developed a strong working relationship, with each trusting the other wholeheartedly. This trust has been key to Porel returning every time he’s suffered injuries.”Anand sir has been all through my career, from first NCA camp to now,” Porel, who made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bengal earlier this season, said. “He helped me a lot, how to lift weights and all. Only then I took it seriously. Himanshu Rana was there in the first camp with me. He says even now, ‘what change in this guy’! When I think back to those days, where I am now, I’ve improved tremendously in terms of fitness, bowling, confidence, fielding and everything.”It’s this first NCA stint that Porel looks back on fondly as he traces his short journey as a cricketer so far. “When I first went there, I wasn’t very fit,” he said. “I was different from the other guys. I was only 14 when I got my Under-16 NCA call. Others were fitter, stronger and used to hit me all over the park. I also kept bowling here and there.”Then, during an Under-16 tour of Bangladesh, everything changed, so much that he even received an offer to play for them. “There, I got to know what I wanted to do with life and how to progress,” he said. “That tour, I did really well. I played with a lot of the current Bangladesh Under-19 players back then. They gave me a compliment, which I still remember: ‘why don’t you come to Bangladesh and play for us?’ I didn’t think about that offer.”Over the last four years, Porel has already suffered multiple injuries: side strain, medial collateral ligament injury , anterior cruciate ligament injury, and partial tear on his left knee while fielding at an Under-16 game. While he has emerged fitter after each injury, there have always been nagging worries about recurrence. It wasn’t too different when he returned for the quarter-final against Bangladesh. “I started with some pain, and it took a while for me to get into bowling rhythm. Once I was in the flow, it worked well and I started feeling good.”Porel seems a natural fast bowler, not just in the way he bowls and generates bounce, but also in the number of injuries he’s suffered. However, cricket wasn’t his first fancy. Coming from a family that played Kabaddi – his grandfather played for the country in the 1950s and his father was a state-level player – he naturally started playing it, only to realise he wasn’t cut out for it, and turned to cricket.”Initially, my parents would ask – ‘you quit other sports, what’s the guarantee you won’t quit cricket?’ I’d say no, cricket is my dream. It’s different. Then I started going to coaching camps in Chandan Nagar. Then again, I got bored and my family taunted me saying they knew I’d quit. That motivated me.”Then my club, Cricket Clinic, sent me to Kolkata (aged around 11-12). My coach there said I’m weak but I bowl well and will have a good future. I had trials and got selected for the Under-14 team. I started as a batsman. Then, in the club, they made me a fast bowler because of my height. I used to have a wrong-footed action – like Sohail Tanvir – and had to change it. It took me a week to change the action, and I had to keep working on it. Then I played in Bangalore in an Under-14 team, where I performed well. That’s when I started getting more interested in cricket.”Whether it was his family’s taunts or the several injuries that strengthened his resolve to become a better cricketer, he isn’t quite sure. What Porel is thankful about is the experiences he has had in his nascent career so far, ones that he wouldn’t trade for anything because of the life lessons he has learnt. An Under-19 World Cup medal on Saturday will make all the pain and sacrifices more than worth it.