It is one of their great strengths to be able to take the same foundation into every format, but in the shortest, it just might also be a weakness

Sidharth Monga07-Oct-2015In Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, India have arguably three of the best T20 batsmen going around today, yet the team has many a problem. And MS Dhoni’s lack of form is not the biggest of those problems. India simply don’t have batsmen who dovetail to form a good T20 side. Or at least such is their reputation going by the way the XI is being selected.Rohit, Kohli and Raina play for different franchises in IPL cricket. That is something they hardly do in longer formats, given they play very little domestic cricket. Which means almost all the 50-over and first-class cricket India’s best batsmen play, they play alongside each other, as a team. It just so happens the best batsmen of this Indian T20 international team are used to playing the same or similar roles for their own franchises, where they all have T20 specialist hitters following them. Trouble is, those specialist lower-middle-order batsmen are mostly foreigners. And India can’t play those foreigners.Except for Raina to an extent, none of these three is a specialist hitter from ball one. They all prefer to face a few balls before they begin bashing. We have Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, whose best station is at the top of the innings. Then we have Kohli and Raina, who are ideally suited to No. 3. There are no Nos. 4, 5 or 6. Dhoni is just coming to terms with the fact that a lot of T20 batting is just a slog from ball one.Rahane gets short-changed when it comes to his place in the order because of his more adaptable batting•Getty ImagesAmbati Rayudu gets picked because Rahane is considered as somebody who can hit either the new ball or the old one on quick pitches. Captain one match, water boy the next. Yet there isn’t much between the stats of Rahane and the men he loses out to. Rahane strikes at 118 per 100 balls in T20 cricket. It is only slightly behind Dhawan’s 120, who gets preferred presumably because of the need for a left-right combination. Rayudu is considered to be the bigger six-hitter. Yet his T20 strike rate is only 123, and the only three T20 international innings Rayudu has played have been two ducks and one innings where Dhoni farmed the strike.If India do go ahead and ask Rohit to make the sacrifice of moving down to accommodate Rahane and provide big-hitting ability in the middle order, there is a serious threat of Rahane and Dhawan getting stuck at the top. One solution could be to push Kohli to the top, where he has played in the IPL. It could give Raina his best position in the order, but there is still one spot that goes to either Rayudu or one out of Dhawan and Rahane.And that’s assuming Dhoni’s place in the XI goes unquestioned. He has never hit a fifty in T20 internationals, continues to be stubborn in that he wants to bat for only a certain number of deliveries (even if that means rearranging the batting order around him), and has now admitted his thoughtful batting might not be working in this format.Should Dhoni’s place in the side go unquestioned?•AFPIt is a little easier to plan against Indian batsmen than against others. There is no jack-in-the-box here, playing not to the merit of the ball, opening up the whole field through reverse sweeps and switch hits. It is one of India’s great strengths to be able to take the same foundation into every format; Dhoni doesn’t see that as a gaping hole.”Our team, if you see, most of our batsmen play quite the same in T20 and 50-over format,” Dhoni said after India lost the T20 series to South Africa. “That’s what their strength is. All of a sudden we can’t ask them to play the kind of game that is not their strength. I feel they have been doing well. Consistently we have been giving par scores to the bowlers. At times we have chased scores that are really big. Not to forget the last time Australia played an ODI series in India we had to chase 350 twice. Our strength is playing proper cricketing shot. I feel it is quite good, the way the batsmen have responded. On and off we see this kind of performances.”India hardly play T20 internationals between the World T20s, which is possibly why the reference points tend to be ODIs. Now India have a few matches before the World T20 to figure out if they need to partially move away from their set ways and look at a Deepak Hooda or a Gurkeerat Mann, or have Dhoni bat like, say, Kieron Pollard. Because when the Indian spinners are not effective the “par scores” that the old-fashioned ways have been giving them prove to be not enough.

Statistical highlights from India’s 22-run win over South Africa in the second ODI in Indore

S Rajesh14-Oct-20151:49

By the Numbers – Virat’s lean patch, and Axar’s best

4-0 India’s ODI win-loss record at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. They’ve beaten England twice, and West Indies and South Africa once each. Three of those four wins have come when they’ve batted first.17-7 South Africa’s win-loss record when chasing targets between 230 and 260 since the beginning of 2005. India have a 7-9 win-loss record when defending totals between 230 and 260 in ODIs during this period.107 MS Dhoni’s strike-rate in this innings (92 off 86 balls); the other Indian batsmen had a combined strike rate of 66 (142 off 215).20 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs for MS Dhoni. The last time he won one was in the final of the Tri-Nation Series against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain in July 2013, when he scored 16 off the last over. Dhoni has equalled Kohli’s MoM tally, and is now joint fifth among Indians – only Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have won more awards. (Dhoni has won 19 MoM awards when playing for India, and one when playing for Asia XI.)4 The number of sixes Dhoni struck in his unbeaten 92. The last time he hit as many sixes in an ODI innings was two years ago, in November 2013 against West Indies in Visakhapatnam. In between these two innings, he struck only 19 sixes in 26 ODI innings.3-39 Axar Patel’s bowling figures, his best in ODIs; his previous best was 3 for 40, against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad last year.12 Number of successive ODI innings in which Virat Kohli hasn’t reached 50; he has averaged 27 in these innings. His previous longest ODI streak without a 50 was seven innings.10 Number of times, out of his 14 fifty-plus scores, that Rahane has been dismissed between 50 and 75. In nine of those ten innings, he has either opened the batting or come in at three. His last three 50-plus scores have been 63, 60 and 51.4.47 Imran Tahir’s economy rate in ODIs in 2015. Among the 26 bowlers who’ve bowled at least 100 overs this year, only three – Daniel Vettori, R Ashwin and Trent Boult – have a better economy rate.146.6 AB de Villiers’ average in his last nine ODI innings in India before today, at a strike rate of 121. He scored five centuries in those nine innings, of which four were unbeaten ones. His lowest score in those nine innings was 25.10 Number of times the No. 6 batsmen from both teams have been dismissed for zero in an ODI – Suresh Raina and David Miller were both out for ducks in this match. The last time this happened was almost seven years ago, in an ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Lahore.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad could have been forgiven for grumpiness when Alastair Cook lost the toss yet again. But England’s senior quicks combined superbly for figures of 28.1-15-30-6

Andrew McGlashan in Sharjah01-Nov-2015There is a sign outside the Sharjah Cricket Stadium that just says “Graveyard”. Depending from which direction you approach the ground, it can almost be the last thing you see before turning in through the gates.The numbers that England’s bowlers had been provided by their statistician, Rupert Lewis, stated that just 3% of deliveries seam at the ground. After watching the coin land in Misbah-ul-Haq’s favour again, you could have forgiven James Anderson and Stuart Broad if they had had their grumpy faces on when their captain returned to the dressing-room. Broad himself admitted he had been “distraught” on hearing of Alastair Cook’s latest tossing failure.And yet, at the end of the day, it was England’s two senior quicks who, once again, stood tall. It was a magnificent effort as the pair wrapped up Pakistan’s first innings with the combined figures of 28.1-15-30-6. If ever cricket statistics needed to reflect a combined haul, this was it.Overall, for grounds in Asia which have hosted at least five Tests, Sharjah actually slots in around mid-table for bowling averages at 32.90, sneaking ahead of Dubai in this innings to become the most bowler-friendly ground – in the loosest sense – in the UAE. And, within that average it is the seamers who come off better, taking their wickets at 28.56 compared to 37.77 for spin.However, that does not make it a pitch on which you would to bowl seam-up. The occasional bouncer floated over the batsman’s head and some fuller deliveries crept through to Jonny Bairstow. Then there was the turn. The local assessment was that there has never been a Test surface here that has turned so significantly so early in a match.England played the extra spinner, opting for Samit Patel ahead of Liam Plunkett to replace Mark Wood, and in the opening session he was spinning them past the outside edge in his first Test since Kolkata on the 2012-13 tour of India. Patel’s inclusion was a borderline call, but he acquitted himself well with two key wickets, although Ben Stokes’ shoulder injury is likely to leave all the pace bowling now on the shoulders of Anderson and Broad.James Anderson’s average in the UAE is better than anywhere else in the world•Getty Images”It’s quite good fun,” Anderson said last week when asked about bowling in the UAE, “if you have a good day out here you feel you get more out of it personally. There is more reward.”When Broad was asked his view after finishing with 2 for 13 off 13 overs, he was not quite so sanguine about the challenge. “I prefer four wickets in 10 balls when it’s swinging around, to be honest, but Cooky mentioned at the start of the tour that fielding and bowling here is like a badge of honour,” he said. “You need experience, you need different skills and it’s always a test to come and play in different conditions. But I prefer bowling at Trent Bridge.”Even before his 4 for 17, Anderson’s Test average in the UAE was already better than anywhere else he has played cricket, and collectively English pace bowlers, from this and the 2012 tour, have comfortably performed better than any other nation in the region. While much has changed for England in those three years, it remains Anderson and Broad who lead the line, regardless of conditions.Anderson has said he would like to play for another five years and Broad is currently being protected for Test cricket. Even now that one-day cricket is put on a par with Tests by the England management, the pair are so crucial to the longer format that their partnership must be kept as the priority.Between them they managed to find those three deliveries in a hundred that nibbled off the seam. They brought lose pokes outside off from Azhar Ali and Shoaib Malik, while Younis Khan inside-edged one from Broad which nipped back but did not quite carry to Bairstow. Anderson then removed the pitch from the debate by pinning Younis lbw with a low full toss with his first delivery back into the attackThe Malik and Younis wickets came in the first hour of the afternoon session in which Pakistan scored just 18 runs in 15 overs as Broad, with a spell of 5-5-0-1, and Anderson sent down eight consecutive maidens. Again Pakistan focused almost entirely on seeing out the quicks before attacking the spinners, however this time the tactic did not work as effectively as it had in Dubai.Starting with Azhar’s flat-footed poke – understandable given his lengthy lay-off – Pakistan aided in their own demise. Only Asad Shafiq, edging a Patel delivery which gripped and bounced, could claim to have been dismissed by a delivery he could not do much about and, as in Dubai, the lower-order resistance left a lot to be desired. Misbah’s Test career may be coming to an end, but not before he was left running out of partners one more time until he edged the new ball to slip.What will Pakistan’s 234 be worth in the end? The players themselves were unsure at the close, both sides noting the slow outfield and significant early turn. While it was pace that did for Pakistan, surely it will be spin that is the biggest danger to England with Yasir Shah looming.The statistics say that England have done remarkably well so far – 234 is, by a distance, the lowest first-innings score since Tests returned here in 2011 – but this is not a typical Sharjah pitch. However, England have given themselves a chance to build a position from which they can level the series. And at 10am this morning, that’s all they could have asked for.

Mushfiqur Rahim put a four-month gap between ODIs behind him to propel Bangladesh to a comfortable victory over Zimbabwe

Mohammad Isam07-Nov-2015Mushfiqur Rahim has hardly looked out for form in the last four years and that wasn’t going to change just because Bangladesh were playing their first ODI in four months. His fourth ODI hundred was also his second this year and he has now overtaken Soumya Sarkar as the team’s leading scorer in the format in 2015.More than the 718 runs at a batting average of 55.23 though, it is Mushfiqur’s preparation ahead of a series or a match that stands out. He is arguably the hardest working batsman in the Bangladesh team, and will do anything to ensure his peace of mind. This time he played in the practice match two days ago when he could have easily taken the day off like the rest of the batsmen. He made 81 off 84 balls with five fours and two sixes, and looked to be cruising in Fatullah at times.And it was similar in Mirpur despite the early struggle among the Bangladesh top-order. Tamim Iqbal wasn’t getting enough strike while Mahmudullah had too much to work with. Liton Das meanwhile fell away early in his first foray as an opener.”I wanted to play the practice match,” Mushfiqur said. “I couldn’t score to my standard in the NCL so there were some gaps. So I requested the coach to put me in the BCB XI. I realised I was in touch while batting in that game although at the start it wasn’t easy. I need a bit of time in the middle, so when I played 5-7 deliveries today, I knew that I was ready for a big innings.”I was lucky to get a few bad balls early on. Confidence will go up when you get a couple of boundaries away. The wicket was very slow but I never thought I need a long time to make runs. I tried to play naturally and get the runs.”Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza paid tribute to Mushfiqur for getting the team out of tough situations in the early stages of a tournament or series. Only the day before this game, Mashrafe said that Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur has showed the way by being strong when the chips are down. He gave examples of Bangladesh’s first matches in the last ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2014 and the first match of this year’s World Cup. Coincidentally, it was both Mushfiqur and Shakib who made big contributions in this first game too.Mashrafe also said that the dressing-room relaxes when senior batsmen like Mushfiqur grab hold of match situations that are about to be taken over by the opponents.”It is really obvious they have been contributing for Bangladesh cricket from the start of their careers. You expect them to deliver their best at tough times. I want the youngsters to learn from them. My gut feeling says that on tough times they will answer. I had said yesterday that the first match is very important and in each of those matches Mushfiqur batted brilliantly and so did Shakib and [Mahmudullah] Riyad. I always believe that when my experienced players step up, the match becomes easier to win.”This year, we always faced a difficult situation in the first match. It is obviously a relief when batsmen build a partnership, especially the senior batsmen. So today when Tamim and Mushfiqur built a stand, Sabbir managed to get out of his temporary rut. It was a relief for our team but again when the senior players are in form and bat in the middle then from the outside all the other batsmen are relaxed,” said Mashrafe.Mushfiqur said that he hardly felt that he was out of form this year despite a lack of big scores between his century against Pakistan in April this year. He would always start well but fall away, but one has to remember that he was also dealing with a continuous finger injury for much of the Pakistan, India and South Africa series.”I never felt this year that I was out of form. I have had a good year but I haven’t got enough big scores accordingly. I am happy to come back among the runs. The big thing is that the team won.”Luck of course matters,” said Mushfiqur. “But I always believe that if I am honest in my preparation, I don’t regret making 2 or 5 runs. It is my biggest strength, I feel.”

The Wanderers head groundsman has had a long apprenticeship. Thursday will be his proudest day, when South Africa take on England on his pitch

Firdose Moonda12-Jan-2016Few South Africans will admit to admiring Shane Warne so much that he is their favourite cricketer but Bethuel Buthelezi is no ordinary South African. He is the head groundsman at the Wanderers and spent more than three decades as second in command to Chris Scott, the only known curator in cricket to be awarded a Man of the Match award.Scott achieved the feat after three out of five days of a Test between South Africa and New Zealand in 2000 were rained out. That play was possible on the other two days – and full days worth of play to boot – saw Scott and his staff (Buthulezi among them), not century-maker Boeta Dippenaar, take the honours.That match was also the first time not one but two black African cricketers were picked in a South African XI. Makhaya Ntini and Mfuneko Ngam were both in the side, in a historic moment for South Africa’s majority population who were marginalised during the apartheid era. Buthelezi had grown up in those times and knew how difficult life for people of his skin colour was.As an 18-year-old, he left his home in Msinga in Kwa-Zulu Natal for the bright lights of Johannesburg. It was 1984 and sparks of resistance that were ignited by the student uprisings in Soweto in 1976 were bursting into flame. A year later the government declared its first state of emergency. By then Buthelezi had settled into the job he had travelled in search for.”When I came to Johannesburg, one of my cousins was working at the hotel at the Wanderers Club and he said to me that if I went with him to work one day, maybe I would find a job,” Buthelezi said. “It was a Monday and I went there with three other people and when he didn’t find anything, someone suggested we go to see Chris Scott, the groundsman. And he told us he had work for us.”The job was cleaning the tennis courts and the swimming pools. For a black African in the South Africa of the time, this kind of employment was not unusual. The discriminatory policies denied black Africans the opportunity to advance and they were often subjected to working under white bosses for low wages with little chance of promotion.

The surface will be the way for Buthelezi to showcase his skills, and if the evidence of the first-class competition is anything to go by, it’s going to be a goodie

Buthelezi’s role involved also working on the adjoining cricket field, and in 1992, moving across the road to the Wanderers Stadium, where he helped Scott prepare the strip that for 22 years the Transvaal Mean Machine had made their own.Buthelezi loved cricket “more than any other game”, and he was particularly fond of Clive Rice, a surprising choice given Rice’s disapproval of transformation when it came about years later.Buthelezi became an expert in the art of pitch preparation. With Scott as mentor, he learnt everything there was to know about how to create a surface with spice or a pitch packed with runs. He became a fan of Hansie Cronje, Glenn McGrath and Warne. In May 2012, he was given a special award by the Gauteng Cricket Board for 20 years of service to the Wanderers.It is only now, though, that Buthelezi is preparing a Test pitch on his own for the first time. He succeeded Scott in October last year, to become the country’s second black African head groundsman. Wilson Ngobese, who is in charge at Kingsmead, is the first, and he and Buthelezi have formed a powerful friendship. “We phone each other, we talk a lot,” Buthelezi said. “He was happy for me when I got the job and happy for my first Test pitch.”The surface will be the way for Buthelezi to showcase his skills, and if the evidence of the first-class competition is anything to go by, it’s going to be a goodie. The two matches played at the Wanderers this season have gone the distance. Fast bowlers took 67 of the 76 wickets that fell (with Hardus Viljoen laying claim to 20 of them), there were two centuries, two innings scores over 300 and two others over 250. There has been something for everyone, which is what Buthelezi has promised for the Test, but there is something else he hopes to guarantee. “This is a result pitch,” he said. “It’s got bounce, pace, it will take turn, everything. This pitch is for five days and a first-innings score of 350 will be good.”The hot, dry weather in Johannesburg, recently broken up by some storms, has not hampered preparation. “The weather hasn’t given me any problems. For a few days, in the afternoon we’ve had some rain, so even the outfield now looks nice,” Buthelezi said.Nicer will the satisfaction he feels when the two teams step onto field for the first time, walk towards his pitch, and contest a (hopefully) competitive game of cricket on it. It will be a culmination of three decades of commitment, and for South African cricket more broadly, another step on their road to change.South African cricket is going through a metamorphosis like never before as it grapples with how to tap into the large previously disadvantaged population, both so that its talent pool is deeper and to right the wrongs of the past. Buthelezi knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the divide and has come out of it as an extraordinary South African.

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2016Shikhar Dhawan finally found some form with a slow half-century•Getty ImagesVirat Kohli, meanwhile, continued his good run with the bat, scoring at brisk pace•Getty ImagesBoth batsmen added 119 for India’s second wicket…•AFP… Before Dhawan was bowled for 68 while attempting to slog over square leg•AFPAjinkya Rahane came in and played second fiddle to Kohli in their 109-run partnership, scoring a 55-ball 50•Getty ImagesKohli then went on to bring up his 24th century, in 105 balls•Getty ImagesMS Dhoni’s late blitz of 23 from 9 gave India some quick late runs, but they couldn’t get past 300. They ended on 6 for 295•Getty ImagesAustralia lost Aaron Finch early in the chase, for 21•Getty ImagesShaun Marsh and Steven Smith however set the tone for the chase with a steady 64-run stand•Getty ImagesIndia then fought back with quick wickets in the middle overs•Getty ImagesGlenn Maxwell, though, kept Australia in the game with a run-a-ball 50•Getty ImagesHe paired with James Faulkner in the death overs to add 80 for Australia’s seventh wicket•Getty ImagesMaxwell eventually fell for 96 from 83, but not before the hosts were one run short of the target. Faulkner stroked the winning run, sealing the five-match series 3-0 in Australia’s favour•Getty Images

Plays of the day from the Asia Cup match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Mirpur

Alagappan Muthu04-Mar-20161:06

Akmal’s 7th T20I Man of the Match award

The topsy-turvy bowlerMohammad Amir has had a habit of landing his very first ball at the very last spot a batsman wants it. A week ago, he nearly took out Rohit Sharma with a searing yorker. Tonight he pinned Dinesh Chandimal’s front pad with a full and fierce inswinger even as the batsman was barely ready to play a shot. The lbw appeal was shot down on height. The final ball of the over was a wide half-volley and Chandimal bashed it through cover. Usually, bowlers tend to err at the start of their spell and then slowly gather rhythm, in Amir’s case, it was all spectacularly topsy-turvy.The unintentional imageryShahid Afridi decided to bowl himself in the Powerplay and Tillakaratne Dilshan top-edged the fourth ball of the fifth over towards short fine leg. It was all perfectly set up for an early wicket, except the fielder was Mohammad Irfan, and it all went comically wrong. He ran forwards when the ball was comfortably sailing over him, then came the frantic change in direction and finally a desperate lunge with his hands. All to no avail. Afridi, who had been watching this precarious sequence, was buckled over with his hands on his knees, as if he felt the entire weight of the criticism back home about his captaincy suddenly and squarely on his shoulders.Daring DilshanWith pundits clamoring that his hand-eye coordination has left him, the 39-year old Dilshan offered his humble reply by reverse-scooping Amir to the boundary. It didn’t seem premeditated either. He’d gone down only after the ball had been released – perhaps because it was the 19th over and runs took precedence over wickets – kept his eyes on the ball and his head perfectly still before those magic wrists gave the ball just enough power to beat short third man.The left-armers’ lowThree balls after that outrageous shot, Dilshan went for a slog across the line and outside edge flew to deep third man. Once again Irfan was in the wrong place at the wrong time and this time, he couldn’t even get two hands to a relatively simple catch. Meanwhile, Amir, the bowler, was wringing his hands in anger. Perhaps the memory of that incident was still fresh on Amir’s mind as he became party to another fielding mishap off the very next ball. Dilshan pushed the penultimate ball of the over to mid-off, but Wahab Riaz slipped on the outfield in his haste to stop the ball beating him. Amir cautioned his fellow left-arm quick not to throw, and so Wahab took his time to stand up and just stare at his team-mates. Dilshan decided to take advantage of Pakistan taking some impromptu downtime and stole a second run.Dilshan’s dayHe was dropped twice; given easy runs; played the shot of the tournament against the bowler of the tournament, so why not try his luck with the ball? Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, brought Dilshan on in the eighth over and it began with a short ball that Sharjeel Khan – who had spanked four beautiful, back-to-back fours off fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera – plopped straight to Chamara Kapugedera at long-on.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2016James Pattinson struck early for Australia, getting rid of Martin Guptill•Getty ImagesSteven Smith held on to sharp catches in the slip cordon as his bowlers reduced New Zealand to 32 for 3 in the 20th over•Getty ImagesMcCullum walked out to a guard of honour from Australia…•Getty Images… And promptly set about counter-attacking, taking 21 runs off a Mitchell Marsh over early in his innings•Getty ImagesMcCullum was given a reprieve on 39 when he was dismissed by Pattinson off a no-ball•Getty ImagesHe capitalised on the chance, reaching his fifty off 34 balls, and his hundred off a record 54 balls•Getty ImagesMcCullum had strong support from Corey Anderson, and the pair blitzed their way to a fifth-wicket stand of 179 in only 18.2 overs•AFPMcCullum was eventually dismissed for 145 off 79 balls and walked off to a standing ovation at a packed Hagley Oval•AFPBJ Watling and the lower order maintained the tempo set by McCullum before New Zealand were dismissed for 370•AFPIn reply, Australia lost David Warner early in their innings and ended the day at 57 for 1, trailing New Zealand by 313 runs•Getty Images

The traditional staid tactics, has-been batsmen and bowlers too callow to land a paper dart, let alone a yorker, are nowhere to be found in the current England squad. So just who are these imposters?

Andrew Miller in Delhi 31-Mar-2016The latter stages of an ICC world event can feel, up in the press box, a bit like the gathering of the clans. Representatives from cricket’s myriad nations, some of whom may have been circling one another throughout the tournament without ever quite finding themselves in the same city at the same time, are finally drawn together for reunions that, in many cases, span decades.The press lounge at the back of the stand can be a fascinating place to loiter at such events, as conversations get picked up from where they were left off in the Caribbean in 2007, or in Sri Lanka in 2012. And generally, where England are concerned, those have tended to revolve around staid tactics, has-been batsmen and bowlers too callow to land a paper dart, let alone a yorker.By the end of Wednesday night’s freak show of a performance, however, as observers from Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh began melting into the night – some bound for Mumbai and others heading straight for the final in Kolkata – every single comment focused on the same incredulous theme. Who are these imposters? What has happened to the England team that we know and love to mock?England teams are not meant to play like this – with flamboyance, and aggression, and with savvy in the big moments. They are meant to blow cold and colder at world events, with the occasional tepid upsurge as they kid their supporters into believing they might yet have the wherewithal to mend their sorry ways.But there’s no artifice about the alchemy we’ve been witnessing in the space of the past three weeks. England have genuinely learned from their mistakes, they have genuinely trusted their talents, and they have genuinely shown faith in one another, to the extent that on this night in Delhi, they were able to bury the very team that prompted their own resurrection following last year’s dismal World Cup. Now there’s gratitude for you.On the eve of England’s semi-final in Delhi, their coach Trevor Bayliss had called for his players to aim for the perfect performance, only to check himself in the very next breath and admit that such a performance has never been produced, and probably never will be. And sure enough, the loss of two wickets in two balls, including the captain Eoin Morgan for his second golden duck of the week, ensured that the wait must indeed go on.But up until that moment… well. In the brief but intense history of the World T20, there can’t have been many more credible contenders for the crown.If it is said that winning the World T20 is all about peaking at the right time – and Morgan, a member of the victorious 2010 side, knows and swears by this mantra – then the surge of indomitability that England brought to their knock-out of New Zealand was as forceful as a Jason Roy uppercut over point.

What is more, as a consequence of England’s progress, there has not been one single press conference mention for He Who Must Not Be Picked

Neither India nor West Indies will be cowed by what they witnessed ahead of their own showdown in Mumbai – teams powered by personalities as vibrant as Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle genuflect to no one. Yet you can be sure that each will have raised an eyebrow of respect, in particular at the exploits of Roy at the top of England’s innings and Jos Buttler bookending the chase at No. 5 – from where he scotched any notion of an anxious dribble to the finish by pressing the beast mode button and flogging three sixes in four balls to seal the game with a whopping 17 balls to spare.Gayle, in particular, may also have noticed that something has clicked among the England bowlers whom he beasted in the tournament opener for a brilliant 47-ball hundred. First there was Ben Stokes, who closed out Saturday’s gripping win over Sri Lanka with a nerveless diet of yorkers, and now this evening he was matched in the “execution” stakes by the rejuvenated Chris Jordan.Here was a man whose form had been on a precipice going into the opening fixtures of the World T20. And yet England’s insistence that Jordan was their go-to man for the death overs has somehow turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.All winter long, the management had been clinging to a single Jordan over like an article of faith – his remarkable concession of a solitary run in the whitewash-sealing super over against Pakistan back in November.That, plus his unrivalled ability in the field, was sufficient reason to put up with his moments of uncertainty. Tonight, it was payback time, and Jordan’s stifling spell of 4-0-24-1 added another deluge of confidence to a dressing room already awash with positive vibes.Eoin Morgan’s charges have peaked at just the right time to earn a spot in Sunday’s final at Eden Gardens•IDI/Getty ImagesOn the night, the most stunning and insurmountable point of difference between England and New Zealand came at the end of their respective innings. Whereas Buttler alone battered 23 runs from the last five deliveries of England’s, New Zealand mustered a grand total of 20 from the final four overs of theirs, in which time they also shipped five momentum-shifting wickets.It is true that several of those came from full tosses and long hops, but the pressure created in between was intense and undoubtedly contributed to the mass downfall. It was as if England’s players had all discovered mojos that had been stuffed unceremoniously to the bottom of their kit-bags in the final days of the South Africa tour, and were now running them up the flag pole and flaunting them in the favourable winds.”The momentum that we carried over from the end of their innings to ours was outstanding,” Roy said. “They’ve grown in confidence, the bowlers, from the Sri Lanka performance. It was just perfect.”In their march to the final, England have flown in the face of the doubters, haters, pundits and sages, all of whom questioned – with differing degrees of relish – how a squad containing ten cricketers who had never before played in India could possibly adapt to life in the sport’s most frantic lane.Well, they have done just that with a blend of bravery, camaraderie, application and skill. And now, Roy added, their reward is to go off and play “just another game of cricket. It just happens to be at Eden Gardens in the World Cup final in front of 100,000 people.” It was, he added, “pretty cool”.What is more, as a consequence of their progress – and it is safe to say it now, given how spectacularly England have brought on-field closure to the thorniest off-field saga of them all – there has not been one single press conference mention for He Who Must Not Be Picked.The politicking and bickering that accompanied England’s initial attempts to move on from Kevin Pietersen has given way to a serene realisation that, across all three formats, the country has now landed a young and dynamic team that it can be proud to support. This is how lines in the sand should be drawn, on pure playing merit and nothing else besides. It’s taken an eternity but the deed has now been done. This time, there really is nothing left to say on the matter.There was, however, one last sublimely awkward moment this evening, when the acrimony might just have managed to seep back into the public domain for one last encore. From the back of the press conference room, an Indian journalist presented Roy with a convoluted, multi-faceted masterpiece of a question, which required an answer that peeled back the layers like a banana skin.One of the subclauses, almost certainly an innocent enquiry, happened to include the question “who is your idol?” Roy snorted involuntarily – his admiration for KP, his team-mate at Surrey, is no secret in English circles. Those in the know held their breath, wondering whether his name was about to be invoked in the hour of Roy’s coming-of-age innings of 78 from 44 balls. But in the end, despite a follow-up prompt to get specific, he ducked a delivery for the first time in a belligerent evening’s work, and turned his attention back to the very-near futureThere is no reason whatsoever for England not to believe in victory on Sunday night. However, much like the team that they beat this evening, and which also lost the World Cup final in Melbourne last year, it is hard to see how there can be any recrimination should England fall short.Like Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand, Morgan’s England – and it is his team, in spite of his dearth of runs – has already exceeded every expectation bar their own. And they have done so in a manner that has united fans and neutrals in admiration. Not least those at the gathering of the clans in Delhi.

Is India’s lead spinner not taking wickets because his captain is not giving him the chance to bowl a full quota, or is MS Dhoni not giving R Ashwin four overs because Ashwin is not taking wickets?

Arun Venugopal09-May-2016R Ashwin has gone without completing his quota of four overs in 10 of his last 20 Twenty20 matches, including five games for Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL 2016. On five of those occasions, he has bowled two overs or fewer. While Ashwin isn’t the only spinner being under-bowled in this year’s IPL, it has become a talking point because of how India’s lead spinner and perhaps India’s greatest captain haven’t been able to replicate their symbiotic partnership in a season where the Supergiants have struggled.MS Dhoni and Ashwin have fed off each other’s success over the last few years. In 2010, Ashwin’s career took off under Dhoni’s captaincy after he finished as the joint-second highest wicket-taker for Chennai Super Kings in their victorious IPL campaign and leading wicket-taker in their Champions League T20 title run in South Africa.Ashwin’s swift ascent, which coincided with Harbhajan Singh’s waning fortunes, helped Dhoni build his bowling strategy around him, especially at home. In T20s, Dhoni has won 11 of 12 games where Ashwin has picked up three wickets or more. Dhoni, who is accustomed to walking bowlers through their plans, even praised Ashwin’s ability to work out his own game plan.But Dhoni hasn’t seemed to trust Ashwin enough lately and is increasingly loath to deploy him when there are two right handers at the crease. In the World T20, Ashwin bowled his full quota only on two occasions and he was given only two overs in the semi-final against the West Indies. Dhoni cited dew as the reason but Ashwin’s counter was he didn’t get to bowl despite creating wicket-taking opportunities.There is statistical evidence to suggest the World T20 semi-final was only the tipping point of a longer period during which Ashwin has been under-bowled. Of the 33 T20 innings Ashwin has bowled during the last 12 months, he has completed four overs on only 20 occasions. In 2014 and 2015, he didn’t bowl his full quota for Super Kings in 11 out of 34 innings. Dhoni sought to play down the trend after Supergiants’ opening game against Mumbai Indians where Ashwin was given only one over. So far in the IPL, Ashwin has taken three wickets in 30 overs at an average of 72 and an economy rate of 7.2.”Ashwin has bailed me out in a lot of situations – whether bowling in the first six or in the slog phase,” Dhoni said. “Ashwin is a mature bowler. He can bowl at any point of time.” But things don’t seem to have changed much as Ashwin was introduced only in the 17th over in Supergiants’ last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Coach Stephen Fleming said such decisions were down to Dhoni and backed his judgment.”The thing with R Ashwin, with India as well, is an expectation that he should bowl four,” he said. “But if conditions don’t suit then you’ve seen the captain over a number of formats turn to other players. As far as cricketing decisions go in the middle then that’s purely MS’ decisions, and making his calls with the experience that he has and the relationship that he’s had with Ashwin over the years.”It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for Ashwin’s diminished role in Dhoni’s bowling plans without surmising. It is possible the trust deficit could have begun in the aftermath of the drawn Johannesburg Test of December 2013 where Ashwin bowled 36 wicketless overs in the second innings and subsequently found himself out of the team for six Tests.Ashwin had then remarked ahead of the subsequent 2014 tour of England that he wasn’t comfortable with being used in a holding role. The ODI series in Australia late last year where Ashwin wasn’t particularly incisive in the two games he played might have had a role to play as well.But, to be fair to Dhoni, Ashwin isn’t the only spinner who has been under-bowled during this IPL. Even Amit Mishra, the most successful spinner in the tournament, has bowled only a little more than three overs per game – ditto with Axar Patel, Piyush Chawla and Ashwin’s namesake Murugan at Supergiants. Also, finger spinners have found the going tough with pitches offering very little assistance. In Ashwin’s defence, though, his economy rate has been lower than the names mentioned above.It’s not known if Dhoni and Fleming have sat Ashwin down to discuss where he figured in their plans. When asked how the team handled a situation where the strike bowler was possibly under-utilised, Fleming said such things shouldn’t be a “confidence shaker.” “We keep working on Ashwin’s variations. He’s a very clever bowler. So [it is about] making sure that when he gets the opportunity, he should be as good as he can be,” he said.”As a coach, all you can ask from your players is preparation. Once they go out on the field, it’s down to gamesmanship. But, I certainly believe that he’s one of the most talented spinners in the world and creating opportunities through training for him to show his skills.”