VVS Laxman talks about his role as part of the management team for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Interview by Arun Venugopal17-May-2017Can you talk about the conversations you have with the batting group?
The communication is very simple – take responsibility, don’t leave it to the next batsman, make sure the number of dot balls is less, and look to put pressure on the bowling always. Look to take singles, rotate the strike, and whenever the opportunity comes, go and play your natural game. You want one of the top three to play till the end. Once that happens, you have a set batsman in the middle and around him the other batsmen can come and express themselves. And that’s been our strength.If you see, the batting has been very consistent right from the first match. And you’re not dependent on one or two batsmen. Whoever went in – whether it is KW [Kane Williamson], [David] Warner, Shikhar, Yuvraj or Moises Henriques – has played some important knocks for the franchise. Naman Ojha played a fantastic knock against KXIP, when we were under pressure. [Deepak] Hooda did a couple of finishing jobs for us.No. 6 and 7 didn’t get many batting opportunities, which is a positive. That means that the top five have done the job well for us.As part of the coaching staff, how do you ensure, regardless of wins and losses, that there is a certain tempo created within the team? How do you recognise when you need to go and talk and when to take a step back?
Win or lose, you have to be very consistent with your communication. So we don’t really talk about the results. We talk about the processes, we talk about the execution of our plans. We will just address that instead of the result, how much we were able to achieve in terms of our game plan, and if at all we didn’t achieve, what was the reason? So it is more of an interaction than actually dictating to the players, and it has been very good. That’s why our environment is very relaxed, because if you are inconsistent with your outcome, or if you are not equanimous with outcome, then you create a panic within the team environment. We never ever want to do it, we never did that.

“We try to keep team meetings as specific as possible […] and we never have a team meeting for more than 15-20 minutes”

How do you demarcate coaching responsibilities within the group?
Tom [Moody] is the head coach. Simon [Helmot] is the assistant coach, Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] is the bowling coach and I am the mentor. Tom runs the meetings, Tom runs the practice sessions. Me, Murali and Tom sit together and develop the strategy, along with David Warner. Then the strategy is put across to the team and we have a team meeting where everyone contributes. Everyone contributes in the team meeting, where we discuss each and every batsman and also each and every bowler we are going to face.Are the team meetings long?
No, we try to keep team meetings as specific as possible. You are playing the same team twice – it is more about understanding the opposition teams we are going to play, and we do that in the pre-season camp. Once the tournament starts it is very specific and we never have a team meeting for more than 15-20 minutes.What was the focus during the auction this year?
One area which was a matter of concern for us was our spin-bowling department, and we were very clear that Rashid [Khan] was an excellent prospect. He was someone doing excellent work for Afghanistan, not only restricting the flow of runs but also picking up the wickets of some good batsmen. That’s why we wanted Rashid to be there.We got [Mohammad] Nabi in this year because we wanted a spin-bowling allrounder. Then we had CJ [Chris Jordan] and Ben Laughlin because we know that they can be the perfect replacement for Mustafizur [Rahman] when he left. Fizz was excellent for us last year, but we also knew that he wasn’t going to be a part of the tournament for a long time. Because he was in Sri Lanka, he was going to join the team later and was going to leave early. Both CJ and Laughlin are good yorker bowlers and we wanted these guys who are good at the death and with the new ball to be part of the squad.”Rashid was someone doing excellent work for Afghanistan, not only restricting the flow of runs but also picking up the wickets of some good batsmen. That’s why we wanted Rashid to be there”•BCCIIt’s just about identifying the right skill set and making sure that the security is there. Irrespective of how talented or experienced they are, it’s important to give confidence to the player. We are not judging the player by one or two performances. That’s the philosophy of Sunrisers. While people may or may not agree, we want to give that security to the player and give him enough chances where he can showcase his talent.Is there an unchecked box?
One area I feel we would like more results is, some of our uncapped batsmen have not realised their potential or not played to their potential. While the bowlers have done well, I feel with the amount of security and opportunities the uncapped batsmen get in our franchise, they have not been able to deliver as much as we would love them to. That’s something we are very keen on communicating to them that [there is] no pressure but it is also important for you to realise that we want you go out there and express yourselves, and we don’t want to judge you on one or two matches.What is the most difficult or challenging part of your job?
I have never ever found it challenging at all. I won’t say it’s a challenge or difficult, but I feel for the players who don’t get an opportunity for the entire season to play a single match. I was also one of them when I was playing for Kochi Tuskers or when I played for Deccan Chargers. I didn’t get the number of matches I thought I deserved, or I wanted to get to showcase what I can do for the franchise.So I feel for those players. Tom, Murali, and as a franchise we feel for them. We are very inclusive, so those players are also very important for us. But unfortunately they won’t get a game. And it’s a positive because if certain players are not getting a game, it means the players who get a game are doing well. That’s why we don’t chop and change much. But we feel for those players – they are wanted and they are part of the family.

Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s ace match-winner in global tournaments, may be about to
bowl his final spells at an ICC event this week. ESPNcricinfo remembers five of his best
big-tournament performances

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jun-2017Four in four in GuyanaWhere Lasith Malinga had been something of a Sri Lankan secret until then,
this was the moment his searing yorkers sneaked beneath the bat of world
cricket’s collective consciousness, and bowled it over. For the next seven
years, a multitude of toes would line up to be crushed, cartloads of
stumps would be splayed, and stadiums would be filled with blonde-tipped
wig-wearing acolytes of Malinga’s round-arm heresy.The match was basically already lost. South Africa needed 10 runs off six
overs, with five wickets in the tank. Mahela Jayawardene tossed the ball to
Malinga and told him: “We’re buried here unless you do something.” So he
did. He rolled his fingers over the fifth ball of his sixth over of the
day, and the slower ball – which in those days, was still 136kph – wangled
its way past Shaun Pollock’s bat. Andrew Hall was then tricked into lobbing
up a catch next ball, off another slower one.At the start of the following over, Malinga had returned to the fast stuff.
Jacques Kallis, perhaps wanting to cover the ball that had been swinging in
to the right hander, drove too far inside the line, and sent an outside
edge through to the keeper. Makhaya Ntini was almost just a prop in the
Malinga show. The ball seemed to phase through him and into the middle
stump. South Africa would go on to win the game, thanks to a fortunate edge
to third man, but not before Malinga threatened the wickets a couple more
times. One ball had whistled by so close to the woodwork, “If only the
stumps had hair” an observer had remarked.Hushing the WankhedeIn the early years of the IPL, no foreign player inspired as much devotion
from a section of Indian fans, as Malinga. His spells at the death had
acquired a legendary status, and in home games, would be delivered to
stadium-wide cries of “Ma-li-nga”.But on April 2, 2011, when Sri Lanka had come to town to contest the World
Cup final, there was no adulation for him. The Wankhede was not Malinga’s
crowd that day. Trapping Virender Sehwag in front of the stumps second
ball, Malinga let out a roar as silence filled the stadium. A few overs
later, he took the outside edge of Mumbai’s favourite son – Sachin
Tendulkar – and sprinted full tilt, arms spread, from the bowling crease to
square leg, wildly, hysterically joyful.Despite the quality of Malinga’s opening spell, Sri Lanka, of course, could
not capitalise. MS Dhoni would go on to provide that evening’s most
memorable moment.The Pallekele demolitionEngland may have been reigning World T20 champions, but Sri Lanka were
favourites for this particular tournament, and in the back hills of Kandy
that evening, Malinga was king.On display were virtually all of Malinga’s weapons, which at this stage of
his career, constituted a veritable arsenal. He got Luke Wright with a ball
that pitched on short-of-a-length and left the right hander slightly – one
of his favoured new-ball deliveries at the time. The next victim was Jonny
Bairstow, who didn’t spot the slower ball, and whacked it almost into the
stratosphere, but could get no distance on the shot – the ball eventually
caught at mid off. Next ball, Alex Hales was duped by another slower one,
which struck his pad in front of the stumps.While those three early wickets could be attributed to Malinga’s wit, it
was pure ability that brought the next two. Jos Buttler could not control a
menacing bouncer in Malinga’s second spell, and sent a catch to long leg.
And seeing Samit Patel back away to make room, Malinga took aim at the off
stump and sent it cartwheeling with a fast full toss. That 5 for 31 remains
his best return in T20 internationals.Dipping in CardiffWhen Sri Lanka made only 138 in their innings, it seemed almost
inconceivable New Zealand would be put under any sort of strain, but thanks
largely to Malinga, the match would turn out to be a thriller. New Zealand
had not, at the time, had a great record against Malinga, and that would
continue, for one more game at least.This time it was his pace that they struggled to parse. In the ninth over,
Kane Williamson actually attempted to duck a ball that wound up hitting him
on the thigh, in front of the stumps. Eleven overs later, another slower
ball had Daniel Vettori lbw. Then the McCullum brothers were removed in the
space of three Malinga deliveries, Brendon playing too early at another
slower ball, which took out his off stump, before Nathan was nailed in front
of the wickets with a searing, swinging fast one.Had Sri Lanka conserved their review to overturn a not out decision when
Malinga hit Southee in front of the stumps in the 34th over, they might
even have gone on to win the match. Instead New Zealand survived Malinga’s
final bursts to limp home with a wicket to spare.Full and wide in MirpurFigures of no wickets for 27 may not sound like much, but make no mistake, the 2014
World T20 final was one of Malinga’s finest cricketing moments. Though
sometimes criticised at home for the eagerness with which he turns up at
each IPL, Malinga’s riposte, on this occasion, was to harness the knowledge
he had gained in five IPL seasons for Sri Lanka’s benefit. Having been made
captain mid-way through this campaign, Malinga had been instrumental in
devising the bowling plan that muzzled India’s batsmen.The thinking was this: few India batsmen played the scoop or lap scoop, and
relied instead on more traditional cricketing strokes for their death-over
runs. As a result, Malinga contended, Sri Lanka would be well-served by the
yorker landed about half-a-metre outside off stump – too wide for the likes
of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni to whip through leg, but not quite wide enough
to flay through a packed offside. While Malinga himself was virtually
inch-perfect in the execution of this plan, Nuwan Kulasekara went a little
wider than his partner, but was nevertheless successful.Much was said about Yuvraj Singh’s tortured innings in that game, but even
when MS Dhoni joined a well-set Virat Kohli at the crease, the two men
could muster no more than 11 runs off the final 11 balls of the innings.And perhaps the most incredible thing about that plan of attack was that it
was so unlike Malinga. He was a bowler seemingly defined by his uniqueness
and his blockbuster spells. But it was this humdrum, low-octane strategy
that delivered him the greatest prize of his career. Malinga didn’t blast
India out; he outwitted them.

Chasing has been the template for winning T20s in the recent past, but Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore have been handicapped into batting first

Sidharth Monga19-Apr-20173:11

Both Ends: To bat first? Or chase?

Twenty20 is an unfair sport. The side batting second has a massive advantage: by knowing the target, they can use their batting resources accordingly. As the contest gets longer, the batting resources have to be used judiciously, which evens the game. In T20s, the conditions don’t deteriorate that much, and the side batting first – not knowing what a good score is – runs a big risk of either under-utilising its batting resources or failing by aiming too high.As most of T20 cricket is played in the night, dew further disadvantages the team batting first. It has become a largely predictable sport, in that the chasing side ends up winning with more than what can be termed as fair regularity.In the 2016-17 Big Bash League, teams chose to bat first in seven out of 35 matches, and lost each of those. Overall, 12 out of 35 matches were won by teams batting first. In last year’s IPL, teams willingly batted first on 11 occasions out of 59, and that resulted in only two wins. Overall, 19 out of 59 matches were won by sides batting first. In the previous CPL, only five of the 34 tosses resulted in sides batting first, which in turn resulted in no success. In the 2017 PSL, only once did a team choose to bat first.Yet, during the current IPL, sides batting first have won 40% of the 20 matches so far, which is a better rate than expected. Two sides – Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore – have willingly chosen to bat first; the four matches that they have won between them have been successful defences. They both started doing so out of necessity.In the match between Daredevils and Royal Challengers, the fifth of this season, Royal Challengers chose to bat first. They scored an underwhelming 157 and ended up defending it. Look at those two batting units: Royal Challengers were missing Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and Daredevils were missing Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, who are out for the season.Their batting resources don’t seem as abundant as are required in predictable chase-and-wins. Both batting units were inexperienced, in that they couldn’t call on bankable T20 gun batsmen, who back themselves to chase 11-12 runs an over in the end overs. Batting first allows them to bat without the pressure of being active in the decisive moments of the match.This is more so the case with Daredevils, who have a better bowling unit compared to their batting. Just as a strong batting side backs itself to chase whatever is put in front of it, this Daredevils side is asking the experienced bowling unit to defend. Sanju Samson, for example, now has the freedom to go through a mid-innings slowdown as he did in two of his big innings this season, without having to worry too much about a rising asking rate. Batting first in all IPLs, he averages 31 and strikes at 132 per 100 balls as against 23 and 115 in chases.Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils have won four games while batting first this season•BCCIRahul Dravid, the former India ODI captain, had gone through a phase where he would chase if he won the toss irrespective of the conditions or the opposition. That was at a time when India were not a good chasing side, and as Greg Chappell, the then coach, wrote in , Dravid wanted the side to learn chasing. Dravid, the Daredevils coach, is unlikely to be going out of the way to bat first so that his bowlers can learn how to defend. It is likelier that he has an unbalanced squad, and he is taking the tougher route to competitiveness.The case might be slightly different with Royal Challengers even though they batted first against Daredevils, after having failed to come close in a chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They felt it was easier for the batting unit missing Kohli and de Villiers to just bat. However, last year, they were the only side that had an even record when batting first. That, though, came through their gigantic first-innings scores via the big hitting of Chris Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers. They have the firepower to consistently score over 200: in the last 10 matches at their home ground before this IPL, five scores of over 200 were defended successfully, and five others of under 200 were chased down.This year, the pitch in Bengaluru has been different too, either by design or because of the new drainage system. Whatever be the reason, the pitch in Bengaluru has been dry, and the evening dew has not been able to make the ball skid.A lot of T20 is about tactics and strategy, but the value of improvising cannot be overstated. Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders don’t need to make such an adjustment so they will continue chasing. It’s quite possible Daredevils might grow confident in their batting and might revert to the more trusted T20 strategy of chasing in the second half of their season. It is quite possible Royal Challengers’ bowlers might fail them in a tall defence, and they might end up going back to chasing.However, these imperfect sides and their adjustment to the imperfections is proof that T20 hasn’t yet become the opposite of what WG Grace is known to have said: win the toss and chase; if you are in doubt, think about it, and chase.

West Indies’ lowest total of the series to date was actually a continuation of the dogged attitude they had found at Headingley, and their bowling reflected that truth

Melinda Farrell at Lord's07-Sep-20172:22

Butcher: Stokes irresistible when he finds his mojo

Some days it doesn’t matter what you do.You can wake up after your best ever sleep, look in the mirror and realise you’ve lost five pounds, accidentally rub against a lucky rabbit’s foot and find a fifty pound note in your pocket. The stars can be in alignment, the moon in your house and the sun shining on your back.Sometimes you can prepare as best you can, mentally and physically, focus on your processes and kick the laurels from underneath you.Some days you can do all of the right things and it counts for nothing.At Edgbaston, West Indies were bowled out for 168 and 137. In their first innings at Lord’s they were all out for 123. But while they managed fewer runs in their most recent outing, it didn’t spark the same sense of calamity as did their batting capitulation in the first Test. Perhaps there was still a lingering and softening glow remaining from their Headingley victory. Or perhaps a realisation that, today, they simply came up against some outstanding swing bowling in the sort of conditions that would have seriously tested the most resolute batsman’s defence.The ball may have been red but there were similarities to Edgbaston. There, the Windies struggled against a moving ball under artificial lights and for much of the first day of this final Test the lights were required at a gloomy Lord’s.Kraigg Brathwaite and Kyle Hope were victims of the new ball leaving them under the expert guidance of James Anderson as he hunted down the last few wickets needed to reach his teasing milestone – he was so difficult to play, it probably cost him the elusive 500th wicket. Could they have left better? Opening batsmen nick off to good outswingers. Such is the nature of the game at this level.Shai Hope did the early hard work, was patient and looked set; he could arguably have played Toby Roland-Jones better and perhaps have avoided the thin edge. But there will be far worse shots and poorer innings than this.Kemar Roach struck early to remove Mark Stoneman•Getty ImagesKieran Powell certainly could have timed his departure better; coming so soon after Hope’s wicket it left two new batsmen at the crease just as Ben Stokes was warming up.”Shai got a good ball, I think Kieran Powell played very well – again, he gets good starts,” said West Indies batting coach, Toby Radford. “I’d like him to carry on, I think he deserves to carry on. He’s played very well for us, does the hard bit and gets through Anderson and Broad, I just want to see him go on and get a big score. But losing those two, after that it was a little bit difficult, a fight uphill for batters coming in, with Stokes bowling an inspired spell and swinging it both ways.”I would have said the way it swung and seamed around all day, 220-250 would have been a good score. I thought they bowled particularly well. I thought at 70 for 2, we’d played well, we’d seen off the new ball and then we lost Shai Hope and Kieran Powell within a few balls and we were under a bit of pressure.”But Powell and Hope would still finish with the best batting figures of the day.Jermaine Blackwood provided the most disappointing batting moment for the Windies – going for the big heave-ho across the line when patient rebuilding may have been more helpful – but Blackwood only knows one way and the rewards he can provide will always be tempered by the risks he courts.The rest were victims of the extravagant hooping ball from the hand of Stokes, who turned up the swing louder than the Benny Goodman Orchestra. The last time Stokes bowled with such moving devastation was in the second innings against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015, when he took 6 for 36 off 21 overs. Here he required fewer than 15 overs to better those figures.There was outswing to take care of Shane Dowrich and Kemar Roach while massive inswing did for Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel.And it is hard to imagine how Roston Chase – or any batsman in the world – could possibly have dealt with a ball that seemed to swing, nip and shimmy all at once before shaving the stumps.Some days you just come up against a better opposition.And then…Some days your bad choices turn out to be fortuitous foresight. The decision to bat first under cloudy skies against a new ball attack that thrives in such conditions seemed unwise at first, until Kemar Roach has his turn late in the day, bowling tight to a good line and drawing the edges of Mark Stoneman and Alastair Cook.”We believed, and we checked the forecast several times, it was going to be the best day of the five, win the toss, bat – and from my own playing and coaching here, I know some days when it’s flat, it can be very flat and you can get 300-400,” said Radford. “On other days, like today, with the overheads and a little bit in the wicket, you look like something’s going to happen every ball.”On those days your shaky batting figures suddenly look robust. West Indies lost their fourth wicket with 78 runs on the board; when Jason Holder trapped Tom Westley and then found the edge of Joe Root’s bat England had only mustered 24.There are bad days and then there are days when the only thing that matters is having a better day than your opponent.The Windies will settle for more such days in this Test.

It wasn’t the most memorable haul Stuart Broad will ever take, but he called the three wickets he bagged to pass Ian Botham’s tally as “really special”

George Dobell20-Aug-2017In the grand scheme of an excellent career, Stuart Broad’s figures of 3 for 32 at Edgbaston might look pretty unremarkable. He has played against much tougher opposition in much higher-profile games and taken 15 five-wicket hauls.But this spell was, in his own words, “really special.” For it’s not every day you surpass the record of your childhood hero.For those under 40, it may be hard to understand just how great a cricketer Ian Botham was. Those of a certain age may think of him, first and foremost, as a commentator, a charity walker (and if that was all he had ever done, it would still be a life well-lived) and an increasingly unconvincing frontman in adverts.But, for a few years in the late 70s and early 80s, he was as good a bowler as England have ever had.Yes, those are strong words. But he swung the ball sharply both ways. He generated decent pace – as late as 1985 he could bowl genuinely fast spells – he never knew he was beaten and he raised his game on the biggest stage. Only six men have taken 100 wickets in fewer Tests; only one of them – Ravi Ashwin – has done it quicker since World War 2. Only five men have taken 200 wickets in fewer Tests; none of them played for England. He still has more five-wicket hauls (27) than James Anderson. And, for a while in the 1980s, his haul of Test wickets was a world record.Add in his ability with the bat – he hit 14 Test centuries including one, at Manchester in 1981, that was just about as good as it gets – and you clearly have one of the greatest players in England’s history.Maybe he played too long. And maybe he diminished his legacy a bit in those last few years. But even towards the end – such as the 1992 World Cup when he took a career-best ODI haul to help defeat Australia in Sydney – he retained a great sense of occasion.Broad grew-up steeped in the history of Botham’s heroics. He was only a few months old when his dad, Chris, helped Botham and the rest of the England side win the Ashes in Australia in 1986-87. But he feasted on video footage of the series, graduated onto highlights of the 1981 Ashes and recalls watching the 1992 World Cup live. Now, with the wicket of Shane Dowrich in West Indies’ second innings, he surpassed Botham’s tally of 383 Test wickets.”My first cricketing memory watching live cricket was the ’92 World Cup,” Broad recalled. “I remember watching an England team do well and get to the final.”My dad made me watch that ‘On Top Down Under’ video – the highlight of the 1986-87 Ashes – relentlessly. I watched that throughout the early 90s. And because Beefy [Botham] was such a legend you see images and footage of him performing throughout his career. I saw his Headingley game and stuff and then saw him in 1986-87 both with bat and ball and the slightly dodgy sweatbands. He’d obviously get fined by the ICC with them now.”He has been a big influence on me. Of course, he played with my dad and he is a huge legend of English cricket.”But he’s also given a lot more to this team. In the past couple of years he has spent more and more time in the changing room and the guys really listen to him. He is passionate about English cricket and you can tell he wants us to do well. And he obviously has an influence on us because of the way he performed against Australia. The players thrive off that.Stuart Broad bowled Shane Dowrich to move second on England’s all-time list•Getty Images”I was very fortunate to get my Test cap off him back in 2007. I saw him downstairs and I could tell he was genuinely proud and delighted that I’d managed to go past him and that’s testament to him. And he said that we’ll share a nice bottle of wine later in the week. If he’s buying, that’s quite exciting! It’s special. A really special day.”Perhaps the spell was significant beyond surpassing Botham’s record. While Broad has bowled better than his figures suggest all year, this was his best analysis in a Test innings since the Visakhapatnam Test in November (he hasn’t taken a five-wicket haul since Johannesburg in January 2016) and briefly evoked memories of those match-defining spells for which he will be remembered.”I felt really good in that spell of bowling,” he said. “It was probably the best 40 minutes of bowling I’ve had this summer.”I sort of can tell when I’m going to get wickets. I do feel light in my run-up, I think the most important thing is that I make the batsmen play pretty much every ball. When I don’t get it quite right, I get pushed into sort of fifth stump and get left a few times.”For that seven-over period it was probably the most I made batsmen play a forward defensive at me all summer. And that’s a good learner for me. I know I’m a better bowler and I create more chances if a get a batsman indecisive in his defence.”I feel like I’ve been threatening and creating chances this summer. I have a checklist at the end of each day and wickets doesn’t even come into it because you can bowl really well and not get wickets. But part of my checklist is: did I create chances? I feel like throughout each day that I’ve been creating chances. And, look, if I’m saving all my wickets for Australia, I don’t mind.”Broad seems to have matured over the last couple of years. It’s not just that he has abandoned the displays of frustration with umpires or a tendency to over-do the short-ball, but he has played through pain in his feet and developed a desire to make every ball count that is a characteristic of the best bowlers.”I really don’t like being left,” he said. “It feels like the waste of a run-up. I love batsmen playing forward defensives at me because it means that if I get any nibble either way, I bring both sides in.”How long can he continue? He answered instinctively when asked if he intends to play in the 2019 Ashes – “Oh God, yes” – and feels that the example of Anderson and the enthusiasm of playing under a young captain in Joe Root and as part of a hungry team has, to some extent, rejuvenated him.”I’m 31 now and still feel like I have quite a bit of cricket left in me,” he said. “I’m loving the energy around this team, I’m loving be part of it. It’s one of those teams at that moment that feels like someone different is stepping up each day, which is really exciting.”We’ve spoken as a senior group of players about making sure our practice is intense all the time. Our training has become more intense, which has led our performances being more ruthless. As a senior leg of the team, you can influence other people in the group. I think it is important for our practice to be hard and tough and intense because actually it helps you improve as a performer and it drags team-mates with you. It was something Joe asked for.”Jimmy is bowling as well as I’ve seen him bowl. He’s turned 35 but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him challenge both sides of the bat as consistently as he has done this summer. Fielding at mid-on and mid-off to him, I feel like he is in the game all the time. He’s not bowling bad balls and he looks in a rhythm that’s awesome. He is picking up wickets at a huge speed at the moment and, not only will he be looking at 500, he’ll be looking way past that.”

An improved wrist position has made him more accurate, and yoga has enabled him to recover faster between long spells. Eight years since his breakthrough first season, Karnataka’s hit-the-deck enforcer is as quick as he has ever been

Akshay Gopalakrishnan in Kolkata17-Dec-2017There are traits in Abhimanyu Mithun that are almost impossible to miss. His physicality is one of them. When he saunters in for a chat, you can see heavy chunks of muscle on his six-foot-two-inch frame. He has just completed a training session at Eden Gardens, and as he sits down he feels his heavily strapped right thigh. “Groin niggle,” he says.Mithun is no stranger to injuries. He lost most of last season to it. But there is a visible change in him this year. Mithun has come back stronger and more intense than ever, and his pace has gone up several notches. It was visible on Sunday when he tore Vidarbha apart with figures of 5 for 45, his third five-wicket haul of the season.The source of the groin niggle he speaks of is from a year ago, when, at this same venue, against Delhi, Mithun tried out an experiment he now rues. Recommended to do so by a trainer, Mithun decided to remove his ankle braces for a session. The effects of the move were felt in Karnataka’s next match, against Assam. Mithun pulled up after bowling only 10 balls in the first innings and missed Karnataka’s next four games.”Speak to any physio, and they will advise against making changes during the season,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “Because this is a long tournament. Your muscles adapt themselves to function a certain way and are used to doing the things you did before the season. They don’t respond too well to sudden changes. It’s tough, especially for a fast bowler.”That (removing the braces) affected a different muscle. I removed it for one session and that transferred the pressure to my groin.”Mithun is now cautious about subjecting his body to such surprises. He has introduced new elements to his training, but is consistent with them. Technically, he worked on setting right his wrist position, which hung back a little more than ideal. It was particularly troublesome when he tried bowling the inswinger.Now, his wrist is a lot straighter at delivery. It has given him more control with his lines and lengths. On Sunday, Mithun hardly strayed onto leg stump. His short balls were fired in at the middle-stump channel, cramping up the batsmen and giving them next to no time to react. Otherwise, he probed in the corridor outside off.But what has made Mithun most dangerous this season is his ability to steam in without losing intensity over the course of a day. Mithun has bent his back for long periods and his body has held up through the rigours. These were the very qualities that had impressed the selectors when they picked him in India’s Test squad to travel to Sri Lanka seven years ago.On Sunday, he was at his paciest after lunch and hit the deck particularly hard during his three-wicket burst late into an extended second session. He caught Delhi off-guard in similar manner in Alur, where he snuffed out a set Dhruv Shorey and had Nitish Rana put down off him in a fiery post-lunch spell on the third day.Changes in fitness regime have helped Mithun bowl with this sustained aggression. Always a lover of the weights room, Mithun now mixes it up with yoga. He is nimbler when he runs into the crease now and doesn’t go stiff.”Yoga has given me flexibility,” he says. “It has also sped up my recovery process. Obviously when you play a full season of 11 matches, it takes a toll on your body. But I now recover much faster even between my first and second spells.”Mithun’s love of physical fitness came to him early, partly from his father, a bodybuilder and gym instructor. Mithun was a discus-thrower before he became a fast bowler, and in his early years bowled a lot with the tennis ball. All of this gave him a solid base in terms of athleticism and power, but for someone who relies so heavily on his shoulder, it’s a fight against time as he ages.Mithun has taken inspiration from one of his mentors at Sunrisers Hyderabad when it comes to sustaining his fitness through his 30s.”As a fast bowler, when you get older, you need to be more flexible,” he says. “That’s how Ashish [Nehra] played till 39 years. Ashish has a very flexible spinal cord. If you are flexible, you are in for the long run.”

“Yoga has given me flexibility. It has also sped up my recovery process. Obviously when you play a full season of 11 matches, it takes a toll on your body. But I now recover much faster even between my first and second spells.”Abhimanyu Mithun

The work he has put in behind the scenes has made Mithun quicker than he has been in some time. He now bowls at the sort of pace that thrust him into first-class cricket a mere three years after he first bowled with a cricket ball. It is the sort of pace that fetched him 47 wickets in his maiden first-class season – 11 on debut – and earned him a maiden international appearance three months later. It is what caught the eye of the then Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings ahead of the 2009 IPL trials. Mithun was an out-and-out fast bowler at a time when India didn’t boast too many of them.He has since not been anywhere near the national reckoning. He has floated between IPL teams, going to Mumbai Indians in 2015 and Sunrisers in 2016, but hasn’t had a reasonable run to prove himself. But he has continued chipping away in domestic cricket, quietly becoming a prominent member of Karnataka’s celebrated pace attack. His contribution to their title wins in 2013-14 and 2014-15 was a staggering 80 wickets. With his captain Vinay Kumar, Mithun has formed one of the most prolific new-ball combinations in the Ranji Trophy.Mithun’s most immediate aim personally is to establish himself in an IPL side. In working towards that, he realises the value of the time he is getting to spend in the Karnataka side. Helping Karnataka do well means earning more opportunities to prove himself. “Obviously, it’s (IPL) become important. You need to do well there to take the next step. If we win the Ranji Trophy, we get to play the Irani Trophy.”Playing for Karnataka is a matter of pride. These are guys whom I’ve played with since my juniors. Guys like Manish [Pandey], Karun [Nair]. Doing well in front of them, when these guys tell me I’m bowling well, that’s the kind of thing that gives me satisfaction and motivation to perform. Winning matches for Karnataka makes me prouder.”

Five previous instances when Rangana Herath spun Sri Lanka to victory against Pakistan

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Oct-20174 for 64, Faisalabad, 2004 The only one of these spells to be delivered by Rangana Herath 1.0 – before his 2009 renaissance – and the only one to have come in Pakistan, it was the carrom ball that was Herath’s primary weapon as he bowled Sri Lanka to victory. Back then, the term carrom ball hadn’t even been coined, of course, nor did anyone else seem to possess one. Unsurprisingly, it fooled no fewer than three Pakistan batsmen, Mohammad Yousuf among them. It is strange to think of Herath as a mystery bowler – in fact, he is closer now to mystery spin’s complete antithesis. But that he once won a Test for Sri Lanka using a gimmick variation he had devised at school when playing indoors with a tennis ball, underscores how fascinating his career has been.4 for 15, Galle, 2009The spell that made modern-day Herath, and one with a terrific backstory. He had been playing league cricket in Stoke-on-Trent, when Muttiah Muralitharan injured his shoulder a few days out from the first Test against Pakistan. Kumar Sangakkara, then captain, asked Herath if he could make it in time. The day after he arrived in the island, he was playing a Test, and four days later, he was winning it. Pakistan needed 97 to win on the final day, with eight wickets still intact. Herath took four wickets and turned a tight game, setting down a blueprint for so many of his future successes.5 for 99, P Sara Oval, 2009Pakistan had collapsed for 90 in the first innings without Herath really having had to interfere, but after Younis Khan and Fawad Alam had put on 200 together in the second innings, they were fashioning themselves an escape. Not if Herath had anything to say about it. Once Younis had fallen, Herath seized his moment, with the second new ball. He first nailed Mohammad Yousuf with a slider, had Alam caught bat-pad, before another arm ball wangled its way between Shoaib Malik’s bat and pad. What was impressive was the rate at which Herath’s wickets came. Having been 285 for 1, Pakistan were soon 320 all out. Sri Lanka would proceed to win by seven wickets.6 for 48, Galle, 2014A match that for four days seemed destined to be a draw – which by stumps on the fourth day, had still only seen six overs of the second innings, and yet one which Herath managed to bring to a thrilling conclusion. He had removed Khurram Manzoor within those six overs at the end of day four, then, once other bowlers had made the first two breakthroughs on the final day, Herath imposed himself. His first day-five wicket was an in-form Younis Khan, between whose bat and pad Herath slipped an arm ball. A near-unplayable hard-spun delivery then took Azhar Ali’s outside edge. Asad Shafiq and two tailenders would also fall to him, and while Herath was tearing Pakistan down, a huge crowd had built up, on the banks of the stadium as well as on Galle’s Fort. They were treated to one of the most colourful Test finishes seen in Sri Lanka, as a gigantic dark cloud parked itself above the stadium as Sri Lanka attempted to run down the target of 99. Angelo Mathews began hooking like a man possessed, and completed the winning run just as the skies unleashed a downpour.9 for 127, SSC, 2014The only performance on this list to have come in the first innings, though his second-innings haul was not too shabby either, at 5 for 57. As no other bowlers seemed to be getting wickets, Herath took it upon himself to dismiss almost the entire batting order himself. It was the loop and dip Herath achieved on an as-yet unresponsive surface that was the main feature of this innings. The ball just held an extra second in the air, and batsmen’s outside edges continued to be taken. Five catches went to either the keeper or slip. This spell would set up victory in Mahela Jayawardene’s farewell Test.

Stats from South Africa v India: record-low scores, pretty 40s, and a keeper’s dream

Andy Zaltzman30-Jan-2018FOUR THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE SOUTH AFRICA v INDIA SERIES. PLUS ONE THING FROM THE AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND ODIs.1. Everything comes back into fashion eventually. In the words of the famous song by Prince, the late American funk-pop legend, who played a season for Gloucestershire 2nd XI in between albums in the early 1980s, “Tonight we’re going to average like it’s 1899.”The South Africa v India series took statistics lurching back to the sometimes-good old days. Overall, at 21.8 runs per wicket, it was the fourth-lowest-scoring Test series since 1959 (three matches minimum), and the second-lowest in South Africa since the 1898-99 England tour.India’s team average of 20.6 runs per wicket was their lowest in a series of three or more matches since 1976-77 (although better than the 19.1 they managed in South Africa in a two-Test rubber in 1999-2000, and the 13.3 in their notorious 2-0 defeat to New Zealand in 2002-03).South Africa’s figure of 23.0 per wicket was their lowest in a victorious series, and the fourth-lowest victorious series average in the past 110 years (England averaged 22.5 in their five-Test series win over West Indies in 2000, New Zealand 20.6 in that 2002-03 two-Test seam-off against India, and Pakistan 19.8 in a three-Test win over West Indies in 1958-59).The cricket was largely riveting, even if the pitches were flawed. Cricket is at its best when there is an even contest between bat and ball. Ball dominating bat is generally a creditable second.It was only the 18th Test series of three or more matches (out of 492 played) in which there has been no more than one century scored, and the first of those in which the solitary century has been a score of 150 or more.2. Pretty 30s and 40s do win you Test matches. Runs depend on context, in all formats of the game. Virat Kohli (37) and Ajinkya Rahane (21) have, between them, made 58 scores of 50 or more in Tests, 30 of which they have converted into centuries. Neither added to that tally in the second innings in Johannesburg. There were no bat-waggling, fist-pumping moments of personal triumph, no on-screen graphics trumpeting another milestone. Just hard, fascinating, high-impact runs.In the context of the treacherous pitch, India’s desperation to avoid a series whitewash, and the formidable array of Protean pace, their combination of defence, targeted risk, and glimmering strokeplay created a pair of pretty 40s with enormous heft. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s pair of tail-end 30s, M Vijay’s ferociously committed three-hour stonewall, even KL Rahul’s hour of second-evening resistance, were all critical contributions. The pitch was borderline ridiculous, but cricket is fascinating when relatively small innings are vitally important.Catch you sooner than later: the 2017-18 South Africa-India series saw a record number of keeping dismissals•BCCIKohli’s first-innings 54 was India’s highest score, the third-lowest top score in an Indian Test victory (behind the 40 scored by M Vijay in that Nagpur Test in November 2015 and VVS Laxman’s 51, on debut, also against South Africa, in Ahmedabad in November 1996). It was the lowest top score to win a Test in South Africa since January 1923, when England captain Frank Mann’s fourth-innings 45, batting at seven, took England to the brink of a one-wicket victory.3. Having 15 batsmen out in single figures in a Test does not win you many Test matches. For South Africa, Dean Elgar carried his bat for a not-very-pretty 86 not out, an innings of startling skill, resolution and cussedness in the face of the unremitting examination of hostile physics. Hashim Amla’s twin half-centuries stand with the absolute best of his long, stellar career. Unfortunately their heroic efforts were undermined by the South Africans’ poorly conceived strategy of registering 15 single-figure dismissals in the match (something they had not tried since February 1936, also at the Wanderers, against Australia). Unsurprisingly, it did not bear victorious fruit.They were only the third team to attempt such a gambit in a home Test this millennium – Australia had 16 batsmen out in single figures in their defeat to South Africa in Hobart in 2016-17, and Zimbabwe 17 against New Zealand in Harare in 2005.The only two teams to win a Test with 15 single-figure dismissals are West Indies, against Pakistan in April 1993, and Australia, at Lord’s in 1888, a match that set the all-time single-figure-dismissals record for a Test match, with 32.The Johannesburg Test just completed lies joint 14th on that list, with 25, the same as in the Mohali Test between these same two teams in late 2015, a rather different match in which 34 wickets fell to spin, which was 34 more than the number of deliveries of spin tweaked down at the Wanderers.These matches, and the series in which they were played, have given considerable ammunition to those who argue that neutral groundsmen, tasked with providing a variety of fair but different surfaces for a Test series, might be a step forward for cricket. An alternative proposal would be to allow each team to prepare one end of the pitch – 11 yards of fruity green seamer, 11 yards of tweaky dustbowl. Can you seriously pretend that you would not tune in to watch every single ball of that?4. It was a good and bad series to be a wicketkeeper. The wicketkeepers in the series – Quinton de Kock (71 runs in six innings), Wriddhiman Saha (8 in two) and Parthiv Patel (56 in four) combined for an average of 11.25, the second lowest by wicketkeepers in a series of at least three matches this millennium, behind the 9.22 averaged by Jonny Bairstow and Shane Dowrich last summer in the England v West Indies series.There have been breaks between games but not enough downtime•Getty ImagesIn a not entirely unrelated counterstat, they collectively took 37 catches (17 by de Kock, ten each by the two Indians), comfortably the most wicketkeeping dismissals in any of the 266 three-Test series played, and the first series in Test history in which nine or more team innings have taken place, in which the keepers averaged more than three dismissals per innings (the previous record was 2.94 (53 in 18 innings), in the Australia v West Indies series of 1992-93).5. There is, simultaneously, too much international cricket being played, and not enough international cricket being played. Between the final ODI, on January 28, and first ODI against New Zealand on February 25, England will have played six or seven T20Is, depending on whether or not they make the final of the tri-series, plus a warm-up match, in four weeks.For a bowler completing his four-over allocation in seven matches, that equates to an average of six deliveries per day, which might be a somewhat frantic schedule for a midwife, but seemingly less than onerous for an international bowler.Test cricket, the format that needs the most rest and recuperation time, and which would benefit most from players having space between matches to rediscover form and rhythm, is the most schedulically squeezed. Its longer series are now habitually compromised by injury, fatigue and unbreakable individual and collective downward form-spirals.Between the end of the Sydney Test on January 8, and day one of the first Test in New Zealand, on March 22, England will have played ten one-day internationals, seven or eight T20Is, plus warm-ups, in 72 days. They will have had almost 50 cricketless days. Aside from the unnecessary exacerbation of the unavoidable problem of international cricketers being away from home for far longer than is humanitarianly ideal, the shorter-format series lack narrative intensity.The entire Ashes series took 47 days, 25 of which were set aside for Test cricket. One look at recent World Cup schedules confirms cricket’s baffling, self-destructive addiction to unnecessarily elongated time span of limited-over tournaments.England could have played the same amount of shorter-form cricket in at least three weeks less time. Probably four. Perhaps, at a stretch five. The players could have gone home. Alternatively, they could have had proper preparation before the Ashes. Or they could have spent a fortnight writing and rehearsing a charity musical based on the life of Gilbert Jessop, before a two-week run on Broadway.There is no perfect schedule, especially since the T20 franchise rhinoceros hatched out of the bag and started galumphing around cricket’s living room, providing, as galumphing pachyderms so often do, much entertainment alongside consternation, in addition to the long-term damage being caused.It may be the case that too much international cricket is being played. It is certainly the case, however, that too much international cricket involves not enough international cricket being played.In cricket’s unending quest to squeeze its various golden geese until they all simultaneously quack for mercy, the schedulers may find that, whilst Less might not equal More, then the Same Amount More Sensibly Scheduled could very well equal More. Or, at least, Better. Which, admittedly, might not be so commercially attractive.

He’s one of the few players who can make an impact on a match at just about every stage of it

Jarrod Kimber26-Apr-2018His bowling was lightning, hitting incredibly frenetic, and fielding breathtaking. This was a player who would win a game with any of his three skills. Learie Constantine was quite a cricketer, an impact player before impact players were a thing. His batting wasn’t quite allrounder standard, but when he made runs, they came at such a rate that they changed the direction of a game. And Constantine was one of the fastest bowlers of his era, even bowling Bodyline before it was Bodyline.Andre Russell is remarkably similar to Learie Constantine. He is fast, his innings change the gravitational pull of matches, and he has endless fielding brilliance. Their first-class averages are also similar – both average 20 with the ball; Constantine averaged 24 with the bat, Russell 26. And like Constantine, to make the most of his talents, Russell has had to pursue opportunities outside the West Indies. For Constantine, league cricket in England, for Russell, franchise T20.Russell is an impact player in T20, and he makes an impact almost all the game through. T20 can be split into six different sections, batting Powerplay, batting middle, batting death, bowling Powerplay, bowling middle and bowling death. Most players, even a few of the best ones, aren’t used for half. Russell is a threat, a weapon, almost the whole game through.When he bats, he’s boomshakalaka. Using ESPNcricinfo’s smart strike rate metric, which compares a player’s runs with the match run rates and what was happening at the other end when he was batting, Russell’s career smart strike rate is 215, leaving him as the only player with more than 1000 runs in T20 with a smart strike rate over 200. If you like standard strike rates, he’s currently in second place on the all-time list.The middle overs of T20 are rarely a time for men like Russell. Most of his ilk are sent down the order for the death overs, but probably because he asked, or maybe just because he was successful once or twice there, it’s in the middle overs that Russell is at his best. From overs seven to 15, Russell strikes at 147 (smart strike rate of 183) and averages 33. The high-strike-rate lists for the middle overs are dominated by openers, because they get to those overs fully set, but even so, Russell is still sixth all-time for highest smart strike rate in that period. While other batsmen are cashing in on good starts, or knocking the ball around, he’s slapping the ball around like it is the death.Jarrod Kimber/ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the major T20 competitions, fewer than a third of players who have scored over 300 runs at the death have a smart strike rate of over 183. When T20 is at its slowest, Russell is scoring quicker than many people do at the death.But when T20 declares party time, he doesn’t get all that much quicker. He’s still sixth on the all-time strike rate list for the death, with 189, which is immense but not all that much quicker than his career mark. Russell is almost always batting like it is the death, unlike other batsmen who scale up, he’s already in the death mindset no matter where he bats. (He almost never bats in the first six: 63 of his 3671 runs have come in the Powerplay.)As a bowler he has the talent to bowl at any time. He bowls 25% of the time in the Powerplay, 52% in the middle, and 23% at the death – one of the most even spreads in T20 cricket.In the Powerplay he’s not a big swinger of the ball, but he goes at 7.3 runs, which is bang on average for the World T20 during his career, and he takes a wicket every 21 balls, which is almost four deliveries better than the average bowler. Given wickets are worth more at the top, that makes him a superb Powerplay bowler.In the middle overs his smart economy rate is 9, which is high for that period, but he strikes every 24 balls, which is average. Remember, this is the period when the fewest wickets fall. Having dashed at the new ball, teams are consolidating or trying to keep things ticking along. In games where you have set a low total, it’s in those middle overs that wickets are important, and captains often turn to Russell to make something happen. He doesn’t do it well enough, but he’s certainly not terrible at it.At the death his smart economy rate of 9.5 makes him slightly more expensive than average, but he takes a wicket every 9.5 balls, which means that – setting aside the fact that wickets are almost worthless in that period –  he’s striking 3.7 deliveries more frequently than the average. It’s an incredibly handy thing to have a bowler who can take death wickets, even if he is half a run an over more expensive.Russell’s T20 title wins

2012: World T20 (West Indies)
2013: CPL (Jamaica Tallawahs)
2016: World T20 (West Indies)
2016: CPL (Jamaica Tallawahs)
2016: BBL (Sydney Thunder)
2016: PSL (Islamabad United)
2016: BPL (Dhaka Dynamites)

To recap, there are six phases of a T20 game and Russell can positively affect five. And that doesn’t even account for his fielding.He can hit against all kinds of bowling – right-arm seam, left-arm seam, fingerspin (whether it spins in or away). It’s only legspin – not left-arm wristspin; he smashes that too – that he struggles against, though he’s getting better against it.He bowls decently against right-handers, but he’s slightly better against lefties. His strike rate of 146 in the first ten balls makes him the eighth best. His slower ball is hard to pick, his bouncer has caught some of the best batsmen by surprise, and his ability to attack when other batsmen won’t, or can’t, is extraordinary.Russell’s only weaknesses are legspin and batting in the Powerplay. And he was suspended for a drugs code violation. When he is on the field, there’s almost nothing he can’t do.There is a tendency to look at him as a natural phenomenon, a gifted athlete who does his thing, but there’s way more method than madness. There are plenty of players, like Corey Anderson, Carlos Brathwaite and Ben Cutting, who can score at ridiculous rates at the death, even quicker than Russell, but they score nothing like him up the order. And some bowlers are better than Russell in certain sections of the game, but not that many are as useful in all three phases.Russell is a real T20 allrounder. There are a lot of players who are called allrounders in T20 cricket, but most aren’t – usually their batting or bowling is limited, sometimes both, meaning the impact they have on matches is limited. Or sometimes their positive batting or bowling are affected by their weaker skill.Over the last three years, Russell faces 10.6 balls a game and bowls 19.1 deliveries a game. The combined total of 29.76 makes him the 17th most used player currently in T20. There are plenty of players who bat longer, or are more dominant in certain periods of the match, but there are only a handful who can regularly change so many parts of a game.Twenty-six balls doesn’t seem like much, but Russell is a front-line bowler and batsman in T20 cricket, and over just more than 10% of the game, few players make as much impact as he does.Stats inputs from Shiva Jayaraman

Pakistan were on course for an innings win but a three-figure partnership between Jos Buttler and debutant Dominic Bess has set up a nervy fourth day

Osman Samiuddin at Lord's26-May-2018How much will be too much? It is the question that has haunted Pakistan and Pakistani fans for as long as anyone can remember, but especially over the last decade or so.From the moment England nudged into the lead, it began. Double-figures and no worries, 120-ish and errr, 150-plus and spend the day watching from behind the couch. All manner of Tests recent and long gone come into play: Sydney, Galle, Abu Dhabi, any number of final-day collapses.Pakistan remain confident though that, with England effectively 56 for 6, the game is still under control. The second new ball will be available two overs into the fourth morning and in the hands of Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Amir, on this surface, there is no reason to think it shouldn’t reap rewards.”No, there’s no nervousness,” Asad Shafiq said at the end of the day. “It [failing to chase a low total] has happened in the past a couple of times but everyone is pretty confident. We’re all saying whatever target we get, we’ll be confident.”Part of the reason for that may be because they did chase down their most recent low total – in Malahide against Ireland. That wasn’t entirely without nerves, Pakistan losing three early wickets before Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam steadied them and all but took them home.The key there was the fairly healthy rate at which they chased it down, in stark contrast to previous chases where they have retreated into a runs-free shell.”We’ll take confidence from the Ireland chase, definitely,” Shafiq said. “Two new guys helped chase that down and the way they batted in that gave them confidence. It also gave the team confidence [in their ability to stabilise] after a few early wickets and then chase.”It is a shame that talk has turned to the total after what was, for two sessions, an outstanding collective bowling performance. The highlight was Amir’s two-wicket over in the afternoon, but the discipline in that first session in sunshine and a wicket that had eased was what heaped pressure on England.”We were very good through the day except the last couple of hours,” Shafiq said. “But you’d have to give some credit to their batsmen as well, the way they handled our bowling in those last two hours. Buttler played a very mature innings, as did Bess.”But how much will be too much, factoring in that they will be a man down? For hope, people might look to 2010 (that’s never been said before). That was the last time Pakistan had to chase down low totals in England and they won both times – first against Australia and then England. Further back, there was the great Test win in 1992, here at Lord’s.Irrelevant all, but something to cling to.”Maximum 150 and ideally below that,” Shafiq said. “Not happy to chase over 150.”