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Professional contracts bring pressure to perform – how one side is meeting that challenge

Valkerie Baynes13-May-2021When Kate Green starts working with an athlete, the conversation usually begins with her asking a question and goes something like this:Green is a trained practitioner specialising in performance psychology and personal development. She works with the Lionesses in football and was recently appointed as Psycho-Social Lead for the Sunrisers cricket team who, regardless of her fascinating job title, just call her “Kate”.It’s all part of normalising conversation about the mental aspects of being an elite sportsperson as much as the physical side of training and it is an area Green and Danni Warren, Sunrisers’ Regional Director of Women’s Cricket, are passionate about.”It’s really about helping each individual in a young team, an inexperienced team, in a world that no one’s been in before,” Warren tells ESPNcricinfo.”We’ve gone from having a purely amateur game to professionalising it and expecting players and staff to be able to deal with those pressures.”Sunrisers are one of eight teams which contested the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last year. The same eight teams will play in that competition again in 2021 as well as the new Women’s Regional T20 after 41 women signed professional contracts for the coming season. Those contracts are awarded in addition to the 17 centrally contracted England Women’s players as part of the ECB’s restructure of domestic women’s cricket.Sunrisers encompass the London & East Region, including Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire. Their squad ranges in age from 17-29, five of whom – Naomi Dattani, Cordelia Griffith, Amara Carr, Jo Gardner and Kelly Castle – hold professional regional contracts.”I think back to around this time last year where I had the opportunity to ring a handful of girls and tell them that they were going to get a full-time professional contract,” Warren recalls. “They had worked for many years to get this, and it had been what they were about.”Speaking with some of them it was, ‘we’d achieved what we set out to do’, you felt a weight lifted off your shoulders. Then about a week later you realise now you’ve got to live up to the expectations of that contract.”Cordelia Griffith is one of five Sunrisers to earn a full-time professional domestic contract•Getty ImagesDriving Warren’s vision for helping players develop as people and athletes was the fact that most of the women and girls in the new structure won’t have been through an academy system that supported their personal and professional development in the same way as their male counterparts. That will gradually change with Sunrisers last month announcing a 14-strong academy intake.”In the men’s game, by the time you get a full-time contract at 19, 20, 21 you’ve had six, seven years of support,” Warren says. “So I was really keen and Kate being available gave us the experience level that we needed for this.”During her 18 years in the field, Green has worked extensively with the boys’ academy system, county professional teams and England at U17, U19, Lions and elite level. She held a senior performance role at UK Sport working with Olympic and Paralympic athletes before heading into football and then, last year, setting up her own consultancy.”What we were really keen to do was offer the girls support for them as a person and as a player, and so that’s why it is this more holistic and well-rounded psychological and personal development support,” Green says.What became clear from her early days helping academy players 15 years ago was that these young people needed help as they grew into adulthood in the tough environment of elite sport.”They’re people navigating the world, making sense of life, and then you add in all this complexity of performing under pressure and all the weight that that brings, both in expectation from the badge but also that you put on yourself,” Green says.”I just try and help people navigate that and then try and help teams work better together to try and create that psychological safety that enables you to perform under pressure.”So if the desire for guidance has been there for so long, why is there still a stigma attached to psychology?”In my opinion it’s been not funded equally alongside the physical and technical and tactical development within the games,” Green says. “So we’ve always been the last one at the table.”Psychs are consultants normally or part-time, they’re not a full-time member of staff like others. So it was always seen as an added extra and invariably then it was when there’s a crisis. It’s positioned in a medical framework of when there’s a problem.”For me good, positive psychology and personal development is proactive and it’s done equally to the physical counterparts, so you’ve got a parity between your physical and your mental health. That’s health being the optimal word rather than ill-health. No one wanted to have a problem, and therefore you avoid it or you try and deal with stuff on your own.”And while there’s long been the assumption that this attitude pervades men’s sport, Green has discovered it’s not only among men, or even exclusive to sport.”I think it’s across sport and society,” she says. “If it’s positioned as something you need for help, that’s always [met with], ‘well I won’t go until I need help, until I’m at breaking point’.”So with the Sunrisers and the Lionesses, Green has those conversations about working on mental attributes as well as physical ones. She has agreed with players she works with that regular meetings between them are “normal”.”It’s not like, ‘I’ve been sent to her,’ it’s more, ‘oh yeah you’re catching up with Kate because that’s what we do,'” Green says.Kelly Castle is part of Sunrisers’ innovative set-up•Getty ImagesThe main themes that Green deals with fall into sports and life categories. Issues such as selection and non-selection, injury and performance as well as relationships, education and career options beyond sport. You could call it prevention rather than cure, or simply proactivity and preparedness.”I focus on always be prepared for the unexpected,” Green says. “Never presume if you sit down with a batsman who’s just scored 160 runs, he’s going to be okay. People tend to go, ‘oh he’s scored 160, he must be great, or she must be fine.'”There’s some very secret battles that go on. I’ve worked with numerous players where there’s been all sorts going on and then they still perform, we’re talking about highly functioning people.”That’s where it gets a bit harder for athletes than it does people in society. They’re still functioning in their environment but it is starting to come out. They’re not performing like they want to, or they’re putting their body through the wringer by being sick before every time they go out to bat or bowl, or play a game because the anxiety is so high.”Early on, Green was staggered to discover how common it was for athletes to experience signs of extreme stress and think it was normal.”I do a lot of education on the psych response in the body, so that they understand that if their eyes become a bit more blurry or their sound goes a bit – their hearing – that’s high-level anxiety playing out which is protecting your body under threat,” she explains.”We talk through what is normal but what is also his or her choice. As in, that might be normal in performance, and under stress, but it doesn’t mean you have to live with it.”What I was finding when I first came into the job was more senior athletes have been doing this for years to themselves and thought it was part of performance. I was saying, ‘I know a lot of high-performing people who don’t have to put themselves through that to perform. Is there another way we could do this to make it more sustainable?'”What we don’t want is people putting their bodies and minds through all sorts to get through a career and then have a really difficult time in a big tournament and get sent home, or choose to come home and bow out of the game that way.”Warren is also determined not to see players end their careers in that fashion. On the contrary, she wants to keep them in sport, even after their playing days are over.”In 10, 20 years’ time, I’d like to be able to sit here and see all of these players and staff continuing to be active in the game, continuing to give something back because we gave them the opportunity to survive in the rocky world of professional cricket,” Warren says.And she hopes the benefits stretch beyond the cricket field.”The more we can have these conversations about it, then the general public will be able to hear the stories, they’ll be able to feel comfort in knowing that people that they look up to work very hard at that element of their life,” Warren says.”Hopefully it will make people more willing to reach out when they feel they need to reach out, because they know that you’re not unique, you’re not on your own. Everybody goes through it, whichever walk of life you choose to go down.”

The India batter believes there is still a specific role for him in the national team, one that his time in the IPL has helped him develop

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi12-Jun-20213:24

‘To try and help India win at least one, if not both, World Cups – that’s the ultimate goal for me’

Dinesh Karthik celebrated his 36th birthday earlier this month in the Serbian capital Belgrade, on his way to England, where he will work as a broadcaster – first for the ICC for the World Test Championship final, then with Sky for the Hundred and the England-India Tests. This will be his second stint as TV pundit after an impressive debut during England’s tour of India earlier this year. While he has successfully dipped his toes into broadcasting, Karthik is confident his playing career is far from over.In your recent stint with Sky for England’s tour of India, you seemed to be enjoying the punditry. Does watching and analysing the game as an expert give you a fresh outlook on it?
I genuinely enjoyed doing it. Watching all my friends play and commenting about them can’t be such a bad thing. Most of the time I speak well of them, but sometimes I have a go at them, like saying what a bad shot they have played when I’ve probably played [shots of that kind] a million times before! That is the beauty of it. I share a great rapport with each and every one I have played this sport with, so I am very confident that even if I have a go at them, they will know I mean no ill. I could speak my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed the little time I spent with [Nasser] Hussain, [Michael] Atherton, David Lloyd, Rob Key, [Ian] Ward.Related

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What is the one thing you have learned from this experience that will help with your game?
As a cricketer sometimes you tend to take opinions a touch too seriously. You are not as important as you sometimes think [you are]. It is not as bad as it sounds, sometimes. You need to take a chill pill as a cricketer and focus on trying to get better at your game. As a commentator you speak about so many things, and sometimes things don’t exactly come out the way they are supposed to. So I have realised that [as a player] you should never think that people are thinking about you all the time and take yourself that seriously.You just turned 36 recently. How did you celebrate?
I had the privilege of spending some time with Mr [Sunil] Gavaskar. We had a meal, cut a cake. It was fabulous.You are a veteran of the game now. How different is the challenge ahead of you at this point and what are you looking forward to?
You keep evolving. You are not the same person you were at 21 or 22. You look at things differently – the way you play the sport changes, the way the sport is played changes.It is just beautiful to have been part of the journey. Right now my ambition is to be part of the next two World Cups [2021 T20 World Cup and 2023 ODI World Cup] and try and help India win at least one, if not both. That’s the ultimate goal for me and I am doing everything I possibly can to be part of that team.In the 2021 IPL, against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Karthik struck a struck a nine-ball 22 to help KKR to a ten-run win after they slid from 146 for 1 in the 15th over to 160 for 5 in the 18th•BCCI/IPLOtherwise I live a very simple life in Chennai. I want to be part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which Deepika [Pallikal, squash player and Karthik’s wife] will be going to, in Birmingham. If I can be part of her journey that will be great. Other than that I have no big ambitions per se at this point of time apart from doing well for my [IPL] franchise and my country.What role do you believe you can play in the Indian team?
I believe there is a middle-order slot right now, at Nos. 5, 6, 7. And I can slot into any of the three. For the top four slots, there are way too many players who have done phenomenally well and who keep batting in [IPL] franchises at that position. My specialty is that I can bat at five, six, seven and help India in setting up the best score possible or in winning games, which I did in the short while before the 2019 World Cup in the T20 format. The fact that I have played 150 games for my country is the experience I will look back on every time I play.You have spoken about being a clinical finisher rather than a power hitter like Andre Russell. Do you believe there is such a role for you in the Indian team?
Look, at this point of time, we have Hardik [Pandya] and [Ravindra] Jadeja [in the lower order]. Otherwise you always try and fit somebody in who has batted in the top four in franchise cricket or for their states at five, six, seven. In an ideal world you ask a KL Rahul – he comes in at No. 5 in ODI cricket – where he likes to bat and I’m sure he will say “opener” because he has done it over and over again. It is a hard job for him [to bat lower] but he has done it with a fair amount of success in ODI cricket. I am sure he will get his opening slot very soon and he is too good to be stopped.In the T20 format, it is a far more niche slot, something that you need to have done over and over again. And that’s why you have the Pollards and the Russells or the Dhonis, who have done this over a period of time, who have helped play so many of these impact innings.You don’t want to go to a World Cup with people who have batted in the top four consistently and throw them in at five, six, seven and expect them to do well. You definitely expect a Hardik or a Jadeja to do well. Who else is there who bats at those numbers for their franchises? So when push comes to shove, and the game is on the line, they know there is a middle-order batter who has been in that situation.In the 2020 and 2021 IPLs, your best batting position was No. 6, where you have scored 145 runs at an average of 48 average and a strike rate of 156 in seven innings. Which is a favourite innings of yours from the recent past where you played the role you spoke about?
If you take this last IPL, in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was a slightly low-scoring game. I thought it was a key innings [22 off nine balls] in the way we won the game – we won it by ten runs. The game would have looked very different had that small impact innings not been played. That’s what I pride myself on. And you don’t get the opportunity to play these impact innings every game; it comes every four to five games. So every time you get an opportunity like that, as a middle-order or lower-order finisher, you should be looking to do that. That’s where the skill is.ESPNcricinfo LtdThere was also the game against Mumbai Indians in 2019 in Kolkata, when you played a cameo while Russell was hitting big.
Correct. I’m happy you brought up that innings – a different type, different situation, batting first so you are trying to set up a big score there. When a [Jasprit] Bumrah is bowling or when a Mitchell Starc or a Pat Cummins is bowling, you want somebody who has consistently hit in those death overs and made an impact there. Whereas you take a No. 3 or No. 4 batter, they come in a lot of times, they play the powerplay, more often than not they get set and if they are at the back end then they will probably score runs.For me I don’t need to be in the middle or in the powerplay to do well [at the death]. I can walk in in the 16th over and find the areas to hit the boundaries. That is one of the reasons when I started [in the IPL] I used to bat at three or four, but now I am batting at five to seven consistently because they feel it is a very important place and you need to stay not out a lot, in terms of helping teams cross the line with a good strike rate while chasing totals.It would be very silly for people who are selecting teams to only look at the numbers. I think in the 14 years the IPL has happened, the orange cap has always belonged to the top three batters of any side. It has never been given to a No. 5 or No. 6 batter, which is a big giveaway. If you bat in the lower order and play 14 games, you will score 200-230 – 300-350 if you have a great season, which is very rare. The moment you cross the top four batters, you need to stop looking at the quantum of runs and averages. It is a very archaic way of looking at batters. There are various other parameters to judge them. That is where the game is moving forward.In the 2018 IPL, I batted at No. 5 and I got 497-500 runs. Even if you take a [Kieron] Pollard or a Hardik Pandya, what are the kind of scores that they rack up? It is not the average that matters there, because eventually you are going to get out. When you play in those slots, you are always looking to hit big shots. Strike rate and the impact innings, these are the two things that are key for a batter who bats at that [position].ESPNcricinfo LtdYou had a lean phase, in terms of runs, in the 2020 IPL as well as in the first half of the 2021 edition. You scored 292 runs in 21 innings at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 131, with one fifty. In 2021, you made 123 runs at an average of 31 and a 138 strike rate. Would you agree or disagree that you have been struggling with consistency?
See, at Nos. 6 and 7, to be consistent would mean being consistent with strike rates. What’s most important is the impact your innings create. You can’t look at the scores per se because the amount of balls you face is very few. If you take the scores you will see they will be around 18, 22 not out, one game will be 4, one game will be 8, and then you make a 14 not out from four balls. So if your team is doing well, that means you are playing fewer balls a lot of the time, because the bulk of the batting is done by the top order. Then you create an impact as much as possible at the back end with as many balls as you get. Not every time that you walk in you are going to score runs, especially when you bat at the back end where you are expected to play the high risk shots right at the outset.Was it an easy decision to bat down the order at the Knight Riders?
It was a calculated gamble. I have always been a top-order batter. All my career I batted at three and four for my state. When I played for the country, I batted at [those] positions and even opened at times. So when you move to the middle order you have to change certain aspects: you start focusing more on your ability to hit boundaries, your ability to think on your feet. These are the kind of things me and Abhishek [Nayar, personal coach and assistant coach at KKR] have focused on over a period of time. We have worked on my ability to hit a boundary in the first three or four balls I face, whoever is bowling. Until 2019 you averaged 33 against spin in the IPL. Since 2020, though, you average under 10. Since 2019 you have had the worst average against spin in the IPL among 50 players who faced at least 100 balls against spinners. In the same period, legspinners have got you out nine times. Have you worked out the reasons?
Last year we sat down and discussed the times I got out early against legspin. These days the way they [wristspinners] have started bowling googlies is a lot different to what it used to be before. Previously you used to get to watch the back of the hand – now they have changed that. As a batter I have worked on that aspect to figure out what’s the best way to counter it. This year, luckily, in the seven games I have played, I got out to [Yuzvendra] Chahal once, and in between I played a lot of legspinners and it was okay.Karthik believes his role in T20s is as an impact finisher, rather than a big hitter like Andre Russell•BCCIIt becomes a lot easier to play once you get set, but when you just walk in and you see a legspinner bowling, at the back of the mind you think: “I have not done really well against them at the start.” But this year I went in and found ways to answer those questions, so I am a little more confident than I was last year.Not just you, top batters like Virat Kohli have also struggled facing legspin. So you say it about reading the legspinner’s hands?
In a day game it is very different. You are able to see the release a lot more clearly and it is much better facing legspinners. But in day-night games you see a lot of wristspinners being very effective because most of the guys can’t pick the googly. You have someone like Rashid Khan who has brought a certain difference in the way legspin and the googly is bowled [with his wrist position]. A few of the other legspinners have seen that and copied it in terms of their wrist position and the way they deliver the ball. The disadvantage of bowling with that wrist position is you can’t spin the ball much – there is very little dip – with the googly or the legspinner. When you release the ball the new ways the guys are delivering, there is more topspin on the ball.Last IPL you stepped down from captaincy at the Knight Riders. Has it had an impact of any sort?
A little bit, initially. I don’t want to delve deep into it. It was a decision I took then, but now with the way the scheduling is currently, suppose if Eoin Morgan and Pat Cummins don’t come [for the second half of the IPL] – I hope they do come – and the franchise wants me to lead, I am more than happy and open to it.For a non-contracted cricketer, the challenge is to keep active. Do you think in the long-term the BCCI could allow players who are not contracted to play at least one overseas franchise tournament?
Yeah, I think so. It would be a good thing. It would help a lot of players expand their games, get better. But it is a decision completely in the hands of the BCCI.You will be in England broadcasting from the WTC final to the Hundred and then the Test series. Are you carrying your kit bag just in case you get a national call-up suddenly?
Yes, I am. I have already got a schedule where I am going to practise during my stay in England. I will be at 100% in case the call-up comes.

The allrounder has evolved into a consistent scorer of Test runs, a run-out specialist, and is possibly the second-best spinner in the format

Jarrod Kimber07-Aug-2021People made fun of Ravindra Jadeja for making three first-class triple hundreds. It’s not easy to make one and he got a few; that only intensified the jokes. They called him Sir Ravi J, mockingly. It’s easy to dismiss those triples (Kerry O’Keefing is the technical term) as the teams he played against weren’t always strong. Still, there are some interesting bits to those innings.Before the triples there was a double. In that match, only one other batter scored over 80 runs, and that guy turned out pretty handy.His second triple century was almost 60% of his team’s total, and no one else made a hundred, even though it was a two-innings game.The 331 against Railways was out of a total of 576 runs and, in Murali Kartik and Sanjay Bangar, it came against a pair with nearly 1000 first-class wickets between them. Railways made just four more runs than he did in their first innings.In his first 36 matches for Saurashtra, he made six centuries, which is an okay conversion rate for a player with a second skill, but four of those were 232 or higher.After those seasons, as you would expect given that he could bowl, he didn’t stay with Saurashtra and ended up with India. And while he never became the triple-century Goliath, he was a top-quality international bat for the position he played from 2013 to 2017.

Jadeja is the second-best spinner called Ravi (incorrectly in R Ashwin’s case) in his team. Jadeja is playing like a build-your-own computer character, but Ashwin is a supervillain

It’s just that if you have built up this narrative of huge scores, averaging 29 in Tests (until the end of 2017) didn’t quite cut it. But it’s quality for a guy who batted eight or below more times than he didn’t. And 34 in ODIs with a strike rate of 92 batting at seven.These may not sound like inspiring numbers, but those are outstanding records for where he batted. No. 8s in Tests averaged 23 with the bat for this era, so he was well above normal. In ODIs, No. 7s score at the same rate as Jadeja, but he was averaging eight runs more.But, he was being compared to himself, and in India, where the only averages that are respected are the over-50 kind, he wasn’t popping.This, the IPL suspension, the moustache, the celebrations, the underserved (to some) arrogance, and the fact it seemed like MS Dhoni was operating him by remote control all meant that Jadeja was seen as a comedic figure, instead of the incredible player he is. He had a few runs, but more memes.Ravindra Jadeja’s first-innings half-century at Trent Bridge was the difference between India having a lead and not•Getty ImagesBut things have changed. Many like to look back at the Sanjay Manjrekar bits-and-pieces remarks as the point his career turned. Before it he averaged 31 across all forms of cricket with the bat, and after it has been 54. In truth, though, his form with the bat in Tests had already turned, so that theory doesn’t hold up.In fact, just as the global batting averages were about to drop, Jadeja took an enormous leap.Let me put it this way, when the global batting mark was a normal 31.76 from 2013 to 2017, Jadeja averaged 29.40. Since then a global pace-bowling pandemic has dropped the averages down to 28.08, and he has upped his average to 50.88.No one around the world can make a run right now, and a No. 7 everyone used to laugh at is averaging 50.It’s such a good record some fans want him batting up the order. Yet as good as he has been, he feels more like a No. 7 doing well rather than a top-order player. A bit like Daniel Vettori; his batting had a homespun nature to it, a by-any-means necessary style. And if you throw them up the order, with newer balls, and more pressure to build long innings, you can’t guarantee success.Related

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Vettori averaged 39 with the bat at No. 8, and when he went up the order to No. 6 and 7, he was just under 30. So far Jadeja averages 31 at No. 7. Most of his runs come at No. 8 (a bit low) or No. 9 (that’s some batting order). But from eight innings at No. 6, he’s managed three fifties.Vettori struggled up the order because while he was good at making runs, he had never learned how to build an innings like a batter. He just hung around incredibly well. Jadeja certainly had the construction skills as a young man, even if he’s only managed one hundred (exactly 100, in fact) in Tests.But batting up the order is different to what he’s been doing. And there’s no reason for him to be promoted. While Rishabh Pant is batting at No. 6, Jadeja at seven unlocks what allrounders should; the ability to have seven batters and five bowlers. That’s the dream.And this has got the feel of a wonderful dream.ESPNcricinfo LtdIf you look at Jadeja’s figures since the start of 2018 in Tests, he looks like the most valuable player on paper. India loses nothing with the bat. In fact, he’s miles ahead of most top-order players in terms of average. He’s going at 26 with the ball; not quite the silly numbers of some seamers going around, though he could have surely lowered that had he bowled against England at home this year.Put it this way: if you were drafting players to put in your Test team right now, and you could pick anyone, who would you take before him? Because he bowls spin, you can use him far more with the ball than Ben Stokes, and while he’s not in that class as a batter, he’s making more consistent runs. Jason Holder has been incredible with the ball and played some strong innings at home. Still, Jadeja probably has him beat and can bat higher right now. What of the specialists? Well, Jadeja has the fifth-best batting average (for a minimum 750 runs scored) and the 20th-best bowling average (with a minimum of 50 wickets) in this time. And he’s a run-out specialist with his arm.You may not still draft Jadeja at No. 1, but as far as allrounders go, the only one better in the world than him right now is Shohei Ohtani.It’s hard to get your head around all this because it is possible Jadeja is the second-best spinner in Tests, and also the second-best spinner called Ravi (incorrectly in R Ashwin’s case) in his team. Jadeja is playing like a build-your-own computer character, but Ashwin is a supervillain.Go to YouTube any day ending with ‘Y’ and some cricket nerd has made a new video about how Ashwin moved his pinky finger a millimetre and has thus changed reality as we know it. And there is a more prosaic wind-up toy nature to how Jadeja bowls. According to Cricviz, he doesn’t vary his pace much at all compared to high-class spinners. That means that Ashwin is the thinking cricketer we all wish we could be, and Jadeja is the bowling automaton who delivers through physical gifts.Actually, as much as anything, Jadeja has worked out how not to be dismissed•Getty ImagesBut, then, what of his batting? Where he went from a handy lower-order player who chips in, into a constant scorer of Test runs? Right now he looks like a player who can bat for any situation that’s thrown at him lower down the order. He’s worked on his game, tightened what was more of a wild-axe swing, taken batting up the order more seriously, and is now making regular runs.Actually, as much as anything, Jadeja has worked out how not to be dismissed. Batting at seven is a pretty simple job if you can bat. There are more not outs, and the new ball is a long distance from you. Jadeja has five not outs in 23 innings at No. 7. But he’s had four not outs batting at six as well. No matter where he enters, he’s got a huge amount of red ink. This isn’t just outlasting a shambolic tail. This is him being harder to dig out than an Alabama tick. This is Imran Khan of the 80s or late-career Vettori.It is only 23 innings, but almost a third of his career knocks. And that is one of the weirdest things, that he’s clearly close to the most complete cricketer in the world, and perhaps the most valuable. But he’s 32, and because of circumstances, he’s only played 53 Tests.On Friday, his dismissal was the only surprising thing. He negated England’s swinging ball, built a partnership with KL Rahul, and then squeezed runs out of the tail with the sort of exciting batting he showed when he was younger.It will go down as another fifty, a handy knock but it was more than that. His innings was the difference between India having a lead and not. Sometimes a fifty is worth more than 300.If you’re still making jokes about Ravi Jadeja’s batting, then you’re just not paying attention. Arise, Sir Ravi J, the quality No. 7.

And what’s the highest score by a No. 11 in ODIs and T20Is?

Steven Lynch16-Nov-2021What’s the most runs scored by a country in the last four overs to win a T20I? Did New Zealand come close to the record against England? asked Derek Sanderson from England
New Zealand needed 57 with four overs to go in their semi-final against England in Dubai last week – and got them, with no fewer than six balls to spare. That wasn’t just close to the top, it was the most runs ever successfully chased down in the last four overs of a T20I, according to ESPNcricinfo’s database (which is missing some matches involving lesser teams).There had been two previous T20Is in which a team scored 56 inside the last four overs to win. Australia did it against Pakistan in the semi-final of the 2010 World T20 in St Lucia – mainly thanks to Michael Hussey, who thrashed 60 not out off 24 balls from No. 7 – and they were followed by Zimbabwe against Scotland in Edinburgh in September 2021. (Note that Australia actually scored 61 runs, and Scotland 58 – but the target from the last four overs was only 56, whereas New Zealand needed 57.)In all, the database throws up 148 T20Is in which the side batting second needed to score between 50 and 60 from the last four overs. On only 14 occasions has such a target been reached; the other semi-final of this T20 World Cup, between Australia and Pakistan in Dubai the day after New Zealand’s heist, was the last of those instances.KL Rahul took seven catches against England at Trent Bridge in 2018. Was this a record for a Test match? asked Sharif Ahmed from India
KL Rahul’s haul against England at Trent Bridge in 2018 made him the sixth outfielder to take seven catches in a single Test, following Greg Chappell (Australia) in 1974-75, Yajurvindra Singh (on debut for India in 1976-77), Hashan Tillakaratne (Sri Lanka) in 1992-93, Stephen Fleming (New Zealand) in 1997-98, and Matthew Hayden (Australia) in 2003-04.But the overall record is held by Rahul’s India team-mate Ajinkya Rahane, who held on to eight catches in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2015.Akshay Karnewar of Vidarbha did not concede a single run in his four overs in a recent domestic T20 match in India. Has anyone else ever done this? asked Baskar Raghavan from India
The Vidarbha spinner Akshay Karnewar became the first man ever to bowl four overs in a senior T20 match without conceding a run against Manipur in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match in Mangalagiri on November 8, finishing with 4-4-0-2. But he was joined just yesterday by Canada’s slow left-armer Saeed Bin Zafar, who sent down four maidens in a World Cup qualifier against Panama in Coolidge in Antigua.The record was previously held by the lofty Pakistan left-arm seamer Mohammad Irfan, with 4-3-1-2 for Barbados Tridents against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League in Bridgetown in August 2018.Before Zafar’s runless spell yesterday, the record for T20Is was three runs (and two wickets) by Mohammed Aslam, for Kuwait against Saudi Arabia in Al Amerat in February 2020; Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath took 5 for 3 in 3.3 overs against New Zealand in the World T20 in Chittagong (now Chattogram) in March 2014. For the list of the most economical spells in T20 matches, click here.Two women have bowled four overs for no runs in T20Is: Blessing Etim also took four wickets for Nigeria against Cameroon in Gaborone in September 2021, while Perice Kamunya had figures of 4-4-0-0 for Tanzania against Mali in Kigali in June 2019.Mohammad Amir’s 28-ball 58 from No. 11 made only a small dent in Pakistan’s chase of 445 against England in 2016•Getty ImagesWhat’s the highest score by a No. 11 in ODIs and T20Is? asked Christopher Thompson from England
The only half-century by a No. 11 in one-day internationals is Mohammad Amir’s 58 for Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2016. It only narrowed the margin of defeat to 169 runs, as England had earlier amassed 444 for 3, the record ODI total at the time. Next comes Shoaib Akhtar’s 43, also for Pakistan vs England, in Cape Town during the 2003 World Cup.The highest by a No. 11 in T20Is is 31 not out, by Khalid Ahmadi of Belgium against Malta in Marsa in July 2021. His innings helped Belgium recover from 74 for 9 to 128, which looked enough when Malta were bowled out for 125 – but they then received five penalty runs following a disciplinary breach by Belgium’s captain, which meant they won the match. There have been three other scores of 20 by No. 11s in T20Is.I was amazed by the scorecard in the match mentioned in one of last week’s questions, in which the Maldives women’s team was bowled out for 8, with only one run off the bat and nine ducks. Is that the lowest total in internationals? asked Kelvin Marshall from Australia
There have been two lower totals than that Maldives innings, which was against Nepal in Pokhara in the South Asian Games in December 2019. Two days previously, in the same competition in Pokhara, Maldives had managed only 6 – three of their batters got off the mark, though – against Bangladesh, after that team ran up 255 for 2. That equalled Mali’s total of 6, against Rwanda in Kigali in June 2019.The lowest in men’s T20Is is Turkey’s 21 in Ilfov County in Romania in August 2019. That came against the Czech Republic, who had earlier equalled the record T20I total of 278.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

During his half-century in the second T20I against West Indies, Kohli was imperious and cautious as the situation demanded

Shashank Kishore18-Feb-20221:14

Jaffer: Kohli responded well to the challenge

It’s the second over of the innings. The upper tier of the BC Roy Club House roars in unison as the ball hangs high in the air. Kyle Mayers is running back to gobble up a top-edge. At the striker’s end, Ishan Kishan shrieks in frustration. The decibels soar and a collective echo resonates around Eden Gardens. Before they realise it, Virat Kohli is bounding out. Right from the characteristic bat twirl, side jogs to the shadow swing, his typical idiosyncrasies are all in place.By now, there is a sense of anticipation. The kind you have come to expect every time Kohli walks out to the middle. It felt the same on Wednesday evening. It seems no different on Friday. Anything Kohli has done so far in Kolkata has come under the microscope. Right from him bantering with Rohit Sharma to him giving throw downs to India’s bowlers to him having an extended hit in the nets.The microscope has been wide enough to encompass things he might not have done too. Prior to the series, a local publication was even ready with a front-page headline saying “Ganguly and Kohli greet each other”, only for their hopes to be dashed when they realised from photographs much later that the person behind the mask talking to Sourav Ganguly – while maintaining social distancing protocols – was Rahul Dravid, and not Kohli.

****

Much of the talk, right from the ODI series in Ahmedabad, has been around Kohli. Is Kohli his usual self? Is Kohli tired? At what point do Kohli’s lack of runs become a concern? The first time he was asked about it, Rohit offered a polite but firm response.”We’re not worried at all,” he said with a smile.Related

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After India wrapped up a 3-0 series win, he was asked if Kohli lacked motivation.”Virat Kohli ko motivation ki zaroorat hai? Kya baat kar rahe ho, yaar? [Does Virat Kohli need motivation? What are you saying, my friend?]” Rohit laughed.Then prior to the T20Is, he was asked once again about Kohli. This time about Kohli’s lean patch and the kind of role a captain and coach should play when a great player goes through a run like this. Rohit let it rip.”If you guys (media) can keep quiet for a while, everything will fall in place,” Rohit snapped back. “He is in a great mental space. He has been playing international cricket for more than a decade. He knows how to handle pressure.”Virat Kohli goes big•BCCIKohli may or may not have been privy to everything said around him, as he walked out to bat. Off his second ball, he invoked awe with his wrist work. A perfectly acceptable length delivery on the stumps from Akeal Hosein was sent screaming trough square leg.Pollard reacted immediately by placing long leg to deep square. Three balls later, Kohli lapped Hosein to the fine leg boundary. This was Kohli expertly playing the field. It allowed India to overcome a slow start after Kishan’s dismissal.Rohit was reprieved on 2 in the fourth over. His timing seemed off even if his intent spelt boundaries, but Kohli was more than making up for it. In the fifth over, he stepped out and disdainfully slapped Jason Holder over extra cover. And then came the shot of the day, off Romario Shepherd. A thump over mid-on for the cameras. The pose afterwards with the flourish was within minutes being put alongside Sachin Tendulkar’s on social media for comparison.Not even when Kohli made a mind-boggling 973 runs in a single IPL season in 2016 had he managed six fours in his first 15 deliveries. The last instance of him doing this was way back in 2012, on a tour of Sri Lanka. He was admiring his shots, talking to himself, talking to his partner.There was a brief slowdown after the early frenzy. A combination of falling wickets and a turning surface was at play, but Kohli knew he needed to try and survive, before once again taking the bowlers on at the death. But he couldn’t resist when he saw a short ball angling into the pitch and a short third man wider than he should have been.

“You don’t want to be reckless but at the same time you want to play your shots. That is the balance you strive for.”Virat Kohli, to Star Sports

Kohli backed away to the leg side, used the pace and dabbed it past the fielder for a boundary. This was Kohli’s boundary since the powerplay, in the 13th over. The next ball was a juicy half-volley on the pads from Odean Smith. The kinds Kohli would put away 99 times out of a 100.”Yaar, Cheeks. Come on, yaar,” he yelped.That was Kohli firing up Kohli. This was Kohli talking to himself, willing himself on, to bat in a refreshingly different manner. “I had decided to stay positive but then we lost a few (Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav) wickets. I still wanted to keep going but unfortunately I got out ,” Kohli told Star Sports at the mid-innings break. “I was happy with my intent that I wanted to play my shots.”Sometimes when you play with responsibility over a period of time, you tend to ask (yourself) if you want to play the big shots early. You don’t want to be reckless but at the same time you want to play your shots. That is the balance you strive for.”For much of his stay at the crease, this balance was there, along with some luck, too. The shot he hit to bring up his fifty – a lofted hit over long-on – needed the tallest man in the field to have him. Jason Holder was lurking, yet could only palm the ball over the ropes. Kohli raised his bat, Eden roared, just like they did as he strode to the middle.One legitimate delivery later, he was gone. They roared again. This time to applaud a different Kohli innings from the one they’ve been seeing. This was Kohli who had batted like the Kohli of old, without the pressure of having to hold a crumbling fort, but with the freshness and freedom India would hope to see a lot more of going forward.

Extraction of Williamson for third time in series epitomises soft skills of hard competitor

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Jun-2022Zaheer Khan, Hasan Ali – and now, Matthew Potts. It’s not a trio you would naturally throw together, even if they’d make a pretty tidy bowling attack. Beyond that, there is probably not too much in common given the age differences along with the era and environments they grew up in. The Beastie Boys, they are not.But on Saturday at Headingley, a thread that existed between Zaheer and Hasan was sewn unto Potts. For they are now the only three bowlers to have dismissed Kane Williamson three times in a Test series. Zaheer was in his 15th year in the format, while Hasan did so a year after making his debut in 2017. It’s taken Potts a matter of weeks.It’s no measure to rank them, by any means. Especially given that, when Zaheer made his India debut in 2000, Williamson was a 10-year-old, gently guiding balls behind the car and into the garage door. But it is a neat summation of how quickly Potts has felt at home at this level, to have stamped the New Zealand captain’s card in all but one of the four innings he’s had. Had Covid not intervened at Trent Bridge to rule out two more meetings, Potts might have earned enough points to be entitled to a free Kane Williamson.The set-up and punchline for this final battle was Potts in a nutshell. Four deliveries came from an almost identical release point at the crease, before he went wide while serving up a ball that behaved just like the others. Williamson, by now conditioned to a ball coming into him, approached this one exactly the same, offering a straight bat, but failed to register that it was a little wider, thus probably one to cut. He knew he was done as soon as contact was made, and arched back to look to the sky in despair as Jonny Bairstow took the catch with the gloves and Potts wheeled away.Having just lost Devon Conway, and with Williamson set on 48 after nearly three hours at the crease, it was an incision that tipped the afternoon England’s way, maybe even the match. New Zealand still lead by 137, with five wickets still to get.ESPNcricinfo LtdAs it stands, Potts is England’s leading wicket-taker for the series with 13 at an impressive average of 21.53. And although he started with a bang at Lord’s with four for 13, followed by three for 55 in the second innings, his work so far at Headingley might be his best showing yet.He was unfortunate to leave the first innings with just one wicket for 34 from his 26 overs, especially considering he’d twice got the better of New Zealand’s eventual centurion Daryl Mitchell. An lbw on eight was not reviewed after being adjudged not out, then an edge on 80 was taken out of Joe Root’s hands at first slip when wicketkeeper Ben Foakes leapt across to snatch at it.But you knew, deep down, Potts’ rewards were not going to be too far away. As he mentioned on Sky Sports at stumps on Saturday, he is consistent with his method: “I don’t think there’s any great secret. Just a bit of wobble, maybe the occasional swinger. Just try and hit it on a good length and hopefully something will happen.” As it did against Williamson, and earlier when he got England’s hunt for ten second-innings wickets up and running with a delivery that left Will Young and coaxed a prod to Ollie Pope at third slip.As for the moments when it doesn’t quite happen? “It’s not a drama,” he shrugged, like a bloke who knows full well that none of this caper is life and death. Yet even in those moments when the pitch flattens out, he’s still running in, still hammering that length and doing it accurately enough for England to operate without a fine leg, giving them an extra fielder to use in a more threatening position.A quick arm, an awkward action and what those in on the term call “fast nip” – Potts’ ability to lose little pace after the ball pitches – are misjudgement-inducing themselves, even before his skills come into the equation. Those skills got a tune-up over the winter, and ultimately led to his international calling, including the acquisition of a wobble-ball. Add it all together, even an average pace of 81 miles per hour (both in this Test and the series as a whole), CricViz calculates he elicits false shots 17 percent of the time – essentially more than once an over.That he is now doing all this as James Anderson’s replacement is not for nothing, either. The burden of deputising for 651 dismissals doesn’t register, because his remit hasn’t changed. When so many have tried to mimic the great man, Potts was his own man, doing things in his own way.Related

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There’s something to be said for Potts’ personality, too, because it’s not quite as obvious on the field as it is with others. While Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow took turns between balls to conduct the Western Terrace like they were warming up the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, Potts managed to do so when the ball was live.You could probably apportion some of the credit for Henry Nicholls’ wicket (caught and bowled by Jack Leach) to Potts, considering he was responsible for the decibel levels that made Headingley feel that little bit smaller and that little bit more enclosed for New Zealand’s batters. And it said all you needed to know about his attitude to the game, and the grind, that he was hurrying back to his mark even as darkness closed in, to try and prise one or two more deliveries out before the day was done.Alas, his scampering before the rains came in to end day three proved in vain, and he will return on Sunday morning with one ball remaining in his 10th over.There is a selflessness to his graft: Potts is the type of person who’d run through a brick wall for his team-mates and then clean up the debris. It is why, even before he had bowled a ball in an England shirt, Stokes – his Durham team-mate – championed him as not just an “athlete” but “everything I expect this team to be going forward”.Typically, he wasn’t having it when he was asked of the thrill of having a player like Williamson, a generational great, in his back pocket. “I wouldn’t say he’s sitting in my pocket,” he replied, as much of a correction as it was a statement of the sort of humility necessary to make it in this arena.”To be honest, that could be anyone. Anyone in that line-up, I’m trying to get them out. And if I’m not, I shouldn’t be in the team really.”Well, he is. And he should be, for a good while yet.

Breakneck speed of two 500-plus innings gives time for contest to reach tipping point

Osman Samiuddin13-Jun-2022Trent Boult’s deadpan conclusion was telling. Asked about the possibility of a result at the end of the third day, by which point England were still five wickets from completing their first innings and over a thousand runs had already been scored, he agreed all three results were possible.And then added: “I hadn’t played at Trent Bridge before, and I had heard rumours it was a good wicket. I can confirm that is true.”By that stage, it had been a great wicket for batters. New Zealand made 553 at 3.8 per over in their first innings. England had gone even harder and were, at that point, scoring at 4.14 per over. There had been four hundreds including two daddies. And when England began the fourth morning with a blitz of boundaries – 43 runs in the first five overs – it may have felt as if this was actually a poor wicket for those who prefer some balance between bat and red ball.After all, by the time England’s innings folded for 539, the combined run-rate across the first two innings of the game was 3.98, the second-highest in history for that portion of a Test (in which both sides scored 500+ runs). There were 163 boundaries (including 10 sixes) across the two innings, the joint-fifth highest in Test history.Most Tests around the top of that list are remembered – if they are remembered at all – for how flat the surfaces were, a sense from very early on in each game that a draw was inevitable. The only Test above this in terms of run-rates across the first two innings is the Perth Test of 2015-16 between Australia and New Zealand, criticised at the time for being a “chief executive’s pitch”, from an era of very batting-friendly surfaces in Australia.Matt Potts removed Michael Bracewell after a “super positive” innings•Getty ImagesAnd it could be argued that the chances of a result increasing substantially has not had much to do with the surface. Michael Bracewell spoke of deterioration, but that sounded like a bluff ahead of his work on the final day. The truth is, not one of New Zealand’s seven wickets – from Tom Latham’s leave to Devon Conway’s sweep to the run-outs – can be ascribed to the surface or even especially good bowling. What is slightly more credible is, as Bracewell said, their desire to move the game to a result: a draw means New Zealand can’t win the series.And yet, neither has it been as straightforward as the suggestion that this is simply a road. There has been swing through the game, more so under cloud cover. Boult, who ended with five, swung a 40-over ball through the morning, as he had done at various stages through England’s innings. Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts were getting a 40-over-old ball to seam in New Zealand’s third innings. The combination of boundaries and beaten edges has seemed unusual, to the degree that there have been times through the Test when the fact that both captains wanted to bowl first made some sense.An outfield like an ice-rink has helped with the boundaries. “Good balls can be pushed into twos and almost to the boundary as well,” Boult said yesterday. “Lots of boundaries hit. I suppose, from a bowling point of view, all we can do is look to stack on pressure and build good balls around good areas and if they’re good enough to hit it, then so be it. I thought they were good enough to hit it.”Some of the batting – Daryl Mitchell and Joe Root in particular – has been more than good enough. Root spoke on the fourth morning of current players being able to rewrite the coaching manual; unburdened of captaincy, in rare form, and with a new coach keen on attack, he played arguably the most innovative Test innings of his 118-Test career.The bounce in the pitch has taken leg-before as a mode of dismissal out, which is unusual for Tests in England. There isn’t a single lbw of the 27 wickets to have fallen so far and only two bowleds. Tom Latham’s leave looked bad, and in the binary world of leaves it was because he got out, but, on evidence from three days, it was reasonable to expect the ball to go over the stumps.Related

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Problems with the ball – changed three times across both first innings – have not helped. Not as unhelpful as the catching though. Nine catches have been dropped in all, including most significantly, each one of the game’s highest scorers. Had the success rate been anywhere near that at Lord’s, the scorecard surely would not now be showing two 500-plus totals.The rate of scoring, in fact, may be what defines the Test. Ben Foakes said that the game had been like the Indian version of Test cricket, where 500 plays 500 and then everything happens at the end. He’s right. Kind of.It has been an inverse version of those, a fast slow-burning Test. It is now at this denouement not because the surface has deteriorated, but because both sides have scored at the speeds they have. There was probably a little perspective-retrofitting in Bracewell attributing New Zealand’s second-innings wickets to “super positive” cricket – two run-outs, the Latham leave and a couple of other dismissals did not feel super positive.But they need to win this Test. And England getting close to New Zealand in the first innings as quickly as they did set it up in the first place.

Four from Sri Lanka, three from Pakistan, and two each from India and Afghanistan make up the ESPNcricinfo XI

Shashank Kishore13-Sep-2022Kusal Mendis

He ended the tournament with back-to-back ducks, but played a big role in Sri Lanka’s inspired run to the final. He set the tone at the top of the order with his blazing strokeplay and firebrand approach to help scale down targets of 184, 176 and 174 against Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India respectively. That he has made a seamless switch from being a middle-order batter to an opener bodes well for Sri Lanka as they prepare for the T20 World Cup.Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)

Gurbaz provided a peek into his big-hitting abilities on the opening night when he blasted an 18-ball 40 in a small chase against Sri Lanka. Around a week later, also against Sri Lanka, he was at it again, when he laid the platform up top with a robust 45-ball 84 to set up a strong total batting first. He ended with a duck, against India, but it was good signs from a strong hitter up top.ESPNcricinfo LtdVirat Kohli

Two half-centuries, and, finally, his first T20I century. Along the way, his century drought across formats, that had lasted 1020 days, ended. He started scratchily, but the fluency kept getting better with every passing innings. He ended the tournament second on the run chart behind Mohammad Rizwan and looked his dominant old self again.Ibrahim Zadran

If Afghanistan proved there’s more to them than just their spinners and six-hitters, it was courtesy performances of the kind Ibrahim displayed. Normally an opener, he has had to adjust to a middle-order role, and provided the ice to the fire of the stroke-makers around him. His unbeaten 42 against Bangladesh was a big show of responsibility in seeing off a small chase, while knocks of 40 and 64* against Sri Lanka and India respectively were further proof of his evolution.2:25

Maharoof: ‘Probably the best I have seen Rajapaksa bat’

Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Only nine months ago, he had hastily retired from international cricket, only to be coaxed back. An IPL stint followed by a stream of decent scores all year round made him a key player for Sri Lanka. At the Asia Cup, he brought out a big performance on the big stage – the final – with Sri Lanka with their backs to the wall. From 58 for 5, his rescue act, along with Wanindu Hasaranga, took them to 170 for 6, which was then defended by a young line-up.Dasun Shanaka (capt)

He rallied a young team through a tough phase and is now reaping the rewards. He also played a key role in delivering two key wins. The first was a 33-ball 45 in a chase of 184 against Bangladesh. And then, he went one better against India. First, his wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya denied India the finish they were looking for. Then he made a calm, unbeaten 18-ball 33 to take them home in the final over.We knew Mohammad Nawaz could bowl; now we know he can bat too•AFP/Getty ImagesMohammad Nawaz

His overs of no-frills left-arm spin gave Babar Azam some flexibility in the field to bring him on according to match-ups. With the bat, Nawaz proved to be more than a handful, especially in Pakistan’s win over India where he was essentially promoted to disrupt India’s two legspinners. He responded with a 20-ball 42 to script a win that helped them make a dash to the final.Wanindu Hasaranga

He was a star with the bat in the final, and a star with the ball all tournament long. With him around, Sri Lanka didn’t need to worry about keeping batters quiet in the middle overs. He ended the tournament with back-to-back three-wicket hauls, but the impact performance was his 58-run partnership off just 36 balls with Rajapaksa that helped launch the big fightback. His nine strikes were the second-most in the tournament.2:59

Uthappa: Bhuvneshwar’s short ball can catch you off guard

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

It was far from a perfect performance, where his death-overs execution went awry more than once, but with the new ball, Bhuvneshwar was as good as they come. Like Afghanistan found out in the dead rubber when he uprooted their top order in a superb spell of 5 for 4. His impact performance, however, was in the tournament opener against Pakistan, when he combined with Hardik to set up victory for India by executing a sharp short-ball plan. He finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.Haris Rauf

If opponents thought they could relax a bit after Pakistan’s relentless new-ball attack, Haris Rauf had reason to have a good laugh about it. He can be deceptive, especially when he hits hard lengths. He can combine that with serious gas, like he did in the final when he sent Danushka Gunathilaka’s stumps flying with a 151kph thunderbolt. His strengths lie in being able to bowl with pace and fire at all stages of an innings.Naseem Shah

The late curve into Mendis in the final, that snuck through to send off stump cartwheeling, was a small glimpse into the magical world of Naseem Shah. He swings the ball at a serious pace and has an excellent short ball to boot. With the bat, he reminded many of good old Javed Miandad when he hit back-to-back sixes to win a Sharjah thriller against Afghanistan.

But do they have the money to pursue big names like Curran or Stokes?

Vishal Dikshit19-Dec-20226:10

How can Mumbai make up for last year’s auction?

Who they’ve got
After releasing as many as 13 players last month, Mumbai would be eager to put together an all-round squad after not making the playoffs in the last two seasons. They have good options in top-order batters and finishers, but need to pick up a few players to round off their bowling attack, in both the spin and pace departments.Follow the 2023 IPL auction LIVE

You can watch the auction live in India on Star Sports, and follow live analysis with Tom Moody, Ian Bishop, Wasim Jaffer and Stuart Binny right here on ESPNcricinfo.

Current squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash MadhwalWhat they have to play with
Mumbai can spend up to INR 20.55 crore (USD 2.4 million approx.) for a total of nine slots remaining in the squad, of which at most three can be overseas.What they need
The biggest name Mumbai are going to be without this time is Kieron Pollard, and they also let go of a few fast bowlers and a couple of back-up spinners ahead of the auction. More than anything, they need a back-up quick for the injury-prone Jofra Archer and a fast-bowling allrounder. As Jasprit Bumrah bowls primarily at the death in the IPL, they may want to bring in another Indian quick in their line-up for the powerplay, a role Trent Boult played very well in 2020. They also haven’t had a big-name Indian spinner in their attack in recent years and could do with one, along with picking a second wicketkeeping option as back-up for Ishan Kishan.The likely targets
For the fast-bowling allrounder’s slot, Mumbai could bag one of the big names like Ben Stokes, Cameron Green or Sam Curran to make up for Pollard’s absence.Adam Zampa, Tabraiz Shamsi and Adil Rashid are three high-profile spinners in the auction pool, although picking an overseas spinner becomes tricky for the team combination. The star Indian spinners have all been retained by the teams, which slims down Mumbai’s options to Mayank Markande, M Ashwin (they released both recently), Shreyas Gopal and Amit Mishra.Riley Meredith is another name they let go of before this auction but may want to reconsider as a back-up for Archer. Dushmantha Chameera’s pace could also be a useful option, especially on the bouncy Wankhede pitches.One option for the back-up wicketkeeper’s slot is N Jagadeesan, who hit five straight one-day centuries recently, including a 277. Mohammed Azharuddeen is another T20 name, having smashed a 37-ball century against the domestic Mumbai side in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2020-21 season.Among the India quicks, Mumbai could look at Shivam Mavi for pace or the 23-year-old Vidwath Kaverappa, who bagged 18 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.