The Punjab Kings and Chhattisgarh batter talks about impressing Brian Lara, his rollercoaster career so far, and the season ahead

Ashish Pant09-Oct-2024Players showing up at the IPL out of near obscurity and leaving a mark isn’t new. You get a handful of such names almost every season, and you got them this year too. Think Mayank Yadav, who hit 156.7kph. Or Harshit Rana, who played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning run. Or Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s newest star.Another name made the rounds even before IPL 2024 got underway: Shashank Singh, who was picked by Punjab Kings in rather interesting circumstances at the auction, and went on to smash 61 not out off 29 against Gujarat Titans, 46 not out off 25 against SRH, and 68 not out off 28 against Kolkata Knight Riders – the last one in a record T20 run chase.That wasn’t Shashank’s first IPL rodeo. Nor was it the first time he had bittersweet feelings about the auction.Related

Shashank Singh: 'I've realised cricket is my life. I don't know what I would do without it'

Ranji Trophy 2024-25: All you need to know about the two-phased season

Shashank Singh 'confusion' a case of mistaken identity, say Punjab Kings

'Best in the world' Shashank Singh defies odds in Kings' come-from-behind win

Shashank's redemption: from toiling on Mumbai's maidans to turning heads at the IPL

December 23, 2022. He distinctly remembers the day of the IPL 2023 auction. He had just finished a Ranji Trophy game against Services in Delhi and was getting ready to catch a plane to Kerala, where his side, Chhattisgarh, were due to play their next match.After moving from Delhi Capitals (2017) to Rajasthan Royals (2019-21), Shashank finally made his IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022. He had to wait until his sixth game to get a bat, and in his first innings, against Gujarat Titans, he smashed Lockie Ferguson for three back-to-back sixes in the final over to finish on an unbeaten 25 off six balls, leaving social media abuzz. ” [Who is this Shashank?] read a tweet from Yuvraj Singh. Harbhajan Singh marvelled at the young man’s power-hitting, and so did several experts on social media.Shashank didn’t have another innings of note that season but he received positive feedback from the team management, which included Brian Lara, the SRH batting coach. He had reasons to be optimistic about his chances, but on auction day he found no bidders.”Even now, when I think about it, I get very uneasy,” Shashank says. “I still don’t know how I spent that night [after the auction]. I can’t explain how those two to three months of my life went. cricketing emotions ” [I had lost those cricketing emotions.]”After the SRH year [2022], I was expecting that things would be good for me. I was expecting too much from myself and IPL as well. But I was not picked. After that, I had a very lean patch. So many thoughts were coming into my mind. cricket [If there was something good happening, I didn’t react to it. Any which way, things weren’t exactly going right.]He was out hurt for the next IPL. He should have been there, he thought. He was good enough to be a part of a team, any team.”I always wanted to test myself in red-ball cricket – to find out where exactly I stand”•Saikat Das/BCCICut to a year later and Shashank became Kings’ crisis man, helping them eke out wins from almost unwinnable situations. The two contrasting years at the IPL were a microcosm of his career.

****

Shashank was born in Bhilai in Chhattisgarh but played a lot of his early age-group cricket in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, where his father, an officer in the Indian police, was posted. At 16 he moved to Mumbai for better opportunities. There he got a massive reality check.Coming from Bhopal, where cricketing infrastructure was not as developed, he was up against players of the calibre of Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur, and he realised he needed to level up quickly. He joined the DY Patil Academy under the tutelage of former India fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla, who became his mentor.”When I was in Bhopal playing school cricket, there weren’t a lot of inter-state matches. But when I went to Mumbai, I saw the competition,” Shashank says. “I was surprised by just how much talent the players had, compared to me. Be it fitness, cricketing skills, training, the struggle… that’s when I told myself that just this much work won’t do.”Then I joined DY Patil and Abey Kuruvilla sir, and obviously there my life completely changed. He gave me all the freedom. The initial days in Mumbai really made me tough. Even when I got settled in Mumbai, that competition was always there. The culture, that definitely got imbibed.”For the next ten years Shashank played every tournament that came his way: Kanga league, Times Shield, DY Patil league. It took him some time to get there, but he made his Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy debuts for Mumbai in 2015. However, with competition for spots tight in Mumbai cricket, he failed to get into the red-ball side. Even in white-ball cricket, matches were few and far between. He played three List A games, all in 2015, while his last T20 game for Mumbai came in 2018.Shashank with Punjab Kings team-mate Shikhar Dhawan•Arjun Singh/BCCIThen came probably one of the toughest decisions of his career. At 27, Shashank decided to part ways with Mumbai to try and play first-class cricket elsewhere and prolong his professional career. He moved to Chhattisgarh, the state of his birth. Kuruvilla helped, by speaking to the secretary of the cricket association there, and soon enough Shashank made his Ranji Trophy debut for the state in the 2019-20 season.Did he feel the move was a step down?”Yes, 100%,” Shashank says. “I cried. I still remember that night when I went to Abey sir and told him that I don’t want to leave Mumbai cricket. I am very emotional towards that Mumbai cap. But sir was very honest to me.”He said, in red-ball cricket it would be very difficult because Abhishek Nayar is there, Shivam Dube is there. [In] white-ball, we were all playing. There you can accommodate allrounders. But in red-ball it gets difficult.”I always wanted to test myself in red-ball cricket – [to find out] where exactly I stand. When you start playing cricket, it is mostly about Test cricket. Obviously you want to challenge yourself at the toughest competition.”It was very difficult for me to accept that I won’t be playing for Mumbai, I won’t be wearing that Mumbai cap, I won’t be in their dressing room. It took me a few days to digest it. I made the decision to play for Chhattisgarh because I wanted to test myself in red-ball cricket.”Shashank has since been a regular in the Chhattisgarh side across formats. Starting in 2019, in 21 first-class games for the state he has scored 858 runs at an average of 31.77, and taken 12 wickets with his medium pace. In List A cricket, he has better numbers: 859 runs in 23 innings at 40.90 and 31 wickets, while in T20s he averages 18.75 with the bat. In the 2023-24 season, he became the first Indian to score 150-plus runs and take five wickets in the same List A game, a feat he achieved against Manipur.Shashank says his success in the IPL has given him more credibility with his team-mates•Saikat Das/BCCIIn a lot of ways, the 2023-24 season was a turning point in Shashank’s career. He was among the runs and wickets during the Vijay Hazare Trophy and had decent returns in the Mushtaq Ali tournament as well. He finished IPL 2024 as Kings’ highest run-getter with 354 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 164.65, and more recently scored back-to-back centuries for Chhattisgarh in the KSCA league in Bengaluru.Shashank’s new-found success in the IPL has helped him earn more respect from his Chhattisgarh team-mates.”The friendships, the bonding, how they used to pull my leg earlier, all that is there. But now they have started trusting me more with my batting abilities, now they have started respecting me more as a cricketer,” he says. “I am not the captain of the state but sometimes, when I give my opinions, the management as well as the players, they respect it. ‘Okay if Shashank is saying this, there must be some logic in it.'”Along with his growing reputation, there has also been an upsurge in his social media following, from a few hundreds it now numbers in the hundreds of thousands. The people who used to troll him earlier over the name confusion at the auction ended up praising him for his steely determination when, seemingly overnight, he became the centrepiece of Kings’ success.How did the sudden spotlight feel?”I felt happy – obviously, anybody will,” Shashank says. “You get out of the lift and all the people know you by your name.”When I came to the team hotel ahead of the IPL, they asked my name. I said, ‘Shashank Singh’, and they were like, ‘Right, yeah… which state do you play for?’ Oh, Chhattisgarh. After a month they were like, ‘Oh, here’s Shashank Singh.’ It felt nice, and who won’t like it?”I still remember, there was a huge Punjab Kings poster which had pictures of me, Arsh [Arshdeep Singh], Jitesh [Sharma], and I think Sam [Curran]. I sent that picture to my mother. It felt nice to open the [hotel] window in the morning and see my face. I won’t lie. You go shopping, you go out to eat, people ask for a selfie, autograph, recognise you… I feel blessed.”Shashank is a big AB de Villiers fan, but the cricketer he really looks up to is Lara. The former West Indies captain was SRH’s batting coach when Shashank was part of the team and he credits Lara with giving him the confidence and belief to succeed at the IPL.Shashank moved from Chhattisgarh, where he was born, to Bhopal, then to Mumbai, and now is playing for Chhattisgarh•Anupam Nath/Associated Press”I came into the IPL only because of Brian Lara. He literally changed my mindset, and the technical part as well,” he says. “He has changed my cricketing things – from being a normal cricketer to a good IPL cricketer. He has had a great impact on my cricketing journey.”I remember, the first time when I came to bat in front of him, I just tried to impress him. I was trying to hit every ball. One round of six bowlers finished, he called me and said, ‘Don’t try to impress me, just bat. I know you can bat well’.’ Then I calmed down, played according to the merit of the ball, and then he was impressed. He was the one who said, ‘Shashank, you are not a No. 6 batsman’, and gave me the confidence.”Ahead of a long season, Shashank says he has worked on a number of things. The first was to “stop being harsh on myself”. He didn’t have a great Ranji Trophy season last time around, managing just 232 runs in six games, which he believes was down to him being confused and overthinking his technique. But now, having played in the IPL, spoken to different coaches, he has developed clarity of thought.”Till last year I was extremely confused whether I should change my batting style in red-ball cricket,” he says. “But this year when I met Sanjay [Bangar] sir, and lately I met Wasim [Jaffer] as well in Mumbai. They just told me to play my normal game and not change just because the format is changed.”I have now started to react to the ball and have started backing myself, like I do in white-ball cricket, and I have stopped overthinking. Even if I score four zeroes in four innings, who cares? There is a chance I could score a century in the fifth.”And the other thing I worked on is my bowling and fitness. I was pretty sure as to what I needed to work on in my training. Before this, I wasn’t sure of the areas to work on. I was all over the place. Now I know where I am standing.”Shashank is not looking ahead to the IPL 2025 auction or thinking about retentions. For now, he wants to replicate his good form in the three major domestic tournaments, which begin with the Ranji Trophy on October 11. He wants to be an X-factor player for whichever team he plays for and is working hard towards it. The rest, he says, is destiny.

For two successive T20Is against India, the feeble middle order undid the good work from Nissanka, Mendis and Perera in the top order

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Jul-2024You’re watching a spaceship launch, and you can sense everyone is a little tense. Huge resources have been poured into this operation. Numbers have been crunched, models have been run, variables have been accounted for, or so you hope. But, generally speaking, the last few spaceship launches have not gone well. This could be another disaster.But wow! Okay. Maybe this time it’s different. The tower arms disengage without a hitch. The thrusters fire. The coolants flood in. The ship takes off, and there is no little elation. It looks like it’s headed where it needs to go. It cuts a mighty path into the sky, shooting through the troposphere, up towards the clouds.There are smiles. Cheers. High fives. It’s working. Until… oh… oh no. The thrusters putter out. Where once the engines produced triumphant roars, there are now only “pfffts”. The ship slows, stops in mid-air, then begins to tumble back downwards. You can barely stand to watch, but also can’t tear your eyes away. It enters the ocean with a plop, never to be seen again.Related

• Why are Sri Lanka and Bangladesh so poor at T20I batting?

• Wobbly SL look for respite against red-hot India

• Calm, chilled and selfless: captain Asalanka steps into Sri Lanka cricket's melee

• Asalanka: 'If you perform in the LPL, you should get a chance in the national team'

• India seal series after Sri Lanka suffer slide of 7 for 31

This, essentially, is what it’s been like to watch Sri Lanka innings over the past two nights. Between Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Kusal Perera, they’ve propelled Sri Lanka to scorelines such as 77 for 1 after 9 overs, or 140 for 1 after 14. Both are positions from which many teams will push for scores of more than 200.But we know what happens here. The nosedive in the first match was truly spectacular, nine wickets falling for 30 runs. The second was almost worse, because with the first one so fresh in the mind, this felt like digging up a fresh wound. In Sunday’s match, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 31, having fought their way to 130 for 2 after 15 overs.Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka put on a 54-run stand for the second wicket, but Sri Lanka couldn’t finish strong•AFP/Getty ImagesPartly the problem is that Charith Asalanka, one of their more consistent batters, has failed twice at No. 5. While Asalanka may be excused (he’s getting used to leadership and all, let’s throw him a bone), but a lack of firepower from Nos. 6, 7, and 8 is a long-standing problem for Sri Lanka’s men in T20Is. Since 2019, they’ve collectively struck at 122.96 in those positions. This is ninth-worst among the top-ten ranked T20I nations.For the last several years, Sri Lanka have looked to Dasun Shanaka to produce those rapid, late runs, but given he strikes at 119 at No. 6 (after 48 innings), and 110 at No. 7, we may be getting to the end of his tenure in the T20I side. Wanindu Hasaranga – who makes it into the XI on the strength of his bowling alone – isn’t much better. When batting at Nos. 6. 7 or 8, he strikes at 128.21.It’s not as if Sri Lanka lack firepower entirely – they have so many riches at the top of the order that Avishka Fernando has not made the XI yet this series. Avishka had actually been the third-highest run-scorer in the just-concluded LPL 2024, striking at 162.60.But all their big-hitting batters want to bat in the top five. Which makes sense in a team that loses more often than it wins against quality opposition. Batters want the leeway to have slow starts to their innings, before catching up later in team environments where places are consistently under strain. You’d rather hit a 55 off 40 than a 16 not out off 9 – the player who produced the latter likely viewed as more expendable than the player who hit the fifty, by most selectors.

“It’s the experienced players who have to play lower down the order, but at the same time you’ve got to give them a bit of security to play there for a while even if they are unsuccessful for a bit. We have given that security in the past, too.”Batting coach Thilina Kandamby on Sri Lanka’s middle order woes

Sri Lanka’s batting coach Thilina Kandamby said he was aware of this problem.”I was also a middle order batter, and I know what the pressure is like in those positions,” he said. “I had also wanted to go up the order. But because there were batters already in the top order, I couldn’t bat there.”I agree that it’s the experienced players who have to play lower down the order, but at the same time you’ve got to give them a bit of security to play there for a while even if they are unsuccessful for a bit. We have given that security in the past, too. We have to create a plan to maybe push the more experienced players into those positions, even in the LPL.”Sri Lanka have some options now. They could ask Avishka to replace Shanaka at No. 6. They could perhaps have Dinesh Chandimal (who is in the squad after a great LPL at the top of the innings), try his hand one last time down the order.But there are no great finishers even in Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket right now. Hasaranga’s batting at the international level has not been sufficiently consistent either.The move may be to shove some top order batters down the order, and hope their big-hitting against the newer ball translates. Because with this current middle order, it feels like every time Sri Lanka do manage to get off the ground, which is rare enough in itself, they are still doomed to come plummeting down before they get anywhere good.

The South Africa batter on finding his touch, dealing with conditions in the UAE, navigating a packed cricket calendar, and more

Ashish Pant26-Sep-2024It has been a strange 2024 for Aiden Markram. As captain, he has been phenomenal. He started the year leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to their second successive SA20 title and then became the first captain to guide South Africa into the final of a men’s T20 World Cup in June. The T20I series loss against West Indies was little more than a blemish on his record.But his returns with the bat have taken a hit. There was a breathtaking century against India in the second Test in Cape Town in January, but barring that, his only 50-plus score this year across formats is the unbeaten 69 he hit in the third ODI against Afghanistan last week. It was a crucial innings in many ways, helping South Africa avoid a 3-0 clean sweep, but Markram’s form in general has been a concern. This becomes especially true in T20Is, where he last scored a half-century in October 2022.Markram, however, isn’t concerned about his lean patch, insisting he has felt “quite good with bat in hand.”Related

• David Miller: 'As you get older, you understand your game a lot better. You think more clearly under pressure'

• Shamar Joseph, Naseem Shah, Josh Little among internationals shortlisted for SA20 auction

• Markram 69 helps South Africa sign off with big win

“I mean, it’s all just cricket, really. You can feel as good as you want and not score runs, and that’s just the nature of the beast, unfortunately,” Markram told reporters in an interaction organised by ahead of the two-match T20I series against Ireland.”Some challenging wickets at the World Cup, but all in all, been feeling quite good with bat in hand. Obviously, was nice to get some runs in the last ODI, but a lot of the time I just measure form as to how much I can contribute to my team winning games and not necessarily the amount of runs that I’m scoring.”So that’s what I’m going to take with me moving forward, and hopefully, I can score some runs so that the team is in a good position and can win games are cricket.”Markram will hope to quickly find his 20-over rhythm, especially after South Africa’s heavy defeats to Afghanistan in the ODIs and the fact that they haven’t brought their strongest set of players on this UAE leg.Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada are some of the key names missing from the squad for the Ireland series. Nine of the 15 players in the T20I squad are yet to play more than ten T20 games. Add to that Reeza Hedricks’ lean run and that leaves a South Africa unit devoid of experience and form.Markram, though, feels that the players selected for this tour all have what it takes to succeed at the international level.”There’s a few guys that have put up their hands domestically back at home in the SA20 itself as well,” he said. “You look at a guy like Wiaan Mulder come on. Matthew Breetzke had a really good SA20. And then Nqaba Peter, of course, he’s got that X-factor. He’s still really, really young and really raw, but he has a lot of those attributes that we like as a team.”So there’s a few guys that deserve to be here firstly, and deserve to have that opportunity to grow their games as cricketers and get exposed to international cricket. And hopefully, if they get a fair opportunity and feel really comfortable in the environment, they can start putting in some nice performances for the team.”Markram became the first South Africa captain to lead the team into a World Cup final•Getty ImagesAnother thing that the South Africans have had to contend with on this UAE tour is the conditions. In sweltering heat in Sharjah during the ODI series, they often found themselves under the pump. The conditions are unlikely to change much when it comes to Abu Dhabi, but Markam feels having been in the UAE for a while should hold them in good stead.”From your heat point of view, it’s just as hot here [in Abu Dhabi], if not hotter and slightly more humid [than Sharjah]. So, it’s nice to have been here now for a while and played in an ODI series going into this T20 series. That’s a big positive for us,” he said. “Sharjah obviously spun quite a bit, or at least a fair amount, and the wicket was pretty placid. I think Abu Dhabi, I haven’t played too much cricket here, but I don’t think it’s going to be as bare a wicket as maybe Sharjah was.”If I look at our nets that we had last night, it’s actually a little bit of movement off the wicket, and they left quite a bit more grass on it compared to Sharjah. We’ll have to be sharp. We’ll have another look at it today at training and try get as much info as we can, just from looking at it with the naked eye. But it’ll ultimately come down to us assessing it in the first few balls, first over tomorrow, and coming up with those plans.”The last time South Africa faced Ireland in an international game was back in 2022 and while the Irish spinners might not trouble the South African batters as much as Afghanistan’s did, Markram is not taking them lightly.

“It is quite a busy schedule, but if you’d offered this to us as a kid growing up, we would have given lots for it”Markram on the cricket calendar

“We’ve all seen how good the Irish team has been over the last few years, and how much they’ve progressed as a team” he said. “Naturally, we don’t face them maybe as much as other teams, so it’ll just be trying to get accustomed to that as quick as we can, and trying to get an understanding of their plans as quick as we can, so that we can try to combat it ourselves.”South Africa have a busy schedule in front of them. After the T20I and ODI series against Ireland, they next travel to Bangladesh before going back home for a T20I series against India. Then they host Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home followed by the SA20 before they travel to Pakistan for a tri-nation series, also involving New Zealand.Markram, however, feels that a packed cricket schedule has become the norm and rotating and managing players will be the way forward.”Yeah, there’s lots of cricket. But we’re not the only team that’s playing lots of cricket. All the teams around the world are playing lots of cricket,” he said. “It’s down to the individual to manage their time wisely, look after their body, and give themselves the best chance of being really sharp for each and every series.”It is quite a busy schedule, but if you’d offered this to us as a kid growing up, we would have given lots for it. That’s sort of how we try to see it, and we take each series on as best we can.”

Pakistan will look to create consistency and work on their batting ahead of the big event

Firdose Moonda15-Sep-2024Pakistan’s problems: Inconsistency from a team in transition
Pakistan are on their third captain in the last 18 months since last year’s T20 World Cup and their latest, Fatima Sana, will take the reins for the first time in this series. The 22-year-old bowler takes over from Nida Dar, who succeeded Bismah Mahroof, and has the job of creating consistency, especially at major tournaments.Pakistan have only won one match each in the last three T20 World Cups and will go into this tournament with tempered expectations of what would represent success. In a group that includes two tournament favourites – Australia and India – and the in-form Sri Lanka, getting to the semi-finals will take some doing, especially given their recent form.Related

Pakistan women miss out on daily allowances at training camp

Fatima Sana named Pakistan captain for Women's T20 World Cup

Since last year’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan have played 23 T20Is, won nine and lost 14 but among their victories have been series wins over South Africa (at home) and New Zealand (away). They’ll fancy themselves against New Zealand in the group stage, and other wins will be a bonus.Pakistan would also like to see an improved commitment to professionalisation from their board. In its 2022 women’s report, global player body FICA (now called WCA) said “fundamental changes are required to create a recognised pathway for female cricketers in Pakistan to make a viable living out of playing professional cricket,” and as recently as this week, that was evident. Players did not receive daily allowances at their training camp which has left some players low on morale ahead of an important event.Muneeba Ali is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer this year•Asian Cricket CouncilPakistan’s focus in this series should be on run-scoring, which is an area they have underperformed. Muneeba Ali is their highest run-scorer in T20Is this year with 280 runs from 12 matches. Their bowlers have enjoyed the bulk of the success with left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal collecting 18 wickets at 14.33 in T20Is this year.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said she “expects Pakistan to bowl a lot of spin so we are prepared for that,” both in the series and when they get to the UAE. South Africa’s stunning slide at home South Africa’s long-running search for an ICC trophy came the closest it ever had last February when the women’s team became their first senior side to qualify for a World Cup final, and that too at home. But a perfect opportunity to build on their success was squandered. There were delays in appointing a new coach and they will travel to this World Cup with an interim appointee Dillon du Preez on the back of a string of poor results.Since reaching the 2023 final, South Africa have played 18 matches in the format, won five and lost 10 with three no-results. They have not won one out of the six series they’ve played and lost series to Pakistan, Australia (both away) and Sri Lanka (at home) as well as a match to Bangladesh for the first time in a T20I.None of that will matter to a fan base desperate for a major trophy and ever-expected after both the men’s and women’s sides reached the last T20 World Cup final. South African supporters will need to be reminded that women’s cricket has grown especially strong in India since the last T20 World Cup, and with Australia and England always a step ahead, their team will have to find something or someone special to challenge for the trophy.Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt are crucial players in SA’s top order•Getty ImagesHappily for South Africa, their new all-format captain Wolvaardt is among the best players on the global stage and leads with bat and on the field. She is their leading run-scorer in T20Is this year, followed by No. 3 Marizanne Kapp and her opening partner Tazmin Brits. All three of them have more runs than Pakistan’s Muneeba this year. While that speaks to the strength of the top order, it also points to problems lower down, especially as former captain Sune Luus has struggled. In the last 18 months, she averages under 20 with the bat, which makes South Africa extra reliant on allrounders Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon for middle-order firepower.Both those players have the additional concern of their bowling attack, which has been underwhelming since Shabnim Ismail’s retirement. De Klerk is South Africa’s highest wicket-taker with eight wickets in nine matches this year and South Africa will be expecting more from the likes of Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune and young Ayanda Hlubi at the World Cup.Their spin contingent features a newcomer, 18-year old Seshnie Naidu, who could make her debut against Pakistan in this series, as she prepares for the big time. “It will be awesome for her to get a game and a taste of international cricket. I’ve faced her a bit in the nets and she has good control for such a young legspinner,” Wolvaardt said.Advantage Pakistan? Mostly, Wolvaardt wants to use the series as a barometer for whether South Africa have progressed since being blanked 3-nil by Pakistan a year ago in Karachi. “It will be a great judge to see if the work we have done behind the scenes is working,” Wolvaardt said.In that series, South Africa scored 150 batting first twice and failed to defend it and then could not chase 151 in the third match. “We’ve been talking a lot about finding that extra 10 to 20 runs,” Wolvaardt said.It’s unclear whether those runs will be needed at Multan Stadium, which will host a T20I for the first time. Wolvaardt described the experience of being the first international T20 side to play at the ground as “special.”

Find out when the tournament starts, what the format is, who the defending champions are, and more

Shashank Kishore16-Jan-2025Who won the inaugural edition?
India won the first edition in 2023 under Shafali Verma’s captaincy in South Africa when they halted England’s unbeaten run in the final.When does this edition begin?
The tournament starts January 18 with Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa and Bangladesh all featuring on the opening day. We could also witness a special first on that day when Nigeria and Samoa play against each other – it’s the first women’s U-19 World Cup for both. The semi-finals will be played on January 31 and the final is slated for February 2.Related

Women's Under-19 World Cup: five players to keep a close eye on

U-19 Women's T20 World Cup: India grouped with WI, SL and Malaysia

Tilly Corteen-Coleman named in England Under-19 World Cup squad

Niki Prasad to lead India in Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup

How many teams are participating?
It’s a 16-team event, just like the previous edition. Apart from Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, it comprises all other ten Full Members, who qualified automatically based on their standings at the inaugural edition, along with Malaysia who secured a direct entry as hosts. The remaining five spots were filled through the regional qualifiers.Who are these five regional qualifiers?
Nepal (Asia), USA (Americas), Nigeria (Africa), Samoa (Asia Pacific) and Scotland (Europe). Among these teams, Samoa will be playing at their first-ever ICC tournament – men’s or women’s. Meanwhile, hosts Malaysia, Nepal, and Nigeria will be playing in their first women’s Under-19 World Cup.India U-19 are the defending champions of the tournament•ICC/Getty ImagesWhich teams played in 2023 but won’t be playing this time?
Rwanda, Zimbabwe, UAE and Indonesia haven’t qualified for this tournament. Rwanda had finished in the top eight in 2023, ahead of four Full Members including their African counterpart Zimbabwe, but had to re-qualify due to rankings criteria, which they failed to.What is the format of the tournament?
Unlike the men’s Under-19 World Cup, which is a 50-overs event, the women’s tournament will be played in a T20 format.The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four in a round-robin format. The top three from each group make it to the Super Six Stage comprising 12 teams.The teams that qualify for the Super Six will carry forward the points, wins and net run rate secured against fellow Super Six teams. Each team will play two matches at the Super Six stage, against the teams from the opposing group whose finishing positions were different from its own. The top two from each pool will then advance to the semi-finals.ESPNcricinfo LtdWas Malaysia always slated to host?
Initially, the tournament was to be jointly hosted by Malaysia and Thailand. However, the ICC had to move the entire tournament to Malaysia because Thailand’s venues weren’t deemed ready to host the tournament.Malaysia means games will be held at the Kinrara Oval, right?
You probably remember that for Sachin Tendulkar’s 141 not out from the DLF Cup in 2006 against West Indies? Or maybe from having watched Virat Kohli’s team lift the Under-19 World Cup in 2008? That ground, once Malaysia’s premier cricket venue, is no longer operational after Malaysia Cricket’s lease agreement with the land owners ended in 2022.How many venues will host games in this tournament?
Matches will be played at four venues: Bayuemas Oval and UKM YSD Oval in Selangor, the JCA Oval in Johor, and Borneo Cricket Ground in Sarawak.Who are some of the more famous alumni from the inaugural edition?
Shafali and Richa Ghosh were part of the inaugural edition as India’s captain and vice-captain, respectively. However, the tournament wasn’t a launchpad for them as they had already played a fair bit of international cricket by then.It was the same case for New Zealand’s Georgia Plimmer and Sri Lanka’s Vishmi Gunaratne, although they had much less international experience. Since then, Plimmer has been part of New Zealand’s T20 World Cup-winning side and Gunaratne of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup-winning roster.West Indies’ spin-bowling allrounder Zaida James went on to play an important role in the team’s first semi-final appearance in the senior T20 World Cup since 2018.

Alan Gardner is joined on the pod by Andrew Miller and Cameron Ponsonby to talk through England’s 3-1 T20I series win the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2024The fifth and final T20I ended in a washout but England had already taken the spoils against West Indies – even if the luck of the coin flip might have had something to do with it. In this week’s podcast, Alan Gardner chats to Andrew Miller and, from St Lucia, Cameron Ponsonby, to reflect on a timely success for the white-ball team. On the menu: short-sighted scheduling, a happy comeback for Jos Buttler, and Jacob Bethell’s big hands (and high ceiling).