Pakistan’s third lowest total in New Zealand, Misbah-ul-Haq’s 50th Test as captain, and other stats highlights from the second day of the first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan

Bharath Seervi18-Nov-20166/155 Previous best figures for a New Zealand player on Test debut – Alex Moir against England in Christchurch in 1950-51. Colin de Grandhomme bettered it with 6 for 41 in the first innings of this Test. He is the eighth New Zealand bowler overall to take a five-for on Test debut. He had taken only one five-wicket haul in his first-class career, spanning 83 matches, before coming into Tests.1 Better bowling figures for a player on Test debut against Pakistan than Grandhomme’s 6 for 41. Kyle Abbott holds that record for his 7 for 29 in Centurion in 2012-13. The only other bowler to have taken a five-for on debut against Pakistan since 2000 is Adil Rashid, who took 5 for 64 last year. No bowler managed a five-for on debut versus Pakistan between 2000 and 2012.2 Number of lower totals for Pakistan in New Zealand than the 133 in this match. Both those totals came in the same match, in Hamilton in 2000-01, when they were bundled for 104 and 118. Overall, it is Pakistan’s fifth lowest total against New Zealand.1 First-innings total by a visiting team in New Zealand in the last ten years that was smaller than Pakistan’s 133. Zimbabwe were all out for 51 in Napier in 2011-12. After Zimbabwe, the next five lowest first-innings totals by overseas teams in New Zealand in the last ten years all belong to Asian teams.2013 Last time Pakistan’s top-four added less than 50 runs in their first innings of a Test – in Johannesburg, where they were all out for 49. Their top-four aggregated only 43 runs in this match.4 Instances of a five-wicket haul and a fifty-plus score by debutants for New Zealand in the same Test. De Grandhomme and Jeet Raval have done it in this match. The last such instance came Bulawayo in 2011-12 when Dean Brownlie and Doug Bracewell scored a fifty and took a five-for respectively. The previous two were Tim Southee and Bruce Taylor, who themselves did this all-round double on their respective debuts. This is the first such instance ever against Pakistan.16 Number of players to have captained in 50 or more Tests. Misbah-ul-Haq became the latest to do so in this match. He is the first to achieve this for Pakistan and only the third from subcontinent teams.11.44 Ross Taylor’s average in his last ten Test innings, since the start of the South Africa series. Before this sequence, he had made 364 runs in three innings without getting dismissed in Zimbabwe. His average in his last 11 innings at home, since the start of the 2013-14 series against India, is also only 19.40 with a highest of 41.

Pakistan dropped four catches and allowed several more runs through mis-fields and overthrows in the fourth ODI at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-20171.5 Mohammad Amir to Khawaja, 1 run, overpitched and outside off, 138.4ks, driven on the up to extra cover, where the fielder fumbles, allowing a single. Another single gifted to Australia7.5 Mohammad Amir to Khawaja, 1 run, full and angled in on off stump. Push-driven straight down the ground, capitalising on the bowler’s misfield, for a single23.4 Junaid Khan to Smith, 1 run, dropped. Full and angled wide outside off, he chops at it and it flies to Sharjeel at knee height at backward point, and he’s put in a lazy one hand out at this and put it down. Dismal effort.24.6 Imad Wasim to Smith, FOUR, drifted into the pads, gets down as he sweeps, it catches the left hand of short fine leg but crawls to the boundary anyway25.6 Shoaib Malik to Smith, 1 run, back of a length on off stump, goes on the back foot and doesn’t connect properly with the drive, but Azhar has let it through running in from midwicket and it’s a single down to long-on32.2 Imad Wasim to Warner, no run, Dropped! Back of a length on middle, goes back and tries to cream it to the right of Hasan Ali at mid-on, but he gets it high on the bat and it floats to the fielder. Ali goes slowly, low to his right, and falls over as he tries to take it, it’s been put down37.4 Hasan Ali to Maxwell, 5 leg byes, 139 kph, oh dear. It was a lovely yorker, rapped him on the pads and rolled to the right of slip, who has a needless shy at the stump. The bowler is walking back lazily and makes no attempt at stopping this, and it’s four overthrows through mid-on38.4 Imad Wasim to Maxwell, 2 runs, dropped. Good length on middle, goes for the sweep, gets a top edge, Hasan Ali changes direction four or five times as he’s running backwards from short fine leg and in the end can barely get a finger on it away from his body42.4 Mohammad Amir to Maxwell, 1 run, very full on off stump, shovelled it away with the bottom hand to midwicket. Imad aims at the non-striker’s end, and concedes an overthrow43.6 Junaid Khan to Head, 2 runs, Dropped, Sharjeel is the culprit again. What are you doing Pakistan? Are you trying to out-Pakistan yourselves? Possibly a slower ball, full on middle and leg, Head miscues it in the air. Sharjeel lazily runs to his right from long-on. The ball pops in and pops out. The Pakistan fans in the stands can’t believe it. Regulation catch45.5 Junaid Khan to Head, 2 runs, Head is floored. Wide full ball outside off, reaches out and slices it away to short third man. Hasan Ali fires it miles over the head of Rizwan. Wild, wild throw. Horror fielding. Mickey Arthur can’t watch this horror show. He covers up his face in his hands48.3 Junaid Khan to Maxwell, 2 runs, attempts a yorker outside off, comes out as a full-toss, which is punched to mid-off where Azhar fumbles now49.2 Hasan Ali to Maxwell, FOUR, Another mishap in the field. Malik now lets it through his legs to the long-on boundary. Short of a length, Maxwell, having shuffled around in the crease, swats it to long-on

Some of India’s finest wins have come with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in harness at the crease. At Cuttack they rolled back the years to extraordinary effect

Vishal Dikshit at Cuttack19-Jan-20171:25

Between Yuvraj’s previous two ODI centuries

It’s the kind of script filmmakers write to earn big bucks from box-office collections. It’s how sequels are often written, only to ride on the success of the original. To offer the viewers for the second, third, or nth time a glimpse of what they’ve relished in the past, maybe many years ago. To ride only that wave of nostalgia.Hordes of Indian fans – wearing India jerseys with ‘Virat’ on the back – thronged the Barabati Stadium on Thursday to witness what they hoped would be another such sequel. Another hundred from Virat Kohli, another thrilling chase in India’s favour.The first familiar sight they witnessed wasn’t one that they could relish – Chris Woakes’ incisive opening spell that stifled India’s top order on a small ground and a flat pitch. The difference, though, was Kohli’s early return to the pavilion after facing five deliveries.India were 25 for 3 when MS Dhoni joined Yuvraj Singh. What are they doing in this sequel? One is back in the squad only to add experience in the middle order ahead of the Champions Trophy; the other wants to bat more freely after relinquishing the captaincy.Yuvraj had shown glimpses of his scintillating timing in the first warm-up in Mumbai and from the second ball he had faced in the first ODI – pulling a short one over the midwicket boundary. On Thursday, there was no deep midwicket when he faced Jake Ball in the eighth over. A flick off the pads, a pull from outside off and a wristy flick fetched him three fours. Was he back? Hang on, he was only just beginning.Dhoni, at the other end, absorbed Woakes’ penetrative spell. He blocked the straight ball, he left plenty outside off and saw off two maidens before Woakes was taken off. This was not what the fans had come to watch.But it was a flat pitch with a quick outfield. Loose deliveries would come eventually. Bowlers would have to change. In the 11th over, Yuvraj twice drove Liam Plunkett – stylish and clean hitting all along the ground. He was scoring at more than run a ball. Was he back? Shhh!MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh were partners during some of India’s most defining victories•AFPIn the background, where he often hogs space, Dhoni was playing out dots and picking off the odd boundary. Finally, he unfurled a scything cut over point and the ball reached the fence before the fielder’s neck could turn.The pair were winding the clock back. Any fans who had bought ice creams on this hot day to cool themselves after Kohli’s dismissal soon found them melting into their hands. Two old friends were catching up on old times in mesmerising fashion. No-one dared blink.When, in the 17th over, Yuvraj squirted a single down to third man to bring up their fifty stand, it was their first as a partnership since the 2011 World Cup final. Oh, nostalgia! On came the spin of Moeen Ali, out stepped Dhoni to hammer a drive straight past the bowler for four. Ben Stokes offered room time and again; Yuvraj, in his vintage style, lofted him over long-off with a high elbow for a spectacular six, staying still at the end of the followthrough with his eyes tracing the path of the ball. He had crossed fifty.Rohit Sharma tweeted: “Yuvraj and Dhoni looking good out in the middle. Are we in for a vintage Dhoni/Yuvi partnership”. The stand went past 100, the pair exchanged glove-punches, just as they have done numerous times in the past.Memories came swarming back – how the pair had aced chases against Pakistan back in 2006 and again in 2007, the same year in which Yuvraj had clubbed six sixes in an over in the inaugural World T20 and Dhoni had cheered him with a beaming smile from the non-striker’s end. In 2011, when Dhoni pinged the winning six in the World Cup final, Yuvraj held his arms high at the non-striker’s end.”We always have been batting together since he started his career,” Yuvraj said after the match. “Mahi and me have played a lot of games for India. The camaraderie is always there. I think we have a lot of understanding when we bat together. Running between the wickets is always good. I hope it works in the future as well.”Yuvraj’s century was his first since that 2011 World Cup, against West Indies in Chennai, and yes, Dhoni had been there to congratulate him at the other end on that occasion too.He completed the single and celebrated – no Warner-esque leap, no vehement emotion like the old times. He simply opened his arms and looked to the heavens, almost in slow motion, as if he wanted to pause the match there and soak it in for a few minutes.Yuvraj scored his first hundred in six years•Associated PressA hundred after nearly six years. Oh, nostalgia! He finally removed his helmet; he was wearing a bandana, and a beard too. No, it was not the old Yuvraj. This version looked like an old warrior returning to unfinished business, à la Tom Cruise in . Some stories don’t need a sequel.”It feels great, it’s been a while since I got a hundred,” he said. “I came back after recovering from cancer, the first two-three years were very hard. There was a time when I was wondering whether to continue or not to continue. I think a lot of people have helped me throughout this journey. So, never giving up is my theory. So I never gave up, kept working hard.”Self-confidence is always there when you have the backing of the team and captain. I think Virat has shown a lot of trust in me and it was very important for me that people in the dressing room trust me. I’ve been batting well in the domestic season. And I’ve been hitting the ball really well. I wanted to make it big on my day.”In this age of reverse sweeps, switch hits, scoops and 360-degree batting, Yuvraj and Dhoni brought out their vintage shots one after the other. They were doing it after watching their team-mates, who have flourished under Yuvraj and Dhoni, walk back for low scores, but this was a demonstration of how to restore hope.Ten years previously, the pair had instilled belief in India’s line-up that totals of 280 to 300 were chaseable; now they were showing how 350-plus totals could be made from 25 for 3. Yuvraj was belting boundaries off short balls, so often his nemesis in the past. Not today, because England’s bowlers were not cramping him up for room; most of the deliveries were outside off or too much on leg, helping him open his arms and swing the bat the way he loves.Before long, Yuvraj was using his straight and sponsor-less bat to drill a flat six over long-off. He had bettered his career-best ODI score with those classic shots. It is as if memories of him batting in his prime had been waiting all these years for that one day when they could all flood the minds of Indian fans again. And so they did; the crowd was going berserk, Kohli had been forgotten. Emotional tweets started popping up from old team-mates and former opposition players, in both awe and praise.Three overs later, Dhoni clubbed a full toss high into the Cuttack sky. Would it sail over the boundary? No, it smacked into the Spidercam, the crowd let out an “ohhhh” as dead ball was called. Had it been a six, it would have taken him to 99. No problem, one ball later, he opened up to smite the ball high to the top-most stand over long-on in typical Dhoni style. It is reminiscent of his six to win India the World Cup final. We are familiar with this warrior too, à la .Both men fell in the last 10 overs of India’s innings. But had they been dismissed in the first 10, critics would have questioned what Yuvraj was doing in a side that needed youngsters, and why Dhoni was still taking up a place in the XI, despite being unsure about playing the next World Cup.But then, who wallows in nostalgia while watching a sequel with new protagonists?

Yuvraj Singh has thrilled fans over the years. Which of his ODI performances is your favourite?

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jun-2017

Misbah-ul-Haq became the first batsman with three scores of 99 in Test cricket. How good is your knowledge of 99s in international cricket?

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2017

What Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan team-mates have to say on the pair

Danyal Rasool and Umar Farooq10-May-2017Azhar Ali”When Misbah took over as captain, it was a low point in Pakistan cricket. At that time, we were fighting to regain our very dignity and Misbah kept impressing upon us that we had to earn back the faith of our supporters. In the next seven years, we saw tough times but his leadership helped us through them. The one thing that was very important to him was that, whatever the outcome, we must give our absolute best. I personally took that advice to heart and it simply wouldn’t have been possible to achieve what we did without Misbah.”His own demeanour is an example in itself. He is mentally calm and has nerves of steel. It is hard to explain in words how important he was in soothing the nerves of everyone when we were under pressure.”Younis might appear different, but his work ethic is just exemplary. When I was starting off in cricket, I saw how he set about working on his game, how he trained, how he maintained his fitness and what he did in the nets and I thought, ‘This person is worth following.’ Watching him play when you’re at the other end, you learn so much, but at the same town, he doesn’t bombard you with advice, letting you play your game instead. Only if he feels you’ve made a big mistake or you’re struggling badly will he come up and talk to you. And obviously his achievements speak for themselves. That’s what has earned him global respect.”For us, it’s hard to register that they won’t be in the dressing room after this series; we can’t imagine life without them. We were just so surprised at them retiring because they’re still so fit, perhaps the fittest players in our squad. We are very emotional too, just the thought that the dressing room will be without them feels strange, and will do so for a while.”Asad Shafiq: ‘Their behaviour with the junior players is exemplary’•Getty ImagesAsad Shafiq”Under Misbah’s captaincy, the atmosphere in the dressing room has always been wonderful. In situations where regular people would panic, Misbah does not, and this is his biggest strength. His behaviour with junior players is exemplary and I am lucky to have played under him.”In fact, both Misbah and Younis’ role in my career is very important. When as a junior player you come to the team, you have been watching players like Misbah and Younis for a few years. Initially, you are nervous around them, because there is a culture – especially in Pakistan – that the difference between junior and senior players is very keenly felt. But their behaviour with the junior players is exemplary. Things that I would have learned in five-six years if Misbah and Younis hadn’t been around, I ended up learning in two-three years. Not just me, but all the junior players who have come into the team have benefited as both batsmen and human beings.”The experience of batting with them has also been so much fun. When I had good partnerships with them, I learned about how to mould my batting according to various conditions and the other sides’ strengths. I can’t say who I’ll miss more, because both players’ services are extraordinary. Both have won a number of matches for Pakistan. We will have to work extra-hard to fill up the space that will be left by their departure.”Sarfraz Ahmed: ‘Whenever the team had difficulties, Misbah led the team from the front’•ICCSarfraz Ahmed”The dressing room atmosphere was great under Misbah. I learnt a lot from him and I really like the way he leads. He reads the game in a very calm, composed manner. He is great at understanding how to take the players along with him and get the best out of them.”The experience of batting with Younis is amazing. I haven’t had too many partnerships with him, but what is great about him is he rotates the strike very well, and guides you along. He keeps giving good advice and whoever bats with him say they enjoyed it.”We will of course miss both of them deeply. As you can see, they have been the backbone of our Test team for the last six years. Whenever the team had difficulties, Misbah led the team from the front. Younis used to bat at No. 4, and Misbah at No. 5, so it will affect our Test team a lot when they’re gone. When we came to the team, we used to learn from the way they conducted themselves, and we’ll miss all of that.”They give all of us young players advice: me, Azhar, Shan [Masood], Babar [Azam], Ahmed Shehzad. They keep telling us to take care of our fitness. They say we should conduct practice sessions with intensity. I always stood behind the wicket with Younis Khan in the slip cordon, and we talked about what to do if a batsman wasn’t getting out. What they have taught us, we will do our best to implement.”Shan Masood on his partnership with Younis Khan in a record chase in Pallekele, 2015: ‘I would describe it as my childhood dream’•AFPShan Masood”We are lucky to have Misbah and Younis in our dressing room. We probably will not realise the significance of this thing but in the next four or five years, when we look back, we will feel the importance of sharing the dressing room with them. Both of them have played a big role not only on the field but off the field as well. They have helped even with the small things like managing your kit bag, managing your work ethics and how to be organised overall in training. In my career so far, I have never seen such organised players.”The [Palekelle innings with Younis Khan] is something that will remain with me for rest of my life. I would describe it as my childhood dream. It was just the other day that I was watching highlights of it and it still gives me goosebumps. When I reflect back on that particular innings, for me it’s hard to describe because there was not much going through my mind in terms of emotions. I was just going along with the flow but if I look back it right now, everything that I wanted was coming off. How Pakistan was able to create history, how massive that chase was… It makes me happy that I was able to contribute alongside Younis.”The best piece of advice Misbah gave me was prior to the Pallekele Test. I was dejected for two reasons. One, we had lost the earlier Test and two, I thought that this would be another tour where I go back without playing a game. But Misbah asked me my age. When I told him I was 25, he said at the same age he hadn’t played any first-class cricket as he was completing his degree. The point he was trying to make was that I needed to trust myself, be patient and keep working as hard as possible and things would eventually fall into place. It’s not a short-term thing, it’s a long-term goal and you need to keep believing and keep going back to it again and again. The way he has done this is similar, he talked about a lot of obstacles in his life and he has been very patient about it and now he is reaping the rewards.”As for Younis, whatever he says is short and to the point. Overall, it’s like he has given me a dictionary on how to conduct yourself as a cricketer. So he is a big influence on my short international career, my domestic cricket and, hopefully, when he fades away I can stick to those things he taught me and my performances can reflect all those things.”Ahmed Shehzad: ‘This series will be an emotional series for all of us because these two players are the pride of our nation’•AFPAhmed Shehzad”Of course they are the senior-most players in our team and we all look up to them and we all try to learn whatever we can from them. They are different individuals. If you talk about Younis, I was lucky to spend my early days with him at Habib Bank Limited in domestic cricket. He is one player I admire a lot both on and off the field. So I consider myself lucky to be sharing a dressing room with him.”Misbah, similarly, has been phenomenal. He took the team to the No. 1 position after things were so bad when he got the captaincy. Since then, the way he led the side is remarkable. Now after seven to eight years, he is saying goodbye to cricket, and that is a tough thing to swallow. His contribution will be remembered. Whenever we needed him, he would be there for us. I have learnt a lot from heart-to-heart talks with him and we are definitely going to miss him a lot.”The most important advice Younis gave was to be yourself, always believe, don’t try to hold back from taking risks because taking risks is something which takes you above everything. Life is all about taking risks and not being afraid. While batting, Younis never disturbs you as he wants you to play according to your own plan. He doesn’t talk too much on the field but talks to you off the field instead.”Misbah always says we should take sensible decisions. Think twice before you take any call about your life or cricketing career. This is advice that I always kept close to my heart.”This series will be an emotional series for all of us because these two players are the pride of our nation. They are the two strong pillars of the Pakistan team. So I am going to miss everything they have given us, all small incidents in hotel rooms, on the field, in dressing rooms, all good and bad memories, wins and losses. Whatever we shared together all these years will be missed and remain in our hearts forever.”

The difference between Chris Gayle and the next-best on key parameters indicates his excellence in the format

S Rajesh18-Apr-20172478 The difference in aggregate between Chris Gayle and the next-highest in the T20s – Brendon McCullum is in second place with an aggregate of 7596. To put that aggregate difference in perspective, the difference between the aggregates of McCullum and the 20th-ranked Mahela Jayawardene is only 2069.284 The difference between the number of sixes hit by Gayle and the next-highest in T20s – Gayle has struck 743 sixes, while Kieron Pollard is second with 459. The difference between Pollard and the 20th-ranked Cameron White is only 247.

74.8 Percentage of Gayle’s T20 runs which have come in boundaries – he has hit 769 fours and 743 sixes. Among batsmen with at least 4000 T20 runs, the next-best percentage is Virender Sehwag’s 69.7.

18 Number of different teams for whom Gayle has played T20s. Apart from West Indies, they are: Barisal Bulls (also named Barisal Burners), Chittagong Vikings, Dhaka Gladiators, Jamaica, Jamaica Tallawahs, Karachi Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lahore Qalandars, Lions, Matabeleland Tuskers, Melbourne Renegades, PCA XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Somerset, Stanford Superstars, Sydney Thunder and Western Australia.15 T20 hundreds for Gayle in the period between 2011 and 2015, from 174 innings, which is an average of 11.6 innings per hundred. In the period before 2011 he scored one century in 51 innings, and since 2015 he has scored two in 56 innings. During the five-year period between 2011 and 2015, no other batsman scored more than five hundreds; the next-best was Michael Klinger with five.6 Consecutive calendar years – from 2011 to 2016 – in which Gayle struck at least two T20 hundreds. Before 2011, he had hit only one T20 hundred.

1 Batsman with a strike rate better than Gayle’s 149.56, among the 49 who have scored 4000-plus T20 runs: Pollard has a strike rate of 151.72.43.6 Dot-ball percentage for Gayle. Among batsmen with 4000-plus runs, only two batsmen have a higher dot percentage: Dwayne Smith (46.5), and Lendl Simmons (45.8). (For matches where ball-by-ball data is available.)

The allrounder has never grumbled about whatever role he has been given in the Test side and his 100-wicket milestone was a fitting reward

George Dobell at Lord's07-Jul-2017Moeen Ali isn’t really a ‘Talk nah’ sort of guy.If he was, he might have wandered over to his new captain, Joe Root, and asked ‘Who’s your first spinner now?’ after the wicket of Hashim Amla. He had heard his bowling described as an “add-on” ahead of this match by Root, after all, and seen Liam Dawson promoted to first spin option.Or he might have slammed down his bat after his 87 and pointed out the injustice of his demotion from No. 4 to No. 7 in the batting order since England’s last Test. He had scored 190 runs in Chennai (146 in the first innings and 44 in the second), after all.But he isn’t that sort. So instead of basking in the glory of some really quite remarkable statistics – on Friday he became the quickest (in terms of Tests played) England-born allrounder in history to achieve the milestone of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets, also reaching the landmark quicker than undisputed greats such as Garry Sobers, Jacques Kallis, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev – he laughed at the absurdity of such a state of affairs.”In my garden I was better than Sobers,” he joked as he thought back to childhood games and what must have seemed unachievable feats. “If someone had said I’d play more than one Test I wouldn’t have believed it. I would never have thought I’d have 100 Test wickets.”Maybe that modesty has counted against him at times. During the Dhaka Test in October, Moeen claimed a crucial wicket – that of the well-set Mominul Haque – on his way to a five-wicket haul and afterwards was asked whether it was a cleverly-disguised arm-ball.”Nah,” he answered. “It was a normal ball. It just didn’t spin.”It was similar here. Asked if he was excited by the apparent turn on offer from this surface, he answered “No, if I get too excited I’ll just start bowling pies again.”It was wonderfully honest, of course. Miles away from the bragging we hear from some sports stars and a reminder of the fine role-model Moeen provides in every way. And that’s admirable in itself. But whereas the likes of Shane Warne might have taken such moments to build the mystery of his art – talking of different types of leg-breaks, sliders or googlies – Moeen was happy to be taken for what he is: a decent bowler doing his best in a job he never thought he would find himself doing. This is not a golden era for English spin for many reasons we need not revisit and Moeen has sometimes suffered for being the best the nation has to offer right now. If there’s better out there on the county circuit, they are not making it especially obvious.Statistics don’t always tell the full story, of course. This latest one, for example, doesn’t tell you that Moeen would need to take 100 more wickets in his next four-and-a-half Tests to equal Botham’s record of 2000 runs and 200 wickets from 42 Tests. It doesn’t tell you that Moeen’s batting average is more than 20 lower than Sobers’ and his bowling average his almost 20 higher than Hadlee’s. Nobody, anywhere, is suggesting he is better than either or any of them.But that doesn’t mean he is not a hugely valuable player for England. Or a hugely versatile one who has batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9 in the order and never given so much as a grumble when he has been the one obliged to move out of position for the good of the team. He even managed a little smile when Stuart Broad, another man who enjoyed a terrific all-round day, took a shy at the stumps in the final over and conceded four overthrows off Moeen’s bowling. Imagine roles were reversed…Moeen’s bowling has several positive qualities. Most noticeably, he bowls quicker than most spinners. He also spins the ball more sharply than most, gains more drift than many and has an equable temperament that seems capable of withstanding those days when the batsmen get on top of him. He’s never carried away and never down on himself. “Pressure?” he responded to a question about how he was feeling going into this game. “I don’t feel pressure at all. It’s only a game of cricket…”He’s not perfect, of course. He does not have the accuracy or control of the very best spinners, he does not have the variation or subtly of some and he is still learning ways to out-smart well-set batsmen over the course of a spell. There were times, particularly when he was bowling against the best Pakistan and India batsmen, when he didn’t look as if he had a lot of confidence in his ability to make the breakthrough.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe takes more top-order wickets than might be imagined, though. Of those 100 wickets, 34 have been batsmen in the top three, 18 have been those batting at four and five and 18 more have been those batting at six and seven. That’s 58 from the top six and 70 from the top seven. They include David Warner and Mohammad Hafeez four times each, Misbah-ul-Haq and Ajinkya Rahane three times each and Kumar Sangakkara, Steven Smith, Younis Khan, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara twice each. There aren’t too many cheap wickets there.He’s had to reinvent himself on the way. When he was first selected, in 2014, it was partly with a view to utilising his doosra – at the time a huge weapon for Saeed Ajmal and apparently accepted by the ICC. But within a few months that was effectively outlawed and Moeen was obliged to add pace and bite to his bowling and rely on the somewhat more prosaic qualities of drift and turn and natural variation.At first he prospered as a bowler as batsmen tried to thrash him out of the attack. Think of the start of the Ashes in 2015: Smith and Warner looked as if they wanted to annihilate him at Cardiff. But he kept his head and got his men and gradually sides realised that the best way to play him was not to go after him, thereby offering him an opportunity, but to sit back, milk him and wait for the release ball. His bowling average since the start of 2016 – 51.20 – reflects the greater struggle that wicket-taking has become.It may be that Root’s captaincy frees him a little. Root has told him to attack more and worry about conceding runs less. He has told him Dawson is around to do the holding job and Moeen is given licence, with bat and ball, to attack. It might just work.The success of his batting has been less of a surprise. From almost the time he could hold a bat he was impressing in clubs around Birmingham. And while he might never be the most consistent or reliable, much the same could be said about David Gower. Quietly, Moeen is putting together a decent record as a Test batsman, here falling 13 short of what would have been a fifth century in his most recent 14 Tests. The average is creeping up. So is his assurance at the crease. In the same period – since the start of 2016 – his Test batting average is 48.54 He is a hell of a player to come in at No. 7.You suspect he would rather bat higher. But he’s far from ego-centric and he understands the reason why first Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler and now Jonny Bairstow have been promoted ahead of him. He won’t moan. He won’t cause any discomfort in the dressing room or on tour. He knows that England’s all-round depth – the presence of Stokes and Chris Woakes and him – give England a depth with bat and ball that must be the envy of most sides around the world. He knows – they all know – that such depth can take them places.Besides, deeds are often more eloquent than words. So when Amla was beaten by a sharply turning offbreak – the first ball Moeen had bowled to him – there was no need to say anything more. And when he smashed Morne Morkel through the covers or flicked Vernon Philander through midwicket, there was no need to tell anyone what a fine batsman he is.This England camp know they have a gem in Moeen. They know they have a man who can fulfil almost any role with the bat and who will be unflustered with the ball whether he’s bowled India out in a Test or been hit out of the ground in the UAE. They know that, on good days and bad, he’ll be upbeat and calm in the dressing room and committed and capable on the pitch. He’s not underestimated by them at all and maybe, as the cheers for his wickets and the ovation for his runs suggested, he’s not underestimated by England supporters, either.Moeen Ali isn’t really a ‘Talk nah’ sort of guy. And he’s all the better for that.

Joe Root battled through a cold to register an unbeaten century on his first day as England captain. It was an unyielding illustration of the drive he will bring to the job

George Dobell at Lord's06-Jul-2017At 5.45pm, Joe Root ran a three.He was 153 not out at the time and had been batting for the best part of five and a half hours.They weren’t even his runs. Moeen Ali had hit the ball – the harsh would say edged the ball – down to third man off Keshav Maharaj and looked happy to accept two.But Root is hungry. Greedy, even. He is desperate to revive the fortunes of this team – his team – and he pushed for that three as if this was the final over of a T20 game.It wasn’t perhaps the most eye-catching moment of this innings. It didn’t draw the applause of the back-foot drive in the final moments of the day that would have pleased any of the greats who have batted at this grand old ground; it wasn’t as dismissive as the flick through midwicket from off stump that told Theunis de Bruyn what he thought of his bowling; it wasn’t as authoritative as the lofted drive for six off Maharaj.But as a statement, as an example, it was perfect. Root doesn’t want his England team just to flash and flail; he wants them to have the hunger to run threes for one another late in the day. He doesn’t want them to be satisfied with a decent day. He wants them to win.As he put it, revealingly, at the close of play: “It’s a good start; but that’s all it is: a start.”We probably shouldn’t be surprised. He picked a team that might, in some ways, be considered mean. He might have gone for Adil Rashid as his spinner, but he reasoned that Rashid bowls too many four-balls and, with runs hard to come by at times in Test cricket, England couldn’t afford such profligacy. Instead he went for Liam Dawson, who will resent every single scored off him.Defensive? It depends how you define the word. Dawson won’t bowl many unplayable balls, but he’ll give away nothing and make life much harder for batsmen than England sometimes have of late. There’s an aggression of sorts in that.This was, in many ways, a golden day for Root. A day he’ll remember forever and a day he described as “a dream” afterwards.How could it have been bettered? On his first day as England captain, he won the toss at a full, sun-soaked Lord’s, he made his 12th Test century and, in front of his father, grandfather and son, registered the highest score made by an England skipper in his first innings in charge. It’s the stuff he would have imagined when playing in the garden as a boy. It doesn’t get any better.Joe Root was dropped in the gully on 16 by JP Duminy•Getty ImagesMore importantly, he earned his side a strong position. On a much-improved Lord’s surface – a surface offering the bowlers enough assistance to keep them (and spectators) interested even with an older ball – he rescued England from a precarious 76 for 4 to a situation where they plundered 175 from 35 overs in the final session. There is a lot of work ahead, but they’re in pole position here.And it’s all the more remarkable for the fact that Root was suffering from a cold. His voice was broken and husky after play – all those Churchillian speeches, he joked – and he admitted to waking “groggy” and wearing a jumper throughout a warm day. He actually wore three layers and took on fluids at every opportunity – as he “wanted to sweat the cold out”. He looked exhausted by stumps; though not so exhausted he couldn’t have run another three.”There was nothing going to stop me trying to enjoy the day,” he said. “It’s an amazing opportunity and privilege to be England captain. A little cold wasn’t going to get in the way.”If anything, it may have helped me concentrate out there. I knew I wasn’t 100 percent so needed to work really hard to get through it and make the most of the start I got.”None of this should mask the faults in England’s performance. They were, yet again, three-down dangerously early – the 23rd time in their 64 most recent Test innings they had lost their third wicket with the score on 55 or fewer – and they were four-down before lunch. Had the substitute fielder, Aiden Markram, been on the fence (as he surely should have been) when Root had 5 and top-edged a hook to long-leg, or JP Duminy, at gully, held on to a relatively simple chance offered by Root on 16, England “might have been bowled out for 200″ as Vernon Philander put it. While this was a day to celebrate and enjoy, no dispassionate analysis should ignore the fact that, to some extent, South Africa let England off the hook.Let’s imagine, too, the reaction had Root’s pull landed in the hands of Markram. England would have been 24 for 3 and England’s new captain might have been branded reckless. On such moments are matches, and sometimes careers, defined.As it was, nearly everything fell Root’s way. The match situation – by the time he came to the crease, less than half-an-hour from the start of play, England had lost both openers and the ball was nipping around devilishly – ruled out (almost) any chance of complacency and South Africa’s cricket was, at times, uncharacteristically shoddy.He admitted he had never previously been reprieved by a spinner bowling a no-ball (as he was here after an apparent stumping on 149) and that, when he top-edged that pull, he had started to walk back to the pavilion.”I was walking back,” he said. “I thought I’d hit it straight to him. And that [the no-ball] has never happened to me against a spinner. It’s a nice feeling to get that call back when you know you’ve made a glaring error.”But luck was on my side today. It could have been very different but when you do get lives in Test cricket you have to make the most of them. Getting dropped, chipping someone on the boundary and getting a reprieve as well… it all just sort of seemed to fall into place today.”It sure did. And it will have taken the pressure off Root for future innings. There will be no statistics about how long it has been since he has failed to register a century, or anything like that. Other England batsmen have started well – his three immediate predecessors, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen, also recorded centuries in their first Tests as England captain – and that has been no guarantee of future success. But he can, to some extent at least, relax into the job now.”There was a little bit of relief,” he said. “You want to tick it off early. More than anything, I walked out to bat feeling the same as I have done previously for England. I was quite surprised how normal I felt when I got out there. I like to think it’s in my nature to go out and see the situation and play accordingly.”Most of all, he set an example for his team.”Early on as captain you want to try and set the example,” he said. “You’re trying to get messages across to the guys but you need to show them that you’re willing to do those things yourself.”It is very special. You obviously want to start well as captain and you want to set the example. You’ve been harping on at the lads about how you want them to approach their cricket and you want to make sure you go out and do exactly as you have been preaching about.”He sure did that.

After bowling 10 overs together in Kolkata, Ashwin and Jadeja were back to their tactics of threatening both edges of the bat, and targeting the stumps at all times for bowled and lbw dismissals

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur24-Nov-20172:27

‘Ashwin and I played supporting roles’ – Jadeja

What does Lahiru Thirimanne hate more than anything else? On Friday, the answer seemed to be “getting out lbw to offspin”.

‘Wicket had grass but not bounce, swing or conditions of Kolkata’ – Jadeja

After all the expectations of another green and seamer-friendly pitch for the second Test too, Ravindra Jadeja clarified that the conditions at the VCA Stadium were not the same as they were at Eden Gardens.
When asked if there was less help for fast bowlers in Nagpur compared to Kolkata, he said: “No, it seems so because there was too much help for pacers in Kolkata. There was a lot of help from the wicket there so you guys must have felt that every ball will yield a wicket but that was not the case over here because this wicket had grass but not the bounce or swing or the overcast conditions in Kolkata.
“That’s why we didn’t get much help compared to Kolkata but the two [Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav] bowled well in the first session. We didn’t give too many runs in the first session, they bowled as per the field set for them.”

He began his innings in the fifth over of the day, and stayed at the crease until the 25th. In that time he faced 21 balls from R Ashwin, all from round the wicket. Thirimanne’s response to each of them seemed to be built around making sure that his front pad wasn’t in the way of the ball in the event that it didn’t turn, and instead went with the angle into his stumps. Each time he needed to get on the front foot, he planted it straight down the pitch, and never across towards the line of the ball.Ashwin was clued into this, and every now and then floated one wide of off stump to invite the drive, and invite that front pad to move across a little. He had three fielders to protect the drive: cover, short-extra cover, mid-off.Thirimanne, however, refused to move his front pad across, and he ended up having to reach for the ball. Each of his drives went to backward point: sliced, steered, never really stroked with a straight bat.Over after over, when he was on strike to Ashwin, Thirimanne kept blocking the regular off-stump line and hitting the wider ones to backward point.At the other end, he barely scored a run against Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, who bowled round the wicket to him with six fielders on the off side: two slips, backward point, catching cover point, catching mid-off, and a deepish cover between the two. The two quicks landed everything on a good length, barely ever straying towards the pads of Thirimanne or Dimuth Karunaratne, the two left-handers in the middle. Dot ball followed dot ball followed dot ball.During Thirimanne’s time at the crease, Sri Lanka scored 24 runs in 20.1 overs. Thirimanne made nine of those runs, off 58 balls. When it arrived, his dismissal seemed inevitable. Ashwin moved silly point to short leg, and perhaps mindful of that fielder’s threat if he kept defending with bat in front of pad, Thirimanne went for the hard, square sweep. Once again, however, Thirimanne didn’t get his front pad across, and when he missed, he left an unimpeded path between Ashwin’s slider and the stumps. Bowled, while looking to guard against lbw.Bowled and lbw was the story of the day, particularly against India’s spinners. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared seven wickets, and five were either bowled or lbw. Four of them were the result of natural variation.Ashwin flicked the edge of Dasun Shanaka’s off stump with a beauty that slipped past his outside edge, continuing on with the round-the-wicket angle. In his previous over, he had ripped one into Shanaka from virtually the same spot on the pitch, and an inside edge had flown just wide of leg gully.Jadeja’s dismissals of Angelo Mathews and Dilruwan Perera were classic Jadeja wickets: Mathews trapped half-forward, Perera trapped on the back foot, by balls pitching on the perfect length and skidding on with the angle. Both times, Jadeja’s pace and trajectory gave the batsmen no chance to recover.This, of course, is how Ashwin and Jadeja operate on the subcontinent. Threaten both edges of the bat, threaten the stumps at all times. Before their tour began, Sri Lanka will have expected this to be their biggest test.Instead, they only faced 10 overs of Ashwin and Jadeja in the first Test, on a green Eden Gardens pitch built to India’s specifications. Here, too, at the VCA Stadium, an unnatural amount of grass – imagine how the South African tourists of 2015 may have chuckled looking at this pitch – topped the surface. This was meant to be round two of India’s preparation for their tour of South Africa.Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli celebrate Angelo Mathews’ wicket•BCCINagpur isn’t Kolkata, however, particularly with regards to weather and overhead conditions, and grass can only do so much to a pitch that has turn in its DNA. It wasn’t extravagant turn, and the bounce was consistent, but it was enough to make Ashwin and Jadeja smile, grab the ball from their captain, and tell him: “we’ll take over from here.”To Sri Lanka, they simply said, “hello again”.The parallel narrative, however, wasn’t entirely abandoned. In the 79.1 overs they took to bowl Sri Lanka out, India gleaned a little more knowledge to take to South Africa.The two fast bowlers were perhaps auditioning for the third seamer’s role, and both were impressively disciplined in the first session while bowling to Thirimanne and Karunaratne. Ishant, though, kept asking the difficult questions more frequently, and will be pleased that all three of his wickets came from the fuller side of a good length. The ball that dismissed Karunaratne was pitched full enough – according to both on-field umpire and ball-tracking – to pitch in line with leg stump and hit off stump, while not moving too much, and earned him a rare lbw of a left-hander from over the wicket.Umesh, as he can do sometimes, bowled a few loose ones in his afternoon spells, overpitching while striving for reverse-swing and occasionally providing width. He also has a tendency to bowl less well in conditions he is theoretically better suited to. After what seemed a breakthrough series against Australia earlier this year, this issue seemed to resurface in Kolkata, where he went at more than four an over while looking far less threatening than Mohammed Shami or Bhuvneshwar Kumar on a pitch made of fast bowlers’ favourite dreams.After day one in Nagpur, it looked as if Ishant might have moved back ahead of Umesh in India’s fast-bowling queue. Either way, they continued to reinforce India’s depth of seam options – when all four of their main quicks are fit. Shami remains a concern on that front: he missed out with a hip niggle.On Thursday, Virat Kohli had spoken of the difficulty of fitting both Ashwin and Jadeja into India’s XI when they play overseas. He hinted that their selection could hinge on the distribution of right- and left-handers in the opposition line-up, highlighting the threat posed by the angle into their stumps and the odd ball turning away.On Friday, Ashwin dismissed two left-handers and two right-handers (one of whom was playing a reverse-sweep) and Jadeja two right-handers and one left-hander.Which one would you pick, if you were the captain? Someone asked Jadeja this question in his press conference at the end of the day’s play.” [Are you really asking me this]?” was his response. “It’s a no-brainer. If I am the captain, I will not even give the ball to anyone. I will keep bowling from one end.”Then he laughed, and echoed what his captain had said.”It depends on team’s balance, what the team wants. At times on overseas tours, we assess if there are more lefties or right-handers in the opposition and accordingly the team’s composition is set.”When asked if competing with Ashwin for one slot overseas put extra pressure on him, Jadeja said he could “only control the controllables.””When I get an opportunity, I will try to do well,” he said. “What is not in my control, there is no point thinking about it. When I get a chance to play in South Africa, I will try to do well. When I got a chance last time, I played the second Test after Ash played the first. That’s why I said that team’s combination will depend on the composition of the opposition – the number of lefties or right-handers.”Here is the top seven that could potentially face India in Cape Town: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock. Five right-handers, two left-handers. India’s decision of which spinner to pick, then, might not be too difficult, but given just how good both of them are, the decision of which one to leave out certainly will be.