Eight teams fighting to win. Can you guess where they will finish correctly?

03-Jun-2017One lucky winner will get a signed copy of ESPNcricinfo’s Timeless Steel, a collection of writings on Rahul Dravid. Read the terms & conditions here.

After finishing bottom in 2017, will Royal Challengers Bangalore look to completely revamp their squad?

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2017The first time the IPL teams went into a reshuffle, in 2011, Royal Challengers Bangalore retained just Virat Kohli, but ahead of the 2014 season, they retained three players – Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. Ahead of next season, will Gayle and de Villiers make the cut? Swipe right for the players you think it’s worth keeping and left for those you think are not.

With KL Rahul almost 100% fit, India are in a dilemma: to leave out Abhinav Mukund or Shikhar Dhawan, or to continue with the winning combination for the second Test?

Sidharth Monga in Colombo01-Aug-20174:12

This team has already done what big names could not – Shastri

Fried cashews or devilled ones? ? Hill country or the seaside? Sri Lanka can be a land of delicious dilemmas. The India team, travelling here, have their own dilemma now. Both their back-up openers who got a chance in the Galle Test scored runs and impressed; who makes way for KL Rahul now?A week before the Test, neither Shikhar Dhawan nor Abhinav Mukund would have imagined themselves opening the innings in Galle. Not together at any rate. Then M Vijay discovered his wrist hadn’t healed enough after his surgery, and Rahul fell ill in Sri Lanka. In came Dhawan with 190 and Abhinav with 81 in the second innings. If Dhawan scored the runs when they mattered more, Abhinav proved his worth with a sensational run-out and a sharp catch at silly point. If Abhinav’s runs came under little pressure, Dhawan benefited from being dropped when he played a loose shot early in his innings.Unfair as it may sound to the two who have put in performances when the rare opportunity arrived, the trend in this Indian team has been for injured players to come back and take their places immediately. Wriddhiman Saha reclaimed his spot as soon as he was fit even though Parthiv Patel did a stellar job as replacement in the England Tests. Jayant Yadav made an impressive debut against England, but had to make way once Amit Mishra was fit. Karun Nair, after scoring a triple hundred, sat out immediately.”Yes, it’s a very tricky situation,” Virat Kohli said after the Galle Test. “[And] we’ve got a fourth guy who’s a regular opener for India (Vijay) who’s not fit. We’ve got all four openers firing now. Shikhar was supposed to go to Melbourne to join his family, now he’s got a 190 in Galle. So anything can happen in life.”Let’s see how we decide on these things in the next three days. It’s going to be tough but, any day, you’d like to be in this situation rather than having guys that are not scoring. I’m happy for both these guys who’ve done well. KL (Rahul) is obviously a champion player as well, so we’ll have to eventually take a call on who plays in the next Test. I’m sure the third guy will understand whatever the call is taken by the team.”Two days before the Test, Rahul took part in every aspect of the training, but coach Ravi Shastri suggested he was not yet certainly available for selection. “Rahul is good,” Shastri said. “We are watching him closely. He went through some tough times, he was in the hospital for two-three days, obviously it has taken a lot out of him. So we have to be very careful how we treat him, we are watching him very closely, and he is getting better by the day.”If he is 100% fit and healthy, Rahul should be the first-choice opener for Colombo. By the extension of this, a case could be made for Abhinav to keep his place because he was selected in the squad before Dhawan, which at that point represented a greater trust in him than in Dhawan. However, Dhawan has made it more complicated with a 190 that contained, perhaps, just two mistakes. Then again he has been tried in difficult conditions before, and there is no indication results might be different this time. Abhinav, on the other hand, hasn’t enjoyed a prolonged run.It need not necessarily be between Dhawan and Abhinav, though. Here is a left-field suggestion: India know their two first-choice openers when they go to South Africa are Vijay and Rahul; why not use these relatively easier Tests to identify the third? Don’t make the decision in a hurry. One Test can be too small a sample size to make the call. Let Rahul rest for one more Test, let him know he will get the spot back sooner or later; look for more indicators in the two other openers at SSC, in what will hopefully be a more challenging track.There is a precedent for this as well. When Rahul scored a sparkling hundred in the second Test in the West Indies last year, Vijay, the man he had replaced, sat out the third Test despite being fit.

Keaton Jennings on his debut Test hundred, growing up his father’s son, and team-mates

Interview by Jack Wilson26-Jun-2017England take on South Africa next month. How bored will you be every time someone asks you about your South African roots?
() I’m sure I’ll get some abuse, but I’ve got to be hardened to it. The reality is, I was born and raised in South Africa and hopefully now I’ll be playing against them. I know I am going to get talked about but I am who I am and that’s the way it is. The fact is, I’m hugely honoured to represent England.Describe the feeling of scoring a hundred on your Test debut.
Relief, absolute relief. There’s happiness in there too, but I’d liken it most to a pressure release. It’s like you’ve accomplished what you set out to do, what you’ve wanted to achieve since you were a kid.So what is the secret to scoring a debut ton?
Luck! Everyone needs a bit of luck – and getting an opportunity. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes when it comes to scoring any runs.What is it like to make your Test debut in India?
India is mad. It’s like nowhere else I’ve played. You have thousands of people singing, dancing and screaming Kohli’s name. Then they go back to the team hotel and wait hours to meet their heroes. Before the Test series there, we had one kid bowl to us in the nets, and he bowled exactly like Ashwin. He’d watched thousands of hours of footage to exactly replicate Ashwin’s action. The passion and love is something really special.You have played with Joe Root the batsman. What will it be like to play under Joe Root the captain?
Rooty is a fantastic bloke who brings a real vibe and aura. To play under that kind of character will be sensational. It’s always great to watch him bat, too, hopefully from the other end.Talk us through the moment you were first called up by England.
I was actually in Dubai when the phone rang and I got the call from James Whitaker. Before that, Andy Flower and I had gone for a beer where we’d discussed the success of a Lions tour and I thought I might be close. I tried to ring my dad after I got the call but he didn’t answer! He was on a flight, so I was straight on the phone to my brother.What is the best thing about having a dad who is a coach?
That you’re exposed to the change-room environment – and what it takes to be a professional – from a young age.And the worst?
I took a lot of abuse. It was the worst aged nine or ten when I was told that my dad was the only reason I’d got in the team. Then I got the “At least I’m the best player in my family” sledges after that.It’s tipping it down and you are off for rain. Which team-mate do you try to avoid?
Mark Wood. He has the boredom level of a three-year-old. He’s always going round the changing room, cutting socks. He’s cost me a couple of hundred quid before too, when he chipped my tooth after a deadly tackle and I ended up at the dentist.You have the huge honour of playing under Paul Collingwood, who is still getting it done, aged 41. What is it like to play under someone old enough to be your dad?
Colly is amazing. He’s forgotten more about cricket than most of us have ever learnt. The Evergreen is awesome and I hope he keeps on playing.So what will you be doing at 41?
Hopefully still taking slip catches as well as he is! Although once I’m done with cricket, I want to go into business.How many grips do you have on your bat?
One. There’s a few different theories that go around. Gareth Breese at Durham used to have three on there – but one just seems to sit nicely in the hand.What’s your favourite shot?
The on-drive. I don’t hit many, but when you do, there’s no better feeling in cricket.Durham generations: young’uns Mark Wood and Jennings flank senior statesman Paul Collingwood•Getty ImagesWho is the toughest bowler you have ever faced?
There’s been a few but for me it was Alfonso Thomas a few years ago. He was just such hard work to face at his best. Chris Rushworth is tricky too, and I always end up trying to avoid him in the nets.Which of your team-mates is the best footballer?
Paul Collingwood. He may be old but he’s a savvy player and he knows what he’s doing.And the worst?
I have to be up there! Bar me, it’s got to be Barry McCarthy. He’s like a traffic cone who doesn’t move and just stands out on the wing.Name one thing the average cricket fan doesn’t know about you.
That I love food, absolutely love it. I eat a horrendous amount.Which of your team-mates would you least like to have on a pub quiz team?
Ryan Pringle. After every workshop we do, Chris Rushworth does a quiz. Pringle doesn’t come out of them that well, put it that way.You are stuck on a desert island and you can only bring three items. What do you take?
I’m into my music so I’d take my iPod and a pair of speakers. And a hat, because I’m going to burn otherwise.What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Watch the ball because it’s a tough game if you don’t.

South Africa claimed the first session and India the last hour but the SuperSport Park belongs to Hashim Amla and he has the numbers to show it

Firdose Moonda in Centurion 13-Jan-2018Hashim Amla chose one of the more tricky moments in the day to show that he is still as classy as they come.Aiden Markram had been dismissed by R Ashwin for 94, AB de Villiers was new to the wicket, which did not have as much pace and bounce that Faf du Plessis wanted and took the turn the captain most definitely did not want, and the leg side was packed. Ashwin delivered a length ball on middle stump and Amla did not quite get to the pitch of it but his wrists did the rest.It was only a small twist of the hands but a perfect one that allowed him to pierce the infield. It was only a small amount of force applied to the shot, but the right amount, that sent it to the boundary. It was Hashim Amla at his elegant best.Before that, Amla had hit five other fours, all beautifully laced with his delicate touch but none quite as delicious to look at. He had also inside-edged onto his pad, slashed and missed, driven in the air and gave Hardik Pandya a chance to take a screamer at midwicket, defended so softly that he had to kick the ball away as it rolled towards off stump and tried a few premeditated sweeps that just looked a little ugly. Amla did not enjoy the most fluent start to his innings but then came shot.In a period in which the consistency of Amla’s form has been questionable – his three hundreds in 2017 came against weak Sri Lankan and Bangladesh attacks at home – and his temperament a touch on the impatient side, that shot was the reassurance that even against more challenging packs, Amla is still ace.Just to make sure no-one got carried away, three balls after that, he provided Parthiv Patel with a thin edge down the leg side that should have been taken. From there, Amla did not look back. Part of what makes Amla so prolific is that he has often been able to capitalise on opportunities where he has been let off the hook. Every batsman presents their opposition with chances, few make them pay for missing those chances as much as Amla.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile de Villiers struggled to adjust to the (lack of) pace of the pitch, Amla kept South Africa’s energy high. His slash through point the ball after tea was one of the strongest shows of his intent; his drive down the ground off Ashwin five overs later showed off his timing and his crunch through the covers that brought up his fifty was another example of his unmatched wristwork, particularly among his team-mates.In an innings that needed an anchor even after opener Markram, who has now passed the test of playing against a top-eight attack, Amla held South Africa together. For the first hour of the third session, it seemed little could go wrong for South Africa, even when de Villiers dragged one on. Amla appeared as in charge as ever, even on an unusually slow surface at venue that has now become his most successful.As of Saturday, SuperSport Park is the place Amla has scored more Test runs than at at any other ground. He has played 12 Tests here, compared to 17 at Newlands, his most visited venue, and two more than Kingsmead and Wanderers, the only other places where he has played at least 10 Tests.Amla’s average at Centurion sits a 80.25, almost double than in Cape Town (44.42), four times that of his home ground in Durban (20.64) and still significantly more than his other favourite ground, Wanderers, where he averages 54.75. He has the most runs by any batsman in Centurion where his haul of scoring 50 or more 12 times in 17 innings includes four hundreds and one double-hundred.Exactly why Amla has prospered on this pitch is difficult to pin down – it could have something to do with the pace of ball on bat – though on Saturday that would not have been the case. This surface asked for more of a grind, for batsmen to really work out how to score runs rather than have them dished up for them. Though Amla prefers the latter, a trickier pitch demanded more application from him, just the sort of thing he needed to find his fight again.For that hour after tea, when India seemed to let things drift, it seemed that Amla could add another three-figure score to his tally at SuperSport Park but as the last 10 overs began and Amla entered the 80s, he was run-out racing for the non-striker’s end after du Plessis wanted to push for a single.It was a mistake. Given how South Africa were going at that point, the heat Amla had batted in for most of the day and the illogicality of trying anything silly, it was a mistake that opened the door for India. Quinton de Kock’s wafting at an Ashwin delivery with no footwork, and Vernon Philander’s run-out gave India an even share of the spoils on the first day.South Africa claimed the first session and India the last hour but the place belongs to Hashim Amla and he has the numbers to show it.

The Port Elizabeth Test didn’t even get to its scheduled halfway point, but it still gave players from both sides enough time to form opinions about four-day Test cricket and playing under lights with the pink ball

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth27-Dec-20171:33

‘There is an excitement in day-night Test cricket’ – De Villiers

Assessing whether four-day, day-night Tests have a future on the evidence of a match that lasted less than two days and only had one night session is a bit like deciding to move to India having only seen a picture of the Taj Mahal. Still, in the 907 balls of the Port Elizabeth Test, players from both teams saw enough to form a few opinions.On four-day Tests:The match didn’t even get to its halfway point, but knowing there were only four days scheduled may have pushed South Africa to be more aggressive than usual. “The batters were a little bit more positive,” their stand-in captain AB de Villiers said. “There were talks of declaring earlier than normal. It encourages more positive cricket. I still enjoy five-day [Tests] as well but there is an excitement in this format. We all enjoyed it and I think the spectators will enjoy it as well.” On day-night Tests and the pink ball: As in previous day-night Tests, the pink ball moved around markedly more under lights. Zimbabwe took five of their nine wickets after the dinner break on day one, and the game’s only centurion, Aiden Markram, felt it was the most difficult time to bat. “From that twilight phase that everyone speaks about, I do feel it moves around quite a bit,” he said, after day one.Because teams know the advantage of bowling in the third session, the side that wins the toss will most often look to bat first and have accumulated the bulk of their runs before the lights come on. They may even, as was the case with South Africa, declare earlier than usual in order to put the opposition in when it is most difficult to bat.”Declarations will play a big part in day-night Tests with teams declaring a bit earlier or a bit later, because every seam attack will want to bowl at night,” Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer said. “Like anything, the more it happens the more experience you’ll get in knowing when to declare and which bowlers to bowl.”It’s also, during the day, about not pushing your seamers too hard and keeping them for that night period. All the batsmen are going to want to bat during the day but not at night.”As a result of that, the team batting under lights may look to rejig their batting line-up slightly to ensure their best batsman only get to the crease when conditions are easier to bat in. Cremer confessed to having “four of our tailenders padded up in the change room to get them out the way and to give our batsmen a chance during the day. It was a tactic that got forced on us but it’s something we’re going to have a look at.”Both teams still had concerns about the pink ball. De Villiers, who made 53 on the first day, and Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe coach, said the batsmen struggled to pick the seam.The ball has also been known to wear and become soft fairly easily which necessitates pitches to be prepared to make things a little easier for the bowlers, with more grass left on them. De Villiers admitted that could skew the game further.”Zimbabwe had the worst of the conditions last night,” he said. “They ran into a wicket that was really spicy and it was going to spice up again this evening.”

Phil Simmons, the Afghanistan head coach, on what makes his team a success and what work remains to be done to take the next step up

The Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi03-Mar-2018One day to go before a very important tournament for Afghanistan. Are you and the team excited or nervous, or nervously excited?
We are more nervously excited because of how important the tournament is, and because of where we want to be as a team. The nervousness comes from that. The excitement comes from just being in this competition.A look at the numbers since the last World Cup in 2015 makes Afghanistan seem like the firm favourites: among participating teams, Afghanistan have won the most number of matches; in Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran and Mohammad Nabi you have three of the four most successful bowlers in this period; Rahmat Shah and Mohammad Shahzad feature among the top three batsmen… What is your own assessment?
To correct one thing, we are not the favourites. The West Indies have to be the favourites because they are the big team. As I keep saying, there are other teams involved: you don’t take Netherlands lightly, you don’t take Ireland lightly, you don’t take Zimbabwe lightly. You go far as down as not taking Nepal lightly. Having said that, the numbers are there. It is brilliant for players to have all those numbers. [But] the numbers don’t do much when we get to competition day.The strong series win against Zimbabwe must have been a good motivator for the players heading into the Qualifier?
It was brilliant. It was not just the win. It was the way we won – that has boosted our confidence a lot and told us we have been playing good cricket. It was part of the growing excitement coming into this tournament.What was unique about the way you won against Zimbabwe?
We won the first match easily, but then we lost the second match heavily. Coincidentally, the score was exactly the same. In the third ODI, we lifted our game, and, when were on top, we did not let Zimbabwe come back. That gave me a lot of hope and a lot of understanding that this Afghanistan team has the potential to do that to other teams too.

“To correct one thing, we are not the favourites. The West Indies have to be the favourites because they are the big team”

That was your first series as Afghanistan coach. What were the takeaways?
The main takeaway for me is that if you chalk out things the right way for them, they can improve and improve quickly. Things weren’t in a good place structure-wise when Afghanistan played Ireland [in the ODI series in December, which Ireland won 2-1] where it went haywire. So what we are trying to do is to make sure things are structured in a way that we can move forward.What was missing from the structure before you took charge?
During the Ireland series, there was no head coach in place. Speaking to the players I gathered that there was a lot of relaxation [in the dressing room] after the win in the first ODI. Ireland came back and won the series 2-1. That is what I mean by that structure. You win a game in a series and then you have to push yourself to the next level to make sure that the other team does not come back. It is little things like that we, the coaching staff, are working on with the players.Rashid Khan gets word from the dressing room that a stumping appeal sent to the third umpire is out•Peter Della PennaWhat is the strength of Afghanistan going into the Qualifier?
Afghanistan’s bowling is their out-and-out strength. With the likes of Rashid and now Mujeeb Zadran in the line-up, it is a headache for most teams.But the conditions so far in Zimbabwe – wet and seamer-friendly – are totally different to those experienced in the UAE where you beat Zimbabwe…
Yes, it has been wet, but again we have played in series where there has been dew in the night and Afghanistan have done well. Adaptation is the big thing, and we are trying to work on that aspect, that is going to be the big test for us.In the two warm-ups you played, Afghanistan batted first in both instances. Is that a strategy the team could look to adopt in the qualifier?
It was my decision [to elect to bat in the warm-up against Netherlands]. I just wanted to bat first because in the last three matches in Sharjah, we fielded first. So I just wanted a little change, so that we get accustomed to doing both. Now that we have done both, we understand what needs to be done depending on whether we bat or field first.

“Controlled anger, controlled emotion, I think those are big things we have to work on.”

One area of concern could be the batting, which remains a work in progress. All specialist batsmen failed in both warm-ups, with the lower order saving the team the blushes. Do you agree?
Every department is a work in progress, but the progress seems to be happening a little bit quicker than I anticipated, so I’m very happy with that. As far as the batsmen are considered, I have asked everyone to focus on his own strengths. If my strength is to hit the ball over the top, that is what I must do; if my strength is accumulating and sweeping and reverse-sweeping, I must use that to my advantage. Each of us has a strength and we must use that during the match – that is my message. Everybody needs to be themselves because it is something about your play that brought you to the international level and made you successful, so you have to continue improving on that strength. Everybody can’t play like [Virat] Kohli. Everybody can’t play like a Viv Richards.Are Afghanistan a one-man team, as people on the outside might perceive?
I like the fact that people outside perceive that, but I don’t think that is true. Now we are getting to a stage where we have few youngsters that have graduated to the senior team. We now have Mujeeb too in the ranks, who is a class act in himself. I would like the other nine teams to continue having that [one-man team] perception about Rashid. It would make our job easier.Still, Rashid remains the main catalyst?
Rashid is tremendous. Just his understanding of his own game, his understanding of the game in itself and how he looks at the game and how he talks about it sitting on the sidelines; he thinks a lot about the game and he assesses the game really well. The biggest asset for us is all the players have tremendous respect for him. Not just for what he has done, but how he practices, how he goes about doing things on the field. That is why he is a leader.Will Rashid be the leader for the rest of the tournament? Any update on the ill Asghar Stanikzai?
Stanikzai is a lot better, but we are not going make a decision on him till Tuesday for the rest of the tournament. Rashid will lead in the first match.Certainly there will be desperation to win every match. But emotions will need to be controlled. How do you go about doing that?
One of things we have to work on is [mental] preparation and how we constantly put ourselves in a place where we can perform, but at the same time we have to keep that emotion in check and make sure that emotion helps. Controlled anger, controlled emotion, I think those are big things we have to work on.What is the one thing you want the players to keep in mind as they begin the Qualifier tournament?
We can only win this if we work hard and do the things that we worked on. We are not here to qualify. We are here to win.

Southee, Boult and Wagner pose a challenge that is nearly the equal of the Australian attack

Andrew McGlashan19-Mar-2018″Like the World XI at one end and Ilford 2nd XI at the other.”That was Graham Gooch’s assessment of New Zealand during the 1986 series in England, when the difference between Richard Hadlee, the visitors’ best bowler, and the rest of the attack was somewhat stark. It rather backfired on Gooch, as New Zealand completed their first Test series win in England, but the premise was true: Hadlee took 19 wickets at 20.52 and no one else in the side took more than six.It’s different these days. While Hadlee’s record of 431 Test wickets is unlikely to be ever overtaken by a fellow countryman – not least because the volume of Test cricket for New Zealand only seems to be heading one way – the pace attack they currently have can rightly claim to be their finest ever.Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner have formed a formidable trio over the last four years. They first played together in 2013 and have joined forces in 24 Tests, of which New Zealand have won 13. It was in the 2013 home summer against England that the attack really started to be forged. New Zealand should have won that series but couldn’t get past Matt Prior in Auckland.ESPNcricinfo LtdIndividually their numbers are impressive: Southee 208 wickets at 31.45, Boult 200 wickets at 28.56, and Wagner 144 wickets at 27.87. In terms of matches, Wagner was the second fastest New Zealand bowler to 100 wickets, in 26 matches, one slower than Hadlee.The averages of Southee and Boult are, unsurprisingly for swing bowlers, better at home than away. However, Wagner, New Zealand’s battering ram, has almost identical figures – 27.91 at home, 27.79 overseas.Southee, a skilful swing bowler, who of late has developed the art of cutters with some success, is the senior figure in the attack. It is ten years since he launched his Test career with a memorable debut against England in Napier, taking 5 for 55 in the first innings before smiting 77 off 40 balls, albeit in a heavy defeat. The runs were a slog, and that is basically how he has continued with the bat, but the raw skills he showed with the ball as a 19-year-old have been honed.It was not until around 2012, though, that he cemented his place. There were two performances on the subcontinent where he stood tall, and they remain high points in his career. In Bangalore in August that year, he took 7 for 64, and then in Colombo three months later, he took eight wickets in the match to help secure a series-levelling victory. The latter was also one of the first occasions that he and Boult combined effectively.Wagner: the man who gets batsmen out of their comfort zone•Getty Images”He was very young, he hadn’t actually grown into his body,” Shane Jurgensen, the current New Zealand bowling coach, who also had a stint with the team between 2008 and 2010, says. “He’s actually got taller – it’s funny, when I saw him back then, I used to be taller than him. Then when I saw him after four years, I’m looking up at him. He was definitely a late developer into his body in terms of his physical strength, and when that came through… to be able to bowl for the long periods in Test cricket – he always had that beautiful wrist – it was just about time before his body could deal with Test bowling.”Last season there was a collective intake of breath when Southee was dropped for the first time in five years to allow New Zealand to play two spinners against South Africa in Dunedin. Due to a combination of that, injury and paternity leave at the start of this season, Southee has only played six of New Zealand’s last 12 Tests. He will be keen to reaffirm his standing in this series.Southee is the senior man but Boult has become the star. He can sit alongside any left-armers of his generation and could well be considered his country’s second-greatest quick. He began his career in 2011, the debut coming in one of New Zealand’s most memorable victories, when they squeezed home by seven runs against Australia in Hobart. A year later the aforementioned Colombo Test followed, and in March 2013 he claimed 6 for 68 against England at Eden Park.”Trent is naturally quite an aggressive bowler – he’s very competitive and he’s just a bit quicker than you think at times,” Jurgensen says. “He’s gone from someone who was bowling 130-135kph and now he’s probably 135-145kph, which allows him to have a bit more penetration with the new ball, more bounce.”There is a healthy internal rivalry between the pair, although Jurgensen says it’s often as much to do with their batting than bowling. “Tim and Trent are pretty close to each other in terms of wickets they have taken.”ESPNcricinfo LtdWagner has a better average than both Southee and Boult, but it has been a tougher path to acceptance for him. From 2012-13 he went through a strong run of 11 Tests that brought 45 wickets, but he then played just two of the next 13, one of those appearances helping New Zealand to a series victory in the West Indies. He returned with nine wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka, before again being left out against Australia in Wellington.On his recall, in the next match, which was lit up by Brendon McCullum’s 54-ball hundred in his final Test, something else significant happened, though New Zealand lost heavily: Wagner took 6 for 106 in the first innings, all with the short ball.The short-pitched attack, as dissected in this piece by Sidharth Monga 15 months ago, continues to be Wagner’s modus operandi. He has become New Zealand’s bounce specialist. Most recently he dismantled West Indies at the Basin Reserve with a career-best 7 for 39, six of the wickets coming from the short delivery. It was an indictment of the batting, for sure, but it showed that Wagner certainly knows how to work over a batsman.”His bouncer is quite difficult to play at times because of the skiddy nature of his bowling, and as the game wore on, the bouncer became quite a dangerous delivery,” Jurgensen explains. “The whole idea was to get the batsmen off the front foot, change the way they play, get them confused over the height the ball was coming through. When that delivery became one that was taking – or creating – wickets, over time it became his role in the team: get batsmen out of their comfort zone.””It’s the trajectory of the ball, the way it comes off the pitch. What actually happens is that one bouncer that lands on a 10-12m length will come through at ribcage height, then the next one will come through at head height. It’s very hard for a batsman to know what kind of shot to play.”Shane Jurgensen on New Zealand’s fast bowlers: “I think it’s quite good how they all complement each other”•Getty ImagesThe New Zealand attack may not have the fire and fury that England faced in Australia, but in the view of Jurgensen they are a very smart trio, making the most of what they have – whether that be Southee developing his offcutters, Wagner’s pounding of the pitch, or Boult using the angles of a left-arm swing bowler.”It’s about adapting quickly, and that’s something we’ve been able to do quite quickly, especially in red-ball cricket. We see and learn, the guys try things. They take it upon themselves, that’s credit to the players. We might see things and suggest, question, challenge, and they buy into things.”The three are different in how they find their success, and they are also different in how they deal with it when things don’t go right.”Tim has always been a bit of joker, he always assesses things and talks about it, but he’s quick to move on,” Jurgensen says. “Trent is quiet, very open about where he’s not got it right. And Wags, well Wags, he wears his heart on his sleeve – what you see on the field is a more toned-down version.”I think it’s quite good how they all complement each other. They will assess and adapt, how can they get better.”Southee (29) and Boult (28) should be in their prime, and though Wagner (32) is a touch older, he plays only Tests. They ought to have a few years ahead of themselves as a unit. How many Tests they will play remains to be seen. New Zealand’s schedule is being trimmed; it’s the white ball that pays the bills.It makes these two matches against England even more important for them. They are facing a side who have lost nine of their last 12 Tests overseas. There may never be a better chance to secure just a second series win at home (and fourth overall) against them. The challenge of facing Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins required more courage, but the next few weeks will be another test of the England batsmen’s skills.

Rohit Paudel and Shane Snater are among the promising players to watch out for at the World Cup Qualifier

Peter Della Penna03-Mar-2018Scott McKechnie – Hong KongThe bulk of Hong Kong’s batting success throughout the WCL Championship was down to the form of captain Babar Hayat, vice-captain Anshuman Rath and power-hitter Nizakat Khan. Wicketkeeper and former captain Jamie Atkinson had been a mainstay at the top of the order for nearly half a decade, but work commitments in his job as a PE teacher have curtailed his availability.It has opened a path for Scott McKechnie to emerge as a diamond in the rough in the middle order. The Manchester-born talent bounced around several second XI sides in county cricket before settling in Hong Kong. A heavy scorer on the domestic scene, he made his ODI debut inDubai against Papua New Guinea during the final round of the WCL Championship in December. Despite modest scores (29 and 11 not out), he impressed with his bold shot selection, regularly jumping around the crease in the death overs to attempt ramps and scoops. He could play a pivotal role in Zimbabwe – both behind the stumps and in the Hong Kong middle order.Rohit Paudel – NepalThe youngest player in the tournament at 15, the middle-order batsman was an unsung hero at WCL Division Two in Namibia. Lost in the shuffle of Sandeep Lamichhane’s Player-of-the-Tournament performance, Paras Khadka’s vital knock in a brief but nervy chase against UAE and Karan KC’s tail-end heroics in the do-or-die showdown against Canada, Paudel finished as the team’s second leading scorer – behind only Khadka – in his debut tournament with the senior team, ending with 140 runs at an average of 28, not to mention cutting off runs galore in the field and patrolling backward point with vigor.That may not sound like much, but in a notoriously brittle Nepal batting line-up, he provided a bridge in the middle order to stretch out several chases before the tail-enders clinched victory. A 37-run stand for the seventh wicket with Sharad Vesawkar, Nepal’s biggest of the day, kept hope alive for a one-wicket win over Namibia on his senior team debut. Paudel top-scored with 47, adding an 87-run sixth-wicket stand with Aarif Sheikh, in a final-ball win over Kenya. Against Canada he teamed with Sheikh again for another keypartnership – 46 for the sixth-wicket – to keep Nepal’s pulse beating before the epic stand between Karan andLamichhane took them home. With vice-captain Gyanendra Malla struggling for form, Paudel’s emergence couldn’t come at a better time.Shane Snater – NetherlandsThe 20-year-old former Zimbabwe junior representative and Harare native is looking to make a splash on return to his homeland this month. In a team with enviable pace bowling depth, Snater has worked his way toward the top of the queue through his performances over the last six months. It began in white-ball cricket against his former countrymen, claiming 3 for 30 in a romp at the Hague, albeit with several first-choice players rested after Zimbabwe had clinched the series two days earlier.He showed more promise at the end of the northern summer with his maiden five-for against Ireland, in just his second IntercontinentalCup in September. He then backed it up with another five-for against Namibia in Dubai, in the final round of the I-Cup. Most recently, he claimed 4 for 46 in a tournament warm-up against Afghanistan before rain denied Netherlands a chance to chase. Paul van Meekeren was making a strong claim for the title of best pace bowler in Associate cricket at the start of 2017, but Snater’s form atthe start of 2018 may keep him out of the Netherlands XI in Zimbabwe.Peter Della PennaKiplin Doriga – Papua New GuineaDoriga was PNG’s leading scorer at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup in the UAE but it has taken some time for the 22-year old to mature at the senior level. Part of the difficulty in terms of breaking into the line-up was that as a wicketkeeper. He was competing with the experienced former captain Jack Vare for time behind the stumps.However, his batting improved in 2016 to the point where PNG’s coaching staff couldn’t keep him out any longer, selecting him as aspecialist batsman for his ODI debut against Scotland in November 2017, when he was the second-highest scorer for the team with 34 off 64 balls, although in a losing cause. In his fourth ODI against Hong Kong, he produced an unbeaten 89, batting intelligently with Alei Nao in a 69-run ninth-wicket stand before he ran out of partners in a losing effort. Sandwiched around those scores are innings of 0, 1 and 0, marking him out as a boom or bust proposition.Chris Sole – ScotlandScotland’s transformation as a consistent threat to Associate opposition has been propelled mainly by the explosive batting approach at the top of the order from Kyle Coetzer and Matthew Cross. But as Afghanistan have demonstrated, to become a serious challenger to Full Members, an Associate team needs a a pace-bowling spearhead capable of rattling a few cages. Enter the 23-year-old Sole, who never shies away from sending down a bouncer or two. The son of David Sole – the man who captained Scotland’s rugby team to the 1990 Grand Slam – Chris was reared with theaggression that has been evident since his ODI debut against UAE in 2016.After Coetzer’s century took Scotland to their maiden ODI win over a Full Member against Zimbabwe last summer, Sole nearly inspiredScotland to a series win the following day with an electric burst of 3 for 36 defending a low total. He may miss the opening match against Afghanistan as he is recovering from a hamstring injury in the lead-up to the tournament, but his valuemay be evident later in the tournament when fit.Ahmed Raza – UAEThe past two World Cup qualification cycles for UAE have been dominated by two men respectively – former captain Khurram Khan and middle-order batsman Shaiman Anwar. Current captain Rohan Mustafa has emerged as an all-round force, but most of UAE’s bowlers rarely get the plaudits they deserve. Nobody exemplifies that more than left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza. In a country that is often derided for a failure to produce homegrown talent resulting in an over-reliance on South Asian expats, Raza is one of the rare success stories of a player whocame through UAE’s Under-19 programme, born and bred in Sharjah, to achieve senior team success.A boa constrictor with the ball, and a surprisingly athletic fielder in the circle for a man of his 6’5″ stature, Raza’s unheralded economical spells tighten the noose before others bask in the spoils of wickets. Nowhere was that more evident than in a crucial encounter against Oman at WCL Division Two. Facing elimination on the fourth day of the group stage, his nine-over spell of 2 for 16 built the pressure before the dam burst in a run-out by Mustafa. On the slow wickets in Harare, Raza might find himself amongst the wickets more regularly.

They kept losing close games at the start of the tournament, but on Sunday they made sure they didn’t lose their way in the pressure moments

Vishal Dikshit at the Wankhede06-May-2018Mumbai Indians lost a number of close matches early in the season, largely because of their end-overs struggles while defending totals after losing the toss. Sunday evening was unfolding in similar fashion when Dinesh Karthik asked Mumbai to bat again, and the death overs played a vital role once more. This time, however, Mumbai won the clutch moments and kept their playoff hopes alive. What did they do differently?Bumrah and Hardik keep KKR quietEarlier in the tournament, Rohit Sharma had the cushion of two specialist death bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman to defend totals. Now that Mumbai have dropped Mustafizur for Ben Cutting, the onus has fallen almost solely on Bumrah.KKR needed 54 off the last four overs with Karthik and Andre Russell at the crease. Bumrah had two overs in the bank. Rohit decided to give him the 17th and 19th overs and push the equation beyond KKR by the time the final over began.Bumrah gave his captain the perfect 17th over. To Karthik, he mostly bowled wide outside off, making him reach for the ball and denying him his favourite scoop over short fine leg. Against Russell, Bumrah avoided the full length he so relishes and cramped him with his angle into the body. The first three balls produced only singles, and with the pressure mounting, Russell top-edged another short ball from Bumrah, and Krunal Pandya pouched a spectacular catch running from short fine leg towards the square leg boundary.The baton passed on to Hardik, who had figures of 2 for 13 with one over remaining. KKR needed 43 from 18 balls, and Hardik bowled a succession of slower balls and cutters to Sunil Narine and Karthik. Apart from one wide ball that Karthik cut for four, there was hardly any pace onto the bat, and Karthik kept swinging hard and failing to connect cleanly.Only six came off that over, and even a 14-run 19th over from Bumrah – compounded by a drop from JP Duminy on the leg-side boundary – wasn’t enough to swing the momentum back in KKR’s favour.The short-ball planThe Wankhede pitch has plenty of bounce in it, but you need to know how to use it. Where KKR’s fast bowlers conceded 8.40 per over while pitching short or short of a good length, Mumbai’s quicks only went at 7.75.They bowled 29 of those short or shortish balls in the Powerplay, with Mitchell McClenaghan leading the way. In the third over, he kept bowling short despite having only one fielder back on the leg side – deep backward square leg – for Chris Lynn. Lynn pulled one short ball to the midwicket boundary, and another just wide of the man at short fine leg, but McClenaghan didn’t change either his length or his field. Off the fifth ball of the over, Lynn pulled again but straight into the hands of short fine leg.When Hardik returned for his second spell in the 14th over, KKR needed a gettable 69 from 42 balls with seven wickets in hand. He kept bowling back of a length and conceded only five in the over. The third ball was banged in short at Nitish Rana, angling across the left-hander. Looking to pull from outside off stump, he failed to get on top of the bounce and skied a top-edge to deep square leg.A batting-order rejigEver since his 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai have maintained that Rohit Sharma will continue to bat at No. 4. On Sunday, though, he came out at No. 3, a position that has traditionally worked better for him. Mumbai also batted Hardik above Krunal, which hadn’t been the case early in the tournament. The opening stand had lasted nearly 10 overs, and when the second wicket fell, only 50 balls were left in the innings. When Hardik came in, Mumbai were losing some momentum, with Rohit falling for a run-a-ball 11 and a fatigued Suryakumar Yadav slowing down after a brisk start.Hardik got going quickly, lofting a one-handed six off his third ball, and failed to score off only three balls in a 20-ball innings. Even as the batsmen at the other end struggled to score quickly – JP Duminy finished on 13 off 11 – he went at a strike rate of 175, which proved crucial to Mumbai getting past 180.