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He became the first batsman from outside the top three to score an ODI hundred for India since January 2017

Varun Shetty in Mumbai29-Oct-2018Ambati Rayudu played a supporting role to Rohit Sharma for most of the day, but the significance of his hundred cannot be understated. He became the first batsman from outside the top three to score an ODI hundred for India since January 2017. When he got to the landmark, he looked a relieved man, soaking in the applause from a slim Mumbai crowd with outstretched arms.

Rohit Sharma on the value of Rayudu’s innings

“It was very important. Hopefully, he has solved all the mysteries of No 4. I guess till the World Cup there will be no questions on No 4. He batted brilliantly. At that point, a big partnership was needed, and it was also a perfect platform for him to showcase what he has got. There was pressure. Of course, after losing the top two batsmen, building a partnership was important. It was a pressure innings. I thought he responded really well to that situation. he batted freely once he got his fifty. He started playing those shots. We have known Rayudu for a long time and he can produce the kind of innings that he did today. That’s probably the reason we got him at No 4, and he hasn’t disappointed. He has done well in whatever opportunities he has got. He came back in Asia Cup and now he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

It was the completion of a circle in some sense: for a while after he had accepted BCCI’s amnesty offer to return to recognised Indian cricket, Mumbai was Rayudu’s home in the IPL. With this hundred, it could well be that he now has found one in the No. 4 spot for India. The real estate there has been volatile lately, but Rayudu seems like he has dug in a foundation ahead of the World Cup.It is India’s reward for openly showing faith in a batsman. Ahead of this series, Virat Kohli made no fuss when he said that Rayudu was “designed” for the role and that he would be given the opportunity to cement himself.Rayudu has shown twice in this series what Kohli meant. In a team with so much power concentrated in the top three, the No. 4 is most likely to be tested on two fronts: how well he can steady the innings if two of those batsmen have fallen quickly, and how well he can transition into attack if the start is already there. In Visakhapatnam during the second ODI, Rayudu succeeded at the former. In Mumbai, he did a bit of both.When Rayudu came in, at the other end was Rohit Sharma, for whom a hundred had seemed on the cards as early as in the fifth over, when he launched Kemar Roach onto the roof over midwicket. It was a run down the pitch and a swing through the line, on the up. From a batsman who prefers to stay behind the line and play by merit during the early parts of his innings, it was a statement: this pitch was his ally, and he was going to hit the ball wherever he wanted.Rayudu’s job here, just like it had been in Visakhapatnam with Kohli, was to not get out. Two wickets had fallen in the space of five overs and West Indies would have fancied pitting a red-hot Keemo Paul against MS Dhoni. Having begun with a pristine cover drive against Paul, Rayudu cut out his attacking strokes over the next hour or so. With Rohit opening up, there was no need to attack, and he didn’t seek any adventure till the 29th over. He jumped down to meet left-arm spinner Fabian Allen’s loopy delivery and drilled him over extra cover for one of his favourite shots.That four had helped Rayudu get to 23 off 32. From there, he made 77 off 49 balls until he was dismissed. Most of this phase was built with a shoot-on-sight strategy, particularly against the spinners, whom he did not allow to settle at all. To Ashley Nurse, he went down the track to get six; to Marlon Samuels, he stretched out from the crease and used his hands to get the same result. He hit Allen over extra cover again, but before that, he had forced him to change the line to off stump, sweeping him over square leg.Even seamers Roach and Jason Holder didn’t quite know what to do – slower balls were hit for six off both the front and back foot; against yorkers, Rayudu had no trouble getting down and sweeping over the infield.West Indies have built up to this series with the aim of posing questions to India with both bat and ball. On Monday, Rayudu had answers to them all, and his innings set India up to unleash the kind of lower-order power that works best in concentrated pockets of time at the back end of the innings.It was an innings that demonstrated perfectly the design Kohli was talking about. Contenders before Rayudu have often needed to alter their games, perhaps with the exception of Dinesh Karthik. Rayudu was built for this role and he said as much before the second ODI.”I don’t think it’s new to me because it’s a position I’ve played a lot in and there’s nothing new they’ve asked me to do. They’ve asked me to go out and play my game,” Rayudu had said.At 33, Rayudu can’t realistically be a long-term prospect for India, but his peak has come at the right time. Rayudu has possibly taken the longest, most difficult route to becoming an Indian regular, but they’ll be grateful he got that yo-yo test out of the way.

Stats highlights from the Guwahati ODI, where Kohli and Rohit brought up their fifth double-century partnership in the format

Bharath Seervi21-Oct-2018246- The partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, which is India’s highest while chasing in ODIs. The previous best stand in chases was 224 between Kohli and Gautam Gambhir against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in 2009. Overall, this is the fifth-highest for any team and the second-highest for the second wicket and lower in a chase.Only three batsmen have got to 20 hundreds in fewer ODI innings than Rohit Sharma•ESPNcricinfo Ltd5- Double-century partnerships between Kohli and Rohit, which is already a record. No other pair has more than three such stands. However, this is the first double-hundred stand between the two while chasing. Kohli has been part of six of the nine 200-plus stands for India while chasing.14- Centuries for Kohli as captain – the second-most for any player. Only Ricky Ponting is ahead with 22 hundreds as captain. Kohli has got to his 14th ton as captain in just 50 innings while Ponting made 22 tons in 220 innings. Overall, it was Kohli’s 36th century in ODIs and 60th in international cricket. It was his 29th at the No. 3 position, joint-most with Ponting.20- Hundreds in successful chases for Kohli, in just 75 innings. He has six more than Tendulkar who has 14 such hundreds. Kohli averages 98.25 in successful chases, the best among all batsmen with 1000-plus runs in successful chases. This was also the eighth time Kohli had scored a century while chasing a 300-plus target. No other batsman has more than four such hundreds.6- 150-plus scores for Rohit in ODIs, the most for any player. He went past Tendulkar and David Warner, who have five such scores.20- Hundreds for Rohit in ODIs. He became the fourth batsman for India and 13th overall to score 20 or more ODI centuries. He has taken 183 innings to reach the landmark – the fourth-quickest among the 13 to reach 20 centuries. Hashim Amla (108 innings), Kohli (133) and AB de Villiers (175) have done it in fewer innings.6- Instances of two batsmen scoring 140 or more in the same innings in ODIs. Rohit’s unbeaten 152 and Kohli’s 140 is the first while chasing.7.73- India’s run rate in their successful chase is the sixth-best for any team in a chase of a 300-plus target. The target of 323 is the second-biggest successful chase by any team against West Indies.4 – Number of times Rohit has hit eight or more sixes in an ODI. Only Chris Gayle has done it on more occasions. All other India batsmen combined have done it only twice – MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan on one occasion each. Martin Guptill, AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi and Kieron Pollard have done it three times each.

For the first time in 45 years, the MCG will witness two Victorian batsmen walking out as openers – a mark of the state’s evolution from a successful system that wins trophies to one that has created an effective pathway for national cricketers

Daniel Brettig in Melbourne24-Dec-2018For all the uncharted territory navigated by Australian cricket in 2018, there will be a sense of loss and gain about Boxing Day in a way very relevant to the state that hosts the MCG. For the first Melbourne Test that will be lacking the commentary of Bill Lawry in 40 years will also be the first time two Victorian batsmen have walked out as openers in 45.While Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris have contrasting stories, techniques and top hands, their arrival together to begin Australia’s first innings will reflect the recent evolution of Victoria from a successful state system to one that is also churning out players chosen for the national team. No fewer than five players – Finch, Harris, Peter Handscomb, Peter Siddle and Chris Tremain – were part of the initial Australian squad for this series.Not since December 1973, when Keith Stackpole and Paul Sheahan put on 75 on day one of a victory over New Zealand, has Victoria provided two men at the top of the order in Melbourne, a drought that has summed up the often sporadic contribution the state has made to the national team amid unrivalled competition for talent, from Australian Rules football in particular. Lawry, of course, had been a fixture in the opening spot for most of the previous decade, often walking out to bat with the pugnacious Stackpole, or the more obdurate Ian Redpath.ALSO READ: MCG pitch under scrutiny ahead of Boxing Day TestSince then, only Matthew Elliott among Victorians has opened the batting for Australia for any length of time, his one and only Boxing Day ending with a pair of low scores against South Africa in 1997. Over the same period, the Victorian cricket public has been known for a sense of injustice about players who, in their view, were discarded too early [Dean Jones] or never given the sort of run offered to others [Brad Hodge].At the same time, other states have been known to quibble at how the nation’s second most populous state slipped behind Western Australia, and then Queensland, as a greenhouse for batting talent. They did so even as they envied, and even feared, the construction of a tight, combative, and broadly successful Victorian state system from about the time the late John Scholes became coach towards the end of the 1990s. Followed as coach by David Hookes, Greg Shipperd, David Saker, and now Andrew McDonald, Scholes ended a period of politicking and division in the state that had seen the Shield-winning team of 1990-91 spin off far fewer major international careers than expected.By the time a teenaged Harris first faced Victoria as a West Australian stripling in 2011, the team then known as the Bushrangers were known for abrasiveness but also unity. “When we played against Victoria, as a WA person it’s the team where you go, ‘I hate playing against them, they really get stuck into you, they’re the hardest team to play against’, and everyone’s in awe of them a little bit, almost to the point where people are scared of them,” he told ESPNcricinfo.”Victoria in a cricket sense would bully teams, and the opportunity to play with them and be a part of that was sort of like, ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’. The group they had at the time when I got offered to come over was a pretty senior group and it sorted where I was in my career and something I wanted to be a part of.”

“I’ve found in the two-and-a-bit years of being here I’ve learned so much about my game. Not so much through … yes, I’ve had good coaches, but more from playing with experienced guys, watching how they go about it, how they play, how they train and that’s what’s been beneficial to me.Marcus Harris

Asked to nominate his chief antagonists, Harris reeled off a considerable list, led predictably by Matthew Wade. “I used to hate playing against Wadey, then I found as soon as I came to Victoria, he was the bloke I got along with just about the best,” he said. “Finchy used to always give it to you, Pete Handscomb used to give it to you, but I found that when you play for Victoria, they don’t go out of their way [to get at you], they don’t talk about it in the pre-match, that’s just the way they are, and it’s sort of addictive.”I think you see with the Vics when we get on a roll in a series or a tournament, it’s like a juggernaut, you have this whole team coming at you and you feel really under the pump as an opposition team, so I’ve fed off that a little bit. By no means am I as vocal as any of those guys, but it is just how Victorians play and I really love it.”ALSO READ: Marcus Harris in Perth: the return of the prodigal sonEqually, however, Harris was able to find a way to work amongst the rest, finding that his youth, ability and yappy countenance were not only accepted but respected by the rest. An innings of 158 against Victoria in his final season with Western Australia played a large part in raising Harris’ attractiveness to the state, where coaches and selectors took delight in turning around the parting words of Justin Langer that “our system isn’t for everyone” by showing that in Victoria, all could indeed succeed.”I’ve found in the two-and-a-bit years of being here I’ve learned so much about my game,” Harris said. “Not so much through … yes, I’ve had good coaches, but more from playing with experienced guys, watching how they go about it, how they play, how they train and that’s what’s been beneficial to me.”To be around guys like Finchy and Whitey and Sidds [Siddle] and Patto [James Pattinson], you don’t even realise you’re learning at the time. It’s only when you look back and think ‘oh that’s what they were doing and now I’m starting to do that’. That’s probably the main thing. The coaches are there to help you and support you. Fortunately, I had Lachy Stevens there as well, who I had in WA, so I didn’t come into a completely foreign environment where I didn’t know anyone, and Lachy was very good for me to help me transition into that, and he’s a really good coach.”So I was lucky with that. The environment is just one of those good ones, where you know you have to do well and you have that sort of pressure on you, but it drives you to be successful. When you’re in a team that’s successful, I think you find a way to perform. It’s not easier to perform, but you have that drive within you.”Harris, of course, has been able to grow as a batsman and a team contributor in the intervening two-and-a-half seasons since his move. When he was heard tempting India’s wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant from short leg during the second Test by saying that if he got out in the fourth day’s final over, he could enjoy “a good circuit on a Monday night in Perth”, there could not only be seen local knowledge from his youth, but also the search for competitive edge reflected by his adopted state.”That was just me being a smart a*** really, but we had a good chat during the Test about being respectful but still having a crack and being an Aussie and not giving as good as you get, but still getting stuck in and doing it respectfully,” Harris said. “There’s definitely room for a bit of chat or banter, if that’s what people want to call it.”Do anything to try to get them off their guard a little bit. If they understand what I’m saying, it might work, but there’s probably every chance they’re not. But that’s all part of cricket, and sometimes, it can help in them losing their focus for long enough to maybe get them out.”Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesAs for Finch, his far longer road to a Test cap has been punctuated by plenty of wrong turns and false starts, but the concerted shift of Victoria from a state principally concerned with winning trophies to one that has mastered both the talent pathway and competition-driven elements of the domestic system has had plenty of benefit for the 32-year-old from the southwestern regional town of Colac.”Graffy’s less grumpy than he was when I first started!” Finch joked of the longtime Victoria cricket manager Shaun Graf when asked what had changed in the state. “The Junction’s an amazing project and something that was in the pipeline for so long. It’s just a fantastic place to be, such a learning environment. In days gone by, the competitiveness of the Vics, the accountability everyone’s held each other to has made everyone stronger, and I think there’s no better way than measuring the Shields to see that.”It’s a great reward for Victorian cricket being so strong over the last few years. The amount of Shields we’ve won over the past 10-12 years has been amazing and just reward in these selections. Marcus Harris has been banging down the door for a couple of years now since he made the move from WA, Pete Handscomb’s been a dominant run-scorer in international cricket when he’s played in the past.”Sidds has been a world-class performer for years now, and Trem [Chris Tremain] as well – 50 wickets every year – it’s a pretty extraordinary record he’s had in Shield cricket, Jonny Holland in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Victorian cricket’s been in a really good space for the last couple of years, and I think a lot of that is down to a great pathway and management of players as well, with Graffy and Andrew Lynch, Andrew McDonald, Shippy, David Saker. Everyone’s played a huge part in the development of a lot of players, and I think the rewards at Australian level are just starting to come through.”Having set that early platform at the MCG 45 years ago, Stackpole and Sheahan only played one more Test together, the latter’s last, as the national selectors began to look elsewhere for top order batting options. Finch and Harris will hope they have more Boxing Days to share, but even if they don’t, the state that supports them is in the sort of shape to ensure it won’t be another 45 years before two Victorian openers walk out together onto the MCG.

India had one weakness coming into this tournament and it was on full display against Afghanistan

Nagraj Gollapudi in Southampton23-Jun-2019Around noon on Saturday, MS Dhoni walked onto the ground jauntily to wholesome applause from the Indian fans.About 75 minutes later he walked back, again to a lot of loud noise, except this time it was full of boos. In that reaction lay the story of the day for India: how their middle order, commanded by Dhoni, struggled for intent, ideas, and inspiration.This is nothing new. Even last summer, Dhoni had been booed by the Indian fans for perhaps the first time his long and celebrated career. And the crowd in Southampton might say their reaction was warranted.Dhoni had walked in during the 27th over. The projected score at that point as per ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster was 294. With Kohli bubbling at the other end, Dhoni’s responsibility was simply to keep handing the strike back to his captain. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?Watch on Hotstar (India only): Highlights of Kohli’s fiftyBut remember Lord’s last year? India needed 183 off 23 overs chasing England’s 322. Kohli had just got out. Dhoni had just walked in. Twenty overs later, when Dhoni was out, India had managed to add only 75 to their total. Dhoni had departed for 37 off 57 balls. As the most senior batsman he held the whip, but England suffered no pain and it was India that went home licking their wounds. The case wasn’t too different on Saturday.

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With about 24 overs to go, it was a crucial time for India and Dhoni had to play a crucial role – the support cast to Kohli, who had been playing a different match compared to the rest of the Indian batsman. The partnership between Kohli and Vijay Shankar had given them a semblance of control at the halfway stage until the allrounder got a bit too ambitious.Yet, in the matter of an over – from part-timer Rahmat Shah – Afghanistan regained their grip, never losing it for the rest of innings.MS Dhoni is stumped by Ikram Ali Khil•Getty ImagesRashid Khan, battered by England few days ago, was all flat and short and continued to be so against Dhoni too. But the batsman failed to take advantage as he kept hitting to the hands of the cover fielder. Desperate, Dhoni then tried to stretch himself from the crease to push the ball square. It was futile. Rashid walked away with a maiden over.By the end of the 29th over, Dhoni had played out 13 deliveries, 11 of which were dots. Soon Kohli would depart, leaving Dhoni in charge of the lower order. Forecaster’s prediction had come down to 273.If you have followed Dhoni’s batting in the last few years, you sensed the routine. He assesses the pace of the pitch and then figures out what a par score is. Then he’ll just bat, without ever trying to take any risk, until the very last few overs. His partners too would follow his instructions, without question. Kedar Jadhav is a Dhoni confidante and seems to trust his senior more than himself. Both men had have patiently stitched together partnerships at difficult times like in Melbourne in January.The problem for Dhoni here was a long tail with India playing four specialist bowlers. That meant he had to stay till the end and hope Jadhav and Hardik Pandya accelerated from the other end. However, Afghanistan were equally smart.Their spin-dominated bowling attack made excellent use of a slow pitch – which also took subtle turn and offered awkward bounce – by being accurate and running through the overs. India’s slow start, when they scored only a handful of boundaries, was coming back to haunt them. Between Kohli’s wicket in the 31st over and the 37th, there was no boundary. Although Jadhav and Dhoni followed that up with two fours in a space of a few deliveries, the projected score had slipped further to 248.There was an eerie silence across a ground filled with Indian fans. The tension was threatening to boil over. Four of the five overs between 40 and 45 yielded only two runs each. Dhoni’s formula had flopped, he charged Rashid only to be stumped. His departure brought joy to the crowd because they then got to watch Pandya. Remarkably the Forecaster revised its prediction up by three runs after Dhoni’s wicket.

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Hardik Pandya has been in blistering hitting form, and could give you a few valuable points•Getty ImagesDespite saving face courtesy their all-weather bowling attack, India came face-to-face with their worst fear in this match. That middle order. There would be clamour to blame Dhoni – he himself might admit he batted too slowly on Saturday – but the fact is the entire team has failed to convincingly address this problem since the last World Cup.The lack of intent and absence of urgency created a mess that India were lucky to get away with. Against a stronger opponent, or even if Afghanistan had been more switched on, Kohli’s men would have been embarrassed.Having the world’s best top order has not helped India in this regard. With Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli scoring nearly two-thirds of the team’s runs for a long time, the middle order rarely gets time in the middle. Without time in the middle, it remains vulnerable. That’s why India registered their second-lowest run rate (4.6) after 25 overs batting first since the 2015 World Cup.Only twice has this team posted a total of 280 or more when their top three could score fewer than 100 runs while batting first since the last World Cup. In comparison England, Australia and New Zealand, three other favourites this World Cup, have managed it five times.So, not only do India need more firepower, but also a flexibility in approach. Dhoni can continue believing in his way of leaving it till the end – but he can afford to do that only if his partner at the other end is scoring quickly.The Indian think tank also needs to figure out whether it wants Dhoni to continue playing finisher, or if he’s better suited to batting higher up the order – the knock-on effect is that they miss out on Pandya power. He had blasted Australia out of the game in a matter of minutes; he needs to face as many balls as possible.India had one weakness coming into this World Cup, and Afghanistan exploited it beautifully. They were actually chasing history until Mohammed Shami decided to flip the script.

The second ODI between West Indies and India went quickly from being a contest to the familiar sight of the team from the Caribbean imploding

Aishwarya Kumar in Port of Spain12-Aug-2019One minute, the stadium was abuzz with chatter. West Indies were very much in the game – their death bowling had limited India to under 300 and with Nicholas Pooran and Roston Chase in the middle, they looked like they had it under control.Then wickets fell like a pack of cards. Pooran. Chase. Carlos Brathwaite. Kemar Roach.The crowd started to clear. It was an all too familiar feeling. It was an all too familiar sight. West Indies are almost always close, but somehow, almost always short.”They say in the islands that the West Indies know how to lose,” Gerald Ramkissoon, former chief curator and current maintenance head at Queen’s Park Oval said. “Same old, same old West Indies,” was the take of Ian Ramsey, part of the pitch staff at Queens Park Oval.The team has been struggling for a while – they last won a bilateral ODI series in 2014, against Bangladesh. But experts and fans had renewed hope before the World Cup, particularly given a drawn series against England leading up to the event. The general perception was that the squad had the tools – with their deep and exciting batting line-up and the in-form pace attack – needed to succeed. Now, it was all about execution.That’s exactly where they failed, close to winning several matches but not going over the line. They were 15 runs short in their run chase against Australia, a heart-breaking five against New Zealand, and 23 against Sri Lanka. Those three results going their way could have meant a semi-final spot for the team.”Again, we were in front today and then we found a way to give away our wickets, so it’s just a matter of us now learning from our mistakes and trying to dig deeper,” West Indies coach Floyd Reifer said after the defeat to India in the second ODI, which put them 1-0 behind in the three-match series with one game to go.Captain Jason Holder has been saying that their main batting focus is taking time with the new ball, understanding the conditions, and then scoring runs at a steady pace. But that approach runs contrary to how many West Indies batsmen usually play – the slam-bang T20 style. And that’s the style that has resulted in the batsmen, particularly the middle order, making careless shot choices.Ramkissoon reminisced about the time when West Indies had someone like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whom bowlers would spend hours trying to dislodge.”T20, especially CPL, Big Bash and IPL changed everything,” Ramkissoon said. “Don’t get me wrong, the current team, Pooran, (Evin) Lewis and (Shimron) Hetmyer, they have the ability and the game to take West Indies far, but it’s about how you approach cricket, how you play the game.”Both Ramkissoon and Ramsey feel that the relative lack of experience in the line-up is crucial. “(Kieron) Pollard should have been in this series. He played in the IPL, he knows how most of the Indian players work, he was in good form – he would have helped players on the field, bowled and batted, we call him the triple threat in Trinidad,” Ramkissoon said.With Gayle’s looming retirement, there is also the gaping hole that is West Indies’ opening spot. Evin Lewis seems more or less set at the top, but without a solid partner, West Indies will struggle to build the foundation that Holder is keen on.These are just some among a number of issues West Indies need to address sooner rather than later. After all, among the fans, the cricket public, and even the local press, there is continuing hope for the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s to return one day. If it is within reach, as some feel, the players need to do what they can to grab it.

The Mumbai batsman, who thinks an international call-up isn’t far away, has had a brilliant run in this season’s domestic limited-overs tournaments

Saurabh Somani13-Nov-2019One of the features of Suryakumar Yadav’s batting is how well he picks his spots. He can be inventive with his shot-making or keep the scoreboard moving with risk-free cricket, or he can hit big. But, when the strokes aren’t flowing as smoothly, Yadav finds a way to still keep ticking over without getting bogged down.Then suddenly, an innings that began with a mite less fluency explodes into a match-winning one as the touch returns. The advantage Yadav has is that even when the ball is not hitting the sweet spot on his bat, he doesn’t dawdle, he hasn’t put pressure on himself (and his batting partner) with a dot-ball build-up, and is therefore in prime position to tear away to a fantastic score when bat makes more accurate geometric arcs and the ball pings off it.His run of scores in India’s domestic season so far bear witness to that. Across the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy, and the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s, Yadav has scored runs at an average of 93.80 and a strike rate of 163.98. It’s a particularly rich vein of form, which prompted Harbhajan Singh to wonder on Twitter why Yadav wasn’t being considered for the national team, being a seemingly perfect fit.Ask Yadav about it and he just laughs. “I have been sharing the dressing room with him since 2011 [at Mumbai Indians, his first IPL franchise]. We had a good friendship on and off the field,” Yadav tells ESPNcricinfo. “When I left Mumbai Indians and went to Kolkata Knight Riders [in the 2014 auction], he was always behind me, ‘why are you not playing for India? You are not doing justice to your talent. I think it’s high time you become a little more consistent.'”There was a lot of what you can call constructive criticism. I really enjoyed it. I could feel he wants me to go ahead and play for the country, which was the best thing. Knowing he tweeted, I was really happy. I called him and told him, ‘thank you so much Bhajju for tweeting for me. It means a lot that you tweeted’. He keeps motivating me, keeps pushing me, because he feels I’m not doing justice to my talent. And that’s good, there have to be a few people who keep doing this for you.”

If you think only about ‘I have to play for India’, it puts unnecessary pressure on you. But I strongly feel that the time is around the corner and I’m going to push the door this year.”Suryakumar Yadav

The natural question then is: does Yadav feel he is doing justice to his talent?”Well, currently I’m just enjoying the brand of cricket I am playing,” he says. “I have always loved playing fearless cricket, for any format. So, instead of thinking of ‘justice’ or ‘injustice’, I feel rather I should enjoy my cricket more, keep scoring runs, keep winning games. That will help me more to push the door and play for India. My father always checks all the websites any time an India A team is announced. He calls me as soon as he sees it, and tells me ‘your name is not there’. I tell him ‘that’s not a problem’. The most important thing I feel is that you have to score so much that you force them to pick you.”I always feel some things in life are not in our hands. If you think only about ‘I have to play for India’, it puts unnecessary pressure on yourself. Of course, I have been thinking that I’m not there in that circle still. But I strongly feel that the time is around the corner and I’m going to push the door this year.”Every player who is doing well says the same things, more or less, but Yadav’s season has been particularly special so far. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he batted only four times in eight matches, but had a better average or strike rate (minimum 100 runs) than him. His average (113.00) was higher than that of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hit a double century and two hundreds in six innings. It was higher than that of Manish Pandey, who looked like he would never get out. His strike rate (154.79) was better than that of Shivam Dube, who was collecting sixes as if getting them at bargain rates in an online sale, or Shahrukh Khan, whose late-order exploits already had people speaking of him playing in his superstar namesake’s IPL team.Yadav has carried that form into the T20 format, where he’s also leading Mumbai. He’s had his share of ups and downs, but leadership roles, whether as captain or senior team member, seem to sit well on him now. “There is an app called ‘One Giant Mind’. I have been using that since July,” he says. “It helps you stay calm, tells you how to breathe and what to think in pressure situations. So far, it’s worked really well. Not just because I’ve scored runs, it keeps me stable on the ground too. Even if I’m at the non-striker’s end or fielding, or if I have to take a decision on the ground or off the ground.”It hasn’t always been all calm, even though the first controversy of his career was not of his own making. The headline “‘Injured’ Suryakumar Yadav scores unbeaten 182” first brought Yadav to the notice of the cricketing world, when, declared injured by Mumbai Indians in the 2011 Champions League, he batted in an age-group game even as his IPL franchise had wangled a special concession of playing five overseas players due to their injury roster.Yadav can laugh about it all now. “Actually, the thing is I didn’t know the rules. They said I was not fit, I said, ‘okay, that’s not a problem, then I’ll go back home.’ I got to know there’s a local match. I was batting and wasn’t feeling that much pain in my hand (he had a finger injury). So I thought I can go and play, and I got a double-hundred (182) over there. Since I was scoring runs, I forgot the pain also! But it was highlighted in next day’s newspapers completely, that I’m fit for Mumbai but unfit for Mumbai Indians. I was like, ‘What is happening?'”Then I got a call from them. They were like, ‘bro, if you are unfit for a Champions League tournament, then you can’t go back and play’. I said I was sincerely sorry but I didn’t know the rule. I didn’t even ask anyone before playing. That was my mistake. I was under a lot of pressure and didn’t know what to do. I called our team (Mumbai Indians) manager Rahul [Sanghvi]. He told me I could go to NCA and give the fitness test. If I cleared it, I could come back to the squad. So I went and gave the fitness test and they said I’m good to go. I came back (to the Mumbai Indians squad) and played the tournament, and we won also. That was the best thing.”BCCIIt’s an endearing story, but the fact remains that if Yadav could go and score 182, how was he pronounced unfit in the first place? “Because that time, when I was batting in the nets, I was feeling a lot of pain,” he says. “Maybe it was too hot, I was sweating a lot… and that time I was feeling it’s paining a lot. So I came back, three-four games of Champions League went. I was at home for about a week, and I got a call that there is a local game, so I thought ‘let’s give it a try, if it pains, it’s a local tournament, they can take care of me.’ So I played, and got runs.”That Mumbai didn’t hold it against Yadav was proven when they went for him aggressively in the January 2018 IPL auction, beating out Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils [now Capitals] with a final bid of INR 3.2 crore.While he makes no bones about having loved his stint at Knight Riders, Yadav cannot hide his joy at being back with his ‘home’ franchise. But even for Mumbai Indians, there is one thing he absolutely will not do: “I just avoid facing him [Jasprit Bumrah, in the nets]! I have actually seen him bowl too much at international level,” he chuckles. “I have faced him a lot when I was at Mumbai Indians in his first year [in 2013]. I was batting in the nets and he was like literally on fire when he was bowling. There was something, a big spark. From that day till today, I’ve never batted against him in the nets. Never!”In match-play, Yadav has an enviable head-to-head record against Bumrah, albeit over a small sample size. In 12 balls across five T20s, Yadav has hit 27 runs off Bumrah and been dismissed once. There aren’t too many batsmen in world cricket who can claim a 200-plus strike rate against arguably the best white-ball bowler in the world. But he’s still not going to face up to Bumrah in the nets. Ever.”There’s no one other than him [that I don’t want to face in the nets]. Only Bumrah. That guy is something else. I’m telling you, seriously. I mean, why do you want to face the fastest bowler, and a toe-crusher, that too in the nets?” he laughs. “In the game it’s fine. I’ve told him also very clearly. Recently when he got a hat-trick in the West Indies, I texted him, ‘Boss, (When you’re back I’m not going to play even a single ball from you in the nets). He was laughing and he replied that he is going to bowl slow to me in the nets, otherwise I’ll hit him behind [the wicket].”It was a fun conversation. But no chance! I’ve told him clearly.”Clearly, it’s not only while batting out in the middle that Yadav sees the gaps. He knows how to pick his spot in the nets too.

Stats and even advanced algorithms cannot tell you the real story – Jasprit Bumrah has been the difference between the two sides

Sidharth Monga26-Jan-20202:30

Learning how to plan a chases from the Virat Kohli manual – Iyer

Eight overs, two fours, one six, 52 runs. Man-of-the-Match awards won’t tell you the real story: the difference between the two teams has been Jasprit Bumrah.Against any other team, any other bowling attack, on both nights New Zealand were doing just enough to post par totals. Look at these scenarios. In the first match, on a flat pitch, they enter the last three overs just north of 10 an over. With wickets in hand, you expect sides batting first to get upwards of 40, especially on a small ground, and that would have taken New Zealand to a par score. Bumrah bowled the 18th and 20th overs without a boundary, conceding just 16, that too thanks to three overthrows.Two days later, struggling on a slow surface, New Zealand somehow had themselves needing 10 an over in the last four overs to reach 150, which would have tested India. Except that they had two Bumrah overs to contend with, which brought only 12 runs.This match must have felt extra sweet to India because it is their batsmen who have famously been at the receiving end of such an innings. In the final of the World T20 in 2014, it was their batsmen who were stifled by Bumrah’s mentor at Mumbai Indians, Lasith Malinga, and his friends. The last three balls ruined it – a wicket fell and a six was hit – otherwise India looked well on their way to consigning New Zealand to the second-lowest T20I score for just four wickets down. Ross Taylor, who played the kind of hand Yuvraj Singh did in Dhaka for a 24-ball 18, fell to the fourth ball of the last over.Jasprit Bumrah was miserly as ever•Getty ImagesNew Zealand opener Martin Guptill was asked if New Zealand had been too conservative, knowing that they hadn’t lost the wickets and yet failed to score at a high enough rate. An exasperated response followed: “The guys were trying. There was a lot of swinging and missing, and that can happen. Obviously, you’re playing against one of the best death bowlers in the world. He’s got a great slower ball, hits the hole pretty well and he’s got a great bouncer. So it’s pretty hard to get Bumrah away at the end, and hopefully he can have three off nights for us, coming up.”Guptill should know. He and Colin Munro faced Bumrah at the top of the innings, and managed to get just five runs in the third over. It was part of the reason why Shardul Thakur got his wicket: Guptill was forced to take too many risks against other bowlers.Bumrah is the most complete white-ball bowler going around in the world today. Had he been slightly less perfect, he would have got many more wickets. As of now, batsmen know they have no chance against him so they defer the risk-taking to when they are facing the other bowlers. You can’t write this sort of impact into any other advanced algorithm also.Bumrah knows this. He calls it “money in the bank”. He will encash it some day. He knows his worth. His team knows his worth. His opponents know his terror. So deceptive do his hyperextension and his accuracy make him that you have to set up to play one of the two deliveries: slower one or the regulation pace. You have to live with the fact that the best you will get is a single off the other set.A crude way of putting it is this: you are going to be able to set up for only half of his deliveries. Off the other half, you will be lucky to get singles off half of them. So on most nights, one Bumrah over is a write-off on an average. India are playing T20, other teams N19. That is the Bumrah impact, and all you can do is hope and pray he has off nights.

Glasgow Rangers will be aiming for a solid summer transfer window under the 49ers as they seek to end their Premiership title drought.

Year after year, the club fail to improve their squad by signing players who either aren’t good enough for Rangers, or those who appear to be injury-prone and miss far too many games.

With a new era about to begin this summer, might this cycle stop? One can hope.

The Light Blues’ transfer activity has ranged from making bizarre signings – Rafael Fernandes and Kieran Dowell – along with bringing those in who failed to adapt to Scottish football – Robin Propper and Sam Lammers – over the previous couple of years.

One thing the club haven’t done for a while is sign someone who has Celtic on their C.V. However, might this change in the near future? Especially as Greg Taylor has been linked with a shock move to Ibrox this summer.

Greg Taylor has been linked with a move to Rangers

Since the end of the Second World War, only Alfie Conn, Maurice Johnston, Stephen Pressley and Kenny Miller have played for both Rangers and Celtic.

None of these players moved directly between each other, spending time somewhere else before making the move to either one of the Old Firm.

Taylor is out of contract this summer and could leave the Parkhead side for nothing. Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd has had his say on the matter and believes that the Ibrox side would be wise to make a move for the left-back ahead of next season.

“I know the rivalry between the two clubs but he’s Scottish and he ticks the boxes. You could ask the question,” said Boyd while speaking on the Scottish Sun’s YouTube channel regarding the defender.

“Is he a better player than Jefte and Ridvan Yilmaz? Well, I think he’s shown for a period of time what he can do.

“This could actually generate funds if they sold one of the left-backs. They are potentially saleable assets.”

Greg Taylor’s statistics this season

Taylor has played 36 times for Celtic this term, scoring once while providing seven assists in all competitions.

The Scot has also created eight big chances in the Premiership, while averaging 1.4 key passes per game and succeeding with 56% of his dribbles, highlighting his impressive attacking skills.

Combine this with the fact he wins 54% of his total contested duels, makes 1.5 tackles and dribbles past only 0.3 times per game, it is evident that Taylor could be a reliable signing for the Gers.

A clean injury record would also be a bonus, that’s for sure. At the time of writing, the left-back is currently valued at €4.9m (£4.2m) according to Football Transfers, meaning Celtic could be losing out on a decent transfer fee.

Signing Taylor might allow the new manager at Ibrox to offload either one of Jefte or Ridvan Yilmaz this summer in order to generate funds.

The Brazilian has endured a mixed campaign since making the move to Glasgow last summer, yet he is still valued higher than Taylor…

Why Jefte is a promising player for Rangers

The defender arrived from Brazilian side Fluminense on a four-year deal last summer as Clement sought to add some more youth prospects to his first-team squad.

He spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Cypriot side APOEL, scoring three goals and grabbing four assists across just 31 league matches for the club.

On this basis, his attacking talents were there for all to see, with Scottish content creator Kai Watson praising the defender, saying: “He always looks to drive at the opposition defence and is comfortable going outside or cutting inside.

“He’s also not afraid of having a pop at goal and has a thunderous strike in his arsenal.

“He looks like he could be a creative threat while also offering some goalscoring prowess himself.”

It certainly appears as though he has found Scottish football harder, having registered only two assists in 28 Premiership matches thus far.

He has averaged 1.1 key passes per game in the top flight, however, along with creating two big chances and succeeding with 1.1 dribbles per match. Defensively though, the youngster has been a liability on occasions.

On average, he loses possession 14.9 times per game for the Light Blues in the Scottish top flight, while the Brazilian commits 0.9 fouls per game and regularly finds himself out of position trying to create chances in the final third.

Over time, the former Fluminense starlet will mature, and his defence abilities will improve, but this has been a key weakness throughout the 2024/25 campaign. If the defender wishes to maintain his place in the squad, this is something he will need to work on, no doubt about that.

Jefte’s market valuation at Rangers

Whatever happens, should Rangers sell Jefte in the immediate future, they could rake in a decent profit on the left-back.

Indeed, according to Football Transfers, he is currently valued at €5.5m (£4.7m) and this figure will only continue to rise as time goes on.

When he made the move to Scotland, his valuation sat at less than £1m, proving that exposure to first-team football, especially in the Europa League, has allowed the player to increase his value.

Perhaps he would be best served playing in a more advanced position, which could allow the defender to play to his attacking strengths.

What is certain is that Jefte is currently worth more than Taylor according to Football Transfers and while a move for the Celtic man wouldn’t be a bad idea, might the Gers be better off developing Jefte in a position where he can contribute more effectively?

Rangers have hit the jackpot with the Brazilian defender, whose value has soared in his short time in Glasgow already, and they should avoid any controversial move for a Celtic dud to continue his development.

The summer transfer window could be an interesting time to be a supporter, especially if the 49ers takeover goes through in the next few weeks.

Rangers messed up selling "mountain" who is better than Propper

Rangers sold a player last year who is better than Robin Propper.

By
Ross Kilvington

Apr 11, 2025

Liverpool are going to win the Premier League. However, the charged feeling about FSG’s transfer window preparations makes a firm comment on the view toward the wider campaign.

Exiting the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in the round-of-16 was a bitter pill to swallow, and the following defeat at Wembley to hand the Carabao Cup over to Newcastle United was more distasteful still.

PSG deserved to win against Arne Slot’s side, and so did the Magpies. However, the Reds will no doubt be frustrated that they failed to get those jobs done.

Liverpool need to reinforce the fringes of their first-team squad this summer, need to pack Slot’s team with more quality and depth across the park.

One of the priorities heading into the off-season is replacing Darwin Nunez at the front of the ship, but with Trent Alexander-Arnold set to leave Anfield and join Real Madrid, more midfield creativity should be targeted too.

Liverpool need more midfield spark

Make no mistake, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch have been immense across the 2024/25 campaign, combining to lead Liverpool to the brink of a Premier League title, a job they will surely see over the line.

But autumn will arrive with a new footballing season and it’s crucial that tweaks are made to prepare Slot’s side for an expected title defence.

As you can see from the table below, Liverpool players are nowhere to be seen on the most amount of big chances created from Premier League centre-midfielders this season.

In fact, you’d have to trawl down to 12th to find Liverpool’s most creative midfielder: Szoboszlai, with nine big chances created. With Trent leaving, Mohamed Salah may well be tasked with upholding his enhanced creative virtues next year.

It’s times like these you wish Liverpool still had an attacking midfielder in the vein of Philippe Coutinho, the little magician, the brightest spark in a pre-Klopp world and the financial architect of Liverpool’s ultimate success of modern times.

However, goalscoring is still the Egyptian’s forte, and FSG would be wise to pack some more flair into their central ranks.

Liverpool make contact with new playmaker

Liverpool are set to spend, alright, and sporting director Richard Hughes seems to be putting out feelers to ascertain whether RB Leipzig would entertain the sale of Xavi Simons this summer.

That’s according to transfer insider Duncan Castles, who has revealed on the Transfers Podcast that Liverpool have enquired over Simons’ availability ahead of the summer market.

Simons, only 21, is one of the most exciting young playmakers around and would command a £60m fee for Leipzig, who are fourth in the Bundesliga, to agree to part with him.

Why Liverpool must sign Xavi Simons

Simons would join a strong Dutch contingent on Merseyside that has demonstrated a knack for winning trophies over the past few seasons.

Adding his own brand of creativity, it could be just what Slot needs to consolidate his new-found elite status and win more silverware during the 2025/26 season and beyond.

Leipzig signed Simons from PSG last year for a €50m (£43m) fee after a productive initial loan spell. So far, he’s doing good, having been involved in 41 goals across 72 games for the German outfit.

As per FBref, Simons ranks among the top 12% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues for passes attempted, the top 11% for progressive passes and the top 18% for shot-creating actions per 90, emphasising the ball-playing ability that Liverpool would claim.

His data’s great, but watching Simons play should be enough by itself for Liverpool fans to subscribe to the notion of bringing him into the fold.

Silky and artful in his playmaking, the diminutive ace might prove to be Anfield’s next version of Coutinho, whose £142m sale to Barcelona at the start of Klopp’s reign acted as the spark to raise the team to the next level, for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker were then brought in.

In his pomp, Coutinho was one of the best number tens in the world, commanding, influential and inventive. In Simons, Liverpool could finally return to the style of play before the Brazilian made the move to Spain, when he charged the Reds’ deadly frontline.

Looking at Coutinho’s statistics during that final half-campaign with Liverpool, you can see the similarities with Simons, both elite-level creators who aren’t afraid to get stuck in and drive the ball forward themselves.

While Slot won’t want to disrupt the harmony of Liverpool’s midfield trio, it’s clear that something different needs to be added to the mix, and there’s no one in the centre of the park currently who’s quite like Coutinho.

Described as a “superstar” in the making by analyst Ben Mattinson, Simons has all the properties needed to serve at an elite level as Liverpool’s new creative force.

With Alexander-Arnold leaving, there’s going to be a vacant spot for such a playmaker, one who could dynamise the midfield and add that bit of depth needed to truly unlock another layer to this wonderful Liverpool team.

Worth more than Huijsen: Slot has hit the jackpot on Liverpool "monster"

Liverpool hope to employ this star for many years to come.

By
Angus Sinclair

Apr 18, 2025

Celtic have already wrapped up the Scottish Premiership title for this season and their main focus between now and the end of the campaign will be winning the SFA Cup.

The Hoops, who beat Dundee United 5-0 last time out in the league, can secure the domestic treble by beating Aberdeen in the final at Hampden Park later this month.

It has been a fantastic season for Brendan Rodgers and his men, and Daizen Maeda, in particular, has played a pivotal role in the club’s success on the pitch.

Daizen Maeda's season in numbers

The Japan international, whether he has started out on the left or through the middle as a centre-forward, has enjoyed an incredibly productive campaign in front of goal.

As you can see in the graphic above, Maeda has racked up a staggering return of 44 goals and assists in 47 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops, which shows that he has provided a consistent threat at the top end of the pitch for the Scottish giants.

At the time of writing (03/05/2025), the Japanese forward is valued at £9.3m by Transfermarkt, which makes him one of the most valuable players in the Celtic squad.

However, the Hoops have struck gold with another player who is currently worth even more than the 33-goal sensation, and that is Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Celtic have hit the jackpot with Cameron Carter-Vickers

The Scottish giants swooped to sign the USA international on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2022 for a fee of £6m, after he had spent the 2021/22 campaign on loan at Parkhead.

Market Movers

Since joining the club on a permanent basis, the English-born colossus has been a key figure at the back for the Hoops and his value has soared well above £6m.

At the time of writing, the 27-year-old titan is valued at a whopping £11.9m by Transfermarkt. This means that his value has soared by millions, £100k short of twice as much as the £6m that the club paid for him, and that he is worth even more than Maeda.

As you can see in the table above, the American defender – whom club legend Chris Sutton has lauded as “immense” in the past – has been dominant in his physical duels and supremely reliable in his use of the ball, contributing to yet another league title for the club.

Celtic have, therefore, struck gold with the central defender because he is a brilliant performer on the pitch who is now worth millions more than the fee they paid for him, and worth more than a forward who has scored 33 goals this season.

Carter-Vickers, whose passing was dubbed “fantastic” by The Athletic’s Alex Barker, was linked with a move to Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window, and the Hoops may have a fight on their hands to keep hold of him in the summer if interest in his services carries over.

Worth more than Tierney: Celtic have hit the jackpot on "brilliant" star

Celtic have hit the jackpot on this star who is now worth more than Kieran Tierney.

By
Dan Emery

May 1, 2025