South Africa’s departing captain hit a perfect storm of poor form, public and media pressure, and politics

Firdose Moonda17-Feb-20203:01

Faf du Plessis: Caught in a storm

It takes an astute individual to know how much to share with others, especially those they don’t know. Do you tell them about yourself, your hopes, your anxieties and your personal life? Or do you keep those things private and leave them to guess and Google their way around you?Trust South Africa’s most charismatic captain, Faf du Plessis, to have usually known the answer. (Spoiler alert: it’s a bit of both.)On debut, during his first press conference as an international player, du Plessis told the story of how his foot slipped out of his boot and he ended up tangled between shoelaces, his batting pads and the urgency of needing to get on to the park to avoid being timed out. He told it to a room full of mostly Australian media during a Test match South Africa were well behind in, and he told it with the refreshing honesty of someone new to the spotlight, who didn’t mind a bit of self-deprecation even if defeat was looming. Then he went on save the game and set South Africa up for a series win and we all wanted to know a little bit more.ALSO READ: Du Plessis steps down as Test and T20I captainIt took us four years to really find out.Du Plessis’ first period at the highest-level coincided with South Africa’s last as the best traveling Test team around. His career began as Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith’s ended and while AB de Villiers was positioning himself to take over the leadership in all formats. In that time, du Plessis became a reliable presence, sometimes stepping in to skipper the T20 side when de Villiers was being rested and many times stepping in to steady the Test side through his presence in the middle order.While de Villiers yo-yoed between wanting to be the best batsman in the world to wanting to keep wicket, to having a bad back and not wanting to keep wicket, to wanting to support Hashim Amla as Test captain, to admitting to feeling let down that he wasn’t named captain, to threatening to retire early because of his heavy workload, to taking a sabbatical, du Plessis was there, consistently being consistent. He took on the T20 captaincy when South Africa still treated the format like it didn’t matter and turned it into something that did. Under du Plessis, South Africa talked about T20 strategy more than under any other captain.Faf du Plessis with his team•Getty ImagesHe was organised and efficient in the way he led so when de Villiers had to miss a home Test series against New Zealand in 2016, it was not surprising that du Plessis was asked to act as a substitute. At that point, South Africa were in turmoil, although looking back, perhaps that is too strong a word, given what’s happened in recent months.The 2015 World Cup had ended badly and they lost back-to-back Test series against India and England, which saw them tumble from No. 1 on the Test rankings to No. 7. Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander were going through the revolving doors of injury, and a transformation target policy was going to be implemented in a stricter way than ever before. It was not an easy time to take over but du Plessis has always preferred the hard way. He earned his national cap via a Kolpak deal, after all.The series itself was unremarkable. A wet Durban outfield meant that the Centurion Test was a straight shootout and South Africa won easily. Du Plessis scored a century and something about the way he conducted himself made it clear that he was a better candidate to captain than de Villiers.

Du Plessis mentioned a ‘perfect world’ in which he would lead the Test team for the rest of the season and also at the T20 World Cup, which suggests it was not entirely his decision to step down

Fortuitously, de Villiers had not recovered from an elbow problem in time for the series in Australia three months later so du Plessis carried on, and how. That tour was his most memorable, as he absorbed the pressure of losing Steyn to a broken shoulder on the second day in Perth and the scrutiny of being caught with a mint in his mouth in Hobart. His hundred under lights in Adelaide turned boos into cheers and South Africa won a third, successive series Down Under.By the end of the year, de Villiers gave du Plessis his blessing to keep captaining and we all knew the most important thing about him: he had the team.South Africa played for du Plessis and he played for them. Their performances in Australia in 2016 and against Australia and India in the summer of 2017-18 are the best proof of that. Du Plessis led with dignity, especially when the Australia camp imploded in the aftermath of sandpaper gate, and South Africa’s back-to-back series wins put them back on the track du Plessis wanted them on. He mentioned the No. 1 ranking often and it was doubtless a goal of his, but lack of resources let him down.Series defeats to Sri Lanka, away in 2018 and at home in 2019, blighted his Test captaincy record but nothing would have stung as much what happened from the World Cup onwards, on and off the field.South Africa’s worst showing at the 50-over flagship was marred by selection controversy when de Villiers made himself available but was refused a comeback, and followed by administrative unraveling.It was then that du Plessis’ leadership was taken to its edge. It was then that it would have been easy and obvious to walk away. Du Plessis is understood to have had offers but turned them down because he felt a sense of duty to a team in transition. When Amla and Steyn retired, his own role only became bigger, as the last link to the golden generation and the only one brave enough to go back to India.Faf du Plessis doffs his hat to the crowd•Getty ImagesDespite not being consulted about the team director and being left out of the T20 squad, du Plessis ploughed through a three-Test series that got worse as it went on. The wounds from 2015 were reopened and South Africa were exposed as being more than just a team in transition; they were a team on the brink of falling apart. Again, it would have been easy for du Plessis to walk away but duty brought him back home to try again. And he started by sharing.Du Plessis appealed, publicly and on multiple occasions, to CSA to clean house and provide clarity as it lurched through crisis after crisis. He went unheard, and it took sponsor withdrawal, board resignations and a hard-handed attempt at censorship to force a change at head office. Before that happened, du Plessis had already turned to humour.He created a social media storm as captain of the Paarl Rocks, when he revealed a little too much about why fast-bowler Hardus Viljoen was not available for selection. “He is in bed with my sister,” du Plessis said, straight-faced, explaining that Viljoen had married his sibling the night before. And that was where the fun ended.The Mzansi Super League final, which du Plessis’ team won, may have been the last time we saw him truly celebrate and be celebrated as a captain. While the two candidates being trialled as his replacement, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma, led teams that finished last and second-last in the tournament, du Plessis took a team of nobodies to the title. That was the strongest statement he could have made that he was the man to take the national team to this year’s T20 World Cup, something he maintained he wanted to do all summer and seems to still want to do.In his statement on Monday, du Plessis mentioned a “perfect world” in which he would like to lead the team in Tests for the rest of the season and also to the T20 World Cup, which suggests it was not entirely his decision to step down. So who or what might have pushed him?The evidence points to a perfect storm of loss of form, public and media pressure and politics, none of which are entirely his fault.In seven Tests in the 2019-20 season, du Plessis averaged 20.92. Only the 2015-16 season, the one before he took over, was worse but that didn’t collide with what he has faced this time.In an increasingly racially polarised climate, du Plessis found himself swept up in sentiment following the dropping of Bavuma from the Test side. While no one could argue with du Plessis’ logic that Bavuma, who averaged 19.4 in 2019, needed to force his way back in through “weight of runs”, du Plessis’ comment about the team “not seeing colour” was in poor taste for a country that sees little else. It is not for du Plessis to answer why the South African system has only produced one Test-ready black African batsman but it was his job to discuss transformation in more nuanced terms. He got that wrong, but it should not have cost him his captaincy. In all likelihood, it didn’t.Towards the end of the Test series, as du Plessis maintained his stance that he wanted to continue until the T20 World Cup, acting director of cricket Graeme Smith said he would have a “robust” discussion with du Plessis to discuss his future. Those talks are believed to have happened at length. Ultimately, the decision was taken fresh ideas were needed as South Africa enter a new era. De Kock will inject new energy into the white-ball teams and the Test captaincy successor will be named in the winter. But du Plessis remains duty-bound.He has not given up the international game and is willing to share more of himself with a commitment to playing in all formats, mentoring the next generation and making it to that T20 World Cup. In all that, du Plessis has shared more than just his batting and leadership skills with South African cricket. He has shared his character, his compassion and the best years of his career and for that, this country should always be grateful.

Virat Kohli brought up the toss unprovoked at the post-match presentation, but does he have a point?

Sidharth Monga24-Feb-2020It was quite uncharacteristic of India captain Virat Kohli to bring up the toss unprovoked at the post-match presentation after their 10-wicket loss to New Zealand.Some might be tempted to look at it as an excuse – as was done with Faf du Plessis when South Africa lost in India – but if you scratch the surface, Kohli – and du Plessis – was only stating facts.India, New Zealand and Australia are so strong at home that it has become nearly impossible for visiting teams to beat them if they lose the toss. The last time any visiting side won a Test after losing the toss in any of these countries was back in 2012, when a Kevin Pietersen masterclass made the difference against a transitional Indian team.How the toss influences results•ESPNcricinfo LtdIt has been more than a decade since New Zealand lost a home Test after winning the toss. Even Australia, for instance, who had a severely depleted side in 2018-19, managed to win the Perth Test against India when they won the toss.The converse of this, unfortunately for visiting sides, does not hold true. When you are visiting these countries, winning the toss is no guarantee that you will go on to win the Test. The likes of India, New Zealand and Australia still manage to win home Tests despite losing the toss.Win-loss records after losing tosses•ESPNcricinfo LtdA few of New Zealand’s wins despite losing the toss have come against Sri Lanka and West Indies. If they do lose the toss to India in Christchurch, they will want to replicate what they did against England at Bay Oval earlier in the season to make sure their strong record remains intact.A word of caution, though: Virat Kohli, the captain, has never lost a Test after winning the toss. He has won 21 of the Tests he has won tosses in, and the record overseas remains just as impressive: eight wins after winning 10 tosses.

Finding players to perform the roles these giants did will not be an easy task for their franchises

Deivarayan Muthu05-Sep-2020

Suresh Raina
His role
Raina at No. 3 is usually set in stone for the Chennai Super Kings, and he has missed just one match during his ten seasons at the franchise. He has now gone back home to India, but hasn’t quite ruled out a return to the Super Kings camp during the course of the tournament.Back in the day, Raina was a dasher at one-drop, merrily extending his arms and launching both seamers and spinners over his favourite extra-cover region. In recent years, Raina’s form at the Super Kings had cooled off, and he might not be the force he once was, but was a key part of the Super Kings plans.Filling the gap
The Super Kings haven’t named a replacement for him yet, but Maharashtra and India A batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is believed to have impressed MS Dhoni at the Chepauk camp in March earlier this year, is being talked up as a possible No. 3. If Gaikwad isn’t the preferred choice, Ambati Rayudu is likely to take up the job, with Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis set to open the innings.If teams tend to attack Super Kings’ band of right-hand batsmen with legspin, they could look to separate them by bumping Ravindra Jadeja or Sam Curran or Mitchell Santner up the order. Jadeja has actually batted at No. 3 in the past, just four times, hitting 91 runs at a strike rate of 140. Curran, too, has batted there in eight innings, making 230 runs at a strike rate of nearly 144 – and he had also opened the batting once for Kings XI Punjab last IPL. In the 2017 T20 Blast in England, Santner was also promoted up the order to No. 3 by Worcestershire.ALSO READ: Who can replace Suresh Raina at Chennai Super Kings?

Harbhajan Singh
His role
In the first qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, Dhoni didn’t use Singh as a bowler at all. However, overall, Singh’s accuracy has been central to Super Kings’ attack in the past two seasons. He was often Dhoni’s go-to spinner in the powerplay, claiming 11 wickets in 16 innings during that phase at an economy rate of 8.40. Not to forget all the experience and consistency; he is the only bowler to have an economy rate of less than 7.5 in eight IPL seasons.Filling the gap
While the Super Kings have a variety of options to replace Raina within their squad itself, they don’t have a specialist offspinner in their roster to fill the Singh-sized hole. However, they do have legspinners Piyush Chawla and Karn Sharma, and left-arm fingerspinner R Sai Kishore in the group. Tamil Nadu spinners M Abhinav (legspinner) and Aushik Srinivas (left-arm fingerspinner) are in the net-bowling contingent, but neither of them bowl offspin. Jalaj Saxena, who was part of the Delhi Capitals last year, could be good like-for-like replacement for Singh, if the Super Kings are looking for one.Lasith Malinga is the most successful bowler in IPL history•BCCI

Lasith Malinga
His role
Mumbai have a surfeit of top-notch pace options in their set-up – Trent Boult can swing the new ball, Mitchell McClenaghan thrives on bowling in the powerplay, Jasprit Bumrah is a world beater, Hardik Pandya is working his way back from injury, and there are Nathan Coulter-Nile and Dhawal Kulkarni in the mix too. However, they are most certainly going to miss Malinga’s vast experience and big-game pedigree. The 37-year-old has stepped up for Mumbai in multiple finals and is also known as a master tactician much like his captain Rohit Sharma. Malinga usually bowls the tough overs – both in the powerplay and at the death – last delivering Mumbai an unprecedented fourth title.Filling the gap
Mumbai have signed James Pattinson as Malinga’s replacement, but the Australia quick is yet to make his IPL debut (although he has been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders before). Pattinson brings with him extra pace and hit-the-deck bustle, which could prove effective even on the traditionally sluggish tracks in the UAE. With Quinton de Kock and Kieron Pollard being certain starters among the overseas names, McClenaghan, Boult, Coulter-Nile and Pattinson will have to tussle for the other two slots.

Chris Woakes
His role
Woakes was largely used as a death-bowling allrounder by Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Knight Riders. Fourteen of his 25 wickets in the IPL have come in the last five overs. In the pre-pandemic world, Kagiso Rabada had been ruled out of the India tour earlier this year owing to injury, and might not have been available had the IPL happened at its original slot. So the Capitals would have looked at Woakes as a first XI option. Plus, being a capable batsman lower down the order, Woakes would likely have played a few matches with teams likely to rotate their players considering the heat in the UAE.Filling the gap
Rabada is now fit and the Capitals have drafted in Anrich Nortje as Woakes’ replacement. Nortje had missed IPL 2019 for the Knight Riders, and then the World Cup because of a shoulder injury, but he’s also back, and can regularly clock speeds north of 140kph. So Woakes’ absence might not be too big a setback for the Capitals.

Others to give IPL 2020 a miss
Jason Roy: He is huge for England in white-ball cricket, but would have found it hard to get in the XI for the Capitals, who have Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer as their Indian opening options. The team played it smart by picking up Australian left-arm quick Daniel Sams in Roy’s place.Kane Richardson: The Australian quick wanted to be home for the birth of his first child, and legspinner Adam Zampa has stepped in for Royal Challengers Bangalore. A sensible move from the team, with all matches to be played on slower pitches across the UAE.Harry Gurney: A shoulder injury has put Gurney out of action, and the Knight Riders might miss him, though they have Pat Cummins and Lockie Ferguson in their ranks. Crucially for the team, they will have Chris Green available – there were question marks over his action, but he’s bowling, and bowling very well, in the CPL.

England rejoice, Pakistan ponder ‘what if’ – reactions after the hosts’ stunning chase in Manchester

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2020

You absolute beauties! Outstanding win and brilliant team effort!! Great start to the series. @englandcricket #ENGvPAK

— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) August 8, 2020

A rare rare 4 th innings chase. Well done England.#ENGvsPAK

— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) August 8, 2020

What a win for @englandcricket. Test match cricket at its wonderful, gripping, inimitable best.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 8, 2020

Test Cricket, even in the bubble is still great theater. You can't undervalue the character with which England achieved that win, from 117-5. Im sure back stronger nezt week. Stay "Woakes" everyone.

— Ian bishop (@irbishi) August 8, 2020

England & Pakistan are the best 2 teams to follow in World cricket … Never ever quite know what to expect … but it makes them both very exciting to watch … #TestCricket #OnOn

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 8, 2020

What Pak missed today,England had in abundance. Self-belief, character, skill and match winners like Buttler & Woakes. Top effort to bounce back from conceding a 107-run lead in the 1st innings & being 117/5 battling last under pressure. You've got to love test cricket!#ENGvsPAK

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 8, 2020

How good is test cricket…Patience,Pressure and Partnerships with bat and ball wins it…..#TestCricket

— Mickey Arthur (@Mickeyarthurcr1) August 8, 2020

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler revived England’s stumbling chase, with both scoring fifties in the win.

Absolute quality @josbuttler and @chriswoakes

— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) August 8, 2020

@chriswoakes experience of 10+ first class, showing its true value today. The foundation for every great cricketer

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 8, 2020

As @ShaneWarne said, @josbuttler has ticker, bottle and character, let’s leave it at that!! What a win, test match cricket at its best!!! pic.twitter.com/vZ5ODQaFSe

— Neil Fairbrother (@Harv366) August 8, 2020

Here's my TMS scoresheet of the stand between Buttler (purple) and Woakes (light blue)… brilliant attack, followed by ruthless accumulation. One of England's finest Test partnerships, I would say. pic.twitter.com/98RGiF87ro

— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) August 8, 2020

Pakistan’s former players lamented the missed opportunity of going 1-0 up in the three-Test series.

#ENGvsPAK

— Mohammad Yousaf (@yousaf1788) August 8, 2020

Congratulations England on a memorable win! Brilliant batting by Buttler and Woakes. Pakistan had the game in the grip, unfortunate that the game slipped away. Such opportunities can not be wasted, pitch was very suitable for our bowling attack.

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) August 8, 2020

Left-arm spinner demonstrates maturity beyond his years in his seven-wicket haul

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Jan-2021Remember that one guy? That great Sri Lanka fingerspinner? Body like an overfull water balloon, heart as big as the ocean? Well, let’s not mention him here, because there’s a new left-arm spinner, and at 24, Lasith Embuldeniya is just making his way. There’s already been talk of large shoes needing to be filled and mantles begging to be taken up. But these are unfair expectations, right? Even if the old man Embuldeniya’s cricketing hero. And no matter how much about this young bowler there is to like.Maybe they will be different kinds of left-arm operators, anyway. Embuldeniya has a high release point, puts a lot of revolutions on the ball, gets more loop than most, and because of his height (and maybe a touch of overspin), good bounce on top of all that. That is the Embuldeniya elevator pitch. But there’s more to him, such as an air of maturity beyond his years, and a stubborn doughtiness. These sound like profoundly unsexy virtues, but then Embuldeniya bowls slow left-arm, so he’s already chosen the unsexiest path in cricketing life.He seems to have really leaned into that whole thing, too. Have you ever seen him properly celebrate a wicket? No? That’s because he doesn’t, really. He’s dismissed both England openers for single figures in each of the three innings England have batted this series; Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley out for 4, 2, 0, 9, 8 and 5. He’s only in his tenth Test, so it’s a thing of mild wonder that Embuldeniya seems to have picked up not just one, but two bunnies.Related

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But upon getting the wicket of Crawley on Saturday evening, Embuldeniya just walked, neutral-faced, to his teammates. A dad of two pushing a trolley loaded with rice, dhal and milk powder through the supermarket. Shirt buttons done up all the way to the top.It is the almost-impeccable lines, plus the drift he gets, and the turn off the surface that have got him his seven wickets so far in this innings. None of the remaining Sri Lanka bowlers – not even the vastly more experienced Dilruwan Perera – have bowled as well to batsmen who have just arrived as Embuldeniya. Five of his victims never made it to 15.Virtually everyone who has faced him has played and missed liberally since Embuldeniya gets dramatic, fast turn, even when he pitches on the straight, in a way that no other spinner in this game has quite managed. Aside from Joe Root and Jos Buttler, both of whom have rocking reverse-sweeps (and as such, are the only batsmen dismissed by other means) no England batsman has been comfortable. To the lefties lower down in England’s batting order, he’s had the off-side rough to work with.Embuldeniya’s wicket celebrations are notably low-key•SLCIt seems almost cruel to say on a day in which he was almost Sri Lanka’s single wicket-taking threat, but there are things Embuldeniya could work on. Five of his dismissals were catches to slip off the outside edge (four of those victims were right-handers). But what if he learned to better disguise his slider, which he bowls infrequently anyway, and made that more of a threat? For his idol – that guy we decided we weren’t going to mention – the straighter ball was essentially the poison-tipped dagger in his armoury; the weapon so many underestimated, but still wound up succumbing to. On tracks that turn as substantially as this, balls that float under the radar on to pads and into stumps are a subtle magic.Embuldeniya might learn, too, that there are times in his career in which he is going to be doubted. He had taken a five-wicket haul in the 2019 tour of South Africa, where his contributions were instrumental to that surreal series win, and yet he was overlooked for both Tests there over the last month, with the team’s management picking legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga instead. Why? Because wristspinners have mad X-factor, right? Whatever Embuldeniya makes of his career from here, he’s never going to have said about him.It probably doesn’t help that in true slow left-arm style, he comes to press conferences after his most successful haul ever, and gives answers like this: “Thanks for your question. I’ve done a lot of spot bowling and that’s how I’ve improved little by little. In the match I bowled line and length and made small, small variations. There was help from the wicket. I landed the ball on the same spot and hoped the wicket would do the rest.”Buttoned-up to the point of being adorable. But, you know, not sexy. Though he’s already looking up to, and swimming in the considerable wake of, someone who showed that he doesn’t need to be.

“Probably didn’t build pressure the way we wanted to” against Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, says Josh Hazlewood

Daniel Brettig17-Jan-2021Last ball of the 100th over of the Indian innings, a rare one from over the wicket by Nathan Lyon to Washington Sundar, the batsman pushed a half-volley back down the pitch and for his troubles had the bowler fire a return back at his head, requiring evasive action.Not long afterwards, Australia’s coach Justin Langer was pictured in the team viewing area spilling a water bottle alongside his laptop – not once but twice – and cursing and then walking away as the team’s amiable strength and conditioning coach, Aaron Kellett, stepped in to clean up. Shades of Headingley 2019 and the bin.When the match-shaping stand of 123 between Sundar and Shardul Thakur was finally ended by Pat Cummins – who else? – the Australians assembled less in celebration than stocktaking. The huddles around the next two strikes were some of the most desultory for Tim Paine’s team in the three years since cricket was the least of their worries at Cape Town and Johannesburg in 2018.Australia were left frustrated as the Washington Sundar-Shardul Thakur partnership grew•Getty ImagesThen, in the final overs of India’s innings, the Nos. 10 and 11, Mohammed Siraj and T Natarajan, received just four balls aimed at the stumps amid a flurry of bouncers. Natarajan entered the match with a first-class average of 2, but now was able to make an unbeaten 1 while Siraj collected an impish 13. The fourth of those balls at the stumps hit them.What all these scenes showed, for Australia’s 100-Test spinner Lyon, their pacemen Josh Hazlewood, Cummins and Mitchell Starc, and also their leadership duo of Paine and Langer, was that mentally, if not physically, the resilience and persistence of India have got thoroughly under the skins of a host side that had expected to win well, and in particularly to blast out the visitors with their “big three” pace bowlers aided by Lyon.Given the match and series scenario, plus the likelihood of heavy rain in Brisbane on the final two days, the Australians really needed to burst through India’s batting with the aid of a bouncy and speedy surface, and then give themselves plenty of time to hurry into a big lead. By the day’s midpoint, in spite of some curious hesitance to stack the slips cordon that allowed Ajinkya Rahane to get away with several eminently catchable edges off Starc’s bowling, they were on the way to doing so.

“I think we missed our mark a little bit, we were a touch full or a touch short and a bit of width here and there, so we just let them off the hook a little bit there and probably didn’t build pressure the way we wanted to”Josh Hazlewood

This was due largely to Hazlewood, who put in a performance that, if not as shattering as his Adelaide spell, was a decent re-enactment of his debut five-for against India at the Gabba in 2014, all tight lines, subtle movement and steep bounce. A score of 186 for 6, with the new ball due inside 14 overs, left the road seemingly open for Australia.Instead, Hazlewood, Cummins, Starc and Lyon found themselves struggling to muster their best stuff for the auxiliary duo of Sundar and Thakur, and very quickly losing their focus in the process. There was no reason, other than mental fatigue, why one of the most vaunted bowling line-ups in Australian history could not find enough balls in the right areas of a helpful enough pitch to ensure this pair did not settle in.That they did, for what proved to be one of the finest lower-order stands in living memory, offered up a marked contrast to how Cummins’ batting has fallen away in particular, and how Australia’s first innings was middling at best. The other major question opened up by it centred on whether, in the bio-secure confines of the 2020-21 summer, the hosts might have considered more resting and rotation of a far deeper bowling squad than has been seen on the field.The emergence of Siraj, Natarajan, Navdeep Saini and Sundar has left the likes of Michael Neser, Sean Abbott and Mitch Swepson wondering what they might have achieved if given the opportunity to perform. Instead, Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon have appeared more or less able to pick themselves provided they are physically able to get on to the field, leading perhaps to the lack of sharpness when it was most required on day three in Brisbane or day five in Sydney.Related

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• As it happened – Australia vs India, Brisbane Test, 3rd day

“There wasn’t too much at all, to be honest,” Hazlewood said when asked how much discussion there had been of the bowlers’ places. “Everyone pulled up well from Sydney, we had a pretty quiet start to the series, to be honest, those two games we didn’t bowl a hell of a lot in Adelaide and Melbourne and we had quite a bit of time off in between.”So everyone’s feeling pretty good and I think [Cameron] Greeny makes a huge difference, there’s that odd spell here and there that he bowls and he’s going to get on a real roll soon and take a few wickets for us and help out. Even the short spells make a huge difference.”We probably just let pressure off at certain times, I think, throughout the day. Everyone’s body is pretty good, to be honest, the heat was there as well. I thought Gazza bowled really well again and everyone else backed us up. We just let a few moments slip, I think, and there were a few half-chances there we could’ve grabbed and made a bit of a difference. But obviously, four Tests in we bowled a fair bit last game, but I think everyone’s in reasonable shape for this time of year.”Contrast this to the 2019 Ashes, when only Cummins played all five Tests among the quicks, and James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Starc all played specific roles in two or three matches apiece. Hazlewood, having made a comeback from injury, was held out of the first Test in Birmingham to be absolutely right for Lord’s, and demonstrated the need for this freshness when he broke through at critical times throughout the rest of the contest. Undoubtedly, a little more freshness of mind and role was missing at the Gabba.Josh Hazlewood mopped up the tail to finish with a five-for•Getty Images”It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what happened at Adelaide and you probably don’t see that every day and we haven’t seen it again in this series,” Hazlewood said. “The tailenders, these days I think there’s not much differences between Nos. 7 and 8, they put a lot of work into their batting, Nos. 8, 9 and even 10 sometimes are difficult to get out. You’ve just got to treat them like a top-order batter unless they have a real specific weakness, but we’ll probably go back to our normal stuff in the second innings, I think, and see how that goes.”There’s a bit of frustration there, when they’re six down you think you’re well on your way to knocking them over. But, in this day and age, teams bat all the way down, especially a team like England or something. I think we missed our mark a little bit, we were a touch full or a touch short and a bit of width here and there, so we just let them off the hook a little bit there and probably didn’t build pressure the way we wanted to. So, again, credit to them they batted beautifully and we’ll have a look at that for the second dig.”As for the short-pitched attack on India’s final pair, Hazlewood rationalised that full balls were more likely to be hit than short ones. “I think here at the Gabba the bounce is so consistent, even tailenders can hit the ball and score runs if you pitch it up,” he said. “I think the short ball’s probably the best way of getting the tail out, and if not it’s setting it up for the full ball. If you’re just bowling full, the bounce is very consistent and it’s probably one of the wickets where tailenders can score runs in front or behind the wicket. I think bouncers can not only halt the scoreboard but bring about wickets as well.”Much as there was logic to Hazlewood’s words, it was undeniable that frustration had crept into the Australian approach as well. There were too many signs at the Gabba on day three that, in a contest with an India side rotating far more bodies due to injury and thus cycling through some fresher minds, the most settled bowling line-up in recent Australian history has been blunted just enough to make this far closer a contest than anyone on the home side had reasonably expected after Adelaide.

So where does Russell’s exploits with the ball in the match rank in terms of Bowling Impact?

ESPNcricinfo stats team13-Apr-20211:44

Dasgupta: Krunal and Chahar brought MI back into the game

It’s not often that a five-for ends up being the subplot in a T20 game. Andre Russell’s record-equaling five-for in 12 balls was among the quickest five-wicket hauls taken in the IPL, but it was Mumbai Indians’ Rahul Chahar who was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for throwing Knight Riders’ chase in disarray with a four-wicket haul.ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats endorses Chahar’s impact on the game. Chahar earned 117 impact points for his bowling efforts (he earned six points for his valuable 8 with the bat). His impact on the game was 31 points clear of the next most impactful performance in the match. Chahar came on to bowl in the ninth over with the Knight Riders firmly in control of the chase. Each of his four overs produced a wicket: the top four of the Knight Riders’ batting order, including the in-form Nitish Rana. According to Smart Stats, Chahar’s four wickets in the game were worth 6.34 smart wickets. Smart Stats gives each wicket an impact value based on the quality of the batsman and the stage of the innings at which he is dismissed.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn contrast, four of Russell’s five victims were lower-order batsmen. Three of those wickets came in the last over of the innings, when the damage the Mumbai tailenders could’ve done was limited. Kieron Pollard’s wicket was the most valuable wicket that Russell took considering the context of the game. There were 17 balls left in the innings when Pollard was dismissed potentially stopping him from playing a match-changing innings. Pollard’s wicket fetched Russell 1.57 smart wicket value. However, his other four wickets contributed just 1.83 smart wicket value. In all, Russell’s five wickets in the match considering the match situation (based on the impact the batsmen dismissed by could’ve had) was worth 3.4 Smart Wickets. In fact, Russell’s exploits with the ball in the match ranked fifth in terms of Bowling Impact. Pat Cummins’ 2 for 24, Krunal Pandya’s 1 for 13 and Trent Boult’s 2 from 27 were considered more impactful than Russell’s given the context of the game.ESPNcricinfo LtdOverall, Suryakumar Yadav’s 36-ball 56 had the second-highest impact on the match with 92.4 points, followed by Krunal Pandya’s efforts with the ball and the bat, which fetched him 79.9 impact points.

How many can you get right?

Sreshth Shah24-Apr-2021 .