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Stand-in keeper showed skills that England has sometimes lacked, but knows his chances will be limited

George Dobell03-May-2019Ben Foakes admitted he has little chance of breaking into England’s limited-overs team despite leading them to victory on debut in Dublin.Foakes made an unbeaten 61 – the only half-century of the match – to help England secure a win that looked unlikely when they subsided to 66 for 5 within 15 overs of their reply. Keeping wonderfully calm despite the apparently hopeless position, Foakes added 98 in 15 overs with Tom Curran for the seventh wicket to see his side home. It meant that he followed the Man-of-the-Match award he won on Test debut with another such award in his first ODI. He is set to make his T20I debut on Sunday in Cardiff.But, as he has seen from his Test career, that is no guarantee of longevity. And despite finishing his maiden Test series in Sri Lanka as England’s Man of the Series, Foakes was dropped after two more games in the Caribbean as England struggled to balance their side. With Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have both been rested following their IPL stints, to come back into the side in the coming days, he knows there is a chance he may never play again.”Can I break into the team? Probably not,” Foakes said. “Jos is probably the best keeper-batsman in the world and Jonny is probably second, if not first. It’s ridiculous.”So just to get the game has been great. It’s something I didn’t expect. I didn’t really think I’d make my debut.”While Foakes is probably right in the short term – there were seven first-choice England players missing from this side, after all, and he was only called up when one of their replacements, Sam Billings, suffered an injury – he did show the skills that this England side has sometimes lacked in recent times.Adapting to the slow surface, he was content to rotate the strike and pick up singles for an unusually long time in modern ODI cricket – his first boundary, a pulled six off Boyd Rankin, came from the 57th delivery he faced – and he showed an unflustered temperament that was a little reminiscent of MS Dhoni. There have been a few times in the recent past that England could have benefited from such composure.”It was one of those rebuilding jobs and I guess that suited my game a little bit,” Foakes said. “I just had to get my head down and fight it out. It was a bit of a grind.”Whenever you lose that many wickets early, you’ve got a job to do to stick in there and not get out. There were a few nerves, but there was never a stage where the run rate was getting out of hand. The guys like Tim Murtagh and the slower bowlers were tough work on that sort of wicket, so the job was to see them off, try not to get out, and when a bit of pace came on, get a bit more value for your shots.”At one stage with Foakes at the crease, England scored just nine runs in six overs with Murtagh and George Dockrell – their bowling speeds around 14 mph apart – bowling their allocation of nine overs each for a combined total of just 56 runs. But with both bowled out with eight overs remaining and Ireland obliged to rely on two debutants in Mark Adair and the impressive Josh Little, Foakes always had confidence in himself and his lower-order colleagues to get the job done. Adil Rashid (10 first-class centuries), Liam Plunkett (three) and Jofra Archer were all still to bat.”Plunkett was coming in No.11 today, so I knew we batted deep,” Foakes said. “In that sort of situation you know what the job is, you don’t go too far out of your comfort zone. It’s just about soaking up the pressure.”Foakes also completed a stumping to dismiss the dangerous Andy Balbirnie. While most of the talk around the dismissal concerned the amount of time Foakes waited for Balbirnie to raise his back leg – Ireland captain William Porterfield subsequently claimed “the ball was pretty much dead” – what was perhaps more significant was the smooth way Foakes collected the leg-side wide.ALSO READ: Archer shows glimpses on debut but rivals raise their game“It was quite wide down leg,” Foakes said, “but I got it back to the stumps. When it’s a sweep you think they might fall over and I just saw he lifted his foot and nicked them off.”While Porterfield admitted the match felt “like the one that got away”, he said he was “proud” of his team and accepted that, in retrospect, he should have called for a review when Foakes was adjudged not out to a leg-before appeal when he had scored 37. Hawk-Eye replays subsequently showed that, had Ireland called for the review, Foakes would have been out.”We should have reviewed it,” he said. “But there were only about 10 overs left and you don’t know if you’re going to get another chance? It probably looked as high as any of them but it was red. If I could go back an hour I’d be reviewing it.”Meanwhile, another debutant, Dawid Malan, sustained a groin injury while batting and will be unavailable* for Sunday’s T20I in Cardiff. Sussex’s Phil Salt has been called up in his place as cover.*May 4, 1000 BST – This story was updated with confirmation of Malan’s replacement

Rachin Ravindra’s 3 for 30 and Finn Allen’s unbeaten 115 took New Zealand home with eight wickets and 63 to balls to spare

Shashank Kishore in Tauranga13-Jan-2018
ScorecardRachin Ravindra and Finn Allen, two men who were part of New Zealand’s disastrous Under-19 World Cup campaign two years ago in Bangladesh where they finished tenth, opened the 2018 edition at home with stirring displays. West Indies, the defending champions, slumped to a eight-wicket defeat at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, the manner in which they collapsed reminiscent of their seniors, who endured a winless tour of New Zealand not too long ago.Ravindra picked three wickets with his left-arm spin while Allen, the No. 3 batsman, brought up a counter-attacking 92-ball century, his first in youth ODIs, as New Zealand cruised home with plenty to spare. Allen, who was unbeaten on 115, forged a second-wicket stand worth 163 with Jakob Bhula, who made 83. Ravindra’s dismissal for 16, flashing at a short and wide delivery that he nicked to the wicketkeeper off Ronaldo Alimohamed, was the only blot in an otherwise ruthless display.A hint of rain and a thick cloud cover made conditions ideal for West Indies’ pacers to exploit. But they sprayed the ball all over the pitch. Their sloppiness on the field didn’t help either. What could’ve been an intense contest turned rather cold halfway through the chase. Allen was strong square of the wicket, but his use of the sweep against spin was particularly impressive as he chugged along consistently at over a run-a-ball. Bhula, slightly more circumspect to begin with, grew in confidence but fell to a tame caught-and-bowled dismissal with the target within touching distance. Allen then saw off the chase with captain Kaylum Boshier just as rain started to spit down.While Allen polished off the runs, it was Ravindra who broke West Indies’ back after their openers Kimani Melius and Keagan Simmons, nephew of batsman Lendl Simmons, put together 123 in 27.2 overs to set a solid platform. Ravindra, who cleverly varied his pace and use of his angles, finished with 3 for 30 off seven overs as West Indies, handily placed at 149 for 2, were restricted to 223 for 8 in 50 overs. Simmons, who battled through the innings and looked set for his maiden youth ODI century, was left unbeaten on 92.

Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that every Ranji Trophy game be played on two different pitches with two different balls to prepare the Test team for bigger challenges in overseas conditions

PTI03-Dec-2016Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that every Ranji Trophy game be played on two different pitches to prepare a better Test team for overseas assignments.He also suggested that bilateral Test series could be made more engaging by having back-to-back home-and-away rubbers so that the strength of two teams remains mostly constant but the varying conditions pose a bigger challenge.”I have thought a lot about neutral venues in Ranji Trophy [which is being tried this season],” Tendulkar said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi.”I have a suggestion which can be radical. When we go to places like Australia, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa, we play with Kookaburra balls which swing early. Think about a young Ranji batsman playing with SG Test ball in India and then facing difficulty overseas.”Let us have the first innings on a greentop with Kookaburra balls, which would give openers a challenge. Even the bowlers will have something. Our spinners will also learn how to bowl with the Kookaburra on greentops.”Now let there be a pitch adjacent to the greentop which would be a rank turner. Now the second innings will be played on that track with the SG Test ball which would also help our batsmen play against quality spin bowling. We have been too focussed on playing pace in overseas conditions but we should not forget how to play spin bowling.”Tendulkar felt the use of two different pitches and two different balls would nullify the toss factor.”A captain would start thinking that winning the toss will give him only 10 percent advantage that is his right to choose first,” he said. “But if he chooses to bowl on greentop he should remember that he would need to bat on a turner in the fourth innings.”BCCI president Anurag Thakur was also among the audience.

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, told a London court that he was present with Brendon McCullum when he allegedly received a call from Chris Cairns inviting him to discuss a ‘business proposition’

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2015Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has described to a court how he was present in a hotel room in India during the 2008 IPL when Brendon McCullum received a call from Chris Cairns that McCullum described as “a business proposition”.Ponting was appearing at Southwark Crown Court in London via a video link from Australia as the latest prosecution witness against Cairns, who is charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath in a libel trial, saying he had “never” cheated at cricket.At the time Ponting and McCullum were team-mates for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first year of IPL.”I was staying with Brendon in the team hotel in Kolkata in 2008 on the eve of the first IPL tournament,” Ponting recalled. “We were just sitting, sharing a drink, when he received a phone call – his phone rang. It was a very brief phone conversation, probably less than five minutes. He put the phone down, hung up and said it was Cairnsy and he ‘just made me a business proposition’.””We stayed together for a short time. I didn’t ask any more questions … As soon as I heard it was about business, I wasn’t interested anymore.”Giving evidence last week McCullum, 34, had claimed Cairns sent him a car which took him to his hotel, where McCullum alleged spot-fixing was discussed.Ponting, whose long-time nickname of ‘Punter’ was given to him by Shane Warne, was asked by Orlando Pownall QC, for the defence, whether he considered McCullum knew about match-fixing, and would have understood terms like “spot-fixing” and “spread betting”.He replied: “Right now I would; in 2008, maybe not as much.”Leanne McGoldrick, a players’ agent, also took the witness box on Tuesday, to describe an evening when McCullum, who she was managing at the time, had asked at a dinner at her Christchurch home after New Zealand’s 2008 tour of England whether she thought Cairns was involved in match-fixing.It was on that tour where McCullum gave evidence last week that he had had breakfast with Cairns in a Worcester café where Cairns allegedly made a second approach to him to spot-fix.McGoldrick said McCullum had first asked if she thought any New Zealand players were match-fixing. When she said she didn’t think so, he asked about Cairns. She said she did not think he was.”He said he’d had an occasion in England – in a bar or cafe, I can’t remember which – with Chris, and Chris had asked him whether he knew how to spot-fix.”McGoldrick said: “I was completely shocked … I couldn’t believe what he was saying.”She told McCullum to report the approach and he said he would, but their business relationship ended soon after.The trial continues.

Bowled out for 96 in 46.2 overs, Yorkshire then watched as Chris Nash stroked a pleasing 80 off 87 balls

Paul Edwards at Headingley10-Apr-2013
ScorecardYorkshire’s cricketers were probably full of new-season optimism this morning and losing the toss will surely not have shaken their confidence. By close of play, however, Andrew Gale’s players had received a bracing dollop of what Division One cricket is all about.Bowled out for 96 in 46.2 overs, Yorkshire then watched as Chris Nash stroked a pleasing 80 off 87 balls. When bad light ended play 19 overs early, Sussex were already in the throes of establishing a strong position, albeit that Ryan Sidebottom had taken all three wickets to fall in a predictably unsparing display.”Every attempt is a wholly new start,” wrote TS Eliot in East Coker, and on few days in the sporting calendar does the sentiment seem more true than the first day of the County Championship season. It is nearly seven months since the players left the field in September and a lot of improvements can be made in that time. Spring beckons, albeit a chilly one this year, and at 10.45am on the first morning of the four-day season everyone is top of the averages. (“Bottom of ’em too,” the curmudgeons might reply but how many cricketers listen to them in April?)Andrew Gale made just 2 as Yorkshire’s top four managed 13 between them•PA Photos

In the many interviews they conducted before the start of the season Jason Gillespie and Gale were at pains to say how tough they expected the top tier of English cricket to be. It took less than a session for the Yorkshire hierarchy to be reassured that their judgement was spot on. Facing an attack that offered them very little loose stuff, the much-vaunted Yorkshire top-order, albeit lacking Joe Root, crumbled away like fresh Wensleydale on a wicket which justified Ed Joyce’s decision to bat first. Poorly placed on 40 for 4 at lunch, the batsmen could only add a further 56 in the afternoon session, even on a wicket which eased a tad.The star of the day was the ex-Surrey seamer Chris Jordan. Apparently surplus to requirements at The Oval, Jordan bowled with pace and accuracy to take 6 for 48, the best Championship figures of his career. His first victim, Gale, was a leg-side strangle but his others owed little to luck and much more to Jordan’s admirable rectitude, which proved too much for the techniques of some home players. Gale himself said that he had expected his batsmen to “stand up” and described some of the dismissals as “soft”Perhaps the skipper was thinking of Alex Lees, who battled with immense composure for 79 minutes and 51 balls before chasing a rather wide-ish one from Jordan. More likely he was referring to Jonny Bairstow, who made 29 before edging an attempted pull off James Anyon three overs after lunch. That gave the Sussex new-ball bowler a deserved second success and it began a collapse that saw the last six Yorkshire wickets tumble for 38 runs in less than 14 overs. Jordan made hay and the sun shone. Azeem Rafiq made an inventive 23 and was the last man out but none of bottom half of the home line-up could stay with him.When Sussex batted Nash took five boundaries off seven Jack Brooks deliveries and you could almost hear some of the home spectators muttering about “bloody headbands”. Sidebottom, whose coiffure has also seemed to need constraint at times, cheered the Yorkshire faithful a little more by trapping Luke Wells for 2 and then having Michael Yardy caught behind by Bairstow for 14, although the former skipper had added 76 with Nash by the time that wicket fell. Nash nicked a good ball to Bairstow just before play was halted but Yorkshire are already in need of more wickets early on Thursday. Gale’s men will not be pleased to be reminded that the full Eliot quotation reads: “Every beginning is a wholly new start and a different kind of failure.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has said it has paid its cricketers their outstanding dues, which had been pending since last year’s World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has said it has paid its cricketers their outstanding dues, which had been pending since the 2011 World Cup. The ICC had paid 42.36% of the dues to the players directly, in December, out of the participation fee due to Sri Lanka from the tournament. SLC announced in February that it would pay the remainder of the dues by the end of the month, after the state-owned Bank of Ceylon agreed to release 600 million rupees (approx US$5.07 million) to the board, following discussions with sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.The board now said the players “have been paid all their dues in full up to date.””We extend our sincere thanks to the sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and the secretary, ministry of sports for assisting Sri Lanka Cricket to source these funds at this very difficult time in order to pay our players,” a board release said.The Sri Lanka players had been owed around $4.3 million by SLC in December before the ICC paid part of their dues. The board is in the middle of a major financial crunch after having run up debts of $32.5 million to finance the building of two international stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, for the World Cup.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

John Davision, the Canada batsman, has said the team is “pretty down” after its two losses but greater self-belief was key to a better performance

Osman Samiuddin in Colombo02-Mar-2011If every player was as honest as Canada’s John Davison, sportsmen might not be ‘professional’ anymore. So couched are most reactions to wins, individual performances, highs and lows, in cliché-built nothings of professionalism, they can be scripted without actually speaking to a player. And if they were as self-deprecating as Davison, then press conferences might become a popular pastime.Davison is soon to be at an age when men start worrying about life ahead of them and buy a flash car to smooth those brows. Perhaps that’s unkind on a 40-year-old but doubts, as he so candidly admits, are creeping in. He has a grand total of zero runs from two innings and nine balls faced as an opener in this World Cup. He first thinks it might be “a little bit of a lack of technique” in his case, though admittedly the ball Thisara Perera did him with at Hambantota wasn’t half-bad.”Personally for me, it’s probably more a mental game,” he said. “I’m 40 years old and probably have those self-doubts that do I have the ability to perform at this level? I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well in the nets and I just need to give myself a little time to get in. I got a good ball against Sri Lanka, I’ll give hats off to the bowler there. But against Zimbabwe I had a game-plan and I wanted to hit [Ray] Price over mid-off early but probably could’ve given myself a few more balls to get in. I don’t think it’s too far away.”He was asked about tomorrow’s likely team and if he had known it he would’ve given it. There is talk, he said, of him moving away from the new ball, as if he was a reporter reporting on his own troubles. “I’m not a 100% sure what the team is tomorrow but there is talk of me shuffling down the order…I haven’t got a leg to stand on so I’ll bat wherever they tell me to right now.”The problem for him, John Davison says, is the mind•AFP

Canada might need Davison version 2003 to bat through positions 1-10 given the kind of form their other batsmen have been in. Their top score is Rizwan Cheema’s 37 in the opening game of the group against Sri Lanka and collectively have crumbled for 122 and 123. There is genuine talent in the squad – in the young slip of a boy Nitish Kumar – and other, rougher delights in Cheema and Hiral Patel, but such is the Associate’s plight. Pakistan’s attack, whatever shape it takes, will not make life any easier.”If you look at the scoreboard you’d probably say yes [the top order has been a problem],” Davison said. “I don’t think necessarily the bowling has been getting us out, possibly in my own case probably a little bit of a lack of technique and a couple of younger guys lacking a bit of self-belief. If you come to watch them in the nets you’ll see they’ve got talent. If they can clear their heads in a certain way to perform in the middle, it’ll give them the best chance to being successful.”This campaign is Davison’s third and “not so great compared to the others.” Canada have on occasion been competitive in the past, at the very least their batting; in 2007 they made 228 and 249 against England and New Zealand respectively, performances they want to repeat. But the side is “pretty down” at the moment.The one, admittedly small, consolation is that they are up against a side tomorrow that Associates must allow themselves to dream against. Pakistan is the ultimate Associate lottery, a game against them the day one man writes his own legend. It has happened twice at the World Cup.”We have to have our best day and they have to have their worst day,” Davison said when asked to rate the chances of an upset. “You always go into the game with some hope of winning it otherwise you don’t turn up. We’ll go into the ground hoping to deliver a good performance and hopefully Pakistan have a poor day which they have done in the past on many occasions.”We haven’t played them before. They’re a great team and a very varied attack. For example we have our challenges in reading their spinners. One of the biggest challenges in the subcontinent is to play reverse-swing in later overs.”The bad news is they haven’t got much help from their two Pakistan-origin players, Cheema and Khurram Chohan. “It’s quite interesting that the two Pakistani guys are quite shy,” Davison said. “It takes a lot of prodding to get a lot of information out of them. Maybe if we sit them down tonight and we prod them they might be able to give us some more information.”

Plays of the day from the IPL game between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in Chennai

Siddarth Ravindran at the MA Chidambaram Stadium22-Mar-2010Ramesh Powar had the better of Matthew Hayden and his Mongoose•Associated Press

Where’s your regular bat?
In the absence of regular captain, MS Dhoni, there’s no doubt over who the
Chennai crowd’s favourite player is. They were screaming ‘Hayden, Hayden’
when he emerged for the pre-match warm-ups. When he walked out to bat, he
was greeted with similar chants, mixed with a few cries of ‘Mongoose,
mongoose’. They didn’t have to wait long to see the much-discussed bat; in
the second over Hayden signalled for it when he had a free-hit. To the
fans’ disappointment, he didn’t connect with a big swipe. Worse followed
in the Super Over, when the Mongoose’s larger ‘sweet spot’ proved of
no use, as Hayden was bowled first ball.The Chennai ripple
Fans at the IPL are generally a boisterous bunch, happy to roar their
approval even at a no-particular-reason bugle, and enthusiastic in
counting down the end of time-outs. The MC at the MA Chidambaram Stadium,
though, had a hard time getting a Mexican wave going. Around the 12th over
of the Punjab innings, he implored the spectators in stand D to stand up
and wave to no effect. At his repeated cajoling, a few fans desultorily
got to their feet, prompting desperate cries of ‘Pass it on, pass it on,’
from the MC, but the wave was still-born. Halfway through the chase,
however, at no one’s prompting, a Mexican wave started rolling around the
stadium as the home team seemed headed for a straightforward win.How about that one?
In the ninth over of the chase Ramesh Powar was convinced he had Hayden
lbw, though the massive appeal was turned down by the umpire because the
ball pitched outside leg. Off the very next delivery, he tricked a
charging Hayden by pitching the ball a little shorter, and the ball
crashed into off stump. Before launching into his celebrations though,
Powar made a tongue-in-cheek appeal to ask the umpire whether that was
good enough to be adjudged out.A botched celebration
While Chennai looked to be coasting towards victory for much of the chase,
it started to get a little tense towards the end. Parthiv Patel’s square-driven
four on the first ball off the 18th over provided some relief for the home
team, but he was stumped off Piyush Chawla on the next delivery. Punjab
were back in the game, and Chawla got set for his trademark send-off – get
down on one knee and scream while forcefully punching the air with a
clenched fist. However, as he bent down to start his celebration, his foot
slipped and he ended up on his backside.Multi-skilled players?
Bowlers are becoming increasing adept with their footwork. Over the past
month, both Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard ran out Zimbabwean batsmen by
kicking the ball onto the stumps with their left foot during their
follow-through. While the West Indian allrounders needed angled shots to
hit the target, Juan Theron had a far simpler goalmouth tap-in; with three
stumps to aim at, his right-footed the ball onto the wicket to send back
Suresh Raina.Second-time lucky
Chennai have been one of the better fielding outfits in the IPL, and apart
from Manpreet Gony’s drop, Raina’s team was sharp in the field again, with
the captain showing the way. In the 19th over, Raina just missed a direct
hit from cover to run-out Yuvraj Singh but made amends by knocking down
the stumps from a similar position in the final over to dismiss Theron for
a golden duck.On the ball
Hayden and Parthiv had played steadily for the first three overs,
after which the Australian decided to open up. He launched a Powar
delivery towards long-off but didn’t hit it as well as he would have
liked. The fielder on the boundary, Mohammad Kaif, was so focused on
taking the catch that he lost track of where the rope was, and ended up
tripping over it and fell over as he back-pedalled. The ball
cleared the boundary.

The former Bangladesh captain joins Sazzad Ahmed in the senior women’s selection panel

Mohammad Isam20-Sep-2025The BCB has appointed Salma Khatun as the country’s first woman selector. The former Bangladesh captain will join Sazzad Ahmed in the women’s selection panel. Bangladesh are in the last stage of preparation ahead of the Women’s World Cup next month.Salma was Bangladesh’s first captain in international cricket. She went on to lead the country in 65 WT20Is and 18 WODIs. At the time of her last WT20I, she was Bangladesh’s most-capped women’s T20I cricketer, having played 95 matches. She has also played 46 WODIs.Salma was also the ICC’s No 1 bowler in WT20Is in 2014 and 2015. She took 84 T20I wickets with her offspin at an average of 18.57, with best figures of 4-6 against Sri Lanka.”I think this is a revolutionary decision by our [BCB] president [Aminul Islam], as having someone like Salma involved will provide great support for women’s cricket,” Iftekhar Rahman, the BCB’s media committee chairman, said. “This is the first time such an appointment has been made in Bangladesh.”The board has also promoted Hasibul Hossain to the senior men’s selection panel. He will join chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain and Abdur Razzak. The third position had been vacant since Hannan Sarkar left the role in February this year.Hasibul, the former fast bowler, played five Tests and 32 ODIs. He played in Bangladesh’s inaugural Test match against India in 2000, and was involved in the famous leg-bye that won Bangladesh the ICC Trophy final in 1997.Hasibul had been a junior selector in the BCB since July 2016, having worked closely with the Bangladesh Under-19 side that lifted the World Cup in 2020.

Their key players are out of form and that’s not good when they have to face the tournament’s most in-form batting unit

Sreshth Shah30-Mar-20242:46

McClenaghan: Titans rely too much on Gill, may be a batter short

Match details

Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Ahmedabad, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)

Big picture

A plethora of subplots from outside the cricket field may have helped Gujarat Titans lift themselves to a come-from-behind win against Mumbai Indians in their season opener, but a 63-run defeat away against Chennai Super Kings begs the question: are the Titans of 2024 championship material?David Miller, for example, has crossed 30 only three times in 15 innings this year and averages 29. His strike rate of 119 this year is also his worst in 13 years, a steep drop from 2023 (135.2) and 2022 (147.2).Another barometer of the Titans’ performance is Rashid Khan. In their wins – they’ve had 12 of those since 2023 – he comes away with an economy rate of 7.35. But in their losses – seven in the same period – Rashid’s economy rate skyrockets to 10.03. It shows that when he struggles, they struggle too. This used to be rare but since last year’s tournament, he has leaked nine runs an over roughly once every three matches (6 out of 19; 5 of those 6 were losses)And that’s where the challenge lies as a rampaging Sunrisers Hyderabad arrive fresh off a performance that rewrote IPL record books. Travis Head has his own love story with Ahmedabad since the ODI World Cup final, Abhishek Sharma has carried his form from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy well and Heinrich Klaasen is the only man to hit 50 T20 sixes this year. With the Narendra Modi Stadium one of the country’s best surfaces for batters, the Titans will need someone to fill the shoes of Mohammed Shami at both ends of their innings.The Titans, though, can hit back. Barring Pat Cummins, the Sunrisers pacers have gone at 11.93 runs per over in IPL 2024 and it is an area the hosts can exploit, especially their captain Shubman Gill. Ahmedabad is Gill’s favourite venue – 700 runs in 13 innings at an average of nearly 64 and a strike-rate of almost 160 – and with only 37 runs in two innings this season, he will be itching for a sizeable contribution.2:18

McClenaghan on Miller’s poor form: ‘Tough role being a finisher’

Team news and impact player strategy

Gujarat TitansThe Titans are usually predictable with their impact substitutions, so expect fast bowler Mohit Sharma and left-hand batter Sai Sudharsan to swap places. Matthew Wade is also available after missing the first two games playing the Sheffield Shield final. Shahrukh Khan or Abhinav Manohar could be tempting options in the middle order.Probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Umesh Yadav, 12 Mohit SharmaTitans will have their task cut out bowling to Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen•BCCI

Sunrisers HyderabadAfter excelling in their season opener, T Natarajan missed Sunrisers’ second game with an unspecified niggle and his availability is unknown. Jaydev Unadkat, his replacement against Mumbai Indians, impressed with his change-ups and could keep his place in the XI. Wanindu Hasaranga has also not yet arrived in India.As for Impact Player options, Sunrisers could start with medium-pacer Nitish Reddy or fast bowler Umran Malik if bowling first, with Travis Head replacing them in the second innings. Washington Sundar could also be a realistic option against left-hand heavy Titans.Probable XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Travis Head, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jaydev Unadkat / T Natarajan, 12 Umran MalikBhuvneshwar Kumar has gone for 104 runs in eight overs in IPL 2024•Associated Press

In the spotlight

In two innings, Vijay Shankar has scored 18 runs in 17 balls. He has not bowled either. Against a high-scoring side like Sunrisers, the Titans could be tempted to play Shahrukh Khan instead to add power to the middle order, especially since he follows a consolidator like Sudharsan at No. 3. Shankar, though, enjoys facing Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 off 5, strike rate 320) and Jaydev Unadkat (15 off 7, strike rate 214) in T20 cricket.Bhuvneshwar Kumar is yet to take a wicket in his two IPL 2024 outings and has conceded 104 runs in eight overs. Against both Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, Bhuvneshwar made promising starts to his spell but ended up leaking big runs in the death overs. As the senior-most bowler in a franchise where he has played since 2014, Bhuvneshwar needs to either find wickets or get his runs down. Ideally, he’d want to do both.

Stats that matter

Gill has historically struggled putting Bhuvneshwar away at the IPL, scoring only 50 runs in 48 balls while being dismissed three times in nine innings. He also has a strike-rate of only 94.4 against Unadkat.In 23 balls, Abhishek has hit Rashid for three fours and three sixes, averaging a boundary every 3.6 deliveries. His strike-rate against Rashid is 204 overall and this IPL, he is scoring at 226.Klaasen is hitting a six every 5.4 balls in 2024, behind only Andre Russell’s ball-per-six ratio of 4.6. Fifty of his 53 sixes have come between long-off and deep backward square leg.Since the start of IPL 2023, the team batting first has won six of the ten IPL games played in Ahmedabad.

Pitch and conditions

Ahmedabad usually offers a true batting surface with enough on offer to keep pacers and spinners interested. Spinners can also use the long square boundaries to good effect. The average first-innings winning score here since 2021 in the IPL is 188. In the last outing at the venue, the Titans defended 168 successfully. Expect a hot afternoon with a peak of 35 degrees during toss time.