Akram Khan and his nephews, Tamim and Nafees Iqbal, are truly sons of their city: warm, hospitable, humble and enterprising

Mohammad Isam20-Jan-2011Cricket accounts for most of the landmarks in Kazir Deuri, a neighbourhood south of the city centre. This is the location of the MA Aziz Stadium, the site of the national side’s first Test victory, in 2005. Close by lies Abedin Colony, which gave the country the batting maestro Minhajul Abedin. A stone’s throw away lies the popular Khwaza restaurant and, one street away, is the residence of the family that owns the eatery. Anyone you meet will point it out as “Akram ‘s house”.The generously proportioned 1970s-style building is home to as many as three international players who count 187 international caps among them – and the number will grow further, thanks to Bangladesh’s current batting sensation Tamim Iqbal. Tamim is a nephew of Akram Khan and a brother of Nafees Iqbal, two cricketers whose brief international careers in no way sum up their contribution to Bangladesh cricket.When Tamim was eight years old, Akram played an innings that is still spoken of in revering tones in Bangladesh’s cricketing corridors. Facing Netherlands in a crucial ICC Trophy match in Kuala Lumpur in 1997, Bangladesh were 15 for 4 when Akram walked in. Locals clutching their radios a little closer to their ears were paid back in full when the swashbuckling player hit an unbeaten 68.”I remember every single minute of that match. It was the innings that changed Bangladesh cricket,” Saiful Islam, a local resident, says. “I was only 17 then but I remember Akram did it all by himself. It was a rainy evening … and we all celebrated by thronging his house and chanting his name,” he adds, his eyes bright with delight.Tamim, too, remembers that episode well. “My first real memory of cricket is of everyone going ‘Akram Khan, Akram Khan’ after the ICC Trophy match.”That innings transformed Akram Khan into the biggest name in the country, an honour he justified when he piloted the team to triumph in the ICC Trophy. His 40-odd against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup confirmed him as the country’s first major international star.”Akram has always been an inspiration,” Sajjadul Haque, a left-arm spinner in Dhaka’s First Division Cricket League side Indira Road, says. “And he is one of the nicest people around. Whenever anyone needs a team in Dhaka, he would go in to bat for them.”Akram retired in 2003 but was attached to the domestic game till 2007, grooming his nephews – Nafees and Tamim – for the national side.Though Akram was the first to bring cricket into Tamim’s life, it was Tamim’s father, the late Iqbal Khan, who influenced him the most. “His support can’t be described in words. It is sad that he never got to see my brother’s [Nafees] or my international career,” says Tamim.While his father influenced his life, it was Akram and Nafees who shaped the left-hander’s initial innings in local cricket. Nafees advised Tamim to play in the Premier League, while Akram ensured Tamim’s graduation to a big team (Old DOHS Sporting Club) after he had piled up the runs for the relatively smaller Orient Sporting Club.In present day Chittagong, it is Tamim and Nafees who rule the roost. “Tamim is a really good boy. More than anything, I enjoy watching him bat. His whole attitude is so positive,” Sohel Rana, a regular spectator at the international matches played at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium, says. “He has all the ingredients of a Khan. He is aggressive, entertaining and never loses the smile on his face.”Minhaz Uddin Khan, a resident of Enayet Bazar and a childhood friend of Tamim’s, says that not only does their cricketing ability make the Khans stand apart, their hospitality is remarkable as well. “Nobody can ever leave their house without having a meal. Aunty [Nusrat Iqbal] will never allow it,” says Minhaz, now a budding sports journalist.Even today, when Tamim returns to Chittagong during his breaks from international tours, local tournaments and training camps, the house is full of friends and family. “It doesn’t take much to bring on a celebration in that house. We have rooftop picnics, barbeques, etc and there is always fun and laughter,” Minhaz says. “The typical traits of a Chittagonian – a large heart, sense of humour and humility – are all there in Tamim, despite his modern upbringing. Every holiday must be spent either with family members at home or in Cox’s Bazar with friends.”Akram made Bangladesh weep for joy in 1997, Nafees allowed the country to heave a sigh of relief with his maiden century in the important drawn Test against Zimbabwe in 2005, and Tamim brought his fans across the world to their feet with his half-century against India in the 2007 World Cup.Cricket may be in their Khan blood, but Chittagonians would still like to believe that it is their city that makes them so enterprising and lovable.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the World Cup, Group B match between India and South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Nagpur12-Mar-2011Potential handover of the dayIt was at least an hour before they had to put their boxing gloves on when Gary Kirsten, in red and blue, and Corrie van Zyl, in green and white, led their squads on to the field for the warm ups. Before they got down to business, the pair met in the middle to exchange pleasantries. Rather than just a quick handshake the two chatted for a brief moment, perhaps with van Zyl adding the words: “This lot are yours after this,” to Kirsten. Both will step down from their respective positions after the tournament with Kirsten the favourite to take over as South Africa coach.Kamran Akmal moment of the dayIt would have been a dream start for South Africa: Virender Sehwag out in the second over for four. It could have been a reality when the India opener edged a Morne Morkel delivery. The ball flew to wicketkeeper Morne van Wyk’s right, but the gloveman did not even flinch. He may not have seen it at all, because he made no attempt to get to it. Graeme Smith, at first slip, rightly thought it was van Wyk’s catch and didn’t make any attempt of his own, leaving the whole incident looking remarkably similar to the moment when Ross Taylor’s edge was allowed to fly between Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan in Pallekele. The cost that time was 131 runs. This time, it was 69 more runs from Sehwag’s bat before he was dismissed.The first for FafWith no Imran Tahir to turn to, Graeme Smith tossed the ball to Francois du Plessis, his part time legspinner. He filled in Tahir’s suddenly big boots very quickly, with a wicket in his first over. And who and how. A rampaging Sehwag was bowled by du Plessis, who fired one in and got the batsman to edge onto leg stump. A 142-run partnership that looked like it had knocked all the air out of South Africa was broken. Surely now, he doesn’t deserve the nickname Faf – a colloquial verb for hanging around doing nothing. No faffing around for him, now.The no-ballAfter 787 legal deliveries in the tournament, spanning just over three matches, South Africa bowled their first no-ball in the fourth over. Morne Morkel, who has had a history of no-ball problems in the past, overstepped while bowling to Sachin Tendulkar. The ball was angled towards third man, destined for four before Kallis cut it off on the boundary. The resultant free hit only cost an extra one.The moment of deluge It wasn’t Tendulkar’s wicket or the fall of Gautam Gambhir, or even Yusuf Pathan that gave the glimpse of India’s 9 for 29 impending doom. It was when Yuvraj Singh, the team’s Cup crisis man, went that the alarm bells began to ring. A meaty six off Johan Botha promised much, but an over later a full toss from Jacques Kallis was clumsily holed into Botha’s hands down the ground. Within 16 runs, India had lost four wickets. Oops, cometh the choke.The grand-daddy of the fieldIndia’s fielding has come under fierce criticism for not being as agile or as eager as other teams but there was a general improvement in this match. Although we saw Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra put their bodies on the line it was the man with the oldest legs on the field, Sachin Tendulkar, whose fielding display really caught the eye. Tendulkar was a sharp and accurate and even when it looked like he would be beaten, he wasn’t. With Jacques Kallis playing the reverse-sweep off Harbhajan, Tendulkar was beaten at short third man twice but the third time he got down and made sure he only gave away one.The 2.5 metre jinxNo matter what MS Dhoni does, he can’t escape the DRS system and its 2.5 metre rule. The first referral India asked for in this match was an lbw appeal that Zaheer Khan had against Jacques Kallis. The on-field call was not out but replays showed that the ball pitched in line and would have gone on to hit off stump. But the catch? Kallis was more than 2.5 metres in front of the stumps at the point of impact and that meant that the ball had to be hitting some part of middle in order for him to be out. The on-field call was upheld and Dhoni’s bugbear bit him again.

Their differences date back to 2007, and there is no end in sight

Tony Cozier19-Jun-2011As the one-time baseball legend and master of malapropisms Yogi Berra might have put it, it is like déjà vu all over again. Rows between board and players have become as much a part of West Indies cricket over the last ten years or so as diplomatic flare-ups at the United Nations. Those involving Chris Gayle especially have been a recurring theme.The script is constant. One of Gayle’s typically forthright criticisms offends the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). It demands that he retracts. He tells them just where to get off. The animosity becomes inevitably and increasingly bitter.The latest standoff has flared over the past couple of months, since the end of the World Cup, mainly over the contradictory reasons given by WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire and Gayle for the opener’s omission from this season’s home series, his flight to the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his resentment at the way he felt he was treated by the WICB.Gayle stated his case in a lengthy and widely circulated radio interview in which he was bitterly critical of Hilaire, the selectors, coach Ottis Gibson (who he termed “a user”) and the WICB in general. For their part, Gibson, Hilaire and WICB director Sir Hilary Beckles said some pretty uncomplimentary things about Gayle, either directly or indirectly.It was clear that his return to the team was untenable against such a background. The upshot was the meeting between Hilaire and West Indies’ team management, on the one hand, and Gayle, West Indies Players Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ramnarine and vice-president Wavell Hinds, on the other, at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston last Wednesday.Given that Hilaire and Ramnarine, two fierce, unyielding adversaries, were on opposite sides of the table and conscious of the history of Gayle’s earlier run-ins with the WICB, it was not surprising to learn that the discussions were tempestuous and inconclusive.Intended to clear the air, it left it, instead, more polluted than an Icelandic volcano.While the two sides now engage in their usual propaganda war, it would surely have been more beneficial for the matter to have been heard by the WICB’s independent disciplinary committee, headed by Justice Adrian Saunders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), rather than by those so directly concerned.As it stands, Gayle’s relationship with the WICB remains even more strained than when he acknowledged, after their first standoff in 2007, that “there is no love lost between myself and the board”. He was two weeks into the captaincy he was to hold until last October when, in his regular column on the internet on behalf of sponsors Digicel, he slated the WICB for its incompetence in failing to get specialist players to England in time for a warm-up match prior to the three ODIs. He also let it be known that he wasn’t too pleased that the WICB had initially knocked back the selectors’ choice of him as captain for that series, only to subsequently relent.Ken Gordon, then WICB president, so resented such public comments by the captain that he and tour manager Mike Findlay told Gayle, at a “lengthy meeting”, that such remarks were “totally unacceptable, ill-advised and caused unnecessary embarrassment to the WICB”. They were sentiments almost identical to the WICB’s in the present case.Back then, Gordon issued what was termed “a strong reprimand” and insisted on an apology. In addition, he said he would have his board “take the matter further after the tour”. Gayle’s response was as belligerent as his batting. “Will I stand up to the board? Yes, that’s me,” he countered. “I always stand up for what I believe in and when I’m wrong, I’m wrong and when I’m right, I’m right. If there are going to be any consequences you have to stand up and deal with it as a man. I’m always ready for anything.” Nothing much has changed in the interim.

While the two sides now engage in their usual propaganda war, it would surely have been more beneficial for the matter to have been heard by the WICB’s independent disciplinary committee, headed by Justice Adrian Saunders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), rather than by those so directly concerned.

By the time Gayle returned home from the 2007 England tour, Gordon had resigned. Julian Hunte, who remains in office four years on, took his place. In an effort to regain the players’ confidence, he let the matter rest, going as far as appointing Ramnarine a WICB director.By 2008, Gayle was entrenched as captain but was again unhappy, now that he was not engaged enough in selection. Once more, he publicly expressed his frustration. “The majority of the time we discuss about selection and sometimes I get something totally different,” he told the during the home ODIs against Australia the West Indies would lose 5-0. “It’s difficult on my side.”Soon, he had had enough. Immediately after the series, he sent in his letter of resignation as captain to the WICB. He decided to change his mind, reportedly only after discussions with teammates and with Hunte.It was an ironic twist in light of future events.By June 2009, Gayle and the leading players went on strike two days before the first home Test against Bangladesh. Hunte was scathing in his condemnation. “It was not about action against the Board, it was a statement on the attitude of the players towards West Indies cricket,” he fumed in his annual report. “It was simply a case of players feeling so invincible, drunken by the numerous occasions on which they had gotten away with whatever behaviour they chose, that they can act with wanton disrespect for the game of cricket.”Then, on the 2009 tour of England, followed Gayle’s notorious and widely quoted interview in the Guardian newspaper in England in which he said he “wouldn’t be so sad” if Test cricket were to die out. He stated he preferred Twenty20 cricket, claimed that he “didn’t want to be captain” in the first place and would be “giving it up shortly”.What has followed since has been contradictory and confusing.As captain, his batting average in Tests was almost ten runs an innings higher than when he was in the ranks. When he declined to sign a WICB retainer contract last year and was sacked as captain, it was widely interpreted as his release to play more of his supposed preferred Twenty20 cricket in the IPL, the Australian Big Bash and whatever else might be available. Yet, in his first Test under the new skipper, Darren Sammy, he amassed a small matter of 333 against Sri Lanka. It was hardly the way of someone who wouldn’t be so sad if Test cricket died out.After the World Cup, he said he wanted “to get back on track as quickly as possible” after treatment for a groin injury since his “ultimate goal was…to play and represent West Indies” (for the home series against Pakistan and India). It is a goal that can only be realised if he, and the WIPA, and the WICB suppress egos and grudges and adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards each other. Otherwise, Gayle’s future could be confined to Twenty20 bashes and the West Indies denied their most dominant and entertaining player.

Despite not being the most consistent Indian batsman to reach the 8000-run mark, VVS Laxman’s ability to perform in crunch situations sets him apart

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan29-Jun-2011As has been the case so often in recent years, when the rest of the batting folded on a tough pitch against a quality attack, VVS Laxman once again stood firm in Barbados and ensured that India posted a competitive total. Laxman, who in the recent past has anchored tricky chases in Mohali and Colombo, and helped India recover from lost causes in Kolkata and Durban, reached the milestone of 8000 runs in his 201st innings. In contrast with the three other Indian batsmen who have reached the mark, Laxman has been much slower primarily because of a tendency to throw away good starts. While Laxman has been dismissed 39 times for scores between 21 and 40 (20% of total innings played), Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, the first two Indian batsmen to the 8000-run mark were dismissed in the same range on just 14% of the occasions they batted. Consistency was never Laxman’s forte in his early years, and despite becoming far more reliable in the last few years, he has generally reserved his best performances for crunch situations.Laxman less consistent
Tendulkar, who reached the 8000-run milestone in 2002, has the third-highest average among all batsmen who have more than 8000 runs in Tests. He reached the mark in 154 innings, a record that was recently eclipsed by Kumar Sangakkara, who did so in 152 innings. At the time of reaching the landmark, Tendulkar averaged 57.58 with 29 centuries. Gavaskar, the first Indian to reach the 8000-run mark, had 29 centuries and 35 fifties at that time, but averaged lesser (52.39). Rahul Dravid, who had an average over 57 at the time of reaching the mark, has had a less successful run in the last few years and his average has fallen to just over 52. Laxman, the third-slowest to the mark, has the lowest average (47.05) and the fewest centuries (16) among the four Indian batsmen to have achieved the milestone. In contrast with the conversion rate (ratio of hundreds to fifties) of Tendulkar (0.86) and Gavaskar (0.75), Laxman’s corresponding figure is just 0.32. In fact, among all the 22 batsmen who belong in the 8000-run club, only Alec Stewart, with 15, has fewer hundreds, while Laxman’s conversion rate is also the lowest. However, one of the reasons for that is he has often batted at Nos. 5 and 6, which has meant he’s only had the tail for company through much of his innings.*

Stats of Indian batsmen with 8000-plus runs in Tests

BatsmanTests/InningsRunsAverage100/50Inns 8000 runsAvg 8000 runs100/50 8000 runsSachin Tendulkar177/2901469256.9451/5915457.5829/32Rahul Dravid152/2621222052.4432/5915857.1620/39Sunil Gavaskar125/2141012251.1234/4516652.3929/35VVS Laxman122/201800047.0516/5020147.0516/50Scoring when it matters the most
Laxman had a very slow start to his Test career after his debut in Ahmedabad against South Africa in 1996-97. He did not score a single century for the next three years and averaged just over 24 in 16 Tests. Eventually, his first hundred came in the third Test of the disastrous Australian tour in 1999-00. Laxman’s rapid 167 out of 261 in India’s second innings failed to prevent an innings defeat but kickstarted a prolific run. In 2001, Laxman’s remarkable 281 at the Eden Gardens rescued India from a near-hopeless situation against Australia. This win after following on was followed by a two-wicket win in the third Test in Chennai in which Laxman scored twin half-centuries. On the 2003-04 tour of Australia, against a much weaker bowling attack, Laxman made two more centuries in Adelaide and Sydney. In 2004, he ended a poor home series against Australia on a high by scoring 69 in the third innings on a turning track in Mumbai which set up India’s 13-run win.In the last two years, Laxman made vital contributions in three of India’s best Test wins. While his century in Colombo helped India chase down a tricky target of 257, his superb knocks of 73 and 96 were responsible for India squeezing out wins in Mohali and Durban. Another indication of his improved consistency has been the fact that he has averaged over 62 in 20 Tests since the beginning of 2009.

Phases of Laxman’s career

PhaseMatches/InningsRunsAverage100/50Debut-Dec 199916/2862624.070/5Jan 2000-Dec 200445/70316951.117/15Jan 2005-present61/103420551.289/30India’s middle-order mainstay
Laxman, with 5139 runs at No.5 and 6, is only the third Indian to score over 5000 runs batting at these two positions after Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly. His average of 50.38 is well above that of Azharuddin’s (45.25) and Ganguly’s (38.54). Among the top batsmen in these two positions, Steve Waugh has scored the most runs and centuries, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul has the best average. As a consequence of being highly successful at these two vital positions in the middle order, Laxman has forged prolific partnerships for the fourth and fifth wickets. He has aggregated nearly 2700 runs with Tendulkar with eight century stands and over 2000 runs with Dravid with seven century stands. On eight of the 29 occasions that Laxman has been involved in a century stand (batting at No.5 and 6), the score has been less than 100 at the start of the partnership.

Top batsmen at No. 5 and 6 (min 5000 suns scored)

BatsmanMatches/InningsRunsAverage100/50Shivnarine Chanderpaul89/146676055.8618/40Steve Waugh150/221991954.5030/45Allan Border94/133562752.1015/32VVS Laxman84/124513950.3810/35Clive Lloyd86/119516347.3614/27Prolific against Australia
Laxman has reserved his finest performances for matches against Australia, and is one of only nine batsmen who have scored over 2000 runs against Australia at an average greater than 50. While Tendulkar and Gavaskar have done quite well against Australia, Dravid has been less successful, and averages just under 36 at home. Laxman averages nearly 45 in England, but has struggled in home games, averaging just over 22 in nine innings. While Gavakar has been exceptional against Pakistan both home and away, both Tendulkar and Laxman have underperformed. Laxman, who had struggled on previous tours of South Africa, did much better this time round, and averages over 40 there. Both Laxman and Dravid, who were part of the Indian team that was bowled out for 81 in Barbados in 1997, have scored over 1000 runs in the West Indies at averages of 45.45 and 67.47 respectively.

Performanceofleading Indian run-getters against top teams home and away(Runs, Average)

OppositionTendulkar (h)Tendulkar (a)Dravid (h)Dravid (a)Gavaskar (h)Gavaskar (a)Laxman(h)Laxman(a)Australia1629, 62.651522, 58.531000, 35.71949, 52.72630, 52.50920, 51.111198, 57.041081, 54.05England848, 60.571302, 62.00574, 47.83915, 65.351331, 35.971152, 41.14180, 22.50404, 44.88New Zealand690, 49.28842, 49.52893, 63.78766, 63.83259, 43.16392, 43.55496, 82.66322, 40.25Pakistan574, 44.15483, 40.25686, 42.87550, 78.571088, 54.401001, 58.88513, 46.63262, 37.42South Africa580, 36.251161, 46.44628, 39.25624, 29.71–410, 34.16566, 40.42Sri Lanka840, 52.501155, 67.94846, 76.90662, 33.10414, 103.50186, 37.20370, 46.25530, 48.18West Indies708, 70.80620, 47.69148, 49.331417, 67.471345, 61.131404, 70.20271, 90.331000, 45.45Brilliant in the second and third innings
While Tendulkar and Dravid have been superb in the first innings of matches, Laxman and Gavaskar have not quite done as well. Laxman has scored under 24% of his total runs in the first innings of Tests. In the second innings, he averages over 52 with six centuries. His second-innings aggregate is over 37% of his total run tally, the best among the four batsmen. Laxman has also outperformed the other three batsmen in thr third innings, where he has averaged over 56. Gavaskar and Laxman are the two batsmen who have scored over 25% of their runs in the third innings. In the fourth innings, Gavaskar is far ahead of the others. He has scored four centuries and averages 58.25, which is the second-highest average among batsmen with over 1000 runs in the fourth innings in Tests.

Top Indian run-getters across match innings (Runs, avg, 100/50)

Batsman1st innins2nd innings3rd innings4th inningsSachin Tendulkar5397, 70.09, 20/195160, 58.63, 18/222764, 47.65, 10/131371, 39.17, 3/5Rahul Dravid3966, 58.32, 14/154408, 58.77, 12/212446, 43.67, 5/141377, 43.03, 1/9Sunil Gavaskar2546, 41.73, 11/83613, 60.21, 12/152565, 48.39, 7/141398, 58.25, 4/8VVS Laxman1919, 36.90, 5/82977, 52.22, 6/232197, 56.33, 4/14907, 41.22, 1/5

Sachin Tendulkar batted at one net. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a hit at the others. India’s go-to man stood in between, watching it all attentively

Nagraj Gollapudi at Old Trafford30-Aug-2011Rahul Dravid leaned on the railing of one of the training cages. Padded up, hands folded across his chest, he studiously turned his head to the left to watch Sachin Tendulkar face throwdowns. In the next instant, he tilted his neck to the opposite side to watch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat in the other nets.As Dravid shifted his attention, his mind would have gleaned as much as possible from observing both the old and the new. From Tendulkar’s trademark punched drives to Kohli’s reverse sweeps; from Tendulkar’s wrist flick when tucking the ball to the leg side to Rohit’s hoicked flick over square-leg. Dravid watched it all attentively.Tomorrow he will play his first and last Twenty20 international. With injuries ruling out Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and now Gautam Gambhir, and with Sachin Tendulkar opting not to play Twenty20 internationals, India have been forced to turn to Dravid to bolster their batting, which suddenly seems less formidable than the World Cup-winning line-up.Dravid himself was surprised at his selection in the limited-overs squad. Perhaps he was a little bit hurt, too; about being kept in the dark, about not being consulted beforehand, about not being given due respect. On the same evening he announced his retirement from the shorter formats at the end of the England tour.Just as they did in the Tests, India somehow find reassurance in Dravid’s presence. Perhaps it is because he tends to be fluid, flexible, dynamic. The Twenty20 format is not alien to Dravid; he has played in all four editions of the IPL, and the two seasons of the Champions League. But how do you teach a renaissance painter abstract expressionism?So Dravid continues to try and hit hard, run as fast as he can, play cross-batted strokes. In the nets today, he tried to slog sweep, but could not bring himself to do it convincingly and settled on a few occasions to play the paddle sweep. Dravid’s method of playing flight is to lunge at and smother the spin elegantly with his wrists. Not for slog sweeps or hitting inside out over cover or mid-off.With IPL and Champions League experience behind him, Rahul Dravid is not new to Twenty20s, but how do you teach a renaissance painter abstract expressionism?•AFPAfter playing with hard hands during his brief innings at Hove in the rain-affected practice match against Sussex, Dravid improvised to produce a much calmer, more fluent 29 in the victory against Leicester in the Twenty20 on Monday.He will be joined by Tendulkar during the one-day series. If the world champions are to avoid defeat in the ODIs, the success of this pair could be crucial. But how long can India rely on their old guard? At a time when teams like England are investing in specialist teams comprising youngsters and three different captains, the Indian board has stuck to the policy of milking its important players across all formats.MS Dhoni has agreed that rotation would not be a bad idea for India and its players in the long term. “We will have to [adopt rotation] because the schedule looks quite cramped up,” Dhoni said. “It is important to give some players the rest. It has more to do with the mental aspect than the physical one. A bit of good rest in between helps you to keep away the injuries that may happen if you keep on playing [without the break].”But at the same time the BCCI has reiterated its stance about giving players the choice to opt out if and when they want to take a break. So if a Suresh Raina thinks he is exhausted after playing for months on the road, and needs a break, why does he not take one?Raina is being groomed as a potential future captain, yet he has never been really assertive or consistent as a batsman. Despite having played 120 one-dayers, Raina perpetually struggles to perfect his technique.Every coach who has managed India has had nothing but praise for Raina, from his work ethic to his talent. And yet he has found it difficult to take over the middle-order reins convincingly from the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar.Raina’s position in the team was questioned after each defeat in the Test series. The England fast bowlers put him to task in every innings and he was found susceptible to the short delivery on many occasions. He did not make much noise in the tour matches either. But Dhoni has always been of the firm belief that a player needs to be given the longest possible rope.Fair enough. But India need the likes of Raina, Gambhir, Kohli and Rohit to calibrate their careers and not to exhaust themselves by playing too much cricket. The first three have been identified by some of best cricketing brains as potential leadership material. It is that much more important, then, that they be more responsible with their careers.Dravid is a shining example. He paid attention to what was important and was not distracted by that which was not. Like today. As Kohli reverse-swept successfully and then Rohit failed attempting the same stroke, Dravid just looked away, slung his kit back across his shoulder, put his head down and walked out of the training. Tomorrow he will return, to do what he can.

England’s tour is quickly running out of steam, but there are a few options for them to change momentum

Andrew McGlashan19-Oct-2011England have given themselves a mountain to climb in the one-day series against India after two thumping defeats in Hyderabad and Delhi. Most worryingly for the visitors the thrashings were handed out in different styles; in the first match it was the power of MS Dhoni and India’s spinners, which is an understandable combination to a degree, but in the second game England were hoisted by their own petard as India’s bustling pacers did the damage against a batting line-up that flattered to deceive.A host of 30s and 40s don’t win ODIs in the subcontinent, while getting angry in the middle, which happened as Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir built their 209-run stand, doesn’t portray the team in a great light. This tour isn’t – or shouldn’t be – long enough for tempers to fray too much, but it was a sign that England were not dealing with the pressure.They have one opportunity left to stay in the series and Mohali offers them a decent chance because the seamers can play a role at the northern venue. Still, it will take a big turnaround to ensure the final two ODIs are not just a quest to avoid a whitewash. Ian Bell is being touted for a recall, but his one-day record doesn’t suggest he’s the solution, so here are a few options for England to change the momentum.

Milk it

England’s innings in Delhi included 173 dot balls, more than half the allocated overs, which showed that the batsmen struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking over. One-day cricket doesn’t have to be all about fours and sixes (although the absent Virender Sehwag may disagree) and when a field is set back outside the Powerplay overs, six or seven runs-per-over can be achieved by deft placement. Dhoni and Kohli, while they did pepper the boundary, gave perfect examples of how to work the gaps in a field. England’s methods have reverted to a hint of block-or-bash which makes it easy for the opposition to set fields. A key part of milking an attack, though, is confident running between the wickets. England have a few dodgy runners – Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel – and that can sow seeds of doubt through the entire line-up.

Find your range

While working the singles is one method, if England’s batsmen are eager to hunt the boundaries then it has to be done with conviction. They practise their range-hitting – standing in the middle of the ground and launching throw-downs into the stands – before most one-dayers, so they can build confidence in clearing the ropes. Throwing caution to the wind has been a success for them before, albeit in very different conditions, when they entered the 2009 Champions Trophy on the back of a 6-1 drubbing by Australia and proceeded to cut loose against Sri Lanka and South Africa. Led by Paul Collingwood’s aggression they shed inhibitions and reached the semi-final where their method fell apart against Australia. That’s the flip side; when it goes bad it can look ugly so be prepared to face the flak.

Take the chances

Being out-batted and out-bowled by India on home soil is one thing. England, though, have also been out-fielded. This isn’t meant as a slight on India, who have improved hugely with the likes of Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja prowling the inner ring, but with the amount of work they put in, and specialist coaching available, England have few excuses for poor fielding, both on the ground and in the air. The tone for both their stints in the field was set by dropped catches – Jonathan Trott spilling Ajinkya Rahane in Hyderabad and Graeme Swann missing Parthiv Patel in Delhi – and though neither cost many runs it can filter through a performance.

Unleash the youngsters

A host of changes in the wake of defeat can be taken as a sign of panic, but it can also show a dose of realism. An unchanged team was given the chance to make amends in Delhi and came up well short. This is already a young England side, but more youthful players are waiting in the wings. Although Chris Woakes has flown home injured, the legspinner Scott Borthwick, and the fast bowler Stuart Meaker impressed in the warm-up matches. India won’t have seen much of either of them, and are clearly getting quite used to the fare currently being served up. Jos Buttler, the Somerset keeper-batsman, is also an unofficial member of the touring party. There is nothing stopping England making him available for selection. It would be an admittance that things aren’t going to plan but that’s pretty plain to see anyway.

A look at some of the major statistical milestones and how well they’ve stood the test of time

S Rajesh09-Dec-2011Next target for Virender Sehwag: six sixes in an over in a Test•AFPHighest team score in ODIs
This one looks like it’s under threat more than once every year, but Sri Lanka’s 443 has stood for more than five years now – it’s 1984 days since they made that total against Netherlands in Amstelveen. Since then there have been seven 400-plus totals, but none more than 440.Highest partnership for any wicket in Tests
The 451 runs that Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman added for the second wicket remained a record from 1934 to 1990 (though Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad equalled the mark in 1983). When Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe finally went past it, adding 467 against Sri Lanka in 1991, the Ponsford-Bradman record had stood for a whopping 20,623 days. So stung were Sri Lanka by that humiliation that they twice inflicted greater torture on their opponents. First, Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama added 576 against India in 1997, which exceeded the previous record by as much as 23%, and then Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene smashed that mark too, adding 624 against South Africa. That record has so far stayed for 1959 days.Most Test wickets in a year
In 1981, Dennis Lillee took 85 Test wickets. That stayed the record till 2005, when Shane Warne took 96. Muttiah Muralitharan threatened it by taking 90 the following year, but since then Warne’s mark has looked safe. Dale Steyn topped with 74 in 2008, Graeme Swann had 64 in 2010 and Mitchell Johnson 63 in 2009. So far in 2011, no one has managed even half of Warne’s record: Saeed Ajmal is on top with 44.Murali didn’t quite get the record in 2006, but Mohammad Yousuf took the batting equivalent that year, for his Test aggregate of 1788 at a Bradmanesque 99.33.Highest individual score in Tests
As the list of progressive record holders shows, this one passed hands fairly regularly till 1958, when Garry Sobers scored his undefeated 365. That was in Test No. 450. For the next 808 matches, which spanned 13,196 days, that record stayed unbroken, till Brian Lara scored 375 on April 18, 1994. Then, 3461 days later, Matthew Hayden smashed 380 against Zimbabwe, a record that was his for only 184 days before Lara snatched it back. Since then, it has stayed with Lara… for 2797 days and counting.Highest team score in Tests
For many years, England’s 903 for 7 declared seemed to be beyond the reach of any side. That record was set on August 23, 1938, but 21,532 days and 1108 Test matches later, Sri Lanka finally bettered it, scoring 952 for 6 against India. Since then, no team has touched 800 in 5238 days.Most wickets in a Test match
Anil Kumble equalled Jim Laker’s perfect ten in a Test innings, but no bowler has threatened Laker’s 19 in that Test at Old Trafford against Australia in 1956. That makes it 20,219 days for Laker’s record.Most Test wickets in a series
This one is nearing 100 years of unchanged reign. Sydney Barnes took 49 in the last series he played, against South Africa in 1913-14, and that’s despite missing the last Test of the five-match series. The fourth Test of the series ended on February 18, 1914, which means the record is very nearly 98 years old, or, in terms of days, 35,724. Warne took 40 in the 2005 Ashes, but no other bowler has even got close to the mark in the last 25 years. With very few five-Test series scheduled these days, this one could stay forever.The batting equivalent – Don Bradman’s 974 in England in 1930 – looks to be untouchable too: the closest in the last 25 years is Mark Taylor’s 839 in England in 1989.Highest individual score in first-class cricket
Hanif Mohammad made 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1958-59, and this record stood for more than 35 years, before Lara raised the bar yet again, scoring an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994.Six sixes in an over (in all forms of the game)
Until 1984, Sobers was the only batsman to achieve it in first-class or List A cricket, taking Malcolm Nash for 36 in an over in a first-class game for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in 1968. In the 1984-85 season, Ravi Shastri repeated that feat off Tilak Raj in a Ranji Trophy game for Bombay. In 2007, there were two such instances on the world stage: first by Herschelle Gibbs in the World Cup match against Netherlands, and then by Yuvraj Singh in the World Twenty20 against England.That record is waiting to happen in Test cricket, though. Three batsmen – Shahid Afridi, Kapil Dev and AB de Villiers – have struck sixes off four consecutive balls. Given Sehwag’s mindset, you wouldn’t want to bet against him getting that record too.

In the toughest conditions of the series so far, he has come through as the toughest batsman on both sides

Sharda Ugra at Trent Bridge30-Jul-2011The grey skies at the start of the Nottingham Test had slotted first day into what English cricket folk call a “bowling day”; as the clouds parted on Saturday and sunlight flowed over Trent Bridge, naturally it was the advent of that other phenomenon: “batting day.”For this Test match, surely, they needn’t have bothered with the descriptives. In terms of batsmanship, the first two days of the Trent Bridge Test have both just been, quite simply, Dravid Days.The wicket at Trent Bridge is known for its propensity to swing. The theories behind that phenomenon include the Duke’s ball, the new stands built at the ground, the airflow around them, the neighbouring river Trent, the sky, the clouds, the weather, everything and nothing. Wherever the swing came from, Rahul Dravid’s response to it, and his second Test century of the tour, came from skill, memory and cussedness.In the toughest conditions of the series so far, Dravid has come through as the toughest batsman in either side. In passages of play when the bowling has been unrelenting and spells in which the ball has darted, jagged, leapt and thrown flying kisses at the bat’s edge, Dravid has been instinct and calculation in perfect sync.With this 34th century, he has now drawn level with Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara, to go with his No. 2 spot on the list of all-time Test run-scorers. If there ever was a poll conducted to identify the most hardy and considerate of international batsmen of this age, Dravid has a very good chance of topping it. In this series already, he has done whatever he is capable of: opened, batted at No. 3, kept wickets, fielded at slips – and he will say with his droll humour, also dropped a few. Asked a question about his ability to bowl after his century, he laughed and said, “If I bowl, my shoulder will come out off my back.”Rahul Dravid was dismissed after century No. 34, which draws him level with Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara•Getty ImagesOn this tour of England, it is a shoulder his team has leaned heavily upon. Of all the India batsmen, he has adjusted the quickest in England, looked the most composed and scored the most heavily. India still find themselves gasping because he has had very little company. He was out in an outrageously flashy manner, a wild, short-game cut off Tim Bresnan, as out of place in his innings as pink hot pants would be at an awards presentation. Given that his partners had been unpredictable in the last 10 minutes, and four wickets had fallen for six runs, it was hard to blame him for going for broke.It is worth remembering that his first-innings century at Lord’s had been rendered paltry because of a similar effort from the rest. So maybe, if Dravid is seen attempting reverse hits or Dilscoops at The Oval, we’ll know how the Indian batting has gone in the rest of the Test matches. After Harbhajan Singh was out, he said he wanted to go for the runs, the extra 20-25 runs that could all add up at the end. Essentially, Dravid wanted to borrow from Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann’s ninth-wicket approach on Friday. “I thought let me do what they did and the first one I tried went into third man’s hands … that’s just Test cricket, it happens.”Dravid’s second century of the tour had begun with a bruising hour of play on Friday evening. He was hit on his wrist, jammed in the fingers, worked out, worked over. He had kept batting through two more sessions, sometimes hobbling, sometimes cramping but always pushing forward. He was hit in the wrist again this morning, and after the initial spasm, his hand lost sensation for a few overs. What Dravid never lost was the purpose of what he had to do: bat one ball at a time.In his epic innings – and he’s one of the few who has produced regular epics as against memorable stanzas – Dravid can often bat like a clock that ticks over reliably. Tap. Single. Back again. Forward. Defend. Dot ball. Beaten. Dot ball. Forget. Off stump. Leave. Dot ball. Late. Nudge. Two. Soft hands. Kill. Dot ball. Width. Cut. Four. Ball after ball, over after over. The craftsmanship does not lie on the surface. Dravid’s batting is not the stylish face of the clock, it’s the moving parts inside. He called Nottingham one of his better hundreds because of the “hard-working, fighting” aspects of it that he said he “really enjoyed”. He said the conditions in Headingley back in 2002, when India batted first on a green track to put up a total that set up victory, were tougher, but the bowling in 2011 was far more demanding and precise.He emerged with VVS Laxman on a bright morning and within three overs they cracked four consecutive boundaries. Two each, off rare lapses from Anderson and Broad, that erased the dread that had built up last evening among the small but vociferous Indian fans at the ground.Dravid called the hundred one of his better ones, terming it a “hard-working, fighting” knock•Getty ImagesThe partnership hummed along like it always has, at varying paces. The two men farmed the attack cleverly, Dravid facing Broad and Laxman against Anderson, with few singles, several twos and the quick boundary at a juicy sighter. Laxman melted the conditions – driving, pulling and cutting savagely to score his second half-century of the series. At the other end, Dravid was in his own bubble of concentration, found often at the non-striker’s end shadow-practising the leave as much as he did the forward defence. Andrew Strauss’s team believes it’s all the leaving from Dravid that the England line-up should take a cue from when they bat on Sunday.Broad later said Dravid’s wicket, off Bresnan, had been his favourite in a day when they fell in a clatter and had included his stunning hat-trick. “He [Dravid] has been so hard to bowl at in this series.” Dravid’s game is based on technical classicism and attached to it is the awareness of how valuable a wicket can be. Unlike items on the English retail market right now, Dravid’s wicket in this series is not going to be on discount sale.In Nottingham, there was measured driving, his runs earned by tucking balls away off the pads, countering the swing by playing the ball late and easing them through to third man. Closer to his century, the new ball nearing, Dravid saw the slower bowlers and the sun come on, and decided to show off the rest of his repertoire of shots: a back-foot cover drive, a glide through slips, and Swann, in particular, was taken apart, going for 42 in 37 balls to Dravid.After more than six hours of batting against the swinging, darting ball, Dravid put all the acclaim in perspective. “I played and missed a lot in this game. I could have nicked the first one and people would have said he’s not leaving well. When you get beaten you have to fight back. You have to say, ‘As long as I’m here, I’m going to make it count,’ and not try to do something silly.”If Dravid’s batting this series was to be set to music, it could possibly be to Elgar, in both its pomp and circumstance. This is his last tour of England, a country where he has always enjoyed playing his cricket; he has scored five centuries (average 73.18) here and soaked in its best traditions. His grim, beautiful fights in these two Tests for India have also carried with them gratitude for the grounds he is playing on.In Nottingham as he tried to push his team ahead in the contest run by run, inch by inch, he was also giving the crowd his farewell masterpiece. Dismissed in an unDravid-esque manner, he walked back through stretching shadows and the golden light of a dipping sun. Having shaken off his own annoyance at his dismissal, he raised his bat to all sections of Trent Bridge as he neared the gate. Then he disappeared up the steps into a pavilion that is 125 years old, with an honours board that will have his name up a second time. When Rahul Dravid leaves Nottingham, he will leave a part of his best self here.

Marks out of ten for India following their 0-4 loss to Australia

Sidharth Monga29-Jan-2012Virat Kohli was the only India player who would have merited a place in the Australia side•AFP6.5
Virat Kohli
The whole world was against him. The fans abused him, the match-referee fined him, the opposition sledged him, the press hounded him and the moral police convicted him. Despite all that, Kohli kept improving his game, was the only centurion for India and scored more runs than any of his illustrious team-mates. The only India player who would have merited a place in this Australia side. No more needs to be said.5
Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar began the series, and almost every innings in it, gloriously, looked good for a century twice, but didn’t cross 80. His dismissal in the first innings in Melbourne was one of the turning points in the game, and in Sydney his departure marked the end of India’s fight. Converting starts into long innings was Tendulkar’s problem in the series. It would be too simplistic to say, however, that the 100 centuries landmark consumed him.Zaheer Khan
Perhaps Zaheer’s biggest achievement of the series was that he actually stayed fit through the whole of it, something he has not done in an away Test series since India toured Bangladesh in January 2010. His spells late on the first day in both Melbourne and Sydney kept India alive, but he did not have a single five-wicket haul through the series, something expected of a spearhead. His inability to produce a match-winning performance was accentuated because the rest of the attack was not as accurate, smart or consistent.Umesh Yadav
The only India bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the series, Yadav showed he had pace, and can swing the ball late, attack the stumps and run through the tail. Consistency, though, was an issue and he will need time to develop more control.4
Ishant Sharma
Ishant bowled better than his series strike-rate of one wicket every 150 balls suggests, but was still a disappointment considering these were the conditions in which he announced himself in 2007-08. His failure is also a failure of the coaching staff, who have failed to develop Ishant from a raw find into an accomplished bowler.Wriddhiman Saha
MS Dhoni’s one-match ban for his side’s slow over-rates meant Saha got an opportunity in Adelaide and he kept impressively. He showed determination with the bat too: he helped Kohli reach his hundred in the first innings. In the second innings, though, Saha did not go out to bat at No. 7 at the end of the fourth day, and the nightwatchman Ishant was involved in a mix-up that led to Kohli’s run-out before stumps.3
R Ashwin
Ashwin gets an extra half-mark just for facing the media every time no-one else felt like it. He batted better than he bowled; his batting average was the third highest of all India’s players. With the ball, he kept bowling the odd loose ball that took the pressure off the batsmen. He is one of the few India players who can use the conditions in Australia as a legitimate excuse – his counterpart Nathan Lyon took fewer wickets than he did. Ashwin, however, has no excuse for being as slow as VVS Laxman in the field.2
Rahul Dravid
Getting bowled six times in eight innings does not befit a man nicknamed The Wall. Dravid, to his credit, kept working hard in the nets to try to get his back foot across, but kept finding it stuck outside leg during the Tests. He fought for two decent scores but never reached a point in any innings when he looked in form.Virender Sehwag
Sehwag could not handle the seaming ball and extra bounce made it doubly dangerous. He began with a streaky 60 in Melbourne but his series went downhill from there, ending with two dismissals to full tosses on a flat Adelaide track.Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir could not help poking at balls outside off at the start of the series, and was found out by the accurate bouncer towards the end. He fought in the second innings at the SCG but fell to a soft leading edge on 83.R Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar was a man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Four overs into his debut, his figures read 4-0-31-0. His inclusion meant India were playing four medium-pacers for the first time in 20 years, and the slow over-rate cost MS Dhoni a Test. Vinay Kumar will not forget Perth and David Warner in a hurry.1
VVS Laxman
Laxman was the biggest disappointment of the series because he has paid his bills through innings played in dire circumstances and has an excellent record against Australia. This time, though, he could not do anything to break the bowlers’ rhythm.0.5MS Dhoni
Stubborn. Both as captain and batsman. Dhoni captained by a text book that should be found and burnt. With the bat he kept pushing tamely outside off when he should have known his technique is not adequate for that kind of play.

ESPNcricinfo presents Plays of the Day from the first day of the second Test between Australia and India in Sydney

Sidharth Monga at the SCG03-Jan-2012The misfield
In the fifth over of the innings, Virender Sehwag patted James Pattinson towards mid-off. Peter Siddle let it slide between his legs to the early bemusement of the crowd just settling in. The next ball would have rubbed it in further. With Dravid on strike, the delivery went for four.The virtual handshake
Sehwag and Dravid are not the best runners between the wickets. It was evident when Sehwag punched Ben Hilfenhaus to the right of point. The calling wasn’t clear, nor was the intent. The two just set off, then thought against it, then kept jogging. It seemed they even had a conversation in the middle of the pitch. Had David Warner, who dived to stop the ball, fielded it cleanly, we would have had a run-out.The interruption
Beach balls are a big part of watching cricket in Australia. And often they find their way onto the field of play. There were two such noticeable intrusions today. One when the substitute, Adam Zampa, an Under-19 New South Welshman, came on as a substitute. The ball had made its way in, he took the ball, but didn’t return it to the crowd, and was loudly booed. Later during the day, with MS Dhoni about to face, another ball made its way from around long-off rushing towards long-on. A volunteer jumped in, even as the fast bowler ran in to bowl, in a desperate attempt to keep the ball from making it to the sight screen. His valiant effort proved to be in vain.The overthrows
In the 38th over of the innings, Dhoni pushed to the left of mid-off for a single, but got four for his efforts. The shy at the stumps missed, and between mid-on, who was backing up, and the stumps stood umpire Ian Gould. Nobody remonstrated, though. You don’t, especially when there is no DRS.The drop
It was an image you don’t get to see often in cricket. A regulation edge to second slip, waist high, and Ricky Ponting dropped it. Commentary on ABC debated whether it was blasphemous to even say Ponting had dropped a catch. Sehwag, the beneficiary, added only seven to his 23, though.The haste
When Siddle got No. 11 Umesh Yadav to edge one behind, MS Dhoni and Yadav rushed back to the hut to prepare for their bowling innings. However, for the third such time in the day, Ian Gould went up to check if the wicket-taking delivery had been a no-ball. Like the previous two occasions, here too the front foot was fine, which meant Siddle had taken his 100th Test wicket. It would have been interesting had it actually been a no-ball. Dhoni and Yadav would have had to get their gear back on, and rush back. A case – albeit flaky one – could have been made that India had declared.