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Glamorgan left frustrated, one wicket short of leapfrogging second-placed opponents in table

ECB Reporters Network 28-Jun-2023Sussex’s last pair survived 21.2 overs to save the game, Glamorgan left frustrated as they were one wicket short of leapfrogging their second-placed opponents in the table.Sussex finished on 273 for 9, 85 behind, Oli Carter on 55 not out after being dropped from two difficult chances, and No. 11 Henry Shipley unbeaten on 8.The visitors’ rearguard action kept them second in the table as this game finished in a nail-biting draw, after 15 overs were lost to rain in the morning.Australian legspinner Mitchell Swepson led the way for the hosts with four wickets, Jamie McIlroy and James Harris taking two each, but it was the final wicket that was to prove elusive.Wicketkeeper Carter survived 149 deliveries, Shipley 56, after Nathan McAndrew’s earlier rapid 42 showed brief promise of Sussex chasing down the target, before the wickets started tumbling regularly.Sussex nightwatcher Aristides Karvelas had said his side would go for victory, but he went early and the game slowed down with Tom Clark and Tom Alsop struggling to score runs from Swepson in particular.Alsop was clearly a key wicket for the home side to target as the visitors reached lunch with just two down, but after the break James Harris pinned the skipper lbw from round the wicket.He was replaced by all rounder McAndrew in a clear declaration of intent that Sussex were prepared to have a bit of a dash to try and win the game.Clark survived a big lbw shout from Swepson, but then next ball the same sort of delivery was that little bit closer and he had to depart.The aggression levels went up with McAndrew prepared to take on the bowling and more than happy to take the aerial route to the boundary whenever possible. He hit Swepson out of the attack to see the pace of McIlroy replacing him, but that hurried the Australian into a skied mis-hit off a shorter ball which was comfortably caught at mid on by Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson.That brought the end of an innings which brought 42 runs off 40 deliveries, the sort of rate which would have made things much more interesting if he had carried on.Sussex continued to take a positive approach with James Coles leading the way, until he was impressively caught behind for 35 by wicket keeper Chris Cooke standing up to seamer McIlroy.One of the concerns for Sussex fans was the relative inexperience of the Sussex middle order and teenager Danial Ibrahim was next to go, sweeping a leg side delivery from Swepson but top edging to Zain-ul-Hassan at backward square leg.However the visitors maintained a positive approach, reaching tea with seven wickets down and still needed 154 to win.Their eighth wicket fell after tea, Harris setting three men back on the hook and then yorking Fynn Hudson-Prentice with the middle stump coming out of the ground.Oli Carter was dropped on 37 by Billy Root at square leg off McIlroy, but Root atoned by making no mistake with Jack Carson off the bowling of Timm van der Gugten to leave Glamorgan needing one more wicket for victory with more than 20 overs remaining.They had one difficult chance, Carter slashing van der Gugten high to the right of Zain-ul-Hassan at first slip. Despite the regular appeals in the closing overs, that proved to be it for home hopes.

Youngster could help some of Australia’s modern greats tick their bucket lists

Matt Roller27-Jul-2023Moeen Ali was batting on one leg by the time he arched his bat and upper-cut Pat Cummins for four over Alex Carey’s head, and Australia seemed to have let their opportunity to take control of the fifth Test slip away.Cummins had finally won a toss, his first of the series, and asked England to bat first under thick cloud cover, with the floodlights turned on shortly after the lunch break. Australia had reduced England to 73 for 3 but dropped three catches and missed a run-out chance; Harry Brook and Moeen had brought up a 100-run stand in 17 overs.Enter Todd Murphy, long sleeves pulled up, top-button clasped and up-turned collar flopping down. At 22, Murphy is a boy in a team of men, the youngest player in this Australian XI by seven years. He has played as many Tests as Sheffield Shield games (six of each), and in most of those he has been Victoria’s second spinner.But here he was, standing at the Vauxhall End and trying to burgle a wicket for a group of team-mates at a completely different stage in life to him. This Australia team will undergo a near-total regeneration before its next tour here in four years’ time and these five days are about securing a legacy for most of them. Murphy is still making his way.Related

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• Mitchell Starc four-for derails fast-paced England to give Australia the upper hand

His first ball was a fraction short, and Brook punched it away through point to get off strike. His second was even shorter. Moeen rocked back and pulled him away through midwicket for four. Cummins told short leg to move to midwicket, fearing that Murphy had already underlined the reason for his non-selection in Manchester last week.But Murphy’s next ball was a braver one: much fuller, drifting in with the around-the-wicket angle. It was quick (58mph/93kph) and hardly turned, but had enough drop on it to sneak underneath Moeen’s bat as he swung wildly, lining up a swipe into the leg side.Murphy hardly celebrated, wearing the expression of a bowler still annoyed at himself for the previous ball. Perhaps, too, he was conscious of what is to come: Moeen’s wicket brought Ben Stokes in at No. 6, the man who crashed him for five sixes at Headingley before eventually holing out to long-on.And yet Murphy fared well against Stokes, tossing the ball up and conceding only two singles from the 11 balls he bowled to him. He beat him on the cut, cramping him for room, and responded by dragging his length back when Stokes skipped out of his crease.He was whipped out of the attack after Stokes fell, losing his off stump to Mitchell Starc when looking to break the scoring pressure by turning him into the leg side, then returned for a token over before tea.After the interval, Murphy’s second ball was full and flighted, and scythed over point for four by Mark Wood. It was one of two boundaries he conceded, and just as he had after lunch, he responded by taking a wicket with his next ball: Wood cleared his front leg, and Murphy’s offbreak crashed into the top of his middle stump.There was a brief celebration this time, punching the air and roaring, “yeah! Come on!” before giving David Warner – 14 years his senior – a high-ten. Wood’s partnership with Chris Woakes was worth 49, the third-highest partnership of England’s innings; it was Murphy who broke two of the three substantial stands.He finished with 2 for 22 from his six overs – and it should have been three-for, but for a fluffed caught-and-bowled chance when Woakes chipped one back to him. Thrown into away tours in India and England, Murphy has 17 wickets at 24.94 in his first five-and-a-bit Tests.Moeen Ali was bowled by Todd Murphy for 34•Getty Images

“Since he started in his Test career he’s been really good for us, through India,” Starc said. “He didn’t play a heap of a role at Headingley – [he was] used pretty sparingly there – but he’s come back and played a job today. He’s going to learn from those experiences, his first Ashes tour on the back of his first Indian tour.”Murphy has had a walk-on role in this series and it is clear that Cummins does not trust him to the same extent that he does Nathan Lyon. And how could he be expected to? Lyon is a veteran of 122 Tests; Murphy is playing the 14th first-class game of his career.”Obviously coming in and trying to fill Nathan’s boots is a big deal as it is,” Starc added. “Nathan has obviously bowled quite well here in the past; did in the Test final. Todd’s gone off the back of that and bowled some really good overs today with a couple of crucial wickets. We’ll look for him to play another part in the second innings.”Starc predicted that Murphy is “going to be a quality spinner for us for a long time,” and Australia will hope that he can be Lyon’s long-term successor. Whether that proves to be the case or not, he is fulfilling a role well enough that he could help some of Australia’s modern greats tick one final achievement off their bucket lists.

England Test opener unfurled a ramp at Lord’s on Saturday and has been working on his reverse-sweep

Matt Roller14-Aug-2023Zak Crawley hopes that working on his ramp and reverse-sweep can help him force his way into England’s white-ball plans, as he looks to further expand his range of shots after finishing the Ashes as their leading run-scorer.Crawley played his first innings since the end of the Ashes on Saturday, hitting 30 off 15 balls in London Spirit’s tight win over Trent Rockets at Lord’s, and is targeting an England call-up for December’s tour to the Caribbean for three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies.Having scored at a strike rate of 88.72 across five Tests against Australia this summer, a shift to 100-ball cricket has not necessitated a significant change in approach. “I try to keep it pretty similar,” Crawley explained. “I play similar shots, just a bit more aggressive and probably a bit more aerial.”Related

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• Crawley keen for chance to test Bazball in India

Crawley models his white-ball game on James Vince, another top-order batter who relies more on placement than power and is adept at exploiting the powerplay. “I really like the way he plays. He’s a very natural player. If I can emulate him, he does really well in England and I feel like that’s quite similar to my game.”Obviously you’ve got to keep up and the game’s getting more aggressive each year, so you try and keep up with that: I certainly feel like my game will get more aggressive as the years go on. But at the moment, it’s still about playing good shots and picking the right moments to score.”He unfurled a ramp when facing Luke Wood on Saturday, scooping him over short fine leg for four, and is looking to expand his range of innovative shots. “I’m trying to get better at a few,” Crawley said. “[You will see] a few more sweeps, reverse-sweeps, and maybe a ramp; other than that, I just try to play the ball on its merits.”He used to play the ramp regularly in his early days at Kent. “I haven’t played it too much in recent times, but before I played for England, I used to play it a lot more. I’ve been trying to work on it and bring it back in a little bit more – and hopefully [it will] free up a couple of other areas to score.”Crawley was seen practising his reverse-sweep in the nets throughout the Ashes, having initially devised a plan to use it against Nathan Lyon. He played it three times against him before Lyon’s series-ending injury, though he continued to unfurl it against Todd Murphy and Travis Head.”Lyon gets lovely shape on the ball, so I felt like he was OK to reverse-sweep outside off,” Crawley explained, speaking at the launch of KP Snacks’ community cricket pitches initiative. “It was something I wanted to play against him. Obviously he only played two Tests in the end but hopefully, having done that work on it, it’ll come to fruition in the Hundred.”Zak Crawley wasted no time returning to action after the Ashes•ECB/Getty Images

Crawley is an unusual batter in that his output tends to improve as the bowling he faces gets quicker, rather than slower. “I know the stats say that, but it’s never too easy facing someone bowling over 90mph,” he said. “Sometimes, when someone is bowling quick and you get hold if it, it goes further.”He believes that the reason is that a shorter reaction time allows him less time to think: “You’re just trying to react. I’m trying to keep it very simple at the moment, and maybe that’s why the quick bowling has suited me a little bit more in the past, because I don’t have to think as much. I’ll just have to get better at playing the 80mph stuff…”As the Ashes fades into memory, Crawley says his life has not changed: “I don’t feel any different. I am just the bloke who scored runs a couple of weeks ago; if I don’t score runs in the Hundred, I’ll be a bloke who doesn’t score runs in the Hundred. It’s a very fickle world we live in, so I don’t get carried away too much.”Obviously I think back with fondness about how cool it was to play in it, but I don’t like to dwell too much on whether [a series] has gone well or badly – I just move onto the next one. If it comes into my mind, I enjoy the memories of it, but I’m very much focused on doing well in the Hundred now.”

Gill arrived in Ahmedabad a day before the rest of the team and trained in the nets on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-20231:43

‘Indications are that Gill is fit and raring to go’

Shubman Gill is “99% available” for the India vs Pakistan World Cup fixture in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Rohit Sharma said in a press interaction on the eve of the game. Gill arrived in Ahmedabad before the rest of the team, and batted in the nets on Thursday itself in a bid to be ready for the game.If Gill does make the India XI, it will help India get back to their first-choice XI, something they have not been able to do at the World Cup, with Gill going down with a bout of dengue and being forced to miss the games against Australia and Afghanistan, both of which India won.Gill did not travel with the team to Delhi for their second fixture against Afghanistan on Wednesday. He was taken to a hospital in Chennai – where India played their first game, against Australia – for treatment but was subsequently discharged after his health improved.In his absence, Ishan Kishan opened the innings against Australia alongside Rohit. Though India were reduced to 2 for 3 in a chase of 200 – Kishan, Rohit and Shreyas Iyer were dismissed for ducks – they recovered to chase down the target with six wickets in hand and 52 balls to spare. India had the same opening pair against Afghanistan too, and there was a marked improvement in their performance: Rohit scored 131 in 84 balls and Kishan a run-a-ball 47. India won by eight wickets.Gill is the leading run-getter worldwide in ODIs this year with 1230 runs at an average of 72.35 and a strike rate of 105.03. In his last four ODIs, he has hit two centuries and a half-century.

“Realistically, we’re in bit of trouble, for sure,” says head coach after heavy defeat to Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2023Permutations, combinations and mathematical equations aside, England are all but resigned to the fact that their World Cup defence is over.Their eight-wicket drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka left them with more questions than answers, which does not auger well for a quest to win the next four remaining matches, which is the bare minimum required with other results also needing to go their way, if England are to progress.Matthew Mott, England’s head coach, was realistic about their chances of squeezing into the knockouts immediately after the defeat in Bengaluru which left them with just one win from five games at the tournament so far.”Mathematically, we’d have to have a lot of things go our way,” Mott told Sky Sports. “As I said leading up today, we could control it from there, but it certainly hasn’t done our net run-rate any help at all and, depending on others… we’ll keep fronting, we’ll keep treating each game in isolation and try and salvage some really good stuff out the back end of this. But realistically, we’re in bit of trouble, for sure.”Related

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England were bowled out for a paltry 156 with Ben Stokes their highest scorer, reaching 43 before he became one of Lahiru Kumara’s 3 for 35 as England slumped to their fifth straight loss to Sri Lanka at ODI World Cups. In a match lasting just 59 overs all up, Sri Lanka were 23 for 2 in the sixth over of their reply but an unbroken stand worth 137 between Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama saw them past their target with 24.2 overs to spare.”Coming into this match we knew it was do or die,” Mott said. “I thought we started really well with the bat and were looking quite positive, but we kept losing wickets in succession and we were at least 100 to 120 short of what would have been a good score on that wicket.”In terms of working out what had gone wrong, Mott said he and captain Jos Buttler were still scratching their heads after also losing to New Zealand, Afghanistan and South Africa.”I don’t know,” Mott said. “I just had a quick chat with Jos then. It’s really hard to explain. I think we had a good series leading in against New Zealand. We came over here full of confidence with I think world-class players who have won a lot of World Cups and for whatever reason, we seem to have a few players out of form at the wrong time, and it’s hurt us dearly.”It’s going to be a very sombre dressing-room tonight. We came here full of hope and hoping to turn things around and we were well off the mark and it’s going to be a real test of character to get through the next few weeks and make sure that we can salvage something out of this campaign.”England made three changes to their starting XI for a second match in a row, bringing in Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes for Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Reece Topley, the latter having returned home after fracturing a finger in the loss to South Africa. But Mott said selections were the least of England’s woes.”We always reserve the right to pick players for different conditions,” he said. “We admitted last time we probably got the balance wrong and so therefore we went back to the same balance that we’ve had before and look, when you when you lose by that margin, I don’t think it’s about a couple of small selections here and there.”I think it’s a collective and we’ve all got to take responsibility for the sub-par effort in this campaign, and everyone’s going to come from the hills to dissect what we’ve done wrong but we’ll make sure we find some positives, we learn from it – I think we can, I think we can we can get better in everything that we do, whether it is selection, whether it is the way we prepare, and make sure that this is not wasted, because it’s going to hurt a lot.”Buttler cut a dejected figure at the post-match presentations and his reflections on the side’s performance aligned with those of the coach, including on team selections.”Selection is obviously it’s something you want to be consistent with, build that sort of trust and longevity, but selection isn’t our problem at the moment,” Buttler said. “The performances as individuals and as a team, whoever’s been on the field so far in this tournament, has been short of the standards we set ourselves.”It’s incredibly tough, an incredibly disappointing tournament. Not just short of our best, but a very long way. So as captain, you feel that a lot and I’m disappointed for myself and all the boys that we’ve not showed a good account of ourselves.”There is no clear answer at the moment. If there was one golden nugget that we were obviously not doing, we’d try and pick that up, but I can’t fault the guys’ efforts, we’re just playing a long way short of our best and it starts from the front. As captain you want to lead from the front and play well and the guys tuck in behind you and I’ve been a long way short of my best and [that’s] now filtered through the rest.”Buttler added that playing for “personal pride” would be the aim going forward.”You don’t become a bad player overnight, you don’t become a bad team overnight and I think that’s probably the biggest frustration. We’ve been so far short of the standards that we set ourselves and for no particular obvious reason,” he said. “I know you probably think there must be something, ‘what is it?’ But I can’t put my finger on it at the moment.”Whatever happens going forward in this tournament, the rest of the matches, we want to get back to playing some really good cricket and what will be will be.”

South Australia earned a lead of 121 but struggle in their second innings to set up a fascinating final day

AAP08-Nov-2023South Australia paceman Nathan McAndrew took career-best figures on day three of the intriguingly poised Sheffield Shield clash against Queensland.The 30-year-old claimed 6 for 41 at the Gabba to help dismiss the Bulls for 238. At stumps South Australia were 131 for 8 – an overall lead of 252 – after the hosts came roaring back into the match with an inspired final session in the field.Seventeen wickets fell on a day dominated by the bowlers. With clear skies forecast for the final day, the match is set up for an outright result with both sides in it.Related

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Queensland resumed day three on 82 for 1 but McAndrew made an early statement with the wicket of Bryce Street from the third ball of the morning.Wickets fell at regular intervals in the opening session and McAndrew had five of them by lunch, including the prize scalp of captain Usman Khawaja to a seaming delivery the Test opener feathered behind.Fellow paceman Harry Conway found his groove at the other end and Queensland slumped to 180 for 8 just before lunch.Enforcing the follow-on appeared to be a likely option for the Redbacks at that point but wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson launched a rescue mission as he so often does. He found a willing ally in fast bowler Mark Steketee in a 68-run ninth wicket stand.Khawaja’s aggressive captaincy reaped rewards as he went in search of second innings wickets. He had six slips at one point while Michael Neser was bowling to Nathan McSweeney to showcase his intent.That aggressive approach paid dividends from the moment first-innings century maker Henry Hunt was bowled by Jack Wildermuth for a duck.Legspinner Mitch Swepson bowled with confidence and guile and cleaned up the Redbacks’ other first-innings centurion McSweeney with a rip snorter.Fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu made key late strikes. Exciting 21-year-old Jake Fraser-McGurk played one adventurous shot too many and then Sandhu produced a superb offcutter that allrounder Ben Manenti shouldered arms to.

Sixteen year-old legspin-bowling allrounder triggers SA collapse in their chase of 150

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2023Sixteen-year-old Shorna Akther added a glorious chapter in Bangladesh Women’s cricket as they stunned South Africa in the first T20I in Benoni. Defending 149, the legspin-bowling allrounder picked up her maiden five-for to trigger a middle-order collapse in the last five overs as South Africa slipped from 123 for 3 to 136 for 8. This is only the second instance of Bangladesh outplaying South Africa in the 12 T20Is they have faced each other in. South Africa had won the last 10 in a row.South Africa were in the game for the most part of the chase, thanks to Anneke Bosch. She usually comes in at No. 3, but was promoted to open with Tazmin Brits in the absence of regular opener and newly-appointed captain Laura Wolvaardt, who had to miss the opening game because of the WBBL final on Saturday. Bosch struck a quick 67 off 49 balls and shared a brisk 69-run stand with Brits, who scored 30 off 26 balls.South Africa needed 41 off the last 24 balls with Bosch still batting and seven wickets in hand but the pendulum swung Bangladesh’s way in the 18th over when Shorna struck twice; she first dismissed Bosch and then had Nondumiso Shangase stumped by Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana in a two-run over. South Africa now needed 26 off the last 12 balls.In the following over, Nahida Akter got rid of debutant Eliz-mari Marx and also gave away just two runs. An equation of 24 in six balls was always going to be a tall ask for the lower order and it turned out to be so as Shorna added two more wickets in the final over to finish with 5 for 28.Earlier, Murshida Khatun’s unbeaten 62 and Nigar’s quickfire 34 off 21 not out lifted Bangladesh to a competitive total after they opted to bat. The duo scored 45 runs in the final four overs which eventually proved a lot for South Africa.With Shamima Sultana getting dismissed for a run-a-ball 24 and Sobhana Mostary for a 17-ball 16, Bangladesh needed someone to up the ante and Nigar stepped up to the challenge. Her knock consisted of six fours while Murshida, who played an anchor’s role, hit six fours and a six in her 59-ball innings.The inexperience in South Africa’s bowling unit – Marizanne Kapp was rested, fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka and allrounders Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk were injured – was exposed by Bangladesh as only Marx impressed with 4-0-25-1 and no bowled leaked at under six runs an over.The final two T20Is will be played in Kimberley on December 6 and 8 before the three-match ODI series begins on December 16 in East London.

Former Pakistan captain’s lawyers set to appeal the sentence at the High Court

Danyal Rasool30-Jan-2024Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister, has been sentenced to ten years in prison by a special court in Pakistan. He stands accused of not returning a diplomatic document after he was removed from the office of Prime Minister in 2022. He has been in prison since August 2023 on a separate charge, and though that sentence was suspended, he was still not released.Imran was charged under the Official Secrets Act, a British era law, with a special court convened to hear his case, as well as that of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a senior figure in Imran’s political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Qureshi also received a ten-year sentence.The PTI’s official Twitter account issued a statement, calling the ruling “a sham trial and a complete mockery and disregard of law”.Imran has consistently alleged that the no-confidence vote to remove him from power was undertaken at the behest of the United States of America, and that the document in question contained proof of American diplomatic pressure to get rid of him. This allegation gained further momentum when the US news organisation published an article after purportedly gaining access to the classified document. The article said the US State Department threatened Pakistani isolation if Imran wasn’t removed, and that if he was indeed removed, “all would be forgiven”.In Pakistan, public discussion of that classified document, known as a cypher, has led to the possibility of being charged with a violation of the Official Secrets Act. The charges of both Imran and Qureshi have had to do with discussing the contents of the document in public.This latest flashpoint comes just nine days before Pakistan goes to the polls. Opinion polling in the lead-up to the elections has been non-existent, but the most recent independent polls have shown Imran to be the most popular politician in the country.When he was arrested by paramilitary security forces in May 2023, violent uprisings took place throughout the country that led to an internet blackout that lasted several days; tens of thousands of his political supporters were also arrested. The party that Imran had led to power in the 2018 elections has been barred from contesting these elections, with Imran personally banned from running for any political office for five years.Imran and Queshi’s lawyers said they would appeal this sentence in the High Court.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the India batter will also take a call on his international future soon

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2024India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is set to play his final IPL season this year when he appears for Royal Challengers Bangalore over the next two months. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Karthik, who turns 39 in June, will also make a final decision soon on his international future.Karthik, who started his IPL career at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) is part of a select group of seven players to have featured in every season of the IPL since the BCCI launched the tournament in 2008, along with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey. Perhaps more impressively, Karthik has missed just two matches in 16 seasons.The first one was in his maiden season, against Kolkata Knight Riders and second was in 2023 when Karthik sat out the league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Related

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Karthik endured a poor 2023 IPL with the bat, scoring just 140 runs overall with an average of just over 11. It was a total contrast to the stellar season he enjoyed in 2022, the year Royal Challengers bought Karthik at the auction for INR 5.5 crore (US$ 662,000 approx.). Mainly playing the role of the finisher, for which he trained diligently on his power-hitting pre-season, Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 matches at an average of 55 and an explosive strike-rate of 183.33. Karthik was one of the key reasons Royal Challengers reached the play-offs that season, before bowing out in the second qualifier.The scorching IPL form earned Karthik a berth in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. However, he managed just 14 runs in three innings as India lost to eventual champions England in the semi-finals.The current stint with Royal Challengers is Karthik’s second, having played a single season with them before in 2015. Overall, Karthik has represented six IPL teams: starting with Daredevils (2008-14), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings – 2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Knight Riders (2018-21) and Royal Challengers (2015, 2022-present). Overall in 240 matches, Karthik has scored 4516 runs at an average of nearly 26, striking at over 132 with 20 half centuries. As a keeper, Karthik is second on list behind Dhoni in overall dismissals (133) as well as stumpings (36).Karthik has overall represented six different teams at the IPL•BCCI

An established captain at Tamil Nadu, Karthik has also led in the IPL – on six occasions as an stand-in skipper at Daredevils, and 37 matches between 2018-20 at Knight Riders before he stepped down. Overall, his captaincy record reads: 21 wins, 21 losses and one tied match.Even as he gets ready to say farewell to cricket as a player, Karthik has already settled into what is deemed to be a second career. In 2021, while he continued playing, Karthik simultaneously got his feet wet in broadcasting, working as a pundit for the inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand and then at the Hundred. Karthik is now well established as a broadcaster, currently doing commentary in the India-England Test series.Royal Challengers will play the tournament opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 23 at his home ground in Chepauk.

“It would be crazy not to look at the players who are in form,” Mitchell McClenaghan said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out Live

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-20243:03

Should Mayank be fast-tracked into India’s T20 WC squad?

Mayank Yadav has played only two IPL games but the conversation has already started if he should be part of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in June.On his IPL debut on Saturday, Mayank picked up 3 for 27 against Punjab Kings and was named the Player of the Match. During his spell, he clocked 155.8kph, the fastest delivery of IPL 2024.Three days later, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, he bettered it. He clocked 156.7kph and picked up 3 for 14 to claim his second consecutive Player-of-the-Match award.Related

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Talking on ESPNcricinfo’s show T20 Time Out Live, Tom Moody said: “He is definitely in the conversation. Whether you take that risk punting on him or not is another conversation because you also need to consider what skillset you need in that reserve fast bowler – is it someone who is a powerplay bowler, or someone who has the ability to bowl at the death, all those subtle skillsets are important when you are talking about a T20 World Cup.”Mitchell McClenaghan, Moody’s co-panellist, said if Mayank continues in the same manner, he would be “right in the mix” to join the T20 World Cup squad.”If his form continues throughout this tournament, the World Cup starts six days after the IPL, I think it would be crazy not to look at the players who are in form going into that tournament,” McClenaghan said.”He may not have the caps behind him, but if he continues this vein of form and can keep his pace up throughout the whole tournament and keep winning games – he has won two games in a row, his first two games – then you are right in the mix. Long shot but you wouldn’t say never.”3:15

Moody: Mayank has great control and a mature head to go with his pace

Fast bowler Varun Aaron also had the same view. “I think no matter what the chatter is, he should focus on one game at a time,” he said. “Because that is going to automatically help him make his case. With the kind of work he has put in in the last two games, that does bring a lot of eyeballs but it has to be repeated over a period of time. The T20 World Cup, I am sure, he is going to be a contender if he backs it up with a few more performances because he is bowling absolute gas.”Apart from the searing pace, what has stood out is Mayank’s accuracy. On Tuesday, he bowled 17 dots in his spell, and not a single wide or no-ball.”What’s so impressive is it’s not only just the pace – it’s like everyone likes seeing a Nicholas Pooran hit the ball out of the ground, it is exhilarating to watch – but it’s his control,” Moody said. “Not only he has got the control, but he looks like he has got quite a mature head on his shoulders with regards to how he is bowling, and what lines he is bowling and lengths he is bowling. He is a real find.”Aaron was equally impressed with Mayank’s control.”Going into the game, we said that lines are going to be important,” he said. “Not just lines, even lengths he adapted. He bowled a few yorkers, it’s not just bowling back of length and being one-dimensional. The ball to Cameron Green was beautiful. He had hit him for a really convincing pull the previous ball.”I think he was a second late on that [wicket] ball. It just ricocheted off the stumps, I think it went one-bounce four. It is great signs. He has got really good control. And he has got a really, really repeatable clean action that enables him to bowl those lines time and again. Not a single cut, not a single ball down the leg side. Unbelievable.”