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Banding together, discussing strategy and knowing their roles have helped India’s quicks to become one of the better attacks of the World Cup

Sharda Ugra in Hamilton09-Mar-2015The last time India and MS Dhoni were in Hamilton, there came a declaration from Mount Doom. After failing to defend 278 in the fourth ODI, and handing the ODI series to New Zealand, Dhoni said India were not sure about their fast-bowling combination, with less than a year to go for the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny were the seamers at the time. Woe was India then, but now they find themselves in a place, to quote U2, that has to be believed to be seen.One mystery from this World Cup – other than what the words of its tune really mean – is the manner in which India’s strike bowlers have found their groove, after many miserable weeks traipsing around Australia in Tests and the tri-series merely absorbing punches rather than dishing them out.The quick bowlers have gone from a beat-up, second-hand hatchback to a smoothly purring first-rate sedan. The time to go all Rolls Royce has not yet arrived just yet, but the their accuracy and control have given India the sharpness it needed in this competition and confidence going into the white-knuckled knockout end.With two group matches left and a top spot likely, Mohit Sharma tried to keep the down, saying the bowlers were aware they have not really been under pressure. Particularly the kind of end-overs, madcap-runrates, death-bowling brain-scrambler that the Indians were known to melt under going into the tournament. India have had to defend totals of 300 and 307 in the first two matches and have restricted the far-from-formidable batting line-ups of the UAE and West Indies to 102 and 182. And they have bowled out every team.”There’s a lot more good work to be done, we must concentrate on what are our strengths, and try to do as well as we can.” Mohit said. That is professional realism more than anodyne sound bite.It is said Dhoni does not usually turn up at bowlers’ meetings, but asks for them come to him with a plan A and its back-up for every game day. Should neither work out during a game, it is up to him as captain to offer solutions and handle crises. In the World Cup, plans A & B have usually produced the promised results.Mohit, who had joined the squad for the tri-series and then was a replacement for Ishant Sharma, talked of the bowlers banding together during their bruising – it is what bowlers tend to do – and the two weeks of the tri-series became a template for the bowling plans that were being lined up for the World Cup.”We used to live together, four-five of us, we bowlers spent a lot of time with each other,” Mohit said. “We could share experiences and talk through a lot of issues. This has helped our game a lot.”Mohit Sharma has kept things tight coming in as first-change bowler in unfamiliar conditions•Associated PressAs Ishant waited for the injury to heal, which it never did, Mohit used the chance to learn about Australian conditions from his senior colleague. “When I came here, Ishant helped me a lot during practice – what would be the length at any particular venue for the new ball and the old ball. He’s been here several times and it helped hugely.”As the first or second-change, picking up from early work by Shami and Umesh Yadav, Mohit’s job was bowling tight, attacking the stumps and drying up the runs. “So that Ashwin and Jadeja can take advantage. It helps me hugely when Shami and Umesh are bowling well with the new ball because the batsmen are already under pressure and I have to bowl to my strength,” Mohit said. “Which is what I have done for the last ten 12 years I have to keep doing that – line and length and bowl according to the wicket.”Yet what is this gradual but almost instant magic that gets a bowling unit whose reputation had been driven into the dirt to step up and hit their rhythm and direction all at the same time?A similar spell had taken hold of India’s bowling unit in 2003 World Cup as Javagal Srinath, then the senior of the three bowlers, said. There was an acceptance of specific roles and a mutual trust that brought an honesty about individual strengths and weaknesses. “We had an overall plan, it was our collective plan, it was something we had arrived at together, that’s the most crucial part of this,” Srinath said.Early in his international career, as a non-striker Srinath had often heard Imran Khan giving his tyros Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ball-by-ball coaching from mid-on, wise advice with free fruity epithets. In 2003, almost a decade more experienced than Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, it was Srinath who was often coached by Nehra from mid-on or mid-off. “He usually had 25 options for every ball. I listened. We had a great tournament.”The 2015 tournament has gone well too and Dhoni’s ODI captaincy has played its part. “He is absolutely practical when it comes to an individual’s own situation and his own situtation,” Srinath said. “He won’t go after a bowler for having a bad over, but get the man off and make the bowling changes when it is required, instead of wasting his energy beating the guy down. You don’t have to do that.”During their long tour of Australia, the Indians had reached, “a time of distress when the team is under pressure,” according to Srinath. It can lead to the formation of a core group of about four or five players who then take the lead. The pressure, in this case, came from the impending onset of the World Cup. It is a time when a player must “really dig deeper to know what you have and what could be realised. That’s what World Cup does to you. To my mind, as an Indian player, you are under maximum stress during the World Cup,” Srinath said.Srinath called the spell from Shami and Umesh in Perth as “one of the finest bowling I have seen by an Indian pair. The way was ball was carrying was fantastic, speed, accuracy, with no time for anyone to play, the West Indians didn’t look like they could handle it.”When their former bowling coach Joe Dawes had described India’s bowlers as a “wolf pack” during a dire Test series in England, many jokes were made about sheep and lambs. At the World Cup, India’s bowlers have bared their teeth.

Nigel Howard was a surprise choice to lead an under-strength England overseas in 1951-52. His Test career started and ended with that ordinary tour to India

Steven Lynch11-May-2015The roll-call of England captains is an evocative list. Almost an A-Z: Atherton, Brearley, Cowdrey, Dexter, Edrich, Flintoff, Graveney, Hutton, Illingworth … With a Hammond and a May and a Strauss thrown in. Since the Second World War, it’s been an unbroken list of the biggest names in English cricket.Well, almost unbroken. England’s captain in India in 1951-52, was ND Howard. Who was he?In fact, Nigel Howard had taken over at Lancashire in 1949, when he was only 23, still their youngest full-time captain. He led them to a share of the Championship in 1950, and had enjoyed four reasonable seasons with the bat – over 900 runs each year since becoming a regular in 1948, with 1174 in 1950. For the time, it was solid but unspectacular: nothing really to suggest that here was a Test player in the making… except for one important thing. Howard was an amateur, and England’s captains (and most of the county captains too) came from the unpaid ranks back then. England hadn’t been led by a paid professional since the days of privately raised teams in the 19th century.During the home summer of 1951, England had been led by Freddie Brown, who had proved a popular captain in Australia the previous winter, despite losing heavily. But Brown was over 40, and didn’t fancy a winter in India: he stood down from the captaincy. I’d always imagined that Howard must have been MCC’s third or fourth choice to lead that winter tour – but actually the committee minutes reveal he was the first one asked, in June 1951.These were different times. It wasn’t only Brown who wasn’t too keen on playing in India: of the XI that won the final Test at The Oval in 1951, to clinch a 3-1 victory over South Africa, only four went on the tour, none of them established players. Howard’s Lancashire team-mate, the offspinner Roy Tattersall, had nine previous caps, including all five games that summer, but the other three – the young Hampshire allrounder Derek Shackleton and the Yorkshire pair of opener Frank Lowson and wicketkeeper Don Brennan – had only two caps each. There was no Hutton, no Compton, no May, no Evans, no Bailey, no Bedser, no Laker …

“He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague”Tour manager Geoffrey Howard on Nigel Howard

It all seems rather peculiar now, but the fact was that England had long felt they didn’t need a full-strength team to subdue anyone who wasn’t Australia. It might have been true before the war, when only South Africa had given regular trouble, but the times were a-changing. In 1947-48, West Indies had seen off an experimental side – captained by 45-year-old Gubby Allen – and showed that was no fluke by winning a joyous series in England in 1950. Even New Zealand, who would not lower England’s colours until 1977-78, showed they were no longer pushovers by drawing all four Tests in the summer of 1949. Those were only three-day games – only Australia were deemed worthy of the full five – but that was changed the following year.That left India, who had been playing Tests since 1932, but still hadn’t won one. However, more regular international exposure had begun to harden them into a useful team, featuring batsmen like the two Vijays – stylish opener Merchant and prolific captain Hazare. At home, they would be difficult to beat, and any inferiority complex that might have existed before had been buried, chiefly by the combative allrounders Lala Amarnath and Vinoo Mankad.And so Howard was up against it. A successful series might have secured him the England captaincy at home as well, and there was an Australian visit looming in 1953. But India had the better of the first Test, in Delhi: only a superb rearguard from the Glamorgan left-hander Allan Watkins saved their blushes. He resisted for nine hours for 137 not out, and put on 158 with Donald Carr, the vice-captain.That innings of Carr, another amateur, posed a few problems for the management. Tom Graveney, the side’s best batsman, had missed the first Test, but had to return for the second, in Bombay (where he would score 175). Who would make way for him? Watkins grabbed the nettle, and suggested the captain – who’d made just 13 and 9 in Delhi – should step down. But, as Carr said, “It became clear that he was not going to let himself be left out.” Instead it was Carr, who’d just made 76 on debut, who was dropped. “I suppose it was inevitable really,” he admitted, “and I’ve sometimes wondered what I would have done in similar circumstances.” There’s not much doubt who Graveney himself would have left out: Howard was, he said, “a very ordinary cricketer – and that’s putting it kindly”. Carr was somewhat more generous: “I found Nigel a very nice fellow, and he had a good record as captain of Lancashire.”Denis Compton was at London’s St Pancras Station to see off members of the 1951-52 tour party to India•PA PhotosThe second and third Tests were drawn, but Howard continued to struggle – 20 in Bombay, 23 and 20 not out in Calcutta. He only made a run in the fourth Test in Kanpur, but it didn’t matter much: England’s spinners outbowled India’s, and the match was won. Victory was set up by Howard’s Lancastrian colleagues Tattersall and slow left-armer Malcolm Hilton, who shared 17 wickets.Ironically, Howard did now stand down – he had contracted pleurisy, and had to return home. It fell to Carr to captain England for the only time in the final Test in Madras – and it was a historic game, as India finally broke their duck and squared the series, in a match that had an unscheduled rest day when news came through late on the first afternoon that King George VI had died. Vinoo Mankad did the damage with 8 for 55 in the first innings (and four more in the second), then centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar set up a big lead. It was probably England’s lack of quick bowling that cost them: both Roy and Umrigar would struggle against the fiery young Fred Trueman in England later in 1952. But that’s not to detract from India’s win. The Times admitted: “Over the whole series England seemed rather lucky to have shared the honours.”Carr remembered: “The Indians were very polite to us after the match and said the reason we had lost was because we were so upset by the news of the King’s death.”The tour manager was Geoffrey Howard (no relation). He recalled his captain in Stephen Chalke’s fine 2001 memoir At the Heart of English Cricket: “He was very young, and his upbringing had been so materialistic. In a way, he’d had things too easy in his life. He’d got where he had because of his father.”He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague. He was so apprehensive about his health – and the strange thing was that he died at the age of only 54.” That was in 1979, not long after he’d retired from the family textile business to the Isle of Man.Howard played on for Lancashire until 1954, but never did captain England again. It was Len Hutton, a professional, who would take on (and beat) the Australians in 1953. Still, MCC remained keen on the idea of amateur captains, even after the distinction between Gentlemen and Players was officially abolished in 1962. But they never took India – or anyone else – quite so lightly again.

Notwithstanding Suresh Raina’s utility in ODIs, he has never quite been a full-fledged match-winner. MS Dhoni will hope Raina can change that in his new role at No 6

Alagappan Muthu in Mirpur25-Jun-20150:47

‘I would love to bat up the order’ – Raina

India found themselves the villain in Mirpur owing to factors beyond the players’ control. Based on their performances though, which were well within their purview, the visitors ended up more Wile E Coyote than Lex Luthor. Bumbling, unthreatening and repeatedly falling for the same trick. And Bangladesh have sped away, beep-beeping.Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has undergone an Acme redesign and bats at No. 4 now. The last time he’d come in that early was in 2012, but it seems that will become the norm now for India. And by default, that leaves Suresh Raina, to front up as finisher. He is a team man, with the requisite power, the range of strokes and 217 ODIs’ worth of knowledge to put into the job. In the third game, under threat of a whitewash, the plan finally worked.Raina was brought in during the 44th over. A first-ball block for courtesy, the second smashed over cover and he retained strike for the next over with a single off the last ball. Rubel Hossain helped out when the yorker slipped into a full toss and was pasted over the midwicket boundary. Mashrafe Mortaza found a length closer to the blockhole, but Raina dipped low and tapped it past third man. The presence of mind to convert every opportunity is a usually a skill, but to a No. 6 batsman it is the job description.The late thrust he provided aided India’s victory in Mirpur, but people would have forgiven him had he not been able to do so. There were only 30-odd balls left in the innings. You often need luck to swing a game with that little wiggle room. And Raina did well with what he had to work with last night, but if he were to continue batting down the order for a good length of time, he’ll need to be just as good when the situation demands him to last longer and score bigger.In the 187 innings Raina has played, only 40 times has he faced more than 50 balls. Admittedly, he wouldn’t get to play as many balls now but it does indicate that he is a nervous starter. A painful-looking mass of leather climbing up to your face will inspire weak knees. But perhaps batting at No. 6 might inadvertently help him. The ball would have gotten softer and the threat of the short ball is be diminished.India could have done with a longer innings from Raina in the first two ODIs – a mistake he owned up to yesterday – and is looking to rectify.Dhoni, the one who has masterminded this batting order shuffle, would certainly hope it pans out alright: “For the longer term, it’s very important for us to see who can bat well at No.6 and 7, even maybe No. 5. That was the reason why I pushed Raina down,” Dhoni said. “He has been successful at that slot, which means if I go up, there has to be somebody who is experienced enough to bat at that number.”It’s very difficult, you can’t just go out there and play the big shot because you don’t really have as many batsmen behind you. Maybe an opener, when he plays a big shot, he thinks twice. But if you are at 6 or 7, you have to think three times. Or you don’t think at all because you are not worried about anything else.”Besides his batting, Raina is part of the clean-up crew that brings control back whenever India feel it is slipping. Either with his tight offspin – he bowled 20 overs at an economy of 4.95 in this series – or by his antics in the field. His alertness was responsible for running a dangerous Soumya Sarkar out in the first ODI and lend India some respite after a rollicking opening stand.All of that adds to his potential as an all-round cricketer. But he hasn’t yet become a full-fledged match-winner.

Ravindra Jadeja is back in India’s Test side, and has shown signs in the Ranji Trophy that his troubled shoulder has recovered enough to give his bowling the fizz that, allied to his accuracy, makes him deadly on turning pitches

Sidharth Monga19-Oct-2015Most of the times these days in Rajkot, Ravindra Jadeja is found in his Saurashtra Cricket Association tracksuit and a turban-like cloth tied around his head. It is not the turban Rajputs wear. It is the cloth he took with him to the , a village in Kutch desert that houses the temple of , the deity the Jadejas worship. He walked nearly 350km, his father, a few relatives, a truck full of supplies and cooks, in tow. They would walk around 40km every night, stopping for rest at various places along the way. The cloth is what you spread in front of the deity, asking for her blessings.Jadeja keeps the cloth with him everywhere he goes. He wears it to the ground, trades it for sporting headgear when playing, and comes back with the cloth tied around his head like a turban. He wears it when he goes out. He wears it when he goes home to Jamnagar, 80km from Rajkot. Ask him about the cloth, and he holds it with arms outstretched, as if in , a prayer, and says he took it to the , and now likes to keep it with him.There is no explanation for mostly being seen in the tracksuit, but that is how he has been since the season has begun. He has often been the last person leaving the Saurashtra nets. Even when the nets were called off for a day after they beat Jharkhand in two days. This is a season full of back-to-back matches, but it has been difficult to drag Jadeja off the cricket field in the searing heat of Rajkot. He has taken 24 wickets in the four innings he has bowled in, in 97 overs. Lest it be said he has done so on tailor-made turners, Jadeja has himself scored 91 and 58 in the only two chances he has had to bat.It has been near impossible to take the ball out of his hand. He has bowled unbroken spells of 27.1, 25, 19.5 and 25 overs. Jaydev Shah, his captain, tells his coach Shitanshu Kotak, “I ask him if he wants rest, and he responds, “No, I will get them out and then we can rest for longer.” At the end of each of his four spells, he has taken the balls with him, written his figures on them, the date and the opposition, and kept them for posterity. “When I build my new house, I will showcase them there,” he says.There has been, in his demeanour, in the way he talks, a sort of assuredness that his comeback into the Indian team is around the corner, and that he wants to record this process for a future telling. He doesn’t want that telling done now, though. “I don’t want to say ‘I am ready’ or ‘Look I am doing well’,” he says. “Let the 24 wickets in two matches do that.” This is two days after the end of the match against Jharkhand, a time when international players rush out of the small-town Ranji venues. Jadeja, though, has been camping in Rajkot with his Ranji team-mates.The one reason why Jadeja possibly feels certain of making a comeback is because he feels he is regaining the control that was his hallmark. That control, the ability to bowl on the same spot with slight pace variation every now and then, was why Jadeja became so valued as a Test player, especially on Indian pitches, which have of late begun to assist spinners a lot more than they in the 2000s. In the only full Test series Jadeja played in India, he picked up 24 wickets at 17.45.That Jadeja lost that control was down to the shoulder injury he acquired in Australia. He played the World Cup through pain, but it was plain he was not the same bowler. “It’s not about just putting it there on the spot,” Jadeja says. “I was not being able to do so with action on it.” Jadeja’s bowling is mostly about the action the shoulder puts on the ball. In bowling long spells he has shown the shoulder looks good now, and the ball is getting there with action on it.A week before going to Rajkot, Jadeja was in Bangalore, bowling against a Bangladesh A side that lost to both India A and a second-choice Karnataka side. He wasn’t putting as much shoulder into the ball as he did in Rajkot. Was it the turning pitch that seduced him into doing so? Was it the Group C batsmen who let him bowl with the control that is his prized possession? Was it just the shoulder injury that limited him as a bowler or was it that international batsmen had wizened to his ways and were not letting him bowl the way he wants to?Some of these answers will be found in November, when there is every chance he will play as the third spinner, and perform the allrounder role Stuart Binny played in Colombo, where the ball seamed a little. At his best, Jadeja has shown he can be as good as R Ashwin on turning tracks. They formed a deadly team against Australia at home. Add the old-fashioned legspin of Amit Mishra to the mix, and India have a potentially delightful spin combination to combat some of the best travellers and players of spin in the world. Now it is up to Jadeja to be at his best and fittest.

Axar Patel has come into his own as an ODI bowler, but Ravindra Jadeja’s irrepressible form means India’s selectors have a tough job on their hands

Shashank Kishore12-Dec-2015Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have similar bowling styles. Yet, they are very different. Jadeja has a cyclic function and delivers unfailingly like a timed machine. He likes to use his angles depending on how responsive the pitch is, and relies on his drift. Axar, meanwhile, has a steady approach to the crease and releases the ball from a good height. A flatter trajectory is his preferred mode of operation and banks on extra bounce.When Axar was handed an ODI debut after an impressive IPL 2014, he was seen as a like-for-like replacement Jadeja and his international career, for large parts, has coincided with Jadeja’s shoulder injury that led to a dip in form and eventual ouster from the team in June.Since then Axar has enhanced his reputation as a handy left-arm spinner who can bowl his full quota, even if his batting hasn’t come along as much as it was expected to, in the limited opportunities. But Jadeja’s irrepressible form for Saurashtra in first-class cricket and a stellar Test comeback against South Africa means he is once again knocking on the doors of the limited-overs squad.The latest chapter in this fascinating battle within a battle unfolded on Friday during the league phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Axar topped off a crafty bowling spell of 10-0-30-2 with an unbeaten cameo to see Gujarat home in their tournament opener against Jharkhand in Alur. It earned him the Man of the Match, but more important were the variations he seemed to have brought into his repertoire.Axar is largely perceived to be a run-containing bowler who darts the ball in. But on a pitch that did not offer much bite, there was a conscious effort to slow it down and deceive the batsman in the air. Parthiv Patel, his captain, summed it up nicely when he said playing long-form cricket meant Axar simply couldn’t afford to be one-dimensional, and had to adapt.Jadeja was having a ball as well, some 1500 kilometres away in Rajkot, by first cracking a 117-ball 134 and then picking up two wickets as Saurashtra won a thriller against Madhya Pradesh. The two events were as different as chalk is to cheese, but brought out a pertinent question about who held the edge if it boiled down to the two tussling for one spot.Axar Patel has come into his own this past limited-overs season•Associated PressBefore the 2015 World Cup, Dhoni was emphatic when he said Jadeja had the edge over Axar because of experience in overseas conditions and better batting skills. But that changed when Jadeja hurt his shoulder. The fizz went missing in his bowling and his diffidence with the bat meant the selectors ran out of time and patience. The gap between him and Axar had narrowed so much that Jadeja wasn’t even part of a second-string squad that toured Zimbabwe for a limited-overs series in July-August.Since Jadeja was last left out, Axar has played in seven out of the eight ODIs India have played. In between, he was also part of the India A squad that played two four-day fixtures against South Africa, even returning figures of 6-6-0-4 in a match-winning effort. He had held his own in the recently-concluded ODI series against South Africa as well, even as Harbhajan Singh, playing in R Ashwin’s absence because of an injury, and Amit Mishra, were the strike bowlers.Meanwhile, Jadeja picked up a mind-boggling six successive five-wicket hauls and 37 wickets in three Ranji Trophy games to force his way back into the Test squad. As if to prove his job wasn’t to just taking wickets, he also made 91 and 58 on rank turners in Rajkot to further strengthen his case. It meant the selectors couldn’t ignore him anymore. And the comeback couldn’t have gone smoother. Four Tests yielded 23 wickets that included two five-wicket hauls. Two crucial knocks of 38 and 34 in Mohali and Nagpur respectively also showcased his improved technique and resolve, unlike in the past where his Test batting has been either hit or miss.Fair to say then that Axar hasn’t put a foot wrong, but the weight of Jadeja’s performances across formats are simply too hard to ignore. With Ashwin a certainty and Mishra’s successful second-coming as an ODI bowler, the selectors face a healthy dilemma involving their two left-arm spinning allrounders. Or maybe, there could be a place for both of them, after all.

Plays of the day from the World T20 match between Bangladesh and Pakistan

Mohammad Isam16-Mar-20162:17

Brilliant Pakistan thrash Bangladesh

The fine judgement
Bangladesh needed something special in the field to lift themselves when Pakistan were batting, and that effort came in the 17th over from Soumya Sarkar. Running to his left at deep midwicket he first kept Mohammad Hafeez’s slog sweep in play by catching it and lobbing it up in the air. Then after bringing himself back inside the rope, Soumya waited for the ball to come down and completed the catch. It was a stunning take that showed impeccable judgement under pressure.The misjudgement
The second ball of the match saw Sharjeel Khan miscue a pull shot off Taskin Ahmed, perhaps beaten by extra pace. But the ball ballooned towards mid-on where Tamim Iqbal first came forward and then had to turn and backtrack. By that time, the ball had thudded into the ground. It will not be counted as a dropped chance but it was a chance for Bangladesh nevertheless, and a costly one given how Sharjeel went after Al-Amin Hossain in the next over.The missed milestone
Umar Akmal holds the record for Pakistan’s fastest T20I fifty off 21 balls but with three balls remaining in the Pakistan innings, Shahid Afridi, who was on 49 off 18 balls, had a shot at claiming that record. All he needed was a single, but when he got the strike back from Shoaib Malik, Afridi swung hard at Taskin Ahmed and found Mahmudullah at deep midwicket. Apart from the record, Afridi missed out on his first T20I fifty since June 2012; he has hit four fifties in all at this level.The shoe slips off
In the eighth over of Bangladesh’s chase, Shakib Al Hasan was trying to take a single, after playing the ball towards third man, from where Ahmed Shehzad came running in. Tamim quickly sent Shakib back, but in the ensuing confusion, the latter lost his shoe. The batsman had enough time to return to the crease, however, as Shehzad had also slipped while collecting the ball. Afridi courteously offered the shoe back to Shakib, who had a big smile on his face.

Pakistan found early momentum against Australia, but gave it away through fumbles, when they just needed to field normally, not spectacularly. The approach was mirrored with the bat, with everybody looking for big shots

Sidharth Monga in Mohali25-Mar-20161:08

‘We need to pick better fielders next time’ – Younis

When you go into a match looking for a Pakistan-like comeback that defies logic, you are looking for that one definitive moment that gives them irresistible momentum. That they can do so from hopeless situations is what makes them such a beloved team. In the 2009 World T20, it was that Shahid Afridi catch running back and over his head. In the 1992 World Cup, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s cameos gave them that momentum. Usually, though, those moments come with the ball. Against hope, Pakistan were hoping they would get such a moment, and then for everything to magically fall in place.There were moments when Pakistan bowled. Wahab Riaz bowled a superb slower ball followed by a quick and full delivery that beat Usman Khawaja more comprehensively than he has been beaten since perhaps the start of the Big Bash League. That’s a moment you can rally around, but consider this: Australia were already 28 in the fourth over when they should have been only 21. Shoaib Malik had let one through his legs at point, Umar Akmal had dived over a drive at short extra cover.Still, Pakistan found their way back through individual brilliance. In his next over, Wahab came back with a lovely ball that jagged back in to hit top of the middle and leg stumps of David Warner. That’s the kind of ball you can rally around. Wahab’s celebration suggested Pakistan might be on to something. In the same over, though, Mohammad Sami chased after a ball to deep midwicket slower than you can get inside an Indian cricket ground. And then took longer to throw the ball than it takes to get out. And there, ladies and gentlemen, not counting any overthrows, we had the first all-run four of this tournament. Perhaps the first in a Twenty20 international in India, considering the sizes of the grounds and the quickness of the outfields.

By a generous account, Pakistan let go 18 runs through ground fielding that doesn’t match up to international standards in 2016

Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan, batsmen both, added themselves – as they have been doing – to the bowlers as candidates to be hidden in the field. By a generous account, Pakistan let go 18 runs through ground fielding that doesn’t match up to international standards in 2016. Deep fielders were slow to set off the mark, short fine leg wouldn’t go after balls hit to square leg, the backing up was non-existent. In comparison you would see a deep square leg and a short fine leg from Australia competing with each other to rush in towards the stumps for a throw from wide long-off.It’s not just about 18 runs although that itself is a big number – they were poorer in the field against New Zealand, and they lost by 22 runs. It is about the pressure that the lack of these runs creates on the batsmen, making them play lower-percentage shots, which can result in wickets. Australia were 77 at the end of 10 overs when they really should have been 67 had Pakistan fielded normally. Just normally, not spectacularly.The approach was mirrored with the bat with everybody looking for big shots. At one point, when Khawaja made a chase at the boundary followed by a tumbling save that included a misfield, Akmal and Latif took just the two runs. When Ahmed Shehzad skied one early on, he and Sharjeel didn’t bother to cross.Shahid Afridi did bowl well, but you wouldn’t want to get started on his captaincy. Pakistan are the only side in this tournament who have gone without playing a specialist spinner even once. On a slow pitch, with the quicker bowlers going for a tap, he didn’t call upon Shoaib Malik.It is easy to say Pakistan have always been slow in the field and lazy with the running, and they have still won big. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis might have had twice the wickets they did had they had half-decent slip fielders. You never saw Inzamam-ul-Haq run hard. Just cast your minds back to all those awesome memories of Pakistan on a roll, and you will see hustling fielders, charging at balls, wanting the ball to come to them, encouraging the bowlers, backing up throws. More importantly, fielding, the effort put in it, is quite a fair indicator of how much the team wants to be out there.The skillful comebacks that make jaws drop are great to watch, but for the team itself to always rely on them is not a great idea.

If England win or draw the final Test against Pakistan at The Oval it will mean they hold all nine bilateral series. ESPNcricinfo recaps how they secured, or retained, the other eight

Andrew McGlashan09-Aug-2016Australia: 3-2, 2015England regained the Ashes last year with convincing victories at Cardiff, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. The series-clinching victory came in astonishing style as Stuart Broad’s 8 for 15 demolished Australia for 60 inside the first session on his home ground in Nottingham. Australia secured two equally overwhelming wins in London, but as in 2009 and 2013 lost too many key moments over the five matches.Bangladesh: 2-0, 2010It remains uncertain whether England will face Bangladesh for the first time in six years later this year due to security concerns. Their last meeting was in England with the home side comfortable winners once they found their stride, but Tamim Iqbal lit up the two matches with back-to-back hundreds at Lord’s and Old Trafford. Steven Finn was England’s Player of the Series.India: 3-1, 2014Like this current series, England went behind with a defeat at Lord’s, beaten at their own game on a seaming wicket. It left Alastair Cook on the brink of quitting – his form had also deserted him – but at the Ageas Bowl there was a rally both individually, as Cook made 95, and collectively as Moeen Ali helped secure an impressive all-round win. After that, England trampled all over India’s batting on two favourable pitches at Old Trafford and The Oval.New Zealand: 1-1, 2015England haven’t lost a series to New Zealand since 1999, but haven’t always dominated. Their victory at Lord’s was outstanding – overcoming an even bigger deficit than they did against Pakistan at Edgbaston – inspired by Ben Stokes’ blistering hundred and a captain’s innings from Cook before England bowled out New Zealand out on a gripping final day. Headingley, not for the first time, did not go well, however, as New Zealand – in the style of their captain, Brendon McCullum – threw caution to wind with the bat then spun to victory on the final day.South Africa: 2-1, 2015-16A significant overseas triumph, sealed, like the Ashes, by a Stuart Broad special. He tore through South Africa on the third afternoon in Johannesburg with 6 for 17 to set up a seven-wicket win. England had opened with an outstanding victory in Durban, followed by Stokes’ record-breaking 258 in a high-scoring Cape Town draw. Kagiso Rabada’s 11 wickets won the dead-rubber, saving face but not the series.Sri Lanka: 2-0, 2016Earlier this season, England did an efficient job on a callow Sri Lanka team overawed by the conditions. James Anderson bagged ten at Headingley then Moeen Ali’s career-best 155 rescued an iffy batting display in Chester-le-Street. After being on the verge of embarrassment in the second Test, Sri Lanka found their fight with Dinesh Chandimal’s hundred but they were too far behind for it to make a difference.James Anderson made his debut the last time England faced Zimbabwe•Getty ImagesWest Indies: 1-1, 2015An unconvincing way to keep hold of the Wisden Trophy. England could not bowl West Indies out in 130 overs in Antigua as Jason Holder made an unbeaten hundred, but Anderson did inspire an impressive final-day victory push on a flat pitch in Grenada to ensure England could not lose the series. However, in Barbados, they capitulated – much to the delight of West Indies who had been labelled ‘mediocre’ by the incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves – as they fell to a five-wicket defeat. It would prove to be Peter Moores’ final Test as head coach.Zimbabwe: 2-0, 2003Due to political reasons, Zimbabwe have not been the opposition since a two-match series 13 years ago. They were overwhelmed by an innings in both Tests. Anderson bagged five wickets on his debut at Lord’s, before the more unlikely swing bowlers of Mark Butcher and Anthony McGrath shared seven in the second innings. At Chester-le-Street, Richard Johnson marked his debut with 6 for 33 – five of his wickets being lbw including two in his first over.

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2016… and soon brought up his 150, his fifth in Test cricket•Getty ImagesHe was congratulated by his partner, Chris Woakes …•Getty Images… who uppercut a six over third man en route to his own half-century•Getty ImagesIt was Woakes’ second fifty in three Tests of a breakthrough summer•Getty ImagesBut on 58, he became Yasir Shah’s first wicket in 39 overs of hard toil•AFPBen Stokes batted with a measure of restraint in his first innings since injury•AFPBut he was unimpressed to be adjudged caught behind by DRS for 34•Getty ImagesJonny Bairstow survived a dropped catch by Sarfraz Ahmed, on 9•Getty ImagesRoot, however, powered on to his second Test double-hundred•Getty ImagesHe brought up his double-hundred with a reverse sweep for four•Getty ImagesIt was his highest Test score to date, beating his 200 not out against Sri Lanka in 2014•Getty ImagesHe eventually fell for 254 and was congratulated as he left by Misbah-ul-Haq …•AFP… and Yasir Shah as well•AFPHe departed the field to a standing ovation•Getty ImagesIn reply, Woakes made England’s first incision with the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez•Getty ImagesThen snaffled Azhar Ali with a high catch in his followthrough•Getty ImagesBen Stokes chipped in with the vital scalp of Younis Khan for 1•Getty ImagesWoakes claimed his third when the nightwatchman Rahat Ali was caught at short leg•Getty ImagesShan Masood battled to the close for a brave 30 not out•Getty Images

Despite being the leading English-qualified spinner in the 2016 season there was no place for Jack Leach in England’s touring squad but there remains a chance that could change

George Dobell31-Oct-2016England will resist the immediate temptation to send for reinforcements ahead of the tour of India, but it remains possible a player could be added to the squad in the coming weeks.Having suffered a chastening final day in Mirpur, where they missed several opportunities in the field and lost all 10 wickets in a session, there might have been a temptation to refresh a squad that is struggling to both play and bowl spin as well as the opposition. Alastair Cook, the captain, admitted on Sunday that England “haven’t got world-class spinners”.But while James Whitaker, the national selector, has confirmed England will keep faith with the 16-man squad originally named for the tour, replacement players will be called up in case of injury. That could even include the possibility of replacing James Anderson who was not named in the original tour party for the India series with the understanding that he would join the squad if he was deemed to be fit.”We’ve picked our squad and we stand by that,” Whitaker told ESPNcricinfo. “If someone is injured or becomes unwell, we can look at making changes but these are the players we believe are best equipped for the job.”James Anderson continues to make his comeback from injury at Loughborough and we will assess his fitness before deciding what his involvement on the tour will be.”Trevor Bayliss on…

Gary Ballance: “He’s more disappointed than anyone. He’s a guy that practices very hard, is very intense and he wants to do well so badly. He’s got a couple of good balls but he’ll be a discussion point, I’m sure.”

Haseeb Hameed: “We knew before the series started that he was waiting in the wings and can obviously play. It is an option for us. There will have to be some soul-searching in the next few days.”

Bangladesh: “We were outplayed. We weren’t consistent enough. If Bangladesh have more wickets like this, they’ve got a fair chance of winning more Test matches.”

India: “It’s going to be difficult, that’s for sure. We’re going to have play some very good cricket, but we’ve got that in us. We’ve shown in previous series we’ve been able to come back after losses. We’ve got to dig deep and play a very good team playing in their home conditions.”

One of the great truisms of cricket is that a player’s reputation can often improve most when he is not playing. So, with England’s spinners struggling to match the potency of their Bangladesh counterparts, the calls for the inclusion of Somerset’s Jack Leach or Middlesex’s Ollie Rayner have intensified.Leach, a left-arm spinner, claimed 65 Championship wickets during the 2016 season at an average of 21.87. No England-qualified player claimed more in Division One. Rayner, the Middlesex off-spinner, claimed 51 Championship wickets at an average of 23.56. By comparison with the spinners in England’s squad, Gareth Batty claimed 41 at 31.21, Adil Rashid claimed 32 at 33.84 and Zafar Ansari 22 at 31.40. All five of them played in Division One of the County Championship.Leach is in some ways an unlikely saviour. While Jos Buttler, his team-mate from Somerset youth teams, was soon fast tracked as a special talent, Leach was obliged to take a job parking trolleys in a Taunton supermarket as he attempted to pursue a career in the game.He has developed steadily, however, and is now an admirably consistent bowler. And while England are relatively well-served with spinners who turn the ball into right-handed batsmen (Moeen Ali and Graeth Batty have probably been the most reliable of England’s spinners on the tour to date), Leach might have offered England another option for a spinner who takes the ball away from them.While his excellent record in the 2016 Championship season comes with something of a caveat – Somerset played on pitches providing an unusual amount of assistance to spin bowlers – it is likely that England will encounter similar surfaces in India. His experience of operating on such surfaces might therefore have been useful and Somerset, who were criticised for preparing such surfaces, could argue that they were preparing England players for the challenge ahead.Most of England’s spinners have little experience of bowling in helpful conditions. Moeen, for example, developed on an unresponsive New Road surface and, when he did come across a helpful track, often found himself as second spinner behind Batty – until he moved to Surrey – or Saeed Ajmal. For that reason, he is still learning to deal with the expectation and pressure of bowling in circumstances where spinners are required to lead the attack.But the selectors have concluded that to make changes now would suggest panic and argue that the reasons for selecting the current squad remain as valid now as they did a few weeks ago. Leach, for example, is still seen as an inexperienced player who has yet to have the chance to familiarise himself with the England environment. He will depart for a Lions trip to the UAE shortly, though, and it remains possible that, should an injury befall any of the bowlers, he could be called up.Jack Leach had an oustanding county season•Getty ImagesThat includes Anderson. If he is ruled out of the tour in the coming days – and it seems a decision will be made in the next week – it is entirely possible the selectors could replace him with a spinner. The team management could argue that such a move would not be a sign of panic or demonstrate any lack of faith in the current squad, but represent a natural replacement for a bowler who would have been with the squad had he been fully fit.It would make little sense to replace Anderson with another seamer. England already have several options in that department – Stuart Broad and Jake Ball sat out the second Test in Mirpur, for example – but they have fewer spin options. Leach could, therefore, yet find himself in India within a few weeks.Meanwhile, England are sticking to their original plan to take a few days off before beginning preparations for the India leg of the tour. They fly to Mumbai on Wednesday and do not have any full training sessions planned until Saturday. Then they fly to Rajkot on Sunday where they will step up their preparations ahead of the first Test starting on Wednesday, November 9. Some players are likely to arrange net sessions in their days off, but there will be no official warm-up match.”The boys have been training very hard since we’ve been here,” Trevor Bayliss, the coach, said. “It’s been a fairly hectic two or three weeks, so I think part of it will be mental and physical rest so that we’re fresh going into those matches.”It’s not all about practice, practice, practice, even though that’s what people might think we need to do. But when the guys practice we want to practice properly and get our confidence for those matches.”