When you have been through what we have experienced, when you have been targeted by terrorists yourself and been so fortunate to escape, it changes your thinking

Kumar Sangakkara04-Mar-2009
‘Our families will never feel the same about us leaving to play in Pakistan’ © AFP
As I dictate this article we are preparing to fly home. It’s been a long day and we can’t wait to return home to our families. We were shaken badly, obviously. Pakistan has a reputation for being unstable in the recent past, but we never expected to be caught up in something like this. I am still shocked that a sports team could be targeted in this manner.We had always felt pretty safe in Pakistan, to be honest. It shows how naïve we were. We realise now that sports people and cricketers are not above being attacked. All the talk that “no one would target cricketers” seems so hollow now. Far from being untouchable, we are now prize targets for extremists. That’s an uncomfortable reality we have to come to terms with.Tuesday started as just another day in Lahore: a morning report to the fitness trainer to check our hydration levels, a quick breakfast and cup of coffee and an 8.30am departure to the ground. We were all looking forward to the third day’s play and trying to win the series. Our chief concern was how to wheedle out 19 Pakistan wickets on another true batting pitch.Our team bus left with three to four police cars in a convoy with around 12 policeman and security officers, including motorbike outriders. Along the route road junctions were cleared and side roads closed to ensure we passed through the traffic easily. It was standard security for teams in this region and we had no worries as we travelled to the stadium.The bus was full of the normal banter. Players traded stories, mostly about Lahore shopping, and cracked jokes. Others chatted about the cricket and the crucial first session. Then, as we approached the large roundabout before the Gaddafi Stadium, we suddenly heard a noise like a firecracker. The bus came to a halt and some of the guys jumped out of their seats to see what was happening. Then came the shout: “They are shooting at us!”From the front I heard the screams to “get down, get down” and we all hit the deck. Within seconds we are all sprawled along the floor, lying on top of each other and taking shelter below the seats. The gunfire became louder, we heard explosions (which I understand now were hand grenades) and bullets started to flash through the bus.I was sitting next to Thilan Samaraweera and close to the young Tharanga Paranavitana. For some reason I moved my head to get a better view and a split second later I felt a bullet fizz past my ear into the vacant seat. Fortunately, as a team, we remained quite calm. No one panicked. After what must have been two minutes standing still, we urged the driver to make a run for the stadium just a few hundred metres away: “Go, go, go” we shouted.The truth is we owe our lives to the courageous Mohammad Khalil, the driver. I will forever be grateful to him. The tyres of the bus had been shot out and he was in grave personal danger, exposed to gunfire at the front of the bus. But he was hell-bent on getting us to safety and, somehow, he got us moving again. Had Khalil not acted with such courage and presence of mind most of us would have been killed.Standing still next to the roundabout we were sitting ducks for the 12 gunmen. We only found out afterwards that a rocket launcher just missed us as we began moving and turned for the stadium gates, the rocket blowing up an electricity pylon. Khalil saw a hand grenade tossed at us that failed to explode. Someone must have been looking over us because right now it seems a miracle we survived.As we moved towards the stadium, Tharanga announced he was hit as he sat up holding his chest. He collapsed onto his seat and I feared the worst. Incredibly, the bullet hit his sternum at such an angle that it did not penetrate. He was fine. Shortly afterwards Thilan complained of a numbness in his leg, which we later found out was a bullet wound.Thilan and Tharanga were the worst hit. Just before reaching safety I felt a dull ache in my shoulder. Shards of metal, shrapnel, were lodged in the muscle. After being quickly evacuated to the dressing room the paramedics attended to those with minor wounds. My cuts were cleaned. Ajantha Mendis had several shards of metal removed from his head and neck after his hair was shaved off. Paul Farbrace, our assistant coach, had a large piece of shrapnel removed from his arm. Mahela [Jayawardene] had a minor cut to his ankle. After a while we started to calm down, and the phones started ringing.When the tour was first announced while we were playing in Bangladesh, we had discussed security concerns with the Sri Lanka cricket board. Our own board had originally asked for a longer tour, asking for two extra ODIs, but we requested a shortened tour, an independent assessment of the security situation, some security guarantees, and proper insurance covering terrorist attacks. Standing still next to the roundabout we were sitting ducks for the 12 gunmen. We only found out afterwards that a rocket launcher just missed us as we began moving and turned for the stadium gates, the rocket blowing up an electricity pylon. Khalil saw a hand grenade tossed at us that failed to explode. Someone must have been looking over us because right now it seems a miracle we survived We were promised “Head of State” security and we were satisfied with this. We also wanted to play cricket in Pakistan. Nevertheless, with hindsight, we probably underestimated the security threat. In future, we need to very seriously consider how best to better tackle the issue of security in a new post-Lahore reality. We need to consider a more centralised and independent system for assessing security and a more open sharing of security information, not just between boards but with FICA and the players.From a Pakistan perspective, it is tragic this has happened. Pakistan is a great country with a strong cricket tradition and very hospitable people. We like playing cricket here, but the presence of a small minority pursuing their own agendas at any cost will surely prevent tours for the foreseeable future. I sincerely hope that a solution can be found with time but assume Pakistan will first need a neutral venue solution for their home games.Will I go back? When you have been through what we have experienced, when you have been targeted by terrorists yourself and been so fortunate to escape, it changes your thinking. It is a big question which cannot be answered now. I suspect, too, for us it can only be answered as an individual. Our families will never feel the same about us leaving to play in Pakistan. That is sad – for Pakistan and world cricket.

Highlights of the first round of the Ranji Trophy’s Super League and Plate matches

Sidharth Monga07-Nov-2008

Show ’em what they are missing

Had Ranji Trophy cricket been followed in India, this one would have been an equivalent of Wayne Rooney wanting badly to score against Everton. Only that Yere Goud did score a century against Karnataka, that too in his first match against his team from last season. But only a handful watched Goud score a patient 122 not out to help Railways, the team he had left to join Karnataka for an acrimonious one-season stay, gain three points from a first-innings lead over Karnataka.It was a good old-fashioned Ranji innings where you realise the opposition has scored enough to rule out an outright win [Karnataka had scored 365 in more than one-and-a-half days], and you turn it into a one-innings match. Goud found a suitable partner in Sanjay Bangar, the Railways captain: for the fifth wicket they added 75 in 28.3 overs. The partnership ended in a mix-up when Bangar wanted a third, but Goud didn’t. Goud tried to sacrifice his wicket, but was too late, and that denied Bangar a century. Goud, though, took out his anger on Sunil Joshi, hitting him for three sixes in quick time. Then remembering his tag as a stonewaller, he went back to grafting, and made sure Railways recovered from 185 for 5 to 389 all out.A happy divorce
Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay came together as an opening partnership mid-way of last season, and their first association yielded 256 runs against Saurashtra. Vijay got 230 not out then, and Mukund 120 – on debut. In the first match of this season, though, they raised the bar and went for a bigger run-feast. For 107.4 overs, an inexperienced Maharashstra attack struggled for a wicket, as the right-left combination went on accumulating runs. They ended the first day at 377 for 0, needing 88 more to break the record for the highest opening partnership in the Ranji Trophy, previously held by Raman Lamba and Ravi Sehgal.They could get only 86 before Vijay was caught at the wicket off Harshad Khadiwale, but better news awaited both the openers. Mukund went on and score the first triple-century of the season, and Vijay left the match mid-way because an India cap awaited him in Nagpur. Neither will mind the separation.Enamul Haque jnr, Maharashtra’s overseas import, bowled 31 wicketless overs for 171 runs.A timely nudge
This is an important season for the young hopefuls in Indian cricket, because already two of the senior Test players have retired. Keeping that in mind, Rohit Sharma scored a timely century – in one session, against Rajasthan – to add to his impressive century against the Australians in Hyderabad, earlier this year. As Mumbai looked to capitalise on a 103-run first-innings lead, Rohit made the setting of the target easier with a typically fluent third first-class century. His 128 took 140 deliveries, and 94 of those came in 22 fours and one six. As a result of the innings, Mumbai had enough time to bowl Rajasthan out in the second innings, and gain five points.In the same match, Dhawal Kulkarni, who came into spotlight through his IPL performances for the Mumbai Indians, made a solid Ranji debut, becoming only the seventh Mumbai player to take a five-for on debut. “Earlier I used to just run and bowl and even the pace was less. But Mumbai Cricket Association sent me to Brisbane for a camp and once I came back I was a changed bowler. My technique was right I developed more strength and my pace was increased,” he said, and went on to take four more wickets in the second innings to show his gratitude to the team.The comeback
Figures of 34-10-101-2 and 5-2-6-0 do not sound sensational at all, but in the scenario of the Delhi-Punjab match they were significant. For these were Ashish Nehra’s returns, on his first-class comeback after he missed the entire last season. Moreover, the first-innings figures don’t do justice to how Nehra bowled.In his first spell, he got the ball to consistently move away from the left-hand opening batsmen. However, luck deserted him for the first seven overs, during which he kept beating both Karan Goel and Ravi Inder Singh. In the third over of the day, Nehra made Ravi Inder play and miss at three successive deliveries. He finally got his breakthrough in the seventh over of the innings, when Ravi Inder played all over a straight and fast delivery. He then came back for a testing spell later in the day. It was a pleasing throwback: Nehra, his shirt not tucked in, animated, never far away from throwing frustrated tantrums. More pleasing was his perseverance, and one hopes the same is the case throughout the season.The no-show
Playing his first first-class match for Punjab in more than three seasons, Yuvraj Singh didn’t have a favourable outing. With the anticipation around him, he walked in to bat against Delhi minutes before lunch on the first day. He got a bouncer first up from Pradeep Sangwan, which he easily ducked under. That was followed up by five accurate deliveries, the last of which he played at, and guided to Shikhar Dhawan at first slip. On day that eight catches fell short of the slips, Yuvraj’s hard hands made sure that was not an issue when he edged. In the second innings, Yuvraj scored 38 off 44, but by then Punjab had conceded the first-innings lead.The trivia
Abhinav Kumar, the wicketkeeper playing his fifth first-class match, became the first Hyderabad player, and 11th overall, to be stranded on 99 in a Ranji Trophy match, as his team went from 283 for 7 to 296 all out. But his 99 not out proved crucial in Hyderabad’s gaining a first-innings lead over Orissa, and with that three points.Shane Warne’s boys’ corner
In the IPL, Rajasthan Royals was full of Cinderellas, who Warne bound together into a match-winning unit. Cricinfo will keep an eye on those relatively unknown players, and see how they do in their first first-class season after a successful IPL season.Swapnil Asnodkar scored 191 against Kerala, at a whopping strike-rate of 47.04. But Goa managed only one point from the match, as Kerala scored 486 in reply to Goa’s 460.Siddharth Trivedi took 5 for 44 and 2 for 42, including five wickets in the first 34 balls he bowled, to first reduce Saurashtra to 12 for 5, and then push them to an innings defeat. This was some effort by Gujarat, who played in the Plate League last year, to smash the Super League semi-finalists.

Three weeks into the IPL, and Matthew Hayden continues to hog the IPL limelight, with an aggregate that is far higher than anyone else in the tournament so far

S Rajesh10-May-2009Three weeks into the IPL, and Matthew Hayden continues to hog the IPL limelight. While some of his other Australian mates have been told by their board to rest before tougher challenges later in the season, and others have performed only intermittently, Hayden has notched up scores of 44, 65, 57, 49, 1, 30, 43, 89 and 48 in nine matches so far. To understand how far he has towered over the rest of the batsmen, you only need to look at the stats for highest run-scorers in IPL 2009: Hayden leads with 426, and in second place is Suresh Raina, who has played the same number of innings but has scored 117 fewer runs.Hayden has handled both pace and spin pretty well in the tournament so far, but clearly he has shown a preference for the ball coming on to the bat: both seamers and spinners have dismissed him four times each (he’s been run-out once), but against pace he has scored at a much faster clip – 307 runs in 177 balls at an average of almost 77. Spinners have reined him in far more successfully, going for 119 runs in 104 balls, at an average of less than 30 runs-per-wicket. Clearly, Shane Warne knew what he was doing when he handed Yusuf Pathan the ball to open the attack against Chennai, and it’s a ploy other teams will probably employ against him as well.

In the four matches he played in the last IPL, he had a better time against spin, scoring 34 off 26 balls without being dismissed once. That’s another indication that conditions have been more favourable for spinners this time in South Africa.

Among bowlers who’ve bowled at least ten balls to Hayden in this IPL, Sreesanth has been the most expensive, going at more than ten per over. Clearly, he meant it when he called Sreesanth an over-rated bowler after the match against Punjab.Yusuf Pathan has done well against him despite bowling with the new ball with fielding restrictions in place: in 17 balls he has only conceded 18 and dismissed Hayden once. Harbhajan Singh, another offspinner, has handled the Hayden challenge well too.

Overall check on Australians in IPL 2009As was indicated last time, the Australian batsmen have continued to fare well, with the average runs-per-wicket and runs-per-over higher than the overall tournament average. Despite only 14 Australians having batted in the tournament so far, they’ve still managed more than 15% of the total runs scored off the bat.

The bowlers haven’t had as much success, though, with 30 wickets at an average and economy rate slightly poorer than the tournament average.

Apart from Hayden, Brad Hodge is the other Australian batsman whose performance has improved significantly in the last few games – he has scored 240 in six games and is fast catching up on Gilchrist’s tally of 255. Gilchrist’s form has in fact fallen away somewhat recently – in the last five innings he has scored 92. Lee Carseldine has done well too in the few opportunities he has got, but the significant late entry into the IPL has been Andrew Symonds – in his first innings of the tournament he scored an unbeaten 60 off 36 balls. If he continues this form, he could be the next big Australian performer.

Among the bowlers, Warne remains the highest wicket-taker, with Dirk Nannes following him closely. The major late entry here was Brett Lee, who showed good rhythm in his debut game, taking 1 for 24 against Deccan Chargers.

For most of Ricky Ponting’s life a tour of England was the highlight for an Australian player. The experience has not been as enjoyable under his leadership

Peter English at The Oval22-Aug-2009After his experiences in south London over the past four years any cricket arena named after Australia’s greatest modern batsman will not be called the Ricky Ponting Oval. It will be a field or a ground. Anything to avoid a reminder of this place.The Oval has been horrible to Ponting and sometime over the next two days he will almost certainly watch an England captain lift the urn here for a second time. Four years ago the result was expected, but this time it comes as a shock. Ponting has had a few in this game, including split lips from a Matt Prior drive which struck him before he could flinch at silly point. First the crowd cheered at impact, then squirmed as Ponting spat out blood. For him, it was supposed to be England with the wounds.Pain from that blow will last a couple of days – it didn’t stop him chewing gum in the field – but his place in Australia’s captaincy ranks won’t be forgotten quickly. The only thing stopping him from becoming the second Australian captain to lose two series in England is his team batting for two days and one hour. Billy Murdoch, the unfortunate first, was in charge in the late 1800s. Losing one series was awful for Ponting and giving up two would send anyone else away from the job. Unless Ponting, a batting great in any era, decides he wants to go, nobody will make him.Australia were meant to dominate this game after their three-day raid in Leeds and achieve redemption for 2005. Since Stuart Broad rumbled through the batsmen on Friday, Australia have been rattled. There was a brief rally before stumps on day two when they took three wickets, but there was no follow-up on the third morning.Ponting, showing the defensive approach which opens his captaincy to criticism, started with an in-and-out field, placing a couple or more fielders on the boundary while keeping in some catching men. He didn’t want England getting away quickly, so he gave them singles instead, easing the pressure on Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott and allowing them to understand the pitch.Previous leaders would have pursued wickets immediately, cramping the batsmen with catchers and forcing them into taking risks for boundaries. Not Ponting, not this Australian unit. The tactic didn’t work and by the time England declared they had 373 for 9, setting their opponents a nominal target of 546 for the Ashes.At the beginning of the day the hosts led by 230 and even ones came as a relief to the home supporters. That small total might already have been out of reach at that stage, but Australia’s bowlers made sure the task for their batsmen would be impossible. After Peter Siddle’s ripping first ball, which seared through the pitch and brushed Trott’s thigh, there was little to be happy with until they reached 80 without loss at stumps.Mitchell Johnson was given only two overs at the start in a strange move while Ben Hilfenhaus also delivered a dozen deliveries before his first break. Having been victims of Broad’s at-the-stumps line, the Australia quicks tried a varied tactic where they alternated between full, wide and short balls. It felt like they were back at Lord’s again, where history’s weight turned them tense.Stuart Clark came on and was tight without being effective and his predictability allowed Strauss to walk down the pitch and plant him for four through cover. Marcus North, the occasional offspinner, was the most difficult prospect although he struggled, as he should, with building pressure and maintaining control. Ponting had pushed to keep the winning team from Headingley and got his wish, entering the game without a specialist slow bowler.Michael Clarke’s left-armers were tried before lunch and gave up 20 in three overs. None of Ponting’s gambles were working, mainly because Strauss and Trott were now settled and the Australians knew the game had already gone. Over the rest of the innings England had total control and Ponting’s mind and mouth were throbbing with discomfort.Johnson returned in horrible shape, making his mini-spell at the start of the day seem like a good idea. More width, more boundaries, more wides, more confusion. He is as comfortable in England as Steve Harmison is overseas. Mercy from Strauss came with an hour to go when Trott, impressive and unflustered throughout, sliced to gully on 119. Now the hard stuff really began.Some rain and Kevin Pietersen helped turn the last Ashes Test at The Oval into a drawn-out series defeat and this one should end the same way for Ponting and his fresh team. In 2005 Ponting started the campaign with blood dribbling from his cheek at Lord’s and will end this one with more spilt claret in London. For most of Ponting’s life a tour of England was the highlight for an Australian player. The experience has not been as enjoyable under his leadership.

Plays of the day from the match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in Dharamsala

Cricinfo staff18-Apr-2010Butterfingers 1
The ever-reliable R Ashwin should have picked up a wicket in his first over. Instead he had to look on in agony as Albie Morkel, fielding at short fine leg, put down a chance when Shaun Marsh swept the ball in the air. It wasn’t struck hard and came to Morkel at about knee height, but he fluffed the offering. Marsh was on 10 and went on to hit an unbeaten 88 off 57 balls, and that proved decisive in Kings XI Punjab maintaining a strong offensive.Butterfingers 2
As soon as the top edge flew off Irfan Pathan’s bat towards the short third man region, Mathew Hayden, running in from gully, stopped MS Dhoni from attempting the catch as he saw Sudeep Tyagi charging in form third man. Considering Tyagi was running towards the catch as opposed to Dhoni, following the flight of the ball, Hayden’s call was apt. Tyagi, however, came up with a lame effort and spilled an easy catch. Even the stunner he took to dismiss Mahela Jayawardene was not enough to atone for this mistake.Clean sweep?
One sweep shot too many saw Punjab briefly allow Chennai Super Kings a window of opportunity. Sangakkara went across the line to a tossed up delivery from Ashwin, leaving a big gap between bat and pad, and in the next over Yuvraj Singh swept a full ball from Suresh Raina and was struck flush in front. In fact he missed the ball so completely that it pitched between his legs and hit him on the bent left leg. In contrast, Shaun Marsh refrained from sweeping and collected an unbeaten 88.Bollinger bashed
Bowling the 19th over of the innings, Bollinger had a chance to and limit the damage. Instead he served up deliveries Geoffrey Boycott would have fancied his mum to hit. When he pitched wide, Marsh freed his arms and clubbed a clean six. Bollinger went shorter and wider and Irfan Pathan top-edged a four. Bollinger then bowled a length ball which Marsh walloped down the ground for six. Punjab ransacked 19 runs from the over and surged to 192.Thank you, Ramesh
After 20 overs of indifferent bowling, during which all but one of Chennai’s bowlers struggled to out think the batsmen, Ramesh Powar bowled an outstanding spell of classical, daring offspin. There was flight, there was dip, there was bite and there was turn. And one lovely delivery did for Matthew Hayden, who was lured into a booming drive away from the body and he nicked to an alert Sangakkara as the ball drifted away teasingly. Cramped by flatter deliveries pitching on and around leg stump , Hayden was foxed by the tempting offbreak that so few spinners dare to try in Twenty20.Tailspin
The Powar-Sangakkara combo struck moments later to leave Chennai in strife, and again the stand-out feature was flight and turn. Powar tossed the ball up, the turn on the delivery was sharp, M Vijay lost balance as it spun past the pads, and Sangakkara broke the stumps in a flash. Watching a wide delivery was never more pleasing in Twenty20.Irfan tightens noose around Punjab
If Tyagi was looking for sympathy after his earlier drop, he could have got it from Irfan who, rushing in from third man, dropped a leading edge from Morkel as Sangakkara and Marsh, from point, charged to snatch an easy catch. Morkel blasted a straight four the very next ball and his presence allowed Dhoni to not panic and take Chennai into the semis.

Not long ago, Tharanga was struggling to put bat to ball. Now he’s the first name on the ODI team list

Sriram Veera in Dhaka12-Jan-2010It’s amazing how quietly Upul Tharanga has displaced Sanath Jayasuriya from the opener’s slot. It’s almost a bloodless coup assisted by the team management who want to look at the future beyond Jayasuriya. It wasn’t far back that Tharanga himself was struggling to put bat to ball and was dropped. Interestingly, his exit paved the way for Tillakaratne Dilshan to cement his place as a dashing opener and now it’s his turn to re-establish himself at the top.He looked into his past to redesign his future. In 2005, life was looking up for Tharanga post the dreadful tsunami; he had started to rebuild his house which was washed away during the tragedy, made his debut and became the first batsman in the history of the game to have scored five hundreds in 30 ODIs. Suddenly, the lights went out.It was the common problem that ails a sportsman: fear of failure. Runs trickled in at a premium post the 2007 World Cup and the pressure slowly built on Tharanga. He would scratch around for a while, increasingly looking more and more vulnerable. “I was just trying to survive for five or ten overs and then try get some runs and it obviously didn’t work,” he says. “I had put too much pressure on myself after World Cup and that’s where I made the mistake.”There were people who helped out in pointing the mental error, such as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but it was Chandika Hathurusingha who really helped Tharanga turn around. “He was the A team coach then and I worked a lot with him. He is the guy who told me to play a natural game and not worry about getting out,” he says. “He said it looks like I am just going out there to survive and not trying to score runs.”I changed my approach; I decided that I am just going to get out and play my normal game, not get worried about whether I will get dropped now if didn’t score runs in this match. If the bad ball is there to be hit, I will hit it.”It helped that Tharanga could hark back to the memory of doing well at the international arena in the early part of his career to convince himself that he was good enough for this level.”I had played earlier for two years for Lanka, so I knew I was good enough,” he says. “My plan was simple: If I get runs for the A team, I would get a chance definitely. All I had to do was to sort out the mental side of things and my approach to batting. I made runs and then I waited for my opportunity. I didn’t get a look-in for two or three series but then I got a chance in the series against India. And I took it.”It sounds deliciously simple – score runs, get into form and wait for the selectors to call you – but the fact was that he had to wait for either Jayasuriya or Dilshan to lose form so that he can get a look in. And when Jayasuriya started to struggle, Tharanga grabbed his opportunity. It must have been a big deal for a man who grew up watching Jayasuriya bat to displace him from the team but Tharanga doesn’t want to see it that way.”No one can replace Sanath. He is a legend,” he says. “I have got a chance now and I am just focused on my batting. He was also happy when I scored runs in India and congratulated me.”Tharanga also believes that batting with Dilshan has helped him during his comeback. “The bowlers are concentrating on how to get him out and pressure is off me. In fact I think I get more loose balls now as the bowlers are under pressure after bowling to him. So it has become easy for me.”It wouldn’t have hurt that his captain now is Sangakkara, for both go back a long way. It was Sangakkara who helped him by giving SLR 50,000 (US$ 440) and some bats and gloves to get him up and running. “I decided that I can’t do anything about it [the devastation caused by the tsunami],” he says. “Yes, I lost my house and everything but I wasn’t the only one guy who lost things. There were one million people who suffered from that. There was no use sitting and crying about the loss of things and blaming life. We had to move on. It’s like starting a new life.”This is Tharanga’s second coming not only in life but in cricket as well. He has started well but he knows that his future will depend on how consistent he can become.

Dhoni has adapted his game superbly to the needs of his team over the last couple of years, and it was again evident in a blazing century

Sidharth Monga in Nagpur28-Oct-2009The ball was full, but not quite a half-volley. The shot that followed was something of a topspin forehand hit on the half-volley, bouncing close to the baseline. The knees were not bent like a tennis player’s but the bigger bat and massive twirl did the job, depositing the ball wide of long-on for one of the flatter sixes you’re likely to see. MS Dhoni can still play those shots.That he does not do as freely or as often as he used to is not lost on fans and colleagues alike. When Dhoni hits big shots in the nets, Virender Sehwag is usually quick to point out, in banter, “MS, ? [Where do these big shots disappear in the matches?]”It should also not be forgotten that Dhoni refrains from such audacious shots because he has explosive batsmen all around him, and his solid batting in the middle allows those flashers to play their flashier game. Nor should it be forgotten that Dhoni has managed to maintain a respectable strike-rate in one-day cricket while tempering his approach.Since becoming captain, Dhoni has played 63 ODIs with a visibly more responsible approach. In that time he has hit 34 sixes compared to 71 in 84 prior ODIs, and 160 fours to an earlier 206. In fewer matches, though, he has scored more runs at a slightly lesser strike-rate and hugely improved average. In the last two years, Dhoni has become a complete and remarkably consistent one-day batsman. Still he can’t keep everyone happy, as Dhoni readily reminded: “At some of the venues, people still expect me to hit those big sixes every time, so it is different.”Today was the best of both of Dhoni’s worlds. When he came in at 97 for 3 in the 16th over India were threatening to have aimed too high, and thus losing too many wickets too early. The first ball he faced hit him on the back of his head. He had taken his eyes off the ball, and found it following him. “It went blank,” said Dhoni. “That’s what happens when you get hit on the head.
“It was a good delivery. It’s not like I was hit in the head for the first time. I am quite used to it. If you want to put together a package, you’ll get at least 15 shots of my getting hit in the head. It’s not the best way to start the innings.”He still had the presence of mind to steal a leg-bye. The first half of the innings was all about stealing and haring between the wickets; the robbing could wait. Ricky Ponting tried to make that stealing difficult, keeping mid-off and mid-on in for the best part of first 40 overs. The boundary riders stayed off the ropes, trying to cut the twos on a huge ground. At that point Dhoni didn’t feel the need to clear mid-off or mid-on; he kept taking ones and twos despite a proactive approach from Ponting.Suresh Raina, a younger man with a lesser workload and fresher legs, kept raising his bat and patting it in appreciation of every scrambled single, and every one turned into two. It is this sort of commitment, this attitude of doing it first before demanding it of others, that earns Dhoni his team-mates’ respect.Dhoni hit one boundary in the first 28 balls he faced and two more before he raised his half-century off 55 balls. That is the new Dhoni for you. “You play by instinct, but at the same time there is a cautious attempt to see what the demand actually is,” he said. “If there is a youngster playing at No. 4, and he tries to play a big shot and gets out, its okay, people say he will learn and he will improve. But when it comes to a senior who has played around 100-odd international games, people rip him apart.”At times that’s in the back of your mind. Earlier when you went for a big shot, you backed yourself and went for it. It’s not the same as I was three or four years ago, less responsibility and more flair. But now I have more responsibility every time I turn up on the field. A lot depends on what kind of pressure you are handling.”Still some yearn for the old Dhoni, especially when the situation asks for it, during a difficult chase or while setting targets. He has managed that, like he did in the West Indies earlier this year, having promoted himself to No. 3 and scoring a 34-ball 46. Amid his nudging and nurdling, which is not the most pleasant sight on a cricket field, such innings get forgotten. Even Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, couldn’t hide his glee when announcing that the old Dhoni was back.And back the old Dhoni was. Walking down and hitting Shane Watson, heaving and slapping Mitchell Johnson, hitting three bottom-handed sixes in two overs, he scored 54 runs in his last 27 balls, putting it past Australia, barring a freak innings or poor bowling. Even as the crowd went wild, it couldn’t be escaped that this man had earned the right to go berserk after having built an innings, having worked hard through the most part of his piece.India need both the Dhonis, but there are other batsmen who can compensate for the old Dhoni, and more often than not it’s the new Dhoni that nobody else evokes. Dhoni, more than anybody else, knows that.

Getting through jet leg, training, keeping up with the election back home and then the small matter of playing a World Cup

Nicky Shaw05-May-2010Less than a year on and we are about to begin the defence of our ICC Women’s World Twenty20 title . This time in the West Indies. We had quite a smooth journey to get here. We flew direct from Gatwick to Antigua, and then just had a short stop while they changed the crew and some passengers got off, then flew onto St Kitts. Much easier than the Aussies, who, I think, have taken four days to get here!After returning from India, I went back to my day job – coaching cricket at Loughborough University and in schools with Chance to Shine. I ‘ ve obviously been training in the gym and the nets as well. The team met up for a few training session at various grounds after and then four days before we flew out, we all met up at the National Cricket Performance Centre and got in some final preparation and a practice match against the England Womens Academy team.Its been good to arrive in St Kitts a few days early as we had three good days of middle practice, a day in the nets and the chance for a gym session and plenty of recovery. We won both our warm-up matches against India and Sri Lanka which has been a good boost for the team , as we head into the tournament with our first game on Wednesday against the Aussies.There is some strong competition out here. New Zealand have given us a close run in the past and Australia are always tough. We can’t dismiss any team really. India proved a tough opposition recently when we were over there and the West Indies beat us when we were out here before Christmas. With Twenty20 you can’t write any team off , as it just takes one player to fire or someone to have a shocker to turn a game around very quickly.The weather is hot and humid, we’re all sweating quite a lot! I think most people have got over the jet lag, although we are still going to bed fairly early and getting up early, so maybe not over it as much as I thought. Since we were here a few months ago, things are not unfamiliar. But we’ve not been out that much, as we have been training hard and focusing on our cricket. We have had a few laughs with some of the locals though, and we have an amusing bus driver who gave us running commentary on the way to the ground yesterday.Some of the girls have been keeping tabs on the election back in the UK. A couple of the girls are following things, I think, and some managed to vote by post before we came away. There are updates on the TV so no doubt we will keep up with what happens, although Election Day comes in the middle of the tournament, so we will be focusing on the cricket first and foremost.We are staying at a really nice hotel, its massive and is housing all eight of the womens teams in the tournament. It is set up well with three swimming pools and is right on the beach, so great for the girls who like the sea, I’m more of a pool person myself though.All right. Back to the cricket now. Wish us luck.

Oh to be in Sri Lanka’s capital, where the cops drive tuk-tuks, the felons are Bradmanesque, the shoes mandatory, and the music unceasing

Sidharth Monga09-Aug-2010July 25
Sinhalese Sports Club. Sri Lanka practise in the nets as loud music is played behind them, possibly at the Nondescripts Cricket Club, which seems to be hosting a Twenty20 competition. Music system blares, “For 24 years I’ve been living next door to Alice…” Nobody in the nets asks who Alice is. With the steel bands and Percy Abeysekera at their loudest during matches, Sri Lankan players have known tougher distractions.July 26
Batsman’s walk from dressing room to the middle of the SSC is a pretty long one. From the viewing area on the first floor to the end of the dressing room, down a staircase, and then through the long tunnel. The flat pitch, though, makes sure not many batsmen have to take the walk.July 27
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds. American. Landed in Sri Lanka last year as ‘ general photographer, and was soon asked to cover the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Tests. Knew nothing about the game. “Man throws ball to man,” he used to write in captions. Now loves cricket enough to sit out in the sun and photograph the action, and get the captions right.July 28
No steel band at the SSC. Ask Gautam Gambhir if it is tough to concentrate when the band is playing. Says: “We are used to more noise, coming from India. It is actually disorienting at times to play in quiet grounds.”Interesting railroad crossing in Colombo, right in the heart of the city, next to Galle Face. Not gates but two bars that come down from either side. Except these aren’t long enough for the full width of the road. Enough space for bikes and perhaps even three-wheeler rickshaws, or tuk-tuks as they are known here, to go through. Nobody jumps the signal, though. Inconsistent with rest of subcontinent.July 29
Denied entry to a restaurant. Wearing slippers, not shoes. Colonial hangover?Go instead to Ceylon Cleaners to give laundry. “From Taj?” the lady asks. “Many people come here for laundry. Very expensive there.”July 30
Some family, the Ranatungas. Arjuna, country’s greatest captain, later chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, not popular with players, and now an opposition MP, never misses an opportunity to expose the board. Nishantha, only brother to not have played Tests, is now the board’s secretary. Sanjeeva, the youngest, with nine Tests to his name, turns up for a joint Kumar Sangakkara-Nishantha press conference, and persistently asks probing questions. With a sweet, slightly cheekily, reminiscent-of-Arjuna smile. Sangakkara brings an end to the topic: “If you want to create controversy, you can see this [team selection] whatever way you want.” Nishantha, sitting next to him, wears the same smile. Wonder where Arjuna is.July 31

It’s a night of lovely Sinhala music and calypso. Songs about fishermen, the sea, their hopes, their excuses to wives for coming home late. Band also loves AR Rahman’s Tamil songs. Introduced to “City of Colombo”, a seventies classic, by Brian Thomas, Sri Lanka’s media manager, who brings a touch of amateurism to a job that essentially involves stonewalling journalists’ requests for player interviews. Creates awkward situations by jumping to the next question every time a player pauses for breath during press conferences. Then makes funny faces.August 1
P Sara Oval. Next to Welikada, Sri Lanka’s largest prison. Used to get prisoners to work on the pitch. Not anymore. Chandra Schaffter of Tamil Union and Athletics Club has a novel explanation. “The TV shows them. When you are in prison and they [people outside] ask your wife about you, she says you have gone to Dubai. If then they see you at the Oval doing the pitch…”August 2
VVS Laxman’s old-school kitbag. Light like his bats. Slings it across his shoulder like a schoolbag. Interesting modern pads inside. With straps, as opposed to the ones with buckles that he usually wears. Also has interesting explanation for using these. Modern pads provide better safety but he uses them only during nets because that’s when there is more likelihood of getting hit on pads.August 3
Scorers all over the world are eccentrics. Thushara Cooray doesn’t disappoint. When a wicket falls, he qualifies the time of dismissal as (the time bad things happen, in astrology). During the Galle Test he does so only during India’s innings. Misses the second at the SSC, and by the time he comes back for the third Test, local journalists – in the interest of fairness – ask him to mention during Sri Lanka’s innings too. Hosts lose 20 wickets at P Sara, India 15.August 4
Nelu Water in press box at P Sara Oval. Sanath Jayasuriya’s company. Man still involved with Sri Lankan cricket in some way.Thilan Samaraweera hits the sixth six of his career during a classy century on a tough pitch. Three days later VVS Laxman goes on to score a better century in the fourth innings, on a pitch that steadily became more difficult to bat on. Number of sixes Laxman has hit in his career? Four.August 5
Always fascinated by India’s fixation with auto rickshaws. For example, this. Sri Lanka seems ahead of India. Spot a cop driving a tuk-tuk. And then another. It’s an official vehicle. Policemen – not all, but a few – drive tuk-tuks. Some newspapers, of the Upali Group among them, have bought tuk-tuks for reporters to ride while on assignment. Colombo Ride, the first Sinhala mobile game, is a of those mad chase games. In its third version, tuk-tuks run madly through the streets of Colombo.’I’m telling you man, it’s as easy as 94 + 6’•Cameraworx/Live ImagesAugust 6
Sakvithi Ranasinghe is arrested. English tuition teacher by training, famous conman by choice. Returned to the country six months ago, and was living in disguise with his wife in Wattala. Almost Bradmanesque statistics. Accused of swindling about Rs 9 billion according to some estimates. More than 1400 complaints against him. Senior policemen, soldiers, a woman athlete, cricket players [Tillakaratne Dilshan among others] and prominent society persons among his victims.August 7
Laxman helps India draw the series. Paddy Upton, Eric Simons and Virender Sehwag, Laxman’s runner, have a mock press conference.Upton: Viru, what advice did you give Laxman when he was on 94?
Sehwag: Get there with a boundary.
Simons: What boundary? A four or a six?
Viru: Obviously when you are on 94, you can get there with only a six.August 8
End of Test tours is like retirement. At some point on the tour you start looking forward to the end, but when it arrives, there is nothing to do. No 7.30am alarm. No early breakfast. Think back to king coconuts and wild mangoes. Galle breeze. Percy, who knows “my onions better than you do our [vests]”. Lottery man who sings Hindi songs without understanding a word of the language. Eccentric curators Jayananda Warnaweera and Anurudda Polonowita, who calls the captains who criticise his pitch “them buggers”. Saman, the three-wheeler guy from Galle, who wants three-wheelers imported from India, because “they are cheaper there”. Football on beach. Ranatungas. Crows on cricket fields. Old Hindi tunes played by the band at all venues. It’s slightly crazy here, but there is something you should know: go to the city of Colombo.

Losing the toss can’t be served as an excuse for India because their spinners failed to create pressure from both ends, and the no-balls were unpardonable

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval03-Aug-2010MS Dhoni isn’t doing his attack any service. Old-school captains used to say their first and supreme duty was to win the toss. Many had theories on how to win the toss too. Ranjitsinhji wrote in that the coins were more inclined to come down “tails” because the “heads” side is slightly heavier and given to land undermost. Sunil Gavaskar is believed to have advised some to call the side that is invisible to the captains before the coin is being flipped.Dhoni and India, though, have found that nothing works. Kumar Sangakkara even hid the coin with his left hand when flipping it today. India haven’t had it right at the toss for eight matches in a row now, three of them in Sri Lanka, where you really don’t want to be losing the toss. Not with this bowling attack.With 121 wickets and 41 caps between them, this is India’s most inexperienced attack since the Chennai Test of 2000-01 against Australia when Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule had 46 wickets and 15 caps between them. Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra badly needed runs on the board to put any kind of doubt in the batsmen’s mind, but despite all the light-hearted musings of old captains, nothing much can be done about the toss.The only other thing that would have created doubt was good bowling from both ends. That wasn’t to happen either. When Mithun bowled testing spells either side of lunch, Ojha and Mishra leaked runs. When Ojha sorted out his run-up and no-ball problems, and bowled his last 16 overs for 32 runs and a few difficult deliveries, Mishra was generous at the other end.For all the inexperience of the attack, 14 no-balls in a day’s play – 11 of them from spinners – is unpardonable. Dhoni has spoken about how much he would hate it if one of the no-balls got a wicket, but there hasn’t been much change from the bowlers on that account. India have by now bowled a whopping 71 no-balls so far in a tour of three first-class matches and a day. You shouldn’t really need a bowling coach to sort out these problems, but that there has been no sign of improvement despite having such a specialist coach is baffling.Watching Mishra bowl full tosses and no-balls, and often running onto the danger area, making life difficult for his own batsmen who will have to bat in the last innings, was to question the wisdom behind not including a third seamer on a track that is known to offer seam movement. India themselves were rattled by Dammika Prasad on the first morning two years ago.It is plausible that India sensed a pitch that is dry underneath the surface, and wanted to have two spinners when bowling later in the match. But however dry the pitch might have been, Munaf Patel really couldn’t have done worse than a legspinner who inspired such confidence from the team that his first ball to Tillakaratne Dilshan – in as early as the 13th over – was bowled with a long-on and long-off in place. And it is with India, down 0-1, that the burden of making play lies with. Mishra and Ojha have hardly looked like making any throughout the tour. It was a time that India needed something out of the ordinary, but they chose the safe route.With Harbhajan out and Mishra in, India were reduced to the same attack that went for 514 for 9 in the tour game before the first Test. Ishant and Mithun have shown improvements and have slogged it out through the tour, but Ojha and Mishra were just as unimpressive – that too on a pitch that gave them turn.Credit should not be taken away from the Sri Lankan batsmen, who were prepared to graft and wait for the loose balls, which arrived at due intervals. It is precisely because of that graft that 293 for 4 sounds worse for India.That one ball from Mishra to Dilshan with an ultra defensive field-set in the first hour on a responsive pitch sent out an ominous message. It said a lot about spinners outside Harbhajan – and Harbhajan hasn’t actually been going through a purple patch. It perhaps reiterated the team’s lack of confidence in Munaf’s fitness. It said a lot about the way this match might be heading.