The South Africa fast bowler has had a serendipitous and unexpected path to cricket and now his first IPL

Shashank Kishore28-Mar-2024Nandre Burger didn’t think he’d play professional cricket. But when a trial earned him admission to University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), with a full scholarship to pursue a psychology major, he decided to give it a crack.That decision in 2014 proved life changing. Today, Burger, 28, is an all-format fast bowler for South Africa. He featured in the SA20 for Joburg Super Kings last month and earlier this week, he made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals in their win over Lucknow Super Giants.At 15, Burger was among the top players in the age-group regional tennis championships. At 17, he competed in South Africa’s squash national championships. But when a persistent back injury flared up, he turned his attention to cricket.”Sounds strange, right,” Burger asks. “WITS offered a scholarship for those who played cricket. I thought it was cool. I didn’t want to be a cricketer, but I was getting a free way to study, so I thought why not? Cricket was actually my back-up to academics ().”Burger, a left-arm quick, had just recovered from his injury and Neil Levenson, the university coach, thought he’d glimpsed a future South Africa fast bowler when he saw the 18-year-old bowl.Related

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But Burger didn’t rate himself highly. “I laughed it off at first. I was like, ‘Man, I bowl at 125kph. I can’t do this for a living. I’ve seen guys bowl 145kph.’ Neil would have none of that. I said to him, ‘Okay, I’ll give this a go.’ And within a few weeks, I was excited to train. I’d miss classes to be at training, wanting to work batters over.”Then I got the chance to be a net bowler at the franchise team in Jo’burg – Highveld Lions. I’d always played cricket in the backyard with friends and parents, but wouldn’t say I ever had the desire to be a professional.”In 2016-17, when Burger was six months short of completing his psychology major, he had a tough decision to make. Cape Cobras offered him his first franchise contract, but it would mean moving to Cape Town immediately.”The one thing I love about the IPL is that it’s a family. And I’m big on family”•AFP/Getty Images”I discontinued my degree and left Jo’burg,” he says. “The course didn’t allow me to pursue it remotely. My contract needed me to be available in Cape Town. So I went all in on cricket.”That decision stood vindicated last December when he earned his South Africa cap during the third T20I against India in Johannesburg.”It’s funny how life works out, isn’t it?”Funnier things continued to happen.In only his second ODI, on December 19 in Gqeberha, Burger picked up 3 for 30 as India were bowled out for 211. Those were his first set of wickets in the format.”As I walked off the field, Pommie [Mbangwa] and Shaun Pollock were like, ‘Well bowled, and congrats,’ and I’m thinking, congrats for taking three wickets? Congrats for bowling ten overs? It wasn’t even my debut, so I’m confused. I go in, change and come back down again.”Shaun was like, ‘I’m sure you’re so excited.’ I still didn’t get it, so I said, ‘Yeah, it’s cool, I think I got my first [ODI] wicket, so it’s a great feeling.’ Then he’s like, ‘No man, I mean for the IPL. You’re going to play for Rajasthan Royals’.”Burger had been picked by Royals at the IPL auction in Dubai for INR 50 lakh (US$ 60,000 approx).”Everyone was saying ‘Congratulations’ and I was oblivious to what was happening. After the game, when I put my phone on, all I read was ‘congrats, congrats, congrats’ and ‘well done, well done’. I didn’t know if it was for the game or IPL.”As it is I’m terrible on my phone; if nothing has happened, I’ll take like a week to respond to messages. You can imagine how long I would’ve taken. I’m pretty sure there are people I still haven’t responded to, but I may have probably seen them and thanked them [in person].”If the news of his IPL selection was dramatic, his Test selection story is even more so.In his first Test series, Burger picked up 11 wickets in the two Tests against India•AFP/Getty Images”We were playing a four-day game against Titans. I’d just got to Newlands, and we were getting ready for the second day. Just before I was about to enter the field, I get a phone call from Shukri [Conrad, South Africa men’s head coach].”He said, ‘I’m just letting you know the Test team for the India series is going to be announced on Monday. Your name will be in it, congrats.’ This is just before I’m about to enter the field. I was like ‘Woah, no pressure’. ()”By the time I actually got to bowl, I was so emotionally tired. It felt like I’d played ten days of cricket. Keeping the secret to myself was the hardest part. My team-mates were like, ‘Oh, you seem happy today’ and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m just a happy person’. It was really cool.”He almost kept his Test debut in Centurion a secret from his parents too. “My brother-in-law, niece, parents, girlfriend – everyone was around. I told them I wasn’t playing, so that it’d be a nice surprise when they saw me get the cap.”But when my dad saw me mark out my run-up, he knew. He signaled to me from afar with a thumbs-up, as if to say, ‘Don’t worry, I see you, you’re playing’.”Getting to wear the Test cap, earning a win on Test debut was great.” As a bonus, he took seven wickets in the innings win.From not having played any cricket for a year until October 2022 due to a lumbar stress fracture to earning debuts across all three formats all in the space of a month was a turnaround he didn’t see coming, but is grateful for.”For the first four months [after the injury], I had to sit still, not move a lot and that was the toughest part. I had a lot of time to reflect on time away from cricket. The desire and hunger built up inside me.”I had nothing to lose when I first started playing, I was simply playing to enjoy it. But when I was close to being picked internationally, I realised I was putting way too much pressure on myself. That year away kind of helped me slow down and give me the focus back. I learnt to just enjoy bowling again.”I’ve now played two Tests. If I never play another Test, I’ll still be fine with it because I enjoyed and lived every moment of those two. Those were the biggest lessons I took from missing a whole year. I follow it religiously. At times, I can get extra competitive on the field, but it’s who we are, right?”

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Back now in his hotel room in Jaipur, Burger’s face is still pink from the Holi celebrations hosted by Royals. He’d never played it before, but warmly embraced an afternoon of fun and games.Colour me surprised: Burger had a blast at his first Holi party•Rajasthan Royals”It’s been amazing,” Burger says of his IPL experience. “The one thing I love is that it’s a family. And I’m big on family – for me, it’s a core principle. Everyone celebrated Holi. You’re seeing a bunch of pink men walking around.”Moments like those are cool to help with team bonding. Everyone got to act like a kid for an hour. No matter what pressure you have on the field or what you’re going through in life in general, for that one hour they were a bunch of kids, throwing water and colour on each other.”He also loves exploring new places and had just returned from a short walk with his girlfriend, Ashley, visiting a few monuments in and around Jaipur.”My girlfriend is an architect and she’s excited to see all the buildings,” Burger says. “We went to Patrika Gate, the clay-colour monument down the road. She looked at it and went very technical with some of the construction. I really didn’t understand anything (). Guess it’s the same when I talk cricket with her.The other great thing about being at the IPL has been an opportunity to learn and chat with a player he grew up admiring.”Ah, Boulty [Trent Boult]. I wanted to be like him. Understand what he thinks when he opens the bowling. He always takes a wicket in the powerplay. Just to be able to chat with him, understand his processes and how can I try and incorporate some of his methods into my thinking.”I’ve had so much time to pick his brain, trying to observe how he goes about things. I’ve been like a crazy fan boy around him. But it’s okay, I think (). It’s amazing to open the bowling with him. It could be pretty fun to do it for an entire season.”His all-time bowling hero, though, is closer to home.”It’s clichéd I guess, but it’s Dale Steyn. He always wanted to be the guy to turn the game, no matter what the situation was. He always made things happen. I liked that.”I’ve been fortunate enough to open the bowling in a few games with him. I’ll cherish that forever. If there’s anyone I can look up to, he’s right up there in the way he competed. That’s all I want to do.”

Netravalkar got rid of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to give wings to USA’s dreams but they fell short in the end

Sidharth Monga12-Jun-2024Life can sometimes be too good to be true.All these years after having left India, in a World Cup, in the brightest of lights, getting out not just the India captain, not just a fellow Mumbaikar, but a fellow Payyade Club player, caught by a fellow Payyade Club player at that.Saurabh Netravalkar didn’t even make that connection when out in the middle. Before the game he did warmly catch up with all of the Mumbai guys he had left behind. Then he bowled the wobble-seam ball to get Virat Kohli out for a golden duck. Then he got Rohit Sharma out, caught by Harmeet Singh, who had once driven his car up the Andheri train station platform. From one city that never sleeps to another, the city of blinding lights.Related

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The ball is coming out beautifully. Even Netravalkar doesn’t know which way it is going to seam. What chance does the batter stand? Rishabh Pant survives narrowly. Netravalkar carries on for a third over: 3-0-13-2 in the powerplay.Netravalkar is the cult hero of USA cricket right now. Indian-born Americans are carrying the USA flag and draping themselves in it for a match against India. His coach Stuart Law calls him the Iceman after his Super Over against Pakistan. He is a hero to all of us stuck with jobs that require sitting at a desk. To all of us that didn’t succeed at our dream job at the first go. A fan shouted to him from the stands that even he works from home. Netravalkar looked at him and smiled.”I love my job at Oracle,” he says, “and this [cricket] is, of course, my love. I enjoy entering the field, bowling every ball that I do. I’m blessed that I get to do what I love most of the time in the day.”We all have a bit of Saurabh Netravalkar in us.He is a Goan. A seafarer at heart. So perhaps it should not be a surprise that he has made his life so far away from home.But here he, is putting in the spell of his life against India. Within touching distance of sealing USA’s progress to the Super Eight stage. He has them under pressure. His other team-mates also have assistance from the pitch, and are keeping India on a leash.Saurabh Netravalkar dropped a tough chance from Suryakumar Yadav•ICC/Getty ImagesSuryakumar Yadav tweeted to him ten years ago that opportunities don’t happen, you create them. Both have taken different routes to opportunities and this World Cup. Suryakumar has had his struggles before he found his true self. Netravalkar found the competition too intense and came to the USA to study. Now he is under a Suryakumar catch, one of the most difficult catches to take, running back, keeping an eye on the ball, watching it fall over your shoulder, tracking it all the way through into your hands.Netravalkar does most things right, but it pops out of his hand. Suryakumar is a dangerous batter, capable of hitting the ball in unusual areas, a difficult man to set fields to. USA get too lost in the task, and on three occasions they take more than one minute making sure the field for Suryakumar is right, and are penalised five runs. The first penalty of its kind. Thirty-five off five over becomes 30 off five overs.Netravalkar blames himself. “It’s on me,” he says. “If I had taken the catch, we could have put them under more pressure.”India go on to win. It indeed is too good to be true.

CSK have won five of the seven matches in which the allrounder has bowled his allotment of overs

Sidharth Monga05-May-20242:15

Jaffer: Jadeja kept piling up pressure from an end

A barometer of how Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are doing in IPL 2024 is Ravindra Jadeja’s performance. More specifically, his bowling. Even more specifically, if he has bowled four overs. Or, rather, if the conditions are suited enough for him to bowl four overs. Jadeja has bowled his allotment seven times out of 12 this IPL. CSK have won five of those matches.With the depth in their squad and with the Impact Player rules, CSK have the luxury of not bowling Jadeja out should the pitch be not helpful or should there be too much dew. Or if there are two left-hand batters around or if he is being attacked. There are always options for such times, but this is also true: CSK have won only one match out of five in which Jadeja hasn’t been able to bowl his four overs.Jadeja is a critical player in this CSK squad. He is not the perfect T20 player, but he does more than enough things right to warrant some protection. CSK don’t bowl him in the powerplay, for example. Then he almost always gets done before the death overs. Similarly, with the bat, if you protect him from spin, he can be brutal against pace at the death. That is a lesson CSK have hopefully learnt after the brief experiment with sending him up at No. 4.Related

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It is with the ball, though, that Jadeja indicates CSK’s health the best, especially from the time the Impact Player came in and bowling Jadeja out stopped being mandatory. ESPNcricinfo’s Shiva Jayaraman has worked out the link between Jadeja’s bowling and CSK’s fortunes even better: since the start of IPL 2023, CSK have won 68.42% of full 20-over matches in which Jadeja has at least started his fourth over; no other bowler bowling out has coincided with such a high percentage of wins.And it is not like Jadeja is called upon to bowl only on turners. He has bowled out in 70.37% of the matches, which is a decent ratio. It is not quite Rashid Khan-R Ashwin territory – they bowl out in 90% of their teams’ matches – but Jadeja still does so more often than Ravi Bishnoi, Piyush Chawla and Mohit Sharma, to name a few frontline bowlers.Take one look at Jadeja’s figures, and you will know why he is so central to CSK’s plans. It is not in taking wickets that Jadeja’s importance lies – he has taken only eight of them this year, but has gone at just 7.26 an over. On four separate occasions this IPL, he has bowled his four overs for less than a run a ball. You can adjust that economy rate for the absence of powerplay and death overs, but at a time when even the middle overs are being targeted, a banker of a bowler in seven out of ten matches is a luxury.1:32

Jaffer: Punjab’s batters messed up big time

To not let Jadeja bowl is precisely why Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh took risks against him early on. They had staged a comeback from the two early wickets, were going at a decent rate, were not chasing a huge total; they could have taken a moment once the field spread, but they knew the pitfalls of letting Jadeja settle. Shashank took a massive swipe at the first ball Jadeja bowled, and was lucky to survive. At the end of the over, Prabhsimran gave away his stumps and took a risk to score a boundary.Jadeja, though, kept plugging away: turn the ball hard, attack the stumps, don’t bowl half-volleys or long hops. When Prabhsimran tried the inside-out drive the second time, he ended up hitting Jadeja straight to long-on. By now, Jadeja was hurrying the batters and the asking rate was jumping big time with every dot and single. Wickets are incidental in this format, but they came today, to go with his runs and earning him the Player-of-the-Match award.With the bat, Jadeja is back in the lower-middle order, which is more suited to him. He had to come in early thanks to a Rahul Chahar double-strike, but Punjab Kings (PBKS) perhaps missed a trick there by not bowling an extra over of spin at Jadeja. They were perhaps looking to save Chahar for later when MS Dhoni would be batting, but as a result, Jadeja faced only three balls of spin early on in his innings. By the time Chahar came back, Jadeja was set.If you are a CSK opponent and there is no dew, try to keep a left-hand batter in the middle overs if you can. Try to take Jadeja down early but it might not always come off. But do just try to push CSK to try other bowlers in the middle overs because if you let Jadeja run through the middle overs, he ends up creating enough impact to help CSK win.

With more than half the cycle to go, there are several contenders for the top two spots

S Rajesh20-Aug-2024India
India lead the WTC table, having taken 68.52% of the total points available to them so far (74 out of a maximum of 108 points from nine Tests), but they have a tough tour of Australia coming up in November. Before that series, they have five home Tests lined up against Bangladesh and New Zealand.For India to finish above 60% – they qualified for the final with 58.8 in 2023 – they need 63 points from the maximum of 120 on offer in these 10 Tests. (A win fetches 12 points and a draw four.) Five wins and a draw will fetch India 64 points, which will keep them above 60% (assuming they aren’t docked points for offences like a slow over rate).Australia
Australia are one of only two teams to have already played four out of six series in this cycle; West Indies are the other. They are sitting pretty on 62.5%, but their final ranking will largely depend on how they fare at home against India, a team which has beaten them in their last four Test series, including twice in Australia. To finish on the right side of 60%, they need 47 more points from seven Tests, which they can get with four wins, or three wins and three draws.New Zealand
With three wins and three losses in their six Tests so far, New Zealand are on 50%, which means they need to do a lot more to finish with an overall score of 60%. Of the 96 points available in their eight remaining Tests, they need to score at least 65. Five wins and a couple of draws will do the job, but that looks an extremely tough ask given that three of those eight Tests are in India.Getty ImagesSri Lanka
Sri Lanka have the same 50% score as New Zealand, but they have played only two of six series. They have nine more Tests in this cycle, and from the 108 points on offer, they need 70 to finish above 60%. That means six wins, or five wins and three draws, which in turn means they can’t afford to drop too many points in the three-Test away series in England.South Africa
South Africa and Bangladesh are the two teams playing the fewest Tests this cycle – 12, compared to England’s 22. That’s all the more reason to make every game count, but so far from six Tests South Africa have picked up only 28 points, including 16 from the 1-0 series win in West Indies last week. To get to 60%, they need 59 more points from six Tests, which means five wins. They have four home Tests coming up against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where they will have to try and pick up maximum points, before travelling to Bangladesh for an away series.Pakistan
Like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Pakistan have played only two out of six series in this cycle. Both of them were overseas – in Sri Lanka and Australia – which means they have the opportunity to make the most of home conditions in the three series against Bangladesh, England and West Indies; their only remaining away series is in South Africa.To get to 60%, Pakistan need 79 out of 108 points available to them from their nine remaining Tests. They can get those with six wins and a couple of draws, or seven wins. Given that they have exactly seven home games to come, that looks like a pretty straightforward equation.England’s bazball approach has been fast on scoring but slow on over-rates•Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesEngland
Had it not been for 19 penalty points deducted because of a slow over rate, England would have had a much heathier percentage of 48.72. Now, though, they need 102 out of 108 points in their nine remaining Tests to finish above 60%. If they win eight of those Tests and draw one, they will get 100. That means they need to win every remaining Test in this cycle – if they do that, they can give away six more penalty points and still finish on the right side of 60.Bangladesh
Bangladesh have four series left, but only one of those is at home, against South Africa. To finish on 60%, they need 75 points out of a possible 96 from eight Tests, which means six wins and a draw.West Indies
West Indies have already played four series and have only scored 20 points out of 108. Even if they win their last four Tests, they can only finish on 43.59%.

Will MI have to choose between Rohit and Hardik? Who can KKR afford to let go? Will RCB go back to Kohli as captain?

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-20243:53

IPL auction 2025 retention rules: All the big questions answered

Chennai Super Kings

5:44

Should CSK retain Pathirana?

MS Dhoni falls in the uncapped category now, and there is little doubt that CSK will retain him. But who else do they keep? Ruturaj Gaikwad, possibly. Other attractive options are Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana. Jadeja, though, retired from T20Is earlier this year, and will be 36 by the start of the season.

Delhi Capitals

2:59

Moody: ‘Kuldeep, Stubbs offer Delhi Capitals more value than Fraser-McGurk’

Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel look all but set to be retained by DC. But who else? Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Jake Fraser-McGurk might be options, but are they worth the money? They might also be tempted to hold on top Abishek Porel.

Gujarat Titans

5:23

Shami a risky retention for Gujarat Titans?

Mohammed Shami has been out of action for almost a year now, and is also 34. So, do GT retain him? They will almost certainly want Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan to stay with them. Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, both uncapped, are also possibilities. But don’t be surprised if they don’t retain the maximum number possible.

Kolkata Knight Riders

6:38

Which two among Shreyas, Narine, Russell will be KKR’s 18-crore picks?

KKR have Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Rinku Singh and Shreyas Iyer among the big names as part of the squad which took them to the title in 2024. If that makes it tough, throw in Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh and Angkrish Raghuwanshi. They face perhaps the toughest of choices among all teams.

Lucknow Super Giants

4:25

Can Pooran lead LSG if they let go of KL Rahul?

Last season, there were hints about KL Rahul not having the best of relationships with the LSG owners. So, in case LSG let him go, they will need a new captain. Could that be Nicholas Pooran? LSG have a call to make about Mayank Yadav, who is uncapped for now, but has been called up to India’s squad for the T20Is against Bangladesh. There are also contenders like Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur and Ayush Badoni, all uncapped, all stars for the franchise.

Mumbai Indians

6:35

Bumrah, Suryakumar, Hardik among Moody’s MI-retention picks

MI replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain in 2024 and had a terrible season. Do both of them stay? If yes, who is the captain? Among other big names, MI have Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah to think about. There is also Ishan Kishan, who has been part of their core over the years.

Punjab Kings

6:59

IPL 2025: Will PBKS go into the auction with a clean slate?

The list starts with Arshdeep Singh, and includes the uncapped Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh and Harpreet Brar. While Shashank and Ashutosh were PBKS’ finds in 2024, Prabhsimran has performed well at the top, a position where Shikhar Dhawan’s retirement has created a void. And, of course, they need a captain.

Rajasthan Royals

5:09

Can Rajasthan Royals do without retaining Buttler ahead of auction?

While Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler have been performing for RR consistently, even young Riyan Parag made the step up in 2024. Among bowlers, RR have Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin and Trent Boult as the senior pros. How many of them will RR be desperate for? And will they be tempted to release Buttler, and get him back at the auction?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

4:36

Moody: RCB will look for a new captain at the auction

Virat Kohli is all but certain to be retained. But will RCB go back to him as captain? Faf du Plessis has led them since 2022, but he has now turned 40. What about Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green? They also have to balance the side, so do RCB go for a bowling captain?

Sunrisers Hyderabad

8:33

Head or Cummins: who will be the top retention pick for SRH?

Pat Cummins led them to the final in his first season in charge last year, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma sparkled at the top, and Heinrich Klaasen fired as a finisher. SRH made the final in 2024, and that was because of a settled, batting-heavy squad. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s position could turn out to be tricky, given he is uncapped now, but is in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh, where he could make his debut.

In a fairytale return to Test cricket, the allrounder demonstrated just how far he has come as a red-ball offspinner

Deivarayan Muthu24-Oct-20241:56

Manjrekar: Small sample but Washington shows promise as Ashwin’s successor

Washington Sundar wasn’t supposed to be in Pune for the second Test against New Zealand. He was supposed to be in Coimbatore with his Tamil Nadu team-mates for the Ranji Trophy. He was not in India’s Test squad three days ago. Before Thursday, he had last played a Test match three-and-a-half years ago. As it turned out, he made a serendipitous return to Test cricket, bagging career-best figures of 7 for 59.”It was all God’s plan,” Washington said.Washington. Pune. God’s plan. Sounds familiar?Related

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Washington's career-best 7 for 59 spins out New Zealand

In 2017, Washington wasn’t supposed to be part of the IPL, but after an injury to R Ashwin, he bowled Steven Smith at a trial with Rising Pune Supergiant, and they picked him to replace the senior offspinner. At 17, Washington emerged as a powerplay specialist in T20 cricket.Seven years later, at the scene of his T20 emergence, Washington showed he could grow into an all-format player. Ravi Shastri certainly saw it coming, telling ESPNcricinfo he would go on to become India’s “premier allrounder across all three formats of the game.”But even Shastri couldn’t have seen Thursday coming.Washington Sundar exactly matched R Ashwin’s career-best Test figures of 7 for 59•AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s fairly unusual for this India team to make additions to their squad in the middle of a home Test series unless there are any concerns around players’ fitness or availability. While there were hints on Tuesday that Washington might play on a low-bounce, black-soil pitch in Pune – he had a long bowling stint alongside Ashwin in the nets – it still felt like a stretch that he would replace Kuldeep Yadav in India’s attack. And no one could have expected him to do that, and then outshine Ashwin.Washington ended up matching Ashwin’s career-best Test figures exactly, with the senior offspinner clapping his potential successor off the field at the end of New Zealand’s innings.At the start of the day, it was all about Ashwin. Midway through the seventh over, bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma gestured Ashwin to be ready to bowl. Ashwin got his fifth ball to turn and pin New Zealand captain Tom Latham lbw. Ashwin then had Will Young caught down the leg side with another offbreak that turned. It felt like Ashwin and India were onto something. Fans scrambling for shelter from the sweltering heat quickly filled up the stands.Washington wasn’t having quite the same effect on the Pune crowd, but he was quietly working his way back into Test cricket. There were signs of rust, especially when he bowled short and wide of off stump to Young with the leg side packed with six fielders.Then came the ball to Rachin Ravindra.Washington went wide of the crease from around the wicket and put more revs on the ball, which led first to dip and then turn. There was also inward drift, which led Ravindra to play down the wrong line. The ball slid past the outside edge and hit the top of off, providing a flashback to Ashwin’s dismissals of Alastair Cook in both innings of the 2018 Edgbaston Test.2:47

Washington opens up on Ashwin’s influence

For much of his career, Washington’s bowling has been tuned to the demands of white-ball cricket, and has generally been characterised by pace through the air and flatter trajectories often delivered with undercut. Of late, he has worked on refashioning himself into a more conventional offspinner. After IPL 2024, where he finished with zero wickets and zero runs in all of two games for Sunrisers Hyderabad, he called up S Sriram, the former India and Tamil Nadu allrounder who has worked with Australia and Bangladesh as a spin consultant, for his inputs on how he could become an all-format bowler. Having already worked with Washington at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sriram suggested a few technical tweaks.”So one thing we spoke about was his run-up speed, you know, just get more energy into his run-up rather than just ambling, and more of overspin,” Sriram, who was following Washington’s spell from Chennai, told ESPNcricinfo. “He had a little bit of a finger issue also recently, so he was recovering from that. So one of the things we spoke about is always going back to that overspin, which gives him more bounce. And overspin is possible only when you have that momentum in the run-up.”If you don’t have momentum in the run-up, it’s very difficult to get that overspin. One of the things we discussed was obviously bounce was his main weapon. And how he can use that to his advantage in both white ball and red-ball cricket.”In his next over, Washington got the ball to drift away from Tom Blundell, then dip and rip through the gate. Washington is usually a man of few emotions, but this wicket meant so much to him that he brought out an animated fist pump. Washington was primarily picked to counter a left-hander-heavy New Zealand line-up. This was evidence that he could pick off the right-handers as well.”I think once he gets that seam angle right and the release right, and with the revs, automatically the drop and the drift takes care of itself,” Sriram said. “He used the shine to get the drift with the right seam angle. And also, if the seam is upright, it drops. Like that Blundell one, it dropped on him a little bit. He went to play with the spin, but the slight drift and drop got the wicket.”Washington then kept hitting the drier, good-length band on the pitch with laser-like precision and kept the stumps in play. He was rewarded with five more wickets in nine overs.Tom Blundell was bowled by Washington on the stroke of tea•BCCI”The first two spells, I think he was settling in,” Sriram said. “He was finding the right pace and also the right sort of rhythm. But once he got those two wickets around tea, his confidence also built up. It just happened so quickly for him, which made it look casual. But it wasn’t that casual.”Gautam Gambhir welcomed Washington back into the dressing room with a round of applause and a big smile. Like Shastri, Gambhir sees an all-format player in Washington. He had trusted him with bowling the Super Over in the Pallekele T20I in July, and Washington responded by bowling India to victory from out of nowhere.Gambhir then promoted Washington up the order to No.4 in the next match – the first ODI in Colombo. He didn’t score too many in that game, but his batting potential is clear: he already has three Test fifties, including match-turning interventions in Brisbane and Ahmedabad, and his Pune call-up came on the back of a Ranji Trophy 152 while batting at No. 3.Sriram is hopeful of Washington coming of age as an allrounder under Gambhir, with whom he worked as an assistant coach at Lucknow Super Giants.”Yeah, I think credit to Gauti also,” Sriram said. “Because I think he always rates him high. Whatever little conversations I’ve had with Gauti in LSG also, he always rated Washy very high. And he is someone, I think, he’ll use him very well as an allrounder. Both with bat and ball, he’ll promote him in certain times with the bat. And he’ll make best use of him with the ball as well and give him the ideal situations where he can succeed in all formats of the game.”Perhaps that, then, is God’s long-term plan.

All the stats highlights from India’s series defeat to New Zealand

Sampath Bandarupalli26-Oct-20241:52

Manjrekar: Beating India in two different conditions is a remarkable feat

18 Consecutive Test series wins for India at home before their series defeat to New Zealand. No other team had won more than ten successive Test series at home. India’s previous series defeat came against England in 2012.It is also the second-longest unbeaten series streak for any team at home in Test cricket, behind Australia’s 28 series between 1992-93 and 2008-09.1 New Zealand’s series win against India is their first on the Indian soil in Test cricket. Before this series, New Zealand had only two Test wins in India – in Nagpur in 1969 and at Wankhede in 1988.Related

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It was also New Zealand’s first bilateral series win away from home in the World Test Championship, having not won any of their previous seven such series.3 New Zealand players with six-plus wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match, including Mitchell Santner. Richard Hadlee against Australia in Brisbane in 1985 and Daniel Vettori against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2004 are the other New Zealand bowlers with multiple six-wicket hauls in a Test.13 for 157 Santner’s bowling figures in Pune are the third-best match figures for New Zealand in a men’s Test. Hadlee took 15 for 123 against Australia in 1985, while Ajaz Patel claimed 14 for 225 against India in 2021 at the Wankhede.Mitchell Santner soaks it in after his 13th wicket of the match•AFP/Getty ImagesSantner’s match figures are also the third-best by any bowler in a men’s Test against India, behind Ajaz’s 14 for 225 and Ian Botham’s 13 for 103 at Wankhede in 1980.3 Test defeats for India in 2024 – two against New Zealand this month and against England in January. Only twice before did India lose three or more Tests at home in a calendar year – Four in 1969 and three in 1983.4 Test defeats at home for India under Rohit Sharma, the joint-second most behind MAK Pataudi’s nine losses. Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev also lost four Tests at home while leading India.ESPNcricinfo Ltd37 Wickets by spinners in Pune. Only twice did the spinners claim more wickets in a men’s Test – 38 by Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele in 2018 and by Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Chattogram in 2019. Spinners also took 37 wickets in the 1969 Nagpur Test between India and New Zealand.The New Zealand spinners collectively took 18 wickets in Pune, their second-most in a Test match, behind the 19 in the 1969 Nagpur Test.11 for 115 Washington Sundar’s bowling figures in Pune are the second-best by an Indian in a losing cause. Javagal Srinath took 13 for 132 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in 1999, which India lost by 46 runs.1056 Runs scored by Yashasvi Jaiswal in Tests at home in 2024. These are the most runs scored by any batter in a calendar year in Tests in India, surpassing Gundappa Viswanath’s 1047 runs in 1979.4 Players with 2000-plus runs and 200-plus wickets in Tests at home. Ravindra Jadeja joined Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Stuart Broad on Saturday after completing 2000 Test runs at home.

Their qualification to the final is a testament to the resourcefulness of South Africa’s system that has consistently found the Mr Right Nows

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-2024Progress not perfection, is a modern mantra that prioritises the journey and not the destination and sums up South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) campaign. As one of the least-favoured teams and despite a schedule that excluded England and Australia entirely and only had them playing India at home, they’ve qualified with a game to spare in a testament to the resourcefulness of a system that may not always have a full XI of Mr Rights but has consistently found the Mr Right Nows.At SuperSport Park, the first of those was Dane Paterson. After Kagiso Rabada produced one of the best wicketless spells by a seamer in recent memory, which clearly marinated in the Pakistan batters minds, Paterson took over as braai master, so to speak. He picked up a second successive career five-for on the back of believing that the stand-in role he played in New Zealand would be his last international appearance. At the other end Corbin Bosch benefitted from some brainless shot selection and on debut, scooped a four-for. Then it was over to Aiden Markram. Under siege for T20 form that has resulted in only one score over 30 in 18 matches this year, his first innings 89 was crucial to South Africa taking a lead.Even though their bowlers burned through it so quickly that their coach Shukri Conrad called it “the worst bowling performance for the first 40 minutes that I’ve seen for this side”, it provided enough cushioning for Marco Jansen to exploit later on. A target of 148 should have been reached without the rollercoaster of losing four wickets for three runs but when that happened, South Africa’s tail took them home. In an ideal, and some would say boring, world, that should not have happened but things in South African sport (and life) are rarely flawless which only makes them more interesting.Related

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“If you look at our campaign, as much as we’re in a position where we’re in the (WTC) final, we haven’t been super dominant in our performances,” Temba Bavuma said afterwards. “We definitely haven’t been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we’ve done is that we’ve found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.”And that, folks, is the South African way. Make a plan. Find a way. Call up 30 players across 11 Tests – the most by any team in this WTC cycle. Effectively forfeit a series to prioritise your money-making T20 league, like they did against New Zealand in February. Understand that you only have to beat West Indies and Bangladesh away and Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home. Ignore everything else. Believe. Even when half the cricketing world doesn’t and the other half is too preoccupied with everything else going on (read: BGT, Bazball and other Big Three stuff).Be honest: Did you really think South Africa, the team that has been through a complete administrative overhaul, near bankruptcy and a brutal reckoning with injustices past, could reach the WTC final?Be honest: Did you really, really think South Africa, in the post Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn era, could reach the WTC final?Be honest, because not even Conrad or Bavuma were sure. “I think it only got real when we came back after Bangladesh,” Conrad said.There, South Africa won a first series in the subcontinent in a decade and seemed to find some semblance of batting rhythm. After no centuries on their tour of West Indies, and only three in the cycle (Dean Elgar – Boxing Day 2023, Markram – Cape Town 2024 and David Bedingham – New Zealand 2024), they scored four and there were firsts. Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder all scored hundreds in Bangladesh to suggest a corner had been turned. Still, with every match a must-win, South Africa kept their expectations realistic and understood it would take more something special to get to the WTC final. “I didn’t think it was possible, but with a little bit of luck, I thought we’ve got it in us to scare some people.”

“We definitely haven’t been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we’ve done is that we’ve found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.”Temba Bavuma after the victory

Conrad acknowledges “people abroad will be shouting, ‘easy draw'” and said he is “certainly not going to sit here and apologise for that” while Bavuma recognised the lack of superstars. “If I look at our batting group, we don’t have batters that are averaging 45-plus. All of us are mid-30s, late-30s, which shows that at some point guys are going to make some contribution to the team,” Bavuma said. “Our bowling line-up has pretty much changed almost every series. And guys have come in and have done the business.”How and why is a question that could be answered with the cold, hard logic of numbers and match situations and who did what, when and there are months between now and the WTC final when we can do that. For now, the answer lies in something far more abstract, alchemical even. It’s best summed up by what Rabada told Conrad on that mindset-changing Bangladesh tour.”KG and I were sitting outside somewhere, and he said to me something that will stick with me for a long time, He said ‘Shuks, coach, I played in some great South African sides with legends like Dale and Vernon [Philander] and Morne [Morkel] and Graeme and Faf [du Plessis] but I’m playing with my mates now’. And that for me, like, rings so true because that’s what they are.”They’re a bunch of mates together that want to have a hell lot of fun and win. And they’re going to be some hiccups along the way, but I think they’ve got each other’s backs. There’s a really strong bond that’s in that change room and that’s probably the biggest thing that we’ve got right there. Everybody pulls in the same direction, and we just get on with things.”That may sound “windgat” (the Afrikaans word for arrogant) as Conrad sometimes says but it isn’t. It just explains how well South Africa have stayed the moment when it mattered most; when they needed 32 runs with two wickets post lunch at SuperSport Park and when Rabada and Jansen took them home. The players did a lap of honour around the field then, which felt a little strange considering the series is alive and the final has not been won, but which told the story of a side that has progressed in search of their perfection.

While neither Abhimanyu nor Rahul put forward a strong case at the top, there were encouraging displays elsewhere

Alex Malcolm09-Nov-2024Related

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Abhimanyu Easwaran

The 29-year-old endured a difficult two games and did not help his cause for a Test debut in Perth despite coming to Australia in red-hot form. He returned scores of 7, 12, 0 and 17 in Mackay and Melbourne. He ran himself out in the second innings in Mackay, but his other dismissals would be of concern to India’s selectors. He was caught behind the wicket three times with the extra pace and bounce of Australia’s pitches causing issues, despite falling to three seamers who aren’t express pace or particularly tall. In Mackay, he edged Jordan Buckingham to the keeper trying to defend when caught on the crease. In the first over in Melbourne, he was squared up by a rising delivery from Michael Neser and caught in the gully off the shoulder of the bat. In the second innings he sliced a tentative drive to gully again off Nathan McAndrew. The manner of those dismissals won’t help his case to be Rohit Sharma’s replacement, should India’s captain not be available for the Perth Test, given Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc would be another step up in pace and bounce.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

KL Rahul

It was a big ask for Rahul to step straight off the plane and perform without much preparation in Australia, although it wasn’t a problem for Jurel. To be fair to Rahul, he didn’t do a huge amount wrong in returning scores of 4 and 10 while opening on a difficult pitch at the MCG. In the first innings he nicked a beauty from Scott Boland that he could have easily missed. He had to play at a ball angled into off stump that seamed away enough to catch the edge. He looked comfortable against the quicks in the second innings compared to his team-mates, but fell in bizarre fashion to Corey Rocchiccioli’s offspin. Rocchiccioli’s first ball was an innocuous offbreak that Rahul thought was spinning down the leg side. He decided to let it go, it didn’t spin as much as he thought it might and it sneaked through the small gap between his thighs and ricocheted onto off stump. Australia A opener Marcus Harris noted that Rahul looked all class in his brief stays but whether it was enough to convince India’s selectors that he is the ideal Rohit replacement remains to be seen.Dhruv Jurel made fifties in both innings of the second unofficial Test at the MCG•AFP

Dhruv Jurel

Jurel was the best batter on both sides in the second unofficial Test, and made a serious case to be selected as a specialist batter at some stage in the Test series if there are concerns about Sarfaraz Khan’s ability to handle the pace and bounce of Australia’s quicks in Australia. Jurel looked a class above everyone on either side and played Scott Boland, Michael Neser and Nathan McAndrew with ease. His 80 in the first innings was near flawless in some of the toughest batting conditions of the match. He pulled, cut and drove superbly in between defending and leaving with conviction. He was equally good in the second, although he did benefit from a big slice of luck on the third morning. He uppercut Boland on 25, forgetting deep third had been placed for the stroke. Ollie Davies ran in and dropped a difficult but catchable chance. He went onto make another classy 68 but fell for the second time in the game caught in the deep trying to launch an offspinner over the top. He also kept tidily as expected.

Nitish Kumar Reddy

Aside from a good 38 in the second innings in Melbourne, Reddy did not have a huge impact with either bat or ball in the two matches. He made 0 and 17 in Mackay and then 16 and 38 at the MCG. The two innings in Melbourne were important as he shared critical partnerships with Jurel to give India A some hope after top-order collapses. But he fell three times to the medium-pace of Beau Webster. The tall Tasmanian has an outstanding first-class record with the ball in recent years, but he is the not the same threat level that Australia A’s main quicks are, let alone the Test quicks, given he bowls predominantly under 130kph. Reddy was bounced out three times across the series, twice trying to pull and the other skipping down the track and trying to cut. With the ball he took just one wicket for the series from 31 overs. It was the important scalp of Nathan McSweeney in the first innings in Mackay, but batter error played a big part. He conceded four an over in the first innings at the MCG when scoring was incredibly difficult against the seamers.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Prasidh Krishna

The tall right-armer was one of the shining lights for India A and could well have rocketed into calculations for the Border-Gavaskar series given how well he bowled. He took 10 wickets at 17.30, including 4 for 50 in the first innings at the MCG and two wickets in an over at the start of the second to give Australia A a fright. He caused Australia A’s best opener, and Australia’s possible Test opener, Marcus Harris no end of problems, knocking him over three times. Only two of his wickets were of specialist bowlers. His accuracy and his bounce at good pace are ideally suited to Australian conditions. He also made a critical contribution with the bat in the second innings at the MCG, making 29 off 43 with five boundaries to give his side hope.

With 31 needed off 10 balls, calm Aussie sets up Somerset’s thrilling win over Surrey

Andrew Miller24-Apr-2025Was this proof of concept in a single thrilling tussle? To be at Beckenham on a historic day for women’s county cricket was to be privy to a host of competing, often conflicting, narratives … more of which shortly. However, the day’s events ended up being governed by one over-arching, all-conquering truth.As Gary Lineker didn’t quite say: Women’s cricket is played by 22 players over the course of an afternoon, and in the end, the Australian wins it.Though she’s still only 27, Amanda-Jade Wellington has not played a match for Australia for three years and counting. And yet, when she strode to the middle with two overs of Somerset’s spirited but stiff run-chase remaining, she did so with precisely the conviction that English women’s cricket is deemed to have been lacking throughout a winter of deep and lasting discontent.Which is not to say that it’s her nationality wot won it, but when you face your first ball with 31 runs still needed from 10 deliveries, and duly help yourself to six fours in seven balls to set up a last-ball burglary, it’s hard not to assume that correlation and causation are one and the same.Related

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“Naah, never!” Wellington declared afterwards, when asked if she feared that Somerset’s hopes were already dead and buried, by the time she took strike for that first delivery from Ryana MacDonald-Gay.Wellington’s finesse was remarkable to behold. There was a stillness to her decision-making from first ball to last – an early movement around the crease, but invariably a late decision to engage, as she waited for the ball to arrive then dinked it across a lush and rapid outfield. Four times she stroked MacDonald-Gay through the arc between cover and deep third, with not even a switch to round the wicket disturbing her thought process.Then, after repeating the dose against Alice Davidson-Richards, Wellington changed her tack at the sixth time of asking, walking across to the off-side to flick her sixth consecutive four through fine leg and bring the requirement down to two off two.”I just played my game,” she said. “I know it really well. I saw an opportunity where there was a massive gap. I know I’m not the strongest player, so I’m not going to hit sixes everywhere. I have to find a way to try and manipulate the field, and use the pace on the ball. That’s something I’m known for, and it worked today.”A scrambled leg-bye drew the scores level, but even with her direct role in the contest over, Wellington’s positivity shone through for Fran Wilson’s winning moment.”Naaah, there was no doubt when the field went up,” Wellington said. “I just said to Fran, if it’s a slower ball, go for it, because there’s no-one out there, and if you miss it, we’re running anyway. I back Fran Wilson every day of the week and she got us over the line.”It clearly wasn’t a one-woman show – even if Wellington was also the star turn with the ball, claiming 3 for 42 with her legspin, including two of the three England regulars in a star-studded Surrey top-order, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Alice Capsey.Amanda-Jade Wellington’s composed innings took Somerset to the brink of victory•Andrew MillerThere was also the small matter of Heather Knight’s return to competition, three months on from another Australia-dominated tussle in the Ashes. “We call her spring chicken … golden arm!” Wellington joked, after Knight picked off Sophia Dunkley with her second ball of the match, then embarked on a tangibly determined knock of 64 from 54 balls to give Somerset’s run-chase the ideal tempo.A comeback hundred wasn’t to be, but as she stamped her mark on an opening partnership of 122 with Emma Corney, Knight’s performance – in only her third domestic List A match since 2021 – underlined the value of England’s senior players being placed front and centre of this rebooted county competition.”It’s very important for the England players to be playing domestic cricket,” Johann Myburgh, Surrey’s head coach, said. “It’s great to see on both sides. Having them around is great for us as a group, but it’s also great for them as cricket players, in terms of having consistency and understanding how they want to play their cricket.”If you came down and watched the game today, you’d have seen a very high standard of cricket,” he added. “The game in the last five years has been evolving and getting better. The professionalisation of the game means players can spend more hours on their craft, they can enhance themselves physically and mentally, and this is just another step in that process.”It is, however, a process that will need some fine-tuning as the season unfolds. For all the fine words about the unification of the men’s and women’s games, there was something jarring about Surrey choosing Kent’s second home, Beckenham, as their venue for this historic relaunch.The logic was sound, so far as it went. For four years, this was the regular base for the now defunct South-East Stars, the regional set-up whose logo remains painted on the wall of the indoor school, so there was at least a degree of continuity for the many players who have transferred their allegiance to the Three Feathers.And yet, amid the bold talk of new men’s and women’s changing-rooms in a soon-to-be-refitted Kia Oval, it was a bit odd, at the very least, not to launch the new era on the same stage that has welcomed the men since 1845. And while the morning rain did little to lure the good folk of Bromley along to witness history, at no stage in the day did the main stand number more than 15 people.The logic for the snub was fair enough, if you’re being generous. Despite its vast proportions, the pressure on The Oval’s playing surfaces is already intense, not least due to the need to use its outer strips for net practice. Plus, there was no expense spared on Surrey’s live stream, a market-leading production in itself, with close to 3000 people tuning into its six-camera production for the finale.Things will be different when the T20 Blast takes centre stage in May, including four double-headers slated for The Oval in June and July. Then again, such exclusionary scheduling is part of the reason why the women’s game is currently playing such urgent catch-up. It’s not a distinction that the other Tier 1 clubs have felt the need to make.Instead, looming over the contest was the livery of Kent – grumpily consigned to Tier 2 of the new competition, from where their remit may well be to keep pumping their best players across the Medway, at least until they are permitted to bid for professional status from 2029 onwards.Surrey made a token effort to counter this anomaly, with two temporary signs and a further drape on the main gate, strategically positioned to blot out some of their rivals’ branding. They couldn’t do much about the vast prancing horse logo on the roof of the indoor school, however, which tends to give the complex the curious vibe of a disused Ferrari factory.Still, Myburgh wasn’t fazed by the circumstances of this launch event – “it’s been an absolute pleasure to be a part of the Surrey family,” he said – while Wellington was also happy enough with her first taste of the county grind.”It’s cold, but it’s a lovely ground,” she said. “It’s very picturesque and very English, and I think it’s very homely. It was great to see a good little crowd coming out and supporting not only Surrey but also Somerset as well, and I was very honoured to be a part of it. To put on a game like that for all the fans and everyone watching on the live stream, I couldn’t be prouder.”