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This exciting, unpredictable opening stage of the T20 World Cup, with its feel-good stories and heartwarming heroics, has made the tournament seem like a global event

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jun-2024On a sticky Providence evening on June 5, Riazat Ali Shah hit a vital 33 against Papua New Guinea. Earlier in the evening, his team-mate Frank Nsubuga had taken two wickets for just four, helping reduce PNG to 77.Nsubuga and Riazat both contributed heavily to Uganda’s first World Cup win. But they had travelled wildly different paths to get here.Nsubuga came to cricket through his family. His father was a bartender at the Lugogo Cricket Club in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. When he and his brothers began messing around at the club, they developed a love for the sport. The brothers showed enough early talent that club members encouraged them to keep at it, helping out with coaching and equipment when required. Nsubuga made his debut for East Africa aged 16, and now at, 43 years old, he runs at least ten kilometres before team training starts, in order to keep himself sufficiently fit to compete with cricketers two decades younger than him.Related

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Riazat wasn’t even born when Nsubuga appeared in his first international, in 1997. And no one from Riazat’s village, tucked deep in the gloriously scenic Hunza Valley of the Karakoram range in north Pakistan, could ever have imagined the shape his life would take.Riazat came to Uganda circuitously, meeting some Ugandan-based players at an Ismai’li Games event in the UAE, who then convinced him to move his whole life there to pursue his dream of playing international cricket. He now has a player-of-the-match award in a World Cup.All through the opening stages of this tournament, we’ve encountered fascinating stories such as these. Perhaps you have been among many to have developed a crush on Saurabh Netravalkar, the Mumbai-born left-arm bowler whose Super Over delivered USA the biggest upset of the tournament , and the best result in their history – their win against Pakistan. That Netravalkar is an engineer for tech giant Oracle, and has marked himself out-of-office on Slack till June 17th, is now part of World Cup lore.In Texas, Nepal fans from all around the United States turned the Grand Prairie stadium dark blue, and were so raucous after each Nepal boundary and each Netherlands wicket that even through the TV it felt like a major final.Nepal’s fans turned Dallas blue at their first match of the 2024 T20 World Cup, against Netherlands•ICC/Getty ImagesYou imagine Nsubuga’s father wiping glasses behind the counter as he watches his kids (three of whom would play for Uganda, by the way) hit balls in the field. You imagine Netravalkar setting that out-of-office message, his bowling spikes already packed in a bag at home. You wonder what kinds of conversations are being had in school playgrounds in Kathmandu and Pokhara, about when exactly Nepal lost that match against Netherlands. And, vitally, cricket ceases to feel like a mere obsession slavered over in a handful of former British colonies, and more like a sport with a genuinely global footprint. One that is finding new stories, because for once it has made peace with the possibility that mismatches may occur, and upsets that put profitable teams (from the broadcasters’ perspective) out of the competition may also take place.There have, of course, been problems that are well-documented. The match times are nuts: if you’re watching in South Asia it feels like two tournaments are running at once, one at dawn, and one late in the evening. Some teams, Sri Lanka in particular, have complained about less-than-ideal travel arrangements. And the pitches in New York have not favoured the kinds of batting spectacles audiences have come to expect of the format.And yet it’s hard to get away from the feeling that in the early going, this World Cup has had the vibe that some of the best sporting events in the world, like the FIFA World Cups and the Olympics, capture: it has felt like a festival, a global celebration of cricket that has brought life to a greater spread of fans than many cricket World Cups past have.Even the unintended consequences are fun. In the last week, as cricket has made its most naked attempt yet to breach the US market, fierce arguments, with supporting videos, gifs, armchair biomechanics breakdowns, and good old-fashioned internet shouting have broken out on various social media platforms (X in particular) between cricket and baseball fans. The fights are essentially about which sport produces the more impressive physical feats.On the fielding front there may even be some intellectual legitimacy in making the comparison. Baseball is all over cricket when it comes to throwing, but compared to catches that cricketers routinely take, those mitts-on catches are weak. Going into the United States specifically to woo a new audience but ending up enraging them instead is also one of the most typically cricket things to happen to cricket.Helped by some upsets – USA over Pakistan, of course, but also Canada beating Full Member Ireland, and Afghanistan stomping their way through their group so far, there is a joyous anarchy here.Techie-turned-hero Saurabh Netravalkar has gone from obscurity to being one of the talking points of the World Cup•AFP via Getty ImagesEspecially joyous, and especially anarchic, because we are, unquestionably, living in the era of Big Cricket. If you haven’t clocked it, this is a business first, and an equitable sport second. Pakistan and India always play in the group stages, tournaments are designed to maximise the number of lucrative India matches, India know which semi-final they will play if they qualify, and oh, if we’re adding up ICC men’s limited-overs finals in the last ten years, seven were scheduled to be played in India, Australia, and England – the game’s three most profitable markets – and two for everywhere else (including the ongoing tournament). It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the game’s richest sides have what constitutes a competitive advantage in ICC tournaments.Perhaps there is no stopping the inevitable march of capitalism, and India’s domination of the cricket economy. In this World Cup, no fewer than five other teams (Sri Lanka, South Africa, Scotland, Ireland, and the USA) are sponsored by Indian companies that barely sell products in foreign markets. Which means that for even established sides such as South Africa and Sri Lanka, no businesses from their own countries could match the power that companies that primarily make money in India bring to the table. It is already likely that for Sri Lanka, for example, a country of 22 million (and shrinking), the bigger market is casual Indian fans interested in Sri Lankan cricket rather than Sri Lanka fans themselves.Faced with this brutalist reality, a 20-team World Cup is life-giving. There will be time for higher-quality teams to be playing higher-quality teams. There will be, with a little luck, an intense Super Eights stage, and high-pressure semi-finals between the most elite sides that cricket has to offer. But for now, for a group stage, this is as good as it has been for a while.And if the ICC have overextended themselves in attempting to break new ground so desperately, this has to be among the more forgivable of their sins. For a change, it feels a lot more fun to be following an overambitious sport than one that has plonked itself down in familiar comforts and settled into profitable insularity.

The wicketkeeper-batter has been adamant about “failing or succeeding on my own terms” and against Bangladesh his method paid off

Hemant Brar13-Oct-20243:31

Samson: I’ve been thinking I can hit six sixes in an over

It is not often that Suryakumar Yadav ends up playing second fiddle on a day he scores 75 off 35 balls. But such was Sanju Samson’s knock in the third T20I against Bangladesh. Opening the innings in Hyderabad, a city that has given India two of its most stylish batters, Samson scored 111 off 47 in an exhibition of sublime hitting.It was the second-fastest T20I hundred for India, off 40 balls, and paved the way for their highest total in the format, 297 for 6. An on-song Samson makes batting look effortless, and it was no different on Saturday. Apart from that, it was also a masterclass in using the crease.Facing Taskin Ahmed in the second over, Samson stepped towards the leg side, gave himself room and drove the full and straight delivery through covers for four. For the next ball, Taskin shortened his length and straightened his line even more. Samson once again backed away and punched him inside out for four.With two more boundaries off the next two deliveries, Samson took 16 from Taskin’s first over. In the previous game, the fast bowler needed to complete all his four overs to give away that many.After messing with Taskin’s line, Samson used his footwork to toy with Mustafizur Rahman’s length. Against a slower ball, he took a couple of short steps down the pitch and hit it for a straight six. In Mustafizur’s next over, Samson went deep in his crease and, off the back foot, lofted a length ball over extra cover for another six. Even though Suryakumar showed his 360-degree range from the other end, this was arguably the shot of the day.Samson did not have to use much footwork against Rishad Hossain; the legspinner himself erred in length. He started the tenth over of the innings with a dot, but his next four deliveries were too full and Samson nonchalantly launched them down the ground for four sixes. For the final ball, Rishad went around the wicket. It made little difference as Samson pulled it over deep midwicket to make it five in a row.0:56

Seven records India smashed against Bangladesh

After the fifth six, Samson did a little fist pump. Later, he revealed the reason for it. “From the last two years, I have been thinking I can hit six sixes in an over,” he said. “Accordingly, I have been working with my mentor, Raiphi Gomez, and telling myself that four-five sixes in an over are possible and I should do something like that. So I have been practising and visualising it and I am very grateful it happened today.”In an innings that featured 11 fours and eight sixes, Samson’s most violent act was the celebration after his fifty: an air punch with full might to release the pent-up frustration of years.Samson’s has been a story of unfulfilled potential. In a T20I career that started in 2015 with a lot of promise, he had played only 32 matches before this one. In those, he scored 483 runs at an average of 19.32 and a strike rate of 132.69.There are two ways to look at it. First, he never got a proper run to settle in and perform at his best. Second, he did not make use of the chances he got. Even in the IPL, he had failed to do justice to his talent. He would start with a bang but fizzle out way too soon.Things, however, changed with IPL 2024, where he finished fifth on the batting charts, scoring 531 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46. As a result, he was picked in India’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. But with Rishabh Pant being the first-choice wicketkeeper, he spent the whole tournament on the bench.After the World Cup, Samson toured Zimbabwe with a second-string Indian side and scored 58 off 45 balls in the fifth T20I. But when he fetched two ducks in his next two outings in Sri Lanka, he knew he was running out of chances.Sanju Samson: I wanted to perform. I wanted to show what I was capable of•BCCI”When you are playing for the country and you fail in a couple of games, you know pressure is there,” Samson said. “And I have to be honest, . I wanted to perform. I wanted to show what I was capable of.”The captain [Suryakumar] and the coach [Gautam Gambhir] kept telling me, ‘We know what type of talent you have, and we back you, no matter what.’ Not only in words but also in action. I was a bit doubtful after a couple of ducks in Sri Lanka if I would get a chance in the next series. But they backed me in this series.”Another thing the team management did was inform Samson well in advance about his new role.”The leadership group – Surya, Gautam and [assistant coach] Abhishek Nayar – told me three weeks before this series that I would be opening the innings. That gave me time for proper preparation. I went to the RR [Rajasthan Royals] academy and faced lots and lots of new-ball bowlers. So I was coming in this series 10% more ready than any other series.”Samson looked in good touch in the first T20I too but fell for 29 off 19 after miscuing one to deep midwicket. While walking back, he screamed in anger. Given India were chasing only 128, he could have knocked a few around and got to a fifty. But that would have been against the team’s ethos and his own character.”It can get very tricky – playing for India is not an easy thing,” he said. “When you have those failures, it’s easier to go back and say, okay, I should make some runs for myself in the next game. But I like to be myself. And I know what I am as a person, as a character.”For me, it’s all about people, it’s all about my friends, it’s all about my team. I like to go out and succeed or fail in my own way. That is what I have stuck to right from the time I started playing this game. It’s all about knowing your game, knowing your character. It’s all about being true to yourself.”His approach has finally brought success. With his hundred, he has at least turned the page, if not started a new chapter.

Whether his demotion to No. 7 was down to his own poor form, or an opponent-specific tactic, it has raised more questions than answers

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Apr-20255:51

Knight on Pant batting at No. 7: It is ‘bizarre’

What were Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) thinking, on Tuesday night against Delhi Capitals (DC), when they pushed Rishabh Pant so far down the order that he batted outside the top six for the first time in the IPL since his debut season in 2016? What was Pant’s role in making this decision, as LSG’s captain?In a short, post-match interview with the broadcaster after LSG had lost the IPL 2025 match by eight wickets in Lucknow, Pant’s explanation was a terse one: “[The] idea was to capitalise. We sent [Abdul] Samad
to capitalise on a wicket like that, but after that [David] Miller came in, and we just really got stuck in the wicket, but eventually these are the things we’ve got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward.”That statement calls for a little bit of unpacking. First, it was Samad who walked in at No. 4, Pant’s usual position, when LSG lost their second wicket in the 12th over. Perhaps what Pant meant by “capitalise” was that LSG were looking for quick runs, and felt that Samad – who had scored 20 off 11 balls and an unbeaten 30 off 10 in LSG’s last two games – could provide them some of those at that stage.Related

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• Mukesh four-for sets up comfortable win as DC close the gap up top

• Teams face up to home truths in first half of IPL 2025

There were signs already that this was an old-ball pitch, with the extent of reverse swing and grip for slower balls increasing as LSG’s innings progressed. With that in mind, LSG may have been looking to send Samad in when there was still a good chance of the ball coming on to the bat.The move didn’t come off on the day, with Samad caught and bowled by Mukesh Kumar for two off eight balls. Pant didn’t come out at the fall of Samad’s wicket either, or at the fall of the next wicket later in the same over, the 14th of LSG’s innings, when Mukesh bowled Mitchell Marsh with a yorker.David Miller walked in at No. 5, and he was followed to the crease by Ayush Badoni, who came off the substitutes’ bench for the second match running. It was also the second match in a row where LSG had used a batter as their Impact Player even though they batted first. Typically, teams name a batting-heavy starting XI if they bat first and replace one of their batters with a bowler.Badoni had come off the bench to score a crucial 34-ball 50 in LSG’s previous game against Rajasthan Royals (RR). In that game, he batted at No. 5 when LSG lost their third wicket – of Pant – in their eighth over. LSG may have felt then that they needed someone to come in and steady their innings and give their end-overs hitters more favourable entry points.In this match, Badoni came in with just six overs remaining. As it happened, he made a strong contribution, his 21-ball 36 giving LSG a bit of impetus at the death even as Miller – who made an unbeaten 14 off 15 balls – struggled at the other end.With the Miller-Badoni partnership stretching into the final over, Pant finally came to the crease with just two balls remaining. He tried to manufacture boundaries off both balls, but didn’t put bat to ball against either, with Mukesh bowling him as he attempted a reverse-scoop off the final ball.Pant has endured a difficult IPL 2025, and came into Tuesday’s game having scored just 106 runs in 108 balls across seven innings. This, perhaps, may have led him to demote himself – if he took the decision – behind batters in better form.His long-time Test-match team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara, however, was having none of it. “I genuinely don’t know what the thought process was,” he said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “There’s no doubt he should be batting up the order. He’s trying to do what MS Dhoni does, but he’s nowhere near [Dhoni’s age].5:50

‘An under-pressure captain affects the whole team’

“I still feel he’s someone who should be batting in the middle overs, between [overs] six and 15. He’s not a finisher, and he shouldn’t be doing the job of a finisher.”Pujara’s co-panelist Nick Knight, the former England opener, felt he could accept the reasons for the move, but didn’t like the optics.”I’ve not really a problem with Badoni batting at four-five,” Knight said. “I see some rationale in that, because I think he’s playing well, and I think he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. There’s the problem. Samad you could probably say the same, he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. David Miller, you could say the same.”When you look at the decision-making, perhaps in rationale it makes some sense. Where I don’t like it at all is it just doesn’t look very good. There is your captain, sliding, going backwards in the batting order when you really need him to step up. He’s the one that’s going to be standing up and talking in front of your team, he’s the one who’s leading you out there. He’s your leader, and it just doesn’t look great when the leader is going the other way.”From that perspective that’s my problem, because I would agree – Badoni is probably more likely to score runs, etc etc. It doesn’t look right.”A second-order glance at Pant’s IPL 2025 numbers throws up a more specific reason for his demotion: a tactical retreat against spin. Coming into Tuesday’s game, he had struggled against both styles of bowling, but while he had managed a strike rate of 117.46 against pace, he had gone at just 71.11 against spin.2:29

Why is Rishabh Pant more successful in Tests than T20s?

This pattern had held true even during his one sizeable innings of the season, a 49-ball 63 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In that innings, he had scored 18 off 23 balls against the spinners and 45 off 26 against the faster bowlers. The bulk of the damage he had done against the quicks had come late in LSG’s innings. Batting on 40 off 39 at the start of the 18th over, Pant had hit three sixes in his next ten balls, off the pace of Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed.And so, like a number of batters have done before him in the IPL – including fellow keeper-batters Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni – Pant on Tuesday may have been looking to hold himself back with match-ups in mind, with DC still having two overs of Kuldeep Yadav left when Badoni joined Miller. That Pant ended up getting to face just two balls wasn’t in his control; the partnership between Miller and Badoni ended up consuming 34 balls.For all that, though, there’s one major difference between the cases of Karthik or Dhoni for a delayed entry point and that of Pant. Karthik and Dhoni have been finishers for most of their T20 careers, and for large parts of those careers were deemed to be pace-hitting specialists. Pant has mostly batted through the middle overs, and for much of his career has been a brilliant, unconventional hitter of spin.Of late, though, his output against spin has dwindled. Pant had strike rates of 147 or more against that style of bowling in each of his first four IPL seasons. Since 2020, he has gone at sub-120 strike rates in four out of five seasons, including the current one.Pant is just 27, though, and may yet have time on his side to reverse this downturn against spin; Karthik and Dhoni were in their mid-to-late 30s by the time they became pigeonholed as pace-hitters. It’s unlikely Pant sees himself in the finisher’s role in the long term anyway, given the damage his style of play – involving manipulation of fields and hitting the ball in unusual areas – can cause through the middle overs.A top-order role, in fact, is perhaps better suited to Pant’s strengths if he’s looking to avoid a confrontation with spin, or to face it on slightly easier terms, with powerplay field restrictions on his side. But with LSG boasting one of the most in-form opening partnerships of IPL 2025 in Marsh and Aiden Markram, and with their No. 3 Nicholas Pooran in exceptional form and sitting second on the Orange Cap standings, there perhaps isn’t a top-order slot for Pant to occupy without causing what he and the team management may feel is unnecessary disruption.Rishabh Pant came in at No. 7, and was bowled second ball•Associated PressSo the move down to a finisher’s role may be an entirely temporary one tailored to the circumstances LSG and Pant are currently in. It may even just be opponent-specific. In this match against DC, Pant may have felt he was likelier to contribute meaningfully if he avoided a showdown with one of the tournament’s best spinners in Kuldeep. It’s instructive that the one other time he demoted himself in this manner – in LSG’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 8, when he eventually didn’t bat at all – was against another of the IPL’s better spin-bowling teams.There may have been enough reasons, then, for Pant to have held himself back as he did on Tuesday, but one puzzling question still remains: why use Badoni as Impact sub when he could have been part of the starting XI, and allowed LSG to bring in a bowler later in the game? This question has carried a particular sense of urgency in LSG’s last two games, when their bench has included the exciting, 150kph-breaching Mayank Yadav, who is nearing a highly anticipated return from back and toe injuries that have kept him out of action since October 2024.The answer, perhaps, is that LSG don’t feel Mayank is as yet fit to bowl his full four-over quota, and that they have started their last two games with a five-bowler XI with the idea of potentially bringing Mayank on for a one- or two-over burst if they got through the first half of their match without needing to bolster their batting. That, however, didn’t happen either against RR or DC.

The action starts with a rematch of last year’s final on June 12

Deivarayan Muthu12-Jun-2025

First things first. When does it start?

MLC 2025 kicks off on June 12, with defending champions Washington Freedom taking on San Francisco Unicorns in a rematch of last season’s final at the Oakland Coliseum, which has hosted baseball and American football matches. The stadium was a prominent feature in the 2011 film , based on Michael Lewis’ book which documented the Athletics’ success following data-driven strategies in the early 2000s.Unicorns will play three home games at the Coliseum. The league will run until July 13, when the final will be played at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. Central Broward Stadium in Lauderhill will host matches for the first time this season, including a double-header on July 4. The Grand Prairie Stadium, which had staged games in 2023 and 2024, will host 16 of the 34 games this season, including the knockouts.

So, who are the teams in action?

The six teams are Washington Freedom, San Francisco Unicorns, MI New York, Los Angeles Knight Riders, Texas Super Kings and Seattle Orcas. Four of these teams are owned by IPL franchises. Apart from the three obvious ones, Orcas are owned by the GMR group, who co-own Delhi Capitals.Freedom, owned by Indian-American entrepreneur Sanjay Govil, have Cricket New South Wales as their high-performance partner. Unicorns, owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, have a strategic partnership with Cricket Victoria. The league is soon to expand with New Zealand Cricket coming on board as investors and set to part-own one of the new teams in 2027.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

What else is new?

Four of the six teams have new captains in MLC 2025. Nicholas Pooran, who had recently retired from international cricket at the age of 29, has been named MINY’s new captain while his former West Indies team-mate Jason Holder will lead LA Knight Riders. With Holder set to miss LAKR’s first two games because of international commitments, Sunil Narine will stand in as the franchise’s captain. Holder will join the LAKR side ahead of their third match against Freedom.Related

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• Rashid and Omarzai set to miss MLC 2025

Freedom will also have a new captain, with Glenn Maxwell taking over from Steven Smith, who will only make a brief appearance this season. Having also retired from international cricket, Heinrich Klaasen will take charge of Orcas while Unicorns have retained Corey Anderson as their captain. Super Kings, who are big on continuity and consistency across leagues, have retained Faf du Plessis as their captain.The league also has a new CEO, with Johnny Grave replacing Vijay Srinivasan ahead of the new season, as it prepares for its expansion. Grave is a key figure in cricket administration, having most recently served as CEO at CWI for seven years. He was previously the commercial director at the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) in England.

Any other exciting new additions?

David Warner is set for his maiden MLC stint, having signed with Orcas. Warner, however, is a familiar face for the franchise, having played for them in other leagues: IPL (Delhi Capitals) and ILT20 (Dubai Capitals).David Warner will play in the MLC for the first time•Getty ImagesAustralia’s Mitchell Owen, among the most sought-after names in T20 cricket right now following his barnstorming century in the BBL final in January earlier this year, will reunite with coach Ricky Ponting at Freedom, having already worked with him at Hobart Hurricanes and Punjab Kings. Also watch out for Sherfane Rutherford, who is gearing up for his MLC debut with LAKR after impressing in franchise leagues around the world, including the IPL.Then there is New Zealand tearaway Ben Sears, who will join Owen at Freedom. Sears was also on Ponting’s radar at one point as a potential replacement for Lockie Ferguson at PBKS in the IPL. This will be Sears’ chance to announce himself to the franchise world.

Are Afghanistan players available?

While Rashid Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai (both MINY) have opted out of the tournament, Naveen-ul-Haq (MINY), Noor Ahmad (TSK) and Waqar Salamkheil (Orcas) have joined their respective teams after doubts emerged over the participation of Afghanistan players owing to the travel ban imposed by the US government.Two other Afghanistan players – Gulbadin Naib and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who play for Orcas – are understood to be awaiting visas to travel to play in MLC.USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar is the MLC’s second-highest wicket-taker•MLC

Tell me about some domestic players to keep an eye on

It’s hard to look past Saurabh Netravalkar, the left-arm seamer who even made it to the IPL 2024 auction shortlist after his out-of-office spells for USA and Freedom. He is the highest wicket-taker among USA players in the MLC, with 25 strikes in 13 matches at an economy rate of 7.49, and the second highest overall.Among the young batters, Saiteja Mukkamalla (TSK) could make his MLC bow this season after producing outstanding numbers for USA in T20Is: the 21-year-old averages over 40 and has a strike rate of nearly 153 after 18 T20Is. Sanjay Krishnamurthi, who turned 22 earlier this month, is another serious talent in the Unicorns side with a wide array of shots in his repertoire.Don’t forget Agni Chopra, who became the first batter to score centuries in his first four first-class games. Agni has since ended his Indian domestic career with Mizoram and has moved to the USA, attracting the attention of MINY. Agni, 26, is the son of film critic Anupama Chopra and filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who made the popular movie .

What is the format of the league?

Like most franchise leagues, the MLC will first have a round-robin league stage. The top two teams will meet in the Qualifier, with the winners of that match advancing to the final.The third and fourth-placed teams will meet in the Eliminator. The winner of the Eliminator will face the team that loses the Qualifier in the Challenger, where the second finalist will be decided.

Is there a clash with any other league?

Of course, the MLC overlaps with the T20 Blast in England and some international fixtures, including the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s. The MLC, though, has avoided a clash with the Hundred this season after the two leagues had overlapped by six days in 2024.

The bowling combination and the identity of their reserve batters are in focus at the start of the home season

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Sep-20251:48

Chopra: Don’t see Bumrah playing the first Test

On Wednesday, India will pick a 15-member squad for the two-Test home series against West Indies, which begins on October 2 in Ahmedabad. It’s a deceptively tricky selection, with India about to feel the full force of R Ashwin’s retirement for the first time (he didn’t miss even one of India’s 65 home Tests during his career), with Jasprit Bumrah’s workload still needing to be managed, and with questions still lingering from the unexpected, unprecedented 3-0 defeat to New Zealand last year. Here are five that Ajit Agarkar’s selection panel will need to answer.

Pick Bumrah or rest him?

The first Test in Ahmedabad begins four days after the final of the Asia Cup, which India have an excellent chance of featuring in. Four members of their Asia Cup squad – Test captain Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah – would ordinarily be certainties in a Test squad for a home series, but the circumstances around one of them are far from ordinary.Bumrah only played three out of five matches in India’s last Test series, in England, and that ratio of participation looks set to continue into the foreseeable future given his history of serious back injuries. So do India pick Bumrah for both Tests against West Indies, or just one of them? Or do they rest him for the entire series?In a similar situation a year or two ago, India may not have found it especially difficult to rest Bumrah. But their bowling resources at the moment aren’t quite what they’re used to having in home conditions. There’s the absence of Ashwin, for one, though you would expect a spin attack of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep, Washington Sundar and Axar to cope with it.Jasprit Bumrah in action•Getty ImagesLast year’s defeat to New Zealand may have led India to ponder the kind of pitches they want to play their home Tests on, and potentially prompt a shift away from square turners to flatter surfaces that produce bigger first-innings totals. Any such shift, however, will also mean a bigger role for the fast bowlers. And India could have issues on that front if Bumrah isn’t around.India haven’t felt the overt impact of phasing out Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav – for so long their go-to quicks in home Tests – but it’s not hard to imagine a situation in the near future where they feel a desperate need for a bit of experience and know-how with an old ball on a bare surface. Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep have only played 19 home Tests between them, and Prasidh Krishna is yet to play one.Related

• Rishabh Pant to miss home Tests against West Indies

India would dearly love to have Bumrah in this scenario, but against this desire they will have to weigh the demands of a packed schedule. After this series India have a white-ball tour of Australia in October-November followed by an all-format home series against South Africa, and then a white-ball series against New Zealand in early 2026 in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in February-March.

Is there room for Nitish Kumar Reddy?

Over his first seven Tests in Australia and England, Nitish Kumar Reddy gave India a glimpse of the high-ceiling seam-bowling allrounder he could become in the future. He’s an exceedingly useful player even in the present when India travel away from Asia, but do they need him in home conditions?In Jadeja, Washington and Axar, India have three high-quality spin-bowling allrounders for Indian pitches. A fourth allrounder who might not bowl all that much could be hard to fit into a squad of 15. But given the push for batting depth that’s defined Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach so far, India may still try hard to find a place for Reddy.This could mean picking either one fewer middle-order batter in the squad, or one fewer frontline seamer.2:05

Is there a role for Nitish Kumar Reddy in home Tests?

What happens to Abhimanyu Easwaran?

Abhimanyu Easwaran has played 31 first-class games for India A, captained them eight times, and been part of five Test squads, but he’s yet to get his hands on the Test cap. Now it seems likely that he won’t be part of the squad for the West Indies series, because there may not be room for a specialist reserve opener.With Rishabh Pant ruled out with the foot injury he sustained in England, Dhruv Jurel looks set to be India’s first-choice keeper in Ahmedabad, with N Jagadeesan – who joined the team in England after Pant was sidelined – as his understudy.Jagadeesan can also open the batting, and he’s been in terrific form doing that. His last two first-class games, at the time of writing, have brought him 197 and 52* for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy and 64 for India A against Australia A, in a match where he alternated keeping duties with Jurel.Abhimanyu opened with Jagadeesan in that India A game, and made 44. When KL Rahul came into the India A side in the second unofficial Test against Australia A, he replaced Abhimanyu rather than Jagadeesan. A clear sign of things to come?Devdutt Padikkal has been in good form since recovering from a hamstring injury•PTI

Who are the reserve batters?

If they’re all fit, six of India’s top seven pick themselves: Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Jurel, Jadeja and Washington. That leaves the No. 3 slot, for which the incumbent B Sai Sudharsan appears the frontrunner, having firmed up his credentials with a 73 in the first unofficial Test against Australia A.If India also pick Reddy in their squad, it leaves either no space for another middle-order batter, or just one spot, depending on how many fast bowlers they pick.That one spot, if it exists, could go to Devdutt Padikkal, who was ruled out of the England tour after injuring his hamstring during the IPL. Padikkal, who made his Test debut against England last year in Dharamsala, also played the first Test of the 2024-25 Australia tour in Perth – he wasn’t part of India’s original squad there, but was added to it following impressive performances on the shadow India A tour.Padikkal has been among the runs since recovering from the hamstring injury, scoring 57 for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy and 150 for India A in the first unofficial Test against Australia A.If Padikkal is picked, it would be at the expense of his Karnataka team-mate Karun Nair, who played four of the five Tests in England but was ruled out of contention for the India A squad by a finger injury. Nair had a strange tour of England, getting to 20 in five of his eight innings but only managing a top score of 57. There were periods of pristine strokeplay, but also uncertain moments against the rising ball, and India may have expected better returns overall from a 33-year-old making a comeback in good batting conditions.Sarfaraz Khan could have been in contention for this middle-order role too, but the Mumbai batter has been out of action since May, and has been recuperating from an injury – quadriceps, according to reports – at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.Sourav Ganguly presented Akash Deep with an award for his performance in England•Garima Agarwal

How many fast bowlers, and who?

Given that West Indies’ biggest strength is their fast bowling, it is unlikely that conditions in either Ahmedabad or Delhi will have too much help for the quicks. Given this, India are unlikely to play more than two seamers in their XI, which means their squad is likely to contain no more than four frontline quicks – potentially just three plus Reddy.Whether Bumrah is one of them remains to be seen. Siraj, Prasidh and Akash Deep, the other three frontline quicks who played at least three Tests each in England, would be the main names in contention now, but one of them has struggled with fitness issues over recent months.Akash Deep was less than fully fit during two of the three Tests he played in England, and has been out of action since his return. He was originally part of the East Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy but missed the tournament after being advised rest – he later told that he was dealing with an “impact” injury that he suffered in England and not a fresh one. There is a chance that his lack of recent match time – he isn’t part of the India A squad either – could count against his selection, at least for the first Test.Siraj and Prasidh, the heroes of India’s series-levelling win at The Oval, are playing the unofficial Tests against Australia A, and have no known fitness issues.If India don’t pick Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, who were part of India’s squad in England and are currently at the Asia Cup, could come into the picture. Punjab’s towering Gurnoor Brar, whom India called up as a net bowler ahead of the Test series against Bangladesh last year, and who is currently playing for India A, is a possible left-field selection.

Possible India squad for two-Test series against West Indies

Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (possibly for one Test only), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, N Jagadeesan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy/Akash Deep/Arshdeep Singh.

A change of attitude, allied to crucial early-season momentum, has carried the team to a first final in eight years

Alex Malcolm23-Mar-2025Confidence is an intangible. So is a winning culture. But those who have seen it know what it looks like.It was something that struck Brendan Doggett the moment he moved to Adelaide in the winter of 2021.”I noticed big time when I first got South Australia four seasons ago, that there wasn’t much belief,” Doggett told ESPNcricinfo. “There wasn’t much confidence in the squad.”Doggett had just left Queensland, having played in a winning Sheffield Shield final in April of that year, helping secure Queensland’s second Shield title in four seasons by taking 3 for 37 in the second innings.Related

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That he didn’t see any belief was hardly surprising. South Australia had just finished last in the Shield for the fourth consecutive season. They would make it five by the end of Doggett’s first summer there. South Australia have not won a Shield since 1996. Since then, South Australian cricket fans had seen just two domestic white-ball titles, a lone One-Day Cup in 2011-12 and a BBL title for Adelaide Strikers in 2017-18.When Ryan Harris arrived in Adelaide in the winter of 2023 as South Australia’s new bowling coach under Jason Gillespie, he saw the same thing. Harris was returning home, having left the state during his playing career in 2008 to join Queensland, where he won a Shield as a player in 2011-12 and enjoyed great success with Australia before beginning his coaching career in that same Queensland environment.

Ball-by-ball, in the contest, no game is ever too far away from winning. Someone do something special. Play the long gameJake Lehmann on mindset

“When Ryan came along as bowling coach last year, he sort of instilled in us bowlers that we can win from anywhere,” Doggett said. “We’re always going to fight, no matter our position. And I guess the belief sort of started from there. We got glimmers of hope last year where we were going to win matches from being a long way behind, and then that just continued on this year, with him taking charge of the whole squad. He’s kept that same mentality of always fighting, always trying to find a way to win from any position. And that’s probably been the big shift.”

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There was optimism in Nathan McSweeney’s voice as far back as last September when the newly installed South Australian captain spoke about his new coach and his team’s prospects.”He’s got a great relationship with the group, and his passion for the state is second to none,” McSweeney told ESPNcricinfo on September 19.”Last year, I think there was times where we just let ourselves down in a session, with the bat or ball. I feel like we’re not that far away, and hopefully Ryno can help progress that.”What Harris wanted to build was a squad mentality. He had seen what Western Australia had done in using 25 different players to win a hat-trick of Shield and One-Day Cup doubles over the previous three seasons.What he had observed in South Australia was a culture of individuality.”What’s done is done,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo on September 19. “We haven’t had success. That’s no secret. And we want to do that.Nathan McSweeney’s optimism was in evidence right from the start of the season•Getty Images”We want to individually have success and do well but ultimately, if it comes to selection and you’re not necessarily in that team, which is not always easy, you make sure you deal with your disappointment and you get over it, and then you get back into supporting team mode.”I think that’s part of what’s not been great here in the last few years. That’s probably 1% but that can play a huge role in bringing groups apart. So that’s one thing I’ve probably focused on a lot.”

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From little things, big things grow.It might not have seemed like it at the time, but just five days after Harris and McSweeney made those comments, South Australia produced perhaps their most important win of the season, and potentially the previous 13 years, in the context of setting them on the path to a drought-breaking title.In a One-Day Cup clash at Cricket Central in Sydney, their opening match of any form for the season, South Australia had been bowled out for 166. The three-time defending champions in WA were 133 for 3 after 25.5 overs and marching towards a bonus point win.Nathan McAndrew, Wes Agar, Henry Thornton and Ben Manenti combined to take 7 for 31 and South Australia won by two runs.At the same venue a few weeks later, South Australia were 23 for 4 in the fourth innings of their first Shield game against New South Wales, needing an unlikely 389 to win on the final day. McSweeney batted the day to finish 127 not out. Alex Carey also made 111. South Australia survived comfortably against Nathan Lyon to secure a reassuring draw.Two weeks later, they set Queensland a similar target on the final day in Brisbane and bowled them out in 73.3 overs to win their first Shield game of the season.The very next match they bowled Victoria out with just 16 minutes to spare on the final day and break a nine-year drought against their border rivals.”I’ve been a big believer of you learn to win, and then winning becomes a habit.” Doggett said.South Australia kept winning. In December they won the equal-closest Shield game in history off the last ball of the match, taking 4 for 4 in nine balls in Hobart when Tasmania were poised to chase down 429.Alex Carey’s three Shield centuries have been a key factor in South Australia’s progression to the final•Getty ImagesIn the next game in February, after the BBL break, they won the shortest game in Shield history, bowling defending champions WA out for 120 and 66 at the WACA to win in Perth for the first time in eight years.On March 1, they broke the title drought at Adelaide Oval, winning the One-Day Cup for the first time in 13 years by defending just 268 against Victoria who had been 74 for 1 in the chase.Eight days later they beat them again in the Shield in Melbourne, chasing 300 six-down on the final day to secure their first home final in eight years.Jake Lehmann was the hero making an unbeaten 105. Just moments after hitting the winning runs he summed up why South Australia had made winning a habit this season.”It’s just a fighting mentality,” Lehmann told ESPNcricinfo. “Ball-by-ball, in the contest, no game is ever too far away from winning. Someone do something special. Play the long game. All those small little things.”Training has definitely lifted. Our competitiveness at training now has definitely gone through the roof. I think it’s on the back of that squad mentality and blokes who are not playing that are making lots of runs in second XI, lots of runs in club cricket, taking lots of wickets.Nathan McAndrew has been a huge figure in the attack•Getty Images”Selection has been tough, and I think that’s lifted training and Ryno’s really driven that. Those boys run in and put their best foot forward every week.”Lehmann, 32, had been acting captain for the last four games of the previous season and is one of only two surviving members from South Australia’s last Shield final appearance who will play this week.But he started this summer playing in South Australia’s second XI. He made 173 against WA’s second XI to win back his place when the Test players departed in November. Now he enters the Shield final as one of South Australia’s form players, having scored 67 in the One-Day final, 105 not out and 130 not out in his last two Shield games.”For me, it’s been a long way,” Lehmann said. “To win that One-Day final, I think we had played in four of them already, in two Shield finals. Hopefully, it’s just a growing group. And I think the difference this year is we’re probably going to have four or five blokes who are not going to play in the Shield final, like we had in the One-Day, that could easily be playing for us and have played a role throughout the year.”I think that’s the strength of the group. We’ve got a really good squad mentality, and it’s just feeding through.”Winning has become a habit. South Australia is riding the crest of a wave. The whole state is along for the ride. There is a growing sense that a 29-year drought might finally be broken against Queensland at Karen Rolton Oval this week.Doggett knows better than any of them what is required.”Nothing really changes.” Doggett said. “In the same breath, I think we need to acknowledge the fact that it is a Shield final, that it is going to be a special week, the whole build-up to it.”These things don’t come around too often, as many South Australians would know.”So yeah, acknowledge it’s going to be a big week, and it’s going to be a big game. It’s going to be really exciting.”But always falling back to our processes, our training standards and what we’ve done for the whole season.”

Unlike last month, the current international break is an unwelcome escape from Premier League football for West Ham United fans.

Nuno Espírito Santo has seemingly worked his magic, and a team that looked incapable of a win just a few weeks ago have just beaten Newcastle United and Burnley.

One of the reasons the Hammers look so much better is that Freddie Potts has finally been given his chance to start in the first team.

The Barking-born star has been immense in the middle of the park, and the good news is that the academy is producing a few players who could be the next Potts, although they also lost a youngster who’s an even bigger talent than the 22-year-old.

West Ham's next Freddie Potts

The good news for West Ham fans is that their academy system continues to produce exciting prospects, some of whom could go on to become the next Potts in a few years.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.

One of those youngsters is Preston Fearon, who joined the Hammers in 2022, signed his first professional contract last year, and then signed another just last month.

Jarrod Bowen has described the 18-year-old as a “special player”, and it’s not hard to see why, as, in addition to making 43 appearances across the club’s youth sides, he was also taken on the pre-season tour of America.

Like the Hammers’ new star, the youngster can play in several positions, but thrives as a tough-tackling, yet technically accomplished, central midfielder.

Another youngster who could be fighting for first-team minutes a few years from now is Isaac Thomas.

The 16-year-old Welshman just scored four goals during his second appearance for the U18S, and what’s even more incredible is that he did so from centre-back.

However, just like Fearon and Potts, his primary position is in the middle of the park, but he’s capable of filling in where he is needed.

Finally, while a little older, Mohamadou Kanté looks every bit as exciting.

Described as having “good anticipation” and being “very calm and composed on the ball” by one analyst, the 20-year-old Frenchman is also no stranger to scoring goals and could provide a similar presence to the middle of the park as Potts.

In all, West Ham have plenty of exciting youngsters coming through the ranks, but even so, they surely rue losing someone who is an even bigger talent than Potts.

The academy gem who is a bigger talent than Potts

West Ham have done relatively well at retaining their most promising academy talents over the years, but they were unable to do so with Divine Mukasa.

The incredible prospect joined the Hammers as a five-year-old, but in September 2023, he moved to Manchester City for free.

The 18-year-old phenom made his senior debut for City in September, in a League Cup game against Huddersfield Town, and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, he also provided an assist.

He also started the following game in the competition against Swansea City and has been on the bench for three Premier League games so far this season.

However, while a player his age starting two games for a club like City is certainly impressive enough, it’s his record for their youth sides which suggests he could be a future superstar.

For example, in 41 appearances across various youth sides last season, totalling 2807 minutes, the former Hammer chalked up an outrageous tally of 17 goals and 25 assists.

That means the incredible superstar in the making averaged 1.02 goal involvements per game, or one every 66.83 minutes all season, which goes some way in justifying journalist Nassali Sandrah’s claim that he is “the best academy player in Europe.”

To top it off, the Newham-born gem has also won five caps for England’s u19s, and scored his first goal for them against Wales last time out.

Ultimately, there are some seriously exciting prospects emerging from West Ham’s academy at the moment, but it certainly appears that they have lost the biggest talent of all in Mukasa.

Alongside Fullkrug: West Ham must sell £30m flop who was a "big voice"

The former international should have been a big success at West Ham United.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Nov 12, 2025

Fourth-innings chase completed in an hour and a quarter on final morning

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay27-Sep-2025Essex 438 (Walter 158, Elgar 118, Overton 6-88) and 99 for 3 beat Somerset 433 (Goldsworthy 100, Thomas 86, Rew 74, Overton 60) and 99 (Thomas 39, Porter 4-18) by seven wicketsTwenty-year-old Charlie Allison kept his head during an otherwise nervy hour and a quarter as Essex claimed a seven-wicket victory to round off the Rothesay County Championship season.Allison, one of Essex’s stand-out performers during an otherwise disappointing season, finished the game with a second six off Jake Ball over long leg. He was 32 not out from 34 balls as Essex reached their target of 95 from just 18.4 overs.Lewis Gregory had given Somerset some hope of an unlikely upset by removing Dean Elgar and Tom Westley inside the first six overs before taking the catch in the deep to end Paul Walter’s tone-setting innings. Walter, a first-innings centurion, had amassed 30 from 31 balls when he departed with 39 runs still required.The Somerset captain was fired up in the face of desperate odds against and caused jitters in the Essex ranks as he repeatedly beat the outside edge of the bat. He bowled through unchanged and was rewarded with figures of 2 for 43 from his nine overs.For two-and-a-half days it looked like the game would peter out into a tame draw with handshakes accepted in mid-afternoon and the curtain brought down on a forgettable Championship season for both sides. However, that was before Jamie Porter initiated a collapse of monumental proportions amid the gloom of a day-three afternoon and early evening.Essex had subsided themselves earlier in the day from an overnight 295 for 2 to 438 all out and a nominal lead of five runs. But in 34 overs reminiscent of some of Essex’s glory years of the recent past, they rolled Somerset over for 99 with Porter taking 4 for 18 and falling just one wicket short of another 50-wicket haul for the season.Essex had already confirmed their Division One survival during this final match while Somerset had settled for the no-man’s land of mid-table. Three successive wins in May had even suggested a title challenge that did not materialise.However, with all day to knock off the runs, a modicum of tension was introduced in only the second over. Having put on 277 for the first wicket in the first innings, the opening partnership lasted just seven balls. Elgar departed for a golden duck, rapped conclusively on his front pad by Gregory without getting anywhere near the ball.Westley withstood the rest of a torrid over from Gregory but got off the mark with a characteristic drive through midwicket for four off Craig Overton. He followed that with an emphatic pull through midwicket off Gregory for a second boundary before he, too, fell to the same bowler. After putting on a run-a-ball 28 with Walter, Westley nibbled at one outside off stump and wicketkeeper James Rew dived in front of first slip to claim the catch.Walter had been busy turning twos into threes to the extent that Essex reached fifty from just nine overs when Allison walked down the pitch and smashed Overton through extra over for four.Overton had been relatively expensive, his five overs costing 25, but his replacement Ball struck with his first ball when Walter went for a big heave and paid the price.Allison made sure the target came down quickly and deposited Ball over long leg for six to take Essex within two runs of the target and then repeated the act to complete the victory.

Kai Rooney is being tipped to emulate the achievements of his record-breaking father Wayne by making a major impact at Manchester United. Former Red Devils striker Fraizer Campbell has told GOAL, during an exclusive interview, that it would be “fantastic for the club” to see another Rooney leading the line at some point in the not too distant future.

• Yamal & Dowman prove to Rooney that anything is possible

  Rooney junior is only 15 years of age, but the hottest of prospects have been making senior breakthroughs at that stage of their respective careers. Lamine Yamal earned his big break at Barcelona while in his mid-teens, while Max Dowman has done likewise at Arsenal.

  There is no suggestion that Kai is knocking on Ruben Amorim’s door at Old Trafford just yet, but he continues to make positive progress down that path. He has been promoted through the age groups in United’s academy system, allowing him to prove his worth to club bosses.

  Big pressure is being lumped onto his young shoulders, with Wayne Rooney still United’s all-time leading scorer with 253 efforts to his name. He won Premier League and Champions League titles with the Red Devils.

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  Will Kai Rooney follow Wayne into the Man Utd team?

  Kai is eager to follow in illustrious footsteps, and has been catching the eye in a fabled academy. Many are suggesting that he is capable of matching his famous father by becoming a talismanic forward for Premier League heavyweights.

  Quizzed on whether that could happen, ex-United star Campbell – speaking in association with – told GOAL: “That would be fantastic. He’s played up for the 18s and the 23s this season, I think. He’s doing really, really well. If he’s anything like his dad, it would be fantastic for the club because Rooney was unbelievable in his playing days – still now, he played in the legends game and he’s still got the technique, that drive and hunger. It would be great for Wayne, Coleen and the family to see another Rooney pulling on the Man United shirt. It would be great for the fans as well.”

• Hot prospect: Kai Rooney exciting those at Old Trafford

  Campbell is not the first former United player to back Kai Rooney for senior opportunities. Wes Brown has previously told GOAL of that family name earning further recognition in Manchester: “I’m pretty sure if you played for a club and your son comes through, and he’s at a stage now where he’s like YTS, going to training everyday, then at any point you could be picked by the manager and told ‘you’re training with us’ or ‘you’re in a game’. It will be a great experience.

  “Kai, knowing the lad he is, he’ll just work very hard. He will have his head down. Obviously, his dad has legendary status, but it’s all about Kai. He will have to work and do everything himself, make sure he puts the graft in and keeps on learning.

  “All you can hope for, even when I was a kid, is getting an opportunity. If you do, can you take it? He’s done really well to get where he is at the moment because I’m guessing at some point, it will have been difficult for him.”

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  Wayne & Coleen helping to keep Kai grounded

  Wayne has tended to stay away from Kai’s matches, in order to avoid becoming a distraction, while mother Coleen is doing her best to ensure that a future away from professional football is also being taken into account.

  A source has told of that process: “All the boys are obsessed with football, so Coleen’s had no choice but to embrace it. She wasn’t sure how good they would be, but there’s no denying that Kai has his dad’s talents, and has the potential to make it big.

  “Kai is very good, and Coleen and Wayne have always drummed into him that he has to train hard and dedicate himself to it if he wants to make it. But Coleen is determined that he’ll stay grounded, whatever happens. She also knows she’ll have to prepare him for the disappointment if it doesn’t work out. The Rooney name will only get him so far.”

  It remains to be seen whether Kai Rooney – who has scored plenty of goals for United at youth level while helping them to trophy wins – will earn first-team opportunities. His dad will always be on hand to offer advice if it is required, with Wayne earning wonderkid status himself when making a senior breakthrough with Everton at the age of 16.