As Babar Azam’s prowess has increased, so has his side’s tendency to rely heavily on him

Danyal Rasool16-Dec-2020Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq isn’t averse to bone dry gallows humour, but this is the one thing you don’t joke about in Pakistan cricket these days. The absence of Babar Azam from the T20I series against New Zealand would appear to be the loss not just of a player but of an entire strategy of late. Few sides in world cricket are quite as reliant on one batsman as Pakistan have been on Azam in T20Is; he has papered over enough cracks to have turned a fifth-day Galle pitch into a featherbed. Pakistan’s batting plan in the shortest format at times rests entirely on watching Azam do the batting, while they plan to develop a system that one day might produce more of his kind.Of course, it’s not just the T20I leg of the tour that Azam’s absence spells trouble for Pakistan, unless the medical prognosis is so precise it can accurately determine his injured thumb will heal between December 22 and 25, the interregnum between the end of the T20Is and the start of the first Test. The fact Azam could be a doubt for the first Test spells significant trouble for that side, too, given he was just awarded the captaincy in that format, and his replacement – Mohammad Rizwan, has played fewer than 10 Tests.Indeed, you can perhaps track the moment Azam finally worked out Test cricket’s cheat codes – a little bit later than he’d managed in the limited-overs formats – because it’s the instant cricket fans in Pakistan finally gave up on Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq ever stepping into MisYou’s shoes, and pinning their hopes entirely on Azam replacing all of them. The PCB has gone all in too, turning him, within 12 months, from a young player who needed to be carefully managed into their all-format captain.But it is in T20 cricket that Azam has proved himself most indispensable. This is perhaps odd in the modern game, given that Azam isn’t some renegade power-hitter and that the anchor role has suffered something of a reputation hit among elite T20 sides. In fact, Pakistan appeared to set such little store by his power hitting they sent in Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah out for a Super Over last month, minutes after Azam had just scored 125 against Zimbabwe.Azam was captain so would have had a say in that decision, of course, but was passive enough post-match to suggest the decision had been made elsewhere. That Ahmed ended up falling off the first ball of that Super Over is by the by. And either way, Misbah has developed a reputation of placing the sort of faith in Ahmed middle children could only dream of.ESPNcricinfo LtdDespite the distractions, chaos and self-destruction Pakistan are prone to, Azam and T20 cricket has been a match made in heaven. Since he made his T20I debut, he has scored 23% of his entire team’s runs – no other side in this period has relied on one man so heavily for their runs. Colin Munro is the closest with 20%, with Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma at 19% and 16% respectively. He has scored 16 of the 39 T20I half-centuries Pakistan have scored in this period, with no other individual batsman even managing five. He has played every single match except a tri-series he missed in Zimbabwe.Over in domestic cricket, he was the leading run-scorer at the recently-concluded PSL, having scored almost 50% more runs than Fakhar Zaman in second place. He’s just 21 runs off most PSL runs in history, trailing Kamran Akmal, who has played ten more innings. And if you’re wondering whether the PSL alone is enough evidence of his prowess in franchise cricket, he was the top scorer in the Natwest T20 Blast last year, with Tom Banton the only player in the top 10 who bettered his strike rate of 149.35. And unlike England, who currently can’t move for stumbling upon another elite T20 gem, Pakistan don’t have too many coming down the carousel.Haider Ali is one, though he recently remarked at a press conference he had been told to “preserve my wicket”, spend “more time at the crease” and “rotate the strike”. These are infuriatingly Pakistani euphemisms for playing T20 cricket conservatively, and frankly inspire little confidence in the current coaching and management staff’s ability to take this T20 side back to the top. Everyone simply can’t be Azam, who somehow does all the things Haider seems to have been told to do, while maintaining a strike rate that is acceptable in modern T20 cricket. Expecting someone to simply copy what Azam does with the same level of success is as much a strategy as rubbing a lamp, intending to wish the genie does appear.ESPNcricinfo LtdStill Pakistan might be able to extract some hope from what looks like a hopeless situation. Remember that T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, the only one Azam has missed since his debut? Well, Pakistan ended up winning the trophy, coming back from 2-2 in the final to chase 183 against Australia. It did, to be fair, require contributions of 61, 47, 73 and 91 across the tournament from Fakhar Zaman, who has since crossed 25 just once in 16 T20Is, and indeed isn’t a part of this tour anyway.In case you wanted further flickering signs of encouragement, Azam scoring big runs of late hasn’t always translated into T20 victories. Until February 2019, Pakistan had won every T20I in which Azam scored a half-century, but they have since lost four of eight such games – with three of the victories coming against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. None of that is to suggest Azam’s absence does the Pakistan side much good on paper. But Mohammad Hafeez, who seems to reinvent himself every time retirement looms large, has found sparkling form once more. And if Haider, and younger colleagues like Khushdil Shah, who has shown promise, and Shadab Khan – provided he is fit – can hold off on the management’s advice to become more conservative, their natural firepower may just end up having a more telling impact on the series than Azam’s anchoring presence might have done.And what if Azam isn’t fit by the Tests? Well, there might be a joke there, but don’t expect Misbah, or indeed anyone else in Pakistan, to feed you the punchline.

From being seventh not so long ago, the Sunrisers Hyderabad turned it around to finish third in the league stage

Hemant Brar05-Nov-2020At one stage in IPL 2020, the Sunrisers Hyderabad were lurking at the seventh place with just three wins from nine games. They were also hit by a spate of injuries to their key players: Mitchell Marsh was ruled out in the very first match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar after four matches, Kane Williamson was in and out while Vijay Shankar picked up niggles. Then, to book a playoff spot, they needed to win their last three league matches against the top three teams on the points table.And, yet, somehow everything fell into place for David Warner’s men. They not only beat the Delhi Capitals, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians in successive matches but also did it so comprehensively that by the end of the league stage, they were positioned third.Here’s a look at the factors that have helped the Sunrisers turn their campaign around.Finding the right combination
A big factor in a team’s success in the IPL is how quickly they can find their best XI. It took the Sunrisers nine matches. And even then it was more by accident than design.When Williamson pulled out injured for the match against the Rajasthan Royals, the Sunrisers were left with no other option than to play Jason Holder. Playing his first IPL match in four years, Holder made an instant impact by picking up three wickets and effecting a run-out as the Sunrisers went on to win by eight wickets.Holder’s performance meant he was there to stay. Once Williamson was fit, he couldn’t be left out either given the Sunrisers’ fragile middle order. Therefore, the Sunrisers had to replace Jonny Bairstow with Wriddhiman Saha and that’s how they stumbled upon their best combination.The Holder effect
Holder was in the middle of a vacation when he was called up as a replacement for the injured Marsh. He didn’t get a game straightaway but once he made it to the playing XI, he benefitted the side in more than one ways.Jason Holder has delivered immediately•ESPNcricinfoAfter Bhuvneshwar was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury, the Sunrisers were looking for someone to lead their pace attack. Holder filled that void. With Abdul Samad not living up to the expectations, the Sunrisers wanted someone to shore up their lower-order batting. Holder put his hand up.With the ball, Holder has picked up ten wickets from five games at an economy of 7.90. With the bat, his decisive 26 not out off ten balls saw the Sunrisers over the line in a tricky chase against the Royal Challengers.Sandeep bowling three overs in powerplay
Of all the Holder benefits, arguably the biggest one is him taking care of the death overs along with T Natarajan. That allowed the Sunrisers to use Sandeep Sharma’s three overs upfront, a move that has worked wonders.Sandeep’s ability to swing the new ball both ways at an annoying pace fetched the Sunrisers good returns in the powerplay. His effectiveness was further augmented by his canny use of the knuckle ball and the slowing nature of the pitches in the second half of the tournament. In his first six games, Sandeep had three powerplay wickets at a strike rate of 26. In the last five, he has six at a strike rate of 15.Sandeep Sharma has the led way for Sunrisers Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfoWickets in the powerplay mean Sandeep not only got big names out but also got them out cheaply: Shikhar Dhawan for 0, Virat Kohli for 7 and Rohit Sharma for 4, among others. In terms of most wickets in the powerplay this season, he is behind only Trent Boult and Jofra Archer.Warner back to his aggressive best
All the above factors helped the Sunrisers stay competitive but the one which rammed the advantage home was Warner rediscover his mojo.In the first ten games of the tournament, Warner had 335 runs at an average of 41.87 and a strike rate of 124.07. Decent numbers for an anchor but not for someone who is supposed to set the tone. Compare them to his last four outings: 194 runs at an average of 64.66 with a strike rate of 165.81. That’s the Warner the Sunrisers were missing.What liberated him? Opening up his front leg and going all out to find some runs on the pitches that were getting slower and slower. That decision could have also stemmed from having Williamson and Holder down the order. Either way, the Sunrisers aren’t complaining.David Warner has hit form at the right time•ESPNcricinfoSaha striking with the bat
Replacing Bairstow with Saha was a brave decision, because who separates as prolific an opening pair as Warner and Bairstow had been in the last season. However, it paid off handsomely.In the IPL, Saha has been one of the best strikers of the ball in the powerplay and he proved it once again with the knocks of 87 off 45, 39 off 32 and 58* off 45 in the last three innings. With Warner at his aggressive best at the other end, there was no respite for the bowlers.Against the Capitals, Warner and Saha added 107 in just 9.4 overs to set the platform for a formidable total. Two games later, the two chased down 150 against the Mumbai Indians all by themselves.

A solitary wicket in 44 overs in Sri Lanka was scant reward for some wholehearted efforts

Andrew Miller22-Jan-2021Mark Wood’s methods are a subtle as a sock of wet sand in a broad-daylight bank heist. He’s the bloke who walks straight up to the counter in defiance of the high-security arrangements, and slams repeatedly on the plate glass in the unfailing belief that it will break.By contrast, Stuart Broad in the first Test and James Anderson in the second have shown rather more in common with those cunning old lags who drilled through several feet of concrete to break into Hatton Garden’s vaults some years back. Years of game-craft and know-how, distilled into a faultlessly executed plan, and leaving barely a trace of their actions in the aftermath, as their current combined series figures of 45-24-58-6 amply attest.But sometimes, frankly, subtlety has to go hang. Sometimes the only option is to send in the heavies and kick in the front desk, as Wood demonstrated on the opening day of the second Test at Galle with a gut-bustingly heroic display.His figures, on the face of it, are an confirmation of his one-dimensional approach – so far in the series Wood has served up 44 overs for a solitary breakthrough at a cost of 117 runs, and it took him 234 deliveries to prise that one and only opening in his third innings in the field.But what a crucial opening it could prove to be – the dislodging of Sri Lanka’s captain, Dinesh Chandimal, to end a fourth-wicket stand of 117, in the midst of an unrelenting eight-over spell, Wood’s longest single stretch of bowling since his Test debut at Lord’s, six years ago.And the manner in which he did the business, howling a reverse-swinging pad-thumper back into the right-handed Chandimal, was an indication of why England must surely persevere with Wood – both at the back end of this winter’s Asia tour (when he returns from a spell of R&R during the first two Tests in India), and onwards into the Ashes at the end of the year.By then he will be 32 – and given how brutally hard he has been made to work for his wickets in the course of an injury-plagued career, it’s possible that the effort that another year of Covid-influenced combat may drain him of his Tigger-like optimism and bounce. But until that point comes, Wood seems committed to throwing himself bodily into every spell for which he’s picked, and reaping whatever rewards he can glean – whether they are at his end of the pitch, or his team-mates’.”We bowl in tandem, and we often talk about that as a bowling group,” Wood said. “Passing on your spell to the next bowler, and trying to help them at the other end. If I can get the batter’s beans going, they might play a rash shot against the spinners when they’re not enjoying it from my end.”That cunning plan didn’t always look like working out on an arduous opening day, with Angelo Mathews proving impressively resistant to Wood’s hustle. “He’s been a thorn in my side,” Wood acknowledged. “I’m sure he’s using a wider bat.”Mark Wood celebrates his first wicket of the series•SLCChandimal, on the other hand, found the going far less chilled, wearing deliveries on the helmet, fingers and ribs in the course of his hard-worked half-century, before finally succumbing to Wood’s best ball of the day, the sort of fast-bending reverse-swinger that Galle’s baked outfield was liable to make feasible after more than a week of action already.And afterwards, Wood admitted that his over-riding emotion was “relief”, as he got his Test wickets tally moving once again after claiming just two in as many appearances in the best part of 12 months.”I felt I bowled decent in the first game, and I bowled a good spell in this game, but I just thought it wasn’t meant to happen,” he said. “I joked with Jon Lewis, the bowling coach, we could be here in 2054 and still be bowling from that Fort End and not have a wicket, and have none for 3000. So it’s nice to actually have a one-for. It might be one for 3000 now.”True, there is very little point in getting carried away about Wood’s impact in this contest, or even in his career as a whole. A record of 51 Test wickets at 34.01 does not scream of the sort of impression that England would like to believe he’s capable of making – and in spite of the infrequency of his selection, it’s already approaching two years since his extraordinarily rapid onslaught in the St Lucia Test against West Indies – a spell that some observers reckon was the fastest ever served up by an England quick.But in mitigation, Wood has not been looked after quite as well as a player of his selfless merits perhaps deserves. His selection for a solitary Test last summer – and that on the first and slowest pitch of the season at the Ageas Bowl – clearly rankles more than he lets on, as does his omission from England’s list of ECB Test contracts, an oversight that feels ever more extraordinary the closer the 2021-22 Ashes draw.For it surely cannot help a player of Wood’s explosive attributes (and fragile ligaments) to feel he’s on trial every time he takes the ball. In the build-up to the Test, all the talk had been of Olly Stone – another 90mph/145kph prospect, albeit four years Wood’s junior, getting his first overseas call-up, while Wood’s absence from the India Test will enable Jofra Archer to reaffirm the spearhead role that he held for five Tests out of six in the summer.Related

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“I think I was putting too much pressure on myself,” he said of his efforts building up to that cathartic wicket of Chandimal. “When you’re in and out of the side, you’re trying to cement your place, knowing there’s people behind you, and people in front of you who aren’t here.”I didn’t play much in the summer, so I wanted to try and make an impact,” he added. “When you have no wickets you feel a little bit under pressure, so it’s nice to get one on the board. I know it’s not match-winning or a five-for, but it’s a bit of relief and I can now relax into the game.”There wasn’t much relaxation in prospect in his final onslaught of the day, however – an above-and-beyond display with an ageing ball, and one that ran counter to the measured approach that Joe Root had taken to Wood’s spells in the first Test, in which two-, three- and four-over bursts had been the norm.This time, however, faced with a Sri Lanka line-up who were determined to heed the lessons of their first-day meltdown in the opening Test, and armed with a ball that he alone was getting to move off the straight and narrow, Wood and Root both recognised the moment was right to go to the well. The short-term results may have been mixed, but after being handed a free pass into last week’s first Test, the rewards for the toil were all the sweeter.”I’m knackered,” Wood declared at the close. “It was hard work. The conversation I had with Rooty was that I wasn’t going to come back with the new ball, so rather than bowl three overs in that spell, and try to come back later, with the ball reversing, I was probably going to be the most threatening then.”It didn’t spin much for us today so we’ll try to make inroads tomorrow. You need a bit of luck, but the thing we’ve got on our side is controlling the rate. It was great pressure from us as a group, so we’ll keep that pressure on, keep hammering away and try and force that opening.”

Also, how umpire’s call came to rescue Pollard and Mumbai Indians

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Nov-2020
Umpire’s call to Pollard’s, and Mumbai Indians’, rescue
A Rashid Khan over is never short of incident. Take his last over today, against the Mumbai Indians.Second delivery, Ishan Kishan top-edged a googly. Khan called for it as he charged in to collect the catch. But he spilled it, and was evidently cross with himself.Khan, though, did not get distracted, and responded by outsmarting Kieron Pollard in the air with a googly. Before the delivery, Khan had placed his captain, David Warner, at silly mid-on to deny Pollard an easy single. Despite reading the plan, Pollard was beaten in the air and by the turn as he took a big stride to meet the ball in line with his off stump, and was hit on the pad. The umpire, though, ruled him not out, based on the understanding that the impact was marginally outside off. Khan reviewed immediately, but it was umpire’s call, and Pollard stayed in.Pollard had made just 6 at the time, and the Mumbai Indians were struggling at 98 for 5 with five overs left. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, the impact of that decision in favour of Pollard helped them score 20 extra runs, as Pollard eventually made 41 off 25 balls.Two wickets for ‘specialist’ Saha
Specialist wicketkeepers are a rare breed in T20 cricket. Wriddhiman Saha is an exception, his glovework making him stand out. Positioning, alertness, reading the ball off the bowlers’ hands, reflexes, and stable and safe hands define his wicketkeeping. Those basics came into play on Tuesday as Saha contributed to two key Mumbai wickets, which came in quick succession.First, Shahbaz Nadeem pitched one on a length, a delivery on the fourth stump, which Suryakumar Yadav attempted to drill through the covers but missed. Only because Nadeem was bowling with a slightly round-arm action, which kept the ball low. Yadav had to go fetch it and that meant his back heel moved out of the crease for a moment. The ball was bowled at nearly 100kph, but Saha was alert and stable, and swiftly, and definitively, brushed off the bails.In the next over Saurabh Tiwary was foxed by the googly from Khan, and got a thick outside edge. Saha was prepared once again. He was squatting outside off stump, and stayed low to pick up another edge, one that came fast and low.How Saha has helped Warner be back at his aggressive best
In the first 11 matches this IPL, Warner’s strike rate was 127, well below the standards set by the Sunrisers captain in the previous editions. In the three matches, he has opened with Saha, though, Warner’s strike rate has spiked to almost 164 as he has scored 159 runs with two half-centuries.ESPNcricinfo LtdWarner and Saha are the only openers this IPL to score half-centuries in the same game on two occasions – they did that in the win against the Delhi Capitals and today against the Mumbai Indians.Saha’s free strokeplay against all kinds of bowling has allowed Warner to play his natural, aggressor’s role. Even though it is only in the two matches where the Warner-Saha combination has blossomed, but both these were must-win games for the Sunrisers. Both against the Capitals and today against a depleted Mumbai Indians attack, Warner and Saha started off strongly and pulled away from the opposition.Warner once again displayed his ruthless attitude, which has made him possibly the best batsman in the tournament’s history. And Warner would admit Saha’s contribution to his success.

After missing out on the 2019 World Cup squad, Billings is looking to the India series to help him lock down a middle-order slot for the T20 World Cup

Matt Roller09-Mar-2021Sam Billings uses one word more than any other over the course of a 30-minute Zoom call, looking forward to a period of his life that he knows could define his career: perspective.After missing out on the chance to break into England’s 50-over World Cup squad in 2019 through injury, Billings is targeting the T20 version of the competition this year as a chance to make amends. He is aware his performances in the upcoming white-ball series – five T20Is and three ODIs – in India, and in the IPL which follows, will either enhance or hinder his case for a spot in the squad.The first challenge is one that is all too familiar to him: how to get into the XI. For a man turning 30 in June, Billings’ appearances have been surprisingly sparse. Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence and Sam Curran have all played more first-class games than him despite being several years younger, while he has only batted 18 times in ODIs, six years after his debut. Such is life on the fringes of the international set-up.Related

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When Billings made his first international hundred last year, a fluent 118 against a full-strength Australia at Old Trafford, he finally looked like he was ready to lock down a spot in England’s middle order. Asked exactly that post-match, he was candid in his assessment: “Ben Stokes isn’t here and I don’t think, however many runs I get, that I’ll keep that spot,” he said.”I thought, ‘I don’t know how many [runs] I need to get, but I’m just seat-warming for the time being,'” he recalls. “Since my injury, in terms of perspective, I’ve gained that through a really bad experience, and can deal with disappointment and bad runs far more easily.”I’ve gained so much more confidence in my own game over the last two years, in terms of doing it more consistently. I’ve still got the highest score ever by a No. 6 in T20I cricket [second-highest; the record was broken by Belgium’s Shaheryar Butt in 2020], I’ve got one of the fastest fifties in T20 cricket for England, so I’ve done it sporadically. It’s been the consistency that has let me down, with in-and-out team selection.”It is tough. It’s a really tough part of the game. But I think as a youngster coming into that side, you then take being dropped a lot harder. Through that experience, I’ve been able to mentally be in a really good place and be ready for that opportunity, whereas in the past I’ve put way too much pressure on myself, not enjoyed it, and it really gets to you.”Since his injury, Billings has had an up-and-down time of it with England – or more accurately, down, then up. He was named vice-captain for the T20I series in New Zealand at the end of 2019, but fluffed his lines auditioning for the finishing role with 34 runs off as many balls across five innings and was left out for the white-ball leg of the South Africa tour in early 2020.That led him to withdraw from franchise cricket for the rest of the winter in a bid to refresh himself ahead of the home summer – though his break ended up being longer than planned with the UK in lockdown. Handed an unexpected opportunity due to Joe Denly’s back spasm ahead of the first ODI of the English season, Billings made 132 runs for once out in the series against Ireland – enough for him to keep his place for the Australia series, even with multi-format players available once again.His first international hundred was an obvious highlight, albeit in a losing cause, and having missed the chance to further his claims in South Africa after the ODI series was postponed at the last minute, he performed creditably in the Big Bash for Sydney Thunder, with 260 runs in ten innings and a strike rate of 142.85 from the middle order.”Last year was the best year for me in an England shirt by a mile, because of that consistency,” Billings says. “It started against Ireland and I managed to maintain that. That’s the challenge. I’m really excited for the next few months and the opportunities ahead with Delhi at the IPL afterwards as well. I’m in as good a place as I can be to challenge for a spot in the side, and I just want to make a spot my own.”In what’s been a horrendous time for everyone, how lucky am I to have that in front of me and to look forward to? That’s the mindset I’m going in with. If I play, brilliant, and I’m in a great place to do that. If I don’t, I’ve got a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow and be part of this. There are a lot of people stuck at home during lockdown who would like to be in my position. I think it’s a really good, healthy perspective to have.”Billings scooped, paddled and swept his way to a maiden international hundred against Australia last year, albeit in a losing cause•Getty ImagesBillings seems likely to start the T20I series on the bench, but his form over the last year or so has ensured that he will be the first man England turn to if they decide they need reinforcements at No. 5 or 6, the spots currently occupied by Stokes and Eoin Morgan.Three main features of Billings’ game stand out: clean striking while playing orthodox shots; innovative sweeps, reverses and paddles; and an ability to tick over in the middle overs, evidenced by the lowest dot-ball percentage against spin (26.7%) in all T20 cricket since the last World Cup in 2016. It is the third of those that makes him stand out from England’s pack in Indian conditions.”That’s one of my strengths, and one of those roles that I really enjoy,” Billings explains. “It’s a role that people just expect batsmen to do really well, but if you do it badly, everyone rages about it and says, ‘What’s going on in the middle overs against spin?’ The challenge for me now is to move it on even further.”You look at Eoin Morgan’s numbers over the last few years and they’ve been absolutely phenomenal. The way he has transformed his game and kept on moving [it] forward is something I really want to emulate and continue. I just want to be tricky to bowl at.”If I can put pressure on [India’s bowlers] and rotate spin like I do, again, that’s giving myself the best chance to perform. I know it’s going to be a test because they’re world-class performers – [India are] one of the best teams in their home conditions. It’s going to be tough, but it’s a really exciting challenge that I’m looking forward to.”After this series, Billings will stay in India for the IPL – he was signed by the Delhi Capitals in last month’s auction. Involvement in the competition has been a blessing and a curse for Billings: he has never attracted a life-changing bid. His Rs 2 crore (US$270,000 approximately) contract for 2021 is twice his previous-highest salary, and he has played only 22 times in his four seasons, but he says he has learned plenty from the format’s top coaches and team-mates.His participation has split opinion at Kent, too, with some members unhappy at the prospect of the man who became club captain in 2018 missing the first two months of the county season yet again.”I had a very honest conversation with Kent – with Paul Downton [director of cricket] and Walks [Matt Walker, head coach] – and they completely backed me, 100%. After missing out on a World Cup, I’ve got the bit between my teeth to make up for lost time and build upon the momentum that I built last year. That is my focus: I want to be in a winning World Cup team, no doubt about it.”You look at the squad that Delhi have, and especially the overseas options: you could go with any combination and it would be a successful one. The competition for places is phenomenal: they obviously got to the final last year, so game time might be limited, but it comes back to the point of preparing for a World Cup and giving myself the best chance in these conditions to prepare for that.”Delhi’s most-used overseas combination last season involved two fast bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje; an allrounder, Marcus Stoinis; and Shimron Hetmyer in the middle order. If they go with a similar balance, then Billings is likely to be competing for Hetmyer’s role, with Steven Smith also pushing for selection.He is particularly excited by the prospect of working with Ricky Ponting – “a hero growing up… he does not miss a trick” – and linking up with India’s three star performers in their recent Test series win against England: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and R Ashwin.”Facing those two spinners in the nets is one of the great things about the IPL, and other franchise competitions,” he explains. “[If] you face these guys day in, day out in testing conditions, you’re going to get better – it’s impossible not to. That’s a huge plus point… I’ll be writing a few notes about a few different cricketers that I see about.”Fingers crossed, it’ll be perfect preparation. It’s really exciting, the cricket coming up. I like to work on the next thing and really focus my energy on this series before we move onto the next one, but big picture for me, the strategy was always to give myself the best chance of being selected in the World Cup at the end of the year.”

Stats highlights from the first T20I between England and Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo stats team17-Jul-2021232 Pakistan posted their highest total of 232 for 6 in T20Is at Trent Bridge on Friday. Their previous best was 205 for 3, against the West Indies in Karachi in 2018. This is also the third-highest total by any team against England in T20Is.17 Number of balls taken by Liam Livingstone to reach fifty, the fastest by an England batter in T20Is. Livingstone’s 42-ball hundred equals the third-fastest T20I hundred in matches between full-member nations.0 Scores higher than Livingstone’s 103 by a batter at No.5 or lower in men’s T20Is played among full-member teams. The only other century at No.5 or lower from a full-member team batter is by David Miller against Bangladesh in 2017.9 Number of sixes hit by Livingstone in his innings, the most by an England batter in T20Is. The previous best by an England batter was seven, hit by Eoin Morgan – on four different occasions – Ravi Bopara and Jason Roy.12 Number of sixes hit by Pakistan batters in their innings which equals the most hit by them in a T20I. They had hit 12 sixes against Bangladesh in 2007. In fact, all the 12 sixes by Pakistan batters were hit after the 11th over in this match. Where ball-by-ball information is available with ESPNcricinfo, there are only three instances when a team has hit more than 12 sixes after the tenth over of the innings. The highest being India’s 14 sixes against Sri Lanka in a T20I in Indore in 2017.150 Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s 150-run partnership is the second-highest stand for Pakistan for any wicket. The same pair had added 197 runs for the first wicket against South Africa in Centurion in April this year.1 Only one pair – India’s Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma – has stitched two 150-plus-run partnerships in T20Is before Azam and Rizwan. Azam and Rizwan have added three century stands in 12 innings together and are just one short of equaling the record for most century stands by any pair in T20Is. Dhawan and Sharma, and Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson have each added four century stands in T20Is.152 Runs scored by Pakistan after the 10th over in the match. This is only the sixth time in a T20I when more than 150 runs have been scored in the last 10 overs (where ball-by-ball information is available). The highest Pakistan had managed in the second half of their innings before this was 122 against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2018.

For Kohli, it was the second innings defeat as captain, and also the second loss suffered after winning the toss

Sampath Bandarupalli28-Aug-202127 – Test wins as captain for Joe Root. He is now England’s most successful captain in Test cricket, surpassing Michael Vaughan’s 26 wins.17 – Number of home Test wins for Root as skipper, only behind Andrew Strauss’ 19.63 – Runs added by India after the fall of the fourth wicket in this match (over two innings), the second-lowest for them when they have batted twice. Their poorest effort came against Australia in 2017 in Pune, when they added just 41 runs.120 – The total out of India’s 356-run match aggregate that came after the first three wickets had gone down. It is the fifth-lowest for them overall, and the lowest since 1959.3.5 – False shots per wicket by India on the fourth day in Leeds. India lost their last eight wickets on Saturday while playing just 28 false shots. Contrastingly, they lost only two wickets on the third day despite playing 88 false shots. England needed 71 false strokes from the Indian batters to bowl them out for 78 in the first innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd400 – Wickets for James Anderson in Test matches in England. He is only the second player to bag 400 or more Test wickets in one country after Muthiah Muralidaran (493 in Sri Lanka). The Leeds Test match was his 94th on home soil, the joint-most by anyone in a country, alongside Sachin Tendulkar in India.2 – Innings defeats for India in 64 Tests under Virat Kohli. The previous one came in 2018, also against England at Lord’s, by an innings and 159 runs. The defeat in Leeds is also the second time India have lost a Test where Kohli won the toss. The other such instance was against Australia in 2020 in Adelaide, where they were 36 all out in the second innings.6 – Test matches at home without a win for England before defeating India in Leeds. Their last home win came against Pakistan at Old Trafford last year. It was England’s longest winless streak in Tests at home since eight between 1989 and 1990. The innings win in Leeds was also England’s first win in eight Tests since defeating India in February.