India’s Test selectors are likely to keep a close eye on these five promising batters and one tireless quick

Shashank Kishore23-Jun-2023With India set to begin their new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with the two-Test tour of the West Indies in July, here’s a look at six players who could come into the mix over the next two years.

Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz has had to fight with perceptions that he isn’t “cricket fit”, but when you churn out the kind of runs he has, season after season for three years now, there can’t be much weightage to that argument. As things stand, his first-class average is second only to Don Bradman, among batters who’ve played at least 50 innings; he averages 79.65, with 13 hundreds and nine half-centuries.For all his proficiency, however, Sarfaraz hasn’t had the best of numbers for India A. There are also some technical flaws that coaches have been working on – especially his game against the short ball. Where he scores points, though, is in his consistency, and his ability to dig in and put a price on his wicket even if he has to look ugly. At 25, he still has plenty of time to take the next step up.Related

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Yashasvi Jaiswal

How can you ignore someone with a first-class average of 80.21 across 26 innings? Jaiswal has taken the domestic circuit by storm for his ability to attack bowlers while also having a solid technique. It isn’t quite Bazball but Jaiswal in full flow has the ability to dominate bowling attacks, glimpses of which he has shown in the IPL, in the company of Jos Buttler at the top of the order for Rajasthan Royals.Jaiswal’s most recent first-class knocks came in the Irani Cup, where he made 213 and 144 for Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh. That aggregate of 357 in the match was the most for any batter in an Irani game. Jaiswal has the ability to not just open but also bat at No. 3 if required.Abhimanyu Easwaran averages 47.85 after 150 innings in first-class cricket•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Much of his recent success has been in white-ball cricket, but Gaikwad’s solidity, and his penchant to play late have led many to compare his talent with that of a young Rohit Sharma when he broke through in 2005-06. Gaikwad’s red-ball numbers aren’t hugely impressive just yet, as an average of 42.19 after 28 first-class games would suggest, but they are improving; 2022-23 was the first time he averaged above 50 in a Ranji Trophy season. Since 2021, meanwhile, he has shown in the IPL that he can mix it against top-quality attacks.Stephen Fleming, his coach at Chennai Super Kings, was drawn in by how quickly Gaikwad picked length, his understanding of his limitations, and his ability to not let that affect his thought process.

Tilak Varma

“Typical Hyderabadi flair.” That was Rohit Sharma describing one of many knocks Varma played during the IPL for Mumbai Indians. He missed the 2022-23 Ranji season due to injury, but his temperament and technique have come in for plaudits from several experts, including Sachin Tendulkar.He doesn’t have a lot of experience in first-class cricket yet, but there have been flashes of brilliance, like for India A against New Zealand A at home last year where he brought up his only first-class hundred so far. At his best, Varma can make batting look easy. There will be sterner tests, but the signs are promising.

Abhimanyu Easwaran

Perhaps the oldest in this current batting group at 28, Easwaran has been a proven performer for India A for a while now. He has based his game around a sound technique that has brought him success in challenging conditions. Having made his first-class debut in December 2013, he has risen to be among India’s next-in-line as far as red-ball openers go over the last three years. Easwaran’s overall first-class numbers are formidable: 6556 runs in 150 innings at an average of 47.85, with a best of 233.And like Jaiswal, he can also tailor his game to bat at No. 3, a role he has played on an off for India A. Unlike the others in this list, Easwaran doesn’t have an IPL contract, but he has been cutting his teeth on tough surfaces in the Dhaka Premier League, Bangladesh’s primary List-A competition, for the past four years, apart from stints in club cricket in England when not playing domestic cricket.Mukesh Kumar is a key component of the pace attack that helped Bengal reach the Ranji Trophy finals in 2019-20 and 2022-23•PTI

Mukesh Kumar

Having modelled himself on Josh Hazlewood, Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar has gained a reputation for being a tireless workhorse whose robotic consistency and minute deviations off the pitch have troubled the best of batters in domestic cricket. Having been an India A regular for two seasons now, elevation to the Test squad only seems natural.Mukesh’s body of work in first-class cricket is stellar. He has 149 wickets in 39 games at an average of 21.55, and has been part of a three-pronged pace attack, alongside Ishan Porel and Akash Deep, that has hauled Bengal to two Ranji Trophy finals, in 2019-20 and 2022-23. His India A record is just as impressive, with his 18 wickets coming at 17.50 and including five-fors against New Zealand A and Bangladesh A.

Injuries to Nortje and Magala have messed with the balance of the bowling attack

Firdose Moonda01-Oct-20232:10

Can South Africa’s misfiring bowlers back up their sizzling batters?

World Cup pedigree
One of the contenders for the best team to have never won a World Cup, South Africa enter many tournaments believing their time has finally come only to discover their clocks are ticking to a different rhythm. After missing the first four tournaments because of international isolation of the Apartheid regime, South Africa first competed in 1992 and immediately impressed with a semi-final finish and the calculation that changed the way weather-affected matches were decided. They have since reached five knockout stages in seven tournaments but have never made the final.Their best chances of winning the World Cup came in 1999, 2011 and 2015, when they reached the knockouts and played their part in some of the game’s biggest heartbreak. But their reputation as perennial nearly-men belies the more recent truth that they have not played good enough tournament cricket to become champions. South Africa suffered their worst tournament return in 2019, when they lost five of their nine group matches and were out of contention for the semi-finals with three matches left to play. Ottis Gibson’s contract was not renewed in the aftermath and they have since been through a massive administrative overhaul as well as three different captains and coaching regimes.Recent form
South Africa were the last automatic qualifiers to the tournament and snuck into the top eight after beating England and Netherlands earlier this year. But then they spent five months out of action in a throwback to when cricket was still played seasonally and returned to action with little more than a month to go before the World Cup. They started off with five straight defeats across white-ball formats to Australia but then surged back to win the series 3-2, and beat Australia by more than 100 runs in each of those three victories. In the process, Anrich Nortje suffered a lower-back injury and Sisanda Magala picked up a left-knee niggle which has derailed South Africa’s plans to unleash six seamers at the tournament.Gerald Coetzee was among the go-to bowlers for Jo’burg Super Kings in the inaugural SA20•Getty ImagesSquad
Temba Bavuma (capt), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams, Andile PhehlukwayoKey player(s)
A melty middle-order, especially under pressure, has been the cause of several of South Africa’s previous tournament blow-outs so Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller will have a particularly important role. Happily for South Africa, Klaasen is in the form of his life, with two ODI hundreds this year, and an average of 58.55, but crucially a strike rate of 151.43. He has also hit 25 sixes in that time, the most by any South African. Miller’s wealth of experience in India, which includes winning the title with Gujarat Titans last year, means South Africa have the personnel to tackle what has usually been a tricky period in the innings.Rising star
Gerald Coetzee was included in the squad with just two ODI caps to his name and ahead of experienced allrounder Wayne Parnell because of his pace. Coetzee can crank it up to around 145kph, has a menacing short ball and is handy as a lower-order hitter. If there is a concern around him, it may be the worry of inconsistency.World Cup farewells?
Quinton de Kock announced his decision to step away from ODI cricket at the end of the tournament and will continue to pursue a T20 career around the world, including at international level, but he is likely not the only one playing his last ODIs. Seven other members of South Africa’s 15-player squad are over 32 which suggests they are unlikely to make it to another World Cup. None of Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj or Tabraiz Shamsi have indicated what their long-term fifty-over future looks like but there is every chance this could be their last dance in the format.

Pakistan’s new Test captain is someone who has found a way through several obstacles over the years

Danyal Rasool13-Dec-20234:32

What do Pakistan need to do to win in Australia?

For a man who often doesn’t seem to be around, Shan Masood is always there. Like that character in a soap opera the credits list as recurring but you could swear features more than most main characters, every seminal moment in Pakistan Test cricket appears to have Masood involved. You think the writers have killed him off, the character arc they’ve plotted surely rendering another yet another return impossible. And then he’s reimagined into existence once more. Shan Masood the debutant, the promising opener, the useful number three, the cool, collected presence in the dressing room.And then you look up, and underneath a blazing early afternoon sun in Perth, he’s stood next to Pat Cummins, the gold Benaud-Qadir Trophy gleaming between them. He’s talking to Cummins about the pitch, and how spicy he expects it to be (“very,” in case you wondered). He’s addressing a smattering of reporters, not quite the throng that crowded around Cummins (the decision to hold the captains’ press conferences on the outfield meant no one stayed longer than they absolutely needed to), but about a dozen nonetheless. He’s talking about leadership, legacy, the Pakistan Way, and Usman Khawaja’s shoes. The most dramatic reincarnation – Shan Masood the Test captain.How did this happen? How does anything happen in Masood’s career, really? He only returned to the Test side five matches ago – something that has felt true about every little stint he’s had in the side. He didn’t set the world alight, though he did score a half-century, his first in over three years, most of which – you guessed it – he spent out of the side. In that time, he was appointed ODI vice-captain, despite not playing any ODI cricket for three years, and then immediately dropped from the ODI side.Related

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Even when he’s not there – and he’s not there a lot, too – Masood is never far away from Pakistani consciousness. The languid elegance that laces his purple patches has supporters swearing his record has never been representative of his quality, his soft-spoken demeanour often touted as an invaluable quality in an oft-frenetic dressing room, his obsessive work ethic to get the best out of his ability regularly cited as the example senior pros should look to set. And he’s never far from selectors’ minds, either; despite playing only 30 of the 78 Test matches Pakistan have played since his debut, he’s the only player in this side to have played at least one Test match every year since 2013. If he was a club footballer, he’d be due a testimonial by now. Only Sarfaraz Ahmed has been around longer.And for all the talk of a posh, effete upbringing cynics have termed totemic of the institutional favouritism that pervades most Pakistani institutions, you don’t survive a decade in Pakistan cricket without the sort of steely resolve only the most mean-spirited would deny Masood possesses. A debut 75 against an attack comprising Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis made that evident, a fourth-innings hundred to seal a world-record chase in Sri Lanka cast it in stone. Two Test matches later, he was out in the cold again, and the following three returns to the side lasted two, one and two matches respectively.The only stable run he would be allowed in the team came thanks to an injury to Haris Sohail on the morning of a Centurion Test; Masood was thrust in at number three minutes before the toss. The accidental starter would become an unlikely star for Pakistan on an otherwise dismal tour, finishing second on the overall run-charts in a series Pakistan lost 3-0, with every Test done before lunch on the fourth day.It was followed up with respectable outings in Brisbane and Adelaide the following year in arguably the most dismal of several dismal Pakistan tours to Australia. He got starts in all four innings and a gritty second-innings 68 in Adelaide, demonstrating resistance few of his contemporaries were able to muster. Masood may have been offered more opportunities in life than most of his contemporaries but it shouldn’t need saying that Stomford School or Durham University don’t quite prepare you for the baptism of fire in South Africa and Australia.Shan Masood spoke to reporters on the Perth outfield on the eve of his first Test as Pakistan captain•Getty ImagesBut Masood’s mild mannerisms and generally inoffensive demeanour hasn’t inoculated him from criticism. A frosty relationship with Babar meant he didn’t ingratiate himself with Babar’s supporters in the wake of the former captain’s reluctant resignation and Masood’s ascendancy. And while some of it was directed at Masood the cricketer, Masood the human being wasn’t spared either; a touching social media post marking the anniversary of the passing of his sister was met with plenty of hate and limited sympathy.And while Masood’s record makes him a lightning rod for critique – ridicule, even – when he assumes the captaincy, he has simply done the one thing you need to do in Pakistan to get your chance: hang around. Most cricketers would fade away into obscurity after being cast aside by the system so frequently, but Masood has relentlessly forced himself into the conversation. If red-ball runs dried up, he was tearing it up on the List A circuit.If that didn’t work, he was captaining Multan Sultans to the PSL final, and winning the tournament the following year. If Pakistan wasn’t working out, he made his way to the County Championship in England. There is high regard for his analytical abilities in cricket; at the 2021 T20 World Cup, he did some broadcast work for ESPNcricinfo. At the same tournament the following year, he was Pakistan’s top-scorer in the World Cup final.Masood can wear a lot of hats and look equally comfortable in them all, but today, as he slipped on the green blazer on a searing hot day, he will likely never have felt as good about himself. The one hand he placed on the trophy may be as close as he gets to it all month. But this side already appears as if it’s moulded in its captain’s image, irresistibly watchable while being replete with obvious limitations they will do their best to conceal.As soon as the open-air press conference was done, Masood walked down the tunnel out of sight; perhaps aptly, he had left as soon as he’d arrived. He’d nailed it as usual, speaking at length while creating as little news as possible. He was coy about team selection, even-handed on Pakistan’s style of play, and reticent to be drawn into the messaging on Khawaja’s shoes. There was no goodbye as he walked away; it is Masood after all, and he was bound to be back.Sure enough, a half hour later, a glance down the media box revealed a figure emerging over the boundary towards where the Pakistan team was huddled. There was no green blazer this time, just a Pakistan training kit as he walked over and took his place among his teammates. Yet another hat, same old Shan Masood.

A raw captain, new coaching staff, an inexperienced attack, a cagey dressing room and the mighty Aussies to deal with – it could have all gone very wrong. But this team didn’t let it and made friends along the way

Danyal Rasool07-Jan-20242:50

Is Aamer Jamal the find of the tour for Pakistan?

The Pakistan players stood under the safety of a beach umbrella as they watched the hail pound the practice nets yards away from them. It was a freak weather event on the first day of training for a Pakistan side that had arrived in Canberra the previous morning. For a side that had been given a snowball’s chance in hell of winning a Test series in Australia, hailstones the size of golf balls in the middle of the Australian summer could perhaps be seen as an omen.They were greeted at Pakistan House by the High Commissioner the previous day, and would get an invite to the Australian Prime Minister’s residence the following evening. A familiar sense of calm had descended over Australia’s capital by now, warm summer sunshine melting away any signs of the storm that had put paid to Pakistan’s opening training session. Canberra is, in some ways, very much like Islamabad, a planned city with the functions of government at the heart of its founding.But when Pakistan took on the PM’s XI in a four-day match at the Manuka Oval a few days later, Pakistan realised this city also felt familiar in a manner they didn’t quite appreciate. The surface was flat as a pancake, the ball kept low and the relaid outfield was slow. Twenty-one months earlier, in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi, Pakistan had prepared a strip so flat only 14 wickets fell across five full days, with the mild-mannered Pat Cummins saying then Pakistan had clearly tried to “nullify our pace attack”.Related

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Now, with the shoe on the other foot, Pakistan were not happy. Also, apparently, the visitors hadn’t quite appreciated that this wasn’t just any tour game but a full first-class game, meaning they wouldn’t be able to warm up more than 11 players, soon reduced to ten when Abrar Ahmed complained of a leg injury. Despite sticking around with the team all tour, he would not bowl another competitive ball for its duration. Later that evening, an electrical storm surged through the city, blowing the covers off the surface and forcing the game to be called off a day early.

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At the WACA, Shan Masood and Sarfaraz Ahmed are engaged in discussion ahead of Pakistan’s first training session in Perth. A number of Pakistan players and staff dot the playing surface, the picturesque and sadly now-disused cricket ground for the moment a hive of catching drills, bowling practice and fielding exercises.Looking in at all this action from the stands feels a bit like hitting play on a new season when you didn’t quite finish the last one. There’s a giant of a man with a luxuriant tan and Arnold Schwarzenegger-style biceps with a bat that looks puny in his hand, and you have to reach for binoculars to confirm it’s Adam Hollioake. An offspinner sending down a few inadvertently elicits a pang of nostalgia and is confirmed to be Saeed Ajmal. Simon Helmot is the high-performance coach, and Umar Gul is another one amidst a blur of new faces.Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s new director of cricket, doesn’t seem to encourage too much media interaction•ICC via GettyBut this season’s main character is team director Mohammad Hafeez, who is now declaring himself thoroughly disappointed by the conditions they had to endure in Canberra. Addressing reporters – for some reason, under the glare of the sun rather than indoors – he says he never expected such a slow pitch in Australia; you don’t need to be an expert at subtext reading to know he believes it was gamesmanship from the opposition.Masood walks back to the shade of the sheds – Perth this time of year really is searingly hot – and has a word with the team manager. This pitch, too, is much too slow, and doesn’t bounce too much. It will be nothing like the strip Australia prepare for Pakistan at Perth Stadium across the Matagarup Bridge, he believes. Over the next three weeks, plenty of his instincts will turn out to be correct. Including this one.

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Just because you know something will happen doesn’t mean you can stop it happening, as Pakistan find out at Perth Stadium. Australia have a pace trio whose speeds never seem to drop, whose consistency never seems to waver and whose appetite never seems to be satiated. They also have Nathan Lyon, bearing down on 500 Test wickets. Pakistan have a man doing a pale imitation of the Shaheen Afridi who could threaten 150kph, and two debutants.Shaheen Afridi was not quite his usual lethal self this tour•Getty ImagesOne of them – Khurram Shahzad – has never played outside Pakistan before. Aamer Jamal’s last exposure abroad came in China, where he conceded 23 runs in five balls against Afghanistan to knock Pakistan out of the Asian Games. They also have no specialist spinner because Sajid Khan, coming in for Abrar, hasn’t got over his jet lag or, frankly, his inability to consistently land the ball near enough the right length in international cricket.Anyway, back to the pitch. Pakistan only fully realise how spicy it is by the time the fourth evening rolls around. Perhaps the clue should have been in the fact that Pakistan’s inexperienced medium-pace battery had by then taken 15 Australian wickets – two more than they had managed during Pakistan’s entire Test series in this country in 2019. When the kick truly begins to hit Pakistan, they fold for 89.As if they weren’t hobbled enough already, Pakistan also find a way of shooting themselves in the foot. Mohammad Rizwan averaged over 45 in Australia before this series – albeit over a small sample size. Sarfaraz Ahmed – over a slightly bigger sample – averaged below 30, and barely above 15 if the similarly lively pitches in South Africa are taken into account. Sarfaraz is also older and it seems past his prime, and Rizwan, statistically, is a far superior wicketkeeper.

For a dressing room that had the potential to be combustible after the manner of Babar’s resignation and Masood’s appointment, perhaps keeping such a tight lid on things isn’t the worst idea. And to Hafeez’s credit, it works, for the most part. Very little of note leaks out of the camp all tour.

But Sarfaraz vs Rizwan is a culture war too tedious to relitigate, except to say that it has at times had not much to do with cricket. Masood offered an explanation for why Pakistan were lining up with Sarfaraz, and it seemed to have more to do with rewarding performances in domestic cricket in Pakistan than assessing who had the better shot of performing half a world away. After a match in which Sarfaraz totalled seven runs and missed a stumping, he was gone. Rizwan, who played the final two Tests, ended up as Pakistan’s highest scorer of the whole series.

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Hafeez’s touring side is a tightly run ship. The players and staffs’ interactions with the media are obsessively regulated; beyond the compulsory press conferences, you virtually don’t hear from the players at all. At one point during an extended break between the first and second Tests, Australia wheel out Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, but no one from Pakistan fronts up at all.Perhaps Hafeez, who owes this surprise stint as team director and head coach more to his outspoken views in the media rather than any management or training qualifications, feels rather differently about the media now he’s back in the other camp. When Pakistan play an unscheduled two-day practice match against a Victorian XI at St Kilda, it is closed off to the media – though whether it was the PCB or Cricket Australia (CA) who wanted it behind closed doors remains disputed. Either way, if you wanted to watch the game, you would need to peer through a fence.Ahead of the series Usman Khawaja had ‘all lives are equal’ written on his shoes, the first of his many attempts to direct attention to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza•Getty ImagesThe general sense of wariness extends to the captains’ pre-series press conferences. The biggest story around the tour at this point surrounds the ICC rebuffing Khawaja’s attempts to raise awareness of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. There is overwhelming public support in Pakistan for Khawaja’s decision and the cause, but Masood is firm when asked about it repeatedly, calling it a matter for CA and the player himself to address. His eyes are fixed firmly on the Benaud-Qadir Trophy gleaming in the sun (why must all Perth press conferences take place under the sun?) a few metres away.Even normal conventions around fronting players up for media post-day are stretched close to breaking point. After the first day of play, Jamal shows up; all series, Pakistan will put forward a player post-day just seven times, with Jamal appearing thrice. On the other three days in Perth, Pakistan wheel through the management staff they have, with Hollioake and Gul making appearances the following two days, and Hafeez showing up after the loss; he will show up after the conclusion of each Test. Australian PM Anthony Albanese, who the visiting Pakistanis met in Canberra and then again before the third Test in Sydney, likely said more off-the-record words to Masood than any journalist on the whole tour.But for a dressing room that had the potential to be combustible after the manner of Babar Azam’s resignation and Masood’s appointment, perhaps keeping such a tight lid on things isn’t the worst idea. And to Hafeez’s credit, it works, for the most part. Very little of note leaks out of the camp all tour, but then some of what does make its way out suggests player morale in a social bubble of this kind might not have been especially high; there is unhappiness about a reported curfew, and a smiling Hafeez confirms one of the more outlandish rumours in a press conference in Melbourne: any players caught napping during work hours will be fined $500.The press room laughs. It’s a little less funny when, 24 hours later, Hafeez, enjoying an airport coffee with his wife, arrives late to the boarding gate and misses his flight to Sydney.

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Australia is almost like Pakistan’s cricketing version of a teenage crush, in front of whom they are so eager to bring their best yet reliably incapable of doing so

The desperation to compete in Australia is palpable. This country is almost like Pakistan’s cricketing version of a teenage crush, in front of whom they are so eager to bring their best yet reliably incapable of doing so. And for all the humour you can poke at Pakistan’s ever-extending losing streak here, this Pakistan side is no joke, and despite the wholesome interactions with the hosts they clearly appear to enjoy, they are here undoubtedly to try and win.It’s raining on Christmas Day, and so training is moved indoors. This is handy for Pakistan, because when the Australians bring out their families – as is tradition here – it makes Pakistan’s amicable gesture of presents for the children look even sweeter and more intimate. The overhead conditions will continue to smile upon Pakistan all Test, reliably offering them the best of both bowling and batting conditions. The bowlers are on top of Australia all of day one, but the hosts scratch around and find a way to survive.Pakistan’s generosity extends to the field, where they put down Australian chances several times across both innings, somehow finding a way to squander the advantage gained by having Australia 16 for 4 in the second innings. In a contest where Pakistan continue to dream each day of a festive miracle, Australia keep jolting them awake, even if, in the process, they are given scares of their own.Hafeez, smarting after the loss, does his best Jose Mourinho impression, deflecting attention onto himself by blaming “the curse of technology” while saying the better team had lost. Pakistani cricket fans have the reputation of being conspiracy-loving, but they had the good sense to tune this out; heartbreak and lingering resentment is, after all, an unhealthy mix. When Masood was asked about Hafeez’s comments in Sydney, he, too, would give them short shrift.Pakistan had way more spills in the field this series than they would have liked•AFP/Getty Images

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Shan Masood has been impressing people on this tour and it’s not the usual compliments about his communication skills and tact. He’s simply having a good tour as captain and, going into Sydney, is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer, with a higher strike rate than any player from either side all series. Managing a depleted bowling lineup like Pakistan’s is no mean feat, especially when Afridi is rested for the final Test. The seam combination had been used judiciously enough to control run-scoring in Melbourne, with Agha Salman’s spin handy at tying up an end. Time and again, Pakistan set up with unconventional fields and bespoke bowling plans.Some of them come off and others don’t, but the captaincy itself is an active rather than passive act all tour. At the SCG, Steven Smith is lured right into an off-side trap to trigger a mini-collapse in Australia’s first innings, which ends with Jamal heroics and a 14-run lead for Pakistan, their first in Australia in 13 years. Sajid doesn’t have the best first innings in Sydney, but Masood turns to him for the first over of the second innings, which he ends by ensnaring Khawaja. The choice not to use Jamal until the game’s effectively over is rather less scrutable, but for a man whose first three Tests in charge provide the baptism of fire this tour brings, there is a clear foundation to build on.As much as they wanted to win, there was warmth on display from Pakistan this tour•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaAnd for a dressing room that was allegedly unhappy with some of the goings on, the players stood up for each other time and again. Abdullah Shafique was rallied around after his miserable time in the field, as was Saim Ayub after similar experiences in the third Test. There was no dropping of the heads during those long sessions when it all looks hopeless, or any public remonstrations between bowler and fielder when catches are put down and misfields happen. If this is down to Masood’s ethos as captain, it bodes well, and if it is not, then he has the good fortune of leading a group which, despite certain frustrations and differences, has a streak of professionalism coursing through.The players realise they are fortunate to be doing what they do, but don’t forget to have fun doing it. Hasan Ali is the expected leader in that regard, notably making sure Bay 13 crowd at the MCG is in lockstep with his dance moves. Babar and Agha enjoy a hand game known as as they field in the slips before the duo race across at the change of ends alongside Rizwan, holding hands. Slipper Agha also sees the funnier side of going, as he called it, “for a pee break” and knowing he was in trouble when a catch at first slip is put down in that very over. And, across the series, Pakistan’s boundary riders are more than happy to oblige spectators asking for autographs, running back and forth with smiles on their faces while delighting at the smiles they in turn put on the faces of the children whose day they made.

Get your body moving with Hasan Ali! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/8Y0ltpInXx

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2023

As Mumbai end an eight-year wait for their 42nd title, we look at the key stats from the 2023-24 season

Sampath Bandarupalli15-Mar-2024

End of eight-year wait for Mumbai

Mumbai extended their dominance in the Ranji Trophy, clinching their 42nd title, defeating Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. The remaining teams have collectively won 47 Ranji titles, with eight by Karnataka being the second most. Across all the domestic first-class competitions, only New South Wales have won more titles than Mumbai. The Australian domestic team has won the Sheffield Shield on 47 occasions out of 122.The 2023-24 season triumph was the first for Mumbai in seven seasons, they last won a title in the 2015-16 edition. It is the second-longest span for Mumbai (previously called Bombay) between their two Ranji Trophy titles, having gone eight consecutive seasons without winning one between their title wins in 1984-85 and 1993-94.

Crucial runs by the lower order for Mumbai

The lower-order batters played a role in Mumbai’s victory by bailing the team out of trouble in the knockouts. Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande struck hundreds batting at No. 10 and No. 11 in the quarters to rule out any chances of a comeback from Baroda. They added 232 runs in just 40 overs but fell one run short of the highest tenth-wicket partnership in Ranji. The highest is 233 by Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh against Mumbai, then called Bombay, in 1991-92.

The Fortune Barishal team director talks about seeing cricket evolve in his three decades of coaching, young talent coming through the ranks in the BPL, and more

Interview by Mohammad Isam16-Feb-2024In 1996, Dav Whatmore coached Sri Lanka to the World Cup. Then he changed the way Bangladesh played cricket forever in his stint with the side from 2002 to 2007. He coached in Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Nepal and Singapore. Now he is back in Bangladesh as Fortune Barishal’s team director in this season’s BPL. We spoke to Whatmore about coaching and changes in the game in his time in it.You have come to Bangladesh after many years. Do you have good memories? How is it to come back?
When I knew that I was coming, I was looking forward to it, obviously. It didn’t disappoint. There are so many familiar faces – but I forgot most of their names! I am smiling, saying hello, but trying to remember their names. The outpouring of love and affection in this country is overwhelming. It is very humbling.I am just so happy to be here. I am here for the franchise, as a team director. I have tried to pass on my experience to anyone who is interested.What have you seen that has impressed you here?
I have seen a lot of young players. Before we played our first game against Khulna, I asked what they were like. They are saying a lot of the high-performance boys are there. Bloody hell, they were really impressive. They beat us twice.I also do understand that the totals have been a little bit low in this [BPL] edition. The surfaces that they are playing on contributed to it, but that’s okay. I may be guilty of looking through rose-coloured glasses, but I see good potential there. There are a number of good local Bangladeshi players, more of them than when I was here [last].Someone like Mehidy Hasan Miraz?
He has already been identified and won games for Bangladesh. I have had the privilege of working with him. He is a very coachable young man. He is open to listening, and that’s great. Him and Shakib [Al Hasan] are two very good batters in the top six, and will bowl a lot of overs. They are world-class players. Not many teams can boast of that.You have been on a journey for the better part of the last 20 years. You have even worked in Nepal.
It was just at the end of Covid. There was no other work and I was keen to do something. I went to Nepal. But then the ICC kept cancelling games. There was a lot of training. A little bit of domestic cricket. It was a bit of a disappointment.Nepal is one of the few Associate countries where you have to be indigenous to play for the team. You have to be a Nepali. They have a lot of talent. They have more allrounders than most countries. It was pleasantly surprising. It was good to work with them. They work hard. They were competitive in their own level of competition. They are still developing their pool of talent.

“I read and see a lot of the big international cricketers saying that they will protect the sanctity of Test cricket, but then they leave the format. They go in search of good money in the leagues”

What is it like to work around the world?
I really enjoy it. Any job you take is a challenge. It differs from one environment and one country to another. I always look forward to testing myself. I love working in this industry. I love working with people.You left a legacy in Bangladesh, and there has always been a certain positivity about you in other places like Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
I don’t necessarily accept these assignments to leave a legacy. I work the way I normally work, to try to build a healthy and happy environment. When you have some success along the way, you are remembered. I am me, whatever “me” is. Others will have an opinion. I am who I am.You’ve seen cricket evolve. You now have serious cricket in America. You have a competition like the Hundred. How do you view all these changes?
I do understand that the future is going to be more of franchise cricket. Test cricket will survive, but only in a handful of countries. I read and see a lot of the big international cricketers saying that they will protect the sanctity of Test cricket, but then they leave the format. They go in search of good money in the leagues.The lure of T20 cricket is very big. It draws players to finish their cricket with their respective boards prematurely. Some boards are managing their players to ensure that they stay longer. The other negative knock-on effect is that it is reducing the available time for bilaterals in the Future Tours Programme. The ICC tournaments are also taking a chunk of time from the calendar.This is the fast pace that’s ahead of us. A lot of good things are coming out of it. A lot of people are benefiting, like umpires, scorers and referees. They are earning a good living.Maybe every four years everyone will be interested in a World Cup or every two years in a T20 [World Cup]. They are also trying really hard to have some sort of context for the five-day game with the World Test Championship. But it is going more and more on the franchise route.You developed the style of going hard in the first 15 overs with Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. Mark Greatbatch had done it before you but you reshaped the Sri Lanka batting line-up to be more aggressive. It’s now become the norm across cricket today.
It is all reflective of changing to a fast-paced life. Cricket is also part of it. It is attracting a whole new audience that comes to watch at the ground. Television is drifting away. Live streaming is the way to go. Digital platforms are the future. There is unbelievable money in the IPL and the English Premier League.Whatmore at the home of the late Manzarul Islam. In his time as Bangladesh coach, Whatmore oversaw their first Test victory, against Zimbabwe in 2005•Raton GomesFortune Barishal have the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, and younger players like Mehidy and Mohammad Saifuddin. The changing of the guard from the big five to the younger players is the biggest talking point in Bangladesh. You also oversaw a transition when you were Bangladesh head coach.
The challenge is to do it correctly and effectively. You have to manage the transition as well as you can. Historically it is difficult to manage it successfully. You want happiness from the old guard that’s leaving, and happiness from the new guys coming in.There are now some really good servants of the game in the country who are coming to the end of their careers. There are some good youngsters coming along who are, quite rightly, looking for more opportunities to showcase at the highest level.You had veterans like Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Mashud and Habibul Bashar coming to an end of their careers during your time as Bangladesh coach. What would your advice be in this present context?
You need to have the incumbents ready. Keep them in the A team a little longer. Any hint of an injury, they come in. Maybe a senior player, from the goodness of their heart, will say, for the betterment of Bangladesh cricket, ‘Let’s bring in this guy for a game or two. Let’s have a look at how he goes.’ If it can be communicated correctly, you may have more of a chance to integrate. It would be better than historically what’s been the case. Not just here in Bangladesh. Everywhere.It is not an easy thing, though. The boys still need to have good competition. The A team will provide the opportunity to do that. Also to be around the senior men’s team as often as possible to get an idea of the level of pressure and how things work. There was a legspinner that was taken to New Zealand. If he was identified as a potential [future player], little things like that can bridge the gap. But, it is a difficult thing to manage. Do these transitions become harder to manage in a country where emotions often get the better of practicality?
I can understand the emotions in this country. It is great to see the passion. I am no different than everybody else. I am emotional as well. Because I am not a Bangladeshi, sometimes I am not as upset when we lose to a particular opponent. When I coached Pakistan, we were playing against India. I knew about the rivalry.During the Champions Trophy, we lost to them in Birmingham. It pissed everyone off that I wasn’t as emotional in the post-match interview. I am angry at the loss, but I didn’t show it emotionally. They thought I didn’t care. I do care. But sometimes if you are not part of the country, you can be falsely judged as not being emotional.

“When I bumped into older coaches, they told me I changed coaching forever. They said we used to go to the nets wearing black trousers and shoes, white shirt. You came in shorts, took your shirt off. I made sure the cameras weren’t there when I took the shirt off “

What was Dav Whatmore like as a coach 30 years ago, compared to how he is now?
I think I was lucky to have blinkers on. I was doing what I was trained to do at the Institute of Sports. I just focused on the job that I was doing. I had the good sense not to come to the Aravindas, Arjunas, Gurusinghas and Mahanamas, who had played a lot of Tests. I’ve played seven [Tests]. I am not going to tell them how to play. I can maybe give a bit of feedback. Having an Australian accent helped – it was something different, even though I was Sri Lankan.I focused a lot on the youngsters. I organised training. The proper reason to come [and coach] – to get something out of it. It was really good with the support staff. Everything was written down and planned. Years later when I bumped into older coaches, they told me I changed coaching forever. They said we used to go to the nets wearing black trousers and shoes, white shirt. You came in shorts, took your shirt off. You involved yourself with all that. I had no idea it was an effect I had. I was just being me. I made sure the cameras weren’t there when I took the shirt off ().How would you advise a coach who is starting off?
I shake my head looking at advertisements for coaching these days. The list of duties goes on for four pages. It really is ridiculous. You have to be a Rhodes scholar to read these requirements. I am thinking, how can a coach do all that stuff?I think the modern coach has to be good on the laptop. He has to be organised. But at the end of the day, you are working with humans. People.You have to know technique and tactics. You have to be extremely organised. You have to communicate effectively in team meetings. You have to work with individuals on their personal performance.Communication is so important. You have to know about nutrition and mental skills. It would help if you played the game, but it is not compulsory. You know about the levels of pressure. End of the day, it is about communication and management skills.You gotta have the balls to say, ‘No more practice. You are going to rest. We are not training.’ A lot of coaches do all sorts of things to justify their job. Sometimes the best thing to do is to shut up.