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Meet the man who gave up a career in architecture and returned to his favourite game with unreal results

Deivarayan Muthu18-Dec-20182:34

Varun Chakravarthy: Architect, Anil Kumble fan, mystery spinner

Varun Chakravarthy who?Varun Chakravarthy began playing cricket when he was 13 years old, and until 17 was a wicketkeeper-batsman. Then, after being rejected several times in age-group cricket, he ditched the game and pursued a degree in architecture at the SRM University in Chennai. After completing the five-year course, Varun worked as a freelance architect, but playing tennis-ball cricket rekindled his passion. So he quit his job and joined CromBest Cricket Club as a seam-bowling allrounder.But a knee injury he sustained during the second match relegated him to the sidelines and prompted him to become a spinner. Having copped punishment from a bevy of batsmen in tennis-ball cricket on 18-yard pitches, Varun expanded his repertoire, transforming himself into a mystery spinner.Mystery spinner? Are you kidding me?Nope. After returning from injury, he signed with Jubilee Cricket Club in the fourth division of the robust Chennai League, and honed all his variations there. In 2017-18, Varun bagged 31 wickets in seven games at an average of 8.26 and economy rate of 3.06 in the one-day competition. He also pitched in with the bat, his unbeaten 74 sealing Jubilee’s one-wicket win over Prithvi Cricket Club in February earlier this year.So, what are his variations?According to Varun, he has seven variations:
– Offbreak
– Legbreak
– Googly
– Carrom ball
– Flipper
– Topspinner
– A slider aimed at the toes of batsmen to york them
What’s his claim to fame?Tamil Nadu Premier League 2018, where he spun Siechem Madurai Panthers to their maiden title. Even before enjoying a breakout season in the TNPL, he had bowled in the Chennai Super Kings nets. He spent four days with CSK side in the 2018 season before the franchise’s home games were moved out of Chennai to Pune. About two weeks later, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik and team analyst AR Srikkanth called Varun to bowl at the KKR nets, where he exchanged notes with Sunil Narine and his spin coach Carl Crowe.Tell me about his TNPL stintHe unleashed all the variations he had honed at Jubilee on a bigger platform and became the flagbearer of Madurai’s run to the title. In the first two seasons of the league, Madurai did not win a single game and their winless streak stretched to 15 when they lost their first match of the 2018 season to Dindigul Dragons. Varun, though, had impressed with figures of 0 for 23 in his four overs even as all the other Madurai bowlers conceded at over 11 runs an over.Madurai finally sealed their first-ever win in the TNPL in their next game against Chepauk Super Gillies, when Varun took 3 for 16 to help his side defend 153. He continued to perform the dual role of taking wickets as well as restricting the batsmen, particularly in the Powerplay and slog overs. All told, Varun bowled 40 overs, of which 125 balls were dots. His economy rate of 4.7 was the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 15 overs.CSK’s batting coach Michael Hussey, who worked as a commentator in the TNPL earlier this year, picked out Varun as one of the most exciting talents.

Former CSK net bowler! #OpenMike pic.twitter.com/7cTaaziMS9

— TNPL (@TNPremierLeague) July 26, 2018

Has he done anything noteworthy after the TNPL?Varun broke into Vijay Cricket Club’s squad, which is usually filled with the top Tamil Nadu players, in the first division of the Chennai League and helped the side clinch the 50-over VAP trophy. The next day he received his maiden call-up to the state squad for the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made a splash in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, too, ending as the top wicket-taker in the group stage, with 22 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 4.23.He subsequently made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu and trialled with Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL auction.What happened at the Mumbai Indians trials?Having established himself as someone who could bowl the tough overs in the Powerplay and the death for both Madurai and Tamil Nadu, Varun was given similar scenarios at the Mumbai trials.”They gave me a situation and made me bowl in the Powerplay and at the death,” Varun told ESPNcricinfo. “I did fairly well against some players who had been released by other franchises. Hopefully, somebody picks me in the auction.”Okay, anything else that’s interesting?Varun is addicted to Snickers chocolate bars and is a fan of actor Vijay.

Depending on the type of pitch Rajkot prepares for its Test debut, a new India cap could be handed out to either Hardik Pandya or Karun Nair

Alagappan Muthu in Rajkot06-Nov-20163:44

‘Important to communicate with the injured players’ – Kumble

There may be two Indian Test debuts on Wednesday. One is the venue – Rajkot. The other could be Hardik Pandya or Karun Nair. Both men spent a lot of time in the nets three days before the series-opener against England.Pandya, an allrounder, was bowling for the most part. His presence in the squad was a bit of a surprise. It was his first Test call-up and starkly still, he has played only 16 first-class matches over the past three years. His ability to clock 140kph and a mindset made stronger by his time with the India A team under the supervision of Rahul Dravid has given him a leg-up. Most of the shots he played at training, as a pleasant-ish morning gave way into afternoon heat, were drives along the ground.Karun, though, is the better batsman. He made back-to-back-to-back centuries in his maiden first-class season to help Karnataka win the Ranji Trophy title in 2013-14. He averages more than 52 in first-class cricket, and has started the current season with scores of 74, 54*, 53 and 145.Now, he was receiving throwdowns from one of Karnataka’s greatest cricketers and the current India coach Anil Kumble and when that was done, he faced up to R Ashwin for a little while. Nair was among the last to leave after practice.The choice, then, may hinge on what type of pitch is provided for the first Test. If it turns early, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will bet on themselves to take care of England’s batsmen before they cause too much trouble and India might ponder batting reinforcement to make sure the opposition struggles to return the favour. Nair probably edges ahead in this scenario.If not – if it is a pitch where a batsman has to be prised out, then having an allrounder like Pandya becomes a huge asset. He can give the main bowlers a break, which may prove vital regardless of conditions underfoot. The heat in Rajkot can be quite sapping and temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s during the Test.”Whether it is a short glimpse in T20s, or even in the [New Zealand] one-dayers when he bowled in Dharamsala and batted in Delhi, we could see that he is a quality player and that’s why we have backed him to get him into the Test squad because we understand the importance of an allrounder, the importance of a fifth bowler,” Kumble said of Pandya. “If someone can bowl 140 and give you the option of batting really well lower down the order, that’s a great option to have. So we are really looking forward to seeing how Hardik develops.”Karun is certainly someone we have kept a close eye on and backed him for all the things he has done in domestic cricket. There was a little bit of talk of him not performing for India A in Australia but what we are looking at is consistency and he has done all the hard work and that’s why he was a part of the [squad for the Tests against New Zealand] as well and since then he has gone into Ranji Trophy and got more runs, got hundreds, and it’s opened an opportunity for Karun.”Kumble said India hadn’t decided on their combination yet.”Everyone is available for selection,” he said. “With Hardik being part of the squad, we have more options. This is the first Test in Rajkot, it’s a new stadium – we’ve played one-day and T20 cricket here, but in a Test, we don’t know how the wicket is going to be. The looks of it, it looks a good surface. We still have a couple of days, so we’ll look at all the combinations.”That Pandya and Nair are in with a chance of getting an India cap is also, in part, due to several injuries. KL Rahul, who began the 13-Test-long Indian season as first-choice opener has hamstring trouble, Shikhar Dhawan broke his thumb in the Kolkata Test against New Zealand, and Rohit Sharma will head to London next week for treatment on his thigh and may well miss the ODIs against England.”I know exactly what goes through a player’s mind when he’s injured and watching the game and somebody else is playing,” Kumble said. “Of course, all of us want the team to do well and the player who’s replaced also to do well. But having said that, it’s important to keep everyone in the loop.”What is most important for a coach to communicate to them is not to look at coming back quickly because that’s not going to help that particular individual and also it might let the team down. So it’s important that the injured players come back when they feel 100% right.”With respect to that, the team management has asked anyone returning from injury to play a domestic match before an international one. It was for this reason that Bhuvneshwar Kumar – who has regained full fitness after hurting his hamstring at the start of October – wasn’t picked for the first two Tests of this series. He can return once he proves himself match-ready.”That’s the kind of protocols we have set,” Kumble said. “So if someone’s injured, he goes back and plays domestic cricket, if there is domestic competition happening, so that he plays under pressure and then comes in, unless there is an emergency or a case-to-case basis we may change that.”Kumble still sympathised with those forced onto the bench. “It’s unfortunate that someone like KL Rahul who has batted brilliantly since the time he has made his international debut in all the three formats is missing out. But we are hoping that he comes back soon. So is Bhuvi. So is Shikhar. Unfortunate that he still hasn’t recovered. Big blow for Rohit, unfortunately the timing of his injury wasn’t ideal for him. He was really doing well in the Test format.”

Stats highlight from the third day of the second Test between West Indies and England, at St George’s

Shiva Jayaraman24-Apr-20158523 Runs Alastair Cook has made in Tests – the second highest aggregate by any England batsman. Cook went past Alec Stewart’s 8463 runs during his innings of 76. Graham Gooch leads the list with 8900 runs. Cook now has 8523 Test runs in 111 matches at an average of 45.82.4 Number of England batsmen who had fifty-plus scores in six consecutive Test innings before Root. He has made 56, 77, 149*, 83, 59 and 118* in his last six innings. Cook was the last batsman to achieve this, in 2010-11. The others were Patsy Hendren, Ted Dexter and Ken Barrington. If Root gets fifty in his next innings too, he will join Everton Weekes, Andy Flower, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kumar Sangakkara as the batsmen to have fifty-plus scores in seven consecutive innings, which is the longest such streak.4245 Runs scored by Cook in Tests outside England – equalling the most by any England batsman in away (and neutral) Tests. Wally Hammond also scored 4245 runs in away Tests. This was Cook’s 33rd fifty-plus score in away Tests, which also equals the second most by any England batsman in away Tests. Colin Cowdrey also 33 made fifty-plus scores in away matches. Geoff Boycott leads this list with 35 such scores.0 Centuries by Root in nine away Tests before this one. He had five Test hundreds at home. Root has scored 633 runs in away Tests at an average of 42.20. At home, Root has made 1359 runs at an average of 64.71. Root now has a Test hundred against each of the five teams he has played against.40 Number of innings between the previous century stand by England’s openers and the one in this Test. England’s openers had last had a century partnership in 2013, in second innings of the Dunedin Test, when Cook and Nick Compton had added 231 runs.456 Runs scored by England’s fourth wicket in this series – the most scored by their fourth-wicket stand in any three-Test (or fewer) series. Their previous highest for the fourth wicket in a three-Test series was 434, against India in 1967. England’s fourth-wicket stand has averaged 152 runs per wicket with a century partnership in each of the three innings so far.62.53 Gary Ballance’s average in Tests; he has 938 runs with eight fifty-plus scores in ten Tests, including four centuries. Ballance has hit at least one fifty in eight of his ten Tests</a.

Hashim Amla began his innings like he has often done this year – inside the first ten overs – and batted with simplicity and consideration to bring up his 20th Test century

Firdose Moonda in Abu Dhabi14-Oct-2013Perhaps the most remarkable fact about Hashim Amla’s triple-century at The Oval last July was that he did not change batting gloves once in the 13 hours and 10 minutes he spent at the crease. He took them off, of course, and dried them at lunch, tea and stumps but put the same pair back on when he resumed his innings.Amla does not have a Neil McKenzie-type obsession with superstition; it was simply a case of not changing something that was still of perfectly good use. It was about getting rid of the unnecessary, which Amla has become better at as his career has progressed. The results are evident in his significantly less eye-catching back lift and his ability to capitalise when others are not able to.JP Duminy aside, Amla was the only batsman who looked like he belonged to the No.1 Test team on the first day in Abu Dhabi. The openers struggled against a new-ball assault, which included extra bounce from Mohammad Irfan and movement from Junaid Khan, and Amla found himself walking out before three overs were up. He went on to play with the understanding of a man who had read this book many times before.Amla has been in before ten overs have been bowled in five out of eight innings this year. Making up for the deficiencies of South Africa’s openers has not been a burden, though, but a chance to do something special: Amla has gone past 50 each time and converted two into hundreds.His patience has been praised at length on these pages and many others. Today Duminy called it “immense,” how Amla resisted early in his innings against a tough seam attack and later on, when heat and spin could have worn him down.Amla relied on simplicity of technique in those testing periods, and an awareness of his off stump allowed him to leave the ball comfortably, when others were more hesitant. It cannot be coincidence that Amla is the only South African Test player with first-class experience in the last month – a stint with Surrey – while his team-mates have either been recovering from injury or playing limited-overs cricket. Duminy also had some first-class cricket, although that was in August against India A.The assurance that comes with game time was evident in the way Amla approached the practice game in Sharjah, where he attacked the bowling soon after settling, and the way he began his innings here. After ten balls of making the right decisions about what to leave and defend, Amla drove Junaid through mid off. If not for the sluggish outfield, he would not have had to run three.Once he was satisfied that there were no dangers in the pitch, Amla wanted to get on with scoring. After pushing into the covers, he set off quickly for a run and had to be sent back by Jacques Kallis, a man who prefers to take his time. He was nearly run out. Amla had been part of several misunderstandings between the wickets last summer, and although he couldn’t explain why, his enthusiasm for getting a move-on may be behind it.After being reminded of Kallis’ more leisurely preference, Amla adjusted to meet his partner’s pace of scoring boundaries when they were available and ambling runs at other times. Amla has excelled at adapting to the tempo of his partner, which makes playing his own game easier, irrespective of who is with him.When AB de Villiers, who found rhythm immediately, came in, Amla raised his strike rate from 44 to 60, the highest of his innings. With Duminy, who was making a comeback to Test cricket after 11 months, Amla assumed responsibility and scored in more measured fashion, allowing his partner time to feel comfortable.Duminy said having someone of Amla’s quality at the other end made batting easier. Amla is calm on the outside but intense within. Batting may seem as easy as breathing to him, but when he is out there he is thinking of ways for both he and his partner to profit.If Amla sees that his partner has taken a liking to a certain bowler, he will happily let him have the strike. Duminy was enjoying playing the spinners and there was a five-and-half over period in which Amla faced just six balls.Amla approached his century in his typical method – slowly. He spent 30 balls in the 90s and saw Duminy depart in that time. Soon after he enjoyed his 20th hundred, Faf du Plessis was out and Amla had to consolidate again. He let Robin Peterson and particularly Dale Steyn play with freedom, in the knowledge that he was there to hold fort. He saw off the second new ball with the same focus that he used for the first and will be back on the second morning to try and complete South Africa’s escape.Overnight, Amla is unlikely to have any anxious thoughts. He may enjoy a latte, one his favourite refreshments, and begin tomorrow as though he was batting for the first time. These are all indicators that Amla does not want for a lot to do his job properly. Duminy confirmed it. “All he basically needs is a sip of lukewarm water, even in that heat, and a towel on his head and he is pretty good,” Duminy said. A change of batting gloves? Don’t be silly.

The league came of age on the field, but was well short of its crease as a TV spectacle

Sharda Ugra28-May-2012On a steamy Chennai night, IPL 5 had a finish that it could not have dreamed of or prayed for, with all the good bits of an entire season coming together in symbolic representation.Major finals tend to be flat and forgettable because the occasion ends up too big, the teams too tense. The 2010 World Cup football final will be remembered for a boot in the ribs, the 2011 World Cup rugby final was a dour, defensive struggle that the All Blacks endured. The World Cup cricket final a year ago ended splendidly for India but left its audience so emotionally exhausted that IPL 4 was played to vast tracts of empty stands and dipping TV ratings.After 2012, however, the IPL lives again, breathes again and makes some good news again. On Sunday, there was a full stadium at Chepauk for the first time since the World Cup, a new champion, a successful chase of 191, nine needed off the last over, players sweating buckets, spectators sweating anxiety.If anything has rescued the IPL from its turkey of a 2011, and lifted it, regardless of a frequency of allied scandals, it is its cricket and its crowds.Over seven weeks, the IPL’s presence spread through its audience like the heat of a genuine Indian summer. An annual league that takes far longer than the football, cricket and rugby world cups actually produced memories that may just survive the season. Dale Steyn bowling pure poison in four-over bursts, the pure bafflement caused by Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rajane’s clean strokeplay and Chris Gayle’s fiercest statements of independence – this even before Bisla and Kallis snatched the trophy eastwards.There was enough of the Twenty20 format’s madness in there too. Even before the final week, as many as 22 – or 30% – of the total 72 matches ended in the last over. Not including the final, there were 18 last-over victories to batting teams, seven chases ending on the last ball – all, it must be said, in the batting side’s favour.The IPL’s popularity in the global cricket village, due to its enormous financial rewards for two months’ work, is well known. Its cricketing advantages are much advertised. Yet what underscored the league’s sustainability after a dry run in 2011 was the crowds who turned up at every venue. Every franchise can now have ticket sales as a genuine source of income beyond the BCCI’s media rights handouts – which will begin to shrink in size as the league gets older – and shirt sponsorships.The idea of an evening’s entertainment through cricket – eight matches over two months in a city near you – was bought into by a very wide Indian demographic. A media industry executive finds the IPL “more inclusive than going to a Test match”. The league, she says, is Indian cricket’s “baby pool” and its “shallow end” where “you can paddle around and be happy”. The sight of casually dressed stars, with Nita Ambani “sitting in the stadium with the guy who has bought the cheapest ticket … that has something that connects with India”.The IPL has been given the healthiest signs of relevance and, with it, profitability by the cricketer and his fan. Now there is an opportunity for payback, for Indian cricket to give to its spectators what has been owed to them for decades: gratitude and appreciation at their presence, and the chance to make a trip to a high-profile match in India worth the trouble.What remains to be calculated, though, is the earnings from television. The IPL’s TV coverage matters, not because it is central to the IPL’s cricket but because it is central to the IPL’s financial success. In two of three parameters – ad rates and TV ratings – there have been dips, which the experts are calling “course correction”. The ratings fell from 4.81 in 2008 to 3.27, when a count was done at 68 matches, in 2012. The surge in crowd figures at venues did not translate on to the TV screen, the 3.27 being down even from the 3.39 of 2011.According to the , the ad rate that began at Rs 5 lakh (US$9000 approx) for a 10-second advert dropped by 25%, though Rohit Gupta of Set Max told the paper it had only dropped “5-10%”. The parameter being most widely circulated is that of the cumulative reach of viewership – from around 102 million in 2008 to just under 160 million in 2012. It means more people are watching the IPL, but for shorter periods of time.It could have something to do with the coverage. Unlike the standard of cricket, which may have risen over five seasons thanks to better-prepared players and smarter backroom moves, the quality of the pre-game show Extraaa Innings and the live match coverage has continued to nosedive.Extraaa Innings is handled by the TV producers Set Max, a Sony network channel in India that normally airs Hindi movies. The match coverage is directly under the control of the organisers IMG, who in turn are watched by the BCCI, which controls the panel of presenters and commentators for the IPL. So if there are fingers to be pointed, they must point at both the parties involved. Sadly, the commentary and studio chatter undermined the high-quality camerawork – with Ultra Motion, Spider Cam and HD-TV, the game can come much closer to its audience.

In the IPL’s fifth year, the wriggling between an old-fashioned, opaque, patriarchal organisation and its new 21st century revenue-generating ‘property’ remains evident and constant

Every game had commentary in English but the pre-game show lapsed frequently into Hindi – a new push that is believed to be the result of a massive survey conducted by Set Max, but most of it, it appears, in the part of India called “the Hindi heartland”, which speaks the language of the soaps televised on Sony. Yet of the nine franchises, six come from outside that Hindi-speaking belt. Go figure.The studio experts approved by the BCCI included Ajay Jadeja, whom it had banned for five years (overturned by the Delhi High Court in 2003) following the Madhavan Committee report on match-fixing, and perhaps the two loudest people on cricket television: Navjot Sidhu and Danny Morrison. It was as if Twenty20 in itself was declared not “entertaining” enough unless the commentariat started shouting.In the league’s fifth season, this strategy ends up preaching to the converted: India loves Twenty20, breakaway leagues have flourished at state level blessed or cursed by regional cricket associations, the audience loves the party, can generate its own noise and will wave any flag given free. Ramping it up with stand-up comedy, film and TV promos, and cake-consuming crassness is overdoing it. The IPL’s audience in India was given a great gift in some very tawdry packaging.The IPL’s defence has always been its money talk. So, if it is ready to buy into one set of figures, it is only fair that those figures hold over time. Brand Finance India, whose UK arm had valued the IPL at$4.13 billion in 2010, has now said the league is now worth $2.92b. Whatever the numbers may be, the consulting firm’s conclusions tell another story: when judged on cricketing excellence, corporate governance, and marketing and commercial strategies, it was the second element that was considered the league’s weakest link.The very idea of the BCCI and “corporate governance” in the same sentence is ambitious. In the IPL’s fifth year, the wriggling between an old-fashioned, opaque, patriarchal organisation and its new 21st century revenue-generating ‘property’ with nine high-profile investors/participants remains evident and constant. The scandals are the least of it.An industry insider says the public response has been rather blasé because the general positioning of the IPL was of a . So the sting operation, Shah Rukh Khan’s bust-up, the Pomersbach saga, “all of this kind of stuff just adds to the . People see it, they accept it. The scandal is going on in society, not in the IPL. I don’t think people are shocked, for them it’s another .” translates as ‘a grand show, performance, representation, entertainment’.On Sunday, Anil Kumble was heard saying on television that the credibility of the IPL would rest on “more discussion about off-field issues”. In his mind, young domestic cricketers needed tending in how to cope with two months in the blinding spotlight. Given that the IPL’s sporting quotient is expected to be authentic, the could become par for the course. Of the entire set of scandals that erupted in the space of a week, the sting operation that was centred around spot-fixing and black-money transactions required the most attention; the rest – SRK v MCA, Pomersbach and the rave party raid – were reflective of a culture of high-earning, high-spending celebrity entitlement now commonly found in Indian public life.In its fifth season, the IPL is a creature of multiple personalities: to start with, the Indian board’s own definition of it as a “BCCI sub-committee”. Which to the public eye is actually a cricket event. Which to its lucrative media vehicles means a summer entertainment show on TV. In 2012, the cricket event showed itself off in the glittering lights. The other two need some personal reinvention – much like the Kolkata Knight Riders required before they eventually won the IPL.

Never at any point did Pakistan believe they could win this Test and for that alone they deserved the sorry fate that befell them at the SCG

Osman Samiuddin at the SCG06-Jan-2010Pakistan’s grip on this Test was going the minute they took a 206-run lead in the first innings. This morning, with Australia effectively 80 for 8 they knew they had lost it. Hollywood rehab clinics have fewer mental frailties than this side.Like in Melbourne last week, never at any point did Pakistan believe they could win this Test and for that alone they deserved the sorry fate that befell them at the SCG. Publicly Australia spoke yesterday as if they could win this. Pakistan, publicly and privately, only wished they could win this.The morning session was bizarre and instructive, possibly the worst session of leadership of a side in such a dominant position. Sides giving up 200-plus leads in Tests had only won five times ever after all. But Mohammad Yousuf thought Michael Hussey was Bradman and Peter Siddle that Bradman of tailenders, Jason Gillespie, and that Australia were 700 for 3. Effectively they were 80 for 8, Hussey had been dropped thrice and Pakistan began with eight men on the boundary. A more winning lost cause is difficult to conjure.Yousuf has surprised people with his leadership here, but today was the worst of him; defensive, unimaginative, sluggish and unwilling to take risk. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s beard is there and maybe the worst of his captaincy spirit was also floating around. From there, whatever the chase, the writing was being written on the wall.And then nothing matters in these chases for Pakistan; people talk of flat pitches, overhead conditions, surviving the new ball and playing out the old. But the only thing that matters is that it’s them. They could be chasing 90 on cement, with a tennis ball and in 45 degrees heat, but this batting line-up will find a way to get out for less. Who the opponent was didn’t really matter. They were called Panickstan here once, long ago. A regurgitation is in order.Three times this year they have done it – in Sri Lanka, in New Zealand and now. This will hurt the most because it isn’t every day that you dominate Australia, any Australia side, for three days and lose on the last. Australia, any Australia side, still know how to win and more importantly they know how not to throw matches away. Their players are brought up doing it. Peter Siddle’s innings is shining testament to that ethic. Pakistan’s tail presents a sorry contrast. Pakistan know simply how to play well every now and again, not to win, or avoid losing. That might never come and if it does it will take time.The Test was lost at many other stages and that is the wretchedness of Pakistan’s cricket that they could’ve won it still. They should’ve shut out Australia with their first innings, instead batting like lemons and not posting an insurmountable lead. Yousuf keeps talking about how much Twenty20 cricket is destroying Pakistan’s batsmen and with the kind of batting seen here – not least his own dismissals – it is a persuasive argument.Kamran Akmal dropped the Test four times himself through the second innings. He has been better this last year but he should’ve been dropped a few years ago; if he keeps getting selected, there is every chance now and again this may happen. His batting was crucial in New Zealand, but it’s been ill-judged here. Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal – should they really be in this line-up?And yet still it boggles the mind. It will do for many days. Knowing all this, feeling all along that they may lose this, to see it play itself out as it did is deeply affecting. To such an implosion, from such a position, can break you. Who knows what living it can do. Still the question: how have they lost it? Everyone knows but nobody understands, least of all the side itself.

Andile Phehlukwayo has also returned to the national fold, as Cricket South Africa announced their squad for the 2024-25 season

Firdose Moonda26-Mar-2024Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi have earned their first national contracts while Andile Phehlukwayo has returned to the national fold, as Cricket South Africa announced their squad for the 2024-25 season.Dean Elgar (retired), Quinton de Kock, Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell and Keegan Petersen have all dropped off the list which has reduced from 20 players to 18 for the upcoming season. Gerald Coetzee, who was upgraded to a full contract midway through the last period, has been retained.The most notable of those omissions is Nortje, who has not played an international since suffering a stress fracture in September 2023. He missed out on the ODI World Cup and the entire home summer but came back earlier this month for two domestic T20 matches and is expected to play at the IPL. Nortje is late to this year’s tournament following the birth of his first child last week, and may still come into consideration for the T20 World Cup.”He requested he wants to focus on T20 cricket for the next few months. He is not retiring from any internationals. He will avail himself for T20 internationals. Towards the end of the year, he will look to play ODIs again,” Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of cricket told ESPNcricinfo. “We will be monitoring him and around to help him with whatever he needs.”Another big name absentee is de Kock, who walked away from 50-over cricket after last year’s World Cup but at the time said he would remain available to play in T20 tournaments this year. De Kock did not play in South Africa’s three match series against India and opted for a deal at the Big Bash League instead, where he fared poorly. He scored 104 runs in six innings with a top score of 30, and returned home to a slightly better SA20 where he hit 213 runs in 12 innings, including one fifty.De Kock, who is currently at the IPL with Lucknow Super Giants, was allowed time off for personal reasons during the first few rounds of the CSA domestic T20 challenge – all other nationally contracted players apart from David Miller, who was getting married, were obliged to participate.”He will be available for the T20 World Cup but he understands he needs to perform. He wants to earn his place,” Nkwe said.Anrich Nortje has not played an international match since September 2023•Getty ImagesMagala has not played any cricket since last October and was ruled out of the ODI World Cup squad with a knee injury, Parnell continues to play for Western Province but spent parts of the season out of action with a shoulder injury and Petersen’s Test career seems to be hanging by a thread after he was dropped twice in two seasons. His biggest competitor in the Test squad, David Bedingham, has not been contracted. Kyle Verreynne, the current Test wicket-keeper, has also not been contracted.Instead, CSA handed out new deals to Burger, who debuted across all formats last year, and de Zorzi, who made his Test and ODI bow and recalled Phehlukwayo after dropping him from last year’s list. Phehlukwayo was part of the ODI World Cup squad, and played his first matches in the format in almost a year in 2023.The core of the contract list is unchanged, with Test and ODI captain Temba Bavuma and T20I captain Aiden Markram headlining the list and Miller and Heinrich Klaasen both contracted as white-ball only players.The national women’s contracted squad has increased from 15 players to 16 which has created space for both Eliz-Mari Marx and Ayanda Hlubi to earn deals. The only omission from last year is Shabnim Ismail, who retired last May. There was speculation that former captain Dane van Niekerk, who retired in March last year, may look to return ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup and though that could still be a possibility, she is not on the national contract list.

Sam Harper made a stunning return to form with a career-best innings to lead Melbourne Renegades to a six-wicket BBL win over Hobart Hurricanes.Harper had struggled in five previous digs this BBL season, averaging 5.40 with three ducks to his name. His latest effort got off to an inauspicious start when his indecision led to returning Test squad member Marcus Harris being run out.But he quickly refocused and settled into a groove at Marvel Stadium, blasting 89 off 48 deliveries. The innings included seven sixes before Harper was eventually out caught by Tim David off Nathan Ellis.Jon Wells and Will Sutherland guided Renegades home with 11 balls to spare.The result lifted Renegades into the top half of the ladder as they chase a finals berth after three consecutive wooden spoons, while Hurricanes are slipping further away.Harper was given a lifeline on 59 through Riley Meredith’s dropped catch – Hurricanes’ 15th in eight matches. They were made to pay as Renegades took the power surge the next over, in which Harper whacked 26 off Joel Paris.

Finch left baffled as ball-tracking goes missing

Earlier, there was drama in the second over of the match when Renegades thought they had Hurricanes opener Caleb Jewell trapped lbw by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.They went upstairs for a review when the batter was given not out and snicko confirmed there was no bat involved. But the third umpire said ball tracking was not available, meaning the on-field call stood.Jewell, who was on 1 at the time, survived and Renegades stand-in captain Aaron Finch was left bewildered. “It just doesn’t make any sense, does it? I don’t know how to explain that,” Finch said during the Fox Sports broadcast.Two balls later, Jewell rubbed salt in Renegades’ wound when he smacked Mujeeb for six.Jewell eventually fell to Tom Rogers, top-scoring with fellow opener Ben McDermott. Rogers was also damaging in the field, running out the dangerous Matthew Wade and Tim David with direct hits, while Kane Richardson bowled superbly.Hurricanes suffered a pre-match blow when they lost left-arm spinner Patrick Dooley to a finger injury during warm up. Dooley – Hurricanes’ leading wicket-taker and most economical bowler this season – was sent for an X-ray. Paris was called in as his replacement.

AC Milan have confirmed interest in Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund after he was dropped by manager Ruben Amorim for Sunday's clash with Arsenal.

• Milan confirm interest in Hojlund
• Striker dropped for Arsenal clash
• Could now be heading back to Italy

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Hojlund appears to be surplus to requirements at Old Trafford after the Red Devils splashed out to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. Amorim then dropped Hojlund for his team's Premier League opener against Arsenal, suggesting he will have to move if he wants regular minutes in the 2025-26 season.

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  Serie A giants AC Milan have been linked with a move for Hojlund, with the striker's father reportedly claiming his son is now open to a move to San Siro. Hojlund shone previously in Serie A with Atalanta, and Milan sporting director Igli Tare has admitted the Rossoneri are keen on the Denmark international.

• WHAT AC MILAN SAID

  Tare told Mediaset: "Højlund is a good option for us. We are thinking about him, but in the transfer market, you never know what could happen."

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  Amorim also spoke about Hojlund after Sunday's defeat at Arsenal. He told reporters: "He is our player — we have to make choices. We have players that have to stay helping the team from the outside. He has to fight for his place. We will see what's going to happen. Rasmus has the same characteristics as Sesko, so sometimes we need to choose."

كشف البلجيكي كيفين دي بروين لاعب نابولي الإيطالي عن ملامح حياته الخاصة وطفولته الصعبة حين غادر منزله في سن الرابعة عشر من أجل كرة القدم، كما تحدث عن أسرته، تأثير المال والشهرة في حياته اليومية ونظرته لمستقبله مع نابولي.

وتحدث دي بروين في مقابلة صحفية مطولة مع صحيفة “كوريري ديلو سبورت” الإيطالية، على النحو التالي.

– أول ذكريات طفولتك عن كرة القدم؟

“كأس العالم 1998 إنجلترا ضد الأرجنتين وهدف أوين، كان قدوتي، كنت في السابعة من عمري تقريبًا، وحينها وقعت في غرام كرة القدم”.

– كيف كنت في طفولتك؟

“ما زلتُ متحفظًا، عندما أشعر بالراحة، أصبح مرحًا، أنا سعيد مع أصدقائي وعائلتي، في مساحتي الخاصة، أحتاج إلى الهدوء والسكينة من حولي، لأكون مع عائلتي، لأرى ابنيّ يلعبان كرة القدم، ما زلت بحاجة إلى الاستقرار في نابولي، في حياتي الخاصة، أبحث عن السكينة لأواجه جنون كرة القدم”.

– كيف كانت عائلتك؟

“كانت والدتي ربة منزل، وكان والدي يعمل في مصنع، لا شيء مميز، غادرت المنزل في الرابعة عشرة من عمري لأنتقل إلى الجانب الآخر من بلجيكا وأعيش مع عائلة حاضنة، فقط لألعب كرة القدم، كان قرارًا صعبًا عليهم، أما الآن، كأب، فأتفهم الأمر، لو طلب مني ابني المغادرة بعد بضع سنوات، لما كان الأمر سهلاً، اليوم، يعمل والدي معي، ويساعدني في الاستثمارات”.

اقرأ أيضًا | دي بروين يكشف الاختلاف بين جوارديولا وكونتي.. واللقب الأهم من دوري أبطال أوروبا

– كيف غيّر الثراء حياتك؟

“كثيرًا، من النفاق قول غير ذلك، لعب كرة القدم، والظهور في الأضواء، وكسب الكثير من المال، كل شيء يتغير، حتى البيئة المحيطة بك، وهذا هو الوجه الآخر للعملة، على سبيل المثال، زوجتي غالبًا ما تكون في المنزل بمفردها مع ثلاثة أطفال، الأمر ليس سهلًا، نعيش في مستوى مختلف عن الأسرة العادية، لكنني أحاول تربية أطفالي بالطريقة الصحيحة، من الواضح أنهم الآن لا يفهمون الفرق بين نمط حياتنا ونمط حياتي أنا وزوجتي في صغرنا، سيتوجب عليهم يومًا ما أن يفهموا”.

– هل دي لورينتيس (رئيس نابولي) معقد كما يُقال بشأن الجانب التعاقدي؟

“خلال المفاوضات، أعتقد أنني تحدثت معه مرةً واحدةً فقط عبر مكالمة فيديو، جاءني المدير الرياضي مانا وشرح لي المشروع، النادي والمحامون يهتمون بالأمور التعاقدية، أنا ألعب كرة القدم فقط”.

– أي فريق هو الأفضل تجهيزًا في الدوري الإيطالي؟

“يتميز إنتر ميلان بثبات في الأداء مقارنةً بالفرق الأخرى، ولديهم قيمة كبيرة، واجهتهم في نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا، لكنني أعتقد أن هناك العديد من الفرق في إيطاليا القادرة على المنافسة على مستوى عالٍ؛ حتى ميلان قد يكون خطيرًا، على الرغم من بدايته السيئة، يتميزون بالتركيز الكامل على الدوري”.

– نقطة قوة ونقطة ضعف لديك؟

“أتحدث أربع لغات: الإنجليزية، الفرنسية، الألمانية، والهولندية، أفهم القليل من الإيطالية، نقطة ضعفي؟ أحتاج إلى التخطيط والتنظيم، أحيانًا يصبح الأمر جامدًا”.

– هل لديك خطة لفترتك مع نابولي؟

“أريد أن أكون أفضل لاعب ممكن، وأن أستمتع، وأن أفوز، لا أحب الخسارة”.