All posts by n8rngtd.top

An ECB update at tea stated Stokes will not return to the field for NZ’s second innings

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Dec-20240:48

Trescothick on Stokes injury: We didn’t see it coming

Ben Stokes was forced to leave the field during day three of England’s third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park after a recurrence of a left hamstring injury. He will undergo a scan this evening to understand the full extent of the injury.England’s captain pulled up after the second ball of the 56th over of New Zealand’s second innings – his 13th, and third of the day – on Monday afternoon, immediately feeling the back of his left thigh after delivering a bouncer that Rachin Ravindra pulled for four. It was the same hamstring he tore in August while batting for Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals in the men’s Hundred, which kept him out for two months.Bowling from the City End, Stokes put his hand on his face and kept walking in the direction of the team dressing room away at the newly renamed Tim Southee End. New Zealand were leading by 409 at the time, as left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell finished the over.An ECB update at tea stated Stokes will not return to the field for New Zealand’s second innings while he receives treatment, with a further assessment to be made on whether he will bat. England finished the day 18 for 2, chasing a mammoth 658, though they have already secured the series after victories in the first two Tests.”It’s the same hamstring that he’s had before,” confirmed England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. “He’s been going so well, he’s been bowling and playing the role that he does as an all-rounder and captain.”We didn’t see it coming, you don’t have any signs of these sort of things…generally they just happen.”Stokes’ 36.2 overs in Hamilton were the most he has bowled for in a Test since 40 at Trent Bridge in 2022 (also against New Zealand). On day one, his 23 overs were the most he has managed in a single day, split between spells of eight, eight and seven. It is worth noting England’s first innings capitulation for 143 meant their seamers only had 34.5 overs of rest after 97.1 between them for New Zealand’s opening effort. The hosts went further in their second innings, keeping England in the field for 101.4 overs, eventually finishing on 453.This series has brought Stokes seven dismissals at 36.85 from 66.1 overs – his most as captain – accompanied by a batting average of 52.66 across four innings. After struggling to effectively fulfill the allrounder role, this series had been a welcome return to the Stokes of old.It was only on the previous evening (Sunday) that assistant coach Paul Collingwood lauded Stokes’ return as a talismanic allrounder. Following today’s events, Trescothick stated Stokes might have to tailor his bowling loads going forward.”I still think he’s shown signs over the course of this series that getting back to fitness he is going to have that level. Maybe it’s a case that you manage his bowling loads and he doesn’t bowl the volume that he’s potentially bowled in this game.”Injuries happen, right? they’re always going to be part of the game. he works dramatically well with his fitness. to try and get into the shape he can be. He bowled 24 in the first innings, and he was bowling quite a few in this (second) innings [12.2 overs]. We’ll just have to look at how we manage it.”Stokes looked understandably crestfallen as he walked off, having only just overcome the physical and psychological toil from the initial hamstring tear which derailed his return to full fitness in the summer.Related

• England rekindle the joy after Bazball's year of transition

• Brendon McCullum: Jacob Bethell's emergence is 'a good problem to have'

• Stokes on his workload: 'I ain't holding back'

• Williamson ton has England staring down prospect of heavy defeat

• Stokes urges England to stay in the now as Ashes year looms once more

Having arrived into the home summer following successful knee surgery in October 2023, he bowled 49 overs across three Tests against West Indies, with five wickets that took him past 200 career dismissals. The tear subsequently set him back, ruling him out of the three-match series against Sri Lanka at the end of the season, and the first Test of the Pakistan tour.Stokes returned for the final two matches of that series but England lost both, succumbing to a 2-1 defeat having won the first Test. He admitted his drive to regain full fitness led him to “physically drain and ruin himself”. When the squad gathered at Queenstown at the start of the series, Stokes apologised for the negative effect he had on the team environment.Prior to this final Test, Stokes was optimistic he was in a good place, with a better understanding of his body.”I have to work so much harder on the physical side of the job to allow me to go out and do my job but I got a good amount of overs in during the last two games and I am more confident about getting through a lot of spells in a day.”That is where I got to before I pulled my hamstring. I bowled nice in summer, had a setback but now feel out of that and worrying about anything else happening again. As you get older you think about your body a bit more but I work harder because I have to.”Now, the 33-year-old must undergo another period of rehabilitation. England’s next Test match is not until May 22, against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, but a lucrative £800,000 with MI Cape Town in the SA20, which begins on January 9, may have to be forgone. Having signed a two-year central contract in October, the ECB has the power to withdraw him outright from the tournament, even if he is able to regain fitness prior to the end of the group stages, with MI’s final match on February 2.This latest setback also complicates any prospective white-ball return for Stokes. The man himself has remained coy on whether he will make himself available for the upcoming Champions Trophy, with Test head coach Brendon McCullum assuming control of the limited-overs sides. Now, perhaps, the decision has been made for him.

Leicestershire close in on victory that would sign off their Division Two title triumph in style

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Sep-2025Northamptonshire 189 and 120 for 5 (Keogh 42, Trevaskis 3-31) need a further 381 runs to beat Leicestershire 429 and 260 for 5 dec (Patel 76, Cox 51*, Budinger 50)Liam Trevaskis and Chris Wright sliced through Northamptonshire’s top order as Leicestershire closed in on a victory that would sign off their Rothesay County Championship Division Two title triumph in style.The Foxes, already confirmed as champions last week, declared and set Northamptonshire an improbable 501 to win at Wantage Road following Rishi Patel’s 76 and an unbeaten 30-ball half-century by Ben Cox.Left-arm spinner Trevaskis took three wickets, with seamer Wright – playing his final game prior to retirement – capturing the other two to reduce the home side to 120 for 5 before bad light halted play.Northamptonshire’s Rob Keogh top-scored with 42, passing 10,000 runs across all formats in the process, but his side’s slim hopes of staving off defeat largely rest on Saif Zaib, unbeaten on 20 at stumps.Leicestershire resumed with an overall lead of 326 and eight wickets in hand, but they were initially stifled by a tight spell from George Scrimshaw, who found some movement in both directions.However, it was a straight delivery from the seamer that removed Lewis Hill, leg-before for 38 and Patel then took command, punching a series of boundaries and bringing up his half-century with a straight drive off Stuart van der Merwe.Van der Merwe was also slog-swept for six by the Foxes opener, but there was success for his fellow rookie Nirvan Ramesh when Stephen Eskinazi reverse-swept the off-spinner and deflected onto his stumps.Although Patel’s hopes of another century to back up his 114 against Kent last week were dashed shortly before lunch when he nicked Zaib behind, the champions chose to bat on into the afternoon session.Yet Cox’s lightning half-century ensured that the innings continued for only five more overs – enough time for Leicestershire to pile up another 53 runs and extend their advantage to exactly 500.Cox bludgeoned the vast majority of those, scooping Scrimshaw for six and then flicking Ben Whitehouse over square leg and out of the ground before a booming four over the bowler’s head signalled both his 50 and the declaration.Logan van Beek and Wright gave away very little at the start of Northamptonshire’s second innings, with the ball rolling across the boundary rope just once during the first 11 attritional overs.Wright, bringing down the curtain on a 22-year professional career, dismissed both openers as Arush Buchake was caught behind pushing at a ball that left him before Lewis McManus drove straight to gully.Having edged Wright to the third boundary to reach his career landmark, Keogh gained a life soon afterwards when he nudged Josh Hull through the slips for four more, but settled down as he and James Sales steered their side to tea.The partnership progressed to 67, but Keogh’s good fortune ran out soon after the restart as he aimed an ambitious drive at Trevaskis and this time Patel safely pouched the chance at slip.Sales departed in the left-armer’s next over, caught behind off a bottom edge and Trevaskis then trapped Justin Broad lbw in a prolonged spell – partly enforced by the darkening clouds which restricted Leicestershire to slower bowling.Patel came on to deliver a single over of leg-breaks before the deteriorating light brought an end to proceedings, with Leicestershire needing five more wickets to wrap up victory on the final day of the season.

However, the rule will be in effect for the next three season in the IPL

PTI14-Oct-20243:35

Should the Impact Player rule stay or go?

The BCCI has decided to scrap the Impact Player rule for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT). The rule was introduced in SMAT couple of years ago and was later extended to the Indian Premier League (IPL).”Kindly note that the BCCI has decided to do away with the provision of the ‘Impact Player’ for the ongoing season,” the BCCI informed the state associations on Monday.The BCCI’s decision to do away with the Impact Player comes shortly after they decided to retain it in the IPL for the next three seasons, up to 2027. Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the rule has stirred debate over whether it is indeed beneficial to Indian cricket, which was the original motive, or whether it could be hurting the development of allrounders. Several high-profile players such as Rohit Sharma had expressed concerns over the rule saying it could be detrimental to the development of allrounders.Related

• IPL mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

• Shah on Impact Player rule: 'Not permanent, but not saying that it will go'

“I generally feel that it is going to hold back (development of allrounders) because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I’m not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertainment for the people around,” Rohit had said on the podcast.In May this year, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah had referred the rule as “a test case” in the IPL and that this “is not permanent [but] I am not saying that it will go.”Saurashtra head coach Niraj Odedra welcomed the BCCI’s decision. “It is nice change. Also the ICC doesn’t have this rule in major tournaments So it would be good for cricketers who want to play for India as they graduate from domestic season,” he said.

The batter has been with RCB since 2021, and has grown into one of their key players

Ashish Pant13-Feb-202511:44

Will RCB captaincy affect Patidar’s batting?

Rajat Patidar has been appointed captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2025, which begins around March 21. The development was contrary to wide speculation that Virat Kohli would lead RCB again after they did not retain Faf du Plessis, their captain from 2022 to 2024, before the mega auction.RCB made the announcement in Bengaluru on Thursday at an event attended by team director Mo Bobat, head coach Andy Flower, and Patidar. He is the eighth captain for RCB and has played three seasons for the franchise since joining them in 2021 and has grown into one of their key batters, scoring 799 runs in 28 matches at a strike rate of 158.85.”I could speak for quite a long time about Rajat, but I’ve settled on three main things that I thought might be interesting to share,” Flower said. “The first one is there’s a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat that I think will stand him in really good stead as a leader and a captain, particularly in the IPL. As we know, the IPL is one of the premier competitions in the world and there’s pressures involved in that, and I think the calm, simple demeanour that inherently lives within Rajat is going to serve him really well in the hurly-burly of that tournament.Related

• For RCB, Rajat Patidar might be just what the doctor ordered

• Mo Bobat: 'Virat doesn't need a captaincy title to lead'

• Samson expected to be fit in time for IPL 2025

• Pant unveiled as LSG captain, says he will give '200%'

• IPL begins March 21 weekend; WPL to start from February 7

“And his decision-making will be tested like all of ours is. But I think these qualities will stand him in really good stead. We watched Rajat very closely as he captained Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and we really liked what we saw around those qualities.”The second thing I’d say about him, he’s inherently quite a quiet guy, but observing him, he cares about the people around him, he cares about the people that he plays with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I think that’s a quality that means that he will instantly have the respect and care from other people. As a leader, those qualities are important. In that people will follow you and get behind you.”And then the third thing that stands out for me about him is that he’s got a stubbornness and a strength and a steeliness about him. I’ve seen it myself when I’m trying to coach him in the nets and he won’t listen to me, but you see it in the way that he plays. You see the bravery with which he takes on the game and I think that quality within him will be really important for him through the ups and downs, the inevitable ups and downs that come along with playing in the IPL, and now stepping up another gear into leading a big franchise in the IPL.”Bobat confirmed that Kohli was an option the team management had thought about.”With our retentions, it’s probably worth noting that we obviously retained three players, three Indians, and of those three, it’s worth saying that both Virat and Rajat were obviously credible captaincy options for us going into the auction,” he said. “And then at the auction itself, we spent quite a lot of time thinking about leadership characteristics. We didn’t necessarily want to go into the auction and have our heart set on a captain because we felt that was quite a dangerous approach and then you end up probably overvaluing somebody potentially.”Rajat Patidar has been a part of RCB for the past three IPL seasons•AFP/Getty Images

In a video released by RCB, Kohli congratulated Patidar on the appointment, emphasising that he has earned the right to be in this position.”The way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB all over India and they get really excited to watch you play,” Kohli said. “I’ve seen Rajat evolve in the last couple of years as a player. He has got the chance to play for India. His game has improved many levels in the last couple of years.”The way he has led his state team as well and the responsibility that he’s taken and has shown everyone that he has what it takes to lead this amazing franchise and I just wish him all the very best and I would request all the fans to show him absolute support, get right behind him and know that he will always and always do what’s best for the team, what’s best for this franchise.”Discussions within the group confirmed to the coaches that Patidar was the right choice, Bobat said.”We spent some time discussing things with the likes of DK [Dinesh Karthik, the batting coach], who’s obviously a really important part of our management team now. [We] had multiple conversations with Virat, even had some discussions with Rajat and I say discussions, they probably felt a little bit more like interviews for Rajat. But Andy and I spent some time talking to Rajat about his captaincy aspirations and what struck us was that he was very determined and ambitious about leadership and captaincy and he really wanted to do this and that was really important for us to understand and feel.”Bobat also said that they wanted an Indian captain to lead RCB this time around.”Andy and I felt quite blessed that we had quite a few to choose from,” he said. “Whether we went Indian or overseas was an important discussion point for us. We felt quite strongly that an Indian captain was preferable.”That’s nothing against any overseas options, but we were really keen on an Indian option primarily because it’s an Indian competition on Indian pitches against predominantly Indian players. So somebody who’s got that local knowledge and insight is really, really helpful for us.”While this will be 31-year-old Patidar’s first captaincy stint in the IPL, he has captained MP in the 2024-25 season of the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (where they finished runners-up) and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Those tournaments were his first full-time assignments as captain in domestic cricket.”I had a conversation with Mo last year,” Patidar said. “I told him before getting the captaincy of RCB, I want to captain a state team. When they told me about this, that it could be between Virat and Rajat, I was happy. I can’t express my reaction.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I really feel good right now. If I talk about my way of captaincy, I’m not that much expressive, but at the same time, I’m aware of the situation of the matches. So I think for me it’s important to back my players and stand with them and give the sort of involvement where they feel relaxed and confident. So yeah, I’m lucky that I am surrounded by one of the best people in the team and we have a group of leaders as well where their experience and ideas will definitely help in my new leadership role and growth as an individual also.”Patidar was the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 428 runs in nine innings at an average of 61.14 and strike rate of 186.08. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he made 226 runs at an average of 56.50 and strike rate of 107.10.RCB have not won the IPL title yet, though they have been finalists three times, the last of which was in 2016. They have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including in 2024, when they won their last six league matches to get into the top four but then lost the Eliminator.With RCB appointing Patidar, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are the only teams yet to name their captains for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s captain last year, will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) this year, while the former DC captain Rishabh Pant is now leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Pakistan captain says lack of rhythm upfront with the bat, and then again in the middle overs, cost his side against India

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-20241:47

Mumtaz: PCB needs to provide leadership skills to players

Babar Azam reckoned not utilising the batting powerplay well enough and then playing too many dot balls in the middle overs were the main reasons behind Pakistan not being able to chase down 120 in their T20 World Cup 2024 match against India in New York.”In our mind, we wanted to play normally, utilise the first six overs in the batting and [if we had done that] we win,” Babar said after Pakistan’s six-run defeat. “But one wicket down and we were not up to the mark in the first six overs. We were targeting like 40 to 45 runs in the first six overs, but we did not capitalise properly and yes after the ten overs also we made the same mistake.”Related

• Kirsten bemoans Pakistan's 'poor decision-making'

• Bumrah spearheads India's defence of 119; Pakistan on brink of elimination

• The curious case of Pakistan's World Cup 15

Having restricted India to 119, Pakistan did not lose too many wickets upfront but also did not score many runs. They managed 35 for 1 in the powerplay and then moved 72 for 2 in 12 overs. Then, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya orchestrated a collapse. Hardik got rid of Fakhar Zaman with an excellent short of a length ball, before Bumrah breached Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps with the first ball of his second spell.

In the middle overs (6.1 to 15.6), Pakistan played 29 dot balls and scored 50 runs while losing three wickets.”We bowled well after ten overs and we would have taken 120. It’s a better total here. In the batting, we went run-a-ball but unfortunately, but we lost back-to-back wickets and then there were too many dot balls,” Babar said. “Tactics were simple, play normally, just rotate the strike and just try and play one boundary and be normal…get five or six an over. But in that period we had too much dot balls, the pressure was on us. And we lost back-to-back two to three wickets.”Having suffered back-to-back defeats to start this World Cup, Pakistan now find themselves struggling to make it out of the first round. Babar said they will just look to win their last two Group A games, and then take it from there.”Obviously we have to win the last two matches. We will sit and discuss our mistakes but we are looking forward to the next two matches.”Pakistan play Canada on June 11 at this venue and then finish the group stage against Ireland on June 16 in Lauderhill.

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill fell as England nudged marginally ahead in the Test

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2025

Ben Stokes was pumped up after trapping Shubman Gill lbw•Getty Images

Tea Liam Dawson marked his comeback to Test cricket by dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal with his seventh ball to help prise the opening day back open in Manchester.India’s openers batted through the morning session after being inserted but England struck three blows and kept the scoring rate below three an over in the afternoon to leave the fourth Test in the balance.KL Rahul became the fifth Indian player to reach 1,000 runs in England during the first session and played late throughout his innings. But he edged Chris Woakes to third slip for 46 while looking to punch down the ground, bringing an opening partnership of 94 in exactly 30 overs to an end.Jaiswal continued to frustrate England and reached his eighth 50-plus score in 16 innings against them after lunch, but fell soon before drinks. He battled his instincts for much of the morning session to soak up pressure in gloomy conditions, but then became the returning Dawson’s first victim since July 2017, edging to Harry Brook at slip for 58.It was the highlight of a superb spell from Dawson, who had 1 for 21 in seven overs at the tea interval and exerted the sort of control that the injured Shoaib Bashir, whom he replaced in England’s only change, struggled to in the first three Tests. He kept the recalled B Sai Sudharsan quiet, who was then dropped on 20 down the leg side by Jamie Smith off Ben Stokes.Stokes himself struck soon before the interval, pleading with Rod Tucker for an lbw decision – which eventually came – after striking Shubman Gill on the pad as he shouldered arms. Gill’s unsuccessful appeal meant that he has scored 16, 6 and 12 since his epic Edgbaston Test, and left England slightly ahead on day one.

The MCA accepts his request to withdraw the NOC for playing for Goa

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2025Yashasvi Jaiswal will continue to be with Mumbai for the 2025-26 domestic season after the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) accepted his request to withdraw the no-objection certificate (NOC) to move to Goa.”Yashasvi has always been a proud product of Mumbai cricket,” MCA president Ajinkya Naik stated in a press release. “We have accepted Jaiswal’s withdrawal NOC application and he will be available for Mumbai in the forthcoming domestic season.”In April, Jaiswal had sought an NOC to play for Goa, a move the MCA had found “surprising”. But a month later, he wrote to them again, saying he had planned to relocate to Goa with his family, but that plan had since changed and he wanted to continue playing for Mumbai.Related

• Sairaj Patil – the six-hitting, seam-bowling Mumbai man to watch out for

• Jaiswal makes U-turn, wants to continue playing for Mumbai

The 23-year-old has played for Mumbai since his Under-19 days. He made his first-class debut for Mumbai in 2019 and has since played ten first-class games for them, scoring 863 runs at an average of 53.93, which includes four centuries, two fifties and a highest score of 181 against Uttar Pradesh in 2022.He had played for Mumbai in the recent domestic season, too, in a Ranji Trophy game against Jammu and Kashmir, which they lost at home. He was set to play in the semi-final against Vidarbha, but was ruled out after injuring his right ankle while training ahead of the game.Jaiswal is currently with India’s Test team in England. His century in the series opener at Leeds ended in vain as India lost by five wickets.

Melbourne Renegades quick will miss a third straight WBBL season due to injury

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2024Luckless Australia and Melbourne Renegades fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck has been ruled out of the WBBL for the third consecutive season following the shoulder dislocation she suffered in the T20 World Cup.Vlaeminck, 25, dislocated her bowling shoulder just moments into Australia’s World Cup match against Pakistan which was her first at a major tournament since 2018.She was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup and Renegades confirmed on Friday that she would play no part in the WBBL that starts next Sunday.Related

• Vlaeminck dislocates shoulder on T20 World Cup return

Vlaeminck has not played in the WBBL since November 2021 when she was playing for Hobart Hurricanes. She signed with Renegades ahead of the 2022-23 season but has not managed to play a single game due to an extraordinary run of injuries.Vlaeminck has twice dislocated her left shoulder. The first came playing for Victoria in the 2017-18 season. Then, during the Australia A tour of England which coincided with last year’s Women’s Ashes, she dislocated the same shoulder again while bowling, which led to corrective surgery.Before she made her debut for Australia, in 2018, she had undergone two ACL reconstructions. Stress fractures in her foot also forced her to miss the 2020 home T20 World Cup as well as the 2022 ODI World Cup, the Commonwealth Games later that year and the 2023 T20 World Cup. Her foot injuries led her to spend time training with professional dancers at the Australian Ballet as part of her rehab work.

Brian Lara Cricket Academy pitch comes in for sharp criticism from observers and participants after wildly misbehaving in Afghanistan vs South Africa semi-final

Sidharth Monga27-Jun-20244:14

Moody, Flower on Tarouba pitch: ‘Dangerous’, ‘not good enough’

The first two balls of the chase summed up the conditions in which the first semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup was played. The first ball practically rolled along the ground, and the next one reared off a similar length. The pitch at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy came in for sharp criticism from observers, but participants in the match had to be careful not to come across as either making excuses or downplaying their achievements, depending on which camp they were in. However, they still ended up making an unflattering assessment of it.”I don’t want to get myself into trouble and I don’t want to come across as bitter or it being a case of sour grapes,” Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said when asked what he made of the pitch, “but that’s not the pitch that you want to have a match, a semi-final of a World Cup, on plain and simple. It should be a fair contest. I’m not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no seam movement, but I’m saying you shouldn’t have batsmen worrying about going forward and the ball flying over their head. You should be confident in your foot movement and being able to hit through the line or use your skills.”T20 is about attacking and about scoring runs and taking wickets, not looking to survive. If the opposition bowled well and got to a position where they bowled very, very well and it’s through skill, then that’s fine and then it’s about adapting to that. But once the ball starts misbehaving and rolling… if we had bowled as straight as South Africa had, I think you would have seen a very interesting second half as well. South Africa bowled well, used the conditions, and showed our boys what it’s capable of. But it just didn’t go our way tonight.”Related

• T20 World Cup 2024: New York, Tarouba pitches rated 'unsatisfactory' by ICC

• ICC Board seeks answers after costs spiral for US leg of T20 World Cup

• Shamsi: 'It's a huge achievement, but we didn't come here to get to the final'

• Report – SA demolish Afg to book spot in World Cup final

• Stats – SA men's maiden World Cup final, Afg's lowest T20I total

South Africa have played in dodgy conditions throughout: be it the underprepared and untested drop-ins of New York, or the excessive spin in Kingstown, or this brute with both excessive uneven bounce and seam movement. Aiden Markram, the South Africa captain, was asked the same question. “Yeah, I mean T20 cricket as a whole, you want entertainment,” Markram said. “The wickets that we’ve had throughout the competition have been pretty challenging. Tonight’s wicket was pretty challenging once again. It’s hard to say that a wicket is not good because it can’t just always be a batter’s game, but I think if we reflect back on this wicket, we’ll probably be pretty happy that we’re not playing here again.”If the winning team makes it sound like it has made it out of a game of Russian roulette unscathed and can’t wait to leave town, you know something has gone wrong. Tom Moody, speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s analysis show Timeout, said this track was not fit for any game of cricket, leave alone a World Cup semi-final. “I don’t think you would want to see [this kind of a pitch] in any game,” Moody said. “You want a fair contest between bat and ball, and I’m not advocating we need to have surfaces for 200-plus but for one, you need consistent bounce. That’s the most important thing. Any batter will hold their hand up and say that’s the most important thing. If you’ve got one ball that’s hitting the toe of your bat [and] one that you’re feeling you’re going to punch with your gloves [from] the same length, that is a very difficult challenge to combat.”If you’ve got sideways movement or swing or spin, that’s a different challenge but at least there’s some sort of consistency and you can come up with some sort of strategy or method to combat that. Look, I don’t think that was good enough. I actually covered two games in Trinidad at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy [as a broadcast commentator] and the surface was pretty similar. You see the crazy paving – if I could put it that way – where a lot of dense grass was gathered around those cracks and you could tell that that was the thing that promoted the inconsistency of bounce.”Andy Flower, also speaking on Timeout, agreed. “Those conditions were simply not good enough,” he said. “The pitch was so very, very tough for any batsman to play on. We saw some interesting visual shots from above the square and a couple of commentators referenced this being a brand-new pitch; perhaps they could’ve used a pitch that had been used previously [in this World Cup] and therefore you could [go in] knowing it produces a certain type of bounce, something more consistent and predictable. But those shots showed the crazy paving-type effect, and those blocks and the cracks around those blocks produced the wild variance in bounce and, as a batter, you’re trying to predict where the ball is going to be. You want to meet it somewhere near the middle of the bat at least. On this pitch, it was almost impossible to do that on any consistent basis.”I thought it was actually a little bit dangerous. A couple of balls flew off a length around shoulder, neck, chin-height from the South African quicks. And one of them flew over Quinton de Kock, the keeper’s head and gloves, for four byes. I was pleased that no one got hurt. We got a similar pitch in New York in the early part of the competition, which wasn’t good enough for international-quality quicks. And then we saw it again today and it produced a complete mismatch.”The track at Brian Lara Cricket Academy has previously produced scores of 40 all out, 78 all out and 95 all out in this World Cup. There has been only one decent contest possible, when West Indies narrowly defended 149, but even in that match they were 30 for 5 at one stage.Trinidad is home to one of the legendary cricket venues, Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, but it didn’t host a single World Cup match, losing out to this newer, practically untested venue that made its international debut in men’s cricket less than two years ago.

CSK are yet to win an away game this IPL and their next two matches are on the road

Srinidhi Ramanujam13-Apr-20242:57

Moody’s advice to CSK:’ Deny Bumrah wickets’

Match details

Mumbai Indians (P5 W2 L3 7th) vs Chennai Super Kings (P5 W3 L2 3rd)
Mumbai, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture

It’s the IPL’s biggest rivalry. At the Wankhede Stadium. On a double-header Sunday. But has the rivalry mellowed down this time? Possibly because it’s the first time in over a decade the CSK-Mumbai game will not witness Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni as captains, as Hardik Pandya and Ruturaj Gaikwad have taken over at the helm. So, what’s in store in this new era?Two away games and two losses. It’s a small sample size, but CSK are yet to post a win away from home in this IPL. After winning three out of five games, they now go on the road – the first stop is Mumbai and then Lucknow – before going back to Chepauk after 15 days. Can they be at home, away from home, when they meet a strong host?Mumbai, though, registered two wins in a row after succumbing to three straight defeats. The turnaround was possible due to their strong batting performances. Their top six batters strike at more than 147 each and this firepower reflected in their scores of 234 for 5 and 199 for 3 in their last two games, which were played at the Wankhede Stadium. With Suryakumar Yadav finding his feet sooner than later with a 19-ball 52 in his second game after returning from injury, Mumbai’s line-up is looking solid again.However, the same cannot be said of the bowling group. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai’s bowlers have been guilty of going for plenty of runs. They have been expensive at the death, especially, going at 12.31 runs an over – the third-most runs leaked by any team thus far in this IPL (before the Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals game on Saturday).CSK would also want to tighten their bowling. In their two away losses in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, their bowlers struggled for early wickets. There’s still uncertainty surrounding their pace mainstay Matheesha Pathirana’s participation. Against a dangerous Mumbai side on a seam-friendly surface, CSK will be expecting the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Deepak Chahar to do the bulk of damage.Related

• CSK-Mumbai rivalry enters new era

• 'I am six foot three, 100 kgs' – Mitchell is easing himself into Rayudu's role at CSK

Form guide

Mumbai WWLLL (most recent match first)
CSK WLLWW

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Mumbai Indians
Mumbai opted to bring in Shreyas Gopal as the like-for-like replacement for Piyush Chawla in their last game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A fit and firing Suryakumar could be used as an Impact Player, swapping for fast bowler Akash Madhwal.Likely XII: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 , 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Gerald Coetzee, 12 Chennai Super Kings
Matheesha Pathirana did some bowling before CSK’s previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders at home but didn’t feature as a precautionary measure. Coach Stephen Fleming is hopeful of having his death-bowling specialist back for Sunday’s game or next Friday’s clash against Luckow Super Giants. While Mustafizur, who had to leave for home to work on getting a US visa, returned to the XI at Chepauk, Chahar had missed that match with a niggle. He might return to the team against Mumbai, if he’s fit.Likely XII: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 , 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Matheesha Pathirana/Maheesh Theekshana, 12 1:48

Who will be CSK’s key batter in Mumbai?

In the spotlight – Bumrah and Chahar

Jasprit Bumrah is fresh off a five-wicket haul against RCB and has been phenomenal in containing the batters. He is the only Mumbai player to have an economy rate under six this IPL and he has claimed seven of his ten wickets in three innings at the Wankhede, at a stunning economy rate of 5.75. In an otherwise misfiring bowling unit, Mumbai will once again rely on Bumrah, the most experienced fast bowler in the attack, to keep CSK quiet, especially at the death.For CSK, how Deepak Chahar performs in the powerplay will be key to their success. At the Wankhede, he has fared well in the first six overs, picking up ten wickets in ten games at an economy rate of 7.59. Chahar is also the only player who hasn’t played for Mumbai Indians to have taken wickets in double digits in this phase at Wankhede. With four wickets in four matches this season, can Chahar step up against the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav?1:25

McClenaghan: The Wankhede conditions will suit Ravindra

Stats that matter