India’s young batting star dropped his pants on debut, missed the team bus countless times, and has an obsession with a certain number

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Jun-2009<!–So, what did you buy with your IPL prize money?
I haven’t got the money yet, but I will be investing it in buying some real estate in Mumbai. –>Tell us something we don’t know about you.
People think I’m quiet, but that’s not the case.Are you lazy?
Yes. I love to sleep.Have you ever missed the team bus?
Quite a few times. I even did it during the IPL, with Deccan Chargers. And I’ve been penalised many times. At times I have ended up paying my day’s perks for the entire day’s meals [for the team] whenever I’ve missed the India bus.Talking about food, we’ve heard you love eating eggs?
Yes, once I ate 25 fried eggs at one go.Who’s a batsman you would pay to watch?
Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. I enjoy watching left-handers.You’re an avid collector of t-shirts, apparently?
I picked up 10 Ed Hardy t-shirts on my last trip to Australia, two years ago.Do you have any autographed souvenirs?
I got two of my bats signed by every team member after we won the 2007 World Twenty20 and the CB Series in Australia in 2008. Both were amazing victories and I wanted something to remember them by.What’s the one thing you never forget to pack when going on a tour?
My boxers!Is it true you have this thing about the number five?
It is my lucky number. I like to stay in rooms whose numbers add up to five, for example.What’s the one thing you always take with you wherever you go?
I was gifted a small idol, and I always keep that close.Do you have any treasured mementos from early in your career?
I still have the Vampire bat with which I scored the first century of my life. That was when I was 12.When you were younger, was there anything you wanted to own when you were grown up?
I like BMWs. I even used to collect posters and stickers of them. As a teenager I would tell my friends that one day I would own one. Luckily, I now own a white BMW 5 series.What do hotel rooms need to make them more enjoyable?
They should have big bathtubs, not just showers.What has been the most embarrassing moment of your career?
On my first tour, in Ireland, I had to slide to stop the ball on the ropes. But in the process my trousers slid down too and the crowd had a good laugh. I was all red behind the ears with my pants down.Describe yourself in a few words?
Tough and easy going.What’s the drink you celebrate victory with?
Champagne.What’s been the best compliment you’ve received?
Adam Gilchrist said during this IPL: “You are one of the big talents, not only for India but in world cricket. You are going to be one of the brightest stars in the future.” I couldn’t stop feeling nice.

Statistical analysis of Michael Vaughan’s Test career

Siddhartha Talya30-Jun-2009Michael Vaughan’s retirement from all cricket is a reflection of sport’s inherent cruelty. England’s most successful Test captain, who led his team to victory in the Ashes after 18 years and oversaw a phase of prosperity rare for recent England teams, Vaughan endured a tearful resignation from captaincy following a poor run, was dropped, and quit the game after failing to win a spot with Yorkshire. Nevertheless, Vaughan triggered a resurgence in English cricket and his batting has been almost peerless for its grace and consistency.In terms of just numbers, Vaughan had a relatively quiet start in Tests but soon earned a reputation for contributing in crunch games. He scored his first half-century in that infamous match against South Africa at Centurion in January 2000, and contributed a valuable 41 in the fourth innings in his team’s two-wicket win over West Indies at Lord’s the same year.Vaughan’s Test career can be analysed in three phases. In his first 19 Tests, Vaughan averaged 36.50 with two centuries. His 20th Test, against India in England’s 170-run win at Lord’s in the summer of 2002, brought him into the limelight – he finished the year as the highest run-scorer – and sowed the seeds of his success in Australia later in the year. Vaughan averaged 102.50 in the series against India, and in his 41 Tests since the start of that series, a period spanning three years, he remained England’s highest run-getter, and the fifth-highest overall.However, his last 22 Tests, despite the euphoria of an emotional century against West Indies at Headingley in 2007, which marked his return to international cricket after an injury that ruled him out for more than a year, were his least successful, and eventually proved his undoing. Scores of 16, 2, 0, 21, 0 and 17 in his last six innings, coupled with a series defeat to South Africa at Edgbaston in July 2008, his last as captain and for England, culminated in a break from the international circuit.

Michael Vaughan’s career in three phases

InningsRunsAverage100/50First 19 Tests32109536.502/4Next 41 Tests75330447.8813/8Final 22 Tests40132033.843/6Career (82 Tests)147571941.4418/18Vaughan scored the most when he opened, but adapted well to his role at No.3. As opener, he formed one of the world’s most successful opening combinations with Marcus Trescothick. The pair averaged 48.76 and is currently in fifth place in the list of top opening combinations since 1999 in terms of runs scored, and fifth for England overall. He favoured playing at home, scoring 13 of his 18 centuries in England, and averaging 46.07 – a difference of almost ten compared to his average overseas. (Click here for his career summary.)Despite the blip in figures outside of England, Vaughan’s career overseas has included some notable performances that have displayed his ability to challenge the best in the world, in both pace and spin. His 183 against Australia in Sydney laid the foundation for England’s solitary Test win in the 2002-03 Ashes, but probably his best outing with the bat came against Sri Lanka in Kandy in December 2003, when he scored 52 and 105 to help England fight out a draw on the final day. His unbeaten 82 and 54 in Johannesburg in 2005 proved crucial in England’s first series win in South Africa for almost 40 years -in fact, Vaughan, before the lay-off due to injury towards the end of 2005, was England’s second-highest run-getter both home and overseas since he made his debut.However, Vaughan was not as prolific as some of his competitors while he was enjoying the most fruitful phase of his career. He was one of the top run-getters in the period, but was at No.7 in the ranking list of batsmen based on averages.

Performance of batsmen during Vaughan’s best run (qualification = 3000 runs)

BatsmanInningsRunsAverage100/50Jacques Kallis55336674.8013/15Ricky Ponting60372071.5313/12Brian Lara49324669.0612/9Graeme Smith63332757.3611/11Matthew Hayden71351454.0612/11Justin Langer71329248.419/12Michael Vaughan75330447.8813/8Marcus Trescothick74320147.779/14Vaughan took particular liking to India, against whom he averaged 72.57 – the second-highest among England batsmen who’ve scored 1000 runs or more against India – in nine Tests with four centuries. Three of them came in that one series in 2002, but the final one was perhaps the best among them, as he battled to 124 in a losing cause after England had conceded a massive first-innings lead at Trent Bridge in 2007. The defeat eventually resulted in Vaughan’s first series defeat at home as captain, and spiralled a run that ultimately led to his resignation. (Click here for Vaughan’s series summary as captain.)Vaughan’s greatest contribution to England, though, was his captaincy. England have won more games under his leadership than any other captain, and he is one of only 13 captains to have led their team to more than 20 wins in the longest version. Thrust into the role after Nasser Hussain’s resignation during the home series against South Africa in 2003, Vaughan began poorly with an innings defeat at Lord’s, but recovered well with victory at Trent Bridge and a series-levelling win at The Oval.

Most successful captains for each country (In terms of wins)

CaptainTestsWonLostW-L RatioSteve Waugh (Australia)574194.55Clive Lloyd (West Indies)7436123Graeme Smith (South Africa)6933211.57Stephen Fleming (New Zealand)8028271.03Michael Vaughan (England)5126112.36Sourav Ganguly (India)4921131.61Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)3818121.50Imran Khan (Pakistan)481481.75But the golden phase kicked off with series wins against West Indies both home and away, whitewashes against New Zealand and Bangladesh, a historic 2-1 win in South Africa and the ultimate prize, the Ashes in the summer of 2005. Vaughan had led England to six consecutive series wins in over a year including seven successive Test wins, which, added to a win against New Zealand under Trescothick, turned out to be England’s best run of victories in Tests.

Vaughan’s captaincy in two phases

SpanMatchesWonLostDrawnW-L ratio31 July 2003 – 21 July 2005 (First Test as captain to Ashes)2717553.40Post Ashes249631.50However, his second phase as captain was disappointing. England faltered in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and suffered their first series defeat at the hands of India at home since 1986. An unprecedented home loss to South Africa was decisive in Vaughan’s exit, and though his batting average in the second part of his tenure was only slightly lower than the first, a torrid final series where he managed just 40 in five innings compounded his woes. (Click here for Vaughan’s batting record as captain.)

Vaughan’s batting performance as captain

SpanMatchesInningsRunsAverage100/50Pre Ashes2750164536.555/7Post Ashes2444152535.464/6Overall as captain5194317036.029/13

For a while tonight it looked as if Bangalore Royal Challengers were going to live down to the tag which last year turned into an albatross: that of the Test team trying to play Twenty20

Victor Brown03-May-2009For a while tonight it looked as if Bangalore Royal Challengers were going to live down to the tag which last year turned into an albatross: that of the Test team trying to play Twenty20. Wasim Jaffer, one of the chief culprits in 2008, was struggling to make headway against Zaheer Khan, and – after Jaffer clipped him straight to square leg – Robin Uthappa was busy (or not very busy) playing out a maiden against Lasith Malinga. Bangalore fans could have been forgiven for shivering for reasons other than the cool Johannesburg evening.But Jacques Kallis was having none of it. Kallis, too, came in for criticism last year when an average of 18 and a strike-rate of 108 did not quite match up to his $900,000 valuation (and that’s before we even get onto his bowling figures of four wickets at 77 each and nine runs an over). But he has never stopped tinkering with his technique, spending time with those he trusts and ironing out the kind of flaws which, for example, persuaded him to shoulder arms fatally to the first ball of the match against Delhi at Port Elizabeth last week.The results were on show here, never more so than during the fourth over of Bangalore’s pursuit of Mumbai’s 149 for 4. Malinga, previously the tournament’s most miserly bowler, was flicked nonchalantly behind square leg for six, then square cut for six more two balls later. A less brutal flick off the hip for four in the same over showed Kallis’ timing was intact too.If anything, the early demise of Jaffer had been a blessing in disguise. It meant memories of last year were not able to linger for long and allowed Uthappa – whose previous six innings had brought a top score of only 20 – enough time to get to grips with conditions before cutting loose towards the end with three boundaries in an over off Sachin Tendulkar and a violent pull for six off Dwayne Bravo that skimmed off the roof of one of the stands and flew into a neighbouring block of flats.Kallis can still infuriate with his running between the wickets, but almost everything else about this innings was perfectly timed, including the passing of the baton to Uthappa for the final onslaught. Seventy-six off 10 became 28 off five became a stroll in the park.Bangalore have now won three in a row dating back to the game at Durban in which Kevin Pietersen daringly opened the bowling against Kolkata Knight Riders with two spinners – including himself. And, in a table which – with the exception of poor old Kolkata – currently resembles Johannesburg at rush-hour Bangalore are now joint-top on points with Delhi and Deccan.For Mumbai, this was a missed opportunity. They came into the game having won every match in which they had batted first and lost the ones where they had batted second. Victory here would have made them outright IPL leaders, and Bravo’s late blast with the bat seemed to have given them a decent chance. But Kallis lined up Zaheer in the first over of the Bangalore reply and – one half-chance at point aside – never looked back on his way to an IPL best of 69 not out off 59 balls. Test team? Perhaps no longer.

A travelling England fans revels in the best sport he ever watched live

Rich Abbott08-Jan-2010Team supported
England. This was the first time I’d seen England play abroad. Having chosen this particular game, I fear that the only way is down from here.Favourite player
Kevin Pietersen has been my favourite since he broke into the side, and I was desperately hoping the game would signal a post-injury return to form for him. But I was equally excited about seeing AB de Villiers. There seem to be no limits to his talent, and I think he will go on to become the best batsman in the world in the next couple of years.Key performers
Graeme Smith must own the trademark to captain’s innings. From the grass bank, we thought asking for his second-innings referral, when on 51, was a mistake. It wasn’t, and he went on to put his side in a fantastic position with a devastating 183. For England, Ian Bell played one of his most important innings, scoring an impressively composed 78 in 286 minutes. He fell just short of the final hurdle – as many of the great rearguards seem to – but Graham Onions ensured his toil was not in vain.Best passage of play
Paul Collingwood and Bell were resilience personified as they survived the whole of the afternoon session on the final day, giving England wickets to play with in the final session. For a while, they even led us to believe that we might achieve a comfortable draw. We should have known better: last-wicket resistance is becoming something of a theme with this England team.One thing I’d have changed about the match
Pietersen’s wicket late on day four. With Jonathan Trott and KP resuming at the crease on day five, the final day would have begun with an unrivalled sense of theatre. The tension levels surpassed the summit of Table Mountain late on day four when those two were at the crease, but unfortunately it was short-lived.Face-off I relished
Dale Steyn gave Collingwood a working over on the last afternoon, but the Englishman provided obdurate resistance, sticking around for 40 from 188 balls. Many of Steyn’s deliveries were so good that Collingwood was unable to get anywhere near them as they flew past the outside edge of his bat. Steyn’s final-day performance was such that he deserved to be on a winning side.Wow moments
For the sheer spine-tingling feeling that only sport can supply, it was when Pietersen walked down the steps and into the fray on the evening of day four. His task: to repel the ire of one nation, bearing the hope of another. Sadly he was not able to do this for long.In pure cricketing terms, Steyn removing Trott’s off-stump on the final morning was as thrilling as it was brutal. It was a fantastic delivery, which jagged back in and made a well-set batsman look fresh to the crease.Morne Morkel’s two in two balls on day three got the crowd buzzing, as did his removal of Ian Bell with three overs of the match remaining.Graham Onions fended off the entire last over, a testing assortment of deliveries from Morkel again, with every dot ball cheered like a World Cup win by the frantic Barmy Army on the grass banks.Crowd meter
Every day was packed, with nearly 80,000 spectators taking in the action over the full five days. Both sets of fans were passionate, vocal and game for a laugh. This was never more evident than during renditions of a Barmy Army song that lists the South Africans to have represented England – from the iconic (Basil D’Oliveira) to the obscure (Chris Smith) via the current (Trott and KP) – and was enjoyed by both sets of fans.Entertainment
The PA system was busy, with music greeting boundaries and blaring out during breaks in play. One Alastair Cook boundary prompted a blast of “I’m a Believer”, and given his performance in this Test (two solid opener’s fifties), it’s easy to see why the England management has kept believing in him. The Black Eyed Peas’ frequent prediction that “tonight’s gonna be a good night” proved spot-on in England’s case, too.If flags were wishes: the home fans didn’t get the result they wanted on day five•Getty ImagesFancy-dress index
Tense as the on-field action undoubtedly was, there’s arguably a limit to the tension of any situation, as was proved by a Barmy Army member dressed as a whoopie cushion.Player watch
While some boundary fielders ignore the crowd behind them, Paul Collingwood, fielding out of the slips due to his dislocated finger, actually initiated some banter with the crowd himself. It didn’t affect his concentration either – he took a fine, high-pressure catch just in front of us.Star spotting
I saw Springbok rugby coach Peter de Villiers milling around the ground on day one. It’s fair to say he didn’t mind being recognised by fans. Elsewhere Jonathan Agnew was only too happy to pose for a photo, confirming his legendary status in my eyes.Marks out of 10
9. The final hour of the match was the best sport I have had the pleasure of witnessing live.An England win would have been better, but this improbable survival keeps us in the lead heading into the final Test of this excellent series. Bring on Jo’burg!

A free ticket to watch your team? Doesn’t get much better than that

Siddhesh V01-Apr-2010The game
I got a free ticket for this game and went in hoping for a Chennai Super Kings revival. Thankfully I got what I wanted – a Chennai win that would be revenge for the defeat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore during the first leg.Key performer
M Vijay for his amazing knock. The 24-run over was nerve-wracking to watch because from where we were sitting every delivery looked like a wicket-taking ball.One thing I’d have changed
The catch Manpreet Gony dropped off Robin Uthappa. The entire stand was on its feet thinking it would be first blood for Chennai. Instead we got a dropped catch, followed by a boundary off the next ball. Really disappointing.Face-off I relished
I was looking forward to Kumble v Hayden. Unfortunately Hayden didn’t last long.Wow moment
Vijay’s second six in that mammoth 24-run over was spectacular. We turned to see the ball deposited in the adjacent stand.Player watch
Vijay and Gony fielded near us and we called out to them. Vijay often waved at us and responded. During the second innings we cheered for Pietersen but sadly didn’t get much of a response out of him.Shot of the day
Suresh Raina’s expansive hit over cover for six off the fifth ball of the 19th over came at a time when things were looking pretty bad for Chennai. That one shot settled the match.Crowd meter
KP hit a mammoth six that landed a few rows below us – the only one that landed in our stand. Two of Vijay’s sixes landed in the stands on either side of us. From where I was sitting, the ground was a sea of yellow. After the initial enthusiasm, though, I tired of taking part in endless Mexican waves that were going around faster than the ball was flying around the park.Hardship factor
The canteen was packed during the innings break, which meant a mad grab for whatever you managed to get your hands on. It would have helped if the food counters were better managed.Entertainment
When Sivamani is around, entertainment is never far away. The PA system was belting out the Chennai theme song and there was plenty of dancing.Twenty20 v ODIs
Twenty20 is pure entertainment. ODIs, on the other hand, are good value for money.TV or stadium?
Stadiums are always a lot of fun. Twenty20 is best watched in a stadium. The television gives you experts’ analysis and other technical details but you don’t need that in a Twenty20.Marks out of 10
8. The atmosphere was very lively throughout. The cheering went on for a while after the winning runs. It was not the perfect game for Chennai, but what matters is the win was achieved over one of the table leaders, and that is always memorable.

The demands on players at the top of the order have changed drastically since the likes of Virender Sehwag arrived on the scene

Aakash Chopra01-Jul-2010How is Sunil Gavaskar different from Sachin Tendulkar? Or Virender Sehwag from Sourav Ganguly? Or Matthew Hayden from Adam Gilchrist? They are all openers, so is there a difference at all? Well, yes and no.These men are the first to step on the field, the first to face the new ball and the first to get dismissed in an innings. They have all led the team from the front. Yet, when viewed closely, each displays individuality, thanks to the difference in the formats they open in.Opening in Test cricket
It wouldn’t be extravagant to propose that opening the batting in Test cricket can be divided into two eras: pre- and post-Sehwag. Despite opening with Viru, I belong to the era before him.There are certain traits a school coach looks for in a kid before entrusting him with the task of opening the batting. It goes without saying that the batsman ought to be comfortable against pace and swing. Yet it takes much more than just getting into the second line or playing late to succeed at the top.An opener should be extremely wary of every ball bowled at him. When the new ball is bowled with an upright seam, even if it is travelling straight in the air, he must not treat it as a straight ball because there is always a possibility of it swinging late in the air or moving sideways after pitching. Playing through the line is a complete no-no.Even as most players’ eyes light up at a juicy half-volley, an opener should always tread with caution. Good openers prefer the check-drive over a full-flowing drive for a couple of reasons: firstly, once committed to a drive, it’s very difficult to pull out, which you must if the ball moves late; secondly, an opener can time the ball to get maximum rewards. He doesn’t need to knock the leather off it.The same cautious nature takes precedence when it comes to turning the bat inwards while playing off the legs. You wait till the very last moment, right till the point of contact, to turn the wrists because you can never be sure whether the seam, on gripping the surface, will change direction and force a top edge.That doesn’t mean an opener should subdue his instincts completely. He must trust his judgement with regard to how much the ball will swing in the air and deviate after pitching. Else it would be next to impossible to play it. There are no surefire methods of knowing the amount of deviation and hence you must fall back on your experience and gut feeling.Two traits at odds with each other and yet a good opener in Test cricket must have a healthy mix of both to succeed.The contradiction doesn’t end there. Mike Atherton once told me that an opener must concede that he can’t be a perfectionist but still must try to get as close as it is possible to being perfect.Since the ball is new, the bowler fresh and the track untested, there will always be deliveries that will defeat you. The trick is to not think about them and to start focusing on the next ball. While it’s fine to get beaten every now and then, it’s still mandatory that you work towards getting your technique watertight.A little push down the ground, off both feet, working the ball on the leg side, and an occasional square cut were the only ways known to traditional openers for scoring runs early in the innings in Test cricket. Even the square cut wasn’t considered a straightforward shot because one must not hit the ball that is still rising. The square cut was only to be played to deliveries that were hittable even after they had acquired the optimum height.As Sunny would often say, “Give the first half an hour to the bowler, the remaining five and a half hours are yours,” which means, gauge the bounce and pace of the pitch and try to play as little as possible in the beginning.There were a few rebels, like Michael Slater, who challenged that school of thought, but no one changed the way opening was perceived as much as Sehwag. He not only scores a lot of runs consistently but also in all conditions.Now if you want to bat in the Sehwag mould, there’s no need to be extra-cautious as an opener. You can not only play through the line but also on the up, as long as you hit it regularly. No longer is it mandatory to get on top of the ball to play the square cut, because getting under the ball and hitting it over the gully and slip cordon is also an acceptable shot and a rewarding one as well. Sehwag’s batting is a lot about courage of conviction and simple technique. He is extremely successful but you emulate him at your own peril.To be fair on the likes of Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan, the role of an opener in Test cricket has also changed over the years. An opener is no longer expected to see off the shine to shield the No. 4, the best batsman in the team, but leads the attack from the front.Sanath Jayasuriya: exploited Powerplays to the max•Getty ImagesOpening in 50-over cricket
Opening in the shorter format is not as demanding as opening in Test cricket. There’s about twice as much room for error in an ODI as compared to Test cricket, for while the ball is moving there are usually two slips at most, maybe the odd gully, and no close-in fielders on the leg side.That’s perhaps why we see so many players who would never open the innings in the longer format successfully do so in ODIs. In fact, opening is considered the best position in which to bat in the shorter format because not only do you get to bat the most overs, you also enjoy the first Powerplay overs. And unlike in Twenty20, here you can play a few quiet overs to get your eye in.Opening in the 50-over version follows a regimented routine for most: play the new white ball with caution and then change gears as the game progresses. It’s almost mandatory to keep hitting boundaries at regular intervals to keep the scoreboard moving, because stealing singles with nine men inside the ring isn’t easy. Though Gautam [Gambhir] and Viru, for instance, take as many singles as possible, the majority of runs come in boundaries. Opening the face of the bat and using the pace of the ball, which is considered near-blasphemy in Test cricket, is the easiest way to rotate the strike here, for there’s hardly anyone manning third man. And once the Powerplay overs are done, unless you’re chasing a huge target, all you need to do is to rotate strike.Even in this format, though, many players approached opening the batting differently. Kris Srikkanth started it and Mark Greatbatch took it to the next level, but it was Sanath Jayasuriya who changed the rules of the game. Jayasuriya, for me, was the Sehwag of one-day cricket. He took the aerial route right from the beginning and no one used the Powerplays better than him. Gilchrist and Hayden also did something similar but Jayasuriya will always be remembered as the pioneer.Opening in Twenty20 cricket
Opening in the shortest format is all about aggression. There’s no time to assess the pace and bounce, so you have to trust your instincts and take a bit of risk. In Twenty20, it’s as important to know your go-to areas as it is to know your off stump in Test cricket. An opener’s endeavour is to find the fence at least twice an over. And if you don’t manage to hit balls in your preferred areas, you must innovate or create the desired lengths and lines to find the fence. The first six overs can decide the future of a match in a Twenty20 game and it’s criminal to let them pass without inflicting enough damage. You can bide your time, but in this format that means a couple of deliveries at most.If you are unbeaten at the end of the sixth over, it’s your responsibility to bat deep into the innings. If one of the openers bats till the 12th or 13th over, getting to a reasonable total is guaranteed. Having wickets in hand in the last seven overs gives everyone the licence to go berserk, and someone who has been there for such a long time might find accelerating a lot easier than a new guy walking in.A lot has changed in cricket but perhaps nothing as drastically as opening the batting. Earlier, uncovered wickets, the quality of fast bowling, and the pace at which the game was played dictated that openers be ultra-cautious. But today it’s daredevilry that rules the roost.

Some of the records set by Muttiah Muralitharan could stay on forever

S Rajesh22-Jul-2010The end was perfect: Muttiah Muralitharan needed eight wickets in his farewell Test to make the 800-mark and, after some struggle, he got there with his last delivery in Test cricket. And when Sri Lanka won the match, it was the fairytale finish all Sri Lankans would have hoped for, much like Glenn McGrath bowing out with a World Cup triumph, or Pete Sampras retiring after winning the US Open.Murali’s record of 800 wickets could stay forever, given the number of Tests teams play these days. Murali got as far as he did due to his phenomenal strike-rate – he took an average of six wickets per Test – and outstanding average over such a long period. A comparison with Anil Kumble puts it in perspective: Kumble played only one Test fewer than Murali, but finished with 181 fewer wickets despite averaging 4.7 wickets per match. Among those with at least 500 Test wickets, no one has a wickets-per-match average anywhere near Murali. Shane Warne is closest and even he has only 4.88 per Test.The other aspect about Murali that stands out is the sheer size of the workload he undertook match after match. Being the standout strike bowler for his team meant he had a better opportunity than most to take a high percentage of wickets, but being a spinner who played mostly in the subcontinent also meant he had to do the bulk of the bowling, a task he handled admirably. In his final Test, Murali bowled 370 deliveries (268 of them in the second innings), which was only 39 more than his average per Test over his career. Among those with more than 500 wickets, Kumble is the only one to bowl more than 300 deliveries per Test.

Leading wicket-takers in Test cricket

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM	Wkts per Test	Balls per Test
Muttiah Muralitharan	133	800	22.72	55.0	67/ 22	6.02	331.12
Shane Warne	145	708	25.41	57.4	37/ 10	4.88	280.72
Anil Kumble	132	619	29.65	65.9	35/ 8	4.69	309.47
Glenn McGrath	124	563	21.64	51.9	29/ 3	4.54	235.87
Courtney Walsh	132	519	24.44	57.8	22/ 3	3.93	227.42

And among the top five wicket-takers in wins, Murali is the only one who had to bowl more than 300 deliveries per Test. Kumble’s balls bowled in matches won dropped to 297 – about two overs fewer than his overall average – but for Murali the average increased by a couple of overs, showing that Sri Lanka relied on him even more in wins. And his average wickets per match increased further in wins, to 8.11. Only Kumble is anywhere close to that figure.

Leading wicket-takers in wins in Test cricket

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM	Wkts per Test	Balls per Test
Shane Warne	92	510	22.47	51.2	27/ 7	5.54	284.05
Muttiah Muralitharan	54	438	16.18	42.7	41/ 18	8.11	346.76
Glenn McGrath	84	414	19.19	47.7	18/ 3	4.93	235.48
Anil Kumble	43	288	18.75	44.4	20/ 5	6.70	297.91
Malcolm Marshall	43	254	16.78	38.1	17/ 4	5.91	225.07

As if 66 five-fors weren’t enough, Murali got one more in his final Test, finishing with 67. Considering he is 30 five-fors clear of the next highest, Warne, and 43 clear of the next-highest active player, Harbhajan Singh, that’s another record that will almost certainly stay with him forever. As will Murali’s 22 ten-fors, which is more than twice the next best, and more than four times the highest among current players.The rate at which Murali took five-fors was amazing – he needed fewer than two Tests to take one. Richard Hadlee, another bowler who did most of the striking duties for his team, is the only one with a comparable rate.

Most five-fors in Tests

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Five-fors	Tests per five-for
Muttiah Muralitharan	133	800	67	1.98
Shane Warne	145	708	37	3.92
Richard Hadlee	86	431	36	2.39
Anil Kumble	132	619	35	3.77
Glenn McGrath	124	563	29	4.27

Murali took a ten-for once every six Tests, and while that’s a phenomenal rate too, a couple of bowlers from the early 1900s did better. Sydney Barnes took seven from 27 matches, while Clarrie Grimmett had seven from 37. Among the current lot, though, no one comes anywhere close to Murali, which shows just how far ahead of the pack he has been.

Most ten-fors in Tests

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Ten-fors	Tests per ten-for
Muttiah Muralitharan	133	800	22	6.04
Shane Warne	145	708	10	14.50
Richard Hadlee	86	431	9	9.55
Anil Kumble	132	619	8	16.50
Sydney Barnes	27	189	7	3.86
Clarrie Grimmett	37	216	7	5.28
Dennis Lillee	70	355	7	10.00

In India, Johnson is not expected to swing the ball, so he is free to bowl in his natural style, angling the ball across with slight variations in movement off the pitch, and getting the occasional one to lift into the ribs.

Brydon Coverdale at the VCA Stadium25-Feb-2011Which foreign player has taken the most ODI wickets in India? Muttiah Muralitharan? Glenn McGrath? Courtney Walsh? Wrong, wrong and wrong again. As of today, it’s Mitchell Johnson. After a year of frustrating Australian fans and testing the patience of the selectors, who finally dropped him during the Ashes, Johnson is looming as a key man at this World Cup, and he was instrumental in the seven-wicket win over New Zealand.It was a double-wicket maiden from Johnson that sparked Australia’s dominance in the field, and he returned to finish New Zealand off after they had climbed to a vaguely respectable score having milked the spin of Jason Krejza and Steven Smith. It gave him 4 for 33 to add to his figures of 4 for 19 in the opener against Zimbabwe, and he’s an early leader on the tournament wicket tally.And when he had last man Tim Southee caught skying an attempted slog, Johnson joined Winston Benjamin with 36 one-day wickets in India, although Benjamin took six more matches to get there. At first glance, it seems odd that one of Australia’s most unpredictable fast men should thrive in conditions that offer pace bowlers so little assistance.But in part, that’s one of the secrets to Johnson’s success here. In England and at times in Australia, he has tried to bend it like Beckham, only to spray it like a sprinkler. In India, there is no expectation that he will swing the ball, so he is free to bowl in his natural style, angling the ball across with slight variations in movement off the pitch, and getting the occasional one to lift into the ribs.”It just suits my bowling, I guess, the bang-the-wicket kind of bowling that I like, and the change-ups that I use,” Johnson said of bowling in India. “I just really enjoy the challenges over here of these conditions. I saw the game between the Netherlands and England and it looked like a pretty good wicket. I just had in the back of my mind I wanted to bang it in to the wicket like I did against Zimbabwe and probably not think about it too much, but just go out there and enjoy myself.”In Nagpur, he found just the right length and nipped the ball away a fraction to draw an edge from Jesse Ryder, a plan that he had spoken to Ricky Ponting about earlier in the spell, and three balls later James Franklin flashed outside off and edged behind. New Zealand sank to 6 for 73 soon afterwards, but Ponting put Johnson on ice while the spinners sped through the middle overs to make up time for a slow over rate.In his first over back, Johnson struck again, trapping the half-centurion Nathan McCullum lbw. The ball pitched just inside the leg-stump line and kept going with the arm, and would have taken off stump. Johnson’s speed and angle make him a tough customer when he’s on song – and when he’s not flinging wides – and he could be the big wicket-taker in an attack also featuring Brett Lee and Shaun Tait.That should take nothing away from the efforts of Lee, who bowled superbly to keep the runs down early, tying down Martin Guptill, who was then bowled by Shane Watson. And Tait, despite spraying his first two balls for wides, picked up three wickets and shattered the stumps of Ross Taylor, who was beaten for pace.”He probably hasn’t bowled as well as he can with the brand new ball just yet, and today is a pretty good example of that,” Ponting said of Tait. “He’s just got to keep it in the back of his head that he’s going to get probably four or five spells to come back and have an impact for us. He had an impact in his second spell today and his third spell. That’s what we can keep up our sleeve with someone like him, we’ve always got that strike power when we need it.”Even Krejza, whose nine overs cost 47, won praise from the captain for bowling better than his figures suggested. He’s another man who knows what it’s like to take big bags in India, but he’ll have to fight Johnson for the spoils in this World Cup.

After arriving from Australia, Brendan Nash didn’t have to wait too long to play for West Indies, but he faced a few hurdles along the way

Sriram Veera25-Jun-2011″Go home white boy, you’re no good. You couldn’t make it there, so why are you here?” It’s 2007 and Brendan Nash is batting at the trials in Jamaica. A few locals came on all four days of the trials and gave him a hard time. Their anger was perhaps understandable. Nash, whose father was a Jamaican Olympic swimmer, had arrived from Australia and perhaps the locals felt he had blocked a young Jamaican from getting an opportunity. How did Nash feel at the time?”It was a little disheartening,” he told ESPNcricinfo, “to actually get it in the country you are trying to play for. I think it taught me a lot about my character and how to build it. My father was actually with me during the first six-eight months. He was here in Jamaica so he was a little concerned too. My father was a well-known sportsman in Jamaica, so that kind of eased the tension.”Nash has been dropped from the West Indies squad for the Barbados Test against India although he was the vice-captain. He had made only 1 and 9 at Sabina Park, and only 54 runs in his previous six innings. The future is now uncertain, as there are a couple of youngsters pushing for places in the middle order. It is the most serious disappointment Nash has faced since his Test career started in a hurry in December 2008.Nash did not think he would play for West Indies, even when he first played for Jamaica. His form was great, he got along with his captain, Chris Gayle, and suddenly the ambition of becoming a Test cricketer grew after six to eight months. “I remember my first conversation with Chris. He said to me, ‘You are one of us, don’t worry about what anyone’s saying to you. If anyone troubles you, I am here for you.’ Obviously, as much as I had played with great cricketers back home [in Australia], to have a Chris Gayle, this was his country, and to have him come and say that to me was a great thing. It was my first or second trial game. So it helped me settle down quicker.”Nash keeps saying “We” when he talks about West Indies. The question had to be asked. How long did it take to say “we”? “It’s funny. It didn’t take too long,” he says. “There are still problems with accent and Jamaicans find it funny when I say that (we). But I have broken lots of barriers and it’s easy now.”He had a connection with the West Indies cricketers as he was growing up. His mother would invite the visiting West Indians home for a meal. Nash remembers Courtney Walsh ducking to avoid the arches at home. He had a poster of Curtly Ambrose plastered on his wall at boarding school.Even after Nash settled into the West Indies team, he faced other every-day cultural challenges. He and his wife like to sit and talk in a bar. They found it wasn’t easy to do. “Here in Jamaica it’s about dancing. To go out to a bar is not to necessarily drink, but it’s more of a nightclub dancing culture. I was a bit of a rum drinker in Australia. So no problems on that count.”There were other quirks, some of which he can’t still get used to. “In the Caribbean, we are always trying to be the most important person in the party,” he says. “I am not comfortable doing it. I like to stay in the background. That’s who I am. I don’t think I am going to change myself at this stage.”West Indies weren’t winning much when Nash made his debut and he says he tried to do his bit to improve the work ethic. “When I came in, Queensland were just coming into a period of winning. Unfortunately I have come to West Indies when they haven’t been winning. That’s the biggest difference – the mindset and the work ethic. When you are winning, hard work becomes easier, when you are not winning it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what I have been trying to bring here – develop the work ethic.”At the end of the chat, Nash tries to put the West Indian part of his career in perspective. “I am glad that I could come and live this life. As much as I love the things I have achieved, the biggest thing for me is that in some small way I have helped West Indies try and take the steps [to return to] where they were.”

From the whipping boys of the IPL to serious contenders, the Knight Riders have come a long way

Tariq Engineer30-Apr-2011Four months ago, Gautam Gambhir’s name was the first to come out of the hat at the IPL player auction. Gambhir had been a solid but unspectacular performer for Delhi Daredevils over the first three years, and while he was expected to be sought after, what happened next would surprise everyone. Gambhir’s price didn’t merely rise, it skyrocketed. First, it went past $1 million. Then $1.5 million. Then $2 million, the most ever bid in the IPL. When the dust settled, Kolkata Knight Riders were the last team standing, having pushed Gambhir’s value to $2.4 million. Sold!Kolkata followed that up by buying Yusuf Pathan for $2.1 million and Jacques Kallis for $1.2 million. In 45 minutes they had spent 62% of their salary cap on three players. It looked like madness. But there was a method in there; one that was intended to transform Kolkata from headline-making also-rans to actual championship contenders.Halfway through the league stage, Kolkata sit in second place on the points table, sandwiched between last year’s finalists, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, and have been a fixture in the top four since they beat Rajasthan Royals in their third game. If they can build on their strong start, the only franchise to have never qualified for the IPL semi-finals should have every chance of erasing that record.It had all looked so promising back in 2008. Shah Rukh Khan gave Kolkata star appeal, and with human headline Sourav Ganguly at the helm, the team seemed destined for big things. Only, somebody forgot to read the script. In their first three seasons Kolkata finished sixth, last and sixth.Their misery was compounded by their endless ability to attract controversy. There was the Fake IPL Player blogger, who turned the franchise into a running joke; coach John Buchanan’s multiple-captain theory; and Ganguly’s quarrels with Buchanan and Brendon McCullum. Kolkata had all the drama and intrigue of a Bollywood blockbuster, but without the box office success.”The team had to change,” Arun Lal, former India and West Bengal opener, told ESPNcricinfo.Only, this was no simple job. The house that Shah Rukh built needed more than a fresh coat of paint. It needed to be razed and rebuilt.As its new head, the franchise hired Venky Mysore, who had 25 years of experience in the insurance business. Mysore had played cricket for Madras University and understood the game. The job was a way back into the sport for him. He took over as chief executive in September 2010, and quickly realised that the player auction provided the perfect opportunity for Kolkata to start over.Mysore first asked his team to identify types of players that they wanted – gamechangers, fast bowlers, wicketkeeper-batsmen – rather than individuals. “You cannot afford to attach yourself to names when you are going with an auction strategy,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo. “It is much more the skill sets and the composition more generically.”The next step was to pick eight players for each position. Once they had assembled their wishlist, it was time to learn how to deal with auction pressure. “There is a certain panic that sets in when you get into that situation,” Mysore says. To deal with that panic, the team conducted mock auctions in the weeks leading up to the event. Mysore wrote out what he thought the other teams’ strategies would be and included them in their simulations.By the end of the exercise they had a value for every player up for grabs in Bangalore. But even that wasn’t good enough. Mysore wanted every edge he could find and decided to take a leaf out of a poker player’s book. The best of them can read opponents, and tell from body language whether an opponent is bluffing or not. Mysore went to the BCCI, got videos of the first two auctions and studied them, looking for what are called “tells”, signs that give away what another person may be thinking.It was this detailed preparation that allowed them to feel confident about spending more than a quarter of their budget on one player. The team wanted, as part of their core, “a very good Indian player, a current international,” according to coach Dav Whatmore. “There was a choice of probably four of these and we went for Gambhir.”Similarly Yusuf was someone Whatmore felt was “very important” to their plans of changing the team’s fortunes, while Kallis was targeted for his proven ability in all forms of the game.But lost in the glare of all the money being thrown around was that Kolkata bought plenty of talent on the cheap too – they picked up nine other players, each for $500,000 or less.”Brett Lee is a case in point,” Mysore says. “When we got him at base price [$400,000] I don’t think too many people expected him to do what he did in the World Cup. But we had done our homework. He was training hard. He was as fit as he had ever been.”The core of Gambhir, Kallis, Yusuf and Lee was rounded out with of group of international and domestic players to fill a number of roles. England batsman Eoin Morgan and Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate add batting depth. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan gives the team another quality allrounder, while Brad Haddin, the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, was to provide flexibility behind the stumps. Add the likes of Manoj Tiwary, Iqbal Abdulla and Lakshmipathy Balaji, and Kolkata had much talent and experience up and down the order.The big decision, was, of course, letting Ganguly go. Perhaps only Sachin Tendulkar is as tied to the city of his birth as the Prince of Kolkata is. The decision, Mysore says, was based on cold cricketing logic. Any “retained” players would be locked in for two years, with the possibility of a third, and a 40-year Ganguly was always going to be a risk. A section of the fans did lash out at Kolkata for jettisoning their hero, but the team, Mysore said, always had to be more important than a single player.Once the post-auction domestic signing frenzy had died down, Kolkata wound up with 20 names on its roster, the fewest among all the franchises. A smaller squad is easier to manage tactically and financially. “You look at a World Cup,” Whatmore says. “You are playing in a tournament for roughly the same time and you have 15 players. The more you’ve got, the harder it is.”Lal backs up Whatmore’s assessment that 20 is plenty. “I like this team,” he says. “It has a lot of energy. It has great balance. It has terrific match-winners. Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan. Kallis is a great plus. Brett Lee can turn around a game on his day.Iqbal Abdulla is Kolkata’s leading wicket-taker for the season so far•Associated Press”Shakib can be very interesting. The IPL is being played in April and May on tired wickets, so you definitely need spinners.”It took the new-look Knight Riders three games to find themselves. They stumbled against Chennai Super Kings in the opener, and then barely hung on against Deccan Chargers to register their first win. But it all came together against Rajasthan. Chasing 160, Kolkata lost an early wicket but Gambhir and Kallis quelled any jangling nerves with an unhurried, unbeaten 152-run partnership.Gambhir’s leadership seems to have brought a quiet calm that was missing during Ganguly’s tumultuous reign, while Kallis has provided the solidity at the top that Chris Gayle and McCullum, for all their explosiveness, lacked. They have delivered precisely the kind of goods for which the franchise shelled out all those millions.The team followed their away win by thumping Rajasthan in the return game at Eden Gardens, and this time the bowlers were the stars. Led by Balaji, who uncorked one of the deliveries of the tournament to get rid of Shane Watson, they toppled Rajasthan for 81 and waltzed to victory. Gambhir was there at the end once again.Having seen Kolkata demolish his team twice, Rajasthan chief executive Sean Morris needs no further convincing. He says Kolkata are a formidable side and expects them to be there at the business end of the tournament. “They have some of the best players in the world. Lots of variety in their bowling attack. They are a well-organised and well-run unit. I always thought they would be one of the top teams.”Kolkata are targeting a semi-final spot this season and Lal reckons they have a good shot at making the knockout stages. He ranks Mumbai Indians and Chennai as the best teams in the tournament, with Kolkata right behind, though he is quick to point out how unpredictable Twenty20 cricket can be. “I expected the last team to be successful. The cricketers all underperformed. Call it ill luck. Call it lack of gelling. Everything went wrong.”Kolkata stumbled against Kochi and Royal Challengers at home, but rebounded by beating Delhi Daredevils on Thursday. It was the lesser-known players who shone in the 17-run win: local boy Tiwary top- scored with 61, and Abdulla took three crucial wickets. Adbulla is now their leading wicket-taker this season with eight, the same as Yusuf, who has yet to shine with the bat but has delivered consistently with the ball. Meanwhile Tiwary has 194 runs at 97, just shy of Gambhir, with Kallis a little further ahead, emphasising the depth in this team.The win over Delhi took Kolkata above Chennai on net run rate and into second place. Rubbing shoulders with the defending champions is a heady place for them to be, and early vindication for stripping the cupboard bare and restocking it.