Tag Futebol

Leeds United and Victor Orta snatched Rasmus Kristensen from under the noses of Borussia Dortmund, The Athletic’s Phil Hay says. 

The lowdown

Leeds are set to complete the signing of right-back Kristensen in the coming days.

The key components of the deal are agreed, and now all that remains is for the Dane to undertake and pass a medical.

He’s due to become the Whites’ second signing of the summer, following team-mate Brenden Aaronson from Austria to Yorkshire.

In the short-term, Kristensen will compete with Luke Ayling for a starting role at Elland Road and, given that he’s six years younger, he may be viewed as a long-term successor too.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-updates-4/” title=”Latest Leeds United updates!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The latest

‘It’s been something of a turnaround’, Hay writes, with Dortmund looking poised to land Kristensen ‘until very recently’.

‘People close to the negotiations’ thought a move was at a very advanced stage before Leeds intervened.

They made their ‘pitch’ and muscled their way ‘into the running late on’.

The verdict

Why might nine-time trophy winner Kristensen choose Leeds over Dortmund? The Bundesliga outfit are set to embark a season of Champions League football, while Leeds only survived in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth.

But perhaps he’s more confident of dislodging Ayling than he would be Thomas Meunier, or maybe he’s desperate to play in the Premier League.

Of course, there is also the possibility that the Whites are offering a bigger boost to his current £14,000-per-week salary.

But above all else, Marsch seems to have been the decisive factor. Kristensen’s relationship with the American after their time together at Salzburg has, according to The Daily Mail, swung the deal in Leeds’ favour, and given the Red Bull model’s penchant for producing top talent, this could be a very beneficial connection for the club in the coming years.

In other news, an ex-Leeds man has issued a ‘huge’ Raphinha claim.

Eddie Howe reportedly now wants to sign Dean Henderson for Newcastle United in the summer.

The Lowdown: Henderson out of favour

The goalkeeper has largely been out of favour at Manchester United this season with just three matches played, none in the Premier League (WhoScored).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-6/” title=”Newcastle news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

He failed to make Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their friendly matches against Switzerland and Ivory Coast in March and will likely seek a move away from Old Trafford this summer, given that it is a World Cup year.

The Latest: Howe interest in Henderson

As per The Mirror, Newcastle have reportedly now ‘intensified’ their interest in signing Henderson, and sources from St James’ Park have revealed that Howe sees him as the ideal successor to Martin Dubravka.

The 25-year-old is currently valued at £20m and is ‘ready’ to move if he cannot secure the number one spot at Old Trafford for next season.

The Verdict: Sign him

Henderson has already showed his credentials when he gets regular playing time in the top flight, as he kept no fewer than 13 clean sheets while on loan at Sheffield United a couple of seasons ago.

His former Blades team-mate Sander Berge even went as far as to call the 6 foot 2 colossus ‘insane‘ and ‘exceptional‘, a glowing testament to how well he did at Bramall Lane.

At only 25 years of age, he is still relatively young for a goalkeeper, so he could grow into one of the best in the league under Howe’s management at Newcastle.

Incidentally, Henderson also shares the same agent as three other Magpies players, which could help to push though a move to Tyneside.

In other news, find out who NUFC are now ‘confident’ of signing this summer

After his chronic form dip in the Australian summer, captain is back to form … with the bat if not the coin

Melinda Farrell at The Oval15-Jun-2019Aaron Finch has lost again.The toss, that is.It’s something the Australian captain has become accustomed to. Even Brad Haddin’s ten-year-old son, Zac, ribbed him about his losing streak in the pre-match press conference – if you include warm-up matches, it’s currently at nine. “Can you win a toss?” asked Zac. Apparently, the answer is no.It’s not the only losing streak Finch has suffered in the past year. Over the course of the Australian summer he had been dropped from the Test side after five matches and across six ODIs he had managed to eke out just 83 runs.It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone who watched him switching formats and locations quicker than a catwalk model swaps outfits: two hemispheres, 15 cities and seven format changes from the time he was called up for a Test series in the UAE in October to the conclusion of the home ODI series against India in January. During a year in which he had married his long-term partner, Amy, he had only spent a handful of nights in his own home. Burnout was closing in.***Toss lost, Finch waited at the non-striker’s end as Warner faced the first over from Lasith Malinga. Warner has been scratchy and sometimes hesitant while still scoring runs since his return; the opening partnership hasn’t quite clicked into the one-two sucker punching of old, but there have been glimpses of its heyday.Finch’s turn came in the second over as Nuwan Pradeep, elbows akimbo, ran in from the Members’ End and bowled a good length ball just outside off stump. The front foot drive was both no-nonsense and imperious, carving its way past mid-off for four. After three dot balls there it was again, this time straight past the bowler.In the seventh over it’s Malinga’s turn. Another pair of glorious drives, another brace of boundaries, again through mid-off and straight down the ground.When Finch drives well at the start of an innings it’s a good sign. In the familiar surroundings of The Oval – Surrey fans must be licking their lips in anticipation of Finch and Jason Roy opening the batting together during the Blast – he displayed confidence in every movement; front foot, back foot, defend, free the arms.***Aaron Finch celebrates after reaching his century•Getty ImagesSix months earlier that confidence was completely shot.Finch’s form drop was but one domino falling in the chain reaction that followed the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. He was shoe-horned into the Test side as David Warner’s replacement as the selectors sought an apparent like-for-like aggressive shot-maker. It was to be a short-lived experiment, with Finch averaging 27.80, but it had the unwelcome knock-on effect of disrupting his white-ball form. He lost his natural rhythm and become tentative in both his thinking and his footwork. Even worse, he was overcome with crippling self-doubt.”I think the time in Dubai, or in the UAE this year against Pakistan was really good,” said Finch, speaking after the match at The Oval. “The end of the Indian series was really good, as well, in the one-dayers. I probably just changed my mind-set a little bit more than anything. I started to doubt my game a lot before that in the Australian summer and there was a lot of times when I was just questioning every single decision that I was making, whether it was technical, mental, physical.”Everything that I could – that I was doing, I was just questioning because you’re looking for an answer that you don’t know what the answer is. So it can be really tough at times, when you don’t know what the end result is, but you’re searching so hard for something you don’t know.”***Finch had to search for a way through a tougher period, as Sri Lanka’s attack countered and squeezed, Warner’s stumps were shattered by Dhananjaya di Silva and Usman Khawaja struggled to get going, But on this day Finch had an answer and it was grounded in patience, as he and Steve Smith weathered the onslaught.Watch on Hotstar (India only): Finch leads the way with match-winning 153 The release came as de Silva began the eighth over of his spell. Forget the earlier punches and drives, this was pure muscular dominance; after turning one fine to the leg-side boundary, Finch heaved back-to-back sixes down the ground. Shackles off, the century followed quickly but was celebrated perfunctorily; a briefly raised bat, then back to business.***It can seem strange that players can spend almost their entire lives immersed in the game – training, watching, playing, listening – and still be on a quest, searching for the Holy Grail that unlocks their talent. Finch has made hundreds – 14 in total – but he has only passed 150 twice, both times this year. The first was an unbeaten 153 in Sharjah against a weakened Pakistan team. This, the highest score by an Australian captain in a World Cup, was something more; a confirmation that Finch is back to the form that deserted him eight months ago.”It was a really great learning for me over the summer,” said Finch. “Obviously it would have been nice to have that at 22 and not 32, but I think overall, what I learned was you can strip it back as much as you want, but it doesn’t change the basics of the game. The basics as an opening batter is to go out there and defend the good ball and score runs.”So for me, I was looking for everything other than just the most basic thing, which is watch the ball and react to it. I mean, you can butter it up any way, but I was just going back to the basics, going back, doing a little bit of mental work on changing my mind-set to just be positive.”And Andrew McDonald always says to me, ‘If you get caught at mid-on or you get caught at first slip, you’re still out, so play your natural game.’Finch wasn’t caught at mid-on or at first slip. He misjudged a slower ball and skied a ball to cover.Toss lost, game won, mission not-quite accomplished. For now, at least, that will do.

With Mushfiqur Rahim gradually entering a stage of his career normally considered the peak of a batsman, Bangladesh have to wonder if relieving him of his keeping duties might help bring out his best with the bat

Mohammad Isam in Hyderabad12-Feb-20173:59

#AskSanjay: Should Shakib and Mushfiqur bat higher up the order?

One aspect of Mushfiqur Rahim’s batting that stood out during his 127 in Hyderabad was his judgement outside the off stump. He is one of the few Bangladesh batsmen, among current and former players, who is not tempted by deliveries on fourth stump and can accurately leave the ball. Muscle memory, from hours of honing skills, and a phlegmatic temperament give him an edge over other batsmen in the line-up.The period leading to this innings was a tough one for the Bangladesh captain. His leadership wasn’t up to the mark as India’s batsmen, led by Virat Kohli, put on a massive first-innings score of 687. His wicket-keeping also drew criticism. Not long into the third morning, Mushfiqur strode out with his team in trouble. That he could lengthen his stay in the middle is down to the fact that he is as fit as any top wicketkeeper-batsman.Mushfiqur’s fastidious nature means that he does his homework well and doesn’t leave anything to chance. He picks the bowlers to attack well and, over two centuries in consecutive Tests in Wellington and Hyderabad played in vastly different conditions, he has shown that his technique is adaptable to the situation he faces.In his previous Test in Wellington, where he scored 159, it was easier to leave deliveries because the bounce was truer. So he rode it well and got plenty of runs punching the ball on the off side and timing the ball well while leaning into drives. He picked the right time to lay into the New Zealand bowling and in the second innings, before he was struck by a Neil Wagner bouncer, he looked in most control for Bangladesh on the juicy surface.In Hyderabad, he was cautious against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma but attacked the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja more confidently. Against Umesh Yadav, who posed a threat on the third day, he was mostly calm and made sure the rampant fast bowler was nullified in later spells.Mushfiqur also had to forge partnerships with the lower order in Hyderabad and found an able ally in Mehedi Hasan, who scored his maiden international fifty. Once Mehedi fell on the fourth morning, however, Mushfiqur had to farm the strike. While Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi were willing to stick around, Mushfiqur had to protect them and tackle the bowling. India bowled well to him, never letting him cut loose like he did against New Zealand last month.His centuries in Wellington and Hyderabad showed how adaptable Mushfiqur Rahim’s technique is•AFPLooking at his figures, it is easy to understand why he is rated so highly as a batsman: four of his five hundreds have come abroad. Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful have three each. In his current role as captain and wicketkeeper-batsman, he is the only player to have scored four hundreds abroad. Andy Flower, Adam Gilchrist, Percy Sherwell and Tatenda Taibu have made one century each away from home in the same roles.But it is hard to see him bat above No. 6, because he keeps wicket. In Hyderabad, for instance, within minutes of becoming the last Bangladesh wicket to fall, Mushfiqur walked out with his keeping pads on and for the next two hours, his job was to be the focal point of a fielding unit. He has been doing this kind of quick turnaround for a long time but, as his career gets into the stage that is usually considered the peak of a batsman, and the frequency of his big scores rises, it will be necessary for the team to look after his long-term fitness.If the management have plans to give Mushfiqur the best preparation to bat, in other words more time to relax between innings, they have to select a specialist wicketkeeper. This will be a difficult call between Nurul Hasan and Liton Das. Currently, Liton seems to be ahead, although the selectors did think two months ago that Nurul could fit in the role.If, for example, Liton is included, it could give Mushfiqur more flexibility to bat from No. 4 to 6. Apart from his wicketkeeping, another factor in Mushfiqur batting at No. 6 is the thought that young players like Sabbir Rahman and Mehedi, who bat below him, need protection. But since they are good enough to be playing Tests, they will not necessarily need a senior batsman with them all the time.So imagine, in a parallel universe, that Mushfiqur, having batted for most of the third afternoon and fourth morning to get to his fifth Test century, has the luxury to stroll around when taking charge of the field in India’s second innings. He would still be in the in-field but would be able to sneak in some stretches to get his limbs moving, take a sip of water, or even take an over or two off and sit in the dressing room, giving him enough time to recover from his first batting stint and freshen up for another long day, this time to save the game.

He was overshadowed by Ben Stokes’ feats, but Jonny Bairstow’s maiden Test was a special moment for a multitude of reasons

David Hopps03-Jan-2016Many Test cricketers have looked to the heavens before and many will do so in the future. Many have stories to relate and secrets they prefer not to tell, some happy, some desperately sad. Others gaze skywards simply because this is how they have always imagined it should be. But few have gazed upwards before with the emotional intensity of Jonny Bairstow.On the fourth day of the Cape Town Test, it will be the anniversary of the death of David Bairstow, Jonny’s dad – a suicide that shook the family to the core. Bluey was one of the best loved cricketers in Yorkshire’s history who earned four Test and 21 ODI caps for England. Jonny was eight years old. Eighteen years on, with his maiden Test century, he has come of age.Bairstow’s maiden Test hundred was an afterthought, submerged by a herculean double century played by Ben Stokes that suggested – physical fitness allowing – he can become the talismanic figure England want him to be. Even in his native Yorkshire they will grudgingly accept that Bairstow played second fiddle, not that any self-respecting Yorkshireman would feel obliged to hide away at the back of the orchestra when the applause sounded.There are many times when journalism feels intrusive, no matter how justifiable the moment, and this is one of those moments. To have some passing knowledge of the grief such trauma can bring gives at least some sort of insight. Rarely a day must pass without a confusion of love, anger, bewilderment, guilt or betrayal. A truce can be called, but a peace rarely negotiated.Perhaps now, though, that first Test century has been achieved, that moment lived, no more need be said. Perhaps it will be a healthy place to be when Jonny Bairstow can look to the heavens without further media questions. But perhaps, too, this was the occasion that Jonny and his mother Janet, as they experienced their proudest moment, invited the whole family – those living and not – to share in his triumph.As Janet said, she is “normally in a corridor hiding” when Jonny approaches a landmark. No fiercer advocate of a son’s talent exists in cricket. This time she watched, first braving it out in a hospitality box and then braving it out on in an interview Jonathan Agnew described as one of the most emotional of his life.”Well that was for grandad and for dad, all sorts of different reasons and it was all very emotional,” she said. “That was special to him because we are a small unit. They’ll be playing cricket upstairs somewhere. Or probably standing by the bar area.”There would be no probably about it.Do not expect a long speech from Bairstow on such an occasion. The family history tracks him every day. He must have received thousands of well-meaning memories during his own cricketing career and has slowly learned how to deal with them. He can be a private individual away from those he most trusts. At Cape Town, he achieved a lifetime ambition and the primeval roar and clenched jaw, not quite managing to suppress the emotions that leaked through, told its own tale. His dad once played and coached there. It was all enough to cause a small earthquake in Yorkshire.”It’s probably the best day of my life, I reckon,” Bairstow told “My mum was up there in one of the boxes, my sister as well. It’s a special day for all family – both here and up there.”There were a lot of things building up through the last couple of years: my grandpa passing away last year and dad – it’s the anniversary of that coming up as well – so I’m absolutely delighted to score it in this New Year’s Test match at such an iconic venue.”Stokes does not over-complicate life, but impressively he had the emotional intelligence not to intrude on what rightly became a private family celebration. “It’s your first hundred and you never have that again,” Stokes said. “It’s a special time: you want that 10-15 seconds all to yourself to take in the crowd and salute your team-mates. I let him have that moment.”As afterthoughts go, it had been a special one, as 150 not out from 191 balls upon England’s declaration will testify. Bairstow was never sucked in to trying to match Stokes blow for blow, but played with enough freedom to accompany him, to tell him that all things were possible.”Being the player I am, going hell for leather, you can get drawn into doing that yourself and the way he played his natural game and not get too far out of his box was amazing,” Stokes said. “Then once he got his hundred he let loose.”As Bairstow remarked: “We just clicked”.He has had a challenging year. Brought back into the England fold in early season, as a substitute for a dynamic and popular figure in Jos Buttler, his batting has developed rapidly – he averaged nearly 100 for Yorkshire in the Championship last season – but however much it aggravates him to hear it, his wicket-keeping remains flawed. At 26, approaching his best years, his challenge – and it is a formidable one – is to improve both facets of his game.For now, he can relish a Test hundred. “It has been a little while coming,” Bairstow told the . “Obviously after everything that has gone on in the last year or so it is fantastic to get over the line for me and my family. There was a lot of talk here and there so I am delighted to get over the line today.”A lotta talk – maybe, maybe too much talk,” as Bono once famously said before a live rendition of Sunday, Bloody Sunday.On a Sunday in Cape Town, as he thrust his heads to the heavens, it was time for the talking to stop.

The duration of the Test series will allow Alastair Cook and MS Dhoni to reassess the strategies, or provide enough time to get thoroughly exposed

Sidharth Monga04-Jul-2014Roger Waters might well have been thinking of Alastair Cook when he wrote in that “hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way”. Take some license and add MS Dhoni to it, for their stories as captains have a lot in common. Starting July 9, over 42 days packed with 25 possible days of Test cricket in England, the two captains will be under intense scrutiny. Knowing them as captains, they are likely to hang on and on until the desperation is not quiet anymore.Cook and Dhoni both like order, set-pieces so to speak. The ball is 60 overs old; let’s get a spinner and a part-timer on. The opposition is six down; let’s attack only the tailender. Let’s not change batting orders mid-series. Even in personal lives, the highs and lows of cricket don’t seem to be a matter of life and death. Both men are conscious of not expressing too much despair or joy on the field; neither wants attention on himself. At the best of times, they bring this predictability to their operation that calms their teams down. No wild celebrations on winning, no rockets given after losses. When the cricket is over, Cook goes to his farm and tends to sheep; Dhoni opens up bikes and reassembles them, gets acquainted with army weapons and army ways. They won’t be able to get away over the next month and a half.They have had massive highs and lows. Dhoni has won the World Cup, World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy, but he has also gone three years without an overseas Test win, or a defining contribution with the bat over these 13 Tests. Cook has won an Ashes each off his bat and as a captain, has done the unthinkable by leading a series win in India, which are probably two of the most cherished results in England cricket, but he has also overseen the devastating whitewash in Australia, has done the unthinkable by losing a home series to Sri Lanka, and has now gone 25 innings without a century. Over this English summer, they must lay themselves bare on the field. One of them, or both, or even neither, will get the monkey off the back.Cook and Dhoni. Dhoni and Cook. Possible mates. Possible nemeses.•BCCIYou can imagine Dhoni and Cook will like each other over a drink. They might love to discuss how not many in the outside world understand their ways. Surely they believe there is merit to what almost the whole world considers defensive, non-instinctive captaincy? “A hundred and eighty-seven Tests between us, and people are still questioning us.” “A hundred and eighty-seven Tests between them, and they are still letting Tests drift on the field.” They might even enjoy a game of poker, sitting expression-less, keeping their cards close to their chest, not letting anyone know what they are thinking. Except there won’t be a lot of raising done. They could spend hours talking about Duncan Fletcher, who holds both of them dear. They might discuss how one of them was saved by his board president, and how the other’s boss considers him and his family “the sort of people we need”.Cook and Dhoni. Dhoni and Cook. Possible mates. Possible nemeses. For Cook has given Dhoni as much grief as anyone else in international cricket. Piling on those runs in the home series, leading a side that consigned India to their most rueful Test defeat in recent memory, winning after conceding 325 on the Bombay Bunsen. Dhoni had his own back when he pulled out an Ishant Sharma-sized rabbit out of his hat in the Champions Trophy last year, cruelly ending England’s quest for their first big title in 50-over cricket.Even when Shane Warne says that the fourth day against Sri Lanka at Headingley was the worst bit of captaincy he has ever seen in Test cricket, Dhoni can pull out a few examples of his own to steal that thunder from Cook. Wonder if Dhoni found that fourth day all too familiar. Then again, Cook can claim Dhoni doesn’t have such days at home. It takes a really awful day of cricket to be able to manage this in home conditions.

They might even enjoy a game of poker, sitting expression-less, keeping their cards close to their chest, not letting anyone know what they are thinking. Except there won’t be a lot of raising done

Consequently Cook will be under more pressure than Dhoni, who still has the limited-overs success to fall back on. After all he did survive the two whitewashes and the home series loss to England. Cook’s selectors and public are not likely to be that forgiving. Cook need not look past Dhoni if this feels like pressure. It matters nought to Dhoni what the public or the pundits think. It doesn’t affect his game, it doesn’t affect his team’s game. They won the Champions Trophy weeks after the biggest scandal in Indian cricket in this century, and it had involved Dhoni’s IPL team and his biggest supporter in India, N Srinivasan.Srinivasan does his bit by protecting the team, by making sure nobody who will criticise them – like Shane Warne or anyone at Sky might England – will be employed by the host broadcaster. It is still unlikely Warne will be able to send Dhoni into a public meltdown. You need a thick skin to be India captain for this long.It’s not all doom and gloom for the series, though. It won’t all start at 11am in Nottingham with third man, deep point, deep cover and deep midwicket as the brave new version of three slips and a gully. These two are exceptional international cricketers, and you don’t achieve what they have achieved in their careers without mental strength. When Cook hammered India in 2011, it was part of a resurgence after almost a summer where he couldn’t buy a run. Dhoni began India’s turnaround at home with a series-turning double-century against Australia.Michael Clarke and Mark Taylor might not approve of this, but with both the captains evenly matched as tacticians, preferring attrition to assault, this has the makings of a tight series. The duration of it will allow the leaders to reassess the strategies, or provide enough time to get thoroughly exposed. The stakes – surely higher for Cook than Dhoni, but he has the better bowlers – could even make the captains come out of their shells. Just as long as a proper batsman is not batting with a tailender.

Plays of the Day from the third day of the Cape Town Test between South Africa and Pakistan

Firdose Moonda at Newlands16-Feb-2013Celebration of the day
It looked as though Saeed Ajmal would not let any of his team-mates take a wicket, but when the second new ball was taken, it was out of his hands. Pakistan’s seven-foot quick Mohammad Irfan was given the opportunity to make an impact and he did in his first over. He did not do anything too special, just a length ball that AB de Villiers lobbed to Umar Gul at mid-on, so the celebrations were contained. Until Asad Shafiq tried to high-five the tall man and couldn’t reach. He jumped to try and get there and Irfan, with arms raised above his head, waited for his team-mate to meet his hands. As more of them did it, the smiles grew.Shot of the day
Saeed Ajmal and Robin Peterson are usually mentioned in the same breath to discuss their differences: Ajmal is a magician with the ball, while Peterson more workmanlike. Their first-innings performances underlined that. However, Peterson got one over Ajmal with the bat. Having approached Ajmal positively, Peterson switch-hit the spinner over third man to take his score to 77.Ball of the day
Dale Steyn does not often get it wrong, but in his first over he bowled a delivery that landed so wide, it was almost off the pitch. AB de Villiers could not get near the ball and the slips had to collect it.Record of the day
Mark Boucher was at Newlands to enjoy a day dedicated to saying goodbye to him. He may not have known that a record of his was being broken as he busied himself with activities. Peterson’s sprightly 84 was the best effort by a South African batsman in this match and the most runs a South Africa No.8 has scored against Pakistan. Boucher held the previous record, his 78 at the Wanderers in 1997-98, during a stand with Pat Symcox that was crucial to cementing his place in the side.Chance of the day
A much-improved Peterson deserved more wickets in Pakistan’s second innings but unlike in the first, the only fielder he can be aggrieved with was himself. Shafiq was dropped off his bowling on day one, and today Peterson put down a chance from Azhar Ali. The batsman smacked the ball so hard back at Peterson in his follow through that it may have hurt Bruce Oxenford, had Peterson not got in the way. He almost got to it but ended up fending it off, earning a bruise but not much else.

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.

Will Luke reviews Andrew Strauss’s autobiography

Will Luke30-Sep-2006

Coming into Play by Andrew Strauss (Hodder & Stoughton, 304pp) £11.39
The prospect of yet another autobiography at the fag-end of the season is not cause for much celebration. Expectations are further dampened given the author has spent a mere 28 months in Test cricket. Nevertheless, his column in the has always been a cut above the usual dross – and I approached Andrew Strauss’s with reasonable optimism.Nicknamed Lord Brockett, Strauss’s diffidence and privileged background is extensively compared to that of (most of) his team-mates. Frequent mention of the “jazz hats” (he and his team-mate, and later best-man, Ben Hutton) become a little weary. We get the picture, Andrew. An image develops of a man who – in spite of an upbringing geared to provide a golden, well-trodden path to the City – was unsure of his direction.Cricket, we learn, wasn’t a prominent feature of his future. In spite of the outstanding facilities afforded to public schoolboys, cricket was a bit-part to the “conveyer belt” of school, A-Levels, economics degrees and, ultimately, a city job. It’s what his parents expected and wanted, and there is no shortage of barbed comments about the “sheltered” existence a public schoolboy leads. After visiting a Middlesex team-mate’s flat on a council estate, his obvious pleasure in meeting someone from a different social and educational background was revelatory – for him, and us. Cricket levelled him.Before long, he moves onto the crux of the story: playing for England. Curiosity, or jealously, stir our interest in the luxuries afforded to international sportsmen (mobile phones, cars, preferential treatment at airports and…blazers), but it’s nothing we’ve not heard before. Likewise the nerves, tension and excitement he experienced are all superfluous and quickly forgotten. Fluently written, and clearly from the heart, the book is sadly let down by the minutiae. A near ball-by-ball account of his first few innings for England might make for a tear-jerking Jackanory session for his grandchildren, but it’s tedious for the rest of us. A Middlesex supporter since birth, I celebrated like a buffoon when he scored his maiden hundred on debut against New Zealand in 2004. Even for me, though, the recount was too meticulous.Thankfully, he was an important cog in England’s Ashes victory and he devotes nearly a third of the book to the toppling of Australia. In a revealing conversation with Stephen Fleming (with whom Strauss formed a solid friendship under Fleming’s Middlesex captaincy in 2001) Strauss’s depression (and, we presume, England’s too) following the defeat at Lord’s is put into perspective by Fleming’s straight-talking. Onto Edgbaston, and again Strauss depicts the trauma fondly and expressively – yet we learn nothing new. There have been half a dozen books dedicated to the Ashes, if not the Edgbaston Test alone, and Strauss’s take on it doesn’t offer anything substantially distinct or remarkably interesting.Sadly, that remains the theme of the book. Although it is undeniably well written, something crucial is missing: the second-half of his career. In no sense is this a criticism of the author, nor Angus Fraser whose advice he sought – more a complaint at the trend of premature autobiographies, particularly among sportsmen. Strauss is a fine batsman and clearly possesses an eloquent cricket brain. However, he still has several good years ahead of him. His final story, whenever that will be, ought to be a broader and wiser account…and I’ll buy it, but only then.

Amy Jones and Grace Potts proved the gamechangers for Central Sparks as they beat Sunrisers by 23 runs at Chelmsford in the opening game of the 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup.England wicketkeeper Jones held Sparks together with a swashbuckling 51 from 34 balls out of a score of 137 all out after they were invited to bat first. Kelly Castle and Mady Villiers kept the rest of the Sparks line-up in check, the former taking two wickets in successive balls.Potts (2-13) though proved impossible to get away during the Sunrisers reply and despite a classy half-century from Cordelia Griffith the hosts, who were without oversea ace Dane Van Niekerk because of illness, came up short, Emily Arlott cleaning up the tail.Sunrisers got early joy after deciding to field with Davina Perrin trapped in front for a duck from the last ball of Kate Coppack’s opening over.Eve Jones threatened briefly, scoring all the first 15 runs off the bat before missing a horrible short ball from Grace Scrivens which crashed into the stumps and Australian allrounder Erin Burns failed to make the most of being dropped on 1 when stumped by Amara Carr off the impressive Castle.And when Ami Campbell was castled by Villiers Sparks’ flame was in danger of being snuffed out at 59 for 4. Amy Jones though stood firm, feasting on some short offerings with savage pulls square of the wicket as well as driving crisply through the covers.At 94 for 4 a big score looked on, but Castle returned to have Abbey Freeborn stumped by Carr, before yorking Katie George with the next ball, leaving Arlott to prevent the hat-trick.Jones moved serenely to 50 only to hole out at mid-off to the very next ball from Villiers after which the tail scrambled to 137.The hosts looked to Scrivens for a solid start, but the teenager went early, striking one from Potts into the midriff of George at midwicket.George then had a mixed over ball in hand, producing a trio of wides before Lissy Macleod despatched her twice to the fence. George though had the last laugh having Macleod taken at the second attempt down the leg-side by Amy Jones from one that flicked the glove.Potts turned the screw a little tighter with three overs off the reel in the powerplay to put Sunrisers behind the clock.Griffith took up the chase to strike England speedster Issy Wong first over midwicket and then through mid-off for successive boundaries. Georgia Davis was similarly despatched through cover and when George returned to the attack, she was cut to the fence at third twice in successive balls.In need of a wicket, Sparks summoned the miserly Potts back to the bowling crease and she delivered, trapping Carr plumb in front, and Villiers didn’t entertain us for long, swinging one from Burns into the hands of George at cow corner.The double strike caused the rate required to climb with 46 needed from the last five. Griffiths scampered two to reach 50 from 43 balls with six fours, but when she skied one to cover off the bowling of Arlott later in the over the task proved too much for the Sunrisers tail.