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Former Delhi captain says he will strive to restore the “glory days” after being named “government nominee”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2017Delhi and India batsman Gautam Gambhir announced, through a tweet, that he has been added into the Delhi District Cricket Association’s managing committee by sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore as a government nominee. Gambhir, who was Delhi’s captain until last season, said it was time to “adjust the corridors” of the DDCA to help restore the “glory days”. Gambhir has made a century and a fifty in four completed Ranji innings this season, and is currently in action against Karnataka in Alur.

A total of 140 proved more than enough as Shakera Selman took 2 for 7 in three overs, Anisa Mohammed finished with 2 for 14 in four and the even their most expensive bowler only conceded runs at 4.5 to the over

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2017
ScorecardHayley Matthews poses with the Player-of-the-Match trophy•WICB Media

A scarcely believable bowling performance from West Indies, keeping Sri Lanka to a mere 69 in 20 overs, gave them a 1-0 lead in the women’s T20I series that began in Antigua on Thursday. Medium-pacer Shakera Selman took 2 for 7, offspinner Anisa Mohammed finished with 2 for 14 and the even their most expensive bowler only conceded runs at 4.5 to the over. A total of 140 proved plenty more than enough.The eventual margin of victory – 71 runs – was West Indies’ third largest in T20Is with Sri Lanka matching their third-lowest total in T20Is. Only two batsmen got into double-figures – Ama Kanchana making 18 off 21 balls at No. 3 and wicketkeeper Rebeca Vandort with 10 off 23 balls at No. 7.The innings began to flag when Selman ripped out both openers in her first two overs. Chamari Atapattu, who was a sensation in the Women’s ODI World Cup, was caught behind for 1 off the fifth ball of the chase and her partner Yasoda Mendis was lbw for a duck. Mohammed took out the middle order and soon Sri Lanka were 33 for 5 in the 12th over with no way out. They managed to play out the full 20, making one run more than West Indies’ Hayley Matthews (37) and her captain Stafanie Taylor (31). Late acceleration from the recalled Britney Cooper (20 off 11 balls) to lift the total from 106 for 4 to 140 in the space of19 balls almost seemed unnecessary.

Bangladesh suffered an abysmal collapse of 9 for 49 in their first innings but then removed three England wickets before rain brought an early finished to the first day of the Dhaka Test

The Report by Alan Gardner28-Oct-2016
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThis was a day of Test cricket in two halves. During the first 41 overs, with Tamim Iqbal in imperious form, 171 runs were scored and just one wicket fell; from the 35.2 bowled thereafter, the corresponding returns were 99 and 12. By the time rain arrived to cut the evening session short, with England three-down in their reply to 220, it was unclear quite where the balance of power resided.Bangladesh’s innings had lurched from the serene to the tremulous. An astonishing collapse either side of the tea interval resulted in a nausea-inducing slide of 9 for 49, a seemingly dominant position reduced to rubble. Moeen Ali was the main catalyst and beneficiary for England, although Ben Stokes’ steadfast spell of 6-2-7-2 before tea deserved high praise, his mastery of reverse swing once again causing the sorts of problems that spin – initially at least – had failed to achieve.Momentum was certainly with England as they began their innings, having fought back from one of their worst bowling performances of recent memory, but once again a fragile top-order was exposed by spinners more confident in their craft. Ben Duckett fell in the second over, before Mehedi Hasan removed Alastair Cook – lbw via the latest review in a series stuffed with them – and Gary Ballance to leave England 42 for 3 and looking anxiously to Joe Root for the required innings of substance.Despite losing a wicket in the third over of the day, Tamim’s third Test hundred against England had given Bangladesh a solid foundation and left Cook frantically shuffling through his bowling options. Mominul Haque scored a crisp half-century as he and Tamim inflicted fresh psychological blows on an already beleaguered spin cohort during a stand of 170 – Bangladesh’s highest for the second wicket against England – which came at a rate comfortably above four an over.Tamim bestrode the morning and early afternoon during a regal innings full of judicious stroke-making that culminated in two full-blooded drives through the covers to go to three figures, though he did not add many more having unwisely chosen to pad up to Moeen’s arm ball. Mominul’s first significant contribution of the series was also an accomplished knock but he was then bowled for 66 playing back to a similar delivery. That over, the 46th of the innings, was the first maiden bowled by a spinner, a measure of how England had been unable to contain the pair.The twist, when it came, was a sharp one and all the more surprising after England’s subcontinental weak spot had been exposed again. Following on from Tamim and Monimul, the next-highest score was 13, as Stokes once more exerted his will on proceedings by providing both control and penetration, while Moeen located a groove to finish with 5 for 57 – only his second five-for in Tests.Stokes’ threat was also physical, as Mushfiqur Rahim could attest. With the ball reversing, Stokes had Mahmudullah taken at slip and he then roughed up Mushfiqur with a snorting bouncer that struck the Bangladesh captain on the back of the helmet as he turned away. He got up to carry on after treatment by the physio but was back in the changing room minutes later after a brilliant catch from Cook at leg slip, who clung on at the second attempt after Mushfiqur had inside-edged a glance off Moeen through his legs.Sabbir Rahman, so nearly the hero of Chittagong, fell meekly to Stokes with the tea interval approaching; Chris Woakes struck twice straight after, having Shuvagata Hom and Shakib Al Hasan caught behind; and England successfully turned to the DRS to have Mehedi lbw before Moeen rounded things up when Kamrul Islam Rabbi was taken at slip.Mushfiqur’s head must have been spinning twice over. He had had better luck at the start of his 50th Test, having won the toss and decided to bat first – just the sort of good fortune he must have hoped for after electing to go in with a fourth spinner on a cracked surface that was expected to turn.It could yet prove decisive, after Tamim rammed home the initial advantage. His eighth fifty-plus score against England in 11 innings came after Woakes had picked up a wicket in his second over and helped Bangladesh respond emphatically during a rousing stand with Mominul. Tamim motored to 60-ball fifty, having failed to score off his first 19 deliveries during a watchful opening, and also successfully utilised the review system – such a feature of the first Test – by overturning a caught-behind decision on 66, shortly before the lunch break.Cook struggled for control throughout the morning session, with only Stokes going at less than three runs an over. Zafar Ansari, into the side as one of two changes from England’s victory in Chittagong, suffered a chastening introduction to Test cricket as his first six overs were taxed to the tune of 36 runs. The debutant left-armer was not seen again.England had found success after being put into the field, throttling the scoring and removing Imrul Kayes, and after four overs the card had gone nowhere at 1 for 1. Mominul eased the pressure with a brace of boundaries off Woakes; Tamim, meanwhile, was content to bide his time against the new ball.Cook turned to Moeen in the seventh over but the sight of spin encouraged Tamim to kick into gear as he stepped out to drive his first boundary. Three fours off Woakes – leg-side flick, back-foot drive and a meaty pull – confirmed that he had hit his stride and another brace came in the next over, as Tamim welcomed Ansari by crunching him through the covers and down the ground. Ansari did succeed in drawing an edge with his second delivery, though it scuttled wide of slip for three, and his opening over cost 13 runs, England still no nearer to finding a spinner who could offer control.Mominul happily ceded the impetus to his partner, as Bangladesh reached the top of the hour in a much more comfortable position at 67 for 1, with England also wasting a review against Tamim when he padded up to a Moeen delivery that was shown to be bouncing over the stumps. Tamim’s fifty came up via a sweep off Ansari and it took a vigorous spell from Stokes to ensure Bangladesh’s progress would not be completely unfettered.It was Stokes who thought he had broken through, too, when Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger for a catch down the leg side. However, DRS quickly confirmed that the ball had flicked Tamim’s thigh pad rather than glove, the procession of successful reviews growing longer. Tamim then took a blow to the ribs from a Stokes short ball before Mominul stroked the 15th boundary of the morning sessions to ensure Bangladesh went in to lunch far the happier of the two sides. Then things got a lot more complicated.

Half-centuries from Meg Lanning and Nicole Bolton trumped a maiden hundred from Smriti Mandhana, as Australia Women gunned down 253 against India Women to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2016
ScorecardNicole Bolton’s 77 laid a strong platform for Australia’s chase•Getty Images

Half-centuries from Meg Lanning and Nicole Bolton trumped a maiden hundred from Smriti Mandhana, as Australia Women gunned down 253 against India Women to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series.India, opting to bat, lost their opener Thirush Kamini off the very first ball of the match, but Mandhana and the captain Mithali Raj led a recovery, batting together for 31 overs to put up a 150-run partnership. Mandhana struck 11 fours for her 102, while Raj played the more patient foil, stroking 58 off 98 balls. However, a flurry of wickets towards the end halted India’s charge, as despite a 33-run blast from Shikha Pandey, the visitors could only manage a total of 8 for 252. Ellyse Perry was the pick of Australia’s bowlers, collecting 3 for 54.Australia began their chase on the front foot, as their openers Lanning and Bolton scored at more than six an over right from the off, stringing together a 138-run association. Bolton struck 77 and Lanning scored 61, as the pair stayed together at the crease for 22.3 overs. Four wickets in quick succession briefly threatened to derail Australia’s chase, but Jess Jonassen (29*) and Alyssa Healy (29*) guided the team home inside 47 overs.

Comilla Victorians, who thrashed Barisal Bulls in their first meeting, produced another dominating display in the return leg to consolidate their top spot with 12 points

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Mirpur07-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ahmed Shehzad hit 10 fours and one six•BCCI

Comilla Victorians, who thrashed Barisal Bulls in their first meeting, produced another dominating display in the return leg to secure their place in the final four. After the bowlers, led by Ashar Zaidi, limited Barisal to 105, Ahmed Shehzad struck an unbeaten 63-ball 76 to seal a seven-wicket win.Still smarting from their 58 all out against Sylhet Super Stars, Barisal struggled to cobble together a competitive total after being inserted. Chris Gayle was the first to go, trapped lbw by Shoaib Malik in the fifth over after scoring only eight. Evin Lewis too failed as he holed out to deep midwicket for 17, four overs later. Ashar Zaidi then deepened Barisal’s trouble, his top-quality slower ball bowling Mehedi Maruf for a duck. Zaidi followed it with the wicket of Rony Taluklar to leave Barisal at 45 for 4 in 11.3 overs.Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman then got together and repaired the damage with a 43-run stand. Just as the pair shaped for a late flourish, Mahmudullah was bowled by Abu Haider for 26 in the 18th over. Soon after, Kamrul Islam Rabbi undid Sabbir with a beauty: a back-of-the-hand slower ball which yorked the batsman and bowled him between his legs, for 17. The double-blow meant that Barisal were kept to a low score again.Zaidi, who returned impressive figures of 2 for 12 in four overs, including a maiden, later played a supporting role in the chase. He made 20 off 18 balls in an unbroken stand worth 58, after Comilla were reduced to 48 for 3 in 9.5 overs. Liton Das was the first to go when he gave Sabbir a simple return catch off Sajedul Islam. Imrul Kayes was also out for a duck, edging Al-Amin Hossain behind in the fourth over, before Taijul Islam had Malik stumped.Shehzad, however, took up the lead role and helped his side surge ahead.He hit 10 fours and a six during his 63-ball 75 and profited from the pull and the cut when the bowlers erred short. Shehzad even lofted Taijul over cover and midwicket, which gave one an impression that he batted on a different track.

The BCCI is set to ban former IPL chairman Lalit Modi for life in a Special General Meeting in Chennai on September 25

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2013

The rise and fall of Modi

• 2005 – Becomes one of the youngest BCCI vice-presidents

• 2007 – Announces the franchise-based IPL and Champions League T20

• 2008 – The sale of eight IPL franchises fetches more than $720m, and the first season proves immensely popular. Modi becomes the most high-profile cricket official in the world

• 2009 – Modi is defeated in the Rajasthan Cricket Association election but retains his BCCI post as he is also on the board of the Punjab Cricket Association

• 2010 – Modi reveals the new Kochi franchise’s share-holding pattern, triggering a set of controversies that lead to his suspension after the third IPL season. He is forced into exile in London

• 2013 – Likely to receive a life ban from the BCCI after a disciplinary committee files its report

The BCCI is set to ban former IPL chairman Lalit Modi for life in a Special General Meeting in Chennai on September 25. The SGM will act upon the report filed by a special disciplinary committee constituted to look into various charges related to financial irregularity against Modi.The committee, comprising BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley, former IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and BCCI’s finance committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia, had filed a 500-page report in July after investigating charges against Modi, who was suspended minutes after the conclusion of the IPL 2010 final.Despite the board being divided over president N Srinivasan’s role in handling the spot-fixing scandal that rocked IPL 2013, the SGM is set to unanimously ban Modi from BCCI. “The committee has suggested a life ban and almost everyone is set to back the recommendation,” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “Despite the existing differences, the meeting should get over quite quickly.”SGMs, which strictly discuss a pre-fixed agenda, require a three-fourth mandate for a decision to be ratified. This effectively means that 24 votes would be enough to get Modi banned in a house of 31 votes, including 27 full members, National Cricket Club in Kolkata, Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, All-India Universities and the president’s vote.Following the revelations of irregularities in the bidding process and ownership patterns of certain franchisees, the BCCI had laid down several charges against Modi and appointed a committee of Jaitley, Amin and then BCCI president Shashank Manohar. Following Modi’s charges that Manohar harboured a personal bias against him, an SGM in July 2010 had inducted Scindia into the committee in place of Manohar and also ratified the charges against Modi.If Modi is handed a life ban at the SGM, his only route back to cricket administration in India will be through the courts.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first Test between India and New Zealand in Hyderabad

The Preview by S Rajesh22-Aug-2012

Match facts

Thursday, August 23
Start time 0930 (0400 GMT)Cheteshwar Pujara is in contention for a place in the Indian middle order•WICB

Big picture

India are without Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman; New Zealand are without Daniel Vettori. The last time an India-New Zealand Test was played without any of these three players was in November 1995, in Cuttack. Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, none of those – from either team – who played in that Test are playing international cricket today.
Neither team has had a happy time in Test cricket over the last year. Both India and New Zealand are in a state of flux, which makes this series more meaningful than might have been otherwise. (Between them, the two teams have lost seven of their last ten Tests.) For India’s young batsmen, it’s a wonderful opportunity to stake a permanent place in the middle order, instead of only being seen as replacements when the top stars are unavailable. Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath will be fighting for two spots, but this series will probably be the easier part of the challenge, given that England and Australia will tour next, followed by a series in South Africa in 2013.Meanwhile, the Indian bowling attack is searching for answers too, after poor performances in Australia and England. Ishant Sharma hasn’t proved his fitness after his ankle surgery, while R Ashwin needs to show he can exercise control over long spells in conditions conducive for batting. Good performances by these players won’t guarantee long-term selection, but failures in this series will seriously hurt their chances, given that stiffer challenges will follow.New Zealand are coming off a demoralising defeat in the West Indies, and this series will be the first assignment for their new coach, Mike Hesson, who has taken over from John Wright. Several aspects of their game were disappointing in the West Indies, which means Hesson and the rest of the team management have a huge task ahead of them. The batting has been consistently patchy, with even senior players not contributing often enough.The bowling attack, apart from Chris Martin, is inexperienced. Experts have suggested that Vettori’s absence might not mean much since he hadn’t taken too many wickets recently, but he would have offered New Zealand much greater control in stemming the runs against batsmen who’re used to scoring quickly in familiar conditions. These will be tough conditions, and tough batsmen to bowl against for the inexperienced Jeetan Patel and Tarun Nethula, which suggests the seamers will have take greater bowling responsibilities this time around.

Form guide

India LLLLD (Most recent first)
New Zealand LLDLD

Watch out for

Brendon McCullum returns to the ground – and the batting position – where he notched up his highest Test score of 225. Consistency hasn’t been his greatest virtue, but opening the batting will give him a better chance to get his eye in against the quick bowlers, before the spinners come on to bowl, especially in the subcontinent. Compared to his overall average of 36.36, McCullum averages 45.13 when he opens the batting. If he gets a start, the Hyderabad crowd could be in for some entertainment.Cheteshwar Pujara last played a Test match in January 2011, in Cape Town, before a knee injury sidelined him for much of the year. Since his return, he has shown form and hunger, topping the run-charts for the A team in the West Indies earlier this year. He is treating this as his second debut in Test cricket, and with places up for grabs in this Indian middle order, Pujara will want to make sure he doesn’t miss out.

Pitch and conditions

Chris Martin said on the eve of the Test that the conditions in the nets were pretty good for seam bowling – the pitches had reasonable carry and the ball swung a bit in humid conditions. If that’s the case in the Test as well, the seamers could play a prominent role, especially in the early part of the Test. However, Dhoni was confident the pitch would take turn, and also suggested there’d be some bounce available to the spinners because of the red soil. Given New Zealand’s historical problems against spin, India will look to their spinner(s) to do a fair amount of damage.

Team news

With Laxman and Dravid not around, India’s middle order will have a new look, with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara certain to play. The choice for the No.6 slot will be between Suresh Raina and S Badrinath, but given that Raina was the original choice in the squad, he should probably make the cut ahead of Badrinath; besides, Raina’s off-spin will also be useful in Indian conditions. India will also have to decide between a bowling combination of three fast bowlers and a spinner, or a two-and-two combination. Given that the opposition is New Zealand, MS Dhoni might be tempted to go in with two specialist spinners.
India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Cheteshwar Pujara, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma/ Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav.New Zealand have announced that McCullum will open the batting, which means they’ll have to change their opening combination. Daniel Flynn has opened in two of their last three Tests, but could drop down to No.3 or No.5. Ross Taylor has confirmed that James Franklin will play, batting at No.6 and offering a fourth-seamer option. It’s unlikely they’ll play more than one specialist spinner, and Patel, the offspinner, will probably be preferred over the uncapped legspinner, Nethula. Whichever one plays, he’ll have a tough job trying to replicate the control that Vettori would have achieved had he been in the team.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 James Franklin, 7 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Jeetan Patel/ Tarun Nethula, 11 Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

• Fifty percent of the Tests between India and New Zealand have been drawn (25 out of 50). Only India versus Pakistan has a higher draw percentage (38 out of 59).
• McCullum is one of only two overseas batsmen to score a second-innings double-century in India. Andy Flower is the other.
• In the last 16 years, only once have both Dravid and Laxman not been part of an Indian team. That was against South Africa in Nagpur in 2010, a match India lost by an innings and 6 runs.
• Sachin Tendulkar has remarkably similar stats against New Zealand both home and away. In 11 home Tests against them, he averages 49.28; in as many Tests in New Zealand, he averages 49.52.

For more stats, click here.

Quotes

“We have Virat, Raina and we already have Sehwag there, he will most likely stand in the first slip. I don’t think we will be short of fielders who field at slips.”
“It [the pitch] had reasonable carry, enough bounce for us to challenge the edge. And it has been humid. The ball has swung [in the nets], and I think it is a better one than the ball we used in the West Indies that tended to not swing for very long.”

Mousley takes T20 best 4 for 19, Alex Davies puts Bears run-chase on course with 42 off 24

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay20-Jun-2025Birmingham took the local derby honours against Worcestershire Rapids with a thrilling one-wicket Vitality Blast victory in a low-scoring nerve-shredder at Edgbaston.The Rapids, put in, floundered to 134 all out in 18.4 overs in the face of the experienced Bears spin attack. Dan Mousley took a T20 best 4 for 19, Danny Briggs 2 for 20 and Jake Lintott 2 for 27 as no batter reached 30.Warwickshire then scraped to 135 for 9 with three balls to spare. Alex Davies supplied a violent start and, after Fateh Singh (3 for 18) and Ben Dwarshuis (3 for 32), forced a collapse, last pair Sam Hain (38 not out) and Lintott took the Bears over the line.The Rapids charged to 39 from 21 balls before Mousley struck twice in three balls. Seventeen-year-old Isaac Mohammed, a product of the Edgbaston youth system before joining Worcestershire earlier this year, showed his class with a glorious six over long-off off Ed Barnard but then missed a full toss and was bowled. Jake Libby, off-balance, sliced to extra cover and it was three wickets for four runs from ten balls after Kashif Ali made a porridge of a pull at Briggs and was bowled.Adam Hose struck four fours to restore some momentum but his demise accelerated the collapse. Hose chipped Mousley to deep midwicket, Gareth Roderick swept Lintott’s first ball into the gloves of wicketkeeper Davies and Ethan Brookes drove Briggs to extra cover to supply the bowler’s 300th wicket in all T20 competitions across the world.Mousley’s fourth scalp arrived when Tom Taylor slogged to long-on. Dwarshuis socked Lintott for three successive sixes but, after the sequence was broken by a shrewd off-side wide, hoisted the next ball to long -off.Eight wickets having fallen in 12 overs, the Rapids’ last two wickets found themselves with 26 balls at their disposal. They gathered 15 runs before Jacob Duffy holed out to Barnard to cap the catalogue of carelessness that was the Rapids’ innings.Birmingham soon lost Tom Latham, who skied a slog at Dwarshuis, but were put on course for victory by Davies’ cameo. The captain hit 34 of his 42 runs in fours and sixes before lifting Singh’s first ball to Taylor at long-off.The Bears then emulated the Rapids’ collapse. Taylor took another calm catch in the same position when Mousley attacked Duffy. Warwickshire were still well in control, needing only six per over, but Moeen Ali and Barnard tried to go big and only sent up catches. When Barnard and Kai Smith, pinned lbw, fell to successive balls from Singh, the home side were 86 for 6.The Rapids were on a roll but Hain and George Garton applied some belated intelligence to the batting to add 25 in five overs before the latter was brilliantly caught at point by Mohammed off Duffy. With 21 needed from three overs, the Bears were leaning, as so often, on Hain.Hasan Ali slogged six and glanced four from successive balls in the penultimate over from Dwarshuis to take his side within three of victory. The Pakistan star then skied to deep extra cover but the Bears needed three from the last over, with Hain on strike – and the Bears’ talisman, with mature support from Lintott, saw his side home.

Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested the injury is more serious than initially thought

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Dec-2021The quadriceps strain Angelo Mathews sustained during the ongoing Test match against West Indies has put his participation in the Lanka Premier League in doubt.Mathews himself hoped that he would miss only the first few days of the tournament, or between three and four matches. But Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested that the strain could be more serious, and that Mathews could end up potentially missing the whole tournament. The LPL is set to start on Sunday, and runs until December 23.”One MRI scan has been conducted, but the results are not clear,” SLC’s chief medical officer Dr. Daminda Attanayake told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll need to conduct another MRI around December 4, and we’ll have a clearer picture.”The results of that second test will also be shared with consulting physicians based overseas, Attanayake said.Related

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Mathews had sustained the injury while running a single on the first day of the ongoing Test in Galle. He had retired hurt immediately after, but returned to the crease after the fall of the eighth wicket, and dealt largely in boundaries, refusing to take runs. He did not take the field for Sri Lanka in the first innings, but did come out to bat at No. 9 in the second innings.Mathews has a long history of leg injuries, with problems to his hamstrings, quads, and calves causing him to miss months of cricket at a time, since 2015.He is slated to be part of the Colombo Stars franchise at the LPL – possibly as captain, though that has not been officially confirmed yet either.

Assistant coach says the team dynamic wasn’t healthy while they were going through a six-match losing streak this IPL

Ankur Dhawan in Mumbai05-May-20194:45

We fell badly in middle phase of tournament – Katich

There was an indication throughout the IPL that all wasn’t well in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp. Contradictory statements from the players and team management regarding Andre Russell’s batting position furthered that suspicion, before the situation escalated to the point where the allrounder questioned some of the decision making, besides adding that the atmosphere around the team hadn’t been the healthiest.Simon Katich, the KKR assistant coach, reiterated that the dynamic within the group had started to change during the course of their six-match losing streak and that’s something that they’ll have to work on as a group going forward.”Can’t hide from the fact that there was tension,” he said at the press conference. “That was pretty evident from the last few games after we got on a bit of a roll with losses. We’ve got to address that as a group. What is so important in the IPL is the dynamic if the group and I guess the unity. That’s something that KKR is very very proud of. It’s a very successful franchise and it’s something that everyone involved has worked very very hard to contribute to over a long period of time. That’s something we have to certainly work at to get better at it because there’s no doubt that throughout this campaign, the dynamic within our group has certainly changed.”Despite that, KKR came into this game against Mumbai Indians with a very good chance of making the playoffs. All they had to do was win.But the combination of Lasith Malinga, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were too difficult to handle. So much so that after being 49 for 0 at the end of the Powerplay, they finished 133 for 7.”It did go wrong, that’s for sure,” Katich said. “Today is obviously disappointing but it’s a tough ask coming to Mumbai, we don’t obviously have great record here [It was KKR’s sixth straight defeat at Wankhede]. Yes, it would have been great to win today and get through but to finish where we did is probably what we deserved given how our season went.”Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell have a chat•BCCI

Looking back at a season that began brightly with four wins in five matches, Katich rued the home defeats against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals the most, which he felt came back to hurt them in the end, given that one more win would have secured a playoff spot.”We had a very good start but it fell away badly through that middle phase of the tournament,” he said.”If you look back on our season, the two missed opportunities we had were in the matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. We hadn’t played well through the season but to lose those two games was always going to come back and hurt us in the end. When you look back in the end, that’s what probably catches up with you, when you don’t win at home, where that wicket suits our style of play, particularly our batsmen, given how flat it’s been.”Katich’s sentiments were echoed by the captain Dinesh Karthik, who conceded Knight Riders had a lot of work to do to get back to their best.”Through the whole tournament, we’ve been good a lot of times, bad at a lot of times, but this tournament is such that we had to play consistent cricket and we were not up to the mark,” he said at the post-match presentation. “It’s been decent. I don’t think it’s the best season that we’ve had. There’s definitely a lot of areas for us to improve and come back stronger next time.”