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The chasm between the two sides was in full evidence as Pakistan romped to their joint-highest T20 total before they bowled West Indies out for their lowest

The Report by Danyal Rasool01-Apr-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThis might have been billed as the day international cricket came back to Karachi, but take that with a pinch of salt. A whole tablespoon, rather.The team Pakistan played against today – and beat by 143 runs – was in no universe international standard. Thirteen individuals cobbled together whose only unifying characteristic was their willingness to travel to Pakistan, they were never a match for the top-ranked T20I side. Especially not if you consider they had arrived in Pakistan from halfway around the world just 24 hours ago (the squad having only been announced late in the early hours of Friday morning), with barely enough time to shake off their jetlag before they were sped to the National Stadium to face off against Pakistan. In all senses of the phrase, this simply wasn’t cricket.A wretched bowling performance from West Indies – if we must call the touring side that – began with Samuel Badree, Keemo Paul and Riyad Emrit well off their lines and lengths, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam easily finding the gaps to take advantage of the fielding restrictions, and Pakistan speeding to 56 for 1 in the first six overs. You might be forgiven for not noticing the fielding restrictions had been lifted thereafter, as Pakistan continued along their merry way, never encumbered by tricky bowling or intelligent field setting. The quality of fielding from the tourists was amateur, singles on several occasions turning into boundaries as fielders under no pressure whatsoever let balls slip through their fingers.Even when West Indies managed to take wickets, it wasn’t down to the skill of the bowling. Until the 17th over, just three wickets and fallen, two of them to run-outs. Debutant Hussain Talat, who looked excellent as he top-scored with 41, was unfortunate enough to be involved in two mix-ups, the first one putting paid to Fakhar’s bright start, while a collision between Sarfraz Ahmed and Kesrick Williams meant Talat himself was left stranded mid-pitch.After a rare spell around the death overs in which West Indies looked to be reining Pakistan in somewhat, the shackles broke again in the penultimate over. What followed devastated West Indies and was arguably responsible for taking the wind out of their sails, even for the second innings. As Faheem Ashraf and Shoaib Malik freed their arms for a final flourish, Emrit and Williams found themselves helpless to stop the carnage. A whopping 41 runs came off the last ten balls as Pakistan surged to their joint-highest T20I total, setting West Indies a target of 204.AFP

It was like bringing a gun to a knife fight; they needn’t have bothered with such a vertigo-inducing total. The six that Chadwick Walton hit
Mohammad Nawaz for off the first ball was a false dawn as West Indies quickly began to unravel. Other than Walton and Marlon Samuels, no one in the top five scored a single run. Andre Fletcher and Jason Mohammed looked to be giving Hussain Talat catching practice at cover, both falling in Mohammad Amir’s first over. Denesh Ramdin, underwhelming in the PSL, didn’t trouble the scorers either, holing out to midwicket, and when Samuels top-edged a big heave off Nawaz, the visitors had slumped to 33 for 6, and the contest was descending into farce.West Indies would have been thankful to get past 39, the lowest T20I total ever, but there was no denying the innings was headed towards an early finish. Shoaib Malik removed the next two off consecutive deliveries just after West Indies crossed 50, and 79 – their previous lowest T20I score – was looking a long distance away. Particularly since West Indies were one man short; Veerasammy Permaul had injured his foot while bowling and would not bat.And sure enough, with the score at 60, the last wicket fell, condemning West Indies to a slew of unwanted records: their lowest T20I score and the largest margin of defeat between two Full Members among the more ignominious ones.It’s hard to read much into either side’s performance today, given the disparity between them. You could make a case that the touring side
didn’t play as well as they could, but one can’t help feeling an improved performance may only win them respectability. To win cricket matches, they may need a number of players who, for all sorts of reasons, aren’t where West Indies would want them to be – in Karachi.

Bangladesh women were bowled out for 136 in 49 overs but went on to defend the total by dismissing South Africa women for 126 in the third ODI in Cox’s Bazar

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Khadija Tul Kubra took her second consecutive four-for and her career-best ODI figures•ICC/ Mainoor Islam Manik

Bangladesh women kept the five-match series against South Africa women alive, defending 136 by 10 runs in the third ODI in Cox’s Bazar. The result leaves the series scoreline at 2-1, with two more ODIs still to be played.At the centre of Bangladesh’s win was offspinner Khadija Tul Kubra, who finished with a career-best 4 for 33, her second four-for in as many matches. Introduced into the attack in the ninth over, after South Africa had already lost two early wickets, Tul Kubra dismissed the in-form Lizelle Lee for 46 off 31 balls. Then, with South Africa reeling at 64 for 5, Tul Kubra dismissed Suné Luus and Sinalo Jafta off consecutive deliveries in the 15th over. South Africa rapidly slid to 96 for 9 in the 23rd over but Dane van Niekerk kept Bangladesh at bay. Eventually, however, the South Africa captain was left stranded on 42 not out as their innings ended in 31.2 overs. Apart from Tul Kubra, Panna Ghosh and Jahanara Alam took two wickets apiece, while Salma Khatun claimed the last wicket to fall. Between them, Lee and van Niekerk contributed 88 runs in the side’s total of 126, with extras accounting for the next best score, 9.Earlier, having won the toss, Bangladesh had laid a platform that promised a total higher than 136. Their innings came undone, however, after a batting implosion, as they lost their last seven wickets for 32 runs, stumbling from 104 for 3 to 136 all out. Every bowler in South Africa’s attack took wickets, with Marizanne Kapp, Luus and van Niekerk taking two apiece. The fourth ODI will be played on January 18.

Craig McDermott has moved to clarify assumptions about James Pattinson’s action, including the contention that Pattinson abandoned two years of adjustments to claim five wickets in the Hobart Test

Daniel Brettig16-Dec-2015James Pattinson’s mentor Craig McDermott has moved to clarify assumptions about his pupil’s bowling action, including the contention that the 25-year-old abandoned two years of adjustments in order to claim five wickets in the second innings of the Hobart Test against the West Indies.While Pattinson did struggle for rhythm in the first innings and found himself delivering the ball from an arm position that reduced his chances of gaining any movement through the air or off the wicket, McDermott said there was still plenty of evidence of the adjustments they had made together during his 5 for 27 on the third and final day.Changes to Pattinson’s action had been devised to ease pressure on his back, which has been the subject of multiple stress fractures over his five years around the Australian team, and were as much about foot position as arm and wrist. McDermott noted that Pattinson’s back foot is now much more side on at the point of delivery and thus in sync with his waist, back and shoulders. The adjustments to his arm path made for a much more rhythmic performance on day three.”In a transition from an old action to a new action, sometimes in competition your body will want to go back a little bit to the way it was,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “That happened in the second innings a little bit, but it was more about Patto jumping in a straight line through the crease and going towards the target with his body and getting his arm path down a little bit below the perpendicular and his wrist behind the ball all the time.”The bottom half is still different. Sometimes his back foot gets a bit more front on down the wicket, but generally he’s travelling pretty well. We tried to get his back foot as far towards 90 degrees as we possibly could to start with, knowing that when you get back into competition mode it’s always going to creep back the other way. He’s anywhere between 30 and 45 degrees at any one stage so it’s not too bad.”Pattinson had stated that he hoped to find a middle ground between his old ways and new ones, with the added benefit of now having an older, more mature body to cope. However, McDermott counselled that given a history of multiple stress injuries, Pattinson needed to be aware of the risks inherent in his former methods – the pair will continue their work together when McDermott travels to Melbourne ahead of the rest of the team on Monday.”Every bowler is different, but Patto’s had a number of stress fractures and even at the age of 25 he’s probably had more than someone like Mitchell Starc who’s had one,” McDermott said. “He’s got to be careful, old stress fractures sometimes don’t heal 100%, a bit like with Pat Cummins at the moment, after about a month his were still not healing that well, so he’s put in a brace just to make sure that does restrict his movement.”Patto’s still got to be careful even at his age, just because of the amount of stress fractures he has had in the past that he may not get a new one but you can always open an old one, which may not have healed as strong as some of the other bone matter has. I don’t think it’s right to compare Patto’s body with Mitchell Johnson’s body or with Mitchell Starc’s body, everybody’s differently made up.”Nevertheless, McDermott agreed that once a player is in the Test team, the last thing they should be doing is thinking too intricately about their bowling action. For this reason, he kept his advice simple and to the point between innings, much as the captain Steven Smith also did.”There were a couple of things I spoke to Patto about the night after the first innings,” McDermott said. “One was ‘don’t think too much about it, just really bowl the ball’, and the other thing was ‘try to get your arm path down a little bit, because if it’s up too high it is very hard to get your wrist behind the ball’. They were the only two things I spoke to him about the night before.”His first wicket in the second innings if you look at the slo-mo, it’s very good as far as the seam position and all of that sort of stuff goes. There’s still some variation in that with him, but everything’s coming along pretty well. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, as we’ve discussed since then. But some wickets will give him confidence.”In the absence of Starc, who underwent his ankle surgery on Tuesday night, McDermott said that Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile were both well equipped to be Australia’s impact bowlers over the next four Tests against the West Indies and New Zealand, with Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle providing the steady counterpoint.”I think Patto’s one of those and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s got the ability to do that as well,” he said. “Josh is really starting to hone his skills with his lengths, Sidds does what Sidds does, nothing changing there. Certainly leading into the next two Test matches and New Zealand, those guys stand us in pretty good stead.”

Kevin O’Brien, the Ireland allrounder, has said the upcoming ODIs against Pakistan are a welcome chance for his team to match skills with a Full Member side

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2013Kevin O’Brien, the Ireland allrounder, has said the upcoming ODIs against Pakistan are a welcome chance for his team to match skills with a Full Member side. Ireland, who last played a top team during the 2012 World T20, are set to play Pakistan in two one-dayers in Dublin on May 23 and 26.”It’ll be a great chance for me personally and for the team to show what we can do again,” O’Brien told . “It has been a while since we’ve played a Full Member.”Following their famous victory against Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, Ireland lost their next two encounters when Pakistan visited the country in 2011. O’Brien said the he would not be overawed by having to face Saeed Ajmal, the No. 1 ranked ODI bowler. “We played against him two years ago and we know that he’s obviously a tricky customer,” he said. “[But] there are no specific plans for him, just go out and enjoy facing a great spinner. We’ll have to give him the respect he deserves and try to score off as many balls as we can.”The question of giving Ireland Test status is one that has been floating around for a while. According to O’Brien, the team still has some way to go before they can make the step up. “We’re still a few years away from being a Test team. Bangladesh, when they were given full status, were probably dominating Associated cricket for 10 to 12 years. We’ve only been doing it for six or seven years,” he said. “We don’t have as big a pool of players as Bangladesh either.”Cricket Ireland needs to put a few things in place in terms of first-class cricket and multi-day cricket in Ireland, and I think they’re certainly going towards that. In the future, possibly in three of four more years, Ireland could be playing a Test match against Bangladesh.”He empathised with scheduling issues facing the Full Member countries when it comes to accommodating Associates. “Bigger teams need to concentrate on Test series and one-day series that are already in place, and to add an extra two or three games on the tour to play us is really difficult. England have come over two or three times in the last couple of years and Pakistan had also come here in 2011. We’re getting more and more opportunities.”We’d obviously like more but we can’t be too greedy. We just have to bide our time and when we do get a chance, perform well and get a few victories.”O’Brien was also pleased about “definite” progress made by Associate nations over the last five or six years. “Afghanistan are a good side, as are Holland who are improving all the time. Then you have the likes of Scotland who are getting better and better with their young team. It’s definitely getting more and more competitive at the Associate level and it’s great to see.”The two one-day internationals will be streamed live on YouTube – via the Cricket Ireland channel – after the board struck a deal with Google and Quipu TV to broadcast the game online. The matches were not going to be shown on television. However, the deal is unlikely to help fans in Pakistan were YouTube is banned.

West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy did nothing to quash talk after defeat at Lord’s that Chris Gayle should be invited to strengthen his side in the rest of the Test series against England

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2012West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy did nothing to quash the theory after his side’s defeat at Lord’s that Chris Gayle should be invited to strengthen his side in the rest of the Test series against England, as well as the one-day matches that follow.Gayle’s involvement in IPL is over after Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated from the tournament and such has been his troubled relationship with the WICB that any emergency dash to the UK in time to play in one or both of the remaining two Tests seems hard to imagine.But Sammy refused to close the door on the possibility after West Indies’ five-wicket defeat against England at Lord’s put them 1-0 down in the series, suggesting that both he and the coach, Ottis Gibson, would be content to accommodate Gayle’s late arrival.”Whatever happens outside this squad takes its own course,” Sammy told Sky Sports. “Whoever comes in we will welcome them into the team and hopefully they will help. It is up to the selectors to select the team.”I think Chris has said he is available for Test cricket, one-day cricket and T20 so it is up to the selectors. We have been having some difficulties at the top of the order and if he comes in we would all welcome him, myself, Ottis and all the guys.”One change West Indies will consider for the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday, and one which needs no political machinations, is the inclusion of Shane Shillingford, the Dominican who took ten wickets in his last Test, against Australia on his home ground in Roseau in April.Shillingford, according to Sammy, had been omitted at Lord’s partly because he could not cope with the cold weather – and with higher temperatures forecast in the build-up to Trent Bridge that could change.”Shane was experiencing a bit of difficulty gripping the ball but in the course of this Test match he has done some work and hopefully his fingers will be warm enough and ready for him to play for us in the next match,” Sammy said. “He played a crucial role in the last series and once he is ready to master the cold we will have him in.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors in Jaipur

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya30-Apr-2011

Match facts

Sunday, May 1, Jaipur
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Robin Uthappa could do with a promotion in the batting order•AFP

Big picture

One of the enduring images of the first week of the IPL was Pune Warriors’ owner Subroto Roy, flanked by beauty queens in the VIP stands, smiling away gleefully at his franchise’s early successes on the field. Five straight defeats later, with his team’s campaign in need of a dramatic turnaround, the smile, presumably, would have been clouded by anxiety.A misfiring batting line-up had been their primary concern but the hammering meted out to Jerome Taylor and Kamran Khan by Royal Challengers Bangalore was another setback. They tweaked their batting order, but failed to push on in a big chase and when Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, their bumper buys, did step up, it was too late. With the tournament already at its halfway stage, and Pune sitting at the bottom of the points table, they would be hoping to keep themselves alive with a win in Jaipur.Rajasthan, in contrast, are on a high after two comprehensive wins that centered around dominating performances with the ball. This included a humbling of early favourites Mumbai Indians, and they’d want to win at least four of their next six games to be certain of progress.

Form guide (most recent first)

Pune: LLLLL (tenth in the points table)

Rajasthan: WWLLL (fourth in the points table)

Team talk

Tim Paine struggled to get going for Pune against Bangalore, and Manish Pandey has had three straight failures. A cursory glance at the averages of Pune’s batsmen will reveal a lack of form, but Pune should consider giving Callum Ferguson a chance. Ashish Nehra hasn’t had a game due to his finger injury, but in his absence Pune could bring back Shrikant Wagh for Kamran Khan.Rajasthan stuck to the same XIs in their previous two games, and are likely to do so for this one as well unless Shane Warne’s swollen knee, an injury he sustained in Rajasthan’s previous game, keeps him out. In that case, Raul Dravid or Ross Taylor may have to take over.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Robin Uthappa batted at No. 5 in Pune’s failed chase in their previous game. He could do with a promotion in the order, as his team, at this stage, is more in need of a surge at the top of the order than an explosive finish.Ross Taylor, known for those explosive finishes, hasn’t been at his best this IPL, with a highest of 35 in seven games. He didn’t get to do much in Rajasthan’s previous two games, with opponents folding for low scores after batting first, and awaits his turn.

Prime numbers

• Yuvraj Singh has struck 13 sixes so far this IPL, the highest by a batsman this season.
• Siddharth Trivedi, despite improved performances in the last two games, still has the dubious distinction of conceding the most runs in an innings this IPL – 59 in four overs against Kings XI Punjab.

The chatter

“We have been lucky here. We know a few things about this ground like the angles to be blocked off and that gives us the extra confidence.”

Shahid Afridi has urged authorities to resolve the allegations surrounding the team because the uncertainty was “damaging for the players”

Cricinfo staff21-May-2010Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, has urged the authorities to resolve the allegations surrounding the team as soon as possible because the uncertainty was “damaging for the players and the team” as they prepare for future assignments, especially the 2011 World Cup.”The thing is that there is too much uncertainty because of all those allegations,” Afridi told the . “It’s really damaging for the players and the team and I’m really concerned because it comes at a time when we are looking forward to a very busy calendar filled with major assignments, including the all-important World Cup.”I think that for our team to move on, we need to quickly resolve all such controversies. You can’t expect the players to give their best when there are so many allegations thrown at them.”The ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) said on Thursday that it was investigating Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 2009-10 to establish whether Pakistan’s on-field failure was the result of what it called a “dysfunctional” team or “something more serious”.The PCB has been conducting its own investigations into the Australia tour and a leaked video recording of the committee’s hearings revealed the level of in-fighting and disunity within the Pakistan side. Senior members of Pakistan’s team management on the tour raised concerns about a run-out wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal fluffed during the second Test in Sydney, hinting that it may have been more than just a cricketing error.When Afridi was asked at the inquiry if the losses to Australia were deliberate, he said: “I have heard from others that such things [deliberately losing] exist but I do not know of any such player myself.”Pakistan’s next assignment is the Asia Cup in June and Afridi said it “would be great if the team goes to Sri Lanka with this issue resolved so that everybody can focus on playing cricket.” Pakistan have not yet announced an ODI captain but it is widely expected that the responsibility will be given to Afridi.

Leeds the scene for Jofra Archer, Haris Rauf comebacks – so long as the weather plays ball

Danyal Rasool21-May-20241:29

Can Kirsten get the best out of Babar?

Big picture

The last time England played Pakistan in this format, nearly 90,000 people turned up to watch, with a global audience potentially in the hundreds of millions. It came at the MCG in the 2022 T20 World Cup final, and as the Pakistani tears and wild English celebrations demonstrated, what was on the line mattered.That won’t quite be the case at Headingley on Wednesday, and not only because the Yorkshire weather might put paid to the possibility of a game altogether. A lot has happened in the following year and a half, and little of it has served to bolster these sides’ credentials as World Cup champions and runners-up. The two have won a combined two T20I series out of a possible nine, each boasting sizeable losing records since they played at the MCG. They were both eliminated from the following ODI World Cup at the first hurdle. England’s match-winner from that warm Melbourne night isn’t currently a part of the T20I setup, while Pakistan’s captain was briefly dethroned before inexplicably having the crown handed back to him a few months later.It’s risky to judge a team solely on T20I results in bilateral games; even this series, after all, serves almost entirely as a warm-up to the T20 World Cup less than a fortnight away. But given their struggles in T20I cricket, both teams would benefit from a series win and are duly taking the series extremely seriously.Related

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England haven’t played a T20I all year, though they did take on upcoming World Cup co-hosts West Indies in a five-match T20I series in December. What Jos Buttler’s side want to avoid is a repeat of their calamitous ODI World Cup with a similarly disjointed T20 World Cup defence. England were so keen to get their full squad together they risked the ire of the IPL by recalling them well in time, and Jofra Archer has been managed in a way to allow him to return for his first T20 game in over a year just in time for the lead-up to the World Cup.Pakistan’s frenetic administrative setup and impassioned fanbase mean they never quite have the luxury of not taking any international seriously, but with the World Cup around the corner, a bilateral T20I series could scarcely matter more. Pakistan, after all, remain the only one of 20 teams not to have announced their World Cup squad yet; they will wait as long as possible – until after the first game of this series – to make it official, ensuring they make decisions based on maximum information.And that World Cup, ultimately, is the direction every aspect of this series will be slanted towards. That night at the MCG assures both teams they have what it takes to stand atop the mountain, and though Leeds isn’t close to that peak, it may well be an important stepping stone.Jos Buttler is set to take the gloves against Pakistan•Getty Images

Form guide

England LWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWL

In the spotlight

A year since his last T20, and four since his last international game on English soil. Jofra Archer will be the unquestionable star attraction at Leeds after captain Jos Buttler confirmed he would make a much-anticipated return in the first game. After a prolonged injury nightmare, it appears England have finally managed to nurse Archer back to full fitness, and the way his team-mates talk about him, he’s as formidable a prospect as he ever was. Sam Curran mentioned the value of the “fear factor” his extra pace instills in the opposition, and an overcast Headingley may well be the ideal occasion to ease him in.Pakistan, too, have an express pace bowler returning from injury who is expected to start in this game after an extended layoff. Haris Rauf has had a tumultuous last six months, beginning with a board dispute that saw him lose his central contract, followed by a shoulder injury during the PSL, and ultimately the reinstatement of aforementioned central contract. He was part of the group that travelled to Ireland but wasn’t fit enough to get a game. By all accounts, his injury has healed faster than the initial prognosis, and a pace-off between two of cricket’s most fear-inducing bowlers is worth tuning in for.

Team news

England will not rush Liam Livingstone back as he recovers from a minor knee issue. Mark Wood has not played since March and will be managed through the series due to a knee niggle of his own, which is not considered serious. Buttler has confirmed that he will keep wicket.England: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Phil Salt, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece TopleyHaving eschewed the opportunity to include Mohammad Haris in the squad, Saim Ayub’s return to form cannot come soon enough with this game the last Pakistan play before the official squad announcement. Rauf is expected to return, making this potentially the first time since the Asia Cup that he has featured alongside Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Rizwan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Fakhar Zaman, 5 Azam Khan (wk), 6 Iftikhar Ahmed/Shadab Khan, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Naseem Shah

Pitch and conditions

The biggest question mark concerns the weather. It was overcast in Leeds on Tuesday, and the forecast suggests rain through much of Wednesday.

Stats and trivia

• England won more T20I games at the 2022 World Cup (5) than they have in the 18 months since (4).
• Babar Azam has 46 wins as T20I captain, more than any other international captain.
• Both captains are close to approaching personal batting milestones. Babar is 45 runs away from becoming the second player to 4000 T20I runs, while 73 more would see Buttler become the first Englishman to 3000.

Quotes

“That pride was obviously dented and it was a really disappointing competition. But life moves on: it’s a chapter in the book and there’s lessons you learn but we’re presented with a new opportunity, a different format. We go to the West Indies and want to give a better account of ourselves.”
“We’re looking forward to facing him. He’s coming back after about a year. As a team we are excited to play against him. We’ve played well against him in the past and I’m sure it’ll be a good contest in the coming games. We have that pace of bowlers in Haris Rauf and Shaheen, so I wouldn’t say we’re fearful, but we are excited.”

The world’s most prolific run-scorer in women’s cricket joins the Ahmedabad-based franchise for the inaugural season of WPL

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2023Former India captain Mithali Raj has been roped in as mentor and advisor at Gujarat Giants, one of the five franchises set to take part in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Raj – the most prolific run-scorer in the history of women’s cricket – has been one of the strongest advocates of an IPL-style women’s franchise league in India, and as mentor and advisor at Giants, will also promote women’s cricket at the grassroots level in their home state of Gujarat.”Women’s cricket is growing steadily, and this kind of impetus will undoubtedly encourage young women to consider taking up cricket
professionally,” Raj said in a media release. “I believe that the high-impact participation of corporates will help hasten the process of eventually bringing more glory to India. This level of influence can help strengthen the sporting ecosystem, and enhance opportunities for women athletes.”Related

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• WPL player auction likely on February 11 or 13, Mumbai could host first edition

• The time is right for Women's IPL – Mithali Raj back in 2017

• Who are Adani Sportsline and Capri Global, the new WPL owners?

• Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB win bids to own WPL teams

Pranav Adani, Director of Adani Enterprises, which manages Giants’ owners Adani Sportsline, said on hiring Mithali: “Mithali Raj is a role model for the young generation, and we are delighted to have such an inspirational athlete on board to mentor our women’s cricket team.”We believe that the presence of international sporting heroes like Mithali will attract new talent not just into cricket but also into every other sport.”On January 25, Adani Sportsline – the sports development wing of the Adani Group – purchased the rights to own an Ahmedabad-based team for INR 1289 crore (USD 158 million approx.), the most expensive team that will take part in the competition. In all, INR 4669.99 crore (USD 572.78 million approx.) was spent by Adani Group, Capri Global – who bought the Lucknow team – and the owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore to acquire the rights for the five WPL franchises.The WPL is likely to be played between March 4 and March 24, a tight window squeezed out between the Women’s T20 World Cup that ends in late February and the men’s IPL that is set to start one week after the women’s competition. The WPL auction, set for early February, will have auction purses of INR 12 crore (USD 1.46 million approx) per team.Each team can buy a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 18 players, including seven overseas ones, of which one must be from an Associate country. Unlike in the men’s IPL, WPL teams will have the option of fielding up to five overseas players in the XI, provided, again that one is from an Associate team.A total of 22 matches will be played in WPL 2023, with each team playing the other twice to make it a total of eight games per team. The top-ranked team will enter the final directly, while the second and third-placed teams will face off in a Qualifier to determine the second finalist.

Kolpak-returnee quick opens up on his time away from the national team and the thrill of potentially making the XI against India

Firdose Moonda23-Dec-2021Duanne Olivier was so confident he would not play for South Africa again that when he signed a Kolpak deal in 2019, he framed his Test cap. So, what happens if baggy green No. 94 is needed later this week?”I am going to have to ask if I can get a new one. Otherwise I need to break the frame,” Olivier said, from South Africa’s bio-bubble in Centurion three days before the Boxing Day Test against India, which should mark Olivier’s comeback.Although he is still bashful about his chances of being in the starting XI, with Anrich Nortje out through injury and Olivier leading the first-class wicket-charts, he is all but certain to play.When, and it is when and not if, he does, Olivier is going to be battling butterflies, just like he always does. “I am a nervous person when it comes to playing. Wherever I play I am always nervous. If it’s my first over, I am very nervous,” he said. “I’ll have different feeling this time. will be different feelings. Maybe it might be similar to a debut because I haven’t played for three years. It will be interesting to see what the nerves will be like but I’m sure, if I am selected to play, I think my nerves will be shot through the roof.”Related

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Olivier will partly be worried about performance in a big series against a team that is “not No. 1 for no reason,” he reminded. “It’s massive series. They (India) haven’t won here, so they want to come and win here and for us, we don’t want that to happen.”And he will partly be concerned about what South Africans still bitter from his decision to leave think. “I know people will have mixed feelings about it, but at the end of the day, it’s okay. You handle that and you deal with those pressures or the criticism that comes with that.”But the one thing he does not have to worry about are the feeling of his team-mates, some old, many new, who are more than happy to have him.Earlier in the week, South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar said he’s be happy to have anyone who is in form, in the squad. “I want our best opportunity to win matches and win series, and in order for that, you need to make tough calls on bringing people back, for instance. I was very keen to have him back,” Elgar said. “There’s no bad feelings about what’s happened in the past. I want to win cricket matches for South Africa, I want to win series for South Africa, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got 100% backing when it comes to that in our change room. It’s nice to have him back.”Except that it’s not exactly the same Olivier who has returned. “You can see that he’s a different cricketer to what he was the first time he played for us,” Elgar said. And that’s a good thing. “Obviously with his trip away from South Africa, he’s learnt a lot, he’s played a lot of cricket in the UK, so he’s bringing a lot of knowledge and experience back into the change room, which is something that we need at the moment.”Olivier himself feels like someone else, as a person and a cricketer. “Firstly, I am more mature and a bit more grown up,” he said. “And from a cricketing point of view, I do genuinely believe I am different. The UK helped me a lot in perfecting that fuller length that every bowler wants to bowl. For me, it was quite difficult because it can come across floaty and I wasn’t that consistent. I am still working on it and I am not going to get it right every single time but the three years I spend in the UK helped me immensely, just the way I approach my game. I can still go short if I want to, but at the end of the day, the games dictates that. People thought I only bowl short and fair enough, I did that but now I feel like I have a different element to my game.”Duanne Olivier celebrates a wicket during his stint with the English county Yorkshire•Getty Images

A fuller length has long been talked about as the key to success on the Highveld, where two of the three Tests will be played, and especially at the Wanderers, Olivier’s new home ground, albeit that the temptation is to bowl short. But Olivier has seen for himself that fuller is better. In adjusting his lengths, he has been rewarded and taken 24 of his 28 wickets this summer at the Wanderers, including both five-fors. He hasn’t yet played at SuperSport Park, the venue of the first Tests, but it will be similarly seamer-friendly, with the promise that someone will take the series lead.”It looked like there was a bit of grass, green grass on it and I assume they will probably take a little bit off. I reckon probably a touch slow on day one but it’s always a wicket that speeds up and the game moves forward,” Olivier said. “And there has always been a result. I don’t know when last a Test match, even a four-day game, there was a draw.”The last drawn Test in Centurion was in 2009, against England, and there have only been three drawn Tests at the venue in 26 matches, all against the same opposition. South Africa have beaten India both times they played them at this venue and will hope history repeats itself as they seek to rebuild as a Test outfit, gain points on the World Test Championship table and begin to turn the page over two years of upheaval – two years Olivier missed.But he did not entirely escape the goings-on in this cricketing landscape and he is well aware of the importance of this contest in the broader context of South African cricket. “If we come out on top, it will mean a lot for South Africa in general, for Cricket South Africa and for players, because it’s like a make-or-break series for players,” he said. “If you do well against a top team in the world, it says something.”For me, it’s probably the biggest series I will play so, if selected, there will be those pressures. We’re playing against world class players but at the same time, it’s an exciting challenge. Like, I’ll need to bowl to (Virat) Kohli. It will be tough, but it’s exciting. We’ll be bowling to probably the top four batters in the world. It’s like making a statement to them. We are here to compete. We are not just going to roll over. For me, that’s very important: throwing the first punch, to know that you are here, you are present.”Perhaps as long as that punch doesn’t have to be through the glass frame to retrieve his Test cap.