ESPNcricinfo reviews the performances of the 16 teams in the lead up to the ninth Under-19 World Cup

Abhishek Mukherjee10-Aug-2012The ninth edition of the Under-19 World Cup has been preceded by a number of preparatory tours and tournaments for the 16 competing teams ahead of the main event. The ICC’s Associate and Affiliate members – Afghanistan, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland – have been tested by the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers and regional tournaments while the others have kept themselves busy with full tours, tri-series and quadrangular series. Here’s a look at recent results:AfghanistanAfghanistan impressed by reaching the semi-finals of the Under-19 Asia Cup in Malaysia in June-July this year. After a four-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, they thrashed Qatar by 191 runs, thanks to a five-wicket haul by captain Javed Ahmadi, who is also part of Afghanistan’s senior side. They eliminated Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-final, where they lost to Pakistan by 151 runs. They finished fourth in the World Cup qualifiers held in July-August 2011, losing four matches out of nine, including a close one against Ireland by four runs. In February 2011, they won the Under-19 Elite Cup, the Asian qualifying tournament, defeating Nepal in the final.AustraliaThe three-time Under-19 World champions, coached by Stuart Law, will have the home advantage this World Cup. However, they have had mixed success in the lead-up to the event. They lost 2-1 to Pakistan in an ODI series in Gold Coast last week, after failing to defend their total in the first two matches. Their opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, who scored 143 runs in the three matches, was the man of the series. Kurtis Patterson, who has scored 310 runs in six matches played this year at an average of 62, is another batsman to watch.Australia played a quadrangular youth ODI series in Townsville in April 2012, winning three matches, including a tight semi-final against New Zealand, but lost to India in the final. In September-October 2011, they finished last in a quadrangular series in India, losing five of their seven games. They also lost a three-match series, 2-1, to West Indies in Dubai in April 2011.BangladeshBangladesh were knocked out of the Asia Cup by Afghanistan, the poor peformance forcing the BCB to demand an explanation. However, Bangladesh also produced a dominant 328-run victory against Qatar, featuring a double-century by Soumya Sarkar and a nine-wicket haul by left-arm pacer Abu Haider, in the same tournament. In February, 2012, they hosted England for a seven-match series, and won 5-2. Al-Amin scored 65 runs and took five wickets in the final match in Dhaka.EnglandIn May-June 2012, the Under-19s won a ‘Second Eleven Twenty20 series’, a series of T20 matches with county second XIs. They finished third in the quadrangular series in Australia in April 2012, winning three matches, and losing the semi-final to eventual winners India by six wickets. Their tour of Bangladesh in early 2012 ended in a 5-2 defeat. In 2011, they played Sri Lanka and South Africa in two youth ODI series, losing both.IndiaIndia have three tournament wins coming in to the Under-19 World Cup. They finished as joint-winners of the Asia Cup, and won the quadrangular series in Australia and India. India started the recent Asia Cup campaign with a narrow one-run loss to Pakistan, but shared the trophy with the same team in a tied final that featured a century by captain Unmukt Chand. Chand also scored a ton in the final of the quadrangular series in Australia and two more centuries, against Australia and Sri Lanka, in last year’s quadrangular tournament in India.IrelandIreland finished second in the European qualifiers to play the main World Cup qualifying event, where they won six of their nine matches to finish third. Ireland finished tenth in the previous Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.NamibiaNamibia won the African Under-19 Division One Championship without losing a game to proceed to the Under-19 Qualifiers. However, the team sraped through to claim the final spot for the World Cup, after edging out USA and Canada, who finished with equal points, with a better net run-rate. They last participated in the World Cup in 2008.NepalThe World Cup will be Nepal’s sixth appearance at the event. The side couldn’t qualify for the 2010 event as it failed to progress through to the Qualifiers from the regional qualifying tournament. But this time, Nepal finished second in the Under-19 Elite Cup to enter the Qualifiers, and claimed the second World Cup spot after winning seven of their nine matches. Nepal also played the Asia Cup in June-July and finished third in its group; They won against Malaysia but lost to India and Pakistan. Sagar Pun and bowler Rahul Vishwakarma have done well in recent matches, with the latter being the joint highest wicket-taker in the World Cup Qualifiers with 21 wickets.New ZealandNew Zealand finished fourth in their only tournament after the 2010 World Cup – the quadrangular series played in Australia in April 2012. New Zealand’s only victory in the tournament came against India, where leg spinner Ish Sodhi’s three-wicket haul helped New Zealand bowl out India for 123.PakistanPakistan were the joint-winners of the Asia Cup with India. They defeated India by one run in the final group match in the tournament, to progress through to the final, where they again played India and tied the game. En route, they registered comfortable wins against Malaysia and Afghanistan. Last week, Pakistan beat Australia 2-1 in a bilateral series played in Gold Coast. Pakistan toured South Africa in January, 2012, for a tri-series and a three-match ODI series. Pakistan won all their tri-series matches except the final. Sami Aslam ended up as the highest run-scorer in the tri-series with 332, and Umar Waheed, the highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets. In the three-match ODI series against South Africa that followed, Pakistan won the close decider after smashing 22 off last two overs, to clinch the series.Papua New GuineaAfter winning the East Asia Pacific regional qualifying tournament, Papua New Guinea clinched the fifth place in the main qualifying event to the World Cup. Captain Christopher Kent was the highest run-getter in the tournament with 474 runs in nine matches.ScotlandScotland won the Under-19 European Championship to qualify for the World Cup qualifiers. The side topped the qualifiers, losing their opening match against Canada by six runs and winning the rest of the eight games.South AfricaSouth Africa won the tri-series at home against Pakistan and Zimbabwe in January this year, winning four games, but lost the three-match series that followed 2-1 to Pakistan. The decider was a thriller that South Africa lost in the last over despite a century by their captain and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. In July 2011, South Africa defeated England 4-2 in an ODI series, with offspinner Prenelan Subrayen, with 14 wickets, and de Kock, with 341 runs, topping the bowling and the batting charts. In early 2011, they defeated Zimbabwe 5-0 in a home ODI series.Sri LankaSri Lanka reached the semi-final in the Asia Cup, losing to eventual winners India by six wickets. In September-October 2011, they participated in a quadrangular tournament with India, Australia and West Indies, finishing second after a five-run loss in the final to India. They won a five-match ODI series 3-1 against England in early 2011.West IndiesWest Indies came third in the quadrangular tournament in India in September-October, 2011, defeating Australia in a high-scoring third-place playoff at Visakhapatnam that featured a century from captain Kraigg Brathwaite. West Indies won a three-match ODI series against Australia in April 2011, clinching the decider after an unbeaten 98 by left-hand batsman Kyle Mayers.ZimbabweZimbabwe lost all their matches against South Africa in a five-match ODI series in early 2011. The team also lost the following two-match T20I series against the same side. Twelve months later, they failed to win a single match during the tri-series with South Africa and Pakistan.

Plays of the Day from the Super Eights match between England and West Indies in Pallekele

David Hopps in Pallekele27-Sep-2012False start of the Day
West Indies were quick to get on to the outfield the second that Sri Lanka beat New Zealand. Only Sri Lanka had not beaten New Zealand – not yet, anyway. Ross Taylor’s run out of Lahiru Thirimanne was eventually ruled to be legitimate and West Indies were sent packing so that the teams could get on with the Super Over.False start of the Day 2
England have emphasised, rightly or wrongly, that not losing early wickets, even if it means a conservative start, is the way to win T20 matches. Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright, both in the top three, do not really have the natural game to make them suited to such an approach. After three balls from Ravi Rampaul both had been fallen anyway, Kieswetter to a poorly executed pull, Wright to a failed leave.Statistic of the Day
Johnson Charles had never made more than 72 in a senior match, either for West Indies or Windward Islands. To surpass that at the World Twenty20 made it quite a night for him. He set new standards for himself with two boundaries in succession of Steven Finn, the first of them a length ball that he drove low through backward point.Showman of the Day
After the excitement of a Super Over what the World Twenty20 really needed to round off the day was a cut-throat piece of Mankading. That would get the pulses racing. Chris Gayle feigned to do it when Eoin Morgan backed up too far, jiving in front of the stumps with a huge grin on his face. It was a showman’s warning but it got the message through that Morgan should keep it honest.Save of the Day
Fielding standards never fail to astound – and T20 has been the driving force. Andre Russell’s save at deep square leg, where he dived backwards over the boundary, could not hold the catch (which was an impossible task), but somehow pushed the ball back into play to limit Eoin Morgan to two runs, was exceptional.

Stats preview of the England-South Africa ODI series

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan24-Aug-2012

• South Africa lead the head-to-head contest between the two teams 23-19. However, in matches in England, they have won five and lost ten matches. England hold the advantage in recent contests with series wins in 2008 at home (4-0) and in 2010 in South Africa (2-1). They also won both the matches played between the two teams in the Champions Trophy (2009) and World Cup (2011).
• England have won their last seven home ODI series (bilateral series) and have not lost a single match in their last three home series. The last series defeat for England at home came against Australia when they lost 6-1 in 2009. South Africa, who became the top-ranked Test team after the recent series win, have also had an excellent run in ODIs. They have won six of their last seven ODI series with the solitary defeat coming at home against Australia in 2011.
• Of the five South African players who have scored 1000-plus runs in ODIs since 2008, only Graeme Smith has an average below 40. Both AB de Villiers (average 62.04) and Hashim Amla (56.49) have strike rates higher than 90. In the same period, de Villiers’ average of 62.04 is the highest among all batsmen with 2000-plus runs.
• Five batsmen in England’s ODI squad for the series have scored over 1000 runs since the start of 2008. Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook have the best averages (49.19 and 47.12 respectively). Kevin Pietersen, who has been left out of the squad, scored four centuries in the same period including two in his last two games against Pakistan. In his last 11 innings, Cook has scored three centuries and three fifties.
• Stuart Broad, the only bowler on either side to pick up 100-plus wickets since the start of 2008, is not part of the England squad. Graeme Swann, already England’s most successful spinner in ODIs, is just four wickets short of the 100-wicket mark.
• Three of the five ODIs in the upcoming series are day-night matches. Since 2005, England have hosted 29 day-night matches. In the same period, Australia and India have hosted 94 and 82 day-night matches respectively. At Cardiff, the venue for the first ODI, teams batting first have had no luck. Of the nine matches played there, no match has been won by the teams batting first.

Home advantage didn’t play in Sri Lanka’s favour as South Africa relished the conditions and their recent experience

Andrew Fernando in Hambantota22-Sep-2012Much of the reason Sri Lanka are deemed favourites for the World Twenty20 is because they have intimate knowledge of the conditions they will be playing in – or at least, they are supposed to. Often touring teams have been undone by Sri Lanka sides who have developed strengths that are amplified by the surfaces they play on, and opponents go home cursing conditions so foreign from their own.But on a soggy night in Hambantota, it was South Africa that read the pitch, and the match situation, better than the home side. The heavy rain that had preceded the 7-over match cranked up the liveliness of the surface and ensured the ball would move in the air as well. Twenty20 cricket is usually not a great advertisement for length bowling, but that’s where Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel stayed, knowing that on this pitch, with batsmen attacking every delivery, a little movement off the seam would be the difference between a batsman mis-hitting the ball and being clobbered to the fence. Sixteen dot-balls and seventeen singles from 42 legitimate deliveries proved them right. Sri Lanka managed only four fours in their innings.”I thought we assessed conditions better tonight,” captain AB de Villiers said after the match. “I think we were quicker on the button than them. We’re enjoying the wickets – there was a bit of bounce and seam but what made us play well was the energy and intensity the bowlers had at the crease. You’ve got to put it in to get it out and that’s what they did.”Sri Lanka meanwhile stuck with the yorkers, short balls and variations that would usually bring results in this format, missing the opportunity to exploit the spice in the pitch. Two bowlers were allowed to bowl more than one over, and Mahela Jayawardene picked Lasith Malinga, who does not seam the ball and Rangana Herath, a spinner, to perform that task. Seamers Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews, however, had bowled two of the three cheapest overs in the innings.Even with the bat, South Africa read the game better than their opposition. De Villiers’ 13-ball 30 might have seemed like mayhem, but as he revealed afterwards, his hitting was thoughtfully borne. Malinga’s slower bouncer is among the most difficult to pick in world cricket, but if you’re expecting it, as de Villiers was in the sixth over, it can still be hit for six.”I don’t think that’s the best ball he’s ever bowled, but I knew he had a slower ball in him. He had three options with that field. It’s either a slower short ball, a normal bouncer or a full yorker. And it turned out to be that slower short ball. I was expecting it and I got a bit of momentum out of the shot.”South Africa may have been aided by a familiarity with shortened matches as well. Less than two weeks ago at Edgbaston they lost an 11-overs-a-side encounter against England and that experience helped them prepare for another curtailed match half a world away.”We had a little chat before we started because it’s not easy to keep the focus with all the rain. We spoke about what we learned from England and it was fresh in our minds when we went out. I think that definitely helped.”You can get a reduced over game at any time. It could happen in the final. We’re ready for that now. It’s still a short version of the game you’ve just got to think on your feet and be brave.”The shorter the match, the quicker teams must adapt. The rain before the cricket broke an eight-month drought in the area around the ground. The downpour may have been unexpected, but South Africa’s response to it was swift and exact. With the north-east monsoon approaching, and the focus moving to wetter parts of the country, Sri Lanka will hope they’ve learnt the same lessons their opponents had picked up.

Neither of Junaid Siddique or Shahriar Nafees have played genuine fast bowling regularly in the domestic circuit and that is why their struggles have come as soon as they faced the type again at the international stage

Mohammad Isam in Khulna20-Nov-2012Mahmudullah’s battle with Tino Best and his bouncers in the closing stages of the Mirpur Test was a forewarning to Bangladesh to expect more of the same from the West Indies fast bowlers in Khulna. Mahmudullah was hit thrice by Best’s short deliveries and backed away a few times towards the end of the Bangladesh second innings, but he did hit back by hooking Best for a six.It is a shot many in the Bangladesh line-up would take heart from. What would also help them is a simple piece of advice from a batting great in the opposition camp – keep your eyes on the ball, something that has often been ignored by Bangladeshi batsman who always struggle against fast, short-pitched bowling.”There aren’t many batsmen in world cricket who play the short ball very well, but at the same time batsmen work hard to overcome these problems,” Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, said. “We do the same things too. [Mahmudullah] Riyad played very well in the first Test, and the guts he showed at the time was what we needed. It has inspired us. They won’t be bowling bouncers all the time, but we have to make sure we see off the tough period.”Junaid Siddique struggled against short deliveries in both innings in Mirpur while back-of-a-length deliveries and the extra bounce also accounted for Shahriar Nafees. Tamim Iqbal got out cutting a ball that rose at him in the second innings, but he is the best Bangladesh player of the short delivery alongside Shakib Al Hasan, who pulls it without much risk.Former West Indies captain Richie Richardson, the team’s manager on this tour and one who only used the helmet at the fag end of a career in which playing short bowling came as second nature, said that the key was to focus on the ball and let the natural instincts take over.”My belief was that if you keep your eyes on the ball, your natural reflexes will allow your head to evade,” Richardson told ESPNcricinfo. “That was my approach really, I was fearless. I didn’t think I would get hurt. I always backed myself 100 per cent.”That is not how Bangladeshi batsmen have approached anything directed at their body in the past decade. They resort to ducking, weaving and getting hit. Mahmudullah’s struggles brought to mind how Makhaya Ntini smacked Akram Khan on the chest, or when Khaled Mahmud’s inadequacy was laid bare by the England bowlers, or the time Al Sahariar held out a periscope only to have the ball hit the splice and pop to slip in South Africa. Both former captains were seen off in those Tests while Shahriar only lasted another year in international cricket.A similar fate won’t be in store for Mahmudullah yet, but he and many others in the line-up have to get the hang of encountering bouncers, as Mushfiqur pointed out. “It is one thing to do well in one innings or one match but to do it consistently is very important and the real challenge. It is not impossible, but very difficult,” Mushfiqur said.Top-order batsmen need to play short-pitched bowling regularly, and with authority. However, what has happened in the past in Bangladesh is continuing in the present. If the the docile pitches in domestic cricket don’t change, these problems will continue well into the future.Neither of Siddique or Nafees have played genuine fast bowling regularly in the domestic circuit in the last two years and that is why their struggles have come as soon as they faced the type again at the international stage.Flat pitches, tailor-made for batsmen and spinners, are rife in the country with very few fast bowlers given an extended spell even in a one-day game. In first-class cricket, the obsession with left-arm spinners has not only hampered the growth of legspin and offspin, it has also reduced fast bowlers to shine-removers and over-fillers.Such matters have to be addressed urgently but it is likely that the Bangladesh batsman will be left to his own devices in international cricket to figure out a way.

The Madhya Pradesh batsman, on the cusp of 100 Ranji matches for his state, looks back at his career and what drives him to turn out season after season

Amol Karhadkar23-Nov-2012While Virender Sehwag made his 100th Test appearance amid fanfare in Mumbai on Friday, a domestic stalwart will reach a similar feat in front of near-empty stands on Saturday. Devendra Bundela will reach 100 Ranji games when Madhya Pradesh take on Bengal in Indore, a central India town also known as mini-Bombay and where Sehwag scored his ODI double-century. Before the 35-year-old Bundela, only 25 other cricketers have achieved the feat. And when it comes to representing only one domestic team, as Bundela has, the list shrinks to 15.For a workhorse such as Bundela, featuring in 100 Ranji games, that too for his home state Madhya Pradesh, is one of the biggest feats in his cricketing sojourn that started when he was 12, in Ujjain. “It matters a lot that I have been able to serve Madhya Pradesh for so long. Madhya Pradesh has given me so much that I always try to give it back by doing whatever I can to the best of my abilities. And the fact that I have lasted for so long means that I haven’t fared badly,” Bundela tells ESPNcricinfo.Just like his achievements as a batsman have been downplayed over the years, the soft-spoken Bundela – known as “Bundi bhai” among his team-mates – tones down the feat. Recounting his formative years, his eyes glitter. “‘ [I started playing club cricket in 1989]. There was a camp in Ujjain when I was 12 years old. Nobody else used to play the game in the family. I was fond of cricket so I started playing it. Saleem Khan and Vijay Bali [his coaches] taught me the basics,” Bundela says.Once Bundela, along with his coaches and family members, realised he was better than most batsmen his age in Ujjain, the next step was to shift to Indore, the hub of MP cricket. “It wasn’t easy. Since my father was a State Bank employee, he had to stay back in Ujjain but I shifted to Indore along with my brother,” says Bundela. “While he concentrated on studies, my sole focus was cricket. Sanjay Jagdale sir was my coach then. Once I came to Indore, I played for MP Under-16, then U-19, toured Australia with the India U-19 squad, and then played the Ranji Trophy.”Having featured in an ODI for India U-19 in Australia in March 1995, Bundela was included in MP’s Ranji squad at the start of the next season. However, he had to wait till the last match to make his debut – against Tamil Nadu in Indore. “I spent most of that season serving drinks and observing the routine of seniors – both in my team and the opposition. I played in what eventually turned out to be the last game of the season for us. It was a spinning track, and I remember I got some 25 [26] in the first innings and 30-odd [34] in the second as we lost by an innings.”Even though his maiden season in first-class cricket was far from ideal, it gave Bundela an indication of what was in store for him. “I realised that there was a lot of gap between the U-19 and Ranji Trophy standards and I needed to improve my game if I had to establish myself at that level. Accordingly I started preparing for the next season,” he says.That preparation must have helped him not only survive the rigours of domestic cricket for 16 years but also in becoming the highest-scoring MP batsman, having featured in a Ranji final and in the side that was the domestic one-day champion. It also put him on the fringes of the India side for a brief period.Though he couldn’t make the most of his limited opportunities during India A’s tour of the West Indies in 1999 and in the tour game against the New Zealanders later that year, Bundela has no qualms in admitting he was perhaps not good enough for the biggest stage. “What I feel is perhaps I needed to perform better,” he says. “I don’t have any regrets in not playing for India. I feel perhaps I should have done more to earn the India cap. Somewhere, somehow I may not have done enough to have achieved it.”How many cricketers are so frank about their limitations these days? And most importantly, in a day and age of instant money and fame, how many push themselves to the hilt in order to keep excelling in domestic cricket? That’s the difference between them and men like Bundela, who lend meaning to the domestic set-up. “I love this game,” Bundela says. “It’s more important for me to play the game rather than playing for India. Obviously, I dreamt of playing for India, worked hard towards it but it doesn’t happen that if you don’t play for India, you give it up.”Once a player accepts this, the perceived grind all through the year in order to keep himself in shape doesn’t appear so. A man who naturally has a sweet tooth has to resist the temptation of having sweets. He has to work harder on his fitness, with first-class cricket having become “more competitive than ever”. He can do anything that will help him in turning out for his state team, something that gives him the much-needed “kick”. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that after fielding under the blazing sun in Jaipur for a full day, the first thing he does is to hit the hotel swimming pool for more than half an hour.”It’s not easy to motivate yourself, but if you love the game and play it for self-pride, self-respect and love of the game, you don’t need to motivate yourself much,” Bundela says. “All I have to tell myself is I am playing for my reputation and I have to give my best for MP. That is more than enough for myself.”Even though not getting his hands on the coveted Ranji Trophy is one of his biggest regrets, when they were “so close and yet so far”, losing to Karnataka after gaining the first-innings lead [in 1998-99], his highs include scoring a fifty and 80 in the semi-final and the final to help MP win the Wills Trophy (domestic one-day championship) the same season. Though he thinks long and hard to recount his top three knocks, he has no trouble remembering the biggest compliment he has received.”It has to be at Wankhede in 2004,” Bundela says. “We had gained the first-innings lead but had lost three wickets for virtually nothing on the board. And then I managed to score about 140 [139] to bat Mumbai out of the game as we batted nearly a day and a half. After I got my century on the third day, Dilip Vengsarkar walked in to the MP dressing room and congratulated me. Beating Mumbai in Mumbai and a former India captain coming to shake hands with me are the two most memorable feats for me.”As you wind up the discussion, you realise that it is men like Bundela who are hardly given their due. No doubt the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association is planning to felicitate one of their stalwarts ahead of the game on Saturday. However, it would be a fitting tribute to add Bundela’s name to the Hall of Fame section on their website along with the MP players who have played international cricket – from the legendary CK Nayudu to Naman Ojha.

Mohammad Shahzad was born in a refugee camp in Peshawar; now he’s Afghanistan’s leading batsman

Umar Farooq19-Feb-2013Displaced from war-torn Afghanistan at an early age, Mohammad Shahzad’s life started in a refugee camp in Peshawar. An Afghan Pathan by ethnicity, he grew up watching Pakistan’s national cricketers in the early ’90s and playing tape-ball cricket on grubby streets near the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Shahzad is a flamboyant opening batsman who loves to play his shots. He swatted back-to-back hundreds in his second and third ODIs. He also made an unbeaten double-hundred as Afghanistan chased down an improbable 494 against Canada in the 2009-10 ICC Intercontinental Cup. His philosophy of batting is an elementary and often-repeated one: “Hit the loose ball and respect the good ball.”
Shahzad is 25. His family are from Nangrahar, a fertile valley around Jalalabad, and were dislocated in the wake of the Soviet war and forced into a refugee camp near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, close to the Pakistan-Afghan border in Peshawar. Shahzad was born in the camp, adjusted to life in Pakistan, and took up Pakistani pursuits like playing cricket.”I had a keen interest in cricket since the age of six or seven,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “In fact, it was the only thing for the youth in those days to do – either we sleep or play cricket.”It was everything. I slept with thoughts of cricket.” So passionate was he about the game that he used to wear his keeping gloves all the time, even when he was not playing.”I remember, I used to go with my captain in the evening every day to set up a match with random teams next to our street, and it was the most exciting moment of the day,” he said. “We bet on a plastic trophy bought with the money collected from the two sides, and winning it was a great motivation at that time. After we won the trophy, we use to go street by street in a group to show people that we had won it.Life in a refugee camp was hardly pleasant for Shahzad. “Cricket was the only thing I used to enjoy and I was terribly in love with it,” he said. “I grew up watching the likes of Imran Khan and Javed Miandad on land that wasn’t mine. I wished I could be a star for my country, but how could I – that was a million-dollar question for me. The scope of my life was limited, and the journey of my life with cricket was in an unknown direction.”Shahzad’s parents thought he could do well outside of cricket. Not that he agreed, caught up as he was in the belief that he was the next Rashid Latif or Moin Khan, and that cricket was the centre of his existence. “I wrote ‘Moin’ and ‘Latif’ on the back of my two shirts and used to play cricket pretending I am a superstar. But my parents wanted me to study.”I had no example of what I would be doing after studies, but in cricket I was following various Pakistani cricketers who are successful, like Imran Khan – he was famous and people talked about him.”With my persistence, my parents let me go free, to do whatever I was doing. Now after ten years I am representing my own country. I didn’t let them down. They are happy and are supporting me in every part of my life.”Shahzad started playing for Afghanistan in 2009 and hit the top level quickly, becoming an integral part of the rising team. He is currently Afghanistan’s leading scorer in ODIs (743 runs from 21 matches), has the highest batting average, 37.15; the best strike rate among their frontline batsmen, 90.06; and the most hundreds (three). He has played 12 first-class matches against various Associate teams, in which he has compiled 1059 runs at 55.73, with eight half-centuries and two hundreds (including a double). Shahzad was shortlisted for the 2010 ICC Associate Player of the Year award, but lost out to Ryan ten Doeschate of Netherland.Latif and Moin may be his childhood heroes but now his inspiration comes from the other side of the Pakistan border. He is friends with India captain MS Dhoni, and is even called MS by his team-mates, thanks partly to his initials.”I have been following Dhoni since 2007. I met him for the first time in West Indies in 2010. He was staying on the fourth floor of the hotel and invited me to have tea in his room. It was actually an awkward moment for me – a big superstar serving me tea. I said I would help myself but he insisted and poured the tea for me, saying that he is the host and I am the guest.”He is a great cricketer, a cool captain and a wonderful person. I always wanted to sit with him, talk to him, discuss cricket. He has talked to me about how to maintain yourself as a cricketer, how to handle the pressure. My helicopter shot is for Dhoni – to acknowledge that I am his big fan.”I felt so good when he once introduced me to someone as a friend of his. I was flattered. His behaviour and attitude have increased my respect for him.”One of Shahzad’s defining features is that he is a resolute, self-made man who has built a reputation of his own. “A lot of work has been done and work is still in progress,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, I think I have developed myself into a cricketer who can play any form of cricket. I have scored ample runs in every form so far, and I’m desperate to climb up to play Test cricket.”

“It was actually an awkward moment for me – Dhoni serving me tea. I said I would help myself but he insisted and poured the tea for me, saying that he is the host and I am the guest”

He thinks his team is closing the gap between themselves and the Full Member teams. “We guys all have the ability to play at bigger stage. We can bowl fast, we can spin, we can bat, and the fitness level of our players is high, thanks to the rough life we spent in the refugee camps.”But there are some limitations, as we back home are deprived of cricket facilities and are dependent on the other countries at the moment. We have made a perfect unit and we are heading in the right direction. The people of Afghanistan have accepted us; they are supporting us and want us to win, so that the world reads something good about Afghanistan. The time isn’t too far from here in our journey to become the best full cricketing nation.”Shahzad is a colorful character, with an aggressive mindset. “I am an emotional guy. I can easily be provoked. It’s natural, as Pathans usually listen to their heart,” he said. “My coaches talk about my aggression and how to control it. They have pointed out that I should try to learn how to keep my cool. I feel offended if any bowler bowls me a bouncer. I feel like hitting him out of the park.”He recently defied Pakistan’s allrounder Shahid Afridi on Afghanistan’s recent Pakistan tour. In the game against a Hyderabad-Karachi team, he smacked a six off Shahid Afridi that prompted a heated exchange of words between the two. Afridi conceded 29 runs in two overs, thanks largely to Shahzad, who smacked 58 off 35 balls.There is an impish swagger to his tone as he narrates the incident. “He said something after the six, which didn’t sound good, and I asked him to repeat it. He didn’t, and I hit him for a few more boundaries, and he didn’t return to bowl after his two overs.”He may be a Pakistani star but I am also a professional cricketer. If he is good with the ball, I am good with the bat. I square off everything right there in the middle.”

Plays of the day from the second day of the first Test between India and Australia in Chennai

Brydon Coverdale23-Feb-2013The ball
Spinners took all ten wickets during Australia’s innings but it didn’t take long once India walked out to bat for pace to make its presence felt. In the fourth over, James Pattinson sent a searing inswinging yorker to Murali Vijay, who was beaten by the 150kph pace of the delivery and managed only a little inside edge that rocketed back onto his leg stump. India’s seamers had struggled to get close to the 140kph mark but Pattinson showed that even on a spin-friendly pitch, sheer pace has its place.The obliviousness
A lack of reflexes cost Virender Sehwag on the first day when he dropped a catch at slip and again on the second day when he jammed a Pattinson delivery down into the ground. Unbeknownst to Sehwag, the ball bounced high in the crease, fell down and landed on top of the leg bail. By the time Sehwag realised what was happening, it was too late to do anything about it.The start
The loss of both openers left India at 12 for 2. In walked Sachin Tendulkar, under pressure after another lean series against England, and immediately he cheered the Chennai fans. His first ball he punched through cover for four, his second went in a similar direction and again to the boundary, and from his fourth delivery and the last of Pattinson’s successful over, he glanced yet another four off his pads. The cheer when Tendulkar walked to the crease was nothing compared to the roar that went around when he was 12 from four balls.The bowled that wasn’t
When Michael Clarke brought himself on to bowl late in the day, Tendulkar was on strike on 60. Clarke ran in and bowled, but just before he released the ball Tendulkar pulled away; he was not ready and had only just finished getting into position. Lo and behold, the delivery hit the stumps. Matthew Wade let out a mock appeal but everyone knew it was a dead ball, as was confirmed by the umpire Kumar Dharmasena.

There was a Test century to each man, M Vijay’s second, Cheteshwar Pujara’s fourth and India hoofed across the Australian first innings total. At stumps, India were 311 for 1, ahead of Australia by 74

Sharda Ugra03-Mar-2013Put M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara alongside each other wearing anything other than cricket whites or training gear and they will have little in common.Ask them to talk to each other in the language they speak at home and incomprehensibility will rule. There’s a very good chance they do not share, leave alone friends, the same taste in food, music, lifestyle or even favourite cricket shots.What Vijay and Pujara did share on day two in Hyderabad, however, was the ability to sing in perfect sync from the same cricketing sheet. They began with a low sonorous bass all through the first session, but by the time the second new ball was due an hour before stumps, they had hit the high notes.There was a Test century to each man, Vijay’s second, Pujara’s fourth and India hoofed across the Australian first innings total. At stumps, India were 311 for 1, ahead of Australia by 74.A day that began with a session whose scoreline read 49 for 1 in 27 overs, and looked like it was in Australia’s favour, was snatched away with India scoring 257 runs in 63 overs after lunch without losing a wicket.There were two remarkable aspects of Vijay and Pujara’s unbeaten 294-run second-wicket partnership. The first was Vijay’s ability to meld his batting into a manner of play that, for the better part of two hours, could have belonged to Pujara. The other was Pujara’s willingness to absorb, from very early in the day, pain from an injury in his left leg and then spend nearly six hours more at the crease, at times limping and hobbling and diving full length into his crease to ensure he wouldn’t lose out on a morning of labour.The final session of play, when both men completed their centuries as the second new ball neared, generated crowd-pleasing shots. Freebies were gobbled up and 151 runs scored in 30 overs with Australia’s bowling looking tattered and mentally frayed. But the foundation of the partnership and indeed its signature, was laid in the first session when the Australian seamers charged in and Vijay and Pujara were willing to grind and defend.The two strains of effort from Vijay and Pujara have gone to produce one of India’s more carefully-structured days of Test cricket in recent years. What is important is that India’s innings was not shepherded by a seasoned hand, but batsmen who have played 23 Tests between them.In the last ten years, recent memory says that India have seen off a tough first session and cashed after lunch only twice. In the Boxing Day Test of 2003-04, Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra scored 26 runs off the first 16 overs, went in to lunch at 89 for 0 in 27 overs and India finished the day at 329 for 4.Six years later, India were 92 for 0 in 18 overs against Sri Lanka in Mumbai at lunch, and followed the next two sessions with 260 for 1 at tea and 443 for 1 by stumps. Sehwag again was the central reason for India’s rapid acceleration. By sheer coincidence, his partner in Mumbai happened to be Vijay.On Sunday, much was in Vijay and Pujara’s favour in Hyderabad. They were batting at home, Australia’s first innings total – 237 for 9 declared – was miserly and the lateral movement off the wicket was not lethal. What they had to handle though was the early loss of Sehwag, a bowling attack that was fresh, keen and disciplined, and the early morning help for the seamers. By the time the first hour of play was done, India had scored only 26 more runs in the 13 overs bowled in the morning.Michael Clarke had cut off the single-scoring opportunities, negated the drop-and-run with men at short cover and short midwicket and stuck David Warner in at mid-off to put doubt into the mind of a batsman trying to take the straight, sober single. The batsmen were being challenged to hit corkscrewing shots into the air.Vijay and Pujara knew this was not the time to hurry. There were no planes, trains or automobiles to be caught. While Pujara, by and large, is neither hurried or lured, it was Vijay, the gung-ho, big hitting opener, who discovered that playing early monk could help.He got behind the line and defended stoutly on his front foot, swayed away from the short ball and when it followed him, jabbed it down. This is Vijay’s comeback series and his hometown Chennai had given him little joy with scores of 10 and 6, dismissed in both innings by James Pattinson.Hyderabad would have brought some manner of epiphany – he faced 10 overs from Pattinson, scored only 14 runs, but dug out the 140kph yorkers and got out of the way of the beastlier of the short balls.Pujara, a quiet well-spoken 25-year-old, can be an utter gourmand when it comes to big runs. He has scored them by the bucketful in domestic cricket, knows how to pace an innings in Indian conditions and loves converting scores just like he enjoys consuming runs. Of his five 50 plus scores in Test cricket, Pujara’s tally reads, 72, 159, 206*, 135 and now 162 not out. Vijay gave enough glimpses of power and aggression in his innings of 129. But on a day when alter-egos found expression, it was Pujara who hooked Peter Siddle for a six off the second new ball to reach his 150.Cricketing partnerships can often end up like holiday romances: intense, memorable but transient. India must wish that Hyderabad 2013 is only the start of a beautiful friendship between the two batsmen who have given India all the controls of this Test.

So here’s my tribute, not to the great man, (he would be getting enough right now) but to those maniacal followers, who know nothing better, who stand outside TV shops next to pure strangers saying, “Asking rate 8.5 per over

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013From Bharat Kirthivasan, United States

This is not a post on the unbeaten 200 by the great man. This is merely an answer to a question that was put to me on Friday. So here goes.Having woken up early to watch the match (NY time zone is not exactly conducive to day-night games in India), I was ecstatic (albeit blighted by a headache) in college where I happened upon a classmate. A discussion on the match ensued. She remarked (or rather questioned): “I wish I could have watched Sachin go past that milestone. Why is my luck so bad?” (or something to that effect). Here is my answer to all those who have missed watching the record even though they were free. That innings is a gift to me and those like me. The fools. The ones who sat watching every match the little man played in the golden 90s (an era of cricket that seems to have died these days).We watched Sachin decimate every opposition back then. Funny how the word decimate is often used to describe his exploits. He always wore a No.10 T-shirt. Tendulkar! We fools (and there are millions like me) had systolic blood pressures in the extreme highs when he beat a murderous McGrath to submission at the Wankhede in the 1996 World Cup. We bawled like babies when Mark Waugh tricked him into charging a wide ball only to! (Fellow fools need not be reminded.) We remember mourning him being adjudged caught-behind against the Windies (back when they were somewhat formidable) even though the ball had scraped his shoulder. (That umpire must have been hiccuping blood for days.) We nuts had our underwear in a bunch when Shoaib Akhtar proclaimed he would take Sachin’s wicket, and then did so. At that moment Shoaib got our unwavering hatred and respect. Small setback you might think, but it was first evidence that there exists something which travels faster than Sachin’s speed of thought (there is always light at 299,792,458 metres per second, but I am sure Sachin’s brain is not far behind).Bowlers had to be careful sledging the great man (few ever had the stones to do so) for fear of retributions, and repeat offenders had their careers ruined. We optimistic idiots held our breaths as Adam Bacher (having no other claim to fame) stuck out one hand and ended one of only two memorable things (the other was Azhar’s knock) about the Cape Town Test. We, only we, can understand the almost maternal way we prayed that Sachin would not come on strike when some bowler was exceptionally ferocious, knowing full well but not wanting to accept that he is only mortal. Reason was abandoned in exchange for faith when he charged Michael Kasprowicz and pulled him for a six, not to mention the very next ball (again: fellow-fools need no reminder). Food was trapped right in the throat when the genius chose the over before tea to hit a round-the-wicket Warne over deep midwicket. There was no way to explain how his mind worked. It sufficed us to see that it did and how.Indian cricket has other heroes, but this man was omnipresent during a match. Rolling his arm over and producing turn that would make Warne proud, or horizontalizing his diminutive frame to prevent conceding the extra run, or walking over to the bowler and explaining something in his, ahem, less than exceptional voice; it was impossible to calculate the impact of this man’s presence on India’s win-loss probability. We crazies like parents watching their first-born learn to walk when he returned from his back injury to become a slower, slightly unsure version of himself; not the kind who put bowlers in peril, but accumulated runs while inventing shots all the same. The paddle sweep, the deliberate edge over keeper/slips and others would not have been created had his back injury not happened. Who knows, this might have helped him make the transition from an annihilator to accumulator.That, however, has not been the case over the last two years, a period which shows him at his dangerous best because of his repertoire of booming shots coupled with the cheekiness he has later added. We caused water crises in India by standing for hours in the shower practicing shots with the one-piece bat used for washing clothes (pointless: most of us had a washing machine), fantasizing being the non-striker when Sachin bats, or receiving a few pointers from him at change of overs. A few audacious ones even dreamed surpassing the great man. For me, it was the closest to true devotion an atheist could go. Woody Allen famously said: “We don’t know if there’s a god, but there are women. And some of them shop at Victoria Secret!” That can be edited to say: “We know not if god exists, but Sachin exists. And that’s enough.”So here’s my tribute, not to the great man, (he would be getting enough right now) but to those maniacal followers, who know nothing better, who stand outside TV shops next to pure strangers saying, “Asking rate 8.5 per over? Sachin aahe na? Bara! (Sachin’s there, it’s alright.)