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The Pakistan allrounder is expected to sign a two-month deal to take in the T20 Blast

George Dobell28-Dec-2018Northamptonshire are closing in on the signing of Faheem Ashraf for the Vitality Blast.ESPNcricinfo understand Faheem, the Pakistan allrounder, has agreed a contract with the club and expects to be available for the entire duration of the 2019 T20 season in England.The competition starts in mid-July – immediately after the World Cup – with the group stages finishing on August 30 and Finals Day taking place on September 21. Pakistan do not currently have any international commitments during that period.While Faheem first gained attention as a seamer – he has opened the bowling for Pakistan in most of his recent international appearances – his explosive batting offers Northants huge potential. He has, at this stage, just one career T20 half-century to his name – and a best of 21 at international level – but could well prosper if utilised as a pinch-hitter.He memorably exploited a short boundary mercilessly in thrashing 60 from 34 balls in a Champions Trophy warm-up match against Bangladesh at Edgbaston last year.Northants, who have denied Faheem’s signing, have previously announced the signing of South Africa’s Temba Bavuma as an overseas player in the County Championship.

A new opening colleague for Warner every summer is becoming a tradition in Australian cricket and Cameron Bancroft comes to the role with strong credentials

Brydon Coverdale21-Nov-20171:30

‘I can forge my own reputation’ – Bancroft

First it was Phillip Hughes. Then it was Ed Cowan. Then Chris Rogers. Then Joe Burns. Then Shaun Marsh. This year it looked like being Matt Renshaw, but instead will be Cameron Bancroft. This is the roll call of batsmen who have started Australia’s Test summers as David Warner’s opening partner; Rogers is the only man to have done so more than once. A new opening colleague for Warner every summer is becoming a tradition in Australian cricket.Renshaw may be unlucky to have been dropped following an encouraging start to his Test career, but Bancroft certainly comes to the role with strong credentials as a foil for the destructive Warner. If patience is a virtue, no player in Australia in recent years has been as virtuous as Bancroft. In 2015, he occupied the crease for a remarkable 797 minutes in compiling 211 for Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield game against a strong New South Wales attack.And after entering this summer fresh from a 512-minute double-century for Gloucestershire at the tail end of the county season, Bancroft carried his bat for 76 and then scored 86 in the second innings against a New South Wales attack boasting Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. Then he followed up with another double-hundred next game against South Australia.

“I certainly think I can get better at concentrating and batting for long periods of time,” Bancroft said on Tuesday. That seems a near unattainable goal. In the recent game against New South Wales, Bancroft was involved in every delivery for the first three and a half days of the contest: wicketkeeping, carrying his bat, wicketkeeping again, and then nearly reaching a century as opener in the second innings.”Most of us were in his ear the whole game,” Hazlewood said this week. “He’s a good fighter, I guess, and he’s put the runs on the board this summer, and in previous summers.”Warner’s observations of that Shield match were that Bancroft was technically sound and knew his own game well. “He looks very complete in the nets,” Warner said. “I’ve been very, very happy with what I’ve seen of him.”This is not the first time Bancroft has been within touching distance of a baggy green. In 2015, he was chosen in Australia’s squad for the Test tour of Bangladesh when Warner was injured. Bancroft would have opened alongside Burns on that trip, but the tour was postponed for security reasons. An inconsistent stretch of form followed for Bancroft, who admits that at times he can be too intense, too focused for his own good.”It was difficult, I just wanted it so badly,” Bancroft said. “I wanted it so badly and I wasn’t patient enough. It took me a little while just to sit back and kind of go, this is where I want to go, just got to trust it … I can get a bit tense and try a bit too hard at times. I think over the last five years of my career it’s been something I’ve had to learn and develop.”Having that work ethic and that intensity is a really good thing and a really positive thing in the right times but learning when those times are, that’s part of the challenge of being a professional cricketer and it’s probably taken me a lot of time to learn about it.”Bancroft was “stitched up” (in the words of Warner) this week when told jokingly that new players in the team have to make a speech at dinner; Bancroft did so without hesitation. But one task he won’t have to be tricked into is fielding under the helmet at short-leg. Typically, that position is thrust upon the newest member of the side, but Bancroft has made short-leg his own specialist spot.”At the start, I just did the role because I was the youngest player in the [Western Australia] side,” he said. “Then I took a couple of really good chances and I thought about it and thought, there’s probably no-one really in the world who sits there and thinks ‘I want to be really good at this’. I remember a couple of years ago at the cricket academy I worked really hard on it and set myself a goal to be really good in that position.”There’s a lot of luck involved, or reaction. I think wicketkeeping helped – my ability to stay low and things like that … I have fun doing it. I feel like you’re always in the game, and I love the prospect of being able to make a difference to the game by taking a catch or even stopping a run that gets flicked and it hits you or something. It’s a challenge that I embrace.”

Sandeep Patil, India’s former chairman of selectors, has said “there were lots of discussions” around MS Dhoni’s limited-overs captaincy around the time he retired from Test cricket in December 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2016Sandeep Patil, India’s former chairman of selectors, has said “there were lots of discussions” around the future of MS Dhoni’s limited-overs captaincy around the time he retired from Test cricket in December 2014. Dhoni’s unexpected exit from the longest format mid-way through India’s Test series in Australia came as a “shock”, Patil said, but he was happy that Dhoni decided to move on when he realised his mental and physical fitness were not up to scratch.Patil, whose four-year term as chief selector ended today, said his panel deliberated making a leadership change in ODIs then, but eventually decided not to, keeping in mind the 2015 World Cup was only a couple of months away at the time. “Absolutely [Dhoni’s captaincy was under threat]. There were lots of discussions that happened regarding that, [and] it’s not like they happened once, they happened a lot,” Patil told ABP News. “There was discussion about his one-day captaincy, there were discussions on his finishing…”But we selected him because… a time had come, the World Cup had come – [if] you try, before the World Cup, giving a new player the captaincy seat, [you should] give him a good run. But that opportunity didn’t come to the selectors. We didn’t have enough time to experiment.”Dhoni, who still captains India in ODIs and T20s, had announced his retirement shortly after the Boxing Day Test ended in Melbourne, with the team trailing 2-0 after three matches with one to play. Patil said that Australian tour was a tough one for the team and Dhoni’s decision was “sudden”, but he was best placed to decide on his future. “I wouldn’t want to say… that it was a sinking ship, but it was a tough series. Our players had to face quite a few difficulties there, the performance wasn’t quite right, save for Virat Kohli.”In such a situation, for a senior player to take this decision – to suddenly take this decision – was shocking. There was a lot of discussion even among us [selectors], ‘How did this happen?'”But it was his decision. What the player is thinking and understands… his body, his thinking, his fitness, only he can decide on all those things. Selectors can’t decide that. I feel that Dhoni understood this and took the right decision at the right time.”Patil said the selectors did ask Dhoni about the timing of his retirement when the panel next met to select an ODI squad. But, in the end, the decision was a selfless one, he said. “[Since it was mid-way through a series], we questioned him and his response was that ‘this is the level of contribution that should be coming from me to the team, when that wasn’t happening, then I myself felt that I should be out’. Very few players can take a decision like that. Very few players can think like that. Everyone generally thinks I should play more, let me play one more series, let me play for another year…”The other big retirement Patil’s panel had to deal with was even more high-profile: the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. Patil recollected the precise moment he first had a chat with Tendulkar about his plans for the future, in December 2012. Patil said Tendulkar made the decision to quit ODIs after he and fellow selector Rajinder Hans had that chat with him during the Nagpur Test against England. The selectors, Patil said, did not force anything on Tendulkar.”I remember, it was a Test match in Nagpur, December, 2012. After Sachin got out, that was when we, the selectors, decided that we will go to Sachin and ask him what his intention is. And that was a job I did, because I was the chairman, and Hans was also with me, and we spoke to him to know what he had in mind.”We have never told any player, let it be Sachin Tendulkar or any other player, ‘that is enough, now we are going to drop you’. We wanted to ask ‘what’s the plan in your mind’. [And] Sachin wanted to focus more on Test cricket. So when we spoke – and it was quite an open discussion – he decided that he will retire from one-day cricket and, in front of me, he called Sanjay Jagdale, who was the [BCCI] secretary then. He himself said ‘I don’t want to play one-day cricket now’. I felt that was a very good thing, what Sachin did.”Tendulkar’s Test retirement came a year later, following a farewell series against West Indies in November 2013.Former India opener Virender Sehwag, who had previously told ESPNcricinfo that he was “hurt” by the manner in which the selectors dropped him in 2013, more recently said it would have been nice if the selectors had offered him a farewell Test as well. Patil said while he empathised with the players, it was not their right to ask for a farewell match. “If you decide that everybody should get a farewell, then it becomes wrong. And this decision is not the player’s, it’s the BCCI’s. I can understand how it feels, because I too have come through that phase. You talk of Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar… The farewell that Sachin got, that was different.”But, perhaps, after that, the expectation went up among the rest that ‘I too should get one’. But it didn’t happen, and they felt unhappy, became annoyed. And I understand why they became displeased, but the sport is such that when you… retire, many things come out; many things that you shouldn’t say, you end up saying, and later there is repentance. But we don’t place much importance on these things.”

Northamptonshire dismissed Championship Division Two rivals Kent for 208 to wrap up an innings-and-23-runs victory with almost a day-and-a-half to spare at Canterbury

ECB/PA06-Aug-2015
ScorecardAzharullah picked up three second-innings wickets as Kent succumbed inside three days•Getty Images

Northamptonshire dismissed Championship Division Two rivals Kent for 208 to wrap up an innings-and-23-runs victory with almost a day-and-a-half to spare at Canterbury.Hosts Kent seemingly had little desire for the fight as they lost nine wickets in less than two sessions to gift a 23-point win to Northants. That left Kent second from bottom and they went straight into the nets afterwards having banked only three points from this their seventh defeat in 12 Championship games.Resuming on 90 for 1 at the start of Thursday’s play, Kent lost four more wickets in the morning session of what transpired to be a one-sided clash.Once again, poor shot selection led to their demise with Joe Denly starting the rot with a meek clip off his hip straight into the hands of Josh Cobb at short midwicket. Captain Sam Northeast was pinned leg before when playing across a full length ball from Azharullah, as was Ben Harmison, whose painful 36-minute stay for 3 ended with a near identical stroke against Ben Sanderson.On 27 Rob Key had raised Kent’s 100 in fortunate circumstances with a top-edged hook against Azharullah that was palmed over the ropes for six by Maurice Chambers at long leg. But after adding another nine to his own score Key perished when another miscued pull against Sanderson sailed to Azharullah who safely pouched the opportunity to make it 121 for 5.The capitulation gathered pace after lunch when Darren Stevens was adjudged leg before for 15 to the excellent Olly Stone who, in tandem with Azharullah, sent down 53 of the 78 overs needed to skittle Kent.Stone then cleaned up Calum Haggett with the very next delivery for a golden duck and although James Tredwell survived the hat-trick ball, the end for Kent was nigh. Azharullah had Tredwell caught at long leg, one of three Kent players to be caught out on the hook, as was top-scorer Sam Billings (43) leaving Chambers to polish off the win by rearranging the stumps of Kent’s last man Matt Hunn.Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely said: “I’ve just said in our team meeting that I believe that to be the best collective bowling performance that I’ve ever witnessed by a Northants team. We barely bowled a bad ball throughout and really made life tough for a Kent batting line-up that is chock full of experienced players.”I’m very proud of that performance considering we were missing the two spearheads of our attack. Stone and Azharullah were magnificent and Ben Sanderson has again proved a real asset. We’ve also given ourselves a valuable day off ahead of our T20 quarter final.”Northeast said: “I thought Northamptonshire bowled really well on this pitch. There wasn’t much in it for our lads, but they got out of it what they could.”A couple of us made starts in this match but nobody went on to play a match-defining knock. We all have to stick our hands up and say that wasn’t good enough. We have four games to go in this competition now. We need to look at our practice and how we’re going about things because there’s no denying that we’re very inconsistent.”

A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on Thursday, January 17, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAnother all-round performance from Darren Sammy sealed a victory for Windward Islands in St Lucia and took them to third position in the points table. Sammy took two wickets and followed it up with a 28-ball 41 which included four sixes.Chasing 141, Windwards were reduced to 57 for 5 after nine overs by Dwayne Smith who took three wickets in three overs. Sammy walked out and stitched a 70-run partnership with Liam Sebastien who remained unbeaten with a run-a-ball 33. When Windwards needed 40 from four overs, Sammy smashed 24 off his next six balls before he was bowled by Javon Searles. Windwards finished the chase with an over to spare.Earlier, Barbados got off to a slow start after winning the toss as they were reduced to 19 for 2 by Sammy in the fifth over. Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich took the score to 50 but both were dismissed soon. Kyle Mayers’ knock of 37 from 21 pushed the run-rate up after he clobbered four sixes. Ashley Nurse’s cameo helped Barbados to 140.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn all-round performance by Guyana got them four points against Leeward Islands and kept them in the hunt for a place in the play-off. They are now at fourth position in the points table and have a match left.After Guyana chose to bat, their openers, Derwin Christian and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, gave the team a stable start but their run-rate was under six even after ten overs. Once they departed, Christopher Barnwell steered the innings till the end with a 36-ball 61 that included nine boundaries. He and Royston Crandon (16* off 6) hit 53 off the last three overs to take the total to 156.Leewards were 62 for 1 in the 12th over but the regular fall of wickets after that made the chase tougher for them. Guyana’s Steven Jacobs bowled a parsimonious spell, giving only 15 runs in his four overs. He was supported by Crandon, who claimed 1 for 12 in three. Devon Thomas scored 46 off 27 but his knock was in vain as Leewards fell short.

It was the older players who dominated the opening night of the brand-new Big Bash League, on which the Sydney Sixers thumped the Brisbane Heat at the Sydney Cricket Ground

Alex Malcolm 16-Dec-2011
ScorecardStuart MacGill showed he had not lost his abilities•Getty Images

Who said Twenty20 was a young man’s game? The bright lights, fluorescent pink uniforms, fireworks and cheerleaders were all pitched at the younger audience. But it was the older players who dominated the opening night of the brand-new Big Bash League, on which the Sydney Sixers thumped the Brisbane Heat at the Sydney Cricket Ground.Forty-year-old Stuart MacGill, playing his first professional match since retiring in May 2008, and 35-year-old Brett Lee bowled tight spells to restrict the Heat to 8 for 139 from their 20 overs before Sixers captain, the 34-year-old Australia Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, made 76 off just 59 balls to help steer his side home by seven wickets.On a sluggish surface, the Sixers drew first blood, literally, when Lee struck Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand keeper-batsman, square between the eyes. McCullum, who is the leading run-scorer in Twenty20 internationals, was forced to retire hurt with blood pouring from the bridge of his nose.The Sixers quicks mixed up their pace well as Heat pair Matthew Hayden and James Hopes battled to find any fluency with their stroke-play. Hopes was the first to fall when he holed out at long-off to a Dwayne Bravo slower ball.Then MacGill took control. In three years out of the game it seemed he had gained more control than he ever had. He bowled with wonderful guile and skill. Given he had only played a handful of Grade games in preparation for the tournament he showed that skilled players never lose their ability.First he defeated McCullum in flight, tossing the ball above McCullum’s swollen eyes and getting him to advance and miscue to long off.Then MacGill clean bowled his former Test team-mate Hayden for 29 with one that dipped and spun back sharply. Hayden looked rusty in his 28-ball stay. He showed brief glimpses of his abilities and will undoubtedly be better for the time in the middle.MacGill finished with 2 for 21 from four quality overs, and might have had three wickets if Brett Lee had not unfortunately fallen onto the rope and dropped the ball after he had taken a brilliant catch off Andrew Robinson.Dan Christian, a New South Welshman who lives in Adelaide but is representing Brisbane for this Big Bash tournament only, was the only Heat batsman to get going. He made 32 from 22 before holing out in the deep of Mitchell Starc. Peter Forrest fell in the same manner, Steven Smith completing an outstanding catch while having to play hop-scotch to avoid stepping on the rope.The Sixers captain, Haddin, then made a mockery of a slow surface by playing with fluency and sublime timing. His 76 included five fours and five enormous sixes. He clubbed 16 from one Alistair McDermott over, first lofting straight for six, then backing away and lofting over cover for four, before pulling the last ball over fine leg and into the stands. He later thumped consecutive sixes off Nathan Hauritz, the second hitting the upper deck of the Ladies’ Stand. He fell to the only ball he mis-hit, but the damage was done. The Sixers cruised home with nine balls to spare, and without using the services of Dwayne Bravo or Ed Cowan.The Sixers look a sharp outfit with plenty of experience and depth, and they have started the tournament in fine fashion.

A round-up of the first day of the seventh round of Division One of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2010After a breathtaking 19 wickets fell on the first day, Faisalabad emerged from the wreckage with the edge over Multan in the battle between the bottom two teams at the Bahawal Stadium in Bahawalpur. Multan were asked to bat first, and were in trouble straight away, losing both openers with no runs on the board. The Faisalabad bowlers, led by Rauf Nazir, were then able to keep the pressure on all through the innings. Nazir knocked over the hosts’ middle order, taking 4 for 23, and was well supported by Zeeshan Butt, with 3 for 14, and Ahmad Hayat, with 2 for 27, as Multan crumpled to 81 all out. The visitors’ innings began in equally dramatic fashion, as Abdur Rauf ripped out three of the top four batsmen to leave them in tatters at 6 for 3. Unlike Multan, however, the middle and lower orders offered some resistance, and Hayat’s unbeaten 45 helped Faisalabad push on to 163 for 9. Rauf kept taking wickets, seven in total, but was also expensive, going for 3.80 runs an over, and the rest of the bowlers lacked penetration, allowing Faisalabad to take a lead that could turn out to be crucial in what is shaping up to be a low-scoring game.Table toppers Water and Power Development Authority wasted no time in asserting their authority over Pakistan International Airlines at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. WAPDA won the toss and opted to field, and Naved-ul-Hasan and Sarfraz Ahmed removed both openers for just 26. Asad Shafiq then steadied the PIA innings somewhat, as they reached 84 for 3, before Azhar Attari and Umaid Asif each struck twice to make it 85 for 7. However, No. 9 Tahir Khan led a recovery alongside Anop Santosh, the pair adding 90 before Santosh was bowled by Sohaib Masqood for 39. Khan continued to battle, taking PIA past the 200-mark, and remaining unbeaten on 69 as the innings folded for 214. Attari was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 21 in 10 overs. In reply, WAPDA were 30 for 1, having lost Jahangir Mirza for 12.Fast bowler Rashid Latif picked up a five-for to help Rawalpindi dismiss Islamabad for 218 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Ameer Khan topscored with 79, and Imad Wasim made 46 down the order, but the hosts failed to get contributions from their top and middle orders. Opener Nauman Masood was the only other batsman to go past 20, making 37 before becoming Latif’s second victim. Latif prised out five of the top six batsmen, including Khan, to finish with 5 for 77 from 23 overs. Naved Malik and Shoaib Nasir got the visitors off to a blazing start, adding 52 at better than a run-a-ball, before Malik fell to Shehzad Azam for 30, having faced just 17 balls and struck 5 fours.Fourteen wickets fell on the first day at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as Habib Bank Limited finished with the advantage against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. HBL took just 35.5 overs to bowl ZTBL out for 118 after putting them into bat. Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder, took 5 for 41 to run through ZTBL’s top order and then Younis Khan, who is in the Pakistan Test squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand, polished off the tail, taking three wickets with his part-time seamers. ZTBL got off to an inauspicious start when opener Yasir Hameed, who has played 25 Tests for Pakistan, was out for a duck with the score still on zero. There were two more ducks in ZTBL’s innings, as none of their batsmen past the 30-run mark. HBL then had problems of their own early on with the bat. They were 20 for 2 after opener Imran Farhat and Saleem Elahi were out for single digit scores. Younis got the day’s highest score with his 32 and captain Hasan Raza was not out on 27 as HBL finished the day at 130 for 4. ZTBL seamer Mohammad Khalil took 3 for 44. HBL and ZTBL are both tied in second position in the tablewith 39 points each.Centuries from Mohammad Ayub and Mansoor Amjad took Sialkot to a strong position against Karachi Blues after a shaky start at the National Stadium in Karachi. After being into bat, Sialkot found themselves at 48 for 4 before Ayub and Amjad led a tremendous fightback. Both batsmen were unbeaten on 109 at stumps, having added 245 to take Sialkot to 273 for 4. Fast bowler Babar Rehman had done the early damage for Karachi, taking three early wickets. Both teams desperately need points, having picked up only three each so far this season.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines put National Bank of Pakistan in and then bowled them out for 155 on the first dayat the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Seamer Asad Ali, who is the second highest wicket-taker this season, gave SNGPL an early breakthrough, bowling opener Rashi Riaz. Riaz’s opening partner Nasir Jamshed battled hard for his 40, but wickets kept falling at the other end. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who was left out of Pakistan’s Test and Twenty20 squad for their tour of New Zealand, was NBP’s second-highest scorer with 31. Asad finished with 3 for 46 and then SNGPL reached 73 for 2 by the close of play. They are six points behind NBP in the table.

No further decision was taken on the Pakistan team management’s request to call up the former captain to bolster the batting

Osman Samiuddin in Melbourne30-Dec-2009The chances of Younis Khan appearing for Pakistan in the New Year Test in Sydney have reduced significantly after no further decision was taken on the Pakistan team management’s request to call up the former captain to bolster the batting.The second Test is due to begin on January 3 and given the considerable travel time between the two countries, even if the request is accepted tomorrow and Younis were to leave the same day, he might struggle to be ready in time for the Test on Sunday.In any case, it appears as if the selection committee is not entirely convinced of the need for Younis, at least without him having attempted to find some kind of form first in the RBS Pentangular Cup, a domestic tournament due to begin on January 1. “It is not like the team is losing just because he isn’t there,” a member of the selection committee told Cricinfo.”The Pentangular is happening and that would be a good way for him to play and get some practice. The Sydney Test is looking very unlikely right now and no decision was taken today. And who will he replace there? Various batsmen have scored some runs here so it might be unfair to drop them.”Initially, the selection committee appeared to be waiting for the result of the first Test in Melbourne, which Pakistan ultimately lost by 170 runs, before taking a decision. Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s captain, reiterated after the match that the side needed Younis and that a request had been made some time ago.But there appears to be a gap in communication: one selector claims that no official request has come in writing to them from Australia and another said that the chairman of the PCB, Ijaz Butt, had received the request and was going to consider it after discussing it with the selectors. That, in all probability, will now happen tomorrow.Amid the confusion, it is increasing likely that Pakistan will have to do without Younis as they attempt to level the series in Sydney. Pakistan’s batting struggled in both innings of the first Test, bowled out for 258 and 251 on what was widely acknowledged to be an unusually placid MCG
surface. On the final morning, they lost seven wickets for 81 and it prolonged a run in which they have, as a side, passed 350 only twice in 14 Test innings.

KL Rahul says he has learned the lesson of not linking preparation with results

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-20253:12

Rahul: ‘I’ve forgotten what my batting position actually is’

Not many will know better than KL Rahul that outcomes in cricket – Test batting in particular – are not always proportional to your skill, preparation, fitness and application.Rahul has had an anomalous Test career to back it up. He came into this Test having scored hundreds in some of the most difficult conditions during his career – seven out of eight away from home – but never having become the dominant Test batter his game suggests he should be. He averaged 33.57 before Headingley, which is quite underwhelming for a player of so many great innings.”The sooner you learn that there is no connection [of your game, preparation, etc] with the outcome and the results that you get, the calmer you can be,” Rahul said after scoring 137 in an India third innings that threatened to go off the rails in the morning session of the final day. “And I feel like that’s the only thing that gives you the best chance to play at this level for a long period of time. And that’s something that I’ve consciously done as well.Related

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“Having learned this from the seniors that I looked up to, it’s something that I’ve understood and try and do, not just in Test cricket, but in cricket overall. Just all you can do is your best in terms of preparation and giving yourself the best chance to succeed. But again, there’s no guarantees. When you have a good day, you are happy. When you have a bad day, you’re still happy that you had the opportunity. That’s how I look at the game.”The latest in Rahul’s career was the Australia tour where he was called upon to open in Rohit Sharma’s absence and scored 26 and 77 in Perth followed by 84 in Brisbane. At the end of the series, though, his average read 30.66. It left him bitterly disappointed.”It’s always disappointing for a batter when you get starts and don’t convert it and get a big score for the team,” Rahul said. “I was happy with the way I was batting in Australia, but very disappointed at the end of the series that I couldn’t convert. I think I had opportunities in every game, I got starts in every game, and in an ideal world, I would’ve wanted to convert all of those innings into big knocks.”But, unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. And that’s how the game goes sometimes. Sometimes you get a good ball, sometimes you play a bad shot. It’s part of the game, so you learn from the mistakes, and that’s something that I learned from that series, just to make sure that once I get a start, try and make it count and transfer as many runs as I can.”1:32

Draw off the table? – Tongue and Rahul on day five possibilties

This has been a trend in Rahul’s career. He has never had a series in which he has scored 400 runs. That is part of the reason why he has never nailed a position in the batting order.On his last tour of England, he got to play only because of an injury in the nets to his good friend Mayank Agarwal. Then he got the opportunity to open in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because Rohit was on paternity leave for the first Test.Rahul has taken batting in different positions in his stride. “The last couple of years I’ve forgotten what my position is and what I’m comfortable doing,” Rahul said. “I’m happy to be given different responsibilities and different roles. Makes the game exciting and makes me want to challenge myself and train that much harder and work on my game a little bit more. So I’ve quite enjoyed doing that.”And the last couple of series, my role has been to open the batting, and I’ve enjoyed doing that as well. Yeah, I mean that’s something that I did growing up and all my early years as a cricketer was me opening the batting. So yeah, I’m happy that I’m back doing that, and I’m happy that I’m doing the job for the team.”

Australia’s No. 3 took a painful blow on the finger but was cleared of injury and is now looking ahead to Melbourne

Tristan Lavalette18-Dec-20234:28

‘Pakistan don’t have the belief to beat Australia here’

Cleared of a serious finger injury, Marnus Labuschagne declared himself fit and ready for the Boxing Day Test after Australia’s 360-run series-opening victory over Pakistan on a “brutal” Optus Stadium surface.Labuschagne was one of a number of Australia batters roughed up in their second innings as the wicket deteriorated on days three and four.During the sixth over of Australia’s second innings, early in the final session on day three, Labuschagne was whacked on the little finger of his right hand from a rearing delivery by debutant quick Khurram Shahzad that jumped off a length.Related

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• Has Perth become Australia's new fortress?

• Morris released from Australia Test squad to play BBL

He sought medical attention immediately, but resumed batting after several minutes before falling for 2 having made 16 in the first innings.”The finger is fine, there’s no break. It hit me more on the knuckle side and sort of just jammed up my hand,” Labuschagne said. “It just got me in a bit of an awkward spot. There was no padding on that side of the glove, so it just didn’t feel that good.”I was a bit nervous. I’ve had a lot of finger blows, but it just felt a bit different. It was a little bit sore overnight.”Labuschagne spent an hour in the Optus Stadium nets before play on day four where he was tested by quick Lance Morris, who is arguably the fastest bowler in the country and he was part of Australia’s first Test squad.”It [net session] wasn’t to test the finger out, it was to bat…something I didn’t do enough of in this game,” said Labuschagne, who before this Test had compiled 501 runs at an average of 167 from four previous innings at Optus Stadium.Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith also received blows to their arms, while allrounder Mitchell Marsh was twice hit on the helmet on day four as Pakistan’s quicks resorted to fiery short-pitched bowling.”Uz seems fine and Steve is all good,” Labuschagne said. “It was brutal there at the end with the cracks opening up. We’re all used to the bounce, played a lot here and some of us have good records in Perth.”But no one likes batting when it’s up and down [and] sharp steep bounce on a fast wicket. That’s not your cup of tea, but you just have to find a way when it’s like that.”Emerging unscathed from the bruising contest, Australia will almost certainly go into the Boxing Day Test unchanged meaning allrounder Cameron Green is set to miss selection once again.Labuschagne, who has played 39 Tests in a row, believed the MCG wicket – which has livened up in recent seasons after a dull period – would present challenges for the batters.”The MCG wicket has changed so much over the last four years,” he said. “It’s become probably very much like Adelaide with a bit of seam and swing…quite a bit of grass. Probably will be a little bit of a different challenge to this wicket, which was more bounce.”While Australia’s batters copped physical punishment, a hapless Pakistan may have mental scarring after crumbling for 89 in their second innings to slide to a 15th straight defeat in Australia.”I think it is a big advantage when you’re playing a subcontinent team on such a bouncy surface,” Labuschagne said. “It was certainly one of those tough games that you get in Perth.”