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MS Dhoni has said that while fielding strategies and placements on India’s slow, low turners have re-written the conventional textbook around attack and defence, the assessment of pitches and tactics appeared somewhat slanted.Sixteen wickets fell on day three and four innings were completed over three days at the Kotla as India finished its 4-0 creaming of Australia. When asked whether surfaces like those in Delhi were right for Test cricket, Dhoni’s reply was sardonic and also contained his response to past criticism of his captaincy. “Well, you’ll have to answer what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ because your opinion really counts … When four fast bowlers play, it becomes strategy, when three spinners or four spinners play, it becomes a bad wicket.”He went on to give an example of how the interpretation of the same deep-field placements were different for different captains: “For Virender Sehwag, if you have a deep point and a deep-third man and a deep-square leg, it’s a strategy. If MS Dhoni has a deep point and a deep-square leg for David Warner, it’s a defensive field set. You have to see the mindset [of the batsman] and accordingly go ahead.”Dhoni also stated that the era of aggressive cricket, wherein having a mid-on up was common, has gone. Dhoni said: “The kind of cricket that we play has entirely changed … The era of seeing aggressive cricket, where you had to have a mid-on up, has gone.” The in-out field, used in plenty by the Indians, has become the norm with positions distributed between fieldsmen in catching positions and the boundary riders.In the Delhi Test, Dhoni described the offspinner’s conventional field: “You have a short leg, a backward, and a slip. And you have three fielders – deep midwicket, long-on and deep-square leg.” The latter three may have been conventionally considered boundary-saving, defensive fielders, but Dhoni said today’s field placements had much to do with studying the comfort zone and mindset of individual batsmen. Whether to employ a mid-on or long-on fielder was a decision that had to be made through a flexible reading of different batsmen, he said, and not on whether to stop the single or the boundary against all batsmen or the scoreboard situation.”You read the batsmen to see if he is in the mindset of rotating singles, if there’s a mid-on, deep midwicket and four catching fielders, and if he can rotate every ball. If he’s not having any problems, then you try to bring in the mid-on fielder or deep-midwicket fielder to build up the pressure.”If a batsman has more confidence going over the infield, “especially on wickets like these, it’s important that you don’t concede runs in a bunch”. The aim of the deep fielders was, he said, to deny the batsman the boundaries and check the opposition scoreboard from racing ahead. At a time like that, Dhoni said, he was fine with the batsmen taking singles because it created more chances. “If you rotate [the strike] four times, you get four runs and [on] those four runs, you can get them out as many times.”

Shikhar Dhawan stroked his way to a breathtaking century, its 85-ball duration the swiftest ever by a Test debutant

The Report by Daniel Brettig16-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShikhar Dhawan’s century was the fastest by a Test debutant•BCCI

Shikhar Dhawan could possibly have been out before he had faced a ball in Test matches. The first delivery of the innings slipped out of Mitchell Starc’s hand and landed on the stumps with the debutant out of his ground at the non-striker’s end. There was no appeal, but if made it would have sent many running for the law book and coming back with varying interpretations of two laws: mankading and dead ball.Dhawan, though, felt he was out, and took full advantage of what he felt was Australian generosity with a breathtaking century, its 85-ball duration the swiftest ever by a Test debutant. By the close he was still there on a commanding 185, looking utterly impassable while gathering runs with the kind of rare ease that invoked memories of Mark Waugh’s debut against England at Adelaide Oval in 1991.*Australia’s tally of 408 had been swelled by Mitchell Starc’s 99, but it was made to look laughably puny by how Dhawan set about his task in the company of the neat and tidy M Vijay. They formed a beautifully balanced union that did not take long to become plainly disdainful of the visiting bowlers, and by the close it was comfortably India’s best opening stand against Australia.On the way to what was also the highest total by an Indian debutant, Dhawan’s stroke range was awe-inspiring, no fewer than 33 fours and two sixes streaming from his bat to all parts of the PCA ground. He was most savage through cover, piercing gaps no matter how many fielders Michael Clarke employed to patrol the region.In doing so, Dhawan laid waste to a touring attack that should have been feeling quite haughty about prolonging Australia’s innings on the third morning. The worst punishment was saved for Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon and most of all Xavier Doherty, who in one over conceded an eye-popping 18, all to Dhawan’s impudent blade.Among the liberties taken in that over was a reverse sweep, conveying just how little Dhawan thought of the visiting spin bowlers. At the age of 27, Dhawan had been made to wait 81 first-class matches, 5679 runs and 16 centuries for this chance, coming in at the expense of Virender Sehwag. The flourish with which Dhawan took it was supreme, and indicated that India have not given up hope of forcing a victory over the remaining two days.Vijay meanwhile constructed another innings entirely suitable to the occasion, settling in quietly and safely in Dhawan’s slipstream but never becoming so tied down as to suggest the Australians had him covered. He too attacked the slow bowlers for a pair of sixes, and it was possible to imagine India have found an opening partnership to last for some time.Clarke exhausted all of the bowling options except his own, though this is at least partly to spare his problematic back. At no point were his bowlers able to deliver spells consistent enough to create pressure, despite the fact that both Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc extracted reverse swing and there was enough bounce and spin for Lyon, Doherty and Steven Smith.Most of all Australia missed James Pattinson, their most dangerous bowler in the first two Tests and an absentee here for punitive disciplinary reasons. Mitchell Johnson, another suspended bowler, has enjoyed success on this ground in the past, and it is difficult to imagine Clarke not wondering who else he might have called upon had team management not chosen to rule out four players for failing to follow the instructions of management.Only once did Dhawan give the ghost of a chance, a thick edge on 94 flying through the hands of Phillip Hughes in the gully from Peter Siddle’s bowling.The Australians might have had some inkling of how swiftly the runs might flow when India batted after watching their own tail wag furiously. Starc assembled a brave 99, Smith managed 92, and in all 157 runs were added for the final three wickets.For most of his innings Starc played nervelessly, hitting with power and pushing through gaps with finesse, while also defending when necessary. But he tightened up noticeably with one run to get for a hundred, beaten twice outside off stump by Ishant Sharma then edging an attempted drive behind after MS Dhoni brought the field in.In that moment Australia were denied their first centurion at No. 9 since Ray Lindwall in 1946-47, and a rare chance to feel a rush of shared jubilation on this tour. So even during a session in which India were dominated, the hosts still managed to deny the tourists a feeling of achievement.Smith’s innings reached a similarly flat conclusion after he had also played with great assurance at No. 5, demonstrating a steadier approach and straighter bat than he had shown in his earlier Test match appearances in 2010 and 2011. It was a chanceless innings, and took a practically perfect ball from Pragyan Ojha to dislodge him.*07.00pm GMT, March 16: The copy has been updated after reviewing the laws of the game.

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has started his own elite academy scheme at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad

Umar Farooq11-Jan-2013Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has started his own elite academy scheme at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad. The R70 million ($720,000 approx) multi-facility academy will be spread over 18 acres of land and will be completed in two years’ time, in three phases of construction.Ajmal has provided R10 million ($102,000 approx) of his own money to the academy, with the government and major industry promising to further contribute to its funding. The lucrative project will include an indoor and outdoor practice school, lodging facility, swimming pool and a floodlit ground.Ajmal, speaking at the launch of the first phase, said he wanted to help develop the next generation of cricketers, in particular spinners, for Pakistan. “I have experienced tough days early in my career but with this facility nobody will have to go through a difficult time,” Ajmal said. “I want to groom the enormous talent in the country without fee. I don’t want the players to suffer the ordeal I did in coming to this stage.”Ajmal, 35, made a relatively late entry into international cricket, at the age of 30. He started in Tests when he was almost 32 and so far has played 23 Test matches, taking 122 wickets at 27.09. He also has 117 one-day wickets and is the highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals, with 71. Ajmal said he wanted to give “youngsters an opportunity to follow in my footsteps”.Cricket may be the most popular game in Pakistan but there is a lack of modern facilities at the grassroots level. The PCB owns the national academy and regional academies around the country but they are sanctioned only for the use of national and domestic cricketers. Club cricket is the main source of new cricketers but they rely on meagre facilities.”The idea is to find the talent and give them all the necessary to groom [their skills],” Ajmal said. “They will be paid for their livelihood and we will help develop those who have been marginalised and unable to thrive for many reasons.”

A day before the World Twenty20 begins in Sri Lanka, India’s bowlers failed to defend 185 in a warm-up game after R Ashwin had reduced Pakistan to 91 for 5

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2012Pakistan 186 for 5 (K Akmal 92*, Hafeez 38, Malik 37*) beat India 185 for 3 (Kohli 75*, Rohit 56, Ajmal 2-22) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kamran Akmal was too hot to handle for a shaky Indian bowling unit•AFPA day before the World Twenty20 begins in Sri Lanka, India’s bowlers failed to defend 185 in a warm-up game after R Ashwin had reduced Pakistan to 91 for 5. Kamran Akmal’s sustained assault finished the game with nearly an over left. Barring Ashwin, Kamran toyed with India’s bowling as he swung six after meaty six in the company of Shoaib Malik, who bettered even Kamran with a strike-rate over 200 for his 37. What will worry India further is that they lost despite the use of five frontline bowlers, the warm-up game effectively allowing them the Supersub.Pakistan won’t be complaining, though. after an indisciplined show from their bowlers, they had their task cut out when they came out to bat. They started in belligerent fashion, but lost two wickets in Ashwin’s first over. Kamran, though, made sure the momentum was not lost. He began with a good-looking cover-drive for a couple first ball, and lofted the second ball he faced for a six.Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh then suffered at Kamran’s hands before Ashwin came back to turn it around it with a mid-innings spell. In the 10th over he had Hafeez and Shahid Afridi caught at the boundary, before diving full length to his right to catch Umar Akmal off his own bowling. At that stage it seemed Pakistan had messed the chase up by playing around too much with the batting order, but Malik and Kamran had other ideas.Sensible batting followed before the turnaround started in the 15th over when Kamran swung Zaheer Khan for successive sixes over long-on, and Malik drove him for four over mid-off. While runs seemed all too easy, the key over remained Ashwin’s. All Indian eggs seemed to be in his basket as Kamran and Malik basically had their way with the others. By the time Ashwin came on to bowl the 18th over, the equation had changed completely.Pakistan needed 29 now, and they could afford to take it easy in Ashwin’s over. They were content with risk-free seven runs off his over, knowing well they could hit the others. And hit others they did. Kamran walked way across to Balaji in the 19th over to sweep a low full toss for a square leg over six, and Malik matched it with a loft over long-off to leave only six to get off the last over. Irfan conceded it through one loopy full toss.It wasn’t all doom and gloom for India, though, as one of their main batsmen extended his golden form, and another found some much-needed form. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma powered to fifties in a century partnership that seemed to have given India enough. While Kohli’s was just an extension of an incredible run, Rohit’s showing in both warm-up matches – he made 37 against Sri Lanka on Saturday – will be a big relief for the management. The only downside of Kohli and Rohit’s dominance was that Yuvraj Singh has now faced just 17 deliveries in both warm-up games put together.Kohli’s supreme touch was evident when he nonchalantly clipped his first delivery through midwicket for four in the fifth over. His confidence spurred him to step out consistently to the Pakistan spinners. Rohit found confidence as his innings grew, and even overtook Kohli on the scoreboard briefly. Their partnership of 127 came at close to 10 runs an over. Like Ashwin for India, the Pakistan bowling unit had Saeed Ajmal fighting a lone, losing battle. He went at under a run a ball while others bowled poorly under pressure.Kohli and Rohit found a way around Ajmal quite appreciably, but they were to find out the same done to their bowling unit, only much more emphatically.

Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, has said he is “disappointed” with the postponement of Bangladesh’s proposed tour of Pakistan following a court stay order. Whatmore also said that he had not faced any security issues during his two-month stay in Pakistan.Bangladesh had agreed to visit Pakistan in the last week of this month for an ODI and a T20I, both scheduled to be played in Lahore, but the tour was delayed on April 19 with a Dhaka court ordering a four-week embargo over security concerns.”It is a bit disappointing,” Whatmore said. “We were planning to quickly get started with training, but all that has been knocked on the head with Bangladesh not coming.”Whatmore, who was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated early to Australia, coached the country of his birth to their famous 1996 World Cup triumph. “From my personal point of view, I’ve lived in Sri Lanka, I was born in Sri Lanka, I lived through civil war there towards the end of that problem, and I am now staying in Lahore for the last two months and move around quite freely. I really don’t have any problems with security.”Whatmore said the Pakistani people were starved of international cricket, which was difficult for them given the following and history of the game in the country. “It must be really hard for the people here, but do they [the rest of the world] really know how hard it is? You need to come and witness it to really know how difficult it is for a nation that has a rich history in international cricket to keep the game going without having the ability to host overseas teams.”For Pakistan, the Bangladesh tour is more a closed chapter for the moment and the series could be scrapped from the ICC Future Tours Programme as Pakistan is unlikely to host Bangladesh at an offshore venue. The PCB is, however, focussing on launching its own lucrative Twenty20 league, and is hoping to have overseas players in it – another tactic to revive international cricket in the country. Whatmore welcomed the idea and was hopeful of its success.”Once it is known to people in the world that the PCB is planning to do this, I’m sure there will be a lot of international cricketers looking at their schedules and see that they are available in this short period of time to come and play here. I am very hopeful that there will be some very good international cricketers coming and enjoying playing in it.”With the possibility that the Bangladesh tour might not happen, Pakistan face a spare period ahead of their away series in Sri Lanka towards the end of May. Whatmore said he would ensure the players avoided getting complacent and rusty during that time.The PCB has recently asked its centrally-contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new contract. “The fitness test was designed to give everyone an idea of where they are now and after a prescription of work to re-test and see the improvement,” Whatmore said.

Match Facts

Monday, February 27, Abu Dhabi
Start time 2000 (1600 GMT)Hammad Azam played a brief but sparkling innings in the second Twenty20•Getty Images

The Big Picture

After two whitewashes we now have a series decider following England’s slick victory in the second Twenty20 international in Dubai. Twenty20 matches can swing on the smallest of factors, but the intensity and sharpness of England’s display on Saturday suggests they are the side finishing stronger.A series victory will help consolidate England’s position at the top of the rankings, although the bigger picture, and it applies to both teams, is putting in place plans for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka during September and October. Twenty20 internationals are few and far between – three-match series are a new breed in this format – so each game is important towards building a unit.England learned quickly between the first and second matches in Dubai while Pakistan regressed quite significantly, especially with the bat. Jonny Bairstow showed that England’s young players are soaking up their experiences while the incisiveness of the bowling attack is now consistent across all three formats.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Pakistan LWWWW
England WLWLW

Watch out for…

Hammad Azam showed some spark in the second Twenty20 and while he was cutting loose, in a manner reminiscent of Abdul Razzaq, Pakistan were not out of the match. For a 20-year-old playing his first Twenty20 international innings it was a display of impressive confidence. It might be worth Misbah-ul-Haq giving him a bowl.Graeme Swann was out-bowled in the Test series by Monty Panesar and often overshadowed by the quicks in the 50-over matches, but he has come into his own in the Twenty20s. His eight overs have brought figures of 5 for 30, which should provide him a nice rankings boost at the end of the series. And he still likes cracking the jokes.

Team news

The form of Shoaib Malik is causing Pakistan problems, which became even more acute when Misbah struggled to score in the second match. The middle order could do with some more kick and it may be worth promoting Azam. Imran Farhat is also in the squad if they decide Awais Zia has proved just hit and miss.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Awais Zia, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Umar Akmal (wk), 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Hammad Azam, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz CheemaWith the series on the line England won’t be tinkering as they did in the last ODI, which means Tim Bresnan is unlikely to find a place.England (probable) 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Stuart Broad (capt), 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Jade Dernbach, 11 Steven Finn

Pitch and conditions

In Dubai a score of around 140-150 proved defendable and the nature of the pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi during the ODIs suggests something similar could be par for this final match. It will be another late finish for fans and players with an 8pm start.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan’s defeat on Saturday was Misbah’s first as captain in a Twenty20
• In 16 innings on tour (including the warm-up matches) Eoin Morgan has made 190 runs with a top score of 31.

Quotes

“In this game we won last night, I thought Bairstow’s innings was outstanding – very skilful, and very powerful as well. That’s a very good combination to have.”
Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Shakib Al Hasan, the former Bangladesh captain, has become the No. 1 Test allrounder in the latest ICC rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2011

Shakib Al Hasan, the former Bangladesh captain, has become the No. 1 Test allrounder in the latest ICC rankings following his outstanding performance against Pakistan in Mirpur. Shakib’s rise ended Jacques Kallis’ lengthy hold on the position.”Without any doubt it’s great news for me and for the country’s cricket, and I’m really happy. I have had the self-belief that it will come my way sooner or later because for a long time I was in the top five, so it was a matter of time,” Shakib told the . “It’s fantastic that the performance in the last Test of the year helped me achieve this feat, but it would be much better if we could manage a good result from the last Test match.”Shakib became the first Bangladesh player to score a hundred and take five wickets in an innings during a Test, and his 144 and 6 for 82 won him the Man-of-the-Match award. The century was Shakib’s second in Tests and it lifted his average to 34.68. He averages 31.36 with the ball and has 96 Test wickets. Pakistan, however, won the Mirpur Test to take the series 2-0.Kallis, who made 31 and went wicketless in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Centurion, was the No. 1 allrounder for 3696 days and will have the chance to reclaim the top position during the final two matches of that series in Durban and Cape Town.Daniel Vettori, Shane Watson and Stuart Broad complete the top allrounders list in Test cricket.

أعلن فرج عامر رئيس نادي سموحة ضم صفقة جديدة لصفوف الفريق السكندري من الأهلي، رسميًا، خلال الميركاتو الشتوي الجاري.

وكان سموحة قد نجح في ضم ثلاثي الأهلي حسام حسن وزياد طارق ومحمد مغربي، خلال فترة الانتقالات الحالية.

طالع أيضًا | الخطيب يعتذر عن عدم حضور قرعة أبطال إفريقيا للسلة.. وترشيح ثلاثي بديل

وقال فرج عبر حسابه على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “تويتر”: “مصطفى سعد ميسي ينتقل إلى سموحة على سبيل الإعارة”.

وتابع: “شكرًا للنادي الأهلي ولرئيسه محمود الخطيب، تواصلت مع مصطفى ميسي عبر الهاتف وحسمت انتقاله إلى سموحة”.

يذكر، أن الأهلي كان قد ضم مصطفى سعد ميسي وشادي حسين من سيراميكا كليوباترا، في الميركاتو الصيفي الماضي.

شكرا للنادي #الاهلي ، شكرا للكابتن محمود #الخطيب
مصطفي ميسي اتصلت بة تليفونيا وحسمت انتقالة الي #سموحة pic.twitter.com/3aI2GMBMB4

— Farag Amer (@FaragAmer_) January 28, 2023

مصطفي ميسي ينتقل من الاهلي الي سموحة علي سبيل الاعارةً pic.twitter.com/xHihgUrysv

— Farag Amer (@FaragAmer_) January 28, 2023

Steven Crook returned only the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career against Northamptonshire but could not prevent them taking control against second-placed Middlesex at Lord’s

13-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Steven Crook returned only the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career against Northamptonshire – the county that let him go two years ago – but could not prevent the Division Two leaders taking control against second-placed Middlesex at Lord’s.A responsible half-century from Niall O’Brien helped the visitors gain a first innings lead of 82 before Chaminda Vaas, who had taken five wickets against his former county in the first innings, trapped Middlesex openers Scott Newman and Sam Robson leg before wicket.Then Andrew Hall claimed Dawid Malan lbw and had Neil Dexter brilliantly caught by Rob White at second slip in the space of three balls and Middlesex closed on 58 for 4, 24 runs behind.Crook, a 28-year-old fast-medium bowler who was born in Australia but has a British passport through his English parents, did not play at all last season but was given the chance to resurrect his career by Middlesex after a trial during the winter.He had already taken two wickets when Northamptonshire resumed at 188 for 2, 129 runs behind, and swung the ball at a good pace to pick up three more wickets and finish with five for 94 from 19 overs. Mal Loye added only seven to his overnight 80 before he was caught behindpushing forward to Tim Murtagh and after that the Northamptonshire batting was a curious mixture of obdurate defence from Alex Wakely and flashing strokeplay from Rob Newton, Hall and James Middlebrook.They all threw the bat and all perished to Crook, Newton miscuing a hook to midwicket, Hall edging to first slip and Middlebrook driving to cover where he was superbly caught by Dexter diving to his left. In between times, Wakely, who was strokeless for long periods as he spent twohours 10 minutes adding 20 to his overnight 12, was finally undone by a good ball from Corey Collymore which took out his off stump.Northamptonshire were still four runs behind at 313 for 7 but O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, curbed his attacking instincts and went on to make 50 off 88 balls – including six fours – before Jamie Dalrymple had him caught at mid-off.Vaas, who had joined O’Brien in an eighth wicket stand of 38, and Lee Daggett then added another 39 and by the time Middlesex went in again a sunny afternoon had turned cloudy and created ideal conditions for the swing of Vaas.

أعلن نادي مانشستر يونايتد، ضم الحارس جاك بوتلاند من كريستال بالاس على سبيل الإعارة حتى نهاية الموسم الحالي.

كان الحارس الإنجليزي قد شارك من قبل في 87 مباراة في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز ومثل منتخب الأسود الثلاثة في تسع مباريات دولية.

اقرأ أيضًا.. تين هاج: يجب أن نمتلك 3 حراس أصحاب خبرات بسبب ما حدث معي سابقًا

وعن انضمامه ليونايتد، قال بوتلاند في تصريحات للموقع الرسمي للنادي: “مانشستر يونايتد نادٍ رائع وأنا فخور بانضمامي له، أتطلع بشدة للعمل مع حراس المرمى الآخرين والتنافس معهم وتشجيع بعضنا البعض بشكل يومي لخلق أفضل بيئة للتدرب واللعب في الفريق”.

وأضاف: “لقد لعبت ضد دي خيا ومثلت المنتخب الإنجليزي مع توم هيتون؛ هما حارسان من طراز عالمي، وأنا متشوق لفرصة التنافس معهما وتشجيعهما كزميلين لي”.

وتابع: “هذا الفريق بإمكانه أن يحقق الكثير هذا الموسم، وأنا متحمس للعب دوري في تقديم المساعدة لتحقيق الأهداف المنشودة”.

“هذا الفريق بإمكانه أن يحقق الكثير هذا الموسم، وأنا متحمس للعب دوري في تقديم المساعدة لتحقيق الأهداف المنشودة”.

من جانبه، علق جون مورتو، مدير الكرة بيونايتد، على انتقال بوتلاند للفريق قائلًا: “جاك حارس مرمى ممتاز، ولديه خبرة كبيرة. عقليته وشخصيته ستضيفان الكثير لحراسة المرمى والفريق بأكمله”.

وأكمل: “جاك ينضم لديفيد وتوم والشباب الآخرين ليكون لدينا مجموعة قوية من حراس المرمى الذين سيشجعون بعضهم البعض في خلق بيئة مثالية للتدرب واللعب، والكل يتطلع للترحيب به في الفريق”.