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Blair Tickner, who was taken to hospital for treatment soon after picking up the injury, “is awaiting further specialist assessment to determine his return to play”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2025Blair Tickner will not bowl or field at all, and is unlikely to bat for the remainder of the ongoing second Test between New Zealand and West Indies in Wellington, after dislocating his left shoulder while diving to stop a boundary on the first day of the game on Wednesday.Tickner, who was taken to hospital for treatment soon after his injury, which he suffered in the second session of the first day, has joined the squad at the ground but “is awaiting further specialist assessment to determine his return to play”, New Zealand Cricket said in a statement on Thursday.Tickner, who led New Zealand’s fast-bowling show on the opening day with a four-for, had to be stretchered off in the 67th over of West Indies’ innings when he attempted to prevent a boundary at fine leg. Chasing a flick from Tevin Imlach, he dived full-length near the rope and stayed down, prompting concern from his team-mates. The medical staff from the New Zealand camp and the venue attended to him before he was taken off the field – sitting up but in obvious discomfort – to warm applause from the Basin Reserve crowd.Playing his first Test since early 2023, Tickner had been drafted into the XI for this match after injuries to Matt Henry and Nathan Smith in Christchurch. His 4 for 32 from 16 overs made him New Zealand’s best bowler on the day. His injury, however, added to an already lengthy list of unavailable fast bowlers for New Zealand this series, which includes Ben Sears, Will O’Rourke and Matt Fisher.New Zealand are now facing the prospect of losing a third fast bowler this series. They were similarly reduced in Christchurch, which had a knock-on effect and allowed West Indies to bat out a draw.Before being forced off, Tickner trapped Brandon King (33) and Kavem Hodge (0) lbw, used a sharp bouncer to dismiss Shai Hope for 48, and uprooted Roston Chase’s leg stump to put New Zealand firmly in control.In Tickner’s absence, New Zealand’s bowling in West Indies’ second innings will have to be shouldered by Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and debutant Michael Rae, with the part-time spin trio of Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson and occasional medium-pacer Daryl Mitchell around to chip in as needed.

Carlos Baleba has addressed talk that speculation over a summer move to Manchester United has impacted his form. The Cameroon international was heavily linked with a switch to Old Trafford over the summer as Ruben Amorim pushed to strengthen his side in the middle of the park. However, United failed to agree a fee with Brighton, and the transfer ultimately failed to materialise.

Getty Images SportBrighton boss suggests United speculation has impacted Baleba

United were active over the summer as they brought in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko from Wolves, Brentford and RB Leipzig, respectively, to improve their frontline. In addition, the Manchester giants also signed Senne Lammens from Antwerp as a replacement for inconsistent pair Andre Onana, who moved to Trabzonspor on loan, and Altay Bayindir between the sticks.

Amorim, though, had pushed to sign another central midfielder to provide cover and competition for first choice pair Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro. United sought to agree a deal with Brighton for Baleba, but Amorim's side scoffed at the Seagulls' hefty asking price for the former Lille man, which was around the £100 million ($134m) mark, and a deal failed to come to fruition.

Brighton have started the season well, yet Baleba's performance levels have dipped from the previous campaign. And head coach Fabian Hurzeler last month called for the rumours over the midfielder and United to end to allow the player to focus on his football.

"It’s about being a Brighton player, it’s about performing well here and it is about getting him back to his best level. Avoid the noise, avoid all the rumours and focus on the things you can influence and the things you can do best and that’s football," Hurzeler said.

Advertisement'I had a lot of pressure on me' claims Seagulls star

Baleba has played the full 90 minutes in a Premier League match just the once this season, and has been hooked at the break on four occasions. The player himself, though, is adamant that reports linking him with a move to United isn't to blame for his sub-part start to the campaign.

Speaking to , Baleba said: "I don’t think it affected me negatively, but I had a lot of pressure on me. When I started this season, I wanted to show the same performances as last season.

"Every day I try to work hard and get back to my level. Did I put too much pressure on myself? Yes, I think so, but I think it’s good. It’s good for me, because now I have to get through this slightly stressful period, get back on the horse and continue working hard."

Getty Images SportBaleba not the only midfielder wanted by United

Baleba is again being linked with a January switch to Old Trafford as United look to bolster in the middle of the park in the new year. The Cameroon international, who played his final Brighton game on Saturday before jetting off for the Africa Cup of Nations later this month, isn't the only Premier League central midfielder on United's radar.

Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton is another wanted by United, though a number of Premier League rivals are also tracking the former Blackburn Rovers youngster. Elliot Anderson has also emerged as a potential target for Amorim's side, however, Nottingham Forest will rebuff any efforts to sign the England international in January.

United's inability to add bodies in the middle of the park in early 2026 will impact Kobbie Mainoo's hopes to leave next month. The England international is wanted by a host of European sides, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Napoli, but United are unwilling to green-light Mainoo's exit without a sufficient replacement.

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United back in action on Monday night

United are next in action on Monday night when they welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford. Amorim has overseen two wins from United's last three, with a 1-1 home draw with West Ham sandwiched between victories at Crystal Palace and Wolves.

Seven points from the last nine available means United are currently three points off the Champions League spots, albeit with a game in hand on fourth-placed Chelsea.

In 2021, to the dismay of their fans, the Chicago Cubs sent shortstop Javier Baez to the New York Mets via trade. Unbeknownst to Cubs fans at the time, the next face of the franchise was coming back.

Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has been the heart and soul of Chicago this year as the team jumped out to a 44–28 start—a record that, if sustained over a full season, would be the franchise's best since it won the World Series in 2016.

The 23-year-old Sherman Oaks, Calif., native has gone from a capable everyday player to a bona fide National League MVP candidate, and he showed the baseball world why Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

First, he made a diving catch to rob Brewers second baseman Brice Turang of a hit.

Then, he bashed a 452-foot solo home run that struck Wrigley Field's right-field scoreboard.

The Cubs won 5–3 Tuesday, and would seem to have bigger and better victories in their future.

Even three-time MVPs make mistakes sometimes.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani commited a so-called cardinal sin of baseball during the club's 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and reigning World Series MVP Freddie Freeman at the plate, Ohtani found himself on second base after swiping the bag moments before. As Blue Jays lefthander Brendon Little delivered a strike to Freeman, Ohtani took off for third in another stolen base attempt but was caught stealing for the last out of the inning.

One of baseball's oldest adages is, never make the last out of an inning at third base. Effectively, the logic is, don't kill a potential two-out rally. While one can quibble about the veracity of this statement, it seems that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts at least partially subscribes to the thinking..

"That was his decision," Roberts, addressing the sixth-inning play, told reporters after the game. "Not a good baseball play."

Aside from the baserunning blunder, it's difficult to pin the blame for Sunday's loss on Ohtani, who belted his 41st home run of the season, tied for the National League lead, while collecting another hit and a pair of walks.

Roberts's frustration with Ohtani's aggressiveness gone wrong on the basepaths was likely a microcosm of how he felt about the game as a whole. Los Angeles had chances to add to its thin 3-2 lead throughout the game, stranding 16 baserunners and going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers' struggling bullpen then surrendered the lead in the top of the eighth inning when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger both homered off of Blake Treinen.

"This is frustrating because I just felt there’s no way we should lose this game today," Roberts said. "We had them on the ropes numerous times. And for us not to win is so frustrating."

The Dodgers, clinging to a two-game lead in the NL West, will next take on the Los Angeles Angels before a pivotal divisional face-off against the surging San Diego Padres.

After largely eschewing outside improvement last offseason en route to a fourth-place finish in the National League East, the Braves have suddenly become one of MLB’s most active teams in free agency over the last 24 hours.

Atlanta signed relief pitcher Robert Suarez, who led the National League with 40 saves in 2025, to a three-year, $45 million contract on Thursday and inked outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to a two-year, $23 million deal Wednesday night. Both deals were somewhat surprising; the Braves had retained incumbent closer Raisel Iglesias on a one-year, $16 million pact last month and already rostered three starting outfielders in Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar. But the front office clearly felt more talent was needed after the Braves’ win total decreased by 13 wins last season as they slumped to a 76–86 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017. 

The Braves have now signed three of ’s top 40 free agents; the Orioles (Pete Alonso, Ryan Helsley) are the only other team to sign more than one so far. Atlanta signed just one free agent to a contract worth more than $1.5 million last offseason; Profar agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal and was suspended for 80 games due to PED use less than a week into the season. That was one of many things that went wrong for the franchise this year, and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is clearly hoping a shake-up will lead to drastically different results in 2026. 

Atlanta fielded MLB’s ninth-highest payroll last season at $220 million, about $21 million below the luxury tax threshold. As of now, they have the third-highest projected 2026 payroll at $227 million, per Spotrac, behind only the Dodgers and Mets.

Suarez has made the All-Star team in each of the last two years; he and Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz are the only relievers to do so. The soon-to-be 35-year-old recorded a 2.97 ERA and career-best 2.88 FIP in 2025, striking out 75 batters and walking 16 in 69 2/3 innings. But the righthander is nevertheless expected to work as a setup man for Iglesias, who recorded a 1.76 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in the second half of last season after an ugly first half.

Yastrzemski was traded from the Giants to the Royals at the trade deadline and put up much better power numbers away from San Francisco’s famously homer-averse home field. He slashed .237/.339/.500 in 50 games for Kansas City—a small sample size, but the Braves would be thrilled if the 35-year-old could replicate those results in Atlanta’s hitter-friendly Truist Park.

He has scored five centuries at No. 4 or lower since 2014 in his team’s successful chases

Bharath Seervi05-Feb-2020348 – The target successfully chased down by New Zealand, is their biggest ever in ODIs. Their previous biggest chase was a target of 347 against Australia, also at Seddon Park in Hamilton, in 2007. New Zealand’s previous best chase against India was 281 at the Wankhede Stadium in 2017 in which also Ross Taylor and Tom Latham were the stars in the chase.Ross Taylor has starred in New Zealand’s big chases in ODIs•ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Bigger successful chases against India than the 348 by New Zealand on Wednesday. Australia had chased down 359 in Mohali last year, which is the highest.5 – Number of times Taylor has scored a century in successful chases batting at No. 4 or lower since 2014. No other batsman has scored more than two centuries in successful chases at those positions in this period. Two of Taylor’s centuries have come against India and three against England. In three of the top-four chases for New Zealand, Taylor has scored hundreds. In the top-three successful chases for New Zealand against India, Taylor has scored two hundreds and a 95.10.48 – Run rate of the Taylor-Latham partnership for the fourth wicket – 138 runs in 79 balls. It is the second-quickest century partnership while chasing for the fourth wicket or lower in ODIs (where balls are known). The only quicker stand was of 120 off 55 balls at 13.09 between Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina against Sri Lanka in Hobart in 2012.369 – Runs scored by Nos. 4 and 5 in this match, the second-highest aggregate in any ODI. Shreyas Iyer (103) and KL Rahul (88*) from India and Taylor (109*) and Latham (69) were the Nos. 4 and 5. The third and fourth-wicket partnerships for both sides combined to 438 runs, which is the third-highest in any ODI. It was only the third instance of both the No. 4 batsmen scoring centuries in the same ODI.111 – Runs scored by New Zealand in a span of eight overs between the 34th and 41st overs, at a run rate of 13.88, which tilted the match towards them. Latham scored 54 off 24 and Taylor got 48 off 25 in that phase. Since 2001, where ball-by-ball information is available, only once a team has scored more runs in those overs – 115 by South Africa against Netherlands in the 2007 World Cup.84 – Runs conceded by Kuldeep Yadav in his 10 overs, his most expensive figures in ODIs. His previous most expensive figures were 75 against Australia in Indore in 2017.

With the T20 World Cup this year all but postponed, here are ten games from past editions to reminisce about

Himanshu Agrawal01-Jun-2020Australia v Zimbabwe, 2007, group stage

In 2007, the Zimbabwe cricket team was still reeling from the mass exodus of players in 2003 for political reasons. They had taken a hiatus from Tests and had not won a single game in the ODI World Cup the same year, so it was not surprising that when they took on four-time world champions Australia in the inaugural World T20, the odds-makers had Australia as 50:1 favourites.Australia posted 138, with Andrew Symonds and Brad Hodge scoring quick 30s as Prosper Utseya, the Zimbabwe captain, juggled his medium-pacers and spinners effectively on a sluggish pitch. Brendan Taylor was the main man in the chase, getting to 60 not out off 45 balls. With 12 needed off the final over, he swept the first ball for four, leaving four more runs to get from two balls. The penultimate delivery brushed past Taylor’s pad and reached the boundary, but not before the entire Zimbabwe dugout was on the field celebrating.India v Pakistan, 2007, final

After their group-stage match ended in a tie and bowl-out, India and Pakistan met again in the final. The game was another thriller. Gautam Gambhir scored 75, and a 20-year-old Rohit Sharma got a rapid 30 to help India reach 157. Imran Nazir replied with a breathtaking 33 off 14 balls before a direct hit from Robin Uthappa dismissed him and turned the match. India’s seamers took regular wickets, but Misbah-ul-Haq kept Pakistan in it. A six off the second ball of Joginder Sharma’s final over brought the equation down to six needed from four with one wicket in hand. Misbah went for the scoop, found short fine leg, and India became the first T20 world champions.England v Netherlands, 2009, group stage

Netherlands baffled Lord’s in the first game of the second edition of the World T20. England squandered a century opening partnership, reaching only 162. The chase didn’t start well, but a rapid half-century stand between Tom de Grooth and Peter Borren put Netherlands ahead of the required rate. Stuart Broad was left to defend six from the last over and nearly did it but made a costly mistake at the end. With two needed from the final ball, he fielded the ball in his follow-through as the batsmen tried to scamper a single to tie the match. Broad went for the run-out but missed the stumps, and an overthrow resulted, giving Netherlands the win. Five years later, Netherlands would repeat the upset, beating England in Chittagong.Double Dutch: The Netherlands upset England not once, but twice•PA PhotosSri Lanka v India, 2010, Super 8s

Sri Lanka were in a tricky spot in their final Super 8s game. An outright win would put them in the semi-final, but they also had the option of simply denying India a win by a big margin and then hoping Australia beat West Indies, which would have put Sri Lanka through on net run-rate. Chasing 164, they went for the more daring option, despite being 6 for 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara staged the initial recovery, and then Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera put together a rapid fifty partnership. Mathews was run-out off the penultimate ball, leaving Kapugedera three to win from the last ball. He stepped out and sent Ashish Nehra sailing over cover for a six to finish on 37 not out off just 16 deliveries.Australia v Pakistan, 2010, semi-final

“Michael Hussey is an absolute freak” was how Michael Clarke, Australia captain, described this thrilling win that put Australia in their first, and only, World T20 final. The fifties from Kamran and Umar Akmal had given Pakistan an imposing total of 191. Australia floundered in the chase and needed 87 off 45 balls when Hussey joined Cameron White in the middle. White hammered five sixes in his 43, but there was still 53 needed off 21 when he was dismissed. Hussey hit Saeed Ajmal for a six next ball, then got 16 runs in the 19th over, with two boundaries and four twos. There were still 18 runs needed from the final over, bowled by Ajmal. Mitchell Johnson took a single, then Hussey went 6, 6, 4, 6 to win it with a ball to spare. He ended with 60 not out off 24, in what is still considered one of the greatest T20I innings.West Indies v New Zealand, 2012, group stage

Super Overs begun haunting New Zealand long before 2019. They actually played their first one ever in the 2012 World T20, and lost it to Sri Lanka. Four days later, they were in the same position, but this time it was more painful as they had been in a strong position in what was a must-win for both sides. They had restricted West Indies to 139 despite Chris Gayle’s early surge. In the chase, they had brought the equation down to 27 needed from four overs. Sunil Narine took two wickets for just five runs in his next two overs, and it needed some big hitting from Ross Taylor, who ended with 62, to take the game to the Super Over. Taylor hit more big shots, but West Indies chased down 18 to dump New Zealand out of the tournament.Carlos Bathwaite provided unforgettable final-over drama in the 2016 World T20 final•Getty ImagesEngland v South Africa, 2016, group stage

After a disastrous 2015 World Cup, England had pledged to radically change their approach to white-ball cricket, and they showed signs of that change by breaking the record for the highest chase in World T20s, getting 230 thanks to Jason Roy’s 43 off 16 balls and Joe Root’s 83 off 44. They were cantering home, needing one from the final over with four wickets in hand, when a double strike created a bit of late drama. They got home in the end and made it all the way to the final.India v Bangladesh, 2016, group stage

One of the great escapes in modern cricket history. The Bangladesh batsmen were already celebrating when Mushfiqur Rahim hit consecutive fours off Hardik Pandya in the 20th over to leave two to win from three balls. India were on the brink of elimination in the first World T20 on their home patch. Rahim and Mahmudullah just needed singles to give Bangladesh their first T20I win over India. Instead, they both went for big shots and holed out in the deep, leaving Shuvagata Hom to get two off the final ball. Pandya bowled it short outside off, Hom missed, and, as the batsmen tried to steal a bye to tie the game, a nerveless MS Dhoni sprinted to the stumps to effect the run-out.India v Australia, 2016, group stage

In a virtual quarter-final, Australia got off to a flyer, with openers Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch getting 54 off 4.1 overs. They set a target of 161, leaving India with a tough chase on a pitch offering spin and some uneven bounce. Then, Virat Kohli played one of his finest T20I knocks, getting 82 not out off 51. One of the most impressive things about his innings was the seven twos he ran in the Mohali heat. Those kept India in the hunt, but with 43 to get off 19, boundaries were needed. Dhoni got one off Shane Watson, and then Kohli went 4, 4, 6, 2 against James Faulkner to swing the game India’s way. Four more boundaries in the next over meant India got home with five balls to spare.West Indies v England, 2016, final

“Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name!” Ian Bishop bellowed on commentary as Brathwaite went 6, 6, 6, 6 off Ben Stokes in the 20th over at Eden Gardens to give West Indies their second World T20 trophy. The final was high drama from the off, with England slipping to 23 for 3 early before Root (54 off 36) and Jos Buttler (36 off 22) resurrected the innings and got their team to 155. Root was not done. Given the second over, he got two wickets, including the massive one of Gayle. Marlon Samuels then played one of the great T20I innings, getting 85 not out off 66 as wickets fell around him. But West Indies still needed 19 from the final over, and Brathwaite stepped up to provide one of the most iconic moments of the decade.

Also, should the Kolkata Knight Riders have opened with Rahul Tripathi?

Deivarayan Muthu12-Oct-2020Why did Russell bowl in the powerplay?
Andre Russell has been the Kolkata Knight Riders’ designated death bowler this IPL, but with them leaving out Sunil Narine, who has been put on the warning list because of an alleged suspect action, they needed Russell to front up in the powerplay, middle overs, and death as well. Also, with the Knight Riders picking batsman Tom Banton over offspin-bowling allrounder Chris Green and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, they had only five genuine bowling options and part-timer Nitish Rana, who didn’t bowl at all.Russell, who had injured his knee in the CPL and possibly aggravated it while tumbling near the boundary against the Kings XI Punjab on Saturday, ran up gingerly on Monday and aborted. However, he then ran in harder and rushed Aaron Finch with a short ball on his fifth delivery. The next ball was also similarly short and Russell drew a spliced pull, but Kamlesh Nagarkoti dropped a regulation catch at short fine leg to give Finch a life on 19. Finch added 28 to his tally before he was bowled by Prasidh Krishna.Should the Knight Riders have opened with Tripathi?
In the Knight Riders’ match against Delhi Capitals at Sharjah, Rahul Tripathi showed his attacking enterprise with 36 off 16 from No. 8, and in the next game he returned to the top, a position where he thrived with Rising Pune Supergiant. He maximised the powerplay against the Super Kings, his 81 off 51 balls setting up a ten-run victory. However, after managing only 4 off 10 balls in his next innings at the top against the Rajasthan Royals, Tripathi was shuffled to the lower-middle order again, this time to accommodate IPL debutant Banton at the top.Rahul Tripathi goes over the leg side•BCCIBanton didn’t show enough attacking intent. He faced five dots out of 12 balls he faced and was castled for 8. Shubman Gill, the other opener, was brisk but not brisk enough in a tall chase of 195. Tripathi batted at No. 7 and by the time he came in, the game was up for the Knight Riders.In hindsight, the Knight Riders could have given Tripathi another shot at opening the batting and taking on the short boundaries despite Banton having opened in 36 of his 40 T20 innings. That would have also allowed Banton to ease into the IPL by sandwiching between Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell in the middle order.Why did Sundar bowl just one over in the powerplay
Washington Sundar had taken down both Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis on Saturday, and with the Sharjah pitch also getting slower, quite a few may have expected him to bowl earlier than the sixth over. Probably, Virat Kohli held him back to match him up with left-handers Rana and Eoin Morgan. After inside-edging a slog sweep onto his pad, Rana aimed another slog sweep off Sundar in the next over, but the spinner went much fuller and quickened his pace to knock over his middle stump.Sundar then kept Morgan to 5 off 4 balls before he found extra bounce and drew a top edge to short third man. The Knight Riders were reduced to 64 for 5 and there was no way back for them.How did the spinners do so well in Sharjah?
Varun Chakaravarthy, Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal had combined figures of 12-0-57-3. The success of the spinners was partly down to the tiring pitches and the absence of grass. Even the likes of Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Krishna found grip when they took pace off and bowled cutters into the pitch. This wasn’t quite the Sharjah pitch where teams had rattled off 200-plus totals for fun at the start of the season.Kohli had opted to bat, reasoning that this pitch will become more slower in the second half. It sure did, with Sundar and Chahal finding more turn and some uneven bounce. The Knight Riders’ rapidly rising asking rate also worked in the favour of both Sundar and Chahal. Isuru Udana’s slower offcuters, too, were difficult to put away.

The tournament has given so many young Indian cricketers the opportunity to go to the next level with their skills

Mark Nicholas09-Nov-2020T20 cricket at IPL level is the sport’s abstract expressionism, manifesting itself in the many bursts of invention and energy that drive each game.On one side of the white line, batsmen explore “360”, while bowlers revert to any one of a myriad options, and fielders take the role of ball-playing acrobats. On the other, celebrity ownership and endorsement, sponsorship, product placement, advertising sales, and above all, jaw-dropping sums of money for television rights, give full licence to the business of cricket in the age of populism.To those who praise the immediacy of creation and the overwhelming attack on the senses that comes with it, it is the only game in town. To others, it is the very devil itself: the end of the classics and of romanticism.As in art, there is room for both. It is part of cricket’s attraction that the many formats appeal to its many people. Only the narrow-minded fail to see that.ALSO READ: Balls of IPL 2020: Seven stunning deliveries that left a markCricket is without limitation but various disciplines are required to ensure its success: to pitch a knuckleball, the bowler must have learnt the fundamentals. Test cricket will live on. Michelangelo spent a long time at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; Jackson Pollock less so over the fibreboard for “No. 5, 1948”. T20 may no longer be cricket’s abstract incarnation, but powerful elements of expression remain in a game that continues to thrill on the field and provide a force for good off it. Never has this been more so than in the UAE these past two months. Cricket is out here on its own in the desert, not a spectator in sight, and it is alive.Were I pushed to pick one cricketer who best illustrates both the sporting and artistic appeal, who inspires the young, intrigues the old, and transcends the formats, it would be the young Afghan, Rashid Khan.Last night his team, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, were knocked out of the competition. Next stop was the final, but it proved beyond them. Their talisman has been a legspinner from a country that got ODI status only about a decade ago.Yuzvendra Chahal and Rashid Khan – the scourge of batsmen in the IPL and elsewhere•BCCIKhan is just 22, fascinated by the intricacies and possibilities of spin bowling, and fiercely competitive. Around the tournament people watch and talk: statisticians tell stories through the medium of cold numbers, coaches plan their application. There is spin everywhere at the IPL. On Friday, the Royal Challengers Bangalore picked four of the blighters.Wristspin leads the way but the best of the finger merchants – R Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel – have had good days. All the twirlymen look to Khan now, the boy who emerged from hard-working parents and many siblings as the best spinner in the family. Together, they fled the Afghan war, taking refuge in Pakistan before returning to Nangarhar and the schooling that taught him to rest easy in the global reaches of modern-day professional cricket. He captained his country at 19 and took ten wickets against Bangladesh in their first Test victory. He is a man for all seasons.You would be surprised at how fast Khan bowls the cricket ball. Or perhaps I should say how hard. His pace is good club-standard medium. If the ball were to hit an unprotected inside thigh, and it often does, the recipient will know about it. The overspin gives it the impression of a threat, hurrying the opponent and bouncing high to hit the splice of his bat. It is as if the ball has an energy of its own, imparted by Khan, but seemingly increased by interaction with the pitch. Of course, this is not possible, but as Shane Warne famously said, “The art of wristspin is the creation of something that isn’t there.”ALSO READ: Rashid Khan: ‘I never think about wicket tally, my focus is always on bowling economically’If you are lucky enough to stand close to Khan at release, the good ones fizz out of his hand, just loud enough to be heard. Warne did that too. Warne was more sidespinner to Rashid’s overspinner, though the Australian could be either and tended to let the pitch decide. He had the legspinner that Khan would like to have. Khan has the googly that Warne only briefly had.Having seen a lot from afar of Afghanistan’s favourite son these past two months, and on occasion, sneaked up close in the hour before play when the bowlers work out on the practice pitches, I have found myself in awe. Even Muttiah Muralitharan, a coach to the Sunrisers, is impressed; so too the batsmen who are wary and lack the courage to take him on. By no means is Khan done yet, for he works ever harder on mastery of the legspinner and has bowled more of them in this IPL than any previous. He was bothered, he said, by the slog-sweep, so he thought he’d get the batsmen guessing. The googly – or wrong’un, as Warne would call it – is his default position and a pretty solid one at that.Young Indians are in his wake, tugged along by the developing legend. Ravi Bishnoi is 20, super-smart and quick with his go-to, which, like for Khan, is the googly; Rahul Chahar is 21, with a strong action and an inclination to give the legbreak a rip. Both bound to the wicket, all energy and enterprise, unburdened by failure. Mention must also be made of Yuzvendra Chahal, 30 now, but such a skilful bowler, a craftsman indeed, whose happy knack is to have the last laugh.The hero shot: KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy takes a photo with Ricky Ponting, the Delhi Capitals coach and the former Australian captain•Pankaj Nangia/BCCII like the story of Varun Chakravarthy, the Kolkata Knight Riders spinner who began a cricket life as an unsuccessful wicketkeeper-batsman and ditched it to pursue a degree in architecture. After five years studying, qualifying and briefly working freelance, he pined for the life of bat and ball and took upon seam bowling. Then he messed up his knee and took up spin. Somewhere during this period, he acted in a movie.Dinesh Karthik liked the look of him in the Knight Riders nets, where he exchanged ideas with Sunil Narine and resolved to become fitter and stronger. Now he has an IPL contract with them and is to tour Australia with India’s T20I team. He claims he has all the seven variations – offie, leggie, googly, topspinner, carrom ball, flipper and slider – and says so without a hint of conceit.After KKR’s game against the Chennai Super Kings, he asked for a selfie with MS Dhoni; the same with Ricky Ponting after the Delhi clash; and with Harsha Bhogle. But this is not the age of innocence! Next time he played the Super Kings, he knocked over Dhoni, who said Chakravarthy was hard to read and quick off the pitch. These spinners are such characters. Warne would tell you they have to be, or else the next stop is whipping boy.ALSO READ: Varun Chakravarthy, the architect drawing up Knight Riders’ blueprint for successWhether by design or the law of unintended consequences, the IPL is a pathway. The young talent on show, under the spotlight, with a price on its head and many miles from the womb that made it, has the platform to go big. If a player turns it on here, he can cope. In the end, given the talent, it is only whether talent can cope that matters.Devdutt Padikkal is 20 and has scored more runs than anyone else in their first season. He is an upright left-hander who brings calm to the frenetic and style to the base. He has left some balls alone, an act of minimalism that takes courage and suggests judgement is at the core of his performance. He drives the ball over extra cover – a shot to warm the heart of a purist – with grace and to good effect, while he works the back-of-length stuff off his hip with the look of Bill Lawry, a man of whom he may never have heard. Lawry scored a lot of runs for Australia before the television days of “Got ‘im!” took hold. Padikkal looks to have a few runs in him too.Shubman Gill is 21 and made his one-day debut for India, against New Zealand last year. This is no surprise. The selectors would be blind otherwise.He is from Punjab, where his family owned and farmed the lands. His father dreamt of playing top-class cricket but the reality failed him, whereupon he made the ascent of his son the dream, encouraging first the child, then the youth, to sleep with bat and ball – he is neither the first nor will he be the last to do so. Gill’s match-winning hundred in the semi-final of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup brought praise from the gods – Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar among them. Like his team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, his form this IPL has been fitful, but when good, it is better than those around him. Sunil Gavaskar thinks Gill the real deal – tall, strong and with that most essential of gifts, to play the ball late. If he sticks with straight lines and simple thoughts, his father may yet sleep more happily than he could ever have imagined.Ruturaj Gaikwad made three fifties in six innings for the Chennai Super Kings this season•BCCIThere are others, all with their wings at full span. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are wonderful timers but of a very different type. They are atop the six-hitting tree – Samson with a right-hander’s easy straight-hitting power; Kishen with the left-hander’s punchy strong forearms and hyper-rotating wrists.A word on Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose name alone prompts interest (albeit spelt one letter differently from the great defender of years long past). Barely able to lay bat on ball for three innings, he was dropped from the Chennai Super King’s middle order but successfully returned late in the tournament when their race was run.In build and stance, there is something of Ajinkya Rahane to him – slim, slight and orthodox. The similarities do not end there. His batting has an efficiency to it, as if the frills are for others less down to earth. His driving of the ball is at once clinical and crisp, with energy conserved for the six inches either side of contact with the ball, during which time his hands are – well, big call, I know – Dhoni-fast. From the commentary box behind the bowling arm, we see a lot of the face of the bat in his defence. The second Mr Gaikwad is another to watch.Amongst the young quicks are Navdeep Saini and Kartik Tyagi, the first a little longer in the tooth than the second, each lively and spirited. Then Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, hustlers both. But none has a story like T Natarajan, who came penniless but eager to Chennai from a rural area and got a break in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. From there, the IPL scouts circle like vultures.ALSO READ: Who is T Natarajan, and what made his performance so special?After doing bench time with the Kings XI Punjab in 2017, he was picked up at auction by the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Again, he had a season on the sidelines and itched for more. He sent most of his money home to his parents and used the rest to set up a cricket academy in the village, at which all coaching is free. He built a house and refused to let his parents work anymore. Lockdown helped him. With no cricket to play, he worked on his fitness. For the best part of six months, he lifted 20kg water jars and pulled and pushed the roller. Last night, he was a key figure in the Sunrisers’ push for a place in the final. Next week he flies to Australia with the India squad. He has been included to pick up experience on the tour, but don’t back against him getting a game.Natarajan is a feisty competitor, street-smart, and a master of the yorker. Ask him to bowl six of them at a handkerchief, he will suggest there is no chance. Replace the hanky with a batsman and he reckons he will nail six from six. T Natarajan is everything the IPL pathway stands for.Has the tournament surprised me? Yes. The standard is high, the drama ongoing, and the spirit as it should be. I’ve had my favourites, as any onlooker should, because over seven weeks and across 60 matches, you cannot help but warm to the stage and its players. There are days when you think “Enough now!” and days when you thank your lucky stars.I have talked mainly about the young cricketers setting out on their journey in a limited-overs game that has changed beyond recognition since the time I first marvelled at it. That time, incidentally, was the 1967 Gillette Cup final at Lord’s. I sat on the outfield behind the boundary rope, a little boy, too shy to ask for an autograph. Kent – 193 all out in 59.4 overs – beat Somerset – 161 in 54.5. That is a total of 354 runs in 114.3 overs. Last night, the Delhi Capitals reached their first IPL final in a match that yielded 361 runs in 40 overs. That’s entertainment.

English cricket has no time to lose as divisive issue exposes society’s faultlines

David Hopps09-Jun-202113:01

Newsroom: Was the ECB fair in its dealing with Ollie Robinson?

The cricket writer and broadcaster, Adam Collins, observed in podcast this week that he could pretty much guess 80 percent of the stance that the usual suspects would take on the Ollie Robinson affair.Sportswriters, shock jocks, politicians, the bloke down the pub and, most unnervingly, ourselves, we all now routinely rehash positions established long ago in the full-scale culture war that has become a permanent feature of British life. So here we go then, that leaves 20 percent of unexpected insights at best – and, if they emerge at all, they will probably emerge from an empty, hollow despair about how society should be better than this.Robinson, or at least an 18-year-old Robinson, has blundered oafishly into the latest episode of the never-ending culture war that has become our daily soundtrack. Twitter has condemned him, or condemned those who do; the usual riot of digital indignation. And, in a polarised world, all of us have rushed to the side we were told we must choose long ago. Woke liberals against prejudice and injustice to the left, conservative self-appointed defenders of free speech to the right. Hurry along now, and assume your positions. Most of you were in position already, debating the booing of England’s football team. The ignorant and bigoted booing, that is. Just in case you want an early clue where these observations might be heading.To its dismay, the ECB finds itself caught up in an issue which is being wilfully misrepresented by many outside the game. The prime offender is the prime minister, Boris Johnson, assisted by his underling at the ministry for digital, culture, media and sport, Oliver Dowden, who have both termed Robinson’s “punishment” (actually a suspension pending an investigation) as excessive as they calculatingly seek political capital from the latest populist issue to protect their lead in the polls. The prime minister does not much care for accountability or moralising – and the opinion polls suggest that neither does the majority of the public.But this is not about victimisation of the perpetrator. It is about protecting the real victims – the minorities who became the quarry during Robinson’s sexist and racist tweets, however immature and unthinking that they may have been, and who repeatedly find such episodes socially debilitating as they seek a just and fair society.Related

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In suspending Robinson, English cricket acted as it must – although, if the investigation drags on, it has the capacity to mess up from here. Robinson’s historic tweets were not only distasteful, the timing of their discovery could not have been more unfortunate as they ran directly contrary to the ECB’s central tenet – emblazoned on pre-Test t-shirts – that the game must become more inclusive, diverse and welcoming to everyone. Test debut or not, irrespective of whether the greatest day in his life was about to be tarnished for ever, the ECB had no choice but to explore the matter further. It is what any well-run business would feel obliged to do.That commitment to diversity is not just decent and principled, and how it should be, it is the only way cricket in England can prosper. It speaks to many ethnic groups in our society. It can – and does – strengthen bonds. The game must clearly and happily embrace all races, all genders, all sexualities, (not to mention all classes) if it is to achieve its potential. And the irony is that when it is seeking funds from public bodies, that is exactly what it is expected to do.Ollie Robinson’s indiscretions ruined what should have been the greatest day of his life•PA Images via Getty ImagesFor sure, Robinson’s apology was well-judged. But one presumes it was written for him, as these things normally are, and he grabbed the lifebuoy with relief. We just have to hope it conveys his true feelings.That ECB investigation must be rapid; this issue has already festered long enough. Under no circumstances must Robinson’s doltish, highly dubious behaviour make him some kind of anti-hero for every small-town bigot, or every far-right commentator, and it is to be hoped that he fears exactly the same. But neither should Robinson become a convenient scapegoat by which the ECB can protect its own reputation. At such moments, a governing body’s capacity for self-protection should never be under-estimated.As Michael Holding, the West Indian great, shrewdly pointed out, a humane and proportionate response is necessary here, with demands for high standards and personal growth going alongside a recognition that people can change as they mature. Such a conclusion, from a man whose contribution to the Black Lives Matter debate was moving enough for to win a BAFTA, carries considerable weight. It is what most people in the game are calling for and it is probably what he will get. Discussions in specialist cricket circles have been largely in agreement, although there is the juicy possibility that and the magazines will take different political slants.So imagine the fastest response the ECB has ever made to any disciplinary matter and divide it by ten: that is how quickly they should act. But they must also be thorough because if there are any other skeletons in Robinson’s closet – verbal or otherwise – they must be unearthed now. That would at least disappoint the Australian media, which likes to reserve such revelations for the day before a first Ashes Test.

If cricket really does want to achieve its worthy ideals of promoting a self-evidently inclusive game, then the evidence is that society is not about to deliver perfect citizens. Britain’s culture war has emboldened the prejudiced and deepened divisions within our society.

It might well be true that the ECB is being driven as much by economic necessity as much as idealism, but some of the charges against it have been absurd. Prominent among them is the idea that Robinson is undergoing “retroactive adjudication” – that he is being punished for behaviour that was acceptable in the past.Well, “wokeness” might not have been a word in 2012, but I don’t recall 2012 behaving like 1972 – his racism and misogyny was just as unacceptable then. Neither is the ECB investigation remotely an issue of suppression of free speech, of so-called Cancel Culture, in which public figures are ostracised for not conforming to acceptable liberal beliefs.Some on the other side of the argument have charged that Robinson’s behaviour is indicative of a deep-seated problem within the game. That cricket is somehow rotten. Cricket certainly needs to examine whether it has underlying problems. But blaming the game is reminiscent of the day the Conservative PM, Margaret Thatcher, marched into the Football Association with hooliganism rampant in the early 80s to ask when the game would stop its hooligans damaging society, to which she was asked, , when would society stop its hooligans damaging football.Evidence that cricket has a problem is most persuasive in its terrible developmental record for cricketers of black and Asian background or from the testimonies of men such as Michael Carberry, who has long been adamant that racist attitudes lurk within the game. Less persuasive are the discoveries made this week while grubbing around in the detritus of English cricketer’s Twitter feeds, which doesn’t immediately appeal as a positive way to spend the day and appears to be the modern sports journalist’s version of going through the dustbins.Boris Johnson, pictured at The Oval in 2018, has passed his own judgement on the Robinson saga•AFP via Getty ImagesTo offer up one example: if Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler were occasionally tempted on social media to send up the distinctive English speech patterns of some Indian cricket fans then, sure, it was a bit tawdry, and was not about to win them a stint on Live at the Apollo, but a life lived in fear of light-hearted expression is no life at all. Self-censorship can go too far and when that happens the ECB should have the courage to tell the most extreme social media Thought Police to commit their energy to the real, pressing problems of the world.If the ECB is to prove that its response is not sanctimonious, if it really does want to achieve worthy ideals of promoting a self-evidently inclusive game, then it must recognise that the evidence is that society is not about to deliver perfect citizens. Britain’s culture war has emboldened the prejudiced and has deepened divisions within our society.Schools are just about holding the line. One head of sixth form messaged me last week desperate for Robinson to be punished because, if he wasn’t, then the teacher faced a near-impossible task to impress on sport-mad pupils that unacceptable behaviour on social media at 17 and 18 – not stray verbal errors (most of us must plead guilty to that), but a digital footprint, errors for posterity – could harm them later in life.”He can’t get away with it,” he said, but he seemed to overlook the fact that Robinson’s antics had already ruined what should have been the greatest day of his life. He would be better off lobbying the culture secretary.If society patently cannot deliver, then the only choice for cricket – if it is to achieve the standards it proclaims to want – is to ring-fence the game. Rid yourself of cynicism about glib marketing phrases and “improving society through sport” is a noble aspiration. As Jimmy Anderson suggested after attending a PCA/ECB racism workshop this summer, “you’re never too old to learn”, but more importantly you’re never too young either. From the time any player reaches a county 2nd XI, the process of education must be strengthened and embraced by everyone. That education must make demands on all classes, all races, all religions, without fear or favour, laying down basic cultural expectations.By the time a player represents England, these expectations should be second nature, and not temporarily adopted whenever a crisis strikes in an atmosphere of paranoia. An alternative Spirit of Cricket is required – one that enables England to confidently lead the way, and which can have a more meaningful effect than some desperate rinsing of social media accounts to keep the hounds at bay.