A year into his role as India batting coach, Sanjay Bangar talks about his overall experience, what the India batsmen have been working on, the Rohit v Pujara debate and Virat Kohli’s technical adjustments

Amol Karhadkar07-Sep-2015One year into the job. How would you assess your performance overall?
Something which has really been a memorable and an enjoyable experience. To be able to contribute to the cause of Indian cricket after retiring from the game, that too in such a capacity, has been an overwhelming experience. And I think our [the three assistant coaches B Arun, R Sridhar and Bangar] work speaks for itself, with the results we have got.How difficult was it to enter a dressing room that was very low on morale last September?
It was not much of a problem to be honest. And the credit for that should go to the boys. They made us really comfortable to begin with. And once we started knowing each other better, it has become a smooth ride. Being a group of Indian coaches, there was a bit of pressure to justify that Indian coaches can handle the national team effectively. There also was an additional sense of responsibility towards the Indian coaching fraternity. And I think we have been able to maintain the standards. That is something that I think we have been able to achieve.How long did it take for you and the players to get acquainted with each other’s style?
It’s an ongoing process. You cannot say that “okay now this has been achieved”. It definitely makes sense that you need to spend a lot of time with players. Not just on the field, but even off the field you need to develop a trust factor. Once you achieve that, I think it becomes a lot of easier.Last year’s home season was all about preparing for the World Cup. How challenging was it to get players attuned for it while playing the two ODI series in India?
The planning was towards finding the right players. Based on that, the team tried to give opportunities to a lot of players, to the players who we were thinking would do the job for the Indian team in the World Cup. That was more or less on the one-day front. Definitely the World Cup was a big event but at the back of our minds, we knew that the toughest assignment would be the Australia Test series and the team would be judged by how it would perform on that 130-day tour in that trying place for cricket.Over to Australia. How did you get players focussed on the Test series initially?
I think that is where the direction given by our team director was very very vital. That’s where Ravi Shastri stood out in the sense because he was somebody who had succeeded in Australia. He ingrained that sort of quality that we need to stand up, look into the eye of the opposition and compete. That is something every Indian cricket fan wants. We want a team which competes on a cricket field. We had a poor overseas record in the last 15 Test matches or so. The will to fight was something that we wanted to seek. That team on the tour to Australia showed that. Even though we didn’t get the results, it competed really hard and there were occasions when we could not close matches from winning positions, in Adelaide and Brisbane.What were the specific adjustments you wanted batsmen to make before the Test series?
Every individual player is different. They have their different techniques. There are certain areas of strengths and vulnerabilities for every batsman. Some batsmen prefer getting behind the line while some batsmen want to stay besides the line of the ball. Based on that the areas where they score runs vary.Also we make a conscious effort of studying what the opposition bowlers’ plans are and merge those analytical aspects into how the batsmen can integrate their game plans to negate those strengths of the opposition.Cricket is all about angles. How you can tackle somebody who is bowling wide of the crease or is bowling a particular type of delivery, where to stand on the crease. Those are the areas apart from the minor adjustments in technique, like certain players had to make minor adjustments about their initial movement. Certain players had to make minor adjustments as far as their hip alignment was concerned. I think overall that has been the process adopted with this current line-up.”(Virat Kohli) worked very hard on his hip alignment, back and across initial movement. Also (Ravi) Shastri advised him to stand outside the crease to get on top of the bounce.”•AFPVirat Kohli wasn’t found out trying to poke outside off stump in Australia. What did you discuss with him?
The hip alignment that we spoke of worked really well for him. He worked very hard on his hip alignment, back and across initial movement. Also Shastri advised him to stand outside the crease to get on top of the bounce. Apart from that, it’s that individual desire and the hunger to go out there and take on the opposition which somebody like Virat has in abundance.Cricket is totally a team effort wherein players’ desire, certain inputs and the work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that players are as best prepared as they can be so that they can be in the best possible mental frame wherein their confidence is really high. Also how they have enough options and enough awareness about how to tackle strengths of the opposition bowlers. That is something that goes on constantly behind the scenes.Kohli’s problem sort of resurfaced during the Sri Lanka series. Is it a technical issue or more of an instinctive reaction?
I don’t think so because he is the one who batted beautifully in the first two matches and even in the third Test match, he spent a lot of time. He definitely had a great discipline on judgment outside off stump. What’s happening is that the bowlers are going to start bowling wider to him. This is something he is aware of and he is wanting to add another element to his cricket. He is someone who is a very, very quick learner. With time, he wants to stay ahead of the game, ahead of the opposition all the time.Going back to Australia, the Test series was followed with the World Cup. How would you sum up the overall World Cup campaign?
If you look at the past, there was only one such instance, in 1992, when the World Cup was preceded by a long Test series. The amount of time spent in Australia by that team and this team was quite similar. I think that is probably the best World Cup cricket played by an Indian team in Australia. You can add that in 1985, the Indian team won the World Series of Cricket. I do think that the quality of cricket played by that 1985 team and this World Cup team was very similar.In Zimbabwe, it was only the three of you, without Shastri, managing the team. How different was it as compared to having Shastri around?
It was a very short tour and Ravi’s availability was not on but he was regularly in touch with the team. Since it was only a short period, you cannot really judge.Who was taking the final call?
It was collectively taken by all three of us, so it was a collective responsibility and that’s how we were sharing it.What was the biggest lesson learnt from the Galle collapse on the last morning?
The biggest lesson learnt definitely was… we knew playing spin in Sri Lanka would be a challenge and our record playing spinners in the recent past has not been that great. We spoke about it, we worked on the shots that the batsmen wanted to employ going into the Test series. But somehow we could not execute it in that particular session. It called for an honest review, a very, very honest review, the players were up for it.What we did basically was we analysed the number of times batsmen were getting out to spinners, the number of times they were sweeping the ball, the strike-rate rotation aspect of the game, so I think an awareness was created. It was about the strike-rotation part, using your feet against the spinners, not allowing spinners to get on top of you. That is the awareness the management tried to create and we saw a big improvement in the performances about how we negated the challenges of playing spin in the second Test, I would say. The third Test was about playing seam bowling. You could see that there was a marked difference in approach and awareness between batting in the first Test and batting in the second Test. So it was quite satisfying to see that the batsmen had adapted so quickly.What was the rationale behind promoting Rohit Sharma to No. 3 in Australia and sticking to it?
I think we are clear in our mind that we need to give enough time and opportunity for a player if we put him at a particular position before making the change. (Cheteshwar) Pujara was having a tough time, so he [Rohit] was given a fair run at No. 3. He batted very well in Sydney. He got starts in both the innings (53 & 39) but could not convert it into a big one. Bangladesh was just one innings. But you could see that just three innings prior to P Sara (second Test against Sri Lanka), he was scoring runs at No. 3.After those five opportunities, we felt that moving him down the order would benefit the team more. And it also made sure that he got some time because he also had put a lot of pressure on himself to perform. Somebody who constantly wants to contribute to the team’s cause. And it worked out beautifully. In both the Test matches (P Sara and SSC), he played vital innings for the team.Do you think Rohit is justifying his place in the Test team?
If you look at the numbers, he has played 13 [14] Test matches and scored 800-900 [870] runs at an average of 40 [37.82] with two centuries, four half-centuries. I think if his critics can go back and compare the first 13 Test matches of any other cricketer who has played for a while, I think they would probably be less harsh on Rohit. I believe that in the matches that he has played so far – obviously everybody wants to contribute more – he has definitely contributed to the team’s cause.How do you handle someone like Pujara, who may feel hard done by sitting out, in such a case?
The approach for me generally is keeping the bench very, very strong. In fact, we give equal importance to the players who are not picked in the XI so that he gets enough opportunities, he is in the right frame of mind, his confidence levels do not take a hit, reasons for exclusion are told to him and keeping him match fit. So whenever that opportunity comes, he is ready.Pujara has tremendous hunger, tremendous temperament. Again somebody who had a dip in his career but who is right up there. This is the batting group which is going to be the core of India’s batting for the next five years. Obviously there are going to be players who are going to miss out because of injuries but every new player who has come in has scored runs.There is a perception about Pujara that he sometimes tends to play too many dot balls, putting pressure on the batsman at the other end. Is that something you are working on?
Strike rotation is something we are all making our batsmen (aware) of. We are working on it. It is not only for one individual batsman but it is for the entire batting group. How you can achieve it is you need to know the fields, you need to know the bowling plans, you need to play with softer hands closer to the body. That is an awareness the batting group is working on and there has been a marked improvement in that area.”(Cheteshwar) Pujara has tremendous hunger, tremendous temperament. Again somebody who had a dip in his career but who is right up there.”•AFPWho for you has been the most improved batsman over the last year?
I think if you assess the performance, everybody has flowered into a very, very capable and effective batsman for the team. If you go through their statistics, with over 30 centuries collectively in the last year, so far most of them have been able to do justice to their talent.How challenging does your role as batting coach become with the captain’s thrust on playing five bowlers?
It does prove to be advantageous. If (we are) batting last, with five bowlers in the team, the number of runs you are going to chase is going to be less. Instead of 350, you would probably be chasing around 275. At the same time, if you are bowling second, if you score 50 less runs, you know that there is a fifth bowling option, so probably we have better chance of bowling out the opposition for lesser total. There is an additional responsibility on the batting group but that is something which is vital to winning matches. That [bowling] is one area because of which the Indian team was not able to close matches.As if coping with different formats isn’t enough, you also have to deal with different captains. How different has it been working with these two captains?
Every individual captain has his own style. This is an experiment which hasn’t been tried much but is done now in Indian cricket. Both of them have immense respect for each other. Both of them know the kind of cricket the teams they are leading want to play. Our job is basically to integrate our ideas into their vision. Preparation for us is vital with both captains. It’s a challenge to keep the team as best prepared as it can be in all aspects of the game so that whoever leads the team gives himself the best chance to win games for the country.With so much of limited-overs cricket played these days, today’s youngsters tend to struggle to manage their scoring shots. How do you help a player improve his shot selection?
At most times, having too many scoring options can lead to a batsman’s downfall if the shot selection is not judicious.And that does happen a lot with today’s batsmen, right?
I would say all these habits are formed by years of practice. The more amount of a particular format you play, the subconscious mind tends to form those habits which eventually creep in to the longer format of the game. So I think if one component has to be separated, it is that of playing with hard hands. And the quality of batsmanship that is required is of playing with soft hands and playing closer to your front pads. That is something all the players are aware of and have been working on. That is possibly the most basic challenge for all the batsmen.Range of shots can be used to good effect when bowlers are bowling to a particular plan. If an offspinner is bowling round the wicket with only three players on the off-side, then that skill of playing a reverse-sweep or making the bowlers go away from their plan is handy. In the first half of the innings, playing close to your body and with soft hands is important. Apart from that, what also comes in handy with these skills is they don’t really allow a bowler to get on top of you.Defensive techniques appear to be a major problem with modern batsmen. Can it be improved when they reach the highest stage?
I would say players at international level can adapt very quickly. As far as our group is concerned, our utility or effectiveness against quicker bowling has improved. You can say that we have probably not been able to dominate the slower bowlers as much as the earlier era did. The cause of it may differ but that is something which has been identified.We are encouraging our batsmen to trust their defence. And those defensive techniques are really vital when you are playing on slow, turning wickets when you can see the silly point, short leg in your eyeline. That is where the defensive technique becomes key. That is a skill which is everybody is aware of. Trusting your defence, getting to the pitch of the ball on a turning wicket, using the depth of the wicket as much as you can, staying leg-side of the ball against bowlers who have two options to spin the ball. These are the things we are working on and they have given us good results in the recent Test series.You mentioned the recent problems of facing quality spin. Do you think it is linked with the kind of pitches in domestic cricket?
I don’t think so. Yes, the spinners are bowling lesser and lesser, so we are actually playing less of spin in domestic cricket. Earlier in the 90 overs we played during our times, it would be 60 overs of spin and 30 of pace. Now I think it’s tilted way too much in favour of one side. Now it’s 70 overs of seam and 20 overs of spin. That is an area where we need to look at our domestic structure as well so that we have a good balance in honing the skills of our emerging batsmen vis-à-vis spin and pace.How difficult is it to work with the Indian team on a series-by-series basis? Too much insecurity to deal with?
It’s a massive privilege to be able to discharge the duties of batting coach of the Indian team. Ideally, a longer stint is better for the individual concerned but again even if it’s just for a series, it’s a huge opportunity and accomplishment.

Plays of the Day from the second ODI between England and Australia, at Lord’s

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's05-Sep-2015Blow of the day
David Warner’s innings was abruptly ended first ball when a nasty short delivery from Steven Finn struck him on his left thumb. The physio was quickly in attendance and it only took a cursory inspection before Warner left the field. In the dressing room he took painkillers, then went for a few throwdowns in the Nursery Ground nets with a view to returning at the fall of the second wicket. However, after the Steven Smith-George Bailey partnership was broken, Glenn Maxwell walked out and Warner was not seen again. It was later confirmed to be fracture that would rule him out for up to six weeks.No-ball of the day
Under the tweaked ODI regulations all no-balls – whether front-foot or not – are awarded a free hit the next delivery. So when Ben Stokes let slip a chest-high full toss at Bailey there was an opportunity to swing hard at the next ball. It did not go quite to plan, though, for Bailey, as he clubbed the ball straight to mid-on.Edge of the day
Rarely is there discussion about one-day cricket these days without the word “aggression” used at some point. Eoin Morgan was perhaps left wishing he had been a touch more aggressive when Maxwell was new to the crease. Facing Liam Plunkett, Maxwell, on nought at the time, nicked to the left of Jos Buttler at just about the position where a slip would have been stationed. It may not quite have carried – or, of course, might have been dropped – but with a new, dangerous batsman still fresh at the crease and a strike bowler running in it felt like a missed opportunity.Six of the day
There is much debate about the biggest six ever stuck at Lord’s, but the only recorded success of clearing the pavilion remains with Albert Trott in 1899 – although in those days the pavilion was not as high. Since then, a number of players have found the top tier – Kim Hughes launched Chris Old that way in 1980 and in 2009 Kieron Pollard came very close to matching Trott’s feat – while in 2010 Marcus Trescothick was offered £1million from a bat sponsor if he could clear the pavilion. Today, the members perched aloft were in danger when Shane Watson got going against Moeen Ali as he bludgeoned a straight drive into a mass of scurrying cricket-watchers amid Australia’s late onslaught. A few balls later, the top tier of the Tavern Stand was also located.Attempt of the day
Mitchell Marsh almost fell to what would have been one of the greatest catches seen on the ground. He could not have struck his skimming cover drive off Chris Woakes any better. Jason Roy, on the cover boundary, had seconds to react, sprinted to his right then dived full-length to reach the ball with one hand. For a moment it appeared he had it, but he could not hold on and to his anguish then saw the ball run over the rope. There was no fault, at all, on Roy, but he stood there with his head in his hands as the fielders changed ends.Drop of the day
Marcus Stoinis has had a difficult start to his first senior tour with Australia. His single over in the T20 went for 13 and he could not see the side over the line with the bat. He has not been in the XI for the start of the one-day series, but was needed as a substitute fielder due to the injuries to Warner and Shane Watson. In the 12th over he had a chance to make a mark when James Taylor sliced towards third man, but despite the catch coming almost straight to him it was grassed. It’s all a learning experience, as they say.Glove of the day
Until the 26th over of England’s chase – and with all due respect to Marsh – this had been a fairly unremarkable one-day international. That all changed when Stokes stuck out his glove, in self-preservation or not depending on your view, when Mitchell Starc hurled the ball back at him and was given out obstructing the field. Boos rang around the normally sedate Lord’s as England players glared at the middle. The Twitter world – if these things can ever be used as a judge – was almost split down the middle. It was an incident likely to rumble on for a little while yet.

Few cricketers thrilled the crowd as Mitchell Johnson did. Fans write in about the many feats of a seriously quick bowler

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2015Benjamin Bishop
When Mitchell Johnson smashed a six into the commentary box window in Harare, then seeing it boarded up for the rest of the game!Timothy Haskett
Mitch is on fire at the Adelaide Oval, he’s just taken a wicket and the Aussie crowd smells blood. Stuart Broad walks out to boos and hisses, and then spends 10 minutes getting a bolt on the sight screen covered because it was shining in his peripheral vision. They find a sheet to cover the bolt but the time delay has made the crowd and Mitch angrier. He steams in, bowls a 155kph thunderbolt towards Broad’s previously broken toe, he flinches his leg away and it BOWLS HIM!!! Mitch gets another Ashes wicket, that’s two in two balls, and the crowd goes wild.Richard Henderson
I was there, in the stand, on the edge of my seat at Adelaide Oval on the third day when Mitch Johnson destroyed England in the space of three overs. I remember tweeting about how it would poetic justice if Mitch bowled Stuart Broad for a duck after he wasted all that time with the sight screen, and sure enough…Mitch Johnson, what a legend.Yashovardhan Diwan
It was the middle of the night (I go to uni in America) when Mitch bowled Alastair Cook in Adelaide 2013. I was watching in the common room of my dorm so as not to keep up my roommate with incessant shouting. It might have been the best ball I’ve ever seen- swinging in and cutting out to clip top of off (might’ve re watched it approx 35725283 times since).While celebrating the wicket I broke the door of my dorm common room and proceeded to blame it on a girl for the rest of the year. Absolutely worth. Love Mitch. Love the mo. And Adelaide was the best of his best. Best cricket I ever watched and probably ever will.Karthik Malhotra
It was against India when the Aussies came here in 2009 it was 4th ODI in Guwahati when he was bowling the first over of the match. It was a day game and in winter so it was quite foggy and he got hit for six off the very first ball by Virender Sehwag. But by the end of the over he claimed both Viru and Gautam Gambhir. The special part was he bowled them both, by generating a lot of pace.Hylton Forge
My favourite Mitchell Johnson moment – 2nd test at Kingsmead in Durban in 2009. On a juicy, lively wicket he whipped out Neil McKenzie for a duck with the third ball of South Africa’s first innings closely followed by Hashim Amla two balls later. As if that wasn’t enough he then sent Graeme Smith to hospital in the next over with a broken finger and Australia went on to win by 175 runs. The most devastating and hostile spell of fast bowling that I’d witnessed and I’ve seen Mike Procter, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Allan Donald, Dennis Lillee and many others in their prime.As a South African fan maybe it wasn’t a favourite moment but still mesmerising to watch.Mitch wasn’t just about raw pace though•Getty ImagesJames Giugni
So many magic moments – but how about when he softened Pujara up with some chin music before producing a slower cutter that took the Indian’s off-bail?! Raw aggression followed by pure class.Stephen Jurd
My number 1 Mitch moment is at the SCG against South Africa when at the fall of the ninth wicket out comes a brave Graeme Smith with a broken finger to try to hang on for a draw. Smith did amazingly well, but on Day 5, with the shadows lengthening, Mitch was able to deliver a 146kmh delivery which cut about 15 degrees (off a crack) to take Smith’s off stump. Unplayable. Farewell Mitch, the best parks cricketer ever.Simon DavisAussie tour of SA 2014. We went to Centurion to watch the first Test. It was all Johnson. He cowed the crowd as well as his opponents. 12 for 127! He broke Philanders bat and hit Amla and McLaren in the head. The sheer aggressiveness of his bowling, combined with pace and accuracy left SA with no answers and the crowd with no voice. It was quite something to watch even if it was painful for a SA supporter. But Johnson was mercurial, we didn’t think he could do it again. In the 2nd Test in PE, South Africa destroyed Australia and we felt vindicated that this was a once off. Off to Newlands and Mitch did it again with 7 wickets. It went down to the last hour, with AB and Faf and Vernon keeping them out, dropping their hands to bouncers and getting mauled. It got mean and tense with Steyn and Clarke, and it felt like the whole Australian team was riding Johnson’s menace. Best series I’ve ever watched live, even though we lost. Thanks Mitch!Rajkumar Pujari
Mitch Johnson’s four wickets against India in Kuala Lumpur. That’s when he burst on to the scene. Sachin was in peak form that series, was class apart from rest of the Indian batsmen, Australia scored only 240-odd, other Aussie bowlers didn’t have much impact. Mitch picked up four of the five wickets that fell before rain washed out the match. The other one was a run-out. I was listening to the match as a 13-year-old on a radio lurking in the corner of study room in my school hostel. I still remember it as if it were yesterday. The name Mitchell Johnson was etched in my memory since then.Welcome to Australia, Virat!•Getty ImagesSurya KR
My favourite Mitchell Johnson moment was against India in 2014-15 series, where the first ball he delivered to Virat Kohli hit him on the helmet and he didn’t sledge or give those crazy stares. Instead he went up to Kohli to ask him whether he was fine.Mohammad Ihsan
In the last Pakistan-Australia series at Abu Dhabi, it was a real hot day, many fans were sitting in the general stands and Mitchell Johnson was fielding near the long-on boundary. A box of cold water was near him, when a fan asked for water Johnson threw him a bottle and then another asked as the weather was too hot, and so on, until he was fielding there he was supplying cold water to the fans. It was very generous of him.Hari Prathap
For me, it has to be IPL final 2013. The making of MJ, the beast.. Well, atleast for England.He broke down one of the best IPL batting teams with his sheer pace.Anish Kumar
In the 2009 Champions Trophy, he made a 47-ball 73 after Australia were reduced to 171 for 7 against an inexperienced West Indies team.James Shaw
Best MJ moment has to be his duck at the SCG in the 2010-11 Ashes. As an Englishman sat in the barmy army it was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced in a cricket ground.Hamish
Being from NZ my favourite Mitch Johnson moment is him retiring!!

Mohammad Amir wasn’t quite at his menacing best on his return to Pakistan colours, but there was plenty of pace and promise for the months to come

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Auckland15-Jan-2016There had been a protest from team-mates, and a visa complication owing to his time in jail, but since he has landed in New Zealand, Mohammad Amir has kept a low profile. His work in the nets was earnest. Occasionally he struck up a conversation, but usually kept to himself. Neither life of the party nor outcast – Amir’s reintegration was almost becoming nondescript.He kept emotions in check through the early overs in his return, like a man who knows he is still in the dock, though it is years since his conviction. There had been cheers in the crowd when his name was announced in the XI. A few boos as well. Teammates might have been lukewarm but some Pakistan fans in the Auckland crowd embraced his return. They chanted his name in his first over. A few had brought “Welcome back” signs. At times, if you were in the right section of the crowd, it felt like the return of the prodigal son, brother or friend.The first over was low-key, like his attitude. Having sent his first ball down the leg side, he bowled sharp inswing at the right-handers, veering a little too far down the leg side, perhaps, but regularly breaching 140kph. It wasn’t quite Amir at his best; just the kind of bowling that prompted coach Waqar Younis to later say that his return was neither great nor poor, but “pretty okay”.In his second over, Amir got an abrupt refresher on what being a Pakistan fast bowler is all about. Having induced a mistake from one of the form batsmen in the world, Amir watched Kane Williamson’s mishit sail towards cover, where Shahid Afridi settled beautifully beneath it, before proceeding, of course, to drop the catch. Amir kept his cool on that occasion, as teammates sent sympathetic applause in his direction. He was less impressed with Sohaib Maqsood, who dropped another straightforward catch in the 17th over. Amir let out a curt yell of frustration, before regaining his zen.”I wanted those catches to be taken because it would have really given him that confidence at the beginning of the game,” Waqar later said. “Unfortunately that’s part of the game. I’m sure he knows that he will come back.”When the wicket finally came off his final ball of the evening, Afridi – the catcher – made the more triumphant jubilation, striking his star-man pose as teammates converged. There were some high-fives and pats on the back for Amir. On the scoreboard, his returns read 4-0-31-1 – figures in perfect step with the ethos of his last week.”I thought Amir bowled pretty okay,” Waqar said, summing up. “He’ll probably get better and better. I’m expecting him to give breakthroughs with the new ball, which I think he’s got the capability to do.”It may take time for those capabilities to be fully realised, but opportunity beckons, with an Asia Cup, a World T20 and, later, an England tour on the horizon. For now, Amir has suggested his skill belongs on the international stage, though he hasn’t quite set that stage alight.

ESPNcricinfo looks back at some of the defining talking points from the 2016 Asia Cup

Alagappan Muthu and Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2016Bangladesh turn T20 cornerIt took them more than eight years to figure out the format, but it seems Bangladesh has now cracked T20s. They have an attacking top three, an aggressive middle-order and a bowling attack that is starting to withstand hard-hitting batting line-ups. The pace attack has figured out where to bowl in the slog overs and they always have spinners in reserve.What Bangladesh is still lacking is a clutch hitter although Mahmudullah, Nurul Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza have been doing the job, to an extent. Their next target, in the World T20, should be to use their strengths to keep the consistency going. It took them years to do that in ODIs but that experience should help hasten it in T20s.Alarm bells for Sri LankaSri Lanka’s nervy batting against the UAE should have been a warning as Sri Lanka lurched from one poor performance to the next in three games against Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Their only good performance was in the last game, a dead rubber against Pakistan, in which Tillakaratne Dilshan scored half of their 150 runs. Lasith Malinga’s absence as lead bowler and captain made it difficult, but the likes of Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath failed to threaten any of the batting line-ups. They had to make use of three captains in four games.Dinesh Chandimal batted well but couldn’t impose himself while newcomers like Dushmantha Chameera, Dasun Shanaka or Milinda Siriwardana couldn’t really get going with bat or ball. With concern increasing after losing experienced hands, Mathews, Chandimal and Dilshan have their work cut out.Pitch perfectIt may have been inadvertent, but keeping a little grass on the pitch in Mirpur invigorated the Asia Cup. A tournament that was largely seen as the usher to the World T20 began bossing the headlines. UAE had a chance to upset Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan played an enthralling game despite the target being only 84 and even when batting became easier as the tournament wore on, 130 still needed some nerveless chasing from Bangladesh.With loads of cricket played at Shere Bangla stadium, right from the Under-19 World Cup in February, the idea behind the grass cover had been to keep the pitches from deteriorating too fast. A healthy side effect was that the batsmen had to be clever to get their runs and bowlers knew they had a chance if they kept at it on a good length. In other words, the balance between bat and ball was brought back.Spinning out of the spotlightBangladesh began the tournament with four fast bowlers. MS Dhoni kept R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja back as fifth and sixth change bowlers against Pakistan. Even at the tail end, when the pitches got dryer and barer, life for the spinners didn’t get any better. At the end of it all, they had only 34 wickets. The fast bowlers had 92.Associates flavourThe qualifiers were a treat as well. And they threw up a few names to look out for. Babar Hayat struck the only century of the tournament – he could have taken Hong Kong across the line on his own steam. Left-arm spinner Aamir Kaleem pulled off a mankad to turn that game before rookie left-arm seamer Bilal Khan closed it out. UAE’s bowlers had their share of the spotlight, foremost among them being the captain Amjad Javed and fast bowler Mohammad Naveed. Afghanistan were a bit of a disappointment though. They won two out of three games, but the one loss – to UAE – caught them off guard.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2016Bhuvneshwar Kumar began with two maidens, including a wicket, as UAE were quickly reduced to 53 for 5•AFPShaiman Anwar mounted some resistance with 43 off 48 balls•AFPIndia eventually kept UAE to 81 for 9, with Rohan Mustafa being the only other UAE batsman to make a double-digit score•AFPRohit Sharma gave India a flying start before holing out to third man for 39•AFPShikhar Dhawan then combined with Yuvraj Singh to seal India’s biggest victory in T20Is, in terms of balls remaining•AFP

Shouldering extra responsibility in the absence of Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin’s performance against Pakistan bodes well for both him as well as his team as Bangladesh brace for sterner tests

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur03-Mar-2016Taskin Ahmed had dual roles to fill against Pakistan on Wednesday evening. His pace makes him a natural enforcer, but as Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain, said after their five-wicket win against Pakistan, Taskin was also tasked to set up the game in the absence of Mustafizur Rahman.What he had to do was bowl a tight spell with the new ball, and when brought back into the attack later in the game, get them wickets. He gave away just 14 runs in his four overs, taking the key wicket of Umar Akmal.Given extra responsibility, Taskin did not cut down on his pace. Rather, he bowled at his usual 140kph regularly and maintained a great line just on and outside off-stump. At his best, Taskin has been known to bowl really quickly and get edges with natural outswingers. But this time, he kept his shape in the three spells, which translated into a fine overall bowling performance from Bangladesh.In the first over of the game, he gave Khurram Manzoor no chance to free his arms, and followed it up by bowling a maiden to Mohammad Hafeez, his first in T20Is. When Mashrafe gave Taskin a break after two overs, Bangladesh might have feared that Taskin would lose his rhythm. However, when he was brought back in the ninth over, he picked up the wicket of Akmal and gave away just a single. This is what a set-up man usually does, and Taskin kept ticking those boxes for Mashrafe.The task of bowling in the last three overs fell with both Taskin as well as Al-Amin Hossain, due to Mustafizur’s absence. Now, the set-up man had to finish well, and he escaped mostly unscathed by bowling wide yorkers to Sarfaraz Ahmed. Though Taskin did not end with more wickets, he had made his captain happy by taking up a role that did not call for other players to pick up the pieces.”Taskin did what Mustafizur generally has been doing for us, which is to set up the game,” Mashrafe said. “He was strong mentally and did well throughout the game. I will say that he was very positive and that’s why he was rewarded. Taskin set it up and then Al-Amin finished the game in the end. It was challenging, but I am happy that the players managed to take the pressure. This is a sign of a grown-up team which doesn’t wait for someone else to do their job.”Taskin has been unlucky in this Asia Cup too, with Shakib Al Hasan dropping Rohit Sharma at point off his bowling and Soumya Sarkar dropping three catches at slip in the matches against UAE and Sri Lanka.There have been times in the recent past, including earlier in this tournament, when Taskin has shown the tendency to stray on both sides of the wicket, because of his interest to bowl fast. After Shakib dropped Rohit, Taskin bowled three wide deliveries outside off-stump that were duly put away for fours and a six.Taskin bowls a mean bouncer and also has a slower delivery, but he sometimes telegraphs both too soon. He has an inswinger to the right-handed batsmen that can become a weapon, but he seldom uses it, banking mostly on his outswinger. What has worked for him in this Asia Cup is his consistency in bowling above 140kph, and then backing it up with tight lines, mostly in the first spell. But as he showed against Pakistan, he can do that in the later overs too.Mashrafe said that he still missed Mustafizur in the last ten overs, especially since Pakistan got away with 95 runs during that period. “I was missing Mustafizur today. If he was around, we would have had to chase 15 runs less. Our entire team is missing him. We are hopeful that he will come back before the World T20. It was challenging for us, to restrict them below 130.”Taskin is prone to injuries, so he has been well taken care of by the support staff. But now, slowly, he has to come out of that shell, and the clash against Pakistan was a first step in his evolution as a fast bowler. He faced a tough challenge, took on a new role, and made sure he bowled a spell that would not be noticed in the long-run, but have an impact on him and the team immediately.

Never before has a Bangladesh team fielded so well as a collective unit as this current Under-19 side has. They have a rigorous training drill and strong team spirit to thank for that

Mohammad Isam07-Feb-2016Bangladesh Under-19’s fielding during this World Cup has certainly caught the eye. The players have shown all-round athleticism in creating run-out opportunities, cutting out angles inside the 30-yard circle, as well as sliding and diving in the boundary line to stop fours.In the quarter-final against Nepal on Friday, Nazmul Hossain Shanto effected two of four run-outs, while also taking a brilliant diving catch to his right fielding at gully against Namibia in Cox’s Bazar. The captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz, too, has taken a brilliant diving catch, against South Africa in Chittagong.The players’ movement across the turf when batsmen try to place the ball in the gaps has been the most impressive part of their fielding. Never before has a Bangladesh team fielded so well as a collective unit inside the circle. Of course, the likes of Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed and Naeem Islam were marked out as talented fielders from a young age, but they hardly played together enough times to form the off-side ring. But in this team, Miraz, Shanto, Saleh Ahmed Shawon and Joyraz Sheik have shown their willingness to stop the ball at all costs.Pace bowling allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin has also been quite good in the boundary line, where Shawon too been used from time to time, especially in the end overs.What has impressed everyone within the coaching staff is the players’ attitude towards fielding. While many of them are not naturally gifted athletes, they have worked hard at being aggressive going towards the ball. What has also helped is Miraz’s own fast movement across the turf which has motivated the rest of the team.

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Two days after their win over Nepal, the Bangladesh players were playing the rondo, where two players run after a football that is being passed around by the rest of the squad. It is a popular training method used in football to keep the ball away from the defenders, who are tasked with winning it back. If one of the two defenders can touch the ball while it is being passed, the player who made the unsuccessful pass will replace the defender. It is now seen quite regularly during training in Bangladesh cricket circles.On Sunday morning, during a training drill at the Academy ground in Mirpur, Pinak Ghosh enters the rondo circle amid huge roars form his team-mates. Ghosh had recently lost weight and admitted that the head coach Mizanur Rahman Babul had told him to avoid fast food like burgers and sandwiches, as well as to improve his fitness.A hard-hitting opener, Ghosh is yet to get among the runs in the World Cup, and is one of the few who has not looked as spry in the field as his other team-mates. But during the rondo, there is something else on Ghosh’s mind.He does not want to look bothered about becoming the defender in the rondo, but soon, his team-mates begin making him run around a lot by passing the ball just away from his grasp.It does not stop for five minutes, which in a rondo is quite a lot of time. Finally, someone makes the mistake of passing the ball short of the next man and Ghosh’s defending partner manages to touch the ball. Ghosh smiles while the rest of the team, including the coach Mizanur, groans; it is now Mizanur who has to take the position of one of the defenders.Mizanur immediately asks the trainer Morshedul Hasan, “Sizar [his nickname], we don’t have much time left, do we?””We still have five minutes,” Morshedul replies.Cue laughter and claps from the boys, who have already planned to keep their coach in the circle for a long time.”Do it slowly, don’t move the ball too fast,” they tell each other.Finally, after about three minutes, the loud whistle is heard, signalling the end of the rondo. There will be running now.

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Skill with the bat aside, Mehedi Hasan is quite a handy fielder too•ICCAs the players run at full pelt for around 50 yards and then jog back over and over again, the captain Miraz calls out to everyone: “Come on guys, I know this is hard but let’s finish it together.”After they complete the running session, someone within the players suddenly challenges Saeed Sarkar to a sprint dual with the team’s operations manager Sajjad Ahmed and fielding coach Sohel Islam. Saeed, like Ghosh, is another player who has had to lose weight in the last few months. He has also dropped a sitter in the first game against South Africa, and has looked a bit slow in the field.He marginally wins both races. This makes the whole team laugh. But eventually, many of them pat his back and give him plenty of high-fives. Saeed looks knackered, but is satisfied.

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Bangladesh Under-19’s fielding has improved over the last 12 months, especially as the players have been encouraged not to be too bothered about missing the odd ball in the rush to attack the ball. Long barriers are often avoided even in the boundary line, as they hunt for run-out opportunities.While the team has led the way in batting and bowling in youth ODIs since January last year, it has been their fielding in the World Cup that has given them the marginal advantage when the batting and bowling has not worked out as expected.Now, the hope is for Ghosh and Saeed to become just as good as Miraz and Shanto are as fielders. Apparently, all that they need is just a little push from their team-mates.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2016Ahmed Shehzad and Sharjeel Khan struggled to kickstart Pakistan’s innings, as India’s spinners kept things under control on a raging turner•AFPHardik Pandya took a stunning catch at the long-on boundary to dismiss Sharjeel Khan, helping India build on their strong start•AFPHe then removed Shahid Afridi – who came in at No.3 – to help reduce Pakistan to 60 for 3 in the 12th over•AFPUmar Akmal gave his side a late boost with a 16-ball 22•AFPHe was joined by Shoaib Malik, who smacked 26 off 16, to help Pakistan post a competitive 118 for 5•AFPRohit Sharma looked good at the start of the chase before he was caught at cover off Mohammad Amir’s bowling•AFPMohammad Sami jolted India by sending back Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina off consecutive balls. Eden Gardens was stunned into silence•AFPVirat Kohli, however, as he has so often done, took charge of India’s chase with an unbeaten 55 off 37•IDI/Getty ImagesYuvraj Singh played second fiddle to Kohli – the pair added 61 for the fourth wicket – before falling with India 35 runs short of the target•AFPKohli, though, remained as masterful as ever, and took India home with 13 balls to spare and six wickets in hand•AFPHis innings not only lifted India’s campaign after the opening loss to New Zealand, but also helped the team maintain their unbeaten streak against Pakistan at World events•Associated Press

He may have scored more than half his side’s runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but Suresh Raina’s superb batting effort was undermined in the field by his own captaincy

Arun Venugopal in Rajkot21-Apr-20164:50

O’Brien: Sunrisers bowlers used massive square boundaries well

Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Suresh Raina, 0.5 overs. Bhuvneshwar pitched the ball up and watched it curve away from the left-hander. The bowler never found out how far the ball might have swung, for Raina’s bat came down in a speedy flourish to redirect it wide of mid-off.It was more than a pretty-looking shot given the context of the bowler’s previous delivery. Bhuvneshwar, savouring the throwback to his dizzying early days, shot down the stumps of Aaron ‘can’t-score-less-than-50’ Finch with a swerving inducker.Raina’s stately drive, then, forced Bhuvneshwar to shift away from his strong suit and bowl short. At the other end, Barinder Sran was serving up gifts to Raina on the leg side, while Bhuvneshwar was driven straight and through the leg side for a brace of fours. The Gujarat Lions captain went from 21 off 11 balls after the third over to 33 off 18 at the completion of the Powerplay.This was the Raina who had gone missing for a while – prior to this knock of 75, he hadn’t scored a fifty in his last 30 T20 innings and none this year. The Chennai Super Kings faithful may even teared up a little, for this was precisely what Raina did so often, and so well, in yellow.At 50 for 1 in six overs, a glitzy stage was set for the exuberant song-and-dance routine that is his T20 batting at its best. But this was to be a more sober act – an intense monologue, if you will. He lost Brendon McCullum, his fellow happy-go-lucky basher, soon after the Powerplay. Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Bravo seemed like bit-part actors who fluffed their lines and exited the scene. Raina, though, made up for the slip-ups with the heft of his performance.It was in some ways an un-Raina innings, and yet it wasn’t He found the gaps with ease when his team-mates were struggling to get the ball off the square – his dot-ball percentage was 13.7% (7 out of 51 balls) against the team’s 31.7% (38/120) – but there were none of his characteristic grand sixes. The long square boundaries had made sixes a low-percentage option, as Bravo discovered, but fours were enough for Raina. In the eighth over, he shimmied down and lofted the ball wide of long-on with enough force to make a mockery of David Warner’s frantic pursuit.There were dabs, cuts and push-drives for ones and twos – 39 of his 75 runs came in this manner – as he remained unaffected by fancy slower deliveries. He even held his own against the tricky Mustafizur Rahman. In fact, Raina carted a back-of-the-hand delivery from Sran through midwicket by holding the trigger just a little longer. There were very few balls he did not middle, and one of those claimed his wicket in the last over. Bhuvneshwar later said the difference between Raina and the other batsmen lay in how he never stagnated, employing busy running when boundaries dried up.Raina’s imagination with the bat, however, did not rub on to his captaincy. A target of 136, while inadequate – Lions legspinner Pravin Tambe rued the absence of a power-hitter like James Faulkner – could have been slippery on a slow pitch. But there were a few puzzling tactics, like the decision to persist with Praveen Kumar in the Powerplay.After an erratic 13-run first over, that included two wide deliveries down the leg side – one of which went to the boundary for an extra four runs – Raina stayed the course with Praveen for an additional over only to see him carted by Warner for another 18 runs. By the end of six overs, Warner and Shikhar Dhawan had knocked 63 runs off the target and the game was effectively lost.More baffling was the decision to hold back Ravindra Jadeja till the 11th over, by which time Sunrisers were 40 runs shy of the target. Raina, possibly looking to replicate his batting success, even gave himself a couple of overs. After conceding 10 runs in the first over, he did a better job in the second, eliciting a sharp edge off Warner that ricocheted off Karthik’s gloves for a single. It was a reflection of the kind of day Raina had.He looked spent, offered his bowlers the odd but there was no real tactical shake-up. His team-mates, too, had not given him much to work with. It was Raina’s day and yet, in the final scheme of things, it wasn’t.