He was done with South African cricket, wasn’t aware of the SA20 vs Test cricket issue, and now has a chance to claim a piece of Test history

Firdose Moonda14-Feb-20242:30

‘A lot of pride’ – Piedt reflects on his Test comeback

A text message to a retired player with an offer to make a comeback became the stuff of legend after Ben Stokes persuaded Moeen Ali to turn out for last year’s Ashes series. But when Dane Piedt received a similar SOS from Shukri Conrad, he did not quite believe what he was reading.Unlike Moeen, Piedt was not living in the same country he was being asked to represent, had not played a red-ball match in almost four years (Moeen’s absence was less than two years), and had no knowledge of the situation developing in South Africa, where the majority of the Test team would be unavailable for a series in New Zealand.”I was sitting out in the US and Shukri sent me a message to ask me if I was keen for New Zealand. To be honest, I thought he was lying,” Piedt said in Hamilton, where he took a career-best 5 for 89 against New Zealand on Wednesday. “He told me ‘I am being dead serious’. I didn’t know of anything that was going on [in South Africa] at the time.”Related

• Bedingham century and O'Rourke five-for leave contest in the balance

• A 'weird' dismissal, a rare decision, and a fight from SA

• Dane Piedt five-for triggers New Zealand collapse to give South Africa handy lead

Piedt was in North Carolina, playing in the newly formed American league structure, unsure if his decision to try and qualify for the USA was ever going to materialise but determined to try and make the most of his move. He relocated in lockdown shortly after getting married, and his wife, Misha, had given up her occupational therapy practice in Cape Town for a new life. A year into the move, they had a son, Dax, and though adjusting to another country had its challenges – such as driving far longer distances than the ten-minute commute from his previous home in Kenilworth to Newlands – they were settling in.Conrad’s call, which came only because he was set to be without his first-choice players for the Test tour due to SA20 obligations, threatened to have the opposite effect. For Piedt to be considered for the Test squad, he would have to return to South Africa and play in the domestic circuit. Except that no-one in the top division would have him.All eight provincial teams in the top tier said they either didn’t have the money or the space for Piedt, so he had to settle for a spot with a recently relegated division two side – Knights. His first match was against Limpopo, a team that was only given first-class status in October 2022, and he bowled 24 overs in the first innings and went wicketless. At that point, no-one would have blamed Piedt for turning around and heading back to his American life. But he stayed.Dane Piedt recorded his career-best figures in Test cricket in Hamilton on Wednesday•Getty ImagesA second innings five-for bowled his team to an innings win and six wickets in the next game against Northern Cape was enough for Conrad to draft Piedt into the South Africa A squad to play West Indies A. Those matches were effectively dry runs for the team Conrad would put out in New Zealand – and even that was derailed by Tony de Zorzi getting a late SA20 deal – and Piedt stepped up. He finished as the leading wicket-taker in the three-match series (15 at 15.00) to vindicate Conrad’s out-of-the-box approach and roll back the years to repay a long-time mentor.Conrad was Piedt’s coach in 2008, when he joined Western Province after excelling in South Africa’s Under-19 cricket week, and oversaw his progression to first-class debut in 2010. Dane Paterson was in the same XI that Piedt played the red-ball game in. Coming back to the set-up was coming home. “It felt like 2008, bowling with Dane Paterson. We’ve come a very long way. Those are the types of memories you think about,” Piedt said. “It’s come full circle.”Except this is not 2008, but 2024, with South Africa 1-0 down and facing the possibility of losing a series to a side they have never been beaten by before. This is 2024, and the club versus country debate has come to a head and left Piedt as the most-capped bowler in a South African Test XI, in his tenth Test and first in five years.This is 2024, but Piedt was bowling like its 2014 when he topped the first-class wicket chart and earned his first national call-up.

“Williamson, in my opinion, is the best player in the world at the moment. Having to watch him from the side in Mount Maunganui, the way he goes about his business, that one for me was the best one. It’s always nice getting the big fish”Dane Piedt

Despite a total of only 242 to work with, Piedt didn’t mind the batters taking him on a touch. Tom Latham hit his tenth ball over mid-on for six and Kane Williamson sent his 15th over square leg for four. As the pair attacked, Piedt kept his lines fairly consistent outside off stump but made small adjustments to his lengths until he got full enough for Latham to stay back when he should have gone forward and the ball turned past the outside edge to bowl him. Once he found what worked, he stuck to it and some extra bounce forced an error from Williamson, who flicked a ball on to his pads and it popped up for a catch to short leg. Of the batters Piedt wanted to get the better of, Williamson was on top of his list.”I bowled a beauty of a delivery to Tom Latham, no disrespect to him, but Kane Williamson, in my opinion, is the best player in the world at the moment,” he said. “Having to watch him from the side in Mount Maunganui, the way he goes about his business, that one for me was the best one. It’s always nice getting the big fish but it will mean nothing if we don’t get over the line in the end.”The end is a long way away and South Africa will still have to bat well on a surface Piedt doesn’t “foresee getting easier”. But they have a handy lead and the comfort that their team selection – which includes two spinners as opposed to New Zealand’s all-seam plus Rachin Ravindra attack – appears to be well thought out. Piedt was partly responsible for that. “I said it looks a bit bare compared to the Mount in Tauranga. We thought there was less covering on the pitch,” he said. “That’s worth the risk and fortunately it’s paid off. And yesterday, when we saw Rachin bowl beautifully, with a couple spinning, we said it’s the right decision and we just tried to pounce on that opportunity.”Dane Piedt’s Test debut came in 2014 – he is likely making his comeback and final bow all at the same time•AFPAnd it will be their challenge to keep doing that as the game goes on. South Africa are well aware that in terms of experience and reputation, they are nowhere near New Zealand’s calibre and they accept that handicap. “This New Zealand team is a quality Test team. We’ve seen this. They’re actually a proper cricket team. They are not just going to give it away to you,” Piedt said. “We know we are on the back foot all the time and we try to take those windows of opportunities.”But they also know that in terms of fighting spirit, they are among the best in the world and that is what they will be drawing on. “We’ve been quietly going about our business. The camaraderie has been really good. It’s a tight knit team and when pressure situations come you can lean on the next guy,” Piedt said.Most of all, for someone like Piedt, who is more than likely making his comeback and final bow all at the same time, it’s a chance to do something special and claim a piece of Test history that will be remembered far longer than an out-of-the-blue text. That’s what Piedt is playing for, and for Misha and Dax, who were in attendance and all smiles to watch him live his Test dream. Again.

One of England’s most combative cricketers reaches a milestone that reflects the pride he brought to his cricket

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Mar-2024It will be 150 days between Jonny Bairstow’s 100th ODI cap and his 100th in Tests this Thursday for the final match of England’s tour of India. Both will have come in Dharamsala, which feels particularly apt.This, after all, is a vibrant town teeming with lost souls desperate to find themselves. There is an unavoidable spirituality to the place, whether you believe in such things or not. Its roads wind awkwardly towards the summit of the Himalayas, featuring constant flirtations with obstacles – bleating or otherwise – and cliff edges that either stymy your progress or put you off altogether. All punctuated by flashes of jaw-dropping wonder.For Bairstow, 100 ODIs were a recognition of brilliance. The 100 Tests, however, are a measure of spirit. He will join 16 other Englishman to have reached that mark, including Ben Stokes who got there last month. With all due respect to them, few, if any, have wanted it more. And only when you start to unpack that assertion do you really get a sense of the “who” and “why” of Bairstow, and “what” he has meant to English cricket.This, after all, was the kid given first dibs on the Test scene among his long-standing peers – six months before Joe Root, 18 before Stokes. Root was to be the reliable runscorer, Stokes the explosive character. Bairstow was deemed to be both.The debut series against West Indies at the start of the 2012 summer came and went. But it was his fourth cap, at Lord’s against South Africa, that got people dreaming of what this furious 21-year-old could become. A brutal 95 gave England a slim first-innings lead against the most complete attack of the modern era. A 54 in the second threatened an unlikely chase. All while one of the best English Test teams in generations was in the early stages of collapsing in on itself.The numbers show that Bairstow’s early promise did not come to fruition. Of the English Test batters in the 100-cap bracket, his average of 36.42 is the lowest. Even if he does mark the occasion with a 13th century – who could rule that out? – that figure too will be lowest among the select few, with Ian Botham just in front on 14.Bairstow has made a series of starts on the India tour, but has yet to push on•Getty ImagesAt the same time, Bairstow has found himself at the vanguard of the English game in two very different eras, like a havoc-wreaking time traveller. In 2016, he set calendar year records for the most runs by any wicketkeeper of any nationality (1,470) and affected more dismissals (70) than the lot of them. Six years later in 2022, his four centuries and 681 runs in a single summer launched a thrilling cult.Had Bairstow not been English, with such a volume of Test cricket available to him, he might not have had a chance to reach this landmark. Through reasons pertaining to form, role and injury, he has missed 51 Tests since debuting almost 12 years ago. By contrast, Kane Williamson, who debuted in November 2010, will only reach his century in the second Test against Australia next week, having missed just 11.There have been a few “what if” moments along the way. A tough period averaging 27.98 against the red ball between 2017 and 2019 coincided with a three-year run in which he cemented his status as a generational white-ball opener, with nine ODI hundreds among 2,403 runs scored at a strike rate of 108.24. The scales of technique balanced too far one way, in particular his propensity to open up his stance for those powerplay launches through the covers, but Bairstow is a world champion for it.The severe leg break at the end of the 2022 summer that required nine pins and a wire going through his ankle cost him six Tests, nine months and perhaps a shot at legendary status. As for the wicketkeeping conundrum – how long have you got?The battle for the gloves has been a constant sticking point, and Bairstow has worn each snub personally. Most chastening was at the start of the 2018 season, when national selector Ed Smith made the understandable decision to shoehorn Jos Buttler into the side. Soon enough, Buttler was keeping.Jonny Bairstow’s century in Sri Lanka in 2018 was a classic of its genre•Getty ImagesThe jostling with Ben Foakes has been a different dynamic. Foakes is one of the best glovemen England have ever been able to call on, but with enough lacking in his batting to allow Bairstow to seize his role last summer upon his return from injury. Chances were missed, the Ashes were drawn, and there are many who reasonably equate the two together. It is also true that England’s indecision means none of the three have done themselves justice.The link between Bairstow’s desire to keep wicket and his late father is unavoidable. David Bairstow also performed the role for Yorkshire and England, and the similarities between the two are particularly striking. From the eyes, Jonny carrying forward David’s nickname, “Bluey”, to their approach to the game. Cricket writer David Hopps described Bairstow senior’s batting as “chest-juttingly confrontational, as if forever driven forth by an imagined slight, from a selector or a southerner, a team-mate or a journalist”. He may as well have been talking about Jonny.Of course, not all of Jonny’s slights have been imagined, and few have perfected the “F*** you!” knock with such vendetta-ridden precision. Right down to staring down entire press boxes, leaving those within them grateful of the thick glass, but unsure if he might proceed to hack away at the foundations with his bat.That rage, fleeting as it is, stems from a long-held belief that people do not rate his talents, which could not be further from the truth. But the idea that he is fuelled by proving people wrong, even his team-mates’ occasional comments that winding him up before sending him out onto the field gets the best out of him, is a tad reductive. He is a player unwittingly defined by broad extrapolations.The tragedy of David’s suicide – Jonny, aged eight, returned home to find him with his mother, Janet, and sister, Becky – is often linked to an emotional yet bloody-minded career. But it has been one cultivated by love, thanks to an incredibly tightknit family, held together by Janet.Her strength through it all, especially two battles with breast cancer – the first at the time of David’s passing – has made Jonny the man he is. Thursday’s celebrations will be alongside those loved ones, which now include his partner Megan and their first child, along with a throng of close friends. No doubt when the cap presentation takes place, there will be a look to the heavens, as there was nine years ago in Cape Town after that maiden Test century, towards the one who cannot be there. Even thousands of miles away from home, home will be right there with him.It would be foolish not to entertain the sentimentality of all this. Appreciating the emotion of Bairstow has always been the quickest route to knowing the person. He craves reassurance, a vulnerability McCullum saw first-hand early in his tenure when, a week after striking 136 off 92 deliveries against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Bairstow asked his coach how he should approach the next innings. McCullum scoffed at the mere idea of doing anything differently, ordering him to sit next to him and go through his Sudoku book to keep out of his own head.The Headingley crowd erupts as Bairstow ignites Bazball in the summer of 2022•Associated PressSuch comfort-giving has not been a one-way street. The first of Bairstow’s 12 Test hundreds came in the midst of a 399-run stand with Stokes, who finished on a career-best 258 from 198 balls and still credits his partner’s role in allowing him to go wilder than he ever thought possible. It’s not for nothing that Stokes acknowledges the touchpaper for his 2019 epic at Headingley was lit in the 86-run stand with Bairstow that had the hero of that piece as second-fiddle. Would Bazball even be a thing without Bairstow?Even as someone who wears disappointment so personally, Bairstow remains acutely aware of the things that count. Team-mates closest to him note how perceptive he is to their moods, particularly when they are not quite themselves and in need of a pick-up.When Bairstow had a scheduling conflict with a close friend’s wedding in Chepstow and Mark Wood’s in Northumberland, he saw no conflict at all. After the first celebration, Bairstow left south-east Wales at 1am, driving through the night to the north-east of England, arriving at 6:30am, getting an hour’s sleep before freshening up and donning a new suit for his team-mate’s big day.He is generous, too, whether hosting barbecues on the eve of Headingley internationals stocked with all the meat, booze and cigars you could want, or gifting souvenirs to fans, whether gloves, bats or simply time. On many occasions on this tour of India, he has broken security protocol and indulged local fans and hotel staff with selfies.Related

Stats – Who has the best numbers after 100 Test caps?

R Ashwin – a menace at home, and to lefties

How Ravindra Jadeja can say no to no-balls

None of this changes the fact we are in the endgame of Bairstow as a Test cricketer. This is a number’s game in a high-performance industry, and at the back-end of a challenging series, this England team may need to move on to reach the next level.Even so, Bairstow joins an exclusive club having given so much to so many. He has been responsible for the kind of days England fans will hold dear forever. He has even contributed with absurdities ranging from bumping heads with Cameron Bancroft – one of the more hilariously overblown Ashes stoushes – to carrying off a Just Stop Oil protestor at Lord’s under one arm. All while treating Test cricket and his career with a heart that resonates the world over.Jonny Bairstow is, and always will be, a protagonist of English cricket at a time when it was thrilling and still trying to work out what it wanted to be. And when he has finished, when those who grew with him have grown old too, there may be some sadness that the memories Bairstow elicited were locked in those moments.His part in that journey will, ultimately, be his legacy. You cannot argue against the numbers but, geez, you just had to be there. To experience the best of him, and how he stirred souls simply by doing something he loved.Fundamentally, is that not what life, let alone cricket, is all about?

Australia’s players have again featured heavily in the IPL over the past week as the tournament nears the business end

Alex Malcolm06-May-20243:02

Starc explains the effects of the Impact Player rule on the IPL

Starc’s up and down tournament continues

]Mitchell Starc returned to some form in the past week when he claimed 4 for 33 in Kolkata Knight Riders’ win over Mumbai Indians in a low-scoring game at Wankhede. Starc’s start with the ball was typical of his tournament so far. He conceded a four and a six before flattening Ishan Kishan’s leg stump in the space of three balls. He then returned to bowl the penultimate over of the chase with Mumbai needing 32 off 12. Australia teammate Tim David flicked Starc’s first ball for six to reduce the equation to 26 off 11. But Starc then got his execution right. David whacked a wide low full toss to long-off. Next ball Starc delivered another good wide yorker that Piyush Chawla miscued to cover. He then blew out Gerald Coetzee’s middle stump with a perfect 141kph yorker to end the match. It’s the type of performance that will please Australia’s hierarchy ahead of the World Cup.Related

• 'Where do you fit him in?' – Hazlewood says Fraser-McGurk's time will come

• Sunrisers rely on bowling smarts to complement berserk batting

• Will T20 get to the point where it becomes wearisome?

• Ricky Ponting: 'The default setting now for batting is T20 and everything else works around that'

• Starc: Impact Player rule has played a part in bowlers' inflated numbers

He downplayed his form in the aftermath claiming the Impact Sub was causing all bowlers to go for runs in the IPL. The comments about the Impact Sub had some merit but they were also a touch disingenuous given Starc is the most expensive of the top 19 wicket-takers in the IPL this season by some margin at an economy rate of 11.37. Most of the IPL’s best powerplay and death bowlers have economy rates under 10. He followed that four-wicket haul up with another topsy-turvy powerplay against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday night. He bowled a good opening over to pick up the wicket of Arshin Kulkarni to set LSG back in the powerplay. But his second over featured a lot of width to Marcus Stoinis who gleefully carved him for three boundaries over the off side.

Stoinis stands tall again

Marcus Stoinis muscled Mitchell Starc in the powerplay•BCCIStoinis’ sublime IPL continued with a Player-of-the-Match performance against MI. He again showed his incredible versatility with the ball. He bowled the opening over of the match and conceded just one run off the bat and one wide. He bowled a second over in the powerplay and picked up the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. He finished with figures of 1 for 19 from three overs as MI only managed to post 144 for 7 with the help of David’s 35 not out from 18 balls. Stoinis then controlled the chase superbly with the bat making 62 off 45 at No.3 as LSG chased it down with four wickets and four balls to spare. Stoinis looked in great touch again on Sunday against KKR as he clattered Starc for three boundaries in the powerplay before striking two sixes to race to 36 off 20. But he fell to Andre Russell off his 21st delivery, skying an attempt to hoick him over wide long-on as LSG’s chase fell in a heap. Stoinis had earlier had a difficult start with the ball conceding 29 in his only two overs. He was a little unfortunate with his first ball yielding a top edge from Phil Salt that flew over the keeper’s head for four. Sunil Narine sliced his last bowl of the first over into green space. But Stoinis’ second set of six cost 19 as Narine launched three length slower balls over the rope.

Cummins’ captaincy wins praise in final ball thriller

2:23

Deep Dasgupta: Cutters doing the job for Cummins

Pat Cummins continued to put on a masterclass with the ball and with his captaincy in the IPL as he steered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a thrilling final ball victory over Rajasthan Royals. He could have made things a lot easier for himself had he held a straightforward catch that Yashasvi Jaiswal offered in the powerplay at mid-off. Jaiswal went on to make 67 off 40 as RR were on track to chase SRH’s target of 202. Riyan Parag was also given a life on his way to 77 off 49. But Cummins and T Natarajan pulled the game back by breaking the partnership and taking four key wickets between them. The pair were the only SRH bowlers to concede less than 10 an over. Both went at under 9 per over and Cummins bowled 12 dots including four in the penultimate over of the match when RR only needed 20 off 12. That gave Bhuvneshwar Kumar 12 runs to play with in the last over and he was able to deliver with a wicket off the final ball to clinch the game by one run. Natarajan said Cummins had been incredibly influential on him as skipper and was a key reason why he has been one of the leading wicket-takers in the IPL this season. Earlier in the same game, Travis Head continued his great season with a half-century, although it was his slowest of the tournament at a strike-rate of 131.81.

Maxwell and Green continue their batting malaise

Mohammed Siraj and Cameron Green rattled Gujarat Titans with the new ball•BCCIThere have been promising signs for Australia’s World Cup campaign throughout this IPL. But the batting form of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green remain slight areas of concern. Green had shown some signs last week with bat and ball that had coincided with his inclusion in the final 15 for the World Cup. But he and Maxwell missed out again this week as Royal Challengers Bengaluru almost botched the unlosable chase against Gujarat Titans. Green again bowled nicely taking 1 for 28 from his four overs as RCB bowled GT out for 147 in Bengaluru. A blistering innings from skipper Faf du Plessis gave RCB the perfect platform to cruise to victory. They were 103 for 3 in the eighth over when Maxwell walked out for his first bat in the tournament since he effectively dropped himself on form in early April. It was the perfect chance to get some pressure-free time in the middle and notch 20-odd not out with Virat Kohli at the other end. He clipped his first ball for four through midwicket with neat timing after making an unusual pre-delivery movement to open himself up. He then needlessly heaved his third delivery straight to deep square. Green then walked out and sliced a short wide offering from Josh Little to deep third second ball. Kohli fell in the following over as RCB had slumped from 99 for 1 to 117 for 6. But Dinesh Karthik and Swapnil Singh steadied to guide them home. Maxwell has scored 36 runs from 37 balls for the tournament in seven innings at an average of 5.14. Green has at least contributed 112 runs from 89 balls at 18.66 with a 37 not out. Both men would love to find some touch in the final three games.

With 46 to get from three overs, KKR seemed to have the match in their hands, but Jos Buttler had other ideas

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-20241:39

Rapid fire review: Buttler’s knock among the greatest in a chase?

17.1Starc to Buttler, SIX runsFull and right into the swinging arc, Buttler clears his front leg and tees off down town to clear the ropes.Deep square comes in, point goes back17.2Starc to Buttler, 1 wideSlips this full delivery way outside off, left alone. Wide called17.2Starc to Buttler, no runCut away to deep point17.3Starc to Buttler, 1 run, OUTDrilled to long-off, calls for two but they were never going to make it. Boult was very slow in turning around, but in all fairness there was never a second. Boult continued to run nonetheless to get Buttler back on strike. Must say it was an excellent return on the bounce from Iyer to the bowler.17.4Starc to Buttler, no runAttempts a reverse scoop as Starc slants it full and across, misses.17.5Starc to Buttler, FOUR runsDug in short, Buttler takes on the short ball and manages to get enough bat on it to bisect square leg and short fine. Excellent anticipation from Buttler. This would’ve been signalled wide had he not got bat on it.17.6Starc to Buttler, 5 wideReaches out to scythe this behind square, the keeper has fumbled, this one bursts through his gloves and runs away to the boundary. Five wides wrapped in a gift.17.6Starc to Buttler, 1 runSensibly drives to deep cover point for a single. Royals need 28 off 12.18.1Harshit Rana to Buttler, SIX runsHeaved over deep midwicket! Deep into the stands. Buttler stays his ground and picks the bones out of this slower length ball.18.2Harshit Rana to Buttler, no runFull toss, belted straight to cover at the edge of the ring. Doesn’t take the run.18.3Harshit Rana to Buttler, FOUR runsHarshit Rana may have thought for a second he’d done well to go yorker-length. Buttler uses the depth of the crease to take it on the full and shovel it down the ground to beat long-on.18.4Harshit Rana to Buttler, SIX runsDug in short, Buttler pulls and clears a leaping Starc at deep square! Anticipated the short ball and was ready for it when it arrived. Hit it right off the middle. Flat hit to the bigger boundary.18.5Harshit Rana to Buttler, 2 runsMistimes a heave into the leg side, they come back for the second as Starc loses his balance as he gets to the ball at deep square.18.6Harshit Rana to Buttler, 1 runWorks it gently into the leg side as they take a quick single.KKR are an over short and so can have only four fielders, as against five, outside the ring.Varun Chakravarthy to bowl the final over. KKR need to defend eight.19.1Varun to Buttler, SIX runsDug into the pitch, Buttler goes back and thumps this over long-on. Also gets to his century as the Royals dug out applauds a sensational innings19.2Varun to Buttler, no runFlays this hard to long-off, refuses the single.3 off 419.3Varun to Buttler, no runWidth outside off, crashes it to deep point. Keeps strike, so it’s another dot ball.19.4Varun to Buttler, no runFinds the fielder as he reverse sweeps straight to short third. Good stop by Harshit19.5Varun to Buttler, 2 runsGets a high full toss, Buttler thumps it to wide long-off, the throw from Starc is loopy and wide, Buttler somehow cobbles a second. He’s exhausted, but somehow gets there.Scores level19.6Varun to Buttler, 1 runHeaves it into the leg side, gets it past the infield and Royals have pulled off IPL’s biggest run chase.Jos Buttler can’t feel his arms. He has no strength left. He is soaking wet, the jersey sticking to his body like a wet towel. He’s barely able to walk back, but how satisfied will be, having helped Royals pull off a heist.Buttler could barely strike the ball off the square in the first half of his innings, but the inherent belief that he could find his gears in the end kept him going. And when push came to shove, with the asking rate spiralling higher, he found his hitting range. Even as wickets kept tumbling, he held his own and saw off a sensational chase. Take a bow.

The India left-arm spinner has worked hard on channelling her aggression positively, and is now eyeing a T20 World Cup spot

Srinidhi Ramanujam05-May-2024Radha Yadav is a much calmer person these days. She admits she used to lose her rhythm because of her aggression earlier. But in the last year or so, the left-arm spinner has worked hard on channelling this aggression in a manner that yields good outcomes. This shift was visible in her performances in WPL 2024 which led to her earning a recall to the India squad for the tour of Bangladesh, five months ahead of the T20 World Cup.She has looked more assured than ever and has been “really enjoying” her game in Sylhet, where the five-match T20I series is being played. Three games in – all of which India have won – she has six wickets at an economy of 5 and an average of 10 to be the leading wicket-taker.”It’s quite similar to India, we get turn on this wicket – really, really enjoying [myself],” Radha said after India won the third T20I to take the series with two games to play. “We are really happy in the change room. The management has given us certain roles to follow, and we are doing it properly. Feeling happy.”Related

Harmanpreet impressed with India's calmness in 5-0 win

Radha Yadav, batters lead India to 5-0 T20I series sweep over Bangladesh

Hemalatha flaunts her hitting credentials in comeback cameo

Renuka Singh finds her mojo ahead of T20 World Cup

Having found her way back to the India team after last playing an international game in February 2023, Radha has become a vital cog in the spin attack that also has Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil – the uncapped S Asha and another left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque are waiting for their chance.In two of the three matches, Radha has provided crucial breakthroughs, including two double-wicket overs. After 1 for 19 in the opening game, Radha starred with 3 for 19 in the second. In that game, the Bangladesh batters had started with good intent, keeping the scorecard moving despite losing two wickets in the powerplay. Radha then trapped captain Nigar Sultana and Fahima Khatun lbw in successive deliveries to leave Bangladesh four down by the end of the tenth over. This triggered a collapse as Bangladesh were bowled out for 119.In the third T20I, she once again dismissed Sultana and Shorifa Khatun in the space of three balls in the penultimate over to return 2 for 22 as Bangladesh posted a below-par 117.

“I try to stay calm, and I am generally very aggressive. Because of the aggression, I used to lose my rhythm at times. So, now I try to be calm with a smiling face”Radha Yadav

Radha became a regular in the India XI after making her T20I debut in 2018. However, there was a period of lull. From the start of 2022 till the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa, she played a total of 27 games and took just 16 wickets at an economy rate of 6.84. At the last T20 World Cup, she picked up three wickets in four games at an average of 30.33.The lean run stretched to WPL 2023 where she played for Delhi Capitals. While Capitals were largely unaffected by her performances – or the lack of them – as they finished runners-up, Radha was one of the few players to have fallen short. She lacked control and accuracy, getting just four wickets in nine games with an economy rate of 7.20.With Patil and Ishaque then getting into the India team, Radha moved down the pecking order. Away from the limelight, Radha streamlined her approach and focussed on staying calm in the heat of a cricket match.Radha was someone who tried to bowl at the stumps, but has now started to bowl wider lines too. She is also slower through the air at times, taking pace off to deprive the batters runs. Against Bangladesh, she has bowled 39 of her 72 balls outside off stump, though the ones that got her wickets were largely at the stumps.Radha Yadav was a very different bowler in WPL 2024•BCCIThe shift was on evidence in WPL 2024, where she bowled 79 of her 150 deliveries outside off stump and picked up five out of her ten wickets when pitching the ball away from the batters. With this, Radha also ended WPL 2024 as the fourth-highest wicket-taker as Capitals again finished runners-upRadha has learnt to use her aggression positively.During WPL 2024, she had revealed in a post-match chat with Jemimah Rodrigues that she used to search for “Virat Kohli aggression videos” on YouTube to keep herself pumped up.”I try to stay calm, and I am generally very aggressive. Because of the aggression, I used to lose my rhythm at times,” she explained. “So now, I try to be calm with a smiling face.”Since the start of 2019, Radha is the second-highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is, behind Deepti. She has worked her way out of a period of lull, and the new, improved version could work very well for India come the T20 World Cup in a few months’ time.

Two teams that have been labelled as “chokers” will try to leave their baggage behind when they step on to the field in Bridgetown

Sidharth Monga28-Jun-20242:10

How do South Africa tackle Kuldeep and Bumrah?

The fast bowlers went partying that night. They booked a band already. They ordered champagne too. They were 122 for 2 at stumps, chasing 201 in their first Test since readmission. Ten debutants led by Kepler Wessels, who had played previously for Australia. Tired and exhausted at the fag end of a long time away from home. About to beat the mighty West Indies in a Test, right here in Barbados.The next morning, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh unleashed West Indies’ fury on a pitch that was as unpredictable as the hurricane season. Some balls flew by the shoulder, some scooted along the ground. South Africa lost their last eight wickets for 25, beaten comfortably by 51 runs. They didn’t know what to do with the band.In their first six months back in international cricket, this was South Africa’s second heartbreak. Who knew back then that heartbreaks would be defining South African cricket even 32 years later?Kensington Oval has a habit of breaking hearts. Five years later, India went into day four needing just 118 with all their wickets in hand for their first win at this legendary ground. Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Franklyn Rose bowled them out for 81.While the two finalists, the best teams of the T20 World Cup 2024, are coming back to Kensington Oval full of hope and excitement, the dominant narrative will be of heartbreak. A vast majority of cricket followers have decided these two teams – actually teams representing these two countries – are “chokers”. South Africa because they have wilted at the first sign of “knockout pressure”, failing to win nine of the 11 such matches they have played so far. This is their first final ever at a World Cup. India have been the most consistent limited-overs side since about 2014, but they have no world titles: two finals and four semi-finals in seven World Cups. This is their third final in eight.3:46

Dravid: South Africa will move on from their history like we will from Ahmedabad

Leave alone not appreciating the consistency and judging the teams on the basis of one match a year – credit for getting there forgotten soon after the defeat – these teams are not homogenous units. This South Africa have nothing to do with the team that was not properly aware of Duckworth-Lewis sheets more than 20 years ago. Most of them were not even born in 1992 but we do imagine what the dressing room would have felt like with champagne on ice but the opposition on fire. Rahul Dravid, India’s coach who says he has made a clean break from his life as a player anyway, is the only link with the 1997 team, but we think 81 all out when we think Barbados.A lot of this narrative is post facto anyway. In the 1999 ODI World Cup semi-final, for example, did South Africa choke or was it Australia choking having made an improbable comeback from the dead and now dropping catch after catch and bowling right in the slot for Lance Klusener?Australia have not got out of the group stages of four of the last five T20 World Cups, but they are somehow considered a better T20 side than both these finalists because they have a title during this period. It is cruel to judge and define teams based on this one match especially in an extremely volatile format that turns on small events.Then again, that’s how it is. It is a fact of life the participants appreciate more than anyone else. For they must live with it. They must play it like any other game but know that it is not seen as that. They must not admit the role luck can play. Yet compulsively they must follow same routines. On the eve of the final, India’s coaching staff and captain Rohit Sharma came to check the pitch. Before they left, they made sure they got the same dressing room as they did when they won the Super Eight match here.When South Africa came for their training, coach Rob Walter inspected the pitch and then walked slowly and deliberately to each square boundary, as if measuring which side is longer although that information can be taken easily from the groundstaff.3:20

Markram: ‘Feel like we can win from any position’

They bring out the cliché in press conferences, but they are just trying to control the uncontrollable, of which there is plenty in our sport. Even more so in this format. These are two of the best teams in the tournament because they have the best squads for these conditions, they have prepared well, they have read the conditions better than others and they have turned up with better tactics. These are expert players who go through rigorous training and fitness regimens to get here, but come the final they also add the lime and chilli on top.Sometimes it is all about not getting too worked up and following the same processes. You might want to assiduously follow the same routines to make sure of that. Then again you are always watching out for the opposition springing a surprise. That generally happens when a team has nothing to lose; these two have plenty.Rohit has seen extreme frustration: narrowly missed out on being part of India’s last ODI World Cup-winning squad, and part of near-misses in the knockout matches in all three formats. This could well be his last shot. For Dravid, who endured another heartbreak in the West Indies in the 2007 World Cup and never won one, this definitely is the last shot for now. His twin masterpieces on a brutish Jamaica track in 2006 won’t be remembered. His inability to win a World Cup will.South Africa have a country to soothe after the torture of the “big match” over the last three decades. Their former players wanted some reflected healing. They don’t want this to become the new hurdle. With a provision for reserve day and the weather looking dodgy after that, the losing side will have plenty of time to brood over things before they leave.Nobody has booked a party yacht yet, but nobody has booked their return flights either. They are all thinking about the final right now while trying not to think too much about it and exhausting themselves, if that makes sense. Or as much as it can in sport.

Who makes the first group as we begin the countdown of the best female players of the last 25 years?

25-Sep-20242:51

Would Suzie Bates rather face Lea Tahuhu or Hayley Jensen?

Everyone loves a ranking list, right? Following on from our colleagues in ESPN, who have been running lists of the top athletes of the century on their platforms, we thought the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup was a good time to look back over the 21st century so far and select the top 25 female cricketers.Will the player you expect to finish No. 1 finish here? Will a player be ranked too high? Will your favourite player be ranked too low or not make the list (sorry if that’s the case). You’ll find out over the next three days.The game has evolved dramatically over the time frame under consideration for this list, particularly in the last decade with the advent of the WBBL, followed by the Hundred and WPL. More international teams are now beating each other and this upcoming World Cup has the potential to be one of the most competitive.A group of ESPNcricinfo writers came up with a longlist of 50 names, which were then put into a voting system that played off pairs against each other. Once that was completed, a smaller group then assessed the list for anomalies or glaring omissions.Here, present Nos. 25-16 on the rankings. You can check out Nos. 15-6 here and 5-1 here.Note: only achievements posted after January 1, 2000 are taken into consideration, even if the athlete’s career ran either side of the millenniumStats for 2000 and beyond
Test batting | Test bowling | ODI batting | ODI bowling | T20I batting | T20I bowling | All T20 batting | All T20 bowling

25: Sarah Taylor (England)

Sarah Taylor: legendary behind the stumps, and not bad with the bat•Getty ImagesWhen Adam Gilchrist calls you “the best wicketkeeper in the world… male or female” the world’s media notices. But anyone familiar with Taylor would know the slick dismissal of Sune Luus in a 2018 ODI he was referring to was just one in an impressive line-up of brilliant leg-side stumpings in an England career spanning 13 years. During that time she amassed 6533 international runs and 232 dismissals. With gloves and bat, she was pivotal to England’s World Cup victories in 2009 and 2017. Mental-health breaks punctuating her career helped normalise conversations around anxiety, and she broke down barriers elsewhere too. From the 1st XI at Brighton College to the Birmingham Premier League and Australian grade cricket, Taylor proved she could match it with her male counterparts, and she went on to forge a successful coaching career with a number of men’s sides, including Sussex, Abu Dhabi and Manchester Originals.

24: Beth Mooney (Australia)

Beth Mooney’s masterful 125 not out in a chase against India gave Australia a record 26th ODI win on the trot•Albert Perez/Getty ImagesIt would be hard to a find a more versatile batter than Mooney. She has developed into a player who can adapt to whatever role is asked of her, whether opening the batting in Tests or T20s, or being a middle-order star in ODIs. Mooney was part of the destructive opening stand that decided the 2020 T20 World Cup final against India, and in 2021 produced one of the finest ODI innings in a chase against India. In 2022 she remarkably returned to action during the Ashes barely a week after breaking her jaw. On the domestic scene she is the leading run-scorer in WBBL history.

23: Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

Stafanie Taylor: a World Cup-winning captain as well as the Player of the Tournament•AFPA hard-hitting opener, Taylor has been unstoppable since her debut T20I innings, when she made a 49-ball 90 as a 17-year-old. She’s not just brilliant with bat and ball but is one of West Indies’ most decorated captains. At 19 she became the youngest woman to make 1000 ODI runs, and she took over as West Indies captain at 24. Her biggest moment as captain came in 2016 when she led West Indies to the T20 World Cup title, helping beat three-time champions Australia. She led from the front through that campaign, scoring a crucial 59 in the thrilling final and finishing as the Player of the Tournament for her 246 runs and eight wickets. Her performance against New Zealand in 2013, where she became the first woman to score a century and take four wickets in an ODI, exemplifies her all-round prowess. Taylor is also the only woman with over 5000 runs and 150 wickets in ODIs.

22: Katherine Sciver-Brunt (England)

Katherine Sciver-Brunt: injuries didn’t keep the long-time leader of England’s attack down for long•Getty ImagesThe England fast bowler’s career was a roller-coaster: a superb all-round showing in England’s first women’s Ashes win in 42 years, in 2005, was followed by a spate of injuries – a troublesome back being at the centre of it – a few years later, which made her contemplate retirement. She then found her mojo again to finish as one of England’s, if not the world’s, greats. Sciver-Brunt was feisty, passionate and rapid. Her ability to swing the ball at high pace made her a ferocious threat, and she finished with the most five-wicket hauls (five) by a fast bowler in women’s ODIs.

21: Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Australia)

Cathryn Fitzpatrick: a fast-bowling trailblazer•Daniel Berehulak/Getty ImagesThough there have been major advancements in the game, particularly in fast bowling, since her time, Fitzpatrick’s record still shines. Renowned as the fastest bowler to have played in her day – an accolade that would stand against today’s quicks – her numbers in the seven years she played from 2000 onwards are superb: 127 ODI wickets at 16.88 and an economy of 3.10, and 44 in seven Tests at 13.56. In 2003 she became the first bowler to claim 100 ODI wickets. Although it was towards the latter stages of her career, she was a key part of Australia’s 2005 World Cup victory in India. Her overall tally of ODI wickets was only surpassed by Jhulan Goswami in 2017.

20: Amelia Kerr (New Zealand)

Amelia Kerr: the present and future for New Zealand•AFP/Getty ImagesAt 17, the legspin-bowling allrounder broke former Australia captain Belinda Clark’s 21-year-old record for the highest individual score in women’s ODIs when she amassed 232 not out against Ireland. Kerr followed it with career-best returns of 5 for 17 in the same match to lead her team to a 305-run win. Kerr announced herself the previous year, with the wickets of Australia’s Meg Lanning, Elyse Villani, Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy in her sixth ODI. Earmarked as a potential star, Kerr has since established herself as a vital cog in the New Zealand side in the last few years with consistent batting and bowling performances. She has gone past 3000 international runs and taken 150-plus wickets.

19: Charlotte Edwards (England)

Charlotte Edwards remains England’s most successful captain in women’s cricket, with 72 wins in ODIs and 68 in T20Is•Getty ImagesEdwards, who represented England 309 times, 220 of those as captain, was not only a prodigious talent but an enduring one. After taking over the captaincy in 2006, she led England as they retained the Ashes in Australia, achieving back-to-back victories against the Australians, in 2013 and 2014. She also took England to the World Cup-World T20 double in 2009. The England record of nine ODI centuries Edwards shared with Nat Sciver-Brunt and Tammy Beaumont was only broken in September 2024, eight years after her last game. Her leadership has continued post-retirement as a highly successful coach in the women’s game.

18: Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)

Laura Wolvaardt is among the most stylish batters in the game and now has centuries across all formats•BCCIShe could have been a medical student or a musician but Wolvaardt chose to pursue a career in cricket and quickly rose to the top of the class. Armed with a selection of textbook shots, including one of the smoothest cover drives in the game, Wolvaardt uses traditional technique to dominate contemporary cricket. She is South Africa’s leading run-scorer in ODI cricket and their only player to have made more than 4000 runs in the format, and is closing in on the T20I record, with the three players above her now retired. Wolvaardt is one of only three women’s players to have scored a century in all three formats of the game, and the only one to have do it in one calendar year. That was also the year after she took on the all-format captaincy long-term, proving her leadership ability at all levels.

17: Suzie Bates (New Zealand)

Suzie Bates is second only to Meg Lanning in the list of most ODI hundreds, 13 in 157 innings for New Zealand•Getty ImagesOne of the most respected allrounders in the women’s game, and a former Olympics-level basketball player, Bates has a reputation of being a big-match player and is the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is. The attacking top-order batter made 168 off just 105 balls in helping New Zealand advance to their fourth ODI World Cup final in 2009, three years after making her ODI debut. She led the side from 2011 through 2018 and did not let captaincy weigh her performances down. In the 2013 ODI World Cup, she topped the batting charts with 407 runs, and was named Player of the Tournament. Bates made 151 off 94 balls on the a record-breaking day in Dublin in 2018 when New Zealand made a massive 491 for 4 against Ireland. In July 2024 she became the first New Zealand women’s cricketer to make over 10,000 international runs. Come October, she is set to play in her ninth T20 World Cup.

16: Sophie Devine (New Zealand)

Sophie Devine: has scored a 36-ball T20 hundred•Getty ImagesStarting out as a seam bowler, Devine evolved as a batter with incredible power-hitting, while taking 200 international wickets. At 17 she made her New Zealand debut, but it was when she blasted a magnificent 145 against South Africa in the 2013 ODI World Cup that she took the world by storm. She holds the record for the fastest fifty in women’s T20Is, off 18 balls against India in 2015. Devine had a blockbuster 2019-20 season, when she made her maiden T20I century against South Africa and became the first cricketer of either sex to hit five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20Is. She was named New Zealand captain in 2020, and the following year she struck the fastest women’s T20 century with a 36-ball hundred for Wellington against Otago in Dunedin. A T20 globetrotter with prolific all-round performance, she has a particularly prolific record in the WBBL with four centuries. ESPNcricinfo’s top 25 women cricketer’s of the 21st century: Nos. 1-5 | 6-15 | 16-25

He batted like a subcontinent pro at the Chinnaswamy, putting himself firmly in the conversation around Test cricket’s future Fab Four

Deivarayan Muthu21-Oct-20241:39

Manjrekar: Very rarely did Rachin defend against the spinners

Until Sunday, the last time New Zealand beat India in a Test match in India was in 1988. Michael Bracewell’s uncle John played that game, and bagged a six-for in the fourth innings at the Wankhede Stadium. Michael wasn’t even born at the time. Neither was anyone else from New Zealand’s current Test squad other than Ajaz Patel, who was just over a month old at the time.Rachin Ravindra wouldn’t arrive in the world until 11 years later.Thirty-six years after Mumbai 1988, New Zealand finally won another Test match in India, and Ravindra was in the middle of it all, scoring a dazzling first-innings century and following up with a composed 39 off 46 balls amid the mounting tension of a small run chase. New Zealand and Ravindra had done the unthinkable at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Around this time last year, Ravindra had announced his arrival in India, scoring 578 runs in ten matches, drawing level with Kane Williamson for the most runs by a New Zealander in a single edition of the men’s ODI World Cup. Now, Ravindra slotted into the absent Williamson’s role and lived up to his billing as New Zealand’s future batting leader.A year on from a breakout ODI World Cup, Rachin Ravindra has returned to India and shown he can be just as prolific in Test cricket•BCCIWhen India first met Ravindra in 2021, he was batting at No.6 in T20Is and even further down the order in Tests, with his utility as a left-arm spinner earning him a red-ball debut in Kanpur. There, batting at No.8 in the fourth innings on day five with No.11 Ajaz for company, he salvaged a draw against an attack that included R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.It was the first glimpse of a special talent on the world stage. Ravindra has now harnessed that talent to move up to No.4 and become New Zealand’s premier all-format batter.Cricket is veering towards a new generation, with other young, supremely talented batters also emerging. Ben Stokes thinks Harry Brook can replicate Virat Kohli’s all-format success. Rohit Sharma reckons India have found a “great” player in Yashasvi Jaiswal. Just eight Tests old, Kamindu Mendis has been ripping up the record books for fun. Ravindra is now in the same conversation around cricket’s future Fab Four.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe most striking aspect of Ravindra’s batting in Bengaluru was the assurance he showed against India’s spinners. Most overseas batters are often stuck on the crease, reduced to picking spinners only off the pitch. But Ravindra is not most overseas batters. He batted like a subcontinent batter in the subcontinent. He was right forward or right back, opening up a number of scoring options for himself.”Rachin has made every post a winner in all the games he’s played,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “He was certainly at his very best in this game and played beautifully in both innings and put us in a position that we could win.”Ravindra’s ability to pick length early also enables him to manoeurve the ball against the turn. When Jadeja erred marginally short in the 75th over of New Zealand’s first innings, Ravindra jumped onto the back foot so quickly that he could caress the ball between slip and deep third. Then, when Ashwin dragged an offbreak short and outside off, Ravindra used his rubber wrists and the depth of the crease to shovel it away against the turn.Ravindra has been a strong back-foot player right from his age-group days in Wellington. To improve his front-foot game before New Zealand’s six-Test subcontinent expedition, he went to great lengths. He arrived in India before the rest of New Zealand squad and had a four-day preparatory camp at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai in exaggerated conditions, which included batting against spin on used black- and red-soil pitches.Decisive footwork and strong wrists were a feature of Ravindra’s batting in Bengaluru•AFP/Getty ImagesThat preparation has clearly served him well. In Galle, Ravindra made a magnificent fourth-innings 92 as Sri Lanka’s spinners ran through the rest of New Zealand’s line-up. And he went even better in Bengaluru. According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs, he scored 112 of his 173 runs in Bengaluru off the front foot, and a further 22 while stepping out of the crease.”As long as I’m clear when I get out to bat and have a plan, that helps a lot,” Ravindra told the host broadcaster after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. “And also the choice – having the intent to move forward and back, not necessarily trying to attack the game but taking care of my position in this part of the world. But yeah, preparation helps. When you have six subcontinent Tests in a row, you’ve always gotta do a little bit extra whether it’s indoors at the nets or head out somewhere else and do some training.”Having conquered what is arguably the toughest challenge in Test cricket right now, scoring big runs while beating India in India, Ravindra is firmly on the path to greatness.

The allrounder talks about how the franchise has unlocked his big-hitting ability and put him at ease amid superstars

Shashank Kishore14-Apr-2025Ramandeep Singh was picked by Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2022 as a potential replacement for Hardik Pandya. However, he was released after just playing five games when Hardik returned to the franchise from Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of IPL 2024.Ramandeep then put himself back in the reckoning after helping Punjab win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in November 2023. As it turned out, he didn’t need to chase opportunities – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had been tracking him and signed him ahead of IPL 2024.He impressed as a lower-order finisher for KKR, scoring 125 runs at a strike rate of 201.61 in nine innings during a title-winning season. Those performances earned him a retention ahead of IPL 2025. Ramandeep hasn’t made much impact this season so far, scoring 29 runs off 23 balls with a top score of 22, and he is yet to bowl.Related

• From the hinterlands of Punjab to a raucous Wankhede

• Stars in another sky – KKR's 2024 heroes sparkle for other teams

• The gentle 'trundler' who turned Punjab's hat-trick hero

“It’s a confidence booster to be retained,” Ramandeep told ESPNcricinfo during the 2024-25 domestic season. “Prior to the auction, a lot of teams told me ‘don’t get retained, we’ll pick you, we’re ready to go up to 9-10 crore’. But loyalty matters a lot to me.”KKR gave me a platform when I needed it the most. I remember around the time retentions were to be decided, Venky [Mysore, KKR chief executive] sir called and said, ‘you’re in our retention plans, what are you thinking? It’s eventually your call – if you were to get into the auction, we’ll try and RTM’.”But I told him I’m happy to get retained. Once you’re in the auction, there’s no guarantee you’ll be in the same team, and I didn’t want to leave KKR. For me, a few crores less didn’t make a difference. I wanted to respect their word.”He credits the stint with KKR for opening up several areas of his game over the past two years.”Being picked by KKR has changed everything for me,” Ramandeep said. “I still remember that practice match at our pre-season camp before last year’s IPL. We needed six runs off two balls, and I cleared the ropes to win the game. GG [Gautam Gambhir, then team mentor] had a long chat with me afterwards.”The first thing he told me was: ‘we’ll back you no matter what’. And I’m glad I was able to back his belief. To be able to get to where I am, a lot of work has gone behind the scenes, and KKR has played a huge part. Abhishek Nayar [former assistant coach] conducted sessions tirelessly in Thane, where he’d make me bat three hours at one go in the nets at times. I’d never batted that long – nets or match.

“It was like a movie reel in my head. The sacrifices made by my parents, my early days in school cricket in Chandigarh, my domestic debut for Punjab, my IPL trials, the rejections…”Ramandeep Singh on getting his India cap from Hardik Pandya

“It helped me open up my game. I had power, but training with him taught me how to channel that power. And it helped me in the domestic season as well. It kicked in a lot of self-belief. There was an attitude shift in me, the fear element went away because of the backing. After last year’s IPL, I did well at Sher-e-Punjab [T20 tournament] and for India A [ACC Emerging Nations Cup].”It was during the semi-final of the ACC tournament in Al Amerat against Afghanistan that Ramandeep got another massive break: an India call-up for the four-match T20I series in South Africa. When the news of his selection came out, Ramandeep was trying to help India A chase down 206 from a precarious 100 for 5 in 12.4 overs.He gave Afghanistan a scare, hitting eight fours and two sixes during his 34-ball 64. Even though India A fell short, Ramandeep’s hitting abilities and a catch from earlier in the tournament in a game against Pakistan got widespread attention.”Apparently, after the match, my dad got a call from my coach saying ‘congrats’, and my dad was like, ‘for what, we’ve lost the semi-final’. He was unaware I’d been selected. When my coach broke the news of my India call-up, my dad started crying. Later, when I finished the game and switched on my phone, I had tons of messages, more than usual. [It was making more noise than usual]. It was an amazing feeling.”Ramandeep Singh hit his first ball in international cricket for six•AFP/Getty ImagesRamandeep didn’t need to wait long for his international debut, and hit a six off his first ball. As he was presented his maiden cap by Hardik, memories from his journey until that point came rushing back.”It was like a movie reel in my head,” he said. “The sacrifices made by my parents, my early days in school cricket in Chandigarh, my domestic debut for Punjab, my IPL trials, the rejections. Even my IPL debut where I walked out to bat with Dinesh Karthik keeping, Glenn Maxwell at slip and Virat Kohli staring at me from the covers.”I was so nervous before the match but just before going out, Sachin [Tendulkar] sir told me, ‘enjoy, this is your moment, your IPL debut won’t come again’. That helped me. I remembered all these moments.”At MI, Ramandeep had the opportunity to work with Kieron Pollard. At KKR, he gets to train and learn from Andre Russell, who he brings up unprompted.”Imagine someone of Russell’s stature coming with me for an optional net, and telling the coaches, ‘don’t worry about Raman, I’ve got him sorted’. He didn’t need to do that, but for him to tag along to training, watch from behind, give me his inputs – it’s a very big thing. We speak a lot on and off the field.

“The goal is to win championships for my country. The role I’ve been given in the team is to finish games, that’s what I prepare for, whether I’m playing for KKR, Punjab or India. I’ll always stay true to that”Ramandeep Singh

“The culture here at KKR has been like that. There’s no star culture, everyone’s treated equally, young or old. The same attention, the same facilities whether you’re a retained player or a rookie. Conversations are blunt, and in your face. No conversations behind your back. It’s also a light environment, where you focus on practice and give it your best in the match.”No star culture except when it comes to the superstar owner, Ramandeep says with a chuckle.”He [Shah Rukh Khan] is amazing. When he chats with you, it feels personal. There are so many layers to a conversation. He once spoke to me about self-belief and hard work; it has stayed with me . He spoke of a time when he first came to Bombay, how he had to start from scratch.”He said, ‘I didn’t have a godfather. I wasn’t the best looking, I wasn’t the most talented actor. I wasn’t the best dancer. All he had was hard work. He said, ‘that’s the only way you can stay on top; distractions will keep coming, but what stays with you is the hard work – don’t ever leave that’.”Ramandeep wants to contribute with the ball as well. There’s also an inherent belief that he can be a “big match winner”. “Definitely working on my bowling, I want to be a proper allrounder. that’s my aim. The goal is to win championships for my country. The role I’ve been given in the team is to finish games, that’s what I prepare for, whether I’m playing for KKR, Punjab or India. I’ll always stay true to that.”

In 15 games this season, RCB have had nine different Player-of-the-Match winners. Here’s how each of them has helped the team’s cause

Shashank Kishore02-Jun-20252:24

Aaron: Different players have stepped up for RCB

Krunal Pandya

Before joining RCB, Krunal’s best haul in a season was 12 (both in 2018 and 2019). This season, he has picked up 11 alone in RCB’s flawless away run of seven wins, and 15 overall. Krunal has largely held his own against left-hand batters by making the most of his different lengths, trajectory, and a mean bouncer, the last most notably against MI, when he outsmarted Mitchell Santner and sealed victory with a triple-wicket final over in which he had to defend 18. Krunal’s first IPL fifty since 2016 came in a crucial away win against Delhi Capitals (DC).

Rajat Patidar

Patidar’s twin half-centuries early in his maiden season as captain powered RCB to landmark wins: their first over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk since 2008 and over MI at Wankhede since 2015. In both matches, he forced opposing captains to hold back spin. Against MI, he also targeted Hardik Pandya to avoid the pressure of having to take down Jasprit Bumrah at the death, finishing with 64 off 32 in RCB’s 221 for 5 – his season’s best yet.2:10

Cricinformed: Virat Kohli – RCB’s backbone

Virat Kohli

His eight half-centuries, all in wins this season, is a record. His strike rate this season isn’t far off the 152.03 he recorded during his iconic, chart-topping 973-run campaign in 2016. Kohli has been less an anchor and more a storm at the top, in many ways a continuation of his avatar from the second half of 2024, where RCB recorded six wins on the bounce to make a dash into the playoffs. He averages an impressive 88.50 in chases this season.

Tim David

RCB’s plan for David has been clear: minimum time, maximum impact. His only fifty came in a shortened match against Punjab Kings (PBKS), where a 26-ball 50 not out helped lift RCB out of trouble. While it wasn’t enough for a win, it showcased RCB’s batting depth and made it a rare instance of the Player-of-the-Match award going to a player from a losing team. Heading into the final, only Shreyas Iyer has hit more sixes than David in the death overs this season.1:39

How Josh Hazlewood has become a death overs expert

Josh Hazlewood

His shoulder niggle had fans anxiously researching rotator cuffs, but in his first game back after over three weeks, Hazlewood dismantled PBKS in the powerplay with the key wickets of Josh Inglis and Shreyas Iyer, to set RCB on the road to the final. His mastery at the death has been just as vital, never more so than against Rajasthan Royals (RR). Tasked with defending 17 off 12, he gave away just one run and took two wickets, including that of the in-form Dhruv Jurel, who had just smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 21 in the 18th over. That spell helped overturn RCB’s three-match losing streak at home.

Phil Salt

Salt has stepped into Faf du Plessis’ shoes seamlessly to play a high-impact role in the powerplay. His early salvo, like when he took Mitchell Starc for 24 runs in a 30-run over, has taken a lot of the pressure off Kohli. The pair is within touching distance of being the second-most prolific opening pair this season, behind B Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill. Among those playing in the final, Salt is joint-second with Priyansh Arya (14) for most sixes in the powerplay this IPL. His four half-centuries are second-most behind Kohli’s eight for RCB this season.2:04

Moody: ‘Jitesh’s innings was wow!’

Jitesh Sharma

Jitesh’s lone half-century of the season may have been his most important one yet – it came in a must-win game to secure a top-two finish. His unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) is the third-highest IPL score from No. 6 or lower and it powered RCB to their highest successful chase. Earlier in the season, his impactful 40* off 19 against MI stood out for the assault on Bumrah and Trent Boult at the death. He also briefly stepped in as captain when Patidar was sidelined with a finger injury.

Suyash Sharma

After nearly two years playing through a hernia problem, Suyash wasn’t a starter this season as he recovered from surgery in London that was sponsored by RCB. He returned lighter, fitter, and has delivered key performances despite a modest tally of eight wickets. He turned games with spells like his six-run 18th over against CSK while defending 34 off 18, and his season-best 3 for 17 in Qualifier 1, where a flurry of wrong’uns ripped through PBKS’ lower order. His spin combine with Krunal isn’t the most formidable on paper, but they have punched above their weight this season.

Romario Shepherd

Initially overlooked in favour of Liam Livingstone, Shepherd seized his chance in a crucial home game against CSK. Coming in during the 18th over, he smashed 10 of his 14 balls to the boundary to record the second-fastest IPL fifty. His knock gave RCB vital momentum in a tight win that took them closer to the playoffs spot. RCB’s 54 runs – Shepherd made 53 of those – in the last two overs remain their most in the final 12 balls, with 32 of those coming in a single over off Khaleel Ahmed.