He has done the hard yards in the unforgiving domestic circuit, and is now starting to reap the rewards

Mohammad Isam26-Feb-2020Before Nayeem Hasan and Taijul Islam combined to demolish Zimbabwe in the second innings to script Bangladesh’s first Test win after 450 days, Abu Jayed was their bowling star, with four wickets in the first innings in four very good overs of swing bowling.For a change, it was heartening to see a fast bowler beating the bat regularly in a home Test for Bangladesh. He made the batsman play around the off stump, got his outswing to work subtly, and then nodded in approval. It was a proper quick’s spell – though he isn’t really quick – with a bit of movement in the air and off the seam. For Bangladesh cricket supporters, seeing spinners take a backseat to a fast bowler was worth the seven-year wait, which started when Bangladesh plunged to the bottom of the Test pace race.Robiul Islam’s 15-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in 2013 was the last performance of note by a Bangladeshi quick in Tests. Frustrated by the poor performances from the pace bowlers, the team management decided to give spin bowlers all the help they need to win Tests at home, and that’s how it has stayed since.It got to a point when they stopped picking pace bowlers in home Tests. But new coach Russell Domingo, after watching Bangladesh’s bowlers get pummeled in India and Pakistan recently, decided that the only way to get the pacers to do well overseas would be to get them to play more games at home. One of the reasons for Domingo’s belief was Jayed.

People used to tell me that my pace wouldn’t work, they would say that 122 or 125 wouldn’t cut it. I am trying to bowl at 130, but I also know that bowling in the right areas is very important

Jayed took 4 for 71 in the first innings, to validate Domingo’s idea to do away with rank turners at home. Nayeem and Taijul still found enough on the Mirpur pitch to take 15 wickets, but Jayed’s performance stood out.”I haven’t found a pitch like this in Bangladesh before,” Jayed told ESPNcricinfo. “It had a lot of swing on offer. It was very encouraging. I tried to bowl in a box on and outside off stump. Our bowling coach Ottis Gibson gave me a lot of freedom to have my own bowling plan. I probably would have bowled more, because [Mominul Haque] Sourav wanted to give me another spell, but the light was the issue [on the fourth day].”It does get a little frustrating getting a lot of three- or four-wicket hauls. Although I feel it makes me hungry for a five-wicket haul. In this game, I knew what I had to do but like always, I didn’t focus on getting wickets. That’s completely up to luck sometimes, so my aim was to bowl in the right areas all the time.”Jayed’s only other four-wicket haul in Tests was a little higher profile. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane all fell to Jayed in three separate spells in the Indore Test in November, and although Bangladesh ended up losing by a big margin, there was enough in his bowling to tell Jayed that there was, despite his lack of speed, a future for him at the top level.Abu Jayed appeals for Virat Kohli’s wicket•BCCI”The Indore Test was like a dream. I didn’t know what happened, and I ended up taking four big wickets. The performance gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “People used to tell me that my pace wouldn’t work, they would say that 122 or 125 wouldn’t cut it. I am trying to bowl at 130, but I also know that bowling in the right areas is very important.”Jayed has also found appreciation within the dressing room for his contributions, especially the happy habit of picking up a wicket or two early on. Jayed pointed to Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim as major sources of support and inspiration.”Tamim calls me ‘maiden bowler’. He says I am clever, always trying to build a maiden over,” Jayed said. “I talk to him and Mushfiq often about bowling. Sometimes, Tamim asks me to bowl a few overs to him in the nets. Mushfiq asks me to bowl with the old ball at times.”They are both helpful. If I get hit for a four, they don’t say anything negative. They tell me to pull my length back, it will produce a wicket.”The factors that have stood out for Jayed are his ability to take advantage of swinging and seaming conditions, bowl good early spells and, crucially, to come back and take wickets later in the day. His natural outswing usually allows him to craft good spells but he also has a subtle outswing that he tries to bowl from closer to the stumps, and an inswinger that is still a work in progress.Another major advantage is the number of overs Jayed has put in in the domestic first-class competitions. Thrice in his career, he has taken more than 40 wickets in a year, a rarity in these parts. The domestic scene has also taught Jayed to be patient – especially when it comes to waiting for the right opportunity.He is showing all the right signs to be the leader of the Bangladesh pace attack. A healthy bag of wickets – fitness permitting – will probably get him there, but, as he agrees, a few more yards of pace will give him a stronger platform. He has the support of his seniors and his coach. Now to keep building on the good work he has already done.

He made a fairy-tale Test debut and then fell out of favour, but he’s taking it all philosophically

Saurabh Somani29-May-2020Jayant Yadav looked set for a long stint in the Indian team when he broke into it in 2016, taking four wickets and making 35 and 27 not out from No. 9 against England on debut. In his next Test, he was handed the ball ahead of the front-liners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, in the first innings, made 55 the only time he batted, and took four wickets. Better still, at the Wankhede, in his third Test, he became the first Indian batsman to hit a Test century from No. 9, and shared a 241-run stand with Virat Kohli. Then, one Test later, in which he took two wickets but didn’t make an impression with the bat, Yadav was dropped from the XI, and hasn’t made it back.If he doesn’t play again, he will end with Test batting and bowling averages of 45.60 and 33.36. The difference between the two, over 12 runs, puts him in the top-allrounder category (albeit with low barriers to entry: ten wickets and 100 runs).That last Test was in Pune, when a Steven Smith masterclass pulled the rug out from under India’s feet on a dustbowl. “I didn’t pick up enough wickets, and neither did I create enough pressure from one end,” Yadav says. “I was thinking, ‘Turning wicket , turning wicket , you should get more wickets.’ALSO READ: Yadav’s search for fun after freak injury”That was the first time in international cricket I was put under a lot of pressure by not doing well, and I think I just let that get to me. In hindsight, if I could change one thing, it would be to not think about wickets, just think about bowling good balls, creating pressure and a bowling partnership. Because on any wicket, seamer or turner, you need to put pressure to get good batsmen out. I think I just let the pressure go from one end.”It’s the sort of admission you don’t often hear from professional sportsmen, but what Yadav say is more remarkable. True, he didn’t have a good outing in Pune, but though he wasn’t in the XI for the rest of that memorable series, his showing against England kept him in the frame for the national side. However, a freak injury sustained shortly after the Australia series meant that the next time he bowled in a first-class match was more than a year later.

“You can’t always think about getting into a particular team. Only 15 people are selected. It’s a very competitive sport.”

India’s bench strength is perhaps at an all-time high, and it is easier to stay in the squad than to get in. Yadav’s time out of the game in 2017-18 meant that he fell out of the reckoning for the third spinner’s role. The injury, a stress fracture of the finger, took a while to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate, because it was uncommon, and even after he was physically fit, it would be a while before Yadav was “bowling fit”, physically and mentally.At the time, he was naturally downcast. But a couple of seasons on, his view on that roller-coaster year is philosophical. “I’ve had incredible highs and incredible lows in the past two-three seasons. But that’s just part and parcel of life, you know? It just depends on how you take it,” he says. “You can’t do much about injuries. I’ve maintained this always – it’s not about getting to one point or getting somewhere. It’s all about enjoying that particular moment.”Yadav refuses to blame the injury for him not being within striking distance of the Indian Test team.”I think I had decent opportunities. I played Ranji Trophy, I played a good one, one and a half years in the A team regularly,” he says. “I have had opportunities after that. I went to England, I played Sri Lanka [both for India A]…”See, I feel you can get disturbed by each and every thing, and you can get disturbed by nothing at all. Take this lockdown, for example. This is unprecedented. That’s just Mother Nature telling us to live in the present and not think too much about the future. I think this is a very good wake-up call for everyone, because you never know what is going to happen.ALSO READ: Jayant Yadav shows value of quiet application (2016)”You can’t always think about getting into a particular team. Only 15 people are selected. It’s a very competitive sport.”To make a comeback in the Indian Test team you have to be relentless and keep knocking on the door. I think one good Ranji season will get me back in the reckoning. Everybody has seen what I can do, the pros and cons. I’ve been there. It’s about having that good season, getting into the India A set-up again, starting from scratch. If you do well in Ranji Trophy and then do well in India A, then only you get into the Test team. It’s a very good filter.”Yadav played two matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL in 2019, and picked up the wicket of Suresh Raina in the first qualifier, against CSK•BCCIWhat was it like when he was in that Test side? Particularly, what was playing alongside and under the captaincy of Kohli like?”Virat never let the pressure get to me,” Yadav says, of batting with the captain in that Mumbai Test of 2016. “He was telling me, ‘Play however you are doing. Don’t think too much about getting runs, or what will this bowler bowl in his next spell. Just play every ball. Build it, build it.’ It was like things just fell into place. Actually I was out, I don’t know at what score [when he was on 28 off 72 balls, in the 139th over] but I nicked the ball off Moeen Ali. But they didn’t have a review remaining…”Batting with Virat was fun. They kept putting fielders back because Virat was hitting boundaries at will. That helped me as well. He is such a dominant personality on the field and off it, it makes life much easier for his batting partner.”The Wankhede Stadium, which holds fond memories of that innings for Yadav, has since gone on to figure prominently in his life. He was traded to Mumbai Indians before the 2019 IPL, after a longish stint with Delhi Daredevils. In that team’s spin-heavy set-up, he played only ten games across four seasons, so the move was welcome. He would have been playing right now if it weren’t for the lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic – “I know, man!” – but Yadav is looking to accentuate the positives.”I had never been part of a knockout in the IPL, and the first year I went to Mumbai, we won the championship. I got to play the qualifier in Chennai, and it was a completely different experience. It was great. The franchise is amazing.”At the time of the lockdown, Rahul [Sanghvi, the Mumbai Indians manager] called to check on us. It’s a good call to receive. Mumbai takes care of their players very well.”For training, we have a Mumbai Indians app called Team Builder, and we get workouts every day in the app, which you can do at home. Like, I have very basic, minimal equipment at home, so the workout is modified according to what you have. That one and a half to two hours you spend is really good.”In times of crisis, whether brought about by personal events or by worldwide ones, Yadav has learnt to smile at adversity. It may yet prove to be his pathway to better days.

As the top four teams start to pull away in the IPL here’s a look back at how the Australian contingent fared over the last week

Andrew McGlashan19-Oct-20202:10

Steven Smith on why he didn’t give Jofra Archer the 19th over

Smith’s shuffleFive single-figure scores for Steven Smith had brought the spotlight on him, to the extent that there were a few questions being asked about his place in the Rajasthan Royals side. It would have been a huge call to leave out the captain – and one of the world’s best batsmen – and it was little surprise when Smith came good after moving to No. 4 as part of a batting shake up. He reached his half-century from 30 balls and two deliveries later produced the most astonishing shot of his innings when he played a reverse whip through point from a standing position. However, in the end his runs weren’t enough for the struggling Royals who fell victim to an AB de Villiers epic. Smith’s captaincy came under the microscope when he opted not to give Jofra Archer the 19th over with 35 needed, instead opting for Jaydev Unadkat who got taken for 25 to change the course of the match.

Simon Katich: "That's why de Villiers is the greatest of all time"

Do you agree with @RCBtweets' head coach? #IPL2020 https://t.co/9J84Wu4n9e pic.twitter.com/c5bMNZNuGF

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 18, 2020

Warner left speechlessDavid Warner had to take a new role for Sunrisers Hyderabad in their match against Kolkata Knight Riders after Kane Williamson picked up an injury which led to him opening the batting so he could focus more on boundary-hitting than running between the wickets. It has been rare to see Warner not opening in T20 over recent years. Since an experiment with the tactic for Australia at the 2016 T20 World Cup he had done it six times across the CPL and BPL; the last time in the IPL was back in 2014. He almost got the Sunrisers across the line with his unbeaten 47 off 33 balls, but having taken three consecutive fours off Andre Russell he could only scamper a leg bye off the last delivery to tie the scores and get a Super Over. Then, walking out to face the over, he was castled first ball by Lockie Ferguson as the Sunrisers were ‘bowled out’ for 2. “I don’t know what to say, I’ll probably have to bite my tongue a little bit,” Warner said.

David Warner gets honest about where he thinks his team is lackinghttps://t.co/CGoETAaZWa#SRHvKKR | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/bWmUw2hWN4

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 18, 2020

Cummins in the runs…and a wicketPat Cummins was at the forefront for KKR against the Mumbai Indians…with the bat. Coming in at 61 for 5 he struck 53 off 36 balls, his maiden T20 fifty, in an unbroken stand of 87 with Eoin Morgan to at least give KKR something to bowl at, although it proved far too few in the end. It comfortably out shone his previous best of 39 for the Sydney Thunder in the 2017-18 BBL. Since making consistent lower-order Test runs in the 2018-19 Australian season, when it was pondered if he could bat higher than No. 8, Cummins’ batting hasn’t quite been as useful as his talent suggests it should be but he has produced some handy knocks in this IPL. Meanwhile, with the ball his wicket of Vijay Shankar in the game against the Sunrisers was his first after a run of five wicketless outings.Pat Cummins brought up his fifty•BCCIHow much more for Carey?Australia’s limited-overs wicketkeeper, Alex Carey, has been filling the shoes of injured Rishabh Pant over the last week for Delhi Capitals. After a gap of nearly month since his brilliant ODI century against England he has found it tough going in the middle order with 32 runs from 29 deliveries. His dismissal against Chennai Super Kings may have come in the nick of time for the Capitals as the next man, Axar Patel, smashed 21 off five balls to help secure a thrilling chase. The Capitals were hopeful Pant would only be sidelined for a week, so Carey may soon find himself sidelined.Off the benchA couple more of the Australians finally got their chance for an outing over the last week. Nathan Coulter-Nile, who had been carrying a niggle earlier in the competition, replaced the rested James Pattinson for Mumbai Indians as one of the tournament pace-setters manages their quicks with an eye on the latter stages of the competition. It wasn’t the best of starts for him as he felt the force of Cummins and Morgan with his second two overs costing 37. In the same match, Chris Green came into the KKR side and performed his usual role of opening the bowling but could do little to defend a mediocre target. With Sunil Narine now taken off the bowling-action warning list it remains to be seen how much more Green plays. It leaves Billy Stanlake, Chris Lynn and Daniel Sams as the Australians yet to feature in a match.

Treating T20 leagues as part of player pathways has helped spark influx into BBL squads

Matt Roller08-Dec-2020Last winter, the ECB was considering what it should do with Liam Livingstone during the off-season.After making his T20I debut in 2017 and travelling as a back-up batsman on the Test tour to New Zealand in early 2018, Livingstone had slipped down the pecking order slightly, and was a prime candidate for inclusion on a winter programme as part of England’s pathway system: he could have been taken to India as part of a spin camp, or to Australia for the Lions tour in the spring.Instead, they decided to leave him largely to his own devices. By that stage, Livingstone had already signed contracts to play in the Mzansi Super League and the Big Bash, and had entered the Pakistan Super League draft. After he withdrew from the IPL to focus on red-ball cricket at the start of the following season, ECB decision-makers decided that a hands-off approach made perfect sense: they would let him flourish in T20 leagues, rather than pulling him out of them.It may not have seemed like it, but it was a landmark moment in English cricket. “I think there’s a perspective switch from this winter,” Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, said at the time. “We’ve deliberately had players that we would [previously] have on centralised programmes that we have allowed to go off and take up some of these opportunities, and provided support which adds value on top of that.”Considering global T20 leagues as part of the ECB’s individualised programmes represented a significant change in mindset. The attitude shift towards the IPL among those in charge of English cricket has been well-documented, but this amounted to a recognition that for some players, a winter as an overseas player for a franchise would be a more valuable experience than a Lions tour.

Instead of me or the ECB putting on programmes where we try and develop white-ball skills, we can suggest they go off and play franchise cricket if that’s what is in their best interestsMo Bobat, ECB performance director

A year later, the benefits of that change in thinking have become apparent. With international travel restrictions and the need to keep fringe players around the main squad due to Covid-19 protocols, there is no Lions tour this winter. Instead, 13 Englishmen will play in the Big Bash, with several expected to be involved in the Abu Dhabi T10 at the end of January and four taking part in the ongoing Lanka Premier League.”Because of the fact we are now having to have larger squads with reserves, those players closest to the England sides are actually involved more frequently and they’re in the line of sight more,” David Court, the ECB’s player identification lead, said. “The Big Bash will provide a really good opportunity for those players who would normally have been on a Lions tour to get some exposure and some cricket. We’ll certainly be observing performances in those tournaments and keeping in touch with those players and monitoring their progress closely.”Ed [Smith, the national selector] is extremely keen for players to go into pressurised, high-quality tournaments, and recognises the value that brings to our players in terms of their development and their ability to perform on the big stage in world tournaments. There is definitely a belief that it is beneficial to the players to experience these global leagues.”In the case of the Big Bash, there are multiple factors at play in the English influx. For a start, the increase in the number of overseas players allowed per team from two to three has opened up opportunities, and England’s success in both ODI and T20I cricket since 2015 has helped make their players a more attractive proposition.Phil Salt scored at a strike rate of 164.09 in his debut BBL season for the Adelaide Strikers•Getty ImagesEqually, England have a “competitive advantage”, according to Bobat, in that the vast majority of T20 leagues take place outside of their home season. “For most other Test-playing countries, it clashes with their season, which presents a problem,” he said. “We’ve got franchise cricket happening in our off-season, so instead of me or the ECB putting on programmes where we try and develop white-ball skills, we can suggest they go off and play franchise cricket if that’s what is in their best interests.”That has seen several players gain opportunities in recent years, but has been particularly evident this winter. Clashes between most teams’ international series and the Big Bash have made a handful of Englishmen the rarest of commodities, as high-quality overseas players available for the duration of the tournament. As a result, all eight teams have signed an English player at some stage – though Jonny Bairstow has since withdrawn from his Melbourne Stars deal.ALSO READ: All the BBL squads and signings, 2020-21He is one of three men to withdraw – Tom Banton and Tom Curran pulled out citing bubble fatigue – but the four whose involvement looked in peril due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Cape Town are still set to fly later this week.The English players involved this season fall into three main categories. There are the current internationals who were part of the tour to South Africa: Sam Billings, Lewis Gregory, Livingstone, Dawid Malan and Jason Roy. There are the youngsters who will hope a good run of form can propel them towards higher honours: Joe Clarke, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence and Phil Salt. And there are four men who are near their respective peaks, but currently out of England’s plans: Danny Briggs, Alex Hales, Benny Howell and James Vince.There could yet be a 14th, too, with Jake Ball lined up by the Sydney Sixers as a possible replacement for Curran. Each of them will arrive at the tournament with something to prove, but their collective involvement in the first place is a sign that the stock of English players in the world of T20 leagues has never been higher.

MS Dhoni’s men lost five wickets in the powerplay and all but crashed out of the playoffs

Saurabh Somani23-Oct-20202:38

Will Sam Curran be a key part of the Chennai Super Kings revamp?

IPL 2020 began with these two teams. Mumbai Indians were everyone’s favourites, and then the Chennai Super Kings, like they do, upended the script. Since then, there’s been a reversion to the mean. Mumbai haven’t lost a single match in regular time: six wins in eight games, one defeat in a Super Over, one defeat in a double Super Over. The Super Kings are the opposite: two wins in their next nine games, qualification hopes hanging by a thread – a thread that needs other results to go their way too. It’s going to take 37 minutes to kill all those possibilities.7.30pm
Trent Boult to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Boult is on target. Gaikwad is one of three changes for the Super Kings as they look for the “spark” that MS Dhoni said was missing. It’s an important game for him, because he’s getting a chance at the top of the order, where he’s got all his runs for India A. He looked slightly unsure in the middle order, thrown into the deep end in an unfamiliar role in the most competitive, intense T20 tournament in the world.Boult brings the first ball in, but then starts bending it away. Beaten, beaten, defensive push into the offside. Take your time Ruturaj, this could be your chance.7.34pm
It was the set-up. Three balls away, next one curving in. Gaikwad is late. The ball has hit pad. Has it taken an inside edge? Is it going down leg? Boult is pleading for an lbw. The umpire doesn’t listen. Kieron Pollard does. Boult and Pollard are on the money and Gaikwad’s day is over. Ambati Rayudu comes in and has to deal with a ‘perfume ball’ – so called because you can smell it under your nose – first up.ALSO READ: Dhoni: Next three games ‘preparation for next year’7.37pmOh hello, what do we have here? Jasprit Bumrah has taken the new ball just once for Mumbai in this IPL, against the Rajasthan Royals. He got Steven Smith out in the first over then. Pollard, leading in place of an injured Rohit Sharma, has decided to go to Bumrah due to what happened in Boult’s first over.”Jasprit, we weren’t thinking about using with the new ball but after that over from Trent and getting that early wicket… you know Rayudu has batted well against us the last couple of times and over the last couple of years. So we just decided to go for him, and it worked for us,” Pollard will say after the match.”We were thinking of having Trent open the bowling and maybe go either Nathan (Coulter-Nile) or a spinner. But, seeing a couple of balls swing and getting that early wicket, having Rayudu come in. I just thought of using our most experienced bowler and one of our better bowlers against their main batsman.”Rayudu won the Super Kings the opening match of IPL 2020 with 71 off 48. He has a couple of 40s too, one in 2018 and one in 2019.7.39pm
It takes two minutes and two short balls from Bumrah to prove Pollard’s hunch spectacularly right. The first one is back of a length, the second is banged in harder. It starts to home in just below Rayudu’s left shoulder like a heat-seeking missile. It gets too big, too fast, and is too good for him. There’s nowhere near enough room to pull, but Rayudu’s committed to the shot. The ball is committed to tangling him up into a top-edge that floats into Quinton de Kock’s gloves.Pollard and Bumrah exchange smiles while he’s walking back to bowl the next thunderbolt. The plan has worked. Not just the plan to bowl Bumrah first up, but to target Rayudu with the short stuff.The new man is N Jagadeesan. Can he show the spark Dhoni wanted? Not tonight. You feel for him and Gaikwad. They’ve put in the hard yards in domestic cricket. They’ve got their opportunity on the big stage. But they’re up against a pair of bowlers who are too hot to handle for most batsmen. Jagadeesan’s swishing at his first ball, feet not moving – they’ve not had time to move yet, to get the rhythm going yet – and it’s an outside edge to first slip.Another day, another failure with the bat for MS Dhoni•BCCI7.47pm
The Super Kings are under the pump but they have the two men best suited for a rebuilding job in Faf du Plessis and Dhoni. Both like to take their time. Both are capable of big hits later. Both have the evenness of temperament to ride out the storm. But not tonight. Not tonight.It’s an uncharacteristic du Plessis stroke. It’s a characteristic Boult strike. He’s been doing it regularly for Mumbai upfront. Bowling coach and countryman Shane Bond will say Boult had promised “he was going to peak for this game”. Some peak. Swinging full and across du Plessis, whose normally sure footwork has gone AWOL. Maybe it’s the wickets. Maybe it’s the reality of the Super Kings’ season. Maybe it’s the bowling. Or all three. A waft and another catch behind.The Super Kings have lost more wickets than they have runs on the board: 3 for 4.The dugout looks more shocked than glum. Even in the midst of their worst season ever, they hadn’t quite expected their worst start ever to a game.”We’re pretty stunned really… It was tough watching,” coach Stephen Fleming will say after the match. He’ll repeat ‘it was tough’ three times in the same answer.7.59pm
It’s only an 18-run partnership but after what went before, the fifth-wicket stand between Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja is starting to feel like hope for the Super Kings. Bumrah’s second over has been negotiated. Krunal Pandya replaced Boult. There could yet be a rearguard.Turns out, Boult has not been taken off, he’s merely switching ends. Jadeja’s been in good ball-striking form this tournament. A counter-attack against Boult incoming? Not quite. Jadeja steps down the track, goes for the flat-batted pull. It only comes off the toe-end and into midwicket’s hands.The Super Kings are wrecked. They’re 21 for 5 inside the powerplay. All the power and the play has been enforced by Mumbai’s bowlers.8.07pm
The one glimmer of hope is the captain. Dhoni has just hit Rahul Chahar for a straight six, right out of his 2011 playbook. Maybe he can salvage something?No he can’t.The next ball’s tossed up wider outside off, and Dhoni’s going hard at this too. But it’s not in his hitting arc. It’s, in fact, in his edging arc. Caught behind. It’s 30 for 6 and the dream is officially done for the Super Kings.”It does hurt,” Dhoni will say after the game. “I think all the players are hurting.”

****

Mathematically, the Super Kings retain a ghost of a chance to make the playoffs. Practically, a spotless record of qualifying 10 times in 10 seasons is over. It doesn’t take 37 minutes for a legacy to crumble. But these 37 minutes provided the hammer-blow soundtrack to one of the great records in the IPL ending.

It is not only a matter of doing the difficult job, but often how the opener chooses to do it

Mohammad Isam26-Apr-2021Tamim Iqbal gave confidence to the Bangladesh dressing room at the start of the Pallekele Test against Sri Lanka, and then calmed nerves again with his counter-attacking half-century when there was a jitter and a stutter on the last day. When Iqbal is in such situations and in charge, it is not only a matter of doing the difficult job, but often how he chooses to do it.On the fifth afternoon, he blazed Dhananjaya de Silva’s offspin straight down the ground for three sixes. The art was how he met the ball while charging towards it and then finding the right moment to lift the ball. The third of those sixes, he went inside-out, hitting the ball over long-off. Iqbal also drove and pulled Vishwa Fernando freely, hitting him for three fours in an over to bring up his quickfire fifty.Sri Lanka had left Bangladesh 68 overs to bat in the last two sessions with a 107-run lead. Over four days, when both sets of players have fielded for 170-odd overs in searing heat and humidity, it was hard to tell which side would blink first. Bangladesh lost two early wickets including Najmul Hossain Shanto, who made 163 in the first innings. Doubts are bound to creep in to a team that has lost their eight previous international matches. This was also a side that had lost two Tests even after scoring 500-plus runs. Iqbal saw the situation at hand differently.Related

• Dimuth Karunaratne: 'When Tamim attacks, it's hard for us to recover'

• Bangladesh's new, positive outlook bodes well for their Test future

• Stopping the slide – Bangladesh's six-point agenda

• Tamim Iqbal hints he may give up one format to prolong his international career

• Tamim Iqbal: 'If we continue to play like this, we are going nowhere'

He played attacking shots, particularly going after de Silva, who was brought on early to disturb the batters’ rhythm. He didn’t let Vishwa Fernando settle too, but was mostly quiet against Suranga Lakmal and Wanindu Hasaranga. Mominul Haque had begun stonewalling at the other end.Iqbal’s opening act too had a resounding effect on Bangladesh. His 90 was the ideal response that captain Haque and coach Russell Domingo would have wished for, after deciding to bat first with five specialist bowlers. However, Bangladesh, who have won only four overseas Tests in their history, often prepare for the worst scenario.Instead of being on a defensive side, Iqbal went after Sri Lanka’s bowling on what could possible be the first green pitch in the visitors’ backyard. He didn’t let any of their fast bowlers settle down, hitting them for 15 fours, before getting carried away against Fernando.

Tamim set the tone for us with his 90 in the first innings. He likes to play shots. He bats with a specific plan.Mominul Haque on Tamim Iqbal

Haque acknowledged Iqbal’s twin fifties, particularly the first innings score of 90 which laid the foundation for their total of 541 for 7.”Tamim set the tone for us with his 90 in the first innings,” Haque said. “Since the start of his career, this is how he has batted. I bat in a different way. Everyone has their own style. He likes to play shots. He bats with a specific plan. If I try to play like him, I might have scored five more centuries instead of eleven.”It was the eighth instance of Iqbal making 50-plus scores in both innings. But this time, he has done it slightly differently. Lack of a senior player in the top order has often meant he has to cut down on his attacking shots and make sure he stays at the crease for long. In the limited-overs format, Iqbal’s role is more refined. As a Test opener, it is not often that he gets the license to play freely, while also looking to provide stability at the top.However, Shanto – who hit his maiden Test hundred in this match – said that Iqbal’s presence made it easier for him, and it allowed him to bat in his own way.Maybe this Test is the start of a new role for Iqbal, particularly in a team that has many unsettled batting spots. Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim are in charge of the middle order. But at the top, Iqbal is expected to provide a good start irrespective of who his partner is. It is a tough balancing act. But it isn’t something new for him, having thrived in various roles for Bangladesh over the years.

Bess has taken 17 wickets at 22.41 in 2021 but underlying data highlights lack of control

Matt Roller12-Feb-2021Dom Bess pitched the ball on a good length outside off stump, finding sharp turn and bounce to draw an inside edge as Virat Kohli shaped to press towards cover-point. The ball looped up into the hands of Ollie Pope at short leg, and Bess had removed India’s captain with a perfect offspinner’s dismissal.But six days later, Bess will be carrying the drinks, paying the price for his lack of consistency. England have confirmed that Moeen Ali will replace him in the side for the second Test in Chennai in a two-man spin attack alongside Jack Leach, leaving Bess to reflect on his omission in a fluorescent bib.Bess has taken 17 wickets at 22.41 across England’s tours of Sri Lanka and India, but has struggled to land the ball reliably, and bowled poorly in the fourth innings of the first Test in Chennai. He had started the match well, with a tidy spell on the third afternoon in which he claimed the wickets of Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, but was thrown off his length when Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant used their feet against him.He did go on to dismiss both Pujara and Pant – caught freakishly at midwicket after a deflection via short leg and holing out to deep cover respectively – but was hit out of the attack by R Ashwin and Washington Sundar on the fourth morning, and looked particularly out of sorts on the fifth day, when his six overs cost 47 runs.Dom Bess sets off on a celebratory run after dismissing Virat Kohli•BCCI”It wasn’t an easy decision,” Root said after revealing Bess had been dropped. “Dom has contributed fantastically well in these three games and has a made a real impact. With him missing out, the messaging for him is to keep working at that consistency of his game, delivering that skill time and time again. We talk about building pressure over long periods of time and, as well as he has done and the contributions he has made, that is one area he can improve on.”He is very young. He is much at the start of things and this doesn’t mean he is going to be pushed back down the pecking order. It gives him an opportunity to step out of Test cricket – the harshest environment, especially in these conditions, especially against a team that plays spin so well – to take stock and work at his game.”Despite his impressive headline figures over the past four weeks, ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data helps to illustrate Bess’ inconsistency. He has bowled 33 full tosses in 119.1 overs (4.6% of his total deliveries) across the three Tests in Sri Lanka and India, and 67 balls that have pitched short of a length (9.4%). His full tosses have been particularly frustrating for England, costing them 56 runs including 10 fours, contributing to an overall economy rate of 3.19.Furthermore, CricViz’s expected wickets (xW) model – cricket’s equivalent of the expected goals (xG) metric in football – suggests that, in Sri Lanka, the balls Bess bowled were expected to give him a series return of seven wickets at 35.9. In fact, he took 12 at 21.25, indicating that Sri Lanka’s batsmen played him poorly and that he enjoyed more than a small slice of luck.Jeetan Patel, England’s consultant spin-bowling coach, said on Friday that he had emphasised the important of sticking to plans with consistent lines and lengths. He held up the example of Leach’s spell to Pant on the third day in which he stuck to his guns, tossing the ball up towards the footmarks despite being attacked, and suggested that Bess’ final-day struggles may have been the result of fatigue.Moeen Ali will play his first Test since August 2019 in Chennai•ECB”[We’re looking at] pitchmap and pace data – all those things that you can see on Hawk-Eye and that TV does a great job of broadcasting,” Patel said. “It’s those little things that mean a lot. That’s the one message that we’ve been trying to get across from our side as a coaching staff, especially to the spin unit: taking care of the small things – the lines and the lengths, and how often we can do it – to effect games.”[For Leach] it was more about the lengths and lines we asked him to bowl [than his figures]. It was about the areas he bowled. If you look at where he was in the second innings, he raised that bar again, and hit those areas better and better and better.”I think Dom just needs a bit of a rest, to be honest with you. He’s been in the bubbles a long time now, and just as we try to rest and rotate the seamers, it’s started to become evident, especially to me, that maybe Bessy was becoming a bit tired and it might be taking a toll on his outcomes in terms of where he was bowling the ball.”He’s bowled a lot of overs and put a lot of pressure on himself to make sure that he does a great job and he’s done it very, very well. There were certainly signs, I believe, that maybe a bit of tiredness was coming in.””It was a very difficult conversation,” Root said. “It always is when you leave a player out, but especially when it’s someone like Dom who has contributed well and gives absolutely everything every time he pulls an England shirt on.”It’s been made very clear what he needs to go away and work on and he’s taken that on board. I’m sure he’ll come back with questions and I’m sure he will be disappointed, but that’s what you expect from guys that really care and want to be out there all the time, performing for their country.”Bess’ omission has paved the way for Moeen to return, ending his 18-month absence from the Test side. Moeen had been the world’s leading wicket-taker in the year leading up to the 2019 Ashes, but he returned match figures of 3 for 172 in 42 overs in the first Test of that series, and was dropped for Leach immediately after.Related

Chennai Part II – India look for right spin combination as England chase history

England weigh merits of Olly Stone's pace vs Chris Woakes' control for second Test

Root calls for 'real squad effort' as England make four changes

Leach shrugs off Pant mauling to rise to fourth-innings challenge

Chris Silverwood 'not worried' about Dom Bess

His red-ball central contract was not renewed after that series, and he made himself unavailable for selection for the 2019-20 winter, but has since restated his ambitions to play Test cricket. Moeen has not played a first-class game since September 2019, and has not made a competitive appearance in any format since last year’s IPL, but Root insisted that his performances in training merited selection.”I’m very confident he’s in a good place,” Root said. “He’s bowling very nicely and he’s got huge amounts of experience in Tests and he’s played in these conditions before. That will hold him in good stead going in to the game. He’s a fine competitor and he’ll get himself into the heat of the battle. We know he can produce special things in an England shirt [and] in a Test shirt.”[We’re] very excited for him to get this opportunity. He’s worked really hard and obviously had a rough tour having to deal with Covid and quarantine. Since then he’s applied himself really well, worked very well with the other spinners and been a very good senior pro in that respect.”Moeen’s batting may also have been seen as a positive: on a pitch that is expected to turn from the first session and with the loss of Jos Buttler weakening England’s lower-middle order, the inclusion of a man with two Test hundreds in India adds up. Bess is a popular figure within the England camp and Root and Patel were keen to stress that he remains in their plans, but if Moeen performs well then forcing his way back in could be a daunting prospect.

“I know there are loads of runs coming,” batter says after her unbeaten 49 in the rain-hit T20I against Australia

Shashank Kishore07-Oct-2021Rain in Gold Coast spoilt what was brewing to be an exciting contest between Australia and India on Thursday. For the first time in recent memory, an Indian team appeared to have taken the field in a T20I against Australia as equals, playing to their strengths and not the opponent’s reputation. They didn’t appear to be daunted by the prospect of facing Ellyse Perry or the chirp of Alyssa Healy from behind the stumps. And leading the way was Jemimah Rodrigues, back in form, in the middle of a purple patch.When they faced off in a T20I last, on that memorable March day of 2020, in front of 88,000 spectators, a nervous team suffered from stage fright in a World Cup final and collapsed at the first sign of intimidation. On Thursday, 18 months on, India decided they were here not to play party poopers but own the big stage.Related

• Kaur wants India 'to go all out' to win Australia series

• Rain washes out first T20I after Jemimah Rodrigues' 49* on return

It all started with Shafali Verma, that gum-chewing, big-hitting monster of a teenager, whacking her first ball for six. At the other end, the calm but equally destructive Smriti Mandhana decided to be less brutal on the white ball while still managing to clear the ropes by sheer timing and footwork. And then, later, the pint-sized Rodrigues took charge with an unbeaten 36-ball 49, the top score of the aborted innings.If not for a stint at the women’s Hundred, where she was the second-highest run-scorer, Rodrigues may have perhaps been twiddling her thumbs at home in the Mumbai monsoon. She had a forgettable tour of England, where all of two opportunities yielded two single-digit scores. In a rare year where India played two Tests, Rodrigues missed both her chances. Yastika Bhatia, it would appear, had bypassed her on some counts. But on Thursday, against this backdrop, and with a mini crisis to avert after Mandhana and Verma had fallen in the space of three deliveries, Rodrigues came into her own.”I think it was a matter of waiting for the right time,” Rodrigues said at the post-match press conference. “I have realised it now. I don’t want to rush into things. I know when it has to come to me, nobody can stop it, and when it comes, it’ll be something big.”

“Honestly, any player would be frustrated not getting picked especially when I knew I was batting well and in good form. But at the end, I’m ready for what the team wants, and if the team was finding the right balance, I’m happy sitting out.”Jemimah Rodrigues

It was as if “something big” was hardwired into her even as she played out three dot balls and Australia were starting to apply the brakes. A shot in desperation? No chance. Instead, she saw-ball, hit-ball, a half-tracker that was crashed to the point fence. Rodrigues let out a roar, punched the meat of her willow and took guard again. This was Rodrigues trying to reassure herself that she belonged.”I was happy to be back out there after so long, I waited a long time for this,” she said. “Sitting out and watching everyone play, sometimes you wonder ‘when will my time come’. Today when the chance came, I was just enjoying it. I’m not very disappointed that the fifty didn’t happen because I know there are loads of runs coming.”What stood out about Rodrigues’ knock was the decisiveness in her footwork, clarity on when to attack and when to defend, and her power game, well exemplified by her backing away to loft debutant medium-pacer Hannah Darlington over mid-off and extra cover. She was playing the fields perfectly, not giving Australia an inch that they often open up to an acre when they get quick wickets.What is the secret to her ever-improving range of shots, you may ask. It’s the hunger to pocket gifts and freebies from India’s throw down experts every time she’s at the nets. “We have Kranti and Ashok [throwdown specialists] who help out, and they make it very challenging for us,” she said, when asked if she was working specifically on the short ball.”If not for the Hundred, I don’t think I would’ve even been selected to play for India”•Getty Images”We play like six balls and keep a target. If I win, they’ll give me 50 dollars or buy me dinner. If they win, I have to buy them dinner. So, we have this fun competition. They are the kind of people who won’t give away easy runs, we have to fight it out in the nets before fighting it out in the match.”It has also helped that there has been role clarity. “Even before coming here, Ramesh [Powar] sir and [SS] Das sir have been guiding me, and giving me confidence,” she said. “They told me my role is an anchor role, to get singles-doubles, find the odd boundaries and play with a good strike rate. About the formats [waiting to play], I was prepared for the Tests, ODIs, but at the end, it’s important India finds the right balance. If India is happy with the balance, I’m happy too.”Rodrigues has a lively personality, on and off the field. She is team’s prankster, choreographs perfectly timed dance moves that become Instagram hits, plays the guitar, sings, and dances like no one’s watching. All these merely reflect the kind of person she is – affable, not overawed in a team environment with senior players, and enjoying what playing a team sport offers.She has also freely spoken in the past of her fears, fighting her own battles and disappointments in her young career. For someone all of 21, it’s quite rare to be able to have these qualities, and also articulate them as well as Rodrigues does. Another refreshing aspect is that she is a straight talker. No diplomacy. So, did she feel upset at being left out of the ODIs and Test?”Honestly, any player would be frustrated not getting picked for the ODIs especially when I knew I was batting well and in good form,” she said. “But at the end, I’m ready for what the team wants, and if the team was finding the right balance, I’m happy sitting out.”There’s so much to learn, but it wasn’t an easy time for me. There are lots of things going on sitting out, there were a lot of doubts in my head sitting out, but I’m grateful to be a part of this team. If not for the Hundred, I don’t think I would’ve even been selected to play for India.”

Time and again, the board is demanding standards of others which they are nowhere near maintaining themselves.

George Dobell21-Sep-2021Cast your mind back a few years. It’s June 2017. The Champions Trophy has just started in England. Pakistan and India are about to play a match at Edgbaston.It could have been sold out ten times over.Then, tragedy struck. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge (about two miles from the venue for the tournament’s final, at The Kia Oval) and the occupants then fled the vehicle stabbing members of the public randomly. Eleven people died, and 48 more were injured.But the next day, the game in Birmingham – about 110 miles northwest of London – went ahead. Indeed, every game in the tournament went ahead. Despite an obvious increase in security measures – including road blocks hundreds of yards from grounds and armed police at matches – none of the teams went home and every match was completed. At the time, many of us celebrated the defiant spirit that refused to be bowed by threats.But if it’s important that life goes on in Leicester and London, it’s surely important it goes on in Lahore and Larkana, too. And what Monday’s announcement from the ECB confirming the cancellation of their tour to Pakistan sustained, was a culture of double-standards which appears to view some nations are far less important than others.Related

Alex Hales: England cancelling Pakistan tour last year 'made absolutely zero sense'

ECB chairman promises to 'do everything we can' to travel to Pakistan on schedule in 2022

Cricket needs to come together to extricate itself from a mess of its own making

Usman Khawaja supports Pakistan tours: 'There's no reason why we shouldn't go back'

England's withdrawal is a slap to Pakistan's face

Let’s be clear: the Foreign Office has not changed their travel advice about visiting Pakistan in light of New Zealand’s decision to abandon their own tour. ESPNcricinfo also understands that the advice from the ECB’s own security experts (ESI Risk) was unchanged. That is to say, they believed that, with the current protocols in place – the same protocols that allowed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to visit Pakistan not so long ago – it was safe to travel. It is also understood the British High Commission was satisfied with the plans. This is categorically not a case where security advice has compelled the ECB to cancel.To be fair to the ECB, their statement doesn’t even pretend this is the case. Instead, they cite the anxiety such a trip could provoke in players who have already spent many months living in a controlled environment.Maybe at first glance that seems reasonable. Certainly, players are jaded by the time in bubbles. And yes, it might be expected individuals would be allowed the opportunity to skip the tour if any aspect of it made them uncomfortable.But let’s remember: this was more city-break than tour. It was scheduled to last, in total, four days. It involved one day of quarantine and two T20Is on consecutive days. It was two days shorter than the quarantine period required for players returning to the UAE to complete the IPL.Pakistan, it is understood, had also offered to move the matches to Lahore and play them behind closed doors. England could surely have found 14 players who were prepared to tour; plenty more have visited Pakistan to play in the PSL, after all.

“Despite having asked numerous nations to put up with various hardships to ensure they could honour their own broadcast agreements, England appear unwilling or unable to reciprocate when other nations are the ones in need.”

Remember this, too: Pakistan answered England’s calls for help in 2020. They travelled from a county where Covid had hardly hit, to a nation under siege from the virus. Having been promised they could serve their 10-day quarantine period in The Hyatt (a nice four-star hotel) in Birmingham, they subsequently found themselves in a Travelodge in Derby. They spent about seven weeks in the country in all – a country which, at that time, has no access to vaccines – and, by doing so, ensured English cricket was able to keep the lights on. Put simply, England – and all the England players who were not obliged to take pay-cuts – owe them.But, over the last 18 months or so, England have now abandoned or cancelled tours to Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Conversations about the Ashes are ongoing. Despite having asked numerous nations to put up with various hardships to ensure they could honour their own broadcast agreements, they appear unwilling or unable to reciprocate when other nations are the ones in need. England are, it seems, all take and very little give.The IPL may well be relevant. With the Pakistan tour now abandoned, England’s players are highly likely to be free to remain at the tournament for the knockout stages. Some will find mention of that tournament cynical and irrelevant. But it is remarkable how often changes to the schedule of international cricket occur which just happen to benefit the IPL. This, after the abandonment of the Manchester Test, is the second time in little more than a week.But it is, perhaps, the hypocrisy that grates most. Terror threats are not, sadly, especially unusual in the UK. Just before the 2005 Ashes – one of the most celebrated series in modern times – London experienced one of the most serious attacks in living memory. More than 50 people were murdered in a series of incidents around the capital on July 7. Australia played an ODI in the city three days later. Even on Monday, ESPNcricinfo learned that threats had been made against the New Zealand women’s team who are due to play an ODI in Leicester on Tuesday. Instead of taking the first flight home, the threat was dismissed as “not credible.”Imagine the reaction had England travelled pretty much anywhere during the pandemic and found themselves confronted by a spectator running on to the pitch. And then remember that the same spectator made it on to the pitch in three successive games in the series between England and India.Pitch invader Jarvo collides with Jonny Bairstow. Jarvo made his way on to the pitch on three successive matches in England.•AFP/Getty ImagesOn at least one occasion, he made physical contact with a player. As it happens, he was nothing more than an attention-seeking buffoon. But what if he had been carrying a knife? Or a hammer? There is nothing that could have stopped him using it. England’s security protocols failed. And they failed consistently.It’s worth reflecting for a moment on how England would have reacted had any of these incident occurred to them while they were on tour. Although there are examples of England sides taking a phlegmatic view – the India tours of 1985 and 2008-09 both spring to mind, while the Bangladesh tour of 2016 might be relevant, too – the evidence of recent times suggests England would have been on the first flight home.Again and again, the ECB are demanding standards of others which they are nowhere near maintaining themselves. It feels, on this occasion, as if England were looking for reasons to pull out.There may well be repercussions. Quite apart from the money the PCB have lost here in broadcast revenue, there is also damage to relationships. It is, for example, understood that the PCB will, in the coming weeks, discuss the implications for England’s 2022 tour of the country. Put bluntly, there are those involved who feel they can no longer rely on the ECB’s commitment. The PCB will therefore discuss cancelling the tour and arranging a replacement who can be relied upon.Despite stringent Covid-19 protocols, Pakistan duly went to and completed their tour of England in 2020•AFP/Getty ImagesTo add insult to injury, it is understood that Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, didn’t phone Wasim Khan, his counterpart at the PCB, himself. Instead, that uncomfortable task fell to David Mahoney, the ECB’s Chief Operating Officer. Harrison, it was explained, was on a flight having missed the first two days of his holiday in an effort to resolve the issue.The ECB may well find itself short of friends the next time it calls for help. This was to have been a symbolically important tour. England have not visited Pakistan since 2005, after all, so this was an opportunity to thank the country for their assistance in 2020 and celebrate the return of normality to a cricket-loving nation which has been starved of the sport. It should have improved relationships.Instead it has further demonstrated the divide between the cricket world’s haves and have-nots. Instead, it has provided a reminder that the richer cricket boards – and the richer cricket players – do not fully understand (or accept) their wider responsibilities to the game. And, most of all, it has shown the hypocrisy and double-standards which pervade in cricket’s most affluent nations.The ECB has talked a good game on inclusion and diversity in recent months. But here, presented with an opportunity to repay a friend and encourage cricket in a part of the world where it has been missed, they have dropped the ball. And eventually, inclusion is about more than words. It’s about putting them into action.This is a disappointing day for Pakistan, for sure. But a lot of England supporters may be disappointed in the ECB, too.

Crucial 81 bolsters the batting as England inch into the ascendancy at the Kia Oval

George Dobell03-Sep-20211:24

Laxman: Pope looked assured right from the first ball

England have kissed a few frogs in the search for a world-class Test batter over recent years, but it really does seem as if they may have found their prince.It’s one thing for Ollie Pope to have made runs against a fine attack. It’s quite another to have made them with the match, the series and, perhaps, his own career in the balance. Only time will tell, but if feels as if England have, for the first time since Joe Root’s emergence, found a specialist top-order batter who could and really should enjoy a sustained career at this level.This felt like a crossroads moment. England were 62 for 5 shortly after Pope emerged from the dressing rooms. Hopes of a substantial first-innings lead had soon crumbled into fears of a deficit and there were legitimate doubts over Pope’s ability to handle the crisis. He had not reached 50 in his 15 previous Test innings, after all. The series might well depend on how he fared.More than that, though, Pope is something of a barometer player for the English system. He looks, by some distance, the best young England batter of his generation. He averages 69.02 for Surrey in first-class cricket and, ridiculously really, 101.80 at home in those matches. The worry for English cricket is that if such a player can’t make it at international level, you start to wonder if anyone can. It’s been a long time – almost a decade – since Root strode out to bat in his first Test in Nagpur.The influence of Root is obvious upon Pope. From the moment he emerged on to the pitch, he was copying his captain’s mannerisms – the shadow strokes; the skips to ensure his feet are moving – and later admitted he had watched the way he had gone about amassing runs in recent months. Well, you would, wouldn’t you?Ollie Pope leans into a cover drive during his vital half-century•Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesAs a result, he has made some technical adjustments. While Pope had, at the start of the season, been taking an off-stump guard, here he batted on middle. With a minor back-and-across trigger movement (to the seamers, at least), a slightly open front shoulder and a front foot pointing towards mid-off, he has found a way to bring his bat down straight while retaining decent balance at the crease. There are still moments when he over-balances a little towards the off side, but he appears to know exactly where his off stump is and has a range of strokes to score all round the wicket. He really does have all the ingredients to enjoy a fine career.Initially, at least, life was tough. Jasprit Bumrah beat him twice in his opening minutes at the crease, also taking him on the shoulder with a bouncer and testing his defensive technique. But he came through, generally showing good judgement about which deliveries to leave outside off stump and defending with a reassuring sense of composure.The introduction of the support bowlers made life much easier. At one stage Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj conceded seven boundaries in 10 balls (including one lot of four leg-byes) as Pope and Jonny Bairstow released the pressure. Later there was a flowing cover drive off Bumrah and, even though the boundaries dried up once he made 50, such is his Root-like ability to manipulate the ball around the field, he continued to accumulate without drama. The partnership of 89 between him and Bairstow was England’s second-highest stand of the year that did not involve Root; proof indeed of their reliance upon their captain.Related

• Ollie Pope puts quad injury down to relentless Vitality Blast schedule

• As it happened – England vs India, 4th Test, The Oval, 2nd day

• Ollie Pope's 81 gives England the lead but India stay in the hunt

• Another day in a decade of Umesh Yadav

Some caution is probably required here. It is more than three years since Pope made his Test debut and one innings, especially one played on an increasingly benevolent batting track and at Pope’s home ground, doesn’t answer all the questions. We had thought we had witnessed breakthrough innings previously, too. His century in Port Elizabeth, in particular, suggested the arrival of a major talent. He out-batted Root in that innings.But his progress has not been as smooth as anticipated. For a variety of reasons – not least being asked to bat at No. 4 at the start of his Test career; a position he had never batted at county level – he struggled to turn his potential into achievement. He has also been asked to keep wicket in one Test, suffered a recurrent shoulder injury which necessitated surgery and batted on a succession of fiendishly tough surfaces. It might be relevant, too, that he spoke of the mental demands of living in a bubble last summer. You suspect the nagging doubts which plague most batters are particularly persistent with Pope. All that hope and expectation is not always easy to deal with. This is his 20th Test and that average, 33.20 even after this innings, is disappointingly modest.He is still just 23, though. And here, against a fine attack and in a position when his team were heavily reliant upon him, he delivered with not just runs but runs made with grace and style. There will be ups and down in Pope’s future, no doubt, but if he is not still playing for England in 10 years with an average in excess of 40, something will have gone pretty badly wrong.