All posts by n8rngtd.top

Former batsman will join cricket operations department, while the former left-arm spinner is going to be a senior selector

Mohammad Isam13-Feb-2021Shahriar Nafees and Abdur Razzak have announced their retirements from all forms of cricket, making public their decisions after being employed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Razzak, the 38-year-old former left-arm spinner, has been appointed as a senior selector alongside chief selector Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar, while 35-year-old Nafees, a top-order batsman, has taken up a position in the board’s cricket operations department.A reception was organised to honour the two cricketers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday, during the lunch interval on the third day of the Dhaka Test against West Indies, where they were presented with crests by the BCB and the players’ association.”It is only natural that someone else will take my place because everything comes to an end. I would like to thank my childhood coaches Sarwar Imran and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim. I met them when I was 13 years old, and they changed my life,” Razzak said, while Nafees recalled the time when he was ten years old and would be taken for training by his parents: “They supported me so I must thank them. I would like to thank my wife and kids, my in-laws, as well my first coach Wahidul Gani.”Related

• Left-arm revolutionaries

• Does Ashraful make it to Bangladesh's greatest white-ball XI?

Razzak was the first Bangladesh player to pick up 200 ODI wickets, and also holds the record (joint with Mohammad Ashraful) for the fastest half-century by a Bangladeshi in ODIs – off 21 balls. Among players from his country, Razzak also has the second-most ODI five-wicket hauls and the most wickets in a bilateral ODI series.Over the years, Razzah has been a domestic giant, with 137 first-class appearances. He has taken 634 wickets in those games, including 41 five-fors. He is also the first Bangladeshi bowler to bag 600 first-class wickets and has won nine domestic first-class titles with Khulna Division and South Zone. After a four-year hiatus, Razzak made an international comeback at the age of 35 when he played the Dhaka Test against Sri Lanka in 2018, which turned out to be his last international outing.Nafees will always be best remembered for his 138 against an Australian Test attack that had Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill. The sight of a strokeful left-handed opener taking on some of the best bowlers the world, who had just conquered South Africa, was a breath of fresh air for Bangladesh. Nafees’ dominance of Warne, in particular, where he hit the legspinner for ten fours in a couple of sessions, remains an iconic image in Bangladesh cricket.Nafees had a strong 2006 thereafter, finishing with 1000-plus ODI runs, including three centuries. Later in the year, he became Bangladesh’s first T20I captain, but that remained his only appearance in the then-new format. After a low-scoring 2007 World Cup, Nafees lost his place in the team and in mid-2008, he joined the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. The BCB banned the Bangladeshi players for ten years for taking part in the tournament, but they were relieved less than a year later, and returned to the fold.Nafees would return to the Bangladesh team during a Test against India in early 2010, and went on to play 23 more times for his country, including at the 2011 World Cup, before his last international outing against Zimbabwe in 2013.Nafees finished the 2019-20 first-class season with a century and two fifties, having been one of the top run-getters in the seven seasons following his last Test match. During the 2015-16 season, he crossed 1000 runs for the first time in first-class cricket, with three centuries and a 62.05 average. He is also Bangladesh’s first batsman to hit a T20 century, when he made an unbeaten 102 for Khulna Royal Bengals in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League.

Mumbai will face Uttar Pradesh in the final on March 14

Saurabh Somani11-Mar-2021In a semi-final that had the tournament’s top three run-getters all playing in the same game, Prithvi Shaw’s blazing century won the day for Mumbai against Karnataka. Shaw, captaining Mumbai for only the third time, made 165 off 122 balls, incredibly enough, his score as captain.In his first match leading Mumbai, he had hit a tournament record 227* against Puducherry, and he followed that up with 185* in the quarter-final against Saurashtra.Related

• Shaw smashes 227* to become India's 8th List A double-centurion

• Padikkal's fourth successive ton propels Karnataka into semis

• Shaw's 185* puts Mumbai in semi-final

Shaw’s innings set Karnataka 323, a target that they might have backed themselves to get given how well their own openers – Devdutt Padikkal and R Samarth – had been going. While Samarth fell cheaply, Padikkal threatened to hit an unprecedented fifth List A century on the trot, before he was out for 64, after which Karnataka withered. Both men went past the record for most runs in a Vijay Hazare Trophy season, which was held by Mayank Agarwal who made 723 runs in 2017-18.Shaw has 754 runs this season with a game in hand, while Padikkal’s tally stopped at 737 runs. Samarth, who had a rare failure in the semi-final, stands fourth on the list with 613 runs.Mumbai will face Uttar Pradesh in the final on March 14, after UP put in a clinical performance to go past Gujarat by five wickets in the second semi-final on Thursday.

Mumbai vs Karnataka

The game was a Shaw showcase from the start. He had missed out on a second double-century in the quarter-final when Mumbai reeled in the target with 8.1 overs to spare, but looked like he would achieve that in this game. He was eventually lbw to right-arm medium-pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak, who was playing his debut season, in the 41st over.Prithvi Shaw has had a record-breaking Vijay Hazare Trophy•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shaw was brisk at the start and exploded once past his half-century. He was on 52 off 48 balls, but got to 152 in only 111 balls, reaching the landmark with a six off Ronit More. He took the lead in two substantial partnerships, putting on 71 (69 balls) for the second wicket with Aditya Tare, and then 159 for the third wicket (142 balls) with Shams Mulani, who had earned a surprising promotion to No.4. Mulani had batted only once above No.6 in ten previous List A innings, and while he made 45, it came off 71 balls. Shaw’s pyrotechnics at the other end meant Mumbai were still rattling along at a good rate, but the innings lost some momentum when the captain was out.Shivam Dube (27 off 24) and Aman Hakim Khan (25 off 18) – who made his debut in the previous match, the quarter-final against Saurashtra – did connect with a few blows, but Mumbai lost a cluster of wickets to be bowled out in 49.4 overs for 322. Vyshak was the most successful bowler, with 4 for 56, while Prasidh Krishna took 3 for 64.With their openers in great form, and the likes of Manish Pandey and Karun Nair in the XI, the target wasn’t as daunting for Karnataka as it might have been for any other team. For a while at the start of the chase, they did look like they were on course, but a double-strike by offspinner Tanush Kotian derailed the chase. Samarth had been castled by Dhawal Kulkarni in the second over, but Padikkal was in full flow, getting to his half-century in only 39 balls. He was forced to be more circumspect, however, when Kotian struck in the 13th and 15th overs, sending back KV Siddharth and Pandey. The body blow to Karnataka’s chase came in the 20th over when Prashant Solanki bowled Padikkal for a run-a-ball 64. Although wicketkeeper BR Sharath smashed a 39-ball 61 down the order, the equation had become too steep for Karnataka.Kotian, playing his second List A match, ended up with 2 for 23 in 10 overs.

Uttar Pradesh vs Gujarat

A collective performance with bat, ball and in the field saw UP end Gujarat’s run in the tournament. Batting first after winning the toss, Gujarat’s innings was in trouble early and never quite recovered. They could muster only 184, bowled out in 48.1 overs. Although UP had some wobbles of their own in the chase, they were mostly in control, and overhauled the target in 42.4 overs.Gujarat’s captain and centurion from their quarter-final Priyank Panchal was the first to fall, and UP kept chipping away at the Gujarat’s top order to reduce them to 92 for 5 in the 26th over. Het Patel, who was Gujarat’s most consistent batsman in the tournament, then stitched together a stand of 66 alongside Piyush Chawla, who negotiated his former team’s attack with greater comfort than the top order had. That partnership apart, Gujarat’s batsmen were kept in check.Yash Dayal had figures of 3 for 34 while Aaqib Khan took 2 for 22 in ten overs, not giving the batsmen any room and employing changes of pace well. UP were also electric in the field, effecting three direct-hit run-outs. Het, who made 60 and whom Gujarat depended on to drag the total beyond 200, was also the victim of a direct hit, having tapped to mid-off and then run around the bowler.Gujarat began their defence well, with Chintan Gaja getting both openers cheaply, but the bowlers didn’t have the luxury of scoreboard pressure. UP were in a spot of bother at 45 for 3, but captain Karan Sharma combined with Akshdeep Nath to steer the team into safe territory.The two put on 89 runs, and could afford to do it at a comfortable pace. Although Sharma was out when he was looking good for more, Nath carried on. He got to his half-century off 73 balls, having seen off an initially uncertain period. Nath fell for 71 with victory in sight, but with only 12 runs remaining to get and 9.2 overs to get them in, UP weren’t in trouble.Upendra Yadav, the Man of the Match in their quarter-final win against Delhi, finished things off in style with a six and a four.

Updates, colour and analysis with ESPNcricinfo’s match-day blog

Karthik Krishnaswamy13-Apr-2021

Ishant, Dhawan, Pujara, Shikha, Umesh, Rahane are few of the others to have as well

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2021Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikha Pandey are among a batch of Indian cricketers to get their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.India’s top cricketers are among several athletes in the country, including those who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, to have started receiving their vaccines after the Indian government threw open the drive for those aged 18 and above from May 1.The move comes a week after the BCCI was forced to postpone IPL 2021 due to several cases of Covid infections across teams. The Indian men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to leave for the UK on June 2 via a charter flight.Related

• Piyush Chawla's father dies of post-Covid complications

• Sakariya loses his father to Covid-19

• Krishnamurthy loses mother and sister to Covid-19

• ICC biosafety head: 'Don't want to cancel tournaments, just want to have them safely'

While the men’s team will be on a three-and-a-half months-long tour, where they will first play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand (June 18-22) followed by a five-Test series against England in August-September, the women will play a one-off Test – their first in over six years – followed by a limited-overs series.In a chat with ESPNcricinfo last month, Dave Musker, ICC’s biosecurity head, had underlined the importance of players being vaccinated at the earliest.”All the vaccines have a wide spread of efficacy against various mutations, but all of them do offer significant mitigation, in that you are unlikely to get very sick if you are vaccinated, regardless of mutations and variants,” he had said.”At some point there will be a phenomenon called ‘vaccine escape’ – the virus will mutate to a position where the current crop of vaccines will have limited impact upon transmission or effectiveness. That will happen, but that’s why you are seeing so much about second-generation vaccination.”India is amid a second wave of the virus, recording in excess of 350,000 new cases every day over the last fortnight. A few prominent players, including Chetan Sakariya, Veda Krishnamurthy and Piyush Chawla have lost family members to the virus.

Azam’s rise has also been accompanied by constant talk around his fitness levels and weight

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2021Pakistan’s long, ongoing search for power-hitting options in their middle order has now landed on Quetta Gladiators’ Azam Khan. Pakistan have struggled for firepower in their middle order, in part because the top-order form of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Hafeez has meant those following have had little opportunity but also because the likes of Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah have had lean runs on the international stage.But Azam’s selection for Pakistan’s T20Is in the Caribbean later this summer has not come without criticism. As the son of former Pakistan wicketkeeper and captain as well as Gladiators coach Moin Khan, the usual charges of nepotism have been thrown around. But Azam’s rise over the last couple of years has also been accompanied by constant talk around his fitness levels and weight.Azam’s boundary-hitting ability is what has brought him to national attention – he hits a boundary around every four balls he faces in T20s, and has a strike rate of 157.41. With his Pakistan call-up, he will now be under further scrutiny when the PSL starts on June 9, as much for the runs he scores as the fitness he brings. But, his Gladiators’ team-mate and one of cricket’s fittest athletes, Faf du Plessis was keen to point out that six-packs do not equal guaranteed success.”When it comes to fitness, every guy has a responsibility to try and improve every day,” du Plessis said at a virtual press conference. “That looks different for every single person. For me, at an older age, I don’t stop thinking about how I can improve myself as a cricketer, how I can improve my fitness, how I can improve my body, how I can improve my mind.”The difference between guys who do it for a very short period and guys who do it for longer, it’s just improving, it’s smaller gains right throughout your career. For someone like him [Azam], no, he doesn’t have to look like me to be successful. It would just be small improvements every day. Right now, it might be something like fielding he could focus on, getting quicker to the ball, making sure [the] hands are good, taking all the catches and gradually putting in the work to become a better version of himself, or myself, or someone.”Azam Khan’s selection has been a talking point•PCB/PSL

Talk around fitness in Pakistan is especially relevant given the return of Sharjeel Khan to the Pakistan line-up for the recent tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe. Sharjeel’s return to the squad was a point of contention between the team management and chief selector Mohammad Wasim; the former unwilling to compromise on basic fitness standards for those who make it to the national squad, the latter suggesting that, in some cases, skill may allow for less stringency on fitness. Ultimately, a compromise was worked out whereby Sharjeel was assigned a personal trainer on tour and given unofficial targets to meet before selection.What will be important, du Plessis said, was that Azam gives himself the best physical base from which to perform the role he is required to perform.”It’s unfair to compare different people, we’re comparing two different players. He’s a guy who will always come and be a power hitter and hit it a long way. What he will need to work on obviously is how can I make sure I’m fit enough to run between wickets, to get twos and threes for longer periods, when it gets hot out there, or how to make sure I don’t get tired at 20-30, but stay till I get 70, 80, 90. So it looks different for every single guy.”I’m certainly not a believer that every guy has to have a six-pack to be a successful cricketer. You work with what you have. You look at the greats in the game before, there’s been guys long before me and after me and him, who will all look different but had the skillsets to perform.”The immediate task ahead of both du Plessis and Azam will be to turn around Quetta’s poor start to this disrupted season. Five games in, Quetta have a solitary win and sit at the bottom of the table. Given the interruption in the season, however, a total reset is very much possible.”We find ourselves in a position we wouldn’t like to be,” du Plessis said. “Towards the end [earlier in the season] I felt we started playing our best cricket. Also, all of the teams have changed a lot. Even a lot of the teams looking strong at the top of the table would have a lot of changes in their teams because of Covid and the availability of a lot of overseas players. It’s almost like a new tournament and that’s starting on the 9th. Unfortunately we can’t start slow. We have to start in a winning way where we hit the ground running in the first game.”In the first half of the tournament we either batted really well, or we bowled really well. Only in the last game we put it together and put in a complete performance.”

Fast bowler credits PSL experience as he takes on leadership role in 3-0 series win

Andrew Miller14-Jul-2021Saqib Mahmood has credited England’s management for enabling the team’s new faces to play the same “fearless” brand of cricket that won the World Cup two years ago today, after earning a recall to the T20I set-up off the back of his 50-over performances.Saqib was named Player of the Series for his haul of nine wickets at 13.66 during England’s remarkable 3-0 series win – a result achieved with a reserve squad following a Covid outbreak that led to the self-isolation of the original 16-man party.And of Mahmood’s wickets, six came in the Powerplay overs as Pakistan struggled to muster a response to his skill and aggression with the new ball.His dominance of Babar Azam in the first two games was a particularly significant factor in England’s success, as Pakistan were limited to totals of 141 and 195 before Pakistan’s captain bounced back with a career-best 158 to post an imposing 331 for 9 in the third match at Edgbaston.By then, however, England’s confidence was coursing through the team, and with James Vince’s maiden international hundred underpinning the run-chase, they sealed a clean sweep with two overs to spare in a three-wicket win.”It’s been a special week,” Mahmood said. “Spoons [Chris Silverwood] pulled me to the side yesterday and said ‘you’ve been bowling really well and this call-up is justification for how well you’ve been doing’. It was nice to hear that.”Silverwood had been due to be on holiday until he got the call to rejoin the squad, while Ben Stokes had been expecting to continue his return to fitness with Durham after breaking a finger at the IPL, until he was asked to step in as captain. But between them, Mahmood said, they managed to instil in their rookie team the levels of belief that have characterised England’s white-ball success in recent seasons.”The message we got from Spoons, and from Stokesy this last week, is we are looking to play smart and aggressive cricket, and the personnel they bring in fulfils that role,” Mahmood said. “You get that backing to play fearless cricket and I feel like the boys showed that this week.””I guess the fearless side is always taking the positive option, with ball or bat,” he added. “If you feel like you can take someone down, you go for it.Saqib Mahmood’s dominance of Babar Azam was a key factor in England’s series win•Getty Images

“The way the batters are playing now in county cricket, they’re going all out, as you see Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow doing at the top of the order here,” he added. “So I think those guys have been role models for these younger players, and that’s the nature in which they’re playing. Look at Phil Salt yesterday, taking 16 off the first over after they got off to a very slow start. That’s the way he plays, and he got us off to a great start.”And for the bowlers, having been involved in the environment for the last two years, you’re always taking the positive option. At times in this series we had three, four slips consistently and that comes from not worrying about runs and always trying to take wickets.”You’ve got to have the thought in the back of your mind – how am I going to get this guy out, rather than trying to dry up the runs here. So always having that attacking option, whichever way you do it, is key.”Mahmood’s performances, however, showcased more than just a positive mindset. His experience at this year’s PSL – where he claimed 12 wickets in five games prior to the tournament’s suspension in March – offered not only a step-up in responsibility as an overseas bowler, but also an insight in the methods of his Pakistan opponents that, he said, enabled him to feel more in command of his game than had been the case during his last series against them, the T20I series at Old Trafford last summer.”The PSL helped in terms of playing against these guys,” Mahmood said. “You can show them a bit of respect when you don’t know what you’re up against. When I was in the T20 squad, I was the only one short of experience, everyone else had over 100 T20 caps. But this time I knew their games, having played against them, so it meant for me more of a leadership role, telling other bowlers how these guys play and what good plans are.”Related

• Saqib Mahmood etches himself into Roses history as Lancashire finally break Yorkshire resolve

• Saqib Mahmood: 'You have to do pretty special things' to play in England's white-ball teams

• Saqib Mahmood channels the moods of his makers to confirm himself as a complete England package

• Saqib Mahmood, Lewis Gregory earn T20I call-ups as Eoin Morgan returns as captain

Mahmood certainly could not have hoped for a better start to his series. In the first ODI at Cardiff, he removed Imam-ul-Haq to a first-ball lbw, then had Azam caught at slip two balls later, also for 0, at which point his figures for the series read: “W0W”.”The new-ball wickets were crucial, especially in the first two games,” he said. “It really set the game up. We saw how well Babar Azam played yesterday and the class he has, so to get him out early in the first two games was crucial. That would probably be the highlight.”At the time, you don’t really think about the quality of player you’ve got out – obviously you’re happy to take two wickets in the first three balls and get everyone off to a good start, but if a batter’s got the better of you, sometimes in the back of your mind you can go slightly defensive.”I feel like throughout the whole series, even in the last game yesterday, I was trying to attack him early doors and I think he was slightly wary and didn’t really try and play any shots up front, and kicked on after I got taken off.”Mahmood’s command of length and seam movement in this series, as well as for Lancashire in the County Championship, has encouraged the belief that he can go on to become a multi-format bowler for England, and potentially even a rival for Stuart Broad as a new-ball option against India and in the Ashes. But for the time being, he is staying grounded about his progress.”I have read that but you try to put it to the back of your mind a little bit,” he said. “A week ago, no-one was talking about me, I wasn’t part of the squad. Obviously, everything has happened very quickly and I’m trying to take it in my stride, not focus too much on what people are saying and concentrate on what I’m doing.”But Test cricket has always been right at the top of what I’ve wanted to do,” he added. “I’ve managed to play a lot of first-class cricket this season for Lancashire on some pretty good Old Trafford wickets, which has helped my game massively. And it showed when bowling with the new white ball as well – pushing that length, having that consistency and moving the ball as well. So Test cricket is right up there. Whenever that chance comes – I don’t know – I’ll look to keep improving.”

Club record opening stand in T20 sees visitors to comfortable win

ECB Reporters' Network23-Jun-2021Northamptonshire Steelbacks recorded their first win of their Vitality Blast campaign, hammering Durham by nine wickets at Emirates Riverside.Adam Rossington and Ricardo Vasconcelos broke the Steelbacks’ highest opening stand to chase down Durham’s total of 158 with ease. Vasconcelos notched his highest T20 score of 78 to drive his side over the line, ending their winless run in the competition at the seventh time of asking.Fine bowling from Mohammad Nabi and Graeme White limited the home side to 157 for 5, with the two spinners claiming two wickets apiece as Sean Dickson was the only Durham batsman to look comfortable on the wicket. The hosts endured an evening to forget in both disciplines, dropping their second game of the term.The start of the contest summed up Durham’s evening as David Bedingham fell to the second delivery, feathering an edge behind off the bowling of Nabi. Ben Stokes tried to inject pace into the innings, but his attempt to strike Nabi out of the ground resulted in a leading edge that was well taken by White for 11.Matters got worse for the hosts when White removed Clark as Rossington stumped him off a wide. Ben Raine followed in the next over, presenting debutant Freddie Heldreich with his maiden Blast wicket, leaving the hosts 57 for 4. Cameron Bancroft and Dickson put on a stand of fifty for the second game in a row to propel their team towards the 150-run mark.White halted the momentum when he notched his second wicket via a stumping as he dismissed the Durham captain for 27. Dickson provided the late burst, reaching his first fifty for Durham from 35 deliveries. He and Brydon Carse lifted the home side to a total of 157 for 5.Rossington got the Steelbacks off to a rapid start in response, striking 14 from Stokes’ first over of the contest. Vasconcelos provided ample support, picking the gaps in the field to find the boundary. The Northamptonshire openers propelled their side well above the required rate in the Powerplay, posting 66 from the opening six overs.Rossington brought up a fine half-century from 28 balls, displaying a fine range of shots around the crease. The century stand for the opening wicket soon followed in style as Rossington produced a brilliant strike over cover for six.Vasconcelos joined his skipper to reach a fifty for the first time in T20 cricket, pulling Stokes to the fence. In the process, the Steelbacks duo notched the club’s highest partnership for the opening wicket. Liam Trevaskis removed Rossington for 59, but it did not affect the visitors as they marched towards victory with 13 balls to spare.

Get your dose of analysis, stats and colour from Trent Bridge on ESPNcricinfo’s live blog

Sidharth Monga08-Aug-2021

That is that

3.50pmThe match is over. It has been called off. It is a draw. It seems to me that they have estimated or been told that by the time they get the ground ready, it will already be the mandatory hour. Be that as it may, a disappointing way to end a Test that was close enough for the teams to have a 60-40 chance of winning coming into the final day. Now the resemblances with the Chennai Test of 2004-05 are complete. Thanks for joining us. We will be back on Thursday.

Super soppers in action

1.40pmThe rain watch•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Another hour lost

2.40pmIn the last hour they decided upon an inspection time because the rain had stopped, but it resumed drizzling before the inspection time. So the ground staff are back in their shed. It is perhaps time to count backwards. We now have a possible four-and-a-half hours of play left in the day. Let’s say it takes an hour for to get the ground ready once it stops raining. I would say we need a minimum of two hours for a result here. That means it needs to stop raining in the next hour and a half. Let’s make it an hour and 50 minutes because it can rain all it wants during the tea break.Meanwhile here is a cricket-and-rain story from Shashank Kishore. Moral of the story: never trust a Highveld storm

I’d just entered Class X, a time in our lives when we were told board exams matter a great deal. It was the 2003 WC final, and India were in the midst of a humongous chase with Sehwag going great guns when it suddenly started to pour. Don’t think it was more than a 20-minute delay, but it was enough time for me to phone up five of my friends – each time I’d have to ask a parent to hand over the phone to my friend on the pretext of having doubts – and together we’d decided to bunk school the next day, a Monday. I was certain the match was going to blow over into a reserve day because something similar had happened at the 2002 Champions Trophy a few months earlier. So the plan was, all five of us will miss school, watch the game together and cook up a convenient reason the next day if it came down to that. Sadly, play resumed, Sehwag was run out courtesy Lehmann, the match ended in tears for all of us and we were back in school the next day.

AFP/Getty Images

Another half an hour gone, but here is some fresh good news from Nagraj Gollapudi. The super soppers are in action. We still have five-and-a-half hours left in the day’s play.Meanwhile here is my cricket-and-rain story, but the rain didn’t happen at the cricket. It was the 1996 World Cup final, a day before my Class VII science exam. My parents and whole family had to go out of town, and they made a naïve assumption that I will study for the exam if not forced to.From a young age, I harboured disregard for our education system and the exams, but I am sure I was not making a principled stance but only enjoying the final when I decided not to study. It was only after Arjuna Ranatunga had played that historic late-cut that my parents arrived. I feigned confidence when I said I was prepared for the exam. Inside, I knew I will have to be in the school early to secure crib notes.I don’t know how I managed a healthy night’s sleep. I woke up to one of the darkest mornings I remember from my young life in small-town Rajasthan. It just poured and poured and poured sweet tears of joy. I somehow made it to the school but it rained so much the exam had been postponed.Years later, I came across this song by Paul Kelly “Right Behind the Bowler’s Arm”. In that song he improvises on a Chinese proverb. It says, yes your days in this world are numbered, but the ones spent watching cricket don’t count. The song reminded me of that day. Your preparation time was limited, but the time spent watching cricket didn’t count.I also remember feeling annoyed that I would have to eventually study for the exam.

Lunch over but not the rain

1.10pmIt is still raining, and the early lunch is taken. Remember we have lost only one-and-a-half hours so far. We still have six hours of play left. How much of it can the rain take off? I suspect India won’t mind a thee-hour jaunt with the option of shutting shop any time they wish to.I have been asking around for interesting stories from rain delays and stoppages, and we will struggle to beat this one from Andrew Miller

I’d agreed to be an usher at a university mate’s wedding several months in advance of the date, thinking “a Saturday in August, what could possibly go wrong?” Some months later, it dawned on that that was going to be the same Saturday as the Ashes Test at Edgbaston, which made for a rather awkward conversation … that in truly cowardly fashion I completely avoided having.Fortunately, the wedding itself was in Wolverhampton, a few miles outside of Birmingham, so I figured I’d try to wing it. Keep tabs on the sly, rush back if I had to, cobble something together from the end-of-day quotes if all else failed. In short, I was bricking it a touch, especially after a James Anderson five-for had put England (already 1-0 up) in command, meaning that the third day’s play was potentially the pivotal moment of the series.So when I opened my curtains on that Saturday morning … oh joy of joys! An absolutely miserable deluge had blanketed the whole of Brum, and in those pre-drainage days, it meant a virtually guaranteed wash-out. It also meant that my friend’s big day had been ruined, as we all squelched through the puddles to pose for the soggiest wedding photos ever. But clearly, that was a small price to pay for a clear conscience.

Resemblances with the Chennai Test

12.30pmAM has turned to PM but it is still raining in Nottingham. Even though today is not likely to be a washout, there are many similarities here with the Chennai Test of 2004-05. The side batting first bowled out cheaply. A healthy lead -141 in that case – conceded. But an improved performance in the third innings to not only make India bat again but set them 229. India were not certain of their opening combination a day before the match and went with Yuvraj Singh. During that match, Shane Warne went past Muthiah Muralidaran. During this match, Anderson went past Kumble. The day four then ended with a crisp boundary from Sehwag last ball. Yesterday Pujara crunched the last ball for four. It rained all day next day.It is also an often spoken-about Test in Cricinfo because so many of future Cricinfo employees were there. I was finishing college. Anand Vasu, Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, Sriram Veera, Dileep Premachandran, George Binoy, Nitin Sundar, Siddarth Ravindran, Karthik Krishnaswamy, Gaurav Sundararaman were all there. Of course none of us knew each other then. Only two of them were working on the match. The funny thing is, every time we talk about that day in office, some new person pops up saying, “Hey I was there too.”Damn. This just made me realise that’s one of the things I miss because of these Covid days.

Who is happier with the rain?

11.45amWhat else can we do but pontificate as it continues to rain? Whom does the rain suit more? I think as of now it suits England more because we have seen rain and overcast skies have conditions worse for the batters. But if it gets into the category where India don’t have to worry about a defeat and can still get a shot at the target, that scenario will worry England because this is a quick-scoring ground and India have Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja who can be promoted to bat in a nothing-to-lose scenario.An on-and-off scenario can go either way. You could get two 20-minute sessions in which the batters don’t get any rhythm and two of them get out or you could get two 20-minute sessions in which bowlers don’t get into any rhythm and build-ups for a wicket and India score 35 runs. A lot of possibilities. Don’t go anywhere.

Wet start

10.45amDampener for all those who couldn’t sleep last night with anticipation. It is raining, and the forecast is iffy. I am optimistic we can get enough cricket for a result. Fingers crossed. But as of now it is raining. Stay tuned for updates.