Surrey batter’s unorthodox talent appears to have been stymied by move up the order

Vithushan Ehantharajah06-Sep-2024Both Dan Lawrence and Ben Duckett walked off before their respective catches had been taken.A swift look to the ball sailing harmlessly in the air towards the cordon. Eye rolls so exaggerated you could almost hear the optic nerve strain through the stump mics, before sharp turns and sorry marches back to the Pavilion. Synchronised annoyance, albeit hours apart.The reactions from a short-changed crowd at the Kia Oval could not have been more different. Raucous cheers for Duckett, who rewarded their patience with an 86 that felt like an attempt to speed run a Test century. Soul-cringing gasps and groans for Lawrence, tangled in his own limbs attempting to work to square leg, followed by sympathetic applause that made his torturous 5 off 21 feel a little worse.It is hard not to empathise with Lawrence’s struggles over the last two weeks. A promising pair of thirties in the first Test have made way for three single-figure scores, with enough across 55 balls to pass judgement on his worth in an unfamiliar role.Related

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The last England opener to go five or more innings without passing 50 once was the now-discarded Alex Lees against South Africa in 2022. By contrast, Duckett has maintained his streak of fifties in every Bazball series he has played.Comparing the two, however, is foolish. Because one is the most consistent Test opener in the world now, and the other isn’t an opener outright. So, when they were both greeted by low, dank skies and floodlights on full beam at 11am, it was no surprise the bloke who has made an international career out of this caper was far better equipped to deal with a new ball and lavish movement than the one doing this as a favour in Zak Crawley’s absence.Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have talked up Lawrence’s capacity as a reserve opener before finally pulling the cord for this series. All that while knowing he has never really been one professionally, with just five of 177 first-class innings in the top two. The reason he is at this level is through a body of work as a dynamo in the engine room of a batting line-up.Like any moonlighter out of their comfort zone, there have been times when it looks like Lawrence has been trying to do an impression of an opener. Like, for instance, taking 11 balls to get off the mark, with a scampered two tucked into midwicket with all the conviction of a festival bartender pouring a Guinness.Meanwhile, at the other end, Duckett was in his element. After a quiet start, his back-to-back charge-and-slaps to close out Milan Rathnayake’s first over took the score to 45, which was what the opening stand would finish on. Duckett had 36 of them – off 35 deliveries, no less.”There is no surprise, this is how Ben Duckett plays Test cricket,” mused Sri Lanka bowling coach Aaqib Javed. And that’s, basically, it. Duckett goes out and does right by himself. Lawrence would have been better served doing an impression of his partner.Even in a world where openers are encouraged to scoop fast bowlers – which Duckett did for the first time in Tests on Friday, for six, four and his dismissal – no amount of vibes can cover for the differences between top- and middle-order living.Lawrence has been reared on the latter for the past nine years at Essex and Surrey; at his best when an innings is already in motion, capable of slowing it down but, more often than not, speeding things up. But up top, particularly in the first innings of a Test match, there is nothing to groove with. And while that is no problem for Duckett, armed with the game and personality to make mischief in an empty room, Lawrence needs a rhythm.The irony here is that Lawrence’s natural game – which we haven’t seen this summer – is uniquely homespun but routinely encouraged. The age-group set-up at Chelmsford, preachers of “it’s not how, it’s how many”, facilitated the wristy, jaw-dropping shots that are Lawrence’s staple. Even through the England pathway, changes in how talent was nurtured accelerated his maturity.In 2014, after consultations with the Football Association, the ECB re-imagined how best to work with young teenagers. Among recommendations such as creating a more fluid development programme were some holistic shifts that bear similarities to what Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have instilled in the Test side. Reduced contact time with coaches, giving players more ownership so they can grow with their games as they learn more about themselves.Lawrence thrived in that environment, and carried his brand of renegade unorthodoxy from the U19s the following year through to his first forays into the Test side in 2021. He left the 2022 tour of the Caribbean having made a strong impression on important minds. “It’s a joy to bat with him,” Root said after a 164-run partnership which featured Lawrence’s career-best score of 91. Stokes, too, was also impressed by a young man doing this his own way.And yet, Lawrence has never featured in an Stokes-led England. Might he ever?Perhaps that is dramatic. But at the minute, those wrists look handcuffed, the rebel within him suppressed and the talent lost in a vocational pursuit that has never been his calling. And given how ruthless England have been this summer – Ben Foakes, Jonny Bairstow and Jack Leach dropped at the start, Matthew Potts during – would it be a surprise if Jordan Cox, newer, fresher to the set-up and – crucially – unburdened, usurped Lawrence as the spare batter?It is important to state Lawrence has not been treated harshly. These three Test caps are not a reward, but certainly “his turn” after 18 months around the squad as the alternate. He has always said he would bat anywhere for England – “even No.11” – and it just so happens his opportunity has arisen at the other end.But the harsh call could still yet come. And as he sat next on the balcony in front of the home dressing late on Friday, feet up, sandwiched by McCullum and Duckett, it was hard not to wonder how this plays out if the second innings brings another failure.The sense is Lawrence won’t be judged on his output this series because he is in an unfamiliar position. The fear, however, is this unfamiliarity seems to be robbing him of the qualities that made him an attractive proposition in the first place.

All the stats highlights from India’s innings in Perth, where they were bowled out for 150

Sampath Bandarupalli22-Nov-2024150 India’s total in Perth is their joint-lowest in the first innings of a Test match on Australian soil. They were bowled out for 150 at Sydney in 2000 after electing to bat first. Only once India recorded a lower first-innings total in Australia – 58 all-out at Brisbane in 1947 while batting second.3 Previous instances of visiting teams getting bowled out below 200 runs after electing to bat first in the Test series opener in Australia. England made only 134 in 1958 and 147 in 2021, while Sri Lanka got all out for 144 in a day-night Test in 2019, all three at the Gabba.5 All-out totals under 160 for India in Tests in 2024, including the 150 all out on Friday. Only twice did India get bowled out under 160 more often in Tests in a calendar year – six times in 1952 and 1959 and had five such totals in 2018.661 Runs by Rishabh Pant in Tests against Australia are the most by a visiting wicketkeeper on Australian soil, surpassing Alan Knott’s tally of 643. Pant has batted in 13 innings in Australia and has scored no less than 23 runs in all of them.Rishabh Pant was India’s most fluent batter•AFP/Getty Images18 Batters to have bagged a duck for India in Tests in 2024, with Devdutt Padikkal being the latest. These are the most number of Indian batters to be dismissed for a duck in Tests in a calendar year, surpassing 17 each in 1983 and 2008.7 Batters to top score in an innings while batting at No. 8 or lower for India on their Test debut, including Nitish Kumar Reddy. Only two of the previous six have been in the last 70 years – Stuart Binny against England in 2014 and Balwinder Sandhu against Pakistan in 1983.26 Batters to have completed 3000-plus runs in Test cricket for India, including KL Rahul, who got there in Perth on Friday. His current batting average of 33.78 is the third-lowest among the 26, behind R Ashwin (25.92) and Kapil Dev (31.05).505 Wickets between Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon in the 31 Test matches they played together. They are now the first quartet to bag 500-plus wickets in Test cricket. Cummins has 132 scalps, the most among the four, while Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon bagged 126, 125 and 122 respectively. (Only the players with 100-plus career wickets considered to be part of a quartet)1 Cummins dismissed Pant for the first time in Test cricket. Pant faced off Cummins in 12 innings thus far, scoring 104 runs off 168 balls, with ten fours and a six.

Australia still have to firm up opening and spin-bowling options while India’s batting and captaincy remain a concern

Ian Chappell12-Jan-2025Australia clinched a thrilling Test series win over India, and in the process finally regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy.It was a massive performance by Australia, capably led by Pat Cummins, and along the way they introduced some new blood to the side. Australia made progress, but for India the series confirmed the concerns surrounding two stalwarts.After a slow start to the series for Cummins and Australia, the skipper became the hero. He has regularly inspired the team and once again performed the star role.Cummins took 25 wickets for the series, and when Australia needed a wicket he was the man for the job. If they needed a good player in the opposition dismissed, Cummins was best suited to the task. To cap off a monumental series, he also provided important runs at times when they were badly needed.Related

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Anyone who isn’t convinced Cummins is a capable captain, and headed for the hall of fame when he qualifies, hasn’t been watching closely.Adding to his lustre as a leader Cummins claimed a 3-1 series victory after losing the first Test badly. It was a personal triumph as much as a team effort.As long as he is leading the side and the bowling attack, Australia will be hard to beat, especially in home conditions.Importantly, Australia debuted young Sam Konstas as an opener, and an experienced cricketer in allrounder Beau Webster.While Konstas’ T20-style opening onslaught saw Australia unsettle Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings at the MCG, his method is questionable for the long haul. Konstas’ youthful exuberance, both with the bat and in the field, needs to be tempered if he hopes to have a long, successful Test career.

Kohli’s consistency needs to improve in addition to him dispensing valuable advice to younger players. He also has to stop his senseless antics, like shouldering Konstas in the MCG Test

Webster made a good start and proved he has potential as a No. 6 batter. His bowling will mostly be about resting the leading pacemen, but he’s a sure-handed catcher, which counts in his favour.Australia’s winning form in the last few years has been greatly dependent on a strong bowling attack. There are some capable pace bowlers on the horizon, and as long as Cummins remains at his peak, Australia will be in reasonable shape.Despite some Sri Lankan tour selections made with an eye on the future, the batting and spin-bowling options are still in question. Australia badly need to unearth a solid opening candidate and a good middle-order player. While Steve Smith remains the best batter in the side, Australia’s totals will be okay, but any prospective replacements need to establish their credentials.For India the two big question marks are leading batters, and the selectors have tough decisions to make regarding Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.The soon-to-be-38-year-old Rohit, facing a crammed five-Test series against England in a few months, is a doubtful quantity. Although India are extremely reluctant to part with star players, lately Rohit has struggled technically and his absence would provide uncertainty over the opening position and the captaincy.KL Rahul is a decent opening alternative but the captaincy provides a bigger headache whenever Jasprit Bumrah is unavailable. Bumrah showed in Australia he’s an outstanding bowler and a decent skipper, but he needs support in both categories if India are to remain a force.Kohli’s experience in the UK would be invaluable, and of the two problematic players he’s the most likely to be resuscitated. However, his consistency needs to improve in addition to dispensing valuable advice to younger players. He also has to stop his senseless antics like shouldering Konstas in the MCG Test. If Kohli does decide to retire from Test cricket, the loss of both him and Rohit would leave a huge gap in the line-up for a tough tour.Both Australia (in the World Test Championship final against South Africa) and India play UK Tests in 2025. They should be fascinating contests but in the meantime each team’s Test selectors face some challenging decisions.

His story is a complex one, but there was much to admire about Pucovski with bat in hand

Alex Malcolm09-Apr-2025It was not a surprise when Will Pucovski said “I’m not going to be playing cricket again” in a Melbourne radio studio on Tuesday.Those words had been expected for a year. But the inevitability of them doesn’t make them any less sad.Twenty-seven-year-old’s with three first-class double centuries and an average of 45.19 aren’t supposed to retire from the game.Pucovski spoke of wanting to play 100 Tests. “Unfortunately, one Test is where it ends,” he said.Related

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It’s heartbreaking to think there is an alternative universe where Pucovski might have already played 41 Test matches without interruption after his debut against India at the SCG in January 2021.An alternative universe where he already has multiple Test centuries and is Australia’s incumbent opener, currently preparing for a stint in county cricket like the one he was set for last year with Leicestershire, ahead of the World Test Championship final.In that universe he would be a pivotal figure in Australia’s aging XI, with he and Cameron Green the two pillars of the next generation as a team full of over 30s hurtles towards transition.But in this universe, the sadness at what might have been is replaced by the grim reality that Pucovski’s retirement is a relief for all concerned.He is still suffering concussion symptoms over a year on from what is hopefully his last blow. He spoke of getting dizzy just looking at things from his left eye. Motion sickness from a train ride last Saturday caused a three-hour afternoon nap. Headaches and fatigue are a daily feature of his life now.An independent medical panel recommended he retire last year. The competitor in him went on a global search to find an alternative solution that might allow him to play again. But the risk of another blow is too great.Will Pucovski takes on the short ball•AFP via Getty ImagesThe number of blows is well into double figures and they even pre-date his cricket career. There were concussions in the field, in the nets, after tripping over while running between the wickets, while playing a game of warm-up soccer, on top of numerous blows facing high quality first-class bowling.Getting hit is an occupational hazard for a professional top-order batter. Even Steven Smith has been felled. But the best rarely get hit more than once or twice in a career. For Pucovski it was a yearly occurrence. He never played more than seven first-class games in a season across eight years as a professional.He also took numerous mental health breaks which he is certain are a side effect of his concussions. His family have noticed a change in him as a person.He knows it’s complicated and hard to understand. He noted that the confusion has been fuelled further by the fact there has been no consensus on how it all knits together amongst the many medical experts he has consulted.

Those who bowled to him at his best said there was an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. His intimidation as a batter wasn’t through powerful ball-striking, it was through the ease of his scoring ability against their best balls

All of that makes his case so complex. Unlike Australia Rules Football, which has made strides in navigating medical retirements due to concussion, Pucovski’s is a test case in cricket. It is hard to know what the game owes him, what his future earnings might have been worth. That is still being determined.There are no guarantees in cricket. Matt Renshaw was once a prodigy who made 184 in a Test for Australia as a 20-year-old. He has just turned 29 and looks a fair way off adding to his 14 Tests right now. Kurtis Patterson, who was selected ahead of Pucovski in January 2019, made an unbeaten century in his last Test innings aged 25. Now 31, he has not played a Test match since and has only this season fought his way back from the first-class wilderness having fallen out of love with the game.Cricket’s top earners are also three-format players. Pucovski played 50 professional matches without a single T20 appearance. He struck at 77.62 in his 14 List A games.But that’s part of what made him unique and potentially a great loss to Australia’s Test team. Growing up in arguably the first generation of Australian batters that developed on more short-form cricket than long-form at underage levels, Pucovski was cut from a different cloth. So many of his cohort have been plagued by hard hands and poor decision-making in first-class cricket. Pucovski was a throwback to a different era.Runs for fun: Will Pucovski so often looked at ease in the middle•Getty ImagesThose who saw him up close at first-class level speak about his exceptional decision-making and problem-solving ability. There was a softness to his play, an economy to his movements. People were in awe of the time he seemed to have.His first double-century in first-class cricket was extraordinary. On a WACA pitch where WA were bowled out for 208 and 251 and only four others in the match passed 42 and none of them batted in the top four, Pucovski peeled off 243 not out from 311 balls at No. 3.Those who bowled to him at his best said there was an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. His intimidation as a batter wasn’t through powerful ball-striking, it was through the ease of his scoring ability against their best balls.That was never more evident than in October 2020. There was precious little cricket being played anywhere due to Covid, but the Sheffield Shield was in a bubble in Adelaide.Pucovski grabbed the world’s attention with back-to-back double centuries against South Australia and Western Australia. His team-mates said he was in such rare form that he had asked them to fling balls at top pace in the nets from five metres infront of the bowling crease to make his practice more challenging.Will Pucovski punches one off the back foot•Getty ImagesHis Test debut only months later – although delayed by another blow to the helmet in a tour match – was also evidence of his gifts. He only struck four boundaries in a 110-ball 62 against an India attack comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. What’s clear from rewatching the highlights in the aftermath of his retirement is how willing he was to let the ball come to him. He played late under his eyes, never once trying to over hit it. He was content just finding gaps and accumulating like he had so often at first-class level.It is a shame that player is now lost to cricket. But it is a positive that Pucovski the person won’t be lost to cricket. He spoke of a keenness to coach and will begin his journey with his beloved Melbourne Cricket Club as head coach next season. He also spoke of potentially getting involved in cricket administration at some point and has already shown his commentary capabilities in brief television stints in Australia.His cerebral nature, his openness to explore different ideas beyond the insularity elite cricket can often cultivate will make him an asset to the game in whatever he chooses to do.That he was grateful for one Test rather than bitter about being denied many more is a window into his character. There will be a future in cricket for Will Pucovski. Just not the one he might have hoped for.

A record number of runs were scored on Friday night in Vadodara, and Ashleigh Gardner equalled the record for the most sixes in an innings but still ended up on the losing side

Namooh Shah14-Feb-2025202 – Target chased by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to kick off WPL 2025. This was the highest successful chase in the WPL. It is only the second time a 200-plus target was successfully chased in Women’s T20s. West Indies’ 213-run chase against Australia in 2023 remains the highest.403 – Runs scored by Gujarat Giants (GG) and RCB on Friday in Vadodara, the highest aggregate for a WPL match, surpassing 391 runs scored between the same two teams in 2023.8 – Sixes hit by Ashleigh Gardner during her unbeaten 79 – the joint-most by a player in a WPL innings, equalling Sophie Devine’s record, which she got against GG in 2023.1 – RCB went past the 200-run mark for the first time in the WPL, while GG recorded their joint-highest total.ESPNcricinfo Ltd15.08 – Run rate during the partnership between Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja – the second-highest for a partnership of fifty-plus in the WPL.93* – Partnership runs between Ghosh and Ahuja – the highest for the fifth wicket in the WPL, going past the 67 between Jemimah Rodrigues and Jess Jonassen for Delhi Capitals (DC) against UP Warriorz in 2023.16 – Sixes by GG and RCB – the second-most in a WPL match, behind the 19 sixes in the match between RCB and DC in 2024 in Bengaluru. The ten sixes that GG hit in the first innings are also the second-highest in one innings in the WPL.12.66 – RCB’s win probability at the end of the 15th over as per ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster. That climbed to 72.91% at the end of the 16th over, as Gardner conceded 23 runs.

The England opener has remained undroppable despite plenty of patchy form, and he showed why at The Oval

Matt Roller01-Aug-2025

Zak Crawley got to his half-century in just 42 balls•AFP via Getty Images

How do you explain a cricketer like Zak Crawley? He is an outlier, a player who continues to defy conventional wisdom. No man in Test history has opened the batting so often (93 innings) and averaged so little (31.06), yet he is one half of England’s most prolific opening partnership for a decade and his place has rarely been so secure.This Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series has been a trademark Crawley series: he has averaged 34.50, a tick over his career mark, and has thrilled and frustrated in equal measure. He has made three substantial contributions in eight innings, yet none of England’s first-choice top seven have scored fewer runs. He remains England’s enigma, his career a web of contradictions.Crawley was England’s top-scorer in their first innings at The Oval and personified their approach, jumping at the chance to dominate India’s seamers. Before his dismissal, Crawley hit one in every four balls that he faced for four, maintaining a strike rate well above 100. He scored 56 of his 64 runs in boundaries, reasoning that on a seaming pitch, attack was the best form of defence.Related

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It was the perfect attack for him to face. Crawley has the peculiar distinction of getting better when the bowling gets faster, reasoning that he is at his best when he has no time to think and lets his instincts take over. Facing seam, he averages 43.31 against balls at 84mph/135kph or quicker, compared to just 27.31 against those below.But that is precisely why England’s management have retained him for so long. He has missed only three of their 47 Tests since Boxing Day 2021 – and those through injury – despite two long ruts in form. That he was their top-scorer in two consecutive marquee series (Australia 2023 and India 2024) vindicated the sense that he is better equipped against the best than the rest.Crawley is encapsulated by the fact he has only been dismissed once in 119 balls in this series against Jasprit Bumrah, but twice in the seven balls he has faced from Nitish Kumar Reddy. India’s rebalancing at The Oval pitted him against three fast-medium bowlers; Crawley may have been the only England batter to breathe a sigh of relief when India left Shardul Thakur out.If he rode his luck at times – inside-edging Prasidh Krishna past leg stump, flashing him over the slips – he made good use of it. Crawley hit two perfect straight drives – one mid-off, the other mid-on – in three balls from Mohammed Siraj, and made a capacity crowd collectively purr when he spanked Prasidh through cover point.1:58

Bangar on Crawley-Duckett: Haven’t seen batting of that quality

His partnership with Ben Duckett was worth 92 in just 12.5 overs, and the collapse that followed vindicated their ultra-positive approach. Crawley and Duckett refused to let India’s seamers settle, disrupting their lengths by charging down the pitch and – in Duckett’s case – playing conventional and reverse-scoops. On a green seamer, it was defence that proved fatal.It was evident from Shubman Gill’s reactions at third slip – and, soon enough, mid-off – that England’s openers put India under severe pressure. After India folded for 224, Gill was caught between stools: he had no runs to play with, yet knew that he needed to break the partnership as soon as possible. Duckett’s fluffed reverse came as a huge relief.By that stage, Duckett and Crawley had reached a rare milestone, bringing up 500 runs for the series as an opening pair. It was the first time any opening pair had done so since 2015, and they were the first England openers to since Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in the 2010-11 Ashes. No wonder Crawley, for all his flaws, is considered undroppable.Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have been the perfect contrast as an opening pair•Getty ImagesIt is not hard to work out why they have been such a success together. “One’s right-handed and a giant, the other is left-handed and isn’t,” Ben Stokes wrote in his programme notes for the Edgbaston Test. “When they get going, it can be a nightmare for bowlers trying to find rhythm.” A good ball to one is a freebie to the other, and vice-versa.Crawley is clearly frustrating to play against, and not only for his free-wheeling batting. He thrived on his role as pantomime villain at Lord’s and was on the wind-up again last week in Manchester, telling India’s batters their decision to bat on for centuries was “embarrassing” – seemingly oblivious that he was England’s only specialist batter without one in the series.His spliced pull to square midwicket felt oddly apt: he has always been a player of style over substance, and an anticlimactic dismissal was perfectly in keeping with the Crawley experience. On the flipside, for all that it looked like a missed chance to define the match, Crawley’s 64 was the highest score across both teams’ first innings.The Oval suits Crawley: it is one of two venues (along with the Utilita Bowl) where he has passed 50 three times in Test cricket, and is the English ground where he has scored the fastest. England have averaged fewer runs per wicket at The Oval than any other home venue in the last four summers; it is utterly in keeping with Crawley’s eccentricities that he has thrived there.

Stats highlights from the third day’s play between England and India at Lord’s

Sampath Bandarupalli12-Jul-20251:58

Manjrekar: Rahul hasn’t put a foot wrong

9 Number of Tests in which teams have tied their first-innings scores, including the Lord’s Test between England and India.5 350-plus totals for India in five innings in this series, after they scored 387 at Lord’s. Only once before has a team had five consecutive 350-plus totals in an away Test series – India did it against England in 2002.4 Four hundreds for KL Rahul in Tests in England and all of them as an opener. No other Indian opener has more than two Test tons in England. By scoring 100 at Lord’s on Saturday, it was also the first time in his career that Rahul scored more than one century in a Test series.Related

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2 Indian batters with multiple Test hundreds at Lord’s. Dilip Vengsarkar scored three in four Tests at Lord’s, while Rahul has two, having scored one in 2021.Rahul is also one of four visiting openers with multiple Test tons at Lord’s. Bill Brown, Gordon Greenidge and Graeme Smith also have two centuries as openers at Lord’s.3 Number of 100-plus partnerships between Rahul and Rishabh Pant in Tests in England, the most for an Indian pair. Their previous two century stands were 204 at The Oval in 2018 and 195 at Leeds in 2025.8 Fifty-plus scores for Pant in Tests in England, the joint most for a visiting wicketkeeper in a country. MS Dhoni also has eight fifty-plus scores in England.36 Sixes hit by India so far in this series, the most by a team in an away Test series. The previous highest was 32 by West Indies against India in 1974-75 and also by New Zealand against Pakistan in the U.A.E. in 2014.6 Number of bowlers on both sides to bowl at least ten overs in their respective first innings at Lord’s. the last time this happened was in 2009, in the Bridgetown Test between West Indies and England.

After years of setbacks and near-burnout, Rath returns to a familiar place with renewed hope and a joy in cricket he never thought he’d find again

Shashank Kishore07-Sep-2025When Anshuman Rath returned to Hong Kong in early 2023, he was “cooked.” He contemplated a career in insurance, finance or real estate, instead of trying to return to a team he’d captained as a teenager. At 25, a promising cricket career was at the crossroads.Two years of playing for Odisha in India’s domestic circuit had drained him mentally, emotionally, even physically. He was 20 kilos heavier, nursing injuries, and battling a deep sense of disillusionment. The game he loved as a teenager felt like a burden.”I’m someone who enjoys cricket because of the camaraderie, the team environment. In Odisha, I just wasn’t feeling it,” Rath, back as Hong Kong’s batting lynchpin, tells ESPNcricinfo in Dubai ahead of the Asia Cup. “I was questioning myself, doubting every decision I’d made.”Related

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Rath felt stifled by the culture, the regimentation, the senior-junior divide in Odisha. Youngsters would be berated publicly, something Rath, who had grown up in cosmopolitan Hong Kong, struggled to reconcile with.”I remember once being made fun of for eating rice and with a spoon,” he recalls. “It sounds silly, but when you have no one to talk to, no support system, those things hit you hard. No matter what level you play, if you’re not enjoying it or you’re not in the right frame of mind you’re wasting your time.”So I called my dad, literally almost in tears being like, ‘what am I doing here? I just don’t want to do it.’ I had played two years of it, but didn’t have anything more to give.”When I felt it the most, I remember getting injured during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy [2022-23, India’s domestic T20 competition]. Wasim Jaffer was our head coach. He sent me to get a scan in Mumbai. So I went there and started punching myself in the collarbone to make it worse so that I wouldn’t have to play more. It was that bad.”For me, I’m a massive team person. So I love playing with my teammates. That’s why I don’t think of it as work. Whereas when I was in Odisha, the environment wasn’t like that. The coaches had their favourites. I actually played the rest of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with that injury. It was just an awful time.”It was around this time that Rath turned to food for comfort.”When you’re in that state of mind, there are very few things that make you happy,” he says. ‘For me, it was food – eating just to survive, to feel something. It was the only enjoyment I was getting. I piled on 20 kilos. I completely lost the plot.”Anshuman Rath – “No matter what level you play, if you’re not enjoying it, you’re wasting your time”•Getty Images

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This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.Rath’s journey had already taken him through the heartbreak of visa denials in England – which ended a near-signed deal with Middlesex – and a tough, lonely stint in Christchurch as he tried to qualify to play for New Zealand in late 2018.Canterbury Cricket had sponsored Rath a three-year work-to-residence visa for him to potentially qualify for New Zealand. He’d put his studies on hold for it initially, but found the move harder than he’d thought.”Because I was 21 at the time and the whole Middlesex thing had happened, I hadn’t really processed the whole thing yet,” he says. “The trauma of going through the Middlesex visa stuff, the ECB visa stuff. I didn’t really want to do more qualifying.”To spend another three years, it was kind of daunting. Obviously, they’re lovely people in New Zealand. But, it was the other side of the world. You know, you wake up in the morning, you don’t know who to call. Because all the people you know are asleep.”Rath eventually didn’t sign the document to pledge himself to New Zealand via the qualifying path. He chose something that was slightly easier. At the time, though, he didn’t know that too would be quite be, what he says, was an “un-ending nightmare.””So, then I made the decision. I had an Indian passport, so I thought I might as well use it, so we decided to test the Indian waters,” Rath continues. “I had to start from scratch but I was fine. As long as I didn’t have all these three-year qualifying rules again. I knew I had to serve a one-year cooling off period, and I was fine with that.”After trying with a few teams, Rath identified Vidarbha as his home in India. And for a while, it seemed like the perfect environment. He was received warmly and he thrived in the club cricket ecosystem alongside the likes of Jitesh Sharma, Faiz Fazal, Atharva Taide, and Harsh Dubey among others.”Every time I walk on the field now, I’m smiling, I’m laughing. And I think that shows in my cricket too”•Peter Della Penna”It reminded me of the systems in the UK. Structured, professional, with a clear pathway to the senior team. I loved it,” he remembers.But administrative roadblocks derailed his plans. A registration issue with the BCCI – according to the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) – meant he couldn’t be picked despite completing his cooling-off period. Rath later checked with a lawyer contact in the BCCI if there were issues with his paperwork. He was told there wasn’t any, and he was green lit.”That was a real sinking moment,” he says. “I don’t like politics. I’ve always believed in letting my bat do the talking. To be told I couldn’t play despite doing everything right was hard to take.”What followed was a downward spiral that eventually took him to Odisha, his home state, where his grandparents live. It should have felt like a homecoming. Instead, those three years drained him.”No matter what level you play, if you’re not enjoying it, you’re wasting your time,” he says. “I was just going through the motions.”On a cold January morning in 2023, when Odisha were put in to bat on a green top in nondescript Nadaun (in Himachal Pradesh) in a Ranji Trophy fixture, he finally took a decision that had been simmering underneath for months.”I was like I don’t even want to play on a flat track, let alone here,” Rath says. “I walked up to the coach on day two and told him, ‘please book me a flight back to Bhubaneswar.’ I knew that was that. I spoke to the association people, they said, you’re doing fine, stay back. But I was like no, that was it.”For Rath, a prodigiously talented left-hander who once nearly helped Hong Kong pull off a giant ODI upset against India at the Asia Cup in 2018, it was the closest he’d ever come to turning his back on the game.When Rath returned to Hong Kong in February 2023, he was ready to walk away from cricket entirely.”I told my dad I was never touching a bat again,” he says. “I was ready to try my hand at the corporate world – finance, real estate, insurance, whatever. Just something different.”

“I don’t like politics. I’ve always believed in letting my bat do the talking. To be told I couldn’t play despite doing everything right was hard to take”Rath on his turbulent time in India

That’s when Mark Farmer, Cricket Hong Kong’s High Performance manager who’d known Rath from his younger days, stepped in.”He sat me down and said, ‘Let us know what you need. We’re happy to give you a contract right now.’ I hadn’t even played,” Rath says. “And they were willing to give me that love, that faith. It was the first time I’d felt something like that in five or six years. I almost teared up.”Rath eased his way back, found his rhythm, his fitness, and most importantly, his love for the game. “I wake up in Hong Kong now, have meals with my family, and enjoy the vibe of the city. There’s a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt in so long. I laugh more on the field. I banter with teammates. I enjoy touring again. I’m just grateful to be playing.”For Rath, who once captained his country at 20 and chased professional cricket across three continents only to nearly give it all up, his return to Hong Kong has been a second coming.”This isn’t going to last forever,” Rath says. “So every time I walk on the field now, I’m smiling, I’m laughing. And I think that shows in my cricket too.”

With a squad full of inexperience, they will need to be at their best to compete in a group that includes India and Pakistan

Abhijato Sensarma06-Sep-2025How did they make it?Oman’s qualification pathway for the Asia Cup began at the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, played in April last year.They topped their group table with four wins out of four, finishing ahead of UAE, before defeating Hong Kong by five wickets in the semi-finals. UAE got their revenge on Oman in the final, but both teams had by then secured their place at the Asia Cup along with Hong Kong, who won the third-place playoff.This will be Oman’s first appearance at this tournament.Recent resultsOman have travelled all around the world since their appearance in the T20 World Cup last year, where they showed glimpses of promise but ended up winless.Related

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Their form since then has been compromised by their first-choice players being engaged in a pay dispute with their national board, which had not paid them their share of the World Cup prize money.Oman hosted Netherlands for a T20I series in November last year, and lost 2-1. They then played in the Gulf T20I championship in December 2024, finishing with wins over Bahrain and Qatar but not qualifying for the final. Most recently, they hosted USA for a T20I series in February and lost 3-0.Key playersThe pay dispute is resolved now, but the Asia Cup squad wears a completely different look to the one Oman took to last year’s World Cup, despite the return of some of the veterans. As many as four members of the Asia Cup squad are uncapped.Against this backdrop, a lot of the team’s run-scoring burden could fall upon experienced opener and captain Jatinder Singh, who has 125 international caps and 3103 runs across formats. How he starts at the top of the order might determine where Oman finish in the tournament.Among their bowlers, Shakeel Ahmed is bound to play an important role. The left-arm spinner only made his T20I debut in September 2023, but has played 34 matches since then. Control is his biggest asset, which his economy rate of 6.67 reflects.The 20-year-old Aryan Bisht is an exciting package, a middle-order batter who bowls handy offspin. He has only played two ODIs and is yet to make his T20I debut, but he has shown signs of his potential at junior level, finishing as the second-highest run-getter in the Under-19 World Cup Qualifier Asia Division Two in 2022 while also picking up seven wickets in five games.Who do they play?Oman have been placed in Group A. They start their campaign on September 12, when they take on Pakistan in Dubai. They then move to Abu Dhabi for their remaining two matches: against familiar foes UAE on September 15, and India on September 19.Oman squadJatinder Singh (capt), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedara, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Shah, Faisal Shah, Muhammed Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava.

Two of India’s best young players ticked off a few records in the second Test against West Indies in Delhi

Sampath Bandarupalli11-Oct-20255 Test hundreds for Shubman Gill in 2025, the most by a player in the year they first began captaining their country. Gill also equalled the Indian record for most Test hundreds as a captain in a calendar year, held by Virat Kohli with five tons each in 2017 and 2018.12 Innings for Gill to score five hundreds as Test captain. Only two players took less time to get to this mark – Alastair Cook (nine innings) and Sunil Gavaskar (10). In terms of matches, Gill took the same as Don Bradman (seven) to score five Test hundreds as captain, while Cook (five) and Gavaskar (six) got there quicker.ESPNcricinfo Ltd84.81 Gill’s average as captain, second only to Bradman’s (101.51) among those who have led their teams at least seven times in Test cricket. This Test against West Indies in Delhi is Gill’s seventh Test as captain.5 Number of 150-plus scores for Yashasvi Jaiswal in Test cricket. Only Bradman (8) had more 150-plus scores before turning 24.7 Hundreds for Jaiswal in his 26-match Test career, the joint-most by an opener before turning 24. Graeme Smith also had seven tons as an opener before his 24th birthday.Overall, only Bradman (12), Sachin Tendulkar (11) and Garry Sobers (nine) scored more than seven hundreds in Test cricket before turning 24.Yashasvi Jaiswal has turned five of his first seven hundreds into 150-plus scores•AFP/Getty Images2 Number of players before Jaiswal to convert five of their first seven Test hundreds into 150-plus scores – Bob Simpson and Brian Lara.3 Instances of India having a fifty-plus stand for each of the first five wickets in a Test innings. The previous two instances were against England in 1993 in Mumbai and against Australia in 2023 in Ahmedabad.518 for 5 India’s first-innings total in Delhi is the highest in Test cricket without a bye or leg bye. The previous highest such score was 513 by Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in Chattogram in 2018.ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s innings featured only two runs through extras – both being wides – the second-fewest in a Test total of 500-plus. Australia’s 549 for 7 against South Africa in 1950 featured only one extra run, a bye.318 Balls were bowled by West Indies’ pace bowlers in India’s first innings without taking a wicket. Only twice before had West Indies’ pacers gone wicketless in a Test innings despite bowling 300-plus balls – against New Zealand in 1972 at Georgetown (540 balls*) and against Pakistan in 2016 at Dubai (432 balls).*Sobers, who bowls spin and seam, bowled 42 wicketless overs in addition to the 540 balls at Georgetown