England stand-in preparing to “do things my way” while still following Ben Stokes’ lead

Vithushan Ehantharajah20-Aug-2024The blazer Ollie Pope will don for Wednesday’s toss at Emirates Old Trafford ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka was tailored when he became England vice-captain at the start of the 2023 summer.Since then, it has been travelling around with team manager Wayne Bentley, who measured it up initially. This week, it will finally come into Pope’s sartorial rotation. “Luckily it fits,” England’s 82nd men’s Test captain beamed. “I’ve not put on too much weight.”Like Stokes, Pope opted against a photoshoot in his new garms. Stokes has always been reticent to pose in it believing it gives off the impression of being above your players. Pope’s reasons, while similarly aligned, are as much to do with just getting on with the job at hand – regardless of how grand a job it may be.Related

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A country that has had six prime ministers in the last decade is about to see only its fourth Test captain in that time. But while Pope’s occupation of the role will be Liz Truss in length, he will seek to maintain a much healthier status quo.Nevertheless, it is a peculiar situation. When Stokes had his first taste of captaincy during the first Test of the 2020 Covid summer, Joe Root, absent for the birth of his second child, left a note on his peg saying “Do it your way”. This time, the “absentee” captain will be present throughout, on hand to advise on how best to do it the way it still be done.Stokes was in Monday morning’s huddle, stood opposite his stand-in as Pope addressed the group on the outfield ahead of training. As openly as this has all been handled, and as unavoidable as this situation is, it is hard not to shake the sense Pope is housesitting while the landlord takes on a peeping brief.”We’ve already spoken about this and he’s pretty clear that he wants me to go out and do my thing, my own way,” Pope said when asked if there was a danger of backseat captaincy from Stokes. Barring a high-profile entry to the ground on Monday dressed like an extra from Top Gun, Stokes will strive to be a peripheral figure so Pope can fashion his own path, even if it does need to lead to a previously agreed-upon destination.Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain, heads out to bat in the nets•Getty ImagesThis, really, is the start of Pope’s journey as a leader. By his own recollection, he was never talked up as captaincy material during his rise through the systems of Cranleigh School, Surrey and England age-groups. Even the FEC (Future England Captain) tag often pinned on of his ilk was only bestowed upon him as an 18-year-old by a county team-mate. “I think Scott Borthwick was the first one to say it to me,” he recalled in his first captain’s press conference on Tuesday. “And I just shook it off.””It’s funny he’s remembered that,” Borthwick told ESPNcricinfo. The Durham captain’s stint at Surrey between 2016 and 2020 spanned the emergence and establishment of Pope. But what, exactly, during this period prompted Borthwick to dub Pope an “FEC” when more familiar observers had not?”The coach at the time, Michael Di Venuto, at the start or the end of the day, he used to almost pick on the youngsters; he used to say ‘give me your analysis of the day?’ or ‘what do you think the plans are’.”He used to pick on Popey quite a bit because I think he knew Popey’s knowledge of the game was really good for a young kid. He was encouraging him to speak in front of the group and to pass on his information. Diva could sense there was a leader in there.”And we had some big personalities in the side as well. It’s not easy as a young kid to give your opinion, and he did it with such assurance and maturity. His knowledge of the game was very, very good.”He spoke really well as a young kid in the dressing room. When a captain or a coach asks you for your opinion, sometimes you can second guess your opinion. Popey always had a good idea of [what had gone on in] the day. So, naturally, I would just call him ‘FEC’ and we’d joke about that.”Borthwick is bemused he was the first to label Pope as such. As it happens, Borthwick boasts a strong association with England Test captains having acted as Stokes’ best man. “The other one I called FEC was Jamie Smith,” he said. “But we can have that conversation in a few years.”

“He spoke really well as a young kid in the dressing room. When a captain or a coach asks you for your opinion, sometimes you can second guess your opinion. Popey always had a good idea of the day”Scott Borthwick on Pope as a future captain

Others at Surrey talk similarly of Pope. Even as a young upstart, he was always an independent thinker with a knack for sharp problem-solving. It is most evident in his batting, both in those formative years – specifically an exceptional 2018 summer which resulted in the first of those 46 Test caps – and his outrageous century in Hyderabad at the start of 2024. But it also comes through with his everyman qualities in the dressing room.That adaptation and feel for the game came to the fore during an eight-game stint as Surrey’s Vitality Blast captain earlier this summer, guiding them through to the knockout stages. “It’s a bit of a crash course,” said Pope of the experience.He was initially taken aback by the speed of decision-making required in the field, and was stung in his first outing against Hampshire when he had to operate with five in the ring for the final over because he had missed the cut-off time. He did not make that mistake again.”He did say it took a couple of games to get used to the pace a little bit because it is so fast-moving. But he was very relaxed,” said Smith, Pope’s Surrey and now England team-mate (and Borthwick’s other FEC).”He brought a great calmness to the group, which is never easy in T20 and especially at Surrey with the personnel you’ve got. It does feel like the game is moving at a thousand miles per hour, whether you are batting, bowling or fielding because of the quality there is.”He has great composure and I feel like he settled the side really nicely and brought along a good group that was very successful in the group stages.”Even with a caretaker brief, Pope has identified areas to influence. The performances of Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir this summer are examples to him of the need to cultivate the right in-game environments to bring the best out of his new charges. “Since being vice [captain] I’ve watched Stokesy closely on the pitch, the way he’s managed his bowlers. That’s probably been the main thing for me, being aware that this opportunity might come about.”Going by the last two days, Pope has also seemingly handed short leg duties to moonlighting opener Dan Lawrence, who has been working on his close-catching. Like Stokes, Pope may seek to run the show from mid-off.”For me, I knew this day might come if Stokesy missed a game through injury or had something away from cricket. So, I’ve kind of prepared myself mentally for this and how I want to go about things on the pitch especially. I wouldn’t see it as a negative at all.”And yet, as Pope embarks on the job of a lifetime with such clarity, it is hard not to sympathise with him. Not only is this not “his” team, but it belongs to someone many regard as England’s greatest-ever captain – who, just like the rest of the world, will be watching on intently.Wednesday brings a unique, awkward pressure for Pope. And by the end of this series, we will find out if the blazer still fits.

His all-out-attack approach has yielded dividends in white-ball cricket, but it may not work the same way in Tests

Ian Chappell06-Oct-2024Talk of Travis Head opening the batting for Australia in Test cricket indicates the uncertain nature of the position rather than being a reflection of the player’s suitability to handle the new ball.If Australia possessed an obvious opening replacement for David Warner then Steven Smith wouldn’t have occupied the position last season. Smith is a very capable No. 4 and that is his best position, so an opponent should welcome him facing the new ball.Head opening in Test cricket is based on his unbridled success facing the new ball in both 50-over and T20 cricket. There’s no doubt Head, with his ultra-aggressive style, is the ideal player to open in the two short forms of the game. However, Test cricket is an entirely different proposition.Head’s promotion to open in Test cricket should be seen as either an extremely desperate ploy or an extraordinarily adventurous move. The desperation involves Head’s penchant for adopting an all-out-attack approach, which can unravel in a Test match. The adventurous part involves his aggression unsettling the opposition field placings and thus creating an advantage for his own team.Related

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The difference between the short forms of the game and Test cricket apply with both field placings and use of the bowlers. The fielding side employing extra catching fielders and being able to unleash a preferred bowler for longer periods makes opening much tougher in Test cricket.The other important aspect is Head’s approach to batting. His decision to mount a full-blown attack is in part to camouflage any weakness in his batting. If the opposing bowlers are bluffed into countering with an economical rather than a wicket-taking plan, then Head’s ploy is successful.If Head is satisfied that an all-out attack is the way for him to bat, that boosts his confidence. However, a few cheap dismissals can see a player’s confidence dwindle quickly.One big flaw in the argument for Head to open in Test cricket is the opposition he’ll face. If it were a lesser opponent it might have some merit but a strong Indian attack will be hard to bluff.Any move to open with Head that is designed to unsettle Jasprit Bumrah is asking a lot of the batter. Bumrah, and to a lesser extent Mohammad Siraj, are unlikely to be battered into altering their attacking mentality.

Head’s promotion to open in Test cricket should be seen as either an extremely desperate ploy or an extraordinarily adventurous move

As well as fine fast bowlers, Head is also vulnerable against good offspin bowling. The wily R Ashwin is unlikely to be panicked by an opponent’s ultra-aggressive approach.
The argument could be mounted that opening with Head means he’d be more settled facing Ashwin with some runs on the board. On the other hand, a smart opposing captain can utilise the offspinner with a newish ball.Amongst any argument to use Head as a Test match opener, there’s a compelling counterpoint.Former Australian captain Tim Paine was asked about Smith as an opener. He replied candidly: “As an opposition player I want him at the top of the order because that gives me the best chance of getting him out.” The same logic applies to Head as an opener in Test cricket.In choosing an opening pair for the Test series, Australia need to be acutely aware of India’s attacking intentions under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. It was made abundantly clear in the second Test against Bangladesh that India will seek victory at every opportunity under Rohit.That makes a good start in Tests against India a priority for Australia.Another issue clouding Australia’s choice of opener against India is the concern over Cameron Green’s back injury. The idea behind Smith opening last season was to fit both allrounders, Green and Mitch Marsh, into the team.If Green can only bat because of his back issue and Marsh continues to be questionable as a bowler because of potential injury, then it severely diminishes their allrounder status.There’s no doubt Australia desperately needs to find a capable Test opener, but Head is not the solution to the problem.

In three out of their four completed innings in this series, India have fallen short of 200 and, at 51 for 4 in Brisbane, a fourth looks likely

Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-2024In a Test where time is clearly going to be a precious commodity, it was a little odd to see Alex Carey and Nathan Lyon adding 22 runs in ten overs on the third morning at the Gabba.Clearly Australia wanted as many as they could first time around and those extra few runs may yet be important in keeping the follow-on as an option. Eventually, when Akash Deep picked up a much-deserved wicket by removing Carey, Australia could get to work with the ball. In this aspect, they made the most of the limited time available.In three out of their four innings in this series, India have yet to reach 200 and, at 51 for 4, a fourth is possible. There are also some patterns emerging about how Australia are working their way through the batting.Related

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After consecutive first-innings ducks, Yashasvi Jaiswal squirted his opening ball from Mitchell Starc between the slips and gully to get off the mark. But against his second delivery, he flicked firmly off his pads into the hands of Mitchell Marsh at forward square leg. Starc has now removed Jaiswal in each of the first innings for a grand total of four runs across 11 deliveries – full deliveries, on varying lines, bringing his downfall each time. Six of Jaiswal’s 30 Test dismissals have now been against the left-arm pace of Starc and Nandre Burger.It was the full ball that struck next for Starc, but this one owed much more to Marsh. Shubman Gill drove, got a thick edge, and Marsh leapt to his left at gully. “The Bison can fly,” said Ravi Shastri on radio, in reference to Marsh’s nickname. Gully is the position filled by Cameron Green when he’s in the side and he has held some stunning catches. Marsh could barely control himself in the celebrations.”Since I’ve come back into the Test team, fielding at gully is probably the most nervous I get because Greeny’s probably going to go down as the best ever, and if you drop one there they always compare you to Greeny,” Marsh said. “The boys are always into me about how slow I move and how I can’t jump or move in the field, so any time I can do something like that – I probably didn’t even need to dive to be fair, but thought I’d add a bit mayo.”Mitchell Starc and Virat Kohli hopping and fending•AFP/Getty ImagesAlmost every ball from Australia’s quicks felt like a threat. It wasn’t quite Jasprit Bumrah or bust for India – Akash Deep bowled with heart and skill while Mohammed Siraj fought through injury – but it wasn’t far off. For India’s batters, however, there was rarely a let-off.Between Starc’s two early wickets, the first delivery KL Rahul received from Josh Hazlewood, who was back in the team after a side strain kept him out of Adelaide, spat from short of a length and smashed into his wrist. He immediately dropped the bat and walked away as assistance came from the dugout.The first ball of Hazlewood’s next over took Virat Kohli’s glove as it also climbed from a length but fell short of the bowler in his follow through. A couple of overs later, Starc made another one jump at Kohli, who did well to keep the ball down towards the vacant short leg area.With the threat of rain looming, Rahul hooked a sharp bouncer from Hazlewood towards fine leg. Starc sprinted around the rope and made a superb sliding save to keep the batters to a single, meaning Kohli was on strike.Pat Cummins dismissed Rishabh Pant for the third time in the series•AFP/Getty ImagesHazlewood’s next ball was in a wide channel outside off, but as he does often these days, Kohli played away from his body with a drive, it took the edge and Carey pouched the catch. In an instant, as Hazlewood began his celebration, Australia’s fielders also made a beeline for Starc, who was being high-fiving as though the wicket would go in his tally. It was, at the very least, a brilliant assist. Like in the case of Jaiswal, Kohli’s second-innings hundred in Perth is starting to look like an outlier.To add to India’s pain, moments after Kohli had walked off, so did the rest of the players, before another ball was bowled as the rain arrived in what would become a Groundhog Day experience.India got through the next two brief passages of play without losing a wicket, but during a seven-ball period of action suffered another serious dent to their hopes. Pat Cummins angled a length delivery across Rishabh Pant, which took the edge to Carey. Having not previously dismissed Pant, it was the third time that Cummins had claimed him this series.In a long Test series, duels take shape. Bumrah is all over Nathan McSweeney, Starc is dominating Jaiswal, Cummins has it over Pant (although nothing is quite as one-sided as Matt Henry’s record against Zak Crawley across the Tasman). The rain may prevent Australia pushing on for victory in Brisbane but it is starting to feel like their attack is getting a hold over India’s batting line-up that will be hard to break.

Making sense of the big talking points at the end of the first day of the auction

Dustin Silgardo and Nagraj Gollapudi24-Nov-20243:43

Moody: PBKS paid dearly for Shreyas and Arshdeep

How did Shreyas Iyer get such a massive payday?It might strike some as strange that a batter who has not played a T20I in almost a year should earn more than the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Heinrich Klaasen, not to mention Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. But that’s the nature of the auction, where supply and demand dictate bids, and objective valuation is sometimes incidental.Related

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Delhi Capitals (DC) had Shreyas Iyer as their captain from 2019 to 2021 and reached the playoffs in all three seasons, making the final in 2020. The DC coach at the time was Ricky Ponting, now head coach at Punjab Kings (PBKS). Both DC and PBKS needed a captain going into the auction and focussed on Shreyas, who had won IPL 2024 as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Both teams had big purses in hand and were willing to spend up to a third of that on a captain – remember that there have been just eight captains who have won the IPL, and Shreyas is one of them.As a batter, while Shreyas was somewhat overshadowed by KKR’s hard-hitting top-order batters, he has struck at 140-plus over the past three seasons while averaging close to 35, so he is up there with some of the most effective top-order bats in the IPL.Why did KKR spend INR 23.75 crore on Venkatesh Iyer?It was one of the most befuddling sequences in IPL auction history in a long time. Especially because KKR had the option of retaining Venkatesh Iyer as a fifth capped player for INR 14 crore. They instead chose to retain the uncapped Ramandeep Singh for INR 4 crore.To be fair to KKR, their retentions of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Rinku Singh plus the two uncapped players – Ramandeep and Harshit Rana (who hadn’t played for India at the time of the deadline) – looked sensible, since Venkatesh wasn’t expected to be at the centre of such a big bidding war – between KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). But, again, what caused the bidding frenzy was the demand vs supply dynamics.4:23

INR 23.75 crore for Venky Iyer – Moody ‘shocked’

When Venkatesh’s name came up, RCB were desperate for a big buy after falling short in their bids for Mitchell Starc and KL Rahul, among others. They had only bought Liam Livingstone at that point, and they still had INR 74.25 crore remaining. KKR had failed to bring back Shreyas and had also fallen short in their bid for Rahul. They had INR 51 crore left. Both teams needed a top-order Indian batter, and most of the big names were not available to fight over.While not the biggest name, Venkatesh is one of just seven Indian batters to have scored 500-plus runs at an average of over 30 and a strike rate over 150 in the past two seasons. The other six had all been retained. That might explain why RCB, who withdrew before reaching the INR 11 crore mark in the bidding for Rahul, were willing to go so much higher for Venkatesh.Also, KKR wanted to retain as much of their IPL 2024 winning squad as possible, and having missed out on both Starc and Shreyas, they really wanted Venkatesh, who might also be a captaincy option.How did the new RTM rule impact the auction?For one, it assured Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history, as many had predicted before the auction.Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had the initial bid for Pant at INR 20.75 crore in their favour, but DC triggered their right-to-match (RTM) option. With the new rule, LSG had one further opportunity to raise their bid, which they did to INR 27 crore (US$3.17 million approx.), and DC felt that figure was too high.ESPNcricinfo LtdShashwat Goenka, one of the LSG owners, explained that INR 27 crore was not a “magic number” but a figure arrived at after much thought that ensured DC would not buy back Pant.The new RTM rule was brought in to ensure players get what they deserve, though several franchises were not in favour of it. And there were several other beneficiaries of the new RTM rule.Noor Ahmad saw his price doubled as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) upped their final bid of INR 5 crore to hold Gujarat Titans (GT) away. Jitesh Sharma fetched an extra INR 4 crore as RCB went up to INR 11 crore to make PBKS withdraw their RTM option. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) raised their bid of INR 15.75 crore to INR 18 for Arshdeep Singh, which PBKS matched. And it was PBKS doing the raising for Jake Fraser-McGurk, from INR 5.50 crore to INR 9 crore, which DC matched. Uncapped seamer Rasikh Salam went for INR 6 crore after DC used their RTM option and RCB raised their bid from INR 2 crore to INR 6 crore. Similarly, Harshal Patel, Rachin Ravindra and Naman Dhir also saw their prices go up after the RTM option came into play.1:35

New RTM rule makes Noor Ahmad’s price zoom

In all, just four RTM options were used successfully on day one of the auction, since many teams were priced out by the last bidders. Expect that to be a factor again on the second day.Why did Starc get less than Hazlewood, Boult and Archer?Starc, the most expensive buy at the IPL 2024 auction at INR 24.75 crore, went for just INR 11.75 crore (US$1.40 million approx.) this time. While he did leak runs at times last season, Starc did produce the key breakthroughs in the playoffs for title-winners KKR. That he and Kagiso Rabada (INR 10.75 crore or US$1.28 million approx.) went for less than some of the other overseas quicks probably had more to do with their entry point at the auction than quality. Starc and Rabada were in Set 1, when teams were still saving their purses for the big Indian names coming up in the next few rounds.RCB, who eventually bought Josh Hazlewood for INR 12.50 crore (US$1.49 million approx.), were clearly waiting for KL Rahul and Venkatesh and therefore stopped their bidding after a point for Starc. Once they could not secure those Indian players, though, they went all-in for Hazlewood.Similarly, Mumbai Indians (MI), who were bidding for Rabada, were waiting for Indian players such as Ishan Kishan. Once they hit the fast bowlers’ set with no buys yet, they bid hard for Hazlewood, Jofra Archer and finally Trent Boult, whom they got at INR 12.50 crore.2:26

‘Combination of Boult and Bumrah is mouth-watering’

Did overseas quicks go at a premium again?As usual, overseas quicks were in high demand. This is despite there also being a good supply of Indian quicks. Apart from Arshdeep, who was the first player to go under the hammer at the auction and on whom PBKS used an RTM, only Mohammed Siraj (INR 12.25 crore) broke the INR 12-crore barrier among Indian quicks on day one. T Natarajan, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna earned deals in the INR 9-11 crore range, all falling outside the top-six most expensive pacers.As a result of teams targeting overseas quicks, overseas top-order batters appeared to go at budget prices. Apart from Jos Buttler, who went to GT for INR 15.75 crore (US$1.88 million approx,), and Phil Salt, who went to RCB for INR 11.50 crore (US$1.37 million approx.), no overseas top-order batter crossed the INR 10-crore mark. Only one other top-order batter made the overseas top ten on day one – Fraser-McGurk, on whom Capitals used an RTM to get him for INR 9 crore (US$1.07 million approx.).The rest of the overseas top ten included allrounder Marcus Stoinis, Noor, and five seamers. Glenn Maxwell, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra all went in the INR 4-7 crore range, while David Warner went unsold.ESPNcricinfo LtdDid big-name Indian players command a premium?Indeed. Perhaps even more than expected.Just the top five Indian buys – Pant, Shreyas, Venkatesh, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep – went for INR 113.50 crore (US$13.4 million approx.) combined. Add in the next five – Rahul, Siraj, Kishan, Jitesh and Natarajan – and that made it 36.92% of the total spend by the teams on day one of the auction.That’s more than a third of the total spend on just ten players.In contrast, the top-ten overseas players went for 25% of the total spend on day one.Clearly, a lot of teams had come in aiming to spend big on a few players and fill in the squad with budget buys later. PBKS, the team with the biggest purse coming into the auction, had this strategy. They used around 57% of their INR 110.5 purse on just three players: Shreyas, Arshdeep and Chahal.LSG spent nearly 40% of the purse on Pant, while KKR spent more than 46% of theirs on Venkatesh. Even SRH, who came in with one of the smallest purses, were willing to fork out nearly half that on the duo of Shami and Kishan.

With the ODI World Cup around the corner, a formidable batting line-up is taking shape

Srinidhi Ramanujam11-May-2025With the conclusion of the women’s tri-nation series in Colombo, it seems like India have reached a moment of clarity. It’s something that the captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the head coach, Amol Muzumdar, have been working towards for a while. A year ago, India weren’t entirely sure of the make-up of their batting line-up. Now, just as a home ODI World Cup is around the corner, their top seven is locked.Colombo has arguably been the most challenging venue for India in the last six months, where batters’ temperament and endurance were tested in the extreme heat. But they responded remarkably in this tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa. India posted at least 275 runs four out of five times, and that includes the 342 for 7 in the final. They are showing signs that they are no longer dependent on Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet for the bulk of their runs.”Definitely proud of the entire team, the way we played today,” Harmanpreet said. “Especially our batters, they played good cricket and that’s what we discussed in the beginning that if we won the toss, we will bat and we will look for a really good total on the board and really happy the way we batted today.””A lot of positives, especially the other batters the way they have batted, in the last game Jemimah [Rodrigues] had a knock of hundred, and Harleen [Deol] kept batting for the team and Pratika [Rawal] too and Deepti [Sharma]’s all-round performance and Sneh Rana’s bowling efforts.”Over the past two weeks, India have shown the ability to ride out tough periods with the bat and make their moments of supremacy matter.The 3-0 loss to Australia in Mumbai last December might have been the wake-up call. Since then, India have played 11 ODIs and lost only one. This run has been built on a batting line-up that is pushing itself to new heights. In six out of the eight matches that they’ve had to set a total, they’ve made over 300.Pratika Rawal averages 63.80 after her first 11 ODIs•SLCIn the series opener against Sri Lanka, when India were asked to chase a target of 148, they did so with nine wickets and nearly 10 overs to spare. Rawal scored an unbeaten fifty, and would go on to score another, continuing her extraordinary run of form since making her debut last December. She is averaging 63.80 after 11 ODIs.Is this the way forward for India, without Shafali Verma? Maybe. Despite a strong showing at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) earlier this year, Shafali was left out of the tri-series. She has also churned out runs with remarkable consistency in domestic cricket since being dropped from the India squad last November. But, for now, India are happy to let Rawal have her run.There was a bond of trust when Rodrigues was handed a role in the middle order. It’s the sort of trust that has survived setbacks.She started her ODI career as a top-order batter, but two years ago, India needed something different from her. They knew Rodrigues, a player of talent and maturity, was capable of batting at any position. But she struggled to find her feet in this new position and had a forgettable 2024: she could muster only 329 runs in 12 innings, only one fifty-plus score.Jemimah Rodrigues on her success in 2025: It’s just the confidence I have and more than that, just me understanding my game•SLCThe new year brought a new Rodrigues. She notched up her maiden ODI hundred against Ireland in January and followed it up with 245 runs in this tri-series – India’s second-most productive batter behind Mandhana. Overall in 2025, she has 360 runs in seven innings. It is evident that she has worked on her strike rate (up to 115 this year from 91 last year) and fitness in the process.”I just want to keep going. The main target is the World Cup,” Rodrigues would say after her second ODI century, against South Africa, a few days ago. She went on to explain that “it’s just the confidence I have and more than that, just me understanding my game. Usually, I used to play 4-5 dot balls, get panicked and throw my wicket. But now, I think that sense of calmness is there and you know, I can make [it] up. And at the same time, a lot of T20 cricket has helped me play in different leagues, in different conditions. It has helped me and given me a belief and a trust in myself. I know that in any condition and any situation, I am well able to deliver what the team requires.”Rodrigues is becoming India’s rock in the middle order.As far as the finishers are concerned, the team has been banking on Richa Ghosh, but they will be more than pleased with Deepti’s 93 against South Africa earlier in this series. It was her first fifty-plus score in ODIs since her unbeaten 68 against England at Lord’s in 2022, and India would be hoping that the senior allrounder carries this form forward.Harleen Deol has helped India find stability•BCCIThe next big box that was ticked is India’s No.3. After trying out Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia, Priya Punia, and D Hemalatha, Deol was slotted in at one-down during the home series against Australia last December. Since her comeback, she has played 14 innings and has done fairly well – 511 runs at an average of 39.30 including a match-winning century against West Indies. In this tri-series, Deol’s top score of 47 came in Sunday’s final against Sri Lanka.Through all this, Mandhana kept doing Mandhana things, which doesn’t come as a surprise anymore. Perhaps it’s even underappreciated because of her mind-boggling consistency. Her 11th ODI century on Sunday propelled India to 342 for 7 in the title clash, which was too much for Sri Lanka as they eventually lost by a margin of 97 runs. She has accumulated 1260 ODI runs in 21 innings since the start of 2024, the most for a batter in this period. This includes six centuries and five fifties. The second best on this list is Hayley Matthews, with 851 runs.Five different India batters made a score of fifty or more over the course of the tri-series. It is a welcome development for a team facing some more big tests.India’s next assignment will be a long tour of England in June-July where they are scheduled to play five T20Is and three ODIs in vastly different conditions compared to Colombo. But for now, they will be content having ticked a lot of boxes in the batting.

Afy Fletcher says tourists want to “really come out on top in one or two games” against new-look England side

Valkerie Baynes21-May-20251:37

‘The minute you slip, you side’ – Afy Fletcher

Last time they met in a T20I, West Indies ended England’s World Cup campaign in the group stage, sparking a slide that led to a new England coach, captain and squad changes.Since then, West Indies have suffered heartbreak of their own after missing out on qualifying for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year, leaving them searching for a way to hit back on their first engagement since, a tour of England which starts with three T20Is from Wednesday.Afy Fletcher, the West Indies legspinner who has played 93 T20Is and 84 ODIs, believes that while it will take some time yet for her side to recover from the disappointment of missing out on the next global tournament, another win or two against England could put them back on track.Related

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“It’s really, really difficult, it’s really heartbreaking to be honest,” Fletcher tells the ESPNcricinfo Powerplay podcast ahead of the first T20I in Canterbury. “This one really touched everyone.”It was only one chance with each game and the minute you slip, you slide, and that’s what happened. Then the mood was really, really emotional after that last game and, to be honest, it’s going to take a while to get over it, especially when you see the World Cup happening, that’s going to be very sad.”But you learn, you live and you learn from your mistakes. We went to the drawing board and had chats and hopefully that will help. I know that our psychologists have been made use of after that moment.”So I hope we can build and move past that and take the positives to move on, build again from here, from this series going forward and keep expanding on our skills and our knowledge and that it can move us forward together as a team.”T20 cricket is the most brutal format in terms of requiring players to take their chances.England found that out to their peril when they put down five catches in the last encounter between these sides as Qiana Joseph and captain Hayley Matthews broke the back of a modest run chase in Dubai to reach the World Cup semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions New Zealand.Joseph and Matthews are both in England although West Indies are without big hitters Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry. Uncapped Jahzara Claxton, the 19-year-old fast bowler, and 20-year-old allrounder Realeanna Grimmond have been called into their squad in the only changes since last month’s World Cup Qualifier.