Mashrafe Mortaza has hobbled from injury to comeback all through his career. Now 29 and ten operations later, he is back again, and aiming to make it count

Mohammad Isam19-Apr-2012One of the more difficult tasks for a reporter sitting in the press box at the Shere Bangla Stadium, the highest point of the arena, is keeping track of players as they get in and out of the dressing room. The numbers on the players’ backs help a bit, but with someone like Mashrafe Mortaza, it is a disagreeable chore. You don’t want to be the one telling everyone that he has hobbled off, again.In the Asia Cup game against Sri Lanka there were tell-tale signs of distress; he held his calf, bent down a few times, trying to get the blood flow going in his knees, and walked off once or twice. If he couldn’t complete his full quota of ten overs, Mushfiqur Rahim would have the chore of finding another option. But Mashrafe trudged back from the viewing area with some more strapping on his right knee, bowled two spells of two overs each, and finished with a two-run, two-wicket final over as the innings closed with a ball to spare.Mushfiqur asked Mortaza to talk to the side during the break. It was the game that would take Bangladesh into what was only their second tournament final. On a day when inspiration is needed, who better to give the team a boost than a man who has had seven operations on his knees and three on his ankles?Bangladesh’s surprising run at the Asia Cup had a few unsung heroes, and while Mashrafe was one of them, the fact that he had recovered enough to play was startling in itself. Not many would have thought it possible when he sat with journalists between fitness sessions late last year, when Bangladesh were preparing to play West Indies and Pakistan.What followed was a meticulously achieved recovery that went against the grain of what Mashrafe is like as a person. “I was wild back in the day,” he told ESPNcricinfo during a break between fitness sessions in Mirpur. “Never gave two hoots about injuries. I didn’t give any importance to proper time to recover.”I think such positivity helped me. Some might think I’m crazy, but I think if I am not this positive, I wouldn’t be able to come back every time.”Trust Mashrafe to come up with such a pearl. Over the years he has been among the team’s characters, a man who is always comfortable when he is himself: devil-may-care out in the field (he once dived head-on towards the boundary though there was a roller standing just beyond), and impetuous off it.But the strain of a seventh knee surgery (three on the right knee, four on the left) and the strenuous 11-month rehabilitation that followed seem to have altered his brisk ways. Or has it been fatherhood? “Maybe I am changing,” he says, “though I cannot express it to you. I spend a lot of time at home.”Everyone who has played with him knows there are no half-measures from Mashrafe. After playing in the ODIs against Australia last year, he went under the knife in May, fully intending to play for Bangladesh again. It wasn’t going to be anything less for him, and with lots of help from Vibhav Singh, the team physio, and trainer Grant Luden, encouragement from the coach, Stuart Law, and adjustments by Shane Jurgensen, the bowling coach, Mashrafe gingerly became match-fit. His appearance in a Dhaka Premier League game for Bangladesh Biman marked the final stage of his recuperation.Late in January this year, Mashrafe’s strapped-up knees took the heat of batting low down the order, bowling four overs and fielding inside the circle. As is his wont, he hammered a huge six, and slid and dived around – though at least he didn’t ask the captain to be allowed to bowl more, as he had been told to strictly watch how much load he put on his legs.

“Sometimes I feel it is an addiction, love. We are professionals but when we walk out together and stand for the national anthem, such a moment can’t be bought with money”

He slowly graduated to bowling more overs in the 50-over competition, and tested his new limits during the Bangladesh Premier League T20s, where he played 11 games in 19 days. There were no more hiccups before the Asia Cup, a tournament he had set his sights on the day he and Vibhav sat down and decided when he would like to return to international cricket.As he sat inside the viewing area and looked out, Mashrafe spoke about how happy he was just to walk out and play for the country again. “I remembered thanking the Almighty several times that day as I walked out, but more than that I was feeling very proud of myself. I have worked 11 months for this. I wanted to hold on to this.”Sometimes I feel it is an addiction, love. It changes with time. We are professionals but when we walk out together and stand for the national anthem, such a moment can’t be bought with money. Cricket now has IPL, BPL and many other things, but there’s no comparison to this. Money has no place in this. I sometimes feel that I would play for Bangladesh without money,” he said.Having said that, one of his previous returns from injury, in March 2010, wasn’t exactly happy. “It wasn’t a dressing room like it is now. I have played for ten years, so I can say what’s happening in a dressing room as soon as I step in. At the time there was a lot of self-centred behaviour. The difference was like chalk and cheese, with the same group of players.”I feel the dressing room is the mother of cricket. If the home is not in shape, cricket won’t be good. If we can’t enjoy each other’s company… I felt it was missing at the time. But this positive spirit was present in this tournament,” he said.

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At times Mashrafe is the only cricketer working in the small gym in the empty stadium. He doesn’t want to throw away what has been his best recovery till date.”Our next challenge will be to prepare him for Test matches,” said Vibhav. “I think when we started off, I looked at his history and realised that with a proper recovery programme, he still has five-six years of cricket left in him.”It was not just the fitness side of things – someone like Shane Jurgensen, he made sure Mashrafe’s run-up and follow-through were streamlined and corrected.””I have never had the perfect physio or the best guideline,” Mashrafe said. “I was misguided early on during this injury but I had a very good understanding with Viv. I have worked with him for the last six months.”I am not used to my body so far. I need to gain better fitness for one-day cricket. I haven’t played Tests for two-three years and I’ve had three operations to play limited-overs. I have that in mind, so I am estimating a return to Test cricket further down the line,” he said.The original Bangladeshi tearaway, Mashrafe has missed 32 Tests, 94 ODIs and five Twenty20 internationals over the last 11 years. The image of Grant Flower jumping while facing Mashrafe is still fresh in the minds of those who watched him on debut at the Bangabandhu National Stadium all those years ago. One remembers also the sight of him with a fully strapped up leg, taking lessons from Mohsin Kamal on the correct way to pivot, a year later, after his first knee operation went bust due to a subsequent fall. Both are classic Mashrafe images: he doesn’t give a damn about his body when he’s fit, but when he gets hurt, he will do anything to put it back in shape. It has made him the quintessential symbol of a daring Bangladesh side.

Azhar Mahmood is not as flashy as Shahid Afridi but he was far more reliable and won the day for Auckland in the most emphatic of ways

Firdose Moonda in Centurion10-Oct-2012There was something symbolic about Azhar Mahmood slog-sweeping Shahid Afridi onto the grass embankment at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The shot brought up Mahmood’s half-century, ensured Auckland would seal a big win over Hampshire and secure a spot in the main draw of the Champions League. It also made a small statement about Mahmood’s prowess when compared to that of his countryman.Afridi is thought of as one of the top Twenty20 allrounders. He can smoke the ball a long way, demolish stumps and has the attitude to match the boom-boom. In contrast, Mahmood has spent a long time being under-rated, but he is massively efficient. He was Kent’s player of the season in 2011, and ended IPL 2012 with 186 runs at an average of 23.25 and 14 wickets at 23.50 for Kings XI Punjab.On Wednesday, against Hampshire, Mahmood became only the sixth player to take five wickets and score a half-century in a Twenty20 match. Any MVP status he would have had must have increased exponentially in those few hours, with scouts from the world’s Twenty20 leagues taking notes, but for Auckland it was a performance they always saw coming on a big stage.”This is how Azhar has played for us in our domestic competition and we think he is a world class allrounder,” Auckland captain Gareth Hopkins said. “He brings a confidence and a security for our batsmen and he understands how to go about setting and chasing a total. That experience with our younger batters is great.”Mahmood’s ushering of Auckland through a fairly straightforward chase was the most notable difference between his performance and that of Afridi. Mahmood was beaten by the first ball he faced, and took seven more to settle in. Afridi tried to pull the first ball he faced, which was not short enough. And the second. And the third.He was beaten on his fourth attempted pull as well, and was caught at mid-on. The bowler? Mahmood. He worked out Afridi’s plan, kept bouncing him, and got his reward. Afridi has not been in top batting form recently. In six matches at the World Twenty20 he managed a top score of 14 against India, but his reputation as someone who dictates the course of a match by sheer willpower precedes any notion of form.Afridi can come off without warning and today would have been an ideal occasion to do so. With Hampshire struggling with the bat, Afridi’s urgency to get on with it was understandable. His method was not. Juxtapose his flashy attempts with Mahmood’s level-headed grind and the differences between the two are highlighted.Afridi is a show jumper, the kind that is not spurred by the sight of a bar placed too high but by the thought of it. He does not always respond to calls to action but he always thinks he will, and that is what makes Afridi so entertaining. When his thought process and his actions are in sync, there is no other cricketer in the world who is more arresting to watch.Mahmood is the workhorse. Season after season, he has produced. Not of all it has been good produce. Just like in this innings, where he got lucky when he charged Liam Dawson and managed to get the ball just over midwicket, Mahmood has not always had it good. He fell out of favour with Pakistan and is not an automatic choice when discussing reliable, talented, go-to players.As a measure of how forgotten his vast experience can be, consider that when Hopkins asked every member of his dressing room who had played at the Wanderers before, he also put the question to Mahmood. “Yes, I’ve been here before,” he answered calmly. “I scored a Test hundred here.” Mahmood’s 136 against South Africa in February 1998 came a week before he brought up three figures in Durban as well.Even the Hampshire Dimimtri Mascarenhas, whose fury with the pitch could not be masked, had a kind word for Mahmood. “It was a great performance and he is a class cricketer even though he is a bit slow in the field these days,” Mascarenhas joked. “And he is also a genuine bloke.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the third day at Headingley as England fought back

George Dobell and Firdose Moonda at Headingley04-Aug-2012Ominous moment of the Day
Jonathan Trott was on 23 when he played forward to a good length ball from Jacques Kallis only to see it take off and, having hit the edge of his bat, climb far over the slip cordon and down to the third man boundary. It was an alarming moment for Trott but, bearing in mind that it occurred as early as the first session of the third day, also an intriguing moment. It suggested that batting on the fifth day, when the uneven bounce may well have become more apparent, could be extremely problematic.Drop of the Day
Kevin Pietersen was on 52 when he attempted to work a delivery to from Morne Morkel aimed into his rib cage into the leg side, but instead gave a fiendishly sharp reaction chance to Hashim Amla at short leg. Rarely do such catches stick, but when Pietersen is in this sort of form, such chances can prove crucial.Dismissal of the Day
There are a couple of choices here. Ian Bell’s dismissal was hideous from an England perspective but, because he was well set, Trott’s was even uglier. Trott has a well-deserved and hard-earned reputation as one of the hardest men to dismiss in world cricket. He has become England’s version of The Wall; perhaps he should be called Hadrian? But here a lack of foot movement and a propensity to fiddle outside off was punished as he guided a catch to first slip. It was the contrast with South Africa’s batting that was most stark: while South Africa sold their wickets dearly and, through discipline and application, refused to be drawn into such strokes, Trott allowed himself to be ground down and fell in an uncharacteristically soft manner. Tellingly, he was the eleventh England right-hander to be dismissed by seam bowling in the series, with Hawk-Eye showing that only two of those deliveries would have hit the stumps.Milestone of the Day
When Pietersen clipped a delivery from Imran Tahir into the legside and ran a single it took him not just to 85 in this innings but to 7,000 Test runs in his 88th Test and his 150th innings. While 15 men have reached the milestone in fewer innings – Wally Hammond leads the way having made it in 131 innings – no-one has done it more quickly in terms of time. It took Pietersen just seven years and 14 days, a statistic that speaks volumes not just for Pietersen’s excellence but also for the relentless schedule of which he is so dissatisfied.Oddly poignant moment of the Day
Now then, now then, now then… Several great Yorkshiremen have been present at this Test, Geoffrey Boycott, Brian Close and Ray Illingworth among them. But it was an idiosyncratic Yorkshireman, who passed away last October, who inspired the oddest moment of the day. Even if it was odd, however, it was strangely pleasing. Sir Jimmy Savile, DJ, TV presenter, wrestler and, most of all, charity worker and fundraiser died last October and was buried in Scarborough with his coffin tilted at 45 degrees so he could continue to admire the sea views. Here he was remembered by a conga line of around 30 lookalikes dressed in red shell-suits and white wigs in front of the Western Terrace at Headingley just after tea that was led by a mankini-wearing Borat figure riding on the shoulders of a smurf. While it may sound bizarre, it was also a strangely fitting tribute to an idiosyncratic but much-loved Yorkshireman.Warm-up of the Day
Bowlers usually warm-up an over or two before they are asked to come up but Tahir waved his arms about for almost 24 overs before the ball was tossed to him. From the 25th over of the day, when Philander removed Alastair Cook, Tahir started getting ready. He bowled almost two complete mock overs from the square leg position he was fielding in while the quicks went about their work. When that didn’t work, he decided to be more obvious and went to ground to do air bicycle exercises and warm up his legs. Still, Graeme Smith was unmoved. It was only at the start of over 49 that Smith introduced Tahir into the attack and for all his waiting, he started with a short and wide delivery that Kevin Pietersen drove off the back foot for four.Near collision of the Day
If Graeme Smith were to crash into Faf du Plessis, who do you think would come off second best? We almost learned the answer to that when the pair went chasing after the same ball after Pietersen had hoisted Tahir into the leg side. He sliced the gap between the deep midwicket and long-on and sent the two off after it. Smith, who was at long-on, got there milliseconds before Du Plessis, but fell over his own feet and almost tripped his team-mate in the process. Du Plessis had to swerve smartly to avoid falling but stayed on his feet and managed to save the boundary too.

Plays of the Day for the Champions League match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in Johannesburg

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers20-Oct-2012Shot of the day Only one six was scored in the first innings of the first match but four overs into the second, Chennai Super Kings had already trebled that count. The pick of the big hits was M Vijay’s shot over midwicket that went so high it hit the roof of one of the structures next to the open stand and bounced off into the apartment building that sits next to the stadium.Wicket of the day Faf du Plessis thrilled the Wanderers with some aggressive hitting in his a half-century but soon fell on his sword. He tried to pull Lasith Malinga for a six and was caught well in front of the rope by Rohit Sharma. Super Kings were going at 10 runs an over at that stage, but du Plessis’ dismissal caused a ripple effect and they managed only 10 runs in the next three overs, losing three wickets.Quote of the day Even though the match was of no consequence, there was still some analysis to be had. ESPNcricinfo columnist Harsha Bhogle, who is also on the commentary team, had this curious question. “How do you get an IPL team back into form?” he asked. When met with blank stares by the few remaining media, he answered it. “Play them against another IPL team.”Catch of the day Kieron Pollard smashed the first ball of the last over for a six, bringing the equation down to 13 off five balls and he looked set for taking Mumbai Indians home. He didn’t get his timing right on a lofted shot off the next ball and it appeared that the ball would fall short of the long-on fielder. But Suresh Raina ran in hard from the boundary and dived forward to get his fingers between the ball and the turf to get the big wicket.Catch of the day II Sachin Tendulkar may have made his last appearance at the Wanderers and he did something to remember. He took a stunning, tumbling catch on the deep midwicket boundary to ensure Albie Morkel was dismissed for a duck. Tendulkar had to run to his left and take the catch while moving but held on tightly and rose to cheers.Fight of the day Dinesh Karthik ensured the Mumbai Indians went down swinging and he did so primarily with the 19 runs he took off Ravindra Jadeja. All three of his boundaries were slogs over midwicket but the third was done on bent knee and with much more power than the rest.Game-changer of the day In a blaze of boundaries, Karthik and Pollard took Mumbai to the brink but Ben Hilfenhaus had the final say. He bowled a slower ball, which Karthik was ready to send into the stands but he played the shot too early and the ball hit his pad, rolled back and disturbed the stumps. Pollard stayed on but could not get Mumbai over the line.Regret of the day With one ball left to go, Mumbai could still have tied the match, with a six. The second match of the double header was the more exciting of the two and the one with a better quality of cricket. But, because the Lions had beaten Yorkshire in the earlier game, the result meant nothing in the context of the group or the tournament. Both Chennai and Mumbai are already knocked out but play one more match each before heading home.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the fifth day of the third Test at Lord’s

Firdose Moonda and George Dobell at Lord's20-Aug-2012Drop of the day
Most of the drops in the series have come with England in the field – nine to be exact – but South Africa have occasionally been guilty of the same. Jacques Rudolph was the culprit, when Jonathan Trott was drawn into the drive by Jacques Kallis. A slightly more difficult than regulation chance presented itself, Rudolph would have had to move to his left and stretch a touch but he was already heading in that direction when Trott got into position to play the cover drive. The ball squirted out of Rudolph’s grasp and ran away to third man for four. Trott was on 37 at the time and went on to almost double his score, a costly drop for Rudolph, if not ultimately significant.Celebration of the day
Imran Tahir was told to rein in his over-the-top celebrations as part of the new Gary Kirsten stable approach to success and failure but he could not hold back when he took the wicket that opened up England’s middle order. Jonny Bairstow should have gone forward to one that pitched on leg and turned across him but he stayed back and could not get his bat down in time to keep it out. Tahir charged away from his team-mates towards the pavilion, yanking his shirt at the point close to his heart. He stopped only when fairly close to pavilion and glared at it while his team-mates caught up with him. In the past, he would have run almost over the boundary so he showed some measure of restraint.Over-eagerness of the day
Vernon Philander had his best two days of the series and was so keen for it to continue that when he hit Trott above the knee roll he appealed vociferously and immediately thought it was out. His appeal was rejected but Philander did not even wait for Graeme Smith and made the T sign himself, asking for the review. Smith was so unimpressed with the bowler’s impulsiveness, he turned his back on him and went to consult with AB de Villiers, leaving Philander with his arms crossed. After a few seconds, Smith turned around again and shook his head, indicating he would not ask for the review and he was correct not to – the ball was bouncing over the top of leg stump.Key wicket of the day
If England were to have any realistic hope of chasing down a challenging target on the final day, they needed their most experienced batsmen to contribute a good chunk of the runs. Instead they lost Ian Bell early. Most galling was the manner of the wicket: Bell, ignoring the fact that the South African seamers were finding substantial movement, opted not to see his side through a testing first session, but flashed well away from his body and edged to slip. It was a loose shot of an experienced man of whom more was expected.Telling moment of the day
Graham Gooch sunk his head into his hands after the run out of James Taylor. Taylor was dismissed having been sent back by Jonathan Trott after attempting a fourth run. It was a moment that typified the way in which England, probably confronted by a superior foe, worsened their plight with a series of self-inflicted wounds.Revival of the day
Just when it seemed all hope had gone, England were revived through an outrageous stand of 74 in 66 balls for the eighth wicket between Graeme Swann and Matt Prior. Swann, counterattacking with bravado, smashed 41 in 34 balls but, responding to the sight of Prior bearing down on him, was forced into an unlikely single. JP Duminy’s throw was far from perfect but Imran Tahir, the bowler, collected neatly and hit the stumps with his own throw from close range to seal a tight run out that ended England’s last realistic hope of victory.Twist of the day
In the end it made no difference but Matt Prior won a remarkable reprieve that, for a time, provided another twist in a remarkable and absorbing game of cricket. It seemed Prior was out when, attempting to slash a delivery from Morkel through the off side, he scooped the ball to Duminy running in from the cover boundary. Prior was just feet away from crossing the boundary rope when a roar from the crowd alerted him to a shred of hope and he turned to find that Simon Taufel, the on-field umpire, had asked Rod Tucker, the third umpire, to check whether Morkel had overstepped and delivered a no-ball. Replays showed that he had and Prior, for a short while anyway, sustained England’s slim hopes.

Faf du Plessis displayed maturity and patience in his knock of 78, and seems to be the right man to take a South African middle-order spot

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval24-Nov-2012When Faf du Plessis scored his first runs in Test cricket with a crisply energetic drive through midwicket, he did not look anything like a man who was on the verge of being timed out a few seconds earlier.”I had an absolute shocker going down the stairs. My boot clipped one of the stairs and my whole foot came out. I had to kneel in front of the whole crowd while they were abusing me from both sides. My shoelaces were tied and my pad was in the way and I couldn’t get my foot back in. I was thinking I was going to get timed here,” he said later.His anxiety only deepened as he tried to negotiate getting his boot back on. “My foot slipped three-quarters of the way down and I thought I would have to run on like that and sort it out when I get there. Then my first step forward hit another step and I almost tripped. When I got on the field I thought it can’t go worse than that.”He was right. It went much better. Two balls later, he sent a low full toss to the boundary. The ball deserved it but to see du Plessis time it with such confidence and poise was a small sign that even if he couldn’t take steps down, he was on his way to taking one up.For the rest of South Africa’s time at the crease, du Plessis showed class and composure in a tough situation. Soon after he had arrived, South Africa were in trouble. AB de Villiers had been dismissed, Jacques Kallis was not ready to bat and the lower order was exposed. With that pressure on his shoulders, du Plessis did not look tentative and showed why he said as early as last week that he was ready for Test cricket.He knew, when he took over JP Duminy’s role at No. 7, that he would have to be a bridge between the top-order batsmen and the rest, something he had done for Titans before he was moved up the order last season. It would require a fine balance between protecting the vulnerable and adding enough to the total.For the first period, he concentrated only on the former. “I knew it was just for me to hang around with the tail,” he said. “For us it was just a case of being in the middle, it didn’t really matter about the runs, we had to occupy the crease.”A nervy ten overs could have du Plessis thinking he wouldn’t be able to manage that. Dale Steyn and Rory Kleinveldt did not prove able partners, though du Plessis looked capable of holding his own. Panic could so easily have set in and a few edges hinted at it, but largely, it stayed away.The sight of Kallis walking in at No. 9 almost shunned it because du Plessis knew he would have the opportunity to build a reasonable stand. “When Jacques came in the nice thing for me was to have his experience. I had a few questions that I threw his way and he was really good about helping me,” du Plessis said.Still, it would be the kind of partnership that would require a completely different gameplan for him. Kallis’ injury meant he was inhibited in running between the wickets. Du Plessis is the kind of batsman who would tire most partners and always looks for snappy singles which he then tries to turn into twos. Today, he had to rein that instinct in. In the 40 minutes before lunch, du Plessis and Kallis ran only four singles and Kallis sent du Plessis back three times. Overall, 17% of their 93-run stand came in singles.”I couldn’t just get singles because I really thought of his injury,” du Plessis explained. “It felt like we would either have to get a dot ball or a boundary but after a couple of overs, we settled in and got used to it. It was actually quite nice, because we could just stroll through the wickets. Usually I am always trying to sprint.”He was particularly impressive on the drive, but what could prove most significant about this du Plessis innings was a display of temperament. When Kallis departed, when he was hit on the hand by Siddle, when he was dropped at mid-wicket, he fought it out and rode his luck. When he could sense that the end of the innings was near, and there was only one wicket left, he launched a few to get South Africa as close as he could.His was an innings that stood in stark contrast to the one of Jacques Rudolph’s earlier. Though Rudolph had taken South Africa to safety on the second evening, he did not last too long on the third morning.Rudolph showed a distinct lack of awareness when he drove Nathan Lyon three times in three overs, twice at great risk. The first time, he moved well to the pitch of the ball and got a four through extra cover. The second time he survived hitting it in the air. The third time, he didn’t. That made it the sixth time in the last seven innings that Rudolph has been dismissed by an offspinner, a worrying trend.With AB de Villiers yet to make a meaningful contribution with the bat as he continues to don the wicket-keeping gloves , South Africa look a little suspect beyond their top four in the line-up. The sensible tactic would be to relieve de Villiers of the extra burden, bring in a specialist keeper and revert back to a six batsmen strategy. At the moment, they only have five in form although they are fielding seven.Although Kallis’ injury could delay such a change, it seems inevitable that it will happen. When that day comes, it will mean one of Rudolph or du Plessis may have to go. After the first innings in Adelaide, it seems clear which one that should be.

At the Gabba, Australia opener Ed Cowan not only staved off Test cricket’s best bowling attack, he flourished against them

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane12-Nov-2012Ed Cowan is on Australia’s $50 note. Ed-ith Cowan, that is. Edward Cowan, as his parents still call him, might not have risen to such eminence as the first woman elected to an Australian parliament, but his currency gained significant value on the fourth day at the Gabba. His maiden Test century, an innings of 136 against the world’s best attack, and one which only ended via an unfortunate run-out while backing up, has proven that he belongs at Test level. And that he’ll stay there for some time.Cowan’s standing in Australia’s Test plans was apparent when he missed out on a central contract in June. Perhaps it was intended as motivation – if he played three Tests he would be automatically upgraded to a contract – but Cowan is not the kind of man who required extra incentive. Really, it was nothing more complicated than an accurate reflection of his status; in his first seven Tests he had done enough to hold his place in the side, but that was all.The challenge was for Cowan to show that he could be a viable long-term Test opener, not just a compiler of first-class runs. He has now done that. For 388 minutes at the Gabba, Cowan staved off Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Rory Kleinveldt, and if a man can survive for long periods against such a group, he is unquestionably of Test class. Notably, Cowan not only survived, he flourished.In the lead-up to this Test, Cowan spoke of his desire to bat with more intent than he did last summer. On debut on Boxing Day last year, Cowan made 14 runs in his first session of Test cricket. He went on to make 68 in nearly five hours at the crease. For a man trying to grasp his one chance at Test cricket, such an approach was understandable. But he entered this season with a different attitude.It was a simple plan hatched with the batting coach, Justin Langer. Before Australia’s final Test in the Caribbean in April, Cowan spoke to Langer about the best approach for a Test opener. The advice, from a supremely-qualified mentor who balanced defensive ability with stroke-making, was to “go out and play your shots”. Cowan did so in that last innings in Dominica, scoring 55 at a reasonable rate on a tricky surface.”I thought at the time that’s a pretty good blueprint, because it’s felt that in Test cricket more so than in domestic cricket, if you’re standing still, you’re a sitting duck,” Cowan said after scoring his maiden Test hundred. “I’m playing my best when I’m positive and have a good defence, rather than the other way around. I felt like I backed that up.”

Cowan’s willingness to pull and hook South Africa’s fast bowlers, and the way those shots flew off the middle of the bat, was notable. The short ball held no fears. His cover-driving was exquisite, his footwork, like everything else about his game, was balanced. For a Test opener, that’s the key word.

Cowan knows his own game inside out, as you’d expect of a man with more than 5000 first-class runs. And Cowan certainly put it to good use at the Gabba. True, the pitch was not offering much assistance to Steyn and Co, but they were dangerous enough to leave Australia at 3 for 40 on the third afternoon. Cowan watched deliveries closely, leaving those that had teased David Warner and Ricky Ponting into edges, and put away those that were available.His willingness to pull and hook South Africa’s fast bowlers, and the way those shots flew off the middle of the bat, was notable. The short ball held no fears. His cover-driving was exquisite, his footwork, like everything else about his game, was balanced. For a Test opener, that’s the key word. It is something his opening partner, Warner, has yet to master, despite showing signs of such judgment with his patient century against New Zealand in Hobart last season.Cowan also showed plenty of mental toughness. He started the final over before lunch on 98 and despite one hastily aborted single, didn’t do anything risky in pushing for triple figures before the break. Such delays can affect batsmen differently. Last year at the Gabba, Clarke went to lunch on 99 against New Zealand and calmly completed his ton upon the resumption. Three years ago against Pakistan at the MCG, Shane Watson was on 98 at lunch and brought up his hundred only after nervously sending a ball to point, where a simple catch was put down.Cowan’s nerves did not betray him. He brought up his hundred by pulling Vernon Philander confidently and his joy was obvious. There was a skip, a jump, a big smile and a raise of the bat to the crowd, and in particular to his wife, Virginia, and baby daughter Romy. There was also a look to the heavens, which Cowan later said was a nod to Peter Roebuck, his former coach and mentor, who died a year ago to the day.”I’m well aware of the date. I had a conversation with my wife this morning on an earlier than normal walk because I couldn’t really sleep,” Cowan said. “It was this day last year as well that started last season for me, having found out the news that he’d died. I was battling a little bit and that kick-started me. I was well aware of the date. That was why I looked skywards upon getting a hundred. He was a coach and a mentor and someone whose advice I valued dearly.”Roebuck would have enjoyed writing about Cowan’s hundred. Every spectator at the Gabba certainly enjoyed watching it.

From DravidFan, United States of America Someone referred to the “I” in Ganguly

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013DravidFan, United States of America
Someone referred to the “I” in Ganguly. Well, Ganguly is not Terrell Owens or the guy from the commercial who says “well, there is no V in team either” to the someone’s comment saying “there is no I in team”. However, Ganguly always felt he was royalty. I bet he still does. To me, Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar are much more reliable than Ganguly ever was, not to mention being humble.That said, what Ganguly brought to the table was aggression, albeit the baggage. He never gave up his lunch money and assumed the fetal position to any sledging or other nonsense from anyone. That attitude has been sadly missing for ever, with the exception of Sunil Gavaskar who once famously pushed Chetan Chauhan out of the field when he was upset with Lillee.To me, Ganguly so far has been the best Indian left hander I have seen. Gambhir has potential, but ways to go. The point of this rambling is that Sourav has lost a bit of my respect when he spewed the lava about his teammates and I assume Dhoni when he said changing hairstyles. I gotta think that Dhoni is the reason Ganguly was dropped from the ODI team.Lastly, we all know at some point TDLK (Tendulkar, Dravid Laxman, Kumble) will all be retiring (I sure hope so) before they get unceremoniously paraded out. I seriously think Kumble is playing his last test series, given that he is giving up runs faster than the speed of ganges.India should follow Australia’s footsteps, have the juniors ready to go (will not happen without TDLK mentoring the juniors) and ease them and have TDLK exit one at a time.

South Africa’s use of the world’s most experienced Twenty20 cricketer continues to baffle. Amid the third consecutive thrilling climax of the World T20, Albie Morkel cut a forlorn figure in field

Aashish Pattani25-Feb-2013South Africa’s use of the world’s most experienced Twenty20 cricketer continues to baffle. Amid the third consecutive thrilling climax of the World T20, Albie Morkel cut a forlorn figure in field. Brought back into the attack in favour of Johan Botha and JP Duminy – who had conceded 15 runs from a combined four overs – Albie conceded 20 in seven balls to Umar Gul and Umar Akmal that allowed Pakistan back into a contest they went on to claim.Albie’s contribution to the match – two overs for 26 runs, 9 off 6 with the bat, and a catch in the deep – hinted at a man who had not been an influential figure in the game. But sadly, it has too often been the case for someone who is the world’s first to reach 200 T20 appearances. Albie is also the second-most capped South African T20I player (he has played 41 games, only one fewer than his captain AB de Villiers). And yet, his near omnipresence on the team-sheet has been counterbalanced with near indifference when it comes to match contributions.In T20Is, he has been Man of the Match just twice – far less than similar players in other sides. By contrast, Shane Watson and Shahid Afridi have both picked up seven such awards. But it’s not his fault. Much of his lack of impact is due, arguably, to the South African management’s insistence to hold him back from the action. Their use of Albie the batsman is puzzling. Here’s a man who has the highest strike-rate (142.33) of any South African to play more than 15 matches, and has cleared the ropes 151 times in T20s – 53 more than the next best in the squad (JP Duminy). And yet, he has faced a mere 359 balls in 41 games. That is, on an average, around nine balls per game. Rarely has he been given the opportunity to spend time at the crease. On only four occasions has he faced more than three overs.And despite performing admirably when he has – passing 35 on each occasion – he’s too often been forced to wallow lower down the order. His strike-rate has actually declined the lower he has come in, falling from over 160 batting at No.5, to below 130 batting at No.8.Given this history it was a shame – but by no means a surprise – to see him walk to the crease with just 2.4 overs remaining in the South African innings against Pakistan. But for all South Africa’s talk of using Albie as an impact player, it is hard to argue that leaving him so late – behind even Farhaan Behardien, who is statistically inferior to Albie in every aspect of batting – was in the best interests of the team.Albie the bowler has proved no less frustrating. Given his bowling pedigree outside the international stage, possessing an economy rate hovering around 8, it is not surprising that his opportunities have been limited with the ball. But he has bowled just 92 overs in his T20I career.He’s also bowled more balls (551) than he has faced (359), despite having poorer returns as a bowler (economy 7.99) than as a batsman (strike rate 142.33). But as a bowler, he’s only completed his full quota nine times.On most occasions he has been asked to bowl two overs or less of his quota, and hasn’t picked up more than a couple of wickets in an innings. Outwardly, Albie doesn’t seem too fazed. Now into his 30s, evidently personally and financially secure as a cricketer, he rarely appears agitated at his lack of opportunities for his national team. Indeed, the fact that he has been such a regular selection for the South African team would provide him comfort that the management is at least cognizant of his abilities as a cricketer. But in the interest of getting the most out of his talent for the benefit of the team, the management must let him face more balls. Hashim Amla faced many more than that (529) in a single innings against England just a couple of months ago.Given South Africa have suppressed Albie’s impact for song long, it is unlikely they will change track. So even if they lift their first global trophy next Sunday in Colombo, we can fully expect Albie to pick up his medal despite being no more than a bit-part player.

Meet Mohit Sharma, one of the biggest surprises in the first half of this IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi04-May-2013Who has taken the most wickets in Powerplays during this IPL? A 24-year-old right-arm medium-pacer from Faridabad who plays for Haryana on the domestic circuit. His 11 victims include Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Yuvraj Singh, Brendon McCullum and Cameron White: all defeated by nagging accuracy.Mohit Sharma is unlikely to have been your top guess.”I feel really good if you look at the names. They are big players all of them,” Mohit said, a day after his three wickets helped Super Kings defeat Pune Warriors in Pune. “But when I charged in with the ball in hand, I never had in my mind who was in front of me.”It was his second three-wicket haul in the IPL. His first came against Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla, where he bowled a tight three-over spell, giving away just 10 runs. Two days after the Pune match, he played another influential hand, taking two wickets in the home encounter against Kings XI Punjab.He may be relatively unknown outside cricketing circles in north India but Mohit was one of the most consistent bowlers in this year’s Ranji Trophy, finishing the season as the fifth-highest wicket-taker. His 37 wickets came in just eight matches – his team, Haryana, semi-finalists in 2012, failed to make the knockouts this time.As news of his promise spread, talent-hungry franchises knocked on the door of Anirudh Chaudhary, the secretary of the Haryana Cricket Association. It is understood that three teams were keen to sign Mohit before Super Kings won the day.Sharma was one of five uncapped Indian domestic players Super Kings picked after a one-day bowling camp in Chennai in January. He was one of four fast bowlers – apart from Karnataka’s Ronit More, and Uttar Pradesh’s Imtiaz Ahmed and Ankit Rajpoot – shortlisted by Super Kings’ bowling coach, Andy Bichel.”Halfway into the Ranji season, I was told that there were chances that Super Kings might be interested,” Mohit said. “I was attending the fast-bowling camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore when I got a call from them.”About 5ft 11in tall, he has a smooth delivery stride and relies on the outswinger for his stock ball. He says Bichel, the former Australia fast bowler, has played an influential role, building his confidence from the outset. The biggest correction Bichel made – which is still a work in progress – was to Mohit’s body balance after he landed in his delivery stride; his body would be in an awkward position before he entered his follow-through.After Mohit’s match-winning spell against Warriors, his captain, MS Dhoni, spoke of how he was putting to use skills he had learned playing in Delhi’s competitive environment. A good example has been Mohit’s strategy against left-handers like David Warner and Yuvraj Singh on low and slow pitches like the ones at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi and Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.”Since both the pitches keep slightly low, my plan was to pitch the ball as close to the body of the batsman as possible,” he said. Warner played on, attempting a pull against the short ball, and Yuvraj was caught behind off a cut.Though he’s a newcomer, Mohit said he was under no pressure when he sat in the Super Kings dressing room for the first time. “No doubt I was excited, but I was only observing to begin with,” he said.Dhoni’s message to Mohit, at all times, has been clear: “The captain has always told me to keep things simple. The best method is to stick to a good line and not offer width, and bowl as many dot balls as possible, which would make things difficult for the batsman.”

“The biggest thing is: your attitude on the field is visible to everyone. So how you maintain your composure and perform in any situation is what matters”

Mohit hopes to use the lessons from the IPL to his benefit in domestic cricket. “The biggest thing is: your attitude on the field is visible to everyone. So how you maintain your composure and perform in any situation is what matters. Even off the field, I have learned that these big players are just normal and treat me as an equal. That is a very good feeling.”His grounded nature comes from the grooming he received at the Haryana Cricket Association. He is not the first Haryana medium-pacer to play in the IPL – Joginder Sharma played for Super Kings, and Harshal Patel was one of the architects of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s impressive 2011-12 season.What sets Mohit apart from his team-mates is his consistency, both in domestic cricket as well as in the IPL. For this, one must credit Haryana physiotherapist Amit Tyagi, who oversaw his fitness throughout the domestic season. Aware of Mohit’s stress-related issues with his shins, due to heavy workload, he managed the injury and recommended that Mohit be benched immediately after the Ranji season.The advice was taken, and Mohit travelled with the team for various tournaments but did not play any matches. The rest and constant monitoring by Tyagi were the two big factors that allowed him to report fit for the IPL.Ashwini Kumar, Haryana’s coach, believes that the two off-season camps in the cooler climes of Nainital have helped bowlers like Mohit a lot. He says Mohit’s strength has been his big heart, his ability to bowl according to match situations, and his ability to not get affected by what is happening around him – factors that have helped fast-track him into a strike bowler in a short period of time.Mohit played just three matches in his debut Ranji season in 2011-12, when Haryana entered the semi-finals. They followed that up with a terrible start to the season just finished – losing their first three home matches to Vidarbha, Orissa and Baroda, largely because of batting failures – but Mohit, who picked up 19 wickets in these matches, did his bit to force the opposition to work for their wins.”We were 55 and 66 all out in the first two matches and despite that Mohit made sure the opponents would not have an easy run to victory,” Kumar said. In Haryana’s fourth match against Delhi, again at home, Mohit claimed six wickets to help his team to an 83-run win.Mohit said his roles at Haryana and Super Kings, both in terms of motivation and responsibility, are similar. Bowling with the new ball has helped spare him the pressure in the IPL of coming on when teams have got going.He is not someone who experiments too much even when things are not going in his favour. “I try and stay within my limits,” he said. “The more you think about something, the more you will pile pressure. Do your job, listen to people, do your homework.”