Questions were raised about his lean patch, and he answered them in his trademark style, with a career-best 115-ball 143

Deivarayan Muthu in Mohali10-Mar-20193:39

Dhawan on dealing with scrutiny: I cut down on my negative thoughts

Shikhar Dhawan is a West Delhi boy who lives in Melbourne with his wife and kids. But he’s a proper Punjabi at heart, who can’t resist dancing to the .Dhawan and Virat Kohli – another West Delhi and Punjabi boy – showed off their moves during a tour match against Essex in Chelmsford last year, with men playing the geeing them up further.Punjab’s favourite son Yuvraj Singh once poked fun at Dhawan for wearing flip-flops during a team photo shoot. However, Dhawan replied saying he can turn on the style with slippers too.Questions have been raised about Dhawan’s prolonged lean patch since the Asia Cup, and he answered them in similar style: a career-best 115-ball 143 against Australia in Mohali. His Test career had taken off at this very venue in 2013, when he broke Australia and records.The celebration was back again in Mohali, and so was the smile for Dhawan. Since the Asia Cup, he had managed 377 runs in 16 innings at an average of 25.13 and strike rate of 80.04 until Sunday. Time was running out for him: India had just two ODIs before the World Cup and KL Rahul was breathing down his neck.Dhawan, though, turned it around in signature style. Ninety off his 143 runs (63%) came via boundaries. When the show ended, Dhawan drew a standing ovation from a lively Sunday crowd and a pat on the chest from his incoming captain. The Bharat Army sent him off with chants of “Gabbar! Gabbar! Gabbar!”However, in the early exchanges, Dhawan had struggled against the left-arm angle and swing of Jason Benhrendorff. He scored just one run off the first 10 balls from the left-arm quick, but then laid into the other bowlers after riding out that spell.Whenever Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson overpitched it, Dhawan leant into punchy drives and pierced the packed off-side infield. Aaron Finch had deployed his men at backward point, cover-point, extra-cover, and mid-off, but Dhawan still found the gaps. That he shuffled from middle stump – as opposed to leg stump – allowed him to reach the pitch of the ball.Shikhar Dhawan acknowledges the applause of the crowd•Getty ImagesAfter seeing the full balls being dispatched to the boundary, Australia’s bowlers pulled their lengths back, but Dhawan was ready with the hook. That the short balls came fairly slow off the pitch and sat up to be hit also worked in his favour.And Australia were missing Nathan Coulter-Nile – the one bowler who could have pounded the deck and extracted something out of this pitch. Coulter-Nile had returned home on the eve of the Ranchi ODI for the birth of his second child.Dhawan motored to his fifty off 44 balls with a front-foot punch down the ground off Richardson. His partner Rohit Sharma started slowly – he was on 8 off 22 balls at one point – but soon settled into his shot-making stride with a majestic lofted straight drive for six off Behrendorff."Both of us couldn’t convert [the starts] in a few matches,” Dhawan told during the innings break. “Today we were communicating a lot, I told him [Rohit] ‘take your time, no worries, we can cover up for the scoring rate later.’ If you saw, both of us were in the 90s at the same time.”Rohit gradually shifted gears and even outscored Dhawan as the opening stand swelled beyond 150. Before the fourth ODI, India’s opening stand had averaged well below 40 in 2019; in the past five years they had averaged more than 40. Rohit and Dhawan remedied that stat and India’s recent top-order wobbles with a stand of 193.”He’s a class batsman,” Dhawan further said of Rohit. “It’s about saying the right things at the right moment. It’s good to see another 150 partnership at the top of the order. That’s been our strength for the past few years. [We] would like to keep it going.”While Rohit missed out on a hundred, holing out in the deep for 95 off 92 balls, Dhawan pressed on to bring up his 16th ODI century – and his first since the Asia Cup last year. After reaching the landmark, Dhawan went berserk, muscling six fours and two sixes within the space of 12 balls, including 14 runs off three consecutive balls off Behrendorff in the 37th over.In the previous ODI at this venue in 2017, Rohit had shellacked a double-century against Sri Lanka. Could Dhawan emulate his opening partner? Nope, he lost his shape while going for a heave and was bowled by Cummins.But a welcome return to form in the lead-up to a global tournament, where Dhawan elevates his game to a different plane, has put (some of) the doubts to rest.

The allrounder’s journey to domestic cricket’s highest peaks has been all about two words tattooed on his arm: ‘Carpe Diem’

Saurabh Somani in Nagpur07-Feb-2019Aditya Sarwate is running because he’s pumped.Aditya Sarwate is roaring with that primal sound athletes make when they’ve scored a goal, hit a winner, made a breakthrough.Aditya Sarwate is mobbed by his team-mates.Aditya Sarwate is ecstatic because he has just taken out the opposition’s most dangerous batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara.And in the second innings, he’s going to do that whole routine again. Only this time, he’ll take even less time to send Pujara back.It’s been a miracle season for Sarwate. At the start of the Ranji Trophy final, a VCA official said, almost wistfully, “He would have had 50 wickets coming into this match, but couldn’t bowl in the semi-final.” At the end of the tournament, Sarwate had 55 wickets at 19.67, with a career-best match haul of 11 for 157 in the final. All this while being good enough to score 354 runs at 29.50, with a century.Man of the final, and if the award were given, then Man of the tournament too, surely.Sarwate has two tattoos on his arms – one of the and another that says “Carpe Diem”. Faith and a can-do attitude, two key ingredients in his rise.Cricket runs in his family. Grand-uncle Chandu Sarwate played nine Tests for India and was a legend for the erstwhile Holkar team, playing alongside the likes of CK Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali. Grandfather Shyam Sarwate has been a renowned Marathi radio commentator. Father Anand played for Nagpur University and Punjab National Bank.But when Aditya was three years old, his father met with an accident that left him needing a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Aditya had no siblings, and mother Anushree juggled the tasks of bringing up her son, keeping her job at the Syndicate Bank going as the family’s bread-winner, and looking after her husband.CS Nayudu, Shute Banerjee and Chandu Sarwate examine bats during a visit to Stuart Surridge’s bat factory•PA Photos/Getty ImagesGiven that background, it takes an uncommonly strong will to forge ahead with a career in cricket. Luckily for the young Sarwate, his family’s support was absolute.”If you don’t face tough circumstances, you tend to get complacent and start taking things for granted,” he reflects. “Obviously it was tough but more than me, my mother has made a lot of sacrifices and faced a lot of struggle. Not even once did she discourage me from playing cricket. When I grew up, I started helping her out in household chores and looking after my father whenever I could. But all credit to her. She did everything at home, gave me an upbringing, looked after my father, and even managed her job.”I don’t have any idol as such [in cricket] but I have seen my mother’s sacrifices. I always think if she can work so hard at this age, why can’t I do the same? Cribbing over small issues is not worth it. That’s what I have learned from her, so I consider her my idol.”Sarwate’s maternal grandparents lived with him in a joint family, so that helped, but his father still needs constant care, because although he can converse, he can’t get off his wheelchair. “He follows my cricket closely,” Sarwate says. “I am sure he will be very happy today. He was very pleased last year too.”Last year, Sarwate wasn’t part of the Vidarbha XI in every game, but in the six he played, his batting average was 47.14 and his bowling average 16.65. Those six games included all the knockout matches, in each of which he played a significant hand with either bat or ball. Rajneesh Gurbani’s sensational exploits in the semi-final and final meant Sarwate flew under the radar, but his team had noticed, and come 2018-19 he was a guaranteed starter.Playing the same number of matches as your age is commendable if you’re a teenager. If you’re 29, it’s a little underwhelming. If you look at Sarwate’s record – first-class batting average of 31.45 and bowling average of 18.46 – it’s bizarre. As in life, so too in cricket, and Sarwate had to battle the odds to cement a spot in the Vidarbha XI.”I never thought about it. I was never desperate to play first-class cricket – even now I am not desperate to play at a higher level,” Sarwate says. “I prefer to live in the moment. Yes, it does get to you when the wait for Ranji selection gets longer, it’s human nature. But you can only keep performing, wait for an opportunity, and then grab it.”Carpe Diem.Aditya Sarwate appeals for a caught-behind•PTI He began life as a batsman who could bowl part-time, taking the game seriously from the Under-19 level onwards. But even when he had broken into the Vidarbha side in 2015, he was, by his own admission, “focussing more on my batting”. Paras Mhambrey, then Vidarbha’s coach, counselled him to work on his bowling, and Sarwate himself figured out he needed to do just that.”I thought that since we have been playing with professionals who are primarily batsmen, there wasn’t much scope to play in top six. If I could focus more on my bowling, I could establish myself as an allrounder.”On the biggest domestic stage, he showed he retained both skills. In Vidarbha’s second innings, he walked in at 105 for 6, effectively 110 for 6, and pulled the team to 200 all out. While bowling, he had executed a well-thought-out strategy precisely to nail Pujara in the first innings.ALSO READ – How Vidarbha plotted Pujara’s downfallBut Sarwate would still have to bowl to Pujara once more. The man, after all, had made unbeaten scores of 67 and 131 in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to steer Saurashtra through tricky fourth-innings run-chases.In the first innings, Pujara had been drawn into an edge partly because the ball turned more than he expected. He would be vigilant enough to not let his hands follow the ball a second time – which is when Sarwate unleashed the one that went straight on. Delivered with the same action, same grip, same angle. Pujara naturally enough played for the turn, and was rapped in front. Game and set Vidarbha, and soon the match too.”I keep changing where I hold the shiny side of the ball,” Sarwate says. “Many a time, if you hold the shiny side on the right-hand side you get turn (away from the right-hander), if you hold it on the left-hand side towards the palm, the ball goes inwards,” Sarwate says. “So I keep mixing it up so that the batsman doesn’t understand when it’s going to turn and when it will go straight.”[Pujara’s] wicket is the biggest achievement for me. I am glad I could do it twice. If he had settled, we would have had to work really hard to win.”For Sarwate, that would have just been one more hurdle to clear.

In Sri Lanka, he is relentlessly looked down by the spinners, banished to some corner of the field. In Christchurch, Suranga Lakmal was a different beast

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Dec-2018To be Suranga Lakmal on Sri Lankan tracks is to be more or less relentlessly looked down upon by spin bowlers.Spinners to Lakmal: “Yes, we know you’ve played more Tests than most of the remainder of the attack, and of course your seam position is nice and your cutters are cute. But , look. You’re a ‘fast’ bowler. These are dry tracks. We’re all are glad that you ran in so hard and tried your best with the new ball. Oh, you got a little swing also? Really? Aney nice. But you run along now. Off to deep midwicket, . And don’t you worry your seam-bowler’s head – the big boys have got it from here. We’ll call you back if we need you. We’ll call you. We’ll call you.”Spinners amongst themselves: “Poor fellow, no, that Suranga? Must be thinking he will get another bowl in this innings. Anyway, what to do? Seam bowler, no? Not clever like us.”Over the five most recent Tests in Sri Lanka, Lakmal bowled a total of 63.3 overs. That’s roughly six overs per innings. In the vast majority of those occasions, he bowled a new-ball spell, and was virtually never heard from again. Imagine that. Being one of only four frontline bowlers in the XI, and yet, feeling like your main job is to bowl long enough to scratch up the leather on the ball to make it softer for the spinners’ delicate little fingers to comfortably hold. You are basically a utensil. Human sandpaper. Cameron Bancroft might have used Suranga Lakmal in Cape Town, if only he had been able to surreptitiously stash Lakmal away in his undershorts.What is truly remarkable, though, is that for four of those five Tests, Lakmal was himself the official captain, with Dinesh Chandimal either suspended or injured. In two of the eight bowling innings that Lakmal led, he did not bring himself on at all. In another, he bowled himself for a measly two overs.It is almost as if the spinners have taken him captive, and so long has he been under their dominion, that he has developed a warped admiration for his captors. A bowling Stockholm syndrome. “There’s not much point in me bowling myself on pitches like this,” he has said at more than one press conference. “Especially not when we have so many quality spinners around.”But on a Hagley Oval greentop, on Boxing Day, Lakmal broke the spell. He rediscovered self-worth. He puffed his chest out. He took ownership. He played as if his own bowling was much more macho work than a spinner’s could ever be, which it absolutely is. He even did what those self-important Sri Lankan spinners routinely do at home: bowl unchanged from an end through the duration of an entire session.Twelve straight overs of Lakmal just plugging away on that good length, some balls darting this way, others jiving in the opposite direction. Lakmal’s haul, before lunch, was four wickets for 18 from 12 consecutive overs. A full quarter of those overs were wicket maidens. He would later go on to complete a second career five-wicket haul.

In Sri Lanka, Lakmal is basically a utensil. Human sandpaper. Cameron Bancroft might have used Suranga Lakmal in Cape Town, if only he had been able to surreptitiously stash Lakmal away in his undershorts.

“With the start I got, I wanted to bowl even until they were all out,” Lakmal said after play. “I didn’t want to give anyone else the ball when I’m bowling that well. There are times when I almost forcefully kept the ball. And that’s what we talked about before the game – that like we give the spinners a chance in Sri Lanka, they also have to give us a chance in a place like this. If they can do it at home, we have to do the job away. The fast bowlers have to look to get the 10 wickets.”Soon as I got on the field today, I told Chandika Hathurusingha that I’d get five wickets in this match. So glad I was able to get there.”Two of the most devious deliveries in that opening spell got rid of two in-form left-handers: Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls. Latham got an away-seamer that he pushed at, and edged to second slip. Nicholls got one that connived the other way, surging between bat and pad to rattle the top of off stump. For the majority of his career, Lakmal has been a move-it-in-one-direction-only kind of guy, which sort of explains the career average (which is still above 40), and perhaps also the shortage of self-esteem.”Moving it both ways is not something I’ve always been able to do,” he said. “It’s what I’ve been working on in the last four or five months. I can put extra pressure on the batsman now, because he now has to think about two different balls. That really helped me get five wickets.”There will of course be more Tests in Lakmal’s career in which he is surplus to requirement. When the spinners will smile their condescending smiles and banish him to some corner of the field. But right now, at the front end of this long away season for Sri Lanka, Lakmal is experiencing something unfamiliar: the feeling of being desperately needed. On a pitch that suits him completely, he has responded well.If Sri Lanka’s batting collapses as dramatically as it threatened to do against the new ball on the first evening, perhaps Lakmal will be desperately needed again very soon.

De Silva was the standout player, scoring 89 and taking three wickets, while Jayasuriya produced the only century of the round

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Apr-2019Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Perera and fringe allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya all strengthened their cases for being picked for the World Cup squad with strong performances in the second round of the Super Four Provincial Limited-Over Tournament.Angelo Mathews played himself into some form too, and fast bowler Dhammika Prasad also put in a good show, raising the possibility – for the first time – that he could be a World Cup option.De Silva was clearly the standout player of the round. Coming in at No. 3 for Galle, he struck 89 off 76 balls against a Dambulla attack featuring Isuru Udana, Vishwa Fernando, Jeevan Mendis and Lakshan Sandakan, helping propel his team to 345 for 8, in Dambulla. Lahiru Thirimanne (82 off 96 as opener), Milinda Siriwardana (65 off 44) and Minod Bhanuka (44 off 36) also made substantial contributions to that total.As had been the case in the recent tour of South Africa, de Silva was also effective with the ball, taking 3 for 57, even though he conceded runs at 6.33 in his nine overs. Only Mathews could muster a half-century for Dambulla, making 78 off 84, as his team fell short by 76 runs.It was offspinning allrounder Jayasuriya, however, who produced the only century of the round, making 115 off 133 for Colombo in what turned out to be a nail-biter against Kandy. That Jayasuriya innings was supported by Angelo Perera’s 84 off 82 balls – the pair putting on a 138-run fourth-wicket stand to lead Colombo to 289 for 6 batting first in Pallekele.No World Cup hopeful put in an eye-catching performance for the Kandy side. Dimuth Karunaratne, who is being talked about as a captaincy option despite not having played an ODI in years, made 44 off 58 balls. The only batsman to cross fifty for Kandy was 24-year-old Sangeeth Cooray, who hit 82 off 100.Galle captain Lasith Malinga also extended his good run with the ball. Two days after taking 7 for 49 against Kandy, he took 1 for 32 off eight overs.

The crowd support, increasing with every day and every match, makes Mashrafe Mortaza’s men extremely useful tourists for the organisers

Mohammad Isam in Southampton22-Jun-2019Each time Bangladesh lost a big match till some years ago, the reaction of the die-hard fans was to go the win-hearts-not-trophies route. At this World Cup, though, Bangladesh are winning hearts and games. And they are gathering new fans with their performances on the field.Bangladesh have attracted full houses in London, Cardiff, Taunton and Nottingham. In rain-soaked Bristol, the house was packed despite the inclement weather. The main reason is obviously the increased expectations in the last four years, as well as the rise in the celebrity culture in Bangladesh cricket. That aside, there is also the small matter of wins over South Africa and West Indies, and good shows against New Zealand and Australia in losses. It is perhaps the underdog factor too; led by a captain who dusts himself off and returns to fight another day after yet another career-threatening injury, the team has an opener who has rejuvenated himself in the last four years, a freakish left-arm pace bowler, a plucky wicketkeeper-batsman, a quiet big-hitter and arguably the world’s best short-format allrounder.ALSO READ: How a surprise call from ‘hero’ Andy Roberts lifted struggling MashrafeNeutrals at most of Bangladesh’s matches have tended to support the overwhelming majority of supporters at the ground, the Bangladeshis. The Taunton crowd came up with a local song to cheer on Bangladesh’s chase against West Indies, while in Nottingham, there was much sympathy for them as they fell short of Australia’s mammoth total.Shahidul Alam, chief executive of Capital Kids Cricket, an independent body that supports grassroots and schools cricket in London, has been in the UK since 2008. He thought he had seen it all when fans of the tigers filled up the stands during the 2017 Champions Trophy. But the World Cup has come as a pleasant surprise.”There are thousands of cars in the highway but when you see another car with the Bangladeshi flag, and then another, all heading towards the ground, it just makes one proud,” Alam said. “I have been watching Bangladesh tour this country since the 2009 World T20s, but never have I seen so much support. I am sure most are passionate about cricket but it is more because of the Bangladesh team. It is now creating a fan base outside Bangladesh, where many expatriates and immigrants are turning towards cricket.”Normally it is all football when you live here, and British-Bangladeshis are also fond of it, but right now, I think cricket has taken over football, at least for us.”Bangladesh fans have come to the games from all around the UK•Getty ImagesAlam is hopeful that the surge in popularity for the Bangladesh team during the World Cup is going to translate to more participation among expat Bangladeshis in local grounds.”Usually the World Cups have an impact, but for those with Bangladeshi background, it will certainly have an influence on how kids get drawn towards cricket. This is the peak time. I don’t think I need to do anything,” Alam, who played representative cricket in Bangladesh in the 1990s before switching to coaching, said.He feels that the day might not be far when a cricketer of Bangladeshi origin turns up in the county circuit, as there are young cricketers impressing at the age-group levels. Robin Das, who plays for Essex Second XI, has caught the eye of scouts, while 15-year-old legspinner Tahmid Ahmed impressed Steve Rhodes, the Bangladesh coach, during a training session recently.Khaled Ebad Ullah, whose 17-year-old son Ahnaf Ullah bowls left-arm pace in the Staffordshire league, says that kids of Ahnaf’s age struggle to train for more than one day every week, apart from playing games over the weekend. There are studies, of course, plus it’s expensive. Only a county side can provide quality training for a longer period. But Khaled has figured out another way.”I hope to send him to Bangladesh to play competitive cricket,” he said. “I think he can compete with kids his age at the Under-18 level, and perhaps try out in those competitions too.”Ahnaf, for his part, is inspired by his Bangladeshi heroes, and he idolises Mustafizur Rahman. He has seen most of the World Cup matches and is wondering when he will see them again once the tournament is over.Mashrafe Mortaza, in the pre-match conference ahead of their Australia game in Nottingham, said that it was “disappointing” that Bangladesh don’t tour Australia at all. It is the same with England. Bangladesh’s previous bilateral series was in 2010, and there isn’t another one till 2023. With the growing fan base in England – extending to Europe, from where many fans have traveled for the World Cup – it is something for the boards to think about. Sold-out venues should be a message strong enough.

India beat Australia’s record of the most consecutive Test series wins at home

Bharath Seervi13-Oct-201911 – Number of consecutive Test series wins for India at home, which is now the longest streak for any side. The previous best was ten, with Australia achieving it twice: 1994 to 2001 and then between 2004 and 2008. India’s success streak began with the 4-0 win in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2012-13.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0 – Bigger Test wins for India against South Africa than the victory by an innings and 137 runs in Pune. The previous biggest, and the only innings win before, was by an innings and 57 runs at Eden Gardens in 2009-10. This was the second innings defeat for South Africa in this decade and both have come against India.30 – Wins for India under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, in 50 Tests. Only two captains have had more wins than Kohli in their first 50 Tests when leading. Steve Waugh had won 37 Tests while Ricky Ponting won 35. Kohli has 17 wins in 23 home games and 13 in 27 away Tests.54.08 – The difference in averages of fast bowlers of India and South Africa in this series. While India’s quicks have so far averaged 21.75, the visitors’ fast bowlers have gone at 75.84 runs per wicket. Opposition quick bowlers have never outplayed South Africa’s by this big a margin in any series since their readmission. The previous highest difference in averages was 24.71 in the 2001-02 series in Australia.

Highest difference in averages of fast bowlers in a series since SA’s readmission

Series Mat Wkts Ave SR Wkts Ave SR Ave DiffFreedom Trophy (South Africa in India), 2019/20 2 6 75.83 152.00 16 21.75 43.00 54.08South Africa in Australia Test Series, 2001/02 3 23 53.21 95.40 30 28.50 63.20 24.71South Africa in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2004 2 22 38.00 70.20 13 20.00 50.70 18.00Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2013/14 3 32 41.84 69.80 42 27.42 55.40 14.42Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2001/02 3 31 45.06 64.00 30 32.03 60.90 13.0335.80 – Average of South Africa’s bottom five partnerships in this series, including five 50-plus stands. In contrast, the top five wickets have averaged just 18.50 with a single partnership of over 50. The first five partnerships have lasted for an average of 39 balls per stand while the last five wickets have faced over 71 balls per stand. India’s top five wickets averaged a staggering 97.14 with five century stands.387 – Balls faced by Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander in their two partnerships in this Test – 109 off 259 in the first innings and 56 off 128 in the second. It is the second most by a South Africa pair for the last five wickets in any Test. Their two partnerships shared over 37% of all the deliveries faced by South Africa partnerships in this Test.

South Africa’s partnerships in this series

Inns Runs Ave Overs BpP 100s 50sFirst 5 wkts 20 370 18.50 130 39.00 1 0Last 5 wkts 20 716 35.80 238.1 71.45 2 3
9.83 – Umesh Yadav’s bowling average in this Test, having picked six wickets for 59 runs. Only three times before has an India fast bowler had a better average in a home Test while picking six or more wickets: Madan Lal’s 7.83 v England at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (1981), Ishant Sharma’s 8.28 v New Zealand in Nagpur (2010), and Javagal Srinath’s 8.50 v South Africa in Ahmedabad (1996).

The score was 93 for 4, then 130 for 6. You’d call most centuries from that situation gritty, or tenacious, but not a century from this dude

Andrew Fidel Fernando at the P Sara Oval24-Aug-2019So you think you have style. People compliment you on your outfits. You’re at a high-end hairdresser a couple of times a month. In between the visits, there is never a strand out of place. When you go out, you order the classiest drinks – spirits, neat. Your vehicle is the envy of your peer group, washed, waxed, vacuumed, scratch-free: immaculate. At weddings, you’re cutting up the dance floor, admirers staring from all corners of the room, the bride and groom feeling thoroughly outshone. It’s understandable. You are convinced you are smooth in civilian life. You think you’re the shit. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you’re no Dhananjaya de Silva. Next to him on a cricket field, you’re trash.The P Sara Oval is among the most testing venues on the planet, for batsmen. There’s a bit of pace, a bit of bounce, a bit of seam and swing, a bit of spin, and a lot of wickets. It’s been 16 years since the last drawn Test at this venue. De Silva arrived into a 93 for 4 situation, which quickly deteriorated into a 130 for 6 situation. A century from a No. 6, from here, would generally have to be gritty, and if you’re batting with the tail, farming the strike, and pushing the score out to much further than it should have got, your innings has got to be tenacious, right?But you’d never use these adjectives for this de Silva innings. You’d never use them for any de Silva innings. He slinks down the pitch, long-sleeved, limbs relaxed, a stream meandering in paddies. He strokes a lofted four over cover, raps gloves, goes back, slouches into his stance. Against the quicks, in this innings, he was majestically languid. They kept trying to bounce him. He kept hooking them casually for six.There is no more casually graceful player right now, because every act, even the mistakes, are imbued with an air of indifference. So he nailed that shot but it went straight to the fielder. No big deal. There’s another ball coming. So he dropped an offbreak short and the batsman bashed it for four. Relax. It’s just cricket. Nobody died. This is merely superficial, of course, because deep down, he genuinely cares. He was yanked up and down the order like a marionette for years – a process that sent his batting average into a nosedive. In the meantime, he improved his bowling to such an extent that he began being picked primarily for his offspin in limited-overs cricket.Dhananjaya de Silva runs one through point•Getty ImagesIn the field, Sri Lanka have no one else of his quality – a player who can be reliably deployed almost anywhere. He rides the boundary like an Old West outlaw passing on a mustang through the middle of a dusty town. When he is in the slips, it is less a cordon, more a Sunday afternoon hangout sesh in a coconut grove. He leaps, catlike, to make another a spectacular save at point, and when teammates rush up, he holds out his palm out for only lowest of low-fives. It’s cool, fellas. Just a saved four. Don’t lose your minds.Then he’s called up by the captain to send a few overs down. There are spinners who wear sunglasses when in action. Sometimes they even look suave. De Silva doesn’t need the shades. His action isn’t classical, but like with everything he does, it seems entirely effortless. You know in your mind that he’s participating in an elite sport, and in some spells, like the one in Port Elizabeth in February, making vital contributions to an eventual victory.You understand that to get to this level, there must have been sweat and sacrifice. But aesthetically, de Silva has his feet up, in a hammock. Later in the day, Tom Latham produced a hundred that was objectively more impressive, because unlike de Silva he had not been dropped in single figures, and there were far fewer edges for four behind the wicket, but Latham is basically the anti-de Silva – he always looks like he’s hard at work.Occasionally de Silva held the pose after a cover drive, but where this, for other batsmen, is their most visually pleasing state, de Silva is just as nonchalantly glorious when in actual motion. Like he is made of liquid rather than flesh and bone.Maybe you are an important person. Maybe you fight for human rights, help protect the environment, drive your nation’s economy, make decisions in parliament, pass judgement in court. De Silva is only a cricketer, but he would look way cooler than you doing any of that.

This was the quickest ever that the Indian team bowled an opposition out in the first innings

Bharath Seervi22-Nov-201930.3 – The number of overs India needed to bowl Bangladesh out. It’s the least number of overs India have bowled to dismiss their opposition in the first innings of a Test. The earlier record was 44.2 overs, against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2005.ESPNcricinfo Ltd4 – Instances of India fast bowlers picking all ten wickets in a Test innings at home. The last was also at Eden Gardens, in the last Test played there against Sri Lanka in 2017. The first two instances were in the 1980s. This was also, in fact, the first time India bowled out their opposition without R Ashwin coming on to bowl.2 – Number of cheaper five-wicket hauls by India fast bowlers than Ishant Sharma’s 5 for 22 in this Test. Jasprit Bumrah’s 5 for 7 against West Indies a few months back is the record, followed by Javagal Srinath’s 6 for 21 in Ahmedabad in 1996.1 – Number of lower totals for Bangladesh against India than the 106 in this Test. The only time they got fewer runs was when they were bowled out for 91 in their first ever Test, in Dhaka in 2000.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2007 – The last time Ishant Sharma took a five-wicket haul in a home Test, which was in his first Test at home, and second of his career, against Pakistan in Bengaluru. This is Ishant’s 37th home Test and the 96th match of his career.

Meanwhile, Hetmyer smashed Jadeja for 85 runs off 50 balls including nine sixes in three innings on this tour

Bharath Seervi15-Dec-2019198 – Deliveries bowled by spinners in this match without picking any wicket, which is the most in an ODI in India. India spinners bowled 126 balls and West Indies 72 balls. There have been only four ODIs overall where spinners bowled more deliveries without finding any wicket.2 – Number of higher individual scores in successful chases against India than Shimron Hetmyer’s 139 in this Chennai ODI. The highest is Sanath Jayasuriya’s 151 not out at Wankhede in 1997. The previous highest by a West Indies batsman in a successful chase versus India was Ricardo Powell’s 124 in the final of Singapore Challenge in 1999.2 – Instances of two batsmen scoring centuries in a successful chase against India. The first was by Australia in 2016 in Perth where Steven Smith and George Bailey scored hundreds. It was the third instance of two West Indies batsmen scoring centuries in a successful chase.