“Being able to rub shoulders with him and bounce ideas and debrief games, it’s something I’ve cherished,” Ellis says about bowling with Mitchell Starc

Deivarayan Muthu21-Mar-2023Nathan Ellis wasn’t originally in Australia’s ODI squad for the India tour. An injury to Jhye Richardson opened up a spot for him, and now he is relishing every moment of being with the Australia side on tour. Like pinning Virat Kohli lbw in a ten-wicket victory in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam. Like smashing the net bowlers for fun with the bat at the MA Chidambaram B Stadium, which is adjacent to the main ground, on a hot afternoon. Like answering every question at a press conference with a big smile.With Pat Cummins and the injured Josh Hazlewood also absent for the ODIs, Ellis could get another crack at the Indians at Chepauk as Australia look to seal a rare bilateral series victory in India.”Yeah, 100% [enjoying it]. I sort of have to pinch myself sometimes when I am wearing the Australia colours,” Ellis said on Tuesday. “It is obviously a dream come true. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Josh and Pat… all the guys in the squad, it is helping my game and it is helping me as a cricketer and as a person. So, having blokes like that around the squad and being able to have coffee with in the morning or dinner with in the evening is huge. Really thankful [for the experience].”Related

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Ellis expressed his excitement at bowling in tandem with fellow New South Wales native and leader of the attack Mitchell Starc. “Starcy has been huge for me,” Ellis said. “For me, personally, he is someone I looked up to for a lot of time. He presented me my first Australia cap too. He is a big part of my Australia journey. Even up to the other day, speaking to him pre-game and post-game… He is a calming influence; he is also someone who has been there and done almost everything the game has to offer, whether it is the ups or downs. Being able to rub shoulders with someone like Starcy and sort of bounce ideas off [him] and debrief games, it is something that I’ve cherished. It is invaluable, I think.”On Sunday, in the second ODI, Ellis bagged the prized wicket of Kohli for 31 with a fuller ball that seamed into the batter, and he then extracted extra bounce from a length to have Ravindra Jadeja nicking off for 16. With the Chepauk track likely to be on the slower side, Ellis is prepared to adapt and dip into his back-of-the-hand slower balls – his variations have given Hobart Hurricanes a potent point of difference in the BBL.”For me, I am not necessarily a bouncy bowler as it is,” Ellis said. “As I said before, it is a matter of assessing the wicket on the day and adapting my sets of skills to the wicket. Whether it is adjusting my line, being a bit straighter… if it is not as bouncy, slower balls if needed and changing my lengths. The scores haven’t dictated or gone as we thought the wickets might have played. Tomorrow is another case of not going with pre-conceived ideas and taking it as it comes.3:21

Tait: Starc close to being an Australia all-time great

“Obviously, it’s known to spin here [in Chennai]. For me, if I was to get the opportunity, the slower balls might come into play. I think it will be a matter of assessing the wicket if we are bowling first. You get a bit more information for the batters who will come out in the second innings and vice-versa for batting first… relaying the message back on what the wicket is doing and adapting as the game sort of progresses. It has not been a high-scoring series so far, so we will have to adapt to the wicket and what is presented to us on the day.”Victory on Wednesday will hand Australia their second bilateral ODI series win in three recent attempts in India. Barring Australia, no other team has toppled India in a bilateral ODI series since 2016. Ellis’ future opportunities after the Chennai ODI remains uncertain, but he feels playing in potential World Cup venues like the Wankhede and Chepauk will serve as a dry run for the main squad members for the tournament in October-November later this year.”I mean, it’s obviously a great opportunity for us as a squad to play one-day cricket in the place where we will be playing the World Cup at the end of the year,” Ellis said. “It will be silly not to take out as much as we can… try and sort of emulate maybe the set-up or squad we are going to have for the World Cup. For me, I was not part of this squad initially. I was a late call-up, I am just stoked to be here. I imagine that the guys who were named in the initial squad are taking it as a dress rehearsal. Absolutely!”

R Ashwin, putting in a special performance of his own on a track offering little assistance, made sure they did not bat India out of the game

Alex Malcolm10-Mar-20232:01

Tait: A bit of Jacques Kallis about Cameron Green

India 36 for 0 (Gill 18*, Rohit 17*) trail Australia 480 (Khawaja 180, Green 114, Ashwin 6-91) by 444 runsAn epic 10-hour 180 from Usman Khawaja and a dazzling maiden Test century from Cameron Green helped Australia post an imposing first-innings total in Ahmedabad but it would have been far greater without six wickets from a tireless R Ashwin to ensure India weren’t batted completely out of the game.Khawaja and Green shared a magnificent stand of 208, the first double-century stand by an Australian pair in India since 1979 and just the fifth overall. Khawaja faced 422 balls over more than five sessions to post the third-highest score by an Australian in India. He deserved a double-century but fell to one of his only lapses in the innings first ball after tea. Green struck 18 boundaries in an equally dominant display to shake off the Test century monkey that was starting to grow into a gorilla on his broad back.But Ashwin conjured some magic either side of tea taking five of the last six wickets to finish with 6 for 91 from a relentless 47.2 overs on a pitch offering precious little assistance to the spinners compared to the raging turners of the previous three Tests.Batting in black armbands to honour absent captain Pat Cummins’ mother Maria following her passing overnight, Khawaja and Green prospered in the first three hours of the second day. The pair complemented each other beautifully, batting through the entire first session almost faultlessly.Khawaja continued on his merry way from his first-day century. The serenity of his play was something to behold. He was completely unflustered throughout, picking off bad balls without risk and defending with ease. He never looked in any kind of trouble. Every time India’s bowlers erred straight, he tucked them away with sublime timing. Any time they erred wide, he would find a gap with elegant simplicity.Green fed off Khawaja’s energy to play the best innings of his career to date. An elusive Test century had been hanging over his head across his first 19 Tests, having failed to convert six previous Test half-centuries despite having scored eight first-class hundreds.He began the day on 49 and moved swiftly through the gears in the opening session. While Khawaja rotated the strike serenely, Green pummelled anything loose with eye-catching authority. Every time Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav overpitched, he dispatched them down the ground either side of mid-off. Shami tested him with the short stuff with men back on the fence as he neared the nervous 90s, and he clubbed a devastating pull shot to end that mode of attack moments after it started.He was patient to the spinners, defending solidly on the front foot and driving to long-off and long-on to rotate the strike. He went after anything fractionally short and wide, never missing a cut shot that was offered. He had to eat lunch stuck on 95 but only needed eight balls after the break to celebrate his maiden Test century with Ravindra Jadeja dropping short and wide for him to crack it behind point.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Green looked set for a massive score, having converted four of his previous nine first-class centuries into 150-plus scores including a 251. But Ashwin’s patience and willingness to dry him up on a leg-stump line eventually paid dividends. Having not swept a single ball in his entire innings, he tried to sweep a ball well down the legside and gloved it to KS Bharat.It sparked a mini-collapse as Australia’s tail threatened to fold cheaply yet again. Alex Carey played arguably his worst shot of the series trying to hit Ashwin over mid-off fourth ball only to skew a top edge to short third. Ashwin made it three wickets in quick succession when he had Mitchell Starc smartly caught at short leg by Shreyas Iyer via the inside edge.But Nathan Lyon provided stubborn resistance having been promoted to No. 9. He produced the longest innings of his Test career batting for 133 minutes and surviving 96 balls for 34. He helped Khawaja get to tea and was determined to take him further but Khawaja fell first ball after the break, missing a short delivery on leg stump to be trapped lbw by Axar Patel. Khawaja cut a dejected figure having fallen 20 runs short of a maiden Test double-century just two months after posting 195 not out against South Africa.India thought they would wrap the innings up in short time as per the previous three Tests but Todd Murphy made his highest first-class score of 41 with five boundaries. The pair added 70 and ground India into the dirt as they played with assuredness and comfort to prove how good a batting strip it is if you are prepared to spend time out there.But Ashwin found a way through them with the third new ball, getting two offbreaks to skid on straight, with Murphy trapped plumb lbw and Lyon caught at slip.Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill shook off any fatigue that might have developed from 167.2 overs in the field to bat out the last 10 overs of the day without any concerns. Both timed the ball sublimely to confirm the track is exceptional to bat on, particularly against the extra pace and bounce of Starc and Green. They were allowed fewer liberties against Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann, although Gill launched Lyon into the stands in the final over of the day to make a statement.

Chennai Super Kings’ pace spearhead says it takes time to get back into top rhythm, and he’s continuing to work on his death bowling

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2023Coming back from a string of big injuries in 2022 is tough work mentally, Deepak Chahar feels. He was out for most of the first half of 2022 and then had a stop-start second half of the year, and has now gone two IPL games without a wicket. It will take time to get back to peak form, he said.”Mentally it’s very tough,” Chahar told select Indian newspapers in Chennai. “I had two major injuries, which are critical for a fast bowler. Other pacers are also struggling with a stress fracture in the back. It takes a long time to recover from that.”When you start playing it takes time to get back to your best, it takes time mentally and physically, and I’m getting there slowly.”Related

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Chahar had suffered a quadricep injury in February 2022, and while undergoing rehabilitation for that, he hurt his back. That turned out to be a stress fracture, and he was sidelined for six months overall. He returned for India’s ODI series in Zimbabwe in August, showed signs of getting back to his best – he was named in India’s reserves for the T20 World Cup – but then had to sit out again, from an ODI series against South Africa, because of a stiff back. He returned for the tour of Bangladesh in December, but was forced off the field after bowling just three overs with what turned out to be a quadricep tear. He played no further part in India’s home season, and has played just the lone game this year – a Ranji Trophy match for Rajasthan – coming into the IPL.Before the IPL, he had told PTI that such injuries were particularly hard on pacers. “They are both very big injuries. You are out for months,” he had said. “Anyone who comes back after the injury it takes time, especially fast bowlers.”If I was a batter, I would have been playing way back, but as a fast bowler…”

CSK’s Dwayne Bravo-sized gap at the death

Chahar, bowling alongside the less experienced Tushar Deshpande and Rajvardhan Hangargekar, has bowled more at the death this season as Super Kings continue to search for a way to plug the hole left by Dwayne Bravo’s exit. Chahar, who for long was a new-ball swing specialist, said he has been working hard on this aspect of his game.”In powerplays, you bowl with a new ball and have only two fielders outside whereas in the slog overs you bowl with an old ball and have five fielders outside. I take it as a challenge and I also practice a lot,” he said. “Earlier, I didn’t bowl much because we had more options to bowl at the death. Since I have many variations – yorker, knuckle ball, slow bouncer, legcutter, wide yorker, offcutter – I decide according to the batter and the pitch and execute [at the death] accordingly.”In Super Kings’ first game, against Gujarat Titans, Chahar bowled two overs in the powerplay and then the 17th and 19th overs, finishing with 0 for 29. Against Lucknow Super Giants, in a run-fest at Chepauk, he bowled three in the powerplay before bowling the 17th over. With Super Giants needing 62 runs from 24, that over went for 18 runs, including three consecutive wides, much to MS Dhoni’s chagrin.Super Kings’ next game is against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

“People don’t expect us to do certain things but we come out of all obstacles and manage our way through to get what we want”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-20233:48

Did Mumbai get lucky after injuries or were they prepared?

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma is proud of his team for having fought through “obstacles” and “hurdles” after finishing last in IPL 2022 to make it through to the second Qualifier of IPL 2023 with a thumping of Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai on Wednesday.Mumbai have been plagued by injuries this season, even before the tournament started. Their lead bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been out for months, Jofra Archer returned home after playing five games with his recurring elbow injury, and they were also without Jhye Richardson for the entire tournament and Tilak Varma for a few league games.When asked at the presentation if he thought two weeks ago that Mumbai would make it to Qualifier 2, Rohit said: “I definitely thought about it. That’s what we’ve done over the years. People don’t expect us to do certain things but we come out of all obstacles and manage our way through to get what we want. Honestly, at the start of the season, of course we knew that we had a lot of work to do compared to what happened in the last season. But we managed our work through it, we scrambled through it. Yes, it was a scrappy one but I would take that any day.”Rohit credited Mumbai’s scouting team for providing them with largely unknown players who have turned to be match-winners, including Nehal Wadhera and Akash Madhwal, who finished with stunning figures of 5 for 5 against Super Giants. Rohit said his role as captain was to make such players feel comfortable in the team environment and tell them clearly what their role is.”First and foremost, it’s important to make them feel special, make them feel part of the team,” Rohit said. “They play a lot of domestic cricket but this is a different ballgame with so many people here, a lot of pressure as well. My job as a skipper is to make sure that they feel comfortable on the ground. When they are about to execute with the bat or ball, our job – myself and the coaching staff – is to make sure that they’re comfortable and very clear in their roles about what they have to do for their team. As long as you make it very clear for them, that’s all [they] want.Mumbai had made it to the playoffs largely by winning high-scoring games at Wankhede Stadium, where they won five out of seven, but the conditions in Chennai for the Eliminator were quite different with the boundaries being bigger and the pitch offering more turn and not being as batting friendly. Rohit was pleased that his team came together to script a massive win in spite of the different conditions.”We knew coming to Chennai it’s not going to be one man who will take us trough; it’s going to be the whole unit who needs to come to the party and deliver at different points of time,” he said. “At Wankhede, you know you need one or two individuals to step up and take the game through, but when you play on a pitch like this, conditions like these, you need everyone to come together and that’s what we spoke about before coming to this game.”

Akash Madhwal a ‘gamechanger’

Rohit also heaped praise on Madhwal, who took the first wicket in the chase, and then dismissed Ayush Basoni and the hard-hitting Nicholas Pooran off consecutive balls in his second spell to reduce LSG to 74 for 5 before fittingly taking the final wicket.”He was part of the season last year as a support bowler, but he didn’t get to play. We knew what he had,” Rohit said. “Once Jofra was gone, we needed someone to bowl at the back-end. Having seen him enough I was confident that he can get the job done for us. [He has a] lot of skills, good attitude, a lot of character as well. So that was very pleasing to see about him.”Allrounder Cameron Green, Mumbai’s most expensive player in the previous auction and the top-scorer in the Eliminator with 41 off 23, also showered Madhwal, calling him a “gamechanger”.”He’s been awesome,” Green said of Madhwal. “Ever since he came into our team, we kind of realised we’ve got someone special here. The way he carries himself out there – in his first IPL season he doesn’t seem like he’s overawed at all. He bowled beautifully.”

The offspinner limped off the field having pulled up running in from the boundary

Andrew McGlashan29-Jun-2023Nathan Lyon has been diagnosed with a “significant” calf strain after he limped off the field during the final session of the second day at Lord’s leaving him highly doubtful to feature again in the series.Running in from the boundary to field a ball in the 37th over, Lyon pulled up and was immediately in pain. He hobbled to the edge of the field where the physio began to assess him then had to be helped around the rope to the pavilion.He was assessed overnight and arrived at the ground on crutches on Friday. It’s understood he may bat later in the game if required although runners are no longer allowed in international cricket.”He will require a period of rehabilitation after this match is concluded,” a CA spokesperson said. “A decision regarding his availability for the remainder of the series will be made at the conclusion of the game.”It is a cruel twist for Lyon who is playing his 100th consecutive Test – the first specialist bowler to reach the milestone – and was lauded before the match for his durability in having played unbroken since midway through the 2013 Ashes.Lyon had already shaped as a significant figure in this match – as he was at Edgbaston – having removed Zak Crawley to break an opening stand of 91, drawing him down the pitch for a stumping that was expertly completed by Alex Carey.Ben Duckett, who led England’s batting effort on the second day, expected Lyon to play a key role and questioned the impact his absence would have on the rest of the attack after the quicks opted for a short-ball approach.”It’s a huge shame and I really hope it’s not too bad for him,” he said. “You never want to see anyone go down with an injury. We all wish him the best. He was going to play a massive part in that fourth innings, he’s such a good bowler. It will be interesting to see how they go about it.”If they keep going bumpers with all four bowlers, I think they’ll be quite tired by the end of it, especially with back to back Tests. Travis [Head] bowled all right tonight, so he maybe he will bowl a bit.”Lyon’s absence leaves Australia having to rely on Steven Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for any spin required.It is the second time in consecutive Lord’s Tests Australia have suffered a major blow after Smith was concussed in 2019. On that occasion he was able to replaced under the protocols by Labuschagne, but this time the team will have make do.Looking further head into the series it will bring Todd Murphy, the 22-year-old offspinner, into the frame for when the series reaches Headingley. Murphy took seven wickets on his debut against India in Nagpur earlier this year and claimed Virat Kohli four times in the four matches.”He [Murphy] has been bowling beautifully in the nets and bowled really well in India when he got his opportunity as well,” Smith said. “I’d be confident if he came in he’d do a terrific job for us, but fingers crossed Nathan’s all right.”Legspinner Mitchell Swepson is now also in the UK having recently signed to play the County Championship for Glamorgan.

Vastrakar and Deepti were miserly while debutant Minnu Mani picked up her first maiden wicket

Ashish Pant09-Jul-2023Miserly bowling spells from Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma, followed by a quick fifty from Harmanpreet Kaur, set up a straightforward seven-wicket win for India over Bangladesh in their first international outing in over four months.Bowling first, India restricted Bangladesh to 114 for 5, with Vastrakar and Deepti drying the runs before Harmanpreet’s unbeaten 35-ball 54 and Smriti Mandhana’s 34-ball 38 sealed victory for the visitors with 22 balls left.

Bangladesh start strong in helpful bowling conditions

With conditions overcast and the surface having a tinge of green, Harmanpreet had no hesitation fielding first. Her decision was vindicated with Vastrakar starting with a maiden, finding generous movement in the air. It was Minnu Mani, one of the two India debutants, who struck the first blow, getting rid of Shamima Sultana. Despite being struck for a four and six off the previous two balls, Mani stuck to her plan of keeping it slow outside off. Sultana went for one shot too many and holed out at deep square leg.Shathi Rani, also on debut for Bangladesh, took down Amanjot Kaur for three successive fours as the hosts reached 46 for 1 after seven overs, starting to look comfortable.

Bowlers squeeze, Shorna shores Bangladesh up

While the quicks got movement, the spinners also found sharp turn and bounce, and Hamanpreet was quick to ring in the changes. Vastrakar roughed Rani up with a few bumpers before sending down a quick one to rattle her stumps. And once Rani fell, the runs slowed down to a trickle. Bangladesh managed the solitary boundary between overs eight to 16, also lost three wickets in the period.Their run-rate came down to five an over, and the captain Nigar Sultana’s needless run-out hurt them further. Deepti was at her miserly best, mixing her lengths and varying her speeds, and got good support from Vastrakar and the two debutants – Mani and B Anusha.Only Shorna Akter’s late blows helped Bangladesh go past the 100-mark. On 6 off 16 at one stage, she struck two sixes to finish unbeaten on a run-a-ball 28, helping Bangladesh creep up to 114 for 5.

Harmanpreet, Mandhana set up India’s easy chase

Defending a small score, Bangladesh couldn’t have asked for a better start with Marufa Akter trapping Shafali Varma, who played all around an in-dipper, in her first over. Jemimah Rodrigues struck a couple of crisp fours but was soon cleaned up by Sultana Khatun for 11.Mandhana and Harmanpreet, however, made sure the Bangladesh celebrations were short-lived. Mandhana got going with a four past point in the second over before slamming Marufa for back-to-back fours either side of the wicket right after Rodrigues’ dismissal. Harmanpreet also cashed in early as India reached 41 for 2 at the end of six overs.The duo made sure to capitalise on every loose ball, of which there were plenty, adding 70 off 55 balls for the third wicket. By the time Mandhana danced down the track only to be stumped for 38, the game was in India’s grasp.Harmanpreet, who was dropped on 24, did the final honours. She opened up her shoulders, smashing Rabeya Khan for a six and four, before bringing up her 11th T20I fifty off just 34 balls in the 17th over with a six over deep midwicket. The very next ball brought about the end of the game with Harmanpreet fittingly finishing things off with a four through midwicket again.

While rain couldn’t prevent a decisive result at the Chinnaswamy, it ensured the West-Central game in Alur finished in a draw

Himanshu Agrawal08-Jul-2023What was smooth sailing for most of the journey turned into a rocky ride towards the end, as South Zone, in pursuit of 215 against North Zone, slipped from 191 for 4 to 213 for 8 in their run chase. Eventually though, Sai Kishore kept his calm and deposited the opposition captain Jayant Yadav over long-on to steer South to a two-wicket win, and with it, a place in the Duleep Trophy final. South hunted down their target at better than a run a ball in Bengaluru, where there were two lengthy rain delays on the fourth and final day.The South batters kept playing their shots despite wickets falling in a hurry, with the finish line nearing, after the experienced Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari laid the foundations for their victory, which Ricky Bhui and Tilak Varma built upon with an aggressive partnership for the fifth wicket.Heading into day four, South needed another 194 to win with all ten wickets in hand, and the free-stroking Agarwal dominated his opening stand off 44 with Sai Sudharsan. Vaibhav Arora then removed Sudharsan and R Samarth in quick succession to leave South 59 for 2. That brought their captain Vihari to the crease, and with dark clouds overhead and rain in the air, he got into counterattack mode alongside Agarwal.They doubled the score in quick time, adding 59 off 47 balls while driving and punching boundaries at will. That forced North into defensive fields, but Jayant got rid of Agarwal for 54 to give North Zone a glimmer of hope. Vihari kept motoring at the other end, however, and even after he was dismissed for 43 by Harshit Rana, South were only 74 away with six wickets standing.Bhui and Varma then added 50 off just 33 deliveries, before Bhui’s wicket for 34 opened the floodgates, with Rana and Baltej Singh striking twice each in the space of 3.4 overs. In the end, South just scraped through, with defending champions West Zone waiting for them in a replay of the last Duleep Trophy final.File photo – Rinku Singh lit up a drab final day in Alur with a 30-ball 40•CAB

West Zone 220 (Sheth 74, Mavi 4-43) and 297 (Pujara 133, Suryakumar 52, Jain 4-56, Saurabh 4-84) drew with Central Zone 128 (Rinku 48, Nagwaswalla 5-74) and 128 for 4 (Rinku 40, Dodiya 1-16)Defending champions West Zone qualified for the final of the 2023 Duleep Trophy on the basis of the first-innings lead after persistent rain in Alur forced their semi-final against Central Zone to end in a tame draw. West will face South Zone for the title clash, starting on July 12 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Resuming the day on 292 for 9, West’s last pair could add only five runs before Saransh Jain dismissed Yuvrajsinh Dodiya in the second over of the morning.Central never threatened to chase down 390. They lost their openers, Himanshu Mantri and Vivek Singh, for single-digit scores. Dhruv Jurel and Amandeep Khare took them past 50 before Dharmendrasinh Jadeja had the former stumped for 25.Rinku Singh took the attacking route and hit three fours and as many sixes to take Central past 100 at lunch. But Dodiya ended his innings on 40 off 30 balls with the first delivery after the interval.Rain, though, allowed only six overs in the second session, forcing both captains to shake hands around 2.20pm local time.