Shastri wants all top-order batters to follow Babar Azam’s template of building on starts to get to big scores, big hundreds

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-20234:03

Will we see an India-Pakistan final? Can Kohli outscore Babar?

Ravi Shastri believes India have the upper hand in Saturday’s Asia Cup game against Pakistan in Pallekele, but only just.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of the fixture, Shastri said that Pakistan were a much improved side, and have “narrowed the gap” with India, but the strength of India’s line-up and an experienced captain in Rohit Sharma gave them the advantage.”I would say India start as favourites. This is their strongest team since 2011, this mix of players,” Shastri said. “And a captain who is seasoned, who understands the terrain better than most.”Having said that, Pakistan have narrowed the gap. Seven-eight years [ago], there was a gap if you looked at the strength of both teams and man to man. But Pakistan have narrowed it down. They are a very good side, so you have to be on top of your game.”Related

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• Rohit: 'I want to be where I was in before the 2019 WC'

Shastri feels that when it comes to a high-pressure, high-stakes contest like India vs Pakistan, player form is less important than player temperament, which makes the real difference.”That’s what’s important, keeping calm and treating it as just another game,” he said. “And not overhype it in your mind that makes you think differently. Your game has to be the same as it would be in any other game. But because of that subconscious pressure, it’s the mentally tough guys who normally get it right.”When you look at the mix of players on either side, they are fabulous. And it will be a spectacle. In an India-Pakistan game, it is about who handles pressure better, who is calmer, whose thought process is clear. Those are the guys who will come through in those big occasions.”And never go by form before an India-Pakistan game, because the tough-minded, mentally strong guys might not have done much six months back, but come the India-Pakistan game, they will come [to the fore]. They know the importance of that game, they know where it can catapult them if they do well. Their juices will be fired up.”

Shastri: Must convert starts to big scores, like Babar does

Shastri believes that all batters looking to succeed in crunch games need to follow Babar Azam’s approach. Babar, the Pakistan captain, scored his 19th ODI century in the opening game of the Asia Cup against Nepal, and Shastri feels other batters need to example.”He [Babar] converts those 30s and 40s starts into hundreds,” Shastri pointed out. “And it is so important. We keep saying to go out there and face a number of balls, but if one of your top three gets a hundred, you get 300-plus.”Fielding will be crucial [too], you’ll have to see which team fields better. Sri Lanka won the last Asia Cup on [the back of their] fielding. They’ve long been the best fielding side in the subcontinent, right from 1996. They were outstanding in the last Asia Cup. They are holders, let’s not forget, so don’t discount them in Sri Lankan conditions. If India’s fielding raises their bar, then they’ll be an even stronger side.”

Seamer welcomes grim forecast over weekend after a third tough day for tourists

Andrew McGlashan21-Jul-2023Australia’s lead in the Ashes series has been left hanging by a thread after two horrendous days at Old Trafford. Now they are praying that rain helps them escape with a draw, even if it would be a hollow way to retain the urn.Mark Wood’s pace extracted three wickets in Australia’s second innings and such was the damage inflicted that the best part of the two remaining days may need to be washed out for them to avoid defeat, despite having opted for a longer batting line-up in this Test. The forecast, however, looks likely to oblige and the Australians weren’t trying to hide that they would gladly take a helping hand.”I’d be very pleased,” Josh Hazlewood admitted. “It’s obviously forecast but forecasts can change all the time. Obviously, rain and light plays a big part in cricket and has done forever. So, yeah, it’d be great to lose a few overs here and there, and make our job a little easier if I’m hanging in there.”Different forecasts are providing varying prediction as to how much rain will come over the next two days, but Saturday looks universally bleak with a bit more uncertainty over Sunday’s final day. Either way, it appears England may only get a narrow window to force the result that would keep them on track to be only the second team to come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series.”The weather is the weather, and I’m not Michael Fish,” Jonny Bairstow said, referencing the famous BBC forecaster of the 1980s and 1990s. “Coming in tomorrow, if there is a bit of weather around, maybe some overheads, you’d like to hope we’re able to create some chances. The weathermen have been right, the weathermen have been wrong, who knows what’s going to happen? We’ll still turn up with the same mindset and that will be to try and take another six wickets.”Related

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Wood cracks open Australia's second innings after Bairstow blitz keeps England in control

It was Bairstow who compounded Australia’s woes on the third day as he plundered an unbeaten 99 to swell England’s lead to 275. Although the visitors had a modicum of success in stemming the scoring before lunch, overall it was a debilitating innings for the much-vaunted attack with Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc going for 392 runs between them at 5.22 per over. It was just the second time the trio had each conceded a hundred in the same innings.”I imagine a few games against India on some flat wickets we’ve gone the journey as well. So it’s nothing too new for us, I guess [it] was probably just the run rate,” Hazlewood, who claimed a five-wicket haul, said. “It was a pretty special knock from Zak [Crawley] and…obviously Jonny and Rooty as well. Definitely, we could have been better in patches throughout the innings and with a bit of luck we might have, but that’s not the case. So we’ll have a look at that and learn from it again.”Josh Hazlewood claimed a five-wicket haul as Australia’s bowlers went the journey•Getty Images

Hazlewood also defended Australia’s tactics against Bairstow in the final-wicket stand of 66 with James Anderson, during which the pair ran byes to Alex Carey on three occasion, so that Bairstow could get the strike back.”Do you just bowl wide and down leg and really stop him from scoring? Or do you try and roll the dice and bounce him and try and get a wicket that way, or keep bowling hard length and hopefully one goes up the chute?” he said. “But there times we potentially could just bowl away from him the whole time.”We saw probably a new tactic again today of running on bouncers or running through to the keeper. It’s just trying to limit his scoring and [trying] different things to try with two balls left, one ball left, keeping the tailender on strike for next over and things like that, so I thought we did reasonably well.”

MatériaMais Notícias

da betsson： O São Paulo está muito perto de anunciar Juninho Capixaba como seu novo reforço para 2023. O lateral-esquerdo, que pertence ao Grêmio, mas atuou o último Campeonato Brasileiro emprestado ao Fortaleza, aceitou as bases salariais oferecidas pelo Tricolor, conforme o LANCE! apurou.

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da betcris：
Como está o São Paulo para a abertura da janela de transferências de 2023? O vaivém do mercado no Tricolor

Havia muita apreensão por parte dos dirigentes do Tricolor sobre o acerto ou não com o novo lateral, já que, apesar de manter conversas com seu estafe desde setembro, nos últimos dias clubes como Cruzeiro e Vasco tentaram atravessar o negócio. Até por isso, o São Paulo já havia começado a estudar um plano B para a posição, como Felipe Jonathan, do Santos.

Capixaba, que já passou pelo rival Corinthians, tinha contrato até o final do ano com o Grêmio. O Fortaleza chegou a oferecer um vínculo de dois anos, o que acabou recusado, segundo o que o L! apurou.

O tempo de contrato é um dos fatores que levaram o jogador a acertar com o São Paulo. Segundo apurado, o acordo poderá ser de três anos. Falta apenas o acerto sobre o valor que o atleta receberá de luvas para ser oficializado.

Reinaldo se despediu de forma oficial do Tricolor nesta terça-feira (15). Porém, mesmo quando ainda estava na equipe, o estafe são-paulino já havia indicado o substituto para Reinaldo e contado com a aprovação de Rogério Ceni.

Com os direitos econômicos ainda pertencendo ao Grêmio,por atender os critérios do Tricolor para reforços, levando em conta os problemas financeiros do clube. Como o L! já havia adiantado, estas conversas estão acontecendo desde outubro.

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard says his time managing Derby County has helped him at Premier League hopefuls Coventry City.

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• Lampard has stint managing Derby
• Hoping to lead Coventry to PL
• Says Rams spell is helping him now

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Lampard led Derby to the Championship Play-Off Final in 2019, only to be beaten at Wembley by Aston Villa. Despite having some difficult spells at Chelsea and Everton since then, the ex-England star – who took over at the Sky Blues last November – says his time with the Rams is proving to be beneficial for him at Coventry.

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  WHAT LAMPARD SAID

  He told Sky Sports: "Derby was my first year in management so I was learning a lot anyway. But also understanding the demands of the Championship, the amount of games, the styles, and this critical moment of trying to chase something. We did the same with Derby, and we managed to make the playoffs, and every situation is obviously different, but I think it's good to know the feeling of what the league is. It's so competitive. Sometimes it can be up and down by nature, where you're on a good run, getting good results, and then a surprise result or performance, or you know different styles of teams [come up] against you [who are] more physical at times. So I've experienced that before and it certainly helped me in coming into this job, and I've I thought that when I took the job that I could rely on all my experiences in management, but particularly with Derby."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Lampard's reputation had taken a hit after being sacked at Everton and barely winning a game in a short and unsuccessful second spell in charge at Chelsea in 2023. However, Coventry are now on the cusp of securing a Championship play-off spot after languishing in the bottom half of the table when he took over. The former midfielder is impressing so far but there is still a long way to go.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Lampard's Coventry, who sit sixth in the Championship, will hope to beat relegation-threatened Luton Town on Saturday.

Essex must win at Surrey to stand any chance of a place in quarter-finals

ECB Reporters Network30-Jun-2023Middlesex 226 for 8 (Higgins 61, Critchley 5-28) beat Essex 225 for 6 (Sams 69*) by two wicketsRyan Higgins led Middlesex to a second unlikely victory in three Vitality Blast matches to leave Essex’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage hanging by a thread.The Middlesex all-rounder’s 61 was plundered off just 24 balls and included three sixes and eight fours. It laid the foundations for a chase after 226 runs only surpassed by their record 253 to beat Surrey last week.Even Matt Critchley’s career-best 5 for 28 could not prevent Middlesex reaching their target with two balls to spare for only their second win of the season.Essex now head to The Oval on Sunday where they must beat Surrey to stand any chance of a place in next week’s quarter-finals.Essex owed their 225 for 6 to a splendid 69 off 34 balls from all-rounder Daniel Sams that included six sixes. Essex’s innings yielded 16 sixes, during which Sams, Michael Pepper (32) and Paul Walter (45) all passed 300 runs in this year’s competition.Essex, put in, typically lost three wickets in the powerplay while creeping along to 52 runs. It was the calm before the storm. Feroze Khushi was first to go taking a swing at Ethan Bamber and picking out deep mid-off.Adam Rossington, returning after a finger injury, hit two sixes, one ramped off Tom Helm, before edging behind for 19 off 13 balls.Dan Lawrence completed the trio of early wickets when he retreated towards square leg against Josh De Caires and found himself stretching in vain as the ball thudded into his stumps. Lawrence showed his anger with himself by kicking furiously at the blameless crease.However, the run-rate accelerated once Walter joined Pepper and the pair put on 36 inside four overs. Pepper hammered six fours and a six into the pavilion in a 20-ball knock before he leaned back and slashed Martin Andersson to backward point.Walter, who had recorded single-figure scores in his previous two innings, was back to big-hitting form. The second of the quartet of sixes was the longest, clearing the scorers’ box over de Caires’s head. He perished when slicing Luke Hollman to cover point.Sams slipped almost seamlessly into Walter’s boots and battered 43 of the runs in a fifty partnership for the sixth wicket, in which Matt Critchley contributed three. However, Critchley still hit three sixes in an 18-ball 36 before he was caught by Joe Cracknell sliding in from the midwicket boundary. The pair had shared a stand of 79 in six overs.Sams’s eyes lit up in the final over in which Andersson conceded 26 runs, including three sixes, two off the last two balls, the first over fine leg, the second over third man.The ubiquitous Sams was back on the scorecard when he held a pull from Stevie Eskinazi on the boundary to give Aaron Beard a wicket as Middlesex got off to a steady start in reply. He was in the same position to take the catch that ended Max Holden’s whirlwind 15 off five balls during which 32 runs were compiled from just nine balls in partnership with Higgins.Before that, Cracknell was dropped by Rossington on four and added six, four and a six in his 36 before misreading Critchley and seeing his bails dislodged.Higgins reached his fifty from 20 balls with his third six, swept off Walter, but eventually fell when he pulled Critchley straight into Beard’s hands on the midwicket fence.The third and fourth wickets, with Higgins at the helm, accumulated 78 runs off 24 balls. But three wickets in seven balls turned the tide back in Essex’s favour as Middlesex slide from 173 for 4 to 175 for 7. Sams tempted John Simpson in pick out short midwicket and Critchley had Hollman caught by Beard at mid-on and Alex Davies leg before.Middlesex needed nine off the last over with two wickets standing but a six by Andersson off Walter’s third ball all but wrapped it up.

MatériaMais Notícias

da 888casino： O meio-campista Igor Gomes, do São Paulo, já está em Belo Horizonte para assinar contrato e ser apresentado pelo Atlético-MG. O jogador chegou nas últimas horas na capital mineira para ser oficializado como novo reforço.

A informação foi antecipada pelo portal Fala Galo e confirmada pela equipe da Valinor Conteúdo/Lance. Igor já está na capital e faz exames médicos. Em seguida, se tudo estiver correto, o jogador assina contrato com o Galo.

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da esoccer bet： Ele foi liberado pelo São Paulo para assinar com o Atlético-MG. O atleta de 23 anos tinha contrato com o Tricolor até março de 2023 e, com isso, já tinha assinado pré-contrato com o Galo. O time paulista aceitou liberar o atleta já em janeiro em troca de seguir com 10% dos direitos econômicos do jogador.

Igor Gomes passou por algumas críticas dos torcedores do São Paulo em 2022. Apesar disso, foi um dos principais nomes do Tricolor e um dos atletas mais utilizados por Rogério, com 61 jogos.

Sam Conners, Zak Chappell share eight wickets to skittle visitors for 100

ECB Reporters Network21-Sep-2023

Brooke Guest had a day to remember as Derbyshire ran through Sussex in the LV=Insurance Division Two County Championship match at Derby.After the first two days were washed out by rain, Guest marked his 100th appearance for the county as a wicketkeeper by taking seven catches to equal the record number of dismissals in an innings for Derbyshire. Sam Conners and Zak Chappell both took four wickets to skittle Sussex for 100 and in reply, Derbyshire closed on 94 for 1 with Luis Reece unbeaten on 50.Only three players made double figures in a flimsy Sussex batting display after Derbyshire took full advantage of winning the toss.After several days under the covers, the pitch offered some assistance although it was an undistinguished performance by Sussex whose promotion hopes were slim at best even before this collapse.The tone was set in the fifth over by Ali Orr who aimed a big drive at Chappell without moving his feet and gave Guest his first victim.Tom Alsop, leading the side in place of the suspended Cheteshwar Pujara, was also guilty of a loose drive at Conners three overs later and when James Coles threw his bat at a wide ball from Anuj Dal, Sussex were 40 for 3.Tom Clark pulled a short ball from Pat Brown for six but when Dal found some late movement to have him caught behind, the innings went into freefall.Dan Ibrahim was drawn into playing at a ball that left him to give Guest his fifth catch, the first time a Derbyshire wicketkeeper had achieved the feat before lunch since Bernie Maher on Royal Wedding Day in July 1981.Oli Carter was cleaned up playing back to a full-length ball from Conners and after Chappell struck twice in successive overs, Sussex went into lunch on 77 for 8.Only three overs were bowled after the interval before heavy rain delayed the game until 4.30pm but the second ball after the restart, Wayne Madsen damaged a finger trying to take a catch at second slip and left the field in obvious distress.Former Derbyshire allrounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice took Sussex to three figures before Jaydev Unadkat pulled Conners to midwicket, and the innings ended in the next over. Hudson-Prentice skied a pull at Chappell to give Guest his seventh catch, which equalled the record set by former England great Bob Taylor in 1966 who then matched it in 1975 before Harvey Hosein achieved the feat in 2014.It was the first time this season a wicketkeeper has completed seven dismissals in an innings in first-class cricket and his assured glovework consigned Sussex to the lowest total by a visiting team at Derby for 25 years.The Sussex bowlers failed to match the consistent lines of Derbyshire’s attack which allowed Reece and Harry Came to add 65 in 18 overs before Came miscued a pull at Sean Hunt to midwicket.That brought Guest back out to the middle and at stumps he had helped Reece take Derbyshire to within six runs of Sussex’s meagre total.

da winzada777： The transfer window may be closed but that hasn’t stood in the way of more frustrating exit news for Celtic, who are now reportedly set to lose one of their rising stars to the Premier League.

Celtic transfer news

da wazamba： The Bhoys ended the January transfer window in a fairly positive mood despite losing Kyogo Furuhashi to Ligue 1 side Rennes, having welcomed the return of Jota before also signing Jeffrey Schlupp on loan from Crystal Palace.

They’ve also since proved that even without Kyogo, they’re still more than capable of maintaining their dominance in Scotland and even handed Bayern Munich quite the test in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie. Ultimately falling to a 2-1 defeat, Celtic at least gave themselves a late lifeline courtesy of Daizen Maeda’s effort to halve Bayern’s lead.

Whilst they continue to perform on the pitch though, the Scottish Premiership champions look destined to suffer yet another exit blow away from the action.

According to ExWHUEmployee, West Ham United are now on the verge of signing Daniel Cummings in a pre-contract deal which will, of course, see Celtic fail to make any profit on their talented youngster.

Just 18 years old, the young Scot has been stealing the headlines at youth level this season – scoring 18 goals in 19 games – but has still not done enough to break into Brendan Rodgers’ first team.

Related Worth 2x more than Kyogo: Celtic star proved that he could play for Bayern

Celtic fell to a narrow defeat in the Champions League on Wednesday night…

Posts ByRobbie Walls Feb 13, 2025

Simply put, there’s not a lot more that Cummings could be doing. The teenager hasn’t just been knocking on the door of first-team football, he’s been threatening to destroy it altogether. With that opportunity not coming at Celtic Park, an exit always seemed on the cards.

Celtic will regret losing "impressive" Cummings

Although every young player must remain patient, the first-team chance that Cummings has been craving has never quite looked on the cards at Celtic. And the Scottish giants will regret that from both a football and business standpoint.

Had Rodgers given Cummings the opportunity that he has earned throughout the current campaign, then a contract agreement would have been far simpler to execute, as would then a profitable exit. After choosing to leave the forward out of contention, however, the Bhoys are set to lose a rising star for free this summer.

Among those described as “impressive” by analyst Ben Mattinson, Celtic could live to regret how they’ve handled their young striker, especially if he translates his goals at youth level into moments to remember in the Premier League.

Harry Kane has been urged to move to MLS instead of securing a Premier League return should the striker leave Bayern Munich.

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• Kane thriving in Germany with Bayern
• Linked with Premier League return
• Striker told MLS is the place to be

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Kane has been in remarkable goalscoring form since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023, scoring 36 goals in just 43 games this season alone. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old continues to be linked with a move back to the Premier League.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  However, the Bayern star has been told that the English top-flight may not be the best place for him as German football correspondent Sab Stafford-Bloor feels MLS would be a better destination for the well-known NFL fan.

• WHAT WAS SAID

  "This is just my feeling, but I think MLS is an interesting future direction for Kane just because of his fondness for American culture, but also American sports culture, which is pretty well-known," Stafford-Bloor told the podcast. "I think that's one to look out for. If you're Harry Kane and you've suffered quite a lot of physical punishment over the years — everybody knows about his ankles and the amount of injuries he's suffered — is the Premier League the right place for you as you approach your mid-thirties? I would say no if you want to have the longest career possible."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR KANE?

  The former Spurs star has over two years left on his contract at the German giants and with the Bundesliga title almost secured, he will be looking to add more trophies to his collection with Vincent Kompany's team next season.

Arsenal could now miss out on signing an “elite” £50m player, with Real Madrid confident about winning the race for his signature, according to a report.

Mikel Arteta keen on a midfielder

There were no new arrivals at the Emirates Stadium in the January transfer window, with Mikel Arteta opting to wait until the end of the season before making any new additions to his squad.

There have been widespread calls for the Gunners to sign a striker, with doubt remaining over whether Kai Havertz is good enough to lead the line for a Premier League title-winning side, while Arteta also wants to strengthen the spine of his team.

It recently emerged the north Londoners are vying for the signature of Chris Rigg, with Sunderland now willing to sanction the midfielder’s departure for a fee of £25m in the summer.

Arsenal keen on "special" £25m ace who's now available to sign this summer

The Gunners have set their sights on a hot prospect, who is being targeted by some of Europe’s top clubs.

ByDominic Lund Feb 9, 2025

At just 17 years old, Rigg is likely to be one for the future, but Arsenal are also keen on a player perhaps capable of making a more immediate impact, and it has long been expected that Martin Zubimendi will move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

However, there has now been a worrying twist in the transfer saga, with reports from Spain revealing Real Madrid are now confident about winning the race for Zubimendi, as they believe he could be tempted by the opportunity to remain in his home country.

The Gunners aren’t going down without a fight, however, with the report revealing they are still pushing to get a deal done, as they are convinced the Spaniard would fit perfectly into their team.

Arteta is not willing to give up, and the north Londoners remain well-placed to win the race, but there will certainly be concern about Madrid’s interest as it looked like he was on course to move to the Emirates.

Zubimendi would be an "elite" signing for Arsenal

Arsenal are already well-stocked in central midfield, with Declan Rice once again emerging as one of their best-performing players in the Premier League this season, but the Real Sociedad star could take them to the next level.

The 26-year-old, who is expected to cost £50m, has been lauded for his ability in possession of the ball by scout Ben Mattinson.

Not only that, but the Spain international is also capable of pitching in defensively, ranking in the 90th percentile for clearances per 90, and the 90th percentile for aerials won when compared to his positional peers.

It will be a real concern that Madrid fancy their chances of winning the race for Zubimendi, but there is no reason to panic at this stage, with Arsenal still well-placed to get a deal done, and they can boost their chances with a strong finish to the season.