At 16, the wicketkeeper-batsman wasn’t sure he would ever hold a bat again. Now he’s sharing a dressing room with the likes of Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis

Firdose Moonda30-May-2020Kyle Verreynne knew he wanted to become a professional cricketer the day he couldn’t play anymore.”When I was 16, I broke my hand during a hockey match. It was a really bad break, from my wrist to the knuckles – the bones had basically snapped in half,” he says. “I had to have surgery and had four metal plates put into my hand, and I missed out on selection for the school cricket side, which I really wanted to be a part of.”Verreynne’s main concern at the time was whether he would still be able to keep wicket, like his role model Quinton de Kock. A few months later, Verreynne tried. To his surprise, there was no discomfort at all. “I was lucky because it could have gone very differently, and that’s when I realised I couldn’t take risks in other sports, so I put hockey on the back-burner because I really wanted to play cricket.”Less than two years later he was part of the national Under-19 side that toured and hosted Bangladesh in preparation for the age-group World Cup in 2016. Verreynne played in that tournament and finished as South Africa’s second-highest run scorer, with 158 runs in his six matches, including two fifties. By then he had finished his final year at school and had begun a bachelor of commerce degree in business management, as a back-up to his cricket career. But there was one problem.”Quinny started playing when I was 14 or 15 and I looked up to him, but then I realised he was quite young and was kind of in the spot I would be hoping to be in, so it could be difficult for me.”That’s where the coaching staff at Newlands came in. Under the guidance of Faiek Davids at Western Province and Ashwell Prince at the Cobras, Verreynne was made to understand that if he was serious about playing international cricket, it would have to be in a different role to de Kock. “Ashwell was the one who told me if I want to play for South Africa, I would have to be able to make sure I can get picked purely as a batsman.”

“The value the MSL has had for me and other young cricketers is underrated. In the first season I was with guys like Dale Steyn and Anrich Nortje. That’s how you learn”

And so he started racking up the numbers. Verreynne was ninth on the provincial three-day run charts, broke into the franchise team in the 2017-18 summer, averaged over 40 in the 2018-19 season and over 50 in 2019-20. He was also the second-highest run scorer overall in the 2019 franchise one-day cup, secured a contract for the inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL), and was mentored by some of the biggest names in the game, starting with Hashim Amla.Verreynne and Amla shared a change room briefly at the Cobras (and played together in one first-class match in 2017). It was time enough to pick the brain of one of the country’s calmest. “I learnt a lot about his mental state,” Verreynne said. “To the public he might come across as shy or within himself, but he is always willing to share information and be supportive, and I saw that if your emotions can be level across success and failure, you can do well.”Verreynne soon experienced those two opposites first-hand. While his first MSL stint didn’t go badly, he also didn’t shoot the lights out, and his 107 runs in five matches at 35.66 for the Cape Town Blitz was not enough to get him a deal for the second season. He was not picked up in the draft (he said he “didn’t expect to be”) and only came in as an emergency replacement for Aiden Markram at Paarl Rocks.Rocks’ captain Faf du Plessis was understood to have had a strong hand in picking Verreynne, whose name was doing the rounds on the local circuit as an aggressor. And in du Plessis, he found someone else to look up to. “I was really nervous [to meet him] and I wanted to make an impression,” he said. “And then when we met, Faf pulled me aside and said, ‘Welcome to the team, we are happy to have to have you’ and I relaxed. He is genuine and down to earth and has said it’s in his agenda to help the younger guys, which you can really see.”Verreynne made his ODI debut for South Africa earlier this year, scoring 48, 3 and 50 across three matches against Australia•Getty ImagesVerreynne only played in four of the Rocks’ 12 matches, including the final, where he did not bat, but has only good things to say about the experience. “At first, I wasn’t playing much, and during that period, it was about developing my game. And then when I did play, I tried to make sure I did my bit.”His most memorable showing was a 20-ball 36 in the match in Paarl that secured the home final for the Rocks. They ended up winning the trophy, Verreynne’s “first professional cup, which was pretty cool”, and he is one of many who speak of the tournament as an important part of the local landscape. “The value the MSL has had for me and other young cricketers is underrated,” he said. “In the first season I was with guys like Dale Steyn and Anrich Nortje. That’s how you learn.”He was also in the same side as de Kock, although the pair began to form a proper relationship later, when Verryenne was part of the South Africa ODI squad over the past summer. Again, he found someone else he could seek advice from. “He really helped me with my batting. I was doing quite a lot of it with Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, mostly to do with my footwork and how I was holding the bat, and Quinny could see I was struggling a bit, so he just gave me a few pointers.”That’s not all Verreynne took from his time with de Kock. “I looked at his attitude. He backs himself and he is not too worried about how he looks or what people are saying. I try and do that too.”Verreynne is not as easy on the eye as other batsmen from the Cape, like Kallis, JP Duminy, and more recently Zubayr Hamza, but he strikes the ball with great power. That is a feat in itself, considering that he once thought he would never be able to hold a bat again. The metal plates that were put into his hand when he had surgery as a teenager are still there but they aren’t stopping him from dreaming, or hitting, big.”Next season, at the Cobras, we have a lot of new guys, so I want to take a leadership role, and then in three years’ time I really want to be establishing myself in the Test and ODI side,” he said. “Playing at the 2023 World Cup is one of my goals.”

The player loan system became active from October 7, and yet no franchise has sought this path

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Oct-2020Chennai Super Kings have been searching for a good Indian batsman, preferably left-handed, in the absence of Suresh Raina. Delhi Capitals can do with an Indian wristspinner after a freak injury ruled out Amit Mishra as well as an Indian keeper as back-up for Rishabh Pant. Kings XI Punjab desperately need an overseas fast bowler who can reduce their death bowling woes. Rajasthan Royals will benefit from another allrounder to support Ben Stokes.There are players sitting idle in IPL with other franchises who can actually help teams plug these holes. Parthiv Patel can fill the void at Super Kings. Mayank Markande and Aditya Tare could be an option for the Capitals. Billy Stanlake or Lockie Ferguson or Keemo Paul could help Kings XI. As can Fabian Allen or Mitchell Santner at Royals.Franchises can seek to borrow some of these players via the player loan system which became active from October 7, after match 20 as per the IPL rules. And yet no franchise has sought this path which could fix their issues.According to the IPL rules:

• A franchise can borrow at least two players (capped or uncapped) for a short-term loan.
• The player should not have featured in more than two matches before he is loaned
• During the loan period the player cannot play against the parent franchise that released him
• He also cannot return to the parent franchise for the remainder of the season.

Where did the idea come from?The IPL’s player loan system is based on the football model, especially the one in Europe. The loan system there serves several purposes. It’s a good way for teams to hang on to players who don’t fit in their immediate plans but have high resale value; in some cases the player is on very high wages, so the two clubs reach an understanding about sharing the wage cost while on loan.When Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 8-2 in the Champions League quarter-final two months ago, their scorers included Philippe Coutinho (ironically, on loan from Barcelona) and Ivan Perisic, on loan from Inter Milan.It’s also a good way for big clubs to send young players to smaller clubs to pick up experience – a way of both toughening them up and also ensuring they get match time from an early age. So Manchester United loaned out their promising goalkeeper Dean Henderson to Sheffield United in 2018; Sheffield were then in the second tier of English football, and Henderson’s heroics in goal were a big factor in their promotion to the Premier League that season.He remained with Sheffield through 2019-20, though Premier League rules barred him from playing against his parent club. He is now back at Manchester United after two standout seasons and, though 23, is seen as a challenger to the club’s main keeper, David de Gea. From the player’s and club’s perspective, mission accomplished.A player like Parthiv Patel, who has not played a single match for RCB, could be good player to borrow for CSK•Royal Challengers BangaloreWhy the resistance, then? The IPL works differently, though; most importantly, the season is shorter so a half-season loan with a bar on playing against your parent club means you would play only six matches at the most. Even if for a full season, with each team playing between 14-17 matches, the scope to loan youngsters to help them gain match time, as is done in Premier League, is not appealing for franchises.But the most important reason IPL franchises remain insecure about the player loan system is because they believe by releasing a player to a rival franchise they risk disclosing their plans and strategies. Kasi Viswanathan, the Chennai Super Kings chief executive, told this week as much.According to Viswanathan the Super Kings, who have won the IPL thrice and made the play-offs more than any other team, picks players at the auction with different plans in mind. If one plan does not work out, then players who are identified for Plan B come into play.It does not matter that MS Dhoni’s team, usually accustomed to being in the top-four in IPL during the league phase, right now is in the bottom half of the points table with just three wins in eight matches.Along with Raina, the Super Kings also lost Harbhajan Singh even before the tournament started. Kedar Jadhav, one of the key batsman in the middle order, has struggled. A player like Patel, who has not played a single match at Royal Challengers Bangalore could then be good player to borrow.One other reason is a team buys extra players as back-ups. Take Rahane, whom the Capitals bought from Royals after 2019 IPL as part of a trade. Rahane was bought with the sole purpose of serving back-up for the Capitals’ start-studded Indian top order. Rahane has now served as a replacement for Pant who has a hamstring injury. Similar examples can be seen with Chris Lynn at Mumbai Indians, who is a back-up for Quinton de Kock.What is the solution? The only way the player loan system could work in IPL is if a team is out of contention for play-offs. The parent team can then exploit the loan system to make extra money through the loan fee which needs to be paid by the franchise borrowing the player. However the IPL usually is a closely fought race especially for the top six slots, so teams are highly unlikely to let go any resource easily.Franchises are highly unlikely change their rigid mindsets. Consequently, the player loan system is a non-starter.

De Kock, the official Man of the Match, was the third-most impactful player in the match, with Yadav occupying second place

ESPNcricinfo stats team11-Oct-2020There were three half-centuries hit in the match between the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals, but according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, the most impactful performance came from Krunal Pandya for his figures of 2 for 26 from four overs.Pandya’s bowling figures convert to 80.2 impact points, almost 12 points clear of Man-of-the-Match Quinton de Kock’s 68.5 points for his 36-ball 53. The Delhi Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer conceded after the match that his team was 10-15 runs short of a par score that could’ve tested a strong Mumbai Indians batting line-up. This was also evident in the manner the Mumbai Indians eased to the target with only ten runs required from the last two overs.ESPNcricinfo LtdPandya’s wicket of Iyer was instrumental in restricting the Capitals to a below-par total. Smart Stats gives each wicket an impact value based on the quality of the batsman and the stage of the innings at which he is dismissed. In the context of the match, Pandya’s wickets of Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane earned him 53.5 impact points, and his economical bowling earning him another 26.7 points. His unbeaten seven-ball 12 in the chase earned him another 13.1 points taking his total impact points to 93.3 – the highest earned by any player in the match.In fact, de Kock was only the third-most impactful player in the match, with Suryakumar Yadav at second place. This is because Smart Stats reckons the Mumbai Indians’ strong batting was more likely to have made up for de Kock’s rate of scoring than Yadav’s, given de Kock had a strike rate of 147.2 compared to Yadav’s 186.6.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sunil Narine and Mohammad Amir on life in bio-secure bubbles

Barny Read28-Jan-2021’New normals’ are being established in every corner of society as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and cricket is no different.The international game returned to unusually bare backdrops of English stadiums last summer, when the notion of social distancing in bio-bubbles was first put forward and carried out.Nearly seven months on, these sanitary havens popping up all over the world are not only considerably less bizarre than they once sounded, but are also essential to getting any kind of play underway.It’s no different at the T10 League in Abu Dhabi and everyone entering the bubble – players, coaches and support staff alike – had to quarantine for three days upon arrival, while undergoing PCR tests every 24 hours during that period. Each member of the T10 bubble then undergoes PCR testing every 48 hours, meaning there are going to be some sore noses by the end of the ten-day tournament.Afghanistan and Ireland cricketers such as Mohammad Nabi and Paul Stirling were carefully transitioned from one bubble to another following their ODI series at the same Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, a manoeuvre involving a kind of Megabus musical chairs.Despite the oddity of it all, it has the kind of unfamiliar familiarity experienced the world over through adjusting to lockdowns, face masks and seemingly endless Zoom meetings.”It’s hard, but it’s something that you generally have to get accustomed to. You have to set your mind that you’re going to have to quarantine, it’s going to be tougher than normal and you’re going to have to come to tournaments a week earlier, sometimes two weeks earlier,” Deccan Gladiators allrounder Sunil Narine told ESPNcricinfo, fittingly on a Zoom call between games of FIFA and binging Netflix like the rest of us.”It’s getting normal, more or less, because we’ve been living in this for a while now and any cricket you’re playing – this is going to happen now. There’s things you have to do as a professional cricketer and that’s the mindset; you have to adapt.”One player glad to be off the sofa and away from his TV is Mohammad Amir, playing in his first franchise tournament since retiring from Pakistan duties at the end of last year.”After Covid [happened], if you’re getting any opportunity to play cricket, it’s a blessing from God,” Amir said on another Zoom meeting with ESPNcricinfo. “Everybody is struggling in the world with Covid and I think we are blessed to be playing cricket, rather than sitting on the sofa and watching TV.”It’s sometimes strange and you get frustrated but it will only help because you have to manage [the situation]. As a player you have to follow the SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] and if you’re not meeting with your other team-mates, it’s not a big deal because we’re here to play cricket, not to meet other mates. Rather than getting frustrated or getting negative thoughts in your mind, just stick with the fact that we’re here to play cricket.”Narine shares the same sentiment and believes that if players want to play cricket, then the sacrifices – as irritating and draining as they may be – are worth it.”Leaving home is probably the most difficult, leaving family, loved ones home and then you’re going to have to stay in a room where you’re here to play cricket but for seven days or five days, you’re just in a room doing absolutely nothing,” he said. “There’s things you have to do and there’s things you’re going to have to accept and move forward and just live with it because it’s going to be here for a while. No-one knows when it’s going to stop so you’re just going to have to live with it and move on.”With just two days of carefully orchestrated practice sessions possible prior to Thursday’s opening night, there was ring rust on show as defending champions Maratha Arabians shelled the first of three catches in the very first over, but they were soon back in their groove thanks to UAE international Abdul Shakoor.Unlike Narine and Amir, life in the bubble is a new phenomenon for Shakoor and although he described the experience as a “difficult one”, the 32-year-old looked entirely unperturbed in smashing the first half-century in T10 cricket by a UAE player as his team clinched a last-ball win.”It was very tough,” said a beaming Shakoor post-match. “On the last day we got to practice for just one hour and it’s very difficult when you are for four days in a room to come out and do a performance like this.”For the Arabians’ Bangladesh captain Mosaddek Hossain, the result was secondary to the relief to be on the field rather than in the hotel.”It’s boring for us but it’s the new normal life and we’re adjusting to this,” he said. “When we’re staying in the room every time we’re thinking of when we’re going out to the field or for practice. When we’re coming to play, it will be very exciting for us.”

Time we accepted players will try their best to play for the country but won’t sacrifice IPL for it

Sidharth Monga24-Nov-2020Now that we know reliably that Rohit Sharma is still about two weeks of rehab away from being “70-80% ready” for Test cricket, there will be questions raised over the BCCI’s handling of the injury. Apart from the obvious issue of a practically absent communications wing, that is.

Questions for the BCCI

• Should the BCCI have intervened sooner and taken over Sharma’s injury management during the IPL?

• Could he not have been sent to Australia from the UAE to save him the two weeks of hard quarantine? Saha, for example, was despite his hamstring injury.

• Was there any assessment or treatment that he could have been given only at the NCA and not with the travelling party?

• Did the BCCI make him aware that he would have to go through two weeks of hard quarantine if he came to India for his rehab?

• Can the BCCI still fly him over ASAP? That will involve shifting the assessment responsibility to the team physio and trainer, but will give him the best chance to serve the quarantine and salvage part of the series.

• Is what is being said in interviews by Shastri and Ganguly being communicated officially to each other?

A quick recap might be in order. During IPL 2020, Sharma pulled out of four games with a hamstring injury. India’s squads for Australia, selected during this period, didn’t include him, which in a logical world would have meant an end to his IPL. However, he kept training and returned for the final three matches of a dominant Mumbai Indians campaign. As a result, the BCCI said that he was added to the squad for the Tests – still more than a month away – provided he went to the NCA and proved his fitness.Ten days later, he is still not considered anywhere near fit enough for the rigours of Test cricket. Add to it the complications that arise from the need for a hard quarantine – unlike a soft quarantine for those who flew out from the IPL bubble in the UAE – for two weeks, and he is practically out of the whole tour.There were enough hints in the squads selection for the Australia tour, and in the interviews of national coach Ravi Shastri and the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly that the board didn’t want Sharma to make a comeback during the IPL. Both Shastri and Ganguly said, based on what they had seen in the reports from the medical team, that this could have implications beyond the Australia tour. It was also clear from Sharma’s comeback, and all his and his IPL team’s – incidentally just as hazy as the BCCI’s – communications that he wanted to play the playoffs at the IPL and also make himself available for the Australia tour.As a centrally contracted player, Sharma is the BCCI’s employee all year round. So the first and foremost question is, why did the board have to take the passive-aggressive route of interviews in the press and not just pull him out of the IPL? They knew pretty well the nature of the injury and the logistics of this pandemic-ridden world. Hamstrings heal with rest and rehab. Playing during that period not only doesn’t allow rest and rehab but can also potentially set your recovery further back.Rohit Sharma injury timeline•ESPNcricinfoAs a result, the BCCI is on the verge of losing Sharma for an international tour. One can argue whether Sharma had nailed a regular spot in India’s first Test XI, especially overseas, before a calf injury ruled him out of the New Zealand tour earlier this year, but Virat Kohli’s absence did create room for a batsman, especially one with international experience. That is not the point, though. This is a clear case of the IPL taking priority over India’s international cricket.This could well have been someone much more instrumental to India’s chances in the Tests. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in 2018 is a good example: he was just the seam and swing bowler India needed in England, but the board couldn’t make Sunrisers Hyderabad go easy with him in the lead-up to the tour. A Sunrisers official had confirmed to ESPNcricinfo at that time that they were under no instructions from the BCCI to manage the workload of Kumar, who was struggling with a lower-back injury, which eventually ruled him out of the Tests at a time when even Jasprit Bumrah was injured. It is in stark contrast to Cricket Australia and the ECB, who micro-manage their players’ workloads even when they are under the charge of their IPL teams.However, you can’t put all the blame on the board no matter the optics. The IPL is the BCCI’s tournament: it has to make every effort to make its superstars available to the IPL teams. In terms of the revenue it brings to the BCCI, the IPL is bigger than any international cricket. So while the board can’t do anything if a player wants to protect himself for an international tour, in the practical world, it can’t really force Sharma to sit out when he is so visibly keen to play out the IPL.Nor is it that Sharma played out the IPL because of some financial greed. It is perhaps time to wake up to the high regard the players, and indeed the fans, hold the IPL in. It is the most-watched tournament in the world, bigger than any Test series and even the World Cup. These cricketers are performers and want to perform in front of the biggest audience possible. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to be tested in the most comprehensive format of the game, just that they are not willing to sacrifice for it as much as some lovers of Test cricket might want them to.

“With what has emerged about the injury now, it can be argued that the quickest possible way to put Sharma back on the park was to take him to Australia from the UAE. That would have allowed him to continue his rehab and training even when in quarantine.”

Nine years ago, Virender Sehwag delayed his shoulder surgery to play out the IPL and turned up uncooked for the Tests in England, which India lost 0-4. He was not the only one to spark outrage. Sachin Tendulkar retired without a Test series win in the West Indies because he chose to rest during that tour in 2011, and not the IPL that preceded it, in order to be ready for the England tour. Nine years on, it is perhaps time we normalised not prioritising Tests over IPL. At any rate, prioritising Tests is a luxury only three boards can afford. For years now, West Indies and New Zealand players have been turning up practically a couple of days prior to their respective Test series.Just like the players, the best that can be expected of the BCCI is a balancing act, which became even more difficult because of the Covid-19 pandemic. With what has emerged about the injury now, it can be argued that the quickest possible way to put Sharma back on the park was to take him to Australia from the UAE. That would have allowed him to continue his rehab and training even when in quarantine. We don’t know if he really needed to see an expert outside the team set-up to arrive at the assessment that we know now. This is an important question, among others (see sidebar), that the BCCI should ask itself: could it have acted more decisively and saved those two precious weeks of rehab?Of course, better communication – not just with the fans but also with each other – would have saved a lot of unnecessary speculation, but this kind of an impasse is something you better get used to in order to avoid repeated disappointment if you want your cricketers to place Test cricket on a pedestal or if you are the nationalistic kind and place bilateral limited-overs internationals over a much more competitive and prestigious T20 league.

The Sri Lanka allrounder looks back at the high points and fondest memories from his 12-year career, and maps the way forward

Interview by Andrew Fidel Fernando04-May-2021Thisara Perera announced his retirement from all international cricket yesterday, calling time on his 12-year career. He spoke to ESPNcricinfo about his reasons for announcing his retirement before the T20 World Cup, his most memorable innings, and his plans for franchise tournaments in the near future.You’re still only 32. Why have you decided to retire now?
I’ve played cricket for Sri Lanka for 12 years now. I think it’s time to give a chance to the youngsters. There has to be some lead-up time before a World Cup for a young player to prepare himself. You can’t do that in a rush. In 2023 there’s an ODI World Cup, and there are only a few months left before the T20 World Cup. Rather than retiring too close to those events, I thought it was better to give someone else the chance now.Related

• All-round match-winner – six of Perera's best in SL colours

• Thisara Perera retires from international cricket

• Thisara Perera becomes first Sri Lankan to smash six sixes in an over

• Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera fire Stallions to inaugural LPL title

It’s likely that you were part of Sri Lanka’s plans for this year’s T20 World Cup. Why are you retiring from that format as well?
They haven’t let me know much about their plans. All I knew was that they were dropping several seniors from the ODI team, so I thought it’s better that the young player who replaces me in ODIs gets that same chance in the T20I side. He then has the time to get settled and be stable in the side. If he plays a few one-dayers as well, there’s more than enough time for him to get set and play the World Cup.You’ve been a World Cup winner. Did you not have dreams of doing it again?
I definitely did. I’d been thinking for a while that before I quit I’d like to bring another World Cup home. One of the greatest highlights of my life was being able to finish the 2014 World T20 [final] with a six. I was seven when Arjuna Ranatunga won the 1996 World Cup with a four, and that’s really where my life in cricket started. From very early on, I wanted to hit that winning run, and I was overjoyed at having been able to do that.But with the situation at the moment – this is a time when they are looking closely at youngsters – I thought it’s better not to make anyone lose out on a place.Perera sealed Sri Lanka’s victory in the 2014 World T20 final with a six•ICCYou haven’t been consistently picked over the last five years, although you also had a spell as the limited-overs captain between 2017 and 2018. Were there frustrations for you during this period?
Failure happens to everyone. There are times you are right at the top of the staircase, and times when you’re right at the bottom. That’s a normal part of life. When I was low, I did my best to become free from what was holding me down. Sometimes those things have worked perfectly. I think I did a lot for the country. There are plenty of records that I’ve set.You took four wickets in an innings and also hit 75 in your last Test for Sri Lanka, in 2012. Do you feel you should have had more opportunities?
Yes, I didn’t get any opportunity in the Test format since then despite my performance in that match. I didn’t go to ask too much about it also. I watched for a few years, then retired from Tests. I just didn’t get a chance.What are some of your fondest memories playing for Sri Lanka?
Early on in my career, I loved the 2011 World Cup final, because I was able to end our innings with a six. Then there’s the 2014 World T20 and that winning six. I’ll never forget that. I became the first Asian cricketer to take hat-tricks in both ODIs and T20Is, and the first Sri Lankan player to hit six sixes in over in first-class cricket. I also hit the biggest six by a Sri Lankan – 123 metres in Perth.Any innings or spells that meant a lot to you?
Yes, the 140 that I hit against New Zealand [in Mount Maunganui in 2019]. I came in at No. 7 after a few wickets had fallen cheaply and we were out of the game [Sri Lanka were 121 for 5 after 25 overs, chasing 320]. But through my innings, I was able to get us close [they lost by 21 runs eventually]. I hit the most sixes struck by any Sri Lanka player during that innings – 13. I was batting with the tail for most of the innings. Nuwan Pradeep was batting at the other end and I remember telling him to hang in there somehow, because I was doing my best to get us to a win. We fell short narrowly. It’s very rare that someone in the losing team gets a Man-of-the-Match award. But I did for that game.Perera led the Jaffna Stallions to a title win in the inaugural Lanka Premier League in 2020•Jaffna StallionsWas there something that you wanted to achieve but couldn’t?
I did as much as I could. We won a T20 World Cup; to win a 50-over World Cup was another goal. Of the seven World Cups I played, 2011 was the one in which we came so close and still didn’t win, despite the fact that we gave it our everything. That was just our fate. But I did what I could for Sri Lankan cricket, and I’m retiring happy.You were a penetrative bowler in your early years. Were you disappointed at how it fell away later in your career?
I was bowling really well when I started, but then I suffered a major side-strain injury late in 2012, and I focused more on my batting after that. I used to bowl 140kph, but anyone who gets a side strain is worried about bowling from then on, because of the pain. But although my pace decreased, I still got a lot of wickets. I had 175 ODI wickets, and I think I was balancing that and my batting well. My heart tells me that I gave everything I could with the ball as well.What are your plans for retirement?
I’m still a professional cricketer. There are franchise tournaments, and I haven’t stopped that, and I’ll play for a while. I play domestic cricket for Sri Lanka Army, and I’m an Army officer. I can give that my full attention now. I can also focus more on my family.You’re the captain of the Jaffna Stallions LPL team. How important is that franchise to you?
I recently spoke to the owner, Anandan Arnold. We did extremely well in the last tournament, winning the tournament. And I think we’ll continue to do well this year. Based on the discussions we’ve had, I want to keep playing for Jaffna Stallions.Anything else you’d like to add?
I’ve got a few people I’d like to thank. Harsha de Silva was my coach at St Joseph’s College, and that’s the place that changed my life the most. I used to play as an opening batter, and it’s only later that I started batting at No. 6 and had the chance to play as an allrounder. I made my international debut in 2009, and I remember Kumar Sangakkara with a lot of affection, because he was the one that brought me into the team and was my first captain. I want to thank my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my wife, Sherami Perera, all of whom sacrificed a lot during my 12 years with the national team. Sherami would sometimes be without me for months while I was touring. I am very grateful to my family.

The young India batter is confident she’s ready for a busy year of international and franchise cricket

Annesha Ghosh31-May-20215:22

‘Looking back, there was a lot of struggle, but I’m happy with where I am today’

Shafali Verma laughs shyly when asked if selfie-hunters come calling when she’s at home in Rohtak, Haryana. “Sometimes,” she says, her nod indicating a young athlete’s growing ease with new-found fame.In the 21 months since her international debut, Verma, 17, has hit more sixes in T20Is than any other female cricketer, helped take India to their maiden T20 World Cup final, and twice topped the women’s T20I batting rankings.Her distinctive power game has helped fetch her deals in the Hundred in the UK, and the WBBL in Australia. She has also been called up to India’s one-day and Test sides for the upcoming tour of England.”My target has been to take lessons from every series and keep improving as a cricketer,” Verma, currently the No. 1-ranked T20I batter, says. “After the T20 World Cup I worked on my skills, fitness, and choosing the right deliveries to play. I felt I did better there in the South Africa series. I could sense some improvement in my fielding as I had focused on working out and strengthening my body during last year’s lockdown.”Verma’s scores of 23, 47, and 60 in the T20Is were one of the few highlights of India’s series against South Africa in March, their first since the T20 World Cup a year ago. They lost the T20Is 2-1 and the ODIs 4-1.”After the T20 World Cup I worked on my skills, fitness, and choosing the right deliveries to play. I felt I did better there in the South Africa series”•Mike Owen/Getty ImagesVerma looked far more at ease against the bouncer in those games than she had previously. She says it was down to the work she put in. “If you try to get better at something and get complacent after trying just once, it never works out. I chalked out a plan and played 150 balls [bouncers] at a time, then rested for a bit and faced more bouncers. I focused on practising the same thing over and over again.”Verma had an opportunity to crank her game up a gear when the Haryana men’s team set up camp ahead of their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign earlier this year.”I feel that I benefited a great deal from that Ranji camp,” she says of the preparatory period ahead of the South Africa series. “My back-foot game was a bit weak earlier, but facing the Ranji bowlers, who would come in at around 140kph, has helped better my technique and confidence on that front.”I interacted with Harshal [Patel], who recently played in the IPL, Mohit [Sharma] , Rahul Tewatia, and picked their brains about dealing with the bouncer. They shared their inputs with me and so did their coach. He gave me his feedback on my batting. I’m very grateful to everyone at the Haryana Cricket Association for the opportunity.”To get around pandemic-related difficulties like lack of access to facilities, Verma’s long-time coach, Ashwini Kumar, a former Haryana first-class player, set up nets and a bowling machine in his backyard for additional batting sessions to supplement her training at Rohtak’s Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club.In the national set-up, too, Verma says, there has been no want of encouragement since she earned her maiden call-up in September 2019.From left: Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Verma at the BCCI Awards in January 2020. Verma was named the best woman cricketer (junior domestic) of 2018-19 and won the best international debut award•Vipin Pawar/BCCI”All of my team-mates, coaches and support staff encourage me to bat in my natural style,” she says. “Whenever I don’t play a shot well, Smriti [Mandhana, her opening partner] points out the mistake and suggests how I could have approached the ball better, say, by timing it better or something else. She gives me sound feedback. We discuss a lot about what we think of each other’s batting.” The two put on a 96-run stand inside nine overs in India’s only win in the T20I series against South Africa.The series against South Africa was also head coach WV Raman’s last assignment with India. He has been replaced by Ramesh Powar, who has returned to take charge of the side after being let go from the job in 2018.The T20 World Cup in Australia last year was Verma’s first major tournament and the teenager was the object of a lot of media interest and buzz. If she didn’t blink in the spotlight, it was partly due to Raman and the management, who made sure she didn’t look much beyond the task at hand.”I worked with him [Raman] for two years,” Verma says. “He would back me to the hilt to bat the way I bat. ‘Ball game ,’ [Focus on the ball, focus on your own game] he would say. He motivated me since my debut. Whether or not I did something correctly or did it well, he would encourage me. I will miss him and I want to thank him. It was great playing under him.”The England tour, Verma’s first trip to that country, will kick off a busy season overseas for India, and she has been preparing to embrace the new experiences and challenges that will come along.Verma was among India’s top run scorers in the 2020 T20 World Cup and hit 15 sixes in five innings in the tournament•Paul Kane/Getty Images”I want to remain fit. That’s my primary goal, because if I’m fit, I can carve out a long career for myself. And to simulate skiddy conditions [overseas], I have been training with wet synthetic balls, to allow them to skid more.”I watched the IPL as well. One gets to learn a lot observing and watching the IPL players, their shot selection, especially.”Verma is excited at the prospect of playing a Test. The last time India played one, at Mysore in 2014, she was ten years old. She hasn’t ever had a taste of multi-day cricket at any level, and though she likes watching Steven Smith in Tests, most of her idols in the sport, she says, smiling, are from the shortest format.Already one of the most compelling T20 batters around, Verma will have a shot at learning from some of the best in the business when she teams up with multiple World Cup winner Alyssa Healy at the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL this year soon after India’s bilateral series against Australia.”Healy is a good batter,” Verma says. “I watched her bat in the [T20] World Cup. “If I get to open with her or bat with her in any other position, I would like to pick her brains, speak to her about what it’s like playing at this level and learn from her experience.”A promotion in the central-contracts tiers has also boosted her salary by an additional 20 lakh [US$27,500 approx] this year. The raise is welcome. She grew up in a family with a modest income; her father, Sanjeev, runs a small jewellery shop.”I sense that everyone who has been part of my journey is happy to see that I have found an aim in life. When I look back, I think of my younger self cycling 15km to school and then cycling back [home] and then to my cricket academy…. [Growing up], I would try motivating myself by reminding myself that if I work hard, my name might come up for selection.”There has been some struggle in my journey, but [I’m happy to see how things are going]. As Papa says, if I stay diligent, keep learning and work on my mistakes, I can do better and support the Indian team in every way I can.”

Day-night Tests have traditionally favoured seamers, but there’s every chance Ahmedabad may throw up another turner

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Feb-20219:36

Lack of grass will definitely take a toll on the colour of pink ball – SG’s marketing director

From a neutral’s perspective, the India-England series couldn’t be better set up going into the third Test. It’s 1-1, and neither team can be entirely sure of what to expect in Ahmedabad. The Sardar Patel Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since 2014, and is now entirely refurbished, with a world-leading 110,000 seating capacity. And this, of course, will be only the second time India hosts a day-night Test, which will bring an entirely new set of variables into play because of the floodlights and the pink ball. Here’s a guide to what Motera might have in store for us.The ball
The major point of difference between the SG pink ball and its red counterpart is in how colour is applied to its leather exterior. While the leather of the red ball goes through a dyeing process, the pink ball is coated with multiple layers of pigment. And to enable these coatings to last longer, the pink ball is finished off with an extra layer of lacquer.When Kolkata hosted India’s first pink-ball Test in 2019, this extra lacquer led players to feel the ball was coming onto them quicker than expected – in the air and off the pitch – and that it felt harder and heavier when it hit the fielders’ hands. The longer-lasting shine also helped the ball swing – often prodigiously – for longer.But the shine lasted as long as it did because the curator at Eden Gardens left 6mm of live grass on the pitch. It wasn’t a difficult decision then, because India possessed a seam attack that was decidedly superior to Bangladesh’s. India’s opponents this time are England, which complicates the issue a little.The pitch
Traditionally – if we can use that word for a concept that’s only in its sixth year – day-night Tests have tended to favour the faster bowlers. In the 15 day-night Tests that have been played around the world, fast bowlers have taken 354 wickets at an average of 24.47, and spinners 115 wickets at a significantly worse 35.38.In the Eden Gardens pink-ball Test, every wicket India’s bowlers took went to their fast bowlers, and their spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, only sent down seven overs between them across Bangladesh’s two innings.But the trend for day-night Tests to disproportionately favour seam and swing is mostly down to curators leaving extra grass on the pitch to ensure the pink ball stays harder and retains its shine for longer.Five days before the Test match, the Motera pitch was indistinguishable from the outfield. There was far less grass on the surface a day later, though, and it’s anyone’s guess as to how much remains by the time the Test match begins. With England boasting one of the best and most varied pace attacks in the world, there probably won’t be any more than the bare minimum necessary to maintain the pink ball’s integrity.

#Pitchwatch with @englandcricket captain #JoeRoot casting his eyes over the surface for the third #INDvENG Test in #Ahmedabad… pic.twitter.com/FH3Hetxhji

— Brian Murgatroyd (@murgersb) February 20, 2021