Sports
Cricket needs to address discipline issues
by Rex Clementine
There’s a lot of respect for Virat Kohli’s batsmanship but still, lot of people don’t like his attitude. But if you ask the Indian press about his work ethic and diet routines, you will realize that what makes him the player he is, the discipline that he has brought into his lifestyle. India last played a Test series here in 2017. The team hotel’s gym opens at 6am apparently but when King Kohli is in town, the gym has to be opened at 5 in the morning. Butter chicken and naan roti are north Indian favourite menus but the Delhi born Kohli keeps them away when he’s involved in a series – home or away.
How much we Sri Lankans hope that we get a cricketer with that kind of work ethic. We did have one by the name of Kumar Sangakkara and that’s why he reached the peaks that no other Sri Lankan had ever reached. He was the only Sri Lankan batsman to be ranked number one in Tests for a record period of time.
Mind you this was at a time when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting were going all guns blazing. But none could match Sanga’s consistency. Such a shame that some of his best years were spent at Surrey and not in Sri Lankan colours.
The Danushka Gunathilaka episode in Australia shamed an entire nation. As we tried to point out time and again the system was too soft on Danushka when he got into trouble in the past. We are not a nation that is capable of nipping things in the bud. As if what happened in Sydney weren’t bad, this week two other players are in the news for the wrong reasons. This time it’s the Royal boys.
Chamika Karunaratne was fined US$ 5000 (peanuts for someone with an IPL deal) and then handed a suspended sentence of one year. The incident that had got him into trouble wasn’t mentioned but he is said to have pleaded guilty to the charges. According to reports, he is supposed to have picked up a fight at a Brisbane casino. Let the young man be reminded that Australia is not the kind of place to pick up fights at casinos. If he wants to know why let him go and find out how David Hookes died.
Less than 48 hours after the announcement of Karunaratne being fined came the news that his Royal College colleague Bhanuka Rajapaksa was withdrawing from the three match ODI series. Rajapaksa said in a twitter message that he was withdrawing to recover and refresh both physically and mentally. He also added that he had been playing with a few niggles and went onto say that being away from home had been a strain mentally.
Surprisingly, the board gave him the cold shoulder. Ideally, it is they who make these announcements and not the player. So, there are lots of questions coming out of the episode. Here’s a player who has not cemented his place in ODI squad and he’s withdrawing putting his place in the World Cup squad in jeopardy.
His health conditions must be respected, of course yes. But could we have saved the trouble by doing all this before going to Kandy. The talk at Maitland Place though is something different. That is the board wasn’t too keen to give him an NOC to play league cricket in another part of the world. This may have been Bhanuka’s way of teaching the board a lesson.
Seriously, no individual is bigger than the game. The board must put their foot down and make sure that their players behave. Sometimes the board is helpless as Royal College boys run to uncle Sagala. Others of course have the blessings of Harin aiya and Namal aiya.
We have been at times too soft on players. We have got a lot to learn from people like Rienzie T. Wijetilleke, the former board chairman. He was a banker and not a cricketer, but he knew the value of discipline.
When Kaushal Lokuarrachi was involved in a hit and run, Wijetilleke put his foot down and taught him a good lesson. More than the punishment you admired his statement. When the press asked for a comment, he said that accidents can happen, but you cannot run away from it. You’ve got to own up your mistakes. All respect to ex-President Chandrika Kumaratunga for proving to us that bankers also can run a sports body. All what you need is discipline, transparency and honesty. Wijetilleke had them in plenty. And he chose his running mates carefully; S. Skandakumar, Sidath Wettimuny and Kushil Gunasekara. There couldn’t have been a better team than that.
During the World Cup, Sri Lanka’s players were too relaxed. Partying and late-night outs are not new when players go to places like Australia, England or New Zealand. It has been happening for ages. As someone pointed out, the drinking culture in Sri Lankan cricket dates back to Sathasivam’s time.
The difference between Sri Lankan players who went on tours then and now is that they practiced the 11th commandment – do it but don’t get caught. Nowadays they are not only breaching contractual obligations but are proudly announcing them on social media too.
Jeffrey Vanderay, Kusal Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Niroshan Dickwella are all serial offenders and sometimes watching them closely will tell you a lot about their conduct. How else would you explain Dickwella not having a Test match hundred after nearly 100 innings? Some of the ways he gets out while on 90s are ridiculous. And he has no remorse about it whatsoever. If Duleep Mendis had been the Manager, he would have not allowed the batsman to enter the dressing room. Had Abu Fuard been there, he would have told Dickwella to take the next train from Galle and go back all the way to Kandy and wouldn’t have played him again. Amal Silva is a case in point.
The common refrain among teams ahead of today’s expected high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy is, “It’s just another game.” Players from both sides have sought to downplay the pressure factor that typically accompanies a match between these traditional rivals.
“It doesn’t change anything for us, honestly. We play every match to win the match and this is no different for us. And that is how we are going to prepare for this one as well,” India vice-captain Shubman Gill said on the eve of the game. “There is no extra pressure; we are relaxed. We will treat it as just another match,” Haris Rauf remarked on the contest. It is unlikely the players are entirely honest about their mindset and mental approach, particularly the Pakistan players.
With their survival on the line, Pakistan’s players are feeling the pressure from all sides. Their bowling and batting floundered in the tournament opener against New Zealand, leaving the Mohammad Rizwan side teetering on the cliff. The bowlers were way off the mark and the batters struggled to accelerate.
During their net sessions at the ICC Academy on Friday night, the bowlers focused on swinging the ball in, something that was invisible in their performance against New Zealand. The batters, on the other hand, were consistently attempting big shots and aiming to clear the boundary – something they had struggled to do in their previous match.
A sense of urgency was evident within the Indian ranks as well. Virat Kohli, short on runs of late, alarmingly sparking concerns over his batting technique, arrived at the academy an hour before his teammates. Accompanied by a pair of throwdown specialists – one left-handed and the other right-handed – with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak in tow, Kohli batted for an extra hour, noticeably determined to regain his former flourish, sparkle and confidence. Most importantly the trademark Kohli swagger and confidence that would be so inherent in his cover drives have been missing of late. He is not leaving anything to chance to regain the touch.
Going by numbers and recent form, India should be the clear favorites, having won five of the six encounters against the traditionals rivals since the 2017 Champions Trophy final. Overall, Pakistan lead the head-to-head record 73-57, but in the past decade – especially since the 2015 World Cup – India have lost only one match, the 2017 Champions Trophy final, while winning seven with one no result.
The form and record clearly indicate India as the favorites, but Sunil Gavaskar, speaking on a television show Friday, said that while he believes Rohit Sharma’s men are strong favorites, it would be impudent to discount the fact that a single game-changing moment from either side could shift the balance. Who will that game-changer be?
India Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana.
Pakistan Probable XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
[Cricbuzz]
Chinell Henry’s late onslaught, uncapped seamer Kranti Goud’s four-wicket haul, Grace Harris’ last-over hat-trick. UP Warriorz had brilliant moments on the field and produced a thumping win over Delhi Capitals to finally get off the mark, in their third attempt, in WPL 2025. In the first reverse fixture of this season, Warriorz defended 177 by bowling Capitals out for 144 for a 33-run victory. They are also the first team to defend a total in this edition.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium came alive late in the first innings thanks to Henry’s fireworks. From 89 for 6, her entertaining 23-ball knock lifted Warriorz from a potential below-par total to a match-winning one. Striking at an astonishing 269.56, Henry smashed eight sixes and two fours to reach the joint fastes fifty, off 18 balls, in WPL history.
In the chase, Jemimah Rodrigue’s 56 held the fort but Capitals collapsed from 97 for 3 to 111 for 7 and couldn’t recover from the slide. Niki Prasad and Shika Pandey’s handy contributions at the death weren’t enough as Goud and Harris shared eight wickets between them to topple Capitals.
A player’s first season of the WPL could easily make or break her confidence, with performances being put under the microscope. Goud, 21, bowled just four overs in the first two matches in her debut WPL season. Warriorz lost both games and she leaked 47 runs. But Deepti Sharma persisted with her over India seamer Saima Thakor, who had to miss out the second time.
Goud quickly found her feet and repaid the team’s faith in the team’s first game in Bengaluru this season. She was hit for a first-ball four by Meg Lanning but, two balls later, nipped one back sharply to disturb the stumps of Capitals’ captain. She conceded just two off her next over, seventh overall, and dismissed Shafali Verma in her next over with a short delivery. Three overs, 16 runs and two wickets. When Goud finished her first spell, Capitals needed 126 runs from 66 balls.
When she came back for her final over, Capitals had to chase 76 off 36 with Rodrigues going strong after her fifty. But Goud had Jonassen caught and bowled and Rodrigues caught at extra cover in the same over to leave Capitals 111 for 6.
Deepti batted at No. 4 in the opening game, making a 27-ball 39. In the next two games, both against Capitals, she came in at No.3 and made a run-a-ball seven in Lucknow, and 13 off 19 balls in Bengaluru. Whether it’s the ideal slot for her is something to keep an eye on especially when the middle order isn’t firing.
In the last WPL, she accumulated 295 runs at a strike rate of 136.67 in eight innings. She came in at No.3 only once and scored 59. But mostly she batted in the middle order, where she remained unbeaten four out of five times and smashed 218 runs including two fifties, at a strike rate of 143.42.
In this WPL, the likes of Tahlia McGrath and Harris not stepping up in the middle order has been a concern for them. It has left Henry with a lot of rescue work to do late in the innings. In the last match, she blazed away an unbeaten 33 off 15 to power them to 166.
On Saturday, Henry came in at No.8 in the 14th over when Warriorz were 89 for 6 and straightaway dispatched two sixes off Reddy to ease some pressure. She then targeted Pandey, smashing a four and two sixes in the 17th over, and threw a few more big blows before eventually losing her wicket to Jonassen in the final ball of the innings.
Warriorz have been the worst team in the middle phase (from overs 7 to 16) this WPL, having lost 15 wickets in the three games including five on Saturday, but Henry’s unbelievable innings helped them fight back.
The ball was swinging and nipping at the start of the second innings, troubling the likes of Shafali and Lanning. But Warriorz were sloppy in the field, Thakor dropped two catches and wicketkeeper Uma Chetry failed to hold onto chances; however Goud pulled them back. Barring Rodrigues, none in the Capitals top seven was able to adapt to the conditions in Bengaluru.
Even Rodrigues took 19 balls to score her first 23 runs and once she found her rhythm, she grew in confidence and smashed eye-pleasing boundaries to the cover region. She raced to her first fifty of this season off 30 balls. And her eight fours and a six gave Capitals some hope but the middle order let the game slip away from them in the end.
In her own words, Harris is a batting allrounder. But she has not set the stage on fire in this WPL yet, scoring just 18 runs in three games. However, with the ball, she had picked up two wickets in her first two matches and levelled that up on Saturday. She first dismissed Capitals’ Player of the Match from last fixture, Annabel Sutherland, in the 14th over of the chase.
In the final over, with 34 needed for a win, Harris removed Prasad, Reddy and Minnu Manni off successive deliveries to become the third player in the WPL to bag a hat-trick after Deepti and Issy Wong.
Brief Scores:
UP Warriorz Women 177 for 9 in 20 overs (Kiran Navire 17, Deepti Sharma 13, Tahlia Mcgarth 24, Shweta Sheravat 11, Chinell Henry 62, Sophie Ecclestone 12; Jess Jonassen 4-31, Marizanne Kapp 2-18, Shikha Pandey 1-39, Arundhatti Reddy 2-52) beat Delhi Capitals Women 144 in 19.3 overs (Shafali Verma 24, Jemimmah Rodrigues 56, Niki Prasad 18, Shikha Pandey 15*; Chinell Henry 1-42, Grace Harris 4-15, Kranti Goud 4-25, Deepti Sharma 1-25)by 33 runs
[Cricinfo]
Ben Duckett provided the ruthlessness England so desperately craved with a record knock of 165. But his heroics went in vain as Josh Inglis countered by pummeling a lackluster England pace attack and powering Australia to the highest successful chase in men’s ICC tournament history.
The first match at an ICC event in Lahore since March 1996 saw batting completely dominate this Champions Trophy blockbuster with little margin for error for the bowlers on such a benign surface.
With a mixture of inventive strokes and meaty backfoot blows, England-born Inglis hit his maiden ODI century to finish unbeaten on 120 from 86 balls as Australia reached the target of 352 with relative ease in the 48th over. England’s bowlers struggled to handle the dew under lights, with Australia achieving their second-highest successful ODI chase after their 359 for 6 against India in Mohali in 2019.
It was a bitter disappointment for England, who now face must-win games against Afghanistan and South Africa. They ultimately will rue falling a little bit short with the bat, but Duckett’s magnificent 165 off 143 was the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history. He received strong support from Joe Root, who made a crisp 68 in a third-wicket partnership of 158.
Even though no other batter scored more than 25 runs, England still compiled the highest-ever total in the tournament and took full toll on the least experienced Australian attack at an ICC ODI event since 1983. They were without frontline quicks Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, while seam-bowling allrounders Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis are also missing.
However, the result was not a fait accompli on this flat surface, with Australia boasting a deep batting line-up. Australia’s innings mirrored England’s with two early wickets after Travis Head and stand-in captain Steven Smith fell in the powerplay.
Having blazed an unforgettable century the last time he was sighted at a 50-over ICC event, Head loomed as the key but on 6 his swipe hit the toe-end of the bat and Jofra Archer held a sharp return catch.
Smith could only edge to slip a hard-length delivery from speedster Mark Wood, who was in great rhythm and consistently hitting speeds of 150 kph. But Mathew Short and Marnus Labuschagne rallied with a 95-run stand as they took a particular liking to wayward quick Brydon Carse.
Short overcame a lean run of form by superbly using the pace of England’s quicks but legspinner Adil Rashid bowled a brilliant spell in combination with Liam Livingstone that squeezed the batters.
A frustrated Labuschagne hit a slow 70 kph legbreak from Rashid straight to cover before Short on 63 offered a return catch to Livingstone as Australia slumped to 136 for 4.
But Rashid was taken out of the attack after his six-over spell, allowing Inglis and Alex Carey to settle. The pair showcased their strong form having each scored counterattacking Test centuries against Sri Lanka as they got on top of a struggling England pace attack.
Carey sheepishly celebrated his half-century after hitting Rashid straight to deep midwicket only for Archer to drop a sitter. Inglis then whacked Archer for consecutive boundaries as the wheels started to come off for England.
Just as Australia started to gain control, Carey hit Carse straight to mid-off with 70 still needed off 50 balls. But Inglis was unperturbed and mowed a six off Archer to reach his century in style.
Glenn Maxwell was unstoppable before Inglis fittingly sealed victory with a six in a terrific victory for World Cup champions Australia, whose title hopes ahead of the tournament had largely been written off.
Smith elected to bowl after being swayed that dew would play a factor under lights as Australia stepped onto the field at an ICC event without their big three quicks for the first time in nine years.
Australia’s considerably weakened attack was under immediate pressure on a road of a pitch. There was no Starc, but Australia were not short on aggressive left-arm quicks with Spencer Johnson, whose trademark golden locks had been shorn off, and Ben Dwarshuis handed the new ball.
Dwarshuis was selected ahead of Sean Abbott, who had played in both of Australia’s ODI games in Sri Lanka, for match-up reasons although his two early wickets were mostly due to rash strokes.
England’s reshuffled batting line-up didn’t go to plan initially. In a common bane for them, they went a bit hard early with Phil Salt falling in the second over after falling to clear the on-side as a high-flying Carey plucked a one-handed blinder of a catch to his right.
It was a spectacular first-ever ODI catch for Carey as an outfielder and helped justify the decision for Inglis, the incumbent white-ball wicketkeeper, to retain the gloves.
All eyes were on Jamie Smith, who batted at No. 3 for the first time in international cricket – and only the second time in his List A career – in a decision that forced Root, Harry Brook and Jos Buttler to shift down from their usual positions.
Smith stroked a couple of gorgeous cover drives, before falling tamely to the on-side where Carey took a far easier catch on this occasion.
England did not envision being 43 for 2, but they recovered quickly as Duckett and Root cashed in on errant bowling from Johnson and Dwarshuis. Duckett had started relatively slowly, but blasted a boundary off the last delivery of the powerplay as England moved to 73 for 2.
Smith reverted to spin after the restrictions were eased but there was little turn on offer as Duckett and Root easily rotated the strike. Smith was fairly conservative with his tactics and deployed four sweepers.
Duckett showcased his improved prowess of hitting down the ground by targeting Maxwell straight and he reached his half-century in style with a horizontal bat shot off Johnson.
Root was making it look easy, not fussed about hitting boundaries but smartly working the gaps to reach his half-century off 56 balls. He had a perfect opportunity to end a long ODI century drought stretching to the 2019 World Cup as England eyed a total in the high 300s.
But Root got tied down by legspinner Adam Zampa, was was in the midst of a good spell, and missed a rare attempted sweep to fall in a tight lbw after an unsuccessful review. Australia fought back through Zampa, whose subtle variations proved effective and accounted for Brook with Carey taking another terrific catch after a diving effort running backward at point.
Seamer Nathan Ellis also utilised his noted defensive skills and conceded just 51 runs off his 10 overs – the only bowler with an economy of under six.
England feared letting slip a great platform just like they did against Australia at Trent Bridge last September. But Duckett held things together and blasted consecutive boundaries off Johnson to reach his third ODI century.
He punched the air in celebration, but did not waver in his concentration despite being clearly fatigued. Duckett’s brilliant innings finally ended in the 48th over when he was trapped lbw by the legspin of Labuschagne, who was preferred over Johnson at the death and finished with 2 for 41 off five overs.
Archer hit a flurry at the death, but his mood soured later in the night.
Brief scores:
Australia 356 for 5 in 47.3 overs (Josh Inglis 120*, Alex Carey 69, Mathew Short 63, Marnus Labuschagne 47, Adil Rashid 1-47, Liam Livingstone 1-47) beat England 351 for 8 in 50 overs (Ben Duckett 165, Joe Root 68, Jos Buttler 23, Jofra Archer 23*; Ben Dwarshuis 3-66, Marnus Labuschagne 2-41, Adam Zampa 2-64) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
India start favourites against rattled Pakistan
US measles outbreak sickens nearly 100 in Texas, New Mexico
Trump fires top US general CQ Brown in shake-up at Pentagon
-
Features7 days agoDon’t betray baiyas who voted you into power for lack of better alternative: a helpful warning to NPP – II
-
News5 days agoCommercial High Court orders AASSL to pay Rs 176 mn for unilateral termination of contract
-
Sports4 days agoSri Lanka face Australia in Masters World Cup semi-final today
-
Features7 days agoTwo films and comments
-
Features6 days agoUSAID and NGOS under siege
-
Features6 days agoDoing it in the Philippines…
-
News3 days agoCourtroom shooting: Police admit serious security lapses
-
Midweek Review5 days agoImpact of US policy shift on Sri Lanka