Dani Ceballos has hinted at his potential exit from Real Madrid in this ongoing summer window.
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Ajax are making a late push to sign striker Kasper Dolberg from Belgian side Anderlecht, but face competition from Scottish champions Celtic.
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Serge Gnabry claims that Michael Olise absolutely surprised him with his mindset and believes the Frenchman still has a long way to go.
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Kevin De Bruyne says he didn't have much say in choosing Belgium's new captain as coach Rudi Garcia picked of Youri Tielemans to wear the armband.
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Harry Kane has a taste for the "honey" of trophy-winning and is being backed to earn more Bayern Munich "love" than "arrogant" Robert Lewandowski.
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Antony will hope to follow in Marcus Rashford's footsteps and move out of Manchester United this summer after being deemed surplus to Rubem Amorim's needs. He spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Real Betis and the La Liga club would have loved to make his transfer permanent but they do not have money to secure a move for the United outcast.
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There are huge milestones to look forward to for Ashwin, Anderson and Stokes as India take on England’s Bazball once again
Alagappan Muthu14-Feb-20242:00
Manjrekar: Rank turners may not be a good idea for India
It feels like we’ve been here before. Scores are level. Expectation is high. An England player had visa issues. India’s No. 4 couldn’t make it. It’s late January 2024 all over again. What a time to be alive.Ben Stokes is about to play his 100th Test match. R Ashwin will likely be taking his 500th Test wicket. James Anderson is in sight of 700. India’s dominance at home is under threat. Bazball is not just hype. The Apple Vision Pro is out making reality redundant. There are continuing advancements to make mind control possible. The Deadpool 3 trailer has dropped. What more could anyone ask for?If you’re Sarfaraz Khan, then maybe a first ever India cap. The 26-year-old has worked all his life to become an international cricketer, collecting mind-boggling numbers over the course of recent domestic seasons, and is set to finally take that most coveted step up. As a middle-order batter in subcontinent conditions, he offers a lot of potential, which is the least that can be said about someone averaging and striking at 70 in first-class cricket.Related
How Bazball alters one of the fundamental truths of Test cricket
Kuldeep: 'Bazball has made bowlers plan how to restrict runs'
England's unlikely Mr Consistent seeks series-defining moment
Can India's batters restore the balance of power?
Stokes' aggression is England's new mantra for success
It does, however, mean that India will be relying on a group of batters still only learning what life as a Test cricketer is like. Seriously, the only thing greener is on lunch menus or is 6’4″ tall and leading England’s spin attack. This battle between up-and-coming members of the hosts and up-and-coming members of their guests has been one of the more fascinating and unexpected subplots of this whole tour. Although in Rajkot, a couple of established stars might take back centre stage. India’s inexperience puts them on the back foot against the guile of James Anderson and the pace of Mark Wood.Especially considering how they have been leaving runs on the board. Rahul Dravid has been telling India that they need to be more pragmatic. Stokes, though, doesn’t really look like he sets a lot of store in such things. He kept tossing the ball to Tom Hartley even as he was smashed all over the park, telling him everything was fine, keep at it. Both methods worked. Yashasvi Jaiswal benefited from a little restraint, scoring a double-century in an innings where no one else made more than 34. Hartley recovered from being hit for six first ball to become his team’s leading wicket-taker after two Tests.A series that was supposed to be headlined by the likes of Virat Kohli and Joe Root and Ravindra Jadeja and Stokes himself is now following a very different narrative.
India WLWLD
England LWWDWMark Wood has replaced Shoaib Bashir in England’s XI•Gareth Copley / Getty
The 2021 series between these two teams offered a massive challenge to batters on both sides. Of 156 innings played, there were only 19 that went past fifty, and of those 19, there was one that stood out. Rohit Sharma walked out onto a dust bowl in Chennai and produced a knock that has become something of a blueprint for his opposition this time around, a hundred that was an ode to attacking instinct. He hasn’t been able to summon the same kind of otherworldly strokeplay this time – even though the pitches are much more amenable for batting – but there are three games still left and his spirits remain quite high. India will be relying on his strengths to guide them towards the kind of first-innings totals that can help them dictate terms.Another high performer from 2021 – the top-scorer in fact – has more overs under his belt (64) than runs on the board (52). Joe Root swept India to the extremes that they had to go to in order to win that series three years ago, but right now, he isn’t even getting those starts that the experts would pick up on so often that it became sort of a personality trait. “You look up and all of a sudden Joe Root’s on 30 not out.” Jasprit Bumrah is a significant factor for things turning out this way. The head-to-head after two matches reads 1 run off 10 balls and two dismissals. Both men will be refreshed after a mid-series break, meaning this thing is just getting started.
With Kohli unavailable, Shreyas Iyer left out and KL Rahul injured, India’s middle-order is a bit threadbare in terms of experience. Jadeja’s return should help there – he has a fine record in Rajkot, his home ground, and looks all but certain to play. The rest of the slack falls on a bunch of rookies who have shown a lot of promise at domestic level but now have to prove that they can cut it here too. There has also been a bit of focus on wicketkeeper KS Bharat’s output in front of the stumps, which brings Dhruv Jurel quite firmly into the picture.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dhruv Jurel/KS Bharat (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajEngland, who played the first two Tests with just one fast bowler, will go into this one with both Anderson and Wood. Their batting remains unchanged.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James AndersonRajkot is where Ravindra Jadeja has played most of his domestic cricket for Saurashtra•Gareth Copley / Getty
There are runs expected in Rajkot. The local boy Jadeja said the surface will start out flat and then take a little turn as natural wear and tear sets in. The weather has been quite cool in the lead-up to the Test – early 20C in the mornings, rising to low 30C in the afternoons – and is expected to be so for the duration of it as well, so that’s another good sign for the batters. Without a lot of sun, the pitch might not break up as quickly.
“Obviously I’m very excited because I’ve been playing with him for 12-13 years. To achieve this milestone is a really, really big thing, to complete 500 Test wickets. I’m very happy for him. I thought he would complete his 500 wickets in the first match, but it’s okay, whatever is written in destiny. He will complete it in Rajkot, in my hometown.”
Arsenal opened their pre-season tour of Asia with a 1-0 win against AC Milan, with Bukayo Saka scoring the only goal in Singapore.
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We asked you to pick out the greatest Test you had ever seen (or one you wished you had), and the responses ranged from the predictable to the not-so
Cricinfo staff20-Aug-2005
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Dravid scripts an Indian fairytale
Ram Murali on
The Adelaide Test of 2003 represents five of the most memorable days in the life of an Indian cricket fanatic. Galvanised by Ganguly’s brilliant rearguard action at Brisbane, the Indian attack was brought back to reality by Ganguly’s counterpart, Ricky Ponting, on the first day of this Test. And a top-order collapse on the second day all but pointed to . But Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman – having come together at the score of 85 for 4 – had seen it all before at Kolkota in 2001 when India was on the precipice of a series defeat. The Australian critics can continue to gripe about the absence of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne at Adelaide, but weren’t the Indians supposed to be dancing to the tunes of the Aussie “chin music” anyway? Well, Laxman and Dravid sure did dance, but it was down the track, using their feet beautifully against the spin of MacGill and handling the pace bowlers with the kind of assurance that the Aussies are never comfortable with.The Indians eventually fell short of the Australian first-innings score of 556 but they had exceeded all expectations by a mile. Agarkar, perhaps wanting to exorcise the demons of his tour of 1999-00, came in like a man possessed and ran through the Aussie batting line-up. The moment his beautiful inswinger trapped Langer plumb in front, one knew that the supposedly under-confident kid from Mumbai was going to have his day in the sun. But with the Aussies, a game is not won until the last ball and it was obvious that a target of 230 was not going to be a walk in the park for the Indians. But the batsmen – including Tendulkar who was in the midst of a miserable run — ground it out and the match was evenly poised when Ganguly fell with the score at 170. In walked Laxman and in what was a little gem of an innings, he was instrumental in crafting India’s upset victory. Holding one end up till the very end was the human wall that has come to define solidity–Rahul Dravid. It was one of those rare days overseas when an Indian fan was surprised…pleasantly.Jayasuriya wallops before Murali lets rip
Zahran Fouzi on Sri Lanka’s Test record overseas was not the greatest; it was just 15 years after gaining test status and they were yet to play a Test series against England in England. This too was going to be another one-off Test and not only the Sri Lankan team but all of us in Sri Lanka knew that we had a point to prove.
Sri Lanka won the toss and, with Murali in the side, Ranatunga had no hesitation in putting the home side in. Graeme Hick was in good form but Murali kept taking wickets and it was thanks to a last-wicket partnership that England reached 445 after batting for almost two days. Murali finished with seven wickets.
Sri Lanka started the third day on 79 for 1 and lost an early wicket. In walked Aravinda De Silva – together with Jayasuriya, they went for it, adding almost 250 runs in 50 overs. It was a treat to watch, and I sat in front of the TV and watched every delivery of that partnership. When Jayasuriya was finally out for a breathtaking 213, England were still bowling with the first new ball – not because they wanted to but because the 80 overs were not up yet to take the second one.
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Sri Lanka finished with 591, with Aravinda de Silva making a fluent 152. The commentators kept saying that a 146-run lead was not going to be enough, and there was just a little over a day to go. England started cautiously in their second innings and lost two quick wickets before the end of the day. The last day was going to be a cracker and I remember staying up late, talking to a couple of my friends about what might happen the next day.
England had decided to play defensively, but just like the first innings Murali kept taking wickets at regular intervals. England lost their eighth wicket midway during the post-lunch session and we knew we had it in the bag, but Ramprakash and Salisbury batted for almost 40 overs. With every delivery that was being bowled, we had the feeling that this was going to be a “so close but yet so far”. And then the ninth and tenth wickets fell in quick succession – Murali had 16 wickets in the match.
What I remember most about this Test is when Sri Lanka came in to bat in their second innings needing 36 runs to win. Alex Stewart had instructed his opening bowlers to bowl down the leg side and wide of the off stump. Dominic Cork did this well but Fraser tried this for few deliveries and decided that he was not enjoying it. He got hit for a couple of boundaries and was replaced by Hollioake, who tried the same. Sri Lanka won and proved a point – no more one-off Tests in England.England withstand a tornado … and fightback
Barry Wilbourn on We’re in the pub and we’ve just watched the South Africans pile on 362 runs on the first day at The Oval thanks to a ferocious innings of 183 by Herschelle Gibbs. Thankfully, he’s back in the pavillion, bowled by Ashley Giles while trying to clear the pavillion. Poor old Ash has copped some fearful stick from us during the afternoon at the Vauxhall end but found time to demonstrate his wily sleight of hand with a V-sign in our direction behind his back.
The fact is that they’re four wickets down only because of two fairly soft run-outs and the consensus is that England have no chance of levelling the series – a draw seems to be our only hope. It’s been a series of high scores with a brace of double tons from the phenomenal Graeme Smith, with Kirsten and Kallis chipping in. How were we to know that Marcus Trescothick was just about to unleash the innings of his career and Mr Thorpe was to produce the return ton of all time? Add a dash of Freddy out-Gibbsing Gibbs with a bludgeoning 95, and the other comeback kid of England cricket, Martin Bicknell, producing the goods with the ball in the second innings, and England find themselves chasing a mere 110 to win the match on the last day. Somewhere in Essex, I’m eating my hat…Rampaging Lillie makes Lloyd’s boys crumble
Rajah Supramaniam on The Pakistan series just finished was famous for the Miandad-Lillee incident and not much more. Only 33,000 had turned up for the five days of the Melbourne game only a few days earlier, and everyone predicted that this was the end of Test Cricket. Over 35,000 turned up for the first day (Boxing Day) to see West Indies though. And what a match.
On the first day, Australia crumbled against the Holding-Roberts-Garner-Croft barrage, except for Kim Hughes who defied the onslaught to score an even 100 out of a total of 198. Terry Alderman, the Glenn McGrath of his day, stuck around just long enough for Hughes to bring up three figures. West Indies had to face about an hour before the end of play. They lost the openers, Haynes and Bacchus, and nightwatchman Croft, and Viv Richards strode to the crease at three wickets down for six – cap on, no helmet, swinging his heavy bat to face a pumped up Dennis Lillee. Bowled with the last ball of the day! The crowd erupted.
The next day, with 45,000 watching, Larry Gomes made a patient 55 before becoming Lillee’s then-world record 310th victim. Garner, the Big Bird, slogged a four to have West Indies ahead on first innings, but six wickets from Holding – 11 in the match – were not enough to prevent a rare losing Test for the giants from the Caribbean.Inzi stays cool in a Karachi classic
Haris Anis on
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Australia had not won a Test match in Pakistan for more then three decades and were looking to break the jinx with their inexperienced bowling attack led by the two future greats, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The Aussies had the upper hand in the first innings getting an 81-run lead but the real drama started in the second innings.
Australia started disastrously with Mark Taylor, captain for the first time, gone for his second duck of the match. David Boon played a classy and courageous knock to hold the innings together but the two W’s, Wasim and Waqar, started an all-too-familiar collapse with the last four wickets adding just 26. Pakistan required 314, and ended the fourth day still requiring 159 with seven wickets in hand.
On the fifth day, Warne weaved his magic, rattling the home team with his vicious leg breaks. Pakistan slumped to 258 for 9 and were staring at defeat, but a brilliant rearguard led by Inzamam-ul-Haq kept them in the hunt. In the end, with three runs still needed, it came down to the battle of three legends – Ian Healy, Warne and Inzamam. Warne’s leg break pitched on middle stump, turned a little, touched Inzi’s pads and skidded along the ground. Inzamam was out of his crease but Healy missed the stumping much to the joy of home crowd. Pakistan were gifted the winning runs, and Inzamam was the saviour, adding 58 for the last wicket with Mushtaq Ahmed.
So ended one of the great Test matches of all time, one that was never out of reach of either side but never in the firm grasp of one or the other. The Aussies were made to wait another four years to win a Test in Pakistan, and Dickie Bird, the legendary English umpire, termed it the best match in which he stood.We welcome you to pick your own greatest Test and send us a paragraph on it. The best written entries will win one of these DVDS: India v Aus 2001, Edgbaston 2005 or Botham’s Ashes, 1981.
Sriram Veera06-Apr-2006
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The ball pitched short, reared up, and headed straight at the batsman, causing a hurried hop. Eyes left the ball and the bat, an ungainly face shield, popped the ball up to waiting palms. Virender Sehwag had fallen to a bouncer, again.The failing has been always there. “There are chinks in the youngster’s defences that can be sorted out by thinking bowlers,” wrote Viv Richards during India’s one-dayers against West Indies in 2002 after Sehwag fell to Vasbert Drakes’s well-directed bouncer. The West Indians tasted some success against him throughout the series, digging a few into the ribs for Sehwag to push out weak swivel-pulls.In 2003, I watched Sachin Tendulkar pit his wits against Sehwag in the Irani Trophy game at Chennai. Tendulkar, captaining Mumbai against Rest of India, placed a leg slip, a short leg, a square leg and a long leg and instructed Ajit Agarkar to operate round the wicket and pitch it short at Sehwag’s ribs. Agarkar couldn’t quite find his radar but when he did, Sehwag jumped up, thrust his bat out and popped up chances just short of the waiting men.Interestingly, and therein lies the strength and weakness of his technique, he is not troubled with bouncers outside his body, on or outside off stump. His footwork, or the lack of it, is a key element of Sehwag’s technique. His head is absolutely still and there is no feet movement till the ball has been delivered. Then he swiftly gauges the length of the ball. If it’s short, he goes back; his back foot usually moves almost straight back as opposed to the conventional back-and-across. That leaves him beside the line of the ball – some batsmen prefer getting behind the line – and his position creates room for even when a ball is directed at the stumps. If it bounces, he just sways back, transferring his weight to his right foot, and uses his wrists and the bottom-handed grip for his dashing fierce upper-cuts and slashes.
“The standout shot was off Rana Naved, when he hit a perfect good length ball for a straight-drive. It went like a bullet to the fence and nobody, including Sehwag, moved”- Imran Khan on Sehwag’s 254 at Lahore.
It was quite a sight. Even as the ball rose after pitching, Sehwag’s backlift had reached its apogee and his right foot made a slight backward movement. The flashing blade came down smoothly, and met the ball flush in the middle. All the while, his head was still. Absolutely still.
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Greg Chappell credits Sehwag’s brilliance to an uncluttered mind and its product – an uncomplicated technique. Although he modelled his game on Tendulkar, his game depends more on hand-eye coordination. The backlift is higher; there is more of the wrist-cock which results in high bat speed that brings it down in a flurry and imparts momentum to the ball at the point of contact. The judicious movement of the feet, allied of course to his quick eye, allows him even to hit the good-length balls on the up.Unlike Tendulkar, Sehwag doesn’t reach out towards the ball with a huge forward stride. Rather, he waits on the crease, with a little movement back. Since he never gets his left foot across, his downwards backswing comes down unimpeded and smoothly like a golf swing. This generates tremendous bat speed and transfers furious kinetic energy to the ball. Uncluttered footwork also helps him negotiate the reverse swing adeptly. The front foot doesn’t comes across, so he is seldom troubled by the late inswing. Rather, he waits for the swing before launching into his fluent drives.Sehwag’s troubles start when the projectile rears straight at him; he is cramped for room. As Mike Atherton noted, “batsmen with a strong bottom-handed grip will struggle against bounce.” Sehwag prefers to be beside the line and work the ball towards off. When the bouncer darts into his body, he is cramped and a weak shot results. He has, however, worked on it with Ian Fraser. Although he still doesn’t possess a conventional pull, his swivel shots are not as weak as they once were, and he manages to use his wrists to get the ball down, even if the execution is a bit ungainly.The English bowlers have troubled him this series, and it should be fascinating to watch Sehwag attempt to tackle this in the future. Many times your strengths can be your weakness and Sehwag obviously knows this. How he copes with the irritants should make for compulsive watching.