For 30 minutes, everything else took a backseat, as the world watched in awe and fear, a fired-up Pakistan fast bowler mercilessly bullying an Australian batsman

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Adelaide20-Mar-2015″Are you holding a bat?”When Shane Watson stalks in from the slips to lean in and spit those words at Wahab Riaz, does he know? Does he have any bloody idea, what he is really doing to Wahab, and 90 minutes later, to himself?Australia had, at one stage, spoken in team meetings about easing off Kevin Pietersen verbally. “It fires him up,” was Brett Lee’s reasoning. They had not had this meeting about Wahab. When Mitchell Starc beats his edge with an outswinging yorker in the 39th over, the bowler slithers forward. He tells the batsman: “It’s the white thing, you have to hit it.” Wahab, already cranky at another middle-order meltdown from his team-mates, follows Starc down the pitch. He seethes at the bowler, complains to the umpires.’Wahab one of the best in the world’

Misbah-ul-Haq on Wahab’s spell
“Nobody in this world is very good against a bowler who is bowling 150kph and with this sort of deceptive pace and bounce. Today he’s shown his class again. At one stage we were pretty much in the game, and the way he was bowling, that catch could have made a big difference, but this the way it is.”
On Wahab’s World Cup
“He was a different bowler in the World Cup. You could rate him at the moment one of the best bowlers in the world – the kind of pace he’s generating and the way he’s bowling. I think still, to become Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, he needs a lot of experience and especially the kind of yorkers and reverse swing they really bowled. But I think he’s a much improved bowler, and he could just be a leading bowler for Pakistan.”

Next over, James Faulkner throws Wahab a stare. Brad Haddin, running close to the stumps to collect a return throw, sticks his own verbal shiv in Wahab’s side. Watson’s sledge is only one of many, but it’s Watson’s sledge Wahab remembers. Before the end of the night, Watson would know best of all, this is not a man worth ruffling; that Wahab’s blood boils when you turn up the heat.Eighteen overs and an innings break later, it is Wahab with the white thing in his hands. Third ball, he rushes David Warner into an uppercut, which settles in the palms of third man Rahat Ali. Tenth ball, Michael Clarke arches his creaking back and fends the white thing to Sohaib Maqsood at short leg.The first ball to Watson would have flattened the batsman’s grille. He dips beneath it with only a little discomfort, but for Wahab, ducking is tantamount to submission. He gets in Watson’s face, claps him sarcastically. The next ball is 150kph, Watson dare not play.Wahab Riaz smelled blood and did not stop•Getty ImagesThe next over is even more intense. Wahab is an inferno. The white thing is a meteor. Watson goes through series of evasive full-body spasms. His back and limbs are aping the shape of half the alphabet, but his mouth can form no words now. In the stands, 35,516 people all smell leather, voices hoarse, fidgeting, pumping fists from the edge of their seats. In the slips, Haris Sohail’s face contorts at the climax of each delivery, sometimes with glee, other times with desperation. On occasion his eyes are filled with fear. Is he afraid for Watson?Steven Smith, who is bending space-time to appear in a parallel universe from his partner, routinely takes a single early in the overs that follow and coolly observes the combat from the best vantage point in the world. Does he feel the heat pouring off Wahab? Is he enjoying the view?All through the match, the cricket had not failed to be interesting. This spell is transcendental. Of the tens of thousands in the ground, there is only one protagonist, and one victim, but the cricket so good, all are drawn in. Wahab’s anger is felt as keenly as Watson’s timidity. So bent is Wahab on embarrassing Watson, he taunts him after every ball.In one over, he does it so many times, it’s as if Wahab rides a conveyor belt from the bowling crease into Watson’s personal space. In the crowd, nothing of their exchange is heard, but its details are intimately understood. The Adelaide Oval playing surface covers acres of land. The stands themselves are vast and high. But in those moments, it’s as if the whole stadium exists in the burning space between these two men.Shane Watson experienced an onslaught like no other•Getty Images”When I was batting Watson just came up to me and said, ‘Are you holding a bat?’ And that was going through my mind,” Wahab later said. “I let him know that even he is having the bat, but he couldn’t touch the ball. I know that nowadays, he’s not good on the short ball. It was a plan of myself that we discussed in the team meeting.”Eventually, Watson is defeated. Having ducked, arched and hopped, he is eventually humiliated into playing a hook shot off the first ball of Wahab’s fifth over. Australian crowds so often scream insults at foreign fielders lining up high catches, but in the seconds this top-edged ball hung in the air, the wind’s rustling through the trees at the Cathedral End was heard in perfect silence. When Rahat spilt the simple chance, 35,000 yelped – more in relief than frustration. A sheepish Watson is avoiding gazes at the non-striker’s end. A disbelieving Wahab is keeled over, mid pitch.In the limp finish, an hour later, Australia cruise to the semi-final with six wickets in hand and 97 balls remaining. On the scoreboard, Wahab’s figures read 9-0-54-2. Watson has 64 not out from 66. Few will remember in years to come, the ins and outs; that Pakistan had been bowled out for 213.But few will forget the theatre, and the unbridled, oscillating emotion of this spell. Tattooed into their nerves will be the night a fast bowler filled a stadium with his fury; the half-hour their collective pulses raced in sync with a batsman’s heart.

Although the lead up to the World Cup was not perfect for Kyle Coetzer, he found some form in the warm-ups and has scored regularly to lead Scotland’s case in the tournament

Devashish Fuloria in Nelson05-Mar-2015Kyle Coetzer took 11 balls to move from 94 to his hundred, a sudden drop from his almost run-a-ball scoring rate, that too in the middle of the batting Powerplay, when Scotland were looking to press on. Five of those deliveries came from Shakib Al Hasan, easily Bangladesh’s best bowler, but then he missed three balls from Rubel Hossain.The partnership between Coetzer and Preston Mommsen had swelled to 82, but Coetzer’s nearing landmark was affecting Scotland’s tempo. Then, as he lofted Rubel fourth ball of the 38th over, it appeared he had succumbed to the pressure, toe-ending it. Or that’s what Bangladesh’s third man would have felt, as it’s not easy to gauge the trajectory from behind the stumps, but the ball actually landed on the grass banks to the left of sight-screen, making Coetzer Scotland’s first World Cup centurion.He took the helmet off to soak in the applause from a crowd that had put a lot more voice behind them compared to the one in Dunedin. It revealed his balding head with short-crop sides, sign of a youth gone by and of the years spent playing cricket for his country and counties, Durham and Northamptonshire. In a young line-up, Coetzer is one of the seniors. He may not have played the most games for Scotland, but he has played the most cricket.A lot of Scotland interest is focused on the new and exciting young batsmen. The small press pack wants to keep an eye on Calum McLeod. They want Matt Machan to not throw it away; he is too talented. Coetzer is seldom mentioned in the same breath. Yet, as his innings showed, he remains the guardian angel.Asked to bat first, Scotland were understandably tentative as was visible in Coetzer’s initial approach. He was keen to nudge the ball around, unlike McLeod and Hamish Gardiner, both of whom perished playing aggressive shots. He saw Machan come down the pitch and smash one for six, but he was not sucked into the flow. Happily staying away from strike, he let others play the big shots. It was only in the 13th over, when he spotted a long hop, that he swatted the ball away to the boundary.By the first drinks session, he had made slow progress to 23 off 30. It was in the 20th over, bowled by Shakib, that he probably thought he was set enough for the big shots, as he nonchalantly swept the bowler over midwicket for a six and followed it up with another boundary in the same area two balls later.

Coetzer wants ‘high-quality’ exposure for Associates

Kyle Coetzer, the Scotland batsman, has appealed for the Associates to be given more matches in between World Cups against the best teams.
“Well, I know a lot has been made of World Cups, but for me what is even more important is what happens in between every World Cup and the fixtures that are made available to Associate nations and the amount of cricket that they’re playing and the amount of cricket they’re playing at a high-quality level. Because at the moment, it’s quite clearly not enough.
“But if you’re focusing on a World Cup, it’s a World Cup, it’s a world tournament, so it should include teams from all over the world. But if you’re cutting that down, I’ve said it before, it’s just going back to having another Champions Trophy, so I don’t think it should be called a World Cup if you’re cutting down the teams even more.
“We knew today was a huge opportunity for us. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future regarding World Cups and the participation of Associate nations. I think a lot of discussions need to be had and the right decisions need to be made because at the moment I don’t think people are making the right decisions in terms of Associate cricket.”

Not so long ago, Coetzer was the captain of the Scotland side. Then a wrist injury sidelined him for a couple of games and by the time he came back, Preston Mommsen had established himself in the leadership role. Mommsen, Grant Bradburn, the Scotland coach, said, “thrived in the capacity” and was thus considered the leader going ahead. Bradburn wanted Coetzer to focus on his batting.Although the lead up to the World Cup was not perfect for Coetzer, the batsman managing a high of 22 in the three innings he played in the UAE, he found some form in the World Cup warm-ups, hitting a 96 that laid the foundation of a strong chase against West Indies in Sydney. That match ended in a three-run loss, but the belief has been set that if Scotland were to score big runs, they had to start from the top. Coetzer hit a half-century against England in Christchurch to reiterate he was playing himself into some form.In Nelson, it was only after he had crossed his half-century that he started playing freely, Bangladesh’s bowlers serving him with enough shortish deliveries. It was his preferred length, as he frequently got up on his toes to play punchy drives through cover. Against Afghanistan, he had been caught in the crease to a fuller one; Bangladesh did not test him with that length, playing into his strengths.The acceleration, though, came towards the end as Coetzer stole 18 runs off the 40th over. Two overs later, he smashed Mashrafe Mortaza for 15 more, the penultimate delivery landing in the crowd at long-on. It was the ball after, a searing yorker he calmly nudged away to the leg side, that showed how confident he had become. His dominating 156 set the tone of the innings, but it was not enough in the end as Bangladesh chased down the target clinically.”I thought 330 would have been good, but I felt the batsmen at the other end were also scoring, so I felt I didn’t have to do anything rash,” Coetzer said, forced to defend his relatively slow start.But Mommsen, who took more positives out of the loss this time, credited Coetzer for giving Scotland a good chance of putting pressure on Bangladesh. “It was a fantastic [innings], I was fortunate to spend a lot of time out there with him, especially through that period where he accelerated perfectly and timed his innings perfectly,” Mommsen said. “So the guys will take a lot of confidence from his performance, will enjoy his performance. We’re very proud of his performance, and hopefully the people back home are also very proud of that.”You look back and you might think, ‘Yeah, maybe we should have gone a little bit harder, a little bit earlier.’ But, yeah, it’s easy to say that in hindsight. I think 318 we are very happy with, and that gave us a chance to win the game.”In one of the sheds at the Saxton Oval is a bat, about four feet high, a good four kilos or more, that is used for drilling in the point to parents that it is what a normal bat feels like to a young kid. It is used to reiterate to parents that it takes time for the kids to be ready for the big boys. You could have handed that bat to Coetzer today and he would have still scored those runs. Coetzer’s innings was yet another example that Scotland are growing up fast.

From restricting Sehwag to taming Johnson, using the spinners wisely to building a strong partnership, Daredevils did a lot of things right to finally win a game

Amol Karhadkar in Pune15-Apr-2015Keeping Sehwag quietIf Delhi Daredevils were to avoid becoming the first team to lose 12 IPL matches in a row, they had to dismiss Virender Sehwag early. They didn’t manage that, but they achieved what most bowling attacks all over the world have seldom been able to do: keep Sehwag quiet.Playing against a team for whom he once was a marquee player, Sehwag spent 15 overs at the crease but he could score just 47 runs off 41 balls. His strike rate of 114.63 was barely acceptable for most of his Test knocks. Jokes apart, it was only the seventh time in his 99 IPL innings that Sehwag had a sub-115 strike rate for scores more than 20.Though Sehwag played the odd release shot, for most of his innings the Daredevils bowlers bowled disciplined lines to him. They hardly offered him width, preventing his favourite cut shot.Spin magicAt the end of the 13th over, Kings XI Punjab were 100 for 1. With Wriddhiman Saha scoring at will, Sehwag rotating the strike and the likes of David Miller, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey to follow, Kings XI were set to make Daredevils chase 180-plus.Then came the masterstroke by Daredevils captain JP Duminy. Despite each of his three pace bowlers having an over each, Duminy persisted with spin for the remaining seven overs. The move paid dividends as Duminy himself, Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir managed combined figures of 7-0-65-6 at the death. They wickets they took during the last segment of the innings turned out to be the difference between the two teams.While Mishra started the wicket spree with a yorker to Saha, Tahir concluded on a perfect note by dismissing Bailey and Axar Patel off the last two balls of the innings.

Major security breach averted

The dog squad of the Maharashtra Cricket Association helped avert what would have been the first major security breach of IPL 2015.
During the innings break of Kings XI Punjab’s home game against Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta was doing a lap of the adopted home ground. Just like she had done during Kings XI’s first home game four days ago, Zinta was throwing the home team’s jerseys into the crowd. As she neared the North Stand, a handful of spectators tried to jump the fence.
A section of the fence broke and forced the actress to sprint across the sight screen. Around a dozen spectators were on the ground but the security force responded quickly and three trained dogs evacuated the spectators in no time. The dogs remained stationed at the fence for the rest of the match and did not let an intruder onto the field.

Getting the better of JohnsonOnce Mayank Agarwal and Duminy, who finally promoted himself to No. 3, avoided an early collapse in Daredevils’ chase, the fate of the match was more or less going to be decided in the 24 balls from Mitchell Johnson. Despite being one of the most fearsome bowlers with the new ball, Johnson has been used in the middle overs by Kings XI, after swing bowlers Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh opened the attack.On Wednesday, Johnson was introduced in the sixth over and Duminy welcomed him with a flick through the on side for a four. He was taken off the attack, but once Duminy was run out in the eighth over and Yuvraj Singh took guard, the captain George Bailey was quick to throw the ball back to Johnson.Johnson has consistently pestered Yuvraj with his short balls over the last two years, but the batsman first flicked a shorter delivery to the fine-leg boundary before leaving what was easily the ball of the day – a bouncer pitched on a perfect line and rising all the way through – in the same over. In the next over, however, Yuvraj got the better of Johnson, hitting a couple of sweetly-timed boundaries. To compound Johnson’s misery Agarwal hooked him for a towering six in his final over. That six made sure Daredevils were in a position as good as match point.The Agarwal-Yuvi magicThe young opener had to justify his promise. The seasoned left-hander had to justify his price tag. Agarwal and Yuvraj managed to achieve their individual objectives, thus helping their team reach its preliminary goal of breaking the losing streak.Agarwal has a reputation of throwing away a rapid start. As a result, he hasn’t cemented his place in any format in domestic cricket. On Wednesday, however, he played a near-perfect T20 innings. A quick start, followed by sensible batting in the middle overs, and then accelerating when the asking rate had started to get closer to 10.Similarly, Yuvraj, who finally had time to get his eye in for Daredevils, shifted gears without any hassles to put his new team on the brink of a much-needed win. He had helped Pune Warriors end their 11-match losing streak with an immaculate bowling performance against Rajasthan Royals at the same venue two years ago. He did it with the bat this time to ensure Daredevils didn’t slump to an unwanted IPL record.

Plus, World Cup half-centuries for two countries, and a jackpot on County Championship debut

Steven Lynch21-Apr-2015Galle won a match the other day despite being bowled out for 31 in their first innings. Was this the lowest total by a side which went on to win a first-class match? asked Norton de Silva from Sri Lanka
Galle won their Premier League relegation playoff against the Air Force earlier this month despite being bowled out for 31 on the first morning in Panagoda. Galle – whose side included eight first-class debutants – made 295 second time round, then the Air Force, set only 112 to win, were shot down for 107. Galle’s first-innings total equalled the 31 made by Gloucestershire in the first innings of a County Championship match in Bristol in 1924: after demolishing Middlesex for 74 they scored 294 in their second innings – Wally Hammond 174 not out – then bowled Middlesex out again for 190, to win by 61 runs. There were two other low first-innings totals in the early 19th century: the Gentlemen won after being bowled out for 31 by the Players at Lord’s in 1848, while in Brighton in 1827, “England” beat Sussex despite being rolled over for 27 in their first innings. (This refers to the first innings of a match, not either side’s first one.) The lowest in a Test match is England’s 45 against Australia in Sydney in 1886-87.After the opening Test in Antigua, Gary Ballance has more hundreds than fifties – four to three. Who’s the leader in this regard? asked James Price from England
Matthew Hayden scored 30 Test centuries, but only 29 fifties: none of the nine men above him on the Test hundreds list can match this. But below him on the list, someone did even better: almost inevitably, it’s Don Bradman, who scored 29 Test centuries but only 13 fifties (in 80 innings; Hayden had 184). Michael Clarke has so far scored 28 Test hundreds but 27 fifties, while Mohammad Azharuddin had 22 hundreds and 21 half-centuries. Michael Vaughan managed 18 of both.Who’s the only player to score half-centuries in the World Cup both for and against the same country? asked Sunit Kumar from the UAE
The answer to this neat little conundrum is Kepler Wessels, who scored 76 for Australia against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on his World Cup debut in 1983, then nine years later made 81 not out as South Africa, making their own World Cup debut, beat Australia in Sydney. The only others to play for two different countries in the World Cup are Anderson Cummins (West Indies and Canada), and Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan for England and Ireland.Kepler Wessels (right): one man, two countries, World Cup half-centuries for both•Getty ImagesIs it true that Faoud Bacchus, who played in the World Cup final for West Indies, also played in the ICC Trophy for USA? asked Debapriya Chakraborty from India
Faoud Bacchus played 29 one-day internationals for West Indies, the last of them at Lord’s in the famous 1983 World Cup final, which India won. He had been part of the squad that won the tournament in 1979, but didn’t play a match that year. Bacchus, an elegant right-hand batsman from Guyana, is best remembered in Tests for a monumental 250 against India in Kanpur in 1978-79; this was his only century in 19 appearances, all of them, unusually, on different grounds. He was part of the “rebel” West Indies team that toured South Africa in 1983-84, and later played domestic cricket there. Later, he moved to the USA, and played for their national team too: he captained them in the ICC Trophy in Malaysia in 1996-97 – scoring 100 not out against Gibraltar – and was a member of the side that finished sixth in the 2001 tournament, in Canada. He had an impressive array of initials: I once heard a rumour that he had about a dozen forenames, but had settled on four (Sheik Faoud Ahamul Fasiel) to keep things simple. It would be nice to know if that’s true!Who played his only County Championship match in the game that clinched his side’s first title for 28 years? asked Martin Wombourne from England
The man with this peculiar record is Irish seamer Mark Patterson, who made his debut for Surrey against Nottinghamshire at The Oval in September 1999. He took three early wickets, finishing with 3 for 25 as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 115: Surrey went on to win inside two days, to secure their first title since 1971. He didn’t play in the remaining two matches of that season, and left the staff at the end of the year. He had played one previous first-class game for Surrey, against South Africa A in 1996, taking 6 for 80 – including Herschelle Gibbs, Lance Klusener and Meyrick Pringle – in the first innings. Patterson represented Ireland in the ICC Trophy in 1996-97 and 2001, and later played for Bedfordshire.I recently heard a rumour that Don Bradman’s first first-class innings abroad was against an invitational XI in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on the way to England. Is this true? asked Don Henadeera from Sri Lanka
Well, it wasn’t a first-class match, but Don Bradman’s first game outside Australia did indeed come in Sri Lanka, when the boat taking the Australian team to England stopped off there in April 1930. Bradman made 40 as the Australians collected 233 in their match at the Colombo Cricket Club against Ceylon, who replied with 52 for 1. Something similar happened in 1948: Bradman made 20 that time in another one-day game at the CCC. The Don actually never played first-class cricket anywhere other than Australia and Britain, although he did go on a minor tour of North America in 1932.

Jason Holder on his captaincy, the CPL, and why he backs the proposed changes to the ODI rules

Interview by Jonhenry Wilson22-May-2015You effectively embody the new direction of West Indies cricket, and are a very young ODI captain at 23. Do you feel the associated pressures?
The pressure is there, yes, but that’s quite normal. Coming into an environment you’ve longed to be in brings with it pressures. Nobody comes into international cricket not looking to perform and do well, but when you perform and are relatively successful individually, the pressures come with it. Not just me, all the players have something they must bring to West Indies cricket. The onus is on all of us, not just one or two, to take West Indies cricket forward, with hard work.You eventually succeeding Denesh Ramdin as Test captain seems more a probability now than a possibility.
I will just take it as it comes. If it comes to a situation where I can take over from Denesh when he is finished, then I’d have to think about it and decide. The ODI captaincy is a big challenge for the time being, and I’m really relishing it.In his new autobiography, Curtly Ambrose says West Indies will take 15 years to become a world cricket powerhouse again. Do you agree with this timeline?
Fifteen years is an extremely long time. I think if we can work hard and put certain things in place in terms of our physical fitness and patterns of our cricket, we will be back among the best – across all formats – within five years. As individuals and as a team, we have to take the time to do this – and do it right. We will reap success by pushing ourselves hard and going the extra mile when it seems really difficult to go the extra mile. That’s what will get us to No. 1, in all formats.

“The batting Powerplay and the current field limitations mean it’s pretty much all about the batting side succeeding. But these new rules could offer more leverage for the bowlers and perhaps leave a bit more room for error”

You’ve played Test cricket against New Zealand, South Africa and England, but June’s series against Australia will arguably be the most challenging of the lot.
The Australians were ranked No. 1 for a long time, and held the post ahead of South Africa recently too. They are a quality team, this we know, especially in Test match cricket. It’s only going to be two Tests against them, but it’s going to be a great challenge in front of our home crowds.Shai Hope had a disappointing Test debut earlier this month, but he has all the makings of a solid opening batsman for the future.
I’ve played a lot of cricket alongside and against Shai. He is ready for international cricket, after a prolific run at first-class and one-day level in recent years. He has scored a good few centuries too, which always bodes well for big runs on the biggest stage. If allowed the chance, he will go far.”The IPL is always going to speak for itself. But I prefer the Caribbean Premier League”•LatinContent/Getty ImagesThe ICC is probably going to change some of ODI cricket’s rules again, potentially removing the batting Powerplay and introducing less restrictive field placements. Does this please you?
I’ve heard the talk but have not looked into the possible changes at an in-depth level yet. I do know the eradication of the batting Powerplay will bring the right balance in the battle between bat and ball again. The batting Powerplay and the current field limitations, with only so many fielders allowed outside the circle at certain periods, mean it’s pretty much all about the batting side succeeding. But these new rules could offer more leverage for the bowlers and perhaps leave a bit more room for error.You’ve played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League. How do the tournaments compare?
The IPL is always going to speak for itself, being the biggest domestic T20 tournament in the world. But I prefer the Caribbean Premier League. Playing in front of your home crowd, with familiar faces and at familiar grounds, makes for a great atmosphere. Nothing can compare to the CPL in terms of those aspects.Barbados Tridents don’t boast big-name international signings such as Shahid Afridi or Jacques Kallis, but have the likes of Shoaib Malik, Dilshan Munaweera and Robin Peterson.
I’ve played alongside Shoaib since the onset of the CPL. He is a wonderful recruit, performs well and is a great team guy. He is instrumental with the rest of the squad, comes across as very professional and gets a good response from everyone in the team. Dilshan is an exceptional player, I have a lot of respect for him. I know Robin, but I have not met Justin Ontong yet. They’ve got international experience, and they will bring that to the party.Will we see a marked difference in the Tridents of 2015 compared to the Tridents of 2014?
We won the competition last year, so there is nothing I really can say as to where the odd aspect or two might have gone wrong. As for what went right, and what I hope will repeat itself, is the crowds that come in. With games being played at night, people are afforded the chance to go to work and then come to the cricket, which works well for all concerned. With the big crowds coming in, we want to oblige them with excellent cricket, so I just hope we are able to do that again.Your West Indies career started some four years after international tours to Pakistan were halted due to the threat of terrorism. The lengthy hiatus will end this month. Would you be willing to follow in the footsteps of Zimbabwe?
I know Zimbabwe are there now, and that’s their decision in the end. I wouldn’t tour Pakistan now. I’d have to be 100% certain all the right security measures are in place and that the security would always be 100%. I don’t know if that assurance can be given at the moment.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2015..And Mumbai Indians’ fielders were helping his cause with a few dropped catches•BCCIIt took a fantastic diving catch from Lendl Simmons to dismiss Gayle in the third over•BCCIFrom then on, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli put on 215 runs, the highest for any wicket in Twenty20 history•PTI De Villiers flayed the bowlers to all parts of the park with some classical cricket shots•BCCISlowly, more than just Sarfaraz Khan’s family started cheering for de Villiers as the ‘Mumbai-Mumbai’ chants turned to ‘AB-AB’•BCCIThe duo powered Royal Challengers to 235 for 1, the highest team total yet this season, and left Rohit Sharma and Mumbai’s team management with a lot to ponder over•BCCIA brilliant throw from Kohli and some quick glove work from Dinesh Karthik resulted in the run-out of Parthiv Patel•PTI Despite the fall of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard tried to give some life to the chase with his 24-ball 49 but got out miscuing a S Aravind delivery to Mitchell Starc at sweeper cover•BCCISimmons managed to remain unbeaten on 68 off 53 balls but had little support from the other end as Royal Challengers ran away with a 39-run win•PTI

At the helm of young teams, the contrasting leadership styles of Virat Kohli and Angelo Mathews could present a fascinating subtext to an important series in Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Aug-2015Virat Kohli, 26, strides purposefully to the crease, reputation always preceding him, collar often popped, a sharp tongue cocked, ready to return fire. Angelo Mathews, 28, ambles to the middle, impervious and imperturbable, lost somewhere in his own universe.Both are gifted batsmen, leading young teams into an important series. That is about where the similarities end.If he was a general in your army, Kohli would be the man to lead the charge on an enemy position. His blood runs hottest in attack. He has sometimes been accused of being too aggressive, but to Kohli’s ears, this is probably a compliment. He isn’t blind to the merits of defence. More likely he feels it is beneath him. He bats out of his crease on the quickest pitches in the world, against the fastest bowlers. Balls other batsmen only dare prod at, Kohli sends scorching through midwicket, wrists whipping like a sail that has caught the wind.But there is a dark side to this outlook. When Kohli keeps a full cordon in for Indian quicks after the sheen has come off the ball, you wonder if he is deluded. Some decisions are best made with a level head and a sense of detachment, but Kohli’s emotions are never far from the surface. Even publicly, he has admitted he would prefer to be less expressive.As far as poker faces go, Mathews’ is among the stoniest around. On the surface he is dull. But still waters run deep, they say, and at 28, he has already produced some of Sri Lanka’s greatest innings. He is the general you want in charge of the fortress, because when his team is outgunned, when they are tumbling into crisis, that’s when he goads the best from himself. Kohli has a famously poor record in England. Mathews has a Lord’s ton and a monumental 160 at Headingley – an innings that seems to grow in stature with each passing England Test.Mathews’ shortcomings are peculiar for someone in his 20s, though unsurprising, given the man. “Angelo has ice in his veins,” his team-mates say, but when opposition batsmen are stealing the match away and he stands inert at slip or cover, you want to prod him with a stick to see if he hasn’t frozen through. When he attacks, he attacks conventionally. He uses words like “positive” and “aggressive” whenever a microphone is set in front of him, but in reality his style seems a departure from a Sri Lankan tradition that has pioneered strategy and embraced adventure.Angelo Mathews’ leadership style has often been criticised for not being aggressive enough but as a player, his best performances so far have come in challenging situations•AFPOf the two, Mathews has the better batting average of 51.67, and is arguably the superior Test batsman, to say nothing of his expanding wit with the ball. Since the beginning of 2013, only Kumar Sangakkara has a better Test average than Mathews’ 67.59. Sangakkara would be the first to concede that his runs have come easier. When Mathews bats with an often-clueless tail, they come to sudden life. He has subdued many fires, and ignited a few as well.Kohli is fresh at India’s helm, but appears to be the more dynamic leader. Under him, there is strong, vibrant direction to India’s transition. “We want to play aggressive cricket, and we don’t mind losing that way,” is the cry from his camp. Backed by full-throated advocates like Ravi Shastri, Kohli has so far lived true to his words, even if his team has died by the sword more often than they have thrived, for now. Kohli has arrived on the island intent on playing five frontline bowlers. Talk of dumping a batsman from the top seven perhaps won’t even feature in the team meetings Mathews leads.The path ahead teems with unique challenges for each man. Mathews is expected to fashion a world-beating team out of players graduating from one of the weakest domestic leagues in cricket. Kohli is funded by the wealthiest cricket body that has ever existed, but will barely draw a breath that is not endlessly pored over and dissected. Mathews’ loved ones are of virtually no interest to the Sri Lankan public, for example. With any luck, they will never become scapegoats for his failures.They now embark on a series that will be closely followed in Sri Lanka. Local fans have lowered expectations after a poor 2015 so far, but India is the team they would really like their side to beat. Kohli and his men, meanwhile, have that embarrassing recent away record to amend.Both teams will try new things. Unknowns will search for stardom. Old hands will aim to make graceful exits. And the clash of contrary captains will play out, perhaps in the background, but always with the capacity to define the tour.

In the absence of James Anderson and with the attack being blunted it was England’s allrounder who brought the urn within reach

George Dobell at Trent Bridge07-Aug-2015It is a painful coincidence that, just as England should be – barring a miracle – clinching the Investec Ashes on Saturday, the Premier League football season will be starting once more.That brief window in the year, between football seasons, Olympic games, European and World Championships, will shut and the breath of oxygen cricket enjoys will be cut off once more. Just as the English game has something to celebrate and relish, it will go back to existing in its own little bubble. However much it has to shout about, it will not be heard above the din created by football.With so little cricket – and no live cricket – on free to air TV, it will prove desperately hard for the ECB to fulfil one of the aims of its recent planning strategy. Earlier this year, it emerged that the ECB identified the need for the game to create “folk heroes” to help it regain relevance and popularity with the mass market.That is a shame for, as England celebrate their success, they can also look forward with excitement. For while the 2013 Ashes was won by a team at the end of its life cycle, this success comes with a team at the start of one. A team that is committed to playing attractive cricket, engaging with the public and helping make the sport relevant again.And, while there are several exciting, young players in this side – Joe Root, at 24, stands out – there is an obvious potential “folk hero” in Ben Stokes.Stokes is, give or take, the cricketer that just about every young player wants to be when they first start to play the game. He bats with belligerence, he bowls with pace and his fielding is so good, you wonder if he could catch Lord Lucan.He has character, too. In an age when many sportsmen appear – in front of the media, at least – homogenised and sterile, Stokes remains just a little bit, and in the very best way, untamed. Any Australian who thought he might be intimidated by trash talk or bouncers was soon put right when Stokes, in his second Test, scored a maiden century in Perth when all about him fell away.

Stokes bowled beautifully, swinging the ball a prodigious distance, while also showing admirable control, stamina and pace

“We did see that,” Stokes said with a chuckle, when asked about Steven Smith’s pre-series comment about England “not getting close” to Australia. “But hopefully we’re going to win the Ashes tomorrow.” His unspoken message was simple: talk is cheap.He has, at times, seemed a bit daft. There was the incident where he punched a locker in Barbados, the time he was sent home from a Lions tour for embracing the nightlife a little too enthusiastically, and a couple of times when bowlers have provoked him into some unwise strokes.So he has needed to grow up, but not change. For it is Stokes’ fearlessness that renders him special. It is his love for the heat of battle and his desire to be involved when others might go missing.England have had many cautious, percentage cricketers. They have had many players who put the ball in good areas, bat with patience and field tidily. And that is just fine. They are useful skills.But Stokes is priceless. And he is the other sort. He is the sort that will disregard caution, relish the fight and, on his day, turn games in a session with bat or ball. And if it goes spectacularly wrong sometimes – and it will – it is a price worth paying as he will unsettle opponents and, given exposure, inspire another generation of supporters to the game in much the manner that Ian Botham once did. It would be folly to try and change him. England have a gem. It would be wretched if the schedule or the media or the expectation changed him.He appears to relish responsibility. Since he was promoted to the No. 6 position, at the start of the summer, he has averaged 41.40 (despite just five runs in his last three innings) with one match-defining century (against New Zealand) and three other half-centuries. His strike rate of 77.52 might have been deemed decent in limited-overs cricket not so long ago; now it helps demoralise opposition in Tests and speed games away from them. In the months before that, after the end of the Ashes in Australia and when he batted at No. 7 or lower, he averaged just 8.66.Similarly, here, he rose to the challenge with the ball. With James Anderson absent and both Mark Wood and Steven Finn lacking rhythm, England needed Stokes to deliver. By the time he was thrown the ball, the Australia opening pair had posted 50 and the attack, with Moeen Ali again struggling, was starting to look thin. The absence of Anderson was, for the first time in the game, starting to hurt.But Stokes bowled beautifully. Swinging the ball a prodigious distance, he also showed admirable control – conceding just over two an over despite an attacking field of four slips and a gully – impressive stamina – his first spell last for 11 overs – and decent pace, as he reached 89.9 mph at his peak. At one stage, he claimed three wickets in 13 balls – three of Australia’s top four – and two balls later, took a sharp, low catch at short cover-point to account for Smith.While his stock ball is an inswinger that evokes faint memories of Imran Khan – such a delivery accounted for Peter Nevill, leaving one that swung sharply to trap him in front of middle – he also has the ability, on a good day, to move the ball away from the right-hander, thereby creating confusion and uncertainty in the batsman’s mind.It is probably relevant, though, that four of his victims were left-handers. While two, Shaun Marsh and Chris Rogers, were drawn into playing at balls leaving them, Mitchell Johnson was simply unfortunate to receive a straight one that demanded a stroke and swung late enough to take the edge.Ben Stokes finally made the breakthrough after an 113-run opening stand•Getty ImagesPerhaps Stokes’ strength, and the extra pace that provides, earned the wicket of David Warner. Attempting a short-arm pull, he seemed hurried and could only manage a top edge.His figures do not flatter him. While his bowling average in the series was nudging 100 before this Test, he has suffered more than most from dropped chances this summer – Ian Bell has now dropped four catches off Stokes in the slips – and bowled some selfless spells in tough conditions in the Caribbean so Anderson and Broad could be spared. This haul might be regarded as overdue reward for his work. He already has only one fewer five-wicket haul in Test cricket than Andrew Flintoff.”I’ve always been able to swing the ball,” Stokes said. “But I’ve never had the chance to bowl for England when the conditions are so in favour of swing. I play my cricket at Durham, where the ball swings, so I felt comfortable. It was good to get a bit more responsibility, really.”It was fitting that he should provide such a performance in the match that seals the Ashes, too. England’s balance – their ability to bat down to No. 8 and field a five-man attack – might well be seen as the difference between the team. Stokes has played a huge role in providing that.Good allrounders change everything. It was Flintoff’s period of excellence that helped Michael Vaughan lead England to the Ashes in 2005. And it was Botham’s excellence that helped cement Mike Brearley’s reputation as one of the great captains. Alastair Cook now has a player that balances his side and can excel in all disciplines. He has a game-changer.If England could only find a way to get Stokes on to more TV screens, he could make a difference far beyond defining the result of matches.

On a pitch that threw up a puff of dust from the first ball, 17-year-old Ishan Kishan’s remarkable clarity of thought almost negated Saurashtra’s strategy

Sidharth Monga in Rajkot08-Oct-2015The Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot is now a relic, hosting Ranji Trophy matches only because there is an ODI to be played in Rajkot in 10 days time. This stadium has witnessed some exciting batting, though. Viv Richards had scored 100 off 77 balls with seven sixes and seven fours here. Virender Sehwag looted 114 off 82 in a chase of 300 against West Indies in 2002 before he, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara scored hundreds in a 400-meets-400 ODI. Sourav Ganguly, during the fractious days of Indian cricket, began his comeback with a Duleep Trophy hundred here. Not to mention the thousands of runs Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja have scored here to press cases for their national selection.Not many will not laugh at the suggestion that Ishan Kishan’s 87 on day one of a Group C Ranji Trophy match is being spoken of in the same breath. “Ishan Kishan, who?” will be the first question. Kishan is Jharkhand’s 5’6″ 17-year-old left-hand opening batsman and wicketkeeper. He was recently in Bangalore for India’s Under-19 camp. He is yet to score a first-class, List A or Twenty20 hundred. In fact, his strike rate in T20 is under 100.Now why is an 87 important? Saurashtra has two ways of playing cricket. Prepare a flat pitch and score a lot of runs through Pujara and Jadeja, and then unleash the master of metronome on the opposition. If they lose the toss on these pitches they still find ways of scoring runs batting second. The other way is to not water the pitch, prepare a Bunsen and unleash the king of quick turn, Jadeja, again. There is no breathing space for opposition batsmen, especially those in Group C. Tripura experienced it last week, losing in two days and a session. They are very few who can trip Saurashtra into the ditch they dig.For this match Saurashtra opted for the second method. The Bunsen. Underprepared. Powdery. Throwing up puffs of dust from ball one. “A “, a Jharkhand official remarked. A farm. Ploughed farm. “”, wrestling ground, it is generally called. The ball is “turning like a power steering”, it was observed. When Kishan – facing first ball of the match – scratched his guard, dust flew, and he saw Saurashtra fielders laugh at him. It will be interesting to see how the BCCI match referee sees this pitch: substandard, because it was turning from day one, or just a result-oriented okay pitch because it wasn’t really “dangerous”. It was also going to be interesting to see how Jharkhand deal with it and escape the Tripura-like fate?

Kishan was not going to roll over like Tripura did. He jumped out of the crease first ball, reached the pitch of the ball and went over mid-on. Saurashtra were a little stunned. Next ball he did it again. A wide long-on went back, and he went over that man for six. The Jharkhand players sitting on the sidelines were abuzz. “”, “”.

The first step towards doing so is to win the toss, but still you have to score runs first up. If you don’t, Jadeja can bowl all day long and still get you. When Jharkhand checked in into their hotel in Rajkot, Tripura players were yet to leave and told the Jharkhand side not to let the spinners settle, a mistake they made. On such pitches you have to do unto others they do unto you, as wrestler Steve Austin used to profess. The ball rears up on such pitches, well, like a rattlesnake. Saurashtra went in for doing unto Jharkhand as early as the fifth over. They began with the other Jadeja, Dharmendrasinh. He, too, bowls left-arm spin. He took the four wickets that Ravindra didn’t take in the second innings of the last match.Kishan was not going to roll over like Tripura did. He jumped out of the crease first ball, reached the pitch of the ball and went over mid-on. Saurashtra were a little stunned. Next ball he did it again. A wide long-on went back, and he went over that man for six. The Jharkhand players sitting on the sidelines were abuzz. “”, “”. Chhotey because Kishan is a wee fellow and the youngest in the side. “” the noun for verb “” directly translates to a collision. Attack them, confront them, collide with them. Don’t cower. “Even the seniors were not asking me to play carefully today,” Kishan said. “They knew against spin I can hit like a madman.”Before Kishan could face him, the bigger Jadeja had already taken a wicket. Kishan got another shot at Dharmendrasinh before he faced Ravindra. Dharmendrasinh began the next over with a long-on and deep midwicket in place. They were telling Kishan to go for it if he felt he was good enough. Kishan was. He was right out of the crease and down to the pitch of the ball twice in his second over, and cleared the fielder at deep midwicket with ease on both occasions. The key was a big and decisive first stride. And then came the sweet connection.To do it against Dharmendrasinh is one thing, against Ravindra quite another. Ravindra is stronger, bowls flatter and draws more turn. This is obviously early days, but Kishan has an amazing clarity of thought. Some might again laugh at the comparison, but it is almost Sehwag-like. He has no qualms in saying “seam-weam” I don’t understand, but he was picking Ravindra easily. “I was picking him from his grip,” Kishan said. “When he split the fingers on the ball I knew he was going to go slower and try to turn it from outside off. When he went up regularly, I knew he was going to fire it in.”So I went by line. When it was straight I felt it was in my reach, and I stepped out and hit. When it was that wider delivery, I played it properly.” If he was going to get out, he was going to get out on his terms. Before that, though, he would be laughed at once again.Jadeja bowled that split-finger delivery early on, which turned and bounced, and Kishan was almost on the floor, trying to cover the line somehow, and fended in front of his face. Ravindra and friends laughed, and mock-gestured among themselves as if playing a bouncer from a quick. The Jharkhand bench went, “.” Collide with them.Collide Kishan did next ball. Down the pitch decisively, he cleared mid-on. Jadeja responded by sending long-on and midwicket back, suspecting Kishan had only one gear. What a good gear he had, if he indeed had only one. Out of the crease again, managing to get under darts from Ravindra, he cleared midwicket and long-on in successive deliveries. The second went out of the ground. Kishan’s fifty came up in the 12th over, out of a team score of 64 for 2.The hitting didn’t stop although Kishan admitted he was beaten in the flight in two of his eight sixes. He went ahead with the shots, and made sweet connections still. “” [He had dragged the length back.] When Kishan finally miscued for the first time, he had reached 87, off just 69 balls, out of a team score of 120, hitting eight sixes and four fours. Jaydev Unadkat got under the ball, shouted out “mine”, and perhaps knew this was the big catch, went up with fingers pointing up, and let it slip. He stuck out a hand to catch the rebound, and the relief on his face was palpable. This 17-year-old was pushing Saurashtra into the ditch they had dug for Jharkhand.Ravindra ran towards Unadkat. The whole Saurashtra team assembled. Jadeja broke the huddle and patted the back of Kishan, which is not a common sight in the highly competitive world of domestic cricket. Not bad for someone who was laughed at even before he faced the first ball. Jharkhand went on to duly collapse for 168, and their spinners provided too many long hops and full tosses to Saurashtra to let them take a 35-run lead, which can prove crucial on this pitch where spinners have taken 19 wickets on the first day.There is a remarkable un-coached freshness to this Patna kid who had to move to Ranchi because the BCCI until this year didn’t recognise Bihar cricket. He may or may not repeat such efforts in the future, but with the Under-19 World Cup coming up, and with Rahul Dravid to be the coach of that side, he might just get the perfect coach to show him to pick “seam-weam” and how to build bigger innings.

For many Indians across North America, the three-match All-Star series has turned into a chance for a pilgrimage – partly to watch legendary cricketers playing but mostly to see one man

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan 08-Nov-2015For Rahul Shrivatsav, a 38-year-old catering director in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the events of February 28 and March 1, 2003, are etched in his head. He was holidaying in Florida, celebrating his first wedding anniversary, but his mind was fixated on spending the night in a local Pakistani restaurant, to watch India play Pakistan in the World Cup.”I tried everything I could to convince my wife that I had to watch Sachin play that game,” he says, “but she said, ‘No, our anniversary is more important.'”Twelve-and-a-half years later Shrivatsav’s wife, Sarah, surprised him by booking a ticket for the first All-Star game in Citi Field in New York – an event that required him to take a one-and-a-half hour flight one way.”You have been feeling bad about 2003 for all these years,” she told him. “If you don’t go now, you will feel bad forever.”When Shrivatsav arrived at Citi Field on Saturday and caught a glimpse of Tendulkar gearing up – the first time he had seen Tendulkar in the flesh since 2001 – he broke down.”I didn’t even realise I was crying initially,” he says. “But then I thought, it would actually be a shock if I didn’t cry.”‘He is moving on from his father’s death by doing what he does best. Why can’t I do the same? Why can’t I too put my mother’s death behind and make her proud’ – Rahul Shrivatsav•Rahul ShrivatsavShrivatsav moved out of India in 1997, first to Australia then to the US. From the time he moved out, he is certain he has seen “almost every ball that Sachin faced in international cricket on TV or online” – mostly live but occasionally recorded “because sometimes one has to work also.”Over the last few years Shrivatsav has maintained a daily log on Facebook and Snapchat – “I want to document how I feel at different points of my day: when I run, when I cook, when I travel.” There is an update every hour or so – “sometimes more sometimes less” – and when he revisits the log every few days he finds most of his updates have a reference to Tendulkar.”If I ever write my memoir,” he says, “it will actually be Sachin’s memoir.”***For many Indians across North America, the three-match All-Star series has turned into a chance for a pilgrimage – partly to watch legendary cricketers playing but mostly to see one man. A group of engineers from Toronto, another group of graduate students from State College in Pennsylvania, an IT consultant from Connecticut, an assistant professor from North Carolina: all undertaking journeys (in cars or flights) to be in Citi Field, for Sachin.For some, who moved to the US in the 1990s, Tendulkar was first a gaping absence. The internet was at its infancy and unless you invested in a satellite dish of your own, it was close to impossible to watch international cricket live. Every trip to India was a chance to hoard VHS tapes (on which relatives had recorded international games, especially ones with Tendulkar’s dazzling knocks) and, later, Video CDs. Graduate students ravaged college libraries for Indian newspapers and magazines; some caught scores on BBC’s radio service; others called home during important games – with extra money they had saved up through the month – to find out if Tendulkar was still batting, how he was batting and why nobody was lending support.

If they were all not there applauding every little thing I did I would not have got even one-tenth the satisfaction and happiness that I have got in my lifeSachin Tendulkar on his fans

Sometime in the early 2000s the internet provided them a new lease of life. But not without its own challenges: connections were unreliable, streams were hard to find and a number of games weren’t telecast live. For graduate students, their best bet was to make a trip to their computer labs (mostly late at night) and take in the action in low volume. College work took a backseat. Sleep patterns went for a toss. And often, after a three-match or five-match series, the body was jet-lagged for a few days. Social life? What’s that?All through these years – studying in small towns in the US, shivering through icy winters, acclimating oneself with the accent, the food and limited (and often nonexistent) public transport – there was one unchanging factor: they had watched Tendulkar batting when they had lived in India; they were watching Tendulkar batting when living in the US. They had gone nuts watching his cover drive when back home – holding the follow-through for that millisecond longer, as if posing for the cameras, then nodding his head. They were watching the same cover drive – same tock, same pose, same nod – when living abroad. Life was variable; Tendulkar was constant.***Rohan Shirwaiker (right), an assistant professor in North Carolina State University, lost sleep watching Sachin and Amit Goda (left) has a friend who has a friend who taught Sachin how to tie a tie•Siddartha VaidyanathanRohan Shirwaiker, a 32-year-old assistant professor in North Carolina State University, drove ten hours to get to Citi Field on Saturday for his first sighting of Tendulkar in ten years. A few minutes before the game, he was “terribly nervous”, still coming to terms with the fact that he is within touching distance of “him”.Over the last ten years Shirwaiker estimates that he has slept on fewer nights than he has not. “It’s Sachin, man,” he says with a blush. “You have to stay up. In the mornings, my students tell me, ‘Sir, we fell asleep but we knew you would tell us about all that happened.'”On March 30, 2011, Shirwaiker was scheduled to attend a job interview in Florida. “I requested them if I could postpone it because India were playing Pakistan in the World Cup semi-final in Mohali on the same day. They said no. So I cancelled my flight and booked another one a few hours later, so that I could see as much of the game as possible. I couldn’t see the whole match but Sachin’s innings, I saw.”Does he think he played a small part in India’s win by delaying his flight? He blushes again but quickly adds, “One of my wife’s relatives once took a restroom break when Tendulkar reached a hundred. So from then on, every time Sachin was in the 90s we used to request that relative to take a restroom break.”Shirwaiker was at the game with his friend, Amit Goda, a 32-year-old chemical engineer based in New Jersey. They are part of a Whatsapp group that discusses cricket “but before he retired, mostly Sachin”. Goda has a friend whose friend apparently taught Tendulkar to tie a tie. This may sound like a useless bit of information but in the Tendulkar universe this is an essential tidbit: everybody has a friend (or a friend’s friend or a friend’s friend’s friend) who has a connection with Tendulkar. Usually, the farther you get from the man, the more interesting is the yarn.***Ankur Jhaveri (right) and Ayush Gupta (left) at the Cricket All-Stars game in New York•Siddartha VaidyanathanTendulkar has friends who moved to the US in the 1990s. He kept in touch with some of them – “many of them have become big doctors and big businessmen now,” he told ESPNcricinfo – and is aware of the lengths they have gone to watch him bat over the years. “My friends would invariably tell me, ‘We sat in a big group and watched you bat.'” Some would fly to watch him live. Some others would send a kind word via email.Tendulkar may be playing cricket in the US for the first time but he has always known that the expatriate population has been tracking him like a hawk. “Their support has given me the strength to go out there and perform,” he says. “If they were all not there applauding every little thing I did I would not have got even one-tenth the satisfaction and happiness that I have got in my life. All the good moments have been multiplied many-fold thanks to them. The reason to come here is to get them to come to stadiums and to watch us play.”

They had gone nuts watching his cover drive when back home. They were watching the same cover drive when living abroad. Life was variable; Tendulkar was constant.

And turn up they did. Mayank Jhaveri, a 23-year-old IT consultant, flew in from Connecticut. His cousin, Ankur Jhaveri, an engineer, drove from Toronto. Ankur’s friend Ayush Gupta, another engineer, says he might have thought twice about coming if Tendulkar wasn’t there but “there was no question once he was here. No question.”Back in 1997 Shrivatsav, the catering director from Ann Arbor, lost his mother. He also lost his passion for cricket and entered a downward spiral. He still watched Tendulkar batting but the rest of the time, he was “moping around, grieving, lost”. Then came the World Cup in 1999, a time when Tendulkar had to fly back home owing to the death of his father.”And then he came back and played that game against Kenya,” says Shrivatsav, his eyes enlarged. “Now that was a huge turning point in my life. I told myself, ‘Look at Sachin. He is moving on from his father’s death by doing what he does best. Why can’t I do the same? Why can’t I too put my mother’s death behind and make her proud.”The moment when Tendulkar looked up the skies in Bristol, after completing his century against Kenya, was a moment that Shrivatsav says he can never forget. “Every time I see that image or that match, I burst into tears. It was a great moment, I tell you. A great, great moment.”