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Liverpool have suffered a big blow in their pursuit of Barcelona’s teenage sensation Gavi as a major transfer twist has emerged.

What’s the news?

That’s according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo (via Liverpool Echo), which stated that the 17-year-old has now held positive talks with the Catalan club regarding a new and improved contract.

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Liverpool were ready to pay the £43m release clause to bring the youngster to Anfield, while also proposing nearly quadruple Barcelona’s contract offer.

Everything looked set for Jurgen Klopp to make his move, but these recent discussions on the teenager’s future have now provided a major transfer twist.

Klopp won’t be happy

Following this news, it’s fair to say Klopp won’t be happy at letting the talented Spaniard get away from him.

Having made two summer signings already in Fabio Carvalho and a club-record £85m deal for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, Gavi looked like he could very well become the third new face at Anfield in the off-season.

With Liverpool having the success that they did last term, full-scale rebuilding isn’t necessary, but adding in players for the future appears to be the German’s mantra at the moment.

With the likes of Thiago (31), Jordan Henderson (32) and James Milner (36) all on the wrong side of 30, it’s clear that adding some youth into the midfield would be advantageous going forward.

Barcelona manager Xavi has described Gavi as “spectacular”, and with the 17-year-old’s performances for club and country in recent months, its clear to see why.

He became the youngest-ever scorer for Spain at senior level with his goal against the Czech Republic in the Nations League recently and looks set to become a big part of the national team’s plans going forward.

His Barcelona statistics are also impressive, scoring twice and registering five goals in 34 La Liga appearances last term.

Nothing seems to faze the teenage wonder and he has already proved his talent on the big stage. Klopp will be gutted to have missed out on Gavi following the recent twist over the youngster’s contract, and Liverpool could come to rue not trying to secure a deal sooner.

AND in other news, Bid made: FSG now in talks to land “world class” £60m “storm”, imagine him & Nunez

West Ham United are reportedly interested in bringing Everton defender Michael Keane to the London Stadium this summer.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from Football Insider who claim that the Hammers have registered their interest in the 29-year-old, with the club said to be in the market for a new centre-back this window.

As per the report, the club are set to lose out on James Tarkowski with Everton said to have offered the defender £120,000-per-week, with a full agreement for the defender said to be in place.

As such, it is said that Keane “figures prominently” on David Moyes’ wish list, with the Scotsman believing he possesses the right profile and possesses the necessary attributes to bolster his back line.

West Ham have lodged an enquiry with talks seemingly now underway for the £19.8m-rated defender.

West Ham’s next Dawson?

The signing of Keane could represent great value for the Hammers, despite the move for the 29-year-old being far from glamorous – especially considering West Ham’s bout in the European competitions.

Though, Moyes has metaphorically turned water into wine at the London Stadium and has done so by recruiting players who have not been under the spotlight, so to speak.

His signings at West Ham have been calculated and the majority have fallen in the underrated category. He’s opted to keep his squad small and refused to engage in unnecessary business, so the fact he sees Keane as a viable option is enough in itself.

The signing of Craig Dawson last year is the perfect comparison of the impact that Hammers fans could expect Keane to make. 32-year-old Dawson has had a monumental rise back to the top flight and has asserted himself as a vital part of the West Ham backline.

Of course, he was not a glamour signing either, but a true grafter at the back in the mould of a defender from yesteryear.

£69k-per-week Keane who was once dubbed an “absolute beast” offers a similar skillset to Dawson and his ability to lead will also make him an attractive asset in the eyes of Moyes.

If Everton are to officially secure the signing of Tarkowski, Keane could well depart Goodison Park for the more positive project at the London Stadium.

In other news: West Ham can seal “unreal” deal in bid for 115-goal great, imagine him & Rice 

Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz is wanted by AS Roma, according to a report from the Daily Mail. 

The lowdown: Kamara in

Having secured the capture of Marseille starlet Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer earlier this week, Villa manager Steven Gerrard has wasted little time in kickstarting the summer transfer business.

The 22-year-old will arrive at Villa Park ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, and his arrival means that the midfield department is now well stocked, with John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Marvelous Nakamba, Morgan Sanson, Carney Chukwuemeka, Tim Iroegbunam and Luiz already in situ.

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However, at least one of those aforementioned first-team options could be heading away from the Midlands and is already attracting attention from a former Premier League manager…

The latest: Roma want Luiz

According to the Daily Mail, Serie A outfit Roma are ‘expected to step up’ their efforts to sign Luiz in the coming weeks.

It’s claimed that their manager Jose Mourinho has already ‘expressed interest’ in the five-cap Brazil international, with the Giallorossi set to step up their efforts to land the 24-yeer-old following tonight’s UEFA Europa Conference League final, in which they face Feyenoord in Tirana.

The report added that Villa owners NSWE are ‘likely to consider offers’ for the player who Ian Wright described as ‘underrated’ amidst previous transfer interest from Arsenal in 2020.

The verdict: Time could be up…

Unfortunately, it seems as though the end could be nigh for the 24-year-old’s time at Villa, having spent three years at the club after joining from Manchester City.

Luiz scored twice and provided three assists in 34 Premier League outings this season, contributing 1.7 tackles, one interception and winning 4.4 duels per game, earning a 6.89 Sofascore rating in the process.

Despite that impressive form, the Brazilian is heading towards the final year of his contract with the club, and therefore he could feasibly be sold this summer in order for Villa to avoid losing a £31.5m-rated asset for nothing in 12 months’ time.

In other news: NSWE now eyeing another defender; Villa chiefs sent to club after Gerrard approves

Tottenham Hotspur have made contact with Paulo Dybala regarding a switch to north London this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to James Olley, with the ESPN journalist revealing on Twitter that Fabio Paratici has contacted the Juventus forward concerning a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium upon the expiry of his current deal at the Allianz Stadium at the end of the season.

However, the journalist added that Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United – along with unnamed clubs from Italy and Spain – have also been in talks with the 28-year-old, who is thought to be considering his options before deciding where his future lies.

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In his tweet, Olley said: “Arsenal, Tottenham, Man Utd & Newcastle have made contact with Paulo Dybala’s representatives over a summer move. Nothing at an advanced stage, just exploring the idea – player assessing his options (also interest from clubs in Italy and Spain).”

Conte would love him

Considering just how impressive Dybala has been for Juventus this season, and with the Argentina international will be available on a free transfer, it is easy to see why Conte would be interested in a deal for the attacker this summer.

Indeed, over his 25 Serie A appearances this term, the £36m-rated sensation has been one of Massimiliano Allegri’s standout performers, scoring nine goals, registering five assists and creating 10 big chances for his team-mates, along with averaging 3.7 shots and 1.4 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £220k-per-week forward average a breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.48, not only ranking him as the Bianconeri’s best player in the Italian top flight but also as the third-best in the entire league.

As such, it is clear to see that Dybala would make a fantastic addition to the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski in the Tottenham attack. Therefore, we believe that Paratici must do all he can to land the 28-year-old as Spurs’ first summer signing ahead of the likes of Arsenal, Newcastle and Man United, with the Argentine sensation undoubtedly being a signing that Conte would love.

AND in other news: “Interested..”: Sky Sports journalist drops transfer update, Spurs supporters will love it

Equally important as the series sweep over Sri Lanka is that the Australians have earned back some of the respect they had lost

Daniel Brettig04-Feb-2019″Do. Don’t think … don’t hope. Do. At least you can come off and say, ‘I did this … at least I did something’.”This snatch of the former Hawthorn coach John Kennedy’s halftime speech to his players during the 1975 VFL Grand Final is one of the more celebrated pieces of sporting oratory in Australian history. At the end of a summer in which the national men’s cricket team has had to reckon without the critical talents of Steven Smith and David Warner due to their Newlands scandal bans, it was worth pondering just how much the collective led by Tim Paine and coached by Justin Langer had been able to sort effective actions from complicated thoughts, hopes and ambitions.Given the intensity and deep thought that Langer in particular has committed to the job since he took over as coach back in May last year, a fairly long list of decisions might now be put down to overthinking, however good intentioned, and also the mental drain of Test cricket:ALSO READ: Tim Paine targets Ashes glory after Sri Lanka sweepMitchell Starc bowling at first change in the Perth ODI. Aaron Finch as a Test opener. Marnus Labuschagne as a No. 3. Peter Handscomb in, then out, then in for one Test, then out again. Pace bowlers electing to pitch short with a still-new ball on day one in Sydney. Marcus Stoinis in the Test squad. Matthew Wade not batting high enough to be considered. Kurtis Patterson picked from outside the original Sri Lanka squad. Will Pucovski called up one game after returning to cricket from mental health issues and then not chosen. Glenn Maxwell not being selected at all. One (Mitchell Marsh), two (Josh Hazlewood), three (Pat Cummins), four (Travis Head) vice-captains.Through all these contentious and sometimes overwrought decisions, there was a sense of learning by trial and error, in much the same way as Cricket Australia and its rights holders unpicked the complex realities of dual broadcasts on and , alongside three radio networks all equally eager for their regular pieces of access. No two players summed this up for Australia better than Starc and Usman Khawaja, players expected to take on senior mantles in the absence of Smith and Warner but waylaid by crises of confidence, injury and distractions outside of the game.

We’ve got some really good characters, some really strong characters, and people we can build a really strong Australian cricket future onTIM PAINE

“A real lesson in a lot of the younger guys in the team (is that) Test cricket is not always easy, no matter how good you are. You have to work really hard,” Paine observed in the aftermath of the Canberra Test. “Whilst those two guys haven’t had outstanding summers or as good a summer as they would have liked, the way they went about it at training and the way they led our group in terms of effort and how you prepare to play Test cricket was great to see.”For the younger guys to see them go through a really tough period, not throw in the towel and keep working away and get the results they did in this Test was a really good lesson in perseverance. I know a lot of the young guys will really learn a lot from that.”There were differing approaches for Khawaja and Starc to reach some kind of improvement. Khawaja leaned heavily on the comfort and support of his wife Rachel while sticking more or less to the same plans and thoughts he has long held close to his batting game. He eventually found it somewhat easier to concentrate simply on the next ball in what was at best a moderately challenging situation in the third innings against a Sri Lankan team already well and truly behind in the match.Starc, meanwhile, was fortified by the support of team-mates both in public and private, but also resorted to sticking on the blinkers to avoid the myriad opinions of commentators and supporters. At the same time, he looked outside the team bubble – gilded or not – for the morsels of advice he needed to be who he always has been: an extremely fast, intimidating left-arm bowler with a hint of unpredictability. New South Wales bowling coach Andre Adams has certainly had a better week in Canberra than his national team equivalent David Saker.In Burns and Patterson, Australia have batsmen ideally suited to complement Smith and Warner in England•Getty ImagesFor Paine, the clarity Starc and Khawaja were able to find at the end of a long and largely disappointing international summer was a useful lesson in terms of the game’s mental dimensions. So often against India, the Australians appeared either distracted or harried into errors they might not have otherwise made, caused both by the quality of Virat Kohli’s team but also the weight of the occasion. Granted a simpler challenge against Sri Lanka, they were able to shape their games into more sustained and constructive displays.”When everyone is struggling in sport and cricket in particular, a lot of it is in your own head,” Paine said. “At times we’ve got to find ways to get out of our own head and Starcy was probably a pretty good example of that.”I was really proud of the way our boys rallied around Starcy and, even when he wasn’t at his best, kept reminding him of how important he is to our team and how we think he’s one of the best bowlers in the world. Eventually I think we got through to him and I thought he bowled superbly this game. I think it was a real lesson for all of us but particularly the young guys in our group.”Though there were plenty of unknowns for Australia at the start of the international season, it must be said that a final scoreline of 2-1 losers to India (somewhat flatteringly) and 2-0 victors over Sri Lanka (an accurate reflection) was a good pointer as to where Paine and Langer’s men stood. In making a couple of straightforward selection calls to include Joe Burns and Patterson on the basis of consistent performance, they were able, too, to unearth a pair of players likely to ideally complement Smith and Warner in England later this year.And if Paine and Langer both seemed exhausted by thoughts, words and deeds over the past four months, they were also content that in terms of the way the team’s players conducted themselves, they had pulled back some measure of respect from an Australian public that had so decried them in the wake of Newlands. “I’m really proud of the way we’ve gone about it,” Paine said. “We spoke at the start of the summer that our main priority was to win back the respect of our Australian public and our cricket fans.”Sitting here now, I think we’ve gone a long way to doing that. I think we’ve still got a little bit of work to do, but we’re on the right track. I couldn’t be prouder of the way our coaching staff, our support staff and our playing group have gone about things in some really difficult times, and it’s in these difficult times that you see the sort of characters that you’ve got in your group. It’s confirmed to us that we’ve got some really good characters, some really strong characters, and people we can build a really strong Australian cricket future on.”For all of Kennedy’s exhortations, the Hawthorn side of 1975 were not able to do as he asked, turning a 20-point half-time deficit to North Melbourne into a 55-point defeat. Even so, Kennedy’s message lived on, particularly after the team went on to reverse the result over the Kangaroos in 1976. It’s that sort of longer-term success that Australia will hope to get after the many travails and missteps of 2018-19.

The coaching and captaincy duties have changed hands for Punjab, but the core group that remains intact will have to find ways to overcome scars of the last two seasons

Shashank Kishore04-Apr-20174:09

Agarkar: Captaincy could make Maxwell consistent

Likely first-choice XIManan Vohra, Glenn Maxwell (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Eoin Morgan, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, KC Cariappa, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, T NatarajanReservesBatsmen – Shaun Marsh, Hashim Amla, Martin Guptill, Armaan Jaffer, Rinku Singh
Bowlers – Swapnil Singh, Pardeep Sahu, Rahul Tewatia, Varun Aaron, Anureet Singh, Matt Henry, Ishant Sharma
Wicketkeeper – Nikhil Naik
Allrounders – Gurkeerat Singh, Darren SammyStrengthsTwo consecutive poor seasons might have forced most sides to make changes. Kings XI Punjab, though, have retained faith in the core group of players, who were part of both, the highs of 2014 – when they finished runners-up – and the disappointments that have followed.They have a strong batting – three of the world’s best limited-overs players aren’t guaranteed a spot in the starting XI – which is helpful considering M Vijay’s participation in the tournament appears to be doubtful.The team also arguably has the best Indian bowling line-up. Sandeep Sharma’s swing, Mohit Sharma’s back-of-the-hand slower deliveries, Ishant Sharma’s experience and Axar Patel’s control make them a potent force. Add to it their latest recruit T Natarajan, the left-arm pacer on whom they splurged INR 3 crore, and the attack looks well-rounded. Natarajan, the franchise believes, is the Indian version of Mustafizur Rahman, who brings to the fore an element of surprise with his cutters and subtle variations in pace.This isn’t a side that looks intimidating, but it has the smarts to upset the opponent’s designs.WeaknessesA lack of experienced spinners could leave them vulnerable on potentially tired surfaces as the season progresses. Glenn Maxwell and Gurkeerat are part-timers at best while the legspinning duo of Pardeep Sahu and Rahul Tewatia have hardly played in 2016-17. There is a chance that the team has to rely solely on their pacers to deliver wins.The franchise has defied conventional wisdom by naming Maxwell as captain despite him not having prior experience leading a side at any level. Only time will tell if it was a risk worth taking, given they had two seasoned T20 leaders in Eoin Morgan and Darren Sammy in their ranks.Where they finished in 2016, and what’s different this year?With just four wins in 14 matches, Kings XI were the bottom-placed team for a second successive season. In the aftermath, there were a few changes, to the coaching line-up. Sanjay Bangar resigned as head coach, while Virender Sehwag, chief mentor until last season, was promoted as director of cricket operations. He will be assisted by J Arun Kumar, the new head coach, who shepherded Karnataka to win titles in all formats for two successive seasons.What have their players been up to? Hashim Amla: After a poor Test series in Australia where he was repeatedly snuffed out in the slips, the opener returned home to become the eighth South African to score a century in his 100th Test. He’s been through an inconsistent patch since. While he was part of an ODI and Test series win in New Zealand, he has scored only one fifty-plus score in his last 11 international outings. Eoin Morgan and Darren Sammy were team-mates not too long ago in the Pakistan Super League. Morgan left midway to lead England to a ODI and T20 series win in West Indies, where he rode a top-order wobble to make an ODI century in the series opener in Antigua. Prior to that, he was one of England’s most productive batsmen during the limited-overs leg of their Indian tour. Sammy, in the meantime, led Zalmi to the title, often providing the flourish in the end-overs. His leadership and spectacular slip-catching made him a crowd-favourite both in the UAE and in Lahore, which staged the final. Axar Patel injured his thumb while fielding as a substitute during the fifth and final India-England Test in Chennai and was subsequently ruled out of the limited-overs leg of the series. He watched from the sidelines as his state side Gujarat clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title. He returned to action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over competition, and took seven wickets in four matches.Overseas-player availabilityShaun Marsh injured his back during the final India-Australia Test in Dharamsala and may not be in the starting XI immediately. Martin Guptill is also on a comeback trail since injuring his hamstring during the ODI series against South Africa last month, and could be in contention only from the third week of the competition. He will leave on May 10 for a tri-series involving New Zealand, Bangladesh and Ireland, though. Matt Henry will join him too. Eoin Morgan will be unavailable from May 1, when he’ll take off to lead England on their tour of Ireland.Home and away record in 2016They won two games at home and away, in a campaign where they were all but out of the reckoning halfway through the season.PollTest your Kings XI Punjab knowledge

New Zealand were made to labour for their wickets throughout the Test, so in many ways it fit that a man such as Neil Wagner made the pivotal play on day five

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Dunedin14-Dec-2015″Workhorse” is how Brendon McCullum described Neil Wagner before the Test. New Zealand then strapped four seamers to their plough on a generally lifeless Dunedin surface, but each quick had his specific role. Tim Southee and Trent Boult are the shiny-coated thoroughbreds, operating from sleek run-ups and liquid velvet bowling actions. In comparison, Wagner is one of those plodding, thick-set horses with fur around their ankles and a perpetually morose expression. He was left in the stable during New Zealand’s recent tour of Australia. This may partially explain the morose look. He also lives in Dunedin.On the fifth morning, when Sri Lanka began to surge – Dinesh Chandimal slap-happy behind point, Angelo Mathews turning the strike over – Wagner began to till a furrow on leg stump. In his second over of the day, a short one at Mathews’ throat was ducked under. The next one took the shoulder of the bat and whistled by leg gully for four.It was having got the batsman fearful of two close catchers on the legside that Wagner slipped in the surprise. Mathews attempted to pad away the full, swinging delivery next over, and wound up granting safe passage to the ball, through the arch of his splayed legs. He would later say the ball hit his pad and simply “rolled” into the woodwork. This is like saying the Titanic merely brushed the iceberg; that Poland had just been tickled by the Nazis. The only things actually rolling was middle stump, which had been uprooted, and maybe fans watching the dismissal, splitting their sides.”I thought it was beautifully set up,” Brendon McCullum later said of that breakthrough. “It was a sustained period when Wags was trying to go in around the rib cage, to try and get Angelo off the ball. Angelo’s such a world-class player, you can’t just run in and try and hit off top of off stump to him because he’s so adaptable and he’s got such a strong defence as well.”It was a plan we wanted play out, and when he started walking across his stumps a little bit, Wags decided that at some stage he was going to try and bowl the miracle ball to hit the base of leg stump. In the end it split his defence.”After that breakthrough, Wagner’s furrow grew to a channel, then a river, which Sri Lanka were washed out to sea in. Wagner helped muzzle Dinesh Chandimal, before he was out at the other end, padding away a delivery from Mitchell Santner. Kithuruwan Vithanage chanced his blade for 38 balls, but was gone before lunch. Boult came back to knock out a feisty Sri Lanka lower order, yet it had been Wagner who unlocked the victory.New Zealand were made to labour for their wickets throughout the Test, so in many ways it fit that a man such as Wagner made the pivotal play on day five. In all, they bowled 212.3 overs in the Test, without a specialist spinner. The new-ball bowlers swung it a little, but Doug Bracewell delivered economy, and Wagner nearly bowled himself into his hometown dirt. The effort was collective. Southee picked up New Zealand’s best figures in the innings, with 3 for 52, but to find a less impressive “best analysis” for a New Zealand bowler in wins, you would have to go back to 2009.”I thought Doug bowled absolutely brilliantly throughout the test match and all through Australia as well,” McCullum said, of Bracewell, who also had two catches spilt. “He just hasn’t got the rewards at the moment, but I’m sure he will get them soon.”In their last home series, also against Sri Lanka, New Zealand’s big-name players dominated. McCullum plundered 195, Boult and Southee scythed through the top order, and Williamson finished with the series’ highest score. In this Test, the hosts’ lower profile players have made critical contributions. Mathews is the owner of one of the world’s best defensive techniques, but on day five, the workhorse brought down the barn door.

So far in his short career, Mominul Haque has walked the walk and talked the talk that should have Bangladesh fans hoping he is a match-winner in the making

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong15-Nov-2014The position immediately below Don Bradman’s 99.94 on Test cricket’s batting average charts is a temporary seat for successful beginners. If batsman starts off with a century or a double, or goes on to hit a few in his first few Test matches, he is just a step down from Bradman, people notice. But, eventually, that average inevitably begins to come down. The latest batsman to occupy that spot is Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque, with an average of 63.05 after his unbeaten 131 against Zimbabwe in Chittagong.Of course, Mominul has had a 50-plus average since his fourth Test, but he is only 23 innings into his career and, like all those others before him, being second only to Bradman is not likely to last too long for him either. Still, his position looks awesome and sounds amazing to any Bangladesh fan.And that average is a fair reflection of his unique temperament among his peers. Mominul’s strokeplay, too, and the confidence with which he lays bat on ball, is also starting to standout. The two drives between extra cover and mid-off early in his innings today, his body position while playing drives off the backfoot through mid-on, and the sweeps, pulls, tickles and cuts … it all made for great viewing pleasure.His journey in Test cricket has not been as effortless. Mominul had got to a half-century six times this year before today, and only one of those he converted into a hundred – on all five other occasions, he was out before getting into the 60s. Mominul had to find out a way to get out of the fifties.It was something as simple as having fewer negative thoughts that worked for him, he said after the day’s play in Chittagong. And despite a brisk start – he got to 50 off 69 balls – he did not lose concentration, even willing to battle it out for 22 balls after getting into the nineties before he hit the four that got him to his fourth century.”It really feels great to be able to do something for the team,” Mominul said. “I try in every game to make some contribution. I didn’t want to lose concentration. I wanted to play ball-by-ball, session-by-session. I was less negative today. I had fewer negative thoughts, which possibly helped me get the runs. The wicket was good. I tried to attack, dominate their bowlers.”I didn’t make any technical changes in my batting. It was mostly tactical. I think about my batting when I am on my own. I try to overcome the areas which are not helping me, which were holding me back. It is not a lot of things that I think about. It is better to stay normal and take on less pressure. But now that it has happened, I am saying this. If I hadn’t scored a century, I wouldn’t be able to say it.”To put his 131 into perspective in terms of match situation, compared to his previous three hundreds, Mominul was cruising in Chittagong rather than navigating through choppy waters. His 181 and unbeaten 126 against New Zealand last year came when replying to a large score and trying to save a Test match respectively. Against Sri Lanka, when he scored his third century, an unbeaten 100, it came on the final day with the opposition pushing for a win.This time, he was allowed to bat with the freedom provided by a 165-run cushion and against a bowling attack that was running on empty. It was his third century in three Tests in Chittagong, and he duly pointed out that it would be unwise to expect him to score big every time he turns up at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.”I have scored three of my four centuries at this ground, but it doesn’t mean I have to score a hundred here every time,” Mominul said. “It is a matter of luck. If it happens, it happens. I don’t think much about it. There was no extra pressure on me.”But I worked out why I was getting out in the fifties. I tried to do something more to go past it. And when success comes to a player, the responsibility rises. Now there is expectation on me, and it is steadily rising.”That attitude of Mominul’s is quite refreshing for those who have got used to Bangladesh cricketers showing early promise, followed by a display of bravado, only to experience the inevitable come-down. Mominul is experiencing the first part of that process, but his personality hasn’t allowed him to move on to the second, so far. He will not be Bradman’s sidekick for too long, but the fact that he has not got carried away by his early success can only be good for Bangladesh.

From Gareth Flusk, South Africa
God, from not liking the tournament at all and now having to endure a gluttonous six-week period in my own country

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Gareth Flusk, South Africa
God, from not liking the tournament at all and now having to endure a gluttonous six-week period in my own country. Never have I been less inclined to watch cricket. The semi-naked, flashing-light, loud-music brand of cricket has just shown how truly rank the South African fan is. All they want is to swill beer, get a front row seat and see if they can get a look under a dancer’s skirt. That vantage point also grants you the chance to hurl abuse at your favourite international player. In all of this kerfuffle with your mates, if you have seen any of the cricket, it’s simply unforgivable.Last night, the chairman said that this is will bring more people to cricket. This rot is not promoting the game at all. It promotes the IPL for the IPL. One day internationals and Test matches will still pull the same crowds. The beautiful blonde causcasian most-non-Indian-looking girl doesn’t want to go to a Test match, as there is no chance of being spotted by “Miss Bollywood” scouts. The traditional format will still see chaps sit in the stands explaining it to their really interested girlfriends, whilst actually watching.If fans around the world are to determine that Twenty20 is the future, then great. But simply know that Modi’s minions are exploiting the men around the world for their drunken, leery nature and the females in the pursuit of being the next big thing. The IPL is so attractive to the crowds because the psychology fits in perfectly with their ADHD nature. Modern spectators simply have this need to constantly to move around, be distracted by various random activities and not concentrate on the reason they entered the stadium. A little known fact is that Ritalin is banned within a 10 km radius of the stadiums. (As well as that this tournament is not under ICC Match fixing scrutiny; Modi deemed it too expensive at 7 million pounds – never mind that the IPL is worth approximately 8 billions dollars).In two short years and 12 very long weeks, we have successfully produced a generation of “I want all the glory for as little effort as possible” cricketers. Can’t wait to see what happens when we have the proposed two IPL’s per year. Ouch.

For an attacking batsman, Gautam Gambhir shows a surprisingly liking for situations where dour defending is the need of the hour

Sidharth Monga at Newlands06-Jan-2011Gautam Gambhir loves these situations; situations which attacking batsmen such as himself should find difficult in theory. A match to save, no thought of scoring runs, no release of pressure through boundaries, just grinding the opposition down, and boring the hell out of them. It is not as easy to do as it is to say. Not when your injured hand has combined with a fresh hit to your elbow to put you out of cricket for a few weeks. Not when you decide to come out to bat one last time against Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel on an uneven pitch, with that crazy swing from the first innings still on your mind. Not when the third ball you face hits you on the same aching elbow that needed icing for a whole day.During an equally important innings he played in Napier in 2008-09, where he batted longer in terms of time (close to 11 hours), but faced a lesser challenge from the track and the bowlers – VVS Laxman noticed that Gambhir hadn’t said a word for a very, very long time. Gambhir told Laxman he didn’t want to come out of the zone he was in. That innings, he went at 12 runs an hour. Today, as he went at 14 runs to the hour. He had found a similar zone.Gambhir repelled everything the fast bowlers threw at him. There were judicious leaves either on line or length, or both. When the bouncers were at him, he rode the bounce well. When the leg gully came in, he managed to fend the ball down into the ground. When Steyn went round the wicket and looked for a repeat of the dismissal from the second innings in Centurion, he managed to clip him for four.Paul Harris provided him with a challenge, even though Gambhir is one of the best players and dominators of spin in the world, because of the rough outside the left-hand batsman’s off stump. When Harris bowled from the Kelvin Grove End, the ball kicked and turned and snarled at him, but Gambhir swallowed his pride and just kept kicking away balls pitched in the rough. Some of them reared up towards his hurt elbow, some even higher, but he resisted the urge for release. Balls and minutes went by, and Gambhir looked more and more entrenched.The only time he got anxious to score runs wasn’t a surprise. He gets a little fidgety in the 40s and the 90s, wanting to reach the landmark as quickly as possible. Even in Napier, where he put the rest of the world out of his head like a monk, he got to his fifty and his hundred by steeping out to a spinner and lofting him over the infield. He got more enterprising in the 40s again, punching Steyn down the ground for four, and driving him over point with what was not a controlled shot. He then played and missed one, charged at Harris again, and was not steady until he had square-cut Steyn to bring up his 11th fifty-plus score in the 30 attempts he has had to bat in the second innings.The steadiness was deflating for South Africa, especially after Rahul Dravid got out just before tea. Gambhir had made 62 from 142 when Dravid got out, and then just to make sure South Africa were completely disheartened, he scored only two off the next 42 deliveries. For those who respect stonewallers, it was a beautiful passage of play that started just before Dravid’s dismissal: Gambhir added five runs in 58 deliveries.By the time he got out in an unfortunate manner, gloving one down the leg side, Gambhir had made sure the series had been saved. India were not surprised at the source of this particular kind of resistance. “We saw the Napier innings, which was very special,” MS Dhoni said. “We all knew he was one guy who could do it. It was really good to see him take those big heavy blows on the body and still continue. You need plenty of courage to do that, and it was good to see the bat the way he did. Unfortunately he got out. If he had stayed till the end, it would have been much better, but still happy because the team needed that and one of the individuals stepped up and said, ‘Okay I will be the person to do that.'”Now that the game has petered out to a tame draw, Gambhir’s effort might look easier than it was, but it took all his concentration to bat and not do what every batsman loves to do: score runs. Gambhir didn’t get a century on the tour that was to be his biggest test as an opener, but he looked good for one on three occasions out of the four times he batted. Quietly during the series, Gambhir has walked away with a lot of credit.