Mohammed Siraj celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne during their match in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India became the first team to secure a semifinal spot at the Cricket World Cup after Mohammed Siraj bowled a stellar opening spell to help the hosts dismantle Sri Lanka for a 302-run win on November 2.

Siraj took three wickets for nought in the first seven balls as Sri Lanka lost its first four wickets for just three runs within 19 deliveries.

Mohammed Shami then took four wickets in three overs in his opening spell, as Sri Lanka was bowled out for 55 runs in 19.4 overs. That was after Shubman Gill’s 92 and a quick-fire 82 off 56 balls from Shreyas Iyer helped India reach 357-8. It was the second biggest margin of victory in World Cup history.

Shami finished with 5-18 in five overs, his second five-wicket haul in this tournament. Siraj finished with 3-16 in seven overs.

Virat Kohli also scored 88 runs, and he and Gill put on 189 for India’s second wicket. It was the highest team score without an individual hundred in a World Cup.

India rose atop the points’ table with a perfect record after seven games and is the only unbeaten side in the tournament. It will play its semifinal at the same venue on Nov. 15, unless it meets archrival Pakistan in the last four — in which case the game would be played in Kolkata on Nov. 16.

With a fifth defeat in seven games, Sri Lanka still has a mathematical chance of reaching the semifinals by winning its remaining two games, but will also need other results going its way.

Siraj’s stunning opening spell began with Jasprit Bumrah sending back opener Pathum Nissanka for a first-ball duck, out lbw. He then trapped Dimuth Karunaratne lbw for a golden duck, Sadeera Samarawickrama was caught at slip for a four-ball duck, while Kusal Mendis was bowled for one run.

The scorecard read an astonishing 3-4 after 3.1 overs — the joint lowest total for the top four batsmen in ODIs, matching Pakistan’s one run against West Indies in 2015.

Sri Lanka’s problems weren’t over yet, as India deployed Shami at the other end and he picked up three wickets in his first nine deliveries.

Charith Asalanka was out for one, while Dushan Hemantha and Dushmantha Chameera were caught behind without troubling the scorers.

Only Angelo Mathews managed more than a run amongst the first eight batsmen, and then reached double digits, scoring 12 off 25 balls.

The 1996 champions were down to 14 runs for six wickets in 9.4 overs. It became 22-7 in 11.3 overs, and Shami then bowled Mathews to make it 29-8 in 13.1 overs. Five Sri Lankan batsmen were out for a duck, and only three managed to reach double digits.

Shami picked up his fifth wicket as Kasun Rajitha was caught at slip, making him India’s leading bowler in World Cups with 45 wickets. He went past Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, both with 44 wickets.

Put into bat, India had made a poor start as Dilshan Madushanka stunned the Wankhede into silence by bowling Rohit Sharma for four off the second ball of the Indian innings.

India could have been in further trouble as both Gill and Kohli were dropped across three deliveries. But the duo didn’t give a sniff to the Sri Lanka bowlers after that as Kohli got to a run-a-ball 50, with Gill scoring 50 off 55 balls. Their 100-run partnership came off 98 balls.

Kohli set the pace initially but slowed down as he approached a record hundred. At the other end, Gill increased his pace and hit some choice boundaries to regale the weekday crowd.

The young opener was out when he tried to ramp a short delivery to the boundary and was caught behind in the 30th over.

Madushanka got the breakthrough and two overs later sent back Kohli as well — a slower delivery inducing the batsman to a false shot — out caught at short cover.

Gill had hit 11 fours and two sixes, while Kohli hit 11 fours. It brought Iyer and Lokesh Rahul to the crease and they put on 60 off 47 balls for the fourth wicket.

India lost its way a bit in the middle overs as Rahul was out caught for 21, while Suryakumar Yadav was out for 12. He was Madushanka’s fifth wicket as the pacer finished with 5-80, the second most expensive five-wicket haul in ODIs.

Iyer, though, held one end together by bringing up 50 off 36 balls. He put on 57 off 36 balls with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 35 off 24 balls.

Overall, Iyer hit three fours and six sixes to help India cross 350, but missed the chance to score a World Cup hundred on his home ground.

File picture of Australia’s Mitchell Marsh during a World Cup match.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Australia will be without Mitchell Marsh for their World Cup game against England this week after the all-rounder returned home to Perth for personal reasons, the country’s cricket board said on Thursday.

Cricket Australia said a timeline on Marsh’s return to the squad “is to be confirmed” and it was not immediately clear if a replacement player would be called up to the squad should his absence be prolonged.

The five-times champions face holders England in Ahmedabad on Saturday before pool stage encounters against Afghanistan and Bangladesh later this month.

Australia are third in the table after six matches as they look to shore up their position for a semi-final spot.

The news of Marsh’s unavailability comes after fellow all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was ruled out of the England match due to concussion after he fell off a golf cart this week.

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis is set to return to the line-up after shaking off a calf problem while Cameron Green is likely to step in for Marsh.

Australia’s Marcus Stoinis, during a practice session at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K.

A fitness freak who is very particular about his food intake, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is travelling across India with a personal chef to ensure that he is getting a low carb diet during the ODI World Cup.

The 34-year-old all-rounder is on a ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carb) with baked oats infused with protein one of his favourites, according to a report in cricket.com.au.

Mumbai-born Velton Saldanha, a chef trained in French cuisine, travels with Stoinis while he is in India and cooks him meals out of the Australian team’s hotel kitchens, according to the report.

“Quite a few of the Indian boys do it, that’s where I got the idea,” Stoinis told cricket.com.au’s ‘Unplayable Podcast’.

“I’ve always been quite strict with my food and all that stuff in my preparation.”

No garlic naan

The Australian team has its own chef, who oversees food preparation as they move around the country, but Stoinis has gone a step further in his pursuit of peak performance.

“Garlic naan is out. Gluten-free banana bread and shepherd’s pie with roasted cauliflower mash are in. A roast butter chicken, the intersection of Saldanha’s French training and his Indian heritage, has also been a hit,” the report said.

“Stoinis is getting by on baked oats – at least for the small carbohydrate portion of his meticulously curated diet,” it said.

“By the end of the World Cup, Saldanha might be able to sell the ‘Stoinis Oats’ as a standalone dish.”

K.L. Rahul’s recommendation

Stoinis had met Saldanha, who who has worked in fine-dining restaurants in Chicago and New York, during this year’s Indian Premier League on a recommendation from his Lucknow Supergiants teammate and India star K.L. Rahul.

Saldanha founded Mumbai’s Chutney Collective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stoinis has struggled to play consistently in this tournament. He missed the opening match with a hamstring and quad concern. His scores in the three matches he has played so far are 5, 20 not out and 21.

“I want to play for as long as I can. I want to take control of as many things as I can through my cricketing career,” said Stoinis.

“We travel a lot and we’re obviously away from our comfort zone. We’re in different time zones. we’re in different beds, we’re in different hotels – we’re not exactly by the beach in Perth, having a coffee and that sort of stuff.”

He does not consider investing on a personal chef as waste of money.

“So I’m more than happy to invest in myself and in my environment. I don’t see that stuff, which some people do, as a waste (of money).

“I’m happy to invest in my own chef or invest my own batting coach or invest my own sports psychologist – that’s just the way I see things.”

England’s Jos Buttler walks off the field as Indian players celebrate his wicket during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and England in Lucknow on October 29, 2023
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sometimes an early defeat in a World Cup can be a blessing. It rids the team of complacency, it focuses attention on weaknesses that might have been covered up by victory, it re-motivates the players, it shines a light on team selection since non-performers have no place to hide. Australia, who began with two defeats at this World Cup now look like one of the favourites.

It can go the other way too. Champions England are at the bottom of the table two-thirds of the way down the league. This puts their qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy in jeopardy. Only the first seven teams will make the grade — the criterion was one of the best-kept secrets when the World Cup began. Perhaps nothing succeeds like failure.

India have won all their matches convincingly at this stage, making them strong candidates to join Australia (2003 and 2007) as the teams to go through undefeated in this century. Perhaps television is right: there is only one team in this World Cup. For some, however, that team might be Afghanistan who have now beaten three former champions convincingly.

Before India won the World Cup in 1983, they lost to Australia and the West Indies. In 2011, another year of triumph, India lost to South Africa before getting it together.

Discovering alternatives

Successful teams learn from defeat and disappointment lessons that are not readily available in victory and contentment. The injury to Hardik Pandya threw India for a bit, but in playing Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav, they have discovered alternatives they might not have otherwise. When Pandya returns, both these players are likely to remain. Pandya will probably replace a batsman, something which might not have been the obvious move earlier.

If England is a shining example for its approach to Test cricket, their One-Day International approach is a warning. The lack of flexibility, the reluctance to drop heroes of four years earlier, the inability to stick to a plan have all played their role in this.

Skipper Jason Buttler looks like he wants to wear an invisibility cloak at the mandatory post-match interviews. You almost feel sorry for the team — Australia’s captain seemed to be hiding his disappointment at England’s plight behind a brave smile!

Similar predicament

If India win the World Cup, they will face the same problems England are facing now, four years after their triumph. The temptation to hang on to a once-victorious team now four years older and giving the impression that turning up to play is all that matters is likely to affect India in 2027 if they don’t learn from England’s problems.

Till recently, the mantra of a defeated captain was: “Let’s forget this bad performance and move on.” Defeated captains at this World Cup don’t want to forget. “This hurts,” said Buttler after the defeat against Afghanistan, adding “I think you’ve got to let these defeats hurt. There’s no point in just trying to move on very quickly. Let it hurt for a bit, let’s reflect….”

It was a sentiment echoed by Temba Bavuma who said after his side lost to the Netherlands that South Africa should “feel the emotion of today.” He clarified: “You’ve got to let the emotion seep in. Don’t think there is any point in trying to forget what’s happened. It is going to hurt, it should hurt.”

Objectively speaking, it was necessary for England to have performed this badly to ensure things change. India had the same issue in 2007 when they lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and bowed out in tears. Four years later, under a new captain and without many of their seniors (Sachin Tendulkar was an exception), they won the tournament.

Even the best team in the world needs only one off-day in the knockout to ruin their plans. For India in 2003, that day was in the final. In the last two tournaments in 2015 and 2019, that day was in the semifinals. Teams can peak too early, but sometimes they can get caught up in the hype about momentum too. There is no such thing as momentum in sport. Every match is a fresh start.

There are lessons in defeat and victory, but you have to learn the right ones.

File picture of chief selector of the Pakistan cricket squad Inzamam-ul-Haq
| Photo Credit: AP

Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has stepped down as Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) chief selector on Sunday after allegations of a conflict of interest.

His resignation comes after Pakistani media reported one of his co-directors in a U.K.-based company, Yazoo International Ltd, is managing director of Saya Corporation, an agency representing some major Pakistani cricketers.

The players include captain Babar Azam, bowler Shaheen Afridi and wicketkeeper and batter Mohammad Rizwan, who is also a director at Yazoo, according to U.K. public sector database gov.uk.

“I am stepping down from the post to offer the PCB the opportunity to conduct a transparent inquiry,” Inzamam said in a statement released by the board. “If the committee finds me not guilty, I will resume my role as the chief selector.”

The PCB said it had set up a five-member fact-finding committee to look into the allegations.

The allegations surfaced in the middle of Pakistan’s struggling World Cup campaign, where they sit seventh in the points table after four successive defeats. It is their worst losing streak in tournament history.

VVS Laxman. File
| Photo Credit: VEDHAN M

National Cricket Academy head VVS Laxman could be in-charge of the Indian team for the five-match T20 International series against Australia, which will start within a week after the conclusion of the ODI World Cup.

Head coach Rahul Dravid’s contract will run its course at the end of the World Cup and obviously the BCCI has the option of requesting the former India captain to reapply as the board will have to reinvite applications for the post following the norm.

It will be interesting to see if 51-year-old Dravid wants to continue as head coach of the national team, which involves extensive travelling and constant pressure.

There is a possibility that Dravid, who has previously coached IPL teams like Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, might return to the T20 league fold which has 10 teams.

But it is highly likely that Dravid, as well as the entire squad save Suryakumar Yadav, will be given much-needed rest after a gruelling campaign in which they had to travel more than 10,000 kms across the country.

“VVS Laxman has always been in charge when Rahul has taken a break and same thing is likely to continue for the series just after the World Cup,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

In case fresh applications are invited, Laxman could be a very strong candidate as BCCI has created a process, where the person in charge of NCA and knows the system and pathways inside out, is prepared for the role.

Most of the members in the T20 squad for the Australia series will comprise of players, who were part of the T20 series in the West Indies, Ireland and the Asian Games as the big boys like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah will be given a break to freshen up for the big ticket series against South Africa where India play three T20Is, as many ODIs and two Tests.

The five-match T20 series against Australia will begin in Visakhapatnam on November 23.

If Laxman comes on board, Sitansu Kotak will be the batting coach. Kotak is also expected to be the coach of India ‘A’ team for the shadow tour of South Africa.

Dubai, Bengaluru and Mumbai among venues for IPL auction

Dubai has emerged as a front-runner to host the Indian Premier League auction for the 2024 season although Bengaluru and Mumbai are also in contention for the event.

The date is yet to be finalised but an IPL official informed that the operation team is doing a recce of various venues.

“It is a 10-team IPL auction now and it becomes very, very difficult to get hundreds of rooms in a same five-star facility which can house the multiple members of the franchises, the various BCCI officials, operations team, broadcast crew. That’s the reason Dubai remains the favourite venue. But as of now, we are not ruling out Indian cities for auction also.” The Women’s Premier League auction will happen on December 9.

England, Bangladesh to play quadrangular U-19 series in Vijaywada

The BCCI is also keeping no stone unturned to ensure that the next batch of U-19s has a good amount of exposure going into the next year’s U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Right now, the National U-19 One-Day meet is on for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and then a three or four-team Challenger Trophy will be held in Guwahati with the performers of the tournament.

The players who do well in Challengers will then be divided into two Indian teams that will play a U-19 Quadrangular tournament in Vijaywada along with junior teams from England and Bangladesh.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Sairaj Bahutule and Munish Bali, the coaching staff of the champion batch of 2022, are once again expected to guide the junior boys for the global meet.

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews, during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and England, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (KSCA), in Bengaluru on October 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

Some cricketers never fade away. Fifteen years after his ODI debut, and with just three matches under his belt in the last two-and-a-half years, Angelo Mathews and his unwavering temperament are back.

The 36-year-old is in as an injury replacement for speedster Matheesha Pathirana and the 2023 edition of the World Cup will be his fourth for Sri Lanka. In a charming twist, the current skipper Kusal Mendis (standing-in for Dasun Shanaka) made his debut under Mathews in 2016.

Transformed man

“He’s evolved so much over the last five, six years,” Mathews said of Mendis, ahead of the encounter against England. “Now he’s showing his maturity [by] playing fearless cricket. I’ve played under so many different captains and they’ve also played under me. It’s a cycle. So playing under Kusal gives me pleasure.”

If Mathews makes the playing XI, his batting prowess and Mendis’ free-spiritedness will be crucial against England.

“It’s always a contest with the English. We know the brand of cricket they play and you got to be positive. If you take a backward step, they are going to jump on to you. You have to fight fire with fire.”

Not fading away

England’s Moeen Ali, on his part, hoped that the reigning ODI and T20 world champions’ competitive fire hadn’t been doused. “There are still a lot of players that can play for a long time,” the 36-year-old said when asked if this England side was on its last legs.

“There’s obviously a few of us who are a bit older, more than likely won’t make the next World Cup, but I don’t think it’s the end of anything. It could potentially be the start of something else.

“We’re still in the competition. We’ve got to win every game. But we know that we can do it.

“We’re obviously disappointed from the result [vs. South Africa]. Not just the result, but the way we played. But you’ve got to move on. Everything is a must-win and we’ve been in this position before, probably not to this degree. We have to get our confidence [back] and perform.”

England’s Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali, during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and England, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (KSCA), in Bengaluru on October 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

In the football World Cup, there are rungs of respectability for teams exiting the competition. You can suffer the ignominy of going out in the group-stage, the round-of-32, the round-of-16; or you can have the tags of an honourable quarterfinalist, a worthy semifinalist or a deserved finalist attached to your name.

Cricket World Cup, in contrast, is a boom or bust tournament. The difference between teams finishing fourth and fifth is a semifinal place and a group-stage ouster. On Thursday, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Sri Lanka and England will clash with the singular aim keeping alive their hopes of the former.

Unaffordable

Both Sri Lanka and England have lost three of their four matches thus far and sit seventh and eighth respectively in a 10-team World Cup. Keeping in mind the fact that they are yet to face table-topper India, neither can afford a loss.

England has to recover from a 229-run shellacking at the hands of South Africa. Its batting hasn’t clicked, skipper Jos Buttler has totalled less than 100 runs in four games and the bowling has been mauled by South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan alike. The feeling may well be that England can only go up from here, but it cannot take Sri Lanka lightly.

Proud record

The Island Nation hasn’t lost to England in any of the four World Cup games since the turn of the millennium. Last week’s five-wicket victory over the Netherlands may not be ideal preparation for Sri Lanka, but it would have certainly banished the bad memories from three chastening defeats.

The last time England visited the Chinnaswamy for ODIs back in 2011, it lost a match after scoring 327 (Ireland) and tied a match by scoring 338 (India). This World Cup, Sri Lanka has conceded 428 and 345-run totals. Another run fest looks likely and England would finally want to finish on the right side of it.

Too hot to handle: Heinrich Klaasen has been taking the game away from the opposition virtually every time South Africa bats first.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

It may sound odd but arguably the best batter of spin bowling in limited overs’ cricket is a South African. It is not at all odd that he is equally indomitable against pace bowlers.

No wonder then that Heinrich Klaasen is one of the most fearsome batters in world cricket, at least in 50-over-a-side format, at the moment.

Klaasen has continued his classy batting and silken touch in the Men’s ODI World Cup. His back-to-back knocks at the Wankhede Stadium, including Tuesday’s 49-ball 93, have underlined his prowess in the format.

Having joined Quinton de Kock at the crease towards the end of the 30th over, Klaasen knew that neither he would face too much of spin nor was he in danger of running out steam on yet another hot and humid day, as he did three days ago.

Still, he made the most of the nine balls he got from the spinners, tonking 20 runs. But once Bangladesh employed an all-pace strategy and the pace trio misfired as much as their England counterparts, Klaasen was up to it. Before miscuing one in the last over, he had thumped 73 runs off his 40 balls.

As if taking Mustafizur Rahman to cleaners in the 47th over wasn’t good enough with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 2 off the last four balls wasn’t enough, Klaasen was even more severe off Shoriful Islam – the other left-arm pacer – who replaced him for the next over from the same end.

The five balls he faced off Shoriful in the 49th over fetched him 18 runs, thus giving South Africa an outside chance of crossing the 400-run mark.

Klaasen’s carnage of pace attack on the red-soil pitches at the Wankhede Stadium over the last three days has been the same despite opponents. On surfaces where the ball bounces and carries to the Proteas’ liking, Klassen has been at his best.

Even on Saturday, he was brutal against England pacers as compared to its spinners. While he scored a whopping 94 runs off the 48 balls he faced from an off-radar England pace pack, he tallied just 23 runs off 18 balls against spin.

If Quinton de Kock has been setting the foundation, Klaasen has been taking the game away from the opposition virtually every time South Africa bats first. If he can do the same while chasing, the opposition attacks will be dreading even more while bowling to him.

File photo of South Africa batsman Heinrich Klaasen.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

It may sound odd but arguably the best batter of spin bowling in limited overs’ cricket is a South African. It is not at all odd that he is equally indomitable against pace bowlers.

No wonder then that Heinrich Klaasen is one of the most fearsome batters in world cricket, at least in 50-over-a-side format, at the moment.

Klaasen has continued his classy batting and silken touch in the Men’s ODI World Cup. His back-to-back knocks at the Wankhede Stadium, including Tuesday’s 49-ball 93, have underlined his prowess in the format.

Having joined Quinton de Kock at the crease towards the end of the 30th over, Klaasen knew that neither would face too much of spin nor was he in danger of running out steam on yet another hot and humid day, as he did three days ago.

Still, he made the most of the nine balls he got from the spinners, tonking 20 runs. But once Bangladesh employed an all-pace strategy and the pace trio misfired as much as their England counterparts, Klaasen was up to it. Before miscuing one in the last over, he had thumped 73 runs off his 40 balls.

As if taking aking Mustafizur Rahman to cleaners in the 47th over wasn’t good enough with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 2 off the last four balls wasn’t enough, Klaasen was even more severe off Shoriful Islam – the other left-arm pacer – who replaced him for the next over from the same end.

The five balls he faced off Shoriful in the 49th over fetched him 18 runs, thus giving South Africa an outside chance of crossing the 400-run mark.

Klaasen’s carnage of pace attack on the red-soil pitches at the Wankhede Stadium over the last three days has been the same despite opponents. On surfaces where the ball bounces and carries to the Proteas’ liking, Klassen has been at his best.

Even on Saturday, he was brutal against England pacers as compared to its spinners. While he scored a whopping 94 runs off the 48 balls he faced from an off-radar England pace pack, he tallied just 23 runs off 18 balls against spin.

If Quinton de Kock has been setting the foundation, Klaasen has been taking the game away from the opposition virtually every time South Africa bats first. If he can do the same while chasing, the opposition attacks will be dreading even more while bowling to him.