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Over the years, Dhoni has passed on his wisdom to Hardik. Can he use the same to trump the old master on Friday?

Shashank Kishore30-Mar-2023The nets arena at Motera’s practice ground is quite a walk from the main practice square of the Narendra Modi Stadium. On Thursday evening, shortly before 5pm, security personnel had been stationed around the perimeter of the nets area as venue managers readied a yellow carpet at the entrance of the Chennai Super Kings dressing room.Within minutes of the Super Kings team bus arriving, there was chaos as the news spread. In the middle of the main stadium, lensmen who were trying to capture the lighting of the grand stage set up for a glitzy opening ceremony, with sunlight filtering through one of the gaps in the stands, could have given track-and-field aspirants a run for their money at that very moment.The reason behind their dash? They all wanted to get a perfect shot of MS Dhoni getting out of the team bus and walking into the nets area. What followed next was the whirr of a few hundred shutter clicks to capture Dhoni’s entry. Except Dhoni wasn’t on the team bus. He had arrived an hour earlier for the captains’ meeting and photoshoot, and was already done with some light warm-ups indoors.Related

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After the crowd had dispersed, he casually sauntered into the nets area and put his arm around Gary Kirsten, the Gujarat Giants’ mentor. Ashish Nehra soon joined them for some laughs. A few handshakes and high-fives later, Dhoni quietly went towards the main ground, where Hardik Pandya was seated beside Shivam Mavi, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Shubman Gill and Alzarri Joseph, and was having a long chat.Then as they dispersed to their respective nets on either side of the centre wicket, Hardik and Dhoni briefly crossed paths again.On one side was the fierce intensity of a captain who had led his side to the title in their very first season. On the other was the calmness of the grand old veteran, who will turn 42 in three months. His side had finished ninth last season but he was resonating vibes of someone who has seen it all but is fully comfortable in the space he is in, ahead of possibly one last dance.As Dhoni stood in the middle, crouching low and doing some lower-body drills, Hardik ran in and bowled, took outfield catches, and offered words of advice to his younger team-mates. Later, he played the role of an umpire to have a ringside view of his bowlers.Youngsters have often turned to Dhoni for advice and he too has always been there for them•PTI Then as the rain started to come down, Dhoni yelped from afar towards Hardik as they started to walk off. Watching all this from the outside, you couldn’t help but think of how Hardik has gradually stepped into Dhoni’s footsteps.When a raw Hardik made his debut in 2016, Dhoni was at the front and centre of Indian cricket. He had stood with Hardik at the top of his bowling mark to give instructions and advice ahead of that final over against Bangladesh during the 2016 T20 World Cup game in Bangalore. Just like Hardik does for his young Indian bowlers now.Dhoni was always there for his younger players, who would invariably turn to him for guidance. Ask Kuldeep Yadav or Ravindra Jadeja. Or an unheralded Mohit Sharma, who burst through to have the IPL of his life in 2013. Or Mukesh Choudhary last year.Somewhere along the way, with Hardik, this mentor-mentee relationship evolved into one between an elder and younger brothers. To the extent that Hardik would often be seeking life lessons from Dhoni. It’s said when Hardik found himself in a soup over comments made on a TV chat show, it was Dhoni who told Hardik to not become a recluse and switch off from all forms of social media.The Hardik we see today is a calmer version of the person that burst onto the scene. And it isn’t just the off-field attributes of Dhoni that he seems to be embodied. On the field, Hardik has been instinctive. But at the same time, he has also been calculative and has thrown himself into tough situations to shield younger players and give them a little bit of cushion.Like when he opened the bowling against New Zealand to allow a slightly off-rhythm Arshdeep Singh to settle in. Or promoting himself to No. 4 and doing the bulk of the heavy lifting, even if it meant having to go against his natural game of hitting sixes.0:46

Pandya: I took all the tips from Dhoni when we played together

Last year, for example, Hardik’s strike rate of 152.54 in the last four overs was the third-lowest for him in any IPL season. But that was because he was playing the role of an anchor, allowing the likes of Tewatia and David Miller to do the finishing.”I don’t mind playing the role that, somewhere down the line, Mahi used to play,” Hardik had said in February, during the white-ball series against New Zealand. “When he was around, I was young and hitting all around the park. But since he is gone, all of a sudden, that responsibility is on me. I don’t mind that. We are getting the results. It’s okay if I have to play a little slow.”I’ve always enjoyed hitting sixes. But that’s life; I’ve to evolve. I’ve believed in partnerships and want to give my batting partner and team some assurance and calmness that I’m there. I’ve played more games than any of these guys; I’ve learned how to accept and swallow pressure and make sure everything is calm.”It’s this calmness from their captain that Titans are feeding off. “Hardik isn’t closed-off, available to all the players at all times during the season,” Vikram Solanki, Titans’ team director, said. “He was a very mature captain last year, he took to captaincy very naturally. It was apparent he is a deep thinker of the game. You think of him as a character and personality, it plays through in the way he plays. He led with a lot of positivity and energy, and had a lot of time for people.”When Hardik steps onto the field to lead Titans in the opening game, he will know Dhoni will have a trick or two up his sleeve. The Hardik of a few years ago may have been consumed by that very thought. This version of Hardik is likely to soak it in with a smile and simply make plans on the fly to give Dhoni the slip, just like Dhoni did to the big crowd and lensmen who had made a beeline for him earlier in the evening.

A contingent of around 200 Nepal fans made the largely empty stadium feel like a full house

S Sudarshanan05-Sep-2023Stand on the eastern grass banks of the Pallekele stadium and close your eyes, it feels like a full house. The decibel levels rise as the bowler runs in, with cheers accompanying each boundary or a dropped catch. India are quite used to this in a cricket match. Only, this time it was not for them.Pallekele is a quaint town about ten kilometres away from Kandy. The roads leading to the cricket stadium are two-way and winding, which restricts the speed you can drive at. Travel is not the easiest and as a result, the queues for security checks aren’t serpentine for the men’s Asia Cup.Add to that forecast for rain, the prospect of India playing in the vicinity, and Nepal squaring off against them for the first time in international cricket, was not enticing enough for the fans in Kandy on a Monday afternoon. But a contingent of around 200 fans clad in Nepal’s jersey had walked in and took their spots in different stands. And their presence was unmissable once the action began.Related

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A group of about 75 Nepal fans square on the leg side from the broadcast end were creating the atmosphere and revelling in it. In the sixth over of the match, opener Kushal Bhurtel played a straight punch to split mid-off and mid-on. The fans ran to their right, in the direction the ball had been hit. The next ball was pulled way over long leg. The direction didn’t matter; the fans yet again had their running shoes on.A 45-year-old in the group matched an 11-year-old for energy. All of them in the contingent were from Kathmandu. The cricket match was a stop in the week-long educational tour of Sri Lanka organised by Rajarshi Gurukul.”We have a yearly trip and this time we are in Sri Lanka,” Rajeem Dhungel, an economics teacher who was managing the kids, said. “The most exciting thing for us is the historic match between Nepal and India.”The songs – by Nepal’s one of the greatest bands Nepathya – and – the fastest Nepali song to 20 million YouTube views – proved to be perfect for the group to groove to. The cherry on top was Nepal had raced away to a rollicking start: 53 for 0 in nine overs.Even the subsequent wickets, and rain, did not dampen the spirits of the fans. And they were given reason to cheer their throats out when Aasif Sheikh completed his half-century and then when Sompal Kami hit a 56-ball 48 to delay the end of the innings. It was as if the players gave every fan more reasons to cheer for them.The stands largely wore a deserted look. If not for the Nepal fans, an India game would have had an unusually quiet look to it. Not always are India fans outnumbered. And not always is an India win just a footnote.

In a series that eventually became Pooran vs the rest, the West Indies batter won his individual battles

Hemant Brar14-Aug-20231:14

Jaffer: Pooran is West Indies’ X-factor

With scores level in the fifth and final T20I in Lauderhill, West Indies captain Rovman Powell gave Nicholas Pooran a big hug in the dugout. In the middle, Brandon King was unbeaten on 85, his highest T20I score, but it was Pooran’s 47 off 35 that had paved the way to victory.Cricket, otherwise a team sport, can sometimes become a clash between an individual and a team. Those who followed Indian cricket in the 1990s will be familiar with this feeling. Back then, it was invariably Sachin Tendulkar vs the opposition. The opposition, too, focused on getting Tendulkar out early, because doing so meant half the battle was won.In this five-match T20I series against West Indies, Pooran had been that individual for India. In the second T20I, he almost singlehandedly took his side to victory. In the next two, India dismissed him early and registered comfortable wins.Related

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On Sunday, in the series decider, it was once again Pooran versus India.Batting first, India could manage only 165 for 9. West Indies knew they could put them under even more pressure if they dominated the powerplay. So when Kyle Mayers fell in the second over, they promoted Pooran, who until that point in the series had batted at No. 4.Having dismissed Mayers with a short-of-length delivery, Arshdeep Singh tried the same ploy against Pooran as well and, with his second ball to the batter, hit him on the ribs. Two deliveries later came the sucker ball: another short ball but bowled with just knuckles behind it. Pooran, though, made it look as if he was just waiting for it, and deposited it over deep midwicket for a six.In the next over, Pooran had a slice of luck. He mistimed a pull against Hardik Pandya, but Mukesh Kumar, sprinting in from mid-off and diving forward with an outstretched right hand, failed to cling on to it. The batter added insult to injury by pulling the next two balls over the boundary line, his first three scoring shots all sixes as he moved to 18 off seven. His onslaught also took the pressure off King, who was on 2 off six at that point.With Pooran looking dangerous once again, and India not having many runs in the bank, Hardik turned to his wicket-taking weapon, Kuldeep Yadav, in the fifth over of the chase. Now it was a face-off between two individuals. After all, T20s are often decided by such bouts, the match-ups.Coming into this game, Kuldeep had dismissed Pooran four times in T20s while conceding just 41 runs in 43 balls. Two of those dismissals had come in the third and fourth match of this series. And when he rapped Pooran on the pads in his very first over on Sunday, and the umpire raised his finger, India thought they had got their man.Pooran, though, knew he had gloved the ball. He straightaway reviewed the on-field decision and got it overturned. In Kuldeep’s next over, he reverse-swept him for four. But that was the last time he took a risk against the spinner.Nicholas Pooran slammed one four and four sixes during his knock•Associated PressBy then, West Indies were well ahead of the asking rate, as well as the DLS target with rain in the air. Pooran showed game awareness and put aside his ego. In all, he scored only 11 off 14 balls against Kuldeep but by not giving away his wicket, he had not only won the individual contest but effectively the match, and the series, for his team.Later, Powell too lauded Pooran’s efforts throughout the series. “I am very big on individual performances,” he said. “If individuals can stand up for us, we will always do well as a team. Nicholas is a very important component of our team. We know it’s difficult to perform all five games, so we asked him to try his best and stand up in three out of five games.” Needless to say, Pooran didn’t disappoint his captain.To be fair to Kuldeep, he was bowling with a wet ball (two rain breaks during India’s innings meant the outfield wasn’t dry). That, combined with the defensive approach by Pooran and King, meant he didn’t look as threatening as he had in the previous games. He conceded only 18 from his four overs but couldn’t pick up a wicket.With Pooran at the crease, Hardik didn’t risk bowling Axar Patel, which left India with just five bowling options for the majority of the chase. It also saved King from facing Axar, who had kept him quiet in the past, allowing just 19 runs off 22 balls in T20s.By the time, Tilak Varma got Pooran out, West Indies needed just 47 off 40 balls. They knocked those off with two overs to spare.For his 176 runs in five T20Is, Pooran was named the Player of the Series. He also won an electric guitar for hitting the most sixes. However, he had a flight to catch immediately after the match and had left the ground a bit early. So he couldn’t collect the series award or the guitar. But then he had already played his greatest hits.

From consulting pulmonologists to asking players to sit indoors, the ICC and event organisers are taking other steps too to help the players

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Nov-2023

The ICC’s protocols

Since the 2017 Delhi Test between Sri Lanka and India, in which many players had vomited after stints in the field, and other reported respiratory problems, the ICC drew up guidelines in which poor air quality would be treated the same as weather events that impede play, or compromise player safety, such as rain, or lightning.This means that air quality will be monitored by BCCI staff via handheld devices in the stadium (the nearest measuring station is over one kilometre away), and these readings will be conveyed to the ICC’s medical staff, as well as medical staff of both the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka teams. Match officials already have guidelines as to what kinds of air quality conditions are suitable for play.The figure below which it is safe to play, according to ICC guidelines and Sri Lanka medical staff, is an AQI of 200. This is not a hard cutoff, however (like the wide-ball guidelines on a pitch). Doctors are likely to consider player feedback quite seriously.

What happens on match day?

With monitoring ongoing at the stadium itself, match officials, in concert with medical staff, will take a call on when conditions are suitable for play. Because air quality is being considered as essentially a part of the weather by the ICC, the toss is expected to happen at 1:30pm local, and so long as the ICC and the medical staff consider the air quality suitable for play, the match will begin at 2pm.If conditions are not suitable, officials will watch the readings until such time as it improves sufficiently to allow play. Just as it would happen for rain or a wet outfield, the extra time that is built into a cricket match will be used up if necessary, and if that is exhausted, the match will start losing overs.If an ODI cannot be completed (each team would have to bat a minimum of 20 overs for it to considered a completed ODI), the teams will take a point each from the game.The Sri Lankan team trains in hazy conditions•ICC via Getty Images

How can organisers help?

They will urge players to remain in the dressing rooms, where air purifiers will be operational, rather than in the outdoor dugout, where those who run drinks in particular, usually sit. They will also use sprinklers to lower the pollutants in the immediate playing area. Rain has often helped substantially reduce pollutants in the air, but to what extent sprinklers can do the same, and for how long, is unclear.In that 2017 Test, many Sri Lanka players also wore masks as they stepped out into the outfield. In the approach to this match, many Bangladesh and Sri Lanka players were seen wearing masks, which doctors had recommended.

Has there ever been a pollution-shortened game before?

Although that Test in 2017 had seen long medical delays, there have been no limited-overs internationals that have been shortened because of pollution. Cricket, to some extent is shooting in the dark here. Although the ICC is consulting a pulmonologist (lung specialist), there is not a lot of data as to what constitutes safe air quality conditions for cricket, particularly given there are different cardiovascular workloads on fast bowlers, batters, spinners, and wicketkeepers.

Where does this leave the cricket?

Both teams have tried to have as many practice sessions before this match as possible, partly because they are both perceived to have underperformed by their home fans, and feel as if they must be seen as working hard. With Champions Trophy qualification on the line, Bangladesh need this match to happen more than Sri Lanka (Bangladesh have two points this World Cup), but Sri Lanka would like the chance at two points too.

What have the team said about air quality?

Sri Lanka team manager Mahinda Halangoda: “Definitely we will be looking at the index. We will be guided by the ICC. They have a medical panel here. We will be guided by their instruction. When we came here today we were wearing masks, and we were told to wear masks. It depends on how the outside index is, and then we’ll make a call.”Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe: “Air quality is affecting both teams. It is not ideal. But we have no choice. We have to play in the conditions that’s in front of us.”

England’s tour of India ended with another thumping to leave Bazball in the crosshairs again. Miller, Vish and Karthik joined Alan to wrap the series

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2024The end came quickly in Dharamsala, as India romped to an innings win and a 4-1 series victory. England were left to pick out the positives, which included James Anderson’s 700th Test wicket. On this week’s podcast, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller, Vithushan Ehantharajah and Karthik Krishnaswamy to discuss where it all went wrong for the Bazballers. How significant was Anderson’s achievement? Will Jonny Bairstow’s 100th Test appearance also be his last? And what changes might be on the cards when the Test team reunite in the summer?