In early November, Liverpool were flying high at the top of the Premier League, but Arne Slot played town title claims, saying there would be “many challenges to come.”

There have been at that, but Liverpool have played like champions, have won in different ways, and approach the final stretch with a seven-point advantage over injury-hit Arsenal.

Liverpool and Slot have benefitted from the brilliance of superstars such as Mohamed Salah – whose return this season has been nothing short of ridiculous – but the Dutch coach’s magic can be found in the improvements to players like Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch.

1.

Mohamed Salah

25

37

2.

Harry Kane

20

29

3.

Omar Marmoush

20

28

4.

Mateo Retegui

23

23

5.

Robert Lewandowski

23

22

The Dutchmen have been integral parts of the multi-title charge, but in Dominik Szoboszlai, the Reds perhaps have an unsung hero who has made every bit the improvements as such peers.

He’s even been compared to Steven Gerrard…

Dominik Szoboszlai's Gerrard comparisons

Szoboszlai, the thumping heart of Slot’s Liverpool team.

There’s an adage in football, attributed to Sergio Busquets: “You watch the game, you don’t see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”

Now, now – Szoboszlai is hardly Barcelona’s iconic anchor man, but the same rule applies. He might not chalk up the numbers, but the 23-year-old’s relentless running and midfield completeness serve a distinct purpose at Anfield.

A purpose, perhaps, that could not be replicated by anyone else. In this way, he has been likened to a former all-action midfielder named Gerrard.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, pundit Stephen Warnock said this: “The long legs and the stride pattern, Dominik Szoboszlai has such similarities to Steven Gerrard.”

Big claim, but one that has substance. As per FBref, the Hungary skipper ranks among the top 8% of Premier League positional peers for touches, the top 7% for pass completion and the top 17% for progressive passes per 90.

Szoboszlai’s got a lot of quality, but he’s not Gerrard. Gerrard encapsulated every facet of the game, something truly unique.

He might just, however, have finally found his successor in Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool's new Steven Gerrard

There may feel like a notable omission here: Jordan Henderson. Not to the discredit of the former Anfield skipper, but Van Dijk’s leadership qualities merged with genuine elite-class technical gifts make him a more apt new version of the historic Liverpudlian.

Jurgen Klopp pushed to sign Southampton’s star centre-back during the 2017 summer transfer window but failed. Liverpool returned. In January 2018, a world record (for a defender) £75m deal was finalised for Van Dijk’s transfer.

The rest is history. Van Dijk has lifted all the biggest prizes over 304 appearances and done so with the panache of a world-class sensation. In fact, pundit Michael Owen has even gone as far as to hail him as “the greatest centre-back of all time.”

He is now the Netherlands and Liverpool captain and chasing down a second Premier League title. Van Dijk is also into the Carabao Cup final having scored the winning goal in last year’s edition while leading a Liverpool team who topped the group phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

The myriad elements of the 33-year-old’s football converge to present a once-in-a-generation footballer. It is for this reason that he is shaping into Liverpool’s next Stevie G, having been hailed as a “monster” of a player by reporter DaveOCKOP.

Gerrard made his Liverpool debut in 1998 and went on to feature 710 times for Liverpool, scoring 186 goals and supplying 157 assists. Ian Callaghan and Jamie Carragher are the only Reds to have earned more appearances for the Merseysiders.

Widely considered one of the finest midfielders of his generation, Gerrard has been heralded by fellow pros, managers and pundits alike, and it would take a pretty special Liverpool player to assume his role in all its completeness.

Combative as a six, cultured as an eight and devastating as a ten, the former England captain was a man of many parts, and the sum of those parts was something greater still.

Van Dijk has what it takes to be viewed in a similar light for many years to come. Both players could be identified through their unbelievable composure and guile, with Liverpool’s current captain constantly barking at his teammates, urging them on and demanding excellence.

Another striking similarity is the pairs’ steadfast presence through different phases. Van Dijk has been partnered with Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren and Ibrahima Konate through different periods of his Liverpool career.

Likewise, Gerrard was Anfield’s superstar for more than a decade, servicing Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez over so many years.

By the start of the 2025/26 season, Van Dijk will be 34 years old. However, he’s showing little sign of regression, with his longevity a further measure of his Gerrard-esque ability.

Whether he will be a Liverpool player at that point is open to question, but it’s patent that fans near and far would delight in witnessing his contract renewal.

Fans are eager to turn to the summer transfer window of 2023 as the sliding doors moment that has fostered a team capable of winning the biggest prizes this season.

Park that thought. Van Dijk is the chief, the architect, and will go down as one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history. Gerrard’s (almost) career-long affiliation with Liverpool means that his legacy is nearly unsurpassable, but Van Dijk is every bit as good.

Klopp was asked about Van Dijk’s legacy, once. “I could write a book,” he replied.

Cost £3.5m: Liverpool should finally sell star who's worth more than Jota

Liverpool may look to offload this long-serving star at the end of the season.

ByAngus Sinclair Feb 18, 2025

Celtic look set to lose striker Kyogo Furuhashi in this transfer window, but the Hoops have already made a move when it comes to signing his potential replacement, according to a new report.

Celtic transfer news

The Hoops enjoyed a successful night in the Champions League on Wednesday, as their 1-0 win over Young Boys – a scoreline that was generous to the visitors – secured their passage to the next round of the competition for the first time since 2013. Reaching the knockouts along with sitting pretty at the top of the Scottish Premiership means Celtic are on course for another successful campaign, but despite this, the Hoops continue to be linked with new arrivals.

Celtic star who won 8/11 duels was an even bigger hero than Idah

The Celtic midfielder caught the eye with a terrific performance for the Hoops.

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By
Dan Emery

Jan 23, 2025

One player the Hoops have been heavily linked with and look set to sign in 2025 is Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney. The left-back is close to signing a pre-contract agreement to return to Parkhead, with it still a possibility he will join on loan this month too after falling out of favour at the Emirates Stadium.

Aston Villa’s Louie Barry is also of interest to the Hoops, and they have even made an offer for the exciting winger, but a £5 million bid plus £5 million in add-ons wasn’t enough for Villa to let Barry leave.

As well as arrivals, there could be departures at Celtic, as Luis Palma looks set to leave the club this month. Football Insider have reported that Palma remains keen on leaving the club, as he wants to play regular football, and he may not be the only one leaving Parkhead this month, as fellow striker Kyogo Furuhashi is close to joining Rennes.

Celtic hold talks to sign £38k-p/w forward in separate deal

According to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph, Celtic already have a replacement for Kyogo in mind as they hold talks over the possibility of Jota returning to the club. The reporter writes that this is a separate deal and will not form any type of player plus cash swap.

Joseph reports that Rennes are in advanced talks to sign Kyogo in a deal worth £10 million, with the 30-year-old keen on joining a top five league club to increase his chances of playing for Japan in the World Cup. As he looks set to depart, Jospeh goes on to add that Celtic have held talks with Rennes over a separate deal that would see Jota return to Parkhead.

The 25-year-old, who Joao Tralhao believes took Celtic to “another level” and described him as a “truly amazing” talent, joined the Hoops in August 2021 and left in July 2023. The Portuguese scored 28 goals in 83 games in all competitions for the Scottish side, his most emphatic season being the 2022/23 campaign, as he scored 11 goals and recorded 11 assists in 33 league games.

Jota’s 24/25 Ligue 1 stats
Apps	9
Starts	3
Minutes per game	37
Goals	1
xG	1.33
Shots per game	0.4
Conversion rate	25%
Key passes per game	0.6
Succ. dribbles per game	0.4 (33%)

Jota, who earns 45,385 euros a week (£38,000), would be the ideal replacement for Kyogo, as he can not only play as a striker, but he can also operate comfortably on both flanks, as can the Japan international. Jota has struggled for form since joining Rennes, so a move back to Parkhead, where he really enjoyed his football, could appeal to the player as he looks to get his career back on track.

South Africa’s captain was bound to be the centre of attention but Faf du Plessis ignored the boos to score another fighting Adelaide century

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval24-Nov-20160:39

Moonda: Du Plessis walked out to bat to the sound of boos

Never mind that it was South Africa’s first day-night Test or among Adelaide’s most social events. Never mind that the Australians were facing their first whitewash at home. Never mind that they hoped to avoid that by making five changes including three debutants, a colour-blind wicketkeeper who last played Test cricket three years ago and a third seamer playing his sixth Test in four years. This was always going to be about Faf du Plessis.Convicted chewer of mints and user of fresh-smelling saliva to shine the ball. Charming stand-in captain who continues to claim innocence. Centurion at this venue four years ago who ground down Australian morale and changed the momentum of the series. November 24, 2012 was the date he made 78 on debut; November 24, 2016 was the date he made a century on the road to redemption. If South Australia was looking for a new public holiday, they may be interested in a du Plessis’ day.That is not as far-fetched as it seems. At the end of the first day of this Test, Adelaide loved him as much as he loves it.The cheers outweighed the boos when du Plessis ran to the Riverbank Stand in celebration of his second century at this venue. With the setting sun, the soft light creating a halo of the clouds, the scene should have been romantic, but du Plessis assaulted the cool evening air with a volley of punches. Most of them would have been instinctive acts of achievement; some of them were aimed at the armchair executioners, who labelled him a cheat and wrote him off as an opportunist after the Hobart Test and the ball-tampering bluster.Several of them were in attendance when du Plessis walked out to bat, with South Africa stumbling on 44 for 3. He was greeted with a chorus of condemnation that followed him to the crease, where a much bigger job than clowning around with the crowd awaited.Stephen Cook, South Africa’s most unsure batsman on this tour, had faced 51 balls, most of them uncertainly. He was lucky to be there at all after being reprieved by a no-ball and was fighting his own battle. Someone else needed to fight South Africa’s. The same someone who has fought it throughout the series. The skipper.Australia were more up for it than they had been since the opening day in Perth, even with different personnel. Jackson Bird found the right length for the first time when he drew an edge from du Plessis but it fell short of the cordon. Mitchell Starc exploited the bounce and got du Plessis to fend one into his ribs but the only damage that was done was to his eardrums when he was booed (again) after retrieving the ball and handing it back to the bowler.When du Plessis did that against Australia before, at home during the 2014 Test encounter, they took such exception that he said they were as territorial as “a pack of dogs”. This time the opposition didn’t say anything but their supporters did. They hounded du Plessis with hostility without realising they were helping him along.Faf du Plessis emraces Kagiso Rabada after reaching hundred•Getty ImagesHis flick and drive came out early and he had scored 20 runs from his first 19 deliveries, unusually quick for a batsman who is known to take his time. He slowed against the spin, especially after Nathan Lyon beat the inside edge with one that ripped back in.The early turn would not have worried du Plessis as much as it would have encouraged him, knowing Tabraiz Shamsi was on hand to make use of it later. His declaration with 12 overs remaining in the day was nothing if not sporting but it would not have been possible if he hadn’t scored the runs that allowed him to end the innings early.Du Plessis was the only South African who had some measure of the movement – and there was plenty with the pink ball – and the only one who really had something to prove, besides Cook. In hindsight Cook’s 40 was worth a lot more than it seemed when he offered a catch to Steven Smith at second slip and succumbed to Starc. Cook’s was a demonstration of determination; du Plessis’ was one of defiance.By the time he got to fifty, he’d had his fair share of fortune. Three edges had fallen short and he saw a drive burst through Bird’s hand as the bowler followed through. He was booed and cheered in equal measure and raised his bat without much fanfare. At 130 for 5, South Africa were still in some trouble and they were down to their last recognised pair. Nineteen runs later, Australia were into the tail but now du Plessis stepped up.He started playing the ball later and trusting his timing more. He cut with confidence and forced Australia to bowl full, eventually to overpitch, then he treated the Adelaide audience to the best drives they saw all day. Both were off Josh Hazlewood, both on the front foot, both through the off side and together they took him a shot away from a second century at this venue. He needed more, though, and lost Kyle Abbott in the process, but paddle-swept and sprinted a brace with Kagiso Rabada to earn vindication. Amid the boos, the appreciative applause filtered through.It was not the same kind that du Plessis got four years ago, when he topped up on the first-innings 78 with a fighting 110 not out to draw the game. Then, Australians were in awe. This time, his effort was far feistier and the locals were entertained and annoyed all at the same time. More so when du Plessis took the attack to them after the milestone, with a plan to try and unsettle Australia by putting them in at the end of the day.That move may turn out to be prematurely arrogant but, as things stand, it spoke of du Plessis’ chutzpah as a captain. It is a job he may be doing for the last time in Tests, with the return of AB de Villiers’ imminent. That also meant, as much as du Plessis was playing to make a point, he was also playing for his place.A South Africa middle-order of de Villiers, du Plessis and JP Duminy reads like a dream but there is only really space for two of them. Du Plessis and Duminy know as much from last season when they took turns being dropped. They have both scored runs in de Villiers’ absence – Duminy 88 against New Zealand, du Plessis 112 not out, Duminy 141 against Australia, du Plessis 118 not out – and they are both making telling contributions as seniors. At some point someone will have to make a choice between them but for the rest of this series, never mind all that.

Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal is building a reputation as a batsman who can make Test hundreds to rescue his team

Shiva Jayaraman29-Sep-2017Dinesh Chandimal led Sri Lanka’s effort with a hard-fought century in Abu Dhabi, his ninth in Tests and his first against Pakistan. It came under duress: Sri Lanka were in a bit of a bother at three wickets down for just 61 runs when Chandimal came in. Given the fragile Sri Lankan batting order of late, Chandimal has walked into bat under pressure quite a few times. But he seems to enjoy such situations: his previous two Test hundreds too had come with wickets falling around him. Against Bangladesh in Colombo earlier this year, he had walked in at a score of 24 for 2 only to see the Sri Lankan innings slip further to 70 for 4 and then 136 for 5. He rallied with the lower middle-order on that occasion to help Sri Lanka post a decent first-innings total of 338.Sri Lanka had been worse off against Australia in August last year when he came in at a score of 24 for 4 – that quickly became 26 for 5 – and he made 132 runs in a 356-ball innings, the longest he had batted in his Test career before the current match. But Chandimal’s last three hundreds have not been the only ones he has made with his team being in trouble. His best, perhaps, was the unbeaten 162 in the second innings of the Galle Test against India in 2015. On that occasion, besides coming in at 92 for 4 there was also the pressure of trailing India by 100 runs on a tricky pitch.In fact, in as many as six of his nine century innings, Chandimal has walked in to bat at No. 4 or lower with Sri Lanka not having crossed 100 runs. In the last five years in Test cricket, among those who’ve batted at No. 4 or lower, only three other batsmen have made more hundreds from such situations. Not surprisingly, Younis Khan leads this list with 11 such centuries from 56 innings in the same period. Virat Kohli and Joe Root are the other batsmen who’ve had more such innings than Chandimal.

Most Test centuries from <100 for 3, at No. 4 or lower, last 5 years

Batsman Runs Inns Ave 100s Younis Khan 2811 56 54.05 11 Virat Kohli 2453 48 55.75 10 Joe Root 2710 52 55.30 7 Dinesh Chandimal 1498 35 46.81 6When it comes to batting under pressure, numbers suggest that Chandimal might be among the best that Sri Lanka has produced in Tests. Among batsmen who have scored at least 1000 runs at No. 4 or lower and arriving at the crease to bat with the team total not yet 100, Chandimal’s batting average of 45.76 ranks second only to Mahela Jayawardene. Jayawardene made 6785 runs in such innings at an average of 46.16.

Highest averages at No. 4 or lower, from 100<3, SL batsmen (min 1000 runs)

Batsman Runs Inns Ave 100s Mahela Jayawardene 6785 155 46.16 21 Dinesh Chandimal 1556 37 45.76 6 Aravinda de Silva 4278 110 41.94 11 Thilan Samaraweera 2120 57 41.56 6 Hashan Tillakaratne 1945 37 41.06 3The first innings in Abu Dhabi is his 37th innings in such a match situation and he has made six hundreds in those innings. That’s a conversion of one hundred in about six innings. No Sri Lanka batsmen having batted at lower than No. 3 in Tests has matched Chandimal’s conversion.

Virat Kohli’s habit of striding in to defend a wide delivery – through which he exposes himself to a dismissal by playing them – hasn’t changed since 2015

Sidharth Monga in Centurion12-Jan-2018This is ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary from the start of a Virat Kohli innings at the P Sara Oval in Sri Lanka in 2015. P Sara is one of the best pitches in Asia; it provides some seam movement early on, and turn later. Still, neither is Colombo Cape Town and nor are Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera as ruthlessly accurate as the South Africa quicks. This is from the first 19 balls of Kohli’s innings after he comes in to face the new ball at 12 for 2.So every four balls he has gone to defend a wide delivery, a shot not likely to fetch him even one run if he executes it properly. The only thing he does is expose himself to a dismissal by playing at those balls without an intent to score off them. He even edges one but gets away with it. In between, he is also offered two plum half-volleys, one on the pads and the other outside off, and he gets going. On these pitches and against these bowlers, Kohli gets away.Not much had changed when it came to planning how to bowl to Kohli last week in Cape Town except for the bounce and seam in the pitch, and the significant fall in the number of freebies from the South Africa fast bowlers. They bowled away from Kohli’s cover-drive, nothing on the stumps, and soon enough he edged when defending one. In terms of where it pitched, the Morne Morkel delivery that Kohli edged in the first innings was not too different to the ones he kept defending in Asia for no tangible returns. It was short of a length, pitched eight metres from the stumps, about a set of stumps wide outside off, a line and length Kohli strides forward to defend in Asia. Here it bounced higher than his waist, and having committed to playing at it, Kohli was left trying desperately to use his wrists to control the bounce.The words of James Anderson come to mind. In the Mumbai Test in December 2016, Kohli had scored a superlative double-century against England and when Anderson was asked how much Kohli’s game had changed from the time the same England attack didn’t let him get even a half-century in a whole five-match Test series a couple of years before that.”I’m not sure he’s changed,” Anderson had said. “I just think any technical deficiencies he’s got aren’t in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. We had success against him in England, but the pace of the pitches over here just takes any flaws he has out of the equation. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement. Pitches like this suit him down to the ground.”BCCIThere are two ways of looking at it. And this is presumably Kohli’s way: Why change your technique when it is getting you runs in the present conditions and the present conditions are going to prevail for two years? We will cross this particular bridge when we get to it.Moreover, Kohli is not a batsman to eliminate anything from his game; call it ego or domineering nature, but he will try to get better at a certain shot rather than just stop playing it. He just doesn’t want to lose out on options that help him put the pressure right back on the bowlers.This is not to say Kohli has not looked at changing his game at all to counter the conditions better. He might well have. He might have told himself a 1000 times in the nets that he is not going to play at balls – more incriminatingly, just defend – that are outside off and not full enough to drive, but we don’t know the funny things a batsman’s mind tells him in the half second between the bowler’s release and the ball reaching him.You never know if feeling bat on ball is the first step for Kohli before he starts feeling confident enough to drive the ball. It is possible he feels he can’t put away bad balls if his first instinct is not to get into shot-making positions every ball. It doesn’t help that Kohli doesn’t play the orthodox cut, which gives the bowlers a bit of freedom on the shorter side.The beauty of watching Kohli is that he can punish the smallest of bowling errors ruthlessly. While the bowler might know Kohli has a weakness, he is also aware he can go for plenty if the bowler doesn’t get it absolutely spot on. That fear itself can draw errors. On these pitches, though, that error has to be extreme.The bowling plan is not going to change. In the 53 balls Kohli faced in two innings in Cape Town, he could drive only six. Most of his runs came when the bowlers erred and bowled too full or too straight. If Kohli has to go for his favourite shot, the drive, he has to either take a risk or wait for the bowlers to tire or make mental errors of length. It is not his natural disposition, but he might need to watchfully bat out tough spells in tough conditions before cashing in on tired deliveries.Centurion – with no green grass – might be India’s and Kohli’s best chance to put the runs on the board. If he doesn’t have to face the new ball, it will be a big help. Kohli spoke about intent in the aftermath of the defeat in Cape Town and also in the lead-up to the Centurion Test. He will be the first one to admit that a defensive push to a wide ball is the exact opposite of that.Kohli has shown many a time he can master various difficult match situations. He is an important aggressive batsman in a batting line-up he has selflessly trimmed to five so that they can keep picking 20 wickets. It is these conditions and this ruthless attack that continue to ask him how much he is willing to change his natural game.

Five times in the past 12 months, the usually unflappable Pakistan captain has been dismissed playing careless shots

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2017At 42, Misbah-ul-haq, Pakistan’s Test captain, has to constantly face questions about when he will retire. In the past 12 months, a period in which he has scored 561 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 31.16, his critics have been armed with a series of seeming lapses of concentration that have led to ugly dismissals. This is how ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentators recorded those moments of madness.Misbah c Bird b Lyon 18 – 3rd Test v Australia, Sydney, January 2017
Lyon to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, oh no. Misbah, what have you done, again? He always wanted to tee off against the spin of Lyon. Flat delivery with a bit of drift, it doesn’t stop Misbah. He goes down on one knee and aims for a heave over midwicket, in typical Misbah style. Like he did against Moeen in the England summer, he mistimes one. Hangs in the air for a while. Bird circles around the catch but settles underneath and completes an easy catch.Misbah c Maddinson b Lyon 0 – 2nd Test v Australia, Melbourne, December 2016Lyon to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, what is Misbah up to? This is poor Test-match batting. Premeditation. Big-time premeditation. Sweeping everything. And the bounce for Lyon does him in. He sweeps this from outside off but is nowhere close to it, leaving himself prone to the bounce. The top edge is gobbled up at short fine leg.Misbah c Boult b Southee 13 – 1st Test v New Zealand, Christchurch, November 2016Southee to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, what a rush of blood from Misbah! Six runs off the previous two balls and Southee gives him the bouncer from over the wicket, Misbah responds with the hook and gets a top edge. Boult is waiting on the long-leg boundary to catch the Pakistan captain. Pakistan 93 for 4, effectively 26 for 4A top-edged sweep ended Misbah’s stay on the final day in Melbourne, when Pakistan were looking to save the Test•Getty ImagesMisbah c Bishoo b Chase 4 – 3rd Test v West Indies, Sharjah, October 2016Chase to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, they’re committing hara-kiri or what? This was a long hop and Misbah has pulled it to the lone man at deep backward square leg. It was short and sitting up for him to pull it wherever he pleased, Misbah rocked back and found the hands of Bishoo, who moved low to his right to complete the catch. Misbah can’t believe what he’s just done. Chase can’t believe his luck. He has a wry smile on his face. What is happening in Sharjah?Misbah c Hales b Ali 0 – 1st Test v England, Lord’s, July 2016Ali to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, Misbah attacks, slogged into the leg side… and Hales takes a brilliant catch running along the deep midwicket boundary! HUGE wicket for England and a little bit of revenge for Moeen, who tossed it up in the knowledge he had a man out there, encouraged Misbah to go after him and gets his reward. Lord’s erupts!

Stats highlights from India’s record-breaking victory over Bangladesh in Hyderabad

Gaurav Sundararaman13-Feb-20171:20

Captain Kohli’s unbeaten run

19 Consecutive Tests without a defeat for India, which is the fifth-best streak in Test history. West Indies went 27 Tests without defeat from 1982 to 1984.0 India captains who have led in more successive Tests without a defeat than Virat Kohli. Kohli has been unbeaten for 19 Tests now, going past Sunil Gavaskar’s previous record of 18 in 1976-80. Kapil Dev went 17 Tests without a defeat in 1985-87.6 Consecutive series wins for India, their best streak in Tests, going past the previous record of five series wins in 2008-10 under MS Dhoni. Since August 2015 India have won away series against Sri Lanka and West Indies, and have beaten South Africa, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh at home. India have a chance to extend this streak when they meet Australia in a couple of weeks.15 Test wins for Kohli as captain in 23 matches, the joint second-highest number of wins after 23 games. Steve Waugh tops the list with 17 wins while Kohli joins Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan with 15.7.5 Win-loss ratio for Kohli in Tests as captain. With a minimum of 20 Tests as captain, Kohli has the best win-loss ratio with 15 wins and 2 losses. Don Bradman had a win-loss ratio of five with 15 wins and three losses as captain.ESPNcricinfo Ltd50 Wickets for R Ashwin in the fourth innings of Tests. He is only the third bowler from India, after Bishan Singh Bedi and Anil Kumble, to reach this mark. Among all bowlers with 50-plus wickets in the fourth innings, Ashwin has the best strike rate.2012 The last time a visiting team batted for more than 100 overs in both innings of a Test in India. England had batted 145.5 overs and 154 overs in Nagpur in 2012. There have been only 24 instances of visiting teams batting for more than 100 overs in both innings in India. Bangladesh batted 127.5 overs in the first and 100.3 overs in the second. Incidentally their score of 250 is the second-highest score in the fourth innings of a Test by a visiting team in India since 2000.2005 The last instance of a visiting team losing their sixth wicket after scoring 200 or more in the fourth innings of the Test in India. This was only the sixth such instance for overseas teams in India.5 Number of batsmen in the top eight dismissed between 22 and 27 for Bangladesh in the fourth innings of this Test. This is only the second instance for Bangladesh where five players were dismissed between those scores.10 Number of innings between Mahmudullah’s last Test fifty and his 64 in Bangladesh’s second innings. He made 67 against South Africa in Chittagong in 2015. In nine of his last ten innings he has failed to convert his starts and has been dismissed between 10 and 40.

After Afghanistan Under-19s upset Pakistan, around 300 Afghan fans stormed into the Cobham Oval, which resulted in a rescheduling of a congratulatory call from the Prime Minister

Shashank Kishore13-Jan-2018″Fans were screaming with joy, running onto the field like we’d won the World Cup.”Naveed Sayyem, Afghanistan’s manager had just switched on his phone in anticipation of a call from the country’s Chief Executive* Abdullah Abdullah when he saw around 300 Afghan fans with flags painted on their cheeks storm into the ground in celebration of the team’s win over Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup opener in Whangarei. “It was mad, for a moment I didn’t know what was happening,” Sayyem said. They jumped over the electronic hoardings and ran towards the pitch to hug Darwish Rasooli, who had steered Afghanistan’s chase of 189 with an unbeaten 76.Rasooli tried to run to the other side, but in the end realised the best way to escape being hurt was to join in the celebration. “I was scared for him,” Sayyem said. “Sometimes our fans, when they get too happy, they can get very emotional. But fortunately it was all good. Nothing happened. The fans just wanted to be a part of that moment. Rasooli had tears of joy.”What was to be a congratulatory call from the Prime Minister for the early morning gift back home in Afghanistan had to be rescheduled to later in the evening as the players had to calm the crowd. Once they were brought under control, the players happily posed for photos and enjoyed a celebratory lunch to break their [fast] that the team had pledged. They decided to break their fast only after the team had won. This was what they had decided on match eve.”There was no telecast, people were following it online,” Sayyem said. “Our board chairman, CEO and the Prime Minister were all watching this game. When we left the ground in the morning, they left us messages. They didn’t sleep all night. Now when the players spoke to their families back home, all of them were very happy. Nothing brings us together like cricket. It feels like Eid has come early. I’m sure they will all celebrate the full day.”Naveen-ul-Haq, the captain, who took two early wickets to trigger Pakistan’s top-order collapse, equated the scenes to a home game. “It felt like it was a home game in Kabul,” he said. “It was amazing to see them come here and back us throughout the match. We didn’t expect this kind of support. We knew they will run out onto the field. It was an amazing moment.”Naveen’s first complaint after he got out of the team huddle and his team meeting was that his phone was heating up. All the players were returning to their respective rooms when Sayyem informed them that the Prime Minister had requested to have a chat with the entire team over a video call. The Afghanistan Cricket Board swung in to organise a dinner party for the team.”Back home, cricket is the only thing that brings joy to the people,” Sayyem said. “We don’t like to boast, but I think this time, the confidence of this team is something else. All the players are like family. They have been together for close to one month here in New Zealand. Today, we really needed to come good because in this tournament, if you lose one game, things can become very difficult. But this win has only strengthened our belief.”Rashid Khan, who wasn’t too far away in Australia, was also on the phone with some of the boys. Amidst the excitement, however, Naveen was pragmatic and aware of the challenges that lie ahead. “It’s just one match that we’ve won, I told the boys we shouldn’t celebrate too much also after today,” he said. “This is a great moment for us, but we have Sri Lanka coming up, so we can’t look too far ahead. I told all of them, enjoy tonight but let’s get back to training tomorrow.”*0525 GMT The piece was corrected with Abdullah Abdullah’s designation

A look at how Rajasthan Royals’ new opening pair made Dhoni change tactics, what lengths were bowled to the CSK captain, and where CSK lost the match

Sidharth Monga11-May-20182:16

Five reasons why Royals outfoxed CSK

The opening gambitWhen Rajasthan royals came out to chase 177, the common feeling was the target was slightly over-par. And then Royals sprung a surprise. Out came Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes to open. All the firepower right at the top. This was the first time Stokes was opening in the IPL. He had a strike rate of 110 in IPL Powerplays and 120 in all Powerplays.Yet, it made sense to go all out at the top. The main reason wasn’t too different to why the target was considered over-par. On this slow pitch, the heavy lifting happened against the new ball and with only two fielders outside the circle. The other reason was the match-up: Stokes had previously scored 28 off 14 David Willey deliveries. The biggest, perhaps, was the impact. MS Dhoni loves to get his quicks through inside the Powerplay and then control the game through spin in the middle overs. Now with two foreign batsmen opening the innings, they were almost obliged to bowl spin. For the first time this season, they bowler four overs of spin inside the Powerplay, for the second time they went up to three.The closing remarksYou could clearly see Dhoni was not happy with what Willey bowled in the 19th over. Royals needed 28 in two overs, hitting off-pace deliveries had proved of late, Buttler had gone from 50 off 26 to scoring just 31 off the next 27 balls he had faced. And then Willey went ahead and bowled seam-up to K Gowtham. However, Dhoni will do well to ask himself why Willey was bowling the 19th over in the first place.You will usually see captains bowling their best bowlers of the night before the last over in an attempt to break the game open before going into the finale. On this night, Dwayne Bravo was Dhoni’s best option. Yes, Bravo did bowl the 18th and thus could not have bowled the 19th, but Dhoni could have calculated this better. There has been a previous to this too. This season, Dhoni has captained a little like Virat Kohli, keeping his best bowler for the last. In the game against Mumbai Indians, with 22 required in the last two, Dhoni bowled Shardul Thakur in the 19th, lost the game there, and then bowled Imran Tahir in the 20th for some desperate magic. With 3-0-21-1, Bravo was left unutilised. And on that occasion, Bravo’s last over had been the 17th unlike here.ESPNcricinfo LtdCumulative numbers don’t lie: Super Kings have the worst economy rate in the 19th over – 16 – when defending totals this season. It is no coincidence the best option has often not been used in the said over.Unadkat is too awareHow many times has it happened in the neighbourhood playground? You run somebody out but the batsman comes up with the rule that tells you that you had to take the whole stump out because the bails had been removed already. That’s how we all learn this rule, and it can be embarrassing to be caught unawares of it at higher levels. Jaydev Unadkat was alert after a straight drive from Dhoni hit the stumps at the bowler’s end. Unadkat collected the ball, ran towards the pitch and used his two hands to pluck a stump to try to complete the run-out. In the process, he lost valuable time, which let Sam Billings get back in. To Unadkat and Rajasthan Royals’ annoyance, it emerged that one of the bails was still on, and that a simple underarm flick would have done the job.Lengths to DhoniWith the form Dhoni has hit this IPL, Royals were looking at a lot of punishment when Dhoni walked out at the fall of the second wicket in the 12th over. However, they managed to keep him quiet in the first half of his innings: it took Dhoni 17 balls to hit his first boundary. Straightaway, the difference here was the lengths bowled to him: six of the 18 balls that Dhoni faced from pacers were short of a length. Dhoni managed just seven runs off those.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt is debatable, though, if Royals’ plan to dig the ball in was a response to Dhoni or to the slow pitch. A look at numbers earlier in the tournament might suggest the latter, for before this match, Dhoni had taken 44 runs off 22 balls pitched short of a length by quick bowlers.

Heinrich Klaasen has been rewarded for his patience with a maiden Test squad call-up, but he might have a while yet to wait to make his next step up

Firdose Moonda24-Feb-2017In an age of transformation targets and proposed changes to the domestic structure, and of Kolpak-deals and T20 leagues, it’s comforting to have cricketers like Heinrich Klaasen. The newest addition to South Africa’s Test squad has followed what can be called a traditional route to the top and has proved that, despite all the perceived hurdles, a cricketer who is good enough will get called up.Klaasen, from Pretoria, has not just climbed every step on the ladder to success but he’s spent a significant amount of time standing on each one. His cricket career started at school, where he decided to become a wicketkeeper-batsman and spent time honing both disciplines. He progressed to the Northerns under-19 side before embarking on further studies in Human Movement Studies at the University of Pretoria (Tuks), where he was part of the Academy.Tuks’ is home to one of the best high-performance programmes in the country and has produced several international players including AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, the Morkel brothers, Paul Harris and Marchant de Lange. During Klaasen’s time there, current Leicestershire coach Pierre de Bruyn was in charge and he oversaw a crucial stage of Klaasen’s development that resulted in him being picked for the Northerns provincial team.For three summers, Klaasen was among their best performers. He averaged 42.58 in his first season, 52.10 in his second and 65.25 in his third, but could not crack the franchise team. Titans had an embarrassment of riches when it came to batting, keeping, and batting and keeping, with Heino Kuhn and Mangaliso Mosehle occupying the available spots. Someone else would have seen a blocked path and sought opportunity elsewhere; Klaasen was content to bide his time despite the obstacles.”It was a really good three years for me in the semi-professional competition,” Klaasen told ESPNcricinfo. “It allowed me to sort out my own game. The provincial set-up is very good for that kind of thing. When you play there, you don’t always get a good wicket and that helps you. For example, there were a few games where we thought the wicket was flat and the opposition scored 400 but then then bowled us out for 70. It’s a competition that puts you in different situations and you have to deal with them. I got an offer from the Cobras but I didn’t feel I had to go. I was quite happy to wait for my chance at the Titans.”In the 2016-17 summer, with Mosehle having left for Lions and Kuhn concentrating only on batting, Klaasen’s turn came. It coincided with the appointment of Mark Boucher as Titans’ coach, which could not have worked out better for Klaasen. “He has made a really big impact on me, both for my keeping and for my mental game,” Klaasen said.The results have been immediate. Klaasen finished seventh on the first-class competition batting charts with 635 runs at 48.84, which included his first franchise hundred. Although he was more than 200 runs behind the leader, Colin Ackermann, Klaasen had reason to think he may be rewarded at the highest level.”When Dane Vilas signed a Kolpak-deal, I did think about it [getting a call-up] but I was still very surprised that it happened so quickly,” he said. Not least because another wicketkeeper-batsman, Rudi Second, was above Klaasen on the run-scorers’ list and is more experienced.But the selectors have seen something they like in Klaasen – it may be his higher strike-rate of 65.71 compared to Second’s 50.01 – and they have decided to go with him first. In doing so, they have also continued to debunk the myth that a grave consequence of South Africa’s push towards aggressive transformation will be to deny white players. In fact, there is now sufficient evidence to overturn that theory altogether. South Africa’s two most recent Test call-ups, Theunis de Bruyn and Klaasen, are both white, as is their most recent Test cap, Duanne Olivier, and so too their latest ODI representative, Dwaine Pretorius.Still, that does not guarantee Klaasen game-time, although it’s his speciality and not his skin colour that is the cause of that. Klaasen will travel to New Zealand as back-up to Quinton de Kock and is unlikely to play unless there is an injury. That could well be the case for most of his career. De Kock has the hegemony on the job that Boucher had, which means for the foreseeable future, other gloveman will have to be understudies, so Klaasen has a plan to combat that. “That’s the reason why I have tried to work so hard on my batting,” he said.Even there, there is a queue. De Bruyn is next in line and a certain AB de Villiers may yet return which could leave Klaasen waiting for a while longer still. That’s why he is looking at this tour as purely a learning experience. It will take a place in a country he has never been to, in the company of some people he does not even know.”There are some players I have never spoken to at all, like Hashim Amla, so I am really looking forward to learning from him,” Klaasen said. “And also from some of the other guys. I just want to learn the culture and be able to take that back to my franchise. I know there’s a lot I can work on.”As is the case for any young cricketer, this is how it starts.