How the IPL has moved the goalposts, creating a new paradigm in a multi-million dollar business

Ajay S Shankar and Judhajit Basu25-May-2009Behind the screaming fans, the strategy breaks and the DLF maximums, the IPL also appears to have triggered a significant churning off the field, in the bustling market of cricket. The hugely successful Twenty20 league has just wrapped up its second season, and player managers, franchise officials and investors admit that they are coming to terms with new trends and potential conflicts that are beginning to redefine their bottomlines.In a nutshell, the IPL appears to have initiated a paradigm shift within the multi-million dollar player-endorsement industry, where individual deals are now gradually losing ground to team endorsements. As a result, concerns are being raised at the shrinking individual player-endorsement pie, looming conflicts between personal and team brands, players being forced to endorse “under-value brands”, and contracts that are loaded against high-value cricketers, particularly from India.So much so that sources close to a few leading Indian players say they will push for crucial tweaks in the IPL’s player-franchise contracts after 2010, when the current three-year agreements come to an end.On the flip side, franchise officials say that they signed up leading cricketers for huge sums – Chennai bought Andrew Flintoff for US$ 1.55m and MS Dhoni for US$ 1.5m, and Bangalore picked up Kevin Pietersen for US$ 1.55m – not just for their cricketing skills, but for the brand value attached. Pietersen and Flintoff appeared for just 21 days in the 37-day tournament, but ended up taking home well over US$ 100,000 per game.”There is nothing unusual about these contracts,” says a senior franchise official. “The IPL contracts do not give franchises anything that is not standard throughout team sports worldwide.”Yet some key concerns persist within the industry, the first of which is the fear that a player endorsing a brand for his IPL team will be shunned by rival brands within the same product category after the tournament. “We are not directly involved with the event, but if you ask me whether it makes brand sense for us to get a player on board before or after the IPL, after him being associated with a rival company during the course of the tournament, I would say not,” says V Ramachandran, director, marketing and sales, LG, a leading multinational brand. “Every brand would want a unique association with the celebrity or the player – a prior association which the brand would like to protect. It’s purely a case of the players themselves being motivated in favour of the brand.”A case in point is the reported US$ 2-3m deal between Mumbai Indians and Idea, a leading Indian mobile service provider. Through this IPL, Idea has been using Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan together and individually in a TV campaign. Tendulkar, who is one of Indian cricket’s leading endorsement faces, is paid around US$ 1.02 million per season by Mumbai Indians, but according to market analysts, he would easily have got US$ 1 million if the Idea endorsement was an individual endorsement outside the league.”But now, Idea gets Tendulkar, Harbhajan and Zaheer in a package deal that they can utilise through the year,” says a player agent. “Obviously, the players don’t get a single rupee out of this, and also end losing out on personal endorsements from other mobile service providers.”Charu Sharma, the former chief executive of Royal Challengers Bangalore, agrees the players have no option in the current scenario but to come to terms with the “new reality”, at least for now. “The IPL was launched in a hurry last year, and most of the rules were made on the run,” says Sharma. “So it was clear even then that some areas were bound to blow out later on. In fact, these were exactly some of the reasons why the players refrained from signing their IPL contracts till the last minute last year. But we have to understand and appreciate that the IPL is still raw and evolving and these grey areas will be cleared out eventually.”Franchise officials point out that there are clear safeguards in the IPL’s player contracts specifying that brands associated with teams cannot imply that the cricketers are associated with them individually in any manner. “Most of the contracts specify that the players can be used for product endorsement and activation only during the IPL,” says a franchise official. “Besides, a team sponsor has to feature at least three players in any advertisements. There are enough and clear safeguards to protect the players.”But behind the fine print, says a player agent, is the fear that some sponsors may tend to project a particular player more in these advertisements. “Besides, it’s all about perception,” he says. “Once you see Sourav Ganguly or Ishant Sharma endorse a particular product for Kolkata Knight Riders, even if it is with other players, it gets embedded in the public mindspace. You can’t then go to individual households and tell them, ‘Look, this is a team endorsement and not a personal endorsement.'”

There are fears that a player endorsing a brand for his IPL team will be shunned by rival brands within the same product category after the tournament. Then, of course, there is the obvious conflict between personal and team endorsements. Another area of concern is that some leading players have been forced to endorse certain brands for their franchises in categories they have steadfastly refused to promote in an individual capacity

The other area of concern is that some leading players have been forced to endorse certain brands for their franchises in categories they have steadfastly refused to promote in an individual capacity. For instance, Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, widely considered role models in Indian cricket, have always refused to endorse liquor brands – until the IPL. Tendulkar now has the Royal Stag logo on his team jersey and Dravid promotes Royal Challenge.In the same vein, brand analysts say, the IPL has seen some leading players endorse “under-value” brands, which don’t match their stature. Again, Tendulkar’s case is a prime example – for Mumbai Indians he endorses Luminous Batteries and Zandu Balm, which are brand types that he has not normally been associated with.”That is the other worry,” says a brand analyst. “If the value of a franchise falls, and if it fails to attract enough sponsors, as happened with some teams this time due to the recession, they could end up signing cheap deals. This will then have a domino effect on the player’s individual value. Why would anyone sign up a player individually for X amount when you know that you can get him through a team deal for less?”Then, of course, there is the obvious conflict between personal and team endorsements. For instance, Virender Sehwag endorses Pepsi but has been backing Coca-Cola in newspaper advertisements for Delhi Daredevils. Ishant Sharma, a rising youth icon, has to promote Coca-Cola’s Sprite, when he has a personal contract with Pepsi. MS Dhoni endorses Peter England, a suiting brand, for Chennai, but individually promotes Siyaram, a rival brand. Significantly, some of these roles will be reversed in another month when the ICC World Twenty20, of which Pepsi is one of the main sponsors, gets underway in England.Lathika Khaneja, who manages Sehwag, says that players should be insulated from such situations. “In fact, Sehwag asked me ‘Is Pepsi upset?'” says Khaneja, director, Collage Sports Management. “But they can’t be because there’s the ICC World Twenty20 coming up. These are not rules made by Sehwag, they are made by the ICC or the IPL, and you’re paying a lot of money for those rights and you expect to get something for it.”Yudhajit Dutta, who manages Dhoni, and Khaneja, insist that the franchises are right in trying to maximise their investment. The IPL awarded the Mumbai franchise to Reliance industries for their top bid of US$ 111.9 million, Bangalore to the UB Group for US$ 111.6 million, and Chennai to India Cements for US$ 91 million last year. That apart, most of the eight teams have spent US$ 7 million each on purchasing players through three official auctions.”All these players have been paid quite a lot of money to be playing for their respective teams,” says Dutta. “So I think they [the teams] should get something back as well.” Dutta’s Mindscape Maestros, incidentally, are also the exclusive marketing managers of the Chennai franchise.Franchisees like Vijay Mallya have paid top dollar for the big names on their teamsheets and will be justified in asking for returns beyond mere playing ability•AFPA chief executive with one of the eight franchises takes the argument a few steps forward. “One, all this is new and real money for the players, not projected figures on an Excel sheet,” says the official. “This money did not exist for them before the IPL, and obviously, they have not been paid such sums just for their cricketing skills. A part of the franchises’ thinking while signing players like Pietersen and Andrew Symonds is that they are famous superstars with brand appeal across the world, especially because the second IPL has opened up the possibility of the league going global.”Besides, this is standard practice worldwide in team sport, says the official. “For instance, an Olympic sponsor can use that precious logo for four years.”Beyond this clash of words and views, however, is the big-picture market consensus: all these mini conflicts and trends point to a major shift in where all the money is headed. “Ultimately, we are looking at a scenario when team endorsements will matter the most,” says Charu Sharma. “The players and their agents will have to work around that.”Player agents agree and point to the tie-up between Aircel, a mobile services provider, and Chennai Super Kings as a significant pointer. Aircel first teamed up with Chennai and then signed up Dhoni, the India captain, for a personal endorsement deal to extend that association. “Aircel first endorsed Chennai Super Kings last year and only after that did they take Dhoni on board.” says Dutta, Dhoni’s manager. “It’s the team first.”There is still a long way to go before an acceptable balance is struck, says a player agent, and till then there are issues to resolved, possibly after the next IPL, which is tentatively slated for March 2010.”I don’t believe there is a time restriction on the franchise or its partners for using player identification,” says a player manager who handles two leading players in the IPL. “This is a grey area and an obvious area for change in the future. What I suspect is going to happen is that some modifications will be made in this area after the 2010 season. Ultimately, guys like Dhoni are going to need to sit down with the IPL to work out some clearer parameters, like more than three players in the adverts and their use only 30 days before and after tournament.”

Ricky Ponting has become Australia’s leading Test run-scorer after passing Allan Border’s mark of 11,174 during the third Test at Edgbaston

Peter English at Edgbaston31-Jul-2009Even if Ricky Ponting didn’t lug around so many records they wouldn’t mean much to him. Wins and runs in an innings are what he counts, not career tallies or averages or his place on the latest ICC rankings. Following a couple of Test captains who spoke often about the game’s history, Ponting lives more in the now. Now, he is Australia’s most prolific batsman, having passed Allan Border’s tally of 11,174 early on the second day at Edgbaston.Border’s record was one of sweaty accumulation, a haul achieved over 16 years, most of which was spent dragging his side out of desperate situations. Ponting’s mark has been one of style, often as a supporting batsman to some of the game’s greats, and lately as a man who has been asked to set the tone for a team that no longer glistens at every spot in the order.This is his 134th Test, 22 fewer than Border managed, and he was unable to stroke them far ahead on the second morning. On 38 he tried to hook Graham Onions and was caught behind, ruining his hopes of lifting Australia after their double loss from the opening two deliveries. Walking off with 11,188 runs, he might have considered how life has changed over the past two-and-a-half years.In 23 matches since the 2006-07 Ashes, a whitewash which farewelled Warne, McGrath, Langer and Martyn, Ponting has 1820 runs at 44.39, almost 12 runs down on his career mark. His days became even harder with the retirements of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, leaving him as the last relic of a bygone era when the Australians had basically won before they took the field. He says he is enjoying moulding a new side, a unit which is undeniably his. Everything, including the mix of results, is unfamiliar.Unless this Ashes series turns particularly bad and Ponting can’t cope with joining Billy Murdoch, the 1800s leader, in losing two series in England, expect him to stand down after the 2011 World Cup. He will be 36 when it is held in the subcontinent and he has not lost a match in the global tournament as captain, a role he accepted in the lead-up to the 2003 success.While he is not as tactically astute as his predecessors, there is never any question over the incredible standard of his batting. Australia have been fortunate to have him since he eased 96 on debut and was stopped only by a horrible lbw decision. The fiery attitude which shocked those in the dressing room on his return that day has driven his quest to No. 3 on the Test run-scoring table.

A stern, stoic resister, Allan Border was the keeper of his country’s flame during their darkest hour. And he ensured that they would be just fine once he left

Gideon Haigh11-Apr-2010When he came to write his epic narrative account of Australian politics in the 1980s, Paul Kelly called it , encapsulating the period’s reforms, realignments and reverberations. To a history of Australian cricket in the 1980s, the same title could be fixed. After a hundred years in which Australians had come to expect a top-two position in global cricket as of right, they found themselves rooting for a middling team: callow, fragile, susceptible even on home soil, ranks thinned further by rebel-tour recruiters.Throughout these austerity years, one presence was constant. When Allan Border took his first faltering steps in first-class cricket, Australian cricket was in rude health. But within a year, plundered by Kerry Packer’s private enterprise, its vulnerabilities had been exposed. And although Packer’s depredations had the effect of expediting Border’s progress to international level, their after effects lingered. For the next decade, the scar left by World Series Cricket was apt to itch and ache and weep when the patient was under stress.To Border, more than any other player, would be left the task of repairing what, especially against West Indies, was sometimes irreparable. His career record attests the tenor of the times: he was on the winning side 50 times in 156 Tests, on the losing side in 46. He played, moreover, in 60 draws. An old Australian joke runs that draw(er)s are for swimming in; in Border’s time, they often seemed the best that could be done and expected.It was tough. It could be gruelling. On 48 occasions Border batted with Australia either responding to a first-innings of 400, trailing by 150 on first innings or following on. But the times also probably rather suited Border, leeching from him reserves of deep concentration, organisation and obstinacy. At the end of his career, he might have wished to start again: Australia’s painstaking investment in youth was about to fructify, and a period of dominance impended. But nobody plays against their predispositions for 15 years. Interestingly, he was significantly more effective away, when Australia needed him more often, than at home, when his team tended to be more comfortable. He averaged 45.94 in his own country, 56.57 in others; he never made a Test hundred at the SCG, but he compiled a couple in Madras. For the role of stern, stoic resister, Border was sent by Central Casting.To a generation of Australians accustomed to the overdog role, it is hard to flesh Border out. A stocky 177cm, he approached the crease with a businesslike bustle. There were no showy rituals or preparatory mimes, just one two-handed shake of the bat with a flex of the forearms when he was about halfway out, as unconscious as a boxer touching gloves. His technique was genuinely ageless. “His straight backlift is controlled,’ wrote that closest of observers, Ray Robinson, in 1979. “His level-eyed stance, once side-on, now shows his left toe-cap. His low-grip makes less use of handle leverage than Kim Hughes, but forearm power makes him one of the most effective drivers and back either side of the stumps.” As an identikit portrait of Border at the end of his career, it could hardly be improved on.Above all, he was versatile. Against fast bowling, Peter Roebuck once likened him convincingly to a boulder; against slow bowling, he moved nimbly, with eagle eyes and twinkling feet. In a boom-or-bust batting line-up, he was as reliable as a bank cheque. His average as player was 50; his average as captain 51. His average up to the age of 30 was 50.35; his average thereafter was 50.74. He was one of the top three scorers in 129 of the 265 Test innings in which he batted. Conditions, climes and other considerations seemed immaterial: his 68 first-class hundreds were achieved on 33 different grounds. If you recall the era in Australia, you’ll remember how news of the cricket then passed around. The first question would be: do you know the score? The second would be: is Border still in? If the answer to the second was yes, then even the grimmest answer to the first was somewhat mitigated.

Grittily, grumpily, he restored in his country a sense of the honour inherent in national representation, eroded by decades of animosity between players and the Australian Cricket Board

To a world that identifies Australia with jagged aggression, it is also hard to explain Border’s demeanour. When Australia toured England unsuccessfully under his captaincy in 1985, captious judges found fault with his friendliness toward the likes of Ian Botham and David Gower. Border was nettled. “Victory has nothing to do with being ultra-aggressive towards opponents,” he claimed. “I’ve been through both experiences, seen both attitudes… If you’re being outplayed, you’re being outplayed. Hard luck but fact.” Yet even an Englishman, Chris Broad, in his golden summer of 1986-87, found the Australians’ reticence strange: “The problem for the Aussies was that the captain Allan Border and his deputy David Boon were both quiet blokes and said hardly anything on the field.”More than any other player, however, Border made such remarks into quaint curios of a bygone age. On the Ashes tour of 1989, Australia’s on-field dominance had an acrid verbal edge. “I’ve been through all sorts of downs with my team, but this time I thought we had a bloody good chance to win,” Border confessed to Gower afterwards. “I was prepared to be as ruthless as it took to stuff you.” This became the prime directive of Australian teams thereafter; likewise was friendliness identified with failure. Twenty years after Border was chided for his pacifism in 1985, Ricky Ponting copped similar criticisms as his team turned the Ashes over.In Border’s defence, it could be said that he was no tougher on opponents than on his own team. From a shy and retiring sort who looked after his own game, he became as captain a martinet, demanding absolute commitment. That could be traced to a night in a bar in Sharjah in April 1985, just months after his unruly succession of Kim Hughes, where he had solemnly laid out objectives for his captaincy, without realising that several of the nodding heads had already done similar nodding over contracts to tour South Africa. Border remained bitter even with the four who withdrew from the tour – Murray Bennett, Wayne Phillips, Dirk Wellham and Graeme Wood – and had to be persuaded to accept them as members of his team in England. They underwent a pre-tour interrogation as unsparing as anything Gower had to cope with: Wellham, who emerged from his “white as a ghost”, thought it an “outrage”, and said he would “not forgive Border his stupidity”. Nine months later Border spontaneously laid his captaincy on the line during a one-day series in New Zealand, pouring forth his frustrations at an impromptu press conference by the practice area at Lancaster Park. “They’re going to have to show me whether they really want to play for Australia,” he groused. “And whether they really want to play for me.” Seldom has Australian cricket so been hostage to one man’s humours.Yet through a rocky period that followed Greg Chappell’s picking and choosing of tours and Hughes’ unhappy role as his locum, Border was also sustaining the idea of the game as a passion rather than a profession. Grittily, grumpily, he restored in his country a sense of the honour inherent in national representation, eroded by decades of animosity between players and the Australian Cricket Board. He was available and chosen for all 30 of the tours in his 15-year career. He learned he had become a father while wearing his pads, awaiting his innings during an Australian collapse at the SCG – which was curiously fitting, as he had a tendency to watch cricket as anxiously as an expectant father, compulsively handling his “worry ball”. His thoughts made easy reading on the field too, hands seemingly always trending towards his hips to form that famous “teapot” pose.The turning point in his captaincy was in India, where Australia was a decidedly unfancied participant in the 1987 World Cup. The transformation in his leadership turned an old cliché on its head. Previously, he had led from the front, valiantly but unavailingly, because there was nothing much to follow him; here he led from behind, with the aid of a sharp and sagacious coach, Bob Simpson. The only survivor of Australia’s previous World Cup campaign, where a talented but disunited team had disintegrated under pressure, Border absorbed all its lessons; henceforward, he would go on learning.What he and Simpson were not destined to accomplish was victory over West Indies, although they went closer than any other country, coming within two runs of the Worrell Trophy on Australia Day, 1992. Border, as has recently come to light, had also already achieved one unacknowledged victory over West Indies at the inception of his captaincy, in an episode where the respective ends of certainty, Australia’s and Australian cricket’s, intersected.The Australian team after winning the first Test of the 1989 Ashes•Getty ImagesWhen Cricket Australia made its archives available for research a couple of years ago, its records revealed the efforts of Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the summer of 1984-85 to install Clive Lloyd as Australian cricket’s guru, a position the government was prepared to fund. Hawke’s infatuation was publicly manifested when Lloyd was honoured with the Order of Australia “for service to the sport of cricket, particularly in relation to his outstanding and positive influence on the game in Australia” – a rather masochistic honour, given that Lloyd’s West Indians were even then beating Border’s Australians black and blue. Privately the board nursed more misgivings, and waited for Hawke’s ardour to cool, which it did; Australian cricket moved on, investing long-term in competence rather than charisma.In an era so smitten with charisma, in fact, Border’s complete lack of it was among his most appealing attributes. He did what came naturally. There were no ostentations or gimmicks; there was no testimonial or farewell tour. Instead, Border dropped back to Sheffield Shield for a couple of years after quitting international cricket, although not for fun; he was as grim and combustible with Queensland as he was with Australia, leaving a forceful impression on the young Matthew Hayden.Australian cricket, meanwhile, went from strength to strength. In Border’s last year of international cricket, a popular Australian troubadour, Doug Parkinson, recorded a sentimental ballad, “Where Would We Be Without AB?” The answer was: just fine, thanks. This, perhaps, was Border’s signal achievement. Great players often leave great holes behind them; it is a very rare great player who effectively renders himself redundant. Certainty might have become a thing of the past in Australia; to Australian cricket, Border had helped restore it.

Kolkata were unable to put two big overs together after the Powerplay and Bangalore’s ability to bounce back from an expensive over and take wickets in the next proved instrumental

George Binoy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore11-Apr-2010
R Vinay Kumar finished with figures of 3 for 23•Indian Premier LeagueThe first fightback was led by Jacques Kallis. Praveen Kumar, in the fifth over, had been blitzed by Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle for 21 runs. Kumble turned to Kallis and was rewarded instantaneously, when Gayle drove the second ball of the sixth to Rahul Dravid at extra cover. Kolkata, however, reached their best Powerplay score – 61 for 1 – and took another 11 off the seventh. Kallis then sent down a mix of slower balls and bouncers and conceded only four off the eighth. Kolkata plundered 42 runs between overs five and seven, but only managed 11 runs between eight and ten. It was a familiar script for Kolkata had endured periods of lull before: 30 runs between overs 12 and 16 against Delhi, and only 23 runs between overs six and ten against PunjabThe second fightback began after Brendon McCullum laid into S Sriram, hitting three fours and a six on the leg-side to take 18 runs off the 11th over. With Ganguly for company, McCullum had charged Kolkata to 101 for 1 when Kumble brought Vinay Kumar into the attack. McCullum tried to play the ramp shot, but Vinay outsmarted him with a straighter line that sent the batsman tumbling. He then dismissed Ganguly by cramping him on the pull and ended the over having conceded only two runs off it. Kallis followed up with another two-run over, which had a couple of intense short balls, one of which accounted for Manoj Tiwary. Kolkata were 105 for 3 after 13.The third fightback was the decisive one. McCullum threatened to cut loose again after Angelo Mathews had been dismissed off the first ball of the 14th over. He collected three streaky boundaries to third man and Kolkata moved ahead by 16, to 121, in the space of four deliveries. This time Kumble brought his experience into play. He varied pace, trajectory and length and conceded only three runs off each of his last two overs that sandwiched a nine-run over from Dale Steyn. In his final over, Kumble also induced a mis-timed pull from an unbalanced McCullum and had him caught on the square-leg boundary. Kolkata’s hopes of 180 ended there and Kumble finished with figures of 1 for 17.The final fightback was Bangalore’s coup de grace. Having scored only 19 in the previous four overs, Cheteshwar Pujara gave Kolkata a 15-run penultimate over by ruining Jacques Kallis’ figures with two sixes. However a steady stream of wickets – six in the space of eight overs – had left Kolkata with two tailenders to face the last six balls of the innings. Vinay Kumar bowled them and conceded only five, limiting Kolkata to 160.Kolkata were unable to put two big overs together after the Powerplay and Bangalore’s ability bounce back from an expensive over and take wickets in the next proved instrumental in winning a crucial game.

The records of Indian batsmen in the final innings of a match aren’t impressive, but the recent form of Sachin Tendulkar in such situations should give the fans the courage to hope

S Rajesh04-Oct-2010The loss of four wickets has left India with plenty to do on the final day in Mohali, but if Sachin Tendulkar and Co. do manage to score the 161 remaining runs, it will be India’s seventh-largest fourth-innings chase. The highest remains the historic 406 for 4 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain, but they have also had some memorable wins more recently. In the last two years, they’ve batted more than 50 overs in the fourth innings three times, and have won twice and drawn once: against England in Chennai they chased down 387 in less than 100 overs, while against Sri Lanka in Colombo earlier this year, they rode on a superb century from VVS Laxman to chase 258. The last time India lost after a fourth-innings run-chase was in the acrimonious Sydney Test, when they were bowled out for 210 in 70.5 overs.

However, the stats for the Indian batsmen in fourth innings might not inspire much confidence. Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid are the only ones among India’s current top order to average more than 40, and both have been removed early in this run-chase. Tendulkar’s overall fourth-innings numbers aren’t impressive, with only three centuries and four half-centuries, but three of those fifty-plus scores have come in his last seven innings – apart from the unbeaten 103 in the Chennai run-chase against England, he also scored fifties in Colombo and against Pakistan in Delhi in 2007.MS Dhoni has scored only one half-century in eight fourth innings, but that was a valuable one, and allowed India to escape with a draw against England at Lord’s in 2007.

Australia, meanwhile, will fancy their chances after dismissing four of India’s top-order batsmen, with one more severely hampered by injury. Since the beginning of 2006 they’ve successfully defended fourth-innings scores 18 times in 23 attempts, while they’ve lost three times and drawn two. Before their defeat against Pakistan at Headingley, Australia had won on nine successive occasions when they bowled in the fourth innings. However, apart from their Sydney win against Pakistan earlier this year, when they defended 176, all their wins during this period have come when they had a cushion of more than 275 runs to defend. (Click here to see the list sorted by fourth-innings target.)Since 1990, there have been ten occasions when Australia have had to defend targets between 175 and 250 in the last innings of a Test – they’ve won twice, lost five times and drawn three times. Going by the amount of damage they’ve inflicted in 17 overs on the third evening, they have every chance of adding to that win tally.

The perception is that this Australian side is weaker than their champion teams of past World Cups. Ricky Ponting does not agree

Brydon Coverdale in Ahmedabad20-Feb-2011The last time Australia lost a World Cup match, the cricket world was a vastly different place. Twenty20 was but a glint in a marketing man’s eye, Bangladesh was not yet a Test nation and Hansie Cronje was still a well-respected captain of South Africa. And a 24-year-old Ricky Ponting was making his name as a star of the future.The tournament has brought great satisfaction for Ponting. He’s played in four World Cups and reached four finals. He has won three titles, including two as captain. He has never led Australia to defeat in a World Cup match – 22 wins from 22 games in charge is a remarkable achievement – and they have not suffered defeat in their past 29 World Cup outings.But times change. When Ponting sets foot in Motera in Ahmedabad on Monday, he will for the first time play a World Cup match without Glenn McGrath, and for just the second time as captain without Adam Gilchrist. Instead, he will have to rely on players like John Hastings, Jason Krejza and David Hussey, solid and skilled performers, but far from daunting opponents.From the outside, it seems incongruous to compare this 2011 unit with the Australian World Cup squads of the past decade. And yet, they have managed to retain their No. 1 ODI ranking, they have the best win-loss ratio of any of the major teams over the past two years, and Ponting bristles at the suggestion that this outfit is notably weaker than past groups.”Not at all,” Ponting told ESPNcricinfo, when asked if this tournament felt different to his previous World Cups. “This is a great team as well. That’s something that I think has been overlooked a little bit already. I know there’s a bit of negativity around from other countries about this team of ours at the moment, but we’re the No.1-ranked team by probably the biggest margin that there’s ever been, and that’s with this current group of players.”Wherever we’ve been and whatever tournament we’ve been confronted with, we’ve managed to find a way to win one-day games and one-day tournaments, which is really pleasing for me and for us. We’ve got a very good record on the subcontinent as well.”There’s a lot of talk about how teams are going to play spin against us – well, they’ve always done that and we’ve always found a way to win. Whether it’s in India, Sri Lanka or wherever, we get the job done and we know what we need to do to play well here. We’re very confident with the group of players we’ve got here that we can go a long way in the tournament.”That may be so, and by winning the Champions Trophy in 2009, his men proved that they can succeed without the legends of the past. They’re also coming off a 6-1 thrashing of England. But if Ponting’s side can win a fourth consecutive World Cup, it will have to rank as the most meaningful of his triumphs.He hasn’t been helped by selections on the run. Australia have had four years to plan for this event, but four months ago suddenly decided that the established allrounder James Hopes wasn’t the man for the job, and Hastings was chosen. Even more surprising was the resurrection last month of David Hussey, whose one-day career appeared to have died 18 months earlier.Then there are the injuries. Michael Hussey is the biggest loss, and Australia would have liked the reliability of Nathan Hauritz in the 50-over format. The casualty list also includes Xavier Doherty, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Ryan Harris, Steve O’Keefe, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.Until recently, Ponting was also in the recuperation clinic, but it would take far more than a sore pinky finger to keep him from the title defence. Ponting has been the one constant throughout Australia’s dominant limited-overs era, and he doesn’t think all his players are aware of the unbeaten streak that could extend to 30 games on Monday against Zimbabwe.But there’s another record that Ponting himself wasn’t conscious of when he flew in for this tournament. When he walks to the middle of the Ahmedabad ground, Ponting will become the single most capped player in World Cup history, breaking his tie with McGrath on 39 games. And for all that has changed, his drive to succeed is as strong as ever.

The game against New Zealand was a chance for Zimbabwe to show the world they were improving but their batting wasn’t up to the occasion

Nagraj Gollapudi in Ahmedabad04-Mar-2011Such a toothless batting performance by Zimbabwe. Should the ICC see fit to approve a qualifying tournament for the 2015 World Cup, on this evidence Zimbabwe will be hard pressed to make it through to the main event.Take a glance at the modes of dismissal: Charles Coventry wastes his wicket with indecision leading to a run out in only the second over, Tatenda Taibu spoons a catch and gets a reprieve but the very next ball has plays across an inswinger, Craig Ervine then slashes into the hands of deep point against a short and wide delivery knowing there were four men patrolling the off side, Elton Chigumbara, gets into a tangle against Daniel Vettori and next ball Regis Chakabva edges a wide delivery to slip.It was a perfect batting pitch, on which Vettori thought 300 was possible. Zimbabwe knew it was a must-win game to entertain hopes of a quarter-final berth. They went into the game saying it was the most important match. They elected to bat. Then they went on to make mistakes they should not even commit in the nets.The easy conclusion to come to is that Zimbabwe have not improved much despite all the positive talk of recent times. Yet that isn’t the case. It is easy to forget that most players in the squad are inexperienced. Many were thrown into deep and treacherous water by the administrators immediately after the rebels’ protest during the 2003 World Cup, which led to the disintegration of the squad that had been built over a longer period of time.Brendan Taylor top-scored for Zimbabwe with 44 but that sort of application was sadly lacking elsewhere•Getty ImagesThough there are quite a few players in the present squad who played in the Caribbean in 2007, most were, and are still, ill-equipped to deal with the pressures of international cricket. Only the likes of Taibu, Chigumbara, Taylor, Prosper Utseya and Ray Price have played against top-level opponents and kept their head on something approaching a regular basis.Part of the problem is a lack of exposure as Zimbabwe have barely played top sides in the past few years and most of their success has had to come against Associates. When they visited Bangladesh late last year, a side they needed to compete against to show their development, they lost 3-1. Since May 2007, Zimbabwe have not won an ODI series against any major opponent, only beating Kenya and Ireland.Their most notable performance against higher-ranked countries was to enter the final of the tri-series at home in 2010, but even if those were second-string sides from India and Sri Lanka, there was an important lesson there. Zimbabwe dared and made the final. But they blinked when the big moment arrived. It was the same when they pushed South Africa to the brink in two Twenty20 internationals then failed at the last hurdle. That trend has not changed much. Against Canada, last week, they were struggling at 7 for 2 with both their openers out yet they won the match by a 175-run margin.”It is always hard against a bigger team. We had lost two wickets against Canada but we recovered,” Chigumbara said. “It is very disappointing. The way we started with our batting – it is always hard to come back from losing three to four quick wickets in the first 15 overs. Today it was more about the technical errors.”Unfortunately Chigumbara’s words seem to be falling on deaf ears. On Wednesday, he abruptly stopped training and had a loud message for the batsmen who were split into two sets nets. One set was facing the quick bowlers while the other was lined up against spinners on a worn pitch and Chigumbara had been watching the batsmen play casually. “I was telling them if the wicket is not playing proper make sure you apply yourselves. There is no point getting out three or four times [in the nets] as then you are doing nothing. [In the matches] most guys have got 10 runs and get out. But if they get their eye in, they are capable of scoring.”Seen in isolation, Zimbabwe batsmen played like amateurs today. Yet in the big picture, Zimbabwe have actually improved between the World Cups. And that only makes this defeat more painful.

There’s no reason, though, to reconcile ourselves to the prospect of a dull series because a duel between flawed sides can be as pleasing to watch as one between high-quality sides

Osman Samiuddin12-May-2011What a contest this once was, the greatest side ever seen by some, up against the greatest sides produced by Pakistan. Over three series, from the mid-80s onwards, not one inch was given by some of the greatest cricketers the game has seen, led by the two greatest cricketers the game has seen. In Guyana on Thursday, Misbah-ul-Haq and Darren Sammy will lead their sides out, not one truly great name among the 22. No disrespect to either but that is some comedown.It is pointless, if not harmful of course, to dwell upon the past too much but one reason Pakistanis and West Indians do so is because there has been consistently so little to look forward to in the future. Both teams have forever been stuck in the process of rebuilding and yet, years and years after their peaks, they lie sixth and seventh in a nine-team sport; in a league this would be a mighty relegation battle.In those very circumstances they meet again, rebuilding, blooding youth, looking ahead, nervous not at the size of the project ahead of them, but at its fragility and their tenuous places within it.
Favourites is too strong a word for it but Pakistan come in with better recent form, if better was to mean less bad. West Indies have won one of their last 19 Test series, Pakistan one of their last 11. That one was their last assignment, in New Zealand, which for Test wins is as close as you can get to a sure thing for Pakistan.A first-ever Test series win in the Caribbean – you almost wish they could do it in better circumstances – is nevertheless a realistic aim. Under Misbah, Pakistan has sometimes felt an inherently defensive side though given the resources at his disposal, who is to blame him? And accounting for the circumstances in which he took over, perhaps an on-field style is only as important as off-field stability and clarity.Still there are things to look forward to. With Younis Khan out, an entirely new middle order is unveiled, in far more conducive environment than when Pakistan last tried it, in an overcast England last summer. In earnest the post Inzamam-Yousuf-Younis era begins now and Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Umar Akmal – resolute, smart and explosive – are promising candidates.Elsewhere, a post-Kamran Akmal era may also be beginning – though you never know when he might return so in denial have managements been to his deficiencies. Mohammad Salman has impressed behind the stumps, his glovework as quiet and unnoticed as his chatter is loud and repetitive. In a busy-ish year ahead, with Tests against Sri Lanka and England, Adnan Akmal – unjustly dropped – will remain in contention as will, it is hoped, Sarfraz Ahmed whose energy and general cheeriness ought to be recognized and rewarded.But what quality cricket there will be in this series will come from the bowling. The day Pakistan stop producing quality fast bowlers will be the day of mourning in this country; in Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and especially Wahab Riaz, they are well-served. Given his successes in the ODI series and the trouble he caused the West Indies, Saeed Ajmal will surely have a role.For once though, the hosts – for this task at least – have at their disposal, a potentially dangerous attack too. If they can find a way and the will to play Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Divendra Bishoo – and it is Sammy’s presence as an allrounder that spoils this possibility – they could prosper. Edwards has torpedoed a stronger Pakistan before, in 2005, and both Roach and Rampaul are wicket-taking bowlers.

It is Devendra Bishoo, that wonderfully ballsy, smart and gifted legspinner who must be watched, if for no other reason than that he is the first genuinely attacking spinner the hosts have had in a while. He has a touch about him, an ability to bring about moments and on suitable surfaces, can really break a ball

But it is Bishoo, that wonderfully ballsy, smart and gifted legspinner who must be watched, if for no other reason than that he is the first genuinely attacking spinner the hosts have had in a while. He has a touch about him, an ability to bring about moments and on suitable surfaces, can really break a ball. Frankly Pakistan are awful against most kinds of spin and only Misbah seemed to play him with any comfort. His tormenting of Salman in the third ODI was more reflective of how Pakistan struggled against him; beware the zippy flipper that eventually did for Salman in that game.Otherwise West Indies’ rebuilding has a wonkier feel to it than Pakistan’s. Their administrative disputes with players haven’t attracted as much attention as the ones in Pakistan, but they are probably of greater harm, because they don’t produce as much talent to replace those players as Pakistan tends to. The one with Shivnarine Chanderpaul looks the pettiest of a long list of scraps between WICB and WIPA, though he should at least be a part of the side now. Much – perhaps too much – will still be expected from him, that bewildering underperformer Ramnaresh Sarwan and the stodgy Brendan Nash. If Darren Bravo relieves any of that burden, it will be an attractive bonus.There’s no reason, though, to reconcile ourselves to the prospect of a dull series. A battle between flawed sides compete can be as pleasing to watch as one between high-quality sides. In one aspect at least the West Indies are ahead. With the release of ‘Fire in Babylon’ they have at least a vivid documentation of their greatest years, a tribute to history. The fall has been steep enough for the film to be heavy with resonance. Pakistan haven’t regressed as sharply from their peak years but any film of their best years will be at least as compelling a watch. We can only hope.

Having lost his way after a sparkling start, Ishant Sharma has returned stronger, wiser and more effective. He credits his senior partner, among others, for his comeback

Interview by Sriram Veera06-Jul-2011″I am lucky to be bowling with Zaheer. He is so aware of his own body. I didn’t know about my bowling and my body at the start of my career. Now I know when to train, when to relax, and how much bowling I must do”•Associated PressYou seemed to have got your rhythm back in the West Indies…
The rhythm is back. The important thing is, I am now enjoying my bowling. I visualise every ball and what I need to do. I focus on my strengths. I believe in my strengths more now – the pace and bounce. The last one and a half years have been up and down. I struggled a lot. I would just like this form to continue .Were there times when you wondered about what was going wrong at the start of your run-up?
I was trying to copy Zaheer Khan’s action. No doubt he is a great bowler, but I guess I shouldn’t have tried to copy his action. We are entirely different in styles. Zaheer told me that I am too much into the technical side of things and that I shouldn’t be. Now I just stick to my basics and my strengths. When I started, I was just looking to enjoy and bowl fast. Slowly the expectations grew, my responsibility in the team grew, and I didn’t know how to handle that pressure.When and why were you copying Zaheer?
When South Africa came to play in India, I started to copy him. I wanted to be a swing bowler. I was forgetting my natural strength of bounce and hitting the deck. When I bowl with my natural style, the ball automatically starts to inswing. That was my strong point, and I should have just stuck to that. That was my greatest mistake.I wanted to swing it from a fuller length and in trying to do that I was copying his action. I thought I could copy his action release, just to get my length fuller. The way I ran, the action, the whole thing was affected.Did you tell him you were trying to copy his action?
I didn’t. I didn’t want his bowling to get upset, or for him to feel bad that this was why my bowling was going wrong. I just realised that it’s all right to learn things from others but you shouldn’t be copying actions.I had become too technical, instead of being tactical. When you are in the Under-17 stage, if you are concentrating on your technical stuff, it is fine. Your body and muscles accept the changes in action. But when you try to change it later, it gets difficult. So you lost your rhythm?
Yes. The ball doesn’t land where you want to it to. You forget your positives and your mind starts focusing on the negative. You go into a shell. Everything is going against you. That feeling is really bad. I didn’t know why these things were happening, why what I was trying to do was not happening. I didn’t realise it then, especially as I was swinging the ball at the start of my career. Even in the second IPL, in South Africa, I felt I was bowling well. Then the bad patch started through World Twenty20 and the New Zealand tour. Things were going bad. I was putting too much pressure on myself.Did you start to do that in the nets too?
In the nets I used to be relaxed, and I enjoyed it, so I bowled well. In cricket as long as you are relaxed and enjoying yourself and your game, you will do well. In the middle, I had forgotten that. I wasn’t focused on the process but more worried about the results. As I had more experience, I became aware of my body and bowling, and things started to improve. That I learnt in the last IPL.How bad was that phase of struggle? Did you stop laughing and enjoying life?
Yes, I did. During that time, even, say, if I was talking to you, I would be constantly thinking about cricket. How should I get that batsman out? What I should do, how I should bowl. I wasn’t enjoying it. There was too much pressure. I was almost obsessed with cricket. Too much thinking about one thing isn’t good.I wasn’t able to sleep well when I was dropped. I used to worry about what was going to happen to me. Suddenly from being a top bowler in Indian cricket you are nowhere. That time I was depressed. But seeing these good times I feel [God will eventually reward you for your effort]. I now know how to react even when things are not going well. How did you come out of that phase?
I met a man, Ramesh sir, during the IPL. He told me how to think positive, do meditation, visualisations, how to focus on your own strengths. He doesn’t know cricket, but the mental power he taught me really helped. And with the help of friends and family, I recovered.Then I spoke to Zaheer in the IPL. He talked to me about the importance of training. That has really helped me. I didn’t much go to the gym earlier. I went to the National Cricket Academy, where they made a training schedule for me: what muscles I should develop and which ones I load more in my bowling style. That systematic training helped and I am sticking to it.When did you sense the turnaround during the IPL?
After two or three games I became confident. What I was trying to do was coming through. I started to enjoy my life around cricket. That’s important to me. On the field give 100% and then switch off. I wasn’t doing that before.Ramesh sir made me change that. He made me meditate and visualise my bowling. He told me ” [Just think about what you want to do, not what you don’t want to]”. That was an important point.How was the emotional support at home?
There was a time I was really depressed that I wasn’t in the team. I used to sit alone and think cricket. About this and that. My mother and my sister backed me. They really believed in me and made me believe in myself, that I can do it again. When you have that kind of support, you feel you can do anything. They said it is just matter of time. It happens to every sportsman. They told me to accept the reality of my life and work hard, and that I would be back.Did you learn about the drawbacks of being famous?
Absolutely. When you are doing well people ask for your autograph. Otherwise no one asks about you. That made me mentally stronger. I have now learnt to balance. I know how to handle success and failure.

“Sometimes even I don’t know which ball is going to straighten, so how can the batsmen know? I try to swing with the new ball. I usually know when it’s going to straighten or swing out when I try to do that, but on many occasions even I don’t know”

Did any of your team-mates help you then?
I would like to thank Gautam [Gambhir] .You went back to play Ranji Trophy. What was that like?
I was happy to play cricket. I just wanted to play. I wasn’t used to sitting out and handing drinks. That irritates me. With Ranji Trophy I was playing cricket, and that was always helpful.The wrist release at one point had become skewed. Your wrists used to be behind the seam initially, but later you seemed to be pushing the ball sideways.
When you play too much cricket, bad habits creep in. You don’t realise it. There is no one to tell you what’s happening. The body gets tired, and you suddenly don’t know what’s happening. Now I know more about my bowling – how to train and recover. My wrist position gets bad when I get really tired. Training is very important for me. I have to put in more effort in my bowling than say Munaf, Praveen or Zaheer. I have to run in hard from a long run-up, and my style demands more effort. So I need to put in more training.Venkatesh Prasad has praised you as the most hard-working fast bowler he has worked with.
I doubt if anyone else enjoyed bowling with Venky sir as much as I did. It was a great learning experience. After a point, we stopped being teacher and student and became friends. I could go up to him and discuss anything, from bowling to my life.You have a great incoming delivery. These days you seem to be getting the odd ball to straighten as well. How much control do you have now?
My stock ball is the inswinger. The odd balls straighten on their own. Sometimes even I don’t know which ball is going to straighten, so how can the batsman know? I try to swing with the new ball. Of course I usually know when it’s going to straighten or swing out, but many times I don’t know. It hits the seam and it can straighten. The ones under my control I know.Many have noted a stutter in your follow-through.
It has been there since I started playing. I never worried about it. It all depends on how firm and still you are in your run-up and release. The follow-through follows from that.What’s your routine on match days?
I try to wake up happy and just stay away from cricket. On the field you are thinking so much about cricket, so off the field I try to get on my phone, chat with my team-mates, enjoy. Even if my day hasn’t gone well, just enjoy the good times in it.Tell us about your relationship with Zaheer.
I am lucky to be bowling with Zaheer. He is so aware of his own body, his bowling, and has so much knowledge. I didn’t know about my bowling and my body at the start of my career. Now I know when to train, when to relax, and how much bowling I must do. Zaheer advises me a lot. He even sets fields – where to bowl, how to bowl. It was a great help. He is always positive. He never talks negative. He always wanted to dismiss the batsmen irrespective of whether he is set or not. He won’t think, “Okay, let me give this guy a single and target the other.” He used to say, “We must do the difficult thing.” So to share the ball with someone like him is great, and good things are going to rub off on to you.Do you remember any wicket in particular that came about after a plan with Zaheer?
During Australia’s tour – when I was Man of the Series – I took Brad Haddin’s wicket. I bowled a series of bouncers and then slipped in a slower one. It was in Bangalore. That’s what we had planned: let’s bowl bouncers at him, and then slip in a slower one, as he doesn’t pick it up sometimes.Are you confident enough of setting your own fields and planning dismissals in his absence, like here in the West Indies?
I now know my bowling, and have control over my body. So I am confident. I have done my homework. I have learnt to set my fields. I know what I want to do. I visualise at the end of the day. Go back on the good things and what I can add.Visualisation is about feeling good about yourself and landing the ball where you want it to land it. Before I bowl a ball I visualise that I have bowled the ball where I want it to land. By doing that your heart has already gone there. If your heart has gone, the brain follows. So I visualise the end result as if I have already done it, and then I bowl. I learnt this from Ramesh sir.I tug at my sleeve at the start of each ball. It has become a habit. I do it because I feel something’s sticking onto my skin there.A lot of people believed that playing ODIs was spoiling your bowling in Tests.
I didn’t think so. My strong point is Test cricket. I bowl for long, pick up wickets, and I am aggressive. These are the things that help you in ODIs as well.People say I shouldn’t be playing in the IPL. I take everything as a challenge. I set goals for myself and see if can achieve them or not. I want to be a regular member of the Indian squad and play all three formats of the game.How did you handle the money coming in?
It depends on the individual. I saw early success and then failure. I must thank my family. I never thought more of myself just because I was an Indian player. My father is always down to earth. He never complains. When I was doing well, he used to thank God. When I wasn’t doing well, he would say it’s all thanks to God and it is a learning experience.You seem to have started concentrating on your batting.
I need to thank Gary Kirsten. He used to tell me that I can bat. When he came for the first time, in Australia, he saw me and said I can bat as well. I never took batting seriously. I never thought one day I can help India win a Test. I need to be really thankful to Gary for that. As a bowler, you know how much you struggle to take a wicket. So when I struggle so much to get a wicket, why should I give my wicket easily? Scoring runs is not the issue for me. I just concentrate on sticking around.How has Eric Simons been for you guys?
He doesn’t try to change the things I am comfortable with. He adds to it. When you gel well with a team, your relationship with players and coaches should be good in order for the team to be good. That relationship you develop over a period of time. Now my relationship with Eric Simons is how it was with Venky. He has a good bonding with the fast bowlers. Players listen to what he says. Like Venky, he allows our natural ways to be and then tries to add on.I never used to bowl round the stumps to left-hand batsmen. I have learnt to go round now. Eric has helped me in that regard. I used to bowl a little too wide to left-handers, but that has changed now.”To relax, the best thing is to spend time with Munna . He has a great sense of humour”•Associated PressWhat has been your most satisfying dismissal since returning?
Every single wicket is satisfying when you are making a comeback. You learn that just because you had one bad spell it’s not the end of world. You can always come back and pick up three wickets, and then at the end of the day you have bowled well. It’s not like batsmen; we bowlers can always come back. There is more clarity with regards to my bowling.What about reverse swing?
I love bowling reverse swing. Touch wood, I have control over it, but I don’t think in cricket anyone is a master. I have better control over lengths but it all depends on how good you feel and in what rhythm you are. You can bowl seven overs on the trot when you are in rhythm; if you are not, it’s a struggle to bowl even five. Some days you just wake up happy and everything and everyone around you feels good. There is this happy atmosphere around you. You go to the ground and feel you can do whatever you want. I think all fast bowlers know it.How has it been bowling alongside the likes of Munaf, Praveen and Sreesanth?
Munaf and Praveen are really helpful. It’s not that Sreesanth is not helpful, but it’s all about bonding and gelling. Our thinking is the same. We hang out, enjoy, laugh, and we share that thinking on the field as well. When I am bowling, and Munna is getting the drinks, he will tell me what I should be doing. It’s great for team spirit.Define enjoyment for you on tours.
Sitting in the hotel, enjoying each other’s company. We don’t get time to go on holidays together. We sit in the room, talk and laugh, or sit in the bus and laugh. It makes a great difference. You are able to switch off. Now I think about cricket when I have to. I relax at other times. I speak to mummy or to my friends. To relax, the best thing is to spend time with Munna . He has a great sense of humour.What’s your career goal?
It’s to play 100 Test matches for India and take as many wickets as possible. To play 100 Tests it will take 10 years. I hope my body lasts that long.

India’s bowling needed a leader and Praveen Kumar stepped up with his atypical aggression and prodigious swing

Sambit Bal at Lord's 22-Jul-2011Praveen Kumar will tell you that aggression isn’t only about pace. He is generally a fiery man on the field, finishing every ball with a scowl, but it isn’t about the body language either. It’s the nature of his craft. You can’t be a swing bowler without being aggressive. There is no other way to swing the ball than to pitch it up, and pitching the ball up is as aggressive as banging it short. If anything, it takes more courage – much more so at Praveen’s pace.Kevin Pietersen, his former captain at Royal Challengers Bangalore, once suggested to him that he could become unplayable if he managed to crank up his pace by five to 10 kph. It’s not known how much of Pietersen’s language Praveen understands but the tale goes that he gave his captain a smile and carried on with his business. He is a man with a keen understanding of his strength, and perhaps his limitations. He is no Dale Steyn.From the moment it became clear that Zaheer Khan would watch the rest of the innings, and quite possibly the rest of the match from the players’ balcony, India knew they needed nothing short of heroism from a couple of their remaining bowlers. As it turned out, two of their more experienced bowlers simply wilted. It was Praveen, playing only his fourth Test and by no means a certainty to make the cut before the Test, who ensured that India did more than chase the ball all day.In overcast and swinging conditions on the first day he bowled well enough to have ended up with a couple of wickets. But some balls swung across the breadth of the stumps, making batsmen look helpless yet comfortably eluding the edge. Friday’s sun brought blessings for batsmen, who began the day by driving confidently in front of the wicket and, when the first ten overs passed by without a wicket, it seemed the only twist possible in the match would come from the bowling change. The ground had been abuzz in the morning about the possibility of Mahendra Singh Dhoni filling up the bowling vacancy.But Praveen, having swung most balls away from the right-handers, provided the breakthrough by swinging one back in to Trott and from here he always remained a threat. Four of his wickets came in two overs but he beat the bat in almost each of his overs as the seam stayed straight and the wrist manipulated the swing. Twice he got left-handers by swinging the ball in to them from outside the off stump. It’s almost the perfect ball to the left-handers early in swinging conditions, but also the toughest to deliver for a right-hand bowler from over the wicket.He also needed to be mindful of staying away from the centre of the pitch on his follow-through after being on the verge of a warning yesterday. He did so not by making changes to his bowling action, but by bowling slightly wide and delivering quite a few overs from round the wicket. The lines were straighter, though, the length marginally fuller, and while Praveen mostly delivers outswingers, the perennial threat of the one that bends back makes his stock ball even more effective.But with his colleagues being lacklustre – Harbhajan Singh, who would have been expected to lead the attack, was disappointing again, offering neither control nor the sniff of a wicket – and the fielding being decidedly plodding, England ran up a score that will allow their bowlers to bowl to aggressive fields. India’s batsmen have to rise above their collective record at Lord’s to ensure that their thin attack isn’t subject to further brutality in this Test, but Praveen has ensured that amid the wreckage today, there was at least one good story. And they will stop making fun of his pace, for a few days at least.But in a quiet moment, while they lick their wounds, India might rewind to a crucial moment yesterday before it really unravelled for them. Zaheer Khan had produced a wonderful sequence of balls to earn an edge from Jonathan Trott, who has been generally unremovable at Lord’s. Dhoni began going to his right as the man with the gloves must, but he stalled midway, allowing the ball to sail past. It was within the reach of Rahul Dravid at first slip, but Dravid was both unsighted and put off by Dhoni’s initial movement and ball streaked to the boundary. Midway through his next over Zaheer walked off with a twinge in his right thigh.Cut to today; midway into the second session Praveen Kumar, the new leader of the Indian attack, curved it away from Ian Bell to induce a meaty edge. Dhoni’s dive was fully committed this time and he came up with the ball a few inches from the ground. There was a fundamental difference between the two instances. The cordon behind the wicket was so tight almost all day yesterday that the fielders could have touched each other by merely extending their arms. Today they switched to a more traditional formation with a healthy distance between the wicketkeeper and first slip. It was clear to Dhoni that only he could reach the ball.The cordon has also been standing deep. The day before the Test Kiran More, who has experience here, was heard advising Dhoni that Lord’s is a ground for standing forward to negate the wobble that the ball generates after passing the bat. But Dhoni, and it’s the wicketkeeper who sets the distance, has been standing deep despite collecting plenty of balls below his knee, and indeed some at ankle height. Ishant Sharma, who didn’t have the best of days, did induce an edge from Pietersen long before he got to his hundred. It was off a drive, and there is never anything coy about a Pietersen drive, and the ball travelled straight to second slip, but fell comfortably short.Small things like these can sometimes turn a Test.