MLB’s winter meetings continue to deliver, as another blockbuster piece of news broke on Wednesday.

The Orioles shocked the baseball world by agreeing to a five-year, $155 million deal with Pete Alonso. It’s the latest in a series of huge moves from the week that have altered the free agency landscape.

What follows is a look at the latest rumors coming out of the winter meetings as the event enters its final day.

Dodgers aren’t done

After making a huge splash by signing former Mets closer Edwin Diaz to a massive deal, the Dodgers aren’t done. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo are reporting that Los Angeles is willing to continue adding as it tried to complete a three-peat in 2026.

While stars like Kyle Tucker and Tarik Skubal are unlikely to end up in L.A., the Dodgers do need outfield help and could swing big to acquire it. If a free agent doesn’t emerge, L.A. has one of the deeper farm systems in baseball to trade from. Outfielders Josue De Paula and Zayhir Hope are both at least a year away, so they won’t provide immediate help. There have also been whispers that Teoscar Hernandez could be moved in the right deal, though that seems unlikely at this point.

The Dodgers could opt to pursue Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran or Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan. They definitely have the ammunition to land either player, the question will be if they’re willing to part with the prospects to do it.

Marlins discussing Edward Cabrera trade

The Marlins have been popular at the winter meetings, mostly because of righty starter Edward Cabrera. The 27-year-old is coming off an outstanding season in which he went 8–7, with a 3.53 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and 150 strikeouts against 48 walks in 137 2/3 innings. Making things even more enticing, he’s under team control through the 2028 season. Cabrera features an upper-90s fastball, backed by an excellent curveball and a really effective changeup.

Fresh off adding Pete Alonso, the Orioles are a fit for Cabrera. The Orioles are reportedly in the mix, but so are several clubs. Elite arms with cheap salaries and years of team control don’t come around often, so expect most MLB teams to at least check on Miami’s price tag.

Blue Jays chasing Brad Keller

The Blue Jays already splashed out a ton of money to land Dylan Cease this offseason, but they are not content to sit still after that move. Toronto is pursuing Kyle Tucker and attempting to retain Bo Bichette, but the club also wants to add more starting pitching. It appears a target has emerged.

Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer are free agents, and Jose Berrios appears to be out of the team’s immediate plans. One name connected to the Blue Jays at this point is free agent Brad Keller. While he was a reliever for the Cubs in 2025, Keller has starting experience. He’s coming off a season in which he went 4–2, with a 2.07 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, and 75 strikeouts against 22 walks in 69 2/3 innings. As recently as 2022, Keller made 22 starts for the Royals.

With Cease, Cody Ponce, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage already batting for rotation spots, it’s possible Keller could represent a swing arm similar to what Eric Lauer was for Toronto in 2025. That could be valuable given Bieber’s health issues.

Reds are willing to spend on a bat

The Reds missed out on hometown boy Kyle Schwarber, but their search for a bat hasn’t ended. Cincinnati has reportedly engaged the Diamondbacks about second baseman Ketel Marte, who has been one of the more popular names at the winter meetings. Marte is one of the more consistent infield bats in the big leagues, and the 32-year-old is owed an affordable $102.5 million over the next six seasons.

Marte slashed .283/.376/.517 in 2025, with 28 home runs, 72 RBIs, a wRC+ of 146, and produced 4.6 fWAR. He was good, but took a step back from his outstanding 2024 campaign.

Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe is also a potential target. He’s owed $11.5 million next season before hitting free agency. The 31-year-old Lowe slashed .256/.307/.477 last season, with 31 home runs, 83 RBIs, and a wRC+ of 114. His 1.7 fWAR was his lowest total since 2022, but it’s likely his power would play up at Great American Ballpark.

Cincinnati needs offense, and after years of refusing to spent, it looks like times have changed for the franchise.

He played in the shadow of Bradman but Stan McCabe had a sparkle few could match

Paul Edwards12-May-2020″I saw him bat, I can still picture that swivel hook…”The phone line is skittish and it is over sixty years since the events being described, but there is no mistaking the wonder in the voice. “It was in a testimonial match at North Sydney Oval round about 1957,” says David Frith. “He was playing against his bosom pal, Bill O’Reilly, who would rock in and still had a high arm even though he would be 52 or 53 at the time.” The man O’Reilly was bowling to in that distant Australian summer was Stan McCabe, who was then 47 years old and had played his final first-class match sixteen seasons previously. But Frith is the emeritus professor of cricket historians, so when his tough recollections are touched with such fondness, it is as well to listen hard. Then again, maybe such admiration is not so surprising: on his day McCabe was reckoned a better batsman that Bradman. Even Don thought so.”Towards the end I could scarcely watch the play,” wrote Bradman of McCabe’s 232 at Trent Bridge in 1938. “My eyes were filled as I drank in the glory of his shots… Such cricket I shall never see again nor shall I ever feel competent adequately to describe this elegant display…When Stan returned to our dressing room at the conclusion of this epic performance I was so moved by the superb majesty of his innings I could scarcely speak. However, I gripped his hand, wet with perspiration. He was trembling like a thoroughbred racehorse. I can recall saying to him after expressing my congratulations, ‘I would give a great deal to be able to play an innings like that.’ No skipper was ever more sincere in his adulation of another’s skill.”ALSO READ: Odd Men In – VVS LaxmanIt would be easy for a cynic to comment tartly that Bradman could afford to be generous with his praise. The double-hundred at Nottingham was the sixth and last of McCabe’s Test career and it was scored in his 36th match. He would play only three more times for his country, although it is instructive to note he had never been dropped since first being picked, also at Trent Bridge, in 1930. Bradman, by contrast, had scored 18 centuries in 33 games for Australia and would add 11 more in 28 innings. At which point it is probably wise to leash the stat-hounds, albeit they are ravening to make further comparisons. No one doubts that Bradman scored more heavily more frequently than any other player in the game’s history. But the oft-voiced problem with such phenomenal batting is that it can overshadow the achievements of world-class cricketers like McCabe, Bill Woodfull and Arthur Morris. How exactly can they compete with a man whose Test batting average (99.94) is over 50 runs per innings greater than each of theirs? How do you rival a man whose average is so abnormal that it became a popular PIN number?Perhaps we might begin by taking Bradman at his word. We could also note that when it came to playing cricket touched by genius, McCabe had form. At Trent Bridge it had been his demolition of the England debutant legspinner Doug Wright that took his skipper’s eye. Over six years earlier his unbeaten 187 in the first Test of the Bodyline tour had offered an early and misleading suggestion that Douglas Jardine’s attack could be successfully defied. Only 18 of those runs were scored in front of the wicket on the off side. Time and oft, McCabe hooked, pulled and glanced Larwood and Voce to the pickets on the leg side. There was a century stand with Vic Richardson and fifty partnerships with both Bert Oldfield and last man Tim Wall. Watched by an 11-year-old Ray Lindwall, who shrewdly kept his admiration for Larwood’s run-up to himself, McCabe had given the spectators on the Hill precisely the essay in resistance they craved. It was not enough to save the match or change the course of the series but the sight of the “rosy-faced, twinkle-eyed, sparse-thatched boy” stayed with Bill O’Reilly long after he had forgotten his own eight-ball innings.”I once asked Bill in the press box at SCG where McCabe had hit the ball during that innings,” Frith recalls. “And he punched a finger at long leg, square leg and even midwicket. Leg side, whack, whack, whack…and all of it wearing only a cap. McCabe told his father to make sure his mum didn’t jump the fence if he got hit.”That happened, of course, but McCabe rode the blows and responded with a few of his own making. It was an innings which became imprinted on the memory of most that saw it and there were over 40,000 at the SCG on each of the two days the century spanned. “He was quick enough now and then to drop back towards the packed on field and unleash a hectoring cover drive at the ball pig-rooting over the leg stump,” recalled Denzil Batchelor, who watched that Test. McCabe “was a cricketer of inspiration and instinctive brilliance,” said Peter Roebuck, one of many modern writers who have tried to reimagine that innings. “No one else had attempted to bat in his buccaneering way because no one thought it could be done.”But perhaps the most revealing comment came from McCabe, himself. Asked a short time later whether he had got a swollen head after reading the papers he replied that he hadn’t seen them. “I thought there might be a lot of exaggerated praise in them that it wouldn’t do me any good to read,” he explained. His 187 had been scored in two minutes over four hours; there had been 25 fours, although it would have been a dull dog, indeed, who had felt any compulsion to count them.

McCabe demolished the English attack with aristocratic politeness, good taste and reserve. His boundaries were jewels and trinkets which he accepted as though dangling them in his handsNeville Cardus

Just over three years later there would be two more runs and four more boundaries in the second of McCabe’s three great innings, although again it couldn’t win the Test for Australia. The visitors had begun the Johannesburg match already one up in the series, their victory at Durban being partly explained by McCabe’s 149 and even more so by O’Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett’s 13 wickets in the match. But Australia had begun the final morning at the Wanderers one down for 85 and still needing another 314 on a dusty pitch offering turn and extravagant variation of bounce. Only around 5000 spectators saw McCabe begin the day on 59 not out but that number had more than doubled as he took the attack to the inexperienced South African spinners. He reached his century in 91 minutes, watched at the other end by his second-wicket partner, Jack Fingleton. “At times Stan’s batting bordered on the miraculous,” Fingleton would write later.As at Sydney and Trent Bridge, McCabe responded to difficulty with an innings which mocked circumstance. Early in the afternoon session, with thunder and lightning threatening and Australia seeming well on course for victory, Herbie Wade, the South African captain, appealed against the light, suggesting that McCabe’s cuts and drives were endangering his fielders in the murk. When a storm finally ended the match, the visitors needed another 125 to win and McCabe had made 189 not out in 197 minutes.So to Trent Bridge in 1938 and the first match in what became a tightly-contested four-Test series. A quartet of England batsmen, including the 20-year-old Denis Compton, made centuries as the home side took advantage of a flat pitch to make 658 for 8 declared. McCabe came in with his side two down for 111 – Bradman c Ames b Sinfield 51 – and Australia had declined to 194 for 6 when he was joined by the wicketkeeper, Ben Barnett. What happened next had Neville Cardus searching for a fitting comparison; he decided that a French highwayman from the Restoration period would do the job very well.”Today McCabe honoured the First Test with a great and noble innings…The dear valiance of his play won our hearts. McCabe demolished the English attack with aristocratic politeness, good taste and reserve. Claude Duval never took possession of a stage coach with more charm of manner than this; his boundaries were jewels and trinkets which he accepted as though dangling them in his hands.”In half an hour after lunch he scored nearly 50, unhurried but trenchant… One of the greatest innings ever seen anywhere in any period of the game’s history. Moving cricket which swelled the heart. He is in the line of Trumper and no other batsman today but McCabe has inherited Trumper’s sword and cloak.”Cardus often thought statistics polluted achievement and debased cricket’s essential aesthetic. But even he might have thought it worth noting, as Steven Lynch has, that McCabe made his second hundred in 84 minutes, the last 50 of it in just 24. He also contributed 72 to the 77-run last-wicket partnership he shared with “Chuck” Fleetwood-Smith. Even Bradman, whose love of figures was somewhat greater than Cardus’, had use for a simile. “Australians who saw that innings [Sydney 1932] rate it as a masterpiece. So it was, and yet compared with his Nottingham effort it was as a sapphire to a diamond.”Stan McCabe plays a cover drive•Getty ImagesIt is, though, another comparison that stays in the mind. The possibility that McCabe’s quick-footed drives could rival those of Victor Trumper beguiles anyone who has found himself pondering George Beldam’s photograph for a moment only to find that an half an hour has passed without him noticing. The stat-hounds are pawing at the door again; they point out that Bradman scored as many Test hundreds (29) as McCabe managed in his first-class career.There are two responses to that valid point. The first is to read some lines from Alan Ross’s poem, “Cricket at Oxford”:All day we would marvel at technique
Exercised, it seemed, for its own sake,
The extending of a tradition, as might
Language be refined: an innings
By McCabe packed with epigrams,
Bradman ruthless as if sacking a cityThe second is to return to Frith’s reminiscences of conservative Sydney in the 1950s, when McCabe, Oldfield and Alan Kippax all owned sports shops in the city.”I went into McCabe’s sports shop in George St, Sydney, up near the Circular Quay, and that did pretty well. Bert Oldfield’s shop was round the corner in Hunter St. and if you went a bit further up there was Alan Kippax’s shop in Martin Place. I got to know Kippax very well and he was a lovely man, a true gentleman. But so was McCabe and so was Oldfield. They were lovely people. Stan didn’t talk too much but he was a quiet, modest man and to win Bill O’Reilly’s affection was something special. But it was nice to get his signature. Oldfield gave me his 1930 blazer and a ball from the Trent Bridge Test that year. He also sold me my first bat; it cost £2 and I got a free tin of bat oil to go with it.”Those three innings of McCabe’s were absolute classics and after a hundred years of Test cricket they were judged to be among the top ten that had ever been played. Don topped all the tables but when it came to sheer beauty, awesome beauty, McCabe was on his own. It was a bit like Archie Jackson or Victor Trumper; it was the way they moved that enchanted people.”Stan McCabe fell to his accidental death from Beauty Point in Mosman in 1968. He was 58 and his death occurred in the middle of the final Ashes Test at The Oval. The Australian commentator, Alan McGilvray, recalled that when the news was announced to the crowd there was a deep silence and some people even took off their hats. Ray Robinson wrote as follows, “In McCabe the cricketer, you saw McCabe the man – urbane, sociable, unpretentious, straightforward, incapable of anything mean-spirited.” Nowhere in any of the obituaries was there a criticism heavily veiled by euphemism. Rather, most of them mentioned three innings which were as good as anything the game has seen. Some 50 years later there is wonder still. Odd Men In

No team in the IPL bowls the short ball better than the four-time IPL champions, and it shows in their results

Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Oct-2020Sanju Samson has a love-hate relationship with the short ball. He scores quickly when fast bowlers go short at him, but he’s also likely to get dismissed in the process.Since the start of IPL 2018 and before Tuesday’s game against the Mumbai Indians, Samson had scored 53 off 22 balls from fast bowlers that ESPNcricinfo’s scorers had logged as “short”. That’s a strike rate of 240.90. He hadn’t scored quicker against any other length. But four of those 22 short balls had also led to his dismissal, giving him an average of 13.25 – lower than his average against any other length.The Mumbai Indians would have known all this, and would probably have more sophisticated data than ESPNcricinfo’s numbers to back up their knowledge. They would have known to attack him early with short balls.But knowing is one thing. Bowling the perfect short ball is another. Trent Boult did just that on Tuesday night: left-arm over, slanting across Samson, pounding the pitch hard, climbing towards the batsman’s right shoulder, still rising when ball met bat. Samson shouldn’t have tried to pull it, perhaps, but instinct is instinct. He met it with bat face pointing almost skywards, and the ball ballooned gently to mid-on.Samson c Rohit Sharma b Boult 0.This was the high point of a Mumbai performance that emphasised just how much their fast bowlers own the shorter lengths in the IPL. Nine of the ten wickets Mumbai took went to their seamers – calling Kieron Pollard a “fast bowler” would stretch the definition too far – and six of those nine wickets went to balls pitching short or short of a good length.This is T20, and most dismissals don’t have a grand plan behind them – you can’t plan for Steven Smith, for instance, to be dismissed hoicking across the line for the third time in a row – but Mumbai’s use of the shorter lengths against the Royals was part of a larger pattern. No team in the IPL does it as well as them.This season alone, Mumbai have enjoyed success by going short and aggressive – like the Samson delivery, or the one from James Pattinson against the Kolkata Knight Riders that chalked up another victory for bouncers against Sunil Narine – as well as with slower bouncers, like those that uprooted Sunrisers Hyderabad’s top order in Sharjah. They’ve bowled short balls at the batsman’s body, and they’ve bowled them wide outside off stump to make them reach out and lose their shape. They’ve used short balls to attack, and they’ve used them to defend by forcing batsmen to take singles to deep fielders patrolling the long boundaries.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt’s nothing new. Since the start of the 2018 season, Mumbai’s fast bowlers have bowled more short and short-of-good-length balls than those of any other team, and bowled those balls better than any other team, taking the most wickets and achieving the best average and economy rate.It’s always been part of their wider strategy. Mumbai play their home games at the Wankhede Stadium, which offers more pace and bounce than the average Indian pitch in the IPL, and their best squads have always included fast bowlers who can use short balls effectively. The defining image of Mumbai’s bowling attacks over the years might be Lasith Malinga’s yorker or Jasprit Bumrah’s yorker, but their fourth-highest wicket-taker of all time is the persistently short Mitchell McClenaghan.McClenaghan, now in his sixth season with Mumbai, hasn’t got a game yet in IPL 2020 because he’s in the back of their fast-bowling queue behind Boult, Bumrah and Pattinson, who could form a tasty Test-match pace attack, and probably also behind Nathan Coulter-Nile, who also favours the hard lengths.It’s an attack built for the Wankhede, but it wasn’t clear before this season began whether it would suit the pitches in the UAE. The team management probably saw enough upon their arrival in the country to pick Pattinson, rather than a spinner, as Malinga’s replacement when he opted out for personal reasons, and conditions – at least in the first half of the tournament – have definitely given the fast bowlers something to work with.ESPNcricinfo LtdMumbai have exploited those conditions better than most other teams so far, with their fast bowlers picking up 32 wickets in six matches, with a best-in-the-league collective average and economy rate. The Delhi Capitals, who have Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje leading their pace attack, are the only comparable team across those measures.Mumbai and the Capitals occupy the top two spots on the IPL table currently, and own the two best net run rates too. It can’t just be a coincidence.

He wanted to be the next Brian Lara. He has now become the first bowler to 500 T20 wickets

Deivarayan Muthu26-Aug-2020When Dwayne Bravo was growing up in Santa Cruz in Trinidad, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Brian Lara, who hailed from the same town and put it in the international spotlight. Back in the day, Bravo was a batting allrounder who could bowl skillful seam-up. On his Test debut as a 21-year old against England at Lord’s, he forged a resolute century stand with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and on that tour was quick enough with the ball to beat the likes of Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff. In Cape Town in 2008, he wheeled away for 24 successive overs, broken only by two intervals.A slower-ball phenom in T20 cricket? Who, then, woulda thunk it?More than 15 years since his Test debut under his hero Lara’s captaincy, Bravo has become the first-ever bowler to 500 T20 wickets. To understand the significance of the milestone, you need to just look at the next best, a bonafide T20 bowling great: Lasith Malinga, who has 390 wickets.Half-a-thousand strikes! Who, ever, woulda thunk it?Run-ins with the West Indies board and multiple injuries prompted Bravo to give up red-ball cricket and reinvent himself as a bowling allrounder in the white-ball formats. Bravo and his good friend Kieron Pollard were the first West Indians to turn down central contracts in 2010 and become T20 nomads. Now in 2020, five months after Pollard became the first player to feature in 500 T20 games, Bravo has reached a special 500 of his own under Pollard’s captaincy in the CPL. #friendshipgoalsALSO READ – TCM: Death becomes himWhile Bravo still shows the occasional glimpse of the Lara wannabe he once was, especially when he drives inside-out, it is his deadly, dipping slower ball that has made him a sought-after T20 specialist.How deadly exactly? Just ask AB de Villiers. In Nagpur, during the 2016 World T20, it was that sharp dip that defeated de Villiers for length and rearranged his stumps off an inside edge. It was as good as the killer dipper Malinga is famed for. In addition to this slower dipper, Bravo also has a slower offcutter and slower bouncer in his repertoire.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhen other bowlers were working towards generating extra pace in the slog overs, Bravo cut his down and dared batsmen to manufacture it for themselves. Incidentally, it was in an ODI that Bravo found his formula for T20 success. Bravo had only bowled three overs before he was tasked with a distinctly T20 scenario: defending 10 runs off the last over against an in-form Yuvraj Singh. After Singh had picked off two seam-up balls for fours, Bravo slipped in a slower dipper to skittle him and earn a one-run victory.More recently in the USA, Bravo duped MS Dhoni with a slower delivery off the last ball and earned West Indies a one-run victory in a T20I that aggregated 489 runs. Bravo was initially looking to bowl a fast yorker, but upon seeing Dhoni move across his stumps, he sucked pace off his delivery and finished off the finisher.In modern-day T20 cricket, the likes of England’s Harry Gurney and Benny Howell, and Australia’s AJ Tye, are now emulating Bravo’s template by going slow to fool batsmen.ALSO READ – Kimber: Benny Howell, Gloucestershire’s magical mystery manWhen he’s in rhythm, though, Bravo can also nail the quick yorker – both on the stumps and wide of them. Thanks to such variations, 283 of Bravo’s 500 wickets have come in the death (last five) overs.Bravo has been a serial topper across leagues when it comes to the wickets charts, and, by extension, he is a serial winner in T20 cricket. Nobody has more T20 titles than Bravo and Pollard, who are tied on 13 each.Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / GettyBravo’s game-changing ability has particularly lit up the IPL, with his Chennai Super Kings captain Dhoni publicly acknowledging the balance he lends to the team. After Super Kings were knocked out of IPL 2014, Dhoni had highlighted Bravo’s injury as one of the major reasons for the team’s early exit. In the previous season, Bravo had bagged 32 wickets in 18 matches at an economy rate of 7.95. Only Alfonso Thomas (33 in the 2010 Friends Provident Trophy) has collected more wickets in a T20 league season anywhere.More injuries have hampered Bravo since and he will turn 37 this October, but he keeps bouncing back to stay relevant in the shortest format. To put his longevity in context, when he made his T20 debut in 2006, his current Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming and Trinbago Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum were both playing for the opposition. And Bravo has now come out of international retirement to have another tilt at T20 World Cup glory.An important step towards that goal is this CPL 2020, which is being played behind closed doors. Bravo had missed the entire 2019 season due to a finger injury and his absence coincided with Knight Riders faltering in the knockouts. Bravo is fit again and has handed over the captaincy to Pollard, saying he simply wants to enjoy his game.A Bravo who’s enjoying his game, singing, grooving, and channeling his inner Beenie Man is sheer T20 entertainment. The Bravo T20 show is probably the cricketing equivalent of the Great Gatsby’s parties: thrilling and wild. There won’t be crowds to add to the fun in this CPL owing to concerns around the Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s still fitting that the 500th wicket has arrived on his home island Trinidad, for his home franchise Knight Riders, at his home ground Queen’s Park Oval.Can Bravo celebrate his 500th wicket, which is also his 100th in the CPL, by bowling Knight Riders to an unprecedented third title?

According to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, Virat Kohli’s second drop of KL Rahul cost Royal Challengers 26 runs

ESPNcricinfo stats team24-Sep-2020After 16 overs in their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab were on 132 for 3 – not a huge total but quite a reasonable one. Then, Virat Kohli dropped KL Rahul – not once but twice. Rahul scored 48 off 13 balls after the first drop, and 42 off nine after the second drop. Kings XI scored 60 off the last three overs with 49 coming off the last two.ESPNcricinfo LtdSo how much were the two drops worth? Kohli pegged it at “35 to 40 runs” in the post-match presentation.”I think I have to stand in front and take the brunt of it, not the best day in the office, couple of important chances off KL when he was set,” he said. “That cost us about 35 to 40 runs at the later stage. Maybe if we restricted them to under 180, we wouldn’t have been under pressure to go from ball one, chasing close to 210. We know exactly where we went wrong, and it’s time to put my hand up and say, yeah, couple of important chances went down.”According to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, the second drop, which came at the end of the 18th over, cost Royal Challengers 26 runs, while the first one cost 24. That means, had Kohli taken that second catch at the end of the 18th over, Kings XI would have scored only 23 off the last two overs instead of 49. This value is calculated by taking into account the batsmen to follow, and their scoring patterns in the relevant overs – the death overs in this case.With Glenn Maxwell already dismissed, Kings XI had James Neesham and Sarfaraz Khan to follow. Both are pretty good hitters, but you wouldn’t have expected them to score at the massive rate Rahul managed in the last couple of overs.The value for the first drop is slightly lesser than the second one, because Rahul scored seven runs off five balls between the two dropped catches (including those two balls). That was a rate that could have been replicated by the batsmen to follow, but after the second drop, Rahul was unstoppable.Kings XI scored 74 in the last four overs, which is 10 more than has ever been scored in the last four overs of a T20 game in Dubai. That was because Rahul took his game to another level, and because Kohli gave him the opportunity – two, in fact – to do so.

Our writers pick a duo from the same IPL team to take on Mumbai Indians’ ace death bowler

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2020In , we present our writers with a tricky cricketing situation and ask them to captain their way out of it.Scenario: Your side has gone to a Super Over against the Mumbai Indians and are batting first. Naturally, Jasprit Bumrah is the man to bowl it. Which two current batsmen from the same IPL side do you pick to face him?Deivarayan Muthu:
On his day, Bumrah can nail six yorkers. But it’s a difficult delivery to execute under pressure. You overpitch and it comes out as a full toss. You under-pitch, it’s a half-volley. So, I would prefer a left-right batting combination that could brutally punish any such error in length or even mess with the length. KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran of Kings XI Punjab have a variety of strokes in their repertoire and have established themselves as gun white-ball players under pressure. Rahul’s head-to-head T20 record against Bumrah – 82 runs off 61 balls at a scoring rate of 8.06 while being dismissed just once – strengthens his case. Pooran has never faced Bumrah in T20 cricket, but I’d still back him to come good.Karthik Krishnaswamy:
Since the start of 2018, Karthik has faced 15 balls from Bumrah in T20 cricket and scored 33 off them, without being dismissed. His strike rate of 220.00 across these contests is the best of any batsman who has faced at least ten balls from Bumrah in this period. Bumrah has done pretty well against Andre Russell in this period – 12 balls, 14 runs, one wicket. But would you dare to not pick Russell for a Super Over against anyone?Gaurav Sundararaman:
Rahul has a lot of experience facing Bumrah in the national team’s nets and will have an idea of what Bumrah is likely to do in such a situation. He has a strong game on the off and on side and hence will be an ideal choice to take strike. As a left-hand batsman, Pooran will help in altering Bumrah’s line. The other advantage is Pooran’s exceptional power and timing. If he can pick the variations, he can surely hit a couple of boundaries.Sreshth Shah:
Rishabh Pant’s strike rate of 257 against Bumrah between overs 16 and 20 almost made me select him, but having not found a good partner from his team, Delhi Capitals, I went with Karthik and Russell from the Kolkata Knight Riders, both ice-cool finishers with superb numbers against Bumrah at the death.Karthik has scored the most runs off Bumrah at the death – 50 off 23 balls – of all batsmen. He has a boundary rate of 34.78% in the contest. His ability to move around the crease opens up scoops over fine leg and the area over extra cover if Bumrah attempts wide yorkers. Remember his last-ball six off Soumya Sarkar over extra cover in the Nidahas Trophy final?Russell has 35 runs off 19 balls at the death against Bumrah and a 31.58% boundary rate. Bumrah has a five-inch spot to land that perfect yorker to strangle Russell. If he overpitches, even Russell’s mistimed shots to low full tosses soar over the boundary. And if he under-pitches, it’s right in Russell’s slot.Shashank Kishore:

Bowling against two of the best batsmen in modern cricket is bound to get Bumrah thinking. Where de Villiers moves around in the crease, Kohli’s destruction isn’t based on premeditation. It’s pure hand-eye coordination, strong wrists, and the steely belief that he can hit any ball in any direction playing orthodox shots. That’s enough pressure for a bowler to contend with. Meanwhile, if you bowl full to de Villiers, he can back away and scythe you over cover. Bowl a yorker and he can squeeze it between point and short third. Bowl length into the body and he can walk across to sweep/paddle. So Bumrah will constantly be on his toes.

How CSK, Royals, Capitals and Kings XI stack up ahead of the auction

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2021Chennai Super KingsMain talking point:
Suresh Raina’s retention. The 34-year old had abruptly left the IPL’s bio-secure bubble in the UAE in August and had opted out of the 2020 season. He had also retired from international cricket last year, but the Super Kings’ management has put faith in him once again. Having not played top-flight cricket since IPL 2019, Raina recently returned to action for Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, finishing with one half-century in five outings.ESPNcricinfo LtdBalance purse: INR 22.9 croreWhat they need:
Having released Harbhajan Singh, the Super Kings don’t have a specialist offspinner in their squad. Filling that hole will be on the top of the checklist at the auction next month. With Kedar Jadhav gone and MS Dhoni fading, they need a versatile middle-order batsman to take the load off Ravindra Jadeja.What they said:
“He [Raina] is one of our best batsmen in the last ten years. He had to miss out last year but he is back now and we are happy with him.”
A franchise official Delhi CapitalsESPNcricinfo Ltd Main Talking point:
 Last season’s finalists have not touched their core squad, especially the Indians. They have released the overseas players who struggled to make the first XI, including Sandeep Lamichhane, Jason Roy, Alex Carey and Keemo Paul. Fast bowler Tushar Deshpande, who blew hot and cold last season, has been released too. Shimron Hetmyer, however, has been retained as has Chris Woakes, who had pulled out of IPL 2020. The Capitals, though, have traded out two players, both allrounders, after initially retaining them. Australian Daniel Sams and Indian Harshal Patel have moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore.Balance purse: INR 12.9018 croreWhat they need:
The Capitals definitely need a wicketkeeper since Carey, their back-up when Pant was injured, has been released. An Indian gloveman will be ideal because that means the XI doesn’t need multiple changes if Pant needs replacing. They also only have five overseas players in the squad, so they might get foreign back-ups for the likes of Rabada, Stoinis and Hetmyer.Kings XI PunjabESPNcricinfo LtdMain talking point:
Letting go of two of their biggest buys in the last auction: Glenn Maxwell (INR 10.75 crore) and Sheldon Cottrell (INR 8.5 crore). Maxwell had meagre returns in IPL 2020, but his current form for Melbourne Stars in the BBL is encouraging. The Kings XI have also jettisoned the likes of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, K Gowtham and Karun Nair to significantly enhance their purse. No other franchise has a bigger purse than the Kings XI ahead of the upcoming auction.Balance purse: INR 53.2 croreWhat they said
“The plan was to keep the core of the team, and make sure the players who were part of the team last season will continue this year as well. We believe that this group along with whoever we pick at the auctions to fill those gaps will be able to turn things around for Kings XI Punjab,” Anil Kumble, the head coach, was quoted as saying by the Kings XI website.What they need:
Maxwell again? Or probably another gun middle-order finisher. An overseas bowler who can bowl at the death to back up Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan. With Gowtham, Mujeeb, and J Suchith all being released, they also don’t have a specialist fingerspinner in their squad apart from Harpreet Brar.By Deivarayan MuthuRajasthan RoyalsESPNcricinfo LtdMajor talking point:
They’ve had captaincy troubles time and again. Two seasons ago, they replaced Ajinkya Rahane with Steven Smith midway through. Now, after finishing last in 2020, they’ve backed Sanju Samson to take over the leadership role, while offloading Smith, who has been a pillar of the franchise for many years. All the other players released have mostly warmed the bench over the years. They’ve appointed a new director of cricket in Kumar Sangakkara, who will lend plenty of experience to an already accomplished coaching set-up.Balance purse: INR 34.85 croresWhat they need:
Ben Stokes is their premier allrounder, but they’d do well to have a back-up for him in another overseas allrounder. While they’ve stocked their squad with three legspinners, all Indian, they’d also look to have some offspinners in their line-up for variety. What they said:
“As the IPL has grown, the captaincy has become a year-round task, and as such strong local Indian leadership has become increasingly important. Sanju made his debut as a Royal, and it has been a joy to watch his development over the last eight years. He is the ideal person to lead the Royals into the 2021 season.”
Manoj Badale , co-owner of Royals
By Shashank Kishore Where teams standESPNcricinfo Ltd

The India No. 3 talks about his partnership with Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant in Brisbane, and looks ahead to the England series

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jan-2021The 21-year-old Shubman Gill was playing a totally different brand of cricket from you at the Gabba, scoring freely and confidently. Can you tell us more about Gill’s batting style?
He is one of the best timers of the ball. He has a natural ability to react to the ball a little earlier. He gets that extra fraction of time to judge the length, the line, and then play his shots, whether it be the pull or a cover drive. He has quick hands and his downswing is so good that even when he defends the ball, with that timing, sometimes, it goes for two or three runs. Sometimes it feels like he is playing with hard hands, but he is so good at his timing.If I speak about his batting technically, it is a double-edged sword. If you remember, he was out a few times against Pat Cummins earlier in the series, caught at gully or slip, but at the same time Gill can play the same ball for two or three. He is managing it really well. He is very talented and I hope he continues to improve because we need good openers. We have been getting good starts in the last couple of Tests matches and that is a big advantage. The way Rohit [Sharma] and Shubman started in Sydney and Brisbane laid a good foundation.Related

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In a recent conversation with R Ashwin, Vikram Rathour, India’s batting coach, said the same – that both Rohit and Gill look for runs. Did it bother you that despite your experience, you were finding it hard to score runs while a youngster like Gill was scoring freely the other end?
Gill’s strength lies in the way he plays and that is why he is successful. If he tries to bat time or tries to defend for longer periods, it could pose a challenge for him. I can take the bowlers on too, but if I feel I need to hang back a little, I can do that as well. I can bat according to the situation. At that time, I felt it wasn’t wise to take the bowlers on because Gill was already doing that.It is important to understand what your partner is doing, as a batting unit, how the team is going forward. There could be occasions where both batsmen are playing their shots, but most of the time, if one is going well, the other has to bat normally and not do anything extraordinary. That is what I was trying to do. That is my strength.From one end you need to make sure there is a lot of assurance, a lot stability, which allows the other guy freedom to play their shots. What ended up happening in that first session was I ended up getting too many balls from the tougher end ().”[James] Anderson is very familiar with the conditions in England and can accordingly set up a batsman. However, when it comes to bowling in India, we have a little bit of an advantage”•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesJoe Root will reach the 100-Test milestone during the first Test in Chennai. What do you like about Root’s batting?
His work ethic. I have seen him bat for long periods of time as a team-mate during my stint with Yorkshire and as an opponent from the time he played against us on England’s 2012 tour of India. As a batsman, he is clear about his game plans, knows his scoring areas, is clear about his strengths, understands his game very well, and all that shows in the success he has had in Test cricket.Having faced the best of fast bowling in Australia, you now have to prepare to have another master quick – James Anderson. He has got you seven times and your average against him is 26.85. What’s the key difference between facing Anderson in England and in India?
The pace and bounce are different, firstly. Then the balls are different. There is some swing with the SG ball, but it doesn’t last and swing as much as the Dukes ball in England. Anderson is very familiar with the conditions and the bowling areas in England and can accordingly plan and set up a batsman. However, when it comes to bowling in India, we have a little bit of an advantage – not just me, but the entire Indian batting unit. We know our strengths and game plans well. When you are familiar with the conditions, it does help.Rishabh Pant was one of the key pillars, a catalyst for India in Sydney and Brisbane. You batted with him on the final days of both Tests. Can you talk about his growth?
He is fearless, not afraid to play his shots. Also, being a left-hander gives him an advantage. It frustrated the opposition bowling when there is a right-left combination. They seemed to struggle with the length. His knock in Brisbane was much, much better than what he did in Sydney. He played a brilliant innings in Sydney, too, when he scored 97 – I am not trying to take away any credit – but I felt this innings was under pressure and he handled it pretty well.I especially liked the way he handled Lyon just before and after tea [on the final day] in Brisbane. During the partnership, unlike his usual approach, where he looks to score runs, he defended in one phase – that was very impressive for me. You need to understand the situation. You need understand the game, whether you have to move away from your usual approach, it is very important.”The most impressive part about Rishabh [Pant] was the way he held himself back when it was needed in the last Test”•Jason McCawley/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesDid you need to temper his approach?
Not in particular, but I always try and communicate to young batsmen that you just need to understand the situation. If he [Pant] is at the crease, the opposition is under pressure. He is so destructive. Even if he is looking to defend, he will end up getting at least one boundary in two or three overs. So I was just telling him to try and make sure you make the right decision. Even if you want to play your shots, make sure you are clear in your mind. I will say this again: the most impressive part, for me, about Rishabh this time was the way he held himself back when it was needed in the last Test.Do you think India-Australia Test series could have five Tests in the future, like the Ashes?
It can be, no doubt about that. But five-Test series in Covid times is not easy. I think it becomes too long, especially because players need to be part of a biosecure bubble. Mentally, it is very frustrating, especially when you are away from home.Sometimes you are with the family, sometimes you are not. It’s not easy. But if it can be scheduled with enough breaks, then I wouldn’t mind it at all.You didn’t score as many runs on this Australia tour as you did in 2018-19, but you got three half-centuries. The last one, in Brisbane, was the slowest of your Test career, but was it also the most important one?
Yes, it is one of the most important fifties I have scored. The other one I remember was also against Australia, in Bangalore in 2016-17 series where I scored 92. The other was Jo’burg [50], which came on one of the toughest pitches I have played on.”Five-Test series in Covid times is not easy. Mentally, it is very frustrating, especially when you are away from home”•Getty ImagesSo Test cricket is the ultimate format?
Without a doubt. It challenges you physically, mentally, emotionally, and in multiple ways. That can’t happen in any other format. If you ask any white-ball player, even in death overs, I don’t think anyone will say they feel more pressure than in Test cricket. This is the toughest format of the game.Every session is different. You can win or lose a game in an hour – like we lost in the first Test in Adelaide. We played really well for the first two days. We were ahead with a 50-run lead and yet we lost the Test because we did not bat well in that one hour.A day after the Brisbane victory, you told the Indian Express that your two-year-old daughter, Aditi, watching you getting hit repeatedly at the Gabba, said: “When he comes home, I will kiss where he is hurt, he will be fine.” Did she do that?
She actually did that – kissed me on my hand. Forget about the injuries, when I returned home, the best part was she was so, so excited. She hugged me for almost a minute or two and she wasn’t letting go of me. I was really, really happy to hold her and be back with my family.Read part one of this interview with Cheteshwar Pujara.

The only Indian batsman to convert his maiden Test ton into a 300-plus score looks back at that innings from four years ago

Himanshu Agrawal12-Feb-20211:44

‘Thinking about my Test triple-ton still gives me goosebumps’ – Karun Nair

Karun Nair almost never made his Test debut. In July 2016, while on a pilgrimage trip in Kerala to give thanks for his ODI debut, a boat he was in capsized. Six people drowned.Four months later, Nair was in India’s squad to play five Tests at home against England. He made his debut in the third Test, in Mohali, as an injury replacement for his childhood friend KL Rahul.”It was the first time I was picked in the main squad. It was a day or two before that Anil sir [Kumble, then head coach] and Virat [Kohli] spoke to me, and that’s when I knew I’d be playing,” Nair remembers.Related

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Forty-one of his 47 first-class innings had come inside the top five until then, but Nair started at No. 6 in his first Test for India. He run out for 4. In the next Test, in Mumbai, he was out lbw to Moeen Ali for 13.Heading to Chennai for the final Test, Nair’s mind was full of thoughts of whether he would be picked again. The city itself was preoccupied with dealing with the aftermath of cyclone Vardah. Large parts of Chennai had been inundated with rain and obstructed by fallen trees. For the two teams, the immediate fallout was that no practice was possible ahead of the match.”Not to have any practice session because of the cyclone, which no one could control, [hurt],” Nair says. “We were just in the hotel. [That gave me] a lot of time to think about what to do and what is going to happen. [It was] on the day of the match that we got to head to the nets and have a knock.”It was Chennai’s first Test in three years, and former BCCI south zone curator PR Viswanathan and his team were determined to get it underway without any delay.Karun Nair took only three Test innings to get his first triple. The next quickest, Len Hutton, took nine•Associated Press”The only issue was a slightly higher level of surface moisture in the pitch,” Viswanathan says. “So after the cyclone, we dried the surface with charcoal. We rolled charcoal with the stumps so that the heat doesn’t directly come in touch with the pitch and the grass.Nair had extra motivation to do well in the match, given his parents were watching from the stands. “My dad didn’t travel outside Bangalore to watch my games, so when I made my debut, Anil sir told me, ‘You should call your dad here’, but I didn’t. So for Chennai, he himself called my dad, who came along with my mom. She came for the first time, so that was really special of Anil sir.”England captain Alastair Cook chose to bat and a century from Ali and fifties by Joe Root and the lower order took them to 477.Cook’s opening partner, Keaton Jennings, who made 54 in the second innings, remembers that despite being 0-3 down in the series, the team wasn’t beaten down.”The guys were pumped up,” Jennings says. “It was seriously hot, [but] we were keen to try and give it one last push and leave with a win.”Nair’s parents, Kaladharan and Prema (front row, first and second from left), watch their son pile on the runs•ESPNcricinfo LtdEngland’s long first innings turned out to be a blessing in disguise for an out-of-touch Nair.”We fielded for two long days. In those two days, I managed to get some batting practice after the day’s play and made sure I hit the nets with Sanjay Bangar – our batting coach at the time – so that I was feeling more comfortable when my chance to bat would come.”And when I went in to bat, it was a kind of a tight situation. After a point, I let go of my personal situation and only started thinking about what I should do for the team to get us through that situation.”When Nair walked in, India were 211 for 3, having lost Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in quick succession. England’s fast bowlers were moving the ball around and there was turn for the spinners. Nair nicked one from leggie Adil Rashid past slip and was scratching around for his runs – getting 13 off 42 balls – when his batting partner came up to talk to him.”The pressure affected how I started,” Nair says. “But I was lucky that I had Rahul with me. Having played so much together, to have him was helpful. He made me realise that I need to get out of the shell. It was then I got a couple of boundaries and I felt much more free.”When we were 11, we were in the Karnataka Under-13 team. Since then, we have played all age groups together. So it was just like batting in another game for Karnataka because it felt so comfortable batting with him.”Nair’s nerves settled, but there were still a few close shaves. On 34, he poked at a full delivery outside off from seamer Jake Ball and the ball flew to first slip, where Cook dropped a difficult catch.”We gave Karun chances, and it is hard work in that Chennai heat,” Jennings says of that moment, when England were still 185 ahead.Nair: “Rahul [right] made me realise that I need to get out of the shell. It was then I got a couple of boundaries and I felt much more free”•Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressPaul Farbrace, then England’s assistant coach, believes they should have gone harder at Nair.”When you have a new player in the opposition, you want to test him. But we never built enough pressure on him… The more he [Nair] got in, the better he played. From 80 or 90 onwards, he played exceptionally well. Stuart Broad bowled very well and we got quite frustrated that it just didn’t seem to go our way.”Nair and Rahul’s 161-run stand was broken when Rahul fell to a tame shot on 199. Nair was on 69 then and looked set to get a big score. In fact, he achieved what only two other Indians before him had done – converting his maiden Test hundred into a double. “Once you get comfortable with the match situation, everything becomes easy and also opens up to a lot of different possibilities,” Nair says. “You have to just grind yourself out of the tough times.”England kept looking for answers with the ball, and Jennings reveals they even tried chat in an attempt to dislodge Nair.”Initially we were trying to put him under pressure through words [but] when somebody gets to 200, you’ve got to try and get them out rather than just talking.”Nair doesn’t remember any chatter from the fielders. “They were very tired, so there was no chat – or maybe I didn’t hear even if there was any. I think they were waiting for us to declare!”England got another chance when Nair was on 217 – a nick off Ball again, this time dropped by Root at slip.”I think there would have been a bit of fatigue and frustration crept in [by the time of the Chennai Test],” Farbrace says. “That’s definitely the case, but at no stage did we think, ‘It’s the last game, [we] just want to go home now.'”Nair made century partnerships with KL Rahul, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja (right) in India’s highest Test total•Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressAs Nair closed in on a triple-hundred, time was running out. With a hefty lead in the bank, a declaration was looming.”There was a message when I was at about 220: ‘We have about six to eight overs to play. Try and score as many as you can.'”Jonny Bairstow missed a stumping when Nair was on 246, and in the four overs after he passed 250, he hit six boundaries off Ali and Rashid to race to 294. On 299, he was facing Rashid. The field was up and Nair tried to sweep from off stump but missed, and England erupted in an appeal.”After playing so many shots, I was confident of putting away another sweep,” Nair says of playing against the turn. “And I was confident of it being not out because Rashid was bowling more outside off.”Farbrace had been hoping for exactly the opposite. “I was thinking, ‘Please just give him out!’ Otherwise it could be another hour and he would still be batting. He was just completely controlling the innings.”Rashid had four men close on the off side for any potential chance offered. On the ball after the appeal, he pitched one short and wide, and Nair went for the cut. Cook, at extra cover, dived forward to catch but it landed short and went past him to the boundary.Nair became only the second Indian to a Test triple-century, and the third batsman overall to convert his maiden Test hundred into a triple.”It was surreal,” he remembers. “It was such a special feeling. I didn’t realise that [at the time] because I was very tired. I had never thought about me being there.””It was an innings of a lifetime,” Farbrace says.India declared right after, on a record 759 and wrapped up an innings win the next evening to take the series 4-0.”The declaration was pushed for another over or two till I got my 300,” Nair says. “Those were special moments and something that I can look back upon. I credit my parents for supporting me throughout my career and all the coaches who have helped me to get to the level that I have. It’s a combination of hard work, determination and talent for me to get to where I got.”

The cricketing world sent prayers and wishes for the recovery of Inzamam-ul-Haq after the Pakistan great suffered a heart attack in Lahore

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2021Inzamam-ul-Haq, one of Pakistan’s greatest batters, also served as chief selector of the national side•AFP

I wish my childhood hero @Inzamam08 Bhai a speedy recovery all the prayers and wishes for you..

— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) September 27, 2021