Australia silence India

Ravi Shastri confidently said that India will lift the trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad two days before the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The World Cup committee for this event planned in a way that all the party was kept for the final only with the stars of Bollywood coming out in numbers at the expense of two World Cup winning captains – Kapil Dev and perhaps, MS Dhoni. BCCI values Bollywood more than Kapil, who changed the face of Indian cricket.

Maybe BCCI thought Kapil could not dance like a Bollywood star and may not add spice to the party they are planning at Ahmedabad – an over-confident BCCI wanted the party to rock the cricket world with India lifting the trophy – but sadly, the party happened everywhere except in India.   

India played outstanding cricket throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and raised the bar so much that they created an aura like the invincible of the past – West Indies of Sir Clive Lloyd and Australia of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting – they became the team to beat in this tournament and threw a tough challenge to every team that included Australia, who were thrashed by the Men in Blue in Chennai.

Virat Kohli’s composure bailed India out on that eventful night and set the tone for a dream run, which no Indian unit ever experienced in an ICC event – unbeaten in ten matches in a trot. Their manner of victory was so ruthless that the fans and experts started discussing the topic “Who will beat India?” Surely, there is no team in this tournament that can deal with the ruthless brand of Team India.

But there is one team known as Australia who has a history of dealing with “Who will beat the X, Y or Z team?” – Australia were the team that ended the glorious run of all-conquering West Indies in 1995. They halted Pakistan of Imran Khan in the semifinal of the Reliance World Cup 1987 by silencing the vociferous crowd at Lahore and triggering fatal heart attacks across Pakistan. The Ashes was retained in a dominating fashion in 1989 after almost seven years despite being the underdogs against a competent English unit. The hot favourites South Africa experienced the toughness of Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 while the brilliance of Pakistan was tamed in the final at Lord’s.

There had been so many times the Australians stepped up to accept the challenges and silenced everyone and once again – Team India asked Australia whether they could beat them in their own backyard in the final of the greatest show in cricket amid the sea of blue in the Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad.

The Australian skipper Pat Cummins, over the years, has experienced the ups and downs in a cricket match – the final of the World Test Championship and Ashes in England had tested the mental and physical limits of Cummins and his boys, but also, made them battle-hardened. Cummins knows very well how to deal with pressure like his predecessors and bounce back in time when it is needed the most.

When the stage is big, similarly to Real Madrid - Australia loves to own it rather than standing back and clapping for the winners. In world cricket, there is hardly any team that can match the self-belief and professionalism of Australia.

After losing back-to-back matches in the World Cup for the first time since 1992 – Cummins and co knew what they needed to do. While India went on a rampage, Cummins was traveling through the choppy waters where he was challenged against New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Africa in the semifinals– Cumimns and Australia prevailed in the nail-biters. They were one match away from the sixth triumph but the team was the mighty India.

Cummins won the toss and surprised everyone by choosing to field first.

The deck was slow and required immediate adjustment by the bowlers – Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc did not take enough time to adapt and get the length right from word go. Each of the pacers dragged length back and maintained the tighter line that they used against South Africa at Kolkata.

The length had deceived Shubman Gill to attempt a pull and was out caught – but Rohit Sharma was in the mood to kill Australia until Travis Head produced a Kapil Dev-like moment to dismiss him with the momentum-shifting catch.

ESPNcricinfo states, “Rohit had already slammed ten runs in two balls from Glenn Maxwell's second over, when he stepped into another slap over the long-off boundary and miscued high out into the covers. Travis Head tracked back from point with the ball skewing high over his shoulder, and with his eyes never leaving the prize, timed his dive to perfection to cling on with both hands.”

Australia slowed down India’s attacking intent and when Virat Kohli looked to flex his arms after reaching his half-century – Cummins got him with the length that prompted Virat to play onto his stumps. There was no respite for Ravindra Jadeja and Surya Kumar Yadav as the length factor was exploited smartly by Australia and the use of the slow-ball bouncer was in effect. KL Rahul dished out an epic vigil but that was ended by the length of Starc while Hazlewood was a hard nut to crack.

In between, Maxwell, Adam Zampa, and Mitchell Marsh delivered the goods that supported Australia’s plan to keep India silent with the bat. Above all, the Australian fielding was top-notch and saved extra runs to pile more pressure on India.

From the 11th to 40th over Australia leaked around 80 runs with the ball.

As a skipper the field placement of Cummins had struck the right chord according to the bowling changes – Cummins was the leader of men and his self-confidence in the middle was contagious which inspired the Aussies to go for the sixth glory.

India had been bowled out for 240 – still, against the best team in the tournament chasing this total would never be easier, and at 47 for 3- it seemed, India would run riot.

Travis Head and Marnus Labsuchagne decided to relive the memories of Aravinda de Silva, Asanka Gurisinhge, and Arjuna Ranatunga in Lahore in 1996.

Labuschagne dropped the anchor while Head played his shots and rotated the strike smartly.

The situation did not demand any rustiness but a Test match like batting where the balls would be hit according to their merit and milking the singles and twos by picking up the gaps. Labuschagne’s sheet anchor role helped Head to flourish over by over and run by run – Rohit kept on rotating his bowlers but they leaked runs as Head never let them settle and adjust their line and length – the dew factor was evident during the fourth wicket stand of 192, but exploiting the conditions and absorbing the pressure of playing in the final make the factor irrelevant.

Head joins the list of the legends who scored hundreds in the final for a winning cause and when he was dismissed Australia required two to win that finished by Maxwell.

India were the choice of many to lift the trophy but Cummins and Australia ultimately silenced Narendra Modi Stadium with his sheer boldness, intelligence, and leadership qualities – Australia deserves to win the title for the sixth time.   

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Australia fly for Ahmedabad

If the situation is a tough one in any format of cricket and requires a response then without a second thought anyone would call for Australia for the best of responses. Time and again they have been proving why Australia remain the most successful team in the history of cricket. Cricket has witnessed the rise of empires and watched them fall and never rise again – but since international cricket commenced – the display of Australia’s mental strength remains an example for others to emulate.

The scenario of the second semifinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Kolkata was similar to one at Edgbaston in 1999. Australia needed 2013 to catch the flight for Ahmedabad – a total that they posted 24 years ago and like Edgbaston – it was the spinners who posed a threat. Like Shane Warne – the South African spin duo – Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were not turning the ball enough but choked the life out of Australia with their accuracy.

They operated in tandem for 16 overs and produced a dot in every two balls, a false shot once every four balls, and almost the same number of wickets as boundaries.

The wicket at Kolkata had the spice for the pacers with the new ball where the Spartan line and length of the Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins set jitters in the South African batting lineup who, as usual, won the toss and elected to bat – sticking to the plan that had paid rich dividends throughout the tournament.

With overcast skies over the Eden gardens – threatening of a heavy shower any time – Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins made the ball talk and maintained the line so accurately that the Proteas batsmen failed to adapt and went back to the hut quickly. But from the ashes - rose David Miller, whose valiant hundred under pressure could have proved vital until the iconic mental strength of Australia showed up.

David Warner and Travis Head started playing shots as if they would finish the match in 20 overs.

Shamsi and Maharaj accounted for the crucial wickets of Marnus Labuschagne, Head, and the Hercules – Glenn Maxwell.

The match was hanging on the balance at 137 for 5.

When Josh Inglis – the man who was playing his 17th ODI – walked out to bat, everyone back in Eden Gardens and those watching on TV thought that South Africa would break the jinx of the Cricket World Cup knockouts. But Inglis is an Australian and all he needed was to hang out there and play with caution and enough control so that the momentum shifts toward Australia.

In cricket – the little cameos are always forgotten and in the coming days – people will talk about the hundred of Miller or the swashbuckling knock of Head – but not the chicky innings played by Inglis that helped Australia register a place in the final.

When Inglish fetched a boundary against Shamsi, who was the height of his powers, it indicated his mental toughness and composure – it was hit against the turn, with a straight bat and minimum back lift. He was going behind the ball by maintaining his full authority on the initial trigger movement off the back foot. The runs were coming courtesy of the ability of Inglis to find the gaps amid the consistent pressure created by Samsi, Maharaj, and the pacers. 

The close chances cropped up but Inglis remained firm on his task.

When Coetze accounted for the scalp of Inglis – Australia were 19 runs away from victory – but a team like Australia would not choke.

It was up to Cummins and Starc to steer the ship safely to shore.

But their task was not without danger.

Starc nicked one that went through the vacant slip region. Cummins scooped one towards short midwicket but the ball fell short of a diving Miller. Quinton De Kock dropped a tough catch behind the wicket. Rabada was missed but he was healing his bruised heel. The Proteas created pressure, the Australians absorbed it like a sponge.

South Africa choked again – the composure of Inglis and Australia won. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

 

Hercules Maxwell

Miracles are true. If you believe that miracles happen in life then your belief is not at all absurd. Your self-belief can lead to some wonderful miraculous stories. And, in fact, no miracles can happen until and unless there are difficulties – once all the struggles are grasped, miracles happen – what is life if there is no story of miracles – what is cricket if does not produce a miracle on the biggest stages!

When Mitchell Starc walked back to the dressing room during the group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Mumbai against Afghanistan – Australia were reeling at 91 for 7 and everyone was waiting to tell you the story of another Afghan fairytale – the big Glenn Maxwell thought of motivating himself from this hopeless situation and essay tone of the greatest knocks in the history of 50-over format.

Maxwell missed his side's win against England last week after suffering a concussion following a freak golf cart accident last week but returned with a phenomenal knock that is already part of cricket’s folklore.

The heat and humidity at Mumbai had taken a toll on Maxwell and in the 41st over he was seen agonizing with pain prompting the next batter, the number 19, Adam Zampa to wait by the boundary line while the physio patched him up to keep him going.

It was not about skill anymore but the strength of temperament – being an Australian, Maxwell knows what mental strength is all about. The man transformed into Hercules and relied on his big-hitting abilities that witnessed the ball leaving orbit several times as it was raining sixes in Mumbai.

No footwork, but clean hitting by standing tall at the crease smothered the Afghanistan bowlers as Maxwell took the game away from them gradually.

Nevertheless, he was well aided by his skipper Pat Cummins who kept one end firm and scored a mere 12 runs facing over sixty-six deliveries.

The mayhem of Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell had walked in to face Omarzai's hat-trick ball in the ninth over. He was then involved in a mix-up, which cost Australia the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne and then witnessed the ship sinking in the Indian Ocean fast and something had to be done.

Drastic situations demand drastic measures and he unleashed hell on the Afghan bowlers.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman could have dismissed Maxwell on 33 had he not dropped a sitter at short fine leg.

Maxwell then walloped Noor Ahmad over midwicket. He smashed Mujeeb over his head and carted Mohammed Nabi over midwicket too. The reverse sweep and other trick shots were also on display in Mumbai as he surged to a hundred off 76 balls. He then needed just 52 balls for his second hundred.

At the other end, Cummins defended resolutely.

When 21 runs were needed off 24 balls for Australia's win and Maxwell's double-hundred, he went 6,6,4,6 against Mujeeb and created history most astonishingly.

Maxwell's 201 not out is the highest score ever by a batter at number six or lower in 4696 ODIs.

This is also the first double-hundred by an Australian in ODI cricket and the third double-ton in World Cups.

Maxwell's unbroken 202-run stand with Cummins is also the highest for the eighth wicket or lower in ODI cricket.

What a knock from the Hercules Maxwell!

 

Shakib Al Hasan was not wrong

In 2010 during the group stage match of the Tri-nation Tournament in Sri Lanka - India were scripting an easy win against Sri Lanka at Dambulla with Virender Sehwag reaching yet another One-day Internationa (ODI) hundred.

With the scores leveled, Suraj Randiv bowled a no-ball to deny Sehwag a hundred, and the ploy was condemned by everyone as it was not within the spirit of the game. Sehwag was left stranded on 99 though he hit the no-ball for a six. It was a deliberate no-ball to deny Sehwag a hundred and when you bowl a deliberate no-ball, surely, the Spirit of the Game is dented.

 According to The Island, it was Dilshan who suggested Randiv to bowl a no ball at the fag end of the match which India won by six wickets. Dilshan, who was fielding at cover point, shouted in Sinhalese 'Oney nam, no ball ekak danna puluwan' (if you want, you can bowl a no ball).

None of the Sri Lankan players reacted to Dilshan's advice to bowl the no-ball, the report said.

Hindustan Times stated that at the post-match press conference, captain Kumar Sangakkara had given indication that someone may have suggested to Randiv to bowl the no ball.

"If it was deliberate, I will have to have a chat to him (Suraj) and make sure it does not happen again. I will have to see also whether there was any talk about it on the field, prior to that delivery," Sangakkara had said.

Sangakkara also came under the scanner as he was heard instructing Randiv in Sinhalese "If he hits the ball, he gets the run" - after Sri Lanka Cricket examined stump microphone audios to determine whether any player had played a role in coaxing Randiv to bowl a 'no-ball.’

Embarrassed by the controversial incident, Sri Lanka Cricket on Tuesday initiated an inquiry under team manager Anura Tennekoon even as Randiv and top SLC officials offered apologies to calm things down.

The apologies prompted the Indian team management to declare the episode a "closed chapter" while the BCCI also made it clear that it would not pursue the case any further.

Four years later, during the fifth One-day International between England and Sri Lanka at Edgbaston in 2014 – Sachitra Senanayake, a spinner with a suspected bowling action became the topic of discussion for a couple of days around the cricketing globe.

Having twice stopped in his delivery stride during the 42nd over to warn both Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan for backing up too far, Senanayake followed through on the threat in the 44th, turning slowly to break the wicket with Buttler a yard or so down the pitch.

The on-field umpires consulted then Sri Lankan skipper –Angelo  Mathews and he nodded his assent in upholding the appeal. That meant the first instance of 'Mankading' in international cricket since Peter Kirsten's innings was ended by Kapil Dev in such a manner during an ODI between South Africa and India in 1992.

The cricket pundits were divided with their opinions regarding the Spirit of Cricket but Mathews did not bother as Sri Lanka won the ODI and Mahela Jayawardene had his backing for the skipper back then.

Jayawardene said that Sri Lanka had warned Buttler twice before the incident and felt he had been claiming an unfair advantage by leaving his ground early.

"We gave him a fair chance. Twice. Before the first warning, we told the umpires that he was taking too much of a lead and then he was warned again. We had to do that because they kept doing it.”

"We analyzed our game after Lord's. They took 22 twos in the last 12 overs. Ravi Bopara and him ran riot. And most of the time they were taking starts that are not legal by the written laws. We just wanted to make sure we got a fair chance. We warned them and we warned the umpires, but they didn't listen to us, so we had to take the right steps”

"We always try to play in the right spirit, but if the other team is not playing in the right spirit and not going with the law, then unfortunately we had to take the law into our hands. It was the third time. It is fair enough, I think. We all need to play by the rules.”

"If the other sides are not going by the rules, then they're not playing by the spirit, so what can you do?"

Mathews was not wrong in his stance neither Senanayake was not wrong because mankading exists in the laws of cricket – people may be divided by the issue of Spirit of the Game – but if any action is done within the laws then how could it hamper the spirit of the game remains a moot question.

In that sense, whatever Shakib Al Hasan did against Sri Lanka during the group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Delhi was not at all wrong

ESPN Cricinfo states, “Mathews was already on the pitch and in his final preparations before taking strike against Shakib Al Hasan. His helmet strap broke just as he was tightening it around his chin.”

“He called for a replacement helmet, which was run out to him by Chamika Karunaratne. Shakib then appeared to initiate a discussion with umpire Marais Erasmus, after which Mathews, as he was not ready to face his first ball within the two minutes to do so as allowed in the ICC playing conditions, was informed he was timed out.”

“During the innings break, reserve umpire Adrian Holdstock explained the process behind the dismissal to broadcaster ICC.tv: "The fielding captain initiated the appeal to Marais Erasmus, who was the standing umpire, that he wanted to appeal for timed out."

 “Mathews was yet to put on the new helmet and Karunaratne was still standing near the pitch when the news of his dismissal was relayed to Mathews. At this stage, at least three minutes and twenty seconds had elapsed since previous batter Sadeera Samarawickrama's dismissal.”

“Mathews initially seemed to think the umpire was not serious, but quickly wore a worried expression, and engaged in a long discussion with both Erasmus and square-leg umpire Richard Illingworth.”

“Erasmus then approached Shakib and had a quick discussion (the second between the two), following which Mathews also spoke briefly to Shakib, who offered a consoling tap on Mathews' shoulder. But ultimately, the decision to rule him timed out was upheld, prompting more animated and visibly upset gesturing from Mathews at his broken helmet strap.”

The ICC playing conditions stipulate clearly that the batter must be ready to receive the ball within two minutes, which Mathews was not as the law says, 40.1.1: “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within two minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed Out."

Bangladesh held their nerves to beat Sri Lanka while the anger among the Sri Lankan players and especially Mathews was evident – who expressed his frustration at the presser after the match:

"It was obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh," Mathews said. "If they want to take wickets like that and stoop down to that level, there's something wrong, drastically”.

"It's very disappointing way that Bangladesh played. If it was mankading or obstructing the field, there's no issue. Within two minutes I was at the crease, and it was when I was at the crease that my helmet broke. The umpires saw this. I still had five seconds left. After I showed my helmet, the umpires said [Bangladesh] had appealed. So I asked where common sense was because my two minutes hadn't passed.”

"I've got no words to explain it. In my 15 years of playing, I've never seen a team or a player stoop so low.”

While Shakib Al Hasan stated, “One of our fielders (Najmul Hossain Shanto) came to me and said, 'If you appeal now, he will be out, if you are serious'. Then I appealed and the umpire asked me whether I was serious and whether I was going to take it back or not. I said no if it is in the rule if it's out, I [won't] take it back."

“It is in the laws. I don't know if it is right or wrong. But I felt like I was at war. I had to take decision to make sure my team wins and whatever I had to do, I had to do. Right or wrong - there will be debates. But if it's in the rules, I don't mind taking those chances," said Shakib.

ICC and MCC have made laws for cricket worldwide. 

The rules are followed by the players and the umpires give their decisions according to the laws and if any dismissal is produced under the law, a player has to follow that rather than getting emotion about the Spirit of the Game.

Even though - the laws of cricket have also had an introductory statement or preamble. It states that cricket should be played not only according to the laws but also in the “spirit of cricket.”

This preamble is aimed at reminding players and officials of their responsibility for ensuring cricket is played in a truly sportsmanlike manner.

But frankly speaking – the concept of the “Spirit of Cricket” is subjective and has remained hazy since 1882 when even the great WG Grace denied following it.

In the one-off Test match against Australia in 1882 at the Oval, Australia were 114 for six in their second innings, with a lead of just 38, when the young batsman Sammy Jones completed a run and made his ground at the end of an over.

Jones then went back down the pitch to talk to his captain Billy Murdoch at the other end, and certainly to pat down divots in the pitch.

WG threw down the stumps, demanding a run out in his high-pitched voice. The umpires were Bob Thoms and Luke Greenwood, a former Yorkshire player who had played Test cricket for England had responded to the appeal of Grace, and Jones had to walk back to the hut.

131 years later, at Trent Bridge, during the first Ashes Test, 2013 - On the third day at a delicate point in the match with England leading by 297 with four second innings wickets remaining, Broad fairly smashed an Ashton Agar delivery off Brad Haddin and into Michael Clarke’s hands at slip.

Inexplicably, Aleem Dar failed to give him out; Broad wandered down the wicket and tapped gloves with Ian Bell. Australia had no reviews remaining. Broad went on to make 65 and England won by 14 runs. Aus coach Darren Lehmann called it “blatant cheating”, but Broad pointed out he was under no obligation to walk and replied “I’ve never walked in cricket. I don’t see why I would.”

10 years later, in the second Test at Lord’s – England batsman England batsman Bairstow was stumped by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey on day five of the second Ashes Test when Bairstow left his crease. The incident triggered controversy but Carey was within the rules to dismiss Bairstow who was repeating this for a while. If you don’t reach the crease after the ball is in the end of the keeper then you have to face the consequences.

Neither did Justin Langer start to walk during the second Test at Hobart in 1999

Shortly after Pakistan had taken the new ball, Justin Langer, on 76, appeared clearly to have snicked one to wicket-keeper Moin Khan off Wasim Akram but 'home' umpire Parker ruled that not out. Australia's total then was 5 for 237, chasing 369 – that decision broke the Pakistani spirit and helped Australia trigger one of the most successful runs in the history of Test cricket – that decision gave rise to the invincible Australia – Langer decided not to walk because the umpire did not give him out and he had every right to stay at the wicket – the Spirit of the Game factor becomes irrelevant in the crucial juncture of play.

The lawmakers need to sit down and decide whether the “Spirit of the Game” and the Laws of Cricket co-exist or not.

Whatever the cricketers of the past and present are doing – most of them are within the laws of the game.

It’s better to take a look at modifying the Spirit of the Game.

Everyone plays the game hard to win – and of course, by following the rules of the game.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar  

Pakistan being Pakistan

The name of the cricket team is Pakistan. 

They are one of the mysterious sides in world cricket. 

Just when you think that they would breathe fire they end up burning their own pants and become a laughingstock. Just when you think that you have humiliated enough to gift them shame – from nowhere – they will start kicking your back, slap on the face and punch on the rib cage to a point from where it would take time for you to recover. You take a break and try to analyze this mysterious unit - you end up with no result because no one ever has been able to define the Pakistan Cricket Team.  

They have a board that keeps on changing like a train on a railway platform. Even a railway engine has a destination but the Pakistan Cricket Board – aka PCB does not know what they are doing and what it will do in the future. They have a media whose only job is to blame each other and the arch-rival. The fans are always passionate but remain confused. There had been a history of groping, in-fights, ego clashes, arguments, and pathetic petty politics among the players. The talented players are misguided. The talents fade and the talents keep on coming. But they have no definitive system like India – but they show up – perform and yes, win matches.

In the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in India – Pakistan’s performance has been below par. They had been pale against Holland. Mighty against Sri Lanka. Worst against India. Lost their mind against Australia. Looked out of ideas against Afghanistan. And, broke the hearts of everyone against South Africa.  

Well, the story of this team is over and out.

But – they are Pakistan – Freak. Perennially fractious. Mysterious. Unpredictable.  

A couple of weeks back – in Bangalore, Australia taught Pakistan a lesson for not batting first and punished them for their sloppy fielding and pathetic bowling that lacked skill and control. Australia posted a huge total. Pakistan’s response was positive but they lost their way as usual on a flat deck letting David Warner and Adam Zampa come back in form – such generous work!

A few weeks later – in a do-or-die encounter – Babar repeated the mistakes against New Zealand, whose team was experiencing a setback due to injuries.

The ideal task was to win the toss and exploit the injury-prone Kiwi attack via Fakhar Zaman on a flat deck and small boundaries – well, it was New Zealand, who went all guns blazing Kane Williamson and Racn Ravindra had a jolly bash against Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali – a match where Pakistan went with an all-pace-attack with a little benefit except the young Wasim Junior.

Afridi remains pale with the new ball and his figures in this tournament have been terrible whereas the ICC ranking says that he is the number 1 fast bowler in the world. He leaked 90 runs from 10 while Rauf leaked 85. Just after Rauf conceded the highest runs leaked by a Pakistani bowler in the World Cup, Afridi broke the record of his colleague – it was a total mockery out there while Pakistan’s sloppiness on the field was as consistent as ever.  

New Zealand put on 140 runs in the 14.1 overs since Ravindra fell, breaching the 400 barrier against a battered, broken Pakistan fielding unit.

Pakistan’s hopes in this tournament are dead and buried – the coffin would land safely at Lahore after the final match of the group stage.

But the team is Pakistan!

Fakhar Zaman – who had scored 4, 30, 27, 4, and 12 in the last five ODIs before regaining his form against Bangladesh at Kolkata – transformed into Muhammad Ali and used his willow like Ali that was flying like a bee and stinging like a bee.

Two fours and a six in the third over of Trent Boult set the tone, with the 17 he conceded was Boult's most expensive World Cup over. It was followed up by another 16 in his next as Babar was playing the role of sheet anchor but didn’t step back from hitting the loose ones.

Tim Southee was also taken on, as was Santner By Fakhar, for whom the white ball seemed like a football and sent the ball out of Bangalore City several times. Glenn Phillips felt how it feels to be taken to the cleaners. Just when you stopped cheering those hits, Mitchell Santer was taken to the cleaners brutally.

The evening turns out to be Pakistan’s party and when they are having their time in the middle – the galaxy and the multiverse start supporting them.

The heavens opened – and the rain started pouring down.

Pakistan were ten runs according to DLS

When the match commenced, Pakistan started the party again, with the target becoming 342 off 41 overs.

 Williamson fatefully turned to Sodhi, who conceded 32 in the two overs he sent down, including two gigantic sixes off Fakhar.

The heavens opened up again – and the match never took off – Pakistan ended up as the winner.

No one knows how to analyze this match. The cricket experts out there have no words. The fans are still recovering from the Fakhar show. New Zealand is left clueless. The Cricketing Gods are still figuring out how to define Pakistan cricket.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Spicy Shami

The coach of Indian pace bowler - Mohammed Shami said that you can earn money but you also have to invest to upgrade your skills and for which, in his farmhouse at Alinagar UP, Shami has developed various pitches to polish his skills so that he could maintain his control over his bowling and stick to the basics - even when he is away from the game, the break does not hamper his return.

In the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup India – the Men in Blue are playing cricket at a different level. They are still unbeaten in the tournament and their commendable performances have created an aura of invincibility that has become a matter of fear for the opposing teams – England experienced it last night after digesting yet another heavy defeat in a low-scoring affair. Like Bangladesh, England crumbled on a tricky Lucknow deck and with that, their further progression in this tournament is over.

It was Mohammed Shami who ripped through the heart of the English batting line-up in a mesmerizing spell of high-quality bowling.

Shami claimed 2 for 4 from three overs inside the first powerplay in a breathtaking spell and Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 17 from five as England collapsed to 40 for 4 after 10 overs. Shami claimed two more and Bumrah one and it was all over over time.

For the first four matches, Shami was just a spectator and working as a mentor for his team passing out valuable advice with a smile on his face. If he was chomping at the bit or feeling frustrated at having to warm the bench, Shami did a great job of hiding it – with Hardik Pandya being in such a fine tune, the need for the third seamer was hardly felt because Pandya was not only providing the value with the ball but with the bat also.

Then Pandya was injured and India decided not to include a third spinner but give Shami a chance which the man grabbed with full hands.

Pandya's temporary exit took Shardul Thakur out of the equation, Suryakumar Yadav slotting in at No. 6 and Shami coming in for Thakur to lend greater teeth and potency to the bowling group.

In two matches, against New Zealand in Dharamsala and England in Lucknow, he has snaffled nine wickets – average 8.44, economy 4.47, and strike-rate 11.33. Among the top 15 wicket-takers, no one has a better average or strike rate and only Jasprit Bumrah, his partner-in-crime, has a better economy (3.91).

Shami could only achieve this due to his self-confidence and hard work. When he was not playing, Shami never allowed the grass to grow under his feet, but always kept himself engaged so that the pace bowler within him did not get lost by any means.

At Lucknow, he had not done something extraordinary to set jitters in the English batting line-up – rather maintained the spartan line and length consistently on a brownish deck where people thought that Ravichandran Ashwin could have been deadly. Well, India bowling under the lights for the time in the tournament showed that its pace bowlers are one of the best on any surface – the experienced Shami provided the cutting edge as Mohamed Siraj still rediscovering his mojo and Shardul Thakur provided nothing.

The spell to Ben Stokes was a treat.

The first delivery landed on a length and did not move but shaped away. The second ball was another goodish length which Stokes mistimed.  The third ball was another good-length delivery which was punched to extra-cover. The fourth delivery was a peach – it seamed away after landing on the same length from an angle. The fifth one was a full-length which Stokes played at mid-on. Stokes was getting restless because he was in an attacking intent so that he could break the shackles – but he cleared his front foot against a delivery that was too full to achieve that and had to depart.

Shami exhibited a superb display of length and seam bowling.

The seam that leaves the hand of Shami is as good as anyone in modern-day cricket and the amount of control he achieves over his bowling is just brilliant.

Hard work pays off, certainly!

Thank You

Faisal Caesar  

 

New Zealand end up as the tragic hero

How good a team you are is determined by the way you fight against the top teams in world cricket rather than bashing the lower-ranked sides and earning the number one tag – the bubble of which bursts after meeting the harsh reality. To be regarded as one of the top teams you have to show the intent of a Cornered Tiger and even if you lose the battle, earn the respect of everyone for displaying the courage to punch above the weight.

In one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in world cricket – Australia and New Zealand logged horns and while the local television channels in Bangladesh stopped showing the match for the sake of the contest between Bangladesh and Holland at Kolkata – New Zealand showed everyone why they are regarded as one of the most dangerous teams in world cricket.

No over-hyped players. No big stars. No so-called cult individuals. No Kings. No freedom fighter. No craze to gain a political shelter at any cost. No hunger for sponsorships - but consists of a bunch of passionate blokes, who enjoy the most whenever they take the field.

The Kiwis bowls according to the merit of a wicket. Field with the fullest of energies. And, boy, these Kiwis can bat and put chills down the spine of opposition – at Dharamsala, the Australians, not for the first time, experienced the fighting nature of New Zealand who fell short by just 5 runs in a crazy 771-run thriller that is part of Cricket world Cup’s folklore.  

Travis Head returned to the team and played shots as if he was never injured and never out of the team.  Head essayed a stunning 59-ball century as he and David Warner clubbed 118 runs in the opening powerplay and shared a staggering 175-run opening stand to help Australia post 388, becoming the first side in ODI history to post three consecutive 350-plus scores.

New Zealand replied in a positive fashion led by Rachin Ravindra, who became the first batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to notch up two centuries before the age of 25 in a Cricket World Cup. Daryl Mitchell added more meat to the run chase but Australia struck and at one point the Kiwis lost their way – stepped up Jimmy Neesham, who unleashed clean but cultural hitting that put New Zealand on the track of creating history.

 43 runs were needed off 18 deliveries and two wickets in hand for New Zealand – Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood missed their marks.

Trent Boult got some personal redemption for 2019 when Marnus Labuschagne stood on the rope at long-on to hand him six runs.

Starc was needed to defend 19 in the last over with only four men outside the circle because of Australia's slow over-rate. He delivered five wides in the second ball and the target was reduced to 13 off 5 – Starc dished out his lethal yorkers as Neesham failed to connect properly while the Australians sweepers made staggering saves before Labuschagne and Josh Inglis combined to run out Neesham off the second-last ball – memories of Lord’s Final in 2019 returned.

Lockie Ferguson could not finish the task and another World Cup classic was added to the archives with New Zealand as the tragic hero.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

South Africa dish out a thrilling victory, Pakistan left stunned

In a nail-biter – when the tail is exposed – all it requires for the tail-enders to maintain composure and steer the ship safely home, given the fact that there is no pressure of an escalating asking run rate.

Teams like South Africa, who has a history of crumbling under pressure, sink deeper in such situations, but tonight in the all-important match for the Pakistanis to stay alive in the tournament, Keshav Maharaj played the most important knock to prevail in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 classic. 

This match changed its colour like the Pakistan team in the crucial passages – The South Africans were always ahead of the asking run rate and Aiden Markram was well poised to finish the game, but all of a sudden Pakistan attacked to pick wickets – Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled with a lot of heart, Mohammad Wasim Junior meant business while Haris Rauf, though leaked runs, asked questions and picked wickets – he could have finished the match if the review didn’t stick to the umpire’s call.

But still – at one end – the spinners were badly needed to pile up the pressure and that is where Pakistan’s hopes shattered – Usama Mir, the first-ever concussion substitute for the injured Shadab Khan had his say despite not being effective but the consistent failure Mohammad Nawaz was needed to deliver yet again under pressure and as usual he failed.

South Africa managed to get over the line. They rode their luck slightly but ultimately held their composure. Maharaj pounced on a short delivery from Nawaz that was totally not the ideal one in such situations, depositing him behind fine leg.

And it was Nawaz again who fell to his knees, while South Africa basked in the glory of that one thing they don't often manage: getting over the line in a nerve-jangler.

Babar Azam came alive with his captaincy regarding the fieldset and bowling changes – and suffocated South Africa in patches: if one or two overs looked good enough, three or four overs leaked runs and let the pressure evaporate in the Chennai air.

In the most important match of the tournament – Pakistan were needed to bat very well, but they failed themselves by throwing away wickets courtesy of attempting those cross-batted shots that triggered their demise against Australia and did not help enough against Afghanistan as well.

All Pakistan needed was to build partnerships and play out the fifty overs – sadly, they triggered their own button of destruction and to challenge South Africa on this deck 270 was never going to be enough.

Still, Pakistan fought – they fought harder – but tonight it didn’t prove fruitful and perhaps, such intent was much needed against India, Australia, and Afghanistan.

The late spark went begging as Maharaj celebrated with his teammates the victory in one of the most thrilling matches in the history of the Cricket World Cup.

With the Chennai crowd backing them - Pakistan were left witnessing the South African celebration - they know that their hopes of staying alive in the tournament is almost over.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

 

England sink into Sri Lankan quicksand

England’s Bazball was a craze among the youngsters and they thought that Brendon McCullum – the coach for the Test format - was the first coach ever to revolutionize such ultra-aggressive batting in cricket while in the past it was ever used – neither Sir Don Bradman nor Victor Trumper nor Gilbert Jessop nor Sir Vivian Richards knows what being ultra-aggressive with the bat is! Even in the ODIs and T20 format – under Matthew Mott – England kept their ultra-aggression intact and they were expected to crack fireworks in India.

And – there was the English discovery “The Hundred” that was expected to galvanize the English batting – sadly, it did not.

Came the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India - New Zealand let England and others know what aggression is and South Africa literally traumatized England in the heat and humidity at Mumbai – the catastrophic events at Mumbai triggered such a psychological blow to England that in Bangalore – during the clash between the eighth and ninth team in the points table – England sunk into the Sri Lankan quicksand.

No Bazball – but a collapse that England witnessed Pakistan manufacture at Ahmedabad against India a few weeks back.

They were going fine at 45 for no loss and then the Bazball blowout happened!

Angelo Mathews would not have been included but due to the injury of Matheesha Pathirana, he featured and at the age of 36 he showed the intent and hunger in his first over in an ODI for three-and-a-half years – a rinse-and-rise delivery that dismissed Dawid Malan.

And that was it – England panicked.

Joe Root was run out in a schoolboy fashion, in my opinion. Bairstow attempted to whack one outside off over mid-on and holed out. Jos Buttler had a waft outside off and walked back to the hut. Liam Livingstone was trapped lbw courtesy of lazy feet movement and Moeen Ali’s demise was a loose one.

Ben Stokes was fighting but as soon as he was dismissed – England lost 10 wickets for 111 runs – that made things worse for the defending champions as their chances now rely on serious mathematical twists and turns.

The Sri Lankans gained a sufficient amount of confidence after beating the Dutch previously and the injection of Mathews sparked them up which was evident on the field and as the English surrendered meekly – with every passing minute the Lankans were looking spontaneous and confident.

England were badly needed to bounce back from the South African nightmare but after losing within just 59 overs of the 100 – the ability to handle pressure by the whole team, especially by the coach and captain will come under the scanner.

In a 50-over format mega-event – there is little time for the dust to settle, rather, a team needs to rise and shine soon like the Australians.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Sloppy Pakistan watch Afghanistan celebrate

Pakistan change its colour from time to time – they are a bunch of freaks who, perhaps, don’t even know what to do in every game, and for which they are still a team that blows hot and cold. Just when the critics tagged that this Pakistan unit could pose a threat after chasing an impossible total against Sri Lanka – they collapsed against India, remained sloppy against Australia, and completed the circle of sloppiness by digesting a defeat against Afghanistan for the first time in the history of Pakistan’s ODI.  

Three times in a row – it had been a ridiculous Pakistan whose captain lacked the spark, while the rest of the players had no idea how to stick to the basics of the game rather than trying to emulate the extraordinary talents of the past unnecessarily.

If the collapse against India was hard to imagine then the sloppiness against Afghanistan is beyond imagination from a side that was at the top of the ICC ODI ratings before the commencement of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 – while, in between, the lackluster cricket against Australia is sandwiched.

Before the match – everyone suggested that the Chennai deck might be sluggish like the match between India and Australia – keeping that in mind, both the teams focused on spinners with Afghanistan including four.

To be honest among the two teams – The Pakistani spinners were the weakest links and time and again – they have made Pakistan suffer terribly and this match was no different.

When Pakistan started to bat after winning the toss, the deck never gave the impression of sluggishness but a good batting track where the margin of error in bowling was minimal. Even though the experts stated that on this deck anything around 250+ would be a competitive total - as soon as the match progressed – a total of 330+ seemed necessary.

And, Pakistan could have achieved such had their batsmen cut short the tendency to execute cross-batted shots. 

Imam-ul-Haq was dismissed again while attempting to pull and in the previous matches – he was dismissed twice while attempting such. Abdullah Shafique was dismissed while attempting to sweep against the wrong-un when he was well-set – another cross-batted shot. Then, Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed playing a sweep against a wide-of-a-length delivery – another cross-batted shot. Meanwhile, Saud Shakil ended up with eggs on his face by trying to whack a flighted delivery outside off towards midwicket – another cross-batted shot.

Four batsmen were dismissed while attempting shots that were not even necessary and were against the run of play, automatically, putting Pakistan under pressure.

A late burst from the Pakistani tail-enders gave the total a boost – but Pakistan forgot that the nature of the deck kept on improving and for players like Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran – this could be a paradise if the Pakistani new ball bowlers don’t get the basics right.

Till now, in this tournament, the teams that have fared well with the ball have invested more in attacking the stumps and maintaining an incisive length backed up by sharp fielding – the perfect example is India.

In three matches in a row – the new ball bowlers of Pakistan bowled wayward trying to discover swing for a mysterious reason, bowled with a lot of pace but without control, and surprisingly, none of them have attacked the stumps enough. Whereas the spinners are just there to ease the pressure with half-volleys and short-of-length stuff.

Then comes Pakistani fielding which remains a laughing stock, still, today – the board invests so much in various things for the players despite the economic crisis – but the effort on the field from the Pakistani players is like a 50-year-old playing village cricket in England who runs after the ball and fields too cautiously so that the bones don’t break. 

How many easy runs and boundaries have been given tonight the Pakistanis should look and think whether they deserve to don the Green Shirt that earned the respect of so many fans in the past.

And, how badly the Pakistanis have bowled tonight surely put the legendary bowlers of the past in shame – the sad voice of Waqar Younis at the commentary suggested how low was he feeling deep down watching the dismal show by the pacers.

Coming into their fifth match of the tournament, Afghanistan had never beaten Pakistan in an ODI rather suffered heartbreaks.  But in the Cricket World Cup, they finally managed to break the jinx. And they did it, in Chennai, by eight wickets chasing down 283 with six balls to spare, crafting their highest successful chase in ODIs in the process - it was also the highest successful chase against Pakistan in a Cricket World Cup game.

Gurbaz and Zadran batted like a monster – devouring every Pakistani delivery as if they were hungry for ages as the runs came thick and fast with the Pakistani bowlers vanishing all around the park. Their 130-run stand came like the movement of the Flash while the composure of Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi was like the Batman and Superman –just exploit the below-par Pakistani attack according to merit as a rush of blood would invite catastrophe.

The venue where Saeed Anwar smashed 194 in 1997 and Pakistan won a thrilling Test against India in 1999 which earned them a standing ovation – the venue where Imran Khan smashed a hundred in a Test in 1987 –witnessed the celebration of a unit that never lost heart and always pushes their limit to achieve something.

Afghanistan celebrated another victory in front of the sloppy Pakistanis.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

The technical and temperamental efficiency of Virat Kohli

Just rewind to 2020, 2021, and 2022 – all of a sudden, one of the best batsmen of the modern game was found struggling with his form. He was struggling against the moving ball and the struggle against the spinners. The critics of Kohli became vocal and in every dismissal – the Indian superstar was heavily criticized by the fans and former players.

According to an analytical article published at Wisden last year, it was stated that Kohli had been dismissed eleven times in Test cricket in India since the start of 2020. Nine of those dismissals came against spinners like Ajaz Patel, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Lasith Embuldeniya, Moeen Ali, and Rachin Ravindra.

While against the pacers, the line outside the fourth and fifth stump line became a nemesis again.

In 2014, he explained to Naseer Hussain that while taking a stance, Virat's back toe was slanted and pointed toward the cover rather than the point for which he opened up more exposing his edge.

He expected the inswingres in the 2014 England tour whereas his wrong toe position took him towards the fourth and fifth stump.

He discussed with Sachin Tendulkar who worked on this and adjusted his toe towards the point. He started taking an off-stump guard which helped him weather the deliveries going towards the fourth and fifth stump and then he batted outside of his crease to play the good length as half volleys.

After 2019 and till now, the old problems had started to show up again - his toe was pointing towards cover and thus, the lean patch was prolonged – the back and across movement was not striking the right chord because of a defect in the basic.

Sunil Gavaskar stated at that time, “That method has been successful for him. He has got 8,000 Test runs with that back-and-across movement. But he is playing at deliveries way outside off stump and a little too early in the innings. This time around, the foot is somewhere else, the bat is somewhere else.”

At his peak, Kohli used to rock back and execute the short-am whip towards midwicket to get off the mark and settle at the wicket. He forced the bowler to bowl short of a length and played shots by staying deep at the crease – obviously, the back and across movement stayed and was helping him until 2020, and thereon, Kohli started to realize he needed to be a bit more square on rather than sticking to the old plan.

While against the spinners, he decided to go fully forward or fully back rather than getting stuck on the crease.

Kohli accepted that his batting needs a reboot and until and unless you don’t accept your flaws, you can’t get out of the hole.

Kohli went back to the basics – his intent was to spend more time at the crease, play the ball late with perfect hand-and-eye coordination, fix the back lift, adopt the two-eyed open stance while facing spinners and swing bowlers so that it complements the initial trigger movement on the back foot and rely more on strike-rotation.

The second version of Kohli is more like Javed Miandad – a mentality beast, who would hold one end firm and keep the scoreboard ticking at a rate so that the team never comes under pressure.

In the most anticipated match against New Zealand during the group stage match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Dharamsala – on a tricky deck, Kohli showed why he is highly rated as a player both technically and temperamentally.

The New Zealand left-arm orthodox bowlers had India under pressure and at one point India lost five wickets with still 83 runs to get.

But Kohli dug deeper and played the 50-over format like it should be played when the bowling attack is posing a threat and the deck is on the slower side.

His batting was not all about style but it was about the compassion of a man who never gives up and fights his way to rediscover his mojo. The Kohli of today occupies the crease and relies on depth touches rather than slicing the attack – he is the captain who steers the ship safely to the shore by absorbing the pressure – the more the pressure, the more Kohli flourishes.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

 

 

Mayhem at Mumbai

The defending champions England and one of the most rejuvenated sides of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 – South Africa logged horns at Mumbai against the backdrop of defeats against two underdogs of this tournament – Afghanistan and the Netherlands. Both the teams were down morally and the loss of South African skipper Temba Bavuma due to injury was expected to dent the Proteas while the return of last tournament’s Hero – Ben Stokes was expected to boost the English morale.

But as soon as the match commenced it was England who melted like an ice sculpture in the heat, humidity, and the mayhem of South African batsmen.

According to CricViz - South Africa and England are the two teams with the highest attacking shot percentage in this Cricket World Cup.

Despite knowing the fact that the South Africans are a dangerous unit while batting first – England won the toss and decided to field first.

Their new ball bowlers – Reece Topley and David Willey maintained the discipline that fetched the wicket of the dangerous Quinton de Kock and kept Reeza Hendricks quiet in his first-ever World Cup match.

With the sun shining brightly above – the track started to lose its life and Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen took control over the English bowlers by disturbing their discipline with attacking stroke play – at one point the South Africans were 18 for 1 in just 6 overs.

England brought on Mark Wood, who attempted to bounce out the South Africans with pace but he was smacked mercilessly – his three wickets in this World Cup came against Bangladesh and Afghanistan at an average over 70 and with the scoring rate escalating in a fearsome manner, Jos Buttler brought on Joe Root to tight the situation, but it hardly had an impact as the Proteas never let the scoring rate down.

England broke through and it seemed that they were making a good comeback but Heinrich Klaasen Marco Jansen slaughtered the English attack.

In the last 15 overs – England lost their way as the willow of Kklaasen and Jansen cut them into halves.

Klaasen was the smart bloke in the middle who ensured that he faced most of the deliveries and as soon as he reached his half-century all hell broke – the last 27 deliveries he faced fetched 57 runs and till now, this is the best hundred of this tournament.

Klaasen smothered Adil Rashid beyond deep midwicket and then plucked 19 runs off Topley in the next over. No sooner had he been felled by a yorker off Wood and had to take a breather in the exhausting weather at Mumbai, Klaasen pushed a low full toss from Wood over the fence at long-on then pulled a four wide of deep fine leg to reach his century.

Jansen then brought up a 35-ball fifty with a run of six, four, six off Atkinson down the ground, behind deep point and over midwicket. Jansen's ball-striking was sublime as he smashed Topley for three sixes in the penultimate over, which went for 26 runs in all.

Klaasen’s swashbuckling knock included  12 boundaries and 4 sixes as he shared a South African record 151-run sixth-wicket partnership with Jansen from just 77 balls, one of two century stands for South Africa with Hendricks  and Van der Dussen putting on 121 together for the second wicket 

Hendricks ended up as his side's second-highest scorer with an excellent 85 from 75 balls while Jansen was incredibly damaging in his own right with a 42-ball 75 not out.

South Africa fell one short of 400 but it was enough to crush an exhausted English unit.

Within 12 overs England had lost six wickets for 68 and from there, England melted and vanished.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

 

 

Brazil is not on right track

After crushing Bolivia during the opening match of the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 – it seemed, the interim coach Fernando Diniz had arrived to rescue Brazilian Football – but in the following matches, harsh reality struck Brazil – who rediscovered that they are not on the right track, rather slipping down fast to the rock bottom from where it may take a while to bounce back if the think tank of Selecao doesn’t take positive steps.

In Lima, Peru stranglehold the Brazilians until the late goal by Marquinhos came to the rescue and at home, against Venezuela, Brazil were left chasing shadows against the pace and counter of the South American neighbours. The defence lost its shape consistently and the midfield never looked creative enough – the fear was whether this would be able to handle the rejuvenated side of Marcelo Bielsa – Uruguay at Montevideo.

The fear became a reality as Uruguay totally outclassed Brazil and conveyed the message that the tactics of Diniz may be fruitful in the average domestic football of Brazil but at the international level, it is not up to the mark.

Since the defeat against Croatia in the Quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar –the Brazilian National Team is going through a lean patch. The defeat at the Education City Stadium witnessed the end of coach Tite’s era, whose record may be astonishing but his tactics and choice of players backfired severely and lost the faith of the critics and Brazilian fans as a whole.

After every World Cup disaster Brazil fans are habituated to witness a lot of changes in the Brazilian national team — change of coaches, choosing the wrong ones at first and then opting for another wrong one, no vision from the think tank and the cycle tends to repeat.

After the upset in Qatar, the think tank of Brazil Football is adamant about going with a European coach because since the start of the last decade, surprisingly, Brazil have struggled immensely against the top European teams whereas once upon a time — it was the teams from Europe, who followed Brazilian style of play the most.

But as the Europeans mastered the game, Brazil, gradually, lost its sting. They gave rise to talents, but not special ones with a tough mentality, and their production of world-class coaches has taken a setback.

The appointment of Ramon Menezes proved to be disastrous as Brazil digested defeats against Morocco and Senegal. He left the way for Fernando Diniz, who is a very popular coach among the locals because of his success at Fluminense.

 The Brazilian Football Federation has stated that Carlo Ancelotti will take over as the coach from next year before the start of Copa America, but until then, Brazil will stick to the idea of an interim coach.

But at the moment, Ancelotti is giving a different statement regarding his appointment and Ancelotti has given up the idea of becoming the coach of Selecao then Brazil may have to stick to Diniz, whose appointment is turning out to be like Menezes.

Who is Fernando Diniz?

Fernando Diniz was a professional footballer in the past and started his playing career with Juventus-SP in 1993. In 1996 he moved to Guarani but agreed to a contract with Palmeiras shortly after. In 1997, Diniz moved to Corinthians, featuring regularly during his two-year spell at the club. He subsequently represented Paraná, Fluminense, Flamengo, Juventude, Cruzeiro, and Santos, all in the top tier. In 2006 Diniz signed for Paulista and later played for Santo André and Gama. He retired with the latter in 2008, aged 34.

After retiring from football Diniz decided to build a career in football coaching.

He was appointed head coach of lowly Votoraty, where he was crowned champions of both Copa Paulista and Campeonato Paulista Serie A3. In 2010 he moved to Paulista.

In 2011, Diniz was named Botafogo-SP head coach, but was fired after only four matches in charge — He was appointed at the helm of Atletico Sorocaba in 2012. Despite achieving promotion from the Campeonato Paulista Serie A2, he was relieved from his duties in October of that year.

In 2013 Diniz joined Audax and introduced the tiki-taka, style of FC Barcelona, the club which would change his fortune a decade later.

Diniz returned to Audax for the 2016 Campeonato Paulista, which he managed to lead the side to the finals, but lost to Santos.

After leaving Atletico Paranaense, where he was replaced by Tiago Nune, Diniz joined Flumeninse but was sacked — later on featured as a coach in teams like Sao Paulo, Vasco da Gama, and Santos — but the journeys were not chummy and in 2022, he returned to Fluminense, where he won his first major trophy and earned the accolades.

Diniz and his tactics

Diniz is widely known as the New Guardiola in Brazil for his tactics because of the way Fluminense has been playing since he rejoined the club.

Diniz himself said, “My game itself is heavily inspired by Guardiola, in the sense of wanting to impose the game, dominate, and have fun, I think we similarly understand football, possibly. But it’s curious: when I saw his teams’ games live in the stadium, it became very clear that the way of executing is very different.”

“His team is positional; it’s a game in which players hold positions in the areas of the field they occupy. And the game comes to them. The exceptions are the center-forward, in this case, Aguero, and the first man, Fernandinho. My team today, for example, is completely different. We have a lot of positional interchanges, we keep fewer positions in the midfield and upfront, we try to apply a dynamic game, and it’s a different collective participation.”

The model

Contrary to most modern managers and their constant battle for space through positional play, Diniz adopts a fluid possession-based tactic based on constant approximation and numerical superiority.

A narrow 4–2–3–1 or 4–2–2–2 is used with different individual roles based on each player’s style — no place for rigidity but free-flowing football.

Defence: Press after possession loss.

Offence: Slow Build Up, possession.

Set-Pieces: 7 players in the Box, 4 on corners and free-kicks

Goalkeeper: Sweeper and come for crosses

Centre-back: Default

Right-back: Balanced and overlap

Left-back: Balanced and overlap

Right defensive midfielder: Cut passing Lanes, balanced attack, cover wing, and drifting wide

Left defensive midfielder: Cut passing lanes, stay back, cover wing, and drifting wide

Central attacking midfielder: Stay on edge, drift wide, and basic Defence

Left and right attacking midfielders: Come back, Wander like a free bird, and get into the Box

Striker changing to Centre-forward: Provide balanced width, target players in opposition defence, at times play the role of a decoy and stay forward

The striking thing in Diniz’s tactics

The most striking aspect of Diniz’s tactics is loading one side of the pitch and building from there by relying on one-to-one short passes and creating opportunities from the flanks.

In this system, Diniz has rejuvenated the old-fashioned number 10 where Ganso becomes the key player who remains close to the sideline, facing the field and dictating associations, pausing and providing technical efficiencies. The two defensive midfielders provide the pivots and the left and right attacking midfielders play the role of very good options on either side — both central and attacking midfielders direct the build-up play according to the respective interpretation, dropping between the centre-back and allow the striker to make incisive runs.

Without the ball — Diniz switches to a 4–4–2 formation and his intention is not to create spaces but with the spaces and advance forward.

Diniz exploits the half-spaces as a surprising element and in that case, his wing-backs come into action.

Diniz and his Relationalism style of football

In the world of Diniz, positional football has little value, rather it emphasizes relationalism.

From Football writer Jamie Hamilton’s article, we come to know, “Relationism (a term I first introduced in November 2022) is a paradigm of football; it is a translated twist on what Jozsef ‘Hungaro’ Bozsik first called Jogo Funcional back in 2018. Relationism is a lens through which the game can be theorized, practised, and developed. Positionism is also a paradigm of football, albeit a fundamentally different one.”

“Relationism is not just players standing close together nor can it be reduced to players ‘being friends’ with one another.”

“Relationist players move together while communicating through signals and cues often undetectable by those schooled in various other strains of football thinking.”

This concept seems very adventurous but if it is not executed appropriately then a team is sure to be doomed!

Why the tactics of Diniz are not working at the international level?

Despite having such a talented unit, why the philosophy of Diniz is failing remains a moot question.

Relationalism of Diniz has its drawbacks as well as it creates confusion among the players while on possession because of the lack of positional sense and thus can lose ball-holding abilities or script missed passes that could trigger a counterattack because, in tactics offered by Diniz, spaces are left like the previous adventurous coaches of Brazil.

Diniz emphasizes the ​​shorter touches of the ball and does not leave players occupying spaces before receiving the ball and while following this philosophy this is what happened in this move below: Vinicius Junior came out from the left and Rodrygo occupied the field in the same sector as Neymar and Gabriel Jesus. This is what Arias, Keno and Ganso do at Fluminense: the wingers together in a sector on the side, forming a ladder so that everyone has short passing options.

Bruno Guimaraes is the only one to pass the ball and really give Neymar a passing option. The full-back on the opposite side takes a while to support, and the wingers in the sector stay still, without looking for space in Uruguay's marking to receive the ball to make matters worse, as Neymar retreated, only Vinicius was really behind the defence, providing depth.

Now such positions leave dangerous spaces for the opposition to counter freely and against Venezuela and Uruguay – Brazil were caught more often.

Diniz cares a lot about style like Guardiola, but at the top level style or philosophies don’t win you matches rather tactics that would be understandable and suitable for the top players like Vinicius and Rodrygo to execute.

For the tactics of Diniz to see results at the international level it would require extraordinary players like Pele, Garrincha and those players from the team of Mexico 1970, who adapted to any system easily and even if the opposition caught them on the counter – that team would fire more goals to win a match.

But at present – Brazil does not produce extraordinary players like Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho or Kaka; let alone the players from the teams of World Cup 1958, 1962 and 1970.

Be it Neymar or Vinicius or Rodrygo – all of them are talented but not extraordinary and they need to be nurtured on a system that suits them more rather than satisfying the philosophy of a coach whose so-called stylish football looks good on local TV channels only and at an average football league.

Brazil need to win matches and not hearts like the 1982, and 1974 Dutch side or the Magical Magyars of 1954.

Does Brazil need Neymar anymore?

The direct answer would be – No!

When Neymar arrived on the international scene he was supposed to be the heir to the legends of the past and take the thorn of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – but till now, he has been a frustrating figure for Brazil. His numbers are good but that does not display the fragile mentality of a player who crumbles under pressure and his lacklustre attitude has only done damage to his career and Brazil football.

In the match against Uruguay, he was injured again and with the increase of age – he would crumble more.

Neymar has passed his best and since 2010 – he only wasted opportunities rather than focusing on the game seriously - thus, for a better future Brazil need to move without Neymar and start to rebuild under a better coach like Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti, who would not only develop an ideal system for Brazil but work on the mental aspect of the players.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar