Five fast bowlers, three explosive hitters, three striking young batsmen, a captain who can do anything: a beguiling prospect for fans, a terrifying one for a shaken South Africa

Sharda Ugra in Southampton09-Jun-2019Within the space of one match against Pakistan, West Indies have made everyone forget about how they had to scrap and qualify for the World Cup. Inside two matches, after having Australia at 79 for 5, they had a generation of cricket fans swooning, reminded of their 16-year-old selves. On the eve of their third World Cup game, at Southampton against a struggling South Africa, West Indies are to the romantic acquiring the status of a squad of superheroes, cricket’s Avengers back and ready to seize the game from the superbats – sorry, superbots – who rule the cricket world.It gets richer: when South Africa hosted its World Cup in 2003, their campaign was upended in the very first match by West Indies, who won by three runs. Between the 2015 World Cup and now, South Africa have only faced West Indies three times in ODIs, during a tri-series also involving Australia, winning once and losing twice (with AB de Villiers in the side, in case you wondered). So their encounters with the new West Indies have been minimal. The road leading up to the Hampshire Bowl is called the Marshall Drive, after the county’s two great Barbados-born Marshalls: opening batsman Roy, and a slightly more famous fast bowler who took 1065 wickets for the county across all competitions (and just, by the way, 533 for West Indies.)The two teams did face each other in a rain-affected World Cup warm-up match in Bristol, South Africa rattling along to 95 for no loss in 12.4 overs. But that was before everything – before the AB bombshell, before injuries to Ngidi and Steyn, before Amla ran into a fog. The West Indians have gone in the other direction, leaving South Africa coach Ottis Gibson reminding the world on Saturday that West Indies “are dangerous in World Cups.”The truth is that between the last World Cup and this one, West Indies didn’t win too much. They won just 19 out of 67 ODIs, didn’t win an ODI series – coming closest with a 2-2 draw at home against England in February – and lost the World Cup Qualifier final to Afghanistan. Only Sri Lanka have lost more.And yet, West Indies stride the World Cup with aura reburnished. This has come from two reasons – the first, that West Indies have been seen and heard of as winning in other formats – the 2016 World T20 in India, a home Test series against England, and making three other tournament finals in the time (even if those have spelt defeats to Australia, Afghanistan and, most recently, to Bangladesh.) In World Cups, it must be said that even though West Indies last won the title in 1979 and made the semi-finals in 1996, they’re ahead of Pakistan and Sri Lanka and South Africa in match victories, 42 out of 73.Gibson reminded the world, “West Indies teams have always been dangerous and this one is no different. They have a lot of players in there that can win matches, they have always had match-winners.” It is the manner in which they are setting up the winning that has the world sit up, “They are going to go on an all-out and they have decided with the team they have set up.” It is simple. When they bowl, it’s five fast bowlers and bam. When they bat, a trio of the game’s most explosive hitters is shuffled around three striking young batsmen and a captain who can do anything. How do you not get beguiled and hypnotised by the idea of this kind of West Indies?Shai Hope smashes one on the leg side•Getty ImagesWest Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick has seen all sides: a first-class cricketer from 1982 to 1990, half-brother to Sylvester Clarke, and now working with a team trying to respectfully set aside an enormous heritage and create their own. “We can’t keep looking back. We have to respect the past, you know. Our great bowlers of the past obviously they are very important in our history. But what we’ve got now, this group of bowlers now, they have got to find their own identity. They have got to find their own way.”It will be both daunting and inspirational for the West Indians to travel around this country during the World Cup, where the very ground has been touched by the greatness of their predecessors. The Marshall Drive will remind them of it, as will the sight of Bishop or Holding turning up for commentary, or Garner, Robers and Croft dropping by to watch.On the Monday, Estwick knows will not be about sentiment or aura or presence or history, it will be about the boring stuff. “What we must do is play the one-percenters a bit better… It’s [defeat to Australia] nothing to do with the bowlers. We are all in it together. We are not going to single out the bowlers and say the bowlers did a poor job, or the batsmen did a poor job, it is a team. If you are looking for excuses in the cricket game, you can find it wherever you look.”He refused to grumble about the umpiring in Nottingham. “It is history. We can’t do anything about it. You can’t keep looking back. If you keep looking back, you have major problems. We have now got to look forward… Not on the past because past is history. It can’t come back.” The past in West Indies cricket is hard to shake off. In this World Cup, its current team has discovered that in the aftermath of compelling performance, its looming cloud could become an updraft.Estwick took the match and the World Cup out of Southampton and Great Britain and put it across the oceans. “Every West Indian is in this,” he said, “This is big for the Caribbean people.”The team’s management has been asking the team, “to go out and put a smile on the people’s faces in the Caribbean,” Estwick said, “Economically we are struggling a little bit so we want people to wake up in the morning at 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock with a smile on their face, seeing West Indians playing good cricket. And also we want to help the people in London as well, you know, who have had so much pressure cricket-wise in the last 10, 15 years and if we can put a smile on all black people’s faces we will be very happy.”Outside of West Indies’ direct opponents in this event, the cricket world is already beaming.

Mithali Raj looks back on the highs and lows of her T20I career, and talks up the young players who will take India forward in the format

Annesha Ghosh03-Sep-2019When did you first consider retiring from T20Is?Retiring after the home series against England [in Guwahati in March] is something I had already decided during the New Zealand tour. So accordingly, I had kept the coach, WV Raman, and the chief selector (Hemlata Kala) in the loop during the tour. When I was having a chat with the coach [in New Zealand], I realised he was planning for the next T20 World Cup (in February-March 2020), and I didn’t see myself playing that World Cup. So it fully made sense for me to keep the coach in the loop about my plan, and that is when I shared my plan with them.Precisely at that point of time [in February-March], there were also articles doing the rounds about my retirement. So it was already out in the media. So as things stand today, it wasn’t a decision I took all of a sudden, driven by emotions or impulse, because I’m still an active member of the one-day side and the captain. This decision to quit this format [T20Is] was made a long time ago and both the coach and the selector were aware.

The highlight of my career would always be opening the innings for India. It will be at the top because that’s a kind of feeling only a player can understand, as to what it really is to open an innings for her country.

Did you discuss your retirement with any team-mates before making the announcement today?When I make a decision, it is solely and wholly mine. Once I make up my mind, I don’t discuss much, or with anyone. When I made this decision in New Zealand, the only person I discussed this with was my dad. He had said I should not be retiring on foreign soil, which is why I had made up my mind that England would be my last series.ALSO READ: Mithali Raj’s top T20I hitsIt was just a matter of when I would have made the decision known to the BCCI and make it public. I knew all through that this announcement is something I wanted to come up with after the England home series because at that point there was no confirmation around the scheduling of the South Africa series.What comes to your mind today as you look back at the closing phase of your T20I career, which also includes the controversy that broke out in the wake of the India’s T20 World Cup exit last November?A dear friend told me, “There’s nothing you can get holding on to the past.” So I don’t have any bitterness at this juncture thinking about the controversy. Yes, it did project the sport in a bad light for those few months, but I don’t have any negativity about the controversy or any not-so-good things that I may have gone through in my T20I career.What about the good things?I would roll back the clock to 2016, when we defeated Australia in Australia. It was the first time we achieved that feat. Leading the Indian team on that tour is something I cherish. That was the point when things started to roll for the Indian team, and a lot of good players have come up after that. That series win gave us a lot of confidence as a team. All of a sudden, we realised we do have the potential to be a better T20I side than what had been before that.That was a turning point in the journey of Indian women’s cricket. I look at it as a big stride forward for the Indian team. Since that tour, the team has really improved series by series and we have had more players getting opportunities in overseas T20 leagues, starting with Smriti [Mandhana] and Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur).Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana pose for the cameras in Jaipur•PTI Would you be available for selection in the BCCI’s domestic inter-state T20 tournament and the next edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge?At some level, yes. The other leagues [such as the WBBL and the KSL] have been up and running for four-five years, so they are on a better platform, so in the Women’s IPL – or whatever form the Women’s T20 Challenge takes up next year – we need established players to keep the tournament in a good space, given the last edition [where Raj captained Velocity to the final] has garnered a lot of attention. People are now keen to have a women’s IPL, and it’s something that will help our domestic players in a big way, so I will be available for that.Who are the young talents you think have a good chance of making up the core of the T20I side over the next few years?It all depends on the role that the young players are given. In my opinion, it doesn’t only depend on the players’ individual performances. Over a period of time, you have to give them opportunities in a given role, and if they do well, they should be picked because it will help the team perform as a cohesive unit and perform better.We have had players who have done well individually, but in a format that’s evolving so fast, you need those individual performances to fit into the larger needs of the team. Of course, you have Smriti, Harmanpreet, Jemimah [Rodrigues], and there’s Deepti [Sharma], who, I read, has done really well in the KSL. That performance should give that girl a confidence boost because she’s one player who’s immensely important for the one-day side, and I believe in the future she will play a very important role in the T20 side.Since the start of 2018, there has been a lot of debate – and uncertainty – around the best candidate for Smriti Mandhana’s opening partner. Among those that T20I captain Harmanpreet has tried, who do you think is best suited for the role?It depends on what team they select. They tried out [Priya] Punia in New Zealand, and then in the home series [against England] they tried out Harleen [Deol]. In the Asia Cup, Pooja [Vastrakar] also opened for us.Jemimah’s got a lot of runs at No. 3 in T20Is. I am not sure about promoting her to the opener’s slot because someone else then will have to fill Jemimah’s No. 3 spot. So I would not disturb her at this juncture to push her to the opening slot. But Shafali [Verma, who Raj captained at the Women’s T20 Challenge] is a good prospect.Mithali Raj taps the ball late behind square•ICCWhat sets Shafali apart from the players you mentioned earlier?Shafali is a really good prospect we have got after a long time who is so fearless. If moulded well, guided well, and given a good platform by the coach, the captain and the team, she will be a good option. She needs that guidance because she is still very young, only 15-16 [years old] and her first big experience was the Women’s T20 Challenge. Besides, she is a wicketkeeper-bat, so it’s again a question of how they can utilise the talents of a young girl.You started out young yourself and were part of the side that played India’s first T20I. What are your most memorable knocks from your T20I career?The match in Sydney against Australia… It was in 2008. We were in no position to win [from the outset] because we were not that good a T20I side, but we ended up losing by only two runs. I got some 50-odd runs in the middle order [51 not-out, at No. 4, in only her second T20I], and that is one match I would rate highly because even though we lost the game, it made me realise that despite our limitations as a T20I team, we can always take a match closer in the format, and probably eventually win. I also remember that Jhulan [Goswami] was leading us in that game and there is a picture of us walking back.What kind of a future do you picture for the Indian T20I side which is now without you and Jhulan, two of the country’s most experienced cricketers?It had to happen someday, didn’t it? Jhulan retired [from T20Is] last year, it’s my turn now because nobody can play on forever. Everyone has to call it a day some day or the other, and the team will move forward because it has to move forward.The way the current crop of players are performing, I’m sure they will do very well in the upcoming series and also in the T20 World Cup. Most of the players in the T20I side are mature adults. Most of them have 25-plus games under their their belt, and the BCCI will be organising a few series to ensure others to get that many games under their belt before the World Cup, so they have that maturity to deal with situations you require at top-level international cricket.Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami talk during a training session•Getty ImagesIs there anything you particularly enjoyed about batting in T20Is?The highlight of my career would always be opening the innings for India. It will be at the top because that’s a kind of feeling only a player can understand, as to what it really is to open an innings for her country. Apart from that, the runs I scored in Bangladesh [including three fifties on that tour] during the 2014 T20 World Cup.Is there any advice you would like to give to the inexperienced players in the T20I side?Look, we all must understand that the current players have a lot of challenges because the way the ICC is promoting the T20Is and one-dayers, especially the World Cup platform, everyone’s eyes will be glued to both the Indian teams – no matter the format. So it’s very important that the players remain calm, and just focus on what they are supposed to do, especially on their preparation. Preparation is everything. That’s one aspect they shouldn’t compromise on.I believe our Indian T20I side has what it takes to perform well in the T20 World Cup because Smriti and Harman have played two-three seasons in the WBBL and they are the most experienced players in this side. They will be heading into the World Cup with a lot of experience and they should be able to share that experience with the other players, especially the youngsters, and I see that helping that team. As an Indian, I will be rooting for our team, and I want them to do well. At the end of the day, you want the sport to grow, you want more girls in our country to play cricket, take up the sport, and there’s no platform better than the World Cup to inspire a generation.If it were possible to turn back time, would you have done anything differently in your T20I career?If I would have done anything differently, the outcome would have been different (smiles). As a player, I don’t know if I would have got any different kind of knowledge had I done things differently, but I am happy the way things have turned out. Whether it is good or bad it doesn’t matter as long as it helped me move forward.

From Chemar Holder to Laurie Evans to Mark Deyal, there are a number of relative newcomers who can set the pulse racing

Deivarayan Muthu04-Sep-2019Chemar Holder (Barbados Tridents)
Much like fellow Bajan Jason Holder, Chemar can generate steep bounce and swing the new ball as well. It was on bright display during the four-dayers against India A, where Chemar was the joint-highest wicket-taker with 15 strikes in three games. Chemar has been similarly impressive in List A cricket, but has only played three T20s so far, managing three wickets at an economy rate of 9.81.ALSO READ: Why you shouldn’t miss CPL 2019However, he has been part of Cricket West Indies’ emerging players’ camp in the past and is on the fringes of national selection. A few eye-catching performances this season could well see him play alongside the other Holder for West Indies.John Campbell (St Lucia Zouks)
Campbell is just eight limited-overs internationals old, but has shown enough attacking enterprise as an opening batsman. In May, Campbell combined with Shai Hope and amassed the biggest opening stand (365) in ODIs, in Dublin. He had also given a good account of himself in the domestic 50-over tournament last year, hitting 298 runs in seven innings for Jamaica at a strike rate of 94.30.The method behind the left-hander’s hitting is simple: clear the front leg, maintain a still head, and belt the ball through the leg side. If he can do that consistently and give St Lucia some rousing starts, Colin de Grandhomme and Thisara Perera will have a platform to launch themselves from.Laurie Evans goes off-side during a Vitality Blast game•Getty ImagesLaurie Evans (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots)
England’s Evans is no Chris Gayle or Andre Russell, but has become a T20 globetrotter of sorts, making it to the Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Afghanistan Premier League and now the CPL, after making a splash in the T20 Blast. Evans, however, found no takers at the IPL auction. He is set to fly out to the Caribbean after completing his Sussex duties in the ongoing Vitality Blast.All eyes will be on Alex Hales this CPL, and, as the only other English player in the tournament, Evans will likely fly under the radar. Unless he can do what he can do consistently enough – that could earn him an IPL gig as well.Mark Deyal (Trinbago Knight Riders)
Having a mystery spinner is the fantasy of every T20 team. Believe it or not, Trinbago Knight Riders have the luxury of two of them – who can also pitch in with the bat – in their ranks: Sunil Narine and Mark Deyal.Deyal was part of Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the CPL previously as a middle-order batsman. He has since added mystery spin to his repertoire – he can turn the ball both ways with his knuckles – and in the inaugural Global T20 Canada, he even doubled up as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order. Deyal also has the experience of playing in number of leagues in the USA. Can he make a bigger leap and do a Narine with Narine this CPL?Mohammad Hasnain (Trinbago Knight Riders)
“I have never seen [an] 18-year old bowl at such pace. Hasnain’s control over his length and swing is very impressive and he varies his pace very well.”Shane Watson, Hasnain’s Quetta Gladiators team-mate in the Pakistan Super League, delivered a glowing appraisal of the teenager ahead of his ODI debut against Australia in the UAE in March. Heck, Waqar Younis sees shades of himself in Hasnain.Hasnain hit speeds north of 150kph and was the Man of the PSL final earlier this year. He subsequently broke into Pakistan’s ODI side and pinged Aaron Finch on his helmet with a 147kph thunderbolt on debut.Hasnain, 19 now, is not yet proven at the top level, but his out-and-out pace has excited TKR. Unfortunately, he will be available for the side’s first three games only. It is understood that Hasnain has been granted an NOC till September 12 and will then return home for domestic duties. It will indeed be a short stint, but his new-ball partnership with USA’s Ali Khan promises to set the pulse racing in the opening week.

Suspended UAE players Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar are a part of the draft pool

Mohammad Isam17-Nov-2019The ownership revampUnlike the previous editions, the BPL teams are fully owned now by the BCB, which has invited sponsors to finance some of the teams. Dhaka Platoon, Khulna Tigers, Rajshahi Royals, Sylhet Thunder and Chattogram Challengers have sponsors, while two others – Cumilla Warriors and Rangpur Rangers – will be run by the BCB.According to tournament rules, BCB directors Khaled Mahmud, Akram Khan, Jalal Yunus, Tanjil Chowdhury and Golam Mortuza will be part of different teams, although their function has not been made clear.Overseas stars in the mixShahid Afridi, Thisara Perera, Dwayne Smith, Mohammad Nabi, Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hasan Ali, Rilee Rossouw, Darren Bravo and Dane Vilas have been placed in the A-plus category.Many of these players, particularly the ones from West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have a busy schedule, and therefore may not be available for the duration of the tournament.The Indian presenceInterestingly, the draft includes Manvinder Bisla, Manpreet Gony and Kumar Boresa – three Indian cricketers – which is a first for the BPL. A couple of weeks ago, BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said that they were in talks with BCCI to get players for the BPL.Suspended UAE players in the list tooMohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar, the senior UAE players who were suspended in October for multiple breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption rules, are a part of the draft too. The two, along with Qadeer Ahmed, were charged with trying to corrupt games at the men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers, which took place in the UAE soon after the trio were pulled up.Mushfiqur Rahim plays a reverse-sweep•BCBHow much do the local heroes stand to earn?The domestic players in the A-plus category, which has Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Mortaza, will fetch around US$ 59,000, much less than the foreigners in the same category. Rubel Hossain, last BPL’s joint-highest wicket-taker, and Sabbir Rahman, a regular in the Bangladesh T20I side until September, have been put in Category B, which will earn them US$ 21,225.Emphasis on fast bowlersThe new teams were sent the player draft list on Saturday, giving them less than 24 hours to put plans in place to fill their rosters. ESPNcricinfo has seen the draft list, which had a list of fast bowlers with their bowling speeds mentioned in some cases. Earlier, the BCB had said that each of the seven teams must have an overseas quick bowler who bowls above 140kph and a legspinner. Interestingly,Mohammad Sami, the 38-year-old former Pakistan fast bowler, has been mentioned at 164 kph.It was also learned that the BCB has asked the new teams to pick fast bowlers and legspinners in their playing XIs on most occasions, without specifying more. Among these specially mentioned fast bowlers, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Kemar Roach and Oshane Thomas have been placed in Category A, where they will be paid US$ 70,000.

A Test debutant at 30, the opener is enjoying the belated fruits of grinding out runs in provincial cricket, year after year

Firdose Moonda in Cape Town09-Jan-2020Pressure, to (mis)quote Keith Miller, is not what Pieter Malan experienced at the crease on the fifth day of the Newlands Test. Faced with the task of batting out the day to save the Test against one of the most vaunted attacks in world cricket, debutant Malan showed nerves of steel.”That’s not pressure, that’s privilege,” he said after the match. “Pressure is playing out there in the semi-pro game, nobody watching, fighting for your career. Being out there, with the Barmy Army, Jimmy Anderson running in, it felt like a video game at some stage. It was unbelievable. I felt very privileged to be in a position to fight for the team and try and bat long and just be there for as long as I can.”Malan has played his fair share of semi-professional cricket (the provincial tier below franchise cricket in South Africa’s domestic scene). Ninety-five matches to be exact, most recently in November. While his younger brother Janneman was blitzing through the Mzansi Super League, Pieter was grafting hard in the backwaters of East London and Kimberley for Western Province. That’s pressure. ALSO READ: ‘Cricket can teach you lessons if you take it too easy’Trying to stay motivated when the cameras and the big bucks are elsewhere. Trying to catch (at that stage, non-existent) selectors’ eyes through performances. Trying to justify your career choice when you could be part of a fourth of the country’s domestic cricketers unemployed because of a possible restructure. That’s pressure. It could’ve become too much for Malan to handle, but it didn’t.He didn’t blame the structure nor the competition, but recognised that the fault was with his own commitment. “I don’t think I did myself any favours when I was younger. I took a lot of stuff for granted and didn’t put in the hard work that, in hindsight, I needed to put in,” Malan said. “It was also a matter of opportunities being limited and me not taking them.”In 2013, Malan moved to the Cape and was fourth on the provincial run charts the 2014-15 season. In 2015-16, he was third on the charts, and hit the high notes in 2016-17, finishing on top of the list with 1069 runs at an average of 118.77.This allowed him to graduate to the Cape Cobras franchise, and even nail a spot. He literally barged the selectors’ door by finishing third on the run charts in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but the national call-up remained elusive.AFP / Getty ImagesAt the time, Aiden Markram had just taken over the opener’s mantle from Stephen Cook. Malan, like Cook, was nearing the 30s and had begun to accept that an international call-up may have bypassed him. “I thought it was never going to happen.”Malan continued to churn out runs for Cobras and credits former international Ashwell Prince for keeping him in good space. “He has been massive in my career,” Malan said. “He played 60-odd Tests, averaged over 40 and scored hundreds so when he tells you something, you listen. We work on small technical stuff that we just keep refining.”It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game, where you improve something, then the bowler spots another weakness, and you end up going back and forth. He is very good with that. And then also from the mental side, he pushes all the time and I enjoy that.”Specifically, the pair worked on Malan leaving the ball. “In the last three or four years, that (leaving) has been a massive part of my game, leaving the ball well and eliminating dismissals that I felt were soft. As a new-ball player, you want to make the bowlers bowl at you.”In South Africa, it’s tough opening against the new ball, there’s a lot of things happening, there’s nip, there’s bounce, so the less you can give the bowlers, the better. In their third and fourth spells, that’s where the real runs are.”At Cape Town, that showed. Malan’s intricate knowledge of his off stump was underlined by his emphatic way of shouldering arms. Malan’s biceps caused a social-media stir, even though he maintains they are not the body parts he puts the most work into. “I’ve seen that photograph. I don’t do a lot of arms actually,” he quipped. “They should have taken a shot of my legs, that’s where I spend most of my time.”

“Being out there, with the Barmy Army, Jimmy Anderson running in, it felt like a video-game at some stage.”Malan’s reflection of his Test debut

Perhaps that will change now, and Malan will actually end up spending most of his time with the national side. One Test is never enough to tell, but he has already demonstrated the temperament to play at the highest level.Though Malan missed out on a century, he spent six hours at the crease standing up to the England attack. He was challenged by unpredictable bounce and movement off cracks on the pitch that occasionally saw the ball leap up. He was hit on the chest by Ben Stokes, and he saw his team-mates, most of them senior in terms of international experience, unable to show the same resilience.Most of all, he embraced being in the cauldron as it reminded him of the rewards that come from withstanding pressure. “When I walk down the stairs [at Newlands], I always take a second or two looking at the mountain, appreciating where we play, because then we end up playing in Kimberley and there’s nothing to look at.”It’s been a long road but its a road that I am glad I’ve been on because I am a better cricketer, I am a better person and its made me appreciate playing for the Proteas. It’s been tough but it has been been worth it.”

In his first year as coach of a team in Pakistan’s first-class competition, Wasim took an inexperienced Northern to the final

Danyal Rasool08-Jan-2020Mohammad Wasim isn’t intimidated by weak squads, and that’s probably just as well, because the Northern’s head coach arguably had the weakest squad in the competition to work with. In the new, revamped structure of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy that saw just six teams compete in Pakistan’s premier first-class competition, there was no side as light on Test match experience as the one Wasim was coaching.It showed in the first half of the competition. After each team had played six of their ten scheduled matches, Northern were bottom of the table, with four draws and two losses, and yet to register victory in the tournament. Their young starlet, 18-year old Rohail Nazir, who, in his commitment to youth, Wasim appointed captain early on in the tournament, hadn’t yet found the form that has earned him that reputation. Central Punjab had beaten them soundly by an innings, twice. The gulf between them and the best teams in the competition was, to put it mildly, distinctly discernible.But these are precisely the sort of situations that Wasim feels stimulate his strengths. You might deem a squad that had Umar Amin (four Test caps) as its most experienced exponent of international red-ball cricket, a little light in quality, but Wasim has worked with less. A year earlier, he was coach of the Swedish national team (current T20I ICC ranking: 42) that finished third in the World Cup Europe Qualifier, only just missing out on progression to the next stage. As such, he wasn’t complaining about the challenge he had been presented as Northern coach.”I’ve been coaching for three seasons in one place or another, but this was my first assignment as a PCB employee,” Wasim told ESPNcricinfo. “When the format changed, I thought I had a chance of working within the system. What pleased me was the squad I was handed played to my strengths. Some people work better with senior players – Central Punjab for example where almost everyone has Test caps – but give me a young team and I feel I know how to extract performances from them. That has been my strength in the past, wherever I worked.”I had a lot of youngsters, and we formed a core of young players. No one gave us a chance, and halfway through the season, we were at the bottom, but I had the feeling we could peak at the right time. I thought after six matches, we began to peak, and the way we won our final three matches [three of the last four] was a big turning point. But overall, it was a great experience. Not only the fact the team achieved great results, we also identified a few youngsters who are performing and I think they are the future of Pakistan.”PCBThey did peak at the right time. Two of their last three wins were final day heists, including a dramatic showdown with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the final game of the competition. Needing to force a result, they declared twice and gave
themselves just under a full day to bowl out KP on surfaces not known for their cooperation with the bowling side. But in fading light in 76.4 overs, they worked their way through KP, winning by 39 runs and pipping them to second place, which earned them a place in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final.They would fall, by an innings once more, to Central Punjab, who boasted ten players capped by the Pakistan Test side as opposed to Northern’s two (Amin and Muhammad Musa). But Wasim was heartened by the way his side responded to adversity, and detected a change when compared to the relationship between coaches and players at domestic level in the past.”The most important challenge for us was that in the past, players didn’t perhaps trust domestic coaches to the extent that our team did this season. There’s no point blaming anyone, but that’s what I felt. It took some time to earn that trust and confidence level where players could understand the coaches knew what they’re doing. After that, things become easier and the boys started listening to us. I’m not singling anyone out, but our system was such that the role of coaches wasn’t what it should have been.”Whether that is down to the players, the system, or the coaches I don’t know. But that has improved – at least in my team. If you give them certain plans, they try to execute them. When I used to be an analyst, I worried about the culture of selfish cricket that was developing in Pakistan cricket, a trend we needed to arrest. My main focus was to eradicate that in the Northern team, and I don’t think we saw any of that this season. We played for the team and that got us results, and it’s something I take great pride in.”But for all the talk of young players – and there’s been plenty around the Northern team – the side’s highest run-scorer and wicket-taker are both over the age of 30. Thirty-one-year old Faizan Riaz scored 857 runs at 71.41, including a hundred in the final while 33-year old left-arm spinner Nauman Ali’s 54 wickets were 11 clear of the second-most prolific bowler across all teams.Nauman Ali and Faizan Riaz celebrate their team’s sensational win•PCBIt hasn’t been a case of throwing youngsters in and building for the future; the concoction of youth and experience that Northern have managed to brew have produced results in the here and now. Wasim even believes they could yet become Pakistan prospects.”You can’t write anyone off, especially batsmen and spin bowlers. For me, whoever is scoring runs and has a good technique can be selected, particularly if they’re in form and keep good fitness standards. This is another thing I believe needs to change in Pakistan cricket, where once a player turns 27 or 28, a player is considered to be past it in terms of international cricket. A lot of batsmen and spin bowlers who’re doing well internationally are mature, older players. If they have the fitness to thrive in international cricket, then why not?”I told Faizan, ‘I don’t care how you score runs as long as you’re fit and have the technique to survive in tough conditions.’ That’s what matters in the end. I don’t think you can say a guy like Faizan can never play for Pakistan.”As for the tournament as a whole, Wasim accepted there were flaws within it that needed fixing – the flatness of the pitches has received some scrutiny – but he was more interested in what it had revealed about the state of Pakistan cricket. “The best thing about this format is the system has exposed the problem areas in Pakistan’s cricket. We’ve identified a dearth of fast bowling in this country. We don’t have many spinners either. We need new spinners, particularly legspinners. These are the things the sides will work on in the off-season, and you can expect to see the results in the next season.”For Wasim personally, the central message remains unchanged. “I’d like to see more youngsters in all teams. In Northern, there were plenty, but in some of the other teams, there weren’t perhaps as many. But I don’t see the gulf in quality between Central Punjab and us being a problem. This gives me extra motivation. I tell myself in two years, Northern should have five players in Pakistan’s Test side.”

After a season of progress, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side will be striving for even better next time round, and planning for the summer has already begun at Parkhead.

Sat 13 points clear at the top of the Premiership with only seven games to go, the Hoops are on course for a sixth treble in just nine seasons.

Meanwhile, Rodgers guided the Bhoys to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in 12 years, so they’ll be determined to go even further next year, entering in the play-off round in late August.

So, with one fans’ favourite poised to return to Paradise, the Celts could have been even stronger had they not released a 15-year-old who would go on to become the best on the planet in his position.

As it happens, he’s now even better than the incoming Kieran Tierney…

The latest on Kieran Tierney's return to Celtic

Back in January, Rodgers confirmed that Tierney will rejoin Celtic on a free transfer in the summer, after Arsenal decided against ‘activating an option to extend his contract’, as reported by David Ornstein of the Athletic.

The 27-year-old made 170 appearances for his boyhood club before moving to the Gunners for £25m in 2019, still a joint-club-record sale, but his time in North London has been severely hampered by injuries.

So far this season, the Scotland international has seen just 261 minutes of club action, notably starting as part of a makeshift front three against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last month.

He has also featured at left-back, the position he’ll be taking up on his return to Glasgow in the summer.

He’ll return north of the border in search of more regular football, but did Celtic have an even better left-back in their academy, one that’s gone on to have an even more decorated career than his compatriot?

Celtic's world-class academy talent is now better than Tierney

Back in 2009, Celtic released a 15-year-old by the name of Andrew Robertson because, according to Robertson himself, he was “too small”.

After that, Robertson joined Queen’s Park, then of Scottish League Two, making 43 appearances for the Spiders, revealing to Darrell Currie that his big breakthrough came when Rangers visited Hampden Park because the game “was on the tele”.

He did enough to catch the eye of Dundee United, who signed him in June 2013, appearing 44 times in tangerine, before moving to Hull City and then ultimately Liverpool.

With the Reds, Robertson is set to hoist aloft a second Premier League title in the coming weeks, having also won the Champions League, the FA Cup, two EFL Cups and a selection of other honours, making his 337th appearance for the club during Wednesday’s Merseyside derby victory at Anfield.

Ben Webb on Twitter believes he was ‘the best left-back on the planet’, while Andy Jones of the Athletic labels him ‘integral to the team’s transformation under Jürgen Klopp’ as well as Liverpool’s ‘most consistent performer’ during this era of success.

At international level too, Robertson took his tally to 82 caps against Greece last month, only Kenny Dalglish (102) and Jim Leighton (91) have accumulated more, while no man has captained the Tartan Army on more occasions.

Scotland spent years attempting to solve the conundrum of how to get both Tierney and Robertson into the same starting lineup, but let’s compare how the pair have performed at their respective Premier League giants.

Appearances

337

135

Goals

11

5

Assists

66

13

Matches missed due to injury

29

65

Trophies

8

3

Appearances

82

49

Goals

4

1

Assists

10

4

Matches missed due to injury

10

35

As the table clearly outlines, Robertson has had a more stellar career to date, both for club and country, with Tierney’s matches missed due to injury statistics startling in comparison.

Back in 2022, Robertson revealed his desire to play for Celtic one day, stating “every time I watch Celtic, I consider it. When you… see a packed Celtic Park, as a fan, you always have that dream”.

So, now 31-years-old, could we see the Scotland skipper bedecked in green and white hoops one day, or does Tierney’s return preclude that from ever happening?

Celtic have already signed incredible Taylor replacement & it's not Tierney

Celtic have already found their dream replacement for Greg Taylor and it is not Kieran Tierney.

ByDan Emery Apr 2, 2025

Celtic are often praised for their transfer strategy at Parkhead, actually named the best-run club in Britain by the Fair Game Index last year.

Over the last decade or so, the Hoops have made a massive profit with the likes of Ange Postecoglou, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon selling players such as Matt O’Riley, Jota, Moussa Dembélé, Kristoffer Ajer, Virgil van Dijk and many others.

Kyogo Furuhashi is perhaps the most notable recent example. A scorer of 12 goals in Celtic colours this term, he departed in January to the tune of £10m.

However, there is one striker in particular the Celts must rue missing out on and he’s now outscoring that man Kyogo.

How Celtic are coping with Kyogo's departure

One man chiefly; Daizen Maeda.

The striker’s red-hot form continued at the weekend, bagging a brace against Heart of Midlothian, taking his tally to 30 goals for the campaign, described by former Hibs and Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart as “top class”.

However, Maeda aside, Celtic’s other forwards have not been hitting the heights of late, as the table below outlines.

Celtic’s attackers in 2025

Players

Appearances

Goals

Daizen Maeda

17

17

Jota

12

4

Nicolas Kühn

18

4

Adam Idah

19

6

Yang Hyun-Jun

15

5

James Forrest

1

Zero

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt

The form of Nicolas Kühn has been particularly disappointing, considering he scored 14 times during the first half of the campaign, on course to be Celtic’s player of the season, but has now only scored twice since 5 January. That said, he looks well-set to replace Kyogo’s output in time.

Adam Idah meantime, has failed to nail down a regular starting spot, with Maeda often favoured as the centre-forward, despite being signed for a huge £9.5m fee from Norwich last summer.

So, would the Hoops’ centre-forward issue have been solved if they had been able to complete a deal to sign a “world-class” striker a few years ago? He’s now better than Kyogo.

The world-class striker Celtic almost signed

Back in the summer of 2020, Celtic almost signed Ivan Toney from Peterborough United, with then manager Neil Lennon later admitting, “we were close to getting him… I was really interested”.

Toney himself stated, “I went up there… I was actually at the training ground” Lennoxtown, which is how close the move came.

Instead, Toney joined Brentford for £5m, firing the Bees to promotion in his first season, finishing as the EFL Championship’s top-scorer, before netting 36 times in the Premier League for the club.

One that got away

The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast’s One That Got Away series.

Expand Collapse

Manager Thomas Frank described him as “world-class”, before the England international was sold to Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli last summer, costing a reported fee of £40m.

In the Saudi top-flight, only Cristiano Ronaldo, Abderrazak Hamdallah and Marcos Leonardo have scored more goals than Toney this season, so let’s assess his season-by-season statistics since almost signing for Celtic.

Ivan Toney season statistics (2020-present)

Seasons

Division

Appearances

Goals

2020/21

EFL Championship

52

33

2021/22

Premier League

37

14

2022/23

Premier League

35

21

2023/24

Premier League

17

4

2024/25

Saudi Pro League

33

22

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt

In the 2022/23 Premier League season, Ivan Toney was the division’s third-highest scorer, behind only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, although the following campaign was massively hampered by his eight-month ban for breaching FA betting regulations.

Now in Saudi Arabia, Toney has rediscovered his best form, with Middle Eastern football expert Uri Levy describing his performances for Al Ahli as ‘fantastic’, advocating for him to receive an England recall.

His tally of 22 goals so far this season for Matthias Jaissle’s side means he has scored more goals than both Adam Idah (14) and Nicolas Kühn (18) this season, while doing so at a slightly-higher level; Global Football Rankings believes the Saudi Pro League to be the 31st strongest division in the world, with the Scottish Premiership down at 34th.

Thus, despite their continued domestic dominance, it’s hard to argue that Celtic wouldn’t be stronger with Toney spearheading their attack.

Related Celtic gem was "the next Van Dijk" but Postecoglou sold him for just £1m

The former Celtic star was described as “the next Van Dijk” by his former manager.

Posts ByDan Emery Apr 3, 2025

Liverpool are closing in on the Premier League title, but Arne Slot has no time for sentiment and is now set to replace one of his star names this summer by bringing in an in-form player, per reports.

Liverpool set themselves up for exciting summer with title almost guaranteed

Despite Everton’s valiant effort at Anfield, Liverpool prevailed in Wednesday night’s Merseyside Derby to restore their 12-point advantage over Arsenal at the Premier League summit.

Arne Slot will have witnessed his side produce better performances this campaign, though few have yielded such an important result as the Dutchman leads his side ever-closer to a second title of the modern era.

Uncertainty reigns over the future of Liverpool trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. The former is reported to be on his way to Real Madrid, while the other two mentioned have yet to put pen to paper on deals that expire in only a couple of months.

Prompting action on the transfer front, Slot wants to bring Rayan Cherki to Anfield this summer and the French playmaker could be available at under £25 million after striking an agreement to leave Lyon.

Working on the premise that Alexander-Arnold does depart for Spain, Freiburg right-back Kiliann Sildillia is also on Liverpool’s radar despite alternative interest from Manchester City, Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion.

102 touches, 89% passes: Liverpool ace is becoming as important as Salah

One Liverpool star is becoming as important as Mohamed Salah after the Merseyside Derby.

ByEthan Lamb Apr 3, 2025

Careful consideration needs to be applied to any arrivals that do come in to replace established squad members on Merseyside. The Reds will likely head into next term defending the Premier League title, making them a prime target for scalps in Slot’s second season.

Leaving nothing to chance, the ex-Feyenoord boss is now in the hunt to sign an in-form defender who could become the long-term successor to one of their star assets.

Liverpool want Milos Kerkez to become Andy Robertson successor

According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool are on track in their pursuit of Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez replacing Andy Robertson at left-back, and the Hungary international may arrive at Anfield this summer should they meet his £45 million evaluation.

Seeking competition within his backline, Slot and company are aware the 21-year-old is ready for a move to one of Europe’s elite clubs, even if the Cherries plan to play hardball in negotiations.

Andy Robertson vs Milos Kerkez – Premier League statistics in 2024/25

Andy Robertson

Appearances

28

Chances created

38

Successful crosses

32

Tackles won

21

Duels won

53

Milos Kerkez

Appearances

30

Chances created

27

Successful crosses

26

Tackles won

23

Duels won

116

Broadly speaking, one or the other hold the monopoly on certain statistical metrics. However, having both compete for the first-choice left-back berth at Liverpool for the next while to come would be exciting for supporters to witness.

Eventually, Kerkez will take over the mantle due to his status as an upcoming star, so it makes sense for the Reds to address £160,000 per week earner Robertson heading into his twilight years soon enough rather than ignoring the inevitable possibility that he will succumb to age-based decline.

The footballing gods were in playful mood on Tuesday evening, as Manchester United slipped to a 13th Premier League defeat of the season, having been undone by one of their own academy graduate at the City Ground.

Now plying his trade for Nottingham Forest, Anthony Elanga ripped through the Red Devils at breakneck speed to net what proved to be the game’s only goal, with the fleet-footed Swede having now registered 29 goals and assists since leaving United back in 2023.

Sold for just £15m, the 22-year-old has made that fee look an absolute “bargain” amid his form since – as noted by analyst Ben Mattinson – albeit with new boss Ruben Amorim appearing to refute claims that selling the winger was a mistake.

Speaking in his post-match press conference following the 1-0 defeat, Amorim suggested that in-form players like Elanga – and Marcus Rashford – had been given a fair “chance” to succeed at Old Trafford, while then going on to state that the “pressure is too big” for certain players at the club.

In essence, the 40-year-old appeared to hint that such talents have only been able to flourish after breaking free of the scrutiny that comes with playing for such a historic club like United.

In the case of Elanga, his fruitful stint at Forest has followed a return of just four goals and four assists in 55 first-team games for United – were the club really in the wrong to sell him?

Why Man Utd sold Elanga in 2023

In the view of journalist Samuel Luckhurst, the “only mistake” that the Red Devils – then led by Erik ten Hag – made was “not getting a higher fee” for the Swedish speedster upon his exit almost two years ago, with Elanga hardly setting the world alight prior to that departure.

Despite scoring his first senior goal away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the 2020/21 campaign, it wasn’t until the arrival of interim boss, Ralf Rangnick, that Elanga properly forced his way into the first-team frame the following season.

Much of the winger’s impact came in the final few months of 2021/22, having scored away at Brentford and Leeds United, as well as in the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Those latter two strikes came in just the space of a few days, although as it proved, Elanga wouldn’t score again for the club after that, having been reduced to a bit-part role following Ten Hag’s arrival.

As the BBC’s Simon Stone has stated, the Dutchman ‘did not feel Elanga had the quality needed to be enough of an influence on his squad’, hence the decision to let him depart.

Having failed to score in 26 games in 2022/23, there were likely few objections when the Malmo-born starlet was eventually sold, not least with Alejandro Garnacho having emerged that season.

Hindsight might suggest that Ten Hag was mistaken in his view of Elanga, although it could be argued that United already have a bigger talent on the flanks – he just wasn’t playing on Tuesday…

The Man Utd star who's worth more than Elanga

There were instant comparisons made between the performances of Garnacho and Elanga at the City Ground, with the Argentine perhaps in danger of heading the same way as his former teammate, amid talk of an exit.

That said, it’s worth remembering that as Elanga toiled in 2022/23, a star was born in Garnacho, with the then-teenager ending that campaign with nine goals and assists in the senior ranks.

In a team that looks far too content with playing it safe in attack, Garnacho is, to his credit, a risk tasker – so too, is Amad Diallo.

As previously explored, the Ivorian had fallen behind the likes of Elanga in the pecking order amid a muted start to life in Manchester, with the diminutive left-footer having arrived on a £19m deal from Atalanta in January 2021.

It has arguably taken until this season for the one-time Rangers and Sunderland loanee to truly become a central figure at Old Trafford, but boy, has he taken his chance.

Player

Current club

Market value

Kobbie Mainoo

Manchester United

£46m

Marcus Rashford

Aston Villa

£42m

Alejandro Garnacho

Manchester United

£38m

Scott McTominay

Napoli

£34m

Mason Greenwood

Marseille

£29m

Anthony Elanga

Nottingham Forest

£29m

Dwight McNeil

Everton

£21m

Angel Gomes

Lille

£17m

Andreas Pereira

Fulham

£17m

James Garner

Everton

£17m

Following Ruud van Nistelrooy’s interim spell – which yielded two goals and one assist for Amad – the 22-year-old had been the shining light of United’s campaign, up until last month’s cruel injury blow, having chalked up 12 goal involvements in only 20 games under Amorim.

The wing “wizard” – as previously hailed by journalist James Copley – has nine goals and eight assists to his name in total this season, with Elanga, meanwhile, having contributed six goals and nine assists for Forest.

Currently leading his former colleague for goal contributions, Amad is also deemed to be the higher value asset, according to Transfermarkt, having seen his worth soar to £34m. Elanga, by contrast, is valued at ‘just’ £29m.

That rising valuation has followed the signing of a new long-term contract for the £120k-per-week sensation, with Amorim also providing a boost after suggesting that his rising star is set to return before the campaign is over.

As that bumper new deal has indicated, Amad represents the future of Man Utd. Elanga – for all his positive displays since leaving Old Trafford – is now part of the past.

Man Utd's £50k-p/w star is in danger of becoming the new Anthony Elanga

Man Utd saw Elanga come back to haunt them on Tuesday evening at the City Ground

ByRobbie Walls Apr 2, 2025