Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Glenn Phillips gave the ball a little more air. Shreyas Iyer charged down the track but got too close to it. The ball went up in the air and straight to Kyle Jamieson at long-on, who dropped it. Game over? Not quite. New Zealand refused to go down with a fight. Shreyas was 44 when he was given the reprieve. India were 173/3 in the 37th over, chasing 252 to win the Champions Trophy. Also, Shreyas was in the middle of a very good partnership with Axar Patel. A Phillips blinder to dismiss Shubman Gill had brought the Kiwis back…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai Even by Gautam Gambhir’s fiery standards, the press conference was piquant. Words came like tracer bullets, and defenestration of naysayers and excuse-mongers was complete. Sample this: “Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They have got to grow up.” Gambhir just flat-batted India’s ‘home advantage’ debate. He went on… “First of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team,” the head coach told reporters after India’s four-wicket victory over Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final here in Dubai on Tuesday. “We have not played here. I don’t remember…

A palpable tension had kept about 20,000 fans at Dubai International Stadium on the edge of their seats. India and Australia were playing chess in a bigger arena. A release-outlet was needed and it came from the bat of Virat Kohli. A short ball from Adam Zampa was pulled to the deep square-leg boundary. It took Kohli to his half-century. “Chase-master is back” became the catchphrase on social media. Until then, Kohli was going untroubled, in the zone and batting at his own pace. But a Cooper Connolly delivery suddenly played a trick. A leading edge ensued and the ball…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai There was a period in the game when Steve Smith faced 10 consecutive dot balls. It didn’t ruffle him. He broke the shackles with a four off Varun Chakravarthy followed by a six against Ravindra Jadeja. A couple to deep extra cover against Varun took him to his 35th ODI half-century. Forget the numbers, Smith was giving a masterclass of playing spin on a difficult Dubai pitch. It was fascinating to watch – the way he was exploring options and making decisions. The gaps he was looking for to score and the shots he was avoiding.…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai And louder grows the chorus… Rohit Sharma spoke about Dubai not being India’s home. Steve Smith came up with the well-versed remark. The game’s royalty would grace the Dubai International Stadium for the Champions Trophy semi-final on Tuesday. The mind games have to be en vogue in the build-up. “Host nation, Pakistan. Home advantage, India.” That was the post on social media, and Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, the two former England captains, jumped on it and started the “fire”, to borrow it from Billy Joel. More on their comment later, but the debate continued to…

Rohit Sharma addressing the Presser (PC: Shamik Chakrabarty) Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai This was how it went – chasing 250 for victory, New Zealand were all out for 205 in 45.3 overs in their Champions Trophy match against India on Sunday. The Indian spinners shared nine wickets between them, giving away 166 runs. Varun Chakravarthy was the star performer, returning with a five-for. Only Kuldeep Yadav conceded in excess of five runs per over. When Varun was included in the playing XI at the expense of Harshit Rana, eyebrows were raised. On the face of it, going with just two…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai It was a rude awakening for Varun Chakravarthy. Nearly four years ago, he came to Dubai for the T20 World Cup, carrying the tag of a mystery spinner. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan unravelled the mystery quickly, as India lost to Pakistan by 10 wickets. On Sunday, in a Champions Trophy game against New Zealand, the same venue witnessed his redemption. Varun had to sit out for three long years after that T20 World Cup flop show. Maybe, without Gautam Gambhir becoming the India coach, he was never going to make a comeback to the national…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai Tom Latham went for a reverse sweep against Ravindra Jadeja, missed the ball and was stuck right in front of the stumps. He didn’t review the on-field decision and trudged off. New Zealand were into the 33rd over in their chase and they had lost their fourth wicket. Coming into this game, Latham had scores of 118 not out and 55 in the Champions Trophy, against Pakistan and Bangladesh, respectively. He was a reason why the Kiwis handled the middle overs so well in those matches. From India’s point of view, it was important to get…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai Whenever Virat Kohli comes out to bat, he carries a cycle of hope for his fans. Glenn Phillips stuck a fork in it and played spoilsport. “Mr Phillips, people were there to watch Mr Kohli bat, not you taking a stunner,” the good doctor (WG Grace) probably would have said if he were alive. Flippancy aside, in his 300th ODI, the Indian superstar fell prey to a glorious piece of cricket. Shubman Gill took the review as an afterthought. It was unnecessary. Matt Henry made one move late off the deck and beat the inside edge.…

Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai There was something remarkable in Rachin Ravindra’s 134 off 157 balls at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was Test cricket, but the New Zealand batter played with the tempo of the shorter formats. He took the attack to the Indian spinners and the famed spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were caught off guard. Courtesy ESPNcricinfo stats, breaking the numbers is important here. Rachin had played 95 deliveries of spin in that innings in Bengaluru last October and scored 101 runs — 30 off 35 from Ashwin, 30 off 21 from Kuldeep and…