ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-2015PUNE WARRIORS, 2012-13
Streak: 11 losses
Flops: Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy was uninspired, and returns of 268 runs from 15 innings with the bat did not help either. With an economy of 8.37, Ashish Nehra too had a tournament to forget
Closest they came to ending the rut: A one-run defeat – though it should never have come to that – at the hands of Mumbai Indians•BCCIPUNE WARRIORS, 2013
Streak: Nine losses
Flops: Yuvraj Singh, with a highest score of just 34, summed up a shambolic season for Pune Warriors, which ended with the franchise being terminated.
Closest they came to ending the rut: Warriors had 178 to defend against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, but fifties from Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane saw the hosts home with one ball to spare.•BCCIKOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS, 2009
Streak: Nine losses
Flops: Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly failed to score a single half-century between them, while on the bowling front, Ajit Agarkar was expensive, conceding 284 runs at 9.16.
Closest they came to breaking the rut: A thrilling tie against Royals in Cape Town ended with Super Over heartache, as Yusuf Pathan looted 16 runs from just four deliveries to send Knight Riders on their way to eight more defeats•Getty ImagesDELHI DAREDEVILS, 2012-13
Streak: Eight losses
Flops: Barring a blazing 95 against Kings XI Punjab, Virender Sehwag was a no show, managing just 200 runs from 12 other innings in 2013. Morne Morkel was a disappointment with the ball, going for 335 runs at 8.37.
Closest they came to breaking the rut: Royal Challengers Bangalore choked chasing 153 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium leading to a tie, but AB de Villiers won the resulting Super Over, piling more misery on Daredevils•BCCI

Mumbai Indians won their second IPL title by beating Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens, the culmination of a campaign that had begun with four consecutive defeats. Here’s what the Mumbai players and coaching staff told iplt20.com after the victory

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2015″Two IPL titles, a lot of other domestic T20 titles in the bag and the long list of titles go on and on. I thank God for that and I feel like I am a winner. I feel I am blessed. I hope I continue to do well for whichever team I play for and keep racking up titles … Started from the bottom, now we here.”
“Being a part of an IPL winning team is going to be at the top of my list in my cricketing career for a long time. I guess life will be changing for me after this. This experience with the Mumbai Indians will change the way I look at the game. Hopefully this is just the beginning and I have lots more to look forward to in the future.”
“Because I had won this tournament before, I was much more confident this time. One thing that I have learned this season is that you have to be consistent with your plans and not lose patience if you are not doing well as a team. Even when you lose a few games, you should not chop and change things. It makes life difficult for the players and the team on the whole.”
“The way Ricky led Australia for so many years was very fascinating to see. He has brought that to MI. He was very clear in one message to the team throughout the tournament. It was, ‘We are going to play our best cricket and no one can stop us from doing that. If we do it, nobody can come near us’. A lot of credit should go to Ricky, Sachin paaji, Shane Bond, Jonty Rhodes, Robin Singh and all the support staff members for our success in this competition.””Just being positive. We always had the talent. It was just ensuring that the guys believed in each other and realise that they were playing for the mate next to them and not just themselves. That’s what triggered the turnaround – we started playing for each other and put our bodies on line for each other.””Some of the guys that played for MI for the first time this season did extremely well for us. The likes of J Suchith and Hardik Pandya were very impressive. Also, Vinay Kumar – I know he is an experienced campaigner, but this was his first year for MI. I thought he didn’t start out very convincingly but he finished brilliantly. He peaked at the right time.”
“I have loved batting with Parthiv Patel this season and I believe we complement each other really well. When I haven’t scored, he has scored and when he has not got going, I have managed to put up a good show. I believe we created a good platform for the side in the tournament and we have done our role well in the Powerplay overs.””I think there are a range of guys who have impressed me from this team. I think the two guys who played for us consistently in the back end of the tournament; Hardik Pandya and Jagadeesha Suchith have great attitudes and worked hard. They have got big futures ahead and it was fun working with them.”

Young batsmen like Joe Root have shown an insatiable hunger to score runs on tour while England’s senior bowlers frustratingly see-saw between brilliance and indifference

George Dobell in Grenada24-Apr-2015One of the most impressive aspects of Joe Root’s excellent century actually came after his innings ended.It not his fitness, impressive though it was to continue to push for twos after hours of batting in this heat and on this painfully slow outfield.It was not his ability to adapt to this slow pitch, impressive though it had been to see him bat with a freedom nobody else could manage. While he did not hit a single four in front of square on the off side, he has been the only batsman to manage a strike-rate in excess of 46 runs per 100 balls. Root’s strike rate of 79.47 made it appear he was batting on a different surface.It was not his ability to keep the strike while batting with James Anderson. Or his ability to change gear or his ability to punish deliveries even fractionally short, wide or drifting on to his legs.It was Root’s hunger for more that was most impressive.Some batsmen would have been content with an innings of 182. Some would have been secretly delighted to see their partner dismissed and finish with an average-boosting not out. Some batsmen would be delighted to average in excess of 100 in the past year and become the second youngest England player – after his captain, Alastair Cook – to reach 2,000 Test runs. In doing so in 43 innings, Root even beat Sachin Tendulkar.But Root was not satisfied. Walking back to the dressing room after England’s innings had ended, he ripped off his gloves and hurled them aside to dry on the grass in a clear sign of frustration. 182 was not enough. Six scores of 50 or more in his last six Test innings was not enough. A sixth Test century and a batting average over 57 was not enough. His hunger for runs is insatiable.That is not a bad emotion for a batsman. Whereas Marlon Samuels squandered his wicket in the first innings with a reckless stroke after achieving his personal milestone, Root was focused on the team’s success.What makes Root even more impressive is that he was clearly not playing for a not out. In slog-sweeping Bishoo for six, despite the presence of a deep mid-wicket, or skipping down the wicket and driving him for another back over the bowler’s head, he was risking his wicket in the team’s interests.So keen was Root to carve out a match-winning position – he has yet to play in a Test-winning side overseas – that he was frustrated by England’s failure to build a daunting lead that might have put West Indies under pressure. In short, Root was utterly concentrated upon helping England achieve victory.Compare that with the performances of a couple of senior players in this team. Let us compare it, for example, with James Anderson and the moment his run-out ended Root’s innings.Anderson either presumed that he was safe or that he could not make his ground. Yet replays show that had he simply run his bat into the crease, he would have been in. He failed to observe a basic discipline of the game.Allowances can be made of course. Anderson is a tailender and he may just have made a mistake. It happens. It may be no different to the sort of error that costs most batsmen their wickets.But on the first day, Anderson ran in like a stiff old man and delivered his first few balls at a pace somewhere in the mid-70s. His captain had won the toss, conditions were as good as they were going to get for bowling in the entire game. Maybe sore from previous exertions, maybe saving himself for challenges to come, Anderson was unable to take advantage. Only three balls in his first seven overs would have hit the stumps.It was similar in the second innings. With the ball only swinging for a few overs, it was vital England made inroads but Kraigg Brathwaite in particular was allowed to settle against some fast-medium deliveries that, on the whole, he was safe to leave outside off stump.Stuart Broad was similar. His first spell in both innings has been so gentle in pace that batsmen have been able to settle rather too comfortably. While he produced a super spell with the second new ball in the first innings to suggest he still had the ability to rouse himself at times, that only made his inability to do so in the second innings more infuriating. His average speed in the second innings has been just 81 mph.The problem is that such performances set a tone. If England’s talented young players, ones who are currently pushing themselves to the limit, see their seniors playing within themselves or looking jaded and careful on the first day of a Test, there is a danger it could set the standard.Anderson and Broad clearly have passion so while it would be over the top to suggest they have become complacent, it might be fair to suggest they have become rather too comfortable. Or perhaps there are simply too many miles in those legs. Either way, this has become an oddly pedestrian new ball attack, surely the slowest among the major Test nations.It is true this pitch is, like the one in Antigua, slow and flat and that back-to-back Tests do little to help fast bowlers. But many modern Test wickets are this slow and England’s schedule will include many more back-to-back Tests. If England do not have an attack that can unlock the batting of the No. 8 rated Test side, it is hard to see how they expect to beat the top sides on wickets that will probably be only marginally more helpful. It seems unlikely that home groundsmen will prepare green flyers for an Ashes series that will pit them against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Ryan Harris.There are other options. Liam Plunkett looks strong and bowls a length that challenges the top of off stump. Mark Wood has pace and, at times, swing. Adil Rashid, for all his unpredictability, could hardly have bowled worse than Moeen Ali in this match. Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan are also bowling with pace but tend to come on when the ball has stopped swinging.The modern England set-up rarely drops established players. Yes, Kevin Pietersen is one obvious exception and yes, Matt Prior was dropped in Australia. But there were specific reasons for the Pietersen decision, flawed though they might have been, and Prior was soon recalled. Indeed, even when he was clearly suffering from injury during his last Test at Lord’s, Alastair Cook said it would remain Prior’s decision whether he played in the next game.But if England are going to regain the Ashes, or even win this series, they are going to need more than they are currently getting from their bowling attack.

he ECB’s announcement of the Women’s Cricket Super League dazzles upon first glance and appears full of potential but is still somewhat fuzzy on the detail

Melinda Farrell19-Jun-20151:42

Women’s Super League targeting world stars

The Impressionist painters’ greatest triumph was to perfect the art of creating a picturesque scene, when viewed from a distance, that transformed into a myriad of indistinct dots and dashes when examined up close.In a similar way, the ECB’s announcement of a new domestic T20 competition for 2016 – the Women’s Cricket Super League – dazzles upon first glance and appears full of exciting potential but is still somewhat fuzzy on the detail.Of course, the initial announcement – what the ECB’s Head of Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, heralded as “the most significant development for women’s cricket in this country for a very long time” – is just that, an opening gambit.After a lengthy consultation period, both financial and operational, there are now calls for expressions of interest and the ECB expects to appoint a general manager to oversee the tournament within the next two months.But exactly what that tournament will look like remains somewhat unclear, although it will almost certainly dramatically increase earning and playing opportunities for female players, both in England and abroad, and the ECB hopes it will lead to a game-wide structural change that will improve women’s cricket from the grass roots up.What we do know is that six teams will compete and those teams will contain an even spread of centrally contracted England Women players and a maximum of two foreign imports.The sides will play in an IPL or CPL style window, with the first WCSL tournament to run during a 16 to 18-day period next August.And in 2017 and 2018 funding from the ECB will increase when the T20 competition is supplemented by a 50 over version of the WCSL, likely to run over the duration of the season.But whether these teams will represent single counties, amalgamated county bids, universities, businesses, or even football clubs is unclear. Connor says the WSCL “hosts” – the word franchise is studiously avoided – could be any organisation that meets the required standards in facilities, training, operations and community engagement.”We’ve got to be really ambitious with this project and the impact it can have on sporting communities, on the opportunity for girls in schools and clubs and universities,” said Connor. “And part of the expression of interest process for the WCSL host which kicks off at the end of the month will be for them to prove how hosting a Super League team, and working with the ECB on the project, will inspire growth and attract new players, new fans, and hopefully, eventually, new commercial partners and really grow the reach of the women’s game.”Much of the £3m invested by the ECB over the first four years of the competition will go towards meeting operational, marketing and media costs and, in an historic development, there will be a combined total of 250,000 pounds in prize money – a hugely significant amount in a game where only a handful of players can make a living.

“What will be tricky I suppose is if the Surrey Strikers, for example, decide that they want to pay each of their players £10,000 but the other five can’t pay a penny”

But, again, the details of how that prize money and the ECB grants will be split between hosts and players are less concrete.The ECB plans to ring fence funds to pay for match fees, player payments and contributions to overseas players and no decision has been made on whether to pay players who are already on central contracts or if a salary cap will be introduced.”What I don’t think we know at this stage is what the appetite is going to be within the six to pay players,” Connor said.”What will be tricky I suppose – but it’s a free market – is if the Surrey Strikers, for example, decide that they want to pay each of their players £10,000 but the other five can’t pay a penny. Those are the things we’re going to have to work through as the process unfolds.”It’s hardly a small issue. Such questions have recently caused angst between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketer’s Association as planning continues for the launch of the Women’s Big Bash League later this year, a competition the ECB will be watching carefully.The WBBL will mirror the men’s competition, which gives the Australian version a significant head start when it comes to brand recognition and marketing, but while CA appears keen on the idea of double-headers, partly to maximize broadcasting opportunities, Connor is not convinced the same approach will work in England.”It doesn’t help when the teams don’t tally,” said Connor. “So it might not be a huge success to have double headers with men’s T20 Blast games for example. I think we need to do some more research.”A lack of clarity surrounds the question of where the competition fits in with the ECB’s current broadcasting deal with Sky, who will become the first television broadcaster of a women’s Test in August, when England Women face the Southern Stars in the Women’s Ashes, although securing a broadcaster and sponsorship are two of the ECB’s major goals.Could the time even have come for regular women’s cricket at Lord’s?•Jeremy DurkinQuestions also surround the future involvement of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands in county cricket, with the suggestion they could be phased out by 2017 or 2018 and, along with creating the WCSL, the ECB plans to completely overhaul the structure of women’s grassroots cricket and create a stronger pyramid structure.But while the details remain somewhat Monet-esque, the creation of any competitive shop-window for the world’s best female players, who desperately need more high quality competition, is a giant step forward. And the creation of two such tournaments in one year, on either side of the world, would have been considered a pipe dream just a few years ago.It’s two years since the ECB awarded central contracts to elite female players, and just one year since the England Women’s team broke ground by gaining stand-alone sponsorship.And while those developments made things a little easier at the top, the prospect of a thriving, semi-professional, televised women’s domestic competition is, indeed, a dazzling picture.

The allrounder in the former Australia captain’s Ashes XI: the star of England’s 2005 Ashes win

Ricky Ponting13-Jul-20152:12

Andrew Flintoff

“He saved his best cricket for the Ashes. I like those sort of competitors that stand up in the big series and perform for their team. He did it with bat and ball and was always the go-to guy for that very powerful English team of the mid- and late 2000s”

StatsBatting
OVERALL: Matches 79 Innings 130 Runs 3845 Average 31.89 100s/50s 5/26
ASHES: Matches 14 Innings 27 Runs 856 Average 34.24 100s/50s 1/6Bowling
OVERALL: Matches 79 Innings 137 Wickets 226 Average 32.78 5/10 3/0
ASHES: Matches 14 Innings 24 Runs 43 Average 36.11 5/10 2/0Best performance68 and 73, 3 for 52 and 4 for 79 in Birmingham, 2005
Flintoff the allrounder was at his peak in the 2005 Ashes and he was imperious in that famous Test at Edgbaston. He hit six fours and five sixes in a 62-ball 68 and then took 3 for 52 as England gained a 99-run lead. In the second innings, Brett Lee and Shane Warne had England at 75 for 6, but Flintoff’s vital 73 set Australia a competitive 282 to win. Justin Langer got an inside edge onto his stumps, and Ricky Ponting was set up to offer an outside edge. Flintoff returned to remove Jason Gillespie with a yorker and had Warne out hit-wicket – with Australia still needing 62. England narrowly won the Test by two runs, with Flintoff the Man of the Match in one of the greatest matches of all time.TriviaAndrew Flintoff is the only England player to score more than 400 runs and take 20 wickets in an Ashes series.

Stats highlights from a day dominated by Alastair Cook

S Rajesh16-Oct-20151:44

Alastair Cook played the third longest Test innings in history

263 Alastair Cook’s score, the second-highest for England in a Test against Pakistan. The only score to exceed this is 278, by Denis Compton at Trent Bridge in 1954. It’s also the second-highest in a Test in the UAE, after AB de Villiers’s unbeaten 278 at the same ground in 2010. The four highest Test scores in the UAE have all been made in Abu Dhabi. Cook’s knock is easily the highest by an England batsman in Asia – the previous-best was 207, by Mike Gatting in Chennai in 1985.836 Minutes batted by Cook, the third-longest in Test history, after Hanif Mohammad (970 minutes for 337 v West Indies in Bridgetown, 1958) and Gary Kirsten (878 minutes for 275 v England in Durban, 1999)2065 Runs scored by Cook in Asia, the most by a non-Asian batsman in the continent. He went past Jacques Kallis, who has scored 2058 runs in 44 innings (average 55.62). Cook has got his runs in 37 innings, at an average of 62.57.3 Number of double-centuries for Cook in Tests. Only two England batsmen – Len Hutton (4) and Wally Hammond (7) have more. Kevin Pietersen is the only other England batsman with three double hundreds.1014 Number of balls bowled by spinners in the Test before they finally took their first wicket of the match, when Shoaib Malik bowled Ben Stokes. Add another six if you count an experimental over of offspin along the way from Stokes. Since 2002, this is easily the most balls bowled by spinners before their first wicket in a Test; the previous-highest during this period was 547, in the Australia-India Sydney Test in 2012.3 Number of century stands that Cook was involved in, in the England innings – 116 with Moeen Ali, 165 with Ian Bell and 141 with Joe Root. Had Stokes hung around for nine more runs – their partnership yielded 91 – this would have been the second instance of a batsman being involved in four century stands in an innings, after Hanif Mohammad during his 337 against West Indies in Barbados in 1958. There are only five previous instances of an England batsman being involved in three century partnerships in an innings; the last of those was by Kevin Pietersen, against Australia in Adelaide in 2010. Overall, this feat has been achieved 23 times, with West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite the last player to do it, against Bangladesh in 2014.Zulfiqar Babar bowled 70 overs, the fourth highest by any Pakistan bowler in an innings•AFP37 Instances of two or more double-centuries in a Test; 19 of them have happened since 2000. In 2015 there have been three such instances; in previous years there had never been more than two.70 Overs bowled by Zulfiqar Babar, the fourth highest for a Pakistan bowler in an innings. Only Fazal Mahmood (85.2), Haseeb Ahsan (84) and Saqlain Mushtaq (74) have bowled more overs in an innings for Pakistan.68.25 The average runs per wicket in this Test so far – it’s easily the highest for a Test in the UAE. The previous highest was 51.56, when Pakistan played South Africa in Dubai in 2010. However, Abu Dhabi has hosted six of the seven Tests in the UAE with the highest runs per wicket.30 Years since Pakistan have bowled more overs in an innings. They’ve already bowled 196.3 in this innings; against Sri Lanka in Faisalabad in 1985, they bowled 200.3 overs. Overall, this is ninth in the list of most overs bowled by Pakistan in an innings.

At the end of another day in which England went toe-to-toe with Pakistan, Joe Root was shaping as pivotal batsman in this match

Andrew McGlashan in Dubai23-Oct-2015Joe Root was given hefty praise before the second Test began. In the midst of a press conference in the build-up to the match, Moeen Ali casually slipped in his assertion that Root “is probably the best player of spin in the world”.After the second day’s play in Dubai, which finished with Root unbeaten on 76 in which he combated a combination of Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik, Stuart Broad added his own praise: “He’s as good a player of spin as an Englishmen that I’ve played with.”At the end of another day in which England went toe-to-toe with Pakistan – they have not clearly ‘lost’ any of the seven in the series to date – Root was shaping as pivotal man in this encounter and, with it, England’s best chance of heading to Sharjah with the series lead that their efforts so far would warrant.Currently, Root is the No. 2-ranked batsman in Test cricket, having jostled with Steven Smith for the spot during the Ashes. Root claimed it with his hundred at Trent Bridge, but Smith gained it back with his match-winning effort at The Oval where Root failed twice. You would imagine, with Smith’s Test season in Australia having not yet begun and South Africa’s series in India still a couple of weeks away (AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla are ranked three and four), Root will reclaim the spot during this series. He should be vying for it for another decade yet.As in the first Test, Root spent considerable time in this innings batting alongside Alastair Cook. Whatever records Cook leaves behind at the end of his prolific career, Root will be pushing to break them. In Abu Dhabi he comfortably out-scored Cook in their 165-run partnership – 85 runs to Cook’s 54 – and although Cook provided marginally more in today’s 113-run stand there was, as is almost always the case when Root walks in, a sense of urgency.Since his return to the Test side, after briefly being dropped at the end of the 2013-14 Ashes, he has been prolific in the middle order, but alongside the volume of runs he has scored the tempo has been equally important. Since that Ashes series his strike-rate has ballooned from 39.69 to 63.38.Joe Root casts a shadow over Pakistan’s bowlers in Dubai•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesIt is worth noting, though, that the lower figure included his debut innings in Nagpur, a vital 73 off 229 balls, which helped England secure their historic 2012-13 series win in India. On that tour, Andy Flower had been so impressed with what he saw of Root in practice, he had wanted to play him from the start of the series. But whereas, there, it was defence first, attack second, now his game has switched emphasis.”From a bowler’s point of view you can feel quite relaxed when he’s out there batting, he doesn’t look like he’s panic-sweeping and dancing because he’s not sure what to do,” Broad said. “Last time we were here it was like tossing a coin to see which shot we would play. I think Joe has brought a lot of calmness to the batting unit which the young guys can feed off.”Yet still, among those young guys he remains one of the youngest. “He’s got an old head on young shoulders,” Broad said, as he recalled Flower’s opinion of Root on that India tour: “Just on first viewing, ‘this bloke is that good’.”He has often done it the hard way, too. Earlier this year it became a regular occurrence that Root would walk in with England three-down with 50 or fewer runs on the board: he would invariably respond with a counterattack. Midway through the Ashes, that scenario was taken out of Root’s hands when Gary Ballance was dropped and a batting reshuffle took place, with Ian Bell and Root each moving up to three and four respectively.The use of a nightwatchman in Abu Dhabi last week meant Root returned to the fray at three-down once again, although 285 for 3 represented a position of rare comfort compared to what he was previously used. In Dubai, the scoreline had reverted a little more to type as England wobbled on 14 for 2 against some impressive, hostile new-ball bowling from Imran Khan and Wahab Riaz. One bad innings, and the impressive work from England in the first Test could have been wiped away.It was a demanding start for Root against the fired-up Wahab. He was kept scoreless for 10 deliveries, his first boundary was an instinctive hook of which he was not in control, and he also took a blow to the chest as he dropped his hands on another fierce lifter. But when pace gave way to spin, Root started to ease into his work, picking off any error in line or length with drives, flicks and sweeps.After his first 10 deliveries for nothing he collected 44 off the next 48, but was then tied down for a period, requiring a further 27 balls to reach his fifty. However, there is a maturity as well as an impishness to his batting. His duel with the excitable Yasir was absorbing; his desire to score always kept the legspinner in the game. It was a contest that promised much for the third day. The series could be decided by it.There are enough signs that this will not be a draw – there is already significant spin and more bounce than Abu Dhabi – so England will need a strong lead to avoid chasing much in the fourth innings, and that remains a long way off. With a youthful middle order still unproven against spin, although Jonny Bairstow showed promising signs of development on the second evening, Root – dodgy back and all – is carrying a hefty burden now that Cook was been extracted from the crease.If Root is able to give England the advantage that propels them to a victory he will have certainly lived up to his top billing.

At least South Africa had Dean Elgar. On a day in which the ghosts of India came back to haunt them they did not have much else

Firdose Moonda in Durban28-Dec-2015At least South Africa had Dean Elgar.On a day in which the ghosts of India came back to haunt them so vividly that they could not even get past their highest total from that tour (214), at least Elgar exorcised his own demon.He smoked out the spirit that saw him get starts in all seven innings in India before squandering them and gave South Africa an inch of safety. Of all the questions they are now facing – and there are many – at least they have one answer.Elgar hopes for character

Dean Elgar could not escape the reality that South Africa are staring at a fourth defeat in five matches and the prospect of falling behind in a home series they cannot lose if they are to keep their No. 1 ranking.
“We have to try and chase down or block out possibly four sessions and get a draw out of this – it will show great character,” he said. “The Test series in India didn’t give anyone much confidence.”
South Africa were exposed in what they have termed “extreme” conditions as they attempted to rebuild following months of inactivity and retirements of key players.
“We have a new batting line-up and sometimes it takes a little longer to find your feet. We are very capable of turning out and playing in home conditions, I am sure it’s going to work out for us,” Elgar said. “We don’t play a lot of Test cricket. If we played as much as the English, we wouldn’t have to worry about when our next Test series is. We have a lot of lay-off time.”
The extended break between the retirement of Alviro Petersen in January this year left little time to test an opening partner for Elgar. South Africa promoted a regular No. 3, Stiaan van Zyl, but he only had two innings on a rain-hit Bangladesh tour before looking the weakest link in India. He was replaced by Temba Bavuma in the final match.
With Bavuma still in the squad and specialist opener Steven Cook scoring runs at the Lions, van Zyl’s future could hang on the second innings. “It’s a new role for him and he is very capable of doing the role. A lot of senior guys are on his side,” Elgar said.
“When we came home from India we spoke about going back to basics and that really hit home with me. India didn’t do us a lot of confidence but it did me the world of good. Sometimes your comfort zone needs to get broken a bit.”

Since taking over the opening position permanently 13 Tests ago, Elgar has racked up three centuries and three fifties. He averages 44.58 and has gone from being a sprog to a senior.At Kingsmead, he stubbornly stood his ground for six hours and 26 minutes, spread over two days, and showed mental strength his team-mates have struggled to find, becoming the first South Africa opener to carry his bat since Gary Kirsten against Pakistan in 1997.Understandably, not all of it was pretty and even less of it was perfect. Of the 246 balls Elgar faced and 66 scoring shots he had, only four stand out: his first boundary – an assertive push through point; his milestone moment – a swot over mid-on to bring up fifty; and two pin-point on-drives on the third morning. But the beauty of this knock was in the bruises.The 10th ball Elgar faced found its way onto his forearm after he shaped up too early to play the pull. The 59th he faced, when his strike rate hovered a touch under 40%, was fielded so fiercely that the return throw stuck him on the small of the back. In between that, Elgar watched his opening partner and his captain fall; after that, he took two more blows to the arm and the hand from Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes respectively.If felt any pain from any of those, he did not let it show. What would have hurt more was watching his batting partners form a procession to and from the pitch.For a brief period, Elgar found someone else with some staying power in AB de Villiers and was immediately more comfortable. Their partnership was the highest of the South African innings and a study in contrasts – the difference between a classically-trained chef and a home-cooking enthusiast.What Elgar lacked in finesse, de Villiers provided; what de Villiers lacked in bloody mindedness, Elgar provided. When they were separated by a good ball from Stuart Broad and questionable shot selection from de Villiers, South Africa lost their best chance of getting close to the England score. But they had not lost their only chance because Elgar clung on.He did not panic when Faf du Plessis left him to finish day two alongside Temba Bavuma and he did not panic when Bavuma and then JP Duminy left him with the tail after five-and-a-half overs on day three. Perhaps most importantly, he played spin better than anyone else. Even without the delicate touches that flexible wrists and soft hands can provide, Elgar did well to get forward, smother the turn, ignored any instinctive aggression which could have caused him to do something reckless and stayed industrious.He was rewarded for that with his fourth and probably hardest-fought century, the strain of which splattered on his face when he celebrated. Elgar allowed himself to let go. He repeatedly punched the air with his fists while he let it out with his breath. He pulled on the Protea badge with passion while he pointed towards his peers as trying to tell them, “You’ve still got me, and I’ve got all your backs.” He may even have glanced to where his predecessor Graeme Smith looked a proud parent.Then he went back to batting with match awareness and maturity, something this South African side needs. They lack for leadership because both Amla and du Plessis’ confidence has crashed, de Villiers is wrapped up in the retirement rumours doing the rounds and Steyn is injured again. That has left Morne Morkel, who has done his bit with the ball, and Elgar to fill a void. As a result, Elgar’s relative inexperience has been erased.At just 22 Tests old, he is already a go-to man, sometimes even with ball in hand. Elgar carried more of the load than the man South Africa have trumped up as an allrounder in the making, JP Duminy, who has only bowled one over in the match. Elgar has delivered 14, even if in that department he did not really make a difference.England have taken the sort of lead which will require South Africa to confront and conquer the ghosts of India again if they are to avoid falling behind in the series. At least they have Elgar. The problem is that he may also end up being the most they have.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2015But Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor set to work soon after resumption•Associated PressAustralia found a way past the big partnership when Josh Hazlewood had Williamson flapping to mid-on for 166•Getty ImagesMitchell Starc then cranked up the pace and hit speeds north of 160kph…•Cricket Australia/Getty Images..busting the bottom of Brendon Mccullum’s bat•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesTaylor, though, carried on to score his second double-century•Getty ImagesEven as McCullum and Doug Bracewell fell, Taylor remained unbeaten on 235, as the visitors trimmed the deficit to 49•Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2016Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then started to rebuild India’s innings at brisk pace•Getty ImagesBoth batsmen scored fifties as they took their stand past 100•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesSoon after Kohli got to his half-century, he was run out by Kane Richardson whose bullet throw from the fine leg boundary found him almost a foot short•Associated PressRohit, however, carried on to score his second successive century, before also being run out•Getty ImagesAjinkya Rahane’s 89 took India to 8 for 308, even as Australia thwarted India’s innings with late wickets towards the death•AFPAustralia began the 300-plus chase briskly, with Shaun Marsh helping himself to seven fours and a six•Getty ImagesHe received ample support from Aaron Finch, who also compiled a brisk 71•Getty ImagesThe pair’s 145-run opening partnership laid a strong platform for the hosts•Getty ImagesIndia fought back with the wickets of both batsmen in quick succession, with Kohli holding on to a high catch to dismiss Marsh•Getty ImagesSteven Smith then chipped in with 46 before being cleaned up by Umesh Yadav•Getty ImagesIndia searched hard for wickets, but George Bailey’s calculated blast – 76 off 58 balls – ensured Australia once again gunned down a 300-plus total without breaking a sweat•Getty Images