Ponting said Pant had been a little apprehensive early in the season but has “gotten better and better every game”

Shashank Kishore and Daya Sagar22-Apr-20242:10

Jaffer: Pant is looking like he’s coming back to his best

Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting believe Rishabh Pant should be in India’s T20 World Cup squad based on what they’ve seen of him so far in IPL 2024.”Yes, I think so, Pant should be part of the World Cup squad,” Ganguly said in New Delhi on Monday. “He should bat in the middle order. Where exactly is difficult to say because of match-ups, right-left combinations depending on who bowls. It also depends on the situation.”Ponting said Pant was a little apprehensive early in the season on what he could do, especially with his wicketkeeping but he had “gotten better and better every game.”Related

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“He’s starting to get a bit more trust and belief in his body as well,” Ponting said. “I think early on he had been a little bit apprehensive as to what he could do, especially with the wicketkeeping side of it. With his batting, coming into the tournament, he had pretty good trust in his abilities.”I think his batting is getting better and better by the game. I’ve been asked a lot already over the last couple of weeks, now that he’s back and playing, what I think about his World Cup chances. I think he’ll be in the squad for sure. I think he’s too good of a player and can have too much of an impact on the game. He’s the heartbeat and soul [of Delhi Capitals] and hopefully from here on, he can help us win some more games.”Pant, who made his return to competitive cricket after a 15-month layoff due to a car crash, has so far scored 254 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 150.29. He has predominantly batted in the middle order and has kept wickets in every game, something Delhi’s support staff seemed a little doubtful about at the start of the season. He’s likely to compete with Sanju Samson, KL Rahul and Jitesh Sharma for the spot.On Saturday, RCB’s Dinesh Karthik said he was keen to try and make India’s World Cup squad as well on the back of some exceptional performances in IPL 2024.India will have to pick their squad for the T20 World Cup by the end of April.Want Rohit and Kohli to hit from ball one at the World Cup – GangulyThe other big question for India’s selectors is the opening combination. It’s clear Rohit Sharma, who was named captain as early as February by BCCI Jay Shah, will open but who will partner him?Yashasvi Jaiswal is the incumbent but he has endured a lean run of form in IPL 2024, scoring just 121 runs in seven innings. While Ganguly doesn’t believe Jaiswal’s chances have diminished, he’s clear the experience of handling pressure in crunch moments will be crucial, and that India need the experience of Rohit and Virat Kohli at the top of the order.”We saw how Rohit batted at the 50-overs World Cup,” Ganguly said. “He just came and hit from ball one and we were able to put so much pressure on the opposition in the first seven-eight overs. It gave breathing space for the lower order.”I think Virat and Rohit should do the same. They’re great players. For India, the most important thing in T20 cricket and I said this to Rahul [Dravid] in Australia [after the previous T20 World Cup] also. ‘Just play without fear.’ You can always control the innings if you lose wickets, but just go and hit.”KL Rahul played exceptionally against CSK, Ganguly said•BCCI

Ganguly was asked about Rahul and how he’d been an example of someone with enormous ability but was often under scrutiny because of his approach in T20 cricket.”I think I think it depends on what the captain and the coach instruct him to do in the middle,” Ganguly said. “The other day I saw him play an innings against Chennai [Super Kings], which Lucknow [Super Giants] won. I thought he was exceptional. He played well at the top of the order and did exactly that was required to do.”As I said, it’s about playing freely and playing without fear. And I hope Rahul finds a method of playing T20 cricket. Because players like Virat, Rohit, Rishabh, Rahul, Surya [Suryakymar Yadav], Shivam Dube – there’s exceptional six-hitting ability, it’s enormous.”The Impact Player has been among the bigger talking points this IPL. Ganguly was asked if it was detrimental to the development of allrounders.”A little bit, but good allrounders still play,” he said. “Hardik Pandya is still playing. You look at. Rashid [Khan] he’s playing in the XII straightaway. Glenn Maxwell, yes he’s taken a bit of a break but he starts. Mitch Marsh started for us, although he did’t get enough runs. Jadeja plays for Chennai, Nitish Reddy plays for Hyderabad. Russell and Narine play for KKR.”

Afghanistan withstood onslaughts at both ends of the innings, first from Pathum Nissanka and then Kamindu Mendis, to close out a nervy three-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third T20I in Dambulla. It means Afghanistan end the series on a high, securing their solitary victory at the last time of asking; Sri Lanka win the series 2-1.The difference in the end proved to be the final two deliveries of the respective innings. Afghanistan, having elected to bat first, struck 10 runs off their final two balls courtesy debutant Mohammed Ishaq to push their total to 209 for 5. Sri Lanka in their response ended up needing 10 off 2, but Kamindu could only manage six – that too coming off the final delivery of the game.In between were a host of fierce knocks, foremost from Rahmanullah Gurbaz who struck a 43-ball 70 to set the platform for the visitors’ mammoth score. Opening alongside him was Hazratullah Zazai who bludgeoned an even more brutal 45 off 22.Sri Lanka in response had Nissanka lead the way with a 30-ball 60 before a hamstring strain forced him to retire hurt, but Kamindu’s 65 off 39 ensured the game would go down to the wire.Suffice to say it wasn’t a day for the bowlers with none able to maintain an economy rate of below eight, with the seamers on both sides receiving the brunt of the abuse each taken for more than 10 an over.

Gurbaz and Zazai set the stage

With just pride to play for, Gurbaz and Zazai set about unloading their frustrations over how this tour has gone, as the pair clobbered their way to an 88-run opening stand in just 48 deliveries.Sri Lanka weren’t spared from either end during a 72-run powerplay as the pair were equal to anything Sri Lanka threw their way. None of Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana – brought in early in attempt to stem the flow of runs – nor Akila Dananjaya were spared, plundered to all parts.Gurbaz, who’s had a torrid tour by his standards, was particularly pleased to finally get some runs under his belt, celebrating his half-century with a look to the heavens and an unequivocal look of relief on his face. He rode his luck as well, dropped on 22 by Dananjaya and then again later on 58 by Sadeera Samawickrama – both chances in the deep and on the run.

Partnerships keep momentum going

Once the opening partnership was ended, Sri Lanka might have hoped to reel things back but Afghanistan scarcely took their foot off the gas. While they were unable to maintain the scoring rate of roughly 12 an over that Gurbaz and Zazai had been galloping along at, at no point across their innings did the rate drop below 10.Successive partnerships of 25, 28, 41 – all comfortably above run-a-ball – ensured Sri Lanka’s bowlers were never allowed to build any pressure, and then Ishaq’s final-over strikes placed the finishing touches on a dominant outing with the bat.Kamindu Mendis waged a lone battle for Sri Lanka through the middle overs•AFP/Getty Images

Nissanka’s one-man show

Over the past couple of years Sri Lanka’s bigger totals had frequently coincided with a Kusal Mendis onslaught, but 2024 has been the Nissanka show as far as Sri Lanka are concerned.While his double-ton in the ODIs seemed to catch many by surprise, Nissanka now seems hellbent on completely transforming his white-ball game into one of a pocket-sized power hitter.He signalled his intent in the very first over of the chase, clipping one fine first ball before swatting a short one past mid-on a couple of balls later. He saved his destructive best though for Fareed Ahmad in the final over of the powerplay, as he took him for six, four, four, first scooped over fine leg, then slapped high down the ground and finally flayed over point.By the time he left the field he had accounted for 60 (off 30 deliveries) of Sri Lanka’s 83 on the board. They will hope the hamstring injury that forced him to retire hurt is nothing serious; his parting shot before leaving the field – a slog sweep over deep midwicket – was a bittersweet reminder of precisely what they’d be missing out on.

Afghanistan hold their nerve

Despite Nissanka’s blazing start, the required rate still hovered over 10 an over constantly, but Sri Lanka did well to keep the required rate within touching distance even while losing the likes of Kusal Perera and Wanindu Hasaranga cheaply.This was largely down to a momentum-shifting stand between Samarawickrama and Kamindu, the pair putting on 53 off 33. When Samarawickrama fell edging a cut to the keeper, and Mathews shortly after holing out in the deep, Afghanistan might have felt they were home clear, however another quick fire stand shifted the balance once more.Dasun Shanaka and Kamindu put on 35 off 17, but with Shanaka run out and Mendis needing 19 off the final over, he and Sri Lanka fell agonisingly short.

Zafar Gohar in runs and wickets as Gloucestershire continue to put up stiff resistance

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2024Tom Alsop’s 84 and an unbeaten 75 from Cheteshwar Pujara formed the backbone of Sussex’s solid response to Gloucestershire’s 417 on an attritional day at Hove.Sussex reached stumps at the 1st Central County Ground on 267 for 5 – trailing by 150 – after Gloucestershire enjoyed some late success when left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar took two wickets in two balls four overs before the close.A slow pitch has neutered the seamers with very little movement on offer and only slow turn for the spinners, while batters on both teams found it difficult to increase the scoring rate even when they got themselves established.Alsop became the fifth player to pass fifty without going on to a century when he failed to keep down a short ball from 6ft 6in seamer Dom Goodman, who had earlier removed Tom Clark after the Sussex opener fought his way to 53 off 124 balls.Removing Pujara, who looked in ominously good touch, with the second new ball in the morning could be key to Gloucestershire’s hopes of a decent first-innings lead.The placid nature of the pitch had been highlighted by the ease with which Gloucestershire’s last two wickets added 109 in 22 overs at the start of the day, led by Gohar who made his 11th first-class half-century.He added 56 with Zaman Akhter for the ninth wicket and their only alarm came when a mix-up over a single into the leg side left both stranded in mid-pitch but Pujara’s wild throw enabled them to make their ground. Gohar mixed careful defence with some aggressive off-side strokes as he plundered the short boundary for the majority of his seven fours.After Ollie Robinson, who went wicketless, had been unable to break through it was left-arm spinner James Coles who broke the stand with his fifth ball when a quicker, full-length delivery bowled Gohar for 60. Offspinner Jack Carson took a smart return catch above his head to remove Ajeet Dale and claim his third wicket but not until Gloucestershire claimed a fourth batting point.Dale then bowled a terrific opening spell down the slope and got his reward when Tom Haines, who had scored centuries in his first two games of the season, was squared up and well caught in the gully by Miles Hammond.Dale had a feisty individual battle with Clark after lunch as the left-hander fought hard to find some form after scoring 12 in the season’s opener against Northants and then enduring a first-ball duck at Leicester last week.Clark still put away anything loose and appeared to have done the hard yards when he reached a 115-ball fifty, which also included a six off offspinner Ollie Price. But when Goodman returned in the 37th over Clark poked at a ball he could have ignored, having added 108 with Alsop.Alsop was more fluent to reach fifty off 100 balls and bat finally began to get on top after tea as he and Pujara added 85 in 22 overs. It was a surprise, then, when Alsop misjudged a pull and Tom Price ran in from long leg to take a diving catch and give the persevering Goodman his second wicket.Dale returned to hit James Coles on the right hand and the helmet during another wholehearted burst but Coles added 52 with Pujara and had just hit left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar out of the ground when he was caught looking to clear the short square-leg boundary. Gohar pinned Carson on the back leg with his next ball but John Simpson survived the hat-trick.

Sri Lanka have slipped to a new level of incompetence and India are on the rise. For me, the disturbing signals are from seniors

Arjuna Ranatunga29-Oct-2005

Sri Lanka have slipped to a new level of incompetence and India are on the rise. For me, the disturbing signals are from seniors who have to provide leadership to a touring party. Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan are our favourite sons. A few failures can’t revise their reputations. They now have to dig their heels deep to ensure the team is not redefined if another week, god forbids, of similar intensity is going to rock our boat.A few things have been beyond control. Jayasuriya might be a little out of touch but his injury hasn’t allowed him to be his ebullient self. He alone can answer the charge that he is a bit slow or if his reflexes and eyesight are not how they used to be. Murali has been confronted by a high quality batsman in Sachin Tendulkar after a long time and if there are only hundred-odd runs to defend, it restricts even his options. Mahela Jayawardene then has to attend his wedding and I don’t blame him either for it was arranged before the present schedule was announced.I am concerned about the collective batting failure. It is the batsmen who win you games in our subcontinent conditions. I also don’t approve of Kumara Sangakkara opening the batting. The opening combination was duly tinkered with but Sangakkara isn’t the man for the job. When everyone is gripped with the virus of failure, you don’t put all your worries at the doorstep of your best man. Every individual has to pull his own weight. Upul Tharanga needs to be brought out of the closet as an opener.I also wouldn’t accept the pitch being held up as a reason for our batting mishaps. The one at Mohali was perfect, backed with a lightning quick outfield. I certainly didn’t see it as one where the ball was holding up. Even at Nagpur, one has to revisit the match again to see if spinners really had that huge assistance in the second half of the day. I mean, when the spinning duo of Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag took successive wickets, it was only in the 10th and 11th overs of the innings and the ball was still new!It is easy to over-react to such terrible reverses and I hope such a thing is not happening behind the closed doors of the dressing room. There is nothing wrong with the quality of these batsmen. Most who go out of form suffer because they start believing their best has deserted them. Being uptight will never be a solution, it actually adds to the problem. Sometimes being relaxed is the best option. The best process is to attend to the basics – watch the ball closely as it leaves the bowler’s hands and trust your ability which has brought you thus far. If it is a technical issue, help is available from the support staff.The best man to convey the message is the captain. Actually, Atapattu could cite from his own experience. When he began his career in India, years ago, he was a doddering wreck where even scoring the first run was a matter of celebration. Amid cries for his head, we believed in his ability but more importantly, he believed in himself. He soon turned the corner and a string of centuries and double centuries flowed. That message still has relevance. I have a massive regard for his ability and intelligence. We in Sri Lanka are actually in the process of appointing him as long-term captain, till the 2007 World Cup.It’s a complete contrast with the Indians. Their batsmen are raking up massive totals and their bowlers are dismissing the opponents for less than 200. I am sure Sachin Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan have much to do with this revival as their efforts in the first two games show.Pathan deserves a closer look as a world class allrounder in the making. Even though he, and his captain Rahul Dravid, wouldn’t like this extra weight of expectations to be placed on his shoulders, it is an inescapable offshoot of good performances.As for Tendulkar, he has lifted modern-day mediocrity with his sublime genius. Men like him inspire a generation of youngsters to pick up the game and create a different level of creativity. Ask yourself how many times you have replayed those pick-up shots over the infield in your mind and swooned over it. We are suffused in his genius and watching an immortal in action. Enjoy it for such men grace the game once in a generation!

Daniel Vettori’s dogged innings of 60, off 129 balls, ensured that New Zealand sailed well past the follow-on target

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan25-Jun-2005Daniel Vettori’s dogged innings of 60, off 129 balls, ensuredthat New Zealand sailed well past the follow-on target, and moreimportantly, used up valuable time, which may eventually provecritical to the outcome of the match. Sourav Ganguly might havemissed a trick when he persisted with Zaheer Khan and L Balajiagainst him, instead of relying on his spinners.Vettori scored 19 off 70 balls (strike rate of 27) against AnilKumble and Harbhajan Singh. Against the seamers, his strike-ratewas almost three times as much (36 of 46 balls). Zaheer andBalaji hardly pitched the ball up, and on an agonisingly slowpitch, Vettori had ample time to work the ball square of thewicket. Zaheer didn’t test Vettori with a single yorker andcontinued bowling short.Length bowled by medium-pacers to VettoriBowlerBalls faced (Runs)Full LengthGood lengthShort of good lengthShortZaheer Khan22 (15)2 (0)18 (11)1 (0)1 (4)L. Balaji24 (21)5 (2)8 (5)7 (10)4 (4)Vettori was fairly comfortable against the 26 good-length ballsbowled to him, and worked the ball off the square mostly off theback foot. Against the medium pacers, he scored 18 runs off 9balls when he was on his back foot, and even when he showedminimal footwork he succeeded in scoring 7 off 15 balls.Vettori’s footwork against the medium-fast bowlers Balls (Runs)BowlerFront footBack foot Minimal footworkZaheer Khan13 (5)2 (4)7 (6)L. Balaji 8 (6)7 (14)9 (1)Vettori was finally dismissed by Anil Kumble and left India witha lesser lead than they would have liked and lesser time to forcethe issue.

The staff at Cricinfo pick their Champions Trophy Dream Team

Nagraj Gollapudi and Jamie Alter07-Nov-2006

A tournament that began a month ago wound its way past some spectacles and some surprises to the inevitability of Brabourne on Sunday. Those matches featured the world’s best players – as good a chance as any for us to pick out a Dream Team. We did this in the usual democratic manner: Votes from our staff. The results won’t please everyone, of course, and some omissions are more notable than others – Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen, Kyle Mills, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Shivnarine Chanderpaul – but, hey, that’s democracy.The eleven players are in batting order, picked to play in Indian conditions (more Mumbai than Mohali) and strictly on the basis of performance over the past month.Chris Gayle
Six hundreds were recorded in the entire Champions Trophy and Gayle scored half of them, including the breathtaking, unbeaten 133 against South Africa in the semi-finals. Gayle just about mauled every bowler that came his way in the trademark stand-and-deliver fashion and waltzed his way to the top of run charts. Bonus was his ability to pick wickets at crucial junctures and stem the run-flow, which played a vital role in West Indies’ runStephen Fleming

This was the tournament when he established a world-record 194 ODIs as captain. Fleming played true to type, unruffled, shrewd and steely, the thread that stitched together the Kiwi fabric. If his 89 against South Africa in a low-scoring thriller played on a bad wicket was the difference between the two sides then his commanding 80 against Pakistan, with the hot-and-cold Scott Styris, helped New Zealand become the first team to enter the semi-finals.Ricky Ponting
He didn’t set the stands ablaze or reach the kind of form that saw him scoop the ICC Player of the Year award but Ponting did become the first Australian captain to lift the Champions Trophy. No big scores, a tournament average of 23.60 – two ducks, including the final – but he had two fifties that played more than a crucial role in Australia’s road to glory. One was the effortless 58 – the drives were perfect and the running exemplary – to shove India out of the contest at Mohali, the other an identical score in a semi-final win over New Zealand.Damien Martyn
Australia’s first Champions Trophy triumph owed a lot to Martyn. On Diwali day, amid the noise and under the lights against arch-rivals England, Australia needed all of birthday boy Marto’s composure to get them past those initial hiccups when England got three quick wickets. Martyn then outclassed India, making sure that dangerman Harbhajan Singh didn’t get a foothold in the Aussie camp, with another of those unassuming innings which he keeps playing.Andrew Symonds
There weren’t too many middle-order batsmen who got going in the tournament but in Symonds’ case it’s a matter of just not getting the chance in the middle. His run-a-ball 58 in the semi-final was as sublime a Symonds-innings as they come, and he finished with a healthy 34.66. His fielding, at cover for the most part, was outstanding, unsurprisingly. His offspin proved a partnership breaker.Dwayne Bravo
One of the best all-rounders in the game today, along with Shane Watson. With 164 runs and seven wickets, Bravo made his presence felt, picking up his maiden one-day hundred, bamboozling batsmen with his lethal slower balls, and patrolling the field like a livewire. His dismissals of Michael Clarke in a thrilling 10-run win over Australia, and Chris Read in the defeat by England, were superb examples of how he’s mastered that slow yorker. Impressively, and importantly for the future of the West Indies middle-order, he batted through to the end too.Mark Boucher
As a modern-day wicketkeeper-batsman, only Gilchrist comes close to Boucher. But Boucher has proved he can handle pressure well with the bat and hold together an innings as a lower-order bat. South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, Boucher was one of the few batsmen ready for a scrap when the conditions got tough. His 69 against Pakistan at Mohali was the difference between victory and defeat, and proof of his regular ability to lead a rescue mission. Six dismissals – including a sensational full-length, one-handed take down the leg side – highlighted his tidy glovework.

Harbhajan Singh
Forget the return of two wickets at 51.50; focus on the economy rate of 3.67, proof that Harbhajan was the best spinner on view, constantly keeping the batsmen under pressure and stifling the run rate. Against West Indies, Harbhajan was the dominant partner in tandem with Virender Sehwag as the run rate quietly crept up to a run-a-ball and a simple chase turned into a last-over scramble. Batsmen were wary of hitting him and he consistently found sharp turn and bounce.Glenn McGrath
Too old? Lost his edge? Pigeon answered these questions emphatically, getting his bunnies – Sachin Tendulkar once, Brian Lara twice – and maintaining that choking length, inch-perfect accuracy and the cunning knack to work batsmen, ending up with an astonishing average of 15.8 from five of the seven games Australia played. In the final Gayle blasted him for 14 runs in the second over, but McGrath once again confirmed his big-game temperament by first getting past Lara’s outer edge and then delivering three maidens with another wicket of Runako Morton.Jerome Taylor
Steaming in fast, with purposeful eyes that betray no emotion, Taylor has the ability to make the batsman hop and skip with pace and bounce. Michael Holding terms him as a ‘finisher’ for his ability to not lose direction bowling at death. One of the most improved fast bowlers, Taylor became the first West Indies bowler to bag a hat-trick in ODIs, and he did that against the mighty Australians. He was visibly dismayed after the final but he can put his chin up; he finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 13 in seven games.Makhaya Ntini
Farveez Maharoof may have shocked West Indies with 6 for 14 at Mumbai, but Ntini’s fiery opening burst of 5 for 8 against Pakistan was the most devastating spell all tournament. Aided by a Mohali pitch that offered zip, and backed by close-in catchers who plucked off beauties, he was in demolition mode and left Pakistan withered and beaten. That awesome spell booked South Africa’s place in the semi-finals, but there were other potent spells that saw Ntini finish with eight wickets at 16.12.

Dileep Premachandran looks back at the triumphant summer of 1986, when Chetan Sharma hepled bowl India to their only victory at Lord’s

Dileep Premachandran at Lord's18-Jul-2007

Chetan Sharma took the first ten-wicket haul by an Indian bowler in England, and helped India to their only win at Lord’s © Getty Images
It was perhaps fate that Chetan Sharma’s career would forever be remembered for one delivery he bowled as a 20-year-old at a desert venue that appears to have gone the way of Atlantis. That last-ball six from Javed Miandad would define his career, harsh reality for a spirited man who bounced back from that leg-side full toss to set India on course for their first and only victory at Lord’s.That summer of 1986 is best remembered for Diego Maradona, the Hand of God and the greatest goal ever, but in many ways, it also marked the pinnacle of a golden age for Indian cricket. The World Cup victory in 1983 had established their one-day credentials, and an emphatic triumph at the World Championship of Cricket two years later confirmed that the Lord’s upset of West Indies would not be a lone swallow of summer.Progress on the Test front had been trickier. Following a 3-0 rout at West Indian hands in the aftermath of the World Cup, there had also been a home reverse against England, with Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler completing the turnaround at Madras after Laxman Sivaramakrishnan’s leg-spun variations had given India the initiative in Bombay.India had followed that disappointment by dominating a series in Australia, deprived of victory only by umpiring so astonishingly one-eyed that it made the much-maligned subcontinental umpires look good. But even then, expectations were hardly sky-high when the team arrived at Lord’s in early June. Dating back to 1932, and India’s inaugural Test, Lord’s had been more burial mound than happy hunting ground, with two draws and eight thrashings in ten Tests.England too were at a low ebb, with Ian Botham’s cannabis-related indiscretions ruling him out, and the others still nursing wounds from another blackwash in the Caribbean. For some like Mike Gatting, nose pulped by a Malcolm Marshall bouncer, India’s less-than-fiery pace attack offered a chance of redemption, but right from the time that Ken Palmer called play, the script was shredded by Sharma.Kapil Dev and Roger Binny did not have much luck with the new ball, but once Maninder Singh made the initial incision, it was very much the Sharma show. Six weeks on from that ball, he had David Gower, a pale shadow of the man who had been such a colossus in the previous summer’s Ashes series, caught behind. Soon after, Gatting was bowled, as Sharma’s whippy action and raw pace discomfited the top order. Six weeks on from that ball, he had David Gower, a pale shadow of the man who had been such a colossus in the previous summer’s Ashes series, caught behind. Soon after, Gatting was bowled, as Sharma’s whippy action and raw pace discomfited the top order Resistance came from the two big Essex men. Gooch, as upright and stolid as ever, grafted patiently for a century, while Derek Pringle offered limpet-like companionship. The partnership was worth 147 by the time the tireless Sharma bustled in to knock over Gooch’s stumps at the fag end of the day, a breakthrough whose importance would become apparent the next morning when England stuttered to 294 all out.After Dilip Vengsarkar’s classy hundred gave India a slender lead, Sharma relinquished centre stage to his captain. Once again, the seamers stifled English progress, and it was Kapil who dealt the decisive blows, winkling out Gooch, Tim Robinson and Gower with just 35 on the board.Sharma’s work was not quite done though, and he added the key wicket of Gatting as the innings disintegrated. His exertions subsequently ruled him out of the Headingley game where the series was clinched, but he was back for the final Test at Edgbaston, where he became the first Indian bowler to take ten wickets in a match in England.He was not the only unlikely hero either. Madan Lal was 35 and spending the summer in the northern leagues when Sharma’s injury resulted in him being called up for Headingley. He responded with a superb spell of 3 for 18, a special way to end a career that had started an hour’s drive south at Old Trafford 12 years earlier.Sharma finished the series with 16 wickets at 18.75, while Binny, whose 24 Tests outside of England realised only 35 scalps, had 12 at 20.91. Kapil, man of the match at Lord’s despite Sharma’s 5 for 64, replicated his 1982 figures, though his tally of ten wickets doesn’t reveal just how well he bowled at times.If there is a lesson for Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth and RP Singh to learn from those days of long ago, it is the value of accuracy. Even allowing for the fact that those were years of less hectic run-plunder, the fact that no Indian bowler conceded more than three runs an over is testament to how well they applied pressure. A three-pronged pace attack and one miserly spinner capable of moments of inspiration, Maninder. Times have changed, but that old combo could yet be India’s formula for success this summer.