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Baseball is all about the atmosphere. The crack of the bat at the ballpark, the peanuts, the Cracker Jack, the hot dogs.

Sure, there are the diehard baseball purists who can rattle off anything about each player on their favorite team. But, there are plenty of fans that head to the ballpark solely to take in that atmosphere. The Marlins’ broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network aimed to challenge those fans Friday as the team took on the Tigers.

“Somebody, name a Marlin, get a hot dog. Name a Marlin, free hot dog for a Marlin,” team reporter Jeremy Taché exclaimed as he power walked through the concourse at LoanDepot park.

“Sammy Alcántara,” he first fan he stopped for responded. That's not quite right, as righthander Alcántara toed the rubber for the Marlins Friday, but the answer was still good enough for the prize.

Taché continued to quickly speed through the concourse and stopped for two other fans who correctly answered the question as they both named second baseman Xavier Edwards. Maybe the challenge wasn’t as difficult as he initially thought as no fan shown got stumped, but it was hilarious entertainment from the local broadcast for the 69–79 Marlins.

“We got two Xavier Edwards, one Sammy Alcántara,” he said as he ended the segment. "That’ll do.”

Close enough.

Outside of the funny bit, Friday was a good night for the Marlins as they defeated the Tigers 8–2, although Detroit’s starter and AL Cy Young Award frontrunner Tarik Skubal left the game in the fourth inning with an apparent injury.

MLB announced on Sunday that Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz will remain on non-disciplinary paid leave “until further notice" after they were originally placed there from a gambling investigation, ESPN's David Purdum reported.

The league would not provide any further information until the investigation is complete. Ortiz was placed on leave back on July 13, while Clase followed on July 28. Ortiz's leave ended on Sunday, but now it has been extended.

MLB is investigating gambling activity around two Ortiz pitches earlier this year—one on June 15 against the Mariners and one on June 27 against the Cardinals. The latter came in Ortiz's most recent start since he's been on leave, in which he gave up four earned runs and lost 5-0. Clase is tied to the same investigation.

Before being put on leave, Ortiz posted a 4.36 ERA with 96 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings pitched in 2025. Clase, as a closer for Cleveland, posted a 3.23 ERA in 48 games this season with 24 saves.

Glamorgan went unbeaten through the 1969 Championship as they steadily chased down their rivals

Paul Edwards16-Jul-2020Cardiff, July 22, 1969

ScorecardCheltenham, August 14, 1969
ScorecardIn the early years of this century the best cabaret in the kingdom was David Green’s performance in a county press box. Unencumbered by a need to tweet or blog, not that he would have obeyed any injunction to do so, the former Lancashire and Gloucestershire batsman would stroll around the room during a morning’s play, reminiscing about his days as a professional and occasionally commenting on the efforts of his new colleagues. “Ah, I see Edwards is attempting to win the Booker Prize before lunch,” was one observation that amused most occupants of the box at Old Trafford.Rain allowed Green even greater freedom. He would make a series of phone calls, sometimes to berate sub-editors and occasionally to suggest to bank managers that, judging by their investment decisions, he would have been better off leaving his money in the mattress. Cold callers were never so foolish as to ring again. Old players were recalled, assessed and sometimes mocked, although rarely without affection. Anecdotes were told that can never appear in any cricket book. When Green’s copy appeared in the next morning’s it would be accurate, perceptive and exactly the right length, but it would reflect none of this burlesque. On the other hand, it had plainly been written by a former cricketer and it was intriguing to discover that its author had played in the side that fought a mighty battle with Glamorgan for 1969 County Championship. Yet we never asked Greeny about the season his team nearly brought the pennant back to Bristol for the first time in Gloucestershire’s history.ALSO READ: ‘Rice and Hadlee’ and the rest – when Notts ended their droughtHindsight suggests we are stretching things a little. Glamorgan won the County Championship in 1969 and their 31-point margin over Tony Brown’s second-placed team appears substantial. They won their two matches against Gloucestershire very comfortably: by 208 runs at Cardiff in July and an innings and 50 at Cheltenham in August. Twenty years later Green was to write a history of Gloucestershire cricket and his judgement remained clear-eyed: “Nor could there be any complaint about this [Glamorgan’s title] in terms of weather, injuries or anything else, for on the two occasions the sides had been opposed Glamorgan’s superiority had been overwhelming.”So Gloucestershire finished runners-up for the fifth time in their history. (They managed the same trick when Essex won the Championship in 1986 and have thus sprinkled their six second places across five decades. By contrast, Somerset, one of the two other teams never to have won the title, have been the bridesmaids in half a dozen Septembers since 2001.) The celebrations stretched deep into winter in the principality, for no one thought Glamorgan fortunate to be champions. In Alan Jones, Majid Khan and the skipper, Tony Lewis, the Welsh side possessed three batsmen all of whom scored well over a thousand runs. The bowling attack was almost perfectly balanced with the spin of Don Shepherd and Peter Walker backing up the fire of Lawrence Williams and Tony Cordle and the medium pace of Malcolm Nash. Just as significant was the close catching of Walker, Majid, Roger Davis and Bryan Davis, a quartet fit to rank with any in the Wilf Wooller era. “It had become increasingly obvious in 1968 that Lewis’s team were finally fulfilling their potential after several years of rebuilding,” wrote Andrew Hignell in his centenary history, “and there was a growing belief that a Championship-winning team was taking shape.”All the same, any such conviction may have appeared fragile midway through July, by which time Gloucestershire had established a 52-point lead at the top of the table. Though the leaders’ batting that season was relatively unimpressive – no batsman contributed more than Ron Nicholls’ 1173 runs – Brown’s attack possessed two spinners in David Allen and John Mortimore who regularly made the most of turning wickets. Moreover, the new ball was taken by Mike Procter, a hulking but coltish 22-year-old, whose 103 wickets in 1969 were a testament to raw pace and a terrifying run-up. “His bowling was, at first, tearaway fast,” Green wrote, “with an odd chest-on delivery, the pace coming from a swift and athletic approach and a great heave off a powerful right shoulder at the end of a whirling double-overarm action.” The result of Procter’s fury, the spinners’ subtleties and Brown’s shrewd leadership was that Gloucestershire travelled to Cardiff on July 18 having won seven and lost only one of their 12 games.The 1969 Glamorgan team•PA PhotosBut there were another 12 games to play and that lead was less formidable than it might seem from a 21st century perspective. In 1969 there were five bowling bonus points available plus one batting point for 25 runs a team scored above 150. Such points could only be gained in the first 85 overs of the first innings but once they were added to the ten gained for a win, it was plain that Gloucestershire’s advantage could be erased in a couple of matches. And when the teams met at Sophia Gardens Glamorgan were undefeated and had two games in hand…On the first day the home batsmen compiled a very respectable 337, four batsmen making fifties. On the second Cordle was brought on second change when the score was 78 for 2 but took 6 for 21 in 12.2 overs as Gloucestershire replied with 117. called their batting “feeble”. Lewis declined to enforce the follow-on, instead allowing Majid to make his second half-century of the match and challenging the visitors to score 364 in six hours. They were put out for 155, Williams bagging 5 for 30.It was a watershed in the summer although it did not determine the destiny of the title. Before the leaders met again, Glamorgan would win two of their four games while Gloucestershire would have to wait three weeks for their next win, an innings victory over Worcestershire at Cheltenham keeping them at the top of the table.But any thought that the College Ground would fully restore the home side’s fortunes in its usual fashion had been abandoned within a few hours of the start of the next match. Gloucestershire were swept away for 73 in 40.2 overs and Glamorgan’s 283 in reply set up a victory that was completed ten minutes into extra time on the second evening.”The game was lost before lunch on the first day,” wrote Grahame Parker in . “A psychological paralysis had gripped the leading batsmen but the sum of their collective experience should have carried them through. For too long they had been looking over their shoulders at Glamorgan on the charge behind them.”Don Shepherd took his 2000th first-class wicket during Glamorgan’s Championship-winning summer•PA PhotosEight days later Lewis’s players were the ones looking back at the rest and it did not disturb their mental equilibrium in the slightest. They retained their nerve sufficiently to beat Essex by just one run at Swansea in early September, Ossie Wheatley’s flat throw running out John Lever off the last possible ball of the game after Lewis had challenged the visitors to score 190 in two hours. Around 12,000 spectators watched the thrilling conclusion to the game at St Helen’s and many of them were also present at Cardiff the following morning for the match against Worcestershire. Among them was ‘s correspondent, JH Morgan.”Glamorgan entered their last home game happy in the knowledge that if they won they were virtual champions with an unassailable lead,” he reported. “And win they did. Sophia Gardens broke out in pandemonium and the celebrations ran well into the evening… It was not only a great day for Glamorgan but also for Don Shepherd, who took his 2000th wicket in first-class cricket.”It was not quite so straightforward but neither was batting as trouble-free a pastime as Majid had made it look in Glamorgan’s first innings when he conjured 156 runs out of a total of 265. “The pitch was dry and breaking up,” Lewis wrote. “Only three others made it to double figures. I still see him gliding down the pitch to meet Norman Gifford’s spinners. Time and again I expected to see him stranded but the Worcestershire captain, Tom Graveney, in the end had to reinforce his cover field with two fast runners on the boundary.”All five of Lewis’ bowlers took wickets in Worcestershire’s two innings and nine catches were taken at either slip or short leg as the victory was sealed by 147 runs. For the first time in the county’s history Glamorgan had won the title in Wales. A draw against Surrey at The Oval would see them finish the season unbeaten. Gloucestershire lost six of their 24 matches and are still waiting for their first Championship. Match from the Day

He ended his innings on Friday with 1001 maximums to his name, 311 ahead of second-placed Kieron Pollard

Bharath Seervi30-Oct-2020When Chris Gayle tonked young Kartik Tyagi over the lengthy leg-side boundary for his seventh six of the night, for the Kings XI Punjab against the Rajasthan Royals, it took him up to an incredible 1000 career sixes in T20 cricket, the first to get to the mark. Already more than 3000 runs in front of Kieron Pollard when it comes to most runs in T20s, Gayle has – again – gone where no man has in the shortest format, stretching his lead at the top of the sixes’ chart to 311 by the time he finished up, with Pollard second at 690.”A thousand maximums – another record? Oh, man,” he joked when asked about the achievement on Star Sports. “I don’t know, I just have to give thanks. Have to give thanks for hitting it well at age 41. A lot of dedication and hard work has paid off over the years. Still here, still doing it, same way. Very grateful.”ESPNcricinfo LtdHere’s a look at Gayle’s incredible achievement, through numbers.1001 – Sixes for Gayle in T20s. His first six came playing for Jamaica against Bermuda in the Stanford 20/20 in 2006. He has 1041 fours in the format too, just 40 more than his number of sixes.349 – Number of sixes by Gayle in the IPL, which are the most by a batsman in any T20 league. He also has the most sixes in the CPL (162), Bangladesh Premier League (132) and T20 World Cup (60).263 – Sixes by Gayle for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the most he has hit for a single team, followed by 124 for the Jamaica Tallawahs, and 105 sixes for West Indies (in T20Is).61 – Sixes Gayle has hit against the Kings XI Punjab, his most against a single opposition. He has also smashed 84 sixes for Kings XI since he joined them in 2018.135 – Sixes hit by Gayle in 2015, his most in a calendar year. He next best is 121 in 2012. Overall, he has hit 100-plus sixes in six different years – 2011 to 2017, barring 2014.18 – Most sixes by Gayle in a T20 match, for the Rangpur Riders against the Dhaka Dynamites in the BPL final in 2017. He hit 17 sixes in his knock of 175* for the Royal Challengers in 2013. No other batsman has hit more than 16 sixes in a T20 match.17 – Sixes for Gayle against Dwayne Bravo in T20s, his most against a single bowler. He has hit 12 sixes against Imran Tahir and 11 each against Piyush Chawla, Rashid Khan and Shahid Afridi.18 – Number of times Gayle has hit ten or more sixes in a T20 match. No other batsman has done it more than three times – Evin Lewis, Andre Russell and Shreyas Iyer.

The visitors have subverted a predominantly off-side sport to choke Australia and make up for missing fast bowlers

Sidharth Monga06-Jan-2021As an attack, man for man, it was clear India were outmatched in this series the moment it was announced that Ishant Sharma would not be making the trip. By the time Mohammed Shami was also injured, the contest between the two bowling attacks became one-sided.After that, there was no way India could match Australia blow for blow playing traditional Test cricket. They were up against one of the greatest attacks when it comes to that.Related

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And traditional Test cricket is predominantly an off-side sport – especially in Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa. The bounce is true and the pitches are quick, so it is easy to score on the leg side off deliveries even ending up at off and middle. Fast bowlers spend time delivering tens of balls outside off, threatening the outside edge with catching men in slips and gully and dragging the batsmen across, before trying the change-up for the lbw.In this series, India have subverted the tradition by not just bowling straighter but also keeping in place tight leg-side fields. The leg slip or leg gully has accounted for at least one dismissal of each of the key Australia batsmen: Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Tim Paine. Smith has clipped to backward short leg and been bowled around his legs once each; Labuschagne has flicked straight to leg gully on one occasion; and Paine has been caught at leg slip off R Ashwin once.Australia’s right-hand batsmen have played more on the leg side than off side so far this series•ESPNcricinfoThe wickets don’t come just like that. There has to be persistent bowling at the stumps for that to happen. In this series, 45.5% of deliveries bowled to Australia’s right-hand batsmen have been played on the leg side. And this number excludes the wicket-taking lbw and the bowled deliveries, and also the leaves down the leg side. On the other hand, only 31.8% of the balls have been played into the off side.Contrast this to how Australia have bowled: 33.1% balls bowled to India’s right-hand batsmen played into the leg side, and 36% into the off side. In the Ashes in 2019, for example, Australia faced a similar line of attack: their right-hand batsmen played 32.7% of the balls bowled to them into the leg side and 35% into the off side. Balls they played into the leg side in the Ashes were likelier to be errors by the bowlers, as they scored 5.41 an over off them and averaged 81.1.India’s leg tactics to Australia paying off•ESPNcricinfoDuring the current series, though, balls played into the leg side have yielded only 2.65 an over for a wicket every 21.5 runs. Even India, on their last trip to Australia, played more traditional cricket: 33.9% of the balls Australia’s right-hand batsmen played went into the leg side for 4.93 an over and 49.5 per wicket; 41.9% went into the off side.Batting against this Indian attack, Australia have had significantly fewer opportunities to leave the ball while playing at them has brought them hardly any runs. The moment Australia look to score off these straight deliveries, mostly defensively, they bring the leg trap into play. Depending on the bowler, there is a leg gully, a short leg, one or two short midwickets, a mid-on or a long-on and one or two boundary riders square on the leg side.The plan marries with the theory that if you deny Australia quick runs and boundaries, they are not good at patiently batting time and waiting for less potent spells. This has been their slowest series this century. These fields with the freedom to bowl straight has given India a bigger margin of error while possibly bringing in more modes of dismissal into the picture.”They’ve certainly come in with a plan, making sure that they’re really not leaving stamps and having a really heavy leg-side field,” Labuschagne acknowledged. “It obviously slows the scoring rate down because you know those shots that you do get on your legs go for one or four. And then they’re always keeping those catchers in the game. We also need to come up with ways to put them under pressure.”Australia and India’s control across first two Tests•ESPNcricinfoThis has resulted in interesting overall numbers in the series. Both sides have scored nearly the same number of runs – Australia’s 679 against India’s 676 – for the loss of same number of wickets – 32 – but Australia have had to face more balls for it and they have been more in control than India: 86% to 83.1%. According to ESPNCricinfo’s control metric, Australia’s batsmen have been in control more often and not in control less often than India and yet both sides have lost the same number of wickets for almost the same number of runs. In other words, India have had such field sets that they have cashed in more on Australia’s indecision.This is nothing less than a heist: flipping the geometry of the game, turning a traditionally negative form of operation into an attack and out-thinking the home team. However, it can be argued India didn’t have a choice. They had a raw attack outside Jasprit Bumrah and Ashwin. They couldn’t be expected to compete with channel bowling for long periods. As bowlers from India historically have been, they would have been – Umesh Yadav still is – prone to bowling too straight and get picked off. Instead of asking them to play a different game, India protected their weakness and with discipline and some fortune, turned it into a strength.Against a well-oiled brute of a bowling unit, India have indulged in non-traditional warfare. It sounds great on paper to say that the more you make them play the ball while denying them opportunities to score, the more the chances of taking a wicket; but to execute it is quite another achievement. The bowling still has to be precise and relentless. Also it is not clear if this was a discussed plan in team meetings or if it is a case of individual bowlers – Bumrah and Ashwin are clever enough to do so – coming with their own plans and the others going with the flow.The efforts of Bumrah and Ashwin have been immense. This is why Ajinkya Rahane went to Ashwin before using Mohammed Siraj on the first morning during the second Test in Melbourne. India had tied Australia down with a plan that relied entirely on control; they didn’t want to risk losing it bowling a debutant early on. Ashwin used the moisture in the pitch expertly and laid the foundation for the leg trap to continue.Between them, Ashwin and Bumrah have bowled 156.1 overs of the 268.5 that India have been in the field for. They have conceded just 366 runs for 18 wickets between them.Heist while it might be, the thing with heists is they are not repeatable so easily. In the longer run and over a four-Test series, you would expect a bowling unit drawing the larger amount of indecision from the batsmen to prevail. If India have out-thought them so far, expect Australia to put their best brains at work to try to counter this line of attack. It will be fascinating to see if India continue with the leg trap and how Australia respond in the coming two Tests.

Jaykishan Plaha tells of physical and mental struggles after training accident involving Australia star

Valkerie Baynes25-May-2021Since Jaykishan Plaha was floored by a ball, driven at point-blank range by David Warner into his head during a net session at the 2019 World Cup, he has been trying to show that he is so much more than “that guy who got hit”. But that was just part of the problem.A fractured skull, severe concussion that led to a temporary loss of feeling and strength down his right side, anxiety and depression followed as he came to terms with the setback in his cricket career, and the net-bowling opportunities he had enjoyed with some of the world’s best players dried up in that moment. Things spiralled so badly that he began to feel like he “didn’t want to be here”.”The ball before, one of the guys actually asked me to swap nets,” Plaha recalls. “I was like, ‘no, I’m all right, I want to bowl to David Warner, I’m liking this, I’m liking how it’s going’.”I bowled an inswinger and the ball came crashing straight at me. I thought either it’s going to take my eye out, or it’s going to hit me one way or another, hit my nose maybe. When the ball hit me, I heard a loud beep in my ear which was a concussion. So the right side of my whole body switched off completely. I couldn’t feel anything, that’s the reason why I dropped to the floor.”I was just in a state of shock, I could see everyone three times. Everyone came rushing over, David Warner was obviously shocked.”David Warner looks on after net bowler Jaykishan Plaha was struck on the head by a ball•Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty ImagesThankfully there was top medical support on hand at the Kia Oval as Australia and India prepared for their group stage match that day. Plaha was taken for CT scans, which revealed a depressed fracture to the left side of his skull. He was able to walk again within a day or two and was released from hospital after four days.He began to regain strength in his right side and “everything was responding pretty good”, but then came the blackouts and his progress stalled. A recovery that was expected to take six weeks took seven months.”In my mind, I just thought ‘I’m not going to be the same player’,” Plaha says. “Whenever I was going out, shopping or something, everyone knows about it, so they’ll be like, ‘oh you’re the guy that got hit’. When people keep saying it, you get frustrated, then I just stopped going outside.”It did affect me very, very badly. I was getting very angry. I was getting anxiety, depression. I would just sit there on my own in the house, I just wanted to be left alone.”It was all down to myself to pick myself up and understand what was going on because I was slowly getting to a stage where I didn’t want to be here no more.”

“When I started playing again, someone was like, ‘oh, this guy was bowling to David Warner and now he’s playing with us, he’s not the same’. Stuff like that affects you mentally”Jay Plaha

Plaha, 25 and from west London, started out as a spinner, picking up fast bowling relatively late as a 17-year-old, but he was always a kid who just loved the game and it took him far. Before the World Cup, he was a net bowler for India and Pakistan tours of England and enjoyed a stint in the Kolkata Knight Riders nets during the 2019 IPL.Like most young players with ambitions to play at the highest level, Plaha has always put pressure on himself to perform. The opportunities on offer as a net bowler for elite teams also brings pressure; not only are you able to talk to and learn from the best, you’re in prime position to be seen by the best too. When he was injured, he feared all that could be over.”When I started playing again, I had a match and someone was like, ‘oh, this guy was bowling to David Warner and now he’s playing with us, he’s not the same’, stuff like that, and it does affect you mentally,” Plaha says.Plaha’s family recognised that he might be suffering with mental health problems after the accident and supported him as he sought help from a specialist.”As men, we’ve been told we have to look a certain way… we have to talk a certain way”•Kamini Plaha”That period of time, I was struggling really bad and I think if I didn’t ask for help, it would have been a very, very different story and it would have had a different impact on my whole life,” he says.”As men, we’ve been told that we have to look a certain way, we have to be built a certain way, we have to talk a certain way.”But inside there’s a lot of people out there, including myself, that don’t show it. We just smile it off, we laugh: ‘We’re all right, we’re okay, we’re fine.’ But when we go back home, you lock yourself in, headphones in. It’s a very, very dangerous place to be in, your own mind can be a very, very dangerous place to be in.”When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the UK went into lockdown for the first time last year, Plaha weighed 86kg compared to his usual 72kg. He took time off work, began training in the gym again, started boxing and playing NFL with friends and got into better physical shape than ever. He also began a video diary, documenting his experience over two years with a YouTube series called “The Comeback”. But his comeback wasn’t easy.”In the garden I was working with my dad, countless hours with tennis balls, I thought a tennis ball was going to kill me,” he says.Warner is reunited with net bowler Plaha after the training accident•ICC via GettyBut he has found something of that young kid who just loved the game. Now playing for Staines & Laleham CC in the Surrey Championship Division Four, he says he has gained pace and become a batting allrounder – he leads the club’s batting rankings with 174 runs from five innings and a highest score of 85 not out. His return to bowling has progressed more slowly this season due to a calf injury.Plaha hopes to go on to play in the Surrey Premier Division and plans to spend a few months honing his game in Australia with the aim of eventually securing a professional contract.”I’m seeing my options now, and that’s the main thing,” Plaha says. “Seeing that, you know, ‘he had a head injury but he’s gone to the top’. That’s what the dream is right now.”

Will any of the new signings make a mark as the tournament resumes?

Andrew McGlashan17-Sep-20211:44

Ricky Ponting ‘thrilled’ to reunite with Delhi Capitals

David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

IPL so far Innings 6; Runs 193; Average 32.16; S/R 110.28
He is one of the key players in Australia’s World Cup plans, but Warner lost the captaincy of Sunrisers and his place in the team shortly before the IPL was suspended. He questioned team selection before he was demoted while the tempo of his batting was proving problematic for a side that was top-order heavy with overseas batters. There may be a natural opening for him to return, however, with Jonny Bairstow withdrawing from the competition.

Steven Smith (Delhi Capitals)

IPL so far Innings 5; Runs 104; Average 26.00; S/R 111.82
Smith suffered a recurrence of his elbow problem during the first stint of the competition and has spent the last few months nursing himself back to fitness in pre-season training with New South Wales. He has steadily been increasing the volume of balls he hits at nets – which normally tallies into the hundreds for someone who loves batting – but the pressure of match scenarios could be the real test. He was not in the starting XI when the competition began before a couple of handy displays and it remains to be seen how he fits into the balance of Capitals’ batting order.

Glenn Maxwell (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

IPL so far Innings 6; Runs 223; Average 37.16; S/R 144.80
After his forgettable returns in 2020, Maxwell had enjoyed a promising first half to the tournament in India as RCB found themselves in the top half of the table. A lot of Australia’s hopes would appear to rest on Maxwell’s shoulders with the bat because of the point-of-difference he can bring to the line-up so his form over the next few weeks will be watched closely.Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and David Warner will be among those searching for pre-World Cup form•BCCI

Marcus Stoinis (Delhi Capitals)

IPL so far Innings 6; Runs 71; Average 23.66; S/R 144.89 | Wickets 2; Average 54.50; Econ 10.90
It is an interesting dynamic that the key role Stoinis could play in Australia’s side – that of middle-order finishing – is being refined at the IPL rather than in the BBL where he bats in the top order for Melbourne Stars. Under Ricky Ponting’s guidance at Capitals he has shown promise given a regular position lower down the order. Don’t discount his bowling, either, especially if pace off the ball becomes important.

Josh Hazlewood (Chennai Super Kings)

IPL so far N/A
Hazlewood did not travel for the first part of the competition, opting to finish the season with New South Wales before spending time at home. He played eight of the T20Is on the recent tours of West Indies and Bangladesh, one of the most sustained periods in the format of his career, where he worked on developing cutters and changes which brought eight wickets in four games against Bangladesh.Related

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Moises Henriques (Punjab Kings)

IPL so far Innings 2; Runs 16; Average 8.00; S/R 80.00| Wickets 1
Had limited chance to make an impact earlier in the year and then struggled on Australia’s recent tours, especially in the tough conditions of Bangladesh and missed the World Cup squad. The delay to New South Wales’ season means he will likely miss less domestic cricket than would have been the case.

Dan Christian (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

IPL so far Innings 3; Runs 3; Average 1.00; S/R 37.50
Christian, who was recalled to the Australia side for the first time in four years for the recent tours, hasn’t made the 15 for the World Cup but will be among three travelling reserves. He couldn’t get past 1 in the first stage of the tournament.Nathan Ellis is one of the Australians to pick up a replacement deal•Getty Images

Chris Lynn (Mumbai Indians)

IPL so far Innings 1; Runs 49; S/R 140.00
Lynn made a decent start in Mumbai Indians’ opening game but dropped out of the side when Quinton de Kock became available and spent the rest of the time warming the bench.

Ben Cutting (Kolkata Knight Riders)

IPL so far N/A
Like Lynn, Cutting does not have a state contact in Australia and was not used by his team in the first part of the competition. With Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan the all-round overseas options it’s tricky to see where he fits in unless injury strikes.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai Indians)

IPL so far Wicketless in one match
Another who has effectively become a T20 freelancer, Coulter-Nile is likely to find it tough to get a starting position.

Nathan Ellis (Punjab Kings)

T20 record Matches 33; Wickets 38; Average 25.02; Econ 8.03
A hat-trick on international debut continued Ellis’ rapid rise and followed two successful BBL seasons where he had already shown his skills at the death. With Kings needing replacements for Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson there is a good chance he’ll get game time. He is a reserve in the World Cup squad

Tim David (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

T20 record Innings 55; Runs 1420; Average 35.50; S/R 153.18 | Wickets 5; Average 53.20; Econ 8.96
Not an Australian (he was born in Singapore) but he is eligible for the national side and is getting noticed with his performances around the world. The last few months have taken him from the BBL to the PSL to the Hundred and the CPL before landing a replacement role at RCB.

Ben Dwarshuis (Delhi Capitals)

T20 record Matches 82; Wickets 100; Average 23.73; Econ 8.19
In 2017-18, left-arm quick Dwarshuis was included in the Australia squad for the T20I tri-series involving England and New Zealand. Though he didn’t debut and hasn’t featured since, he has remained a consistent performer in the BBL and last season was the joint second-leading wicket-taker as Sydney Sixers secured back-to-back titles.

Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga were the milestone men, as Sri Lanka scripted a remarkable comeback

ESPNcricinfo stats team20-Oct-20210 – Number of times a team has managed to score 150-plus in men’s T20Is after losing three wickets for less than ten runs, before Sri Lanka scored 171 for 7 against Ireland. The previous highest was Panama’s 148 for 6 against Mexico. Panama had lost their first three wickets by 8, the same score as Sri Lanka today.. The previous highest by a full-member nation from 8 for 3 was Australia’s 147 for 6 against England in the 2010 World T20 final.8 – Score at which Sri Lanka lost their third wicket, their lowest score for the first three wickets in a T20I innings. Their previous lowest was 11 runs against Australia in 2007 and against New Zealand in 2009. Only once had Ireland taken the first three wickets in a T20I innings at a lower total – 6 runs against Scotland in 2010.123 – Partnership between Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga, the highest for the fourth wicket (or lower) in men’s T20 World Cup matches. The previous highest was 119* by Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik against Sri Lanka in 2007.Nissanka and Hasaranga’s partnership was also only the third century stand for the fourth wicket (or lower) in men’s T20Is that began with fewer than ten runs on the board.3 – Number of higher partnerships for Sri Lanka in T20Is than the 123 between Nissanka and Hasaranga.1 – Number of higher individual scores by Sri Lanka batters in their first T20 World Cup innings than Hasaranga’s 71 in this match. Sanath Jayasuriya had hit 88 off 44 balls against Kenya in their first-ever World T20 fixture, which remains their highest.

David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman are unavailable at the start

Hemant Brar21-Mar-2022

Where they finished in 2021

Delhi Capitals topped the league stage with ten wins from 14 games but lost both the qualifiers thereafter.

Potential XI

1 David Warner, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Chetan Sakariya

Player availability

On paper, Capitals have a decent first XI but player availability could cause headaches. David Warner is unavailable for the first two games and Mitchell Marsh for the first three. Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman are part of the ongoing ODI series and will also miss the first match.The biggest concern for Capitals, however, was Anrich Nortje’s fitness. Originally there were strong doubts about him playing this season, which now have been wiped away as he joined Capitals’ squad on Sunday. It is understood that Nortje is likely to sit out the first few matches, but that’s a more manageable headache for the franchise.

Batting

Once Warner and Marsh are available, Capitals will have a solid top-four, comprising Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Marsh and Rishabh Pant. But until then they will have to rely on back-ups.Tim Seifert is a straightforward swap for Warner, but for Marsh’s replacement Capitals will have to turn to an Indian batter. The problem is they don’t have many exciting options. One choice is to shuffle their batting order a bit and play Lalit Yadav, who can also bowl offspin, at No. 5. Else they can pick one of Mandeep Singh, KS Bharat or Yash Dhull. The silver lining is it will allow them to play two overseas seamers.But even with everyone available, the batting tapers off somewhat after Pant. Therefore, a lot will depend on how new entrant Rovman Powell fares in the finisher’s role.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bowling

Nortje was the standout bowler for Capitals last season and was retained ahead of the 2022 auction, but he may not be available from the start. With Mustafizur and Ngidi also set to miss the first match, Capitals will have only two of their seven overseas players available for their tournament opener against Mumbai Indians.If Nortje misses a big chunk of the tournament, one of Ngidi or Mustafizur could replace him. Ngidi has more pace, while Mustafizur is better at the death.New signing Shardul Thakur’s lower-order hitting makes him the preferred Indian seamer, leaving Chetan Sakariya and Khaleel Ahmed competing for the third seamer’s slot. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will lead the spin attack, with Capitals hoping Kuldeep rediscovers his mojo.Local boy Yash Dhull impressed with the bat in the U-19 World Cup and his debut Ranji Trophy season•ICC via Getty

Young players to watch out for

Delhi boy Yash Dhull showed great temperament while leading India to the 2022 U-19 World Cup title in the West Indies. He started with 82 against South Africa before testing positive for Covid-19. In the second game on his return, he scored a superlative hundred against Australia in the semi-final. He showed he is ready for the next step by scoring twin hundreds on his first-class debut and an unbeaten 200 in his third match. Dhull is strong square of the wicket on the off side and despite his preference for hitting along the ground, he can score at a brisk pace.Left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal is another promising youngster. From the same batch as Dhull, Ostwal was India’s leading wicket-taker at the U-19 World Cup with 12 scalps from six games. He is known for being accurate with his line and length and can beat the batters in the air with subtle changes in speed. At Capitals, though, he will be a back-up option only.

Coaching staff

Ricky Ponting (coach), Shane Watson (assistant coach), Pravin Amre (assistant coach), Ajit Agarkar (assistant coach), James Hopes (fast-bowling coach)

Poll