# ICC – Articles

Steve Smith: Inspirational Journey

Australian cricket team’s star batter Steve Smith is my role model. The star cricketer made his International debut way back in 2010 and within a short span of time, the batter became an integral part of the Australian side. Steve Smith had come into the side as a bowling all-rounder but later during BGT 2013, he got a chance and made a strong case for himself.

Steve Smith holds a peculiar record to his name as the batter is a part of the victorious 2015 ODI WC, 2021 T20 WC & the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship 2021-23. It won’t be wrong to say that Smith is a big match player as he has contributed immensely in all the crunch matches of ICC tournaments.

Steve Smith’s batting style is quite unorthodox as the batter doesn’t have any significant weakness in his game plan. Smith is tipped to break all the cricketing records as currently he has 32 tons to his name and is looking unstoppable. Smith may not have a spectacular record in ODIs as compared to Tests, but the batter can change the complexion of the match with his attacking game plan and funky shots.

The way Steve Smith made a comeback after the ball-tampering in 2018, not many gave Smith a chance. Smith was banned from the sport for a year by CA and his captaincy too was snatched away. Steve Smith is the deputy of skipper Pat Cummins in the Test format.

Cricket Australia (CA) has shown faith in Smith despite being involved in the infamous ball-tampering scandal. Smith has got attacking tactics & game plan as compared to Pat Cummins. Steve Smith had a wonderful Ashes 2019 series and he silenced all the critics with his belligerent stroke play. Smith continued his brilliance against England and has got staggering numbers against the arch-rivals.

Steve Smith is expected to open the batting for Australia in the T20I format against South Africa in August-September 2023 in South Africa as the batter had a prolific BBL 2022-23. Smith though was unsold in the IPL auction but the batter can be the surprise package for the opposition in the upcoming T20 WC 2024 with his crisp stroke play.

Steve Smith will have to bring his “A” game if the Aussies want to clinch ODI WC 2023 which is staged in India. Smith was a part of the ODI WC 2011 squad as a right-arm over leg spinner but the side lost against India in the Quarter-Finals. I

It is assumed that Steve Smith would bat at the No.4 position in the marquee championship and guide the batters in the middle overs phase, especially against the spinners as the pitches in India are expected to assist the spinners.

Steve Smith’s journey is inspirational for all aspiring players. A Smith has shown a never to say die attitude. Smith would be keen to get his hands on the silverware in October-November 2023 in India which won’t be an easy task as this time all the 10 teams are evenly matched.

Vendetta

In this corporate world, a manager should not treat his/her employees like slaves. The manager has no idea how lethal & cruel a particular employee would be.

When the boss makes it personal, then either Vivacious either will ignore or make such a staggering comeback that the manager would be buried alive, not physically but mentally because the manager shouldn’t have crossed the limits.

Vivacious is not a human being, he is a Zeitgeist and can rattle any human being on the planet. Nevertheless, Vivacious now has established a name in the industry and is unstoppable.

Ways to handle Success, Fame & Failure

When we have a look at our result we have a feeling and expression of daze ; which we should respect as it is our product of hard work and perspiration whatever it may be whether a fruitful one or a nightmare one;

Our end result sometimes is not our desired one but it teaches us a lot more than our dazzling success; we should pull up our socks even if we succeed & try to perform in a better way than the earlier because the records and attainments are made to break; it means that we should outclass our previous performance by performing in an impeccable and immaculate way and manner.

Power of a Student

When an individual becomes a student then that individual should remember forever that the tag of student is not for 4-6 years that tag is for lifetime;

Because knowledge which a student can get by living the life of a student is priceless and to have such attitude and gesture will definitely give more knowledge and that individual would somewhat become a wise individual;

The freedom which a student gets is unbelievable and unthinkable because the life and lifestyle of student is always sumptuous and luxurious; by being a student we are open to learn new things and grasp new concepts which an individual doesn’t show eagerness towards new things

Process is Important

Whenever we are playing a sport or performing in our life then we get a feeling of elation and jubilation when we score a goal, stop a goal, a century, take a wicket etc and complete our work; then we roar and we believe that our hard work has paid off which definitely has;

If we analyse the period after a single accomplishment then we take the time too lightly which increases our workload as a result the workload turns into burden; we should definitely appraise ourselves but at the same time we should continue our process and make sure the process is not interrupted because we would definitely get results in our process ; but we should not stop until our process is done and dusted which would give us more pleasure and satisfaction.

Ultimate Test

When an player is under spotlight then each and every movement is noted and there is vigilance done. The athlete should not get bogged down and also should not be impulsive and reactive to any situation; as this scrutinizing activity is performed to know the body language.

No matter how much attentiveness is shown to that person the ideal way to come out of spotlight is to play your natural game and be yourself; there is no doubt that we should have a role model and get inspire from that individual but imitating someone will tamper your own technique which is invaluable and has giant power.

South Africa Wallop the Mighty Britishers

South Africa registered a resounding victory at the Iconic Lord’s. The visitors thrashed England and won the 1^st Test Match by an innings and 12 runs. England would be dejected as there was no fight whereas Proteas would be over the moon as winning a Test Match at Lord’s doesn’t happen too often

SNAPSHOT: Powerful South African Team blissful after defeating England in the 1^st Test Match

Bold Approach by Dean Elgar & bowlers

South Africa’s skipper took an audacious step by choosing to bowl first. The conditions were overcast, but bowling to intrepid English batters was a bit risky. The skipper gave the bowlers the license to be absolutely ruthless. They were bang on, especially Kagiso Rabada who ripped off England’s batting lineup. He took a 5-wicket haul and gave glimpses of the former Legendary fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.

SNAPSHOT: Kagiso Rabada thrilled after taking the wicket of Alex Lees in the 1^st innings.

There was an extraordinary bowling display by Anrich Nortje. He was clocking pace at 150 km/hr., the way he set up Johnny Bairstow was a treat to watch. We all know how brutal Bairstow can be against any attack. Nortje knew that the best time to get him out is in the initial stages when he is vulnerable. He confused him by bowling different types of deliveries and then uprooted his middle stump. He was pumped up as he knew that he got the big fish. The speedster was a bit expensive but he took 3 wickets which is invaluable.

SNAPSHOT: Anrich Nortje delighted to see the back of Johnny Bairstow in the 1^st innings.

England managed to score only 165 runs and was skittled out in 45 overs on the 2^nd day. Apart from Ollie Pope who scored 73 runs in 102 balls, not a single batter scored 30 runs which means that none of the batters wanted to play innings. To some extent, the Britishers would argue that the overcast conditions yielded wickets on Day 1; but that doesn’t mean that they would throw the towel.

SNAPSHOT: Ollie Pope playing a shot and taking the responsibility of England’s batting in testing times.

A Complete performance from South African batters

The skipper Dean Elgar & Sarel Erwee blunted the new ball. Tackling Broad and Anderson isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as the duo can extract swing from a dead pitch too. The peculiarity of the opening partnership was that they focused on rotating the strike which disturbs the bowler’s concentration. The opening partnership was of 85 runs which was the cherry on the top for Proteas as half of the deficit was cut down.

The unexpected match-winner for South Africa with the bat was Sarel Erwee. He scored 73 runs in 146 balls. The elegant opener is a novice to the International Arena, yet he showed a lot of control as there was a bit of banter going on too.

SNAPSHOT: Sarel Erwee playing a cover drive shot against England in the 1^st innings of the 1^st Test Match.

The skipper Ben Stokes rolled his sleeve as the pacers weren’t getting the desired results. The flamboyant all-rounder bowled his heart out. He tried short ball barrage and astounded the batters by bowling a lot of variations and it was quite successful. The spectators were seeing the other side of Ben Stokes who had a fire in his eyes as he took 3 wickets.

SNAPSHOT: Ben Stokes celebrating a wicket after a lot of hard work.

210-6 was the score and then only Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen fretted the bowlers. The duo scored 40 odd runs each which meant that England was behind the 8^th ball. At the end of Day 2, the lead was nearing 100 runs.

SNAPSHOT: Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen piling on the pain for England Cricket Team.

Day 3 is often said to be the moving day in Test Cricket. The tail-enders somehow took the lead to 161 runs. Stuart Broad attained a unique feat by picking up 100 Wickets at the Lord’s as he took 3 wickets, but he had to toil a lot. South Africa would have hoped that the likes of Markram and Rassie would get a big score as tail-enders scoring runs doesn’t sound well.

England Cricket Team in Tatters

England batters had a mountain to climb as the deficit was a huge one. They needed one of the openers to dig deep. The agony continued for Zak Crawley who this time was undone by the left arm off spinner Keshav Maharaj. Crawley hasn’t scored a half-century in the last 5 test matches; still, Paul Collingwood is backing him which is perplexing.

Once again, Nortje bowled thunderbolts and once again got rid of Bairstow. He took 3 wickets in his short spell of 7 overs. Earlier; Nortje, Ngidi, and Rabada had opted out of Bangladesh Test Series in April 2022 for participating in IPL. But now, it looks like the team is on right track.

SNAPSHOT: Anrich Nortje & team members celebrating the wicket of Johnny Bairstow in 2^nd innings.

Ben Stokes tried to avoid some embarrassment but was unable to avoid the ignominy. The dark horse for South Africa was Marco Jansen who took 4 wickets (*2 in each innings) and scored a handy 48 runs in the match. He wrapped up the match for Proteas and gave a warning to England’s batters that he is more than a dark horse. The innings got wrapped up in 37.4 overs which means that English batters didn’t have the right mindset.

What’s wrong with England

England had won 4 back-to-back Test Matches (3 against New Zealand and 1 against India). They were rocking and everyone gave them the fearless tag they were. Brendon McCullum would know that his team had a bad day at the office. At the same time, losing a Test Match at Lord’s hurts a lot. Ben Stokes looks a bit exhausted and it won’t be wrong to say that his natural game is affected due to captaincy.

England already knows that they can’t reach the finals of the ICC World Test Championship at any cost. Now they are placed at 7^th position out of 9 nations. They need to show some patience as whacking boundaries may not work all the time. They need to regroup and make sure that they are forming partnerships which are key to succeed in Test Cricket. Perhaps, we may see a dangerous England in the 2^nd Test Match on 25^th August.

What lies ahead for South Africa

South Africa has found a hole in England’s approach and created havoc. Dean Elgar played mind games against England which paid off. He was quite vocal stating that England’s approach is not sustainable. The Skipper is showing glimpses of Graeme Smith who used to be ecstatic. South African Cricket is getting great again after the turmoil and legal battles with the administration.

South Africa in World Test Championship has won 6 Test Matches out of 8 and are the table toppers. They are definitely on a song and they would be hoping that the Juggernaut continues. It is often said; that the higher you reach, the steeper it goes. South Africa would be aware of their collapses which often spoils all the hard work. Still, there is a lot to ponder for Proteas even after a clinical performance.

India look to make the most of Ireland T20Is

Overview

India is going to tour Ireland for a 2 T20I Match Series starting from 26^th June. This T20I Series is going to take place in Ireland and all the matches are going to be played in Dublin. The peculiarity of this T20I Series is that India’s first-choice players are rested from the tour and BCCI has sent a second-string team.

The first-choice players currently are playing warm-up matches as India is going to play the 5^th Test Match against England on 1^st July. This is an excellent opportunity for Ireland to stamp their authority as in T20Is couple of balls are enough to change the dynamics of the match.

This T20I Series is extremely important for Ireland as in the 2021 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup, they had failed to make it to the main event. They were knocked out by the newbie Namibia and they still would be burning as a team of their caliber was the favorite to qualify. They now have a strong chance to make their team a sturdy one as the next T20 World Cup is around the corner.

Ireland

The Hosts once again look like a dominant force in the batting department as they have got Stirling present. The all-rounder batter is doing his best and making sure that Ireland gets off to a flyer. He is one of the few players who set the tone. The skipper Andrew Balbirine needs to make sure that he is sticking to the crease and most importantly accompany Stirling.

Apart from these two batters, the lineup looks a bit topsy-turvy. They don’t have prominent batters who can set the stage on fire. The likes of Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, and Curtis Campher can play a second fiddle which is their specialty, and expecting a 70-80 run from them would be a bit too much. All in all, Ireland’s weak link is their batting where the batters can’t put a score over 170-190.

The bowling department is well equipped as they have got the likes of Joshua Little, and Mark Adair and in the spin department, they have got George Dockrell and Andy Mcbrine. The spin twins are capable of being economical, especially Dockrell who has the knack of being a partnership-breaker.

Ireland has a golden opportunity to beat India; even if India has a second-string team. India has the wealth of talent that they can beat any team on their day. We all know, that India recently squared the Series against South Africa by 2-2 after being 2-0 down which speaks a lot about India’s depth. In that series, the 1^st choice players were given a break.

India

The Visitors would sense that they have a chance to test their bench strength. India had a forgettable T20 World Cup 2021 in which they were knocked out in the first round itself. To rectify the mistakes a process has been started in which young and deserving players like Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, and Harshal Patel have been given a chance with a long rope.

The openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are making sure that they are playing smart cricket. Most of the times Kishan plays the role of aggressor and later Ruturaj takes the baton forward. Ruturaj did not have a convincing series against South Africa as most of the times; he was seen struggling which is not a good sign as every time Ishan won’t take the team out of deep trouble.

In the absence of Rishabh Pant who is with the Test Squad, Hardik Pandya is the skipper for the Series. The dashing all-rounder won’t be able to believe the last 3 months as earlier he was blatantly ignored by the Selection Committee and now, he is the Captain of team India. At the same time, BCCI has made sure that his competitor Venkatesh Iyer is in the team which will make sure that he still has to regain the confidence of the Selectors.

The bowling attack of India looks deadly as they have got the likes of Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Avesh Khan. This pace trio is capable of creating havoc that can’t be ignored. In all these India has got their premium spin bowler Yuzvendra Chahal who is a witty bowler who can bamboozle the opponent and then India has also got Bishnoi who is a crafty spinner.

Spotlight

Dinesh Karthik is under the spotlight as he has made a comeback to the National Team after a long hiatus of 3 years. He played a couple of brilliant cameos and knocks and it looked like he continued his IPL form into International Arena. He has 3-4 series before Head Coach Rahul Dravid takes a final call on his availability and it would be interesting to see how many runs he scores in the upcoming series. All in all, there is a ray of hope for DK and at the same time Rishabh Pant would be worried as his place is under the scanner as he had a terrible South Africa Series

Recent tour to Ireland and its Overview

In 2018, India had toured Ireland for a two T20I Match Series in which India had white-washed Ireland. In that Series, India dominated Ireland and didn’t give them a chance to stamp their authority.

Ireland had lost the Matches by 70 odd runs and 140 odd runs which meant that Ireland was off color and was completely blown away by the brigadier of Virat Kohli. It won’t be wrong to say that India has become a more powerful house after that tour and at the same time Ireland has started making in-roads.

Tactics for India and Ireland

India needs to make sure that they are not gifting wickets and giving any freebies. This is a rare chance that Hardik has got and if he wants to be the Captain then he must showcase his credentials. It’s simple for India, they have to make sure that they need to pile on mammoth runs. All in all, India looks favorite to clinch the Series by 2-0 unless and until Ireland produces a performance out of the box and comes out all guns blazing.

Ireland’s batters need to stick to the crease to score huge runs. Unless and until, one of their batters plays a knock of 70-80 runs then only they have a chance, otherwise it would be a cake-walk for the Courageous Men in Blue. All in all, Ireland should aim for squaring the Series which indeed would be a great achievement as compared to winning which currently looks improbable and it won’t be wrong to say that Ireland can spoil the party of a billion people

The Reason behind MI’s Failure in Tata IPL 2022

Mumbai Indians, the 5-time IPL Winners had a terrible season. During the Mega Auction 2022; they invested in young blood in the form of Dewald Brevis of South Africa, Tim David of Singapore-Australia, etc. But they failed to invest in Indian players. Earlier MI had the pedigree of Indian players present in the form of Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya.

Surprisingly, they didn’t retain nor went to buy Krunal who has a history of being a consistent performer for MI over the last 3-5 years. Hardik had a horrendous Vivo IPL 2021 so it was obvious that MI Owners and Management weren’t interested in him. The absence of the Pandya brothers meant that Kieron Pollard had more responsibility on his shoulders.

There are a lot of factors that made this Season of 2022 a forgettable one which are as follows:

Failure of Opening Duo Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma

The million-dollar baby of Tata IPL 2022 (*approximately 15 Crores) didn’t perform according to his credentials. There were high expectations from him to give MI a dashing start but he succumbed to the pressure. Captain Rohit Sharma has a history of taking time before giving berserk and the poor form of Ishan meant that MI was in tatters. The scorecard of both the players in matches was as 3 runs scored in 15 balls which is not acceptable at this level where you cannot afford any hiccups.

Kishan scored 418 runs in 14 matches which included 3 half-centuries but his form returned at the back end where MI’s journey was done and dusted. It looked like Rohit was a bit overcooked from responsibilities as he is the only skipper who has won 5 titles and a sudden revamp didn’t go well as expected. Rohit has said a lot of times in interviews, that he requires time before going bang-bang. Earlier Rohit and Ishan had formed a commendable partnership and did a formidable job and had won Dream 11 IPL 2020. A Champion team must have a good opening partnership of at-least 30 runs which was seen missing for the majority of the tournament.

Over-reliance on Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav tried his best to take the team out of the muddle. He didn’t get ample support from the rest of the batters like the newbies’ Tilak who had a decent outing with the bat. There were high expectations from the SKY, but that didn’t mean that he has to do the bulk of the scoring.

Surya Kumar Yadav is a vital cog for MI as well as for Indian National Cricket Team. There were many instances in which MI required 60 odd runs in 6 overs, yet they failed to score the runs. At the back end of the tournament SuryaKumar got injured and then all of a sudden there was a big hole in the middle order for MI. All in all, the right-handed batter didn’t get the ample support from the rest of the betters otherwise Mumbai Indians would have at least finished their leg stage at Number 6 or number 7 position

Out of Form Kieron Pollard

West Indian destructive batter Kieron Pollard had one of the worst seasons with the bat. There was always going to be added responsibility on his shoulders in the absence of Krunal and Hardik. In the middle of the tournament, he all of a sudden announced his retirement from International Cricket. In all this Chaos, his weakness against spin was exposed as literally a spinner was introduced by the Captain and Pollard wasn’t able to get off the strike and was playing a lot of dot balls.

He managed to score 144 runs with an average of 14.40. The situation got so much worse than MI management had to drop him. He was bowling and all over for MI and was taking wickets which was the reason why MI backed him for so much longer period. Before taking any bold decisions, MI should not forget that he has played match-winning Knocks in 2013, 2015, and in the 2019 IPL Finals. All in all, Cricket Expert Ian Bishop has mentioned that Pollard has to reinvent his game and bat according to the situation rather than playing defensively.

Under-utilization of Tim David

The Singapore Australian better played only a couple of matches at the start of the tournament and then later am I management dropped him without stating the actual reason. At the second half stage of the tournament, MI gave him another chance and he was brilliant at the death overs where he smashed Mohammed Shami and all-star bowlers. He smashed 4 sixes against Natarajan and made a statement that he is too good a player to be sitting on the bench.

In the recently concluded match of Mi vs DC once again he showcases his credentials by playing a match-winning cameo of 34 runs in 11 balls. Dropping Tim David proved to be too costly, as who knows MI would have made it to the play-offs or would have shown a better fight. By dropping him, MI sabotaged their campaign and faced one of the Worst Seasons in their Proud History.

He is the find of the Franchise cricket where he plays in leagues like PSL, Hundred, CPL, BBL, etc. Some cricket experts have already started to comment that the team divide is ready for an Australian call-up for the upcoming T20 World Cup. All in all, Cricket Australia would have an eye on him as no team until now has defended its title in ICC T20 World Cup.

Over Confidence Attitude from MI

History is evident that MI are slow starters they lose 2 to 3 Matches and then make a comeback. This year the attitude was such that like Rohit Sharma said in a post-match presentation that they can still make it to the playoffs after losing 6 matches on the trot. No doubt you should have a never to say Die attitude but that doesn’t mean that you neglect the bad performances and hope that everything would be right.

There is no doubt that whenever MI loses 4-5 matches then it’s alarming signs that they may clinch the title as it has happened in 2015 when they flabbergasted everyone. That season was under the Head Coach Ricky Ponting where MI fired all the cylinders.

Lack of Indian bowlers

Jasprit Bumrah was bowling out of his heart and making sure that he is at least picking 2 to 3 wickets in every match. On the other side, the rest of the bowling lineup was getting thrashed as the bowlers present were Daniel Sams and Mills who weren’t that effective at the level of IPL.

In the Mega Auction, they made a huge blunder by buying Jofra Archer which everyone knew that he won’t be able to take part in the full tournament nor the half. Recently England Cricket Board released a statement that Jofra won’t be able to play in the entire summer of 2022 which means that his return to International Cricket once again got prolonged.

Mayank Markande should have been given more chances when had made his debut in 2018 against their arch-rivals CSK. It’s high time that MI Owners change their Coaching Setup as Mahela, Shane Bond, and a lot of members are associated with the team for more than 5 years; due to which the players chillax and have a comfortable environment. The last two years haven’t been productive for MI Franchise where they haven’t made it to the playoffs.

MI owners and management should focus and emphasize Indian talent rather than buying overseas players. The likes of Unadkat who is highly experienced weren’t able to win the matches for MI in crunch situations. All in all, better planning and execution are required on and off the field from MI owners in the next season as there would be another mini auction that can change the fortunes of one of the most successful teams (*5 Time Winners).

Joe Root hammers West Indies bowlers and scores his 25th Test Hundred

Joe Root has achieved another feat by scoring 25 Test Hundreds in 115 Test Matches. Root has had a dream run in Test Cricket since 2021 where he scored centuries against subcontinental teams like Sri Lanka and I ndia. He literally loves toying with the bowlers as his attacking instincts are a treat to watch for the bowler too. He has been a prolific batter for quite some time now as he knows that the team is vulnerable to collapses. He has been doing his best by scoring tons of runs but in doing so he isn’t doing shrewd Captaincy which is badly needed as England are at the bottom of World Test Championship.

Root had come into bat when the team was on the verge of another collapse as the score was 80-2. The pitch was a minefield as the bowlers were having an amazing time where the odd ball was also keeping low which made the contest more enthralling. His most of the runs came towards by playing a flick shot and towards covers region. He was quite clever in his approach as he made the most of bad balls as he made the likes of Roach and Holder grind a lot.

Daniel Lawrence was the other batter present at the non-strike. He proved to be a keen observer and quick learner as he too got a great start. He made the most of out and now it looks he has sealed his place in the team as a proper middle orde batter. In the ultimate over of the Day 1 he got a bit greedy by playing a cover shot that too when he already had scored 8 runs off 4 deliveries; the trap was a brilliant as Holder had bowled enticing deliveries and then just bowled a back of length delivery and Lawrence was caught in Covers region; Lawrence would rue a lot for his shot selection, his score at that time was 91 runs, he was on the verge of a well deserved Century, Holder showed that his experience can change the momentum of the match.

England’s score is 244-3 runs with Root not out on 119 balls. England’s batters bat very deep and we can sense a 1st innings total in excess of 450 runs. Stokes and Bairstow are great at changing gears which will make life difficult for West Indies batters in the 1st innings. The new ball for West Indies has given them a huge scalp in the form of Lawrence, if they can take a leaf out of 1st Test Match where England were 268-6, they were looking set for a total around 400; but the Caribbean bowlers bundled out England for 312 Runs.

West Indies have the power to create a havoc as the 1st over holds the key here. If England manages to get away with it then we are in for a high scoring match; for West Indies they need to play witty cricket here as England’s batters would be in an attacking mindset as Root had made his intentions very much clear. Holder needs to lead the attack while the duo of Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach should be used; Joseph because he has raw pace which can perturb the batter whereas Roach is impeccable with his line and length. All in all, we are in for a spectacular 1st session where either we will witness a collapse or gritty defence as Stokes is sturdy in defense.