It has been a series of ups and downs for Jaiswal, but with the bat, he managed to end on a high

Sidharth Monga02-Aug-20253:22

Bangar: ‘Jaiswal’s Sehwag-esque impact makes it easier for batters to follow’

A five-Test tour can feel like a lifetime within a life. It can be a selfish existence, even for those working on it on the outside, but more so for cricketers. There is no other responsibility or commitment other than to look after every aspect of your game. Everything else is taken care of for you, which is a privilege, but it takes a huge emotional toll to deal with this constant examination of your game, the variety of conditions and situations, and the vagaries of sport.For Yashasvi Jaiswal more than others, this tour of England has been a lifetime of ups and downs. He started with a dominating century at Headingley, but dropped catches and saw them play a huge role in losing the unloseable Test, was taken out of the cordon, has had the odd spray from the captain for not being on the field, and has also seen the team’s fortunes go up and down.Jaiswal might have got starts but a second big score eluded him till the end. He has tried to do all the right things, he has tried to keep his emotions on an even keel, but he is also an intense person, whose reaction to anything is to go into the nets and face more balls. He does that any break he gets: before the start of play, lunch, tea, between innings or whenever anyone is available to throw balls at him. It must have taken some effort to keep him away from training two days before this match. Or perhaps his family’s presence in London might have helped.Related

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What must have really freed up Jaiswal’s mind, though, was the nature of the pitch. This was not the kind of pitch where you can battle it out and hope for things to get easier. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley enjoyed success by being attacking. When Jaiswal walked out for his final innings of the series, India were trailing by 23 – only 23, thanks to a big effort from just the three fast bowlers – and needed a big third innings to give themselves hopes of levelling the series in the tour finale.There was an hour and 40 minutes on the second day to go to stumps, so it wasn’t as if India needed to bat time. Jaiswal came out and cut the first ball hard. The sound echoed in the stadium although Duckett denied him any runs. This much was clear, though: Jaiswal was going to look to score off anything remotely loose. He was not going to let the three standing England bowlers settle into any rhythm.Opening in Test cricket is a lot about taking care of many things that can go wrong, and it isn’t always possible to cover them all. Here, Jaiswal was focussing more on what can go right. It was as though he told himself he had done what he could in preparation, and now just needed to trust the universe.Throughout the whole innings, Jaiswal showed an exaggerated return to what has worked for him in the past: both in attitude and with his rituals. His walks to square leg between balls became longer, sometimes ending up in hand-shaking distance of the square-leg umpire. Even at the non-striker’s end, he would walk almost to midwicket between balls, switching off into a world of his own. It was as though his emotions were bubbling up and he wanted to keep them in check. So was his attacking intent, but that he didn’t want to check.Yashasvi Jaiswal brought out his own version of Bazball•Getty ImagesJaiswal’s first six scoring shots were boundaries, the last of those hit so hard that the worst possible result would be a half chance, which burst through the hands of Harry Brook at second slip. The universe was now beginning to look after him. A hook shot later in the evening didn’t stick in Liam Dawson’s hands. If a series is a life, it was coming a full circle. He dropped four at Headingley, and was now the beneficiary of two in a crucial period before stumps on the second day.This innings was not about head position or stance or guard or being in control. This innings was more about trusting his game built on painstaking hard work, about trusting everything will fall in place if he let instinct take over. This was more about his emotions.This innings was also about squaring certain things off, about the circle of life, about collecting receipts. Like Faizal Khan in , Jaiswal was now saying he will avenge dropped catches, low-control innings, and even time-wasting, which he did almost comically by cramping up at the non-striker’s end in what proved to be the last over before lunch. Although it wasn’t necessarily gamesmanship; he has tended to struggle with cramps in a few of his long innings.Jaiswal’s emotions were on an all-time high when he was in his 90s, going off at non-striker Karun Nair for not alerting him to a change in the field and then not running a third that could have got him his hundred. The release of emotion upon reaching the hundred said a lot.Jaiswal has ended his series as he began: a belligerent century to end up with a tally of 411 and an average of 41.10. Top-six batters overall have averaged 48.77 in the series so far; Jaiswal is used to being head and shoulders above his peers in his young career so far. That is probably why he was edgy.A century in challenging conditions should be succour if Jaiswal had been hurting. It is said you don’t become a great cricketer without having at least one bad tour of England. Jaiswal, who clearly aims to end up as a great, hasn’t had a bad tour by any measure, but has had all the extremes in one tour. A whole lifetime’s worth of ups and downs.

And which visiting bowler has taken the most Test wickets at one single ground?

Steven Lynch23-Sep-2025I was sorry to hear of the death of John Jameson. In the 1971 Oval Test he was run-out in both innings, how often has this happened? asked James Hamilton from England
John Jameson, who died last week, was a hard-hitting top-order batter for Warwickshire, who also played four Tests for England. In the second of those, against India at The Oval in August 1971, he was run-out in both innings. He’d made 82 in the first, which remained his highest Test score, before failing to beat Ajit Wadekar’s return to wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer, and added 16 in the second before bowler Bhagwath Chandrasekhar deflected a Brian Luckhurst straight-drive into the stumps with non-striker Jameson stranded.Jameson was – and still is – the only England player to be run-out in both innings of a Test. There have been 26 such instances in all: it happened to Australian team-mates Ian Healy and Mark Taylor twice. It has also happened 11 times in women’s Tests.Jameson had also been run-out in the second innings of his debut, at Old Trafford a fortnight earlier. He remains the only man to be run-out in three successive Test innings: Zimbabwe’s Guy Whittall had three consecutive run-out dismissals in 1997 and 1998, but that sequence was interrupted by an innings of 203 not out. Three women have been run out three times in a row in Tests: Betty Wilson of Australia in 1948-49, New Zealand’s Debbie Hockley in 1984, and Jill Kennare of Australia in 1984-85.In Test matches, which team has the highest team total if you add up each player’s career average, and then their highest score? asked William Lee from South Africa
To answer the second part first, the highest theoretical total if everyone in a particular team equalled their highest Test score would be 2367, by the World XI in the one and only “Super Series” Test against Australia in Sydney in October 2005. That side included Brian Lara (highest score 400 not out), Inzamam-ul-Haq (329), Virender Sehwag (319), Graeme Smith (277) and Rahul Dravid (270). It didn’t do them much good, as Australia won by 210 runs!The highest by a national XI would be 2231 by Sri Lanka against Australia in Galle in March 2004. That side included Mahela Jayawardene (374), Sanath Jayasuriya (340), Kumar Sangakkara (319) and Marvan Atapattu (249).The Australian team that beat England in Don Bradman’s final Test, at The Oval in August 1948, had a combined average of 450.46 if you add up their end-of-career figures. This is obviously helped by Bradman’s own 99.94! The largely similar Australian team that defeated India in Adelaide earlier in 1948 had an aggregate average of 448.15. Next comes the West Indian team against England in Port-of-Spain in February 1948, with a combined average of 445.55. That side included the unfortunate opener Andy Ganteaume, who scored a century in his only Test innings so finished with an average of 112.New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel has taken 25 Test wickets at the Wankhede Stadium – is this the most by a visiting bowler on any ground? asked Karan Singh Rathod from India
The New Zealand slow left-armer Ajaz Patel has taken 25 wickets in just two Tests at Bombay’s Wankhede Stadium, including his 10 for 119 in an innings against India there in December 2021.He’s a little way down the list of most wickets on a ground by visiting bowlers, although those above him played more Tests. Three men have taken 35 wickets on a single Test ground away from home: the 19th-century England seamer George Lohmann in four Tests in Sydney, another English bowling genius in Sydney Barnes took 35 in five matches in Melbourne, while the Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon has so far taken 35 in six Tests in Galle.This excludes wickets taken in Tests on neutral grounds: Yasir Shah took 55 wickets in Dubai and 46 in Abu Dhabi in what were designated as home Tests for Pakistan, while Saeed Ajmal picked up 37 in Dubai.Nathan Lyon has 35 wickets in six Tests in Galle, the most for any visiting bowler this century at one venue (not including neutral grounds)•AFPWarwickshire made 190 in the T20 Blast quarter-final without a single six. Was this the highest T20 innings not to feature a single six? asked Dave Henbery from England
You’re right that the total of 190 for 6 by Warwickshire (or Birmingham Bears as I think we’re supposed to call them) against Somerset in the Vitality Blast quarter-final in Taunton earlier this month did not contain a single six. We managed to unearth one higher total from the very first season of T20 cricket, also against Somerset: Glamorgan’s 193 for 7 in Cardiff in June 2003 had no sixes either. We don’t have ball-by-ball details for all T20 matches, but I’d be surprised if there is a higher total without a six.The Bears no doubt wished they’d managed to hit a couple over the ropes, as Somerset ended up winning that quarter-final in the last over, and went on to win the competition, beating Hampshire in an exciting final at Edgbaston a few days ago.Chris Martin is aptly described in his ESPNcricinfo bio as “hard-working with the ball and outrageously feeble with the bat”. He finished with 110 more Test wickets than runs: is this the highest such difference? asked Siddiqui Saleem from the United States
The short answer is yes: the New Zealand seamer Chris Martin finished his 71-Test career with 233 wickets and just 123 runs, a difference of 110. In all he was out 52 times (he also had 52 not-outs), which included 36 ducks – only Courtney Walsh (43) and Stuart Broad (39), who played many more Tests, bagged more ducks in Tests. Martin was also dismissed for a pair on seven occasions, easily the Test record.Martin took the run-difference record from India’s Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, who in 58 Tests amassed 242 wickets and 167 runs, or minus 75. Two other bowlers who took 100 Test wickets ended up with fewer runs than wickets: Bruce Reid of Australia had 113 wickets and 93 runs, while India’s Pragyan Ojha ended up with 113 and 89.Brett Schultz of South Africa took 37 wickets but made only nine runs, while Australia’s mystery spinner Jack Iverson took 21 Test wickets but made only three runs. Pride of place perhaps has to go to the Pakistan seamer Aizaz Cheema, who played seven Tests for Pakistan in 2011 and 2012, and took 20 wickets – but managed just a solitary run with the bat. (Actually he had five innings, and was never dismissed.)Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

In what is proving to be a busy summer transfer window so far, Rangers are still expected to sign another of Philippe Clement's targets soon, despite earlier reports suggesting there had been a worrying twist.

Rangers transfer news

The Gers have already welcomed Oscar Cortes, Jefte, Clinton Nsiala and Connor Barron, while Liam Kelly is reportedly on his way in a hectic start to the window. That said, a flurry of arrivals should hardly come as a shock following the number of players who left on free deals at the end of their contracts. Borna Barisic, Kemar Roofe, Ryan Jack and John Lundstram were all among those to leave Ibrox at the end of the season.

Speaking for the first time after welcoming Nsiala, Director of Recruitment Nils Koppen told the club's official website: "We are excited to add a talented young player in Clinton to the squad.

“He joins as an exciting talent who we believe can develop and take his next steps under our manager, Philippe Clement, and his staff. We look forward to welcoming Clinton to Glasgow as we continue to shape the squad ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.”

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The Light Blues are reportedly in the race to sign the central defender this summer.

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Barron looks unlikely to be the last name through the door, however. According to Chris Jack, Yusuf Kabadayi "will be a Rangers player", despite earlier reports suggesting that Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce were interested in the Clement's target and that Besiktas had also stolen a march on the Scottish giants.

Those reports have now been rubbished by Jack, with Rangers seemingly destined to welcome their fourth signing of the summer in what is only a matter of time.

Kabadayi can replace Sima

Whilst Rangers did manage to welcome Cortes back on loan for a second consecutive season, the same can't be said for Abdallah Sima as things stand, leaving quite the hole in Clement's frontline. That's where Kabadayi should come in, however. The left-winger, who can play all across the front three, spent last season on loan at Schalke, scoring five goals.

Now back at Bayern and unlikely to get minutes, it's the Scottish Premiership where the young German may discover his best form once and for all. At 20 years old, he's certainly got plenty of room for the improvement that Clement would undoubtedly help accelerate.

As Rangers look to finally dethrone Celtic once again in Scotland, it looks increasingly likely that they'll be aiming to do so with a youthful exuberance rather than prior experience, turning to the likes of Kabadayi, Jefte and Cortes to take Clement's project forward.

Bangladesh atop World Cup Super League points table

Mohammad Isam25-May-2021On their way to the top of the ICC’s World Cup Super League points table, Bangladesh struck off Sri Lanka from their list of teams against whom they haven’t won an ODI series. Only Australia and England remain in this list. Mushfiqur Rahim’s masterly 125 got them to 246 runs on a two-paced pitch, before the bowlers packed up the visitors to 141 for 9 in a truncated 40-overs second innings to win by 103 runs courtesy the DLS method.Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets each while Shakib Al Hasan’s two wickets got him level on wickets with Mashrafe Mortaza’s 269, at the summit of Bangladesh’s ODI wicket-takers’ chart. His 122 wickets in Mirpur are the joint-most wickets at a single venue, alongside Wasim Akram’s 122 wickets in Sharjah.But Bangladesh’s win was set up by Rahim. He was the glue that kept Bangladesh’s batting together after they lost Tamim Iqbal and Shakib in the second over. The match got off to a frenetic start when Isuru Udana conceded 14 runs off the first two legal deliveries of the match. But after he went for 15 in the first over, Dushmantha Chameera removed both Iqbal and Shakib in the following over to set the game up for the visitors.Rahim found little support from Liton Das, whose opening position was questioned by BCB president Nazmul Hassan during the previous game. Mosaddek Hossain, who was making an ODI comeback after two years, was also under considerable pressure, but couldn’t impress.Mahmudullah added 87 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahim after they slipped to 74 for four in the 16th over. The recovery was akin to their 109-run fifth wicket stand, from a similar position, in the first game.The pair focused on milking runs in singles and twos, Rahim hitting just one four between the 19th and 38th over. Mahmudullah, after striking two sixes and a four in his 41 off 58 balls, fell to a smart catch down the leg-side by Kusal Perera. Meanwhile, Rahim struck eight of his 10 fours in the last 10 overs, scoring 47 out of the 58 runs as there was little support after Mahmudullah’s dismissal.Bangladesh needed early wickets while defending 246 runs, and it came from debutant Shoriful Islam who removed Kusal Perera in the sixth over, with Iqbal timing his jump perfectly at mid-on to get rid of his opposite number. The other Sri Lankan opener, Danushka Gunathilaka, holed out to deep point off Rahman, having made the innings’ top score of 24.Bangladesh’s spinners took over from this point. Shakib had Pathum Nissanka caught at midwicket by Iqbal. Mehidy had Kusal Mendis lbw, playing back to a fullish delivery. Dhananjaya de Silva suffered the same fate against Shakib shortly afterwards as Sri Lanka were tottering on 89 for 5.Mehidy added Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga to his tally, finishing with three wickets, before Rahman added two more to his kitty – Ashen Bandara and Lakshan Sandakan – both caught trying to hit down the ground.Sri Lanka only had their bowling to be cheerful about. Chameera and Sandakan took three wickets each. But the visitors couldn’t take advantage of Chameera’s first over double-wicket maiden, nor Sandakan’s luck after he had one wicket with a half-tracked and two others down the leg-side. Udana took two wickets while Wanindu Hasaranga’s only wicket – the googly that spun between Miraz’s defenses – was the best ball of the match.

Get your dose of analysis, stats and colour from Lord’s on ESPNcricinfo’s live blog

Varun Shetty14-Aug-2021.

Stumps

6.32pmJoe Root made his fourth century at Lord’s, and stretched it past 150 like he had the first three times, as a near-perfect display on Day 3 helped England take a slender lead against India. He was left stranded on 180 with England being bowled out off the last ball of the day. The 27-run lead capped off a gradual comeback from England in the match, which had begun by first bowling India out early on Day 2 and then battling through to stumps on a difficult evening. Exactly two days and two innings now remain for the teams to force a result.Almost as if it were a reward for their work on Friday evening, England came out to the best batting conditions of the match so far on Saturday – bright sunshine and a flat pitch that they put to good use, starting with overnight batters Root and Jonny Bairstow.

Always a matter of two wickets

5.15pmIshant Sharma struck twice in two balls late on day three•Getty Images

At every point in this Test match, the tempo has changed entirely with two quick wickets. Rahul and Rahane yesterday, then Sibley and Hameed. And it’s Ishant Sharma today, picked ahead of Ashwin, who gets the two left-handers in two balls. Root’s now faced a hat-trick ball twice in this innings.India have dragged it close to parity with those wickets. A big lead now will need a significant effort from England’s tail. Mark Wood likes to throw the bat around and Anderson can stick around. As long as Root is in, England will still think of 450.4.28pmMost hundreds in India-England Tests•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tea

3.45pmJoe Root and Jos Buttler finish a run as Ishant Sharma reacts•Getty Images

Only 50 away now, England. They scrapped and marginally pushed ahead of India through yesterday’s sessions. Today, it’s been complete dominance. Another session scoring at nearly 3.5 an over. They’ve added 98 in this one and lost two wickets and suddenly this game is moving as quickly as it had on the first day. The pitch certainly looks just as good as it had on that day, flat and friendly when movement in the air isn’t a factor.For India, the second new ball hasn’t proved to be a game-changer. And now they have begun leaking boundaries. Shami is going at over four an over and there is little in terms of clear-cut chances being created by their line-up. England have cashed in big time to seize the advantage – in all but runs – in this Test.

300 in sight

3.25pmJoe Root is all smiles after getting to a century•PA Photos/Getty Images

India had to manufacture the Jonny Bairstow wicket and the Jos Buttler wicket was a rare case of them significantly beating an England batter today. It has been cruise control for the most part though as the sun has continued to beat down through the day. The ball isn’t doing a whole lot and they’re having to rely on toil and discipline at the moment. Flambouyant set-ups aren’t on the menu today as England come close to 300 – something both myself and Debayan Sen had said wasn’t likely on the podcast last evening – and even closer to taking a lead well before stumps if things continue to go this way. England’s lower order, starting with Moeen Ali, is a free-flowing, attacking one. It could soon be panic stations for India.

Joe Root gets to five hundreds in 2021

2.21pmAnd Sampath from the stats team points out that no one’s done it for England since Ian Bell in 2011. Another terrific knock from their captain.Five or more centuries for England in a calendar year•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where are we headed?

1.45pm