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Bowler has suffered a fractured left thumb in the Indians’ warm-up match against County Select XI

Nikhil Sharma21-Jul-2021Avesh Khan’s tour of England is likely to have come to an end as ESPNcricinfo has learned that the Madhya Pradesh fast bowler has suffered a fracture in his left thumb, which he hurt on the first day of the warm-up match between the Indians and the County Select XI at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday. It is understood that Khan will undergo a couple of scans and tests this week, after which he will return to India to recover in time for the IPL where he represents the Delhi Capitals. Khan was a key part of the Capitals in the first half of IPL 2021, picking up 14 wickets, the joint second-highest in the competition so far.Related

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Khan was representing the County Select XI, and immediately after lunch on Tuesday, he successfully intercepted a punched drive from Hanuma Vihari, but winced in pain. Minutes later he walked off, alongside the Indian physiotherapist, with a strapped left thumb.The Indians ended the first day’s play on 306 for 9, with KL Rahul having cracked a century (101), and Ravindra Jadeja making 75.On Wednesday, the BCCI’s media team sent an update on Khan, saying he would “not be taking any further part” in the warm-up match and that he “remains under observation”. Khan and Washington Sundar had both been permitted by the Indian team management to turn up for the County Select XI, which had two vacant slots since the pair of James Bracey and Zak Chappell were not available. Bracey had been identified as contact of a Covid-19 positive case and had to be pulled out of the squad, while Chappell suffered an injury on Tuesday morning.Khan had been named as one of the five reserves by the Indian selectors in the 25-man squad which was announced in May. He becomes the second player, after Shubman Gill, to be ruled out of the series. The details of Gill’s injury have not yet been put out by the BCCI, but it is learned that the opening batter had been hampered by a niggle in the lower half of his left leg, which surfaced post the World Test Championship final in June.Virat Kohli bats in the netsA day after the BCCI said that Virat Kohli was being rested for the three-day warm-up match due to a stiff back, the Indian captain turned up to bat in the nets. At lunch on Day 2 in Durham, Kohli took throwdowns from Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour, with India head coach Ravi Shastri observing from a distance. The development is a welcome one for the Indians, who also are concerned by the fitness of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has a swollen hamstring. Also part of the nets was India’s seniormost fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has bounced back from the hand injury he picked on the final day of the World Test Championshp final. Sharma had received stitches on his bowling hand.

India build healthy first-innings lead thanks to Pant’s innings of two halves

Alan Gardner05-Mar-2021A day of two halves in Ahmedabad saw India seize control of the fourth Test, as an innings of two halves from Rishabh Pant cut England down to size. Pant’s maiden hundred on home soil was a masterpiece of adapting his game to the demands of conditions and match situation, and by the time he had flamed out, English hopes of hanging in the game had largely gone up in smoke.Seeking the sort of first-innings runs that would define the contest, India had stuttered and stumbled to 146 for 6 during the afternoon session, as England succeeded in their attempts to control the run rate while making regular incisions. Ben Stokes, who hurled himself through 20 overs in the day for the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and James Anderson set the tone from the outset as Joe Root shuffled his hand adroitly in defence of his side’s mediocre efforts with the bat.But the struggles of Dom Bess left England’s four-man attack stretched, as a century stand between Pant and Washington Sundar wrested back control. Initially, runs came in circumspect fashion as India sought to rebuild, and had Bess been granted an lbw decision when Pant had 35 – umpire Nitin Menon’s not-out call was upheld by the narrowest of margins on DRS – things could have taken a wholly different course. As it was, Pant took the game into his own hands.A watchful half-century from 82 balls provided the kindling for Pant to ignite against a toiling opposition late in the day. Sparks flew and runs flowed, England’s plans to bowl dry blown clean out of the water on a parched late Gujarati afternoon, as Pant raced on to his hundred in the space of another 33 deliveries. He fell moments later, but Sundar carried on the good work until the close to leave India in sight of 300 and a potentially decisive lead.Related

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For a while, with India six down and the game in the balance, it was tempting to wonder how much Kohli really did care about the World Test Championship final. Defeat here would cost India their spot, and the captain was one of three wickets to fall – for his second duck of the series – during a morning session which yielded just 56 runs. The dismissal of Rohit one short of fifty then left India in need of some lower-order gumption to keep England at bay.But on a pitch that has been tougher to master than had initially seemed apparent, Pant soared above the competition. If the surface was two-paced, so was Pant’s innings. His control of the situation was evident in the way he kicked up through the gears around the arrival of the new ball – a juncture that might have brought England some relief, with Root increasingly reluctant to turn to Bess’ offspin – as back-to-back boundaries off Stokes put India level on the scoreboard.Further audacity was to come. Anderson, new ball in hand, was greeted by being pumped for fours through mid-off and cover, before the sucker punch: an insouciant reverse-scoop over the slips that even forced a wry grimace from England’s 38-year-old attack leader. His hundred was reached soon after with a slog-swept six off Root, to the delight of a vocal Motera crowd; after steadfastly laying the foundations, this was back to seat-of-the-Pant batting as advertised.Although Anderson eventually scragged the youngster for 101, caught hammering a pull to midwicket, the scales had shifted. Sundar brought up his third Test fifty with a back-foot flay through the off side that typified his own increasingly assured innings, and 141 runs bled through the final session to leave England facing a battle for survival in the third innings.James Anderson and Ben Stokes try to hatch a plan•BCCIAnderson’s figures told a story in themselves. He began the day having not conceded a run, and had figures of 17-11-19-2 before the late carnage; of the seven boundaries he conceded, five came via Pant’s bat. But Anderson and Stokes had to share a heavy workload, as Bess failed to hit his lengths once again, all too often contributing to releasing the pressure that England had striven to build up. Even when Bess did belatedly win an lbw decision against Sundar in the penultimate over of the day, it was overturned on review.England’s hopes of limiting India to a score somewhere in the region of 200 had initially been lifted after a disciplined morning session. Jack Leach struck first, sliding a delivery into Cheteshwar Pujara’s front pad fractionally before his bat came through in defence, before Kohli was extracted via a Stokes bouncer and a feathered edge to the keeper.Anderson accounted for Ajinkya Rahane with the final ball before lunch and although Rohit again looked in ominous touch, a marginal lbw decision buoyed Stokes and England further. When R Ashwin chipped tamely to midwicket for Leach’s second wicket, the hosts seemed to be on the ropes, only for Pant’s innings and his mature partnership with Sundar to give them control of the ring.

India captain wants administrators to reconsider the schedule considering the bubble life

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2021Virat Kohli will join the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad on April 1, two days after the team begins their training camp in Chennai. The Royal Challengers will play their initial set of matches, including the IPL tournament opener on April 9 against defending champions Mumbai Indians, in the city.It is understood that Kohli would need to undergo the mandatory week-long quarantine put in place by the IPL as part the guidelines to operate in the bio-secure environment. On Monday, Kohli quit the bubble in Pune after India’s ODI series against England, which got over on Sunday.Kohli has been part of bio-secure bubbles since the end of January, ahead of the England series, and has been part of each of the four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs. Now, he will be part of his IPL franchise set-up within two days of India finishing their international home assignments.The schedule continues to be relentless post the IPL, too, as India will enter a bubble soon after ahead of their departure to England in June for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. That would be followed by a five-Test series in England. India are then scheduled to return home to prepare for the T20 World Cup, to be played in October-November at home.On Sunday, soon after winning the ODI series in Pune, Kohli underlined the need for administrators to look at the scheduling, keeping in consideration player movements from one bubble to another in a challenging environment because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”Scheduling needs to be looked at in future, because playing in bubbles for so long, two to three months, is going to be very, very difficult going forward,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “You can’t expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength.”Sometimes you do get cooked and you do feel like a bit of a change. I am sure things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well. But a different tournament, it brings fresh challenges heading into the IPL.”Meanwhile, the pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj, who flew to Chennai from Pune on Monday afternoon, would be available to training from Tuesday. The IPL guidelines allow players travelling between bubbles to skip the quarantine and start training.A healthy proportion of the Royal Challengers, who finished fourth in IPL 2020, reached Chennai last week. This group included the team director Mike Hesson, Sanjay Bangar, (appointed as assistant coach from this season), along with fast bowler Navdeep Saini. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, too, reached Chennai over the weekend.

أدلى هارفي إليوت، لاعب فريق ليفربول، بتصريحات عقب خسارتهم المفاجئة أمام بليموث مساء يوم الأحد في بطولة كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي، ومن ثم توديعهم للمنافسة مبكرًا.

واستضاف ملعب “هوم بارك” مباراة الفريقين في خضم لقاءات دور الـ32 من بطولة كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي، حيث خسر ليفربول بهدف دون رد.

وقال هارفي إليوت في تصريحات نشرها الموقع الرسمي للنادي: “إنه أمر مخيب للآمال، لم تكن أفضل مباراة لنا على الإطلاق، كنا ندرك ذلك جميعًا على أرض الملعب، ولكن قاتلنا حتى النهاية، واصلنا المحاولة والضغط”.

وأضاف: “ولكن هذا يحدث أحيانًا في كرة القدم، اليوم لم نكن جيدين بدرجة كافية، أود أن أقول إنه كان من الصعب أن نخسر بتلك الطريقة، لكن مباريات مثل هذه، حيث لا نلعب جيدًا كما ينبغي، يمكن أن تسير في أي اتجاه، اليوم لم تسر الأمور في صالحنا”.

وواصل: “لكنه درس للتعلم مرة أخرى، لاعبون يظهرون لأول مرة والشباب يلعبون، لذلك من الجيد دائمًا أن نرى ذلك، لكن يتعين علينا فقط أن نرتاح ونلعب مرة أخرى يوم الأربعاء”.

وعن ضربة جزاء بليموث التي تحصل عليها أصحاب الأرض بسبب لمسة يد على إليوت، ومن خلالها سجلوا هدف الفوز، قال اللاعب: “يمكن أن تستمر الحجج إلى الأبد، كنت قريبًا جدًا منه وقلت للحكم (هل تتوقع مني أن أقفز وذراعي بجواري؟!)”.

اقرأ أيضًا | “عاجز عن الكلام رغم فصاحتي”.. مدرب بليموث يعلق على الإطاحة بـ ليفربول من كأس الاتحاد

واسترسل: “هذه ليست طريقة طبيعية للقفز، كنت أحاول جاهدًا تشتيت الكرة وكانت ذراعي هناك لكنها كانت على بعد متر تقريبًا من اللاعب الذي كان يسدد، لكن هذه هي كرة القدم، إنها ضربة قوية”.

وأكد: “ليس من الجيد أن تخسر بهذه الطريقة وليس من الجيد أن تكون مُتسبب في ذلك، حيث تسببت في ركلة الجزاء، لسوء الحظ إنها مجرد واحدة من تلك الأشياء، أحتاج إلى إبقاء رأسي مرفوعًا ومواصلة المضي قدمًا”.

وعن الرسالة في غرفة الملابس قبل مباراة الديربي يوم الأربعاء ضد إيفرتون، قال: “أشعر أنه في هذه اللحظة علينا فقط التعافي، بعد ذلك يمكننا البدء في التركيز على إيفرتون، نحن نعلم دائمًا كيف ستكون الأمور في جوديسون بارك، ستكون صعبة حقًا، لا شك في ذلك”.

واختتم: “لكن لا يوجد شيء لم نختبره من قبل، إنها دائمًا مباراة عدائية وهناك دائمًا مواقف معينة قد نجدها صعبة، لكن الأمر يتعلق فقط بكيفية التغلب عليها كفريق وكنادي، نأمل أن نتمكن من تحقيق الفوز”.

England’s newest batting investment is repaying the faith already

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Jul-2024That Birmingham seems to exist as this perpetual building site is a long-standing bugbear for residents and visitors. But it does mean some of the old and new neatly intertwine across different parts of the city.The 15 acres of the Custard Factory complex in Digbeth, for example, built by 19th-century baronet Sir Alfred Frederick Bird, the inventor of egg-substitute custard powder, is now littered with cafes offering eggs every which way. And for 61 minutes on Saturday afternoon, a classical institution and the ultra-modern were dovetailing in similar fashion at Edgbaston.This was not the first time Joe Root and Jamie Smith had batted together. They were at either end for 69 deliveries at Lord’s, then a fleeting 11 at Trent Bridge. But day two’s 78-ball exchange of strike and fist-bumps was a wink and a nudge for a duo in the early stages of blending legendary accumulation and exuberant shot-chasing.Their 62-run partnership was sandwiched by two century stands in which each man assumed the role of leading man. Root scored the majority of the 115 with Ben Stokes, guiding England out of a hole of 54 for 5, skipping past 12,000 runs and into No.7 on the all-time runscorer’s list. Smith then took up the mantle with Chris Woakes as 106 came from 127 deliveries to take the hosts into the lead. The 376 that England eventually mustered was the third-highest score made by a team after losing their first five wickets for fewer than 60 runs. Root’s failure to convert to a 33rd Test hundred and Smith’s dismissal five runs short of his first were the only bum notes in a period that they topped and tailed.Related

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Aesthetically, the pair are a satisfying contrast. Perhaps it’s because we have got used to Root’s mannerisms as he approaches 12 years at the top. But the bat wave, trigger and ensuing drives, late cuts and tucks offer a familiar, home-cooking comfort. Smith, on the other hand, is an engrossing contradiction of an initial robotic set-up that transitions into a seamless flow of arms, elbows and wrists. If Root feels free-range, Smith feels like what happens when lab experiments go exactly as intended.Can you recall any of Root’s seven boundaries? That’s sort of the point. Meanwhile, Smith banged a couple from just outside off through midwicket, including one which took his stand with Woakes to three figures, and himself to 92.He tonked acoustically pleasingly through the covers and sent a ball out of the ground – high over the Hollies Stand – for the second time this series after clearing Old Father Time at Lord’s during his maiden half-century. It was his fifth six in four innings – more than Root has struck in his last 18. Smith’s innings was comfortably the more memorable, which is exactly as Root intended.Smith was eventually done in by the short ball but not before he had picked off 33 runs from 14 pull shots•Darren Staples/Getty Images”He’s a very calm person to bat with,” Smith said at stumps. “He makes you feel quite assured with the way he speaks and gives you advice on what’s happening. But he’s not overburdening; he allows you to be yourself as well.”You’re not feeling like you’re second fiddle – it’s a partnership when you’re out there. He exudes confidence in you. You’re not just the person at the other end.”Smith is not the first player to benefit from Root’s facilitator qualities. Stokes’ 54, for instance, was probably the best he has batted since the guttural Ashes century at Lord’s last summer. And even that was an unsustainable cocktail of rage, not all of it his.But a hype man is nothing without someone to hype. And it was Smith’s crisp shotmaking, aligned with indulging every instinct without hesitation, that gave England drive after the rebuild. Whisper it, but it is arguably a strength Smith boasts over his more decorated teammate. His most expansive shots are not premeditated, they come from deep within. Root on the other hand… well… Can you recall his most predetermined shot? You probably answered that before finishing the question.Smith’s work in the evening session did not just put West Indies on the back foot but had them weak at the knees by the close, awaiting what will likely be a third and final knockout on Sunday. And it was largely down to those traits above, all of which were contained within his pull shots.The ground-clearer off Alzarri Joseph, who was peppering him from around the wicket, was one of 14 played, bringing Smith 33 runs in all. There was one awry glove down the leg side that was out of Joshua Da Silva’s reach. Jayden Seales insisted West Indies should have persisted a little longer with the tactic, given that the nature of the surface – as displayed by Smith’s dismissal to a Shamar Joseph cutter halfway down that didn’t get above knee height – almost guaranteed that one would misbehave and produce a mistake.Funnily enough, Smith agreed with Seales’ observation, but he had prepared for all that. The 24-year-old might be fresh to the scene, but he is fortified by learnings plucked from the experience of others.”It’s not something I’m overly used to,” Smith said of the bumper barrage. “In county cricket you don’t tend to get people bowling 90 miles an hour to you, round the wicket, so it’s a new way of playing. I’ve spoken to a few of the lads knowing that it could be an option teams might use against us, having a bit of preparation in the nets.”For me, it was a shorter boundary with the wind. I wanted to be positive. On another day I’ll hit it up into the air and get out. I’m not too worried about that. I’m always looking to score runs.”Tougher challenges are to come, though perhaps not this summer. But already Smith is looking comfortable in this XI and the demands placed on him, both as a wicketkeeper and a batter in a problem position at No.7. And as much as Root assisted him today, Smith is clearly more than capable of paying that forward, with interest.

India will be without Shreyas Iyer, while England will be lacking both Sam Billings and Eoin Morgan

Alagappan Muthu25-Mar-20217:15

Who replaces Iyer? Do England need changes to their XI?

Big pictureIt appears the narrative of this series is set. England have committed to being the marauders and India are, as they’ve always been, the pragmatists. It’s like cricket’s own version of a buddy cop show.In the absence of Eoin Morgan, who split the webbing on his right hand on Tuesday, Jos Buttler will lead the troublemakers. The ones that don’t play by the rules but by their own. A set of fearless, gung-ho entertainers who truly believe in – and as a result, enhance the threat of – the firepower at their disposal. If ever there was a team that could touch 500 in an ODI, it is this lot. And no amount of collapses or defeats will sway them off this path. Better these wounds than those of 2015.Virat Kohli’s men are a little more straight-laced. They go by the book. They dot the I’s, cross the T’s because that’s how they have learned to get the job done. But lately, even they’ve been thinking about taking part in the shenanigans. Funnily enough, they’re doing by the book too.Ishan Kishan was selected for India on the day he nearly scored a double-hundred in a one-day domestic game. Krunal Pandya captains his state side and he’s here after racking up an average of 129 and a strike-rate of 117 in this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. India have understood the need for evolution. They are on the lookout for players with a 360 degree game and the ability to bring it out from ball one. Their talent pool knows it too. They know what they have to do to earn their cap and they are proving themselves ready for it.Ever since the 2019 World Cup, ODI cricket has been on a significant upswing. Now with teams like England re-imagining the limits of the game and India finding a new superstar every other day, there is no telling how much fun is in store.Form guide(Last five completed matches first)India: WWLLL
England: LLWLLIn the spotlightEveryone has something to say about KL Rahul. And they are all mostly good. The team management backs him to the hilt. The experts see him as an all-format player. He himself has been expanding his game – taking on wicketkeeping duties and indulging in IPL captaincy – to make sure his cricket touches a new level. But you get the feeling he sometimes thinks too much, and that if he lets himself go for just a bit – play on instinct like the way Rohit Sharma does – he could unlock something glorious.In a game that was choking with headline-grabbing events, there was a moment of weirdness. Ben Stokes fumbled a ball coming straight at him and it went for four. He does not do that. He is more pluck the type to darn thing out of thin air while being suspended parallel to the ground. He is box office. But that’s not been as readily apparent in this series. There was that blitz in the first Test. Then he threatened to single-handedly win the fourth T20I, but a boss-mode performance from the world’s premier allrounder hasn’t quite come to pass. There’s still time though.Team newsShreyas Iyer’s shoulder injury opens up a spot in the middle order, and as replacements go, Rishabh Pant probably ain’t so bad. Kuldeep Yadav didn’t look in his usual rhythm in the first ODI and as such his place may be in jeopardy, especially with Yuzvendra Chahal waiting in the wings.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Prasidh KrishnaMorgan has been ruled out of the rest of the series with his hand injury, and Sam Billings will miss the second game at least after jarring his collarbone on Tuesday. Liam Livingstone will make his ODI debut, and Dawid Malan – newly promoted from the reserve list – is likely to come back for his second ODI appearance. England may also be thinking about adding some variation to their bowling attack and can – if they want – call upon left-arm quick Reece Topley. Matt Parkinson, who has been an ever-present bubble member, is also in line for a call-up as England seek to assess their options.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Adil Rashid/Matt Parkinson, 11 Mark Wood/Reece TopleyPitch and conditionsTricky to start. Gets flat as the game goes on. Glorious under lights with the dew. That’s been the Pune pitch in one-day cricket. So it may be another game to win the toss and chase.Stats and trivia Since Jonny Bairstow (2654) began opening the batting for England in ODIs on 14 June 2017, only one man has scored more runs at the top of a batting order – Rohit Sharma (3831). And some of that is thanks to more innings played. Virat Kohli remains without an international century since November 2019. India have played ten ODIs since the start of 2020 across which they have picked only four wickets in the first ten overs. Their average (154) and run rate (6.16) in this period is the worst among 17 teams in this period. Quotes”I prefer the Virat who doesn’t get runs. That would be good.”
Ben Stokes on which version of the Indian captain he likes“The extra 40-45 runs that Krunal and I got in the end ended up being very crucial and ended up making the difference. When you win games like that, you as players, we as a team, realise that we have the potential to do that even if our top order doesn’t fire.”
KL Rahul says the performance from the lower-middle order in the first ODI will give more freedom to the top order

Shanaka is no one’s idea of a world-class bowler but he makes it work against Bangladesh with his 3 for 28

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Sep-20231:51

Maharoof: Shanaka brings balance to the team when he bowls

When your last seven scores are 5, 14*, 1, 5, 0, 5 and 1, these things tend to happen. Like a man rifling frantically through all his pockets for a misplaced key, Dasun Shanaka is reaching for deliveries he doesn’t usually reach for, lunging when he doesn’t usually lunge, and mis-hitting almost every shot in an anxious 32-ball 24 that sets Sri Lanka on track for another fizzling finish.It has been almost nine months since Shanaka struck 108 not out off 88 against India in Guwahati. Since then, he has played 14 ODI innings, averaged 10.69, and struck at a truly abysmal 73.15.Such has been the extent of his batting misery, and so desperate a figure does he cut with bat in hand, you wonder if he thinks he will ever find his old self again. Whether he still believes the thing big-hitting batters such as himself are supposed to believe: that the shot that thumps him back into rhythm – like an old TV screen that comes right when you hit it hard enough – is just around the corner.Related

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• Is Sri Lanka's tame finish in ODIs a cause for concern?

• Shakib seeks batting fix after 'reality check' ahead of World Cup

But this is not your run-of-the-mill plunge into despair. There are other statistics. Under Shanaka’s leadership, Sri Lanka have now won 13 consecutive ODIs, something only the greatest ODI team of all time has ever done before. They’ve bowled out their opposition in all 13 of those matches, despite their best fast bowler – Dushmantha Chameera – having been injured for most of that run. Wanindu Hasaranga has played no part in their three Asia Cup victories so far. Promising left-armer Dilshan Madushanka has not been available in this tournament either.There are huge caveats to these numbers, of course. Of the teams playing in this year’s World Cup, Sri Lanka have defeated only Afghanistan (three times), Bangladesh (twice), and Netherlands (twice) during this stretch. None of these sides are what you would call long-standing cricketing powers. But still, Sri Lanka have won 22 matches and lost only 13 under Shanaka. In ODIs since 2016 in which he was not captain, Sri Lanka won just 28 and lost 63.A quick vibe check, as we can’t be all about numbers: it doesn’t feel as depressing to be a follower of Sri Lankan cricket since Shanaka took over the white-ball teams. Even if he himself barely looks like he can hold a bat right now.What Shanaka can do, however, is contribute with the ball. It is, by a distance, his second skill. Maybe even his third, given his fielding in the circle is routinely outstanding. On Saturday, having seen Bangladesh’s batters go after Maheesh Theekshana early, and sensing that perhaps this was a plan they had hatched, Shanaka brought himself on to bowl the fourth over and, however gentle his pace, began making the ball curve late enough through the air to trouble batters.He raised a mild lbw appeal in his first over, conceded just five runs across his next three overs, and eventually created the pressure that yielded two wickets. Mehidy Hasan Miraz pulled a shortish ball straight to midwicket. Mohammad Naim top-edged what in Shanaka’s world is a bouncer, which eventually settled in the gloves of the wicketkeeper. By the end of his first spell, Shanaka had given away 15 from six overs. It was, in effect, a tone-setting effort.Dasun Shanaka dismissed Bangladesh’s openers in his back-to-back overs•Associated PressBangladesh never truly recovered from these six overs, delivered by a captain who does not usually operate in the early stages of an innings but, perhaps because so much else was going wrong for him, felt he needed to find responsibilities elsewhere.Shanaka is no one’s idea of a world-class bowler. Just as Sri Lanka is no one’s idea of a world-class ODI team, at present. But together, for now, they are making it work. Kind of. In their previous win, against Afghanistan, they had kind of tumbled into like a drunk crashing into a soft haystack.And his problems will persist beyond this match. There are lots of things a captain can’t really do when they’re in this much of a personal chasm. They can’t comfortably make the kinds of tough selection calls on match day that are sometimes required. They can’t twist arms and draft players that are not on the selectors’ radar. They can’t talk tough within the team, and certainly not in public. They can’t take strong stands, which is a thing you often need to do when your board is Sri Lanka Cricket.You suspect Shanaka is not a natural arm-twister/tough talker/stand-taker anyway. But in men’s elite sport, which even in 2023 rewards the more brusque expressions of masculinity, it would be nice to have the option of being a generalissimo, even just occasionally.That ODIs have been Sri Lanka’s worst format since their batting Valar (TM Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardana etc) retired is pretty well understood. But right now, it feels like a side that is spinning like a top – beautiful in its current motion, but susceptible to collapsing with the lightest gust, a glancing touch of a finger.Shanaka is at least partly responsible for this revival. On Saturday, his batting failed again. But he took 3 for 28 from nine overs, and led Sri Lanka to another victory.