He carried his beat for 91 at the Gabba as West Indies pulled off a famous victory and will now captain the ODI side

AAP31-Jan-20241:34

Finch: They’re not great numbers for a middle order

Steven Smith had the perfect response to critics who declared he shouldn’t be opening for Australia in Tests.After a lean first three innings as David Warner’s replacement up top with Usman Khawaja, the 34-year-old almost hauled Australia over the line to avoid the monumental eight-run upset by West Indies at the Gabba.Smith, who has scored 27 of his 32 Test centuries at No.3 or No.4, insists he didn’t overthink his approach to opening.Related

If not Steven Smith, then who? Australia's opening debate

Takeaways: Batting under scrutiny, Green's evolution and masterful bowling quartet

Shamar Joseph ruled out of ILT20 with toe injury

Finch puts spotlight on Australia middle order: 'They're not great numbers'

After scores of 12, 11 not out and six, the star batter belted an unbeaten 91 in Australia’s second innings on Sunday and feels “comfortable” as an opener.”There was a lot of commentary around I’d failed in two or three innings – I had a not out and two low scores,” Smith said at the MCG on Wednesday. “Now I’m averaging 60 as an opener.”It was just another position; I’ve battled against the new ball numerous times, coming in early. I’ve enjoyed the first couple of weeks of it…if they see fit to move me back down, I’ll do whatever the team needs.”Smith, who became the first Australian to carry his bat since Warner in 2011, was the only player to handle West Indies’ newest pace sensation Shamar Joseph. The 24-year-old tore through Australia with 7 for 68 to spearhead the tourists to an extraordinary first Test victory down under since 1997.Shai Hope and Steven Smith are the captains for the ODI series•Getty Images

Adding to the legend, Joseph, in his second Test, bowled in the second innings with a painful toe injury that has forced him to head home to the Caribbean and miss the ILT20 with Warner’s Dubai Capitals.”I overheard a conversation, I think we were seven down just before lunch and I overheard him speaking to [West Indies captain] Kraigg [Brathwaite]… he’s [Joseph] like, ‘I’m bowling to the end, man’,” Smith said.”He’s a rare talent and I think it’s great for cricket what he was able to do and see the West Indies competing like they did. He just kept coming in, and actually probably bowled faster at the end rather than the start.”Smith also defended his decision to give No.11 Josh Hazlewood two balls to face Joseph in what ended up being the last over of the match.Hazlewood was Joseph’s final victim, sparking wild and joyful West Indies celebrations as they completed arguably the biggest upset in Test history.”I’ve thought about it, whether we could do different things,” Smith admitted. “Maybe I could have taken five balls against Shamar; he was on fire obviously. But then I run the risk of not getting a run off the last ball and ‘Hoff’ [Hazlewood] having to take all six from Alzarri.”Smith will lead Australia in the three-match ODI series which starts at the MCG on Friday.

GOAL Convo: The goalkeeper discussed his Gold Cup run with the national team, finding form in MLS, and growing as leader

Matt Freese hates his phone.

The NYCFC and USWNT goalie was the talk of U.S. soccer when he saved three penalties in a shootout against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup quarterfinal. To say that he didn't care would be inaccurate. But he stayed away from the hype that followed him around in online spheres.

"I just hate technology, dude. I stay off my phone as much as possible," he tells GOAL.

Seems a bit much? That's just who Freese is. The shot-stopper has always been a bit of a technophobe, a soccer nerd who did a research project at Harvard about the psychology of saving penalties. There are a bunch of athletes who are simply hyper-focused on their craft, the kind of guys who at their most comfortable just talking about soccer.

Freese is of that ilk. You kind of have to be as a goalkeeper, he says. It has certainly helped NYCFC. The Piegons have been rather up and down this season, and find themselves in seventh in the Eastern Conference, struggling for consistency in their first season under head coach Pascal Jansen.

"We beat Cincy, beat Philly, and then drop points elsewhere totally unnecessarily," Freese says. "It's something that we've dealt with, I'd say, for the last year and a half, and it's something that needs to change. It will change."

Are they a playoff team? Certainly. But they are hunting for more, and Freese will be central to that effort – even if he is the last line of defense, and not the main guy in attack for the side that has currently scored the fewest goals of any team in a playoff spot. Still, they have a new designated player, Nico Fernandez, in the fray, and their performances have certainly improved of late. With Freese between the sticks to back it all up, that might be enough.

And on the USMNT front, Freese started all six Gold Cup matches ahead of incumbent Matt Turner, and is locked in a positional battle with several contenders looking to be the starter in the 2026 World Cup.

Freese talked about the USMNT, NYCFC and finding consistency in the latest GOAL Convo, a Q&A with central figures in the American soccer scene.

Getty ImagesON THE GOLD CUP

GOAL: Let's start with the USMNT. Did the Gold Cup feel like a bit of a moment for you in your national team career? Have you had time to reflect on it a bit?

FREESE: I didn't take any time to reflect until after the tournament. I think the worst thing you can do as a new guy getting your chance, getting your moment, is have one good game or one good moment, and then get ahead of yourself and forget that in two days you have another game. And so I really didn't take any time to reflect during the actual tournament itself. And then afterwards it took some time to think about it, take it in, if that makes sense.

On one hand, it was a huge opportunity for me, and a huge moment for me to not just get a game, not just get two games, but actually get six competitive tournament games and help be part of the team that gets to a final. It was a huge learning experience for me, and hopefully is another step in my career. I don't want to be naive and say, "Oh, that was my moment, because I hope there are many more moments.' You know, I'm not someone who has a moment and then gets happy and says, 'Ah, that's the one I'll remember forever." Because I always want to keep pushing. And I hope there are many more moments like that.

GOAL: What is it like to get a heightened level of attention? There are so many more eyes on you when you're playing for the USMNT. How do you come to terms with that?

FREESE: I block a lot of it out, to be honest. During the tournament, I didn't go on any social media. My phone, obviously, was busy after the Costa Rica game, and I pretty much didn't answer texts. I answered my mom, answered my girlfriend, and then texted my family group chat, and I was about it pretty much, until after the Gold Cup final. With more eyes on you, does it change you? Does it change your preparation, does it impact you at all? Not really just because I just hate technology, dude. I stay off my phone as much as possible.

GOAL: Was that an intentional decision? Did you go into the tournament deciding that you weren't going to look at your phone?

FREESE: I just stay off all of it pretty much regardless. That's kind of what I always do. In that moment, obviously, I did know that there were more eyes on me than there normally are, and so I very purposely just stayed off of all social media.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportON NYCFC'S INCONSISTENCY

GOAL: You guys are seventh in the Eastern Conference right now. Would it be fair to say that it's been a bit of an up and down season in terms of results?

FREESE: That's in no way, shape, or form a leap. It's been inconsistent from us, and that's something we're aware of, and it's something we're working to fix. You know, we have games where we go to Columbus and tie 0-0. We beat Cincy, beat Philly, and then drop points elsewhere totally unnecessarily. It's something that we've dealt with, I'd say, for the last year and a half, and it's something that needs to change. It will change. I am not a big excuse guy, to be honest. And I'm not saying this as an excuse, more so a potential reason: we're young. We're a very young group. I don't know exactly our average age. But if I'm not wrong, we have, like, maybe the second youngest roster in the league.

Consistency and experience, consistency and age, consistency and maturity, those are directly correlated. There's just no way around that. And so the challenge is expediting your maturation process and expediting your experience as much as possible. That leads to consistency, and then focusing on the details, and focusing on the preparation every single day: what you're doing in the gym, what you're doing on the field, and holding yourself to high standards, holding your teammates high standards, that is what expedites that process, so that it doesn't take years. It can be a matter of months.

Getty Images SportON LEADERSHIP

GOAL: And when you go through those ups and downs, what's your role like specifically? Do you tend to take accountability, or feel like you have a role in it?

FREESE: Definitely. Two years ago, when I just got here, I was in and out, and I'm now playing every game. Maybe that's something I wasn't thinking about as much. But now I've developed into one of the guys who's trying to lead this team forward. It is something we talk about, something we think about. And personally, in my view, is you have to stay very level-headed. I think you can say, "Yes, we're inconsistent, we're up and down." But there are two other options. One is always up, another option is down, and then you keep going down.

Part of the reason, potentially, we're not going down and and then continuing to stay down or going down, down, down, down, each game, further down, is because we are very level-headed. There's very purposefully, I think, an appropriate amount of positivity and an appropriate amount of discipline and accountability. Obviously, with it being a young group, you have to learn how to make sure everyone's enjoying it, but hold them accountable at the same time. And when guys are down, probably not the time to push them down. And when guys are, when guys are up, probably not the time to forcefully lift them even further up.

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NYCFCON NEW SIGNINGS

GOAL: You guys have just brought it a new DP, Nico Fernandez, what kind of a lift do you think he might give the team?

FREESE: He's got a fantastic resume! Looks like he has a lot of quality, even the few days I've seen him. Our staff, and the recruiting at New York City FC and CFG as a whole did a great job finding him and getting him here. I think he's gonna be huge. He's very creative. Seems like he's kind of like a little bit of a killer. You need some killers out there. And I can tell he has that bite to him, and he has that tenacity and and I think another important piece. With Nico, he has a physical strength that this league requires. I think a lot of people say blah, blah, blah about MLS, or MLS versus other leagues.

The one thing you can be sure of is that MLS is a very physical league. There's a lot of strong people, there's a lot of fast people, there's a lot of athletes, former college athletes. Defenders that were lifting four or five times a week during their college days. And you have to be able to compete with that. It's just a fact. And I can tell that he has that physical side of him where he'll be able to do that, which is great.

GOAL: Do you think foreign players underestimate the physicality of the league?

FREESE: There have been some quotes about that from some of the big European guys across the league that they were surprised about how physical the league was and how difficult it is. But it is a difficult league. You're traveling, and you're flying across the country, getting home at 4 a.m. and then waking up and getting into the facility for training. It's a very unusual league, a very difficult league to find consistency in and so yeah, I could see some, some people having, having been surprised by that.

MatériaMais Notícias

O volante Fred celebrou a vitória da Seleção Brasileira sobre a Sérviapor 2 a 0, na estreia da Copa do Mundo. Após a partida, o camisa 8, que entrou no segundo tempo, elogiou a postura da equipe no Estádio Lusail, mas afirmou que já está pensando na próxima partida.

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– Início importante. Conquistamos uma importante vitória, todos os jogadores estão de parabéns. Entrei na partida e todos têm que estar prontos. Jogamos bem, tivemos grande atuação. Temos que pensar passo a passo. Agora é descansar e ir para o próximo jogo – frisou o jogador, em entrevista à “Globo”.

+ Veja a tabela, os jogos e os grupos da Copa do Mundo de 2022

Fred falou também sobre o atacante Richarlison, que foi o grande nome da partida com dois gols marcados. O meio-campista do Manchester United elogiou o camisa 9 e disse que torce para o companheiro seguir neste bom momento.

– É um cara super do bem, alto astral. Fico muito feliz pela estreia dele, os dois gols… Espero que ele continue fazendo gol e nos ajudando nas vitórias – disse Fred.

Por último, Fred citou que o Brasil tem que manter os pés no chão para seguir na busca pelo título da Copa do Mundo.

– Nós somos uma grande equipe, temos que manter os pés no chão. Foi apenas o primeiro jogo, temos mais duas grandes equipes na chave. São sete finais. A primeira já foi. Vamos continuar trabalhando para buscar o objetivo final.

+ ATUAÇÕES: Com direito a voleio, Richarlison marca duas vezes e recebe a maior nota em vitória do Brasil

A Seleção Brasileira volta a campo na próxima segunda-feira, quando enfrenta a Suíça pela segunda rodada do Grupo G da Copa do Mundo. O jogo acontecerá no Estádio 974, às 13h (de Brasília; 19h no horário local).

At approximately 11 on Sunday night, Visakhapatnam came alive. ‘Hosts’ Delhi Capitals were on their way to their first win, but the result suddenly seemed irrelevant.MS Dhoni strode to the middle to bat for the first time since last year’s final and immediately sent the decibel levels soaring, walloping his first ball for four behind square leg and bludgeoning his third through extra-cover.

Pant cops over-rate fine

Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant was fined INR 12 lakh (USD 14,000 approx.) after his team was found to be short of the minimum required over rate after taking time allowances into account. It was his first over-rate offence of IPL 2024.

When he hit Khaleel Ahmed for an inside-out six in the next over, the crowd threatened to blow the roof off. Chennai Super Kings still needed 46 off 12; one run more than a side had ever made off the last two overs to win in the IPL.Mukesh Kumar was tasked with bowling a clutch over. His figures until then read 2-0-16-3. One more good over would close the game out, more or less, and he delivered, bowling a series of wide yorkers that Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t get underneath.MS Dhoni smoked an unbeaten 37 off 16 in his first innings of IPL 2024•BCCI

The over went for 5, and Super Kings needed 41 off six. Impossible if extras didn’t come into it.That was no reason for the crowd to stop. Dhoni was on strike. They wanted him to turn the clock back. And he did, walloping Anrich Nortje for two fours and two sixes. Dhoni finished 37 not out off 16, Super Kings fell short by 20 runs, but you couldn’t quite say if the fans in yellow were disappointed at the result or ecstatic at watching their hero do his thing.After he scythed a full-toss for six to finish the game, the realisation dawned that the Capitals had picked up their first win of the season, a result set up by David Warner and Rishabh Pant with the bat, and finished off by Khaleel and Mukesh.Matheesha Pathirana ended with 3 for 31•Associated Press

Shaw, Warner lay down the marker

Prithvi Shaw made 106 runs in eight innings in IPL 2023, at an average of 13.25. When he didn’t begin the season, you wondered if the Delhi Capitals were looking beyond him already.Turns out they weren’t.Coming in for local boy Ricky Bhui and slotting in at the top of the order, Shaw laid the foundation with a 93-run opening stand in 9.3 overs with David Warner.All the trademark elements of a Shaw innings were on display: sumptuous driving, fierce cuts and delectable wristwork. Warner was more muscle, but he also had a tantalising effect with his leg-side strokeplay. When he brought up his half-century off just 32 balls, Capitals were flying.Rishabh Pant hit four fours and three sixes•BCCI

Pathirana makes a splash

You didn’t know until last week if Matheesha Pathirana would feature in the tournament at all. But in taking a blinder at short third in the 10th over, leaping full-stretch and pulling off a one-handed stunner while airborne, he put to rest any concerns over his back. Warner saw his jaw-drop in disbelief at the athleticism, and had to drag himself off.Pathirana was only warming up.His second act was even more sensational, even though it’s something we’ve come to expect.A ball after being dismissed for six in the 15th over, he splayed Mitchell Marsh’s middle stump with a pinpoint yorker. Two balls later, he had Tristan Stubbs with another toe-crusher. Capitals were fast ceding momentum, and by the end of that over had slipped to 134 for 4.

Pant comes to the party

The early part of Pant’s innings seemed like a struggle. He kept losing his shape when balls were dug into the pitch on a length. At 23 off 23, the frustration seemed all too evident. But he backed himself to emerge from the rut, and when he did, it was breathtaking.He took down Mustafizur Rahman first and Pathirana next, peppering the long-on boundary with his strong bottom hand and the shovel he’s known for. When he sliced Pathirana in the same over to the point boundary, he’d brought up a 31-ball half-century. A 19th over that went for 17 helped give Capitals momentum to finish on 191 for 5.Khaleel Ahmed put Capitals on top with the early wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra•BCCI

Khaleel’s stunning spell

3-0-9-2.The left-arm quick left Super Kings in a rut right at the top. Ruturaj Gaikwad was taken out by late seam movement back in. Rachin Ravindra holed out to mid-on, frustrated by his inability to put bat on ball. Khaleel’s first 12 balls brought three runs.Daryl Mitchell and Ajinkya Rahane treaded cautiously, seemingly to try and bat deep. Occasionally, they played shots that delighted the purist. Like a flicked six by Rahane off Rasikh Salam. The pair revived the innings with a 68-run stand, but the asking rate had swelled to 11.70 with 10 overs remaining.Capitals didn’t have Kuldeep Yadav due to a niggle. Axar Patel had a job to do. And he broke the partnership by having Mitchell caught and bowled. He could have had Impact Sub Shivam Dube third ball as he tried to hack one over cow corner, but the bottom edge was put down by Pant.

Mukesh leaves his imprint

Tasked to bowl the tough overs, Mukesh picked up two in his first over, the 14th, to leave Super Kings gasping. He felled Rahane with a slower one that he hit to long-on, and Sameer Rizvi with a superb seam-up delivery that he nicked to short third.With Super Kings needing 79 off 30, Anrich Nortje bowled a gun third over full of wide yorkers to deny the batters. The over went for just seven and all the pressure that had crept up consumed Shivam Dube as he picked out long-off in the 17th over to give Mukesh his third wicket.The game seemed done. And then Dhoni walked out, sending everyone into throwback mode even though the game had gone beyond Super Kings’ reach.

MatériaMais Notícias

Era quase protocolar. Um minuto ou dois de acréscimo no primeiro tempo e no segundo quase cinco. Só que a Copa do Mundo que está na reta final mudou essa lógica. A quantidade aumentou consideravelmente, tendo sido comum ver jogos com um total de quase 15 minutos extras. Este padrão deverá ser visto também no futebol brasileiro, a partir da próxima temporada.

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– É uma tendência esse maior rigor. Não só em relação às perdas de tempo grandes do jogo. Mas também os arremessos laterais, a demora no tiro de meta, a chamada cera. A Fifa tem demonstrado essa preocupação. É entregar para o público uma quantidade maior de bola rolando – explicou Wilson Luiz Seneme, presidente da Comissão de Arbitragem da CBF, em entrevista à “Rádio Itatiaia”. E completou:

– É um desafio para o Campeonato Brasileiro. Já tivemos aumento nos tempos de acréscimos em 2022. Em 2023, provavelmente, a gente vai trabalhar com números maiores – projetou Seneme.

-> Confira a tabela da Copa do Mundo

His first major task will be to oversee the upcoming edition of the PSL

Danyal Rasool06-Feb-2024

The PCB has finally held elections and appointed a full-time chairman, with Mohsin Naqvi elected for a three-year term. The PCB announced the appointment on Tuesday without providing any other details, simply saying he had been elected unopposed as the 37th PCB chairman.”I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been unanimously elected as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board,” Naqvi said. “I am thankful for the trust and confidence reposed in me. I am fully committed to upgrading the standard of the game in the country and bringing professionalism in the administration of cricket in Pakistan.”Naqvi’s appointment was widely expected after Zaka Ashraf, who served as de facto chairman while officially the head of the interim management committee, quit last month. He also resigned from his position on the PCB’s board of governors, a vacancy which was filled by Naqvi, with Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister Anwar Kakar appointing Punjab’s caretaker chief minister – Naqvi – to the cricket board.Related

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Naqvi will continue to serve as Punjab’s caretaker chief minister alongside his role at the helm of the PCB. This had raised eyebrows last week when the PCB election commissioner, Khawar Shah, briefly took over the chairmanship when Ashraf resigned. But Khawar defended Naqvi holding both roles, saying the PCB rules forbade a chairman from holding an “office of profit” concurrently, and argued – somewhat incongruously – that Naqvi did not.Naqvi’s term as caretaker chief minister has already extended well beyond its constitutional realm. According to Pakistani law, a caretaker government can serve in that capacity for only three months while preparations for upcoming elections take place. Naqvi, however, was appointed over a year ago, in January 2023, with Pakistan’s elections pushed back by several months. His time as chief minister of Pakistan’s largest province will finally end later this week, when Pakistan go to the polls for general elections on February 8.While Naqvi does not have any known cricketing experience or a background in cricketing administration, that is not unusual for most PCB chairmen, especially over the past decade. Neither Najam Sethi nor Zaka Ashraf, the two men who held that position for the best part of the last ten years, had such experience before being first appointed, with Ehsan Mani and Ramiz Raja exceptions rather than the rule.Naqvi’s first major task will be to oversee the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League, which begins on February 17. While much of the logistical work of the tournament, including the draft, decisions on venues and ticket sales, has already happened, the league is arguably the most financially significant event for Pakistan cricket every year.The other pressing issue for the new chairmen will concern the hosting of the only ICC event Pakistan has been awarded this decade. The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place in the country, which requires significant logistical and administrative preparedness, including the construction of appropriate facilities to host as many as eight teams simultaneously. Pakistan have not played host to an event of that size since the 1996 World Cup.He will also have to find a way to deal with the potential fallout if India, as historical precedence suggests, decide against making the trip to Pakistan. When a similar situation arose ahead of the Asia Cup last year, then-PCB chairman Sethi agreed to a “hybrid” model, which saw a handful of initial games in Pakistan, with the bulk of the later games taking place in Sri Lanka. Several members of the management committee later expressed dissatisfaction with that arrangement, attributing it to the fatigue that caused injuries to a number of players. The PCB has implied they will not agree to such an arrangement this time.

أعلن نادي بلد الوليد عن توقيعه مع المدافع المغربي محمد جواب والذي وصل إلى إسبانيا بعد تجارب مع رين وأميان الفرنسي.

وقدم بلد الوليد لاعبه الجديد لوسائل الإعلام في مؤتمر صحفي عقد في مقر النادي الإسباني يوم الثلاثاء 19 أغسطس.

أقرأ أيضاً.. انتقادات لاذعة لصفقة ريال مدريد بعد الظهور الأول على “سانتياجو برنابيو”

وقام فيكتور أورتا المدير الرياضي لنادي بلد الوليد بتقديم لاعبه الجديد بواسطة آيات من القرآن الكريم وتحديداً من الآيات 39 إلى 44 من سورة النجم.

Víctor Orta y un micrófono delante. No necesito más. Lo ha vuelto a hacer. pic.twitter.com/20PzEOYFEM — Álvaro. (@Al_Valladolid) August 19, 2025

وجاءت في هذه الآيات قول الله تعالى: “وأن ليس للإنسان إلا ما سعى وأن سعيه سوف يُرى”.

وأعرب أورتا عن أمله في أن يكلل جهود اللاعب المغربي الجديد لنادي بلد الوليد بالنجاح والذي سيساعد النادي على تحقيق أهدافه.

وتحدث اللاعب صاحب الـ23 عاماً لوسائل الإعلام: “أثق بالمدرب جييرمو ألمادا وعندما يمنحني الضوء الأخضر سأدخل الملعب لألعب وأثبت قدراتي”.

وأضاف: “أحاول التفكير جيدًا واستخدام الذكاء لاستغلال القوة البدنية بشكل أفضل، لا أرغب في البقاء على الدكة وأن أقدم الإضافة وأكون عند حسن الظن في المشروع الذي أطمح للنجاح فيه”.

وقد أكد أورتا أن جواب سينضم للقائمة الأولية للمنتخب المغربي الذي يستعد لخوض مباراتين ضد النيجر وزامبيا في سبتمبر المقبل في تصفيات كأس العالم 2026.

“I only think about improving my game and enjoying it. If I don’t do that, there is no purpose left,” he says

Syed Hussain06-Feb-2024Andhra have won three of their five Ranji Trophy games outright so far, and are second in the Elite Group B at this stage, behind Mumbai. Hanuma Vihari has contributed well in that run, scoring 365 runs in seven innings, behind only new captain Ricky Bhui’s 550 for the team. That’s helped his first-class average stay above 50 (52.68), but the chances of adding to his 16 Test appearances don’t look too bright.”I do feel sad and disappointed that I am not in the Test team, but everyone goes through ups and downs, and my job now is to score runs in the Ranji Trophy,” Vihari told ESPNcricinfo after Andhra beat Bihar in Patna for their third win on the trot. “The season has gone all right, both for the team and for me. So the ambition is to score a lot of runs and try to return to the Test team.”Vihari might not be on the selectors’ radar, though. He says that since his last Test appearance, back at Edgbaston in July 2022 where he batted at No. 3 and scored 20 and 11 in a seven-wicket defeat, he hasn’t had many conversations with the people who matter in the Indian team – the management or the selectors. Except one conversation with head coach Rahul Dravid.”No-one has spoken to me recently, but Rahul Dravid did speak to me after my last Test, and he told me what I can improve on, but no, I haven’t been in touch with anyone since then,” Vihari said. “But I only think about improving my game and enjoying it. If I don’t do that, there is no purpose left. When I go into the middle, I just want to do my best for the team and score runs.”I am at a stage [in my career] where I have no expectations. I give my best each time I bat and then whatever happens will happen.”

“He chose a different route and is doing well, and I am happy for him. I am sure he will be doubly motivated when he plays against India, because after a brilliant Under-19 World Cup, he couldn’t make it at the senior level in India”Hanuma Vihari on his Under-19 World Cup (2012) captain Unmukt Chand

A year-and-a-half before that Edgbaston Test, in January 2021, Vihari had scored perhaps the most celebrated 23 not-outs in Indian Test history, and played his part in securing one of the most famous draws in the game. With India set 407 for a win by Australia in Sydney, India were 272 for 5 in 88.2 overs before Vihari and R Ashwin collaborated for 62 runs in 42.4 overs. Vihari had scored his 23 in 161 balls in just under four hours, while Ashwin scored 39 not out in 128 balls, in just over two hours. The draw meant the teams went to the final Test, in Brisbane, on level terms, before India pulled off a magical win to take the series. Neither Vihari nor Ashwin played that last Test, because at the SCG, both of them were carrying injuries, making their fight against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all the more remarkable.”I have very wonderful memories of the Sydney Test. It was one-all. If we had lost that Test in Sydney, we would have lost our chance of winning the series,” Vihari recalled. “So Ashwin and I – we were both carrying injuries, so we couldn’t run much – decided to take it ball-by-ball, over-by-over, and see where we end up. We ended up playing one-and-a-half sessions and it was a memorable result. Then we went to Gabba and won the series, but the Sydney Test will always be a special one for me.”He is far away from international cricket now, and at 30, the road back can’t be easy. But one of his old mates, who has never played international cricket, has had a drastically different career graph from Vihari and suddenly has a shot at international cricket now.Unmukt Chand, India’s captain when they won the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, never made the cut at the highest level. Vihari, Chand’s team-mate, did. But Chand, after a struggle at home, moved to the USA and could well play the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and the Caribbean. He might play against India, too.”We don’t talk much, because after the Under-19 World Cup, we moved quickly to the senior level, and his career graph was different from mine, and he is now in the USA,” Vihari said. “He chose a different route and is doing well, and I am happy for him. I am sure he will be doubly motivated when he plays against India, because after a brilliant Under-19 World Cup, he couldn’t make it at the senior level in India. So definitely he will be motivated. Yeah, we don’t talk, but I wish him all the best.”