Aaron Judge did not receive a favorable strike zone in his first at-bat against Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello on Friday night. Judge, hitting third in the order for the Yankees' second game of a weekend series against Boston, did not swing at any of the four pitches he saw in the at-bat and none of them were in the zone.

Rather than give Judge a walk, home plate umpire Lance Barrett sent him back to the dugout without having seen so much as a single strike.

Looking at the recap of the at-bat, none of the calls were that far outside the zone and any one of them on their own wasn't that egregious.

ضرب منتخب الأردن موعدًا مع نظيره منتخب منتخب السعودية في نصف نهائي بطولة ة كأس العرب 2025 المقامة على الأراضي القطرية.

وحقق منتخب السعودية فوزًا على فلسطين بهدفين مقابل هدف على أرضية استاد “لوسيل الدولي”، في دور ربع النهائي لـ كأس العرب.

طالع|مواجهات نصف نهائي كأس العرب 2025 (محدث باستمرار)

وضمن منتخب السعودية تأهله إلى الدور نصف النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب، ليلتحق بمنتخب المغرب الذي تأهل على حساب سوريا، فيما يتبقى مقعدان فقط في نصف النهائي.

في الجهة المقبلة حقق الأردن فوزًا صعبًا على العراق بهدف نظيف في اللقاء الذي جمعهما اليوم الجمعة ليتأهل إلى نصف النهائي. موعد مباراة السعودية والأردن في نصف نهائي كأس العرب 2025

وتقام مباراة السعودية والأردن يوم الإثنين 15 ديسمبر الجاري في الساعة السابعة والنصف مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة والثامنة والنصف مساءً بتوقيت السعودية.

The Phillies defeated the Marlins on Friday night in Miami by a score of 9–3, with the win helping Philadelphia hold on to the No. 2 spot in the NL standings with just under a month to go before the postseason.

But while it was a good outcome on the field for the Phillies, for some fans in the stands, Friday night was quite an ordeal. After centerfielder Harrison Bader hit a home run into the stands in the fourth inning, one fan, who did not come away with the home run ball, insisted that their claim to the ball was valid, despite the ball already being in the hands of a child.

Eventually, the fan who had gotten the ball relented, taking the ball out of the child’s glove and giving it to the insistent fan, who walked away in a huff. It was a bizarre scene.

The Phillies fan who ultimately left with the ball came under fire from fans across the internet, and also left anchors Nicole Briscoe and Michael Eaves in disbelief as they recapped the interaction.

“Really lady?” Eaves asked, incredulous. “Hate to call her a Karen, but…” Briscoe said.

“I don’t care lady who you are. You didn’t have a kid with you. He did. It is about them,” Briscoe concluded. “What the hell? What is wrong with people?”

“You didn’t catch it! It’s fair game!” Eaves insisted.

Thankfully, despite the awkwardness of the moment, the story had a happy ending, with the fan who gave up the ball receiving a nice prize package from the Marlins staff at the stadium and getting to meet Bader after the game to receive a signed bat.

A lesson for everyone though—when in doubt, let the kid keep the ball.

Leeds United fans will be fearing the worst regarding their lowly team when you glance at the slog of Premier League fixtures coming the Whites’ way across the rest of November and December.

Indeed, November ends with two tough contests versus Aston Villa and Manchester City, with Daniel Farke’s men needing to make home advantage count against the Villans, before travelling to the Etihad to take on the Erling Haaland-led Citizens.

December then throws up clashes with Chelsea and Liverpool, with Farke’s precarious position in the Elland Road dug-out no doubt on even shakier foundations if the losses continue, and Leeds slip into the bottom three in the league.

The pain of poor results across these winter months can always be somewhat remedied by the January transfer window opening, as Leeds attempt to turn around their fortunes with a big signing or two…

Where Leeds can bolster their forward line in January

Based on current rumours coming out of West Yorkshire, it’s clear that a new striker addition is a priority.

In recent days, Leeds have been tipped to make some statement moves, with an audacious swoop for Ivan Toney alleged. Moreover, FC Midtjylland centre-forward Franculino has been on their radar as Farke attempts to move away from solely relying on Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.

On top of talk of Toney and Franculino, Leeds are also chasing after the services of AZ Alkmaar goal machine Troy Parrott, who is very much in the limelight now for his Republic of Ireland heroics.

A report from Dutch outlet Voetbal Neuws, which has been relayed by Sport Witness, states that Leeds have entered discussions to sign the clinical 23-year-old, after being interested in the Dublin-born striker’s signature since the summer.

Now, with a hat-trick under his belt for his nation against Hungary, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur wonderkid is a hot commodity once more, with a bid in the region of £26m expected to be enough to prize him away from the clutches of his Eredivisie employers.

How Parrott can be Leeds' next Rutter

Splashing out such a big amount on an attacker could see Leeds pick up their next iteration of Georginio Rutter, with Rutter eventually going down as a fan’s favourite at Elland Road, after departing Hoffenheim for some lavish bucks.

After a wobbly start mid-way through the 2022/23 season, arriving in a whopping £35.5m deal, Rutter would find his feet under Farke during the following season.

In total, the attacker scored eight goals and tallied up a bumper 18 assists for the Whites, before leaving the building for a Premier League opportunity at Brighton and Hove Albion for £40m. Despite only being around for 66 matches, the skilful Frenchman is still very much fondly remembered, with pundit Jeff Stelling labelling him as a “class act” to watch in West Yorkshire.

Much like Rutter made everything look effortless and smooth donning Leeds white, Parrott has made goalscoring look like clockwork lining up for AZ Alkmaar.

He has netted a ludicrous 13 goals this season in all competitions from only 14 outings, meaning the Irishman is very much living up to his billing of being a “natural goalscorer”, which was handed to him by one of his former coaches in Darragh O’Riley, way back in 2019.

The hope would just be that Parrott would be able to enter the English game and be a hit from the first second he entered the Elland Road turf, with Leeds’ survival chances perhaps resting on the 23-year-old’s lethal instincts getting Farke and Co out of some sticky situations.

If he can be a reliable source of goals towards the foot of the difficult division, he will easily be able to reach the same fan favourite status as Rutter before him, with a mighty 97 career goals next to his name at the time of writing.

Parrott could well hit a century of goals in West Yorkshire; therefore, with his former international manager, Stephen Kenny, also noting that the in-demand centre-forward can “elevate” himself to that next level with ease, which could stand him in good stead to become a feared Premier League marksman.

Leeds would have to put their money where their mouth is in landing Parrott, but if the tale of Rutter is anything to go by, it could be worth splashing the big bucks in January as a new fan favourite is potentially unearthed.

Leeds can forget signing Ivan Toney by unleashing 17-year-old goal machine

Leeds United can forget about pursuing a move for Ivan Toney by unleashing one of their homegrown youngsters into the first team mix.

By
Kelan Sarson

Nov 17, 2025

Sometimes a press conference comes around and you just need to fly under the radar; that’s never been more apparent than at Tottenham Hotspur in the last six months.

As Spurs celebrated the Europa League, Ange Postecoglou triumphantly declared that season three is always better than season two. He was sacked just weeks later.

For Thomas Frank, he’s also found out that perhaps just staying quiet is the best form of approach in the media. Last week, he was asked about the club’s failed move for Eberechi Eze.

“Who’s Eze?” That was Frank’s reply, and although he said it with a wry smile and to make a joke, it’s come back to bite him.

He found out just who Eze is on Sunday as the boyhood Gooner scored a devastating hat-trick to seal a 4-1 win for Arsenal over their distraught neighbours.

Spurs came to frustrate but in doing so, failed to come up with any inventive attacking play. Their creativity was abysmal, and if it wasn’t for a brilliant yet flukey Richarlison strike, they’d have left the Emirates Stadium without a goal.

What went wrong for Spurs at the Emirates

On paper, Frank’s game plan in north London on Sunday made sense. They were the only team in the Premier League this season not to lose on the road. The Dane clearly knows what he’s doing when Spurs play away.

Yet, against Arsenal, if you’re putting all 11 men behind the ball, then it does rely on you frustrating your opponents for longer than the 36 minutes it took for Leandro Trossard to score the opener.

To Frank’s credit, Spurs had sucked the life out of the Emirates during the opening half an hour. Arsenal created openings, notably when Declan Rice was played in by Eze, but the visitors frustrated and made it difficult to play between the lines.

Yet, once the floodgates opened, there was no stopping Arsenal, particularly as Spurs had a total lack of creativity once again.

Despite scoring courtesy of Richarlison, they failed to create a single big chance, had just three shots and provoked only a solitary save from David Raya. Arsenal, by contrast, had 17 shots. Worryingly for Spurs, the home side simply wanted it more.

There were several folks in white to blame. In attack, Wilson Odobert and Mohammed Kudus were completely marked out of the game by Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori. Richarlison, for the most part, was bullied by William Saliba and Piero Hincapie. The Brazilian only completed five passes all evening and won just one of his five aerial duels.

In defence, Bukayo Saka regularly had the beating of Destiny Udogie down Arsenal’s right flank while Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were uncharacteristically poor. Van ve Ven notably completed just 71% of his passes and won only six of his 13 duels.

But, the biggest culprit of all was a man who, ironically, was sent off during the international break. He’s becoming something of a Serge Aurier to Frank.

Spurs' new Serge Aurier

Mention Aurier’s name around those at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it’s likely to send a shiver down spines.

Signed for £23m in August of 2017, he arrived at White Hart Lane from PSG after a rough time in France, where he was handed a suspended prison sentence for assaulting a police officer.

“You will see the real me,” he declared upon arrival. Well, if the real Aurier was a gluttony of mistakes, we certainly did.

The Ivory Coast international had another tricky stint at Spurs, but this time it was all unravelling on the pitch, rather than off it.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Where to even begin with the mistakes? The right-back committed a hat-trick of foul throws against Crystal Palace in 2018. While that may not have cost Spurs greatly, his clumsiness meant that he always had a moment of madness in him.

He notably gave away a penalty against Leicester City in December 2020 from which Jamie Vardy scored, but his most costly blunder came against Manchester City in the 2021 Carabao Cup final when he committed a needless foul on Raheem Sterling. The end result was a free-kick from which Pep Guardiola’s side scored the winner.

Speaking at full-time, Jamie Redknapp commented: “Aurier does well to start with – he follows the one-two and then just makes the most ridiculous and rash decision, which we see him do so often. Just stand up, don’t dive in, don’t give the foul away – elementary mistake.”

It wasn’t the first time the Ivorian had attracted criticism during his time in England. Two years prior to that moment, Rio Ferdinand stated: “As a defender I have never really rated Aurier. He’s rash and he’s let his team down far too often.”

Simply a giant liability in that Spurs team of back then, unfortunately, Frank has found another rash and unreliable figure in his team; Rodrigo Bentancur.

The Uruguayan was signed for £22m from Juventus in January 2022 and has featured 131 times for the Lilywhites since.

However, while he’s flirted with some impressive performances here and there, for the most part, he’s been a letdown.

He has become a symbol not only for Spurs’ lack of creativity but their lack of robustness and dynamism from the middle of the park. Despite that, he has started nine times of the 12 Premier League games Spurs have competed in this term.

The fact of the matter is that he shouldn’t be starting with that regularity.

Tottenham presenter Hollie Agombar called him “a lucky boy” after a studs-up challenge on Chelsea’s Reece James at the beginning of the month saw him avoid a red card. In the words of the Daily Mail’s Kieran Gill, it was a “terrible” challenge.

Things went from bad to worse when Spurs visited Arsenal on Sunday. The tone was set when he brought down Saka on the edge of the box in the first half and was brandished with a yellow card as a result.

While he was nowhere to be seen as Mikel Merino clipped a delightful ball into the box for Trossard’s opener, he was particularly poor for Eze’s first.

Minutes played

66

Touches

27

Accurate passes

16/17 (94%)

Key passes

0

Shots

0

Dribbles

0

Tackles won

0

Interceptions

2

Duels won

0

The attacking midfielder skipped beyond Bentancur all too easily as the Uruguay international went to ground inside the area.

He was handed a 3/10 match rating by The Standard as a consequence, with the publication writing he was ‘doing nothing to give Spurs some much-needed control’. The very fact that Guglielmo Vicario received 15 passes – six more than Palhinha and Bentancur combined (9) – in the first half said it all.

All that said, it’s perhaps no surprise that analyst Raj Chohan has described him as a “candidate for worst centre-midfielder at a big six club”.

Like Aurier, he’s a major underperformer. He’s a liability and a player that Frank cannot trust. He shouldn’t be starting regular games for Spurs any more.

Fewer touches than Vicario: Frank must drop 3/10 Spurs dud after Arsenal

Thomas Frank has numerous glaring errors he needs to address at Tottenham Hotspur after the Arsenal defeat.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 24, 2025

The Padres bowed out of MLB postseason play in disappointing and early fashion yet again, losing a three-game wild card series to the Cubs. Now big change is coming to the club.

On Monday, San Diego skipper Mike Shildt announced his retirement. Shildt, 57, helmed the Padres over the last two seasons and led the team to a 183-141 record over two seasons to pair with two postseason appearances. Last year the Padres bowed out in the NLDS to the eventual champion Dodgers.

Shildt spent many seasons as a coach and manager in the minor leagues before joining the big leagues in 2017. He succeeded Mike Matheny as the Cardinals manager in 2018 as his first MLB managerial gig; Shildt joined San Diego in 2022 before he took over the managing job in 2024.

In an email to the San Diego Union-Tribute, Shildt said the grind of the long baseball season has taken a "severe" toll on him.

"It is with a full but heavy heart that I am announcing my retirement from managing the San Diego Padres," Shildt wrote. "It is a decision that I thought about during the season and became at peace with over the last 10 days. I gave every fiber of my being to help achieve Peter Seidler's vision of bringin a World Series Championship to San Diego. We fell short of the ultimate goal but I am proud of what the players, staff and organization were able to accomplish the last two seasons.

"The grind of the baseball season has taken a severe toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally. While it has always been about serving others, it's time I take care of myself and exit on my terms. I am extremely appreciate to the Padres, Peter Seidler, the Seidler family, Erik Greupner, AJ Preller and staff for the trust and confidence to lead this team. I'm confident I left things in a better place. However, I am most grateful for our players. San Diego is rightfully proud of the Padres players. It is a group that conducts themselves with class, is dedicated to each other and the common goal of winning a World Series. I love our players and will miss them dearly!!

"After 34 years of dedicating myself to the rigors of coaching and managing, I can with great enjoymnet look back upon achievin gmy two primary goals: To help players get the most out of their God given ability and become better men. Also, to win games. I move forward with a smile on my face, contentment in my soul and genuine excitement for what God has next.

"To the Friar Faithful, thanks for all the support and keep rocking Petco Park. It's the best home field advantage in Major League Baseball. The team is on its way to that World Series Championship you so deserve."

The Padres will now look for another manager to take advantage of a talented roster. It makes for one of the more appealing open gigs in MLB with the offseason about a month away. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mason Miller make up a great core, if anything, but the Padres have been disappointing in the playoffs for two straight years. The new manager's first priority will be to ensure that doesn't happen again.

The end of an era in San Diego. A new one will begin later this year as the Padres' hunt for Shildt's successor begins.

The Toronto Blue Jays gave $210 million to free agent pitcher Dylan Cease, a guy with a 4.18 ERA the past three seasons, worse than mid-rotation starters such as Bailey Ober, Jameson Taillon and Dean Kremer. Hold on. Once you get over the sticker price, you realize it’s a smart deal. Why?

1. It’s not really $210 million. With deferrals, it’s more like $182 million over seven years ($26 million per year), which puts him in line with one of his best comps, Carlos Rodón of the Yankees ($27 million per year), another high upside “stuff” guy plagued at times by inconsistency and a high walk rate.

2. He’s durable. Cease has made 32 or 33 starts five years running.

3. The Blue Jays made it known they are serious about consolidating the momentum they built on their World Series run and are not done yet, needing a bullpen arm and a bat.

4. Toronto could use more swing-and-miss in the rotation (16th in K rate last season). With Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer coming off the books and with a full season of Trey Yesavage and Cease, now they’ve got it.

5. Cease is a big-time swing-and-miss pitcher (95th percentile in whiff rate) who throws 97 mph and spins the ball more than any starter in MLB (53%). When teams look to make investments in free agent pitchers, ERA hardly matters. What matters are a) do you miss bats? and b) do your mechanics and injury history mitigate risk? Cease checks those boxes.

6. Cease is one adjustment away from getting closer to the ceiling he hasn’t hit yet. That’s where Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker comes in.

Cease has a great arm, but he needs to adopt the Tampa Bay approach: start every hitter with the catcher in the middle of the plate and pound the zone. It’s The 94% Solution: if you throw a first pitch in the strike zone, the outcome is positive 94% of the time (called strike, foul, out). you expand out.

Last season Cease led the league in strikeout rate and yet posted a 4.55 ERA. How in the world is that possible? It was the second-worst ERA by any qualified pitcher with 11.5 strikeouts per nine—and the worst ever in that group by a league leader:

Highest ERA with 11.5 K/9 (Qualified)

Why isn’t Cease better? Why don’t his results match his stuff? Don’t tell me about “luck.” He gets hurt by falling behind:

Highest OPS Allowed with 0 Strikes, MLB 2025 (Min. 20 GS)

Cease does not attack the strike zone enough. By throwing too many breaking pitches, Cease is below average at the fundamentals of pitching: a) throwing first-pitch strikes, b) filling the zone and c) living on the edge of the strike zone:

2025 Percentages

Walker and the Jays must focus Cease on pounding the zone early and then working outwar—and it should involve more fastballs. That kind of transition can be done. We’ve seen it before.

Remember the guy with the highest ERA with a K rate of at least 11.5? That’s Matthew Boyd, and he is the best comp to fix Cease so that his ERA gets closer to the quality of his stuff. Boyd adjusted by pounding the zone, throwing more fastballs and becoming a better pitcher, not just a strikeout rate guy.

Matthew Boyd Progression

The coach-cum-mentor turned a talented but disparate bunch into a united force that almost went all the way

Shashank Kishore in Rajkot13-Mar-2020
It roughly translates to ‘dreams in our fist; hope in our pockets; our heartfelt desire is; to achieve something’.These powerful lines, part of a poem narrated by veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, boomed through the walls of the Bengal team room a night before possibly the biggest day in the cricketing careers of many from the team. Their Ranji Trophy dream was alive, there was (hope) of breaking a 30-year drought and getting their hands around the elusive title they last had a shot at in 2006-07.On Friday morning, they saw that dream come crashing down in an hour, after an inspired Jaydev Unadkat picked up two wickets, then showed outstanding presence of mind to effect a freak run out, and celebrated with so much passion that you feared his nerves would pop.In the Bengal dressing room, there was stunned silence. No one moved from their seats. No one wanted to make eye contact. The expressions on their faces told you the story of pain and heartbreak. And just like that, it was a case of being so near, yet so far. The end margin for the first-innings lead was 44 runs, but it was a lot closer than that.As the team stood deflated behind the ropes to walk in for the second innings that had been reduced to a mere formality, Arun Lal, their head coach and mentor, called them into a team huddle. He spoke passionately, or so you could gather from afar. And then as they dispersed, he clapped and patted all the boys and members of his support staff on the back.To him, this was no ordinary team. He’d fought through opposition from several quarters to run the team the way he wanted to, and wven faced with their biggest heartbreak in recent memory, he wasn’t going to let his emotions flow or have words slip out in anger.”We are proud of how far we’ve come,” Lal said. “This has been an incredible run for us. To get to a Ranji Trophy final isn’t easy, and we did a bloody good job. They should walk with their heads held high. I’m mighty proud of the fight they have shown.”For Manoj Tiwary, the entire game has been emotional for many reasons. For starters, this was a final. Thirteen years ago, he had played in one against Mumbai, as a rookie seeking to impress the national selectors. He even squared off against Sunil Joshi, the current chief selector, and Sarandeep Singh, current member of the selection committee, that season.Here they were, now watching Tiwary, the big brother, being flanked by his team-mates to celebrate his 100th Ranji Trophy game for Bengal. They even had a celebratory dinner, with every member of the support staff and team signing a miniature bat for posterity. It reflected a kind of camaraderie very rarely seen in the Bengal team. And just like in the past, where no one made an effort to hide the mistrust or infighting, the spirit also shone through quite naturally, right from the captain to the reserves.”I saw tears in Lal ‘s eyes, when we came to this final,” Tiwary said. “He’s very inspirational, says a lot of inspiring things. He is emotional by heart but a very good man. That Amitabh Bachchan (poem), he used to play every day while we started our team meeting. Those words are pure, straight from the heart. It was as if Lal himself was reciting it to us. And prior to the game when it was played, he teared up. For him, this was a Ranji Trophy final to cherish, like it was for all of us. Seeing that, I also had tears in my eyes, but I am better off not showing it. Lal is an expressive person. I will always remember those lines.”For Lal, known to be a modest man, it was the team effort that brought him recognition. “Look, you all should forget Arun Lal. I genuinely believe it’s the team that has brought you guys to me. Had we not qualified, you guys wouldn’t even be talking to me. It’s about the boys, the players, our support staff,” Lal said. “They are the real heroes. I always believe a coach is as good as his team, and not the other way round.”

“He talks straight. He has kept players on their toes while still giving them security. He changed the way we train. Even in the rainy season, training wasn’t called off for a single day. Wet outfield or dry, if we had to do 20 laps, we had to do it. Fitness wasn’t in question, he wanted to make us mentally tough.”Manoj Tiwary on Arun Lal

As humble as Lal made himself sound, Tiwary was clear his efforts were by no means a “small thing.” Uniting a dressing room and getting them onto a common platform, after all, was a task. It helped that everyone looked at the common goal. When he joined them as mentor in 2018-19 – “I merely sat back and observed how things were run”, he said – the players drew inspiration from the very fact that Lal was here, having taken up the Bengal job under tough circumstances, personally, after fighting his way back from a rare form of cancer that affected his jaw.Four months after his surgery and chemotherapy sessions, Lal was back in the commentary box to call a CAB Super League final that was widely televised. The game is best remembered for being India’s pink-ball debut.”When you live through that [cancer], you learn to look at life differently,” Lal said. “What is a cricket match at the end of it? You win and lose. I’ve always instilled in the boys, fighting through pain and overcoming it gives you bigger satisfaction than anything else. Win or lose, it’s the effort that counts.”That pain and fighting spirit were seen all through the final. Tiwary hurt his finger in the semi-final while trying to evade a bouncer. He needed it to be iced and plastered coming into the game he wasn’t going to miss for anything. On the third day, with the highly skilled Unadkat reversing the ball in a magnificent spell, he fought there for close to three hours, shelving his flair in favour of the hard grind. Anustup Majumdar was off the field for a majority of the first day, after having a crack in his left thumb while attempting a slip catch. He needed pain killers to ease himself in, and when he finally got the chance to bat, he nearly bailed Bengal out by doing the unthinkable on the fourth day. He was the reason Bengal even dared to dream of a title going into the final day.Some of the senior Bengal cricketers at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”He’s liked by everyone in the fraternity,” Tiwary said of Lal. “He is open, says it as it is, and talks straight. If he finds something wrong, he will tell you straight. Not send out a message through the press. He has instilled fighting mentality in this team. He has kept players on their toes while still giving them security. He changed the way we train. Even in the rainy season, training wasn’t called off for a single day. Wet outfield or dry, if we had to do 20 laps, we had to do it. Fitness wasn’t in question, he wanted to make us mentally tough.”Lal set four fitness tests for the teams to pass. Discipline was inculcated by the means of a fine of INR 2000 for bowling a no-ball in the nets. Senior players were told to step away from their comfort zone. “He told us seniors what he expects from us,” Tiwary says. “If you’re playing for 10-15 years, you don’t realise when you slip into a comfort zone sometimes, but for a person with good intentions from the outside, he can see it. It’s not something we do on purpose, but it can happen. So he set that straight first. You see this season, all senior players have done what you expect of them.”Lal says it’s his ability to stay detached from cricket, and lead a very simple life, away from the game that has helped him immensely. While in Kolkata, he spends time with his eight dogs at his farm and takes part in plantation drives. He is passionate about environment sustainability, loves taking off to bird parks, and hopes to even write a book about it one day.”It’s the other interests that are as important,” Lal says. “If you come to my house, you will not see a single trophy, photograph, frames with cricketers, autographed bats, books – nothing. When we won the Ranji Trophy in 1989-90, we all got replica trophies made of . I just gave away all of them: the trophies, photo frames, bats. I can’t say why, it’s not because I don’t love cricket. Maybe it’s just me, but that is the person I am.”Lal would’ve sure loved getting his hands on the winners’ trophy this time, but it’s the satisfaction of seeing this group fight that has him excited. He isn’t yet sure if he wants to be part of another season – “we’ll see how things go” – but for now, he can walk away and reflect on an inspirational journey, just like those words from Bachchan that he made his team listen to every day.

England will not fare well on their future tours of India, Sri Lanka and Australia if they continue picking a keeper for his batting skills

Ian Chappell16-Aug-2020No one has said selecting an international cricket team is easy but following a few simple rules does lessen the burden.As a selector, former Australian captain Herbie Collins strove “for the right combination above all things”. The best illustration of this common-sense adage is the choice of wicketkeeper in a best ever Australian side.When you have a batsman named Donald Bradman at three and a few other exceptional willow wielders accompanying him, runs aren’t your main concern. However, with such feisty competitors in your bowling ranks as Bill “Tiger” O’Reilly, Dennis Lillee and Shane Warne, you had better choose the best fielding combination.I wouldn’t like to be the selector assigned the task of telling that trio the guy chosen as wicketkeeper was there primarily for his batting, after he missed a couple of chances. Anyway it’s not like the candidates for best ever Australian wicketkeeper are mugs with the bat; Rod Marsh and Ian Healy made three and four Test centuries respectively, and Don Tallon’s top score was 92.Former South Australian captain Les Favell stridently insisted: “When the gloveman starts hurting the team, it’s time for a change.” On that basis England’s chief selector, Ed Smith, has a tough decision looming. There’s no doubt that Jos Buttler’s shoddy glovework not only hindered England’s victory chances in the first Test against Pakistan but also put offspinner Dom Bess’ place in jeopardy.ALSO READ: Stubborn Ed Smith staking reputation on Jos Buttler’s Test careerEventually Buttler helped England claim a meritorious victory with the bat. However, it’s reasonable to mount an argument that England wouldn’t have needed his precious second-innings runs if he had accepted either of the first-innings chances century-maker Shan Masood offered with his score on 45.And then there’s the not insignificant matter of Bess’ career. He was the unfortunate bowler when Buttler flubbed those two chances, and he also missed another one off Bess, and these mishaps undoubtedly affected both the bowler’s figures and his confidence.England have proposed tours to Sri Lanka and India in the near future and this will require a keeper adept at standing up to the stumps. Buttler is far from sure-handed when standing up and that has to be a prime consideration when choosing the keeper for those series. England are slated to tour Australia in 2021-22, and on bouncier pitches, it’s crucial to have a wicketkeeper who covers a lot of territory standing back. That is not a Buttler specialty either. His footwork is poor and a couple of times in the West Indies series he failed to even attempt catches on the off side that you would expect an international keeper to swallow.On their 1991-92 tour of Australia, India chose to go with Kiran More, a good keeper under home conditions. It turned out to be an ill-conceived selection as he covered very little territory standing back – where a keeper in Australia spends the bulk of his time. With his current footwork, if England bring Buttler to Australia as their premier keeper, that’s also likely to be an error of judgement.ALSO READ: Mark Nicholas: Broad, Stokes and Root continue to learn, grow and excelA good wicketkeeper sets the standard for a fielding side and it’s no coincidence England’s catching is currently fallible.On the plus side, Smith has one ingredient that every selector hopes – or, in some cases, even prays for – an allrounder who bats in the top six. Ben Stokes is currently the best allrounder in the game. In addition to his ability to bat as high as five and his bowling versatility, he is also the best all-round slip fielder. With Stokes and a strong pace attack, England have the building blocks for a really good team.Throw in Joe Root’s class along with the batting potential of youngsters Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley and England don’t need many more pieces to complete the jigsaw puzzle.What they do require to ensure their best combination in the field is a wicketkeeper chosen primarily for his excellent glove work.

A player whose career epitomised prosaic cool chose a short video to end on a poetic note

Sidharth Monga15-Aug-202016:05

Manjrekar: Very unlikely we’ll see someone with Dhoni’s all-round package

“from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”These words need to be reproduced as is. If he thinks the “retired” at the end of a sentence should have a capital R, so be it. Don’t remove the rogue “as”. Posterity won’t care for all this. For thus ended the most incredible India career ever. Just like that. Why this career is the most incredible is for another day to expand on, but this “announcement” will at least explain one part of it.That MS Dhoni was done was a foregone conclusion once the Covid-19 pandemic pushed this year’s T20 World Cup to the next year. That was a bridge too far for even Dhoni. He would be 40 by then. He last played any official cricket in July 2019, when he had just turned 38. Even the most ardent of Dhoni fans had stopped hoping. Yet there remained one final question: How would he still manage to surprise everyone with his announcement?Surely not in the middle of a pandemic? Not just before starting training for the IPL? Possibly after it. Who knows, with the trophy in hand? You and I were all wrong.I, for one, thought he would never announce it. I can’t claim to know the man – nor do I know anyone who can make such a claim without second-guessing themselves a little – but I have experience of working at the matches he played.On the penultimate day of the year 2014, Dhoni ended a routine post-match press conference as India’s captain trying to rebuff an analogy that India’s tail was like a Doberman’s to Australia’s Hanuman-like appendage, which India had failed to dislodge. “Now even PETA has said you can’t cosmetically remove the tail,” Dhoni said.We all had a laugh and went back to filing our pieces only to see, 44 minutes later, a BCCI press release saying India’s winningest Test captain, most successful wicketkeeper and most prolific keeper-batsman had retired from Test cricket mid-series. No farewell match, no announcement, gone. Just like that.

“How would he still manage to surprise everyone with his announcement? Surely not in the middle of a pandemic? Not just before starting training for the IPL? Possibly after it. Who knows, with the trophy in hand? You and I were all wrong.”

It was not as if something had happened on his walk from the press conference to the team dressing room that made Dhoni’s mind up. He knew he was done, but he still did two interviews without saying anything about his future. We all look at things in hindsight, and attach significance now to three events from that day. After a long time, he was again diving in front of first slip in this Test, a sight that had become rare even though other aspects of his wicketkeeping remained top notch. Then, after what turned out to be a comfortably drawn Test, Dhoni had actually plucked out a stump to keep as souvenir, which he usually did only after winning. And finally, on the sidelines of the post-match presentation, he was seen talking on the phone, which he has never done before on a cricket field. We can only assume he was speaking to N Srinivasan in Chennai, to at least let the board president know.If you are interested, Mitchell Johnson bowled a bewitching slower ball to end Cheteshwar Pujara’s resistance, but couldn’t break through India’s resolve on a dead drop-in MCG pitch. It didn’t matter now. No other story mattered.ALSO READ: Inscrutable, infuriating and in controlMelbourne is a city of four seasons in one day. A sunny hot afternoon had given way to a chilly evening. Shivering while walking on the William Barrack bridge to get to the team hotel to find out more, I remember feeling wistful. Dhoni had become a habit. He had been a sensational player for India. Even in Tests, which wasn’t probably his favoured format. We were going to miss him. It was getting colder, and going to rain anytime soon. By the time I got to the other side of the bridge, I was smiling to myself, and it was not the effect of piped chants from all over the world that you hear on the bridge.If Dhoni didn’t want to make such a big deal of it, why should we, I thought. A couple of players who walked out of the hotel for dinner told me and two other journalists they were just as shocked as us when he gathered them just as they were all packed up and ready to board the bus. Last year, Wriddhiman Saha told me that Dhoni had kept it brief and told them that he saw that team staying together for a long time, and that it was now their duty to take Indian Test cricket forward.Dhoni’s relinquishing of his limited-overs captaincy in 2017 was also similarly prosaic. A press release landed in our inboxes with the announcement but without a word from Dhoni himself. The BCCI CEO spoke more about the decision than the man himself. Never mind that it led to speculation over whether he had jumped before being pushed.By then we knew Dhoni was a man who didn’t see, or didn’t want others to see, his to be a public job. He possibly felt acknowledging the gravity of it would only weigh him down, and thus keep him from giving it his best. This wasn’t a job or station that he craved, rather took upon as a responsibility. So he didn’t like being questioned. He didn’t like explaining himself.Captaincy wasn’t a job or station that MS Dhoni craved, rather one he took upon as a responsibility.•Getty ImagesEven during the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, he didn’t seek to clear his name when it was dragged into the controversy. He found it insulting to go out there and make a show of his love and commitment for cricket and Indian cricket. He was fond of the “enigma” tag that stuck with him. He was not bound by worldly convention that you let your close friends know beforehand so that they don’t find out through media that you have retired. He didn’t seem particularly emotionally attached to a job that made him what he was, that took the prime of his life, one that he was surely going to miss.As captain, Dhoni enjoyed unflinching support from the BCCI president. And cricket enjoyed unflinching patronage from the public. So he did the bare minimum by way of public relations. He made, through BCCI releases, announcements that absolutely needed to be made. If Dhoni hadn’t turned up for the New Year’s SCG Test, or if suddenly Virat Kohli had become India’s ODI captain, people would have WTF-ed.Which is exactly why I made the mistake of assuming Dhoni wouldn’t announce his retirement and would just slowly disappear. Just like he prefers. People have been speculating over his future for more than a year now. It has made no difference to him or Indian cricket except perhaps made his successors a little insecure. Then again, if a 39-year-old not announcing his retirement makes you insecure while you have all the chances to make that slot your own, then maybe you are in the wrong profession.I didn’t see any reason for Dhoni to make any announcement. He didn’t owe the BCCI or anybody an explanation now. Nobody has any right to demand a retirement announcement anyway. I will be shocked if he needs to, or wants to, play in any other league at this age. The world was slowly moving on.ALSO READ: The star we don’t knowThere can be only one reason why he made this announcement: that he cared more than he liked to admit or let us know. The montage that he announced it through is rough around the edges, but it is earnest. If it is tacky to some, it only unwittingly hides the emotion of the message. The choice of photos is instructive. It starts with the lows of a debut duck and early World Cup ouster in 2007, goes on to the highs of the three ICC titles and No. 1 ranking in Tests before ending with the poignant frame of his getting run out in the World Cup semi-final. India fell short that day. Dhoni never played again.The Bollywood song to go with the montage says, “I am only a momentary poet. These few moments define who I am, they tell my whole story. That just like there was a poet before me, there will be many more after me, better than me.”Typically it has left things open to speculation. Dhoni’s IPL team’s Twitter handle suggests he chose the cryptic time so as to end his career on India’s Independence Day at the exact time that the sun sets on its southernmost tip. Why not west, I ask, where the sun logically sets. Again, why am I using logic here?As someone not good with farewells, I can imagine why Dhoni made the announcement moments before his first training session for his IPL team. Whatever havoc was being wreaked by his notifications was not his problem now. There was no BCCI or formality to take care of. Not that newspapers have ever managed to reach him, but there was extra guarantee of there being fewer editions the next day because of Independence Day. He was in a bio-secure and a PR-secure zone now.On the way Dhoni has told us he cared. Damn, MS, that it mattered to you so much makes me question my reconciliation with your Test retirement on that chilly evening.