Plays of the day from the second semi-final, between Australia and India in Sydney

Sharda Ugra in Sydney26-Mar-2015The thudDavid Warner had sung the Australian anthem with gusto and emotion, drawing himself up to attempted Matthew Haydenesque heights, and arrived at the crease, suitably pumped up. It was clear, he wanted to dominate, he wanted to win the confrontation. He had pulled Umesh Yadav for a six off the last ball of his first over. He was ready to do it again. At the other end, his sombre companion Aaron Finch was holding him up, tied into a knot by Mohammed Shami in the third over, four dot balls in a row. When Warner got to face Yadav in the next over, he was twitching. The ball was short but not short enough, its leading edge finding Kohli under it, to thousands of hollering Indian fans. Warner’s mini-mini-drama was over.The review
Aaron Finch missed a ball which, in his innings, was not news itself. But when this happened, and he was given not out, Ravindra Jadeja was incensed. He thought Finch was plumb in front. It seemed like MS Dhoni disagreed. He thought the ball was outside off stump. But Jadeja would not stop pleading, so Dhoni gave in. It looked like he just couldn’t be bothered arguing any more. The first replay made the Indians cheer, as did the second. It was only the third replay that showed that the ball had hit outside the off stump. The Australian fans laughed at the Indian fans.The spill
The new ball has habitually provided Australia with at least a couple of chances for wickets, and in this tournament it has been a rarity for them to be spurned. After Shane Watson’s low snare off Rohit Sharma was deemed to have grazed the turf, Shikhar Dhawan advanced to Josh Hazlewood and found himself in no sort of position to do anything other than edge a well-pitched delivery going across him. It was one of those edges that might have been taken by first slip but was definitely within the wicketkeeper’s range, and so Brad Haddin leapt across to claim it. But his gloves were either too firm or too eager and the ball bounced out of them and firmly to ground. Haddin was disconsolate, and Australia worried – it was a chance that should have been snaffled.The talking to
Something about Suresh Raina’s entry to the middle, after Rohit Sharma’s wicket, stirred Mitchell Starc to anger. After a relatively sedate over to Ajinkya Rahane, Starc’s next had the bowler firing down three short balls at Raina. The third was slower and wider than the first two, and was called by umpire Kumar Dharmasena, but the follow-up was far more venomous than the ball itself, as Starc followed through extravagantly and delivered strong words in the direction of Raina. Another wide followed, and after Starc had finished the over with a ball on the stumps, he was spoken to most pointedly by Dharmasena about his overt aggression. Starc did not take entirely kindly to it.

Now that the quarter-final spot has been sealed, India’s World Cup in New Zealand could be, to use an MS Dhoni automobile analogy, the chance to re-tune their engines, unlike their last visit when they failed to win a single game

Sharda Ugra in Hamilton09-Mar-2015The Big Show has arrived in the small island. Not Maxwell G.J. of Australia but the game’s big bucks – Indian Cricket Inc in New Zealand. Hamilton happens to be New Zealand’s fourth-largest city where the Indian team must play to its smallest World Cup crowd. Seddon Park’s absolute, maximum, chockabloc capacity, it has formally been communicated, is 11,002. Do not leave out the last two.India’s World Cup so far has mostly been played in front of audiences more than twice this size. It has taken place in high pressure and high heat of Australia’s summer where India produced a mind-boggling turnaround. As if the lot that stumbled through the Tests and the tri-series in Australia had been kidnapped and stealthily replaced by perfectly-tuned, highly-skilled robot-impostors as final proof of the superiority of an alien civilization.Had India’s World Cup been, like familiar historical precedents, a bit dibbly-dobbly with these last two group matches must-wins, there would have been profuse sweating in the large party that makes up the team. Here, across the Tasman, the air is cooler, the grounds smaller and the pace and tempo of play far more temperate. Now that the quarter-final spot has been sealed, India’s World Cup in New Zealand could be, to use an MS Dhoni automobile analogy, the chance to re-tune their engines. There is a top spot in their group to be earned, with matches left against Ireland and Zimbabwe but India have also given themselves some breathing room, a chance to test the adaptability of their first XI and call upon all spirits of the Waikato tribes that Rohit Sharma finds some touch.There will be a slightly different tenor to the first of India’s two games in the New Zealand leg of the World Cup. Big grounds, big totals, hard wickets with more bounce than lateral movement give way to smaller grounds and conditions more suited to swing; not an aspect of bowling that India’s big-ticket batters are very happy with. Despite Ireland’s heart, their bowlers do not possess the teeth of pace and with the sun expected to be out tomorrow, they should not find conditions to make the batsmen nervous either.In this half of the World Cup, the ODI tempo has been, like they often joke about New Zealand itself, slightly behind the times. It is not completely skewed in favour of the batsmen, with scorecards reading like those from an early 2000s score book. There is more than just a ‘ditch’ that separates this World Cup between Australia and New Zealand. The average score batting first in New Zealand is 256 compared to 311 in Australia. The run-rates in New Zealand have been a more sedate 5.5 in comparison’s to Australia’s 6.42.India do not have very happy memories of their last visit here early in 2014, which produced a misery matching that of the first two months of their Australian tour this year – zero wins from five ODIs, two Tests and a practice game. In the ODIs, India lost four and tied one game and apart Virat Kohli, none of India’s top five batsmen scored too many. In fact Ravindra Jadeja found himself as India’s third highest run-scorer in that series, tied with Rohit Sharma’s aggregate of 145 in five innings. This in a high-scoring series where India rattled up totals of: 268, 277, 314, 278 and then 216. Of the struggling batsmen from the 2014 tour, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu are still around. India’s fast bowlers at the time – Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron – conceded more than seven runs per over.Following from impressive World Cup bowling performances in Australia, Mohit Sharma, India’s candidate in the media tent on Monday, acknowledged that New Zealand’s smaller grounds and tinier outfields – Seddon Park looks hankie-size but docks in at 60m – did gnaw somewhat at bowlers’ minds: “You have to change your line a little, but we are not going to fret much about it, whatever is there is there. It is the same for both the teams.”Mohit wasn’t around when India had last turned up at Seddon Park, a little over a year ago in that nightmare ODI series, losing two high-scoring ODIs to New Zealand within a week. After getting shafted by Duckworth & Lewis in the first match, scoring more than New Zealand’s total but still losing, they failed to defend 278 and lost the series here. It is not the same India, though, that will be turning up on Tuesday.

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2015As Chennai Super Kings opted to bat, Brendon McCullum was kept quiet for the first two overs but smashed 15 off Mitchell McClenaghan’s second over. He eventually fell to Vinay Kumar after making 23•BCCIWhich perhaps would have made this fan’s wish possible•BCCISuresh Raina was next to go, trying to hit J Suchith over cow corner but failing to get the distance on it•BCCIHardik Pandya took three catches to dismiss the Super Kings’ top three, leaving them at 65 for 3 in the tenth over•BCCIMS Dhoni put on 39 with Faf du Plessis before Lendl Simmons took a diving catch to get rid of du Plessis•BCCIPawan Negi struck four fours and a six in his 17-ball 36 that propelled Super Kings to 158 for 5 on a slow Chepauk track•BCCIMumbai Indians got of to a flying start, racing to 50 in five overs…•BCCI… But R Ashwin struck twice in the 11th over, dismissing both openers while conceding just one run•BCCISuper Kings but the brakes on Mumbai’s innings as Dwayne Bravo ran out Kieron Pollard and then picked the wicket of Rohit Sharma, leaving Mumbai needing a further 34 from 17 balls•BCCIBut Hardik Pandya and Ambati Rayudu scored 34 in 13 balls. Pandya smashed three consecutive sixes in the 19th over, handing Super Kings their first home loss in IPL 2015•BCCI

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2015But M Vijay kept the scoreboard moving and brought up his sixth Test ton•AFPIndia suffered a mini-collapse losing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in quick succession•Associated PressVijay and Ajinkya Rahane added 114 runs for the fourth wicket. Vijay stuck in despite the frequent rain delays to bring up his 150, but was adjudged lbw soon after resumption of play•AFPRahane fell two short of what could have been a well compiled fourth Test ton as India went into a rain-enforced tea break at 462 for 6•AFPRain did not let up and forced the day’s play to be called off•AFP

Statistical highlights from Pakistan’s emphatic ten-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle

Bishen Jeswant21-Jun-20151:15

Insights – Pakistan end nine-year wait in Sri Lanka

17 Total Tests that have ended with a result after the first day saw no play. Seven such Tests have been played since 2000; the last two being between England and New Zealand in 2013, and India and Australia in Mohali in 2013.8.11 Pakistan’s run rate during their chase of 90. They scored 92 runs off 11.2 overs. This is the best run rate in Test history for any team batting at least 10 overs. No team had previously scored at a run rate of more than eight.2 Number of times Pakistan have beaten Sri Lanka by 10 wickets. The only team Pakistan have beaten by a 10-wicket margin on more occasions is England, who have faced this fate three times. This is the first instance of a visiting team beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets at home.3 Stumpings effected by Sarfraz Ahmed during the second innings, the joint-most by any Pakistan wicketkeeper. This was also the first instance of three Sri Lankan batsmen being stumped in the same innings.123 Number of Test matches that Pakistan have won, the most for any Asian nation. They have played 390 Tests. India are next with 122 wins from 488 Tests. Sri Lanka have won 71 out of 236 Tests, while Bangladesh have seven wins from 91.7-76 Yasir Shah’s figures during the second innings, the best by an overseas bowler in Tests in Sri Lanka. The only other overseas bowler to take a seven-wicket haul there is Shane Warne, with 7 for 94 at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo in 2002.20 Years since a Pakistani legspinner has returned better figures than Yasir’s 7 for 76 in an innings. Mushtaq Ahmed (7 for 56) did it against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1995. The best-ever bowling figures for a Pakistani legspinner, or any bowler, is Abdul Qadir’s 9 for 56 against England in Lahore in 1987.39 Runs added by Sri Lanka’s last five wickets during the second innings – they went from 167 for 5 to 206 all out. Coincidentally, even in their first innings, Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for exactly 39 runs, going from 261 for 5 to 300.9 Years since Pakistan have beaten Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. This last happened in Kandy in 2006, when Pakistan won by eight wickets. Since then, Pakistan had lost five and drawn three Tests in Sri Lanka.

Quinton de Kock has just not been the same since suffering a freak injury in December last year, and as difficult as it may be, he needs to toughen up to win his spot in the team back

Firdose Moonda29-Jul-2015South Africa went to Bangladesh hoping to obtain some clarity on their Test opening pair, and on their front-line spinner. They did not expect to find murkiness on their choice of wicketkeeper, which will only further complicate their state of transition.While Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar showed what Hashim Amla has described as “a lot of promise and positivity,” and Simon Harmer displayed his ability with the ball, Quinton de Kock has stagnated so much, he has even been dropped. De Kock has played all the matches on the ongoing Bangladesh tour – two T20Is, three ODIs and a Test – with a total of 100 runs to his name, a top score of 44 and an uncertainty outside offstump that has become impossible to ignore. As a result, Dane Vilas will instead make his debut in Mirpur in the absence of AB de Villiers, who is on paternity leave, to create competition behind the stumps and give de Kock a second wake-up call in his fledgling career.De Kock has been benched before, after an unsuccessful series in Sri Lanka early in his international career. Then, he had played five T20s and seven ODIs and appeared out of his depth, particularly in unfamiliar conditions. De Kock’s lack of footwork and confidence cost him his wicket all too often and eventually, his place in the side. He was sent back to the domestic game to practice and he did that, endlessly.His franchise coach, Geoffrey Toyana, spent hours in the nets as de Kock worked on his awareness, his ability against spin and taming his irrepressible aggression. The result was a more resolute and relaxed player, who reeled off three centuries in succession against India in December 2013.De Kock fast-forwarded through the next six months. He was promoted to take over from de Villiers as the first-choice wicketkeeper, and made his Test debut. He was considered an integral part of the set-up and was expected to set the World Cup alight. But then his fire was put out by a freak injury and things have not been the same.De Kock tore ligaments in his ankle in mid-December last year, during a Test against West Indies, and was expected to be out of the game for three months, threatening his World Cup. South Africa did not want that, so de Kock’s rehabilitation was fast-tracked. Instead of surgery, he was treated conservatively and made a speedy recovery. By late January, he was back on the park, but his form was not.He went through the World Cup without contributing much, save for an undefeated 78 in the quarter-final against Sri Lanka, and seemed to lack the spark of earlier. His feet went back to being stuck and, as if overcompensating, his arms swung desperately and widely in response. He nicked off, he played down the wrong line, he was late on some strokes and early on others, he left stumps exposed and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the middle. Now, he has been sent there.Former selector Hugh Page, who is a de Kock admirer, believes it was the right decision to drop the wicketkeeper-batsman. “Things have gone his way for the last year or so and when that happens guys can start to think things have become easy. Now he has been given a bit of a reality check,” Page told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to let him know that some hard work is in order. And it’s also good to create competition. It keeps the other guys interested and makes sure they don’t lose faith in the system.”Not falling to plan: De Kock has had an unimpressive few months in 2015•AFPThe wicketkeeper’s position is not one that changes gloves often, and in South Africa’s case, it barely changed at all for a decade. Mark Boucher held a monopoly over the spot for a decade and South Africa forgot to create a succession plan. Had de Kock not arrived on the scene, they may still be relying on de Villiers’ bad back and scouting for someone else.South Africa would not want to create the same situation in the future, which made it important not to persist with an out-of-form de Kock, especially since there are other options available. Vilas has a first-class average of 41.00 and has been solid for the Cobras behind the stumps. He deserves a chance and has got one, but for how long?De Kock is expected to be back soon and Page believes he has probably even been briefed on what he needs to do to take back his place. “I would hope that there is a decent level of communication and that the coach has told him, ‘We’ve done our best to keep you in the side but now you need to go and do the work,” Page said.Exactly where that work will take place is not certain. The best option would be to send to de Kock on South Africa A’s trip to India, even though it clashes with the New Zealand series at home, to get him ready for a summer which includes two more trips to the subcontinent. South Africa have a full tour of India later this year, culminating in the 2016 World T20.If de Kock is to be part of South Africa’s plans for those series, he needs to adapt to conditions. As Amla put it, “Playing Test cricket in the subcontinent is hard work. One of our players said earlier if it was easy it would be called easy cricket, it’s not for faint-hearted.” If Amla’s words are anything to go by, de Kock needs to toughen up.While he does that, South Africa can assess if Vilas is the right man to take over the gloves. If they want to test alternatives, they can do it against New Zealand. Any other experimentation, particularly in the longer format, will have to be done in Bangladesh, but it seems unlikely at the moment.Amla indicated Kagiso Rabada will have to wait for a Test debut while the premier pace pack find their feet. “We’ve got three-and-a-half seamers now. I don’t think we are going to add another one,” he said. Sticking with Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and van Zyl will also ensure South Africa do not cloud their own thinking anymore or appear to be making knee-jerk reactions in search of a series win, which Amla has impressed is not as essential as we may think.”I don’t think it’s a must-win game. I don’t think there are any knockouts in Test cricket as yet but we are here to win,” Amla said. “We haven’t showed our full array as yet and it would be great if we can do it in this Test.”

Stats highlights from the fifth day at the Gabba, where Australia wrapped their 20th Test win since their last defeat

S Rajesh09-Nov-201520 Test wins for Australia at the Gabba since the beginning of 1989, in 27 Tests. Eighteen of those 20 wins have been by margins of nine or more wickets, 149 or more runs, or by an innings. They’ve drawn the other seven. Australia last lost a Test here in 1988, against West Indies.208 The margin of victory, Australia’s third-largest, in terms of runs, in a Test against New Zealand. They’ve also won nine by an innings against New Zealand.71.9 The difference between the batting averages for the two teams in this Test: Australia scored 820 runs for the loss of eight wickets (average 102.50), while New Zealand lost 20 wickets in scoring 612 (average 30.60). The difference is the fourth-largest in Tests between Australia and New Zealand; the highest is 84.8, in Wellington in 2010, when Australia had a match total of 565 for 5, and New Zealand lost 20 wickets for 564. In terms of ratio of batting averages between the two teams, this is fifth-highest: the highest was in Hobart in 1993, when Australia made 544 for 6 (average 90.66), and New Zealand were bowled out twice for 322 (average 16.10).46 The partnership between Trent Boult and Mark Craig, New Zealand’s third-highest for the tenth wicket in Tests against Australia. Their best is 124, between John Bracewell and Stephen Boock in Sydney in 1985.4 Man-of-the-Match awards for David Warner in Tests. Since 2011, only two Australians – Steven Smith and Mitchel Johnson – have won more such awards in Tests.2 Fifty-plus scores for Brendon McCullum in 14 Test innings in Australia, with a highest of 84 not out. His average in Australia in 26, and his average in 23 innings against Australia is 27.40.42.8 Craig’s batting average in Tests. In 18 innings, he has been dismissed below 15 only five times, while he has gone past 20 on ten occasions. In his last four innings, he has scored 149 runs and been dismissed just once. Craig’s bowling average is also 42.8.17.29 Martin Guptill’s strike rate in his innings of 23 (off 133 balls). Only six New Zealand players have faced 120 or more balls in a Test innings and scored at a lower strike rate. The lowest among them is Danny Morrison’s unbeaten 14 off 133, against England in 1997.79.72 Kane Williamson’s strike rate, his best among his 27 fifty-plus scores in Tests. His first-innings effort of 140 from 178 (SR 78.65) is third in this list.

Stats highlights from the second Test between Sri Lanka and India at the P Sara Oval where Kumar Sangakkara played his last international innings

Shiva Jayaraman23-Aug-201557.40 Kumar Sangakkara’s batting average, the fifth best among batsmen with at least 5000 runs. Sangakkara made 12400 runs including 38 hundreds and 52 fifties in the 134 Tests he played. He finished with 6830 runs in Sri Lanka, the second most by any batsman behind Mahela Jayawardene.4 Test hundreds by Ajinkya Rahane, all of which have come away from home. His only match at home was his debut Test, at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Among India batsmen only two had hit more away centuries before their first one at home: Sunil Gavaskar had hit eight and Rahul Dravid five. Sachin Tendulkar too had four away hundreds before his first century at home. Rahane has made 1341 runs at an average of 46.24.3 Number of different batting positions Rahane has made Test hundreds from. He has batted in four different positions and the only one he hasn’t made a century from is No. 6. But he nearly got one from that position too: he was dismissed on 96 batting with the tail in the second innings of the Durban Test in 2013.1999 The last time before Rahane that an India No. 3 hit a hundred in Sri Lanka in Tests. Rahul Dravid had made 107 in the first innings of an SSC Test. Overall, including Rahane’s there have been five hundreds by India’s No. 3 in Sri Lanka, Mohinder Amarnath’s unbeaten 116 in Kandy in 1985 being the only other hundred coming in the second innings.4 Times M Vijay has got out in the second innings after scoring at least 80 including this Test. He has got scores of 82, 80, 11, 27, and 99 the last five times he has batted for the second time in a Test. Overall, Vijay has made five fifties in second innings and has scored 780 runs at an average of 31.20.5 Number of times Vijay has been out lbw in his last ten innings, including thrice in his last three . He has been removed in this manner 14 times out of his 58 dismissals in Tests, for a dismissal percentage of 24.13. Among regular openers to debut since 2000, this is the fifth highest after Bangladesh’s Javed Omar, Pakistan’s Taufiq Umar, South Africa’s Alviro Petersen and India’s Gautam Gambhir.11 Century stands in the second innings at P Sara Oval including the one between Vijay and Rahane in India’ second innings. The last such stand came in the previous Test here, also for the second wicket, when Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali added 120 runs in Pakistan’s second innings.29 Number of innings since the last time an India No. 3 made a hundred in Tests before Rahane in this innings. Cheteshwar Pujara had made one in the second innings of the Johannesburg Test in 2013. Since then, India’s No. 3 batsmen have averaged 24.50 and had made just four fifties.4 Times R Ashwin dismissed Sangakkara in this series, the most any bowler has dismissed him in a Test series. Ashwin conceded only 23 runs to him at an average of 5.75 runs per dismissal. Sangakkara has otherwise done very well against other offspinners, averaging 78.1 runs for each of his 31 dismissals against them in Tests since May 2001.12 Number of innings since the last time Sri Lanka’s first wicket added 50 or more runs, including their second innings in this Test when their openers managed a stand of just one run. Their last century stand came 16 Tests ago, against Bangladesh in early 2014. Since then they have had only four fifty stands in 28 innings and have averaged 30.82 runs per partnership.113.3 Longest in terms of overs a team has batted in the fourth innings at P Sara Oval. Sri Lanka chased down a target of 352 – the highest to have been chased down successfully at this venue – with just a wicket to spare against South Africa on that occasion. Click here for the most overs batted by a team and here for the highest targets successfully chased in the fourth innings in Sri Lanka.

The idea of Pakistan’s own T20 league first emerged in 2007, but it was not till eight years later that the project finally materialised

Umar Farooq05-Dec-2015What is the Pakistan Super League?The PSL is a franchise based Twenty20 competition organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and approved by the International Cricket Council. It is meant to be a three-week tournament scheduled for February 2016, and will feature five teams, from Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad. A total of 24 matches are scheduled to be held between February 4 and 23. Each team will play a double round-robin format before playing an eliminator during the knockout stages.Whose idea was it?The idea of Pakistan’s own T20 league emerged during the regime of Dr Nasim Ashraf, who served as the chairman of the PCB between 2007 and 2008. The league was mainly inspired from the now defunct ICL, and the successful IPL. However, the idea never materialised and till it found its feet, the PCB set-up suffered an impasse as the then chief patron Pervez Musharraf resigned in August 2008, with Ashraf also resigning on the same day to leave the country.It was reported then that during Ashraf’s term, the PCB reserves had fallen from $42 million to $19 million. As a result, the next chairman, Ejaz Butt, pulled out every hefty project from the system and shelved it, including the T20 league. But a year later, the following chairman, Zaka Ashraf, revived the project by announcing a lucrative business model in which top player could earn up to $1 million in two weeks.Ashraf’s brainchild was to hold the league within the country, but since the tournament’s schedule clashed with the 2013 general elections, the government refused to take responsibility, which led to the league being postponed again. There was the option to take the league to the UAE, but Ashraf was determined to launch it in Pakistan as a tool to revive international cricket in the country.The project then took off under Najam Sethi, then an executive board member with the PCB, after Ashraf was removed by the ruling government led by Nawaz Sharif. It took nearly five months for the present set-up to once again blow life into the project. With Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, taking a backseat, the project was left exclusively to Sethi, who was entitled to use the PCB budget. Still, the project appeared dicey for five months until the PSL found a new shape when five teams were sold for $93 million.What was the confusion about Qatar and UAE hosting the PSL?Finding a country to host the PSL remained a pain for the PCB as until this August, Pakistan was without a venue. The entire project nearly crumbled after the UAE was taken by another party, who planned on hosting the Master Champions League in the same dates as the PSL.The PCB then explored Qatar as an alternative venue, but once again, it was not straightforward business. Qatar has just one stadium, which is not up to international standards, and lacks basic facilities for players. The PCB, though, reluctantly entered into a deal with the Qatar Olympics Association to host the league in the country. However, with their hearts still set on UAE as the venue, the PCB later locked horns with the Emirates Cricket Board to work out a deal for the UAE to accommodate both the MCL and the PSL.In September, the PCB pulled out from Qatar, ditching them to sign a new deal with the ECB, who offered a solution to manage both leagues simultaneously in three venues in the country.The PCB’s preference for UAE was because the country had anyway been hosting Pakistan’s international matches for many years.The PSL finally took off under the wing of Najam Sethi after the removal of Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman•AFPWho are the franchise owners, and what are their links with cricket?The response for the PSL franchises was not as big as hoped, but the PCB still managed to attract several companies to bid for the five teams. The deal they locked was for $93 million for 10 years, with any given team costing $9.3 million per year.Salman Iqbal, the CEO of Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY) Group, a holding company with various business ventures including the TV network, bought the Karachi franchise for $26 million. An Oil Company from Qatar, a new in cricket circles, which pitched the second highest bid, won the Lahore franchise for $25 million. Haier Group in Pakistan, a consumer electronics and home appliances company who are already dealing with the PCB to sponsor domestic cricket, acquired Peshawar for $16 million.The franchise from the capital, Islamabad, went to Leonine Global Sports, an entity created specifically for the PSL by a group of Pakistani investors, for $15 million. Omar Associate, a Karachi-based holding company with various business ventures, secured Quetta for $11 million. Omar Associate already have past links with cricket, having fielded a Grade-2 cricket team and recruited various women cricketers from the domestic circuit.Who owns the broadcasting and title sponsorship rights?The PSL’s title sponsorship belongs to Habib Bank Limited for three years, while Ten Sports and state broadcaster PTV Sports are the official broadcasters. The value of the broadcasting deal is $15 million, with the PCB selling the production rights to Sunset + Vine. The PCB itself will bear all costs. Global television rights have been given to Tech Front, a UAE-based media rights acquisition company. The sponsorship deal, including the title sponsorship, is estimated to be more than $6 million.How will franchises earn from the PSL?At least 80% of the revenue from the broadcast rights will be split equally among the five PSL franchises. Similarly, at least 50% of the revenue from the sponsorship rights, and 50% of the revenue from ticketing sale and the gate money will be equally shared among them.
Interestingly, tournaments like the IPL and BPL give their franchises 100% of the revenue collected at the gate. But for the PSL, that chunk is only 50% because the PCB is bearing the cost of the venue in the UAE.How will the players be picked for the PSL?There won’t be any player auction, with more than 100 players, including foreigners, picked through a draft. Each franchise has a salary-spending cap of $1.2 million, including the signing of players, coaches and support staff. A total of 16 players will be picked up from five different categories – Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging.Each team will have a right to pick five foreign players, with only four allowed to make it into the playing XI. Each of the five PSL teams will get one selection per round to pick a player, and there will be 16 rounds. The draft will be accordingly managed to ensure that one team does not get to pick all the top players from the two top categories. Apart from the 16 players, a team is also allowed four supplemental picks to add to their 20-man squad.Normally, the team with the worst regular-season record gets to pick first. But since this will be the first edition of the PSL, a lottery system will be used to determine which team gets opportunity to pick first and in the later rounds, the order will be set randomly accordingly to the strength of the prior picks.

Wicketkeeper Sam Billings talks about hair care, his golf handicap, and his biggest six

Interview by Jack Wilson07-Jan-2016If a catch went up for England to win the World Cup, who would you want to see under it?
A skier? That’s tough. I’m going to say anyone. We’re a seriously good fielding side and I’d back any of the lads to take it.Who has the best hair in cricket?
() Me!And how long do you spend on it?
Let’s just say it gets some good preparation time.The England squad are on the start line of a 100-metre race. Who wins?
Chris Jordan.Which of your team-mates has the worst habits?
Fabian Cowdrey at Kent. His personal hygiene and general eating habits are horrendous.Who in the England team is the best golfer?
All the lads will say me because I’ve got the lowest handicap. I’m off eight. But [Alex] Hales, [Jos] Buttler and Jason Roy are absolute bandits off 12. I don’t think I’ve won yet!Who is the worst?
Reece Topley. He’s not that great – and not that interested!Who has the strongest arm in cricket?
Ben Stokes.What is the biggest six you have hit?
I hit Danny Briggs into the top tier of the Frank Woolley Stand in a T20 at Canterbury. It’s the biggest hit of my life.Billings (second from left) and his team-mates celebrate England’s ODI series win over New Zealand in June•Getty ImagesHow old were you when you first made a century?
I was 12.Who is the worst sledger in cricket?
Matthew Coles. Some of the things he says aren’t too well thought through.Who is the most naturally talented player you have ever shared a dressing room with?
Jos Buttler is unreal.Describe yourself in four words.
Posh has to be one. Then I’ll go with driven and good fun.What is your favourite shot?
That’s a tough one. I’ll go with either the paddle sweep or the reverse sweep.If you could be a professional at another sport, what would it be?
Football, golf or rugby. If I had to choose one, I’ll go with rugby.What did you do with your first England shirt?
It’s in the process of getting framed and I’m giving it to my parents.As a wicketkeeper, who hits the gloves the hardest?
Liam Plunkett.