Latest news with #captain

Shubman Gill glides India into commanding position with regal coronation

The Guardian

4 hours ago

Sport
The Guardian

Shubman Gill glides India into commanding position with regal coronation

For a man who moves so slowly, Shubman Gill can fit a lot into a split second. Gill is one of those rare athletes who works in a different rhythm to the rest of us, so that even when a ball's coming down at 90mph he seems to be able to take a beat to whistle a bar of Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle while he thinks about what he's going to order for dinner that evening, finally decides how to meet this latest delivery and then, at the last possible moment, follows through. He is, as any number of players and coaches say, someone you only need to see hit one shot to know exactly how good he is. England, unfortunately for them, got to watch a lot more than one on the first day of the opening Test. In style, Gill is a throwback batter. He plays the game with patrician disdain, waiting for the ball like it's his butler, then, sending it scurrying away with a casual flick of his wrist, to fetch him a cold drink from somewhere the other side of the covers. It's all done with the bare minimum of apparent effort, he pulls his bat up shy when he drives, and stops halfway through his pull shot. But in substance he is the very model of a modern middle order cricketer. He had scored more centuries in T20 cricket than he had in Test matches, and still has a higher top score in the shorter format. Just. He was in many ways, still unfulfilled as a Test match batter when India decided to make him their new captain. He'd scored five centuries, but they were all made in the subcontinent, (four in India, one in Bangladesh) and his top-score elsewhere was a 91 he made in Brisbane four years ago. Coming into this Test, it was the only score of more than 50 he'd made across tours of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and the West Indies. His nickname, Prince, suits him for lots of reasons, not least that it felt like his defining achievements are all ahead of him. The hundred he made here was the first of them. Gill is the youngest man to captain India since Sachin Tendulkar got the job in 1996. If he carries on in the way he played on the first day at Headingley, he will, unlike Tendulkar, have it for a long while yet. It helped that England made the hardest decision of the day for him. Judging a toss before the end of the match is like counting a chicken before it's hatched, or a damning pitch before both teams have had a bat. Generally it pays to wait before you make your mind up. But after just half an hour, it was hard to avoid the creeping feeling that England had got it wrong here. Gill said he would have done the same thing in Ben Stokes's position. It turned out to be good for him that he didn't get the opportunity. England may yet be vindicated, there have been a lot of good fourth-innings scores at Headingley in recent years, and the last six Tests here have all been won by the team bowling first, but the first day's play was hot work for bowlers, and the wickets were hard-earned. By midway through the morning session, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse both had a go from either end, Josh Tongue tried both sides of the wicket. It already felt like Stokes had turned out his pockets searching for England's first wicket. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion It was one of those mornings when the bowling team first measures success in edges and almosts, clapping the balls that whizz past slips, or fizz over the gully, then, when the batsmen are starting to middle it, celebrating the shots you insist you want the batter to be playing, like the drives that might have been sliced behind if they hadn't disappeared through cover for four. England eventually got one, then two, wickets, in the run-up to lunch. So it fell to Gill, batting at No 4, to reassert control of the innings. He was waiting for England when they came back on to the field, having spent most of the break patting back throwdowns from a couple of the squad players. He carried on that way through the rest of the day, Carse, who goes about his bowling like the batter is a stray nail which needs to be hammered back into the crease, troubled him some. But the rest of England's attack hardly mustered a chance worth appealing for between them. So Gill moved imperiously to his hundred, as unruffled, and regal, as Cleopatra along the Nile, the only blemishes in his innings were the one bungled single on 97, and the pair of black socks peeping out from beneath the hems of his white trousers.

New York Times

10 hours ago

Sport
New York Times

Test cricket explained in 60 seconds

Test cricket can be a daunting spectacle for the unfamiliar: a vast field, two sets of wickets and up to five days of play in a single match. But it is also beautiful; a prolonged battle unlike anything else in world sport. So as part of The Athletic's new cricket coverage, which we launched this week, we thought it might be useful for the uninitiated if we put together this explainer on exactly how Test cricket works. If you want to read the cricket articles we have published so far, including our analysis ahead of this summer's Test series between England and India, click here. Strap yourself in. This could take a while, which is exactly what Test cricket is about — patience. Test matches are the traditional and longest form of the sport and are so called because it is considered the ultimate test of skill and endurance in cricket. Tests are played by international teams of 11 players over up to five days. Each team is scheduled to bat — known as an innings, just like in baseball — and bowl twice per game. First there is a coin toss, then the captain who wins the toss decides between volunteering their team to bat first and making the opposition do so, with their choice based on factors such as the climatic conditions, the weather forecast for the days ahead, the state of the pitch and the players at their disposal. A Test cricket captain has to be a mix of a meteorologist, an agronomist and a futurologist. An innings is over when either 10 of the batting team's 11 players are out (there must always be two batters on the pitch — the strip of ground, 22 yards long, that has the wickets, also known as stumps, at either end) or that team's captain decides to 'declare', which means they are confident they have scored enough runs already with players still to take their turns and wants to put the opposition in to bat, so his bowlers can put them under pressure. Each team has 11 players made up of specialist batters and bowlers plus all-rounders (players that can bat and bowl proficiently, or bat and be the wicket-keeper, the player from the bowling team stationed immediately behind the stumps). When batting, the two players most technically skilled at this aspect of the game take a team's first turns. They are known as the openers, because they are opening the innings. As batters are dismissed, they are followed by others, first those known as the top order, then the all-rounders in the middle, with the bowlers — or tailenders — batting last. Each day's play, weather permitting, lasts about seven hours and is divided into three sessions — the morning from an 11am start, the afternoon following a 40-minute lunch break and the evening, which comes after the 20-minute 'tea interval' (as in 'afternoon tea', though these days the professional teams don't just drink tea and eat sandwiches in that break, although that is still how it works at village cricket clubs all across Britain). The bowling team must perform an allotted amount of overs (an over is a set of six deliveries, from the same end of the pitch) or their captain could be fined for slow play. The winners are the team to have scored the most runs in total. That might be after both sides have batted their two full innings, but it can be after only one of them has done that twice — if they scored fewer runs in their two innings than the other side managed in one. Once the team batting last surpasses the combined total of their opponents' two innings, they are described as having won by how many batters they still have who are not out in that second innings — i.e., if they have five batters left, they have won by five wickets. Advertisement If they fail to surpass the combined total, the other team is described as having won by how many runs the opposition has fallen short by. For example, if the team batting last need to score 350 to surpass the other lot's total but only have 274 when their last batter is out, the side then bowling win by 76 runs. Incredibly, after almost a week of play, there can still be a draw, yes. Ultimately, to win, a team must bowl the opposition out twice. If, at the end of the designated number of overs on the last of the five days, one of the teams are still batting and have players left in the order, the match is declared a draw, regardless of whether one side has scored more runs. The weather can also have a big impact on whether a game ends in a draw, with hours or whole days lost to rain — not so rare an occurrence during England's sometimes inclement summers.

Bernardo Silva appointed new Manchester City captain and makes decision on future before contract expires

Daily Mail

3 days ago

Sport
Daily Mail

Bernardo Silva appointed new Manchester City captain and makes decision on future before contract expires

Bernardo Silva has been appointed Manchester City captain this season after rejecting a number of offers to bring an end to eight years at the club. In a marked change in policy, Pep Guardiola stepped in to choose his own leadership group ahead of the Club World Cup starting against Wydad AC. City's players and staff usually take a vote but Guardiola has overruled to give the armband to Silva in what appears likely to be his final season at the Etihad Stadium. Silva – who has fielded interest from Saudi Arabia, while Benfica would love to welcome their academy product back - is out of contract next summer. While the 30-year-old has already decided his future, he opted not to definitively confirm what that looks like. 'I know what I'm going to do but it's not the time to talk about that,' Silva said. 'I'm very focused on my season. I'm very focused on performing well for Man City. 'When the time is due I will talk about it. I have one year on my contract so obviously I can leave next season. This season for sure will be at City, I'm going to stay. 'I've had options in the past and this year, like last year, my option is to stay at Man City.' Silva's commitment this season has delighted Guardiola, who wants the Portugal international – one of the players he has always been able to trust through his tenure – to lead the team. Silva follows Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan in being appointed captain, while Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland will act as his deputies. 'Bernardo has been incredible,' Guardiola said. 'Eight years, no injuries. Always in the bad moments he makes a step up. 'He's an example on the pitch. And when he has to say something to me or to the players, he says it for the best for the club.' Silva added: 'We talked a lot last season as a group about what happened and we learned a lot of very important lessons. 'Hopefully we're never going to forget them, especially this season. We're not going to forget what happened last season and try to make things right.'

Lisandro Magallán says farewell to Pumas

Yahoo

4 days ago

Sport
Yahoo

Lisandro Magallán says farewell to Pumas

Pumas surprised their fans at the end of the season with the departure of Lisandro Magallán, and today, the player sent an emotional message to the fans The captain showed his love for the auriazul team and the pride of wearing their colors, assuring that the felines are still a big team in Liga MX. Dear auriazules, what a beautiful journey we had together. This time hand in hand was incredible, and all I can say is thank you for always being there everywhere and in every stadium. Thank you for showing me your affection and support; know that I always tried to reciprocate that love with my daily work and my dedication in every match, in every play. It was an honor to wear your jersey, to use a number so iconic for you as the '4', and to have the honor of wearing the captain's armband." Advertisement "I know that for some of you this farewell brings sadness or anger, but let me tell you that you are not the only ones. It hurts me to say goodbye too. During this time I have fallen in love with your beautiful country, your people, and your traditions; I know I will miss you, but I will always carry you in my heart. I always tried to defend this jersey with the passion and grit that this club represents, I always sought to give my best and help my teammates find their best version. Only you make Pumas the greatest." Lisandro Magallán wore Pumas' colors for two years and is now ready to continue his career in Argentine football, alongside Vélez Sarsfield. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 Leopoldo Smith - 2025 Getty Images

Gossip: Bannan wants to stay despite money issues

BBC News