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Dean Jones has dropped an update on the future of former Leeds United transfer target Rodrigo de Paul.

What’s the talk?

In a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT, the journalist and transfer insider stated his belief that, despite recent reports suggesting that the central midfielder is looking to secure a move away from Atletico Madrid, the 27-year-old would more than likely be out of Leeds United’s price range this summer.

However, Jones did go on to state that Victor Orta, the man who saw a €35m (£29.5m) bid rejected for the Argentina international back in the summer of 2020, would still love to bring De Paul to Elland Road.

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When asked whether the Whites could once again launch an offensive for the Atleti midfielder this summer, Jones said: “Victor Orta loves him, but I just think he’s beyond their reach at the moment.

“I mean, financially, I’m not sure that they can go there at the moment. He’ll be linked with some massive clubs and be on big wages. So, while I’m sure they would love him, I would imagine he’s beyond their reach at this point.”

Orta must move

While it is true that the player who Atletico spent €35m (£29.5m) on and handed a five-year contract on a reported £107k-per-week last July will not likely come cheap this summer, considering just how talented a player De Paul quite clearly is, if the midfielder is available this summer, Orta simply must make a move for the 27-year-old.

Despite not enjoying the best campaign of his career at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium this season – having started just 21 LaLiga fixtures under Diego Simeone – the £59m-rated dynamo nevertheless proved during his final year at Udinese that, when given the opportunity, he can be a key player for his club.

Indeed, over his 36 Serie A appearances last term, the Argentine was in breathtaking form for the Bianconeri, scoring nine goals, registering nine assists and creating a quite astonishing 20 big chances – the joint-most in the league – for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots, making 2.3 key passes and completing 3.4 dribbles per game.

The 39-time capped international also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 40.7 passes, 0.5 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, 4.5 long balls and winning 8.1 duels – at a success rate of 60% – per fixture.

These returns saw the player who Charlie Wilson dubbed “absolutely sensational” and Roy Nemer labelled both a “monster” and “unplayable” average an incredible SofaScore match rating of 7.53, not only ranking him as Udinese’s best performer in the Italian top flight but also as the second-best player in the league as a whole.

As such, should there even be the slightest chance of Leeds signing De Paul this summer, Orta simply must make a move for the 27-year-old, as he would undoubtedly help to transform the Whites’ midfield under Jesse Marsch next season.

AND in other news: Phil Hay reveals yet another “massive blow” for Leeds, Jesse Marsch will be devastated

Former Sunderland captain Max Power has backed his old club to gain promotion to the Championship ahead of their upcoming League One playoff final and says he is ‘gutted’ he couldn’t get the job done himself.

The Lowdown: Road to the final

The Black Cats are set to face Gareth Ainsworth’s side at Wembley Stadium this weekend after securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-final to book their place in the ultimate showdown.

The 28-year-old, who currently plays for Wigan Athletic, recently helped the Latics claim the third-tier title, but is still showing support for his former club and believes that they will be able to join him in the promotion party.

The Latest: Power hopeful but ‘gutted’

Speaking during an episode of the Roker Rapport Podcast, Power admitted that he can’t envisage anything but a Sunderland win on Saturday, even though Wycombe are a difficult opponent to play against. He said:

“You look at both teams, I think for me and this is no disrespect to Wycombe at all, I think they have got some very good players and a very good manager and very much a different style to what Sunderland will bring on Saturday but, for me, I look player for player and I think Sunderland have got the better players.

“If there’s one team who can upset a game and cause issues and problems and are comfortable without the ball, it is Wycombe.

“I think Wycombe are very experienced and before, by the way, I meant no disrespect to them by saying Sunderland, for me, have got the better players, I stand by that. But I do think Wycombe can cause any team problems and I like I said, they are comfortable without the ball.

“I’m not going to sit on the fence, I do think Sunderland will win the game on Saturday.

“It’ll be interesting. I’m over in Ibiza, so I’ll find a bar to watch it in.

“Over the course of this season, I think anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I’ve no ill feeling towards Sunderland whatsoever. Obviously I’ve moved on and that’s football but I look back at my time with Sunderland, I am gutted it didn’t go how I wanted it to but I’ll be rooting for the lads on Saturday and I’m just glad I’m not involved to be honest!”

The Verdict: Advantage Sunderland

If the results from when the two sides met earlier on in the season are anything to go by, it’s looking like very happy reading for Alex Neil, whose outfit are yet to be defeated by their rivals.

The Black Cats recorded a comfortable 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light back in August, before playing out a 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture at Adams Park in January.

Over 44,000 Sunderland supporters have already booked their seat at Wembley, so it promises to be an amazing atmosphere and one that hopefully is enough to help get the Wearsiders over the line.

In other news… Sunderland have reportedly made an approach to sign one of their summer transfer targets.

His astute decision-making helped India restrict Pakistan to a manageable total

Shashank Kishore in Dubai23-Sep-2018It’s one thing to expect your fast bowlers to be disciplined, another to set fields and challenge the batsmen to take risks. This is what Rohit Sharma did superbly as captain on Sunday, as India arrested Pakistan’s late surge and then chased down 238 in a canter to make it four wins on the trot in the Asia Cup. After Bangladesh held their nerve against Afghanistan, India were confirmed as the first finalist. ESPNcricinfo examines a few of Rohit’s tactics that hurt Pakistan on Sunday.Keeping Fakhar Zaman quietFakhar Zaman is Pakistan’s enforcer at the top, a factor coach Mickey Arthur has underlined as the key to their ODI success. Earlier this year in Zimbabwe, Fakhar became the first ODI double-centurion from Pakistan and has formed a formidable opening combination with Imam-ul-Haq.So when Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah kept cutting off Fakhar’s scoring areas by bowling stump-to-stump on a length, denying him room to pull and play flat-batted strokes, Rohit deliberately kept mid-on a touch wide and left midwicket open. Since the angle from right-arm over the wicket takes the ball away, he was trying to play on Fakhar’s ego by forcing him to hit into the vacant region on the leg side. As it turned out, Fakhar stopped short of playing the pull and had limped to 6 off 24 balls at the end of seven overs.Introducing spin earlyRohit isn’t one for making changes unnecessarily. Not bowling Kedar Jadhav against Bangladesh despite him having picked career-best 3 for 23 against Pakistan when the sides last met was a prime example. But when Fakhar and Imam were struggling to force the pace, he sprang up a surprise by introducing Yuzvendra Chahal in the eighth over.It was left-field because Chahal had only bowled four Powerplay overs in ODIs prior to Sunday. Two days ago against Bangladesh, he was introduced in the ninth over. Here, he struck off his sixth delivery as Imam was given out lbw upon review after he was beaten by sharp turn trying to work the ball with the spin. It was Chahal’s first Powerplay wicket in ODIs.Forcing Sarfraz-Malik to deviate from set templateIn the previous game between the two sides, Babar Azam misread a Kuldeep Yadav googly that dipped and spun away to castle him. If bringing Kuldeep on in the 11th over was more to get on the batsman’s nerves, it was a ploy well thought out.With the left-right combination in place, Rohit operated spin in tandem. The stand-out move was having a backward short leg for Fakhar, who struggled against sharp turn. With no fine leg for protection, there were runs to be had if he could paddle the ball fine. Fakhar tried this against Chahal and was almost beaten by the bounce and got a top-edge that just eluded Dinesh Karthik and rolled to fine leg.The spin choke was on, and because the fast bowlers had built so much pressure, Fakhar was forced to look for a release against spin. Fifty-six balls hadn’t yielded a boundary. Drying up boundaries meant pressure and he fell after he was thrown off balance trying to slog-sweep an overpitched Kuldeep delivery. Then when Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz came together in the 16th over, Rohit immediately brought back Bumrah instead of letting the game drift. Malik’s average of 45.01 against spin is significantly higher as compared to his 34.78 against pace. His strength lies in manipulating the field and playing percentage cricket before exploding in the end overs. By not feeding his strengths, Rohit forced Malik to alter his plans immediately.No chopping and changingRohit bats for continuity, having been in and out of the Test squad himself. At the arrival press conference in the UAE, he made it clear experimentation for middle order spots wouldn’t come at the cost of continuity and results. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik have been the biggest beneficiaries of this policy at the Asia Cup. Batting at Nos. 3 and 4 respectively, the pair have made the most of the whatever little batting time they have had. The flip side to the ploy has been time on the bench for KL Rahul.Another noteworthy aspect has been Rohit’s ability to separate captaincy and batting. It has helped, of course, that barring the Hong Kong game, India haven’t really been challenged. When they last played Pakistan, Rohit played out a testing opening spell, before he decided to hook Usman Khan out of the attack by hitting him behind square for three sixes. That he’s coming off a two-month break – he wasn’t picked for the England Tests – has also allowed him to remain mentally fresh for the rigours of playing in the UAE heat. After four games, he has scores of 111*, 83*, 52 and 23.

The limp batting performances carried out so far by Sri Lanka in the first two Tests are threatening to limit future touring opportunities to South Africa

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Newlands04-Jan-2017For the first time in the Test, it feels like Sri Lanka have batsmen at the crease, instead of Colombo traffic policemen redirecting oncoming balls towards the slips. The most experienced men in the batting order are in the middle. Dinesh Chandimal leaps back and across to crack Vernon Philander through the covers. Angelo Mathews whip-sweeps Keshav Maharaj through backward square leg next over. For the first time, with the bat, they look like they have the will to fight.Newlands though, is paying them only the scantest attention. The stands are far from full. Even those watching know there is no tension in this fight.Around lunchtime, Cricket South Africa issues a press release confirming Australia will visit for four Tests in February and March next year. Bangladesh were already announced as the early summer tour. Sri Lanka were supposed to return to South Africa in between those tours, but it looks increasingly likely that they have been jilted. CSA are understood to be wooing India for that home series instead.

*****

In 1998, Sri Lanka won a Test at The Oval and Arjuna Ranatunga delivered one of cricket’s great boasts. Sri Lanka were World Champions by then, but had never won a Test in England. In fact, they had never even played a series – this having been a one-off game.But when Ranatunga strutted into the press conference, he crowed that the win had never really been in doubt. “The reason I put England into bat on a flat pitch,” he said, “is because otherwise, we would have bowled them out too quickly and enforced the follow-on – I wanted my spinner to have some rest.” You can imagine his voice ringing with condescension, can’t you? The smirk that must have been on his face?Sri Lanka’s subsequent tours to England have all been multi-match affairs. There are a couple of wonderful series among them: the 1-1 draw in 2006, for example, or the 1-0 victory in 2014 in which both matches went down to the last two balls.But few people outside the island really refer to these as classics. Just like few outsiders remember Ranatunga’s words as an all-time brag.This has always been the way Sri Lankan cricket is perceived overseas. Even when runs are made and wickets taken. Even when matches are won, and the finishes are riveting, there is no one much to care.

*****

The man who won Sri Lanka that Oval Test has lived the past two decades with a large chip upon his shoulder. He has taken 800 Test wickets, 534 ODI scalps, bamboozled a great Indian top order at the Feroz Shah Kotla, practically devoured them at home, won a World Cup, an IPL, Asia Cups, all while being one of the leading humanitarians in the sport, and yet, he finds his integrity constantly under siege.Along the way, there is almost nothing he hasn’t done to prove the legality of his action. He has passed the biomechanical tests and proved his doosra was within extension limits. He has paraded his variations on camera while wearing an inflexible plaster cast. To show off his double-jointed shoulder, he has lost his shirt more often than a frat boy at a keg party. In 2014, he even invited English journalists to his house and told them to play with his elbow, just to prove it was permanently bent.Can you imagine any other cricket debate in which evidence stacks up so monumentally on one side, only for doubts to remain? Even now, intelligent cricket voices say things like: “There will always be an asterisk over him,” or “they changed the law solely for his benefit”. To call this intellectual laziness is inadequate, because for it to be laziness, the information required to come upon informed conclusion must be widely available. It is more like intellectual apathy. Maybe he didn’t chuck, but who really cares?Overseas, much of Sri Lankan cricket is about this fight for acceptance. Sri Lanka are often the precursor guest before bigger series begin. They are the names commentators haven’t heard of, until they are the names they manglingly mispronounce.Their best player, who if rationality prevailed should unequivocally be remembered as one of the greatest in his generation, is instead distrusted. He is only grudgingly included in the best player lists. His defining performances often get only faint praise.

*****

In this Sri Lanka XI, there are no fewer than seven players who grew up and went to school in Basnahira (Western Province) where Colombo is. Two others are from Ruhuna (South), one more from Kandy (Central) and another from the bottom tip of Wayamba (Northwest). If you are unfamiliar with the geography, this may seem at first like a decent spread, but consider that in all, there are nine provinces.The formerly war-struck regions in the north and east are yet to produce a Test cricketer, which is understandable. But there have also been barely a handful of Test cricketers from centres like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa or Badulla, which is not. Cricket is no less popular in those parts, but promising young players are often unwilling to ditch the remainder of their prospects. It is too great a risk to move to Colombo and join a big club.This should be a problem that Sri Lanka Cricket have found a solution to by now. It is one that has long been in stark evidence for at least two decades. But instead of taking cricket meaningfully into the provinces, a series of SLC boards has chosen to back an archaic club model, which is enshrined, in part, in the board’s constitution. Instead of having clearheaded cricket administrators, Sri Lanka is beset by political show ponies and corporate yes men.This puts the nation’s cricket in a difficult place, because although it is true Sri Lanka are without the population of India, or Pakistan, or Bangladesh, and do not have the financial stability of South Africa, England, or Australia, what slim resources they do command, they harness with comical inefficiency.

*****

Chandimal and Mathews knock gloves as they depart the field at stumps. They have forged Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the match, but their association has only yielded 61. To even dream of a win or draw from this position is ludicrous, and it would be a small miracle even to make it through the next three sessions. CSA will not be expecting gate earnings on day five.Every time Sri Lanka play overseas, they are not merely competing for runs and wickets, they fight for relevance, they fight to be thought of, they fight to matter, they fight for the right to play the next tour.But instead of a well-drilled professional outfit representative of the whole of their cricket-loving island, they have XI guys from roughly the southwest quarter, who have been picked from a woeful first-class system, and whose existence most South African locals were barely even aware of, and whom they now have little desire to see again next summer.In Port Elizabeth, and now at Newlands as well, Sri Lanka have continued to lose the fight.

The Plays of the Day from the first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Mirpur

Mohammad Isam07-Nov-2015The appearanceAleem Dar was umpiring in a Bangladesh match for the first time since he was embroiled in controversy in the team’s World Cup quarter-final against India on March 19. Effigies were burned of the umpire while the ICC president at the time, AHM Mustafa Kamal, made some humiliating comments about Dar. But this game, his 53rd involving Bangladesh, went off without a hitch and there was no visible animosity towards him from the crowd.The slog-sweep liteMushfiqur Rahim usually plays the slog-sweep by bending down on one knee and flat-batting it over the midwicket boundary. He is not known to play it squarer but today he added a new angle to his slog-sweep: he came down the wicket to Sikandar Raza and spun his wrist over the ball, to have it skim past the long-on fielder for his first four in 12 overs. The shot stood out from his usual approach due to its slickness and how it reduced the risk in what is still, basically, a slog.The pull-outMushfiqur was on 39 when he tried to blast Graeme Cremer over extra cover. But the legspinner did well to deceive him in the flight, catching the outside half of the bat as it fountained towards the cover sweeper. Taurai Muzarabani initially ran in hard to take the catch but inexplicably pulled out at the very last moment.He signalled that the sun was in his eyes but the bowler didn’t really think it was a good enough reason to stop. The crowd behind him, it seemed, was also slightly disappointed with his efforts.The reverse starterLuke Jongwe was sent in to open the batting for the first time in his international career, after Richmond Mutumbami injured his right ankle in the 31st over while keeping wicket. The replacement opener took until the fourth over to open up when he unleashed a reverse-hit on Arafat Sunny, who had actually tried to nail him on middle stump. The shot came out of nowhere, as it sped over the point fielder for his first boundary of the Zimbabwe innings.The brush with injuryLiton Das and Nasir Hossain nearly came to collision while trying to take the skier offered by Chamu Chibhabha in the tenth over. The batsman charged Shakib Al Hasan but the ball looped up towards long-off from where Liton charged in, and Nasir ran back from deep mid-on. The two came close as the ball fell to Liton but they still brushed against each other. The collision wasn’t hard enough to knock the ball out of Liton’s grasp but he did take a bit of time to get up from the ground. There was hardly much celebration from him or Nasir.

In spite of its many inconveniences, cricket brought a brief calm to political turmoil in Bangladesh and left its people basking in the shared pride of having successfully hosted a global event

Mohammad Isam07-Apr-2014Sonia and her cousins will remember those nights for a long time. They would wander out in the illuminated street two blocks down from their apartment, meet a few more friends and cousins, and laze around the pavement lit up from the floodlights of the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Amid all the security barricades and protocol, there was gossiping, eating, singing and star-spotting.Sonia is a resident of Mirpur-6, a neighbourhood to the west of the Shere Bangla Stadium. Their alley leads up to the main entrance. The Milk Vita Road, as it is known locally, was barricaded from the moment the teams arrived at the venue. However, despite all its trappings, the World T20 has been a refreshing change for residents in the vicinity of the stadium.Just after the sun goes down, the neighborhood comes alive. Kids play cricket with a taped-tennis ball, the and the (street-food vendors) sneak in. Some are flying kites while others merely sit and talk, taking in the atmosphere.During match days, when the team buses moved in and out of the stadium, they would sometimes spot the stars. A crowd favourite is, of course, Shakib Al Hasan, while Mashrafe Mortaza and Mominul Haque, both Mirpur residents, are also not too far behind.Watching their stars has brought residents relief from the short shrift they get in the daily grind: lack of electricity, water and gas. Shakib, Mominul and Mashrafe don’t bring them utilities but seeing the Bangladesh players has given them a reason to believe and hope.Life isn’t easy for Dhakaites in any part of the city, but with so much cricket happening in the area, the focus has naturally shifted to the plight of locals. The economic level here is middle-class, which means they hardly get what is required; they have to manage within their means, and manage well.Within Mirpur, west of the No 10 intersection right up to Mirpur-2 and several areas within Mirpur-6, a 3-km radius was locked up for security. It was a major nuisance for residents of the area, but security was the ticket that allowed Bangladesh to host the World T20.It was not until January 20 that the ICC confirmed the tournament’s hosting rights would remain in Bangladesh, after political violence almost derailed the country’s biggest sporting event. Between November and mid-January, a week after the January 5 national elections, the situation had deteriorated so much that even those closely associated with the tournament privately expressed doubt.In spite of the inconveniences, fans were eager to be a part of the event•BCBThe girls sitting outside the street close to the Mirpur stadium, during one of the World T20 games, recalled an incident from December when a bus was burnt down near their house. Tuhin, one of Sonia’s cousins, was trapped when police started chasing protesters in Taltola. He escaped by climbing up a tree for a few minutes, and then scaling the wall of a nearby office.The protestors, meanwhile, hit back with bricks and stones, fanning a level of panic that added to the turmoil. But, with a major global event coming up so close, it was imperative for both sides of the national spectrum to come to some sort of agreement.Whether cricket is solely responsible for momentarily stopping political trouble is debatable, but it has played a major part. The BCB had gone to both leading political leaders before an ICC meeting in January, and that assurance probably won the day for Bangladesh.The event has been a time of celebration for the ordinary people. For them, attending the matches was not a necessity, but the pride over playing hosts is a shared, cherished feeling. Cricket’s popularity in Bangladesh has been described and discussed a number of times, but to feel the intensity of it, one had to experience it at the time of the tournament. There were road shows in all districts and screens were put up at intersections, parks and meeting areas.The good folks of Sylhet welcomed world cricket with open arms and filled their beloved stadium every day of the competition. Chittagong dwellers, too, reveled in the spirit, despite the continuous traffic problems due to the teams moving from their hotels in the city to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on the outskirts.

The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.

Conversations across the country were dominated by Darren Sammy’s West Indies, the Netherlands and the abject failure of the home side. Their performance was a contrast to what the public saw in the last two years. Bangladesh played well in 2012 and had a poor series against Zimbabwe last year. Off the field, however, there have been far too many controversies. Mohammad Ashraful’s admission of involvement in match-fixing has been the biggest of these issues.The tribunal investigating the matter recently reached a verdict and while most of the nine accused went scot-free, the Bangladesh Premier League brand suffered irreversible damage. The BCB now has to find a new T20 tournament.As the World T20 finishes with fanfare, Bangladesh has shown the ability to host a global tournament on its own. There has been whole-hearted praise from all quarters, and the sports minister recently informed parliament that the government has spent close to Tk 10 crore to ensure every aspect of the competition moved smoothly.From April 7, life will go back to what it was. There will be no extra security and no traffic jams to add to the busy roads, but given how violent Bangladesh can get (and could probably return to those bleak days), people may also miss this brief peace of mind the tournament brought. The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.As for Sonia and the gang, the relief from political violence and the daily trouble of dodging it is over. The fun of simply sitting in front of a giant stadium, talking to best friends and cousins, will now be just a memory. There haven’t been many in their lifetimes, so this may be the sweetest yet.

Having breezed through the tournament until the final, England failed to produce their best in the field and crumbled chasing under pressure

Jarrod Kimber in Colombo07-Oct-2012England came into the World T20 as the best women’s team around. They’ve barely lost a T20 in a year. They have the best batsmen in the world, the best bowling attack, field very well and are lead by an experienced World Cup and World T20 winning captain. They breezed past Australia at Galle only a few days ago, scoring their last 100 runs in approximately 10 overs to win by seven wickets and 11 balls. They’re the most professional women’s cricket side history. And Australia beat them.It wasn’t that Australia blew them out of the water with an unchaseable total. Australia batted well, but only Jess Cameron ever looked like putting the game beyond England. Australia’s problem in this tournament is that their big hitters haven’t been there at the right times and that no one made a big score. When Cameron went out for 45 off 34, Australia just didn’t have the power or form to get up to 160 and kick England out of the game. The total of 142 was good, but England chased 144 at Galle, and this was a good pitch to bat on.England started slowly, worked their way in, and then would have expected Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor to score the bulk of the runs without worrying too much about losing wickets. Instead Australia just kept taking wickets. Every time England put on any kind of partnership, Australia would strike, and with England never being up with the required rate, they just put so much pressure on themselves.England usually look assured and confident, but they spent their innings looking anxious. Jodie Fields said that England hadn’t changed her game plan from Galle, so what changed was that the English players weren’t playing in a non-televised event in front of seven people; they were playing a globally televised final in front of a large crowd. The pressure of that, combined with good swing from the Australian pace bowlers and some turn from their spinners seemed to crumble this formally invincible side.Taylor’s job is to bat deep into the innings, but with the run rate slipping away from them, and suspicious clouds forming overhead, Taylor ran at Ellyse Perry with intent. At Galle such a shot would have probably gone for four but at the Premadasa it was edged behind and suddenly England had lost their captain and best batsmen with 83 runs still needed.It was never going to be easy. The run rate continued to get on top of them, as the Australian bowlers seemed to pick up wickets for fun. It looked like Australia was not just going to beat the best team in the world, but annihilate them.Then a cameo from Jenny Gunn changed it all, and the Australians who had handled the pressure of the final with ease, suddenly looked like the side who would buckle. Gunn only made 19, but it was fast and furious, and she left England with a sniff.In the last over England needed 16 runs with no top order players left. Australia gave the ball to Erin Osborne for her offspin. It was perhaps the worst over all day. Osborne delivered a head high full toss, a simple run out chance was missed, a catch was dropped and Australia looked like they were about to lose a match that had been beyond losing for almost an hour.Somehow Australia had let the match get to the last ball, with England needing an unlikely, but possible six to win. Osborne bowled her second full toss of the over, this time a legal delivery, and Hazell could only mistime it out towards midwicket.It was messy, pressurised finals cricket. And Australia had somehow managed to hold on, to the trophy if not always the ball, as the mighty England had to watch Australia pick up back to back titles.Osborne probably didn’t dream of delivering a full toss in her fantasy of bowling Australia to victory, but beating England in a final for your country is what every one of these Australians would have wanted. Underdogs and reigning champions, it’s got a nice ring to it.

Home conditions could give Sri Lanka the edge in the Asia Cup, a tournament in which they have been the best team in the last 15 years

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan14-Jun-2010Sri Lanka have by far the best recent record in the Asia Cup, winning three of the last four tournaments, including the last two in 2004 and 2008. They also come into the tournament fresh from a victory in the triangular series in Zimbabwe. India have won four times too, but the most recent of those wins came in 1995.The table below summarises the overall tournament performance of the four participating teams. Sri Lanka have won 12 of their 16 games in the Asia Cup since the start of the decade, followed by Pakistan who have won 11 of their 14 games. India, on the other hand, have been ordinary, winning eight and losing seven of the 15 matches played.

Traditionally, Sri Lanka have been a tough side to beat in their own backyard, but over the last five years India have had a fair degree of success there. Since the beginning of 2005, India have a 11-7 win-loss record in Sri Lanka, which is better than the home team’s 20-16 ratio. Sri Lanka, though, won the last time the tournament was hosted in their home country, in 2004.

Despite an ordinary showing in the triangular series in Zimbabwe, India have been the best subcontinent team in one-day internationals since January 2008. Pakistan have played just 46 matches, which is the lowest among subcontinent teams, but have a good win-loss record.

In the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka go into the Asia Cup without the top run-getter in the tournament. Jayasuriya is the only one to score more than 1000 runs in this competition, and also has the most hundreds (six). India will miss Sachin Tendulkar, who is the second-highest with 799. Unlike Jayasuriya, though, Tendulkar has struggled to score hundreds in the tournament, getting only one century despite making it past 50 seven times.Pakistan will be boosted by the return of Shoaib Malik, who has been an extremely consistent performer in the Asia Cup, scoring 528 runs at an average of more than 75. Muttiah Muralitharan’s return to the squad will be a huge plus for Sri Lanka considering he has been the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. They will miss Ajantha Mendis, though, who was in terrific form in the previous edition of the Asia Cup.All the matches are going to be played under lights at the Rangiri Stadium in Dambulla. This venue has been the toughest to score in among all venues in Sri Lanka. The table below summarises the batting stats at the three major venues in Sri Lanka. The number of runs scored in boundaries per match is the lowest in Dambulla, thanks to the big ground and relatively slow outfield. If that continues to be the case in this tournament, the emphasis will be on swift fielding and running between the wickets, where Sri Lanka will have an edge. The overall strike rate and average is also the lowest at this venue, which suggests the tournament could be a low scoring one. Teams that have batted first in day night games have won seven games and lost six, which does not indicate any major advantage.

Both fast bowlers and spinners have performed similarly at this venue as summarised in the table below. The spinners have a slightly better average and strike-rate when compared to the pace bowlers. Muralitharan is the leading bowler at this venue having picked up 39 wickets in 18 matches followed by Farveez Maharoof, who has 18 wickets from nine games.

The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Steven Lynch09-Jan-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Graeme Smith declared twice in the Sydney Test – and lost. Has this ever happened before? asked Johan van der Knaap from Pretoria
It has only happened once before – in 1967-68, when Garry Sobers of West Indies declared twice at Port-of-Spain, and ended up not only losing the match to England, but the series too. There’s a case for saying it also happened in the infamous match at Centurion in 1999-2000, when Hansie Cronje of South Africa earned himself a leather jacket by declaring his first innings and forfeiting the second in a bid to ensure a positive result against England. On 22 other occasions a captain has lost a Test match after declaring one of his innings. The most recent before the one at Sydney last week was in 2004, when West Indies declared their first innings of the third Test at Old Trafford, but ended up losing. For Andrew Miller’s recent piece on declarations that failed, click here.How many batsmen have scored a century in their 100th Test, as Ricky Ponting has just done? asked Belinda Green from Melbourne
Ricky Ponting was the sixth man to score a hundred in his 100th Test – but the first to make two. The first one to do it was also the first man to play a century of Tests – Colin Cowdrey, for England against Australia at Edgbaston in 1968. Since then the feat has also been achieved by Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart and Inzamam-ul-Haq, before Ponting joined the club at Sydney. For a full list, including the matches, click here.Jeetan Patel, New Zealand’s supersub, won the Man of the Match award in one of the ODIs against Sri Lanka last week. Is this the first time the supersub has won the award? asked Ross Simmonds
Patel did indeed do this in the match against Sri Lanka in Wellington last week. But it was another New Zealander who was the first supersub to win a Man of the Match award: Shane Bond, who took 6 for 19 after replacing Nathan Astle against Indiaat Bulawayo in August 2005.How many Tests and ODIs have India and Pakistan played, and what are the results? asked Ali Baig from Canada
Prior to the series which begins on Friday India and Pakistan had played 53 Test matches – Pakistan have won eleven and India eight, with 34 draws (12 of them in a row between 1952-53 and 1960-61). Of those, 23 have been played in Pakistan, who have won six to India’s two. The two countries have also contested 101 ODIs, of which Pakistan have won 62 and India 35, with four no-results. Of those, 20 have been in Pakistan, who lead 12-6 in wins with two no-results.Who threw the rugby ball to Glenn McGrath when he got injured at Edgbaston? asked Timmy Chambers
The unfortunate man who might just have turned the destiny of the Ashes shortly before last year’s dramatic Edgbaston Test was Australia’s reserve wicketkeeper. Glenn McGrath explained at the time: “I was just standing there with Brad Haddin. I turned to chase a ball, and my first step planted straight on top of a cricket ball that was on the ground. I’d seen them laid out earlier and thought how neat they looked – it was just one of those things … I knew before I hit the ground that I was out of the match.”I have a question that has bothered me for a long time. Can you tell me the name of the ocean liner that took Douglas Jardine’s famous “Bodyline” team to Australia? asked David O’Keeffe

Just about the definitive account of that infamous 1932-33 tour is David Frith’s superb 2002 book Bodyline Autopsy, so I had a look in there. He says: “On Saturday, September 17, 1932, the English (MCC) team gathered on the deck of the Orient Line steamship Orontes to be introduced to the captain by their captain, DR Jardine.” The voyage took 31 days: the ship stopped at Gibraltar, Toulon, Naples, Port Said, Aden and Colombo before berthing in Fremantle, near Perth in Western Australia, for the start of what – until 2005 at least – was cricket’s most dramatic series.

Big Picture: A dry run for the ODI World Cup

Can either team get better preparation than this in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup? India get to face the defending champions, while Australia get to play one of the tournament hosts and have a chance to acclimatise to the conditions well before other competing teams.Having won nine of the 11 ODIs they have played this year and having beaten England in their backyard in July, India will carry a lot of confidence into this series. However, Australia can be a formidable opponent: they have beaten India in 12 out of the 13 ODIs since Harmanpreet Kaur’s epic knock in the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-finals.India were whitewashed 3-0 in the last two series they had played against Australia. Four out of the last five times they’ve met in an ICC tournament, India have lost, including the semi-final of last year’s T20 World Cup. India will want to use this series not just as a dry run to get their team combination right but also to come up with plans to get past the Australia hurdle. If India win this series, they will enter the World Cup as favourites.Australia, meanwhile, haven’t played ODIs this year since January, when they wiped England out 3-0 in the Women’s Ashes. The last tournament they played was the T20I series against New Zealand in March. But they have ten players who were also part of the 2022 ODI World Cup side in this squad, and have lost just three out of 28 matches they played since that tournament. So, they will back themselves to shake off the rust and hit the ground running. They will be playing in New Chandigarh, a non-World Cup venue, but they will benefit from some quality practice, specifically against spin in the middle overs, which is expected to play a big role in the ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.Related

• Harmanpreet says India believe they can beat Australia 'any day'

• Australia ready to embrace 'little bit of unknowns' at ODI World Cup

• Healy hopes wicketkeeping 'tinkering' avoids recurrence of injury

• She gets knocked down but she gets up again: Sneh Rana's journey

Form Guide

India WLWWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW

In the spotlight: Alyssa Healy and Sneh Rana

A ruptured plantar fascia at the 2024 T20 World Cup, a knee injury during the WBBL, and a stress fracture in the right foot during the Women’s Ashes. Australia captain Alyssa Healy has been dealing with recurring injuries since late last year which also affected her wicketkeeping. But she made a strong comeback for Australia A in the recent white-ball series against India A, making scores of 91 and 137 not out in the last two one-dayers and also keeping wicket, saying she made a few wicketkeeping ‘tinkering’ to avoid such injuries. A force for Australia in World Cups, she will hope to remain injury-free as she gears up for her first ODI World Cup as captain.Offspinner Sneh Rana has been on a roll ever since her comeback into India’s white-ball sides. A superb WPL season resulted in an ODI call-up, and she impressed immediately with 15 wickets in five games in the tri-series in Colombo in May. She followed that up with three wickets in the ODIs against England. With India expected to go spin-heavy for this series, and the World Cup that follows, Harmanpreet indicated during the squad announcement press conference that Rana will continue to be crucial in the middle overs.Alyssa Healy is set to return to action from injury•Getty Images

Team news: Renuka Singh returns from injury

With Renuka Singh back for the series from injury, she is expected to start ahead of Arundhati Reddy, who had played the ODIs against England, with Kranti Goud as the other fast bowler. India are also likely to go in with Rana, N Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma as spin options.India (probable): 1 Pratika Rawal, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 N Shree Charani, 10 Kranti Goud, 11 Renuka SinghWill Australia tinker with the XI that last played against England in January? Though left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is back in the side after a lengthy injury lay-off, she has not been given the green light to play. Healy said Molineux wasn’t “quite ready for the ODI format” and that Australia are “ready to have her back when she’s ready to go” at the press conference on the eve of the first ODI.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt, wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Beth Mooney, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ash Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Alana King, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Megan Schutt

Pitch and conditions

This will be the first international fixture at the New Chandigarh stadium, which has hosted 11 IPL matches in the last two years, so the conditions are a bit of an unknown for both sides. The weather is expected to be a bit cloudy on Sunday, with the possibility of showers in the afternoon, and clear for the rest of the day.Georgia Voll and Ash Gardner at the nets•PTI

Stats and Trivia

• India last beat Australia in an ODI at home in February 2007. They have lost all ten encounters since.
• Harmanpreet is set to become the third Indian to feature in 150 Women’s ODIs.
• Megan Schutt is set to become the ninth Australian to feature in 100 Women’s ODIs.
• Since June 2024, Smriti Mandhana has scored 1346 runs in 23 ODI innings, 581 runs more than the next best batter. She has scored six hundreds in this period, three more than any other batter.

Quotes

“No doubt, they [Australia] have been very dominating. They have played well all over the world and dominated. But we are also at a stage where, as a captain, we have the belief we can beat them on any day. The processes in the last one and a half years has been good, we have improved quite a lot. Even in England, we beat one of their best sides. These show that we are on the right track.”
“This is the most stable Indian team I’ve seen and I think they’re in a really good place heading into this World Cup, so I’m looking forward to that challenge. The rivalry continues to grow. I know how much they love beating Australia and I know how good they are in their home conditions and that’s really a challenge for us. I think it’s going to be a really enjoyable, hard-fought series.”