Both teams are starting the season with a new captain, and will want to start off securing two points

Shreyas Iyer

Andre Russell

Jonny Bairstow

Liam Livingstone

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Umesh Yadav

Indian Premier League, 2023

Punjab Kings

Kolkata Knight Riders

Unfancied PBKS and KKR aim to start on a winning note

Not all heroes wear (just) capes; some don the gloves and keep wickets too

Wriddhiman Saha

Gujarat Titans

Chennai Super Kings

Unsung, unheralded Saha does the job for GT — again

Awaiting the 23-year-old is arguably the most important two months of his career, yet

Prithvi Shaw

Delhi Capitals

DC’s season is in Shaw’s hands, as is his T20I future

Please note this is a work of satire and it 100% will contain names of people, places and organisations. All things written here are directly communicated by the High Society of the Illuminati.


MS Dhoni

Axar Patel

Kedar Jadhav

Shardul Thakur

Lasith Malinga

Mumbai Indians

Rajasthan Royals

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Indian Premier League is fixed

Still reeling from the absence of their talismanic leader, Rishabh Pant, DC could find it tough to get the right combination 

KL Rahul

David Warner

Avesh Khan

Mark Wood

Lucknow Super Giants

Warner's Delhi could struggle against settled Lucknow

Usually Punjab fall apart as the season progresses, but this time around they’re in tatters before a single ball bowled

Shikhar Dhawan

Sam Curran

Arshdeep Singh

Kagiso Rabada

IPL 2023 preview: Can Punjab get out of the tox6ic relationship?


<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4308/steven-smith/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steve Smith</a> scored an unbeaten 80 off 78 balls against England on Thursday to put the Aussie disappointment of the T20 World Cup behind as the hosts <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/live-blog/212999/aus-vs-eng-1st-odi-england-in-australia-3-odi-series-2022/australia-vs-england-1st-odi-adelaide-live-blog-1668653276753" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tracked down the 288-run target</a> posted by England with absolute ease. This came on the back of the former skipper amassing 105-run and 61-run knocks against New Zealand in Cairns last September.Does that mean Smith is all buzzing in the race to next year&rsquo;s 50-Over World Cup in India? Evidence says so. Even though his batting in T20 cricket has gone down substantially, he has been able to retain a remarkable record in the 50-over format and has averaged over 50 runs in the last three years.&nbsp;&quot;Was probably the best I&#39;ve felt in about six years,&quot; Smith said in Adelaide, reported ESPN Cricinfo. &quot;I was just in a really nice position and I felt really good, I honestly haven&#39;t felt that way in six years or so. It&#39;s been nice to score some runs in that time and we&#39;re always looking for perfection, and for me yesterday was as close to perfection as I will get.&quot;&quot;[It was] much better yesterday. In Cairns on a slow wicket I still felt a little bit rushed and wasn&#39;t quite happy with the positions I was getting in whereas yesterday I just felt, a couple of the cover drives I hit, I know I&#39;m batting really well when I&#39;ve got my weight going through the ball.&quot;Smith had an amazing turn around of his career in 2014 and since then became an indomitable force in Test and ODI cricket, never dwindling from his best. Even though there is a case to argue that Smith&rsquo;s returns in the longest version of the game hasn&rsquo;t been up to the mark in the last one year, the batter himself thinks that he is at ease with his batting now and in the last one year, has been working towards bringing his hand back to where it was back in 2015.&quot;I&#39;ve been working on a few things, it&#39;s almost been a six-month or 12-month process,&quot; Smith said. &quot;The start of last summer, I tried to get my hands back to where they were in 2015.&quot;I feel like I&#39;m staying a bit more side-on now and I&#39;ve got my feet and hands in sync together. Yesterday was probably the first time I&#39;ve actually had extended time in the middle with that change. It&#39;s hard to base something on one innings but it felt as though things clicked for me like they did at the WACA in 2013. Hopefully it&#39;s the start of a big summer.&quot;Australia are slated to take on West Indies in a two-match Test series next month before hosting South Africa for a three-match series. That is right before <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/australia-in-india-delhi-likely-to-host-test-after-5-years-1668614422378" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">travelling to India to play four Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches</a>, and if they can maximise their points, a place in the World Test Championship final in Lord&rsquo;s is most likely.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Even though his batting in T20 cricket has gone down substantially, he has been able to retain a remarkable record in the 50-over format and has averaged over 50 runs in the last three years

Steven Smith

England tour of Australia, 2022

England

Australia

Probably the best I've felt in about six years : Steve Smith

England&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4792/dawid-malan/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dawid Malan</a>, who missed the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup with a groin strain, admitted that it was &lsquo;gutting&rsquo; to miss the final of World Cup but expressed that it was &lsquo;extremely satisfying&rsquo; to return the way he did, smashing a dazzling ton against a full-strength Australian attack.Playing just four days after their T20 World Cup triumph, England fell short in the first ODI but Malan stood tall. In what was a one-man show, the southpaw accounted for 46.7% of the runs England scored as he smashed a perfectly constructed 134 that saw him move up the gears immaculately.&nbsp;It is not often that a player on the losing side ends up bagging the Player of the Match award, but such was Malan&rsquo;s showing on the night that he bagged the honours though England were convincingly outclassed.&ldquo;Tough to miss those two games with all the work you put in over three years. It was gutting,&rdquo; Malan said.&ldquo;But to come back here and score a hundred was extremely satisfying.&rdquo;Malan&rsquo;s onslaught took England to 287, but Australia chased the target down with 19 balls to spare, thanks to fifties from the bat of <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/5380/david-warner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Warner</a>, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/62023/travis-head/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Travis Head&nbsp;</a>and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4308/steven-smith/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steve Smith</a>. Malan reckoned that the Three Lions were about 30 runs short.&ldquo;It did a bit early on with the new ball and they bowled very well. We were probably 30-40 runs short,&rdquo; Malan said.The Adelaide encounter on Thursday, remarkably, was just Malan&rsquo;s 10th in ODI cricket. The 35-year-old, however, is making an irresistible case by putting up astonishing numbers: he now averages 64.71 in the format, and his runs have come at a strike rate of 96.58.On the back of yet another sizzling showing, the southpaw asserted that ODI is his strongest format, but admitted that it is &lsquo;quite tough&rsquo; to break into England&rsquo;s star-studded 50-over line-up.&ldquo;I think 50-over cricket is my strongest format, but it is quite tough to get into this team. Hopefully if I can keep performing like this I can make my mark,&rdquo; Malan said.The second ODI of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, November 19.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Malan now averages 64.71 in ODIs, and his runs have come at a strike rate of 96.58

Dawid Malan

It was gutting to miss T20WC final but happy to bounce back strong: Malan

Australia vs England, 1st ODI, Adelaide - Live Blog

As it happened - Clinical Australia take 1-0 lead despite Malan's stunning ton

Less than 90 hours after lifting the T20 World Cup at the mighty &lsquo;G, duty beckons the English players again, who on Thursday will lock horns with hosts Australia in a three-match ODI series.&nbsp;The first of the three matches will be played at the Adelaide Oval, and the scheduling of the series &mdash; which is not part of the ODI Super League &mdash; was labeled &lsquo;horrible&rsquo; by <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4688/moeen-ali/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Moeen Ali,</a> who on Tuesday asserted that it&rsquo;s impossible for players to give their 100% if they&rsquo;re asked to play every alternate day.On the eve of the ODI series, England skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/9782/jos-buttler/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jos Buttler</a> echoed Ali&rsquo;s sentiments, and admitted that he and other English players would be lying if they said they&rsquo;ll be at their very best come the first game.&quot;There&#39;s no point saying all the right things, that we&#39;ll be at our best,&quot; Buttler said on Wednesday.&quot;It&#39;s tough, I think, absolutely. But we just get on with it. It is a fast turnaround, there&#39;s no point hiding away that it will be a challenge for us, having had such a high a few days ago.&quot;We just go into it trying to really enjoy the games and play with lots of freedom - not that we need any excuse to do that.&rdquo;Even if it&rsquo;s a &lsquo;meaningless bilateral&rsquo;, Australia-England clashes tend to hold value due to the history between the two sides, and Buttler reckoned that once the players hit the field, &lsquo;competitive juices will get going.&rsquo;&quot;Once you get over the line and you&#39;re playing against Australia, I&#39;m sure those competitive juices will get going,&rdquo; Buttler said.Buttler did not go too much into detail when it came to the playing XI, but hinted that <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4792/dawid-malan/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dawid Malan</a> might feature on Thursday. Buttler confirmed that Malan was fit for the final, but wasn&rsquo;t risked as a precautionary measure.&nbsp;&quot;He was fit to play in the final,&quot; Buttler said of Malan.&nbsp;&quot;There was an element of risk there which we didn&#39;t want to take but it&#39;s had a few more days. I&#39;m sure he&#39;ll be in a place to play.&quot;There&#39;s fresh energy, some fantastic players are coming in and want to stamp their mark. There&#39;s such depth in talent in the white-ball game, it&#39;s tough to get in the final XI and good players miss out.&quot;A few guys maybe didn&#39;t have as many chances as they would have liked throughout the World Cup but they&#39;re desperate to perform. It&#39;s always the mark of a good team when good players are missing out.&quot;Australia, meanwhile, on Thursday, will begin a new-chapter in 50-over cricket, with Pat Cummins taking charge for the first time in coloured clothing. Cummins succeeds the retired Aaron Finch, and he is expected to skipper the ODI side till the 2023 World Cup.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The England skipper admitted that he and other English players would be lying if they said they’ll be at their very best come the first game

Will be difficult for English players to gather motivation for ODIs, admits Buttler

Sport is cruel and taxing, indeed. No time to celebrate for England as just three days after their T20 World Cup triumph, they&rsquo;re set to hit the ground again as they take on Australia in the first ODI at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. From the outside, this series might give away the vibe of being a &lsquo;meaningless bilateral&rsquo;, but both England and Australia are taking the three match series seriously, evident by them opting to field (close to) full strength sides.&nbsp;This series will mark the beginning of a new era for the Aussies in ODI cricket under the leadership of Pat Cummins, who has taken the reins over from Aaron Finch.&nbsp;Ground DetailsThursday&rsquo;s encounter will be played at the Adelaide Oval, which is all set to host an ODI for the first time in three years, the last 50-over contest coming back in 2019, when India triumphed over Australia. Adelaide, of course, hosted seven matches in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup and it proved to arguably be the best batting track in the entire competition.Now, retrieving past ODI numbers would be slightly misleading, so it&rsquo;d be better to focus on List A numbers from the venue in the last couple of years.&nbsp;A total of three List A matches have been played at the Adelaide Oval since 2021, and surprisingly, it&rsquo;s proven to be a moderate-scoring venue. Across these four games, the average first innings score has been 244. No side managed to pass 300, with South Australia&rsquo;s 274 against Queensland turning out to be the highest first innings score.What&rsquo;s interesting is that all aforementioned games were won by the team chasing. Comprehensively too, by six wickets (125 balls remaining), six wickets (47 balls remaining) and four wickets (14 balls remaining). This suggests that the pitch does tend to get better as the game progresses. Expect the captain winning the toss to therefore chase.List A numbers, of course, need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but these three aforementioned games have seen pace dominate. The quicks have not only taken nearly 85% of the wickets, they&rsquo;ve averaged 29.7 compared to the spinners&rsquo; 71.8. Their economy (5.4) has also been far superior to that of the spinners (6.5).Suggested Team<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668593893530-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> While you could go for the above team, you can also choose your team from Cricket.com&rsquo;s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.Captaincy suggestionsFor small leagues: Steve Smith (capt), Adam Zampa (vice-capt)For grand leagues: Travis Head (capt), Pat Cummins (vice-capt)Stats that matterIn his last 18 ODI innings, Steve Smith has amassed 997 runs at an average of 62.31, scoring four hundreds. He will be entering the series on the back of a Player of the Series showing against New Zealand, where he struck a 61 and 105 in Cairns. The last time he came up against England, Smith struck a valiant 85.&nbsp;Like Smith, England&rsquo;s James Vince will be entering this series on the back of a fifty and a century in his last two matches. Vince, though, hasn&rsquo;t played an ODI since July 2021.Since returning to the ODI side earlier this year, Travis Head has amassed 310 runs in 6 innings at an average of 62.00 and SR of 112.72. His scores in this period read 101, 89, 0, 23, 70*, 27.&nbsp;Pat Cummins has taken 11 wickets across his last 5 ODIs.In 9 ODIs this year, Adam Zampa has taken 19 wickets at an ER of 4.94.&nbsp;Grand League puntsSteve Smith might not be the best of players in T20 cricket, but he&rsquo;s an absolute gun in ODIs. He is a must-have, and it would be advisable to gamble on him. He will, more often than not, provide good value for money.If you&rsquo;re looking for an out-of-the-box punt, choose Travis Head as either your skipper or vice-skipper. Head has been in ridiculous form in List A cricket in the last couple of years, and he showed in the ODIs against Pakistan that he&rsquo;s capable of single-handedly mauling attacks. Should the Adelaide wicket prove to be flat, Head could potentially feast against England&rsquo;s bowling attack.Here are the Top 10 Criclytics Projections<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668593927497-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> Probable XIsAustralia: David Warner, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh HazlewoodEngland: Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Olly StonePowered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Here are a few tips that could help you create your fantasy XI for the first ODI between Australia and England in Adelaide

Fantasy: Steve Smith is your saviour in this format 

Australia&#39;s Test and ODI captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/56964/pat-cummins/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pat Cummins</a> wants to be &quot;physically and mentally fresh&quot; going into the 2023 50-over World Cup in India and that&#39;s why he has decided to <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/packed-international-schedule-forces-pat-cummins-to-pull-out-of-ipl-2023-1668494558769" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">skip next year&#39;s Indian Premier League</a>. The right-arm paceman, who plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders, will be playing more than 100 days of international cricket over the next 12 months.&quot;I really do love playing in the IPL, but just looking at the schedule, the decision was pretty easy. You not only want to be physically fresh but, as captain, you want to be mentally fresh as much as you can to make decisions,&quot; said Cummins ahead of the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/live-score/212999/commentary/aus-vs-eng-1st-odi-england-tour-of-australia-2022" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first ODI of the three-match series against England</a>, which will be played in Adelaide on Thursday (November 17).&quot;Straight after the IPL, there are six Test matches, hopefully, we make the World Test Championship final. I was totally depleted after the last Ashes (in England) in 2019, so I just want to be going there as fresh as I can be.&quot;Thanks to back-to-back T20 World Cups, the focus has largely been on T20 cricket in the last two years, which is now set to be shifted to the 50-over format. England, who won the 2022 T20 World Cup, are also the 50-over champions and this series will be a perfect way for Australia to kickstart their preparations for the next mega event.&quot;The last 12-24 months, there has been a big focus on T20 cricket and I think that focus now shifts to ODIs with a World Cup in 12 months&#39; time. To challenge ourselves against the current title-holders and probably the most in-form team around the world, there&#39;s a lot to play for.&quot;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/teams/1/australia/form" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Australia</a>, who won the 2021 T20 World Cup, failed to make it through to the knockouts of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup at their own backyard. In their last must-win group-stage encounter against Afghanistan, Australia dropped Mitchell Starc from the playing XI but Cummins has ensured that the left-arm paceman will take the new ball on Thursday.&quot;He will take the new ball. He&#39;s really positive. I hope he knows his value. He&#39;s been fantastic, especially in ODI cricket. He&#39;s a huge player for us,&quot; said Cummins.The 29-year-old has already captained Australia in nine Tests but will be leading the country for the first time in ODIs. He was elevated to the captaincy of the ODI team after Aaron Finch announced his retirement from the format and Cummins wants his team to just go out and express themselves.&quot;When I took on this role, it was campaign-focused; there are a dozen ODIs until next year&#39;s World Cup and we will see how that goes and make a decision after that. I don&#39;t think you will see too much change from what Finchy brought to the squad around his captaincy. I hope I can provide an environment where the players can all go out and express themselves.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Australia's Test and ODI captain will be playing more than 100 days of international cricket over the next 12 months

Pat Cummins

Looking at packed schedule, decision to skip IPL was pretty easy: Cummins

<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10130/ben-stokes/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Stokes</a> has played starring roles in two World Cup finals to forever etch his name in English folklore. He scored an unbeaten 84 in 2019 at Lord&#39;s to drag the match into the Super Over, where he scored another eight. More recently, he scored a fifty as England won their second T20 World Cup in Melbourne.<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/ben-stokes-announces-retirement-from-odis-1658144601708" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stokes had retired from One-Day Internationals (ODI) earlier this year</a> as he felt playing all formats was &quot;unsustainable&quot;. more so after he was appointed England&#39;s Test captain. England white-ball coach Matthew Mott hopes Stokes will &quot;unretire&quot; from ODIs after the memorable night at MCG and potentially play the 50-over World Cup in India next year.England also do not play many T20Is over the next 12 months anyway. &quot;When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement one of the first things I said was that I&#39;d back any decision he made,&quot; Mott said.&nbsp;&quot;But I said to him he didn&#39;t necessarily have to retire - he could just not play 50-overs for a while.&quot;I did say you could always unretire. That&#39;s his decision. It&#39;s going to be a World Cup year and we don&#39;t play much T20 cricket for a while but it will be a decision that&#39;s up to him.&quot;The more we can get him is great. He&#39;s doing an amazing job with the Test captaincy but he is a very big cog in the wheel when he comes back to white-ball.&quot;While announcing his ODI retirement said that his body did not allow him to give it his 100% across formats and did not want to block the place of another player. &quot;The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,&quot; he said.One can understand Stokes&#39; decision given their packed calendar, right after the World Cup. They are due to play an three-match ODI series against Australia, starting November 17, just four days after they won the T20 World Cup, which has led to Moeen Ali criticise the horrible scheduling. Mott has also backed his player saying that it is not an ideal situation to be in.England are also due to travel to Pakistan for a Test series, starting December 1. &quot;He&#39;s a three-dimensional player and he has so much to offer,&quot; Mott added.&nbsp;&quot;In this team he was the glue - I think we have a lot of guys who can do extraordinary things but he was the player you knew that if he was in you&#39;d win the game.&quot;I&#39;ll let him dust off today. He&#39;s his own man and he&#39;ll make his own decisions. He&#39;ll do what&#39;s right for English cricket and he always has.&quot;That was part of his decision to retire from ODI cricket. He didn&#39;t think he could give it his all and credit to him for making that decision because he&#39;s such a special commodity for English cricket. We want what&#39;s best for the whole system as well.&quot;Rob Key, the managing director of England cricket stayed mum over Stokes&#39; possible return to the 50-over fold. &nbsp;&quot;Nothing is forever, but who knows what will happen,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;At the moment, we&#39;ll just keep thinking about trying to enjoy what we&#39;ve done now and then we&#39;ll be thinking about Test cricket.&quot;Ben Stokes will be thinking about Test cricket and I don&#39;t want him to have to worry about anything else apart from what&#39;s in front of him right now, which is the Test series in Pakistan; and then you&#39;ve got New Zealand and then Australia after that. You don&#39;t have to worry about anything else.&quot;What will be, will be. I don&#39;t think you ever rule anything out but at the moment, we&#39;ll just try and enjoy what we&#39;ve done so far and Ben can enjoy it. I&#39;m sure he&#39;s enjoying it as much as he possibly can.&quot;Just days before the T20 World Cup, in-form batter Jonny Bairstow had to pull out due to a freak golf course accident, while fast bowler Reece Topley was ruled out after suffering an ankle injury after arriving in Australia.However, the duo have played their part in helping this England side build towards the marquee event, which is something Mott acknowledged. &quot;Reece Topley was a big part of our preparation for here,&quot; Mott said.&nbsp;&quot;I was absolutely gutted for him, such an innocuous injury. Seeing him leave our group was hard. I must admit he was one of the first blokes I thought of - and Jonny as well.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The England all-rounder decided to give up ODIs as he felt it was "unsustainable" to continue playing all three formats

Ben Stokes

Matthew Mott suggests Ben Stokes to 'unretire' from ODIs

Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, India and now England. What do they share in common? All of them held two white-ball titles at one point simultaneously.2010 &ndash; Chennai Super Kings &ndash; won the Indian Premier League and the Champions League Twenty 202013 &ndash; Mumbai Indians &ndash; won the Indian Premier League and the Champions League Twenty 202014 &ndash; India &ndash; won the ODI World Cup and the Champions Trophy2022 &ndash; England &ndash; won the ODI World Cup in 2019 and the T20 World CupInterestingly, when we talk about legacies and kingdoms, we often refer back to these teams and how they were largely successful across competitions at once. And, we all know how this England team was built. It certainly wasn&#39;t overnight, it is over seven years, multiple coaches and plenty of tactics later that England are a white-ball kingdom.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668350084808-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Unlike domestic cricket, an international title is worth its weight in gold. Especially when teams are struggling to win one. Never has a team held the ODI World Cup title and the T20 World Cup title together.&nbsp;Here are England.&nbsp;When <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65584/sam-curran/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sam Curran</a> lifted the Player of the Tournament award, it was history in the making, for multiple reasons.****&ldquo;It has been a long journey and few changes but we are reaping the rewards of how we have played in the last few years. It&#39;s been a fantastic tournament,&rdquo; said an honest Jos Buttler at the post-match presentation.It was England&rsquo;s third white-ball title, their second in three years, and perhaps the most important one of all. When Matthew Mott took over as the head coach of this talented crop, the start was far from what he would have anticipated.After losing against South Africa and then India, there was already discussion on whether they are having a good white-ball setup, or whether <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/9782/jos-buttler/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jos Buttler</a> was the right person to lead this team. Later, leading into the World Cup, there was once again an argument of whether <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10130/ben-stokes/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Stokes</a> was a forced fit.Three weeks later, Stokes is a T20 World Cup winner, completing an entire circle, one that started with him conceding four consecutive sixes against Carlos Brathwaite in Kolkata back in 2016. No one saw the arc coming, no one saw Stokes being this influential against Pakistan in the final.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668350143180-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Data-driven approach is one that England are heralded with. But in a data-driven approach, a man who has zero T20I fifties, a man who hasn&rsquo;t played cricket for over a year leading into this mega competition. That isn&rsquo;t data. That can in no world be contributed to data. It is purely a gut take, it is purely something that is on the lines of Pakistan&rsquo;s Jazbaa.But for a data-driven team to take such a decision, it could have easily backfired.On Sunday (November 13), Stokes was batting on three off eight balls. It wasn&rsquo;t too far off from his knock earlier against Sri Lanka. It wasn&rsquo;t far off from all our predictions about how England&rsquo;s headache of fitting Stokes into the setup is going to be. But it was definitely far away from all our data-driven analysis, that there was someone with that aura, immeasurable at its best, putting England in the driver&#39;s seat.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VQ7EaP8LUns" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>At one point, the left-hander was almost on the verge of breaking down mid-pitch, like how Aaron Finch went, &ldquo;Oh my god.&rdquo; But this is Stokes. Even when he wasn&rsquo;t at his best form, even when he was playing his least good format, there was a fear.A fear amongst the Pakistani fans that he would take the game away from them. England, on the other hand, had always backed Stokes. If cricket ever had a situation of going on a war, the all-rounder would be one of the first names that they would take alongside them. Stokes&rsquo; aura, charisma and big-match mentality is unmatched.5 off 10, it might not be too wild to assume that Stokes would have had flashbacks of the 2016 T20 World Cup final. He had conceded four sixes, he was on his knee and literally, breaking down in tears. It was that stage yet again, Harry Brook at the other end was a goner. 84/4.Stokes was draining delivery after delivery. Every camera was pointing towards him, Pakistan were slowly clawing their way back into the contest and boom. Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or let it go?<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668350252741-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">That&rsquo;s when Stokes lost himself and Pakistan lost the game. The big-match player that Stokes is, he seized the opportunity and handed the opposition a masterclass of a knock.You could see how much it meant to him, the roar, the big smile and the sweat on his back, it showed redemption is both sweet and sweat. Stokes seized the moment, in history, as he walked back unbeaten on 52, scripting history.Data might mean something, but in this case, not everything.***All the talks of Stokes are surreal. But there is a bigger arc. Remember the 2021 T20 World Cup, when England crashed out of the semi-final stage of the competition against New Zealand? Do you remember the squad they had? They had one name missing: Sam Curran.Cast your mind to what happened prior to the tournament, an injury not just ruled him out of the tournament but took away an opportunity for him to seize the moment. But 2022 presented another opportunity. And when life presents the second opportunity, you just got to do a Sam. He took it with both hands.Even if it meant bowling the tough overs. Even if it meant that leaking runs at the death could backfire immensely. Curran was the go-to-man for Buttler during the competition. Remember the war analogy, if there was a second person that they would take to war, it should be Curran.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668350338705-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The wicket was tricky. Leading into the final, most of Curran&rsquo;s overs were in the middle-overs or at the death. But when Buttler called him to bowl in the powerplay, against Mohammad Rizwan, it was a challenge that was familiar to him but one hadn&#39;t done it in some time. Prior to this innings, Curran had bowled just five overs in the powerplay.But when put in a fix, to get Rizwan out, he answered in brilliant fashion. Across his first two overs, the left-arm seamer conceded just five runs, picking up a crucial wicket. It almost broke Pakistan&rsquo;s back.If that didn&rsquo;t, he came on later to pick up two crucial pegs &ndash; Shan Masood and Mohammad Nawaz. For someone who is playing his first T20 World Cup, Curran was probably tasked with death at the death. Geddit? But on every occasion, including the final, he came out on top.Prior to this encounter, his economy was 7.3 at the death, having picked up seven wickets. It is almost poetic that England already have a steady option in the form of Curran to replace Stokes, as a batter even. It certainly addresses the elephant in the room &ndash; the talent pool and the backing.Why can&rsquo;t the other teams replicate?****************There was a lot of hurrah near the English dressing room. The players were getting ready to run onto the pitch and take a piece of the memorabilia &ndash; the stumps. But the first to run was Adil Rashid. Rashid is 34, he is perhaps on the last leg of his T20I career, considering how his form has been.But that&rsquo;s where there is a fine balance between trusting and trusting too much. CSK have been guilty of trusting players far too long in the past but when these kinds of decisions, tactical acumen work off, it is as good as gold.Rashid&rsquo;s form was patchy. Patchy is perhaps more than a fair assessment of how he has bowled over the last few months. Ever since his return to the international scene, his form has seen a major dip and his overs, arguably have turned as tricky ones for the team.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1668350372686-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">That&rsquo;s where Buttler the captain deserves all credit. That&rsquo;s where Stokes, the man who soaked in all the pressure deserves the credit. Both of them, on either end of the clash, pointed out at Rashid&rsquo;s spell, at how he has bowled in the clash that has turned the tide.&ldquo;Sam and Rash, it was huge reasons that we didn&rsquo;t feel a lot of pressure during the run-chase. I never felt like it was out of our hands at all, wanted to stay till the end,&rdquo; commented Stokes.It is easy to forget. The wickets of Mohammad Harris and Babar Azam at those crucial points in the contest arguably changed the tide of this fixture. Rashid, the big-match player, was yet again on point.If you had gone by the data, he was a man on the decline. But England backed him, and backed him to the hilt, that they are reaping the rewards. Data certainly drives the game but sometimes, some players can&rsquo;t quite be defined by that logic.Today was an example.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

England are no longer one of the best, they are undeniably, the best

Jos Buttler

Adil Rashid

ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Australia, 2022

India

Prince Stokes legitimizes the English kingdom

Australia batter <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10085/glenn-maxwell/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Glenn Maxwell</a> is set to be sidelined for a considerable amount of time after he is believed to have fractured his leg playing in the backyard. According to Cricket Australia (CA), Maxwell slipped and fractured his left fibula for which he underwent a surgery on Sunday (November 13).The injury means Maxwell has been ruled out of the upcoming One-Day International (ODI) series against England and there are doubts whether he will be fit in time to play any competitive cricket over the summer. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57028/sean-abbott/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sean Abbott</a> has been named as Maxwell&#39;s replacement for the three-match ODI series against England, which is scheduled to begin on November 17 at the Adelaide Oval.&quot;Glenn is in good spirits. It was an unfortunate accident and we feel for Glenn in the circumstances given he was in great touch in his last few games,&quot; Australia&#39;s selection chief George Bailey said.&nbsp;&quot;Glenn is a critical part of our white ball structure and we will continue to support him through his recovery and rehabilitation.&quot;Australia have been unfortunate with injuries of late with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/josh-inglis-ruled-out-of-t20-world-cup-1666239709458" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Inglis injuring his hand badly</a> just a day before the T20 World Cup 2022 while playing golf. The 2021 winners failed to make it past the Super 12 stage this edition, with Maxwell managing 118 runs from four innings at a strike-rate of 161.64.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The injury means Maxwell has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against England and there are doubts of him being fit in time to play any competitive cricket over the summer

Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell set for long period on sidelines after fracturing leg

Prolific lefthander <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/62023/travis-head/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Travis Head</a> returned to Australia&#39;s ODI squad for their three-match series against England which will also <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/56964/pat-cummins/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pat Cummins</a>&#39; first outing as the ODI skipper. Opening batter Marcus Harris made a return to the Test side for the subsequent two Tests against West Indies.Australia named a full-strength squad for the three ODIs in Adelaide (November 17 ), Sydney (November 19), and Melbourne (November 21).Head has been in excellent form in the ODIs this year, scoring 310 runs from six matches at a strike rate of 112.7, including 70 not out against Sri Lanka besides 89 and 101 against Sri Lanka. The lefthander was unavailable for their home series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand due to paternity leave.Allrounder Cameron Green was also named in ODI squad. Head is most likely to open alongside David Warner in place of Aaron Finch, who retired from ODIs in September.&quot;Our focus is to continue to build a squad with an eye to next year&rsquo;s World Cup under Pat as the new ODI captain, so it&rsquo;s an important series. Travis Head returns in place of Aaron Finch having played well in Pakistan and Sri Lanka earlier in the year. He has demonstrated flexibility in the types of roles he can play in our ODI line-up. Our next opportunity in the ODI format will be in India next year which will allow us to experience similar conditions as for the World Cup in October,&quot; Chief Selector George Bailey said in an official release.For the two Tests against West Indies, which will be played in Perth (November 30 - December 4) and Adelaide (December 8-12), Australia recalled <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57043/marcus-harris/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marcus Harris</a> who was dropped after his poor performances in the Ashes.Harris did not make the cut for the Test series in Sri Lanka and was among the reserves for the series against Pakistan. The lefthander played nine County Championship games for Gloucestershire and scored 726 runs from 16 innings. In the ongoing Sheffield Shield, he scored 287 runs in five innings for Victoria.Pacer <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/61998/scott-boland/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scott Boland</a>, who claimed 18 wickets from three Ashes Tests on his debut, also returned to the Test side.Australia ODI squad vs England: Pat Cummins (C), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.Australia Test squad vs West Indies: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Top-order batter Marcus Harris also returned to the national team for their Test series against West Indies in December

AUS VS ENG,1st ODI

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