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BBL 2020 Team Preview: Men from Adelaide have the force to strike hard this time

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Third-place finishers in the group table last season, the men from Adelaide have readied their arsenal to strike at the right moment and throughout the tournament to make sure they reach their second-ever BBL final in the history of the league. The first and only time they did, was in 2017-18, where they beat Hobart Hurricanes to claim the silverware. 

The extra motivation

Since then it has been difficult for the team to make it to the final two in the past two years. This time around, the team would go in with extra motivation, given the fact that it was the only among the eight teams to be away from their home venue due to covid. Being away as a group for the past month has brought them closer and given them a target to prove that even without the odds in their favour, they are never afraid to ride the high tide. 

Coach Gillespie believes that his boys have put in a lot of effort at their base in Coff’s Harbour in the New South Wales and was grateful for the authorities to have provided the team world-class facilities. 

"I have to say the local council, the stadium management and grounds staff in Coffs Harbour deserve all the credit. The facilities we had – at short notice – have been world-class and they all bent over backwards to help. I can't thank them enough,” he said. 

The foreign signings

Adelaide are the only team who wouldn’t have much problem with their foreign stars as most of them would be available throughout the tournament, barring the fact that Rashid Khan might be away for a week or so if the Afghanistan vs Ireland series goes as planned. 

Rashid Khan’s worldwide reputation of winning matches doesn’t need any backing up from the stats. But if one indeed wanted to know, then in 40 matches at the BBL over the years, the Afghan has picked up 56 wickets with his economy remaining below seven at all the times. Overall in 237 T20 games, the 22-year-old has picked up 327 scalps. 

Phil Salt and Danny Brigs, both Englishmen were drafted in by Gillespie for their outstanding performances in the Vitality Blast. While Salt has previously played with the Strikers, it would be a first time for Briggs, the highest wicket-taker in England domestic circuit.    

Phil Salt was one of the leading run-scorers for Strikers last year with 361 runs from 15 innings. Even in the Vitality Blast, he has to his credit more than 200 runs at a decent strike rate. Overall, he has 1709 runs in 73 T20 games at a strike rate of more than 150, which could be crucial for the Strikers considering that his partner, Jake Weatherald is more of an innings builder with a strike rate of less than 130. 

Briggs, another one of Gillespies Sussex recruits is is a utility player who can bowl at any time in the innings. The vastly experienced 29-year-old has 186 T20 wickets in his kitty in 168 games, meaning that he gives at least one wicket in each game. 

Speaking about Briggs’ potential, Gillespie who had been at Sussex himself said, “Danny is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the T20 Blast in the UK, which has been running since 2003. He's a vastly experienced left-arm spinner, he's a very adaptable player. He can bowl in every phase of the game, so he gives us flexibility and options.”

Adelaide Strikers Squad

Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Spencer Johnson, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam O'Connor, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall.

Overseas Players: Danny Briggs (England), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Phil Salt (England)

Coach: Jason Gillespie

Assistant Coach: Cameron White

Strikers would bank on experience 

Adelaide is one of the most experienced sides this year in the tournament. It is not by the age of the players, rather by the number of games that they have played. For e.g. Phil Slat, at just 24, has an experience of 73 high quality T20 games. Or for that matter, Rashid Khan at 22 more than 300 wickets in his kitty. 

It is this experience that needs to be balanced and utilised well by the Strikers management. The likes Peter Siddle, joint highest wicket-taker (19 wickets in 15 games) last season, all-rounder Michael Nesser (as and when available), skipper Travis Head, Rashid Khan, Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw would have come to good to give the Strikers all the chance in the world to make it to their second finals appearance. 

However, one person that all the Strikers fans and team would be looking to come good would be the 32-year-old Jonathan Wells. The guy had smokes all the bowlers out of the park last year scoring 478 runs in 14 innings at an unbelievable average of 68.28 and at a healthy strike rate of 135. 

However, Gillespie believes that the new signing Renshaw and Daniel Worrall would be the important dots to connect the Strikers to the finals. “Matt came down from Brisbane to Coffs to get around our boys after a few hits in Premier Cricket. He's a very fine player and that's the reason we went hard to recruit him. He's a very flexible batter with a lot of upsides and he can also bowl some handy slower deliveries too.”

Head must 'Carey' it through

It would be between the two most experienced and acclaimed Aussie Superstars in the form of Travis Head (captain) and Alex Carey (who would lead in Head’s absence due to international duties) to take the charge of a unit brimming of talent and make the most of all that talent. Carey, 29,  has just recently signed a four year deal with the strikers, meaning that the team looks at him as their future leader. 

With Head away, most probably for the first eight rounds, Carey, who was Strikers’ second-highest run-scorer last year with 391 runs at an average of 35.54, must take the lead and prove to the Australian selectors that he should be the number one choice going to India for the next year’s T20 World Cup. Carey would not get a better chance than this to do that. 

Head, when he will return, will have gas hands as he would look to recreate the 2017-18 season all over again in which he scored 374 runs in just 9 innings (he would get 7-8 innings minimum this year too) to take the team through.  Therefore it would be between the two experienced left-handers Head and Carey to carry the team in such a way that it heads to the final straightaway. 

Possible Best XI for the first game: 

Jake Weatherald, Phil Salt, Matt Short, Matt Renshaw (c), Jon Wells, Harry Nielsen (wk), Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Danny Briggs, Daniel Worrall

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Aus vs Ind | What Experts said as Pandya, Natarajan help India seal the series

Hardik Pandya finished it off in style as he heaved one across the leg to long-on off Daniel Sams to win, not only the game but also the T20I series for India, giving the team a much-needed boost before the start of the real ‘Test’. The pair of Pandya and Shreyas Iyer, which added 46 precious runs in just 21 balls turned out to be the game-changer for the team, apart from some unusual, but effective batting from Virat Kohli (Yes, he hit a scoop, sitting on one knee, Yeah Kohli did that.) Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul too played important knocks of 52 and 30 respectively. Earlier in the day at SCG, Australia posted a challenging total after being called on to bat first on the flat Sydney track. With the help of stand-in captain Matthew Wade’s 58 off 32 and Smith’s 46 off 38, the Kangaroos reached 194 in their 20 overs. The bowling off T. Natarajan was of particular importance, as he gave away just 20 runs in his quota of four overs, and that included two important wickets of D’Arcy Short and Moises Henriques as well. Captains' Viewpoints Indian captain Kohli was happy with the win and lauded the teammates for standing up to the occasion and pulling a series back after the disappointing loss in the 50 overs format. “[It] meant a great deal. We've played as a team in T20 cricket,” Kohli said during the post-match presentation ceremony. “The fact that we don't have Rohit and Bumrah, our established white-ball players, in and still doing well makes me happy,” the skipper added underlining how important the victory has been even in the absence of the modern-day greats of the Indian team. Saying that the young players are utilizing the opportunities given to them, Kohli pointed out how playing at least 14 games in the recently concluded IPL helped the team fare well in the shortest format. “We just kept them down to a total which we thought was quite chase-able with the short boundary. It's contributions from the whole team that make you feel better because young players are taking their opportunities,” he said. Feeling as if he was in awe of Hardik Pandya, the responsible guy, Kohli praised the Baroda born, saying that he is now the most bankable player going down the line 4-5 years. “Hardik coming into the team in 2016 was pure ability. He has raw talent. And now he realizes that this is his time, the next 4-5 years, to be that bankable player that can win you games from anywhere. His plans are right and I'm glad to see that,” he said. Talking about the scoop he said, “There was indeed an AB shot! I told Hardik, Tye wasn’t expecting it and he said he didn't either. I'll text AB tonight, see what he thinks of it.” Wade, the stand-in captain for Aaron Finch was humorous in his approach to the post-match presentation, saying that it was fun being a captain until Pandya came in. Feeling that they were a bit short on the target, Wade said, “I think we might have been a little short - not a lot, but then it doesn't matter when Hardik is in [this sort of form].” Wade believed that the players did quite well in the game. His only complaint was of miss execution at certain places. “All in all, we played some good cricket, we just miss-executed in some places and that was it. Was great to see Sweppo and Zamps. These guys have played a lot of T20. Unfortunately, we couldn't execute in the end,” he said. Expert Opinion Mostly the experts were full of praise for the kind of patience that Pandya showed to reach the total and take the game as close as possible before finally finishing it. There were obvious talks of Chahal failing today with the ball and how it is going to be a gala time in the Indian dressing room considering that Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer, and Bumrah have their birthdays today. Rohan Gavaskar, former India, and Bengal cricketer, impressed by Hardik's ability to change the cause of any game said that he should get out of that mode of 'just a finisher' and explore his batting a bit more. Legend of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar too lauded the Indian team for showing composure and class by winning two different games in two different ways, showcasing its range and depth as a World Class unit. Freddie Wilde, the cricket nerd, known for his numbers specialty was at it his best as he decoded how Daniel Sams and Andrew Tye are going to be the perfect fodder for Pandya to feast on in the last two overs. He said that both the bowlers depend on slower deliveries and Pandya too likes the slow balls to utilise his long levers. Harsha Bhogle, the world-known cricket commentator and expert too was in awe of the 27-year-old Pandya saying that he has to be amongst the most feared of the finishers worldwide. It is becoming like a ritual to have a Gaurav Kalra witty tweet in our segment. And that shall be carried on. However, there awaits another surprise at the end as this segment today has an even funnier end courtesy of the legend of witty tweets Wasim Jaffer. Jaffer, the legendary first-class cricketer has off late become a Twitter sensation with his tweets and one in this game also caught everyone's eyes as he retweeted a Michael Vaughan tweet in which he had predicted that Australia would win the series. The third and final game of the series as well as of the limited-overs leg of this tour would be played on the 8th of December in Sydney before moving on to Adelaide for the exciting Test series.

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AUS vs IND | 2nd T20: Pandya shines again as India avenge ODI series loss

India defeated the hosts Australia by six wickets and took an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match T20 series. Needing 14 runs off the last over of Daniel Sams, Pandya deposited two belligerent strokes over the leg side boundary to avenge the series loss in the ODIs. Pandya finished with 42 no out of 22 balls and was aptly supported by Iyer who stepped up after the fall of Virat Kohli with timely boundaries while the required rate was breaching the manageable mark. Chasing a big total of 192 runs on what looked like another lfat pitc at the SCG, the Indian openers were off to a very slow start with Australian pacers surprising them with a bit of help in the air. Both Sean Abbott and Danel Sams did ot allow Rahul and Dahawan to run away with the game as the visitors could have only 9 runs off the first two overs. Australian skipper Matthew Wade was reluctant to give Indian bowlers to set their eyes on a particular bowler as four new bowlers were tried in the first four overs. Andre Tye was brought in to bowl in the third obver and after troubled Rahul on the first two deliveries with seam-up deliveries, which are so unusual for his style of bowling but was guilty of overstepping on the second delivery. Indians got the license to go for the big one and Rahul made full use of the long half-volley that Tye put on a platter for him on the free-hit ball. A lofted extra cover drive ended up in the stands with a 90-metre six. Tye ended up conceding 15 runs in that over and India were up and running with the required rate. Wade did not disown his one-over spell tactic as Glenn Maxwell was brought in to check the left-handed Dhawan but the opener was up to the task as he deposited the off-spinner deep over midwicket boundary and followed it up with a four to plunder him for 19 runs. Rahul and Dhawan were up and going at the rate of knots as Sean Aboot too was put to the sword and the duo took 13 runs off him that made 47 runs from the three overs after economical first couple of overs. Wade brought back Tye and the pacer followed his tried and tested formula for years of bowling slower balls and caught Rahul early in his attempt to clear the off side boundary. He was taken at the deep-point boundary and it led to stopping of the rampage that the openers had brought on the Australian bowlers. The leg-spinning duo of Mitchell Swepson and Adam Zampa tried to choke the runs and Shikhar Dhawan went back to the pavilion in the quest of forcing the issue as the required run rate was always going up, but not before he completed his 11th fifty in the international T20 off 34 balls. Samson was trusted again to bat at the number four and he showed promise as he showed his repertoire of shots on both sides of wicket against Daniel Sams, hitting him for a four behind point on the off side and following that up with a gigantic six with a pull shot off the front foot when Sams tried to test his backfoot game. However, he once again threw it away but the surging required rate did not give him any chance but to keep running at the bowlers and Zampa was smart enough to preempt his big shot. He bowled into the pitch and it bounced more than Samson expected and he could hit it only to Steve Smith standing deep at the long-off boundary. Virat Kohli took his time when Dhawan and Samson were going for runs but as Pandya was promoted to the number five position based on his good showing the ODI series and first T20, Kohli started pulling tricks out of his boxes as he took Tye for 18 runs in the 15th over with the help of an uncharacteristic ramp shot over the fine leg boundary for six and a couple of boundaries, one via an outside edge while another came through a thumping pull shot that perfect bisected the two fielders deep on the boundary. Once again Tye provided India the momentum which they needed to chase such a big total but Adam Zampa denied the pair of Pandya and Kohli any hittable lengths to get underneath. However, the duo were smart as they made sure to take eight runs off Zampa to make it 46 required off the last four overs. Daniel Sams returned to price out the big scap of Kohli on the very first ball of the 1th over with a slower short bouncer that kept on going away from the Indian skipper and his counterpart standing behind the stumps flung to send him packing at a crucial juncture of the match. Next man in, Shreyas Iyer, who got into the playing XI in place of Manish Pandey who had an ‘elbow niggle’, could not have walked in to bat at a more crucial point than that as the visitors needed a total of 37 runs from the last three overs. Iyer has a reputation of being a big-hitter against spinners and he made sure to do no harm to that reputation smoking a big six off Zampa over the midwicket boundary that later turned out to be 111 metre and the biggest six hit in the series until then. Tye was again called in to do the hard work in the 19th over and he was successful in preventing Pandya from hitting any big shots on the first three balls but Pandya kept his cool and luck favoured him with an outside edge that flew over the top of short third man. Pandya changed his bat midway in the Tye’s over as he found it tough to swing the knuckle balls even though he was delaying his shot. He was not to miss out on picking Tye’s knuckle balls after missing two in the early part of the over and with the new bat smashed the fifth ball to the extra cover boundary for a much-needed boundary. It was always a matter of time before Pandya could take the Australian bowlers to the cleaners and the new bat might just have provided him the feel-good factor before going berserk and winning the game and the series for India. All were at stake for the hosts as the debutant Sams was tasked to defend 13 runs in the last over against Pandya and Iyer and as it turned out the task was too difficult to achieve against the firepower of Pandya. Earlier in the day, Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to chase at the SCG and his eyes must have been on the short boundary on one side of the wicket. The stand-in captain Wade promoted himself at the top of the order with Aaron Finch missing due to injury and he put on a show right from the start. He was particularly severe of any short balls and the Indian new ball bowlers bowled plenty of them. Kohli threw a bait on the left-handed openers, D’Arcy Short and the captain Wade to go across the line against Washington Sundar to the short boundary on the leg side. Wade took the bait and won the game within the game as Australia were off to a rollicking start at 23/0 off the first two overs. The carnage went on for the tourists as wade was not giving up his shots and was taking calculated risks. Just when the hosts appeared to be running away with the game, Natarajan induced a false shot from Short and Iyer was sharp at the mid-wicket fence to snaffle the catch and India were relieved to see the separation of the opening pair. India’s dismal performances in the field did not stop in this match as well as in the very next over of the fall of Short, Wade was dropped by Pandya who has dropped quite a few more than his reputation as a fielder would be able to digest. Wade was severe on the off spinner Sundar and took him for 31 runs off his three overs but a fair share of blame for his bad figure would go to Kohli as well as he dropped Wade when he induced a leading edge off the left-hander’s bat. But, Kohli was aware of the happenings around him and was quick to throw the ball after dropping the catch for Rahul to whipp off the bails before Wade could come back to the crease. Glenn Maxwell started in his usual style and took no time to settle before he could unleash his blistering shots. He started with a big six off Chahal over the long-off boundary but Shardul Tahkur got the better of him with balls away from his range on the off side. Steve Smith looked frustrated in the middle as he could not get going against disciplined Indian bowlers . He was given a breather by Moises Henriqyes who once again promised big with the bat but perished in the process of going for big runs. Out of all the bowlers in the Indian camp, Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers and went for only five runs per over and also took two big wickets of Short and Henriques, just when they were starting to look threatening for the visitors. Yuzvendra Chahal had a real off day in the field after a man of the match performance in the last game. The series win in the T20 is the second consecutive series win in Australia for the Virat Kohli-led team in the shortest form of the game. After showing not so impressive run of form in the first two ODIs of the series, the men in blue have bounced back strongly and will go into the Test series with high confidence.

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Neil Wagner: The lionheart who personifies power of perseverance

Way back in 2012, New Zealand cricket was in a rather gloomy state. The team, across formats, was struggling and there was hardly any sign of a recovery in near future. That year, the Kiwis toured West Indies and got beaten comprehensively in both Tests and ODIs. But the Test series witnessed the debut of a new left-arm seamer named Neil Wagner. The first impression he left was rather disappointing. Simon Doull, the New Zealand commentator covering that series, expressed his disappointment over the fact that Wagner, despite a load of experience at the domestic level, couldn't bowl with the seam upright. There was little else in his bowling that suggested great potential. Later that year, New Zealand toured South Africa where they got smashed in the Test series by an unforgiving Proteas team. However, by then, Wagner had managed to get the seam upright on his deliveries. But still, he hardly seemed a big threat to anyone. One thing that Wagner did seem to possess was a big heart. He had an aggressive body language and didn't mind letting the batsman know that he was there. A tireless performer, Wagner kept charging in with intent, though without success. Next year, Wagner seeemed to have improved himself. Not only was he keeping the seam upright, but also swinging the ball. He dismissed Kevin Peterson for a golden duck with a full delivery that swung back in to the right-hander and trapped him plumb in front. Later that year, during West Indies' tour of New Zealand, Wagner continued to improve his swing bowling skills. One of the commentators made a pertinent observation about the bowler. He described Wagner as a medium-pacer with the mindset of a fast bowler. While his aggressive attitude suited someone who could bowl fast and nasty, in reality, his pace and style was more conducive to being an orthodox swing bowler. But Wagner's hostile attitude towards the batsmen wasn't going to be subdued. Also, his lion-heartedness was visible to everyone. Even on the deadest of wickets and most hopeless situations, he never seemed to stop trying. It was this quality that led him to bowl his side to victory at Auckland in 2014, against India. On the last day of the Test, when India were cruising towards a victory on a surface that was devoid of any help for bowlers, Wagner bowled his heart out and dismissed a well-set Virat Kohli, centurion Shikhar Dhawan, dangerous MS Dhoni, all through short pitch deliveries. It was clear, Wagner may not have the pace to be a Mitchell Johnson-style bowler, but his willpower would make him effective. In the coming years, the South Africa-born seamer who hailed from the same school as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, managed to get regular wickets with continuous, relentless short-pitch bowling, against what anybody would have expected. In a highly-insightful interview with Ian Bishop before the start of play on day 4 of the first Test match against West Indies, Wagner revealed the complex thinking and pursuit of excellence that lies behind his full-throated aggression. In his own words, the left-arm seamer mentioned that he doesn't want to remain a one-trick pony who only relies on short balls. The 34-year old who now has more than 200 Test wickets is using the knowledge of his two teammates and bowling comrades, Trent Boult and Tim Southee, both masters of the art of swing, to improve his own swing-bowling ability. This shows not just a great desire to learn but also a highly admirable trait of not just sitting on your laurels. Despite having proven himself to be of immense value with his unique bowling style, he still seeks to grow. Today, Wagner's record looks highly impressive. 212 wickets in 49 matches at 26.31 average and strike rate of 51.4 is among the best in the world. Last year, on a horrendous tour of Australia where the Kiwis were battered by the host team, Wagner emerged with his pride enhanced by a stellar performance. He not only picked up 17 wickets in three matches but managed to conquer Steve Smith's run-making prowess by the same tactic of continuous short-pitch bowling that is usually regarded detrimental to anyone bowling at his pace. If Tim Southee and Trent Boult have formed one of the greatest, if not the greatest, new ball pairing for New Zealand, Neil Wagner has been an equally integral part of the team and its success. Always giving his all, never backing down in a fight, and never relying on the pitch, Wagner has carved a niche for himself with utmost hard work and dedication.