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CPL 2021 | Team Preview: Jamaica Tallawahs overreliant on domestic stalwarts to win third title

If not winning a lot of games even with superstar performers were not agonising enough, the Jamaica Tallawahs are set to embark on another journey without those performers. 

They were enriched with a performing international trio of Glenn Phillips, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane but could manage to win just three out of 10 games last season. However, they managed to escape through to the final rounds and were knocked out only at the hands of the Trinbago Knight Riders, who went all the way to win the tournament.

This time, none of them will be around and the Tallawahs will fall back on the already struggling shoulders of Andre Russell, and Carlos Brathwaite, who is getting back the lost reputation in the shortest format.

They were the first champions of the competition in 2013 and then replicated their success again in the 2015 edition. However, apart from those two triumphant events, the Tallawahs have not had a dream run of form in the competition of late.

Strength

The Tallawahs have a good mixture of players who are champions in the 20-over format along with promising players on the block. 

They have the services of Andre Russell and Brathwaite, who have a fair bit of idea on how to get the big things done in tournaments such as the CPL along with Pakistan batsman Haider Ali, who has been tipped as one of the big things with the bat in this format.

In the bowling department, Qais Ahmad will represent the enterprising young talent in the Tallawahs camp while the veteran Fidel Edwards is bowling at express pace and with immaculate control.

The Tallawahs will bank on the trio of Russell, Brathwaite and Edwards to make up for the lack of international stars and if they get their game right in this edition, the Tallawahs can go far beyond what their critics are rating them this time.

Weakness

Interestingly, the strengths of the Tallawahs are also their weaknesses as Russell’s fitness has been questionable in the recent past. Lat time around as well, they were overreliance on Russell and were perished for it.

They also need to find a replacement for an economic and wicket-taking partnership of Lamichanne and Mujeeb who were accurate and threatening at the same time. They picked up 28 wickets at an economy rate of less than six runs per over and the Tallawahs have their task cut out to find another potent bowling pair for the middle phase of the game.

They will demand more runs from their opener Chadwick Walton, who had a horrible season last year and his failure at the top will put more and more pressure on Russell.

Opportunities

All the games of CPL will be played at the same venue—Warner Stadium in St. Kitts and it’s inevitable that the surfaces will get slower and slower with each passing game.

There will be massive opportunities for off-spinner Chris Green and leg spinner Qais Ahmad to leave their mark on the competition.

Pakistan batsman Haider Ali also has a massive opportunity to bring his best game with the bat in the competition and provide a rollicking start to the Tallawahs.

Strongest XI

Chadwick Walton, Haider Ali, Andre Russell, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Green, Qais Ahmad, Fidel Edwards, Veerasammy Permaul

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Inside Out | Virat Kohli faces toughest test in captaincy after years of bull run

Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar always emphasizes the game of Cricket is a great leveller and that it balances the highs and lows of players and teams in a matter of minutes. His words could not have been more true for the Virat Kohli-led Indian team on the tour of England. After the hysteric win at Lord’s, they have been levelled to the floor by an England side that showed more discipline and consistency. The loss at Lord’s would have been mentally tough and for the hosts and as champion players do after a moment of reckoning, their henchman James Anderson went back to the drawing board and came back with the basics of the game. In complete contrast, Kohli’s India seemed to be stuck in the same euphoria that encircled them at the end of an incredible heist. There is always an argument that the current crop of Indian cricketers and the team under Kohli’s leadership is better and different than their predecessors. While there are arguments to be made and proved for the first narrative, there is little doubt about the latter presumption. The idea that this team is different from their previous generations because they have not had as bad a day in the office in an away Test match for a long long time. Yes, they have been defeated badly on numerous occasions and they have squandered their advantages due to periods of mediocrity with the ball or wrong alacrity with the bat. However, India under Kohli have not faced such a daunting day before nothing could go right for them from the very first over to the last over of the day. The Test defeats he has endured as captain came as punishment for some awful phase of play, but they always came back quickly to remain in contention. They had lost the last Test series in England 1-4, but apart from the loss at Lord’s, they were in with the chance in all the games. Even at Lord’s, they started well with the ball after a disastrous batting performance before Chris Waokes took the game away from them. The first day at Headingley would have been a surreal experience for Kohli, and his expressions while sitting on the balcony and seeing his teammates falling like a house of cards demonstrated he was not even accepting it, let alone enduring it. But, amid all the hoopla around the team being the best Indian team, why were the fans always anxious about an Indian batting collapse. How were they sure a certain moment like the one in the first innings of the Leeds Test was due in the offering. There was a certain sense of scepticism about how they would fare when Joe Root sent them in at Lord’s and fans were fearing another batting collapse like the one in the 2018 Test. How come a team that boast of such superiority give such a sense of assurance about its failure to the fans? When KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma batted brilliantly to put them on the top at Lord’s it was rated tremendous efforts on the side of batsmen and also relieving at the same time instead of normalcy from a champion side that has it in them to be a world-beating side. Well, the batting collapse every fans and watcher of Indian cricket were fearing arrived in Leeds and it did come with more troubles. The ever so reliant bowling attack that breathed fire at Lord’s, replicated their batting mates and kept on searching for help from the pitch and in the air while being mediocre at best. Also, to compound the team’s issue, there was not much on offer from the pitch and they were left to inspire one another to lift their side and for a change, they lacked in that department as well. Kohli would have felt what his predecessor MS Dhoni used to go through on the twin tours of 2011 and 2014 where his batsmen were repetitively failing to make a mark with the bat while he was watching all the agony when England batsmen were batting from behind the wicket. Kohli must have had a near same feeling on the first day in Leeds while fielding at the first slip just beside Rishabh Pant. Kohli always has come across as a character who put his heart and soul in a contest and experts of the game argue that it makes his teammates so charged up for a moment that it gets tough to switch off from jubilation. They don’t take the losses to their heart though as they always come back harder after humiliation. Remember, India came rocking back in the series against Australia at the MCG after an embarrassing 46 all out while England trumped them in all departments in Chennai some days after a historic high at the Gabba. Did the Lord’s win affect their approach and decision making coming into the Test? Did they play four pacers only because of the triumph on the final day that was achieved by the relentless pace attack and the conditions and pitch at Headingley? Did Kohli decide to bat first only based on their first-innings performance at Lord’s? The answer to all these uncomfortable questions can be both yes and no depending on how one sees the captaincy style of Kohli and the outlook of India under him. The batting did well at Lord’s but only in patches, except for KL Rahul and Rohit, who were patient enough to wait for their opportunity early on. The conditions in Leeds were different and as soon as Rahul gave up on his patience very early on, the batting group could not rise to the occasion. It is easier to mask individual problems when thighs are going too well for the team and needless to say India have been on a high-growth curve in the recent past. Did they downplay the poor run of form and low confidence of Cheteshwar Pujara and an always nervous Ajinkya Rahane? All those cracks appeared in one go in Leeds and India could not find ways to not get submerged in those big holes in the batting department. Did Kohli err in reading conditions? When Kohli won the toss, there was a big smile on Root’s face as if to suggest that he was very happy having his counterpart take the tough call of deciding what they wanted to do. England skipper suggested that pitch was “tacky” and Headingley has always been a tough place to bat first and Root, who comes from Yorkshire, must have had a fair bit of experience about the pitch and conditions. Winning the toss and batting first is the right option more often than not and captains opting for such decisions back their batsmen to fight the first session with the best they have got. Kohli too would have backed the batting order to survive the first session and then cashing in later in the day. It was a tricky decision but not a wrong one considering how little the pitch and the conditions offered to bowlers in the last session and a half of the day. Winning the toss and bowling first could have been a far bullish call than batting first and if England would have been able to survive the first sessions with just one or two wicket down, the call would have been far more terrible. Kohli would not have hoped for such a terrible performance that they would be bundled out for 78. It was tough conditions to bat in the first session but they made their life tougher or in fact, they did not even try. Rahul was lured into driving at one he could have at best defended with soft hands, while the trio of Pujara, Rahane and Kohli himself paid the price of their eagerness to put the bat on the ball. Rohit squandered his hard work yet again after soaking up the pressure for far too long and India were down in tatters by the time Ravindra Jadeja played around a straight swinging ball he should have offered a straight drive or push. India are in for a massive leather hunt after conceding a 42 run lead without taking any England wickets and how they respond on the second day will showcase and establish their mettle as a team. They have been brilliant in digging deep and coming with their best when pushed against the wall, and they need all of that to come even close to a fight in this game. The Leeds Test in all its proposition has asked some really tough questions of both Kohli, the captain and the batsman in a long time and how India come back from this disaster will set his standard in this series and many more in the near future.