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Curtis Jones says Liverpool are "in the sh*t" after their demoralising 4-1 loss to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. Defeat at Anfield condemned the Reds to their worst run of form in 71 years, with many scratching their heads at how they can arrest this slide. While some players will have kept their anger for the changing rooms, Jones gave a brutally honest post-match interview.

• Liverpool's plight is 'unacceptable'

  Following Liverpool's 4-1 loss to PSV on Wednesday night, which came days after a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, midfielder Jones held nothing back when analysing his side's woeful run of form. The England international said their results have been "unacceptable" and that everyone needs to do better.

  He told RTE: "I don’t have the answers. Honestly, I don’t. I’m saying that to everybody. It’s just unacceptable. I don’t even have to wait to think about it. I’m past being angry inside. I’m at the point now where I just don’t have the words. It’s hard because I’m playing for the team I support. I’m a fan, and I’ve seen this club all my life. In a long, long time, I haven’t experienced a Liverpool team going through a period like this with results like these. But at the end of the day, we still have that badge on our chest. And until that badge is gone, we’re always going to fight. We’re going to try and get this team back to where it needs to be, show everyone again what this club is about and why people call it the best team in the world. But right now, we’re in the s***, and it needs to change."

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• Liverpool 'too nice' now

  The 24-year-old also believes that the fear factor once associated with Anfield is nowhere to be found. He also thinks that the Liverpool team are being a bit too "nice" and should be pressing sides like "absolute dogs".

  He also told CBS: "You just want to be a man out there and you just want to tackle someone and just be a dog out there. It’s got to be on me and the rest of the lads to change this around to not be so nice where teams are coming here thinking, ‘We’re gonna win here and score two, three, four goals’. This used to be a place that you hated to come – with the fans and how we’re going to play and how we’re going to press and be absolute dogs. Now we hardly even play. There’s times where we do play but off the ball stuff… I think that is the stuff that has to change."

• 'Cannot continue like this'

  Naturally, Slot cut a dejected figure after yet another history-making loss. Reds legend Jamie Carragher does not think the club should sack Slot but even the Dutchman is increasingly doubting his own competency. 

  He said: "I'm not questioning the players, because I know that we have very good players. Their mentality after us going 1-0 down was also what I was hoping for, but also what you have to expect if you are a Liverpool player. So it's something normal for me that you're questioning your line-ups, you're questioning your tactics, you're questioning the substitutions you make, but that's also what you do if you don't lose every single time. But it's normal for me to question the choices I make, because I've said many times that I'm responsible for this situation. But the players have so much quality that this cannot continue like this."

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  What comes next for struggling Liverpool?

  After a run of nine defeats in their last 12 games in all competitions, on top of losing six of their last seven in the Premier League, Liverpool will be low on confidence heading into a clash with lowly West Ham this weekend. The Hammers have picked up their form in recent weeks and will be hopeful of causing another upset. After that, the Reds take on Sunderland and struggling Leeds United as a huge run of matches beckons.

Lancashire have “formally expressed” their disappointment to the ECB over Liam Livingstone’s dismissal on Blast Finals Day at the weekend.Livingstone was given out lbw in Lancashire’s run chase during the first semi-final, against Somerset. He immediately reviewed, seemingly convinced of an inside edge; but the third umpire umpire, Sue Redfern, decided on the evidence of UltraEdge that there was no bat involved before the ball hit the back leg.Lancashire were 102 for 3 at the time, needing another 81 from 49 balls, but saw their challenge evaporate after Livingstone’s departure as the last seven wickets went down for 57 runs.Related

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In a statement posted on X, Lancashire said: “Following on from Finals Day, @lancscricket has formally expressed its disappointment to the ECB regarding the decision that led to the dismissal of Liam Livingstone. The Lancashire allrounder was given out lbw for 29, following a review by the TV umpire.”While the club remains deeply frustrated and disappointed with the decision, @lancscricket is equally clear that it does not condone the misogynistic comments that have appeared across social media in response. Such behaviour is unacceptable, does not reflect the values of our club or the wider Red Rose family, and has no place in the game.”Lancashire had already expressed their frustrations ahead of Finals Day, as they were forced to contest the semi-final without the services of six first-choice players. Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wood were all unavailable while on England duty, while Chris Green had departed for the CPL and Ashton Turner was recalled by Western Australia.Keaton Jennings called the scheduling “ludicrous”, with Lancashire giving a T20 debut to spinner Arav Shetty against Somerset, while allrounder George Balderson was also playing his first game of the season.

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Actually, it might be difficult to find someone who would earnestly argue that he's not. The lefthander picked up his 10th win of the year on Sunday night by overpowering the Texas Rangers with 11 strikeouts while surrendering a single run. That dropped his ERA to 2.19 on the year and within one of Boston's Garret Crochet for the Major League strikeout lead.

Long story short, almost every batter he faces is overmatched and it shows. Except Corey Seager. For some reason, Seager owns him.

The Texas shortstop collected two hits in his first two at-bats Sunday night to move his career ledger to 8-for-11 against Skubal.

And both times Skubal could only share a laugh with his nemesis or throw his hands up in exasperation.

Skubal did manage to finally retire Seager on a soft liner in their final encounter, which elicited another strong reaction.

Detroit prevailed, 2-1, for its 60th win of the year and Skubal inched closer to another Cy Young Award. As long as he doesn't have to face Seager again, his numbers should remain gaudy.

Billy Stanlake was Tasmania’s bowling hero as they made it five wins in five in this season’s One-Day Cup

AAP15-Nov-2025Beau Webster will enter Australia’s Ashes Test squad in good batting form after guiding Tasmania to a four-wicket win over South Australia in a One-Day Cup match on Saturday.Webster didn’t bowl, letting an on-song Billy Stanlake do the damage as the Redbacks made just 195 in Saturday’s match in Kingston. He made his mark with the bat, though. Batting at No. 3 with authority, Webster’s 78 off 96 helped the Tigers home with more than ten overs and four wickets to spare.It was the Tigers’ fifth win from as many 50-over fixtures this year, pushing them well clear on the top of the table.Billy Stanlake celebrates a wicket with Riley Meredith•Getty ImagesWebster fell with some work to be done, but Nikhil Chaudhary (19) and Nathan Ellis (20) guided them home.Earlier, Stanlake (3 for 31 from ten overs) made the most of the early movement to torment the Redbacks’ top order. He trapped Jake Fraser-McGurk on the crease for four and grabbed the key wicket of Jake Lehmann, bowled for 29.Nathan McSweeney (49 off 92) tried to steady the innings while Nathan McAndrew (40 off 29) provided some late fireworks.Webster will head west with the Australia team on Sunday, hoping there is room for him in the first Test XI.He’s made four fifties in 12 innings in his seven Tests, often arriving in tricky situations, while taking eight wickets at an average of 23. But he could be squeezed out if selectors opt to shift Cameron Green to No. 6, give opener Jake Weatherald a debut,. and reinstall Marnus Labuschagne at No. 3.

The USMNT have been told what represents a successful 2026 World Cup, with Brad Friedel looking ahead to the tournament in an exclusive interview with GOAL. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are being challenged to reach the knockout stages on home soil, but there will be “no shame” in falling short if they come unstuck against a heavyweight rival such as England or Brazil.

Golden Generation: Who makes USMNT squad?

Having qualified as co-hosts of FIFA’s flagship event – alongside neighbours Canada and Mexico – the United States have had fewer competitive fixtures to ready them for a shot at global glory. A series of friendlies, Gold Cup games and Nations League ties have, however, allowed Pochettino to experiment and shuffle his pack.

The former Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss will be close to settling on a 26-man squad that he believes can be competitive against the very best in the business. He is considered to be working with a ‘Golden Generation’ of talent but can they live up to expectations, or even exceed them?

AdvertisementKnockout blow: How far will USMNT go at 2026 World Cup?

Asked what success will look like next summer, former USMNT goalkeeper Friedel – speaking in association with – told GOAL: “My expectation is that we get through the group. I think exceeding expectations is past the quarters. It’s really difficult to say what I think will be success or failure, the knockouts etc, until you see the draw and the knockout games. There is no shame in getting knocked out to Brazil or England. It just happens. For me, it’s the manner in which it would happen.

“Mauricio I know very well and he is going to have a team that is well prepared, that is fit, that is going to fight for everyone, and they are going to compete really well. That’s why I think over a three-game period in the group stages, they can get out of the group – that’s what I expect. After that, unfortunately no matter how hard you compete against some of the teams at the World Cup – that’s why so few have won it over the history of the tournament – it’s difficult to win it. We’ll have to wait and see.

“I would say that the team is definitely capable of – with the talent that they have and I know how Mauricio works – getting to the quarter-finals. We’ll see after that because then it becomes really hard.

“Sometimes you are going to need luck or penalties or sendings off, or whatever it is. Look at all the great England teams that have been so close. Talent-wise, playing with them and against them, they have had the talent to win a World Cup. For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to finish it off.”

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Avoid Messi: Who will the USMNT want to face?

The USMNT made it to the last-16 of the 2010, 2014 and 2022 World Cups – having failed to qualify in 2018 – and believe that they can emulate those achievements in their own backyard. They will, however, cross paths with at one least of the favourites at some stage.

Quizzed on whether Lionel Messi and Argentina would be a dream draw or whether it is best to avoid the elite for as long as possible, Friedel added: “You are going to get at least one of the best in your group. Back in ‘94, we were lucky to get out of the group but really unlucky because we had two European countries. We had Switzerland and Romania and Colombia.

“You are going to get somebody really good to play against. The European countries are generally of the higher quality, and the South American countries. I would still say avoid everyone at the top for as long as you can! You can lose against those guys any time, with no shame and playing a really good match, so why not play against people that you know you can beat seven out of 10 times.”

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GOALWorld Cup draw: When USMNT will discover group stage opponents

The USMNT will discover their fate – and whether that includes a meeting with eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, who has helped to guide Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup final – when the group stage draw is held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on December 5.

The committee, which included Brian Lara and Clive Lloyd, has identified the major challenges facing West Indies cricket and plotted short- and long-term actions for overall improvement

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2025The cricket strategy and officiating committee of Cricket West Indies, comprising a group of former legends and current leaders, have identified key areas of focus to raise the standard of West Indies cricket as well as short- and long-term actions. In the next six months, the CWI said, specialist coaches will be hired, a “state-of-the-art” high-performance centre will be set up, and there will be close coordination with franchises that employ West Indian cricketers so player fitness can be monitored.The committee, set up in August in the aftermath of West Indies’ 27 all out against Australia in Kingston, Jamaica, brought together Clive Lloyd, Brian Lara, Shai Hope, Roston Chase and Ramnaresh Sarwan, among others. The first step was to identify the challenges faced by West Indies cricket. A CWI statement on Thursday listed the major issues as: Declining quality of regional tournaments Technical, tactical, and mental skills deficiencies Underperforming franchise system Gaps in infrastructure and facilities Lack of specialist coaching support Limited ICC revenue share and financial constraints Fragmented player development pathways Inadequate fitness and conditioning standardsThese, as well as the “action items” were “presented to and approved” by the CWI’s board of directors on September 25 at the quarterly meeting.In the short term, within the next months, “an internationally proven batting coach will be hired to work across the system, and a full-time sports psychologist/performance coach will join the senior men’s team” while “the women’s team role will also be upgraded to a full-time role”. That aside, “a capital [high-performance] project proposal will be advanced for a state-of-the-art facility at Coolidge Cricket Ground, including modern nets, gym, and rehabilitation infrastructure”, and “franchise teams will now submit individual development plans and meet new minimum standards” with player fitness “closely tracked, supported by a new regional fitness leaderboard”.The longer-term actions are more exhaustive, and include: A national cricket development framework unifying grassroots, school, academy, and high-performance pathways Comprehensive franchise reform to ensure accountability for player development and consideration of alternative professional models Establishment of standardised academies for ages 11-18 to feed into the high-performance programme Completion of the high-performance centre in Antigua as the regional hub for elite development Greater focus on financial sustainability, including lobbying for equitable ICC revenue distribution and new partnerships with governments, private entities, and philanthropists A structured mentorship framework connecting current and former West Indies players with emerging talentClive Lloyd has been vocal about lobbying with the ICC for more money•ICC/Getty ImagesIn early August, at the time the committee members met the press, Lara had said, “It’s been that case for years, where we are not in the same level-playing field as other playing countries. Back in the days when skill was the prominent factor, we excelled, we were the best team in the world. But the game has evolved, and technology and analytics, and we now have to see a new way of finding ourselves back to being very competitive.”I said not a level-playing field because a lot of the countries are far ahead in these sorts of areas. The skill factor of the game is still there, but not as prominent as it was in the past.”It’s a long road; it’s not going to happen tomorrow. It was not about the 27 runs. If it was 57 or 107, will we be feeling any better? I don’t think so. It was the fact that we’ve got something to address, and for us to get back on top, or to be a competitive nation in world cricket, we’ve got to address these situations and address them shortly, quickly, and hopefully we can reap the benefits in the years to come.”In many ways, it’s a starting point for West Indies cricket – at the moment, there is a women’s ODI World Cup which West Indies failed to qualify for, while the men are on the back foot after just one day’s play in a two-Test series in India – and CWI’s director of cricket, Miles Bascombe said, “While challenges remain, our commitment to cricket development across the region is unwavering, and all efforts will be made to prioritise the execution of these initiatives.”

Whether his demotion to No. 7 was down to his own poor form, or an opponent-specific tactic, it has raised more questions than answers

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Apr-20255:51

Knight on Pant batting at No. 7: It is ‘bizarre’

What were Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) thinking, on Tuesday night against Delhi Capitals (DC), when they pushed Rishabh Pant so far down the order that he batted outside the top six for the first time in the IPL since his debut season in 2016? What was Pant’s role in making this decision, as LSG’s captain?In a short, post-match interview with the broadcaster after LSG had lost the IPL 2025 match by eight wickets in Lucknow, Pant’s explanation was a terse one: “[The] idea was to capitalise. We sent [Abdul] Samad to capitalise on a wicket like that, but after that [David] Miller came in, and we just really got stuck in the wicket, but eventually these are the things we’ve got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward.”That statement calls for a little bit of unpacking. First, it was Samad who walked in at No. 4, Pant’s usual position, when LSG lost their second wicket in the 12th over. Perhaps what Pant meant by “capitalise” was that LSG were looking for quick runs, and felt that Samad – who had scored 20 off 11 balls and an unbeaten 30 off 10 in LSG’s last two games – could provide them some of those at that stage.Related

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There were signs already that this was an old-ball pitch, with the extent of reverse swing and grip for slower balls increasing as LSG’s innings progressed. With that in mind, LSG may have been looking to send Samad in when there was still a good chance of the ball coming on to the bat.The move didn’t come off on the day, with Samad caught and bowled by Mukesh Kumar for two off eight balls. Pant didn’t come out at the fall of Samad’s wicket either, or at the fall of the next wicket later in the same over, the 14th of LSG’s innings, when Mukesh bowled Mitchell Marsh with a yorker.David Miller walked in at No. 5, and he was followed to the crease by Ayush Badoni, who came off the substitutes’ bench for the second match running. It was also the second match in a row where LSG had used a batter as their Impact Player even though they batted first. Typically, teams name a batting-heavy starting XI if they bat first and replace one of their batters with a bowler.Badoni had come off the bench to score a crucial 34-ball 50 in LSG’s previous game against Rajasthan Royals (RR). In that game, he batted at No. 5 when LSG lost their third wicket – of Pant – in their eighth over. LSG may have felt then that they needed someone to come in and steady their innings and give their end-overs hitters more favourable entry points.In this match, Badoni came in with just six overs remaining. As it happened, he made a strong contribution, his 21-ball 36 giving LSG a bit of impetus at the death even as Miller – who made an unbeaten 14 off 15 balls – struggled at the other end.With the Miller-Badoni partnership stretching into the final over, Pant finally came to the crease with just two balls remaining. He tried to manufacture boundaries off both balls, but didn’t put bat to ball against either, with Mukesh bowling him as he attempted a reverse-scoop off the final ball.Pant has endured a difficult IPL 2025, and came into Tuesday’s game having scored just 106 runs in 108 balls across seven innings. This, perhaps, may have led him to demote himself – if he took the decision – behind batters in better form.His long-time Test-match team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara, however, was having none of it. “I genuinely don’t know what the thought process was,” he said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “There’s no doubt he should be batting up the order. He’s trying to do what MS Dhoni does, but he’s nowhere near [Dhoni’s age].5:50

‘An under-pressure captain affects the whole team’

“I still feel he’s someone who should be batting in the middle overs, between [overs] six and 15. He’s not a finisher, and he shouldn’t be doing the job of a finisher.”Pujara’s co-panelist Nick Knight, the former England opener, felt he could accept the reasons for the move, but didn’t like the optics.”I’ve not really a problem with Badoni batting at four-five,” Knight said. “I see some rationale in that, because I think he’s playing well, and I think he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. There’s the problem. Samad you could probably say the same, he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. David Miller, you could say the same.”When you look at the decision-making, perhaps in rationale it makes some sense. Where I don’t like it at all is it just doesn’t look very good. There is your captain, sliding, going backwards in the batting order when you really need him to step up. He’s the one that’s going to be standing up and talking in front of your team, he’s the one who’s leading you out there. He’s your leader, and it just doesn’t look great when the leader is going the other way.”From that perspective that’s my problem, because I would agree – Badoni is probably more likely to score runs, etc etc. It doesn’t look right.”A second-order glance at Pant’s IPL 2025 numbers throws up a more specific reason for his demotion: a tactical retreat against spin. Coming into Tuesday’s game, he had struggled against both styles of bowling, but while he had managed a strike rate of 117.46 against pace, he had gone at just 71.11 against spin.2:29

Why is Rishabh Pant more successful in Tests than T20s?

This pattern had held true even during his one sizeable innings of the season, a 49-ball 63 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In that innings, he had scored 18 off 23 balls against the spinners and 45 off 26 against the faster bowlers. The bulk of the damage he had done against the quicks had come late in LSG’s innings. Batting on 40 off 39 at the start of the 18th over, Pant had hit three sixes in his next ten balls, off the pace of Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed.And so, like a number of batters have done before him in the IPL – including fellow keeper-batters Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni – Pant on Tuesday may have been looking to hold himself back with match-ups in mind, with DC still having two overs of Kuldeep Yadav left when Badoni joined Miller. That Pant ended up getting to face just two balls wasn’t in his control; the partnership between Miller and Badoni ended up consuming 34 balls.For all that, though, there’s one major difference between the cases of Karthik or Dhoni for a delayed entry point and that of Pant. Karthik and Dhoni have been finishers for most of their T20 careers, and for large parts of those careers were deemed to be pace-hitting specialists. Pant has mostly batted through the middle overs, and for much of his career has been a brilliant, unconventional hitter of spin.Of late, though, his output against spin has dwindled. Pant had strike rates of 147 or more against that style of bowling in each of his first four IPL seasons. Since 2020, he has gone at sub-120 strike rates in four out of five seasons, including the current one.Pant is just 27, though, and may yet have time on his side to reverse this downturn against spin; Karthik and Dhoni were in their mid-to-late 30s by the time they became pigeonholed as pace-hitters. It’s unlikely Pant sees himself in the finisher’s role in the long term anyway, given the damage his style of play – involving manipulation of fields and hitting the ball in unusual areas – can cause through the middle overs.A top-order role, in fact, is perhaps better suited to Pant’s strengths if he’s looking to avoid a confrontation with spin, or to face it on slightly easier terms, with powerplay field restrictions on his side. But with LSG boasting one of the most in-form opening partnerships of IPL 2025 in Marsh and Aiden Markram, and with their No. 3 Nicholas Pooran in exceptional form and sitting second on the Orange Cap standings, there perhaps isn’t a top-order slot for Pant to occupy without causing what he and the team management may feel is unnecessary disruption.Rishabh Pant came in at No. 7, and was bowled second ball•Associated PressSo the move down to a finisher’s role may be an entirely temporary one tailored to the circumstances LSG and Pant are currently in. It may even just be opponent-specific. In this match against DC, Pant may have felt he was likelier to contribute meaningfully if he avoided a showdown with one of the tournament’s best spinners in Kuldeep. It’s instructive that the one other time he demoted himself in this manner – in LSG’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 8, when he eventually didn’t bat at all – was against another of the IPL’s better spin-bowling teams.There may have been enough reasons, then, for Pant to have held himself back as he did on Tuesday, but one puzzling question still remains: why use Badoni as Impact sub when he could have been part of the starting XI, and allowed LSG to bring in a bowler later in the game? This question has carried a particular sense of urgency in LSG’s last two games, when their bench has included the exciting, 150kph-breaching Mayank Yadav, who is nearing a highly anticipated return from back and toe injuries that have kept him out of action since October 2024.The answer, perhaps, is that LSG don’t feel Mayank is as yet fit to bowl his full four-over quota, and that they have started their last two games with a five-bowler XI with the idea of potentially bringing Mayank on for a one- or two-over burst if they got through the first half of their match without needing to bolster their batting. That, however, didn’t happen either against RR or DC.

The England batter has been mightily prolific this year, making a century about every four innings

Ian Chappell20-Oct-2024The England selectors did Joe Root a huge favour when they unburdened him from the captaincy and released him to become a run-making machine.He was already an exceptional batter – as a struggling skipper he still made 14 centuries in 118 innings – but let’s face it, captaincy and Joe Root shouldn’t appear in the same sentence. Since becoming solely a team member two and a half years ago, Root has regularly amassed big scores with an amazing ten centuries in just 54 innings.Incredibly, in this calendar year he has already sped past the thousand-run mark whilst piling up centuries at the incredible rate of around one every four innings. That is a superhuman performance.On this run rampage he passed the defiant opener Sir Alastair Cook as England’s highest Test run-scorer. Root is now in the process of increasing his advantage. He will only enter his 35th year as the calendar flips over, so the difference will likely be substantial by the time he retires.Related

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Root was born to make runs and posted a highly respectable 73 in his first Test innings, in India. He’s a joy to watch, as he balances a solid technique with the desire to score at every opportunity.Some of his partnerships with fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow were exhilarating, as both players ran brilliantly between wickets and continually looked to keep the scoreboard ticking over.As England entered the Ben Stokes captaincy era and some of the batting became frenetic, Root occasionally succumbed to the idea of adopting modern shots. Not surprisingly, he handled the change comfortably but one ill-judged scoop that landed in the hands of an opposition slip fielder made him re-evaluate his priorities.Root sensibly went back to his old ways and has become an even more difficult batter to dismiss. I’m not sure why he temporarily changed his approach because scoring rate has never been an issue for Root.The glue to England’s rapid scoring has been Root, who is prepared to compile big innings while some of his team-mates take the wrecking ball to the opposition attack.One of the few anomalies in Root’s record is his failure to score a Test century in Australia despite having played 27 innings there. His last chance to rectify that statistic will likely come in 2025-26, when – barring injury or retirement – he will play another Ashes series.

Root was born to make runs. He’s a joy to watch, as he balances a solid technique with the desire to score at every opportunity

It’s not as though Root has performed poorly in Australia, as his average of around 35 is respectable. However, the lack of a century despite making nine scores in excess of 50 is most unlike Root.In Australia, the four main bowlers have dismissed Root a number of times and this could be pointed to as a weakness. Nevertheless there’s an easy answer: if you’re going to be dismissed, it’s preferable to get out to a good bowler.The more worrying Root statistic in Australia is the number of times he’s been caught behind. Keepers have had a bonanza as ten times they’ve clasped Root’s edges in just 27 innings. While he could counter with “you’ve got to be good enough to nick ’em”, it does suggest he needs to re-assess the extra bounce Australian pitches provide.Root’s phenomenal run-making will again be tested when first he faces India at home and then Australia away. In those two series Root will be facing the best attacks in Test cricket, and his technique against both pace and spin will again be fully scrutinised.Those are difficult challenges that Root and England will face in the future. Currently they’re desperately involved in a bid to win after Pakistan levelled their three-game series with a spin-revolution victory against a clueless England.As the most technically gifted, Root will have the task of convincing his fellow team-mates that numerous versions of the sweep shot aren’t the ideal way to combat good spinners. Despite Root’s proven talent, that will be a very difficult task.

Bangladesh’s most durable cricketer has finished 20 years in international cricket and joins the 100-Test club shortly

Mohammad Isam18-Nov-2025The fist clenched in glee. The cherubic smile. The hours and hours of training. The meticulous care invested in his batting every day. These are some images and qualities from a 20-year career that come to mind when you mention the name Mushfiqur Rahim.Through the good and the bad times, Mushfiqur has built himself into a Bangladesh legend, and is now on the cusp of becoming the first cricketer from his country to play a hundred Tests. Two decades of putting his head down, of running and batting and performing. As a measure of his pioneering presence, Bangladesh itself is only 25 years old as a Test nation and has played 155 Tests.When any long career approaches a major milestone, it calls for reflection. To last as long as Mushfiqur has in the tough terrain of Bangladesh cricket is an achievement in itself. It’s worth remembering that some of those he played alongside in his debut Test, at Lord’s in 2005, are currently administrators and coaches. One is an exiled political leader.Related

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Mushfiqur has gone from debuting as a teenager to becoming the country’s oldest Test cricketer. He is the longest-serving international cricketer currently active. And it feels like he might be among the last of a kind – one of a handful of cricketers from outside the Big Three to have played a hundred Tests, joining Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kraigg Brathwaite who achieved the feat in recent years.Together with Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur is one of the modern pillars of Bangladesh cricket. He went to school with Shakib, is close friends with Tamim, brother-in-law to Mahmudullah, and was a favourite of Mashrafe’s back in the day.Those four are gone from the international scene, and there have definitely been moments in Mushfiqur’s career when many believed he too would leave, particularly when he hung up his white-ball kit earlier this year. Instead, he has taken the speculation as a slight, responding with runs and hours of hard work. Talk to the players today and it’s clear Mushfiqur is still very much on the “why” segment of the retirement spectrum and not the “why not”.

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Mushfiqur was earmarked as a future Bangladesh cricketer in his early days at the BKSP, Bangladesh’s top sports institute. Faruque Ahmed, the current BCB vice-president, was the chief selector who picked Mushfiqur, only an age-group cricketer at the time, in Bangladesh’s squad for their maiden tour of England, in 2005.Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach in those years, remembers that handing Mushfiqur a Test debut was a big call, given he was only 16 at the time and lacked experience.Mushfiqur has reason to be fond of Galle, where he made his first double-hundred, in 2013, and where, four years later, he made 85 and 34•AFP/Getty Images”I saw a very talented young keeper-batsman,” Whatmore says. “Very young. But he had obvious ability with the bat, and after he hit a century the game before the first Test, we decided to pick him knowing it would be a baptism of fire. The one thing I recall even at that tender young age is his clear-minded preparation. I knew he would have a long career.”The series was indeed a trial by fire, for the side as much as for Mushfiqur. They were routed, and led to questions from some about Bangladesh’s Full-Member status. Others believed that young cricketers like Mushfiqur were the way forward.Faruque championed Mushfiqur, picking the 19-year-old ahead of veteran Khaled Mashud for the 2007 World Cup. When he became the youngest debutant ever at Lord’s, it had piqued interest, but this step up effectively threw Mushfiqur into the big time. He was one of three batters to get half-centuries in Bangladesh’s iconic win against India in the tournament. That his 56 came from No. 3 also went a long way to calming fans who were up in arms about Mashud’s exclusion.It still took him a bit of time to become a consistent performer, made all the more difficult in a team not used to winning. But alongside Tamim and Shakib, he showed enough glimpses for the selectors to begin relying on youth. When a group of top Bangladesh cricketers signed for the rebel Indian Cricket League, it heaped more responsibility on Mushfiqur and his young team-mates.Soon after that, in 2008, Bangladesh toured South Africa. In the second Test, in Centurion, Mushfiqur gave a great account of his ability. Tamim remembers the knock, to this day, as one of his best.”He struck Dale Steyn for two sixes and Steyn was on fire in those days,” Tamim says. “Innings defeats were the norm for Bangladesh. We were touring South Africa, where we lost badly on the previous tour. Mushfiqur showed great character against one of the best bowling attacks in the world.”By then Jamie Siddons had succeeded Whatmore. Like his predecessor, Siddons saw in Mushfiqur a young batter with tremendous work ethic, but also someone who could improve. He worked on Mushfiqur’s game against extreme pace and bounce, particularly his pull and cut, and on improving his backlift.Make mine a double: Mushfiqur celebrates in the 2018 Mirpur Test against Zimbabwe, where he finished with 219 not out in the first innings to level the series 1-1•Raton Gomes/BCBStill, those first years were tough for Mushfiqur and he was yet to truly settle into the consistency for which he became well known.

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The BCB thrust Mushfiqur into the captaincy when he was 24. Bangladesh had appointed younger captains in Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful but Mushfiqur was still trying to establish himself in the Test side. Less than two years later, however, he broke new ground by becoming the first Bangladesh batter to score a Test double-hundred, against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2013.Mominul Haque, who made his Test debut for Bangladesh in that match, remembers the innings for the transformational effect it had on the team. “I think when he made that double, it took Bangladesh’s batting to the next level,” Mominul says. “I rate that innings as Mushfiq ‘s best knock in Test cricket. To score big runs against that Sri Lankan bowling attack, it allowed the rest of us to dream big. I remember thinking, now we can also score a century in overseas conditions.”Mushfiq made life easier in partnerships. I have personally experienced it. It is not easy to make your batting partner feel comfortable, but these are the things that very experienced cricketers do. What he does is, he talks to the batter about everything that he knows about the pitch, conditions and opposition. Only the masters of the game can do this.”The double-century was soon followed by Mushfiqur’s first Test win, against Zimbabwe in Harare, although it wasn’t a tour he quite enjoyed. After Bangladesh lost the ODI series, he resigned from the captaincy, only for the board to convince him to reverse the decision a few weeks later.Mushfiqur, who has outlasted his more celebrated team-mates, with Tamim Iqbal in 2019•Getty ImagesMushfiqur’s captaincy coincided with plenty of highs and lows for Bangladesh cricket, from 2011 to the end of 2017. They achieved their first Test wins against England and Australia, and Mushfiqur had his most productive year as a batter in the last year of that span: he scored 766 runs at 54.71, with two centuries – in Wellington and Hyderabad – and three fifties. Bangladesh also won their first Test in Sri Lanka that year.That was Mushfiqur’s first batting peak. Tamim believes it owed to Mushfiqur figuring out his best way of training and keeping faith with it. “When he started his international career, he was an okay batter for a number of years,” Tamim says. “He had a lot of technical issues. He probably wasn’t scoring enough runs in those days. But to be a successful cricketer, the most important thing is to understand your game, your strength, and how you are going to prepare. It can be very different to others, even more different than the most successful cricketer in your team.”Mushfiqur led the team to seven wins and captained for a third of his career, 34 Tests. He averaged 41.44 with the bat as captain, slightly higher than his career average, but interestingly did better after letting go of the captaincy, with seven of his 12 hundreds coming in that time.The other major decision in his Test career was giving up the keeper’s role in 2019. That tough call paid dividends, as seen in the improved rate at which he converted fifties to hundreds, and the rise in his batting average from 37 to 45.In the five years starting with 2016, Mushfiqur scored 1763 runs, including two double-hundreds, and given that the bulk of that period fell after his captaincy, it shows he thrived when freed from the pressure of leadership.