Cricket

England’s Will Jacks. FIle | Photo Credit: Getty Images Will Jacks hopes to put the on-field “coaching” he received from Virat Kohli to good use when England bid to retain their T20 World Cup title next month. Jacks goes into the third game of England’s warm-up series against Pakistan having helped propel the hosts to a 23-run win at Edgbaston on Saturday. The Surrey all-rounder struck a quickfire 37 in what proved to be a decisive stand with captain Jos Buttler as England went 1-0 up in the rain-hit four-match series ahead of Tuesday’s game at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens. It was another example of Jacks’ power hitting after he recently struck an unbeaten century off just 41 balls — including 28 runs from one Rashid Khan over — as Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down 200 to beat Gujarat Titans in a high-pressure situation, with India star batsman Kohli looking on from the other end. “The big thing with the IPL is that every game is such an occasion, the crowd, the atmosphere,” Jacks told reporters on Monday, just over a week from England’s World Cup opener against Scotland in Barbados. “Every game you feel like you’ve got to step up and that’s similar to international cricket.” As for batting with Kohli, the 25-year-old added: “He’s a very good role model. The way he approaches all the training and every aspect of the game off the field, his intensity, everything he does is a 100 percent attention. “He’s done it for such a long time and I can appreciate that as a young guy who often doesn’t want to do the hard yards, but you see him doing it and want to copy that.” ‘Pacing the game’ Jacks added: “When we were batting together, he was coaching me through there. I learned some valuable things about chasing in that innings and pacing the game, which was really helpful. “I was really proud of the way I stayed in the partnership, didn’t throw it away.” Now Jacks, whose England career currently consists of a mere two Tests, seven one-day internationals and 12 T20s, is looking forward to a major global tournament. “Playing in a World Cup is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid. I’m really excited to do it,” he said. “It’s getting closer now and we’re building in the right direction.” Jacks labelled his England T20 record of 218 runs at 18.16 a “mixed bag”, although his cause has not been helped by switching between opening the innings and batting at three. “I’ve probably opened half my games and batted number three in the other half,” he said. “It’s no lie that I’m new to batting at three, I’m learning on the job.” He added: “I’ve been getting starts every game and it’s about how do I change those into match-winning scores. That’s more of a mindset thing. It doesn’t matter what I’m averaging: if the team’s winning, then it’s good.”

Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Mitchell Starc. | Photo Credit: ANI After a slow start to the season, Mitchell Starc hit top gear in the climactic phase of the IPL, returning match-winning performances in both the Qualifier 1 and final to help Kolkata Knight Riders clinch its third title. The 34-year-old, who has not played many T20s in the last few years, spoke about taking time to find his rhythm and delivering on the big stage. “I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last few years. So, it was about trying to find that rhythm of the format, and staying ahead of batters,” said Starc. Elaborating on his work with bowling coach B. Arun, someone he knew from their time at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the left-arm pacer said: “It wasn’t technical. It was probably a bit more tactical; there were suggestions for trying different things. Certainly, for batters I hadn’t seen or knew much about, I was going to him [Arun] or Shreyas [Iyer] or GG [Gautam Gambhir] with that sort of thing.” “I’m on the more experienced side. So, it’s not a technical thing. Arun might suggest things here or there Glad to have made an impact when it mattered the most,” he added. In a year when batters have taken the game to a new level, with record-high totals, Starc spoke about how the key to success was to stay level-headed. “I think T20 is a great leveller. You can have some good days, and two days later, you can have a shocking day,” said the Australian pace spearhead. Returning to the IPL after nine years, Starc became the costliest buy in the league’s history at ₹24.75 crore, but the speedster said the price tag didn’t bother him. “You don’t need extra motivation. I am here as an overseas [player], and it’s [for] nights like tonight or the last game that I have been picked. I mean, there’s been jokes throughout, and there’s been friendly banter about price tags and what not. It doesn’t bother me too much. I think the pressure of being an overseas player or price tag, you expect that coming to the best domestic league in the world. It’s our job to perform or set an example to younger players.” “I am closer to the end of my career than the start. One format may drop off, there’s a long time before the next ODI World Cup, and whether that format continues for me or not, it may open doors for more franchise cricket.”