Joe Root is destined to shatter the records of Sachin Tendulkar

Marnus Labuschagne is gonna break records in the IPL auction

SC Take: We know Marnus Labuchagne makes things happen, and so far in BBL 10, he has done just that. Through solid batting and some x-factor bowling, he has turned the fortunes of Heat around. But all said and done, it is a bit ridiculous to suggest that he’ll even be a potential target for IPL franchises, let alone be the most sought-after player. At the end of the day, Labuschagne has featured in just 15 T20s in his career, in which his SR is 114.15, and this season too, his batting exploits have been normal: an average of 32.20 and a SR of 124.80. Indeed, his 10 wickets are what have caught the attention but most of these 10 have been filthy full-tosses or half-volleys hit straight to the fielder’s throat. Labuschagne is someone who is still figuring out his own T20 game and thus it’s borderline preposterous to suggest that a non-impact overseas player with limited hitting ability will get franchises excited, when there are plenty of more experienced Indians who can do a better job. At best, perhaps he would be a ‘decent’ buy for a team like CSK in case they feel they need someone who can score tough runs. 

T10 is not cricket

SC Take: ‘Match-fixing league’, ‘Pension league’, ‘Shady cricket league’, ‘Show-up-get-your-check-and-leave league’. Fair to say, a vast majority of the online cricketing community are not fans of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. The imbalance between bat and ball coupled with the lacklustre quality on display, many feel, is making a mockery of the sport, and so they despise it. In a way, yes, they are not wrong, but come on, let’s be honest - at the end of the day, it is nothing more than an exhibition tournament experimenting with a weird format. T10 might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the tournament itself has a lot of ‘good’ attached to it - a) it gives plenty of youngsters - not just the local UAE players, but even the international ones - a platform to shine b) it allows the same youngsters to pick the brain of all-time-greats and c) it forces bowlers and batsmen to think and be tactically astute. As far as the ‘imbalance’ is concerned, it is no worse than T20s and ODIs, and a spell like Waqas Maqsood’s on Saturday - 1/1 off 2 overs - proves that there will always be reward for good bowling. After all, this is the tournament which, two years ago, made the world take note of Nicholas Pooran’s talent. Cut it some slack, please. 

India out-spinning England? Nah, no chance (The duality of Jofra Archer)

SC Take: Now, there are two parts to this quote from Archer. The first one - about games not being one-sided if there’s turn - which is true, and the second one - about out-spinning - which is false. Obviously he’s been trolled for part two, but first let’s dissect part one. Archer is not wrong - producing rank turners will ensure that games are not one-sided. Why? Well, rank-turners bring even the average spinners into play, which is precisely why Dean Elgar has a five-fer against India, and why Steven O’Keefe took 12 and inflicted a 333-run defeat on India four years ago. Where Archer is wrong, though, is the ‘out-spinning’ part. Dom Bess and Jack Leach are decent, but Archer is pretty much lying to himself when he says that those two won’t let India ‘out-spin’ England. I mean, come on, Embuldeniyna literally out-spinned the two of them a week ago; you can only imagine how Ashwin, at home, will fare in comparison. So England are definitely getting out-spinned, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will go on to lose all the matches.