It was 25 years ago that Mark Butcher scored a monumental 173 not out in England’s successful chase against Australia in the Headingley Test. He scored seven other Test hundreds, some of them against the most fearsome attacks. He is now a popular commentator and sharp analyst of the game. Excerpts from Butcher’s exclusive interview with The Hindu at Lord’s:

Your comparison of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with Garry Sobers earlier this year got a lot of attention. It was fascinating, how you proved, through the help of visuals, the similarities in the bat swing, hand speed…

I watched him make that 175 [off 80 balls] in the Under-19 World Cup final [against England at Harare]. I was struck by that incredible, long, high backlift, the huge follow-through, the complete circle almost where the bat finishes around, tapping him on the spine. You know, Sobers used to hit a lot of shots with his feet together. He would play full balls almost off the back foot. And Sooryavanshi can hit them like that too.

Even if his career ends up not reaching the expectations that other people have, which I think is very unlikely, he has still in the IPL done something that all of the greatest players up until now have never, ever done: none of them have managed to score at a strike-rate of 230, hit that many sixes, be that consistent in the entirety of the IPL. It is still one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen.

Today’s youngsters are exposed to T20 from the beginning, whereas when I was very young, it was Test matches. They grow up thinking about batting very much in a hyper aggressive mode. These younger guys can do things at their age that we wouldn’t have dreamt of at ours.

ALSO READ | Garry Sobers: cricket’s greatest — a legacy beyond numbers

Yes, even Sachin Tendulkar didn’t hit as many sixes, for all his genius. Sooryavanshi is a product of the T20 era of cricket.

Correct. So he will have to learn the game the other way around. He will have to learn how to bat time, to defend. In our generation, it was the opposite. We would have to spend a lot of time learning how to hit the ball.

How do you recall your masterpiece — 173 not out in 2001?

My main memory is about that summer, really. I wasn’t expecting to play Test cricket again. I got an opportunity and I played 42 Tests in a row. I had completely changed my game.

Your father helped, didn’t he?

That is right. The biggest thing I remember is the relationship I had with my dad in the winter of 2001. I called him and said, ‘Dad, I am hating playing cricket.’ Something that I had always loved. Now I was hating it. And I said to him — ‘Treat me as though I have never played the game before.’ So we went right back to the beginning. He really taught me how to hold the bat, how to stand, the whole thing. We changed my grip. We changed my stance. We changed my backlift. Everything. We went back to zero. Like I was five years old. And we worked like that for about three months. And then I luckily got back into the team. I had made a few runs playing for Surrey. A few injuries in the England camp before the Ashes started, and I got in.

How much does that knock, which came against Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, mean to you?

Ah, it was huge. You wouldn’t be talking to me if it hadn’t been for that. And I wouldn’t be working in TV either. So that innings changed everything. It was the greatest day.

And how was the coach’s reaction?

I know my dad was in tears when [BBC] Test Match Special called him up.

The players you like to watch these days?

I actually love watching K.L. Rahul. I think he is a sensational player. Really classy. Harry Brook is fabulous to watch when he is in. Joe Root, too. And Travis Head — you can’t take your eyes off the screen when he is batting.

You have played against some of the greatest bowlers in history. Who were the most challenging among them?

Blimey! Curtly Ambrose. Him and Courtney Walsh. And then you had, obviously, Shane Warne. Glenn McGrath. Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan].

Among the Indians?

Harbhajan [Singh] and [Anil] Kumble, on those tracks.

And the batters you admired?

[Brian] Lara was sort of the king around about those times. Fellow left-hander, so I greatly admired him. Then the guys like [Ricky] Ponting, Sachin [Tendulkar], obviously. I remember applauding Ricky from second slip at the WACA, much to the annoyance of Nasser Hussain, who was standing next to me at slip. He glared at me. I was just standing there going, ‘Oh man, that’s good’. There were a lot of great players around, like the South Africans, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.

Is there cause for concern about the future of Test cricket?

Yeah, of course, there is. What you would like is to have eight to ten teams who are competing on a level playing field. If only England, Australia and India are playing each other, the game is starting to eat itself, you know.

Eventually, one of the great things about all of the series that go around is that you are anticipating and you are excited about the idea about playing this team at this venue. But if it is the same three teams the whole time, it is not that exciting.

What has happened in the modern era is that the gap between the countries that have plenty of finances and the rest has got wider. The competition has perhaps thinned out a little bit in recent times. And that is a huge shame, that finances have meant that a lot of countries, the West Indies, being the most obvious example simply because of their dominance [in the past], have suffered.

South Africa are kind of hanging in there. They are still producing a lot of players and they still manage just about to keep enough of their most talented players to play Tests. But in places like Sri Lanka and the West Indies, they find it very difficult to keep their best players who disappear off to earn more money playing T20. And that is a problem for the world game.

The First Class game and the structures that produce Test Match cricketers are strong in some places and not very strong at all in others.

Your thoughts on Bazball?

I have been critical of it at times. In the game of cricket, the Test match is the game. And they tried to do something that was going to take the game to a different place. But Test match cricket kind of fought against it a little bit. Because when it came down to it, in the big games against the likes of India and Australia, it didn’t work. And so, Test match cricket is kind of greater than any idea that people might have around how you play it.

And Test cricket is the greatest form of sport.

It is. The sport itself dictates to you what is necessary. And if you push too hard, the game will bite you back. And that is what happened. There is as much pleasure to be taken from a really hard-fought draw sometimes as there is from smashing it all over the park.

ALSO READ | Cricket World Cup – Will expansion lead to elevation?

The women got to play a Test at Lord’s, finally.

This has come about because the world has decided, well, you know, this is a great game of cricket, right? Why would we want to stop 50% of the world’s population from enjoying and playing the sport that we think is a great sport? And so that opportunity is now there and what you are seeing is a product of that.

Players in the women’s game that you enjoy watching?

I like Smriti Mandhana’s batting. She is just an incredibly graceful player. So easy on the eye. Very, very lovely to watch. She plays pace and spin equally well. She reminds me of David Gower, in fact. Harmanpreet Kaur is very good to watch, too. And Jemimah Rodrigues is a fine technician.

Besides cricket, music is your other passion. And you had the opportunity of performing with Sarah Brightman, one of the greatest voices of our time.

It was good fun, singing some of Sarah’s favourite songs on live television. It was kind of nerve-racking, but it was good.

K.L. Rahul has been re-appointed vice-captain of India’s men’s Test squad, while the spin duo of Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey along with lanky pacer Gurnoor Brar have earned their maiden Test call-ups for the one-off Test against Afghanistan to be played in New Chandigarh from June 6 to 10.

Prince Yadav, one of the standout performers of the ongoing Indian Premier League season, has received his maiden ODI call-up for the three-match series to follow beginning on June 14.

The senior national selection committee, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, met in Guwahati — the hometown of BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia — on Tuesday afternoon to pick both squads.

“There are a couple of guys who are injured who were part of the one-day squad before. With Gurnoor, we have seen a lot of promise over the last season and a half now. Tall guy with a bit of pace,” Agarkar said.

“Keeping the South African World Cup in mind, we are obviously going to try a few guys who at that point might be useful if they keep developing.

“Prince Yadav has shown a lot of promise through the domestic season. I think he had a really good Vijay Hazare (Trophy). Obviously, bowled well in the IPL. But we have seen that he has grown a lot as a bowler over the last year or so and has the necessary skills to succeed with the white ball.

“It is a great opportunity with these three one-days coming up. Because with the way the rules are structured and so much in favour of the batsmen, you are obviously looking at guys with regards to conditions in South Africa who have a chance of succeeding.

“And there might be a few more we try over the course of the next few series. These two are the ones that we have zeroed in at this point,” he added.

The Test squad does not feature Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, with both players having been rested, as clarified by Agarkar during a virtual media interaction.

Rahul thus replaces Rishabh Pant as vice-captain. Pant has also lost his place in the ODI squad to Ishan Kishan, although Agarkar stressed that there was “no doubt” over Pant’s credentials as a match-winner in Test cricket.

“KL has been Test captain before. Obviously, Rishabh was vice-captain and we want him to be the best batter that he can be and that he has always been in Test cricket. So, no, there is no other reason. That’s the best option we think at this point that we have as far as vice-captain with experience.” Agarkar said.

Apart from Jadeja, Axar Patel is another notable absentee from the squads. Agarkar, however, said Jadeja remains the No. 1 spinner for Tests.

“Jadeja has just been rested for this Test. He is aware of it. That’s why he is not in the team. He still remains a very integral part of the Test team. We know what Jadeja or Axar can do.

“This is the time we try and give some opportunity to some of the other guys. Wth regards to Tests, he still remains our number one spinner,” Agarkar said.

Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, both dealing with fitness concerns during the ongoing IPL, have been included in the ODI squad for the series starting June 13, subject to fitness clearance.

The squads: Test: Shubman Gill (Capt.), KL Rahul (Vice-capt.), Yashasvi Jaiswal, B. Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wk).

ODI: Shubman Gill (Capt.), Shreyas Iyer (Vice-capt.), Rohit Sharma*, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya*, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy. (* subject to fitness clearance)

The schedule: Test: June 6 to 10 (New Chandigarh).

ODIs: June 14 (Dharamsala), June 17 (Lucknow), June 20 (Chennai).

Published – May 19, 2026 06:40 pm IST

Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma celebrate after taking Delhi Capitals to victory against Rajasthan Royals during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 Twenty20 cricket match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, on Friday, May 1, 2026.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

MI’s Surya Kumar and DC’s Rahul exchange pleasantries during a practice session on Friday, April 03, 2026, ahead of theor IPL match at the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins reacts after taking the wicket of India’s captain Rohit Sharma, right, during play on day four of the third cricket test between India and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sudden heavy rains disrupted Day 4 of the third Test at the Gabba during Australia’s 31st over on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) restricting India to a meagre 105 for five. Earlier, at 74, India lost the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma who edged Pat Cummins to Alex Carey. He was out for 10 runs.

K.L. Rahul who moved past his 50, stayed at 68 and Ravindra Jadeja at 6 were at the crease when rain disrupted the match.

Day 3 match report

Earlier  a rain-induced close on the third day, trailing Australia’s first innings score of 445, India replied with 51 for four.

With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series level at 1-1, Australia would fancy its chances of moving ahead even if the weather is expected to be whimsical over the next two days. Meanwhile, India have to deal with the current deficit of 340 runs.

Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune which starts on October 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) that middle-order batters KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune even though head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give the former, a long rope.

With India looking to bounce back from the eight-wicket thrashing at Bengaluru in the opening Test, focus will be on the team combination with Washington Sundar being added to the squad. Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are both aiming to shake off injury concerns for the match starting on Thursday (October 24, 2024).

“Yeah, there’s no point in sugarcoating it, there’s a fight for a spot,” ten Doeschate told the media when asked if Rahul and Sarfaraz were battling for a place in the team, in Pune at the MCA Stadium ahead of India’s training session.

“Sarfaraz was obviously brilliant in the last Test. I went to KL after the last Test (and) said how many balls do you play at (and) miss at? He didn’t play at (and) miss at one ball and that’s what tends to happen when you’re not getting runs.

“There’s certainly no concerns about KL, he’s batting nicely, he’s in a good mental space. But we are certainly going to have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test and look at the pitch now and decide what’s going to be best for the team,” he said.

Sarfaraz scored a second-innings 150 in the Bengaluru game, while Rahul remained off-colour in both essays.

While admitting that it is difficult to keep Rahul out of the equation in the Test format, ten Doeschate said head coach Gautam Gambhir is “keen to” give him a long rope.

“It’s not like we’re worried about his form. If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here, he’s keen to give him (Rahul) as much rope as we can. We have a lot of faith in him,” he said.

“But at the same time, it’s a very competitive environment, with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs (222 not out) in the Irani Trophy final. The decision will be what’s best for the team, but we’ll certainly back all the guys in,” he added.

Pant, who did not keep wickets for a significant part of the opening Test, and Shubman Gill, who missed the match due to stiffness in his neck, are close to attaining their full fitness.

“Rishabh is pretty good. I think Rohit (Sharmna) touched on it the other day. He was having a little bit of discomfort at the end range of his movement with the knee. But fingers crossed, he’ll be good to keep in the Test as well,” he said.

“He (Gill) looks so (available for this Test). He has batted last week in Bangalore, he had a few nets, he’s got a little bit of discomfort, but I think he’ll be good to go for the Test,” he added.

With T20 World Cup selection round the corner, KL Rahul will have one final chance to stake claim on the second wicketkeeper’s spot in the Indian team when Lucknow Super Giants host Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in Lucknow on April 30.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Hanging on to its playoff chances by a thread and fast running out of time, Mumbai Indians (MI) will hope its season turnaround can begin with the Indian Premier League match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on April 30.

The dwindling returns from its batters, starting at the top with Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, have been symptomatic of its ailing season.

The opening salvo had four 50-plus stands in the side’s first six games. In the three outings since, it has had none.

MI will hope Pandya’s 46 off 24 against the Capitals last week can help him turn a corner and bring some support for Tilak Varma.

With the ball, Nuwan Thushara has made an unceremonious start to his IPL career, conceding at 12 runs per over. The potential return of Gerald Coetzee will ease some of Jasprit Bumrah’s burden.

These issues hold a familiar ring for the Super Giants too, who will want to mend their inconsistent form before it weighs on their playoff contention. On the ascendency after back-to-back wins over Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow was handed a reality check by Rajasthan Royals last week.

To begin with, Mayank Yadav’s return to fitness brings handy reinforcement for a misfiring pace unit.

K.L. Rahul would want to put his spinners, Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya, to better use. The pair has bowled a combined 50.4 overs across nine games.

Calls for improvement will fall on the Lucknow batters as well, with the heavy lifting having been left for Rahul and Nicholas Pooran so far. The contributions from overseas starters Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis have been too far and few between.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.

Match starts 7.30pm IST.

Lucknow Super Giants players celebrate their win over Chennai Super Kings. They will up against the high-flying Rajasthan Royals in Lucknow on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Far from the pack occupied in the mid-table scrap for the playoffs spots, Rajasthan Royals will indulge itself in the prospect of strolling its way in when it visits Lucknow Super Giants at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 27.

Runaway leader Rajasthan has won all three away games so far, and a fourth triumph will take its tally to 16 points, all but sealing a place in the playoffs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal regaining his mojo with an unbeaten 104 in the nine-wicket mauling of Mumbai Indians wiped out the only blemish in the Royals’ top-order. Captain Sanju Samson would hope to emulate his exploits (82 n.o., 52b) from the Royals’ 20-run victory over the Lucknow side earlier this season.

But Super Giants, high on the twin triumphs over Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will be no pushovers. The side will wait with crossed fingers for Mayank Yadav’s return from injury. The pace phenom bowled in the nets on the match eve.

Taking cognisance of Rahul and Marcus Stoinis’ telling contributions in the Super Giants’ two wins, another leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, could be Royals’ go-to deployment too. This IPL, Rahul’s strike-rate has dipped to 93 against leg-spin while Stoinis has fallen to spinners five times in eight innings.

Lower down the order, Royals will seek a solution for Nicolas Pooran. The southpaw has salvaged his side by injecting momentum, hitting at a strike-rate of nearly 170 — the highest for a Lucknow batter.

Teams (from):

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj.

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.

Match start time: 7.30 PM (IST).

Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L. Rahul with his Chennai Super Kings counterpart Ruturaj Gaikwad.
| Photo Credit: AP

hennai Super Kings will look to regain some momentum in what has been a start-stop campaign when it takes on Lucknow Super Giants in the reverse fixture at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on April 23. The two sides met three days back in Lucknow, where LSG easily prevailed by eight wickets.

Super Kings enters a crucial phase of the tournament with three matches at home over the next eight days, which could determine the chance of making the playoffs. CSK has won all three games in its backyard this year and will want to continue that form to add to its four wins.

However, the defending champion has some big headaches to solve, mainly around its struggles in the PowerPlay with both bat and ball.

Runs have dried up for key top-order batters like Rachin Ravindra and Ajinkya Rahane, and the batting relies heavily on Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube. The skipper demoted himself to the number three in the last two matches, and it will be interesting to see if he goes back to open. Similarly, the pacers’ inability to give early breakthroughs will be an area the team needs to address.

Meanwhile, Super Giants had some positives from the previous match. The bowlers set the game up before skipper K.L. Rahul led from the front with a quick-fire half-century alongside Quinton de Kock.

The presence of spinners Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and M. Siddharth gives the visitors depth in their squad for the conditions in Chepauk as they look to do the double against the five-time champion.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Nishant Sindhu, Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner, Shaik Rasheed, Aravelly Avanish, Maheesh Theekshana, RS Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Richard Gleeson and Deepak Chahar.

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.

Match start time: 7.30 PM (IST).