Upon his £30m transfer back in the summer of 2004, no Manchester United supporter could have imagined the huge impact Wayne Rooney would have on the club.

The Englishman spent 13 years at Old Trafford, subsequently appearing in 559 outings in the process – currently sitting on the list for the club’s all-time appearance makers.

Such a time frame allowed the forward to reach phenomenal levels with the Red Devils, racking up a total of 253 goals at an average of one strike every 2.2 matches.

Rooney’s subsequent tally has made him their record goalscorer, with such a record still standing to this day and putting him ahead of the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.

His phenomenal tallies catapulted Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to five Premier League titles during his stint in the North West, helping make the club one of the most successful in English history.

Fast-forward to the present day, current boss Ruben Amorim has found his own version of the fan-favourite, but it’s not in the form of one player who many would expect.

Benjamin Sesko’s start to life at United

After scoring just 44 times in England’s top-flight last season, it was crucial United invested in landing a new talisman – with Benjamin Sesko the man chosen by the hierarchy to lead the line.

The Slovenian cost a reported £74m including add-ons from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, but it’s safe to say his start in England has been a slow burner and taken time to explode into life.

He failed to score in any of his first six outings for the Red Devils, but the 22-year-old has managed to produce the goods in each of the last couple of outings.

Sesko has scored in each of his last two Premier League outings for Amorim’s side, with his latest strike helping them claim a needed victory against newly-promoted Sunderland at the Theatre of Dreams.

It may be early days into his career in England, but he’s already shown glimpses of quality that could make him a fan-favourite for many years to come – potentially even catapulting them to new levels of success.

However, he’s not the player who could emulate Rooney at Old Trafford, with one other first-team member closer to being similar to the Englishman in the future.

Man United's new Rooney

In their attempts to land top-level talents, United have spent over £800m on new signings in the last four years to try and catapult themselves back up the Premier League table.

Most of such funds have been wasted on players that, unfortunately, aren’t at the level required for success, as seen by the club’s 15th-placed standing last campaign.

Amorim was unable to extract the most out of the squad, which undoubtedly led to Sesko’s addition during the summer to prevent such a scenario from happening once again in the future.

However, he has already featured alongside Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese international a player who massively starred despite the struggles on the pitch in 2024/25.

The 31-year-old scored 19 times and registered 18 assists across all competitions, with such a tally being by far and away the highest of any player in the first-team squad.

Such numbers make him similar to Rooney in terms of being the Red Devils’ main talisman, but it’s another aspect of his game which has seen him emulate the Englishman.

After the hierarchy’s £200m spending spree in the summer, it saw three attacking-minded players enter the club, which has seen Bruno have to shift roles as a result.

Fernandes, who’s been labelled “world-class” by United writer Liam Canning, has since been forced to operate in a deeper midfield role, something which Rooney did during the latter stages of his career at Old Trafford.

Whilst such a decision saw the Englishman net fewer goals in his final years, his passing ability made him a phenomenal option in that area – with Bruno emulating such levels, as seen by his tally of 82% of passes completed in 2025/26.

Bruno Fernandes – PL stats (2025/26)
Statistics (per 90)	Tally
Games played	7
Goals & assists	2
Pass accuracy	82%
Shots taken	2.3
Chances created	2.7
Dribble success	57%
Tackles won	2.1
Recoveries made	6.2
Stats via FotMob

The Portuguese international may have to suffer in terms of his goalscoring tallies, but his ability to dictate the play could be a huge asset for Amorim’s side in the years ahead.

His passing ability could be crucial for Sesko if the Slovenian is to be a success at Old Trafford, with huge pressure being placed on the youngster to provide the goods in the Premier League.

However, neither player will likely reach the cult hero status of Rooney at the Theatre of Dreams, with the manager undoubtedly wishing he could call upon such a player in the present day.

The new Yorke & Cole: Man Utd's "superb double-act" could save Amorim's job

Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke famously scored 53 goals as Manchester United won the treble in 1998/99, but has Rúben Amorim found a new “electric” duo?

By
Ben Gray

Oct 7, 2025

Manchester United made it three wins out of three in the Premier League on Saturday when they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 at Old Trafford.

Bryan Mbeumo, who joined from Brentford in the summer, scored twice, whilst Casemiro and Matheus Cunha also got on the scoresheet in front of the home fans.

Bruno Fernandes, as shown in the clip above, played a crucial role in the fourth goal with his brilliant dummy, but his influence in the final third is beginning to wane.

Why Bruno Fernandes's influence is waning

The Portugal international has hit double figures for both goals and assists in all five of his full seasons at Old Trafford to date, per Sofascore, which speaks to the consistent impact that he has had at the top end of the pitch.

However, Bruno only has two goals and one assist in ten appearances in all competitions so far this term, scoring two goals from 4.29 xG in the Premier League, per Sofascore, which shows that his influence is waning.

Do not get it twisted, the 31-year-old star is still an influential player who can produce moments of magic for United, but the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko mean that he does not need to carry the team on his back anymore.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

He still has two years left on his contract and only turned 31 last month, which means that he does still have plenty of gas left in the tank, but there is another player at United who may have Bruno’s captaincy in his sights, Matthijs de Ligt.

Why Matthijs de Ligt is a future Man Utd captain

The Netherlands international is five years younger than Bruno and may have more of a long-term future at Old Trafford, which could see him eventually snatch the captaincy if he continues to shine at the back.

After the 4-2 win over Brighton, content creator Liam Canning described his performance as “monstrous”, stating that he has “been United’s best player this season” and that the defender is “a future captain in the making” for the Red Devils.

It is hard to argue with that assessment from Canning after watching the former Bayern Munich and Juventus centre-back strut his stuff against Brighton on Saturday.

Minutes

90

Interceptions

1

Clearances

6

Blocks

1

Ball recoveries

5

Aerial duel success rate

100% (2/2)

Pass accuracy

91%

As you can see in the table above, De Ligt was ‘monstrous’ at the back for Ruben Amorim by winning 100% of his aerial duels and making several important defensive interventions.

This season, per Sofascore, the United defender has won 61% of his duels across nine starts in the Premier League. This shows that he has provided a dominant defensive force at the heart of Amorim’s back three.

Rio Ferdinand recently claimed that the Dutchman should be “the first name on the teamsheet”, which is usually reserved for the captain and main star of the team, and that is high praise coming from a player who won Premier League titles whilst playing in the same position.

De Ligt, of course, has also shown that he is a leader. He was the youngest captain in the knockout stage of the Champions League when he played for Ajax in the quarter-finals at the age of 19, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he can be a leader and a captain.

Therefore, Bruno may need to watch out as his powers seem to be waning whilst De Ligt’s stock is rising and he potentially has more years left ahead of him than the Portugal international to lead the club forward as captain, should Amorim decide that he is suitable for that role.

Forget Sesko: Man Utd have Van Persie 2.0 who's 'one of the best in the PL'

Manchester United have found their next Robin van Persie in this star, and it is not Benjamin Sesko.

ByDan Emery Oct 27, 2025

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras venceu o Independiente del Valle por 2 a 1, em duelo válido pela quinta rodada da fase de grupos da Libertadores. Richard Ríos e Gustavo Gómez marcaram os gols do Verdão no Allianz Parque, e Lautaro Díaz descontou para os visitantes.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasFora de CampoEx-árbitro discorda de pênalti marcado para o Palmeiras contra o Del Valle; veja a análiseFora de Campo15/05/2024Fora de CampoGolaço ou frango? Web se divide sobre gol de Richard Ríos, do PalmeirasFora de Campo15/05/2024PalmeirasDorival assiste ao jogo entre e Palmeiras e Independiente del Valle no Allianz Parque; veja vídeoPalmeiras15/05/2024

➡️ Assine agora e assista esse e mais jogos da Liberta pelo Star+

Com o resultado, o Palmeiras chega aos 13 pontos e não apenas garante vaga às oitavas de final da Libertadores, como também assegura o primeiro lugar no Grupo F. O Del Valle possui quatro pontos, assim como o San Lorenzo e o Liverpool-URU.

➡️ Siga o Lance! Palmeiras no WhatsApp e acompanhe todas as notícias do Verdão

Com a paralisação do Brasileirão, o próximo compromisso do Palmeiras de Abel Ferreira será no dia 23 de maio, contra o Botafogo-SP, pela partida de volta da terceira fase da Copa do Brasil.

continua após a publicidade

✅ FICHA TÉCNICA
PALMEIRAS X INDEPENDIENTE DEL VALLE
LIBERTADORES – 5ª RODADA – FASE DE GRUPOS

🗓️Data e horário:quarta-feira, 15 de maio de 2024, às 21h30 (de Brasília)
📍Local:Allianz Parque, em São Paulo (SP)
Gols:Richard Ríos e Gustavo Gómez / Lautaro Díaz
🟨Árbitro:Alexis Herrera
🚩Assistentes:Lubin Torrealba e Alberto Ponte

➡️ Veja tabela com datas e horários de todos os jogos do Brasileirão

⚽ESCALAÇÕES

PALMEIRAS (Técnico: Abel Ferreira)
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Murilo, Gomez e Piquerez; Zé Rafael e Richard Rios; Estêvão, Lázaro, Endrick e Flaco López

continua após a publicidade

INDEPENDIENTE DEL VALLE (Técnico: Javier Gandolfi)
Moises Ramírez; Anthony Landazuri, Mateo Carabajal, Richard Schunke e Matias Fernandez; Cristian Zabala, Joao Ortiz e Patrik Mercado; Kendry Páez, Michael Hoyos e Júnior Sornoza.

Tudo sobre

LibertadoresPalmeirasSTARPLUS

The Blue Jays are signing starting pitcher Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract, according to a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Cease was one of the most sought-after arms on the market this winter. Just two years after striking out on a frontline starter in Shohei Ohtani, the Blue Jays have struck big time with Cease.

Last season, Cease went just 8–12 with a 4.55 ERA in 168.0 innings pitched. However, Toronto is banking on the former Cy Young runner-up returning to form to help solidify the starting rotation.

The Blue Jays went 94–68 last season and lost to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series. Toronto is expected to be in the mix in the American League pennant race once again in 2026 with Cease figuring to be a major part of the rotation.

أكد حمزة عبد الكريم، لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، أنه يشعر بالفخر الشديد لتواجده داخل الأهلي، وأن الاهتمام الذي يحظى به خلال الفترة الأخيرة يعد نتاجًا طبيعيًّا لتواجده في كيان بحجم نادي القرن.

تحدث حمزة عبد الكريم للموقع الرسمي ومنصات النادي الأهلي عن تصعيده للفريق الأول ومشاركته الأولى تحت قيادة الجهاز الفني، وطموحاته وتطلعاته للفترة القادمة.

وقال حمزة في تصريحات للمركز الإعلامي للنادي الأهلي: “من الطبيعي أن يكون لاعب الأهلي محط اهتمام الجميع سواء أندية خارجية أو منتخبات وطنية وهذا أمر ليس جديدًا على النادي، مما يمنحني دوافع كبيرة ومسئولية مضاعفة لتقديم أفضل ما يمكن خلال الفترة المقبلة”.

وأضاف: “لا أشغل نفسي بالضغوط التي تصاحب اللعب مع الفريق الأول، أصب كامل تركيزي على التدريبات وكيفية تطوير نفسي وأن يكون ردي من خلال الملعب فقط، ومن الطبيعي أن يكون لاعبو الأهلي محور الحديث في كافة وسائل الإعلام”.

وتابع: “اللعب في الأهلي شرف كبير لي، وأسعى لتقديم كل ما يمكنني حتى أصبح جديرًا بثقة الجهاز الفني، واهتمام الأندية الخارجية جاء بعد أن وفقت في الظهور بشكل مميز، سواء مع منتخب الشباب في بطولة كأس العالم أو من خلال تصعيدي للفريق الأول والمشاركة في دوري أبطال إفريقيا، ومن خلال تواجدي ببطولة الدوري بالموسم الماضي”.

طالع.. موندو ديبورتيفو: تطور هام في مفاوضات برشلونة مع الأهلي لضم حمزة عبد الكريم

وواصل: “تواجدي في الأهلي كان حلمًا كبيرًا، عائلتي كلها أهلاوية ولديها تاريخ في الكرة الطائرة، لكنهم تركوا لي حرية اختيار اللعبة التي أعشقها وبالفعل حظيت بدعمهم، وبالتأكيد طموحاتي كبيرة في أن أحقق لنفسي تاريخًا كبيرًا مع النادي وأكون امتدادًا لعائلتي داخل الأهلي”.

وأردف: “كل لاعب داخل الأهلي يعرف جيدًا حجم المسئولية الكبيرة الملقاة على عاتقه، تم تصعيدي للفريق الأول خلال الفترة الماضية وكان شعورًا لا يوصف عند تواجدي في غرفة الملابس بملعب مختار التتش، كانت خطوة مهمة لتحقيق حلمي الأكبر”. 

وشدد: “يوم تصعيدي للفريق الأول هو يوم لا يمكن أن أنساه بعد أن حصلت على دفعة كبيرة بعد أن أصبحت أمثل النادي الأهلي وأحمل مسئولية تجاه الجماهير العظيمة”.

واستطرد: “تواجدي مع الفريق الأول كان أشبه بالحلم، أصبحت أتدرب إلى جانب اللاعبين الذين كنت أشاهدهم من خلال شاشات التلفزيون، وأصبحوا يقدمون لي المساعدة لكي أتطور وهو أمر ليس سهلًا بالمرة، ومع دعم اللاعبين واكتساب الخبرات منهم سوف أرد جميل الأهلي وأسعد الجماهير”.

وأكمل حمزة عبد الكريم: “التواجد في المباريات يمنحني دوافع كبيرة، قبل المشاركة في المباراة تكون هناك حالة من الضغط العصبي بسبب وجود الجماهير الكبيرة، لكن عند المشاركة بالمباراة تختلف الأمور، وهو ما حدث معي بعد أن شعرت بدعم الجماهير ودخلت أجواء اللقاء”.

وأكد عبد الكريم: “شرف كبير لي تواجدي في القائمة المبدئية للمنتخب الوطني ببطولة كأس الأمم الإفريقية، مما يمنحني ثقة ودوافع، حتى أصبح جاهزًا في أي وقت، وأتمنى لهم التوفيق وتحقيق إنجاز كبير”.

وأختتم حديثه قائلا: “لدي طموحات كبيرة للفترة المقبلة، أتدرب بقوة وأعمل على تجهيز نفسي دائمًا حتى اصبح على قدر المسئولية لتشريف النادي، وأتمنى أن أستمر في الحصول على ثقة جماهير الأهلي والعمل على إسعادهم دائمًا”. 

Shohei Ohtani took the mound at Angel Stadium for the first time in nearly two years, pitching into the fifth inning for the first time this season in the Dodgers' 6-5 loss to the Angels on Wednesday night. And a return to the pitching rubber at his old stomping grounds meant Ohtani faced off against some old friends, such as three-time American league MVP Mike Trout, whom he struck out twice.

It also meant that Ohtani took the time to reflect on being back in the ballpark he called home for the better part of his first six big league seasons.

And while it wasn't surprising to see Ohtani looks back fondly on Angel Stadium, it was perhaps a bit surprising to see just how highly he spoke of the park.

"I had a lot of good memories being in this stadium," Ohtani told MLB.com. "It’s one of my favorite stadiums to play in. So it was a really important mark for me to be able to pitch on this mound again."

At face value, Ohtani saying that Angel Stadium was one of his favorite stadiums to play in isn't too surprising. But when you consider the general perception of the park, his high praise becomes a bit more surprising.

While Angel Stadium has good weather and sunshine on its side, its close proximity to highways, apartment complexes and parking lots dampens the vibe just a bit—and earned it a ranking of 23rd out of 30 ballparks in stadium rankings for the 2025 season.

Stadium nostalgia aside, Ohtani's Dodgers were swept by the Angels in the season series, which spanned six games. So admittedly, his club has bigger fish to fry, namely its upcoming series with the now-first place San Diego Padres.

But it's always fun to restart a conversation about which MLB ballparks are—and maybe aren't—the best.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy is always prepared.

He went viral last month when he pulled out a pancake from his pocket during an in-game interview with Apple TV's Tricia Whitaker. The moment quickly gained steam and the Brewers even began selling "Murph's Pocket Pancakes" at American Family Field during Sunday home games.

Well, apparently they'll need to prepare a new dish at the ballpark in honor of Murphy, as he decided to eat a quesadilla during his interview with Whitaker Friday night as the team took on the Pirates.

"You caused me a lot of problems last time, you caused me a lot of problems," Murphy said to Whitaker on the broadcast. "You want a bite of this?"

Whitaker obliged and also mentioned they came prepared with a gift for Murphy in the form of maple syrup because the pancake he gave her last time was a little dry. He gladly accepted and had an idea, saying he "might put it on the quesadilla."

She abruptly poured some syrup on the quesadilla as Murphy took a big bite before he walked back into the dugout. Hopefully the Brewers don't decide to serve a potential new quesadilla with a side of syrup.

The food-loving antics seem to be working a bit, as Milwaukee holds the best record in baseball at 86-55. They hold a 4.5 game lead on the Phillies for the National League's top seed with 20 games to go.

Never change, Pat.

SEATTLE — If you could build a player to take the key at-bat of a tied playoff game in the eighth inning, you would summon an extrovert who considers pressure a privilege. You would want someone who has so much fun playing the game that he plays the animated hydroplane color-coded race with teammates as it unfolds on the ballpark videoboard. You would want someone with a power/speed combination at a historic level. You want someone who said “No, thanks” to the All-Star Game because he needed to get his head and stroke right.

You want someone who makes a teammate say, “He comes through because of his mental preparation. He loves the pressure. He rises to the moment. He is made for the big moment.”

Seattle center fielder Julio Rodriguez, as described by teammate Jorge Polanco, is the guy you want. Sunday’s ALDS Game 2 offered the best proof yet.

The Mariners jumped back into the ALDS against Detroit, just when they threatened to gift-wrap the Tigers another win, because at every moment Seattle has the two best players on the field and it’s not even close: Cal Raleigh and Rodriguez.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch got burned by asking reliever Kyle Finnegan to pitch for the fourth time in five days. The righthander was gassed. Finnegan’s trademark splitter lacked its usual sink. Left up in the zone, it begged to be hit. Raleigh and Rodriguez obliged.

Raleigh hit a hanging splitter for a double and Rodriguez hit a hanging splitter for another double. Double, double, toil and trouble for Detroit. Seattle survived blowing a 2–0 lead to win, 3–2.

Getting through Raleigh and Rodriguez has been a chore for the Tigers. In two games they are 8-for-18. During The Summer of Cal, rightly feted for his crazy achievement of hitting 60 home runs while catching more innings than anybody in the league, you may have missed the greatness of Rodriguez. It didn’t start this year until Rodriguez turned down a selection to be an All-Star.

“Man, I didn’t do much during the break,” he said. “I mean, I got more work in, but I just needed time to get my head right. I needed a reset. Just needed to get in the right frame of mind.”

A pedestrian slash line of .252/.313/.417 became a bold .290/.341/.560 after the break. It continued what’s been a strange pattern for the 24-year-old: slow starts and molten hot finishes. His career second-half slugging of .552 is better than every active player except Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez and Shohei Ohtani.

Through 590 career games, Rodriguez has 112 homers and 116 stolen bases. Only three other players have ever reached those thresholds through the same number of games: Ronald Acuña Jr., Alfonso Soriano and Eric Davis.

The postseason brings out the best in him. His career slash line through seven postseason games is .281/.378/.563. And now he has a signature moment, what he called the greatest thrill of his career.

Mariners fans have waited nearly Rodriguez’s lifetime to see their team win a home game. He was 10 months old when the franchise won its last home postseason game in 2001. Polanco was the early star in Game 2 by smoking two home runs off Tarik Skubal, once after taking a close changeup down and two innings later after taking close changeups down.

“Those are pitches I usually get swings on,” Skubal said. “He stayed off them. It’s a credit to him. He’s a good hitter.”

Said Polanco, “Our game plan was to just take him up the middle. When you do that, you see the changeup longer.”

Skubal’s changeup is the best pitch in baseball as ranked by run value. Oddly, he has used the pitch less in the postseason. His two lowest starts of changeup use this year have been his two postseason starts: ALWC Game 1 (21.5%) and ALDS Game 2 (21.6%).

Seattle reliever Matt Brash jeopardized the 2–0 lead with a senseless leadoff walk in the top of the eighth and an equally perplexing fastball to Spencer Torkelson after four sliders away. Torkelson slashed it for a tying double.

The tie did not last long, certainly not through the Cal-Julio gauntlet. Rodriguez hit second base after his go-ahead double with excited shouts and fists bumps worthy of the moment. It seemed right that this homegrown star playing under a seven-year contract with a five-year option would be the one to deliver the deciding run. These are the moments that define a player as “clutch.”

“I feel like in games like this, I feel like any situation is clutch,” he said. “You can win a game in the first three innings of the game, in the middle of the game or late in the game because every single run matters.

“And, you know, at the end of the day, people are going to call me whatever they want to call me, but I feel like the biggest pride I take is helping the team win. In any situation that I can, I feel like that’s what makes me feel good. And listen, if they want to say that I’m clutch too, okay. Cool. So be it.”

Cool. If there is a better word than clutch to capture the zen of Julio, especially in the heat of the moment, it is that. 

The first family of Chicago sports has grown by one.

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and Chicago Stars forward Mallory Swanson have welcomed their first daughter, they announced in a Friday evening Instagram post.

"Josie James Swanson," the Swansons wrote in a joint Instagram post, accompanied by a black-and-white photo of the family holding hands. "We love you more than you’ll ever know babygirl."

The couple has been together since 2017, when her brother-in-law—then-Braves utilityman Jace Peterson—introduced them. They married in 2022, and have both since made their way to Chicago—Dansby signed with the Cubs in Dec. 2022, while the then-Red Stars acquired Mallory a year prior.

Mallory, who owns 23 goals in four seasons with the Stars, missed the 2025 NWSL season due to her pregnancy. Dansby, meanwhile, slashed .244/.300/.417 with 24 home runs and 77 RBIs for a palyoff Cubs team.

That's to say: Josie will have no shortage of name recognition should she pursue a career in the Chicago sports world.

With KL Rahul back, the team management will need to drop an in-form batsman, unless Rahul keeps wickets

Shashank Kishore in Jammu24-Feb-2020KV Siddharth had injured his left shoulder during the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was sidelined for three months. The blow had come at a time when he was trying to nail down a permanent spot in the Karnataka XI across formats. When he returned, the competition was so tough that he did not get a chance to break in immediately.But heading into the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Bengal at Eden Gardens, Siddharth has put himself in a fantastic position to be among the first few on the team sheet. But like it is with every player, the season was far from a smooth sailing for the 27-year-old.Siddharth was out for a duck on his comeback against Saurashtra and managed just 19 in the second innings with Karnataka desperately trying to save the game while battling for one point. Against Railways in cold New Delhi, he managed just 4 on an “up-and-down” wicket at the Karnail Singh Stadium.In Karnataka’s penultimate game, against Madhya Pradesh in Shimoga, he was out for a first-ball duck. And that was the turning point. The bowler had overstepped, and having earned a reprieve, Siddharth fought to make a grinding 62 in their first-innings total of 426. While it was not enough to gain a lead, he showed signs of returning to his best.”It was really frustrating because I felt like I was batting my best when I got injured,” Siddharth said of the untimely injury, after that match. “It’s not easy to come back after not playing a match for almost three months. But I knew somewhere that I would do well because I had worked really hard.”The grinding qualities were to the fore in Jammu too, as Karnataka battled early on the third day – effectively the first of the match – on a slightly damp surface against a competent pace battery. With the top order folding around him, he set himself in for the long haul to make a battling 76, the highest in Karnataka’s sub-par 206.Siddharth is just in his second season, and is a late bloomer of sorts at 27. But his first-class numbers are impressive already. He has 1045 runs in 28 innings at an average of 43.54. He is stylish, has a wide range of strokes, the penchant to make big runs and marries them with the mentality of occupying the crease for long periods. In Jammu, he batted 189 balls in the first innings, ran 30 singles and hit nine fours. The knock helped Karnataka cross the psychological 200-run barrier they wanted dearly after a slump of sorts.Then in the second innings, Karnataka lost two wickets in a clutch but Siddharth gave no further headway to the Jammu & Kashmir bowlers, who were under pressure to keep picking wickets. With the comfort of a lead and the first innings behind him, Siddharth was a touch more flamboyant without being reckless. He particularly played the spinners well and cashed in when the pitch was flat. He fell two short of his third first-class century, but by then, had helped take the game beyond the hosts.”Commendable effort from KV [Siddharth],” the captain Karun Nair said. “He was out with injury for a long time this season, but to come back and continue [with the same hunger] is excellent. He did well last year for us as well. He’s been doing well in most of the innings he has played, convening starts into big scores. Now the next step is for him to get the bigger hundreds.”The coach Yere Goud, too, was impressed with Siddharth’s efforts.”In terms of batting, the aim is to have big scores from the top five. Two batsmen got 80s in this game, so we are making [runs] at the right time.”Siddharth’s innings was crucial; it helped us get to 200, which we felt was needed to then bowl them out for a lead. Even in the Baroda game [the final league game], his 29* in the second innings with Karun [Nair] was very crucial. We knew he will contribute for us in tough situations.”In delivering in key moments, Siddharth has also ensured the selectors and the team management will have a healthy selection dilemma while sitting down to pick the XI for the semi-final against Bengal, especially now with KL Rahul available for the big game.Devdutt Padikkal has had a breakout season, topping the run charts for Karnataka with 583 runs in 17 innings, including six half-centuries. Prior to the first-class season, Padikkal finished as the highest run-getter in Karnataka’s victorious march at the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. R Samarth is second on the list with 507 runs and Manish Pandey is an automatic shoo-in for being the impact player with international experience while Nair is captain.Nair has had a lean run of sorts, managing just three half-centuries this season, but showed signs of a return to form in the final league game against Baroda when he promoted himself up to No. 3 and struck an unbeaten match-winning 71 in a tricky chase. Goud firmly backed his captain, though.”He is a big-match player. Even in the game we lost against Himachal, he made 81. We’re confident he’ll deliver.”