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In Case You Missed It: Past imperfect, future tense

Our best content from the last fortnight

Kevin Pietersen's all-access pass to Kohli is bound to be the envy of many a journalist  Getty Images

The first ripples of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic are being felt all over the cricketing world. With the English summer in doubt, the ECB has announced a £61 million support package to get players and staff through this challenging time. Australian players are putting their nuptials on hold in what is prime wedding season in the country and players are also bracing for pay cuts. At ESPNcricinfo, we're using this time to revisit some classic matches and iconic moments, and explore some what-could-have-beens. Take a look.

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'If you are too self-centred, you are looking for ways to get out' - Virat Kohli
What are players looking to fill their time with during social isolation? Kevin Pietersen managed a coup of sorts when he got Indian captain Virat Kohli to chat with him on Instagram Live, where Kohli spoke about the lowest point in his career, turning vegetarian, and the most fun he's had batting.

Come to think of it: Before Slim turned shady
Before there was Saleem Malik the fixer, there was Saleem Malik the batsman, and though the stigma of match-fixing will never go away, Osman Samiuddin says it doesn't negate Malik's batting genius.

Downtime diaries
What players are doing during this enforced break from cricket: Tabraiz Shamsi, who had a baby boy just days before cricket was suspended, is discovering that fatherhood is pretty hard, actually, while Pakistan's Javeria Khan is using this time to heal and recover and do some spring cleaning as well.

Which umpire fares the best when reviewed by DRS?
Shiva Jayaraman takes a look at the data to see which officials get reviewed the most, whose decisions are backed by technology, and how they do against reviews off pace and spin.

The tough, uncertain life of an assistant coach in T20
Never-ending travel, no job security, late payments, and lots of competition - it's no picnic working as support staff in leagues across the world, Jarrod Kimber finds.

Can you remember the name?
Four years ago, in a remarkable final between West Indies and England at the 2016 T20 World Cup, Carlos Brathwaite, needing 19 runs off the final over, bludgeoned four consecutive sixes to take West Indies to their second World T20 title. "Remember the name!" Ian Bishop said of Brathwaite. But how much else do you remember? For that matter, how much do Brathwaite and captain Daren Sammy remember from that day?

The Coronavirus soap opera, starring KP, Warnie, Mahela
In last month's Briefing, Andrew Fidel Fernando finds a ready cast for a blockbuster reality show, also featuring a pining Ravi Shastri.

Alternative universe: England don't win the 2005 Ashes
What would a world in which the the Test of all ages went Australia's way be like? Insufferable, probably, says Andrew Miller as he imagines the bleak scenario.

Ask Steven: How often have both openers been dismissed for ducks in an ODI?
Also: how many players have scored a Test hundred without previously having made a first-class fifty? If you've got questions, Steven Lynch has the answers.

'This is a ball the whole world will remember' - Saeed Ajmal v Sachin Tendulkar revisited
Nine years on from Sachin's controversial non-dismissal in the 2011 World Cup semi-final, we asked experts - and one participant - their considered view of the controversial Hawk-Eye projection. Saeed Ajmal, Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Saqlain Mushtaq weigh in on the lbw that wasn't.

What we learned from watching the 1992 World Cup final in full again
Wides, lbw calls, swing - plenty of things were different in white-ball cricket back then, finds Sidharth Monga.

Keaton Jennings bides his time
At a time when he might otherwise have been in the thick of it in Sri Lanka, Jennings is catching up with his studies, hoping to be in the selection frame in the future. Matt Roller catches up with the opener.