Cricket in General

With the auction done and dusted, I feel the teams are now finalized. Even though the transfer window is open, I see it highly unlikely that any transfer will take place. Let alone any major transfer. Because all the teams had the fair chance to fill in the gaps at the auction. So, it’s safe to say that the teams are locked. Now coming to the most talked about thing around cricket for the past month. In the span of a month’s time Hardik Pandya was traded to Mumbai Indians and also made Captain thereby ending Rohit Sharma’s 10-year stint at the helm of arguably one of the most successful sporting franchises with him being touted as one of the most successful captains. This claim is backed by numbers as well since 5 trophies in 10 years is no ordinary achievement. People were initially unhappy with the trade itself calling Pandya disloyal. And ever since the announcement of change in Captaincy, there has been a huge backlash coming from the fans. Especially fans of Rohit Sharma. Whil...

With less than 3 months remaining for the World Cup, you would assume that the teams would be getting their best players on the field to play whatever games remain before the 1 st match begins on 5 th Oct. But as we all witnessed, Indian team was busy trying and experimenting players and combinations. I haven’t seen a team waste a series as well as India did in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies. It is beyond my understanding as to how and why the captain and the management are not sure about the 15 or let’s say 18 players that are more than likely to be playing the World Cup. I agree that injuries have plagued the plans of the national side with players like Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul not being available for selection for a pretty long time now. Especially since these players are vital cogs in the whole combination. They have prepared that way since the conclusion of the previous World Cup 4 years ago. The talk around the No 4 problem has been around since...

  Its 11 th June 2023, a lazy Sunday afternoon but as the time passes and as we closed in on 3 o’clock, everyone was waiting with baited breath to see how the 5 th day of the World Test Championship Final of the 2021-2023 cycle unfolds. Billions of Indians waiting for the game to start, had a lot of hope as well as a lot of doubts. Even though the star from Gabba was missing, we had tasted that feeling of winning an unlikely match a couple of years ago. Hence even though everyone was skeptical about India’s chances, there was some sort of belief in the team, in the players, in the crowd and in the huge number of onlookers from around the world. It was a steady start to the session, where 2-3 runs were being scored of each over and that was going to suffice. Boland and Cummins were bowling tight lines and boundary balls were definitely not on offer. Boland, bowling the 7 th over of the day did exactly what all the Indians dreaded. He bowled a delivery well wide of the off stump t...

Although I knew that the ODI series between India and Australia would be a closely fought one, I did not expect them to win. As it turns out, we lost 1-2 and now there are some questions staring us right in the face. But first I would like to focus on the positives. The bowling was very much on point from India barring the 2 nd match but honestly, it would be unfair to blame the bowlers when all they had to defend was a paltry 117. But apart from that I think the bowling was impressive. I was fortunate to have watched one of the better ODI spells from Mohd. Shami in the 1 st ODI live at the stadium in Mumbai. That 2 nd spell from him was accurate, fiery and near unplayable. He broke the back of Australian middle order, which is a strong one without a doubt. Siraj and Jadeja were good in their bowling as well. Hardik Pandya once again proved why he is so vital for India’s success in the 50-over format and Kuldeep really came into his own in the 3 rd match. That delivery to dismiss C...

  The Men from down under are generally discussed at length but their female counterparts also deserve every bit of discussion, analysis and praise that they are getting. They were on a mission in South Africa and have created history by doing a T20 World Cup hattrick for a record 2 nd time. Doing this on the back of the triumph at the Commonwealth Games is even more commendable. It is astounding as to how a team can be so utterly dominant for such long periods of time. The hosts were simply no match for the professionalism and superiority in skill of the Aussies. And by saying that, I am not belittling the South African team, but the Australians operate at a different level altogether. Whenever Australia-W participate in any series/tournament, I don’t think any other team has a chance to lift the silverware. That is the reputation that they have created over the years. Barring a few aberrations here and there, the team is almost unbeatable. Thankfully, the Indian Women have con...

With the auction now done and dusted, we are very much into the action of the inaugural Women’s Premiere League (WPL). The tournament was long time due with the Women’s Big Bash League already having completed 8 seasons. The BCCI did conduct a mini version in Women’s T20 challenge which had 4 editions with 3 teams. But it still wasn’t a proper tournament. So, the WPL was definitely long time in the making. And I am glad the first season is nearly upon us. Less than 3 weeks ago the 5 teams for the WPL were declared after the auction for the teams was conducted. With the existing 3 franchises from the Men’s IPL participating, the fans of these teams will definitely have an impact on the viewership of the tournament. These teams also bring in the experience they have gained over the years with respect to managing teams. The 2 new teams will also be eager to show their competence in terms of managing franchises. Coming to the auction, firstly I was thrilled to see a female auctioneer. ...

  One name that every cricket fan in the world, especially the Indian cricket fan is excited about Shubman Gill. The boy from Punjab has taken the ODI format by storm in the past couple of weeks and its about time I express my feelings over this extremely talented batsman. I remember watching him bat for the first time in U-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2018 and it was just the beginning of what is on its way to become a bright and astounding career. He batted with so much authority and flare even at such a young age, that it was very refreshing. His century against arch-rivals Pakistan is still fresh in our memories. Fast forward to 2023 and he is still batting with the same authority and flare that too on a bigger stage. ODI format seems to be like a cakewalk for him off-late. He has been very consistent in the recent past, so much so that he is the highest run-scorer in ODIs since the beginning of 2022 and he doesn’t look like he is going to stop. He also became the latest en...