India

Ravindra Jadeja was at his jovial best at Tuesday’s optional training session, ahead of India’s final group game against Hong Kong in Dubai. And when he rather unexpectedly came for the pre-match press conference, he was greeted with a huge cheer from the room. “Bakra mil gaya kya?,” (Have you guys found your sacrificial lamb)

The build-up to India versus Hong Kong could not be more different to India versus Pakistan. The buzz around the training grounds, press conferences and the match – in terms of ticket sales and anticipation – is extremely low-key. It’s almost as though everyone’s just waiting for next Sunday, when India and Pakistan are likely

Virat Kohli has opened up about his recent struggle to cope with expectations, workload and mental fatigue, saying he came to the realisation that he had been “trying to fake intensity a bit” in his determination to keep playing. India’s first Asia Cup match against Pakistan on August 28 will mark Kohli’s return to international

Hardik Pandya justifiably cornered most of the glory after India’s win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup last night in Dubai. But two other aspects of India’s game stood out too. Firstly, Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s four-wicket haul, including the early dismissal of Babar Azam. And secondly, a sparkling backroom idea to send Ravindra Jadeja up to

India 148 for 5 (Kohli 35, Jadeja 35, Hardik 33*, Nawaz 3-33, Naseem 2-27) beat Pakistan 147 all out (Rizwan 43, Iftikhar 28, Dahani 16*, Bhuvneshwar 4-26, Hardik 3-25) by five wickets Hardik Pandya cracked open the game for India with both ball and bat to take them to a tense win over Pakistan with

Cheteshwar Pujara called the task of picking one of Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the India XI for the Asia Cup game against Pakistan a “big headache”. But, unless both are fielded, one has to miss out, and Pujara picked Pant over Karthik for a spot in the team. “Firstly, it’s a big headache

Head coach Rahul Dravid has joined India’s Asia Cup tour party in Dubai after returning a negative result for Covid-19. He will take over the reins of the team from VVS Laxman, who had stepped in to oversee the preparatory phase of India’s campaign in Dravid’s absence. Dravid will be in the Indian dugout on

India will look to experiment, mix and match combinations, and continue to push boundaries in their build-up to the T20 World Cup later this year. They will also look to give players a fair run of games, even if they are not a certainty in the first XI. This was among the biggest takeaways from

Disney Star* has bagged rights to broadcast all ICC men’s and women’s events on a four-year deal from 2024 to 2027. The rights, widely seen as cricket’s second-most lucrative, behind the IPL, are for the Indian market. Disney Star won both the TV and digital rights. The bids had been opened on Friday and a

There will be no second-round e-auction for the ICC media rights after a clear winner – or winners – emerged when the sealed bids were opened on Friday. The identity of the winner/s for the right to broadcast ICC events in India has not been disclosed yet – the ICC board makes that call on

After the Supreme Court mandated the RM Lodha Committee recommendations in 2016, eventually resulting in BCCI amending its constitution, Gupta has accused several prominent cricket personalities – players, administrators, IPL franchise owners – of flouting conflict of interest requirements. Among the list of these people, which is over 20, are former India captains Virat Kohli,

The ICC are about to discover how much their cricket is worth when they open bids for the Indian market from various broadcasters on Friday. At stake are the rights to broadcast ICC events – men’s and women’s – for the next four or eight years, on TV and digital, straight to your device of

Also part of the squad are Rajat Patidar, who scored a century in an IPL knockout match this year; Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been travelling with India’s white-ball teams as back-up opener; KS Bharat, widely regarded as Rishabh Pant’s understudy in Test cricket; and Sarfaraz Khan, the top run-getter in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy with

If all goes to plan, Gill will be the seventh India player to be signed by a county team this season, after Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex), Washington Sundar (Lancashire), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Siraj (both Warwickshire), Umesh Yadav (Middlesex) and Navdeep Saini (Kent). He will be the third Indian to feature for Glamorgan in County Championship after

VVS Laxman will fill in as India’s head coach at the Asia Cup, although his appointment is only on a temporary basis. As soon as the regular head coach Rahul Dravid recovers from a bout of Covid-19, he is expected to link up with the side in the UAE. Laxman, who is in charge of

Mayank Agarwal, who had a disappointing run in IPL 2022 with the bat while leading Punjab Kings, has been working on trying to turn his white-ball game around by “opening up four-five areas”. Agarwal tallied just 196 runs in 12 innings for Kings in IPL 2022, averaging 16.33 and striking at 122.50 – he was

Wasim Akram believes Pakistan’s win over India in the 2021 T20 World Cup has made them believe “they can compete against India day in and day out”. He feels what was once a one-sided rivalry at World Cups has suddenly come alive. “Pakistan team is on the rise for the past couple of years,” Akram

Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is not travelling with the rest of the team that will assemble in Dubai today for the Asia Cup. It is believed Dravid had mild symptoms, which have receded. He will test again in two days’ time. Paras Mhambrey, the bowling coach, will step

A groin injury has cut short Krunal Pandya‘s stint with Warwickshire. The allrounder, who was signed by the county team for the Royal London One-Day Cup, is due to return to India on Monday evening. Krunal picked up the injury while scoring 37 during Warwickshire’s match against Nottinghamshire on August 17. He didn’t come out

50 overs India 289 for 8 (Gill 130, Kishan 50, Evans 5-54) vs Zimbabwe Shubman Gill‘s maiden ODI hundred, which he scored at a much quicker rate compared to any of his team-mates, powered India to 289 in the third ODI in Harare. India saw their openers fall in the first half of the innings

To say that Zimbabwe’s batting woes start at the top would be an understatement. Their last century partnership for the first wicket in ODIs was way back in 2014, when Hamilton Masakadza and Sikandar Raza added 224. Since the start of 2020, Zimbabwe have used 14 different opening combinations – the most among all teams

India 167 for 5 (Samson 43*, Jongwe 2-33) beat Zimbabwe 161 (Williams 42, Burl 39*, Thakur 3-38) by five wickets A complete bowling performance led by Shardul Thakur‘s three-for, followed by a 56-run partnership between Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson helped India inflict a 14th straight ODI defeat over Zimbabwe to take an unassailable 2-0

Goswami, 39, had missed the tour of Sri Lanka in July amid speculation about her international future. Rodrigues, meanwhile, was ruled out of the Hundred on the same day that the squad was named because of a wrist injury she sustained during the Commonwealth Games. Kiran Prabhu Navgire, the batter from Maharashtra who plays for

We may continue to wonder whether ODIs are still relevant but Shikhar Dhawan clearly loves the format. He said so before the series. He reaffirmed his love by scoring an unbeaten 81 in the first ODI on Thursday, his third half-century in four matches over last month. “It is a balanced format where you should

In the third WTC cycle, India play away series in South Africa, Australia and the West Indies; and in the 2025-2027 cycle, they will tour New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka as part of the WTC. With most teams being strong at home, away Tests become crucial for WTC points. Two out of three of

After a near three-month layoff due to a sports hernia and Covid-19, KL Rahul is enjoying just being back in the Indian change room. Six years after he broke through in white-ball cricket in Zimbabwe, Rahul returns to the country as India’s stand-in captain. When he takes the field on Thursday, it will be only

India 192 for 0 (Gill 82*, Dhawan 81*) beat Zimbabwe 189 (Chakabva 35, Ngarava 34, Axar 3-24, Chahar 3-27, Prasidh 3-50) by 10 wickets Deepak Chahar‘s probing new-ball spell on his impressive return after six months followed by a century stand between in-form openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill hurtled Zimbabwe to their 13th straight

“For me, cricket is important – whatever be the format,” Rohit was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. “I would never say that ODI is getting finished or T20 is getting finished or Tests are nearing an end. I wish there is another format as well, because for me, playing the game is most

Less than a week away from the bid submission date for ICC’s broadcast rights in its biggest market, significant concerns remain among media companies in India, concerns that manifested themselves through the absence of four major broadcasters from ‘mock auctions’ organised by the ICC on Wednesday. Disney Star*, Zee, Sony and Viacom, the companies which

Chandrakant Pandit, the former India wicketkeeper, has been appointed as head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. He takes over from Brendon McCullum, who quit after a three-year stint to take charge of England’s Test team. Pandit, who played five Tests and 36 ODIs for India between 1986 and 1992, is a highly regarded coach on