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AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) arrived in Delhi on March 25 morning in a surprise visit sparking off speculations that he has reached the national capital to formalise AIADMK-BJP alliance ahead of 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections. His sudden visit comes when he appears to be softening his stance with the BJP is a significant shift from his earlier opposition to it. The AIADMK had walked out of the NDA in October 2023, months ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Yet, the BJP in TN under K Annamalai’s stewardship had managed to double its vote share to 11%. Of course, neither the AIADMK nor the BJP could win any LS seat. With the entry of actor Vijay’s TVK party, it is possible that EPS once again feels the need to avoid a fragmented Opposition vote to take on the ruling DMK. Mired in liquor-marketing corruption of TASMAC that is being probed by the ED, the DMK is skating on thin ice and may meet the same fate as AAP in Delhi. It is in this backdrop that Palaniswami’s hurried visit to Delhi is of interest. Officially, he told the media that he was just “looking up” Rs 10 crore AIADMK office he had recently launched via video. However, the main agenda is to meet with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other key BJP leaders to draw up electoral strategies. Palaniswami’s surprise visit to Delhi had so stunned TN chief minister MK Stalin even publicly hoped in the state assembly that his AIADMK rival would articulate DMK’s views on New Education Policy or how the state loves the 2-language formula. Surely, Stalin knows an AIADMK-BJP alliance can simply unseat him in the upcoming polls.
The BCCI took some time to announce Rs 58 crore as cash bonus to the Indian team that ruled the roost and won the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai. The players and the head coach Gautam Gambhir will receive Rs 3 crore each and the others — depending on their position in the support squad — a specific sum. The BCCI had announced a cash award of Rs 125 crore to Rohit Sharma’s team that won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2024. This is in addition to the prize money of $ 2.45 million from the ICC for winning the Cup and $31,154 for every match won. It’s $2.24 million for winning the Champions Trophy and an additional $34,000 for every match won. What the BCCI says is win ICC tournaments and we are ready to open the purse strings. Two years ago, India received $ 40,000 for each of the 10 matches it won in the ICC World Cup and $ 2 million for finishing runner-up to Australia. The prize money received from ICC is fully disbursed to the players. Even 14 years ago the Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni received from the BCCI a cash bonus of around Rs 35 crore for winning the World Cup. Well, to think of it, the BCCI was not flush with funds to award the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team; that was 41 years ago. These days even the Ranji Trophy winning team receives Rs 5 crore as prize money. The Women’s Premier League winner Mumbai Indians received Rs 6 crore and the IPL winner will get Rs 20 crore was the prize money for the 2022-2024 cycle. Well, BCCI means money!
Savoury and sweet maker Haldirams run by the Agrawal family has been in the news for quite some time now. Recently, it sold a 10% stake to Singapore Temasek Holdings at a valuation of $10 bn. Besides, the Delhi and Nagpur arms are being merged to form a new entity Haldiram Foods & Snacks which may be listed soon. The latest news from Blighty is that Haldiram Nagpur has picked up a 20% stake in the UK-based fast food chain Shree Krishna Vada Pav (SKVP) run by two young entrepreneurs Subodh Joshi and Sujay Sohoni. Started in 2010 from a small sublet space on the high street of a suburban district of West London in Hounslow, the duo was the first to give vada pav a commercial status in the UK. It seems vada pav has tickled the palate of not only the Indian diaspora but also Britishers. In the last 15 years, SKVP, which has 70-plus Maharashtrian snacks, have sprung up in 18 locations across England, and with Haldiram they plan to increase the number to 30 in 2025 and double it by 2030 so as to have a presence in all cities in the UK. Plans are afoot to enter into other countries in Europe. Haldiram will appoint two members on the SKVP Board to offer its expertise, guidance and share the knowledge of its distribution and supply chain. Haldiram products including locally manufactured sweets will also find space on SKVP aisles.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin learnt much at his father’s political nursery — watching, waiting and willing to learn. That seems to have paid off. Today, Stalin is a Southern leader who cannot be brushed off as irrelevant. In fact, after winning the 2021 assembly elections with a thumping majority he has projected himself as a leader of substance. Of course, his Dravidam, North South polarity and unfettered opposition to Hindi have irked and irritated his opponents. But which politician would willingly dilute his party’s ideology for temporary gains? Even as the anti-Tamil slogan is fanned by Stalin as the major foothold for the 2026 assembly elections, he has now taken on strongly the delimitation demand and has been successful in herding the to-be-affected states and their leaders into a common corral. Stalin has seamlessly moved in as leader of this group — Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, AP, Orissa and Punjab. On March 21, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan was given a warm welcome as the first of the group when he landed in Chennai for a crucial strategy meet at the ITC Grand Chola. Senior DMK leaders Dr P Thiaga Rajan and Thamizhachi Thangapandian received him. Stalin referred to March 5 as a “Historic Day for Indian federalism” even as he projected his Joint Action Committee for fair delimitation. Stalin clearly knows which buttons are to be pushed at the right time.
The two amazing Malayalam superstars clash at cinemas but Mohanlal undertakes a tough pilgrimage to Sabarimala to pray for Mammootty. Suddenly Mollywood is agog with “news” and communiques about superstar Mammootty’s health. He is spending the Holy month of Ramzan quietly and not making public appearances. But when Mohanlal aka Lal Ettan undertook the challenging pilgrimage to Sabarimala and offered special pooja for Lord Ayyappa in Mohammad Kutty’s name, the news spread wider and wilder. Mohanlal also did a special pooja for his wife Suchitra too. And those who knew the inside goings on, reminded the “soothsayers” to think of Mohanlal’s just to be released film, Empuraan. Don’t stars pray for the box office success of their film? But then, why would Mohanlal convey to Mammootty that he was on the Sabarimala trip to pray for him, a pilgrimage undertaken after 10 years. Even as surmises were flying thick and fast, yet another news about Mammootty made his fans sit up and salivate. The superstar had lived for 45 years in Cochin’s Pannapillai Nagar on KC Joseph Street and his son Dulquer Salmaan was born there and got married in that house. Now that Mammooka has moved to another house, he has plans to turn his old house as a vacation home for fans. It is learnt fans can stay in the same rooms the Mammootty had lived in…they could order the favourite dishes that he liked. For cinema crazed fans, any bit of news makes the day.
In a significant turn of events within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has signalled a shift in political succession, distancing her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, from the role of her heir apparent. Party insiders suggest the move is a strategic recalibration aimed at reinforcing her authority while reshaping the party’s leadership dynamics. For years, Abhishek was considered the party’s ‘crown prince.’ However, tensions began to mount as Abhishek pushed for generational change, advocating for age limits in politics. Party veterans, many of whom have been with Didi since the party’s inception, viewed Abhishek’s assertiveness as a threat. Reports of his close aides reaching out to BJP leaders in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh further deepened suspicions. This prompted Didi to publicly rebuke him and strip him of any assumptions of succession. Adding to the discord, Abhishek’s response to the RG Kar rape-murder case in August 2024 saw him challenge the administration’s inaction, pushing for decisive action. His direct engagement with Kolkata police further irked Mamata, reinforcing her belief that he was overstepping his boundaries. Interestingly, as Didi embarks on her UK tour on Saturday morning, set to return to Kolkata on the night of March 29, she has formed a task force comprising the party’s state president and senior leader, Subrata Bakshi, along with Abhishek, to oversee government affairs while also delegating party responsibilities in her absence. Political observers note that this move sends a strong message within the party, reinforcing the concept of “joint leadership” that balances both senior and young leaders.
Why Ollywood’s two big stars, former Kendrapara BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty now in the BJP camp and ex-wife Varsha Priyadarshini grabbing headlines in Odisha? Anubhav Mohanty had married Varsha in 2014 but it did not work and some six years later, Varsha filed a domestic violence case against Anubhav in 2020. In response, Anubhav filed divorce petition in July 2020 and was granted the same by the Cuttack High Court. Why did Anubhav’s marriage with Varsha fail? Anubhav says it was because of non-consummation of marriage and this fact was brought to light by the Odisha High Court’s findings. However, Varsha’s fans don’t believe it to be true. With court granting him divorce, Anubhav has moved on by marrying his biographer Jagruti Shukla. It seems the public sympathy is with Anubhav’s ex-wife Varsha; she is a role model in Odia cinema. Looks like the trouble for Anubhav is not over as Varsha has now released a movie titled Wife that brings to the public what really happened in their marriage. For a star-politician this could dent his image among his fans and vote banks.
The Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar put the Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai in his place, dubbing him an unimportant person who had no knowledge of the threat that delimitation could pose to the southern states. The local BJP had arranged for black flags to be shown at all major cities in Tamil Nadu on the day that Stalin held his summit against delimitation at a deluxe hotel in Chennai. It was the local BJP’s point that Shivakumar, whose state refuses to give Tamil Nadu a just share of Cauvery water, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan who does not talk to Tamil Nadu on important issues like the Mullaperiyar dam, its maintenance and permissible height, should not be state guests in Chennai. Shivakumar made the point about Annamalai’s view of delimitation as an irrelevant subject being unimportant because what counts is what the Prime Minister and the Home Minister think of it. DKS said he could understand Annamalai being loyal to his party, but he seems not to understand what could happen to his own state of Tamil Nadu if the delimitation proposal goes through. If proportional representation according to population is done after the next census, UP could have as many as 137 seats in the Lok Sabha compared to 80 now whereas Tamil Nadu may end up getting four more seats than its current 39.
It is being said Congress President Sonia Gandhi had mulled easing out Dr Manmohan Singh as PM and making him the President during the 2012 presidential election to counter growing public mood against UPA II government because of corruption charges. She had seriously considered this idea, but due to reservations of many alliance parties it was abandoned. This was revealed by senior journalist Gautam Lahiri in his book on late President Pranab Mukherjee. Written in Bengali, the book released recently reveals an incident where Mukherjee himself advised Sonia not to forward then PM Manmohan Singh as a presidential candidate because he could lose the election. Lahiri has claimed that in the 2012 Presidential election, Sonia wanted Pranab to become the PM and Manmohan Singh to be made the President. It is not clear what purpose such anecdotes serve except perhaps to air-brush Sonia Gandhi’s image ahead of Bengal’s polls in 2026? Interestingly, in his book The Coalition Years, Pranab Mukherjee somewhat bears out Lahiri when he writes: “Soon after a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, I returned with a vague impression that she might consider Manmohan Singh as the UPA nominee. I thought if she selected Singh for the presidential office, she may choose me as the prime minister.” Lahiri has said that many allied parties opposed Manmohan’s name because by that time the discussion of the 2G scam and coal scam had started. On the other hand, the leaders of opposition parties also agreed on the name of Pranab Mukherjee. LK Advani, Bal Thackeray and Nitish Kumar had agreed to support Pranab. Not only this, Pranab Mukherjee had explained to Sonia Gandhi that the TMC would eventually support his name though it had formally opposed him.
Right wing organizations, including RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, have turned into Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ Achilles heel even in his 3.0 Avataar. Nagpur riots ensued after Hindu hardliners demanded razing of Moghul tyrant Aurangzeb’s tomb and yet, these organizations failed to step up after riots to assuage, provide financial aid, moral support to Hindu community that suffered collateral damage. Hindus living in Nagpur city, particularly in Muslim dominated (demographically) localities are on verge of exodus though Fadnavis promised to make rioters pay-up, recoup losses suffered during mayhem unleashed by minority community using his version of the bulldozer policy. BJP insiders reveal, “A near identical mayhem unleashed in 2012 by Raza Academy and Samajwadi Party at Mumbai’s iconic Azad Maidan grounds left several fresher women police constables molested in its wake. After a decade of incident (eight years under Fadnavis) trial had not begun. Will Nagpur, where a senior woman police officer was similarly targeted, go the same way?” The molested women police constables, numbering nine, from the Azad Maidan incident, mostly daughters of poor farmers in Maharashtra, resigned their jobs after their FIRs at Azad Maidan police station failed to elicit due justice or restore even a semblance of their dignity. In 2015 right-wingers similarly upped the ante (Fadnavis being CM) over 2008 Bombay High Court order, threatening to take to streets and exposing their own trepidation to act similarly when Congress governments ruled, worried over police lathis. The more that things change, the more they remain the same?
The BCCI took some time to announce Rs 58 crore as cash bonus to the Indian team that ruled the roost and won the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai. The players and the head coach Gautam Gambhir will receive Rs 3 crore each and the others — depending on their position in the support squad — a specific sum. The BCCI had announced a cash award of Rs 125 crore to Rohit Sharma’s team that won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2024. This is in addition to the prize money of $ 2.45 million from the ICC for winning the Cup and $31,154 for every match won. It’s $2.24 million for winning the Champions Trophy and an additional $34,000 for every match won. What the BCCI says is win ICC tournaments and we are ready to open the purse strings. Two years ago, India received $ 40,000 for each of the 10 matches it won in the ICC World Cup and $ 2 million for finishing runner-up to Australia. The prize money received from ICC is fully disbursed to the players. Even 14 years ago the Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni received from the BCCI a cash bonus of around Rs 35 crore for winning the World Cup. Well, to think of it, the BCCI was not flush with funds to award the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team; that was 41 years ago. These days even the Ranji Trophy winning team receives Rs 5 crore as prize money. The Women’s Premier League winner Mumbai Indians received Rs 6 crore and the IPL winner will get Rs 20 crore was the prize money for the 2022-2024 cycle. Well, BCCI means money!
Hardik Pandya is back as captain; it has come one year after the last season’s Tata-IPL in which his team — the 5-time winner Mumbai Indians — finished at the bottom of the 10-team leader board. But he will not lead the Ambani owned team for its first match of Season-18 at the Chepauk on March 23. As captain of MI last year, he is paying a heavy price for not getting his team’s overs in time — not in one match, but three times. The third slow-over rate happened against Lucknow and he was docked a Rs 30 lakh fine, a one-match suspension; and the rest of the playing XI, a fine of Rs 12 lakh each. And so MI will miss Pandya against CSK and also the recuperating Jasprit Bumrah. All this means the stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav will have to get the job done by two other bowlers to bowl eight overs. Pandya appeared a cool cat at MI’s pre-season presser, being matter of fact, fielding questions along with Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene and bringing in a touch of humour. He made the 40-minute presser light, just like he probably wears the captaincy cap too. For some strange reason, Pandya has been eased out as Twenty20 format captain of the Indian team. He doesn’t seem perturbed about it. He led Gujarat Titans to two finals with a title on debut, a reason for getting the MI captaincy. His message to the MI paltan at the Wankhede; chillao (shout) when I am at the toss, chillao when I go to bat, chillao when I hit 6s, chillao when I take a wicket and chillao for Mumbai Indians.
The good old Brabourne Stadium at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) was abuzz and a Saturday day night fever like atmosphere prevailed at the South Mumbai venue during the third Tata-WPL final. Close to 15000 spectators showed up to cheer the blazing Sudarshan Chakra sporting Mumbai Indians (MI). It was a typical home crowd rooting for the Ambanis owned MI, but applauding the good work of the Delhi Capitals too. The women power was in full force with Harmanpreet Kaur, the India captain stealing the thunder with an admirable show of not exposing her nerves, battling hard with a stunning rescue knock of 66 with England’s Natalie Sciver-Brunt showing that she is a professional to the core — all in the presence of Nita Ambani, Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation and Madhumati Lele Shrivastava, President, CCI and WPL’s Executive Committee and few more from the Upper Crust. But after the closing ceremony show by Jasmine Sandlas, French Montana, and Mohamed Ramadan, the teams led by the legendary Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet took the centre stage and after a three-hour scrap in the middle, the MI captain had outwitted her rival with the bat and leadership. Delhi Capitals owned by the GMR Group and JSW Sports was disappointed with a runner-up finish for the third time in a row, and MI was cock-a-hoop after failing to get going when the DC’s South African Marizanne Kapp was flaunting her talent with the new ball. The BCCI ought to be pleased as punch that the WPL is truly bringing women power to the fore.
Women’s cricket has changed for the better in the last two decades in India and around the world. Once it came under the ambit of the national governing body — in India’s case the BCCI — the country’s infrastructure was opened to the budding talent, opportunities/exposure increased at the international level. And in the last five years, the match fee and allowances were also brought on par with the men’s team. The national team was also given an annual contract and retired cricketers a fixed monthly gratis. Three years ago, the BCCI introduced the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with five franchise teams. The question one may ask now is whether all the development programmes put in place by the BCCI have caused a significant change in the overall standard? Observers say it’s been only three seasons of WPL and that there is a definite change in all three departments of the game batting, bowling and fielding. But they feel that the State and National teams have a lot more work to do to match the high standards set by the Australian team which recently won the women’s Ashes hands down in Australia. The Tata-WPL 3 has thrown some fresh talent into the deep, but they have come up short, except for medium pacer Kshavee Gautam, who has 11 wickets to be fourth in the bowling honours list after the Eliminator match. The batting group is led by England and Mumbai Indians’ Natalie Sciver-Brunt (493 runs) and the bowling by West Indian and MI’s Haley Matthews (17 wickets). The WPL is what the women wanted and they have got it. It’s a massive springboard to showcase talent!
Rohit Sharma’s bad luck with the toss continued in the ICC Champions Trophy. He lost the fifth continuous toss in the tournament — against Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia and again in the final against New Zealand. It was also the 12th straight time the toss went against him and the 15th against India in a row. Though Sharma lost the toss, India won the matches while posting a total and chasing 264 against Australia in the semi-final. The toss makes a big difference to the fortunes of a team, in Test matches in particular. One may say Sharma has been quite unlucky at the toss, one of the most intriguing parts of a cricket match at any level. Sharma’s captaincy in one-day internationals started on November 19, 2023. In the toss-loss matches, he has won seven matches, four of them in the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium. Other India captains who have lost consecutive tosses – six — are Mohammed Azharuddin, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly. In contrast Sharma has won 10 ODI matches in two months from October to November 2023, all during the ICC World Cup. Sharma has won only four tosses in a row; in February-July 2022. Azharuddin has won a maximum of nine tosses among India captains. Captains call at the toss and also wait for the outcome after the rival captain has called. In Sharma’s case his call went wrong on four occasions. In the final of the Champions Trophy, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner called correctly at the toss and chose to bat. The final was Sharma’s 56th match as captain.
First, India did not travel to Pakistan — the host country for the ICC Champions Trophy – and then on Tuesday (Mar 4) it marched to victory against Australia in the semi-finals and confirmed its entry in the final. Which meant that the last piece of the Champions Trophy action would happen in petro-$ Emirate Of Dubai because that was the arrangement worked upon by the ICC with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which was enthusiastic to parade the “Champions” talent at three of its most popular venues in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. One can only be sympathetic towards the PCB and the country’s cricket diwane having waited for around three decades to host an ICC event, but circumstances beyond the control of the BCCI and the men in blue team has led to a peculiar situation wherein Pakistan will not be able to host the final. The only way the PCB and Pakistan could have hoped to stage the final was with its national team advancing to the knock-out stage and India getting eliminated at the group stage itself. But always a white-ball giant, the India juggernaut quelled four ‘Champion’ teams and took a big stride to position it for winning another title. While Pakistan will be utterly disappointed, the Indian expatriates are only happy to cheer their favourite team yet another time. India has not lost a single ODI match at the Dubai International Stadium There has been anomalies this ICC event has brought to the fore. Can this be rectified at all?
Numbers…big numbers matter in cricket; the scorers love it, the statisticians love it, the media loves it and there is no denying the fact the cricketers love it….and here is a big number that Virat Kohli has hit in his long and fantastic career that is into its 18th summer….and that in the form of playing for the men in blue in 300 one-day international matches! And this massive number is an accomplishment only six other Indians in Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mohammed Azharuddin have achieved. What makes this big achievement even more significant is that Kohli had taken only 287 innings (from 299 matches) to make the 14000-run cut when juxtaposed against the numbers of Tendulkar (359 matches/350 innings) and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (402 matches/378 innings). It is a phenomenal feat which is embellished with 51 centuries and 1470 boundary shots (1318x 4s and 158 x 6s) accounting for 6184 runs of his 14085 runs before the 300th ODI – against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai. Kohli began his international career as a 19-year old, a few months after he left the junior ranks in style leading India and clinching the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. And 17 years later, he has been celebrated as the greatest ever ODI player by former international captains. Kohli has already played over 100 Tests and Twenty20 internationals and stamped his authority in each one of them. He has won the white ball World Cups — 50 and 20 overs format in India (2011) and West Indies (2024) and the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. And now the 300th ODI….terrific!
The men in blue team looked like they were having fun at the ICC Cricket Academy ground …not far away from the Dubai International Stadium (DIS) where India beat Asian neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals. Rohit Sharma’s team knocked Pakistan out from the tournament and chose to rest for two days before a “hitting out parade” at the academy grounds on Mahashivratri day. After some fun play warm up with tennis ball, each and every batter starting with Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli and followed by the likes of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and KL Rahul and the others sent the ball to challenge stratospheric layers making the people standing near the sightscreen run for cover! Close to a hundred towering shots would have been hit in the course of the two–hour plus power-batting session. A wagon wheel of the robust hitting would be interesting to see, but the intent shown by the batters confirmed that smashing small and big boundary shots have become the order in white ball cricket. Skipper Sharma was present at the venue, but his deputy Shubhman Gill was not. Troubled by a hamstring niggle — Sharma had said he was okay at the conclusion of the match against Pakistan — the India skipper did not pad up for the hitting parade. The big question is will Sharma risk playing the sort of a ‘dead rubber’ match against New Zealand this Sunday in order to rest his hamstring for six full days?
Is Kerala moving away from its sports culture legacy embedded in track and field, football, volleyball and basketball? These are early days, but the multi-cultural mix of the Southern state is openly pointing towards its love for cricket. For the first time in the annals of the eight-decade old Ranji Trophy — a blue riband tournament of the BCCI — Kerala threw down the gauntlet and reached the pinnacle to have a shot at the title of the 2024-25 season. Now and then Kerala has shown the spark in the white-ball format of the game and a number of Malayalee cricketers have taken the spotlight — but the team — one among the 32 in the four Elite Groups — fashioned a one run and two run lead in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to enter the final by its own right. Long ago Kerala was a no hoper against strong cricket legacy teams like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Hyderabad in the Zonal format, but the introduction of a new format ago has given more exposure to the minnows and this season Kerala advanced from a group in which six were previous winners of the Ranji Trophy like Haryana, Karnataka, MP, West Bengal, UP and Punjab. Bihar was the eighth team in their group. The Malayalees across India and the world will watch the final with keen interest as Kerala locks horns with the two-time winner Vidarbha for the coveted prize and Rs 5 crore. Hail Kerala, one may raise a toast now!
The intitial turn out for India’s opening ICC Champions Trophy match at the Dubai International Stadium (DIS) was a far cry from the spectators who showed up for India’s home series matches against England recently. It was full house in Nagpur and Cuttack, and around 60000 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the third ODI. The men in blue are a big draw anywhere in the world but on Thursday — which is not a holiday here — there were not many takers, most of them having saved Dirhams for the India-Pakistan group match on Sunday, which is a weekend holiday. The DIS can hold between 25000 and 30000 people and by the time Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana struck blows in the first 10 balls of the match — after Bangladesh chose to bat winning the toss — one could see empty seats at the Stadium. The venue which has a canopy like roof and gives a ring of fire like visual as dusk settles in, has become a popular venue in the UAE — the other two being the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Tickets are priced as low as 250 AED and it goes up to a high of 12500 AED for the Grand Lounge at the DIS. The ticketing arrangements have been done by the host Pakistan Cricket Board and Emirates Cricket Board and much of the gate receipts should be going to Pakistan’s kitty. Wickets were falling in a heap in the first hour of the match as India gained the upperhand and the only disappointing aspect was skipper Rohit Sharma spilling a catch at slip to deny left arm spinner Axar Patel, a hat-trick.
In a week’s time, that’s next Sunday on February 23, the world of cricket would swing to the passions reflected across India and Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy. The clash between the arch rivals in cricket will be a sell out with every seat at the Dubai International Stadium, where the expatriates will shell out thousands of Dirhams and create an electrifying atmosphere. Seventeen months ago, a near full house at the Narendra Modi Stadium rooted for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team against Pakistan in the ICC World Cup. India which won that match was the host of the World Cup and Pakistan travelled to Ahmedabad for the marquee event. The Pakistan Cricket board (PCB) being the host of the ICC Champions Trophy, believed India would travel across the border to give the local fans — either in Lahore or Karachi — a real experience of a high-octane tension filled match, but the BCCI, not allowed by the government of India, refused to send its team to Pakistan — citing security concerns — and India’s group matches were scheduled in Dubai. An India-Pakistan contest in any sport is an extraordinary event by itself, but one between the cricketers of the two countries is truly uplifting to the millions of fans of the country that wins the contest. Eight years ago Pakistan downed India by 180 runs in the Champions Trophy final at ‘The Oval’ in London. Pakistan holds a 3-2 edge in the Champions Trophy and 73-57 edge overall in ODIs, but it’s 2-0 for India in Dubai with Rohit Sharma totalling 317 runs in five matches with a high of an unbeaten 111 against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup.
The ICC Champions Trophy set to get off the ground for the Indian team in Dubai from next February 20 is important for many reasons. Whatever may be the outcome, the eight-nation tournament will dictate the course of action from senior cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja. Soon after India won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup last June in Bridgetown, Sharma, Kohli and Jadeja took a call to quit the shortest format of the game (not from the IPL). Now the discerning and key personnel in the BCCI including the national selection committee would look forward to white ball career decisions to be taken by the senior professionals. Sharma, Kohli and Jadeja had a good outing in the home series against England, making a 3-0 sweep of the ODI series, the first time in 13 years after India won a home series 5-0 against the same opponent in 2011. The selection committee too would look to build a new team for the next ICC World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. After a disappointing 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Sharma’s team will get an opportunity to win another ICC title. As a first task, it has to get across the group matches hurdles against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. Two wins will ensure India’s passage into the semi-finals in order to face a team from the other group that has Australia, South Africa, England and Afghanistan. India will be without Jasprit Bumrah and hence will lean heavily on the spinner allrounders to deliver the goods and the title of course. But the million-dollar question is: “What will Sharma, Kohli and Jadeja do after the tournament.”
Tennis buffs were happy to read the bold and interesting catchline — Larsen & Toubro: Celebrating Excellence in Women’s Tennis — at the tennis courts of South Mumbai’s sports-minded Cricket Club of India (CCI). India and the world’s top engineering, construction and manufacturing company, was the title sponsor, for the fourth year, of the “LT Mumbai Open” which is a Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) category 125 professional tournament that draws budding and experienced international players who aim for the 125 WTA points and move up the world rankings. The tournament also helps promising Indian players who are not among the top notch get a “wildcard” entry into the qualifiers and the main draw. The CCI was a superb venue for the event, but the week-long tournament — revived after six years — enabled a rookie Indian junior, Maaya Rajeshwarann Revathi to cut her teeth in the big league and make a terrific impact. Thanks to the L&T, CCI and the Tournament Director, Sunder Iyer, four Indians — Ankita Raina, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaishnavi Adkar and Sahaja Yamalapalli — got a wildcard entry into the main draw of 32, and Maaya and Akanksha Nitture for the qualifier. But the young lass who impressed the most was the 15-year old from Coimbatore, Maaya who won two qualifier rounds and three main draw rounds to enter the semi-finals to be assured of 49 WTA points to enter the WTA world ranking list. She also earned a prize money of $ 5300. The week ending February 9 turned out to be path breaking for Maaya who trains at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Spain. Tennis needs more corporate patronage, just like the L&T ‘s support for the Mumbai Open.
The Indian corporate world and the IPL team owners’ “big time” interest in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s nascent franchise league “The Hundred” has made a big splash. Initially the pessimists felt that the “The Hundred”, meaning a 100-ball competition for eight clubs would not be able to make an impact akin to the one made by the IPL which kicked off in 2008. After 17 years the IPL brand value is around $ 12 billion. The fact that three IPL team owners — Ambanis of Mumbai Indians (MI), Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) and the Marans of the Sunrisers Hyderabad have bought partial or full stake in the three clubs shows their respect for the game in the UK. Now the MI has 49% stake (60 million pounds) in the Oval Invincibles, the LSG has a 70% stake (81 million pounds) in the Manchester Originals and the Sunrisers have a 100% stake (100 million pounds) in Yorkshire’s Northern Superchargers. The Indian techie consortium of Adobe, Google and Microsoft has a 49% stake (145 million pounds) in the London Spirit team. And, finally the Washington DC based Sanjay Govil has a 49% stake (40 million pounds) in the Welsh Fire team. The ECB, which has sold its 49% stake in each of the eight teams, wants to deploy the money to assist struggling counties and grassroots development. Most of the IPL owners have cast their net wide owning teams in Twenty20 leagues in the Caribbean, South Africa, Middle East and the Major League Cricket in the USA. Their overwhelming interest in “The Hundred” is likely to make it the biggest one in the near future.
The England captain Jos Buttler did not mince words on the matter of fast bowler Harshit Rana replacing Shivam Dube as the like-for-like “concussion substitute” in the fourth Twenty20 international in Pune. The scoreboard will show left-hander Dube having scored 53 off 34 balls with 7x 4s and 2x6s – a fine performance that went a long way in India posting a stiff 181 in 20 overs after being rocked by Saqib Mahmood’s three-wicket burst in his first over. It was Dube’s first international match in eight months. Rana, who replaced Dube after India chose to use the “Concussion substitute” rule at the innings break, ended up with flattering figures of 3 for 33, sending down his full quota of four overs. Rana took the wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton – all capable of giving the ball a solid whack. A pertinent question that cropped up was whether “Rana was a like-for-like’’ replacement for Dube, particularly as a fast bowler. In his previous 33 matches, Dube had sent down 45.3 overs and taken 11 wickets with a 3 for 30 as his best against Bangladesh in Nagpur in 2019. He did not bowl in 11 matches and went wicket-less in 15. Buttler disagreed with “Rana coming in for Dube” and wondered if Dube’s bowling speed had shot up by 25 miles per hour or if Rana’s batting had improved. On the face of it, Rana was a far from like-for-like replacement for Dube. India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, explained that the team forwarded Rana’s name and the match referee, Javagal Srinath approved it. The unsavoury event will compel the ICC to mull over the “Concussion substitute” rule.
Quite a few things have happened after Jay Shah took charge as chair of the ICC. The youngest ever to helm the world governing body for cricket, Shah was faced with the task of making the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accept the hybrid model in order to host the ICC Champions Trophy — at home and in Dubai — after the BCCI refused (when he was Secretary) to send its team to Pakistan citing the Indian government’s unwavering position on the matter that has been existent for over one and a half decades. The PCB had its way by getting an assurance from the ICC Board that it will not send its team to India for future ICC events. The ICC Chair is not exactly a hot seat and Shah’s predecessors — New Zealand’s Greg Barclay and India’s Shashank Manohar maintained a low-profile. With a professional structure in place the ICC Board is rarely involved in the daily routines. Shah made headlines recently meeting the Organising Committee of the Brisbane Olympics 2032 team in Brisbane and also the outgoing International Olympic Committee boss Thomas Bach in Lausanne. The feel good happenings came to a halt with the ICC CEO Geoff Allardice — after a 13-year stint at the Dubai-based world body — stepping down some three weeks before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy. Both Shah and Allardice have thanked each other for serving the game of cricket and getting an opportunity, but Allardice, an Australian, is the fourth ICC official to resign in recent times. People are not yet ready to say that the Shah effect has started in the Dubai office of the ICC.
Varun Chakravarthy has been left in the lurch — not once, but twice — by men in the blue. While fans across the world should be celebrating his five-wicket haul in the third Twenty20 skirmish against England at the Niranjan Shah stadium alongside the Jamnagar highway, they have been driven to feel pity for the white-ball tweaker — leg-spin-googly bowler — whose tricks the batters find it like a cryptic crossword puzzle to solve. The first time he took five wickets (5 for 17 off four overs) in a Twenty20 international was against South Africa at Port Elizabeth on November 10, 2024. India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, lost the low-scoring match by three wickets, and South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs, was declared the man of the match. Chasing India’s 124 for six wickets, South Africa made 128 for 7 in 19 overs, with Stubbs carving a 41-ball unbeaten 47. On Tuesday (Jan 28), Chakravarthy took 5 for 24 in four overs to check England ‘s score to 171 for 9, but the home team led by Suryakumar Yadav could make only 145 for 9, thus handing a first win for the visitor in three matches. Luckily, though, and as a consolation, the spinner was declared the man of the match, his second in the ongoing series. He won the man of the match award for his 3 for 23 for a winning result in the first match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Chakravarthy is the only bowler who has taken five wickets in Twenty20 international twice and agonisingly lost both. For the record, 26 other bowlers have taken a fifer once for a losing side!
Jammu & Kashmir is not a minnows in India’s domestic first class cricket environment. Yet regarded as a poor cousin when juxtaposed against the giants of Indian cricket – Mumbai. The team from the northern most State of the country brought down the 42-time winner and the defending champion in a league match of the Ranji Trophy tournament with four full sessions of eight hours remaining in a four-day match. Jammu & Kashmir showed the drive and ambition to put it across a side that had India captain Rohit Sharma and India’s Test match opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Mumbai also boasted of Shreyas Iyer and a few more star players. More than a decade ago Jammu & Kashmir had scored a sensational win against Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium. The fortunes of the most recent clash swung here and there, but eventually Mumbai shot out for 120 in the first innings and were beaten, bruised and embarrassed. Both Rohit Sharma — woefully out of form — and Yashasvi Jaiswal were accommodated in the playing XI at the expense of an in-form batter and the new kid on the block17-year old Ayush Mathre who had scored over 400 runs in his debut first class season. Mumbai ought to have found a way to find a place in the XI for the teenager who was as they say in cricket in “good nick”, but the champion team did not, and paid a heavy price conceding all six points to its opponent and fret over qualifying for the knock-out. From Jammu & Kashmir’s point of view, it was a question of applying mind over matter and showing a terrific ambition in the opponent’s backyard!
The Guinness World Records creative “Fifty Years Of Wankhede Stadium” using 14505 cricket balls — 7821 red and 6684 white — was an ode to the greatest short-leg fielder Eknath Solkar. Raised and nurtured on the maidans, the gutsy Mumbai left-hander who emerged from zilch to achieve world fame, crouching at a dangerous fielding position and plucking catches. He also showed a stout heart while batting. “Ekky” as he was fondly known to his friends and fans was remembered by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) which dedicated the unique creative to him. It was all part of its Fifty years of Wankhede Stadium celebration with the creative displayed in front of the dressing room sight screen on January 23, the first day of the first Test at a venue in 1975. Solkar was the first Indian to score a century at the venue named after Sheshrao Wankhede, regarded as a man for integrity and sports-minded. Wankhede was responsible for breaking the umbilical cord with the Cricket Club of India (CCI) for good reasons; the Bombay Cricket Association of which was Wankhede was the President, wanted to be independent and keen to own a cricket ground. And Wankhede delivered it using his political clout. Fifty years after the MCA honoured some of its great cricketers, administrators and recognised the ground staff tending to many venues in the city, the MCA presented Rs 10 lakh each to the surviving members of the 1974 Ranji Trophy team and Rs 5 lakh to the family of Ashok Mankad and Sudhir Naik, both of whom contributed immensely to the MCA — as player, captain, coach, mentor, curator, managing committee member and what not. Don’t they deserve more!
The BCCI’s selection committee has played it safe was the wisecrack after India’s men in blue team was picked for the 3-match ODI series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy. The two biggest failures against Australia — skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — made it to the squad with Sharma as captain. Both have quit the Twenty20 format, but have been highly successful in the limited overs game and the committee with Ajit Agarkar in chair did not want to take the radical step of punishing them for not scoring runs against Australia. With both Sharma and Kohli in the selectors in no way could have acted upon Shubman Gill who gifted his wicket to Australia in both innings of the final Test in Sydney. In fact, he has been named the vice-captain. The outcome of the ODI series against England at home and the Champions Trophy and their individual form with the bat may probably direct a specific course of action on a few old hands from the selection committee which can be said was very conservative in picking the squad for the two campaigns in India and in Dubai. Agarkar went to the extent of saying that the immediate focus is on the Champions Trophy and not about the future of Sharma — who took a swipe at the media during the Sydney Test — and Kohli. Indian cricket is yet to see something big and bold as the change of captaincy – from Tiger Pataudi to Ajit Wadekar — affected in 1971 by the then Chairman of the selection committee Vijay Merchant whose decisions took Indian cricket forward. When will a Merchant happen again for Indian cricket?
The latest news that the phlegmatic Sitanshu Kotak is likely to be the dedicated batting coach of the men in blue team starting from the five-match Twenty20 series against England has set tongues wagging about the need to equip the Twenty20 World Cup winning team with three ‘batting’ coaches — all left handers — under head coach Gautam Gambhir who himself is a left hander. Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach) is a left hander and so too is Kotak. The BCCI has not declared Kotak being added to the team that will meet in Kolkata for the first match. While India’s batters in general flunked against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the knee-jerk response from the BCCI — cannot say if the 116-Test veteran Dilip Vengsarkar, a 1983 World Cup winning star, a former Chairman of the senior national selection committee and an Apex Council member was consulted about the addition of a batting coach to the national team. And also Shubangi Kulkarni the second former cricketer in the Apex Council. Only the BCCI can reveal if Kotak is going to do the batting coach role across formats. More importantly to whom will the batters take their problems to — Gambhir, Nayar or Kotak who has not played for India in any format. Kotak (52) has played 130 first class matches and scored only 15 x 100s! He has been part of the National Cricket Academy set up for many years and has managed India A and junior teams. In addition the men in blue team has a second Assistant Coach in Ryan ten Doeschate, bowling coach Morne Morkel and fielding coach T Dilip, who was retained from the previous coaching staff under Rahul Dravid.
Sunil Gavaskar dressed in a pistachio China collar gave a pleasant surprise to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik and its Apex Council by gracing the Wankhede Stadium Golden Jubilee inauguration on January 12. The MCA had invited the batting maestro and legend for the big celebration on January 19 when the association will felicitate the India captains from Mumbai. Upon being called to the stage after the MCA Apex Council match against the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai on Sunday — a 10-over thrash — Gavaskar said: “I got myself invited for today’s function because I was captain of Bombay (Mumbai) first before leading India. So I decided to invite myself.” The MCA was naturally excited at its illustrious son of the soil cricketer turning up at the Wankhede where he has scored 1122 runs in 11 Tests at 56.10 with five centuries including a high of 205 against the West Indies in the 1978-79 series. He had missed a century in the first Test at the Wankhede against the West Indies in January 1975. He scored 86 in the first innings. Gavaskar led India for the first time in January 1976 against New Zealand in Auckland, several months after he led Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy season of 1975-76. Gavaskar led Mumbai to three Ranji Trophy title wins; in April 1977 against Delhi at the Kotla, in April 1984 against Delhi at the Wankhede when he scored an unbeaten 206 and in April 1985 against Delhi at the Wankhede. No wonder he arrived at the historic venue on Sunday, January 12, to the delight of one and all!
PV Sindhu has been in the news in recent times for all happy reasons; first and foremost, she chose to settle down in life, marrying Venkata Datta Sai in Udaipur, and now comes another pleasant news that she has been chosen as the Brand Ambassador by the top German footwear, apparel and accessories company PUMA which has been associated with such illustrious sportspersons like the World’s all-time great athlete Usain Bolt, Brazil’s top-notch football player Neymar Jr and Indian sportspersons like Harmanpreet Kaur (cricket), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Olympian Sarabjot Singh (shooting), and Paralympian Avani Lekhara (shooting). With a market cap of Rs 562.26 billion, the company has entered a big way in Indian badminton by zeroing in on a champion player who won the silver medal in the women’s singles at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Sindhu did not have a particularly memorable time at the Paris Olympics, but she has won medals — gold to bronze in almost every competitive regional and global tournament. She will target the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya (Japan) and perhaps the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. PUMA, in the business of sports brands for more than seven and half decades, has announced a multi-year arrangement with the star Indian badminton player who is 29 and has been a splendid achiever, bestowed the Khel Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Arjuna Awards. Sindhu will be seen in PUMA colours from the India Open in New Delhi on Tuesday, January 14. Last November, she announced plans to start the PV Sindhu Center for Badminton and Sports Excellence in Visakhapatnam.
Incredibly, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is in contention for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after being dumped by the wayside following his 8-0-67-0 returns in the 2017 final against Pakistan at `The Oval’ London. He, along with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (10-0-70-0), were dropped after Pakistan amassed 338 for four and won the final by 180 runs. Jadeja and Ashwin travelled to the West Indies immediately after the final on June 18, 2017. However, Jadeja was not picked again until the Asia Cup in September 2018; after a gap of 14 months, Ashwin was cast away for four and a half years. But even after his recall, he played only five more ODIs, with the then-team management opting for the wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. While Ashwin has taken a final bow from international cricket, the 36-year-old Jadeja still competes with a fellow Gujarati from Nadiad, Axar Patel, for India’s immediate ODI campaigns, including the Champions Trophy matches in Dubai. The rough and tough all-rounder from Jamnagar has taken 65 wickets @37.69 after the forgettable final in 2017. Axar, who will turn 31 on January 20, has taken 64 wickets @32.56 in 60 matches. The national selection committee may have been disappointed that Patel was not being played on spin-designer pitches against New Zealand in Pune and Mumbai. He was the first choice to replace Ashwin in Australia. Jadeja (4 matches in seven wkts) has played at the Dubai International Stadium, and Axar hasn’t. The selection committee may pick both for the CT2025; it depends on chinaman (left arm wrist spinner) bowler Kuldeep Yadav’s recovery from a groin-related issue. But to be in the fray after a mauling by the Pakistan batters in 2017 speaks of Jadeja’s unyielding attitude to compete at the highest level.
The announcement of India’s men in blue team for the white-ball home series against England will throw hints at the road ahead for the floundering Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The focus will be on Ajit Agarkar (chairman) of the selection committee and his colleagues in Sridharan Sharath, Subroto Banerjee, Shiv Sundar Das and Ajay Ratra; they have to announce three teams: one for the five-match Twenty20 series, then the ODI series and also shortlist the national squad the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Sharma’s batting average in the last three Test series was 10.50 against Bangladesh in two Tests, 15.17 against New Zealand in three Tests and 6.20 against Australia in three Tests. The mandate for the selection committee is crystal clear, and that’s to send a message that the 67-Test veteran who will turn 38 in April-end has no place in the long form of the game. For the 123-Test veteran Kohli, the batting numbers are far from convincing: 33 against Bangladesh in two Tests, 15.50 against New Zealand in three Tests and 23.75 against Australia in five Tests. Nicking to the slip cordon was the feature of his batting in Australia. He is 770 runs short of 10,000 runs in Test cricket. But only three times in his distinguished career, he has scored 600 plus runs in a Test series, and the last time it was against Sri Lanka in 2017-18. Will the selectors drag his career beyond the five-Test series in England from mid-June to achieve a personal milestone? A call to end their Test career or international career can be taken only after the selection committee gets the nod from the big shots in the BCCI, perhaps even outside of it!
After losing his 12th Test match (in Melbourne) as captain in 24 Tests, Rohit Sharma may have called time in Test cricket. There is no way the national selection committee would recall him for India’s next Test, which will be played in England in mid-June. Sharma’s exit from the fifth Test against Australia – the official version is that he chose to opt out at the pretty-as-a-picture Sydney Cricket Ground. Winning the ICC World Twenty20 in Bridgetown made the former BCCI Secretary Jay Shah say this: “On November 23, after winning 10 matches, we won hearts, but we could not win the (World) Cup. I said in Rajkot that on June 29 we will win hearts, win the Cup and hoist the flag in Barbados. And our captain hoisted it there. After this win, the upcoming ICC events — WTC final and the Champions Trophy, I am confident that our team, under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, will become champions.” In these circumstances, the selection committee could no way have removed him as captain after India’s 0-3 rout against New Zealand at home, but his 10 single-digit scores (0 to 9) in his last 16 Test innings did not help his cause and forced him out of the squad itself for the Sydney Test. Sharma has not led by example with the bat since the home series against Bangladesh in Chennai. His team was shot out for 46 by the Kiwis in the first innings in Bengaluru, lost on designer pitches in Pune and Mumbai, and the Australians choked him at Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. And that’s that; he had to go away leaving the leadership to Jasprit Bumrah who led the bowling attack and the team to a superb win in Perth.
Jay Shah has taken charge as Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) leaving the Secretary’s post to be filled at a special general meeting and election on January 12. The BCCI’s president, a distinguished former cricketer and 1983 World Cup-winning star, Roger Binny deputed Jt Secretary, Devajit Saikia to carry out the duties of the Secretary till the time the election process is completed. Meanwhile another vacancy in the BCCI was created when its Treasurer Ashish Shelar was chosen in the Maharashtra State Cabinet. According to the BCCI Constitution, ministers are barred from holding any position in the BCCI/State set up. So the election process has been called for by the electoral officer. The 34 representatives of the voting members have been announced with no representatives from the Railways, Services and All India Universities. The nominations for the two posts will be known on January 4, the last day to file the papers. Which means the future Secretary and Treasurer will be known on January 4 itself because only those who have the blessings of the powers that be will have filed the necessary documents. Assam’s Saikia who is also on the ICC Board may be continued till the next AGM and election in September 2025. The grapevine is telling the cricket world that Mumbai Cricket Association Vice President Sanjay Naik has a good chance of becoming the Treasurer. Naik is known to be close to the outgoing Treasurer Shelar. Naik will complete six years together at the MCA and BCCI (should he become the BCCI Treasurer) next September and will run into a cooling off period of three years.
Rohit Sharma ought to be mulling over his Test/international career sooner than later. Joining the Indian team after the Jasprit Bumrah led Indian team trounced Australia in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he has not been able to contribute with the bat at all. His fifth-ball dismissal in the first innings in Melbourne to his counterpart Pat Cummins reflected his diminishing confidence levels; initially he chose to drop down the order allowing Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul to continue opening the innings. This was the same pair that had put on 201 in the second innings in Perth. But after the Test matches in Adelaide and Brisbane, he reverted to the opening slot — allowing Jaiswal to take strike first — and perished quickly and traced his steps back to the pavilion, an unhapppy man. A powerful batter in the white-ball format, Sharma would have been wiser batting before Rishabh Pant (5/6), but he rushed to the top, a decision that resulted in Shubhman Gill being dropped “to give a sense of balance” to the playing XI.. Should the home team win the contest at the MCG, Sharma may begin to introspect about captaincy before the fifth and final Test in Sydney. Nothing has gone right for him since the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Sharma focussed a lot to win the two ICC World Cups — he lost the final against Australia in Ahmedabad and won the final against South Africa in Bridgetown. Sharma, an attractive player to watch, is struggling and that’s not a good sight!
Perhaps the time is upon the BCCI to take stock of women’s cricket and effect changes starting from now on. It’s 18 years since women’s cricket came under the BCCI umbrella and in this long period things have looked up for the teams across formats on all counts, from contracts to match fees, coaching, exposure in India and abroad. It’s the women in blue team that’s seen in action much more than they being in whites. What has been disappointing is that the national team has not been able to bring the ICC tournament silverware even once. The women’s team, under the BCCI, has taken part in four 50-over World Cups and nine Twenty20 World Cups. The illustrious former India allrounder Diana Edulji squealed at the team’s inability to rise above mediocrity and lose to Australia 3-0 recently. As far as the World Cup matches are concerned India has played 27 ODI World Cup matches since 2009, won 16 and lost 11 and played 40 World Twenty20 matches, won 22 and lost 18. Not impressive! India’s top five batters average around 25 in World Twenty20 matches and in 50 over World Cups, India’s batters have not been consistent. In general the women in blue team has not been able to outwit Australia, England and New Zealand in matches/series away from home. In less than a year’s time India will host the 13th World Cup and hence just the time now to make changes that’s likely to bring in fresh ideas. The big question the BCCI and the selection committee has to take a call on is who should lead the team: Harmanpreet Kaur or Smriti Mandhana?
This was to happen one day or the other with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) putting its foot down saying it will not send its national teams to India for any signature event of the ICC, like the World Cups in the two formats in men, women and the juniors. This was the PCB’s riposte to the long-standing BCCI position — citing security concerns — that it will not send its team across the border for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and that it will play only at a neutral venue. For three World Test Championship (WTC) the two nations have taken themselves off the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The cricketers of the two countries may enjoy good relationships when they lock horns in neutral country venues and have fans across the border, but the Indian government has been steadfast in denying permission to the BCCI. The latest communication from the ICC has confirmed that in the 2024-2027 cycle all ICC events given to India and Pakistan, the matches featuring the two countries will be held at a neutral country chosen by the host country; in the Champions Trophy case the PCB is the host. What all this means is the elimination of high security arrangements that India had to do when Pakistan played last year’s World Cup matches in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. It took hard bargaining by the PCB with the ICC — with Jay Shah in Chair since December 1, 2024 — for it to agree to a hybrid model in order to ensure that it remains the host in a neutral country venue as well and where India will play and this country is said to be the United Arab Emirates.
Ravichandran Ashwin was adroit in bowling the carom or knuckle ball or the doosra, but on Wednesday afternoon, Brisbane time, the nonconformist off-spinner of 13 years in the big league of the game deployed the “bombshell” to bring an end to his illustrious career. At the conclusion of the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba, the finger spinner with a few sobriquets, “scientist” being the most used among the media, Ashwin sitting beside his beleaguered captain, Rohit Sharma, matter of fact said: Today (Wednesday, December 18) was his last day as an international cricketer across formats and that he will be seen in action in club cricket, meaning IPL etc. The seasoned campaigner, starting his Test career in November 2011, was capped 106 times, and he missed 25 Tests after his debut; he featured in 61 wins, 47@home and 14 overseas. He read the writing on the wall about him losing the primacy as the No 1 spinner of the team in flannels after Washington Sundar was chosen for the first Test in Perth. Then being dropped to bring in Ravindra Jadeja for the third Test in Brisbane convinced him that his time was up…to hang up his boots. The home series against New Zealand that India lost 3-0 was a bitter pill to swallow for him. His numbers — 765 wickets in the three formats, including 537 wickets in Tests alone speaks of his right to be called a legend. It was a bold, practical call to take a bow while not in the field and that was an unhappy part that Indian cricket could not give one of its icons a fitting farewell. Ashwin has perhaps shown the way for a few more to bid adieu, sooner than later! They are over the hill, indeed.
Going by the second day’s play in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Gabba in Brisbane, it can be said that India cannot be seen as a “contender” for the final of the ICC World Test Championship final to be played at the Lord’s in London in the first week of June 2025. After the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand in the home series, only the most optimist would have expected a turnaround in fortunes in the five-Test series against Australia. India trounced Australia in the first Test in Perth, but after the return of Rohit Sharma it has been on the downhill, steamrolled in the pink-ball day-night Test in Adelaide. The discerning has the right to ask questions about the team composition for the second and third Tests, especially with Washington Sundar confined to cooling his heels in the dressing room. Sharma justified pacer Harshit Rana’s selection for the second Test, saying that he did nothing wrong in the test. Does the same rationale not apply to Sundar? Sharma fielded the very experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the second Test, but dumped him for the third Test in Brisbane and chose left-hand spinner Ravindra Jadeja. The chopping and changing did not stop with the spinners; India dropped Rana like a hot potato and replaced him with another pacer Akash Deep, whose confidence must have been dealt a blow by reducing him to a reserve in Perth and Adelaide. The Indian bowling, — barring Jasprit Bumrah — has looked listless, with left-hander Travis Head flaying the Indian bowlers at will. By taking another five-wicket haul in the first innings at the Gabba, Bumrah has further staked his claim for full-time captaincy.
Devajit Saikia is the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) representative in the International Cricket Council (ICC) as its Director. Saikia, who is the question that is being asked by those not acquainted with the BCCI’s governance structure, especially after the Justice Lodha Committee’s Reforms in Cricket report was accepted by the Supreme Court in 2016 and its Constitution was rewritten thereafter. The ICC Board is the all-powerful body in its Governance structure, and as a convention, the 12 full members of the ICC nominate its Presidents as Directors. Many stalwarts of the BCCI, like Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar were on the ICC Board, and after the 2019 election, post the reforms, former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was on the ICC Board. Ganguly was succeeded by the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah with the BCCI President Roger Binny as the alternate director in 2022, the same year when the former Assam Ranji Trophy cricketer and legal practitioner Saikia was elected as Jt. Secretary of the BCCI. People in the know attribute Saikia’s rise on the administration side of the game to his association and rapport with Assam’s BJP chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Once it was announced that Jay Shah would take charge as Chair (Independent Director) of the ICC from December 1, 2024, quite a handful of names like Arun Singh Dhumal (former BCCI Treasurer and currently chairman, IPL) and Ashish Shelar (BJP President, Mumbai and BCCI Treasurer) emerged as a potential successor to Shah as BCCI Secretary. Saikia, will remain the BCCI Joint Secretary and perform the duties of the Secretary. But his nomination to the ICC Board has surprised many people.
Why was Washington Sundar dropped for the ‘Pink-Ball’ second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia at the Adelaide Oval? After his sudden recall for the second Test of the home series against New Zealand, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner, possessing a skillset as much as the left-arm all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja, had reasonably good outings, most significantly playing like an old-fashioned batter, digging his heels at the lower order and taking wickets, too. Sundar in all took 16 wickets, stealing the show from the senior pro in Ravichandran Ashwin. An automatic choice for the first Test against Australia in Perth, Sundar spent 20 minutes in the first innings and four minutes short of two hours in the second. In a Test that India won because of the individual brilliance of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, the 25-year-old conventional off-break bowler from Tamil Nadu took the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Based on these performances and his show of grit and determination, he should have been playing XI on the team sheet that India skipper Rohit Sharma exchanged with his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins. But Sharma, who was not part of the team in Perth, chose Ashwin for the pink-ball Test, obviously because of his 16 wicket collection at the `Adelaide Oval; in three Test matches, including a 4 for 55 in the first innings of the pink-ball Test four years ago. Sharma and the tour selectors may have a point going for Ashwin looking at past records, but Sundar had the momentum and enthusiasm going with him playing in the previous three Tests leading to Adelaide.
Pink-ball Tests will remain in the “corridor of uncertainty” for batters and bowlers. It is still at a very nascent stage, with the full members of the ICC reluctant to roster a pink-ball contest in a series featuring two to five Tests. It is just nine years old in a format seen as the ultimate test even by the multi-day competition’s seasoned campaigners. Having debuted at the charming Adelaide Oval in South Australia in November 2015 and in the form of a scrap between the Steve Smith-led home team and its Tasman rival led by Brendon McCullum, the pink-ball showed its bias with a pronounced unpredictable behaviour in the air and off the pitch. The fast bowlers and their ilk had a field day, with Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and New Zealand’s Trent Boult taking five-wicket hauls in the second innings. The team totals in the match were: New Zealand 202 and 208 and Australia 224 and 187 for 7. The low-scoring game ended in a three-wicket victory for Australia, which has played seven Tests of the pink-ball variety in Adelaide and maintained a clean record of seven wins. India lost the Adelaide Test match of 2020 by eight wickets, shot out for 36 in the second innings, with Hazlewood and Pat Cummins playing havoc. India has played four pink-ball Tests and won three, all at home in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. After a spectacular win in the first Test in Perth, where Jasprit Bumrah was the big game-changer, India will have to cross the pink-ball hurdle to win the big points and enhance its chances of advancing to the ICC World Test Championship final.
There was an inevitability to the ICC Champions Trophy going the way India (BCCI) wanted it to happen; a hybrid model with one group, with India in it, playing the preliminary stage at a neutral venue (most likely in Dubai or more venues in the UAE) and the second group with host Pakistan in it, playing at home. Being the host nation, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had to take the unbending position initially for public consumption at home. But after the latest round of ICC Board meetings, the PCB has been made to come around to a view that the hybrid model is the way forward to make possible the revival of the eight-team tournament last played in the English summer of 2017. One can surmise that the other cricket boards understood the sensitive situation better following the BCCI’s communication to the ICC that it would not risk sending its team to Pakistan, citing security concerns. India’s national cricket team has not toured Pakistan since 2008, and the Narendra Modi government has been steadfast in holding on to the call taken by the previous governments. It’s possible that the boards, the non-Asians would have aligned themselves with India’s position for a hybrid model. Pakistan won the last Champions Trophy at `The Oval’ in London in June 2017 and will be keen to give its best shot to defend the title. The PCB — pushed to the corner — wants a similar arrangement for the ICC events in the coming years thus throwing the ball in the ICC court!
After scoring a forceful win against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Perth, India return to the lovely city of Adelaide. Old timers quickly jog their memory to recall the country’s first popular hero in the cathedral city, Sandeep `Sandy Storm’ Patil although Capt Vijay Samuel Hazare extracted a century in each innings (116 and 145) against “Bradman’s invincibles’’ in January 1948 – when India toured Australia for the first time. Patil’s swashbuckling 174 (off 240 balls with 22 x 4s and 1 x 6) in the first innings of the Adelaide Test in 1981, after being felled by fast bowler Len Pascoe in the first Test in Sydney earned the Mumbai marauder the moniker `Adelaide Hero’. India’s 11 batters have scored 14 centuries at the famous ground in South Australia and this includes three by Virat Kohli with red ball. But India lost the two Test matches and the champion craftsman made 74 and 4, when India was shot out for 36 in 21.2 overs in the second innings of the pink ball Test four years ago. After Hazare, the likes of Dattu Phadkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Patil, Mohammed Azharuddin and the “fab 3’’ in Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman, the flamboyant Virendra Sehwag, the steadfast Cheteshwar Pujara and the great accumulator Kohli became part of the “Adelaide 100 Club’’ but for many, Patil’s 174 hammering of the likes of Dennis Lillee, Len Pascoe, Rodney Hogg – the second highest by an Indian after Dravid’s 233 in 2003 – has been one for posterity. The beautiful Oval is also the venue where Ajit Agarkar took 6 for 41 and won India the Test there two decades ago.
A tour to Australia demands a high level of skill and commitment from an Indian cricketer. The batters find the pitches there hard, bouncy and arriving at them quickly off the pitch. Sometimes the harsh sunlight makes it very tough to focus. Though at the receiving end on most occasions, many Indian cricketers have found ways to adjust to the speed and bounce, like Sachin Tendulkar, who as a teenager stroked his way to two centuries in Perth and Sydney on his first tour of Australia during the 1991-92 series. And now the young lefty Yashasvi Jaiswal has cut and carved a century in his first Test in Australia scoring 161 in the second innings after not opening his account in the first. Thus he joined an elite group of Indians who have scored the magic three figure mark in Perth. His immediate predecessor was Virat Kohli. The others were the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, doughty Mohinder Amarnath and master blaster Tendulkar, all making centuries at the famous WACA ground, known for pace and bounce. After a not so bright tour of South Africa early this year falling to fast bowlers Nandre Burger (3 times) and Kagiso Rabada, the attacking left-hander is on another tough tour, especially with the prospect of thwarting the home team’s troika in Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He fell to a loose drive in the first innings, but made amends in the second, grinding it out for seven hours and forty minutes to make a 296 ball century, the highest by an Indian in Perth. Great going Yashasvi, one has to say!
John Wright and Mumbai Indians must be given all credit for unearthing a raw talent in Jasprit Bumrah. One can add the then Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel to this short list. As a talent scout for the Reliance Industries owned IPL franchise, Wright was in Motera to see a Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament match in 2013. It’s not just Bumrah’s awkward action that caught Wright’s attention, but a bumper that sailed over wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel’s head to the sight screen. After the day’s play, Wright went up to Patel and asked him: “If that particular short ball was the fastest from Bumrah” and the reply was a “Yes”. Wright called up Mumbai Indians and asked them to sign up the fledgling fast bowler from Gujarat. It has to be seen as the best ever signing for an IPL franchise in the 16-season old Twenty20 tournament. Eleven years after his find by a former New Zealand captain and India coach, Bumrah is ruling the roost in world cricket. As he proved at the magnificent Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday – after his team was skittled out for a paltry 150 in the first innings of the first Test – with a hostile opening burst to jolt Australia to take the top three wickets. It was not about his calibre but taking responsibility in the face of adversity. India’s pace pack had proved to be a long thorn in the Australian batters’ flesh on the previous two tours to the Southern Hemisphere, with Bumrah and Mohammed Shami stealing the thunder. But on this tour, Bumrah is without his illustrious partner who has been laid low since the ICC World Cup final against Australia. All the more, a superb show by Boom, Boom Bumrah!
With only 12 days remaining for the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah to take charge as independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), clarity has not emerged as to who would perform the duties of the Secretary from December 1, 2024. First and foremost, election has not been called for the post, and this could be because the BCCI Constitution has adequate provisions for its Joint Secretary to perform the Secretary’s duties. The BCCI Constitution says: “The President shall, in the event of a vacancy or indisposition of an office bearer, delegate the functions to another office-bearer until the vacancy is duly filled up, or the indisposition ceases.” In this case the BCCI President Roger Binny has the right to assign duties to any other office-bearer. Shah who has been the Secretary from 2019 may be allowed a grace period to hand over the work to someone else. Next week is going to be hectic for the ICC to take a call on the format and venues of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 (Feb-Mar) because the BCCI has conveyed to the ICC that India will not travel to Pakistan. The BCCI, nay Jay Shah, would like to see a finality to the Champions Trophy issue, in particular where India will play before he takes charge of the ICC. If the Champions Trophy has to take place, the Pakistan Cricket Board has to accept a hybrid model with one group (with India in it) playing league matches, most likely in Dubai and keeping the venue of the semi-finals and final, open. The PCB may not be in a position to lose the hosting rights and thereby with it a fee of around $ 70 million!
The kerfuffle following Ricky Ponting’s straight–from–the–shoulder observation of Virat Kohli’s form was unnecessary. In the course of an International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted interview before the five-Test series between India and Australia in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the former Australian captain said that Kohli has scored only two Test centuries in the last five years (186 against Australia in Ahmedabad in March 2023 and 121 against the West Indies in Port of Spain in July 2023). In these circumstances, he wondered if any other player would have been picked for the national side. While Kohli — described by Ponting as one of the greats in the same interview — himself did not respond to Ponting’s appraisal of his form, a seemingly annoyed India head coach Gautam Gambhir virtually questioned Ponting saying: “What does Ricky Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? He should be talking about Australia.’’ Gambhir’s retort was churlish. The media seeks the opinions of former greats as a build-up to events and in this case Ponting was interviewed by none other than the ICC because of the importance of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ponting has gone to the extent of saying that the series between India and Australia — from the backend of his career – has always been a high-stakes affair, not far from the relevance of the Ashes. Ponting has played 560 matches for Australia across formats, scored 27483 runs with 71 x 100s and 146 x 50s and led Australia in 77 Tests. He is also a World Cup-winning captain. To question his credentials is downright absurd.
India’s Test team – thrashed 3-0 by New Zealand – will look upon the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia with trepidation rather than hope. After the 2-0 win against Bangladesh, the Rohit Sharma-led team seemed to have reached the doorstep of the ICC World Test Championship final. But in a matter of 10 playing days from October 16 to November 3, all the hype around a third consecutive WTC final turned into slough of despond because drawing a blank from the available 36 points from three Tests against New Zealand meant winning four of the five Tests in Australia to qualify for the WTC final. India could be disappointed when the fourth Test begins in Melbourne on Boxing Day (December 26). Of course, putting it across the Pat Cummins-led Australian side will drive the Indian team that competed hard to bring down the home side in the two previous series of 2018-19 and 2020-21. Preparing “designer turners’’ in Pune and Mumbai did not help the home team in any way as New Zealand’s two left-arm spinners, Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel, sent the home team packing, capturing 13 wickets in Pune and 11 wickets in Mumbai. The five pitches in Australia will not afford copious turns to the slow men, but Cummins will deploy the smart off-spinner Nathan Lyon – he has taken 60 of his 259 wickets at home in 15 Tests against India — to the full. India has to muster all its wits, hour by hour, session by session, and day by day, deliver with the bat, ball, and field well in each Test match to make the series riveting.
Not being white washed — losing all Test matches of a 3-Test series — was a rare record India held for 91 years and that’s starting from the Douglas Jardine-led England in the winter of 1933. India had played 87 Test series at home, won 54, drawn 17 and lost 16 and played 293 Tests, won 120, lost 57, drawn 115 and tied 1. After winning the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune, New Zealand created a chance to inflict a first white wash on India. The home team has been led by 28 captains including Rohit Sharma and the outcome of the series against New Zealand on Sunday — third day of the concluding Test — confirmed the fears of a white wash for the first time at home in nine decades and Sharma became the first captain to get into the ‘bad’ book. India has lost Test matches in a series, but not all that was played in a particular series with a cap of three Tests. Almost 25 years ago India played a two Test series against South Africa and lost both in Mumbai and Bengaluru by four wickets and 71 runs. And in the last 25 years India lost a series 1-2 to England and Australia each. India was described as the last frontier by the Australian captain Steve Waugh. But he was not successful in India; that honour went to Ricky Ponting in 2004. Alastair Cook was the captain when England won a series 2-1. Tom Latham became the first New Zealand captain to win a series in India with a clean 3-0 sweep. Will heads roll?
Jasprit Bumrah did not appear in the team sheet for the third and final Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. The BCCI issued a statement that the fast bowler with 173 wickets in 40 Test matches — 47 in India and 126 overseas — has not recovered from a viral illness. This bit of information surprised one and all because two senior members of the team — Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and Assistant Coach Abhishek Nayar — did not utter a word leading to the Test match that Bumrah had anything like being stricken by a bug. In fact Nayar said that Bumrah is important, he bowled only (he had sent down 41 overs) in the first two Tests, that the duration of the two Tests each was under five days, but workload will always be a factor with regard to Bumrah’s selection. On the eve of the match Gambhir said all players are available for selection. But when the team was made known at the toss, skipper Rohit Sharma said that Bumrah is not well and Mohammed Siraj comes into the playing XI. Bumrah has not featured in 25 Tests after his debut against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018, much of it because of an injury. There was an odd occasion when he was released from the squad because of his wedding. He has never been sidelined on the count of ability. Bumrah has played five series in India and his best (19 wickets) was against England early this year. In the ongoing series he played in Bengaluru (3 wickets) and Pune (none).
New Zealand’s men cricket team — known as the Black Caps — is celebrating a victory of historical proportions in India. The Tasman country has been visiting India since 1955 but never tasted a series success, winning just two Tests in 36 before landing in Bengaluru as a no hoper for a three Test series. But in a matter of 11 days, the country that has presented to cricket world the great Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe, will arrive in Mumbai with a great desire to make a clean sweep of the series. And that’s because the team also known as Kiwis has thrashed India in the first two Tests. Under the stewardship of Tom Latham, who stepped into the shoes of fast bowler Tim Southee after New Zealand lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka in Galle this September, is probably a national hero now. A show of daredevilry by its batters who went after the Indian spinners — just like Kevin Pietersen in Mumbai Test of England’s 2012-13 series — delivered emphatic wins to hurt the Rohit Sharma led Indian team. New Zealand, a team that does not have a superstar, made the big splash with its fast bowling unit running roughshod on the Indian team in Bengaluru and then deployed the classic left arm spinner Mitchell Santner to debunk India’s supposed dominance against spin bowling. Undefeated at home since the 2012-13 series against England, India’s batters failed to find answers facing fast bowling and spin and are embarrassed, all happening before the five-Test series in Australia.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association must be given a big thumbs up for spending money on the innovative SubAir drainage system that gets the ground ready in under half an hour of the stoppage of rain. Installed at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium seven years ago the SubAir technology has the capacity to evacuate water into a storage area for use in summer days. More importantly, the system enables the ground staff to ready the ground in quick time for the umpires to resume the match. Many associations have gone in for sand-based outfields, but the SubAir guarantees play once rain stops. While the Noida Test exposed the local authorities from getting the facility ready for a Test match between New Zealand and Afghanistan, despite rain affecting a full day of the first Test between India and New Zealand, play resumed in Bengaluru and a result was obtained with two full sessions remaining on the fifth and final day. The authorities in Dharamshala and Mohali have installed modern drainage systems to ensure that the paying spectator is not short-changed. Heavy rains lashed in and around Pune city before the second Test, but the teams practiced the day before the start of the match at the Maharashtra International Cricket Stadium and the full quota of 90 overs was bowled on the first day. The subsidy from the BCCI to its member associations is now around Rs 100 crore a year and hence keeping the cricket fan in mind and also the competitive nature of Test cricket because of the ICC World Test Championship, associations must spend money on technology that will offset the damage caused by rain.
There are two more Tests to go against New Zealand in the ongoing three-Test series, but like against England — which won the first Test in Hyderabad before losing in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala — the Rohit Sharma led home team will go to Pune 0-1 with a hope of causing a turnaround from the second Test. India has not lost a Test to New Zealand in 36 years and so the eight wicket defeat will hurt its players. New Zealand’s fast bowlers exposed the Indian batters’ vulnerability against speed and bounce on a pitch that was not really a deck for the fast bowlers. England chose rookie spinners left arm Tom Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir because of their height and skill and in Bengaluru — where India held a 3-0 record against New Zealand’s tall fast bowlers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and William O’ Rourke — brought down India to 46 in the first inning and took the last seven wickets in the second for a mere 54 runs. India has now lost one Test each to Australia, England and New Zealand at home in the last three years, it will be hard pressed to make the ICC World Test Championship final if it does not win the big points in Pune and Mumbai. Sharma made one mistake upon winning the toss and that was to bat. It has already cost India the first Test and if it does not show innovative ways to take wickets and some spunk while batting in the first inning, it may even face the prospect of going down in the series which will not be good augury travelling to Australia.
Rohit Sharma was brave to admit that he read the pitch wrong in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Captains rarely speak with courage and own up a lapse at the toss. Sharma came to the presser after he was bundled out for 46 on the second day of the three-Test series and expressed disappointment. Sharma said he did not see grass on the surface that was under protection from the heavy and continuous rainfall for nearly three days and that the pitch would be flat. Only recently his teammates and the cricketing world lavished praise on him for going all out in the batting and bowling departments in order to force a result in the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh. It was his 19th Test as captain (in Bengaluru) with a winning record of fractionally lower than 67%. After two days of action the pendulum appears to have swung in favour of New Zealand which has won only two Tests in India in nearly seven decades. Sharma’s bold call at the toss helped New Zealand’s fast bowlers to run through the home team’s batting line with no fuss. Captains consider the atmosphere, pitch conditions and their team’s strength before writing the playing XI and the decision to be taken at the toss. Once he chose to drop in-form fast bowler Akash Deep and bring in Chinaman practitioner Kuldeep Yadav, Sharma was only going to choose to bat. It was a call that saw India in a sorry plight, shot out for its third lowest score in Test cricket.
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Given a role in the leadership hierarchy of the Indian team, Jasprit Bumrah has earned further recognition of his talent displayed over a period of time. India’s premier fast bowler in the three formats has demonstrated not just his skill to operate with the ball, but also to take responsibility when the chips are down. Some years ago former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that soaking into pressure should be ingrained in the player and seen as a responsibility and Bumrah — who has not led Gujarat even once in the Ranji Trophy — has exemplified this trait more often than not. The most prominent was in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town in the first week of January 2024 when he dismantled the home team; the outcome of which was a match winning 6 for 61. India levelled the series after going down at the Centurion and after Mohammed Siraj’s fantastic 6 for 15 beneath the Table Mountain at Newlands. Bumrah has been the game-changer since the tour to England in 2022. He took 23 on that tour, followed by 12 in South Africa, 10 against Sri Lanka in India, 12 against South Africa in South Africa, 19 against England in India and 11 against Bangladesh in India. A back ailment put him out of action against Australia at home. His 87 scalps in the last six series bears testimony to his supreme bowling efforts. Two years ago he led India at Edgbaston, but with his appointment as vice- captain for the home series against New Zealand the selectors are looking at him as a future India captain.
Shreyas Iyer was at the felicitation function at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Monday (Oct 7) evening listening to praises heaped on the Mumbai team for winning the Zal Irani Cup after 27 years. But was he a happy man? Not far from his 30th birthday, he was one among India’s leading run getters in white ball cricket and he had also established permanency in the Test team. He could well have been a middle order in the ongoing Twenty20 series against Bangladesh. His last score in the format was 53 against Australia in Bengaluru in December last. He scored 463 runs from 17 innings in 2022 and in 2023 he played only in two. Injuries have kept him away from the game for a long time. Not playing the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda and turning up at the Kolkata Knight Riders training session during “injury time” are some of the reasons for him not being given the annual contract. He did stage a comeback for the ODI series in Sri Lanka. He played his part in the Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha and also against Rest of India in the Irani Cup. Age is on his side but his international career is uncertain. Things could change though with last season’s KKR mentor, Gautam Gambhir, becoming the head coach of the Indian team now. But Gambhir will need to convince Ajit Agarkar about Iyer’s cricketing merit for a full integration with the Indian team. The team to be picked for the four match Twenty20 series in South Africa and the India A tour to Australia can throw hints. The same can be said about Ishan Kishan. Both are in the dog house now!
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