Author: Anuraag Peesara

On Tuesday, Mumbai Cricket Association has announced a 19-man squad for the first two games of the Ranji Trophy this season and Prithvi Shaw will be leading the contingent. Shaw, who was captain of the side in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, continues in his position. The squad which included some usual suspects like opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, experienced campaigners Aditya Tare and Dhawal Kulkarni. However, the name that caught a lot of attention was that of Arjun Tendulkar, son of former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Having played a decent amount of professional cricket before, Tendulkar was drafted into the Mumbai Indians setup in the auction last season. The fast-bowling…

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had tested COVID positive last week despite taking both doses of vaccine and was admitted to the Woodlands Hospital in Kolkata. His family has confirmed that the ex-Indian skipper was in stable condition. A statement from the hospital suggested that the former cricketer is maintaining oxygen saturation of 99% and had slept well last night. He is currently being monitored by Dr Saroj Mondal, Dr. Saptarshi Basu and Dr Soutik Panda. “On the second day of admission, Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president and former India captain, is hemodynamically stable, febrile and maintaining oxygen saturation of 99 percent on room air. He…

The Men in Blue finished on top as they reduced South Africa to 94/4 at stumps on Day 4, after setting a challenging target of 305 for the hosts. South Africa are battling hard to save the Test, but they will face a daunting task if the final day’s play goes on without the expected rain interruptions. Just as they were hoping to finish the day on a high, Jasprit Bumrah produced two wickets against the run of play to give the visitors total command in pursuit of a win in Centurion for the first time in history. Shardul Thakur,…

Managerial change seems to have made no difference at Manchester United, who are still struggling to find their identity as a team and just about edged points in their first three games under interim boss Ralf Rangnick. A humiliating 1-1 draw at the St. James Park to Newcastle United, one that easily could’ve finished in a win for the hosts, ended up frustrating the Red Devils. Journalist Chris Wheeler has been reporting that the club are finding it very difficult to adapt to Rangnick’s intense training session, and the 4-2-2-2 system isn’t really being as effective as some would’ve expected. The likes…

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has tested COVID positive ahead of a very crucial fixture against Manchester City at the Emirates. The Spaniard will not be available in the dugout for this fixture, and his assistants Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round will be taking control for this game. The news was confirmed by Arsenal earlier on Wednesday evening, and it could not have come at a worse time for the club, who just picked up a brilliant 5-0 win over Norwich City. The COVID positive list for the Gunners has gone up drastically. The Spaniard joins Callum Chambers, Cedric Soares, Takehiru Tomiyasu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to be sidelined by…

Ambati Rayudu has been one of the most accomplished names in Indian cricket for nearly two decades now. Despite not reaching the scales he was tipped to at the international level, the 36-year-old certainly made his mark in the IPL in his stints with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Rayudu is a 5-time IPL winner and will be in demand when the mega auction arrives. However, the 36-year-old, who is currently plying his trade with the Andhra side in domestic cricket, is expecting Chennai Super Kings to re-purchase him in the auction. Rayudu joined the franchise in 2018 and played a crucial role in helping…

After the second day was washed out due to rain, it seemed like India would put up a big score on Day 3 of the 1st Test against the Proteas, but Lungisani Ngidi had other ideas. He peppered the Indian batters with well-directed short deliveries and was accompanied brilliantly by Kagiso Rabada. Once they got the first breakthrough of KL Rahul, who added just one run to his overnight tally. Rabada’s short delivery did the trick, as Rahul attempted a pull and was caught behind. India’s downfall began from there, as they ended up losing seven wickets for just 49 runs. Ajinkya Rahane fell just short of…

Indian bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur has featured in 4 Test matches thus far and already made a mark with some stunning performances. He has mustered 190 runs with the bat, which includes two massive half-centuries in the Oval Test against England, to go with 14 wickets. In an interview with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, he spoke about his planning before a game and the thought process that goes in before he enters the field. Having mentioned that he watches a lot of the videos before the game, he said that it all comes down to confidence and self-belief once he enters the…

Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher was full of praise for the Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who made a 30-million-pound move from Sheffield United to North London in August. This move was criticized severely by a lot of fans, as Ramsdale’s previous two involvements in the League saw his side get relegated with Bournemouth and Sheffield. Having replaced the struggling Bernd Leno in goal, the 23-year-old has kept nine clean sheets thus far in the 16 league fixtures he has played. Some of these clean sheets also involve a few sensational saves, the most notable one being the double-save he made off James Maddison’s free-kick against Leicester City. …

A last-gasp equalizer from Takumi Minamino and Kelleher’s exploits in the penalty shootout denied Leicester City a memorable win at Anfield a few days ago in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. Liverpool had gone 3-1 down to the Foxes, but chipped in with a stunning comeback courtesy of goals coming from Diogo Jota and Takumi Minamino. In the penalty shootout, besides the Japanese hitting the upright, Liverpool players found the net with ease. But the hero of the shootout was Caoimhin Kelleher, who looked well prepared for the scenario and made two stunning saves to take the Reds to the final four…