Despite widespread calls for his inclusion, India couldn’t find a place for emerging young quick Mohammed Siraj in their playing XI for the World Test Championship final. Virat Kohli and company have kept a rather expected line-up for the ultimate clash against New Zealand, starting Friday (June 18) in Southampton. Shubman Gill will open alongside experienced Rohit Sharma, followed by India’s experienced middle-order comprising veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane on either side of captain Kohli. Rishabh Pant will be donning the gloves for the side. The WTC final will be the first time India will go in with spin twins Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and pace trio Ishant Sharma, Jasprit…
Author: Kashish Chadha
Kashish Chadha
Kashish Chadha is a cricket analyst and writer by heart and profession. You can find his works featured on such websites as CricXtasy, Circle of Cricket, and Cricfit.
Cricket South Africa has appointed an independent board after dissolving the interim board, which the country’s sports ministry had appointed in November last year to look after the running of the sport. Norman Arendse (former CSA president), Andrew Hudson (former convenor of selectors), Steven Budlender SC (advocate), Dugmore Lushaba, Andisa Ntsubane (marketing and communications expert), Mark Rayner (former Multichoice CEO), and Muditambi Ravele are the independent members of the new board. Among the non-independent members feature Daniel Govender (Kwa-Zulu Natal), Craig Nel (Mpumalanga Cricket Union), John Mogodi (Limpopo Province), Tebogo Siko (Northerns), Simphiwe Ndzundzu (Border). The new board now has the responsibility to run the sport and take decisions till September, when CSA will be hosting its AGM and decide its future…
India’s ever-dependable rock at No.3, Cheteshwar Pujara, highlighted the need for him and his team to be mentally ready for the World Test Championship final. Before taking on New Zealand in Southampton from June 18, Pujara shed light on the psychological aspect for what will be a high-pressure one-off encounter in foreign conditions. Given the extended isolation, the Indian players haven’t had much time to prepare and get acclimatised to the conditions in England. But Pujara said the magnitude of the challenge and occasion is enough for Indian players to be mentally recharged and play their best game. “Well here I think…
On Tuesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board issued an apology for not being able to provide a fresh wicket for the highly anticipated England-India women’s Test to be played from Wednesday. As the two teams lock horns at the County Ground in Bristol, they’ll have to make do with a surface that has already had 37 overs’ worn out since it was used for a T20 Blast fixture last week. “We are all disappointed that the wicket for the LV= Insurance Test match against India will have had 37 overs played on it. We know that England Women deserve…
In a clash of two left-arm spinners, New Zealand have preferred Ajaz Patel over Mitchell Santner as the lone tweaker in their 15-member squad for the World Test Championship final against India, starting Friday. Ajaz has been retained in the squad after an impressive outing at Edgbaston in the second Test against England, where he delivered fine spells of 2/34 & 2/25 in the visitors’ historic win. It isn’t just about the wickets, as Ajaz simply showed more control, consistency, and skill than his direct competitor, Santner, who lost his place after struggling on those fronts during the first Test…
The prodigiously talented right-hand batsman from Punjab has secured the opener’s role in India’s 15-man squad (pruned from 24) announced this Tuesday (June 15) for the ultimate finale in Southampton against New Zealand, starting Friday (June 18). Agarwal has lost his place to Gill after the latter’s emergence since the successful tour of Australia Down Under and his own ouster from the playing XI during the same trip. The 30-year-old had performed exceedingly well pre-pandemic in India’s WTC league campaign. However, he lost his form thereafter and looked technically out of sorts against the Aussie quicks. There was no place for left-arm spinner Axar Patel either despite…
Former Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has made a very controversial statement regarding his Indian counterpart, Ravichandran Ashwin. Ajmal says Ashwin was deliberately kept away from the scene for some time to avoid being banned by ICC for an illegal action. Ajmal has accused India of saving Ashwin from an ICC suspension by sidelining him for sometime and allowing him to correct his action. You changed all these rules and regulations without asking anyone. I was playing cricket for the last eight years. All those rules were for me. That’s it. Ajmal was as quoted as saying by Cricwick. During that…
Pakistan and Islamabad United fast bowler, Hasan Ali, has taken a u-turn on his decision to pull out of the rescheduled 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League in UAE. Only a day after announcing that he’ll skip the remainder of PSL 2021 in Abu Dhabi for family reasons, Hasan has now decided he will stay back with Islamabad United for their campaign. Hasan has changed his mind after consulting the matter with his family and remains available for selection. I was going through a personal family issue, which has been resolved thanks to my wonderful wife. Hasan was quoted…
Having not played a Test for seven years and with hardly any preparation behind them, the Indian women’s team will have a task on their hands when they take on England in a much-anticipated fixture in Bristol. However, one of the team’s stalwarts, Harmanpreet Kaur, is still quite confident of the visitors’ chances and believes lack of proper build-up to the Test match won’t affect them as much. We have created match scenarios and have prepared to the best of our opportunities. We know we didn’t get that much time to practice, but as players, we have tried to adapt…
Despite criticism of the same, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to retain the percentage of points system for the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) spanning 2021-23, according to its acting CEO Geoff Allardice. The ICC had to rejig the points system implemented till last year as the ongoing pandemic led to several fixtures getting cancelled and adopt a method that standardised the allocation for all teams. Earlier, a total of 120 points were assigned for every series in the WTC and teams could earn winning points out of it depending on the number of…