Author: Kashish Chadha

Surrey will be taking on Middlesex in the next round Group 2 fixture of the ongoing County Championship season at the Kennington Oval in London from Thursday (May 20). The much-anticipated London derby holds great importance for both sides as they are precariously placed in the six-team Group 2 points table. Surrey are currently fifth in the standings with 59 points from 5 matches, including two losses, two draws and a solitary win. Middlesex are positioned sixth with 44 points from 6 matches out of which they’ve lost five and won just one. The team coming out victorious will have…

With multiple English players undergoing quarantine at the moment since leaving Indian shores and thus lacking proper red-ball practise, they are unlikely to feature in the Test squad to face the Black Caps. The likes of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali could miss the two-Test series versus New Zealand as their 10-day mandatory isolation finishes just a bit more than two weeks before the first Test at Lord’s on June 2. According to a report in ‘BBC Sport’, “The timeline is considered too tight for the (IPL) returning players, meaning calls up are expected for…

Australian international’s remark, saying it’s “self-explanatory” that the bowlers also knew of the illegal use of sandpaper to alter the ball’s condition in the 2018 Cape Town Test, threatens to blow the lid off the Australian script around the ball-tampering incident. In an interview with the Guardian, while he didn’t take any names, Bancroft said enough to suggest that the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were also aware of him scuffing the ball up via sandpaper in the 2018 Test against South Africa. “Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory…,” he…

A sudden rise in positive coronavirus cases could jeopardise India’s three ODIs and three T20Is on the Lankan shores, where 3,269 positive cases along with 24 deaths were reported on Thursday. The tally for the past week in Sri Lanka reads 16,342 positive cases and 147 deaths. The latest wave of the dangerous viral outbreak has meant a cloud of uncertainty suddenly hovering over India’s first visit to Sri Lanka since 2018. Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley De Silva admitted that Covid-19 cases are a matter of concern. However, the CEO has also expressed confidence that the Indian visit…

Former wicketkeeper and ex selector, Saba Karim, criticised Australia Test captain Tim Paine for his recent comments regarding his team’s home series defeat to India earlier this year, saying Paine’s remarks felt “childish” from the outside. In what came across as an act of giving excuses for his team’s embarrassing 2-1 series defeat in home conditions to a largely weakened Indian team, the Australian said that the hosts were distracted by some of the visitors’ psychological tactics with the mention of the word “sideshows”. “Part of the challenge of playing against India is they’re very good at niggling you and trying to distract…

Manoj Badale’s comments came with the BCCI considering the option of playing 31 games remaining of IPL 2021 in September – a window just after India’s long Test summer in England and before the T20 World Cup scheduled in October-November.  However, Badale recognises, as would the BCCI also understand, that rescheduling the event will be an extremely challenging task given the busy cricketing calendar and stringent regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “There is a possibility, a small possibility, that in September there might be something in the UK or possibly something in the Middle East either side of the T20…

Shafali Verma, the teen Indian women’s batting sensation, has received her maiden ODI call-up ahead of the all-format tour of England. Dropped for the ODI and the T20I series against South Africa at home, Shikha Pandey and Tanya Bhatia have returned to the national setup. By bringing the 17-year-old into the ODI team, the selectors have looked to resolve an issue that hurt the women’s team against South Africa earlier in the year as she can infuse energy into the innings at the top of the order and give India momentum. Shafali is also part of the Test squad, with…

The Cricket Advisory Committee is under a great deal of scrutiny after not retaining WV Raman as coach of the Indian women’s team despite the side making decent progress during his tenure. Raman, former India and Tamil Nadu batsman, came in during a tumultuous period in 2018 when the women’s team set up was hurting from the controversy involving batting great Mithali Raj and the then coach Ramesh Powar. Raman then oversaw India’s campaign at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year where Harmanpreet Kaur and company reached the final of the competition. On Thursday, the CAC removed Raman…

Former England batsman Ian Bell recalled the run-out controversy involving him and the then India captain MS Dhoni during the 2011 Trent Bridge Test, saying it was his “mistake” and he shouldn’t have assumed that the play is over for the session. The incident is from near the end of the second session on Day 3 in Nottingham. Batting on 137 at the time, Bell assumed the final ball of the session to have touched the boundary as his partner Eoin Morgan clipped a delivery from pacer Ishant Sharma through the on-side. Both the batsmen, having thought that it is four, started…

To make sure it doesn’t come down to that, Sri Lanka’s newly-appointed ODI captain Kusal Perera indicated he would like his team to imbibe some of his values and play cricket the way he does individually. The 30-year-old has been appointed the captain of an inexperienced Sri Lankan squad, which is missing several big names, including Angelo Mathews. The aggressive left-hand batsman is tasked with the responsibility to revive Sri Lanka’s fortunes in the 50-over version. The Island nation is currently ninth in the ICC ODI rankings. Sri Lanka are also under serious threat of finishing outside the top 8…