Author: Kashish Chadha

Batting coach Luke Ronchi felt pleased seeing New Zealand dominate Day 1 of the second Test against Bangladesh, bringing a sense of normalcy back to their game and fortunes in home conditions. After shockingly losing the opening Test in Mount Maunganui on the back of paltry scores of 328 and 169, the Kiwis quickly returned to their best and posted 349/1 on January 9 in Christchurch. Ronchi believes it was a case of going back to the basics and keeping them tight over long periods of time. In complete contrast to their second-innings collapse at the Bay Oval, New Zealand had stand-in skipper Tom Latham and Will Young adding 148 runs…

The Indian speedster feels elated to be back at Newlands in Cape Town, a place where his Test career has started four years ago. Reminiscing the happy memories of receiving his India Test cap at the iconic venue, the 28-year-old posted an emotional message on his official Twitter handle. “Cape Town, January 2018 – is where it all began for me in Test cricket. Four years on, I’ve grown as a player and a person and to return to this ground brings back special memories,” he tweeted on January 9.  India unleashed Bumrah, their limited-overs ace, in Test cricket in Cape…

David Warner left a heartwarming message over social media for his “childhood brother” Usman Khawaja as the Australian left-hander made a resounding comeback to the country’s Test playing XI via the New Year’s Ashes Test at SCG. Warner said he couldn’t be “prouder” of what Khawaja has managed to achieve after spending such a long time out of the Test arena. Khawaja, who was dropped from Australia’s Test squad following a disappointing tour of England back in 2019, was brought back to an elongated contingent for the home Ashes summer 2021-22. The left-hander, however, still had to wait for his chance as Travis Head made the No.5 spot his own. Credit:…

Sri Lanka Cricket has taken note of multiple retirements in recent times within the national men’s set-up. Fearing that there could be more players following suit, the board has come with a three-part directory and guidelines for players wishing to part ways from international cricket to pursue their careers elsewhere. As per the guidelines, SLC will now ask players a three-month prior notice from players intending to bid adieu to the international game. The board has also made it mandatory that retired players will have to go through a six-month waiting period before becoming eligible for a no-objection certificate to…

Limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard believes fitness is one major area holding West Indies cricket back at the international level. Pollard has taken serious note of his teammates’ inability to meet the fitness standards set by Cricket West Indies and has urged them to improve and keep up with the rest of the world. “It has been an issue that has been plaguing us for the last couple of years,”ESPNcricinfo quoted Pollard as saying ahead of West Indies’ first of three ICC Super League fixtures against Ireland in Jamaica on January 8. Pollard seems highly unimpressed by the recent axing that Shimron Hetmyer…

With a win out of the equation chasing an improbable 388, assistant coach Graham Thorpe has called England batters to show discipline and resolve on the final afternoon and dig in to save the New Year’s Ashes Test at the SCG. Thorpe wants lessons taken from successive defeats and hammerings in the last three Tests put into practice by English batters as they fight hard to try and salvage a draw in the fourth Test, which would also avoid the embarrassment of a 5-0 Ashes whitewash. England openers Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed played out 11 overs for 30 runs late on Day 4 to infuse a sense of belief…

WI made a winning start to the year, keeping a fighting Irish side at bay in the opening ODI of the three-match series in Jamaica on January 8. Calypso Kings took an important 1-0 lead over the tourists and also earned themselves 10 crucial points in the ICC Super League. Winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Ireland had West Indies on the mat at 62/4. But this is when the home side found their saviours with the bat in Shamarh Brooks and skipper Kieron Pollard. The duo put on 155 runs for the fifth-wicket stand, with Brooks making an impressive 93 and Pollard finishing with another…

On Friday, Sri Lanka Cricket lifted the one-year disciplinary bans it had imposed on the trio of Kushal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka. This, less than six months into the suspension period for their breach of the bubble security for the limited-overs tour of the UK last summer. The decision to allow their return to the international game has been made after a collective request from the three cricketers. It is in line with their similar request to lift the six-month ban on playing domestic cricket, which allowed all three of Mendis, Dickwella and Gunathilaka to take part in…

Pakistan Cricket Board has announced its list of annual award winners for performances in 2021 in the men’s, women’s and various other categories, with names of Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali and Nida Dar shining the brightest. Rizwan, Pakistan men’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter across formats, won the Most Valuable Cricketer award after a year where he recorded nearly 2,000 international runs, including 1,326 in T20Is. In a year dedicated to the T20 World Cup, Rizwan stood up as one of Pakistan’s best cricketers. He became the first batter to reach the 1000-run mark in T20Is in a calendar year, for which he was also named Pakistan’s T20I Cricketer of the…

On January 7, Zimbabwe Cricket has announced that Craig Ervine will be leading the national team for their three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, starting January 16, with each game part of both teams’ campaign in the all-important ICC Super League. The 36-year-old has been handed the captaincy duties once again after leading the country during their limited-overs tour of Ireland and Scotland in August-September last year, where Zimbabwe played their last set of 50-over internationals. Credit: ICC This will be Zimbabwe’s first ODI assignment after Brendan Taylor decided to retire from international cricket following the series versus Ireland. The squad, however, isn’t short of experience with middle-order…