Author: Kashish Chadha

England opener Alex Hales presented a counter-view to India head coach Rahul Dravid’s comments against Indian players’ participation in overseas T20 leagues. According to Hales, “it’s a shame” that cricketers from the Indian shores don’t get to play in leagues outside the Indian Premier League in a scenario that plagues their growth as T20 players.  “It’s a shame that Indian guys don’t get a chance to play in different leagues,” Hales had told the press after England’s win over India in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal last Thursday.  “It would be good for everyone, benefit them and benefit the leagues…

Former India captain Anil Kumble was mighty impressed with Pakistan’s great allround display in the T20 World Cup semifinal win over New Zealand on Wednesday at the SCG. He lauded Babar Azam & company for their comprehensive performance, including outdoing the Kiwis in the field in a “rare” occurrence. Pakistan certainly were at their very best with the ball and bat in keeping New Zealand down to 152/4 and chasing it down with their seven wickets intact. But one stand-out feature about the win in the high-pressure knock-out fixture was their fielding, especially the brilliance of allrounder Shadab Khan. The player made…

The South African legend believes the Indian middle-order maverick is absolutely on the right track and would be counted in the game’s “golden books” if he can consistently perform like he has for the next five to ten years. In an interview with PTI, de Villiers heaped effusive praise on Suryakumar, who has been tremendous for India since his debut in the shortest format in 2021. The batter is averaging 42.33 with an exceptional strike-rate of 179.63 over 37 innings for his 1,270 runs for India in T20Is. The ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 has seen him take his game a notch…

Sri Lanka Cricket suspended their top-order batter Danushka Gunathilaka on Monday from all forms of international cricket after the 31-year-old was found to be arrested and charged with rape allegations in Sydney the day before. On November 6, the New South Wales Police took the player into their custody from the Sri Lankan team hotel in Sydney’s central business district. One day after the side played their final game of the T20 World Cup, the rest of the team flew back home, but Gunathilaka stayed put in Australia. With criticism from all corners over the player’s accused sexual misconduct against…

Ravi Shastri believes India should persist with their young left-hander Rishabh Pant ahead of experienced wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik for the semifinal clash against England at the T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday. The former India head coach opined that Pant would be a more ideal fit into the line-up than Karthik against an England attack featuring a leggie at the Adelaide Oval. With short square boundaries at the historic ground that will host the marquee knock-out fixture, Shastri said Pant would be primed to dominate Adil Rashid through the middle-overs and ease the task for his side. “Dinesh (Karthik) is a lovely team…

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher nodded in agreement that the loss to the Netherlands on Sunday, which sent the Proteas packing from the T20 World Cup, was his worst as head coach of the side. As his tenure came to the saddest end possible, Boucher reflected on Proteas’ on-day exploits, in that they made a horrible feast of what should have been a straightforward virtual quarterfinal. To make the semis, the tournament favourites had to beat the only associate side part of Group 2 in the morning at the Adelaide Oval. By the close of the afternoon, however, they…

Temba Bavuma accepted his team deserves the chokers’ tag associated with them after South Africa’s loss to Netherlands on Sunday that led to their unlikely exit from the T20 World Cup 2022. The Protea skipper admitted they failed to give a proper account of themselves under pressure once again and duly faced elimination from another world event. South Africa started the day with the most straightforward of equations needed to be fulfilled to make the cut to the semis: they were required to beat the Netherlands, the only associate side part of Group 2. What followed, however, was perhaps the…

Both Ireland and Afghanistan gave giants New Zealand and Australia a scare in their respective final games of the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12s stage on Friday in Adelaide. However, the two semifinal hopefuls were good enough to prevail by the end of the double-header night. Ireland found themselves 68 for no loss chasing New Zealand’s imposing 185/6, but the moment skipper Andrew Balbirnie (30) and his opening partner Paul Stirling (37) departed, they collapsed miserably. From looking like giving the Kiwis a run for their money, the Irishmen conceded their last eight wickets for just 82 runs to lose the fixture by…

Pakistan fast-bowling legend Wasim Akram opened up on controversial match-fixing allegations made against him during the late 90s and rumours that still persist against the former national skipper. In an interview with The Guardian, Wasim admitted that the allegations were “like a trauma” to deal with, especially since they are still prevalent within the Pakistan cricket community and that “hurts” him to date. Wasim said the claims against his name were so traumatic he didn’t read the Qayyum report until he began working on his memoir titled, ‘Sultan’, with renowned Australian journalist Gideon Haigh. In the book, as well as the…

Two seasons in a row, Punjab Kings have undergone a leadership change and announced veteran opening batter Shikhar Dhawan as their new captain for the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League. The opening batter will be replacing fellow Indian international Mayank Agarwal at the helm of affairs. The development was confirmed by the franchise on Wednesday evening ahead of the looming retention and release process prior to the IPL 2023 auction in December. It is understood that the decision was taken at a PBKS board meeting and was backed by newly-appointed head coach Trevor Bayliss, reported ESPNcricinfo. Dhawan joined…