Author: Kashish Chadha

As the dust settles on South Africa’s promising but eventually failed attempt at winning the T20 World Cup in UAE, their skipper Temba Bavuma addressed the elephant in the room. Bavuma spoke about the Cricket South Africa enforced necessity for players to take the knee throughout their campaign at the ICC event. CSA had directed all its players to portray the gesture meant to stand in favour of the Black Lives Matter campaign aimed to be united against racism. But Bavuma has now said it was a move “sometimes a bit unfair” on individuals given that the on-ground issues faced by normal…

Rohit Sharma has been named captain of India’s 16-man squad for the three-match home T20I series versus New Zealand. The experienced opener will be overseeing India’s first T20I assignment post the end of Virat Kohli’s long tenure as skipper in the shortest format. It is not made official whether Rohit is now India’s permanent new T20I captain after Kohli’s decision to step down, but the chances of him being made the full-time skipper are quite high. Both Kohli and now-former head coach Ravi Shastri had strongly indicated at Rohit’s long-term appointment to the top job in the format. Rohit’s opening partner KL Rahul has…

Happy days are here again for Pakistan cricket. As their national team continues a winning run in the T20 World Cup 2021 and helps the country recover from the cancellation of home series with New Zealand and England, the Pakistan Cricket Board has informed that Australia will be visiting the Pakistani shores after more than two decades. The board confirmed Australia’s scheduled 2022 trip to Pakistan, featuring three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I in March-April – making it the first proper home series for Pakistan against Australia since 1998. The last four times that Pakistan have hosted Australia have all been on neutral grounds in Sri Lanka, UAE and England.  Credit: Getty Images In…

Outgoing head coach and captain duo Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli have both backed vice-captain Rohit Sharma to take over the reins of India’s T20I side after curtains were raised on Kohli’s long, successful tenure with the end of the T20 World Cup campaign on Monday.  At the toss for India’s final Super 12 game against Namibia in Dubai, Kohli strongly indicated that Rohit could be his successor, even though a final confirmation in this regard is expected only after incoming head coach Rahul Dravid sits down with the national selection committee. “I’ve been immensely proud of how the team has played and also…

India ended their run at the T20 World Cup 2021 on Monday, winning over Namibia in Dubai by 9 wickets. A failure to make the semi-finals and not winning the coveted crown meant it was a bittersweet ending for Virat Kohli and company. The win also brought curtains to the mighty successful era of the Kohli-Shastri duo as skipper and head coach. While Virat is relinquishing his post as a T20I captain, Ravi is not going to continue as the team’s head coach.  Credit: BCCI A successor for Kohli is not yet confirmed, although hints are that it will be his deputy Rohit…

Pakistan put the cherry on the cake to their Super 12 campaign in the T20 World Cup, winning their fifth and final Group 2 game over Scotland on Sunday in Sharjah. With their resounding 72-run victory, the Asian giants topped the standings in their group and set up a semi-final clash with Australia on Thursday in Dubai. Excellent half-centuries from skipper Babar Azam (66) and veteran middle-order batter Shoaib Malik (54*) took Pakistan to a giant score of 189/4 in their 20 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat first.  https://twitter.com/captainmisbahpk/status/1457425187385888774 Pakistan got decent preparation in the first half for a potential…

Pakistan’s veteran middle-order bat Shoaib Malik said the hurt of not being named in the original squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 inspired him to perform for the team as he got a backdoor entry into the T20I side. Malik wasn’t initially part of the contingent for the ICC event in UAE but made the cut as a replacement for in-form Sohaib Maqsood. Maqsood’s injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Malik, whom many felt has had his days under the sun for Pakistan. Aged 39, and retired from Tests and ODIs in 2015 and 2019,…

India’s hopes to make the T20 World Cup semi-finals rested big time on Afghanistan’s shoulders but their Asian brethren couldn’t quite live up to those, losing a one-sided encounter to New Zealand on Sunday in Abu Dhabi to be out of the semi-finals race along with the Indians. The Kiwis, who have now gone 34 matches without losing to a nation outside the traditional top 8 sides in World Cup history (both ODIs and T20Is), added one more scalp to their tally and enhanced their tag as bullies of such teams. Afghanistan had their moments, but the Black Caps ultimately proved too good for them in…

Even though Proteas came out on top over Group 1 table toppers in Sharjah, they faced elimination from the tournament due to a lesser net run rate than England and Australia, who also won 4 of their 5 Super 12 games. Thus, their head coach Mark Boucher called it a “bitter pill to swallow” as some unconvincing play in wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came back to haunt South Africa. On the day, having made 189/2, South Africa needed to keep England down to 131 or less if they were to qualify for the semis at the expense of Australia. But the Three Lions made 179/8…

To secure a place in the semi-finals with 4 wins from their 5 matches, South Africa needed to keep England down to 131 or below in their defence of the 189-run total in Sharjah. But the moment the English batting line-up crossed that mark, it was the end of Temba Bavuma and company’s World Cup dream. England and Australia also recorded four wins from their four games in what was a tough Super 12 group to be a part of, but those wins came with a better NRR (+2.464 and +1.216, respectively) than South Africa’s (+0.739). The Proteas were left to rue making just 118 in their…