Author: Sandip Pawar

India Women’s opening batter Smriti Mandhana scored 127 on the first two days of the pink ball day-night Test on Thursday. However, the weather played spoilsport, washing out almost four sessions of play on the first two days. India had an outstanding start to the Test, with Mandhana becoming the first Indian woman to register a century in the pink-ball Test and India posting 276/5 at the end of day two. Thunderstorms and rain swept across Queensland as only 44 and 57 overs of play could happen on the first two days, respectively. https://twitter.com/Shehzad_Ind/status/1443861482463109126 Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to send…

Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen believe that Punjab Kings did not do justice to Chris Gayle, who left the bio bubble midway into the second phase of the IPL 2021.  Credit: Getty Images Speaking on Star Sports, Pietersen stated that Punjab Kings have not maximised Gayle’s potential and deserved to be backed instead of having him in and out of the playing XI.  “He is not being treated right in his environment. He feels like they are using him and getting rid of him, using him and getting rid of him. They didn’t play him on his birthday, cast him…

The race for the remaining two playoffs spots in the IPL 2021 has become increasingly intriguing on Friday as after PBKS defeated KKR in match 45. Both sides now have 10 points from 12 matches and will need to win both their games and depend on other results. Punjab Kings’ Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami did outstanding work with the ball to restrict the Knight Riders to 165/7 on what looked like a good batting wicket. KL Rahul anchored the chase while Mayank Agarwal and Shahrukh Khan made important contributions to chase down the target with three balls to spare. The Kings won the toss and decided to field…

Rajasthan Royals had an inconsistent run in the first half of the Indian Premier League 2021. The Sanju Samson-led side finished with three wins and four losses and had a decent chance of making it to the top four at the start of this UAE leg. However, things have gone haywire for the Royals as they managed to get out of jail in the game against Punjab Kings. Since that win, the franchice have lost three games in a row. The middle-order batting hasn’t fired and they have relied heavily on skipper while the bowling has remained inconsistent. https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1443211633510129664 Former cricketer…

England and Wales Cricket Board have announced that the rescheduled limited overs tour of the Netherlands will take place in June 2022. The three-match ODI series, which was originally planned for May 2020, was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The ODI series will take place in the gap between England’s second and third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge and Headingley. Three ODIs are to be hosted at VRA ground June 17, 19 and 22. The clash in windows means England will send a separate squad to the Netherlands – a practice they aren’t new to. England have frequently fielded the separate white…

RCB continue their outstanding campaign and inch closer to a berth in playoffs. On Wednesday, Virat Kohli’s men gained two points afted defeating Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Dubai to stay ahead of the mid-table traffic. Yuzvendra Chahal’s excellent bowling display helped RCB restrict RR to a below-par total on a very good batting surface, while Glenn Maxwell finished things off with fifty off 30 balls. The Challengers now sit comfortably at third place with 14 points to their name and even have a chance at finishing in the top two. Credit: IPLT20 RCB decided to bowl first after winning the toss.…

On Monday, Mumbai Indians chased down 136 in 19 overs, courtesy of 40s from Saurabh Tiwary-Hardik Pandya and all-round show from Kieron Pollard, to defeat Punjab Kings after three consecutive losses in the UAE leg of the tournament. Kieron Pollard was the star for Mumbai Indians with his all-round performance, where he picked two crucial wickets in an over and scored 15* off 7 to with the bat. Hardik Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary contributed with 40s while Jasprit Bumrah was also amongst the wickets. As it happened, Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first. KL Rahul, who was without his regular partner Mayank Agarwal, opened the innings with Mandeep Singh. The…

As we head towards the back end of the business in the Indian Premier League 2021, every contest becomes crucial for the playoffs spots. KKR) will face DC at Sharjah on September 28 in an attempt to solidify their top-four spot. Eoin Morgan-Brendan McCullum’s Knight Riders haven’t had a great season but have just managed to stay ahead of the other three teams in contention for the fourth spot because of their positive net run-rate of 0.322. KKR have played 10 games, winning four and losing six of those. They need to win a minimum of three out of the remaining…

As the race for the top four becomes more exciting, every contest becomes crucial, and one of such is this. The 40th match of the Indian Premier League 2021 will see bottom-placed SRH taking on RR at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday. The Royals, who have struggled with countless injuries and unavailability, have had a mixed campaign in the IPL 2021. They have played nine games so far, winning four and losing five. They are sitting in the chaotic mid-to-bottom table with eight points and a pretty bad net run-rate of -0.319. RR won their first game of the…

Former England international Mark Butcher believes that the T20 WC exclusion of Shikhar Dhawan, who has been in tremendous form, could be because India has moved on to the younger players. Shikhar Dhawan is currently the Orange Cap holder for topping the run-scoring chart in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. Despite his magnificent run of form in franchise cricket, the opening batter was snubbed from the upcoming T20 World Cup. Dhawan’s exclusion raised quite a lot of eyebrows from all the corners.  “When Shikhar Dhawan was a regular feature in the Indian team in T20 cricket, his strike rate was always a…