Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

This game, in all likelihood, will decide who becomes the first to qualify for the semi-finals from this Super Eights group. England and South Africa have both won their first matches in this stage of the T20 World Cup. Whoever prevails in this one in Gros Islet will make the cut barring major upsets. St Lucia, the island where this match will take place, is the place of the in-laws of boxing legend George Foreman. Make no mistake, there will be some heavy sparring on the field when the defending champions lock horns against the underachievers. England brushed aside the…

The first ball he bowled was driven uppishly past him for a four. The next 17 cost 14 runs and fetched three wickets. A bowler who can generate high speed, he used slower deliveries with telling effect. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that those helped South Africa avoid embarrassment against the USA in the T20 World Cup’s Super Eights match in Antigua. Used in two spells, Kagiso Rabada gave ample evidence of being in rhythm and used his intelligence other than pace to help his team start the business end of the competition with a win. The Proteas…

As the ICC T20 World Cup nears the business end, the fortunes of the Asian teams make for some interesting case study. Three of them have made the Super Eights. With India, there are Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The continuing rise of the troubled Afghans is one of the most heartening stories in cricket in recent times, while Bangladesh are trying their best to shed the tag of underdogs. At the other end of the spectrum are Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Former world champions in both formats, these two have failed to play like heavyweights. Pakistan have produced one or two…

England had to win this and by a spanking margin. That’s what they did to stay alive in the T20 World Cup match against Oman in North Sound in Antigua. The contest, if you call it one, was over in under 17 overs. England do not only remain in this competition. They are still among the favourites. Oman is not obviously the most enviable opponents. But to shoot them out for 47 and then rattle those runs off a mere 3.1 overs took spunk. England showed it when they had to. Qualification for the Super Eight stage will still hinge…

In a pace attack featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj, his presence gets overlooked. He doesn’t grab the headlines as often as the others do. His success is not usually noticed, and failure gets highlighted. But with his skills and effectiveness, Arshdeep Singh has become an integral part of India’s T20 set-up. It works in the team’s favour that this left-armer is not always treated as the main threat by the opposition batters either. Most of their homework and strategising centre around Bumrah and others. Silently, Arshdeep does the damage and walks off without getting the credit. This…

North Sound is a tiny cricket venue in Antigua. The stadium is named after Sir Vivian Richards. Over there, Scotland scored a fairly comfortable win against Oman in a Group B fixture of the T20 World Cup. Having restricted the Asian side to 150-7, they made it home in 13.1 overs. And believe it or not, Scotland after this win are topping the group table, ahead of Australia and England — the winners of the T20 World Cup in the last two editions. It was not exactly a superlative performance, but clinical enough. Brandon McMullen was the star of the…

A ‘why not’ will visit the Indian dressing room sooner rather than later. It may be before or after the T20 World Cup match against Pakistan. And the think tank will have to address the issue in the best interests of the team, without going by reputations and names. Does it make sense to leave Yashasvi Jaiswal on the bench? Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are greats no doubt, but at this point in time, can they be more effective than this youngster who is raring to go? Nobody can say ‘yes’ with conviction in their voice. Jaiswal is a…

Their campaign in tatters, expect those fast bowlers to come hard at India. Pakistan lost that nervy duel against the USA all right, but do not forget, they were right in it despite trying to defend a below-par total. Credit for that goes to Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Amir, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. Yes, Rauf, despite those fatal last three balls, where he failed to protect 12 runs. Ask the US batters about the knocks they took in the toe to shin bone region, the amount of ice packs they needed after the match and you will understand just…

Spare a thought for Haris Rauf before you join this US party. A decent bowler by acceptable standards, he will be remembered for two sixes he conceded in his career. The first one came two years ago from the bat of Virat Kohli. It was possibly the shot of the history of T20Is. The second, off a rank full toss, tossed Pakistan out of this high-voltage T20 World Cup thriller in Dallas. The 50-over World Cup has seen its share of upsets featuring Pakistan. Against Bangladesh in 1999 and Ireland in 2007. There are more. What transpired today in front…

Occupied discussing election results, Kolkata has also been obsessed about a football match. India versus Kuwait at the Salt Lake Stadium is a crucial encounter. On it hinges the national team’s chances of progressing to the next round of World Cup qualifiers. Forget that for the moment. For the city and the country, it’s a huge occasion only because its Sunil Chhetri’s farewell in national colours on Thursday. This is a hub known for its love for football and for its sense for celebrating the moment. In social gatherings over the last few days, the question has been “Dada, do…