Author: Bharath Ramaraj

Despite Oman giving India a scare, they slipped to a 21-run loss in an Asia Cup game in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Hammad Mirza (51) and Aamir Kaleem (64) were the cornerstones of Oman’s fightback as they ended up on 167 in a chase of 189. With this victory, India have won all their three games in the group phase of the tournament. It took a brilliant catch by Hardik Pandya in the 18th over at fine leg to settle the nerves in the Indian camp. He moved to his right and showed very good balance to stay inside the…

Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai Here’s an imaginary scenario – India need 14 off three deliveries in the Asia Cup final with Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav at the crease. You may counter that by saying that such a twist in the plot seems unlikely, considering how formidable India look on paper. But in the fast-paced world of T20 cricket, there is still an element of unpredictability. The Indian management, for one, seem to be considering the different possibilities. On a humid Thursday night, almost all of India’s lower-order batters practiced range hitting in the nets – from Varun to Arshdeep…

Over the last couple of months, Kuldeep Yadav, one of India’s premier spinners, might have wondered whether he had lost his rhythm. With India looking to balance the side with an all-rounder, Kuldeep wasn’t picked for the England Tests. He also couldn’t find his mojo in the one Duleep Trophy game that he played before the 2025 Asia Cup. However, in both the Asia Cup games, he has befuddled the batters with his bagful of tricks. The resultant outcome is that he has picked seven wickets. Ahead of India’s final fixture of the group phase against Oman, this was what…

Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai “First of all, this is not our responsibility or our work,” Muhammad Waseem, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) skipper said after the completion of their Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan. “We were focusing on our game. We came here to play the game, and we did that.” The UAE skipper’s answer about Pakistan’s players not arriving at the ground at the scheduled time was short but concise. Amid all the question marks about Andy Pycroft’s continuation as the match referee in the 2025 Asia Cup, and whether Pakistan would boycott the tournament, one couldn’t help but…

Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai Somewhere in October 2021, yours truly ended up watching Daniel Craig’s James Bond movie – No Time To Die. Roughly four years later, while covering the plots and subplots of whether the Pakistan team would arrive at the Dubai International Stadium, it just made you remember this very movie. For a time, it seemed like the Pakistan players would skip their Asia Cup game against the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As per sources, at least some of Pakistan’s players had their kit bags ready as they geared up for their crucial match. Minutes later,…

Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai This is an interesting observation about Afghanistan in the shortest format of the game – They have only beaten sides like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea since the start of December 2023 while chasing down a target. Just scratch the surface further and you will unearth one more fact – They have also lost to teams like Ireland and the UAE while pursuing a target of 150 or more. In other words, chasing targets, especially in excess of 150, has become an Achilles’ heel for the Afghanistan. So, it shouldn’t come…

Bharath Ramaraj Runs: 160 Strike rate: 197.53 Average: 40 The above-mentioned impressive numbers are that of Jitesh Sharma in the slog overs in IPL 2025. Even in the pressure-cooker final game of that tournament, Jitesh cracked an invaluable 10-ball 24. And when Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed someone to play an explosive innings in the crucial match versus Lucknow Super Giants, Jitesh’s 33-ball 85 turned out to be a cornerstone of his franchise’s memorable victory. But what is the relevance of all those numbers? After all, it has been more than three months since the completion of the IPL. The…

Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai A few days prior to the India-Pakistan Asia Cup encounter, Arshdeep Singh’s main focus seemed to be restricted to fitness drills. Morne Morkel, Ryan ten Doeschate and Adrian le Roux oversaw the performed tasks. He did have some catching practice and also bowled a few overs of seam-up. However, one couldn’t help but wonder about Arshdeep’s current mental state. The left-arm pacer, who happens to be India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, didn’t play in a single match in the Champions Trophy earlier in the year. At one point of time, it felt as if Arshdeep had…

Before the India-Pakistan Asia Cup game, a group of journalists, who in turn had seen the best of Pakistan cricket, were having a discussion on their peak period and downfall. Yours truly, who was some metres away from that assemblage, could hear names such as Salim Malik, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram and many more. It transported the writer back in time to a bygone era. It also made you wonder about their current state – How far have they fallen? A few years back, Pakistan were at least competitive in the shortest format.…

The India-Pakistan 2025 Asia Cup encounter will be echoed for reasons outside of cricket. The Indian cricketers didn’t shake hands with their counterparts, and the Pakistan skipper didn’t attend the presentation ceremony. There would be a plethora of discussions on whether it was right on the part of Suryakumar Yadav & Co to not perform what was basically an act of courtesy. But just pare through everything that happened off the field, the main narrative of the match was Pakistan’s woeful show while facing India’s spinners. Granted that India’s attack comprised who’s who of spin bowling – Kuldeep Yadav,…