Author: Bharath Ramaraj

On 14 April 205, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have announced Smaran Ravichandran as the replacement of the Aussie spinner, Adam Zampa for the remainder of the IPL 2025 as Zampa got ruled out due to injury. “He had the clarity that I will break open the doors, not just knock on the doors,” Syed Zabiullah said to RevSportz. Zabiullah, who happens to be Ravichandran Smaran’s childhood coach, was referring to a time when his ward had modest returns with the bat. While flipping through the Karnataka batter’s impressive run-scoring efforts over the last few months, those words from his coach flash…

At the end of England’s innings in the first ODI in Nagpur, an interesting stat caught one’s attention – Ravindra Jadeja ended up bowling 38 deliveries on the stumps and took three wickets for the cost of only 18 runs. As a variation, he bowled 16 deliveries outside the off stump and gave away a mere eight runs. This particular strategy serves as the essence of his success, especially in conditions where there is any help for the spinners. It shouldn’t come as a major surprise that Jadeja bagged three wickets for a mere 26 runs in Nagpur. The first…

As Varun Chakaravarthy befuddled a slew of English batters in the T20I series, the one question on almost every Indian cricket fan’s lip was whether the spinner would be added to the ODI squad for the England series and the forthcoming Champions Trophy. Two days before the start of the ODI series against England, he was seen training with the rest of the Indian players in Nagpur. And by the looks of it, the selectors might also include him for the ICC event. If India move ahead with their plans of picking Varun for the Champions Trophy, it brings up…

For a while, day 1 of the game between Karnataka and Haryana seemed to be meandering like any other Ranji Trophy encounter: There were hardly 60-70 fans around as Mayank Agarwal and KV Aneesh went about collecting runs. But all that was above to change. At around 10.30 AM, when Aneesh was dismissed, KL Rahul walked out to take strike, sending the sparse crowd into delirium. In another 5-10 minutes’ time, another 60-70 fans seemed to have made their way out to the only stand that was kept open for the game. It tells us that despite Rahul perhaps not…

You end up watching highlights from another time to rekindle some old memories. Perhaps, you also start to feel those bygone days were so much better. Now, Suryakumar Yadav doesn’t belong to a bygone, ancient era. In fact, he is the present captain of the Indian T20I side. But while watching his recent struggles with the bat, one can’t help but look back at some of those old highlights packages on YouTube and reminisce about those memories. One of his batting masterclasses that still echoes in the mind is his superlative ton against England at Trent Bridge. The nonchalant wristy…

Although England fired in fits and starts, eventually, India emerged victorious in the five-match T20I series, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead with a hard-fought win in Pune. So, what were the hits and misses in relation to the home team? Who were some of the star performers for the home side? And what are the areas of concern? Here’s a lowdown on India’s series win. Hits: Varun Chakaravarthy bamboozling the English batters: Varun was here, Varun was there, and Varun was everywhere—that is how the English batters might be feeling after getting befuddled time and again by the mainstay of…

Bharath Ramaraj at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru The key narratives from day 2 of the Karnataka-Haryana Ranji Trophy game have been the noteworthy performances of Haryana’s seamers and how the home side is negotiating a transition phase in the longest format. The cornerstones of Haryana’s impressive comeback were Anshul Kamboj and Anuj Thakral – the pace duo shared eight wickets between them. Of the two, Kamboj bowled with unremitting discipline, testing every single batter in the corridor of uncertainty outside off. He also employed the occasional nip-backer to keep the batters on their toes. The delivery to KL Rahul perfectly…

While travelling to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, there is always a sense of anticipation. Fans making a beeline to enter the stadium, with police personnel having a tough time controlling the frenzied atmosphere. But on a pleasant Monday morning, with Haryana about to take on Karnataka in a crucial Ranji Trophy encounter, all that one could observe was the typical hustle-bustle of a crowded city. Vehicles moved back and forth on a busy Queen’s road. In fact, at around 8.50 AM, the number of fans in front of the main gate was less than the fingers on your hand. For a…

There is no doubt that Washington Sundar is a fine utility cricketer. There is also not much doubt that Washington has improved as a spin bowler, and he has some ability with the bat. He also played a useful innings in the second T20I against England in Chennai. But hidden beneath that handy knock lies a problem, especially in the shortest format of the game: Washington largely struggles to land the big shots. For someone who mostly bats lower down the order, it is imperative that Washington has enough shots in the locker. Now, let’s do some number-crunching to validate…

“It is a feel thing, release the ball just behind your head” – a technical point that Brett Lee, the former Australian fast bowler, talks about when it comes to landing a yorker. But that is in theory. In reality, it has become rather difficult to usher in the toe-crusher, especially in an era where a slew of batters move around in the crease. In that context, it was a commendable achievement from Sayali Satghare to nail a string of yorkers in the Senior Women’s One-Day Competition game between Mumbai and Delhi, played in December last year. While chasing down…