Author: Bharath Ramaraj

“With confident strides, Tim Southee charges to the crease and gets one to whistle past the outside edge of Michael Vaughan with a crackerjack outswinger.” This particular imaginary line echoed in my mind several times while reading the news that Southee is all set to retire from Test cricket after the England series. It was one of Southee’s first few offerings in Test cricket. But that one delivery was enough to gauge that Southee had some promise. Very soon, Southee also winkled out Vaughan with the one that nipped back in a touch to trap the England skipper in front.…

A few days before Bengal’s Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh, there was a sense of excitement among fans, as Mohammed Shami was all set to make his much-awaited return from a serious ankle injury, which had kept him away from competitive cricket for almost a year. Incidentally, Shami has had problems during his recovery period, which included a swollen knee, alongside reports of him being laid low by a side strain. From that perspective, it was heartening to notice that Shami is back in action. So, how did he go about bowling in his comeback game? Just scroll through…

Over two Indian Premier Leagues, in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Washington Sundar bagged a mere four wickets in nine matches. It is true that T20 cricket is not exactly a barometer to judge someone’s credentials for the longest format. But there was no doubt that a piece or two of the jigsaws were missing from his bowling. It seemed as if Washington was mostly bowling with a flatter trajectory. Around 5-6 months later, when he was rather surprisingly picked in India’s playing XI, against New Zealand, for the Pune Test, Washington turned out to be the trump-card, bagging a 10-wicket…

“I felt very good, For a moment, I couldn’t believe it,” Yashvardhan Dalal told RevSportz about his record-breaking innings in the CK Nayudu Trophy. “The kind of support that I received from the teammates, coaches; there was a great atmosphere that the record was all set to be broken.” The unbeaten 428 against Mumbai included as many as 46 boundaries and 12 sixes. The 465-ball effort also ensured that Haryana would post a thumping innings and 400-run victory. As the youngster neared the landmark, the Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club (SRNCC) ground in Sultanpur was filled with claps and roars.…

What is Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling all about? Maybe he is the mystery spinner who bagged nine wickets at an economy rate of just 4.7 in the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League? This was the time when Chakravarthy was renowned for having seven variations in his armour. Or perhaps it is the Chakravarthy 2.0 version, which is currently running through the South African batting unit in its own den? The answer to that question would be we are now witnessing the improved version of the mystery spinner. So, that brings up another question. What are the key features of Chakravarthy’s…

Sanju Samson smacked 10 sixes in total in the opening game of the T20I series against South Africa in Durban. Among all those bazooka hits, a single stroke was enough to gauge the calibre of his stunning 50-ball 107. In the 13th over bowled by the medium pacer, Andile Simelane, Samson employed his back foot trigger. The next frame of the action was about Samson taking a step forward to unfurl an eye-popping lofted stroke over long-off. Samson too perhaps enjoyed that sumptuous stroke. For a moment, he looked up and then didn’t even bat an eyelid as…

Bharath Ramaraj in Bengaluru There are those old old Dinah Maria Craik lines that go: “Autumn to winter, winter into spring, spring into summer, summer into fall – so rolls the changing years, and so we change.” Somewhere this quote applies to the present Karnataka Ranji Trophy side. Due to a variety of reasons, the think tank have had to usher in young players this season. So, what does Yere Goud, in his second stint as head coach, say about the state’s rebuilding phase? “See, S Sharath was the wicketkeeper last season, he has moved out,” he told RevSportz. “S…

The pace bowlers made a massive impact on Day 2 of the Bengal-Karnataka Ranji Trophy game played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Initially, the ever-reliable Vasuki Koushik bagged a five-wicket haul for Karnataka. Rishav Vivek, Ishan Porel and Suraj Jaiswal then shared the spoils to dent the home side. On the back of a timely, unbeaten stand between Abhinav Manohar and Shreyas Gopal, Karnataka recovered to some extent to end the day’s play at 155 for 5, in arrears by 146 runs. Just like day 1, Koushik provided Karnataka the perfect start by removing Shahbaz Ahmed, with Sujay Sateri pouching the…

While watching Anustup Majumdar raise his bat in front of a sparse crowd after completing his century at the Chinnaswamy Stadium against Karnataka, on Wednesday, there were flashbacks of his game-breaking innings versus the same opponent, in the same tournament, four years ago. In the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy semi-final between the two sides, Anustup had charted Bengal’s astonishing comeback with a 207-ball 149. His knock didn’t just help Bengal recover from a precariously placed 67/6, but also took them to a match-winning score of 312 in tricky conditions for batting. Fast-forward to the present times, and his 101 in the…

Earlier in the year, the young New Zealand fast bowler, William O’Rourke made his Test debut against a South African team bereft of its key players. Despite that caveat, Rourke’s burgeoning potential was there for everyone to see. In the second innings, he pounded the pitch hard and got one big on Ryan van Tonder and the batter was caught in the deep. In the first innings, he showcased the other part of his skill set: The ability to blend hit-the-deck skills with a few fuller offerings to trap Neil Brand in front. That extends to how Rourke has generally…