Author: Bharath Ramaraj

Musheer Khan, the talented Mumbai cricketer, crunched 10 boundaries and two sixes in his excellent unbeaten 105 in India B’s opening fixture of the Duleep Trophy against India A. Although some of his shots would make it to a highlights package, the essence of Musheer’s batting was something else. To gauge that particular trait, you have to scroll through the early part of his innings. On a track that assisted the seamers right through the first couple of sessions, Musheer was ready to scrap his way to a hundred. On occasions, he was beaten on the outside edge. There were…

Musheer Khan played a lone ranger as India B finished Day 1 on 202 for 7 in their opening Duleep Trophy fixture against India A at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. The three seamers – Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep – shared six wickets between them. Wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end, but Musheer wasn’t ruffled. The best part of his batting was he played the ball late, allowing it to come to him. He also showed the required temperament to forget the previous outcome and concentrate on the next ball. Eventually, in the 52nd over,…

How will India’s new batting sensation, Yashashvi Jaiswal, tackle the tall pace trio of Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa and Prasidh Krishna? What to make of Kuldeep Yadav trying to get the better of Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan and Rishabh Pant? The trio are renowned for befuddling the spinners with their rather unorthodox game, while Kuldeep is at the peak of his prowess. Subhman Gill, the Team A captain, and KL Rahul taking on Sai Kishore, Washington Sundar and company also could liven up the proceedings. The above-mentioned points are all a microcosm of the larger picture. When Team A locks…

Once in a while, memories flash like a bulb. It could be an incident or an event that takes you on a trip down memory lane. While witnessing Litton Das’ stroke-filled, game-breaking hundred against Pakistan, some recollections from his debut Test against India flooded back. The simple reason was the wonderful exhibition of stroke-play that was on display, in both innings. In the one-off Test in Fatullah, Litton had slog-swept and danced down the wicket while facing the spin duo of R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. Among all those eye-catching shots, there was one stroke which exemplified the young…

On a rather pleasant morning in Bengaluru, as yours truly switched on the TV to watch some US Open action, the eyes zoomed in on the scoreline of Novak Djokovic’s third round match against Alexei Popyrin. The Australian had won the first two sets. You still wondered whether Djokovic would make one of those magical comebacks and close it out in five sets. The reality turned out to be different, as after losing the third set, Popyrin closed out the match in four. For starters, Popyrin deserves all the credit for putting in a stellar performance. He was willing to…

Samit Dravid, son of former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, has been named in the national U-19 squad for the one-day and four-day games versus Australia to be held in September and October this year. Australia’s U-19 team’s tour will comprise three 50-over and two four-day games, with Puducherry and Chennai selected as the two venues. Samit, a seam-bowling all-rounder, was in fine form for Karnataka in the Cooch Behar Trophy, accumulating 362 runs and taking 16 wickets. His highest score in the tournament was 98 versus Jammu and Kashmir. He also plucked two wickets in the final against…

The Bengaluru Blasters-Hubli Tigers Maharaja Trophy game turned out to be all about Manvanth Kumar. The young all-rounder composed a quick-fire 15-ball 28 for Hubli and then he bagged a four-for. If you wondered whether his heroics in that match was confined to those two performances, then you were wrong. The game needed as many as three Super Overs to break the deadlock and it was yet again Manvanth who rose to the occasion by cracking a couple of boundaries, including the winning shot to steer his side to a spine-tingling victory. The way Manvanth always seems to be in…

Bangladesh’s cricket history has had its share of golden moments. The 1997 ICC Trophy event held in Kuala Lumpurwas definitely one such event. With one required to usurp Kenya in the final, Khaled Mashud, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper, scampered across for a legbye and didn’t even look back as he went on a celebratory run around the ground. Ten years later, Bangladesh stunned a star-studded and experienced Indian side in the 2007 World Cup held in the West Indies. Bangladesh’s amazing victory over the mighty Australians in Cardiff, in 2005, would also come into the equation. Mohammed Ashraful had compiled a…

India have a busy season ahead of them, including home Test rubbers against Bangladesh and New Zealand and the eagerly anticipated tour Down Under. If you apply simple logic, India would look for a rotational policy, especially when it comes to fast bowling. The logic applied here is that they would want to test their pace-bowling stocks ahead of the Australian tour. Also, India would want to keep some of the established members of the side – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj – fresh and raring to go for the Australian series. In that backdrop, here is…

The Maharaja Trophy, a KSCA-run T20 tournament, has always been about unearthing new talents. This year hasn’t been any different either. The likes of Abilash Shetty, M Taha, Hardik Raj, LR Kumar, R Smaran, Manvanth Kumar and Co have showcased glimpses of their potential. Rohan Patil, the opening batter for Gulbarga Mystics and now Mangaluru Dragons, has been one of them. Over a period of time, he has given a fine exhibition of stroke-play, especially during the 2022 season, where he ended up with impressive numbers – 397 runs at a strike-rate of just over 166. However, it is generally…