Author: Bharath Ramaraj

Over the last 12 months, Harshit Rana’s name has become a favourite meme subject across social media platforms, largely due to perceived favouritism from Gautam Gambhir. Yet, a closer look at Rana’s skill set makes it easy to understand why the Indian think-tank continues to back him, particularly in limited-overs cricket. Setting aside his pace-bowling ability, consider his knack for landing big shots lower down the order. Recently, in a T20I at the MCG, Rana also got into line more frequently against pace on a tricky surface. In essence, he vindicated the management’s faith in promoting him up the order.…

Venkatesh Prasad, the former India cricketer, was elected as the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association on December 7. Prasad, helming Team Game Changers, defeated KN Shanth Kumar of Team Brijesh. Santosh Menon and Sujith Somasunder have been elected as the secretary and vice-president, respectively. In August this year, in their election manifesto, the Prasad-led team had shared their thoughts on getting cricket back to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Ever since the tragic stampede incident during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations, no competitive match has been held at the stadium. Incidentally, DK Shivakumar, the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and a…

‘Yashasvi’ Jaiswal, the first part of his name itself translates to ‘success’, continues to live up to it. For him to collect accolades in the cricketing landscape, Jaiswal hasn’t just mastered the art of repeating the fundamentals of batsmanship in the practice arena; he also comes across as a very good listener. We saw glimpses of that in the third ODI between India and South Africa in Vizag, where he cracked his maiden ODI hundred. The connecting thread is that, on the eve of the game, after his net session, Jaiswal had long conversations with the India head coach and…

Nowadays, Gautam Gambhir’s name is quite synonymous with a no-holds barred press conference. In the aftermath of India downing South Africa to seal the three-match ODI series 2-1, the home side’s head coach once more directed his diatribes at someone. This time around, it was a certain IPL team owner who came under scrutiny. “God knows what all things were said when we lost the Test series to South Africa and half of them were not even related to cricket,” Gambhir told reporters. He continued by saying, “IPL ke owner ne bhi likkha split coaching ke bare mein (even an…

Yashasvi Jaiswal (116 not out) and the bowlers steered India to a memorable nine-wicket win over South Africa, as the hosts clinched the ODI series 2-1. India overhauled the target of 271 in just under 40 overs. It also has to be noted that India finally won a toss in ODI cricket, ensuring that they bowled first in conditions where dew played a key role in the second innings. The last time they had won the toss in this format was back in the 2023 World Cup semi-final. KL Rahul, the India skipper, revealed that he had used his left…

“Where is Prasidh Krishna going wrong? What exactly is his role?” With the lanky fast bowler once more turning out to be expensive in the third India-South Africa game in Vizag, his position has again come under scrutiny. Yes, he picked up a couple of wickets in his second spell, but the critics will point to his inability to keep the runs down. For starters, the pacer has enough tools in his weaponry. After all, Prasidh can bowl the hard length and consistently clocks over 140 kph. However, to succeed at the highest level, a cricketer needs to possess more…

This was how Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s left-hand opener, practiced ahead of the final ODI between India and South Africa in Vizag. Load up, back and across, defend. Load up, back and across, square cut or upper-cut. Load up, back and across, pull stroke. The narrative was crystal clear: Jaiswal was pursuing excellence while facing a throwdown specialist and a net bowler. And his eyes were set on upskilling his horizontal-bat shots. So, how did Jaiswal go about his business in the practice session? Among the three shots he played repeatedly, Jaiswal seemed most comfortable with the pull stroke. One of…

In the first two games of the ongoing India-South Africa three-match ODI series, dew made a massive impact. And it is once again set to make an impression in the final game in Vizag. India were still able to defend the target in Ranchi. However, in Raipur, South Africa chased down a monstrous target of 359. Ahead of the crucial third game, Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, had this to say on the dew factor coming into the equation time and again. “The dew is huge here. It is not something we can control, but it is for us…

Back in 2015, Prasidh Krishna’s maiden first-class game was an eventful one. He didn’t just take a five-for while playing for Karnataka against Bangladesh A but also plucked a wicket with his first ball itself. Six years later, on his ODI debut, the lanky pacer bagged a four-for. However, his first three overs were also expensive, 37 runs came off it. The above-mentioned lines have become a pattern in Prasidh’s career. Be it in Centurion, Sydney, The Oval, Edgbaston or Cape Town, either Prasidh has given away a flurry of boundaries, or alongside being taken to the cleaners, he has…

Many moons ago, somewhere in 2018, Ruturaj Gaikwad essayed a game-breaking hundred for Maharashtra against Himachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The essence of the hundred wasn’t necessarily about the runs he scored, but the manner in which he compiled them. He shifted gears smartly and paced his innings in tune with the changing rhythms of the game, finishing with an almost run-a-ball 114. At 28, Gaikwad has become a seasoned campaigner, not just in domestic cricket but also in the glitzy world of the IPL. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he averages an impressive 57 in…