Author: Bharath Ramaraj

106/6 115/7 80/4 113/6 These are not some secret code numbers, but the totals accumulated by South Africa in the T20 World Cup so far. It is true that the conditions in all those matches, including the one played in St Vincent, were extremely tricky for batting. It is also a fact that the Proteas won all those games. But somewhere, you wonder whether all those low scores and collapses would have hurt the confidence of a formidable batting unit. It doesn’t take long for a batter to lose his rhythm. One small error and an innings could be…

Monank Patel, the USA skipper, used to own a restaurant. Saurabh Netravalkar is an Oracle Engineer, while Aaron Jones once represented Barbados. These are the kind of evocative stories that are making waves after the United States of America’s shock win over Pakistan and their qualification to Super 8s of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. Suddenly, from nowhere, USA’s momentous victory became a major topic for digital sports news outlets in that country. Basically, everyone loves an underdog being the giant killer. Over 7000 miles away from the USA, there is another associate nation, which is nestled in the…

There are some unforgettable memories which echo right through a lifetime. For the English players, who partook in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan in 2022, those evocative memories of lifting the trophy would stay with them forever. But time flies. Roughly around a year later, they couldn’t defend the 50-over World Cup title in India and finished a lowly seventh. In the ongoing T20 World Cup, when they hurtled to a defeat against arch-rivals, Australia, there were plenty of question marks surrounding the coach and captain duo of Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler. In the nick of time,…

It was a heartbreak for Nepal in St Vincent as they came very close to upsetting the apple-cart against South Africa. Unfortunately, Gulshan Jha couldn’t score two runs off the last two balls as they slipped to a gut-wrenching one-run loss in a T20 World Cup game. If they had emerged triumphant, there would have been a frenzied atmosphere right through the streets of Nepal, but it wasn’t to be. So, how did the last three overs pan out? At 98 for 3, after 17 overs, Nepal had the upper hand. At that stage of the game, Tabraiz Shamsi prised…

In IPL 2024, whenever MS Dhoni made it to the middle in the last over of an innings, there was deafening noise. So, it wasn’t exactly an eye-opener when Dhoni walked out to loud cheers to face the last four deliveries of Chennai Super Kings’ innings versus Mumbai Indians. The noise built to a crescendo when Dhoni thumped Hardik Pandya for three sixes in a row. That day, thousands of adjectives were penned on Dhoni’s hitting prowess. Amid all the praises being showered on Dhoni, something else was noticeable: Hardik bowling enough ‘floaty stuff’. Basically, he seemed to be lacking…

Suryakumar Yadav’s overall strike-rates in the shortest format are as follows – 168.06 in T20Is and 152.05 in T20s. The same explosive batter scored his runs at a strike-rate of just around 100 in India’s seven-wicket win over the USA in the T20 World Cup. The difference here was that Suryakumar’s runs came in some of the toughest conditions you would ever get to see in the shortest format. And they also came in circumstances where India had found themselves in a spot of bother. Virat Kohli was out for no score. Rohit Sharma finished with just three runs to…

‘Teriyaki Madness’ — the Chinese restaurant was owned by Monank Patel in South Carolina in the United States of America. That word ‘madness’ could serve as a crux to how he has tackled several challenges right through his cricketing journey. In other words, his insatiable hunger to succeed has a touch of madness associated with it. A couple of years ago, we saw enough evidence of his grit when he accumulated a gutsy 85 for the USA against Nepal in a CWC League 2 game. The backstory to that effort is he had flopped against the same team during the…

Visit a clothing store and you’re bound to notice innumerable hats. For a minute or two, just imagine Jasprit Bumrah purchasing all those hats and using each one of them on different days. The cue here is the Indian fast-bowling maestro seems to sport different hats as per the demands of the game and executes his weapons accordingly. In summary, Bumrah’s bowling has turned out to be the guarantee card for the Indian team. That guarantee card was on show in the marquee India-Pakistan clash in the T20 World Cup. With Pakistan off to a steady start in a modest…

In the T20 World Cup game against South Africa, the Netherlands bowled the right lengths and attacked the stumps a little more on a track that had enough variable bounce. The Netherlands were rewarded also for their honest efforts. But they couldn’t out one player and that was David Miller. His unbeaten 59 turned out to be the difference between the two sides on a lottery wicket as South Africa emerged victorious with just seven balls to spare. Ahead of the India versus Pakistan game at the same ground, Miller’s innings serves as a cue as to how to chisel…

The script was always meant for Afghanistan’s spinners to dominate proceedings against New Zealand’s batting unit on a slow pitch in the ICC T20 World Cup, in Guyana. The expected outcome did happen with Rashid Khan and Mohhammed Nabi bagging enough wickets between them. But there was another notable performance, which would have gladdened Rashid and the Afghanistan camp – Fazalhaq Farooqi ripping through New Zealand with swing and the left-arm angle. The first delivery of New Zealand’s innings itself was an indicator of things to come. From over the wicket, Farooqi swung one back prodigiously and uprooted the timber…