Author: Bharath Ramaraj

“Winning is a habit” might be an overused cliche, but it is a fact that momentum is a key factor in a long tournament. Several teams have thrived on momentum and gone on to hoist the trophy. The opposite also holds true – losing is a habit. In the ongoing Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have experienced both sides of the coin. They were on a winning spree before it was halted by Sunrisers Hyderabad in a thriller. RR have followed that up with a losing streak of four matches. Their latest defeat came at the hands of Punjab…

Sanju Samson is currently partaking in his 12th IPL season. And in every single season so far, he has showcased some promise. Unfortunately, barring perhaps the 2021 IPL, Samson wasn’t able to convert his immense potential into consistency. At nearly 30 years of age, Samson seems to have finally found himself in a zone. The aforementioned line is reaffirmed by his numbers: 486 runs at an average of 60.75 and at a strike rate of 158.31. But is there more to Samson’s batting than just mere numbers? Has he adjusted his batting tempo and played according to different situations of…

A flashback needn’t always be associated with evocative memories. For the passionate Indian cricket fans, the ICC 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal between India and England in Adelaide is one such memory, where the latter romped home to a thumping 10-wicket win. The sub-plot to that embarrassing loss was Rohit Sharma’s batting. The India skipper, batting at the top of the order, finished with a rather modest 27 off 28 deliveries. That knock of Rohit included a few heaves or flat-bat shots. A little less than two years later, when Rohit laboured his way to a 24-ball 19 versus…

What to make of Rafael Nadal and his clay-court season so far? As an unseeded player, does he still have a chance of adding another crown to his glittering collection of 14 Grand Slams at Roland-Garros? Can he play best of five-set matches over a duration of seven games in a row? As Nadal trudges through the autumn of his illustrious career, there are enough questions revolving around his form. On expected lines, Nadal looked rusty and out of sorts at the Barcelona Open, where he bowed out in the second round to Alex de Minaur. There were positive signs…

u set a test paper on how modern-day cricket is played, one of the questions could be: Explain power-hitting? Look no further than the concluded IPL 2024 game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday night to find the right answer. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head’s blitz took the wind out of LSG’s sails as they overhauled the target of 167 in a mere 9.4 overs. Yes, in just 9.4 overs. Just take a quick look at the second and fifth overs of the game to reaffirm the point. Abhishek and Head crunched eight boundaries and one hit…

A pick-up shot here, a flick there, a few trademark scoops and then the loft. With Suryakumar Yadav, there are very few areas of the field where you feel a bowler can escape punishment. We caught a sight of the explosion of fireworks from his bat in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad as he cracked a superlative 51-ball 102. Suryakumar, who returned from an injury during the initial phase of the ongoing IPL, has had his share of low scores in this tournament. Perhaps the fifty in tricky conditions for batting versus Kolkata Knight Riders boosted Suryakumar’s confidence. Whatever it…

Mohammed Siraj seems to offer two unique versions of himself, especially in the T20 format. We witnessed the first one during the initial part of the IPL 2024 season, where Siraj was struggling for rhythm and going for plenty of runs. In his previous two outings, Siraj, however, has not just bowled with better control but also found movement in the air and off the deck. In the just-concluded game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans on Saturday, Siraj put on a virtuoso exhibition of pace bowling in the PowerPlay overs. On occasions, the ball swung this way or…

As a 11-year-old kid, Jake-Fraser McGurk was destined to take up cricket as a professional sport. All he needed was a connecting path that would steer him for his chariot of dreams to the cricketing landscape. Enter, Shannon Young, an accomplished coach at Richmond Cricket Club and Young Gun Cricket. His eyes fell on the young prodigy by sheer coincidence, and it didn’t take long for him to gauge Fraser-McGurk’s promise. “I was just passing through a cricket ground. My daughter is of similar age to Jake, dropped her off for a birthday party, and there was a cricket ground…

Jasprit Bumrah seems to be the ubiquitous one when it comes to India’s pace bowling options. He has been a high-impact player across formats. He seems to wear different hats according to different formats and frontiers. However, what about the rest of the pace attack that has been selected for the ICC T20 World Cup? Is it incisive enough to make dents in opposition line-ups? Here’s a brief look at India’s pace bowling stocks. Mohammed Siraj The Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pace bowler is set to be one of the mainstays of the bowling arsenal. Unfortunately, the experienced paceman has been…

The Kolkata Knight Riders-Punjab Kings game at Eden Gardens turned out to be a harrowing experience for most of the bowlers. One who couldn’t chisel out the right path in largely excellent conditions for batting was Varun Chakaravarthy, a mainstay of the KKR bowling unit. The experienced spinner returned modest figures of none for 46 in three overs. But then, cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. In their very next match against Delhi Capitals, Chakaravarthy stuck to his strengths and bagged a three-for. Here, it has to be mentioned that the pacemen whittling away at the DC batting line-up…