Author: Bharath Ramaraj

In what turned out to be a mostly one-sided affair, Delhi Capitals crushed Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League match played in Delhi. Delhi chased down the target of 182 in under 17 overs. With this win, Delhi moved up one place to slot in at ninth place, while Bangalore remained in fifth with 10 points. Here are our takeaways from the match. Salt comes out all guns blazing Phil Salt explored all corners of the ground and ended up with a 45-ball 87. He began on the right note by clubbing Josh Hazlewood for…

Around four years ago, Neeraj Chopra, then Asian and Commonwealth Games champion in the javelin throw, posted an update on his Instagram handle. “Undergone elbow surgery in Mumbai by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala,” it said. “Will require some months of rehabilitation before I can start back with throwing. Hoping to return stronger. Every setback is a setup for a comeback. God wants to bring you out better than you were before.” Neeraj had undergone a surgery to remove bone fragments in his elbow, which were causing him acute discomfort. Soon, summer gave way to the rainy season and then spring, and…

On a sunny morning in Colombo, in 2016, a 14-year-old Rohit Paudel walked out to bat in the Under-19 Asian Cricket Council game against India Under-19, with his side in trouble at 86 for 6. Rohit, who was making his Under-19 debut for Nepal, then proceeded to play an innings that had its share of bravado and good game awareness. There was one over in particular, where he took his game to an elevated plane by scoring 24 runs in five balls. Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who was bowling at a fair clip, was lofted and pulled, and there was also a…

With almost all parts of the engine functioning smoothly, the top-placed Gujarat Titans would believe they have the required balance to not just win tomorrow’s match versus Rajasthan Royals but also defend the IPL title that they hoisted last year. Having said that, they lost their last game versus an energised Delhi Capitals on a seaming deck. So did that loss expose any chinks in the GT side? One of the few areas where GT seem to lack a bit of firepower is at the top of the order: W Saha has notched up 151 runs at a strike rate…

In the second over of the IPL 2023 game between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, Jofra Archer extracted appreciable movement off the seam at over 90mph and beat Jos Buttler, his England teammate, on the inside edge. That delivery didn’t produce a wicket, but it brought back some fond memories of Archer bowling peaches in top-flight cricket. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years, Archer has been more in the news for a spate of injuries than his on-field performances. It all started during England’s successful tour of South Africa in 2019-20. He missed out on playing the second…

Over the last 24 hours, the IPL has been dominated by the post-match fracas that took place during the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. Hopefully, the limelight would be back on what happens on the field of play when Lucknow take on Chennai Super Kings at the same venue on May 3. After sliding to an 18-run loss against RCB, the Lucknow set-up perhaps would be hoping for a bit more pace in the wicket, especially with the franchise having a slew of shot-makers in their ranks. Lucknow have a…

On May 1, 2023, fans had gathered in Kirtipur to watch Nepal play UAE in the summit clash of ACC Premier Cup. Unfortunately, the match had to be postponed to the following day because of incessant rain. Just a mere glance through the videos on social media would tell you much about the unabated passion the fans have for the game, as they waited patiently for long hours in persistent rain under umbrellas of vivid colours. The match resumed on Tuesday, May 2, and Nepal charted a memorable win as they beat the UAE by seven wickets to qualify for…

Before the start of inaugural IPL, a brand line was coined by the organisers, “Eight teams, without any players, only warriors.” On the first day of IPL itself, they found a warrior-like performer in Brendon McCullum. Yes, there were cheerleaders and enough glitz and glamour surrounding the opening ceremony of the tournament. But the fireworks from McCullum’s willow against Royal Challengers Bangalore projected the tournament in iridescent colours to the paying public. Incredibly, the first over of the maiden IPL didn’t have any of the fireworks that we have come to associate with a T20 game. The opening duo of McCullum and Saurav Ganguly pinched a…

Around 5490 days ago, Brendon McCullum blazed away to a 73-ball 158 in the inaugural game of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which also heralded a new chapter in the sport’s chronicles – franchise cricket. A little more than 15 years later, we are about to witness the 1000th match in the history of IPL. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning a grand celebration to commemorate the milestone. Amid all the glitz and glamour, the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians will take on the high-flying Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium. It has been a rather…

Overview After a string of losses, Kolkata Knight Riders had a timely boost with a hard-fought win over Royal Challengers Bangalore. To leapfrog a few teams on the points table, they will need more such collective performance. In the game against Bangalore, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma made key contributions. But they need more from some of the senior pros, especially the West Indian duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Russell bowled a gutsy spell, using his hit-the-deck skills to keep the opponent in check. But with the bat in hand, he has put on…