Author: Staff Reporter

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front, producing a superb knock to guide her team to a 15-run victory over the Sri Lanka Women’s team in the final T20I of the five-match series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, completing a 5–0 clean sweep. In the post-match presentation, she said: “Well, as a batter, it’s my responsibility to provide strength to our batting order, and I always want to contribute in whatever way my team needs. As a captain, I’m really happy with the way we played throughout this series. As we mentioned earlier, after ODI cricket, shifting…

Team India capped off 2025 in fantastic style, whitewashing Sri Lanka 5-0 in the home T20I series. A 15-run win in Thiruvananthapuram sealed the series, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur winning the Player of the Match award. Opener Shafali Verma failed to score big in the final game but was adjudged Player of the Series after amassing 241 runs in five innings, including three successive high-impact knocks. Speaking during the post-match presentation, Shafali said her goal is to keep improving as a player. “My work throughout the year has paid off. I’m so happy that whatever I worked on I have…

Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott believes that the pitch offered for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the ongoing Ashes 2025/26 was not up to the standard required for a five-day Test match. In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott wrote that batting on the pitch was no different from taking part in a lottery. “The pitch had too much grass on it and failed the standard expected for a five-day Test. Batting became a lottery and all the seam bowlers had to do was get the ball straight, on a full length…

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed Lasith Malinga as part of the national coaching setup ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The former pacer will take up a short-term consulting role, where he will mainly focus on strengthening Sri Lanka’s pace attack as they prepare for the upcoming World Cup. On December 30, SLC announced that Malinga will work with the squad from December 15 to January 25, 2026. Sri Lanka failed to reach the knockout rounds in the last three editions of the tournament. Malinga is expected to bring international experience and expertise in death bowling.…

Oman Cricket (OC) on Tuesday, December 30, announced a 15-member squad, with seasoned opener Jatinder Singh leading the team in what will be the nation’s fourth appearance at the tournament. Wicketkeeper-batter Vinayak Shukla has been named vice-captain of the side. The squad sees several changes from the side that played in the Asia Cup earlier this year. Aamir Kaleem, Sufyan Yousuf, Aryan Bisht, Zikria Islam and Mohammed Imran have been left out, while all-rounders Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale and Jay Odedra have earned recalls. Pacers Shafiq Jan and Jiten Ramanandi have also been included to add depth to the pace…

Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner still believes her team is the best in the world despite losing two back-to-back World Cups in consecutive years. Twice within the space of a year, Australia have failed to win a major ICC title. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, they lost the semi-final to South Africa. Earlier this year, India handed them a defeat in Navi Mumbai, ending their hopes of defending the ODI World Cup title. Gardner said Australia have learned important lessons from their recent World Cup losses and are confident of bouncing back even stronger. “We’ve certainly been put under pressure…

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has picked two Indian players from the men’s team who impressed him the most in 2025. According to Ashwin, Abhishek Sharma is the Player of the Year, while Varun Chakravarthy is the Bowler of the Year. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said: “It’s not just the arrival of Abhishek Sharma; it’s probably the arrival of India’s next-generation X-factor player. If there is one player who I have to name who had the best year for India in 2025, it has to be him because he has batted so well. He has reimagined India’s powerplay…

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has openly backed Hardik Pandya to make a return to Test cricket, saying the all-rounder would be a great fit for the Indian team if he comes in at No. 7. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Uthappa highlighted, “If Hardik Pandya returns to the No. 7 spot in Tests, it would be wonderful. The way he’s playing. Anything can happen; it’scricket. Never say never. If Hardik decides to play Test cricket, will BCCI ask him not to play? If he says he wants to play and wants to win the World Test Championship (WTC), I…

Former England spinner Monty Panesar believes that Shubman Gill cannot captain India in all three formats of the game. Speaking to ANI, Panesar said that Gill cannot match Virat Kohli’s aggression. “He is a complacent cricketer. He has a lot of talent, but he starts playing lazy shots in the game. Virat Kohli’s intensity and aggression are evident in all formats. Shubman Gill can’t do that. It’s too much for him. He can’t be the captain of all formats. It is too much for him. In the white-ball format, you won’t miss Virat Kohli that much. But yes, in Test…

Former India batter Robin Uthappa believes that the competition to become the captain of Rajasthan Royals (RR) after Sanju Samson’s departure is between Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja. Speaking on JioStar, Uthappa mentioned that young star Yashasvi Jaiswal will have to wait for his chance. “The only question is leadership. My feeling is the captaincy will likely be between Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja, while Jaiswal might need to wait a bit longer,” he said. RR traded Samson just before the auction, which left the captaincy position vacant. Last year, when Samson was absent for a few matches, Parag was…