Author: WebDesk

Webdesk ‘Decoding Hardik Pandya, the Captain’ was the theme for this special chat-cum-debate session organised by RevSportz. Subhayan Chakraborty anchored the show. Joydeep Mukherjee, former first-class cricketer who is a TV commentator these days, joined the journalist duo of G Rajaraman and Atreyo Mukhopadhyay to provide the answers. The following were the highlights of the show: On Pandya the captain? Joydeep: I still feel he is finding his feet as the India captain. Leading a franchise team and leading the country are two different things. In the franchise, a captain has immense power. There is only the coach to deal…

Vaibhav Tripathi Gary Stead, the head coach of the New Zealand men’s cricket team, has given an update on Kane Williamson’s injury, highlighting the management’s cautious approach to the skipper’s recuperation. As the World Cup approaches in less than two months, Williamson’s recovery progress is promising. Initially, it seemed that New Zealand’s white-ball captain might miss the event due to a series ACL injury that he sustained during the first match of the IPL 2023, while playing for the Gujarat Titans. However, the recent announcement of the New Zealand squad for the England ODIs confirmed Williamson’s inclusion in the team,…

Vaibhav Tripathi In the ongoing Royal One Day Cup match between Northamptonshire and Somerset on August 9, Prithvi Shaw delivered an outstanding performance by achieving a remarkable double ton, marking his second List-A double hundred. Opening the innings for Northamptonshire, Shaw displayed a masterclass against the Somerset bowlers, sending the ball to all parts of the ground en-route to his score of 244 from 153 balls. His innings featured an impressive tally of 28 boundaries and 11 sixes. The right-handed batter reached the milestone in just 129 deliveries, following his earlier century completed in 81 balls. Partnering with Ricardo Vasconcelos,…

Vaibhav Tripathi Seam-bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf has been brought back into the fold, while Shan Masood has been omitted from the 18-member ODI squad unveiled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The squad was announced for the forthcoming series against Afghanistan and the Asia Cup. Additionally, Saud Shakeel has secured a return to the ODI team, although his availability will be limited to the Afghanistan series. Ashraf’s inclusion enhances the team’s balance as a fast bowling all-rounder. His previous appearance in the format was during Pakistan’s three-match away series against England in July 2021. Masood, who had been appointed as…

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced alterations to the dates of nine matches of the 50-over World Cup, to be played in India in October-November. The highly anticipated contest between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad, originally slated for October 15, has been rescheduled to the preceding day because it was clashing with the first day of the festival of Navratri. This change has led to England’s fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi, initially set for October 14, being moved to October 15. One more England match — versus Pakistan — slated for November 12 in Kolkata has been brought…

Vaibhav Tripathi Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked T20I batsman in the world, revealed that India’s captain Hardik Pandya had expressed the need for someone to step up and lead the team to victory in the third T20I match, a task he gladly embraced on Tuesday in Guyana. Suryakumar made a remarkable comeback, unleashing a powerful innings of 83 runs from just 44 balls. In the innings, he hammered 10 fours and 4 sixes, showcasing his attacking prowess. His dominant batting performance played a pivotal role in successfully chasing down the 160-run target set by the West Indies. “It was running on the…

Pace bowlers Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson have been included in New Zealand’s ODI squad for the four-match series in England. Boult, who has bagged 187 wickets at an average of 23.97, last played an ODI for his country in September 2022. By then, New Zealand Cricket had agreed to release Boult from his contract after the pace bowler requested the board to do so, as he wanted to spend more time with his family and also make himself available for various T20 leagues. However, in May this year, he had expressed his desire to play in the 50-over World…

Vaibhav Tripathi Cricket Australia (CA) has revealed an expanded 18-player roster for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, set to take place in India from October 5 to November 19, along with the ODI series against South Africa and India leading up to the event. Notably absent from the provisional squad is Marnus Labuschagne, while emerging talents- leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha and all-rounder Aaron Hardie have been introduced. Labuschagne, a prominent figure in Test arena, has been left out of Australia’s ODI team due to lacklustre performance in the 50-over format, averaging 25.80 since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,…

On Monday, less than 24 hours after the US Women’s National Team had lost their grip on the World Cup trophy – they were going for a hat-trick of titles after victories in 2015 and 2019 – with a penalty shootout defeat to Sweden, the New York Post published an opinion piece from Piers Morgan titled: “Don’t cry for Megan Rapinoe and humiliated USWNT – they’re a bunch of unpatriotic losers.” In keeping with much of Morgan’s recent work, it was full of vitriol and little else. What it did point out correctly was that this was the worst-ever performance…

The Indian bridge team won the bronze medal in the under-31 category of the 18th World Youth Championship played in Veldhoven, Netherlands, from July 31 to August 7. India had won medals in the ‘pairs’ section earlier. This was the country’s first medal in the ‘team’ competition. The Indian under-31 team consisted of three pairs — Sayantan Kushari-Sagnik Roy, Pritam Das-Souvik Kar and Swarnashish Chatterjee-Wrik Chakraborty. They lost to eventual champions France in the semi-final before beating China in the bronze medal play-off. Indian teams also took part in the under-16, under-21 and under-26 categories, but failed to finish on…