Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

On January 22, when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam Bulbul did a press conference in Dhaka, he effectively accused the ICC of double standards. That press conference was done on the heels of the ICC Board’s decision, by a 14-2 majority, not to change the schedule of the upcoming T20 World Cup starting on February 7. The ICC Board asked Bangladesh to come and play their matches in the tournament as per the schedule — three group league games in Kolkata and another one in Mumbai. “The ICC tried to tell us about incidents in 1996 and…

It’s now done and dusted. Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the upcoming T20 World Cup starting on February 7. The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) last-ditch attempt to send the matter before the ICC’s Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC) was never going to be successful, for it was beyond the Committee’s remit. The DRC is there to arbitrate on contract violations between parties and in this case, there was no contract violation. Also, decisions taken by the ICC Board are binding on every committee and the BCB’s plea of moving Bangladesh’s matches out of India was dismissed by the Board, by a…

Ishan Kishan channelled his inner Rishabh Pant to offer a bit of comic relief to 60,000 fans at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium. He swung hard at a delivery from Mitchell Santner, but the ball rolled to square-leg, along with the bat, which also landed in the same region. Rachin Ravindra handed the bat back to Ishan who immediately asked for a change of blade. Three fours on the spin ensued in that Santner over. New Zealand opted for pace and brought Matt Henry into the attack. The Kiwi quick, though, bowled a slower one, and Ishan swivelled…

To start with, the caretaker government in Bangladesh has totally hung the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and their cricketers out to dry. It is learnt that on Thursday, when the government’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul met BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul and some of the members of the T20 World Cup squad, he simply told them that Bangladesh would boycott the tournament if the ICC sticks to its stand of not altering the schedule and relocating their matches to Sri Lanka. No feedback was taken, any counter views were not allowed. A day before, the ICC Board met virtually to…

Gautam Gambhir has spoken, not at a press conference, but on social media. And there’s enough to read between the lines. It’s a thinly-veiled dig, but directed to whom? The Indian team’s head coach has left a lot of room for speculation. The backdrop is necessary. On Wednesday, as India played the first match of a five-game T20I series here in Nagpur, the VCA Stadium had a special visitor. Shashi Tharoor, the diplomat-turned-politician who is a member of the Indian National Congress, turned up and had a tête-à-tête with Gambhir. Later Dr Tharoor posted on X (erstwhile Twitter): “In…

Tilak Varma is likely to be available for the fifth T20I of the ongoing series against New Zealand, it is learnt. The Hyderabad batsman, who has been ruled out of the first three matches of the series after undergoing a surgery, has started strength drills at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. He is expected to join the squad before the final T20I on January 31. The selection committee has added Shreyas Iyer to the squad for the first three T20Is but the Indian team management already decided to play Ishan Kishan at No. 3 in Tilak’s absence.…

The ubiquity of Abhishek Sharma’s merry hitting has now become a part of India’s batting fabric in T20Is. By his gung-ho standards, the southpaw was a bit subdued to start with on Wednesday. The first ball he faced from Jacob Duffy was a wide. A couple of dots followed. Enough was enough. Abhishek sent the final ball of the over out of the ground. It felt like a mishit, but he went with a full follow-through. Have India ever had an opener like Abhishek in T20 cricket? At times, he offers a throwback to Sanath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan had…

Bangladesh risk being thrown out of the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting on February 7, after the ICC Board overwhelmingly decided not to change the schedule of the tournament. It is learnt that if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) still stick to its stand of not sending the team to India, Bangladesh would be replaced by another team, likely Scotland, in Group C. The BCB have 24 hours to decide. At the ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, attended by the directors of all Full Member countries, along with the ICC chair Jay Shah and CEO Sanjog Gupta, the matter…

Almost everyone else took his turn to bat at the nets. Harshit Rana was constant, going hammer and tongs, and having conversations with Gautam Gambhir, his mentor. The team management is going through the process of grooming the youngster as an all-rounder and Rana’s steady progress is good news for Indian cricket. On the eve of the T20I series opener, the Indian team had a full training session at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday, and the focus was on Ishan Kishan, who would bat at No. 3 in Tilak Varma’s absence. Suryakumar Yadav explained the decision. “Ishan will…

Nagpur. Does it strike a chord, especially with Mitchell Santner? A decade ago, this venue was the theatre of his merry dance — a four-for that decimated India in a T20 World Cup game. The hosts were 79 all out chasing 127 for victory on a tough pitch. They recovered to reach the semi-finals of the 2016 World Cup where the West Indies ended their march. Another T20 World Cup is starting on February 7 and India’s preparations are entering home stretch with a five-match series against the Kiwis, commencing here in Nagpur on Wednesday. India can’t afford to lose…