Author: Subhayan Chakraborty

India’s squad for the South Africa T20Is dropped a quiet bombshell: Rinku Singh, the man who’s been a regular part of the T20I set-up as a finisher since 2023, has been left out. Not injured, not rested — just left out. And once again, right ahead of another T20 World Cup. In his place? Another all-rounder. Actually, several. Hardik Pandya is back (expectedly) and Shubman Gill returns (also expected), but the real story is what this 15 says about February 2026. The message from the Ajit Agarkar-led committee is pretty clear: multi-skilled players will shape the shortest format. You need…

Subhayan Chakraborty in Ranchi Virat Kohli lit up Ranchi on Sunday with a scintillating 135 that earned him Player of the Match honours and powered India to a 17-run victory in the first ODI against South Africa. The 37-year-old’s knock laid the foundation for India’s imposing total of 349, which proved too steep for the visitors despite a valiant chase. With a media report suggesting that a player recently retired from Tests might be open to rethink his decision, speculations were rife whether it was Kohli. However, the batting maestro was quick to shut down the rumours while also hinting…

All whispers, all doubts, every restless question that had shadowed Virat Kohli for months dissolved into the mellow Ranchi afternoon sunshine the instant he found his old, untouchable rhythm. In front of a heaving, breathless JSCA Stadium, he crafted his 52nd ODI century — his 83rd across formats — against South Africa, and in doing so turned the clock back. For weeks the talk had been only of one thing, the homecoming of Rohit Sharma and Kohli after ten long months away from Indian soil. Tickets were swallowed by the black market at ten times their price, traded like sacred…

India will be without regular captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, which begins on Sunday. The team is eager to put the recent 0-2 Test series drubbing behind them. In their absence, KL Rahul will lead the side and will rely on the vast experience of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja to guide the squad toward a strong comeback. Although the 50-over format is no longer India’s top priority, with the next ODI World Cup still two years away, interest in bilateral ODIs has surged again – largely…

PC- Debasis Sen Marco Jansen produced one of the great individual performances on Indian soil to leave the hosts reeling on Day 3 of the Guwahati Test and place South Africa within touching distance of a historic series whitewash.Walking in with South Africa already holding a 1-0 lead, a drawn result would have been satisfactory for his team. Instead, Jansen…

Mohammed Shami was mobbed by Assam players seeking tips to improve their game. (Image: Subhayan Chakraborty) Subhayan Chakraborty in Kalyani Mohammed Shami may have been dropped from the Indian team, but his hunger to play cricket at the highest level remains unchanged. Turning up in Kalyani for the Ranji Trophy match between Bengal and Assam, Shami bowled 23.2 overs in the first innings and followed it up with 29 overs in the second, picking up a total of five wickets in the game. He now has 20 wickets in four matches at an average of 16.30. However,…

Subhayan Chakraborty at Eden Gardens Following the conclusion of the Eden Gardens Test, where South Africa secured a historic 30-run victory in just three days to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, several Indian players, particularly the middle-order batters, returned to the nets in Kolkata on Tuesday for a practice session. Six players, including Ravindra Jadeja, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, and Akash Deep, attended the optional net session. India’s Test captain Shubman Gill is in all certainty ruled out of the second game in Guwahati, starting November 22, after suffering a neck spasm while…

Much has been said and written about the Chennai Super Kings’ team-building strategy ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Having traded out CSK legend Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, while acquiring Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals, the five-time IPL champions have clearly begun transitioning into a new era. However, one decision that raised many eyebrows was the release of Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana, which freed up ?13 crore in CSK’s purse. Contrary to reports suggesting the release was a last-minute call, the 22-year-old was informed by the CSK management about his release a week before the retention deadline. When…

By Subhayan Chakraborty at Eden Gardens As the Indian team stepped onto Eden Gardens, the first visuals showed the entire coaching staff, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, Ryan ten Doeschate, Sitanshu Kotak, and Morne Morkel, heading straight to the centre pitch along with curator Sujan Mukherjee. As the discussion continued over the match strip, they were joined by BCCI curators Ashish Bhowmick and Tapas Chatterjee. Soon, captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Rishabh Pant joined the discussion, which lasted for around half an hour. Going by the visuals, Pant and the support staff appeared to have slight concerns about one particular…

( South Africa Head Coach Shukri Conrad, PC- Subhayan Chakraborty) South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad labelled the two-Test series against India as the biggest challenge of his coaching career. The Proteas will aim to continue their good run of form following a 1-1 drawn series in Pakistan. Whereas, India are coming on the back of a 2-0 series win against the West Indies. “Look, India is one of the toughest challenges in the world and when…