Sports
I accidentally became a cricketer, living my dream: R Ashwin
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that his planning before a game goes to a 'different level' and he watches a lot of footage before a match to leave no stone unturned with regard to his preparations. Ashwin also revealed that during the Australia tour, before the Adelaide Test, he watched the footage for eight straight hours which helped him better understand the game.
Yusuf Pathan announces retirement from all forms of cricket
Out-of-favour India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan on Friday announced retirement from all forms of cricket, saying time has come "to put a full stop to this innings of my life." The 38-year-old Pathan was part of the inaugural T20 World Cup-winning side in 2007 and also the one that triumphed in the 2011 ODI World Cup at home. Yusuf played 57 ODIs, 22 T20Is for India.
Have always dreamt of playing under Virat Kohli: Suryakumar Yadav
Batsman Suryakumar Yadav has revealed that he started crying after seeing his name in the T20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against England and the right-handed batter also said that he has always dreamt of playing under Virat Kohli. Last week, Suryakumar Yadav earned his maiden call-up into the Indian squad along with the likes of Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia.
Cricket a very small thing, life of our soldiers more important: Gambhir
Former India opener and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Friday said that there should not be any relation with Pakistan till cross-border terrorism gets over. "Cricket is a very small thing. Till the time cross-border terrorism does not get over, I don't think there should be any kind of relationship with Pakistan because the life of our soldiers is more important than anything," Gambhir said.
Right shoes can work wonders when batting on dry tracks: Azharuddin
While critics have questioned the wicket at the Narendra Modi Stadium for the pink-ball Test between India and England, former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin on Friday said that he cannot understand batsmen opting to wear spikes on the pitches that are offering assistance to the spinners.
England looked like startled rabbits in second innings: Hussain
England have lost their batting rhythm after playing on two difficult surfaces and looked like "startled rabbits" in the second innings of the third Test against India, according to former skipper Nasser Hussain. Hussain said it's all about mentality now and the tourists need to find a way to draw the series, which will be a good result for them.
Poll: Fans don't want same kind of pitch for 4th Test vs England
India now just need to make sure that they don't lose the 4th Test against England, as that will see Australia going through to the WTC final. However, not everyone was happy with the overall way in which the Test match finished inside two days.
Umar Akmal to resume competitive cricket after ban reduced to 12 months
Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal will be able to resume his cricket career after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) reduced his suspension to 12 months and imposed a fine of 4.25 million on him for breach of the Anti-Corruption Code.
'Morris was on our radar, want to build the team around Samson'
Incredibly, Morris had entered the 2021 Player Auction pool at a base price of Rs 75 lakh. He was eventually sold for more than 21 times his base price (Rs 16.25 Cr) as he rejoined the Royals, a team he has played for in the past.
Germany tour will add value to our Olympic preparations,: Rani
The tour of Argentina was a confidence-booster but the matches against Germany will add value to India's Tokyo Olympics preparations, said women's hockey team skipper Rani on the eve of the series opener against the world No. 3 side here.
England have gone wrong for a series as big as the Ashes: Bell
Former batsman Ian Bell has slammed England's much-debated rotation policy, saying they were guilty of thinking too far ahead and have gone wrong with the constant chopping and changing in a "big" Test series like India.
Ahmedabad wicket stays a talking point after two-day finish
ICC|: Kolkata: The quality of the wicket at the renamed Narendra Modi Stadium, where the India-England Test match ended inside two days on Thursday, continued to polarise opinions after the hosts wrapped it up by 10 wickets to go up 2-1 in the series. While the Indian captain Virat Kohli and senior batsman Rohit Sharma said that the pitch did not hold any devils and blamed their own batsmen for failing to stand upto it, the England camp were guarded than Chennai in their observation of what looked like an underprepared wicket. The hosts, after their resuming their first innings at 99 for three on Thursday, folded up for 145 but then went on to skittle England for a paltry 81. “A week like this doesn’t define us as a team,” England captain Joe Root said after their second successive defeat dashed their hopes of making the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in June. England has dropped to 64.1 percentage points on the points table, which is now led by India with 71 percentage points. New Zealand is assured of a place in the final with 70 percentage points. READ MORE Axar Patel: A white ball spinner makes waves in the Test arena India vs England: What cost England the third Test, the pitch or their rotation policy? Cricket: Why spin-friendly pitches are India’s home advantage Look: Union minister Kiren Rijiju breaks bubble, touches equipment without mask “We know what we’re capable of doing and we’ll come back and use the hurt of this week as motivation going into that last game.” Root was particularly upset how England threw away a decent start in the first innings after winning a crucial toss. “Having won the toss and batted first, we felt like we got ourselves in a pretty good position there and we just didn’t capitalise on it,” Root said. Kevin Pietersen, former England captain and now a TV pundit, wanted their batsmen to do some introspection than just lay the blame on the wicket. “I hope there are some England batters waking up this morning and being honest with themselves at least, by acknowledging their batting was dreadful on that wicket?! I’ve heard Virat & Rohit say theirs was!” Pietersen tweeted. England great Geoffrey Boycott, not the one to pull back any punches, agreed that his country could not blame the pitch for their humiliating defeat. “There is nothing in the rules that says what type of pitch should be prepared,” Boycott wrote on Twitter. “We had first choice of the surface and they were better than us. Simple.” However, a few former players felt it was a bad advertisement for Test cricket. “Finished in two days. Not sure if that’s good for test cricket,” tweeted former India batsman Yuvraj Singh. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan expressed fears for cricket’s crucial broadcasting revenues. “My worry for the future of Test match cricket is that Channel 4 would have bid an amount of money to put Test match cricket on the station for us all to see,” he told BBC. “Will they bid the next time? Knowing they only got three days last week and two days this week. So that’s five days out of 10.” Kohli had pointed out that most of the batsmen fell to deliveries that did not turn. “It was bizarre that out of the 30 wickets, 21 were off straight balls,” he said. “I feel that’s just lapse of concentration or indecision or too many things going on in your head as a batter when you are playing for the turn but getting beaten on the inside,’’ he felt. Shortest Test matches All 13 matches were completed in two days 1912 - Australia beat South Africa by an innings and 88 runs in Manchester 1912 - England beat South Africa by 10 wickets in London 1921 - Australia beat England by 10 wickets in Nottingham 1931 - Australia beat West Indies by an innings and 122 runs in Melbourne 1936 - Australia beat South Africa by an innings and 184 runs in Johannesburg 1946 - Australia beat New Zealand by an innings and 103 runs in Wellington 2000 - England beat West Indies by an innings and 39 runs in Leeds 2002 - Australia beat Pakistan by an innings and 198 runs in Sharjah 2005 - South Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 21 runs in Cape Town 2005 - New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 294 runs in Harare 2017 - South Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs in Port Elizabeth 2018 - India beat Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs in Bengaluru 2021 - India beat England by 10 wickets in Ahmedabad