Cricket

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson would have been on the non-stop IPL treadmill with the Rajasthan Royals if the pandemic hadn’t brought life to a stop. The 25-year-old is innovating when it comes to practice but is also learning to do nothing and enjoy the idleness. In a chat with The Indian Express, the talented youngster talks about being moved by the plight of migrant workers during the lockdown, why he considers himself fortunate, and the challenges of staying away from the game. Excerpts: How have you managed to

India Women’s ODI captain Mithali Raj believes that the pause in sporting activity due to the coronavirus pandemic has evened out the competition and there will be no favourites for the 2021 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. With lockdowns in place almost everywhere in the world, sport finds itself in limbo, with games suspended and strict social distancing norms in place. “Access to gyms is restricted and play has been put on hold. So the 2021 World Cup is pretty much open and there

India skipper Virat Kohli, limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma and tennis star Sania Mirza were among sports personalities, who took part in an online concert to raise funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 2 lakh people globally. As part of the initiative by ‘iFor India’, actors, musicians, singers, sportspersons and business leaders came together to entertain people from their homes in a bid to help the COVID-19 pandemic cause. The proceeds from the concert will go to the India

India are no more the No. 1 ranked-Test team as Australia have become the new table-toppers in the longest format of the game, according to the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings updated on Friday. India have now slipped to the 3rd spot on the ICC Test rankings with Australia taking the top spot and New Zealand jumping to the 2nd position. Australia have 116 rating points, New Zealand 115 and India 114 in the latest rankings. "India have yielded the top spot

Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis have lost their Cricket Australia contracts after falling out of favour with the national selectors over the past 12 months, leaving both with a particularly steep battle to return to international cricket whenever it resumes after the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Ashton Turner and the retired Peter Siddle, Stoinis and Khawaja were broadly expected to be missing when the list was announced on Thursday, but their absence for the first time in some years

India opener Rohit Sharma celebrates his 33rd birthday on Thursday. The right-handed batsman, popularly nicknamed as “Hitman”, is known for his penchant of playing big innings, especially in the limited-overs format. He is the only batsman in the world to have scored three double hundreds in the ODIs. He also holds the record of the highest ODI score - 264* - which he scored against Sri Lanka. On his birthday, here is a chance to relive Rohit’s three double hundreds in the ODIs.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Executive Committee took a decision to grant its member clubs (ones, which maintain cricket grounds) a sum of LKR 100,000 each for the months of March and April to help upkeep the standards of the venues and infrastructure facilities. They will be giving the District Cricket Associations a grant of LKR 150,000 to help uplift the livelihood of players from district squads as well as managerial staff who are facing financial strains due to the situation. Eleven member clubs

There's no doubt that most people want to spend as much time as possible with their families. But that doesn't change the fact that if people are not allowed to go about their daily work for a prolonged period of time and have to remain within the confines of their homes, it gets harder and harder to stay calm and focussed. Now think of professional athletes - men and women whose entire lives are dictated by fixed routines. Almost every hour of every

All-rounder Vijay Shankar on Sunday said that he used to look up to former batsman Rahul Dravid while growing up. Shankar was doing an Instagram Live session with Australian batsman David Warner on the official handle of the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.The all-rounder said that he started following Dravid after the batsman's match-winning knock at the Adelaide Oval against Australia. "I looked up to Rahul Dravid growing up, I became a big fan of him after the Adelaide Test in 2003, that was an amazing knock," Shankar told Warner during

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, on Saturday, hand-picked his five favourite all-rounders in the world. Sachin, who recently celebrated his 47th birthday, graced Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’ with his presence. In that show, he named Kapil Dev as his favourite all-rounders upfront. Dev was instrumental in India’s dominance in World Cricket in the mid-80s. Then, Sachin named world-beaters Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee. Imran was the spearhead of Pakistan’s bowling front for several years and consistently contributed in the lower-middle order.

Big-hitting West Indies opener Chris Gayle says India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is “very annoying” on social media and he is going to block him. Chahal is one of the most busiest India cricketers on social media and with the coronavirus-forced lockdown in place, he is spending more time than ever on various platforms. “I am going to tell TikTok to block you as well, seriously. You are very annoying on social media man. You need to get off social media right now. We are tired of

The Australian government might make travel exemptions for the Indian team’s tour Down Under later this year to save the cricket board from losing a staggering 300 million Australian dollars in the wake of COVID-9 pandemic. Cricket Australia is under huge financial pressure due to global lockdown and has laid off 80 percent of its staff. India’s four-Test tour in December-January could provide a relief to the struggling bldyAs of now, Australia’s borders are sealed till September 30 but their could be an

Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has raised $24,000 (Rs 18,29460) to assist his country in the fight against coronavirus pandemic by auctioning the bat he used during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England. The former Bangladesh skipper had earlier decided to auction the blade he used at the World Cup and made over 600 runs, which included two hundred and five half-centuries. The bat was purchased by Arif R Hossain, a New York-based Bangladeshi, who emerged as the highest bidder for the

With no cricket action taking place due to India lockdown, Harmanpreet Kaur decided to try her hand at magic. On Wednesday, Harmanpreet Kaur posted a video in which she can be seen performing a magic trick. In the video, the Indian T20I skipper can be seen standing in front of a mirror and holding a glass with a ball in it. She then throws the ball towards the mirror and it appears that her mirror reflection on the other side has collected the ball in her glass. The video

Sachin Tendulkar, famously known as the 'God of Cricket' has turned 47 today. The legendary Indian batsman was the definition of cricket for many across the world during his decorated 24-year international career. Fans switched off their televisions as soon as the 'little master' was dismissed and at other times were held to the edges of their seats when he was at the crease. Sachin Tendulkar made his debut at the young age of 16 against Pakistan and went on to become one

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has hailed legendary pacer Wasim Akram for being one of the biggest match-winners for the country. But at the same time, the Rawalpindi Express raised some eyebrows when he claimed at local television that he'd have killed the left-arm pace legend had he approached him to get involved in corrupt practices. Akhar, along with the likes of Akram and Waqar Younis formed a formidable pace unit for Pakistan in the 200s. The right-arm fast bowler even thanked his

The coronavirus pandemic had already begun to cast a dark shadow on our lives, but the global sports activities had yet not come to a grinding halt. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, one of India’s main pace bowlers, gave a routine press conference on the eve of their first ODI against South Africa a sudden twist by saying they may refrain from using saliva to shine cricket balls in the series. The three-match ODI series was eventually called off in view of the potential health hazards

The BCCI is yet to give any thought to Cricket Australia’s (CA) five-Test series overture, as it feels the whole idea is a little premature. According to a Board official, much will depend on the future of the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia in October-November. On Tuesday, CA chief executive Kevin Roberts addressed the media via video conference and said hosting an additional Test against India could be an option. Asked about this, a BCCI official told The Indian Express:

What comes to your mind when we say NatWest Series final India vs England in 2003? It can either be Sourav Ganguly waving his shirt from the Lord’s balcony or two young guns Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif fighting against all odds in the chase. Both are iconic ones, the first signified an Indian captain’s fearlessness, the other signalled the passing on of the baton to the next generation of Indian batsmen. It was a final that see-sawed throughout and if you thought

The late 90s and the first decade of the 2000s was a great time for Indian cricket. The team was achieving results on the field and it was comprised of some of the most talented batsmen in world cricket. This bunch was led by the indomitable Sourav Ganguly, under whose captaincy India reached their second ever ICC World Cup final in 2003. On Monday Wisden India uploaded a photograph of Ganguly along with teammates Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. The special