India ahead on Day1 as bowlers dominated at Perth

India staged strong comeback on Day 1 in Perth (PC: Cricket Australia)

It was the perfect start to the Border-Gavaskar series 2024-25 where bowlers dominated Day one at Perth stadium since as many as 17 wickets were fallen. Jasprit Bumrah, who is leading Indian team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and made a bold decision to bat first on the pitch where bowlers had a lot to say. Australian bowlers were right on the money from the start and made life difficult for the Indian batters as they gave nothing away. Yashaswi Jaiswal, who was playing his first match on Australian soil was the first batsman to get out on duck. He was picked up by Mitchell Stark who was in rhythm from the start. Padikkal followed soon and was dismissed for duck by Hazlewood who later picked all important wicket of Virat Kohli for just 5 runs. KL Rahul looked solid for his 26 runs only to get out in a controversial manner. He was not given out on the bowling of Stark and hence Pat Cummins went up for the review and the decision was overturned to out without definite evidence. India was reduced to 51/4 at lunch. Dhruv Jurel went soon after lunch followed by Washington Sunder who was selected over Ravichandran Ashwin. India was reeling at 73/6 when Rishabh Pant and debutant Nitish Reddy joined hands and played positive shots and showed a bit character to take India past 100 run mark. Both batsmen stitched 48 run crucial partnership to give India some total to fight with. Nitish Reddy looked confident in his first outing for India in tests and scored crucial 41 runs and Pant scored 37 runs in tough conditions. India was eventually bowled out for 150 runs. Josh Hazlewood was pick of the bowlers for Australia as he picked 4 wickets whereas Stark, Cummins and Mitch Marsh picked 2 wickets each.

Indian bowlers in reply were too hot to handle for Australia as Indian skipper for this match Jasprit Bumrah picked 3 quick wickets including an all-important wicket of Steve Smith who was dismissed for 0. However, he could have had Virat Kohli grabbed the catch of Marnus Labuschagne. However, debutant Harshit Rana got his first wicket of career by cleaning up Travis head’s off stump. Siraj then got Mitch Marsh in the slips and then ended Labuschagne’s struggle by trapping him in front of wickets. Bumrah then picked his counterpart Pat Cummins behind the wicket and left Australia lot to ponder at 59/7.

It is fair to say that India at the end of day’s play are in commanding position but that can change if they didn’t wrap up Australian innings soon as scoring runs on this wicket is hard. Wicket will get faster as the day will pass so any lead will help Indian team to further strengthen their grip over Australia.

Day 2 of First test will decide as which team is going to take a lead in this 5-matchseries. First session will be crucial for both the teams. India will look to take a healthy lead despite being wrapped up for 150 runs whereas Australia will look to reduce the deficit as much as possible. It will be interesting day 2 where tough cricket will be surely on display by both teams.

India - the Cornered tigers before the start of Border Gavaskar Trophy

 

Border-Gavaskar trophy to kick off from November 22, 2024

The tiger seems to roar back stronger than ever when he has been pushed to corner, or we can say if he takes a step back or has been wounded hard. Team India seems to be in a same position where they are wounded after losing 3-0 to New Zealand in home tests which was highly unexpected. This called for a deep introspection and the meeting was held between BCCI and Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir along with Rohit Sharma.  No doubt that not only Indian fans were disappointed but entire Indian cricket took a serious hit demanding clarification as to what went wrong that strong going Team India surrendered series loss to New Zealand in tests that too after not losing home series for 12 long years looking invincible. It's not that Team is never allowed to lose a series, but it is the matching of Teams and individual to individual matchups. Taking nothing away from New Zealand, but even the mighty Aussies were not able to break the Indian fort and New Zealand were coming after losing against Sri Lanka on their home soil. It is the magnitude by which Team India surrendered the series which called for deep introspection.

Team India however have proved in the past by coming back stronger after a setback and who can forget the setback India faced in the first match of Border-Gavaskar series 2020-21 where they were bundled out for 36 in a day night clash in Adelaide. After losing the first match, Team India’s comeback chances looked slim specially when Virat Kohli, then Indian captain was out of the remaining matches of the series due to birth of his first child. But little did anyone knew at that time that not only team India will level the series but will eventually win the series 2-1 scripting their famous comeback led by Ajinkya Rahane who took after in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Team India is again in the same spot after a recent series loss against New Zealand and the injury scare ahead of the beginning of the all-important BGT series where WTC points are also on the stake. Rohit Sharma might not play the first test at Perth and the reports are suggesting that Shubman Gill might also miss the opening test because of his finger injury where his participation will only be clear if he has sustained fracture or not. KL Rahul also left the training session after sustaining injury scare but he was seen again in the net session day after. These all are not a good sign for Indian fans and Team India but again India have always found the way to make a strong comeback like the cornered tigers. They will not only hope for the seniors to deliver but will also hope youngsters to replicate the heroics of Shardul Thakur and Washington Sunder whereas the latter will travel this time too on Australian soil. In the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah reportedly will lead Team India who doesn't have much experience in captaincy, but the fire will be there for sure.

The odds are against Team India unlike the last two tours to Australia but if any team who can visit and give Australia run for their money, its Team India and they only have to look ahead and believe in their Armory and skillset. Team India must take one match at a time and have to look away what needs to be done for reaching WTC finals. As legendary Sunil Gavaskar said that forget WTC and concentrate on the third consecutive BGT trophy which Indian fans will cherish happily.

The wars of words have started between Indian and Aussies legends but it’s the start which will define the course of the series and team India will look to hunt first against all the odds which is not difficult if they stick to basics and not look far ahead.

New Zealand's nose ahead with last ball wicket as India looks to continue fight back

 

Virat Kohli & Sarfaraz Khan during 136 runs partnership (PC: BCCI)

It was the day of mixed emotions for Indian fans on Day 3 of the first test between India and New Zealand. India took the field being 134 runs behind already and required some quick wickets to come back in the match. Indian bowlers responded really well with Siraj taking first wicket of the day sending back Daryll Mitchell for the individual score of 18 followed by Bumrah who took the wicket of Tom Blundell who managed to score just 5 runs. Then came Ravindra Jadeja who cleaned up both Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry. From the score of 193/3, India reduced New Zealand to 233/7 but little did they know that the New Zealand pacer Tim Southee with well settled Rachin Ravindra would erase all the expectations of restricting the lead to just around 200 as both batsmen stitched 137 runs partnership and took New Zealand's lead well past 300.

Rachin Ravindra brough up his second test century during the partnership with Southee and showed his class once again in front of India’s spectators. He was finally dismissed at the score of 134 runs by Kuldeep Yadav but not before putting New Zealand in a commanding position. out. It didn't take long thereafter, and bowlers bowled New Zealand out for 402 runs. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took 3 wickets each while Siraj took 2 wickets. Bumrah and Ashwin took a wicket each.

In reply, Indian openers responded well by showing balanced approach and not going in their conservative shell. Rohit and Jaiswal were going good scoring 72 runs and were set to pile more runs before Jaiswal thrown away the start in the 18^th over of second innings stepping down to Ajaz Patel and missing the ball which he expected to turn in and getting stumped giving New Zealand the window to step in again. Jaiswal was dismissed for 35 runs making way for the run machine Virat Kohli who was again sent at No. 3 making the statement that No. 3 slot in the first innings was not a mere experiment in the order.

Rohit Sharma looked solid and was beginning to attack the opposition. The vintage drive off the ball of Matt Henry then the pull for six and then again pull shot for four runs bringing up his 50 was the statement by Indian captain that he is not going to die wondering. At the individual score of 52 runs, Rohit ran out of luck as the defense off Ajaz Patel ball spun back to disturb the bails and no one there at the stadium could believe the luck. From there on, Sarfaraz Khan joined hands with Virat Kohli and both batsmen were positive in their approach especially Sarfaraz Khan. He took the attack to the opposition and ensured that the deficit was coming down at a good rate. Both Kohli and Sarfaraz brought their respective half centuries and led Indian fight back.

Just when it looked that India is going to take slight advantage at the end of day’s play, another heart break was waiting for Indian fans and team India. On the last ball of the day, Glenn Phillips’ ball took the slightest edge when Kohli was looking to defense and was given out. He took the DRS, but ultra edge showed that there was a slight nick and New Zealand were cook-a-hoop as they got the biggest fish in the form of Virat Kohli who looked settled and was looking at his supreme best to post a big score bringing the game right in the balance once again.

As of now, New Zealand would feel they are slightly ahead as the new batsman will take the crease tomorrow with Sarfaraz Khan and with Pant’s fitness due to his sore knees in question, the upcoming batsmen will have to contribute heavily. The fourth innings on this pitch will be tricky as spinners will be in the game and with India playing three spinners, any target above 200 will be tricky to chase. But for that India will have to stitch partnerships and take it session by session as the deficit is still 125 runs and lot of work is to be done tomorrow. Anything can happen in the fourth innings and Rohit & Co will take heart from that.

 

 

Rain had a final say on Day 1 of India and New Zealand test

 

Day 1 washed out due to rain

It was a frustrating day for fans as day one of the first test between India and New Zealand was called off due to rain without a ball being bowled. Continuous rain and drizzle throughout the day at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru forced the umpires to call it stumps on day one at around 2:30 P.M (IST).

Relentless rain and drizzle were expected but it was required to stop at some point of time for the drainage system to do its work. Even the sub-air system was not able to work much which had the capacity to soak up 10,000 litre of water per minute. Passionate fans were as usual glued to their seats expecting some positive news, but it wasn’t to be. Just when side covers were started to be removed, the drizzle started again, and the wait continued thereafter.

However, after the day was called off, rain eased a bit for some time and the covers were removed for the first time for the technical work to take place which will save the time tomorrow morning.

For tomorrow, the toss is scheduled at 8:45 A.M and play to start at 9:15 A.M but for that to happen, rain has to stay away and the forecast for tomorrow is not promising either.

From the World test championship point of view, India would want the match to start as soon as possible as they would want to carry important points from this series to minimize the pressure on themselves in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy against Australia.

Wait for ICC trophy continues for Indian Women team

 

Indian team knocked out of T20 world cup 2024

It was another disappointing outing for Indian women’s cricket team as they were crashed out of T20 world cup 2024 in United Arab Emirates. Chasing 160 in Dubai against New Zealand in their first outing in world cup, India were never in the chase with no Indian batsman chipping in. The highest score of 15 from captain Harmanpreet Kaur showed the extent of disappointing performance from the batsmen. Facing Australia in a must win game they again failed to chase down the target with captain Harmanpreet Kaur the lone fighter.

It was the first time under Kaur’s captaincy that team was not able to qualify for the knockouts. Some of their plans and strategies are under scanner for obvious reasons from batting depth to taking game deeply. Mithali Raj questioned team’s growth in last 3 years and their below par fielding efforts and untested bench strength.

The wait has stretched even further as the dream of clinching ICC title is yet a dream for Indian fans. In 2020, India came close to winning the title entering the finals of the tournament only to lose to Australia by 85 runs. The team’s approach in the recently concluded T20 world cup didn’t help either.

In 50 over world cup, India managed to enter the finals only twice in year 2005 and 2017 but never have been able to clinch the title. It has been the case of expectations falling short in every tournament and unfortunately no signs of new approach is shown.

The discussion will be held in the close room about the captaincy, bench strength and new approach as the team clearly lacks the spark which is needed to win the titles. There has to be proper match practice before the big events and the clarity in the plans and roles of each player which is clearly missing in this side.

The next big event will be T20 world cup in 2026 and Harmanpreet Kaur will be 37 by that time. It can be said that management can think of new captain and the new structure of the team by that time. New captain should be given enough time to build her team and prepare accordingly for the big event. For now, India will be facing New Zealand in an odi series at home form October 24.

Management will be hoping to resurrect the structure and hope for the better performances in the future.

India cruised to a series win against Bangladesh after dominating show from the young guns

India go 2-0 up in 3 match T20I series

It was yet another evidence to the fearless approach of team India at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi where despite losing three quick wickets batting first, two young guns Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh came to the party showing no signs of taking back step and instead counter attacked Bangladeshi bowlers to keep them at bay. Winning the toss Bangladeshi captain Najmul Hossain Shanto opts to Bowl and the bowlers responded well taking three early wickets including the big wicket of Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav.

Samson was the first batsmen to head back to pavilion as he became the victim of Taskin Ahmed. He made only 10 runs and would be kicking himself to waste yet another opportunity. Then the exciting young talent Abhishek Sharma at the individual score of 15 fall prey to Tanzim Hasan Sakib who replaced Shoriful Islam for this match. Indian fans would have expected the captain’s knock from Suryakumar Yadav, but it wasn’t to be as Mustafizur ended his innings for just 8 runs.

It was 41 for 3 when two explosive young talent of team India joined hands and shown no signs of nervousness and stamped the new fearless approach in front of the world taking India’s score past 100 at the end of just 10 overs. Spinner Rishad Hossain was particularly taken to hammer during 10^th over as both Rinku and Nitish scored 24 of him. Nitish showed his power and range of shots he possessed and looked promising to be the permanent feature in the T20 team along with Rinku Singh. Nitish scored 74 of just 34 balls. Rinku on the other hand proved his mettle yet again scoring quickfire 53 of just 29 balls. Hardik provided the finish yet again scoring 32 of 19 balls and Riyan Parag contributed with a cameo of 15 which came of just 6 balls. India lost quick wickets in the end but still scored a mammoth 221 for 9 leaving Bangladesh with a tough chase. Taskin Ahmed was pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh as he finished his spell with 2/16 in his 4 overs.

In reply, Bangladesh never got the start that was needed and kept losing the wickets at regular intervals. Mahmudullah was the top scorer for them scoring 41 runs, but it was never going to be enough with no other batsman giving any assistance in the middle. All the seven bowlers who bowled for India got wickets among which Nitish Reddy and Varun Chakravorty shared 2 each. It was all round performance from Nitish Reddy scoring 74 runs and getting 2/23 in his 4 over spell. Bangladesh could only score 135/9 in their 20 overs and lost to India by huge margin of 86 runs. Arshdeep, Mayank Yadav, Parag and Sunder all chipped in with a wicket each to their name. The Indian captain will be happy with the way things are going.

Both the teams will now be heading to Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium where the last match of the series will be played on 12th October. Indian management can look to test their bench  strength and on the other hand, Bangladesh team would look to find something to get anything from this tough tour of India.

 

Return of Hong Kong Cricket Sixes after 7 years

 

India to participate in Hong Kong Cricket Sixes tournament

It was year 1992 when the exciting six hitting tournament of cricket made its existence – The Hong Kong cricket sixes. It is organised by cricket Hong Kong and sanctioned by International Cricket Council. The exciting six hitting tournament is making its way back to the scene after 7 years and what is more exciting for Indian fans is that India are going to participate in this tournament after 12 long years.

 All the editions of this tournament are played at Kowloon Cricket Club except 1996 & 1997 which were held at Hong Kong stadium. It is to be noted that South Africa are the current champions of Hong Kong cricket sixes which was last held in 2017 and have won 5 titles in total along with England who have the same number of titles to their name.   

About Hong Kong Sixes Tournament

Hong Kong cricket sixes is played in round-robin format and the games are played between two teams of six players each. A match consists of maximum Five overs (6 balls over) per side except in the final match which consists of maximum Five 8 balls over per side.

Except the wicket keeper, each player has to ball one over and if five wicket falls before the completion of five overs then the last remaining batsmen bats with the fifth batsmen who acts as a runner. The maximum individual batsman can score is 31 runs after which a batsman has to retire. One more distinctive thing in this tournament is wide and no-balls which costs 2 runs to the fielding side instead of one run. Winning team gets two points to their name.

What happened in the past?

In the last edition of Hong Kong cricket sixes tournament, South Africa clinched their fifth title by beating Pakistan and became joint most successful team along with England. India have tasted success just once in this tournament under the captaincy of Robin Singh in 2005 where he played the captain’s knock to help India chase 72 by scoring 34 of 15 balls against West Indies. India got close to the title in 1996 edition but faced a setback against the West Indies. India’s neighbour Pakistan have four titles to their name whereas Sri Lanka, Australia and West Indies have one title each.

Return of raining Sixes

Finally after a long gap of seven years, six hitting tournament is making its way back and we can expect some fireworks in the come-back edition of this tournament. The participation of India will bring the audience to the stadiums and will help to get this tournament its own identity again.

When will the tournament begin?

The tournament will be played from 1-3 November 2024 between twelve nations with six players each side.

Format of the tournament

Twelve teams will be divided into four pools of three teams each. Top two teams will enter the quarter-finals of the tournament. Winners of the quarter-finals will enter semi-finals whereas the losing teams will compete for the plate semi-finals.

Bottom team from each pool will play the bowl competition. Total 29 matches will be played during three day tournament.

Pools

Pool A – South Africa, New Zealand & Hong Kong

Pool B – Australia, England & Nepal

Pool C – India, Pakistan & UAE

Pool D – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Nepal

India will face Pakistan in their first Match on November 1 and will face UAE on November 2. Quarter finals will be played on November 2 whereas semi-finals and finals will be played on November 3 along with bowl and plate semifinals and finals.