Cricket News

End of An Era: Ageing India stars likely to be Axed

Published

2 months ago

November 3, 2024

The future of some senior India players will be decided after the tour of Australia as the BCCI evaluates the shocking 0-3 drubbing against New Zealand at home while rolling out a structured phaseout policy before the start of the next WTC cycle.

There is a high possibility that the five-match Test series against Australia could be the final one for at least two of the four seniors among Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who are in the last leg of their international careers.

“Look, I don’t think we can look that far ahead. It’s important to focus on the next series, which is Australia,” Rohit said when asked for his thoughts on India’s Test future given there is limited time left in his captaincy.

“I’m not going to look beyond Australia series. Australia series, for us is now very, very important. We will try and focus on that rather than thinking what happens after,” he said.

An informal discussion could take place between BCCI bigwigs and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and skipper Rohit about the way forward for an ageing team.

“Stocks will be taken certainly and it could be of informal nature since the team leaves for Australia on November 10. But this has been a huge debacle but, with Australia series round the corner and the squad already announced, there won’t be any tinkering,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“But if India doesn’t qualify for WTC final in England, one can be rest assured that all four super seniors won’t be on that flight to UK for the ensuing five-Test series. In any case, all four have likely played their final Test at home together,” the source added.

It is understood that the BCCI is not keen on repeating the 2011 saga when suddenly an old team was found to be out of sorts and hence the selectors, especially chairman Agarkar and head coach Gambhir, would need to talk to the senior cricketers about the plan ahead.

For India to not depend on any other calculations to qualify for the WTC final, they would require a 4-0 result Down Under, which as of now looks next to impossible.

India can still qualify after losing the Border Gavaskar-Trophy if other teams don’t fare well.

But once the Australia series is over and if India don’t qualify — the next cycle will start with five Test series in England from June 20 next year at Leeds — the selection committee might be compelled to look at long-term prospects with chances given to players like Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, who look ready for international cricket.

With Washington Sundar emerging as a strong prospect for the next 10 years, Ashwin’s future in India whites could be up for discussion once the Australia series gets over.

Jadeja, with better fitness and handy batting on foreign tracks, might be persisted with although there is a ready replacement for Indian conditions in Axar Patel, with Manav Suthar being third in the pecking order.

In case of batters, between February 2021 to the current match, skipper Rohit Sharma scored 1210 runs from 35 innings in home Tests at an average of 37.81 with four hundreds, but in the last 10 innings, there has been six scores of less than 10 runs and two scores of less than 20, with two half-centuries.

During the same period, Virat Kohli has played 25 innings at home for 742 runs at an average of 30.91, and one century on a flat Ahmedabad deck.

“No doubt pitches in Australia will be far better for batting but erasing self doubts after this kind of humiliation will be a difficult ask,” a former selector said.

While Kohli with his supreme fitness can overstay his invitation despite poor returns for close to four years, one can’t see Rohit playing beyond this cycle of World Test Championship.

Jasprit Bumrah has been named vice-captain but he might not be the long-term solution due to his workload management, with Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant being the two candidates who look suitable for Test leadership.

BGT 2024

Rohit’s knee injury not serious, says pacer Akash Deep

Published

27 minutes ago

December 22, 2024

Agencies

India pace bowler Akash Deep played down concerns over skipper Rohit Sharma’s knee injury in the build-up to the fourth Test against Australia this week after the batsman was hit during a practice session on Sunday.

Rohit, who missed the opening Test to spend time with his newborn son and has been struggling for form since returning to the team, looked in discomfort after being struck on his left knee in the nets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 37-year-old continued batting but later received care from a physiotherapist and had an ice pack strapped to his leg, which he rested on a chair.

“Such injuries are quite common when you play cricket and it doesn’t make much of a difference,” Akash told reporters, adding that the practice wicket had been challenging.

“I think this was a wicket for white-ball cricket, so the ball kept a bit low and it was a bit difficult to bat on. But such blows happen and it’s not a concern.”

India battled hard to earn a draw in the rain-interrupted third Test in Brisbane to leave the five-match series locked at 1-1 ahead of the Boxing Day clash.

The tourists won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs before crashing to a 10-wicket defeat in Adelaide.

“It’s 50-50 right now. In the last match, even though we were behind, we built some confidence. This Test match will be very important for both teams,” Akash said.

“Our mindset as fast bowlers is that we can get some quick wickets with the new ball and cause problems for them. We have seen in the three matches that we can create chances with the new ball.

“After 30 overs, however, you have to wait for the batsmen to make mistakes.”

On Saturday, KL Rahul was hit on his hand while batting at the nets at the MCG and was promptly attended to by the visiting team’s physio. India’s opener was hit on his right hand and seen in some discomfort.

There was no clarity on the extent of injury and the team management did not issued any statement on why he had sought medical attention.

In a video that surfaced on social media, Rahul was seen holding the right hand while receiving treatment.

The opener was also hit on the arm during match simulation on November 17, but was fit to play the opening Test in Perth, five days later.

Rahul has been the team’s in-form batter in the ongoing tour, scoring 235 runs from six innings at an impressive average of 47.

The elegant right-hander has so far struck two half-centuries and is set to open the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in the fourth Test.

Overall, he is the second highest scorer in the marquee series behind Australia’s swashbuckling middle-order batter Travis Head, who has already smashed two hundreds.

BGT 2024

Melbourne Test: Injury scare for KL Rahul

Published

5 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Agencies

India opener KL Rahul got hit on his hand while batting at the nets in Melbourne on Saturday and was promptly attended to by the visiting team’s physio ahead of the fourth Test against Australia.

Rahul was hit on his right hand and was seen in some discomfort at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which will host the Boxing Day Test from December 26 with the five-match series levelled at 1-1.

There is no clarity on the extent of injury and the team management has also not issued any statement on why he had sought medical attention.

In a video that surfaced on social media, Rahul was seen holding the right hand while receiving treatment.

The opener was also hit on the arm during match simulation on November 17, but was fit to play the opening Test in Perth, five days later.

Rahul has been the team’s in-form batter in the ongoing tour, scoring 235 runs from six innings at an impressive average of 47.

The elegant right-hander has so far struck two half-centuries and is set to open the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in the fourth Test.

Overall, he is the second highest scorer in the marquee series behind Australia’s swashbuckling middle-order batter Travis Head, who has already smashed two hundreds.

Battling through multiple rain interruptions, Rahul held firm with a vital knock of 84 in India’s first innings of the third Test in Adelaide, the innings going a long way in helping India to save the match.

Cricket News

IPL 2025: Punjab Kings Star Shreyas can’t wait to work again with Ponting

Published

18 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Staff Reporter

Punjab Kings’ costliest acquisition Shreyas Iyer is “super excited” about being a part of the franchise and is hopeful of delivering results from the very first match.

It has been a remarkable year for Punjab Kings’ latest acquisition. At the start of the year, Shreyas Iyer was part of the Mumbai team that won the Ranji Trophy for the 42nd time. He then led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third Indian Premier League title. He was also a member of the Irani Cup-winning Mumbai team.

Under his leadership, Mumbai won the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), their second SMAT title, last week.

“Surreal feeling after winning Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. A lot of hard work took place behind the scenes. The boys were tremendous with their performance. Now we are done with this part,” Iyer said in a video uploaded on Punjab Kings’ official social media handles.

Now, the Mumbai cricketer is laser-focused on a significant task: winning a maiden IPL trophy for the Punjab Kings. Iyer, who was signed on by the Kings at the Auctions last month for Rs 26.75 crore, expressed his excitement about joining the franchise.

“Super excited to be part of Punjab Kings. I cannot wait to join the Punjab Kings family. It’s been a great year for me to win four trophies. My main goal is to win the IPL trophy for Punjab,” Iyer said.

The 30-year-old, who has previously played under the guidance of former Australia World Cup-winning Captain Ricky Ponting in the IPL, said he is looking forward to brainstorming alongside one of the cricketing legends once again. Earlier this year, the Kings announced Ponting as the new Head Coach for the franchise.

“I can understand what the feelings must be among the fans. With Ricky coming in, we have shared a great camaraderie from the past. We would be putting our thinking caps on and brainstorming on many aspects. Hopefully, we will deliver from the match one,” Iyer signed off.

Shreyas worked alongside Ponting for three seasons when he was the captain of Delhi Capitals while the former Aussie captain was the Head Coach.