Tag: Indian Cricket Team

  • Is a Pakistan-India T20I series on the cards?

    Is a Pakistan-India T20I series on the cards?

    Reports are rife on social and electronic media that a T20I bilateral cricket series is on the cards between Pakistan and India.

    According to a report published in Jang, “India and Pakistan might soon get involved in bilateral cricket series again with a possibility of the six-day window for a three-match T20I series later in the year.”

    While a PCB official initially denied the speculations and said that there are no talks between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the (Board of Control for Cricket in India) BCCI, he hinted that there is a possibility of a series later in the year.

    On the other hand, PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani on Tuesday said that no one has contacted the board while denying that the Pakistan board is in talks with the Indian board.

    PCB sources have said that if the series goes ahead then it will be the Indian team that will visit Pakistan as Pakistan had toured India the last time.

    The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13. Ever since bilateral cricket relations between the two nuclear countries was suspended, the two countries have competed in only ICC events and Asia Cup.

    In case a series comes to fruition, a window of six days for three matches could be identified despite this being a busy calendar year for cricket.

    Meanwhile, nothing is confirmed as yet and everything is hearsay and based on reports.

  • India qualify for ICC World Test Championship Final, will face NZ at Lord’s

    India has qualified for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final after beating England with an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

    India outclassed England with both the bat and ball inside 3 days to set up the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June.

    Resuming on their overnight score of 294 for 7, the hosts added another 71 runs on Day 3 thanks to Washington Sundar and Axar Patel’s 8th-wicket partnership to post 365 in their first innings.

    Having conceded a 160-run lead on day 3 of the contest, England needed a vastly improved batting performance in the second innings but another disappointing show saw them getting bundled out for 135 in the final session.

    Left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up yet another five-wicket haul while Ravichandran Ashwin also grabbed 5 for Team India.

    India needed just a draw to reach the WTC final but a victory means they qualified for the summit clash in the top spot with 490 points. India registered 12 wins from 17 Tests, lost 4 and drew just 1 Test in the competition.

    No other team came close to matching India’s record. England had 11 wins from 21 Tests but still ended up in fourth place.

    Read more – Kevin Pietersen mocks Team India after Chennai loss against England

    New Zealand had already qualified for the WTC final with 420 points from 11 Tests with 7 wins and 4 losses.

    https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1368149627464118274?s=20

    The World Test Championship final will be played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 18.

  • Virat Kohli opens up about his battle with depression

    Virat Kohli opens up about his battle with depression

    In a recent podcast with Mark Nicholas, Indian captain Virat Kohli opened up about his battle with depression. Virat’s performance was disastrous during India’s 2014 tour of England. He only scored 134 runs in five Tests, which made him feel like the “loneliest guy in the world”.

    Talking about suffering from depression, Kohli said, “I did. It’s not a great feeling when you wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score any runs, and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other, where you’re not in control of anything at all. And I just couldn’t understand at all how to get over it.”

    Looking back at his difficult phase, the Indian captain said, “I think that when you look back at a very difficult phase, you realise that you had to go through that phase fully to be able to understand what’s wrong and rectify it and move forward, and just open yourself up for change, accept that there are things that are going wrong. But that was a phase where I literally couldn’t do anything to overturn what I was going through and it was tough.”

    He continued, “I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world. And that’s what happens, you can really push yourself into a downward spiral, where you feel like you’re going further down with each day that passes. But when things turn around, you feel that maybe I was being too harsh on myself, I was putting myself down way more than what was required for me to change. So now I understand with years passing by, that there’s a line that needs to be drawn and beyond that line, if you’re going downwards, it’s absolutely not required.”

    Kohli also revealed how Sachin Tendulkar’s advice helped him. “I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass. If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on.”

    During the podcast, Virat also praised his wife Anushka Sharma by calling her his, “Pillar of Strength” and added that no one understands him better than her.

    Last month, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli welcomed their baby girl, Vamika.

  • India hands Australia first defeat since 1988 at Brisbane’s Gabba ground

    India handed Australia their first defeat since 1988 at Brisbane’s Gabba ground, allowing them to clinch the four-Test series 2-1 to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy on Tuesday.

    Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant starred with a swashbuckling 89 not out as the injury-depleted visitors overhauled the 328-run target with three overs to go, winning by three wickets.

    Australia had not been beaten at the Gabba since falling to Viv Richards’ all-conquering West Indies side by nine wickets in November 1988.

    Since then, Australia had played 31 test matches at The Gabba, winning 24 of them, while drawing the remaining seven.

    “Last time Australia lost a Gabba Test… George H.W. Bush had just won the US Presidential election, Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi was charting #1, Virat Kohli was 16 days old and Sachin Tendulkar was still one year away from making his Test debut,” wrote ICC on Twitter.

    India’s 329 for seven also smashed the 69-year-old record for the biggest run-chase at the Gabba, set by Australia who scored 236 for seven to beat the West Indies in 1951.

    The series win was a remarkable achievement considering India were bowled out for their lowest Test score of 36 to lose the first Test in Adelaide, before bouncing back to win the second in Melbourne.

    The visitors, ravaged by injuries and captain Virat Kohli’s absence for paternity leave, then batted throughout the final day to draw the third Test in Sydney.

    “It really means a lot to us. I don’t know how to describe this victory but I’m really proud of all the boys,” said India’s interim skipper Ajinkya Rahane. “They showed character, attitude, especially after the Adelaide Test match. We decided we’re going to fight really hard and we just wanted to give our best.”

    Man-of-the-match Pant, who played a similar innings in the drawn Sydney Test, blasted his 89 from 138 balls with nine fours and a six.

    His innings followed an equally impressive knock from 21-year-old Shubman Gill, who made 91 at the top of the order earlier in the day.

    Before the latest match, India had played six test matches at The Gabba, losing five of them with one draw. In their seventh outing on the ground, they managed to beat Australia and with this win, India moved to the top of the ICC World Test Championship ranking list.

    Meanwhile, Kohli congratulated the team and the board on their historic win.

  • Sharma, Pant others being investigated for possible bubble breach

    Sharma, Pant others being investigated for possible bubble breach

    Five members of the touring Indian team in Australia could be part of an investigation after being involved in a potential bio-bubble breach reportedly while interacting with a fan at a Melbourne restaurant on January 1.

    Cricket Australia issued a statement saying that “they were alerted to a video post” of five players – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini eating at an indoor venue, and that they are investigating the incident along with BCCI to determine a potential breach. In the meantime, as a precautionary measure, the players have been placed under isolation.

    On Friday, tweets by a fan went viral on social media, where he posted a video of the players enjoying a meal in Melbourne. Subsequent tweets by the individual mentioned that he had paid the bill on behalf of the players, following which Sharma interacted with him and Pant “hugged” him, and the team members posed for a photograph.

    While the fan earned plenty of support for his gesture on Twitter, and the story earned considerable traction on Indian media, there were concerns surrounding the safety of the players at a time when the teams have been placed in strict bio-secure bubbles due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

    Soon after reports of the possible breach came to light, the fan seemingly issued a clarification on social media, stating that Pant had not hugged him as tweeted earlier “as it was all said in excitement”, and insisted that there was “social distance maintained all through”.

    Concerns around player safety are serious particularly in Sydney, the venue of the third Test of the ongoing series. With the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Sydney, there were reports that Melbourne, the venue of the second Test, could host the third Test as well. However, after negotiations between Cricket Australia and authorities in Queensland and New South Wales, Sydney Cricket Ground was retained as the venue for the third game of the series, currently tied 1-1.

    Meanwhile, according to Indian media, the Indian team management believes that the five players were indeed sitting outdoors as is allowed by protocols. They moved indoors only after there was a drizzle. The board is clear that the players did not do any activity that breaches the bio-secure bubble protocols.