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WPL 2027 Auction: UPW land Molineux, DC’s Navgire gamble and biggest takeaways

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WPL Trophy (PC: RCB) The WPL 2027 auction took place in Kochi on Wednesday, with all five franchises making additions to their respective squads for the upcoming season. Australia’s recent T20 World Cup-winning captain, Sophie Molineux, attracted the highest bid of INR 1.10 crore as UP Warriorz (UPW) secured her services. While most teams focused on adding backup options, as expected, in a mini-auction, several decisions still caught fans by surprise. Here is a look at how each franchise fared and the key takeaways from their auction strategy. RCB at WPL 2027 Auction (PC: RCB) Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) The defending champions entered the auction late but eventually picked up four players: Jess Jonassen, Chloe Tryon, Vrinda Dinesh and Tejal Hasabnis. While all four could face a challenge in securing regular places in the playing XI, they offer Smriti Mandhana’s side experienced options and additional depth. As per RCB’s press release, head coach Malolan Rangarajan echoed t...
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SA vs AUS: Australia Show Batting Intent as Inglis and Carey Leave South Africa Searching for Answers

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Travis Head facing Marco Jansen. (PC: Screengrab/Fancode) The way the South African players walked towards the dressing room summed up how Day 2 had unfolded for them. The first two sessions were evenly contested. However, a wicketless final session saw Josh Inglis and Alex Carey add 139 runs, with their unbeaten partnership of 145 giving Australia a slender one-run lead in the third Test at Newlands. Both wicketkeepers, Inglis and Carey, adopted different approaches. Inglis was proactive against spin and, although he looked scratchy against the high pace of Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee, he eventually settled in and found his rhythm in the third session. Carey played like an old-school Test cricketer, placing greater emphasis on seeing off deliveries and defending solidly. The Proteas bowlers struggled to find the right areas against the left-right combination. This was the second left-right partnership of the day to flourish for the visitors. Cameron Green and Matt Renshaw comb...
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IND-W vs ZIM-W, 3rd ODI: Mandhana’s Batting form, Powerplay and Fielding woes in focus as India target clean sweep

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India’s practice session ahead of 3rd WODI against Zimbabwe (PC: BCCI Women) Zimbabwe are set to play their final game of the ongoing India tour on Wednesday, with the third WODI scheduled to take place in Vadodara. The Women in Blue already lead the three-match series 2-0 and, just as they did in the WT20I series, will look to complete a clean sweep under newly appointed full-time captain Smriti Mandhana. However, India still have areas to address before the series concludes. The final ODI offers an opportunity to improve in key departments and build momentum ahead of more challenging assignments. Mandhana’s batting form   It has been a disappointing series with the bat so far for the newly appointed skipper. In the series opener, Mandhana scored 32 off 34 balls but struggled to find her timing and fluency. In the second game, she registered a two-ball duck — her second in this format this year and fifth overall in her career. On the second ball of her innings, Mandhana...
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SA vs AUS: Starc Saves Australia After Proteas’ Red Hot Start

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Mitchell_Starc (PC:X/ICC) The morning did not start particularly well for Australia. First, Steve Smith was ruled out after failing to prove his fitness, and then the toss went against them as South Africa capitalised on a wicketless session to amass 158 runs in their opening partnership. Mitchell Starc then bowled a match-defining spell, taking a six-wicket haul to bowl out the Proteas for 329 by the end of the opening day. The much-anticipated return of Smith to Newlands was not to be, as the talismanic batter failed to recover sufficiently to be fit for the match on the morning of the game, as Pat Cummins noted at the toss. Australia’s decision to bowl first proved questionable, as the new-look Proteas opening pair went through the first session untroubled, scoring over 100 runs. Marques Ackerman and Aiden Markram negotiated the pacers well, and when Nathan Lyon came on for his first spell, the left-right combination attacked the spinner, forcing him to cut his spell short. ...
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Mental toughness in sport shouldn’t mean suffering in silence

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Raising Awareness on Mental Health in Sports Amit Mishra has revealed that he suffered from depression for nearly 18 months after being dropped from the Indian cricket team. What troubled him was not simply the disappointment of losing his place, but the uncertainty. Why had he been dropped? What had he done wrong? And what did he need to do to return? He struggled with these questions, lost confidence and found himself unable to confide even in his family. Eventually, a frank conversation with a selector helped him understand where he stood and what he needed to improve. Mishra’s story raises an uncomfortable question. Why are we hearing about this struggle years after it happened? And how many Indian athletes are going through something similar today without telling anyone? Sport celebrates mental toughness. We admire athletes who perform under pressure, overcome injuries and fight through adversity. But somewhere along the way, we seem to have confused mental toughness with the ab...
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Flying Caps and Runaway Footballs: How ‘Windy’ Wellington Turned Cricket Practice into an Extreme Sport

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Images: Subhayan Chakraborty(RevSportz) Subhayan Chakraborty, Wellington You don’t just visit Wellington; you survive it. Monday morning here wasn’t a normal stroll down the street; it felt like an extreme sport. The city was under an orange alert, and walking meant physically fighting severe gale-force gusts just to stay on your feet. It actually got pretty scary at one point. I watched locals completely lose their footing on the sidewalks, and my fellow journo, Ankan Kar, had a massive close call. A sudden gust literally shoved him off the footpath and towards the main road just as the traffic light turned green. If he hadn’t managed to bear-hug a signal pole, things could have got really ugly. Right after that, our phones buzzed. A message from the NZ media team popped up on WhatsApp: “Please take care in Wellington today all, there’s severe gale northwest winds with gusts up to 120 km/h.” No kidding. The wind just didn’t stop. Down by t...
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Gareth Batty Leaves Surrey After Historic Run to Join CSK, Says, “The New Journey Is Exciting”

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Batty will join Zaheer’s coaching team. (PC: Surrey) Former England spinner Gareth Batty has been roped in as an assistant coach by Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2027. Although CSK have yet to make an official announcement, Surrey County Cricket Club, where Batty served as head coach, released a statement confirming that he would join CSK. “Head Coach Gareth Batty is to leave the Club to take up a role with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL,” the statement from Surrey read. “The Club would like to thank Gareth for overseeing a highly successful period in its history. As Head Coach, Surrey won three County Championship titles in a row from 2022 to 2024.” Later, the club released a statement from Batty himself. “The new journey is a very exciting one for my family and me with CSK in the IPL, and I’m looking forward to getting going,” Batty said. Batty became Surrey’s head coach in 2022 and led the side to the County Championship in his debut season, followed by two successful title...
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