Cricket now

    Image :X Boria Majumdar I have known Rohit Sharma for a good 20 years. In fact, I have covered his entire career. Even during my ban, Rohit and I did not lose touch. While I couldn’t interview him, we stayed in touch and he always had words of support. In that sense, there has always been genuine mutual respect. I needed to make that clear before getting into this deep dive. What I saw of Rohit in Cardiff was disappointing. He faced 46 balls but, apart from the one six off Gus Atkinson, he never really looked in. He got a life when Atkinson dropped a catch and the ball trickled away for four. In fact, the last ten balls of his innings were all dot balls, three of them against Will Jacks. A set, in-form Rohit would never let that happen. You would expect at least a couple of those deliveries to disappear into the stands. Not in Cardiff. He simply wasn’t able to do it despite all the effort. And that was painful to watch. Is Lord’s the last dance? Or can Rohit defy the...

Joe Root with a 99 run masterclass against India ( PC- X) Joe Root once again stood tall as England’s beacon of hope in the second ODI against India, delivering a composed knock when his team needed it the most after a tough start. While Root remained unbeaten at 99, it was a match-winning knock by the veteran as England level the three-T20I series 1-1. “That’s what the game is all about. Getting the job done, is the best thing,” Root, Player of the Match, told the host broadcasters. “That’s not what you play for (centuries), you play to win games. This was a big game. It was difficult to bat, our bowlers did a good job. That gave us the opportunity. We now go to Lord’s with everything to play for. We lost the first game and learnt. They are the number 1 ranked team in the world. I think it’s a different place where we are.” Walking in at a tricky juncture after early setbacks, Root was tasked with holding the innings together on a test...

Sundar in action at the nets. (PC: BCCI) India all-rounder Washington Sundar credited head coach Gautam Gambhir and Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra for his evolution as both a player and a person. Sundar addressed the media after the first ODI of the three-match series against England in Birmingham. The off-spin all-rounder was picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, a selection that sparked considerable debate. He justified the decision by scoring an unbeaten half-century to propel his team to victory. “The fact that I play different roles is exciting. Not many people get to play different roles. I get to play those different roles and be in those different situations. Obviously, I try my best to help the team win. As I said, it is exciting to be in different situations and different phases of the game,” Sundar said at the post-match press conference. “Gauti bhai always made me understand what exactly I could do with the bat, especially, and helped me understand...

Image :X Trisha Ghosal, Cardiff “Yes, I am ready.” With those four words in her recent interview to Times of India , Smriti Mandhana did not demand the captaincy. She simply confirmed what Indian cricket has been preparing for over a considerable period. The question is no longer whether she is ready, but whether the time has come for India to look ahead. Harmanpreet Kaur’s tenure has had its moments, most notably India’s ODI World Cup triumph in 2025. The recent victory in the one-off Test at Lord’s was another significant achievement. However, leadership cannot be judged on isolated highs alone. It must be assessed over an entire cycle. Viewed through that lens, India’s record leaves room for serious reflection. The team crashed out in the group stage of two successive Women’s T20 World Cups, a worrying trend in the format that dominates the international calendar. India also failed to win the Asia Cup in 2018 and again in 2024 despite possessing the deepest talent pool, and the...

Image :X Boria Majumdar in Cardiff One match in, and the clamour has started again. Will Rohit Sharma play the 2027 World Cup or not? Is he still good enough, or is it all over? It is becoming a bit tiring for everyone. When you compare Rohit with Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett, for a start, the England openers struggled far more against Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna than Rohit did. Yet, all the focus is on Rohit. If you really want to decode what happened, the truth is that Rohit did not get out to Jofra Archer or Josh Tongue. Yes, there were plays and misses, but that is the case for any batter, not just Rohit. In fact, let me say this. He had negotiated Archer’s opening spell and even struck a boundary that was a trademark Rohit shot. It was followed by a couple of runs, and it looked as though he was getting his eye in nicely. Then came the false stroke against Sam Curran. I think Rohit himself would agree that it was a very poor shot. Also read Shubman Gill’s Edgbaston Ma...

Dhoni waving at fans in Chennai. (PC: BCCI) Edgbaston had a special guest for the first ODI between England and India on Tuesday. MS Dhoni watched the proceedings, as Shubman Gill played a classy innings to secure a six-wicket win for his side. If one bumps on social media, there are posts calling for making Dhoni the mentor of the Indian team. It’s a bit outlandish and not going to happen. But Dhoni becoming the Chennai Super Kings mentor appears a possibility, according to sources. Grapevine has it that Stephen Fleming’s departure as CSK head coach after an 18-year stint had Dhoni’s seal of approval. There’s no confirmation in this regard as yet. According to an insider, however, the former captain is going to play a significant role in picking Fleming’s successor. The five-time IPL champions, who haven’t reached the playoffs since their title triumph in 2023, will take time to land their preferred candidate, and Dhoni will have a say in that. Th...