Cricket now

  There was no parade. No over-the-top celebrations in Bengaluru either. Every player celebrated within the confines of the hotel, and now all of them are on their way home. Yesterday, I had a brief chat with Krunal Pandya, who was leaving for home at around 2 pm IST. Venkatesh Iyer was doing the same. The truth is, this is how it should be. Why take a chance? Why push the limits? Why excite the fans and create an event that has the potential to go wrong? Why do something that you simply cannot control? Every RCB fan today is happy. While some may say they would have loved to catch a glimpse of their team, the reality is that you cannot control a crowd. And when thousands gather around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, there can easily be law-and-order concerns. I think the KSCA and the government did well not to allow any major congregation. The police were spot on, from what my correspondents tell me. While fans did come out on to the streets to celebrate, there was constant monitorin...

ENG-W vs IND-W, 3rd T20I (PC: RevSportz) On a chilly evening in Taunton, a healthy crowd turned up to watch the series decider. England won both the match and the series decider at the Cooper Associates Ground in Taunton. Put into bat, India posted a competitive 180/5 in 20 overs on a batting-friendly surface. England, thanks to a mammoth 137-run partnership between Alice Capsey and Heather Knight, chased down the target with nine balls and six wickets to spare. Shafali Verma was once again dismissed by a left-arm spinner while trying to open up the off side. Charlie Dean brought herself on immediately in the fourth over with two left-handers at the crease, even though Linsey Smith had dismissed Shafali in the previous over from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End. Dean’s move worked as Smriti Mandhana, attempting a sweep, missed the ball completely and her struggles against off-spin continued. In T20s this year, across 13 innings against off-spin, Smriti has scored 111 runs and been...

In an exclusive interview with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz’s editor-in-chief, Venkatesh Iyer spoke of the roles played by Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar in Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) winning back-to-back IPL titles. He also reflected on the contribution of the support staff that has helped shape RCB into the most formidable team in the league. When asked about Andy Flower and Dinesh Karthik, he responded without hesitation: “Best support staff I have played with, purely in terms of communication, role clarity, handling of players and situations, and also empowering players to make decisions.” He further added: “Especially in India, we are used to coaches dictating situations, which is necessary. However, empowering players to make their own decisions and creating an environment where they feel encouraged to take on leadership roles is something these people have achieved.” He also spoke highly of Dinesh Karthik and praised his work ethic, saying: “If I had to point out the most...

  Image :X Trisha Ghosal, Taunton In Taunton, on the eve of the T20I series decider, rain set in around mid-afternoon and never really went away, forcing both India and England to abandon plans of training outdoors and move their preparations inside. Whether the weather allows a full game remains to be seen, but for India, there may be a bigger picture to consider. With the decider followed by two warm-up matches in Cardiff, the Indian side effectively has just three games left to answer a few lingering questions before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup begins. One of those questions revolves around Richa Ghosh. There is no debate about what she brings to the side. On her day, she can change a match in the space of a few deliveries. The issue, however, is whether India are giving her enough time to do that. Walking in during the 14th or 15th over often means she has to start swinging from ball one. On surfaces where timing is not always straightforward, that can be a difficult assi...

  Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer share a chat during RCB’s net session. Image :X It was around 2:30 pm in India when Venkatesh Iyer dropped me a WhatsApp message suggesting we could speak. I was getting ready to leave Manchester for Edinburgh and, I must say, was looking forward to the conversation. Venkatesh is one of the most articulate cricketers around and an excellent speaker. In an interview, it helps a lot if the subject has clarity of thought and is willing to go deeper while answering questions. Soon after discussing his injury, we settled down for a deep dive. While the detailed interview will be aired today, in this piece I want to focus on what he said about Virat Kohli, his opening partner for RCB in the playoffs and the final. “How was it batting with Virat?” was what I asked, curious to know a little more about Kohli’s work ethic. It was as if Venkatesh had been waiting for the question. “There is so much to learn from him,” he told me. “In the chase, the...

GT vs RCB, IPL 2026 Finals (PC: BCCI/IPL) Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill admitted that his side fell short with the bat in the IPL 2026 final in Ahmedabad, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) secured a five-wicket victory to clinch their second consecutive IPL title on Sunday. During the post-match presentation, Gill reflected on his side’s batting struggles and their inability to build momentum after losing early wickets. “If we’d have gotten 180–190, it’d have been a good match,” Gill said. “Maybe a little two-paced [the pitch] , but not too much. There was some early movement for the pacers. We lost early wickets and never got momentum. We felt we’d be in the game if we took one or two wickets in the powerplay.” Batting first, GT suffered early setbacks as openers Gill (10) and Sai Sudharsan (12) were dismissed cheaply. Washington Sundar anchored the innings with an unbeaten half-century off 37 balls, while Nishant Sindhu (20) and Jos Buttler (19)...