Cricket now

Shubman Gill ( Image: IPL/X) The debate around Virat Kohli being called the “King” and Shubman Gill being referred to as the “Prince” is an interesting cultural conversation in Indian cricket. At one level, it is harmless fan banter. At another, it reveals something deeper about how we Indians consume sport and construct sporting mythology. The truth is that the labels are both appropriate and premature. Why appropriate? Because sport, much like cinema in South India, thrives on archetypes. We do not merely watch athletes. We assign them roles in a larger narrative. Virat Kohli’s journey over the last decade has earned him a place that transcends statistics. He isn’t just a batsman who scores runs. He became the face of Indian cricket’s most aggressive and self-assured era. He walked into hostile overseas conditions, stared down opponents, demanded excellence and redefined fitness standards. Whether one likes him or not, Kohli changed the cult...

  Shubman Gill (PC:Shubman Gill/X) I have watched the highlights of Shubman Gill’s century against Rajasthan Royals a few times and think it was one of the best innings of this IPL. It was all class and, under pressure, a leadership statement from India’s red-ball and ODI captain. Another 700-run season, and it is clear that Gill has started to push the door open for a possible return to the national T20 team. While there is serious competition from Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and now Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, all of whom have done enough to stake their claims, ignoring Gill’s credentials is not going to be easy. He is India’s best all-format batter and has clearly turned things around in T20 cricket as well. Sport is always about performance, and that is what will decide Gill’s future in the format. At the moment, he seems to be batting at his best and has scored heavily this season. It does not seem as though he is in a hurry or trying to play too many shots at th...

GT and RCB will lock horns for the ultimate prize. (PC: BCCI) The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is all set for a high-octane final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, as the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), take on Gujarat Titans (GT). With a host of stars set to face off against one another, here we look at the three key player match-ups that could determine which team lifts the trophy. Virat Kohli vs Jason Holder The towering GT all-rounder, Holder, is currently in spectacular form. He recently dismissed both Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal in Qualifier 1, while maintaining an economy rate of 9.75. Earlier in the season, during the league stage, he dismissed Kohli for just 43 in Bengaluru and produced a bowling masterclass to halt RCB’s momentum. In Qualifier 2 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), he proved that his wicket-taking exploits against RCB were no fluke, as he successfully dismantled the opposition’s middle order with another...

West Indies_ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 (PC: Windies Cricket) The West Indies are currently preparing for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in June-July in England and Wales. After a disastrous start to the year in the shortest format of the game, the team have already won two back-to-back games in the ongoing tri-series involving Ireland and Pakistan. In the World Cup, they are placed in Group 2 alongside the hosts England, defending champions New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Scotland, and Ireland. They are also scheduled to play warm-up games against India and Australia. Squad: Hayley Matthews (c), Chinelle Henry, Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor, Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Jannillea Glasgow, Jahzara Claxton, Qiana Joseph, Zaida James, Mandy Mangru, Shawnisha Hector Strength Hayley Matthews, the skipper, remains the biggest key factor behind West Indies’ success. In eight wins since the 2024 T20 World Cup, she has f...

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Image: IPL/BCCI) How many adjectives are required to describe the greatness of a 15-year-old wielding the willow? A hundred? A thousand? Or maybe there are certain events that can’t be described with mere words on a large canvas? When it comes to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the third option would be the right one. In the Qualifier 2 game played in Mullanpur, Gujarat Titans’ redoubtable pace attack kept Vaibhav relatively quiet for long periods. The operative word is relative here, as instead of Vaibhav cracking a fifty in just 15-16 deliveries, he was on 50 off 31 deliveries at one point. The plan was simple – most of the seamers would bowl on a shorter length from over the wicket, with deliveries angled away from Vaibhav. Prasidh Krishna, the fourth of the seamers, did tuck him up from around the wicket and forced a top edge, only for the catch to be dropped. However, the rest of them stuck to one strategy and executed it to near perfection. Yet in betwee...

Arun Dhumal-Chairman, IPL. Image :X Social media brings with it added social responsibility. For men and women like us who are in the domain, even more so. And if you are a cricketer in the public glare, you need to be far more conscious and restrained. A random post can result in a huge uproar, and one of the things in the IPL that literally went out of hand was how cricketers turned into content creators and started posting social media content. Since then, the BCCI has issued a seven-page diktat urging restraint and once again reinforcing certain rules. It was natural that I would ask Arun Dhumal, Chairman of the IPL, what he thinks of this social media disease, if I may call it that. “I don’t think cricketers need to be content creators,” said Dhumal. No beating around the bush and no holding back. He was straight on the front foot and made the point. Taking a second to collect his thoughts, he went on, “The cricketer’s job is to play good cricket. If they do so, there will be e...