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Jadeja bagged his 300th wicket in Test cricket on day 4. (PC: X com) Shamik Chakrabarty in Kanpur The most interesting part of Ravindra Jadeja joining the 300-Test-wicket club is that when he made his Test debut in 2012, it never felt like he would get there. Rather, he was ridiculed at the time for being his captain’s (MS Dhoni) favourite. For a long time, the “bits and pieces” tag was attached to him and the left-arm spinner from Saurashtra had to live with it until he elevated his cricket to the level of a world-class all-rounder. Jadeja reached the next level by dint of his hard work. On Monday, on the fourth day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh here in Kanpur, Jadeja became the second-fastest cricketer after Ian Botham to achieve the elite double of 3,000 Test runs and 300 wickets. Botham did it in 72 matches. Jadeja reached the milestone in his 74th game. Khaled Ahmed was his 300th scalp. Shane Warne, who else, identified the talent and gave Jadeja the sobri...

Rajeev Shukla at the press conference. Source ( RevSportz) Shamik Chakrabarty in Kanpur Sticking to five Test centres like England and Australia will not work in this country, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla asserted. This is on the heels of the Kanpur Test damp squib, where two-and-a-half days’ play was washed out due to rain and a wet outfield. Green Park’s facilities have come under the scanner and in this context, Virat Kohli’s opinion of reserving “five strong centres” for home Test series has resurfaced. Shukla, however, defended the BCCI’s rotation policy. “Here also, we had five centres,” Shukla said. “Those had the status of permanent Test centres. Kanpur was also one of them (Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi being the other four). Then, we have to keep other aspects also in mind.” Back in 2019, after a Test against South Africa in Ranchi, Kohli, then India captain, had said: “We have been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion we should have five Te...

Jemimah Rordrigues against Pakistan India began their T20 World Cup campaign on a good note, defeating the West Indies by 20 runs in a practice game played at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai. There were enough positives to take from the game for India. Alongside those bright spots, there were a few talking points, which gave indicators of who could bat at the crucial No. 3 position in their group fixtures in the World Cup. One of those clues was India’s batting order against the West Indies – Harmanpreet Kaur took the No. 3 slot, while Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia were positioned at 4 and 5. The expected lineup was probably Bhatia, returning from an injury, to take the No.3 position, with Kaur finding herself at No. 4 and Rodrigues placed at No. 5. The Indian think-tank’s move didn’t exactly work for Harmanpreet as she was dismissed for a single run. Rodrigues (52 runs) and Bhatia (24 runs), however, stitched a vital stand of 50. On second thoughts, perhaps India were just...

Play called off for Day 2 due to rains. Source: BCCI Shamik Chakrabarty in Kanpur Around 8.15 am on Sunday, as the groundsmen started to remove the covers, the Green Park outfield looked soggy. The rain had long since stopped, but a delayed start of the third day’s play of the second Test between India and Bangladesh looked inevitable. At 9.30 am, the scheduled start of play, the centre square was still under wraps. By 10 am, all the covers were removed and the umpires made an inspection. There were a few soggy patches near the bowler’s run-up and mid-on and mid-off area at the Media Box End and the next inspection was scheduled at 12 noon. Wet outfield was the reason why play couldn’t start. After the second inspection, the conditions still weren’t found satisfactory and the umpires decided to check things again at 2 pm. Over two-and-a-half days, 205 overs have already been lost in this game and the facilities at this venue have come under the scanner. Green Park is not owned ...

Lalit Modi In the latest no-holds-barred episode of Backstage with Boria , RevSportz’s editor-in-chief talks to Lalit Modi, the architect of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the recent developments with The Hundred in England. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have spoken of tremendous interest from Indian investors, but Modi, who says he backed out of negotiations earlier, opens about with typical candour about how the numbers just don’t add up. Excerpts: You said the ECB’s sale of The Hundred is much like a Ponzi scheme. Why did you use such harsh words? Look at the last scheme they put out with [Allen] Stanford, which did turn out to be a Ponzi scheme. If you look at the document put out by the ECB, right at the beginning, you’ll see a disclaimer. It clearly says ‘We’re not responsible for any numbers’, not guaranteeing any numbers. Not all numbers put inside by our investment bankers are valid. Nothing we say is a fact, and it’s up to you to decide. Now, for a laym...

Bangladeshi Super Fan Robi, Source: X There is a liar masquerading as a super fan, and his name is Tiger Robi. He lied the day before yesterday, saying he was assaulted in Kanpur. When his falsehoods were exposed by the police and hospital authorities who conducted all tests on him, he conveniently changed the narrative to him “feeling unwell and dehydrated”. I have since read a number of his Facebook posts. He has a follower base of 1.3 million, which makes him an influencer of some sort. And let me state this – he is a peddler of hate. He provokes fans and says a lot of things, which aren’t remotely true. He was granted a visa on the grounds that he needed treatment and is now misusing it to target Indian fans. Deportation is the least that such an individual deserves. One option is to ignore such people. That is something that can be done. But at a time when the political and diplomatic relations between the two countries are on the edge, influencers peddling lies is a dangero...

Tiger Robi has made the headlines for all wrong reasons. (PC: X.com) Bangladeshi fan Tiger Robi, who allegedly made up stories of being manhandled at Green Park on Friday, is set to be deported from India. According to sources, he also faces a five-year stadium ban in India.  According to local police sources, the Bangladeshi fan has already been sent to Delhi from Kanpur, from where he would be sent to Dhaka on Sunday. Sources said, Robi came to India on a medical visa and he was supposed to go to Kolkata for treatment. Instead, he followed the Bangladesh cricket team to Chennai and then to Kanpur for the ongoing two-Test series in India. “He flouted visa regulations,” said the source.  Around lunch on Day 1 of the second Test between India and Bangladesh here in Kanpur, Robi alleged that he faced violence from a section of the local crowd. He was sent to hospital where X-rays and CT scans were done. Nothing was found in the reports. At the hospital, he changed his vers...

Sri Lanka Women after winning the recent Asia Cup (PC: ACC) In the past eight ICC T20 World Cup editions, the Sri Lanka Women’s team has never progressed beyond the group stage. However, this time, Chamari Athapaththu and her squad are entering the tournament with significantly more confidence, especially after their recent Asia Cup triumph. Their two-match series against Ireland recently ended in a 1-1 draw, but the team rotated players to give different members a chance. Only time will tell if this campaign will be a historic one for them. Here is a SWOT analysis of the team ahead of the mega event. Strengths Chamari Athapaththu – the all-round leader The Sri Lanka skipper has been phenomenal with both bat and ball, consistently leading the team from the front. In recent times, other players have also stepped up, aiding her in guiding the team to a prestigious Asia Cup victory a few months ago, defeating the favourites, India, in the final. In 2024, Sri Lanka have won 15 out...

Akash Deep making his Test debut for India. Source (X) Shamik Chakrabarty in Kanpur Back in 2011-12, a Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Odisha became high-profile. It was not because of Ajit Agarkar storming off after falling out with then Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni, but for the fact that it was Zaheer Khan’s comeback game after an injury lay-off. India’s tour of Australia was round the corner and Zaheer was considered central to India’s chances of doing well. As it turned out, India suffered a humiliating 4-0 whitewash in Australia under MS Dhoni. Zaheer had a decent outing – 15 wickets from four Tests at 31.80 – but he seriously lacked support. The tourists even had to resort to R Vinay Kumar’s military-medium pace in one of the Tests. In fact, it has been India’s story for long in overseas Test series; not to have good support bowlers around the top two. After Virat Kohli took charge as India captain, he addressed this and created a fast-bowling group that would mak...