Cricket now

( PC- Debasis Sen, Revsportz) 2026 promises to be the sports fan’s finger-licking good treat. And no, this is no reference to the Big Bash League. On a serious note, if you thought 2025 was replete with all-round action, then 2026 will take it to a crescendo. Imagine this — three cricket World Cups, one Commonwealth Games, one Asian Games, a FIFA World Cup and a plethora of tournaments across various disciplines of Olympic sport all in the space of twelve months. ( PC- IndianCricketTeam, Instagram) January will see the under-19 50-over World Cup kick off in Zimbabwe and Namibia and I can’t wait to see Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre perform. Someone I will personally root for is Aaron George after that knock of 85 against Pakistan in the group stage match of the Asia Cup. A day after this tournament ends, the men’s seniors start their quest for the honours in the T20 World Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka. And later in the year, we have the women’s team and current r...

Sarfaraz_Khan (PC:X) Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the franchise should fit Sarfaraz Khan into their playing XI to cash in on the red-hot form the right-handed batter is going through in Indian domestic cricket. Ashwin wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that CSK have a problem of plenty in their batting order. “100*(47), 52(40), 64(25), 73(22) in the SMAT. That form’s transitioned seamlessly into the Hazare with scores of 55(49) followed by a blistering 157(75) today with 14 sixes. It’s particularly impressive how he murders spin in the middle overs with his sweeps and slog sweeps. ‘Avan kadhava thattala, idichi odachitu irukaan.’ (He is not knocking on the door, he is breaking it open) CSK should look at riding his purple patch by slotting him into the Playing XII surely? A genuine problem of plenty with the bat for the men in yellow this season! Can’t wait for IPL 2026!” The Chennai-based franchise acquired the services of Sarfar...

Australia (PC: Cricket Australia) Josh Hazlewood has been named in Australia’s 15-member provisional squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The premier pacer missed the entire ongoing Ashes series due to a hamstring issue followed by Achilles soreness. Pat Cummins, Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly have also made a comeback to the squad after missing the recent T20Is against India. Notably, star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will lead the side. Australia have clearly placed significant importance on spin options for the mega event, including the likes of Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann, Cooper Connolly, along with all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Short. The World Cup is scheduled to be played between February 7 and March 8, 2026, in India and Sri Lanka, with Australia set to begin their campaign on February 11 against Ireland in Colombo. The 2021 T20 World Cup champions are placed in Group B, alongside Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Speaking about the squad...

Rishabh_Pant (PC:X) ‘Rishabh Pant could be dropped from the ODI squad ahead of the New Zealand series.’ Over the last few days, this particular line has been on the front-pages of numerous portals and newspapers. If that is truly the case, then what could be the reasoning behind such a move by the selectors? In this context, let’s try to bring together the connecting points of the aforesaid topic and explore different layers. One of them could be his not-so-good record in ODIs – he averages 33.5 in that format. Consequently, in the 2025 IPL, his strike rate was just over 130. To delve deeper, just consider one of the games from that IPL – Rajasthan Royals versus Lucknow Super Giants.  In that match, Pant was dismissed for 3 off 9 deliveries, with at least 6 deliveries angled across off-stump from over the wicket. A couple of those offerings were on and around middle and off-stump and short of a length. The plan was clear – Force Pant to target areas from covers, to square of t...

Harmanpreet_Kaur (PC:X/BCCI Women) India captain Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front, producing a superb knock to guide her team to a 15-run victory over the Sri Lanka Women’s team in the final T20I of the five-match series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, completing a 5–0 clean sweep. In the post-match presentation, she said: “Well, as a batter, it’s my responsibility to provide strength to our batting order, and I always want to contribute in whatever way my team needs. As a captain, I’m really happy with the way we played throughout this series. As we mentioned earlier, after ODI cricket, shifting to T20 mode was not easy, but everyone was very positive and excited to play this series after the World Cup. I’m really happy with how things came together. We fought hard for this, gave our 100 per cent, and I’m delighted with the overall effort.” Harmanpreet came to the crease when the team was struggling, having lost two wickets for just 27 runs insid...

Deepti_Sharma (PC: BCCI Women, RevSportz) Records in modern T20 cricket are often loud, powered by speed, drama and moments designed for instant recall. Deepti Sharma’s ascent to becoming the leading wicket-taker in women’s T20 Internationals arrived differently. Quietly, steadily, and almost predictably. Much like her career. By moving past Australia’s Megan Schutt, Deepti (152 wickets) didn’t just claim a statistical summit; she reinforced a reputation built on trust. For close to a decade, captains have turned to Deepti Sharma not necessarily for spectacle, but for certainty. When the pitch offered little, when partnerships needed breaking, or when the run rate had to be controlled, the ball inevitably found its way into her hands. What makes the record remarkable is not merely the volume of wickets, but the manner in which they have been accumulated. Deepti has bowled across phases, in the powerplay, through the middle overs and at times under defensive mandates. Roles around ...

Hardik Pandya (PC: ICC) Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has openly backed Hardik Pandya to make a return to Test cricket, saying the all-rounder would be a great fit for the Indian team if he comes in at No. 7. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Uthappa highlighted, “If Hardik Pandya returns to the No. 7 spot in Tests, it would be wonderful. The way he’s playing. Anything can happen; it’scricket. Never say never. If Hardik decides to play Test cricket, will BCCI ask him not to play? If he says he wants to play and wants to win the World Test Championship (WTC), I don’t think they would say no. I think they are asking him to prove his fitness. Are all-rounders bowling 20 overs? Nitish Kumar is not bowling that much. He’s bowling 12 overs. If he’s to bowl 12–15 overs per innings, I think he can do it the way he’s fit now, the way he’s bowling and batting. It’s his own decision.” Pandya has played 11 Tests for India, scoring 532 runs and taking 17 wickets. Uthappa also spoke about...

From Left- Chamari Athapaththu, Hasini Perera, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shafali Verma. Images : X It is the final game of the five-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka. India have been the superior side in almost all departments, almost, because India’s fielding has been below par, with Sri Lanka perhaps marginally better in that aspect. Otherwise, the series has been one-sided. Leading 4-0, India will now look to test their bench strength and give a few players a game to get a feel of the conditions, so that heading into the Australia series, they have a clearer idea of their depth. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would ideally want to win the toss and chase. They have looked most comfortable while chasing targets, and the last game was further evidence of that. Sri Lanka’s inexperienced bowling line-up has been under sustained pressure from India’s batters, and they will be keen to salvage some pride in the final outing. Having already made changes to their playing XI in the last...

Riyan_Parag (PC:X) Former India batter Robin Uthappa believes that the competition to become the captain of Rajasthan Royals (RR) after Sanju Samson’s departure is between Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja. Speaking on JioStar, Uthappa mentioned that young star Yashasvi Jaiswal will have to wait for his chance. “The only question is leadership. My feeling is the captaincy will likely be between Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja, while Jaiswal might need to wait a bit longer,” he said. RR traded Samson just before the auction, which left the captaincy position vacant. Last year, when Samson was absent for a few matches, Parag was in charge of the team.  However, after the addition of Jadeja, who is a very experienced player, another option is now available for the RR management. The left-handed all-rounder had previously captained his former franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a few matches. Uthappa further praised the depth of the squad. “The advantage Rajasthan Royals have ...

  Richa_Ghosh (PC: BCCI_Women) There is a certain inevitability about Richa Ghosh when she walks in during the death overs. The script may change, the venue may change, but the outcome often feels familiar, controlled chaos, clean striking, and a scoreboard that suddenly looks intimidating. On Sunday evening in Thiruvananthapuram, Richa produced yet another reminder of why she is fast becoming indispensable to India’s T20 setup. Sent up the order at No. 3 after Shafali Verma’s dismissal in the 16th over, Richa had absolute clarity about her role. “Whenever I get a chance, especially when the captain sends me up, my motto is very clear, score as much as I can for the team and try to finish the game,” she said in the post-match press conference. That intent was evident from her very first few deliveries. Her unbeaten 40 off just 16 balls was a study in modern finishing. The batting conditions aided strokeplay, but it was Richa’s awareness that made the difference. “The ball wa...

Smriti_Mandhana (PC:X) India Women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur gave credit to her openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma for helping India post a big total, which eventually led to a 30-run victory against Sri Lanka in the fourth T20I of the five-match series at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. In the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet said: “We should give credit to Smriti and Shafali, the way they started and they made things very easy for us. And later on, myself and Richa were there to finish the game.” Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. Mandhana and Shafali opened the innings and provided a solid start for India. While Shafali took the aggressive route, Mandhana took her time in the early stages of her innings. The duo stitched together a 162-run partnership off 92 balls, laying a strong foundation for a big total. Later, Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh capitalised on the platform and added an unbeaten 53 runs off 23 balls, ...

Ind W vs SL W. Image: Revsportz It is Sunday and the fourth T20I between India and Sri Lanka is set to be played with the series already pocketed by India, who have taken an unassailable 3–0 lead. Coming into this match, the obvious expectation is that India will now look at testing their bench strength. This is the phase where managements usually want to give players waiting on the sidelines a proper opportunity. Players like G Kamalini are likely to come into the conversation and possibly into the playing XI. With two T20Is still to go before India travel to Australia for an all-format tour, followed by England for a limited-overs series, the T20 World Cup and the one-off Test at Lord’s, these remaining games become extremely important from a squad-depth perspective. G Kamalini. Image : X From a World Cup standpoint, this is precisely the window where India can assess their backups, combinations and flexibility within the squad. That is why it would not be surprising to see G...

Melbourne Cricket Ground. Image: X, MCG. Australia prepared a track that reduced the Boxing Day Test to a farce. It was nigh on unplayable and made things a lottery at the MCG. We have forever argued that such tracks make the lesser team a force and undermine the qualities that the better team has. Australia had taken an unassailable lead in the series and England were literally down and out. A good wicket, and Australia could have rubbed it in. The MCG lottery made sure Bazball was given a lifeline and allowed to save face. This was not Test cricket. A match that ended inside two days can be anything but real Test cricket. Some might call it intense while others will say it was edge-of-the-seat action. For me, it was painful to see the Boxing Day Test end in two days. And England, from nowhere, got a lifeline, thanks to the MCG curator. Australia were bowled out for 132 in their second innings and it meant England needed 175 to win. It was tailor-made for Bazball. Come and start ...

Ayush Mhatre will lead India in the U19 World Cup. (PC: BCCI) Spin-bowling all-rounder Mohamed Enaan and seam-bowling all-rounder R.S. Ambrish have been recalled as the BCCI announced a 15-member squad for the Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026, to be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia from January 15 to February 6. Two changes have been made to the squad that played in the Asia Cup. Leg-spinner Naman Pushpak and wicketkeeper-batter Yuvraj Gohil, both of whom did not play a single game in the Asia Cup, have made way for Enaan and Ambrish. Vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Aaron George, Vedant Trivedi and first-choice wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu form a strong batting core. In the bowling department, Henil Patel, D. Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh and Udhav Mohan are the frontline pacers, while Enaan, Kanishk Chouhan and Khilan Patel are the spinners. Despite losing the Asia Cup final to Pakistan, the junior selection committee has kept faith in Ayush Mhatre’s lea...

MCG_Pitch (PC: X) Ten millimetre – That is the amount of grass the curator left for the ongoing Boxing Day Test between Australia and England. Is that perhaps too much grass cover for a Test match? Just to give you an idea, for the corresponding MCG Test between Australia and India, in 2024, the grass cover was around 7 mm. For starters, with 10 mm live grass, the leather ball is set to move off the seam considerably. No wonder, 20 wickets went down on day 1 of the Test. Of course, you can add a counter narrative that some of the shots tried by the players from both sides were poor. But when a bunch of batters can’t trust their defence, it is on expected lines that they would attempt big shots. One has to remember that there is no sure-shot method to negate late movement off the pitch. To make matters worse for the batters, this is also the wobble-seam era in Test cricket. On day 2, there seems to be a little less movement off the seam, but the odd delivery is kicking up more off ...

India_won_the_series (PC:X/ICC) India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur credited the bowlers after India defeated Sri Lanka Women by eight wickets with 40 balls to spare in the third T20I of the five-match series. With the win, India sealed the series 3-0 with two matches still to play. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet highlighted bowling as the key factor behind India’s dominance in the series. “In T20 bowling is very important. If you keep ticking all the boxes in your bowling department, you have more chances to win the game. Today we are in this position because of our bowlers, credit goes to all our bowling lineup, the way they bowled in this series. They are the one who always giving us breakthrough, first six overs – their top-order is very important to get the wicket. Today we wanted to go with Renuka, so that she can give us those breakthrough. First over was not something we were expecting. After that how she came back, and took those crucial four wick...

Virat_Kohli (PC:X/ICC) Virat Kohli’s childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, believes that the star batter is “completely ready” for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027, citing his consistency, form, and hunger for runs across formats. Speaking to ANI, Rajkumar heaped praise on Kohli and described him as the most reliable performer in the Indian team. “Look, he is in excellent form. He showed it with hundreds in the two matches for India, so he is in outstanding touch. And he is the most consistent player for the Indian team, so I feel he is completely ready for the World Cup,” Rajkumar said. Kohli’s resurgence has been one of the major talking points of the year. After suffering two consecutive ducks during the Australia tour, the senior batter bounced back strongly and enjoyed a dream run in international cricket. He went on to register four consecutive scores of fifty or more, converting two of those into centuries, underlining his ability to respond to pressure with performances. The veter...

India_Men’s_Cricket_2025 (PC: X) For a few minutes, just observe the pendulum of a clock. It oscillates to and fro with a tick-tock sound. Somewhere, the Indian cricket team’s performances too swung back and forth across formats in the year 2025. At Revsportz, we list out some of the highlights of the Indian cricket team across formats. Test cricket: In the longest format, the Indian team had more lows than highs. India were whitewashed in their own den by South Africa, suffering their second clean sweep at home over 12 months. Even if you go back to the 1950s, you won’t find India slipping to two whitewashes over a period of 12 months. Amidst the series losses to Australia and South Africa, there was one silver lining: India’s gritty show in England. After England chased down a 250-plus target in Leeds, India came roaring back at Edgbaston. The visitors also put on a stellar show at Old Trafford, where from the jaws of defeat, they charted a draw. The icing on the cake was the m...

Pope has been dropped for the Boxing Day Test. (PC: X/ICC) Former England captain Michael Atherton reckons that the decision to drop an “insecure” Ollie Pope was the right call, while highlighting how things have started to fall apart during Brendon McCullum’s time as head coach. Once a vital cog in the team, Pope was stripped of his vice-captaincy duties before the start of the Ashes. Despite being inconsistent throughout his career, he was backed by the team in the number three position. However, he failed to deliver, scoring only 125 runs in the first three Ashes Tests. His average in the series — 20.83 — is the second-lowest for any top-six batter to have batted in all six innings of the series so far. “Removing him from the firing line is the right call,” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times. “The No. 3 position carries special status in Australia because it is often where their best players have batted, as opposed to No. 4 in an England side, but Pope has looked too in...

Mitchell_Starc (PC:X) Former captain Ricky Ponting believes that pacer Mitchell Starc is in the best form of his life. Starc has been lethal in the ongoing Ashes, ending up as Player of the Match in two of the three Test matches played so far. Speaking on the ICC Review Podcast, Ponting said that after adding some new skills Starc has become a ‘complete’ bowler. “I don’t think I’ve seen him bowl better. It really has been quite outstanding what he’s done with the new ball. You know, he’s always been known as a brand new ball bowler, and then someone that was a good bowler with the old ball, the ball that was reverse swinging. But he’s added a few different dimensions to his game, a few different skills which have made him a more complete bowler.” he said. In the initial half of the Ashes, Australia missed the services of their experienced duo of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. However, Starc stole the show and is currently the highest wicket taker of the series, having taken 22 w...

Kohli. PC – X Bharath Ramaraj at Centre of Excellence, Bangalore  Before the state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence was built, if someone had asked – what is Singahalli famous for? Yours truly would have had to rack his brains for a bit. Those in the Aerospace industry would end up pointing towards KIADB Aerospace Park. Even in this case, the Aerospace Park is about 15 km away. Here, just doing a simple AI could even lead you to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh rather than Singahalli. However, on a pleasant morning, as the taxi chugged along the service road before connecting with the 4113 km long NH 44, one could feel that something was different in the air. And that was due to the tight security in and around the CoE. As the security personnel went about performing their duties, the main gate was opened for the tourist bus to go inside the large premises. This was the very bus in which Virat Kohli was seated inside, alongside his Delhi teammates. One had to zoom in on the lenses ...