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Josh Hazlewood (PC: IPL/BCCI) Josh Hazlewood’s impactful spell guided Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a comfortable five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 15. During the post-match presentation, Player of the Match Hazlewood reflected on RCB’s bowling performance and said, “Felt much better today. You got to look at who you’replaying against. All the bowlers were unbelievable. I’d love to have a few funky deliveries. Always working on them. Bhuvi and I try to sum up the conditions as early as we can. That’s a huge plus for us.” Hazlewood delivered a disciplined spell and picked up the crucial wicket of Nicholas Pooran. The Australian pacer maintained tight lines throughout his four overs and conceded only 20 runs at an economy rate of 5.00. His spell created pressure, which helped RCB restrict Lucknow to 146. The 35-year-old also praised young pacer Rasikh Salam, who picked up four wickets while conceding only 24 run...

Amol Muzumdar (PC: BCCI) Amol Muzumdar loves living in the present. While the World Cup win was huge, he has now moved on from it and has his sights set on the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the UK, starting on June 12. He knows expectations are going to be much higher and is conscious that he has a good enough team to mount a strong campaign. The WPL has helped, and the sport has enough momentum in the country for the head coach to be cautiously optimistic. I had the opportunity to speak to Amol at length a while back (the interview will be aired on RevSportz at 12 noon today), and what I liked about him was his body language. While taking pride in what was achieved, he also understands that sport is all about the present. A poor T20 World Cup will set things back, and he is determined to ensure nothing goes wrong. As India begin their T20 World Cup home stretch against South Africa on April 17, Amol is bracing for an exciting three months ahead. He knows that it is on him and his ...

Noor Ahmad (PC: IPL/BCCI) Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) Noor Ahmad helped his side secure their second win of the ongoing IPL 2026 with a match-winning spell against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Chennai on April 14. Noor was the standout performer for Chennai as he picked up three crucial wickets that shaped the result of the game. The left-arm wrist-spinner dismissed captain Ajinkya Rahane, all-rounder Cameron Green, and vice-captain Rinku Singh, dismantling Kolkata’s chase. He conceded only 21 runs in his four overs at an economy rate of 5.25. For his impactful spell, Noor was named Player of the Match. During the post-match presentation, Noor reflected on the conditions and said, “Really happy to contribute to my team. Was humid, so was trying to keep my fingers dry – that helped me a lot to hit the right areas. Really happy with the pitch. Ball was not coming onto the bat.” Noor had struggled in the initial games, conceding 111 runs from his first three matches without taking ...

CSK vs KKR (Image: IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) IPL 2026 season continued to slip further as they suffered another defeat, going down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 32 runs on April 14 in Chennai. After five games, KKR remain winless, with their only point coming from a washed-out clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Meanwhile, CSK seem to be finally finding momentum, registering back-to-back wins at Chepauk. Despite a few concerns in batting and some sloppy fielding, CSK’s bowlers – particularly the spinners – made KKR batters look completely clueless. Mhatre’s explosive cameo; Ruturaj struggles continue CSK posted 192/5 in 20 overs, but considering their start, they could have added more. In the powerplay, they raced to 72/2, scoring at 12 runs per over, largely thanks to youngster Ayush Mhatre. Batting at number three, Mhatre made full use of the field restrictions, smashing 38 off 17 balls at a strike-rate of 223.52. However, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s poor form continued, ...

Praful Hinge (L) and Atharva Taide (R). (PC: BCCI) Auction day in the IPL is a theatre of anticipation, where players wait, watching and hoping to hear their names being called. If not all, most players, especially uncapped ones, are glued to their screens to see when their names will go under the hammer. While the auction was taking place, a spiritual Praful Hinge was at a temple, where he learnt that he had been picked by SRH for INR 30 lakh. Hinge was elated but not entirely surprised, as SRH’s current bowling coach, Varun Aaron, had been in touch with him from the beginning. Despite having played just one senior-level T20 match, Hinge was expecting SRH to bid for him. In the dynamics of an auction, one can never be certain about what will happen, but fortunately for Hinge, he did not have to travel far from his home in Nagpur in search of an IPL team. In a squad of 25, his chances of getting an opportunity to play for the Orange Army were slim. However, an injury to one of his...

Sakib Hussain at IPL 2026 (PC: BCCI/IPL) In the dusty expanses of Gopalganj and Siwan in Bihar, they didn’t call him Sakib Hussain. To the locals gathering around makeshift pitches to watch tennis-ball cricket, the lanky teenager hurtling the ball at terrifying speeds was simply known as “Rabada”. Long before his sensational four-wicket IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday, Sakib was fighting a very different kind of battle – one of survival. His father, a daily-wage labourer, lived an “earn today, eat today” existence. For Sakib, bowling scorching deliveries in local village tournaments for a meagre ₹500 a match was a desperate hustle. Sakib never had the luxury of a gym or a structured diet. His family, drowning in financial instability, urged him to secure a government job in the Army. Operating with no Plan B, Sakib took to running. He would sprint for two hours straight every day, treating it as marathon training for military selections. ...

IPL 2026_Bowlers (PC: BCCI/IPL) Cricket is a game of bat and ball. And I insist on the word “ball”. The current version of the high-risk, high-reward T20 game seems to focus only on the batter. High risk for whom? High reward for whom? It is as if the bowlers are mere bystanders. If the high risk comes off, we see more 15-ball fifties. The high reward is reflected in 220-plus scores. Where are the bowlers in all of this? It is a highlights package being played out on most days, with bowlers completely taken out of the equation. In some games, as many as 100 runs have been scored in the first six overs. It is plainly ridiculous. Punjab Kings (PBKS), for example, had the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen in their ranks – two of the better T20 bowlers in the world. Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) too had some quality bowlers who were simply toyed with. While Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 78 off 26 balls, Abhishek Sharma followed up with a similar score, and then Priyansh Arya...