Cricket now

  Rohit Sharma (PC: BCCI) Rohit Sharma has been picked for the West Indies series, which begins on 27 September. After everything that happened in England, and with many writing his epitaph after Cardiff, his selection – normally routine – had become a subject of considerable media interest. Now that it is done and dusted, let me say something we don’t wish to see in the next few days: please, let’s not start saying the West Indies series will be Rohit’s last. This has been going on for close to a year and is becoming increasingly boring and predictable. It cannot continue to be a constant talking point ahead of every series, because it helps neither Rohit nor Indian cricket. That Rohit would be selected was always a given. Lord’s had cemented the deal, and there was never an iota of doubt that Rohit wants to play on. Having put in the amount of effort he has, he wants to prove a point and score runs for India. Only if he fails consistently over a sustained period can the sele...

Ahilya Chandel for Japan and with Smriti Mandhana (PC: Ahilya Insta) Ahilya Chandel, the 23-year-old all-rounder from the Japan Women’s cricket team, first caught the attention of Indian fans when she served as a net bowler for Delhi Capitals (DC) during their 2025 WPL campaign. Now, she is set to be part of a historic occasion as hosts Japan take on India Women in the quarter-final of the Asian Games at Karogi Sports Park, Nisshin, on September 18.  Ahilya has been a consistent performer for Japan. She is currently their highest wicket-taker in WT20Is, with 41 wickets in 48 innings. With the bat, she occupies the No. 4 spot and has scored 407 runs in 43 innings.  Ahead of facing the Women in Blue on home soil, Ahilya spoke exclusively to RevSportz about Japan’s excitement at facing India, her eagerness to meet Smriti Mandhana, the possible pitch conditions, how the game could impact the growth of women’s cricket in Japan and much more.  She made no secret of her exci...

PC- RevSportz After Abhishek Sharma’s blazing 30-ball hundred in the third T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Gautam Gambhir, India’s coach, said the bigger positive was the impact created rather than the milestone itself. “Look, I’ll tell you one thing. I just want to say one thing: it’s not about the hundred that he scored today,” he said at the post-match press conference. “I can sit here and keep talking about his hundred, but it’s just the impact. “The only thing that we talk about in that dressing room is how much impact can we create with the bat and how much impact can we create with the ball. And that has been our ideology, that has been our philosophy for the last two, two and a half years. “T20 cricket is not about runs or wickets, it’s about how much impact you can create. And for both Sanju [Samson] and Abhishek, I think you can easily sit here and say one got a 50 and the other one got a 100. But for me, I think the biggest positive was...

Mohammad Rizwan in press conference (Photo: RevSportz) Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has challenged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) after being summoned for questioning following Pakistan’s disappointing Test tour of England. Rizwan appeared at the NCCIA office in Lahore last week along with Imam-ul-Haq. Both players were questioned and were also given detailed questionnaires on their travel, financial history, personal details and cricket careers. While Imam have submitted his answers by the September 15 deadline, Rizwan questioned the basis of the investigation. He also raised concerns about the NCCIA’s jurisdiction and the lack of any specific allegation against him. Rizwan has now taken the matter to the Lahore High Court, challenging the agency’s decision to summon him for questioning. The decision comes after Pakistan suffered a 3-0 Test series defeat in England. Rizwan and Imam were among the seven players removed from the squad after th...

Shikhar Mohan. PC – TNCA   With East Zone’s score reading 133 for 2 in the Duleep Trophy final, the left-hand batter from Jharkhand, Shikhar Mohan, cracked a punch that exemplified his promise. The downswing was straight, and at the nth moment, he closed the bat face ever so slightly as the ball rocketed away wide of long-on. Another salient feature of his innings was how he dismantled Tripurana Vijay’s spin threat with lofts down the ground.   The macro picture was that of a batter who strode out to the middle with a confident gait and composed a fluent knock of 85. Just delve deeper into his fledgling career, and you will unearth a few anecdotes to gauge his self-belief, which was on display in the sweltering heat of Chennai.   For a moment, let’s revisit a Cooch Behar Trophy game, where Mohan showed resilience to overcome poor form and pain.   “In the Cooch Behar Trophy, in three matches I didn’t score runs,” he s...

PC: X (Mithun Manhas) A week before India and Japan meet each other on the ground for the inaugural Suzuki Cup T20I on September 22, BCCI president Mithun Manhas and the Indian men’s cricket team met Japanese Ambassador to India, Ono Keiichi in New Delhi. This meeting celebrated the sporting partnership between the two nations with the one-off T20I set to be played at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi. The fixture will create cricketing history as it will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and officially mark the launch of ‘Sports 75’ – an initiative aimed to boost sports cooperation. While sharing the photographs on X, Manhas described the occasion as an important milestone for the game’s global journey, as he wrote: “It was a pleasure to meet His Excellency Mr. Ono Keiichi, Ambassador of Japan to India, along with Team India in Delhi today. This is a special moment as cricket reaches a new audience ...

  Ishan Kishan and Ms Dhoni, PC: Ishan Kishan on Instagram   East Zone’s 2026 Duleep Trophy triumph put several Jharkhand cricketers into the spotlight. Led by Ishan Kishan, East Zone ended a 13-year wait for the title, with Kishan producing a massive 270 in the final and Kumar Kushagra compiling a century. Shikhar Mohan, meanwhile, also made an impression during the tournament, scoring 85 and picking up wickets.   The performances once again highlighted the depth of talent coming through Jharkhand cricket. But behind the performances is a question that naturally comes up whenever Jharkhand’s young cricketers are discussed: what kind of influence does MS Dhoni continue to have on them? Long after he stepped down as India captain, Dhoni still walks into the Jharkhand State Cricket Association’s academy in Ranchi like any other member, except everyone around him knows who he is. What they’ll tell you, almost in unison, is that he never lets them fe...