We’re halfway through the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy. No team has broken away from the pack but 41-time champs Mumbai are looking good for the knockouts despite being stunned by Uttar Pradesh. Saurashtra, the defending champs, are in a pickle, while Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are on an upswing. Here are the highlights from the fourth round of matches. Himmat the hero as Delhi clinch thriller You concede a 97-run lead….
Few players can have experienced as many of Test cricket’s highs and lows as Tom Hartley did on debut across the four days of the first Test at Hyderabad. Hartley’s first delivery in Test cricket was carted by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal over long-on for six. His 308th and most recent spun past an on-rushing Mohammed Siraj for a ninth wicket in the match. That rounded off his epic second-innings figures…
West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph‘s match-winning spell at the Gabba against Australia on Sunday has helped him land a deal at the PSL, with Peshawar Zalmi signing him. He is expected to join the franchise at the start and remain with them for the entirety of the tournament. While Joseph was announced by Zalmi as a partial replacement for England fast bowler Gus Atkinson, ESPNcricinfo understands he will remain…
Will Pucovski, the Australian top-order batter, will play county cricket for the first time in April after signing a short-term deal with Leicestershire to cover for Wiaan Mulder. Pucovski, 25, is widely considered one of Australia’s brightest young talents and made his Test debut three years ago, playing against India at the SCG. But he has faced multiple setbacks in his fledgling career, suffering regular concussions and also taking leave…
Richard Gleeson, the fast bowler who made his England debut at 34, has signed with Warwickshire for the 2024 T20 Blast after he was released by Lancashire at the end of last season. With Henry Brookes leaving for Middlesex on a three-year deal, Warwickshire will use Gleeson as a like-for-like replacement in their T20 side. The Bears topped the North Group last year, winning 11 out of 14 group games,…
Rashid Khan wasn’t named as part of Afghanistan’s 16-man squad for their upcoming one-off Test against Sri Lanka starting February 2, as he continues to recover from the back surgery he had in November. Rashid’s absence paved the way for legspinner Qais Ahmad, even as his only Test had come back in September 2019. Afghanistan also selected three uncapped players in batter Noor Ali Zadran, left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman and wicketkeeper-batter…
Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the second Test against England starting on February 2 in Visakhapatnam. Related India slide to fifth on WTC table after defeat to England in Hyderabad Mark Wood: Spinning pitches no longer a ‘foregone conclusion’ after epic win Bumrah reprimanded for physical contact with Pope during Hyderabad Test Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh, who has 290 first-class wickets at 24.41, has…
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been reprimanded for breaching level one of the ICC Code of Conduct in the opening Test between India and England in Hyderabad. He was found guilty, and as a result, handed a demerit point. Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, relates to “inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other…
It was only as England were walking out to defend the 231 target they had set India in the first Test at Hyderabad that Ben Stokes informed Mark Wood he’d be opening the bowling, as he had done in the first innings. The catch? He would only be doing so for one over. Wood was not all that surprised. He was the only seamer in the attack, and bowled just…
India dropped three spots to fifth place in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table after their 28-run loss in the series opener against England in Hyderabad. The two-time WTC finalists were second, behind Australia, before the Test. But the result saw them slide below South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh, as their points percentage dropped from 54.16 to 43.33. Related India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes ‘Test cricket…