Big Picture: Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line This is big. If India win at the MCG, they retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. If Australia win, they remain on track for a first series win over India in a decade. A defeat for the home side would trigger significant questions while if India lose, their World Test Championship (WTC) fate is out of their hands, although retaining the series trophy would remain…
Dubai has been confirmed as the venue for all matches of the Champions Trophy 2025 involving India, including one of the semi-finals and possibly the final, too, if India get there. The schedule, officially released by the ICC on Tuesday, specifies that “semi-final 1 will involve India if they qualify” and will be played in Dubai, and, similarly, “semi-final 2 will involve Pakistan if they qualify”. Also, Lahore has been…
Toss India chose to bat vs West Indies India won the toss and elected to set a target again as they look to seal the three-match ODI series against West Indies in Vadodara at the first opportunity. They went in with the same XI that posted a record 211-run win two nights ago. This means Pratika Rawal has another opportunity to impress the team management at the top of the…
Niki Prasad will lead almost the same squad that won the recent Under-19 Asia Cup for women at next month’s U-19 World Cup, in Malaysia. The only change in the 15-member squad is the inclusion of Vaishnavi S in place of 15-year-old medium-pacer Nandhana S, who has been named among the stand-bys. The other standby players are Ira J and Anadi T, who have replaced Hurley Gala, Happy Kumari, G…
Their captain Rohit Sharma, speaking ahead of the Boxing Day Test, backed both players to succeed using their own methods. “When you have a guy like [Jaiswal] in your squad, in your team, you don’t want to tamper too much with his mindset,” Rohit said. “Let him be as free as possible and not overburdened with too many thoughts regarding his batting. He understands his batting more than any one…
Cricket Australia will consider avoiding Marvel Stadium until later in the summer in future BBL seasons, as Melbourne Renegades great Aaron Finch called for the club to weigh up abandoning the venue for Geelong. Finch was among those to be scathing of the venue on Tuesday when the Renegades’ Monday-night win over Perth Scorchers was overshadowed by a patchy-looking outfield. The pitch also proved difficult to bat on after the…
Sam Konstas will make his Test debut for Australia on Boxing Day while Travis Head will face a fitness test on his injured quad but coach Andrew McDonald is confident his star left-hander will be fit to play. Konstas will become the fourth youngest Australian to make his Test debut at 19 years and 85 days on Boxing Day against India, with only behind Ian Craig, current captain Pat Cummins,…
Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, has vowed he has “blood, sweat and tears” left to give to the team, after being ruled out of all cricket for three months following a recurrence of his torn left hamstring during the third Test against New Zealand last month. Stokes, 33, was forced to leave the field during day three of England’s 423-run defeat at Seddon Park earlier this month. He pulled up…
Batter Amir Jangoo has earned a maiden call-up to the West Indies Test squad for the two-match series against Pakistan, which begins on January 16 in Karachi. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie returns to the side, having missed the two-match series against Bangladesh at home last month. Motie will be leading West Indies’ spin-bowling contingent, which also has Kevin Sinclair and Jomel Warrican. Jangoo and Motie replace the fast-bowling duo…
Fast bowler Eshan Malinga‘s impressive 2024 has been capped with a maiden call-up to the national side after he was named in Sri Lanka’s 17-man ODI squad for their limited-overs tour of New Zealand. Alongside Malinga, seamer Lahiru Kumara has also earned a recall, with fellow quick Dilshan Madushanka making way. On the batting front, Sadeera Samarawickrama has been dropped for Nuwanidu Fernando. The rest of the squad is unchanged…