Toss Netherlands chose to bowl vs Bangladesh Netherlands captain Scott Edwards decided to bowl against Bangladesh in overcast conditions to kick off both sides’ Super 12s campaign. Netherlands are without the injured Roelof van der Merwe who has been replaced by Shariz Ahmad, while Logan van Beek is playing in place of Timm van der Gugten. Bangladesh have opted for a three-man pace attack with Mustafizur Rahman returning to the…

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has pulled out of the race to become the Cricket Association of Bengal’s next chief, paving the way for his elder brother Snehasish Ganguly to be elected uncontested at its upcoming AGM on October 31. “I had said that I would contest only if there’s election,” Ganguly told reporters at Eden Gardens after he chose not to file his papers for the president’s post on…

Virat Kohli rates his 82* off 53 in the MCG chase against Pakistan higher than his 82* off 51 in Mohali in a must-win match in the 2016 T20 World Cup against Australia. His captain, Rohit Sharma, though, has gone one step ahead and called Sunday’s innings one of the best for India by anyone, and not just Kohli’s best. “His best for sure,” Rohit said. “But from the situation…

In the book, du Plessis reflects on a difficult childhood, a career that started in shadow of his best friend AB de Villiers, South Africa’s 2015 and 2019 World Cup heartaches, his elevation to national captain, and his eventual exit from the role, driven by what he terms a lack of soft skills from Cricket South Africa (CSA), particularly in the latter stages of his career. In a chapter titled,…

Richard Gould, a prominent critic of the Hundred during his tenure at Surrey, has been appointed chief executive at the ECB, beating Durham’s Tim Bostock to the role. Gould has spent the last 18 months as CEO at Bristol City Football Club but was previously involved in county cricket for 16 years, spending six years as Somerset’s chief executive then a decade in the same role at Surrey. The ECB…

He might have been “lost for words” by the end of it, but Virat Kohli was sure that his undefeated 53-ball 82 against Pakistan on Sunday in India’s men’s T20 World Cup opener at the MCG was the best T20 innings of his career, “because of the magnitude of the game and what the situation was”. From 31 for 4, when India were staring at a possible defeat, Kohli masterminded…

It was Arshdeep Singh‘s first ball in a World Cup of any format, against Pakistan at a packed MCG, and he was on the money straightaway. Babar Azam, one of the best in the world, was trapped in front with one that swung in. It didn’t end there for Arshdeep. He ended the night with 3 for 32, with Mohammad Rizwan and Asif Ali both falling to the well-directed short…

It swung wildly, one way now, the other way a moment later. Till it came down to 31 from 12. Haris Rauf. Just three from his first four balls. That made it 28 from eight. Advantage Pakistan. Hold on, said Virat Kohli. Bang, and bang, and it was 16 from six, to be bowled by Mohammad Nawaz, the weak link in the Pakistan attack on the day… and drama! Here’s…

India 163 for 6 (Kohli 82*) beat Pakistan 159 for 8 (Masood 52*, Iftikhar 51, Arshdeep 3-32, Hardik 3-30) by four wickets So, all the white ball needed to swing again was a freak weather event. La Nina first threatened to wash out the India vs Pakistan game altogether. But instead it created a thrilling atmosphere for the biggest event on the cricket calendar. All the rain leading into the…

The Super 12s are only just beginning but Zimbabwe have already achieved their major goal of the T20 World Cup: to actually get to this point. Coach Dave Houghton previously said he would not consider his team to have actually qualified for the tournament unless they advanced from the first round and secured a spot among the bigger teams. Now, they have done that and been given a licence to…