Cricket

A senior BCCI official has hit back at critics over Sanju Samson's exclusion. The wicketkeeper batter was left out of India's squad for Zimbabwe. Samson's omission sparked immediate uproar among fans and cricket experts. He had starred as Player of the Tournament during India's T20 World Cup win. The official clarified that Samson was rested, not dropped from the team. Selectors reportedly felt he would not play a single match anyway. Carrying a senior player just to sit on the bench made little

Former Afghanistan pacer Shapoor Zadran has died at the age of 38. He passed away one day before his 39th birthday after a long illness. Zadran had been battling Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, known as HLH. This rare disorder causes the immune system to attack the body itself. It leads to dangerous inflammation and can damage multiple organs. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed his death on Tuesday. Zadran's brother had stayed with him in Delhi throughout his treatment. Reports say Zadran first fell ill back

Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great cricket fan,” saying their interactions largely revolved around developing cricket infrastructure in Ahmedabad. According to Lalit Modi, the Prime Minister consistently showed enthusiasm for promoting and expanding the sport in Gujarat. “Mr. Modi was a great cricket fan. All the dealings I had with him were because he wanted cricket in Ahmedabad,” he said. Remarks Spark Debate Over Narendra Modi Stadium Lalit Modi’s comments come after his recent remarks

Virat Kohli's under-pressure masterclass helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru defend their Indian Premier League title with a five-wicket defeat of Gujarat Titans RCB made light work of a target of 156, as they chased it down in just 18 overs. Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 in 42 balls with 3 sixes and 9 boundaries, as he recorded his fastest IPL fifty. Bengaluru raced to a commanding position in the match with some aggressive batting early on, as Venkatesh Iyer provided a solid foundation with

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) successfully defended their Indian Premier League (IPL) crown, defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in a thrilling final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The victory marked RCB’s second consecutive IPL title, with Virat Kohli once again proving to be the team's biggest match-winner. Kohli Shines on the Biggest Stage Chasing a target of 156, Virat Kohli played a captain's knock, remaining unbeaten on 75 off 42 balls. Kohli's Match-Winning Innings: Kohli and Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer gave RCB a

With the T20 Indian Premier League playoffs commencing on Tuesday, veteran batting great Virat Kohli and 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will be under the spotlight. Kohli, the captain of Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru who ended up topping the regular season standings, at 37 is just under two decades older than Sooryavanshi whose explosive batting has been one of the biggest stories this season. Key Playoff Matches Kohli and Bengaluru will face Gujarat Titans in the first qualifying playoff, with the winner booking

Wednesday's win saw the Kolkata Knight Riders pull off a four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and assistant coach Shane Watson said the performance of 36-year-old Pandey underlined his value to the side. Pandey's 45 off 33 meant that Kolkata recovered from being at 54-3 in their chase of the target of 147 as his innings helped them to a win which oxygenated their chances of making the playoffs. Watson told reporters: "This is the best I've seen him

Bangladesh secured a 78-run win over Pakistan to clinch the second Test in Sylhet on Wednesday, completing a 2-0 series whitewash despite Mohammad Rizwan's brave 94 in an unsuccessful chase. Pakistan were 358 all out in the morning session on day five after chasing 437 for victory to level the series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Captain Shan Masood and Salman Agha contributed 71 runs apiece but it was Rizwan's battling innings containing 10 fours that ensured Pakistan remained in the hunt

Rajasthan Royals' 15-year-old batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed briskly made 93 to power his side to a seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL on Tuesday and keep their play-off hopes alive. Playing as an impact substitute, Sooryavanshi was the first target of Rajasthan's chase at their home in Jaipur and he hit his third half-century of the season, making 38-ball six with seven fours and 10 sixes to win Chhaima's run-scoring push the total of 221. Sooryavanshi, with the help of

Sunrisers Hyderabad, riding on Skipper Pat Cummins' fabulously-executed 3-28 and an aggressive leading performance by Ishan Kishan (70), on Monday qualified for the playoffs of the IPL with a laboured five-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings. The result at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai also guaranteed a place in the playoffs for Gujarat Titans. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru were the initial outfit to enter the playoffs. The tournament, which will have its final on May 31 in Ahmedabad, now has five

Mitchell Starc took 4-40 as Delhi Capitals waged defeat against Rajasthan Royals to keep their play-off hopes alive in the IPL on Sunday. Starc claimed three scalps in a four-ball burst, including the scalp of skipper Riyan Parag (51), to restrict Rajasthan to 193-8 at Delhi's home Arun Jaitley Stadium. Rajasthan has added 47 runs in their second innings till the end of day two. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15) coming with a score of 46 off 21 balls, and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel (53), who

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured a much-needed 23-run victory against Punjab Kings on Sunday to reach the playoffs and veteran pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was delighted. Superstar Virat Kohli and middle-order batter Venkatesh Iyer scored sparkling half-centuries as Kumar produced a devastating new-ball spell to send defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru into the IPL playoffs here on Sunday. Fresh from his ninth hundred in the IPL, Kohli scored a wonderful 58 off 37 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes), Iyer followed with a

It was Jasprit Bumrah's first game as MI captain on Thursday and he led from the front as Tilak Varma's 75 not out off just 33 balls helped MI beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in IPL. Mumbai chased down 206 under lights at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with Varma again top-scoring for them from No. 4 — giving a world-class score to their rarefied batting line-up after slumping to 88-3: within points of being floored by another strong attack despite playing

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru cruised to the top of the IPL table with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders here Wednesday thanks to Virat Kohli's unbeaten 105. After a pair of ducks, Kohli came back with bang in Raipur and ran out the finish for his team batting first in chase of 193 to guide his chase home with class 60-ball innings. The 37-year-old struck his ninth hundred in IPL, hitting 11 fours and three sixes. Kohli also became the quickest

Kagiso Rabada of South Africa led an inspired pace attack as the Gujarat Titans surged to the top IPL table with a crushing 82-run defeat of Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday. In Ahmedabad, hosts Gujarat defended 168 as Rabada followed up figures of 3-28 by with his fellow quicks routed Hyderabad for just 86, the lowest in IPL history. Fellow fast Jason Holder mopped up the Hyderabad middle and lower-order with 3-20. The former champions Gujarat jumped above Hyderabad and defending champions Royal Challengers

Left-handed opener Najmul Hossain Shanto scored an unbeaten half-century as Bangladesh stretched their lead to 179 runs on a rain-hit fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan on Monday. They were 152-3 in their second innings at the close on Sunday, Shanto having made an unbeaten 58 as he batted alongside Mushfiqur Rahim who was on 16 in the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh resumed on their overnight score 7-0 only to lost openers early, Mahmudul Hasan Joy trapped leg

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque dug in to take Bangladesh to 101-2 at lunch on the first day of the first cricket test against Pakistan on Friday. After Pakistan put the home side to bat, Shanto and Mominul added 70 runs for the unbroken third wicket, putting Bangladesh on track toward a daunting score. Shanto was 39 not out off 50 balls and Mominul was on 31, at lunch. The tall, lanky fast bowler also appeared to be a thorn in

Mitchell Marsh struck 111 as Lucknow Super Giants edged out defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru by nine runs in a rain-marred IPL clash on Thursday. Marsh plundered nine fours and nine sixes in his 56-ball onslaught to help Lucknow reach an impressive total of 209-3 in a rain-shortened clash that saw each team bat for 19 overs at Ekana Stadium at Lucknow. Chasing a revised target of 213, Bengaluru lost Virat Kohli for two as he was out to Prince Yadav on the

Sunrisers Hyderabad, thus, ended up at the top of the IPL table on Wednesday with their convincing 33-run win over Punjab Kings as South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen too scored a good knock (69). Klaasen's innings was centered around crucial partnerships, one of 88 with Ishan Kishan (55) to take Hyderabad to 235-4 in their home Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Klaasen and Kishan provided the firepower on top after openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head had flayed 54 off only 21 balls. Abhishek smashed

India said it was ready to allow Pakistani athletes to participate in multilateral competitions held on its soil as New Delhi looks to carve a niche for itself on the world sporting stage India's youth affairs and sports ministry stated in a document seen by AFP on Wednesday that bilateral sporting engagements including cricket with its arch-rival would remain off the table. They competed in a brutal war last year, and they haven't played a bilateral cricket series involving both since 2007. The