Cricket

Like all sports across the globe, cricket hasn't been shielded by the financial impact of the COVID-19 break. In an exclusive interview with Cricbuzz, Arun Dhumal - BCCI Treasurer, opens up about the impact on Indian cricket, the board's course of action once normalcy resumes and why ICC tournaments could be sidelined in the near future. EXCERPTS: How much does the BCCI stand to lose financially due to the COVID-19 break? We'll be able to assess it once we know when we're going

Irfan Pathan, the former Indian all-rounder and Suresh Raina were recently involved in a live session on Instagram. During the interaction, they urged the Indian board to allow the non-contracted players to play in at least two foreign leagues that can help them in getting back into the national side. Now, a BCCI official has come out and said that the board always wants to maintain the reputation of those players that helps them in getting good value in IPL. In India, there is a

India opener Rohit Sharma, like several other cricketers, has kept himself busy by interacting with his fellow cricketers. A few days after interacting with Kevin Pietersen and Mohammed Shami, Rohit held a discussion with Australia opener David Warner. The veteran cricketers spoke on a range of topics and also talked about Shikhar Dhawan, who has opened the innings with both of them. During the interaction, Rohit also opened up on his future and hinted that he might retire soon. Rohit, who is 33 now, said that

With Covid-19 wreaking havoc to several cricket calendars, various boards are furiously working out on revising their schedules with a view of getting the game back on track - with or without spectators. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which is facing the immediate challenge of trying to resurrect at least part of the domestic as well as the international season, has even gone ahead with plans of 'biosecurity measures', including daily temperature checks on the players, regular Covid-19 swabs and even

India's cricket team is prepared to undergo quarantine to salvage a money-spinning Test series against Australia, a top official said on Friday, but there was less optimism about this year's Twenty20 World Cup taking place Down Under. Virat Kohli's men are scheduled to contest a four Test series in Australia towards the end of the year but will need to isolate for two weeks under current COVID-19 rules.Board of Control for Cricket in India treasurer Arun Dhumal said the Test team were willing to make

Seven months after creating history by becoming the MCC's first-ever non-British President, Kumar Sangakkara is all set to enter an elite list of people who have served multiple terms. According to a latest update, the Committee of MCC have decided to offer the Sri Lankan batting legend an extension of his ongoing term that's slated to end on 30th September 2020. This agenda will need the members' approval at MCC's Annual General Meeting which is scheduled for 24th June. Traditionally, the successor is named during

Australian spin legend Shane Warne has offered a unique answer to the question of how to swing the ball without using saliva or resorting to tampering in a post COVID-19 world — make one side of it heavier to ensure that it doesn’t need any shining. Warne feels it can help fast bowlers generate swing even on flat wickets and permanently eradicate ball-tampering. “Why can’t the ball be weighted on one side so it always swings? It would be like a taped tennis ball or

Former India chief selector MSK Prasad has responded to veteran batsman Suresh Raina’s comments that selectors should take more responsibility when dealing with senior players. While explaining the reason behind Raina’s failure to make a comeback in the Indian team, Prasad said the southpaw was not picked due to his poor form in the 2018-19 domestic season. Raina, who has appeared in 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is apart from 18 Tests, last played for India in July 2018 in England after which he

Now every fan remembers Sachin Tendulkar’s of the desert storm match which remains fresh in the archives of our memories. The match between India and Australia, Coca Cola Cup 1998 was held at Sharjah was a massive desert storm stopped the play when Sachin Tendulkar was batting. During one of the interviews, the Master Blaster spoke about being struck by fear since it was the first time he saw something like this. The first thought that cropped up in his mind was that

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson would have been on the non-stop IPL treadmill with the Rajasthan Royals if the pandemic hadn’t brought life to a stop. The 25-year-old is innovating when it comes to practice but is also learning to do nothing and enjoy the idleness. In a chat with The Indian Express, the talented youngster talks about being moved by the plight of migrant workers during the lockdown, why he considers himself fortunate, and the challenges of staying away from the game. Excerpts: How have you managed to

India Women’s ODI captain Mithali Raj believes that the pause in sporting activity due to the coronavirus pandemic has evened out the competition and there will be no favourites for the 2021 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. With lockdowns in place almost everywhere in the world, sport finds itself in limbo, with games suspended and strict social distancing norms in place. “Access to gyms is restricted and play has been put on hold. So the 2021 World Cup is pretty much open and there

India skipper Virat Kohli, limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma and tennis star Sania Mirza were among sports personalities, who took part in an online concert to raise funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 2 lakh people globally. As part of the initiative by ‘iFor India’, actors, musicians, singers, sportspersons and business leaders came together to entertain people from their homes in a bid to help the COVID-19 pandemic cause. The proceeds from the concert will go to the India

India are no more the No. 1 ranked-Test team as Australia have become the new table-toppers in the longest format of the game, according to the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings updated on Friday. India have now slipped to the 3rd spot on the ICC Test rankings with Australia taking the top spot and New Zealand jumping to the 2nd position. Australia have 116 rating points, New Zealand 115 and India 114 in the latest rankings. "India have yielded the top spot

Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis have lost their Cricket Australia contracts after falling out of favour with the national selectors over the past 12 months, leaving both with a particularly steep battle to return to international cricket whenever it resumes after the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Ashton Turner and the retired Peter Siddle, Stoinis and Khawaja were broadly expected to be missing when the list was announced on Thursday, but their absence for the first time in some years

India opener Rohit Sharma celebrates his 33rd birthday on Thursday. The right-handed batsman, popularly nicknamed as “Hitman”, is known for his penchant of playing big innings, especially in the limited-overs format. He is the only batsman in the world to have scored three double hundreds in the ODIs. He also holds the record of the highest ODI score - 264* - which he scored against Sri Lanka. On his birthday, here is a chance to relive Rohit’s three double hundreds in the ODIs.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Executive Committee took a decision to grant its member clubs (ones, which maintain cricket grounds) a sum of LKR 100,000 each for the months of March and April to help upkeep the standards of the venues and infrastructure facilities. They will be giving the District Cricket Associations a grant of LKR 150,000 to help uplift the livelihood of players from district squads as well as managerial staff who are facing financial strains due to the situation. Eleven member clubs

There's no doubt that most people want to spend as much time as possible with their families. But that doesn't change the fact that if people are not allowed to go about their daily work for a prolonged period of time and have to remain within the confines of their homes, it gets harder and harder to stay calm and focussed. Now think of professional athletes - men and women whose entire lives are dictated by fixed routines. Almost every hour of every

All-rounder Vijay Shankar on Sunday said that he used to look up to former batsman Rahul Dravid while growing up. Shankar was doing an Instagram Live session with Australian batsman David Warner on the official handle of the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.The all-rounder said that he started following Dravid after the batsman's match-winning knock at the Adelaide Oval against Australia. "I looked up to Rahul Dravid growing up, I became a big fan of him after the Adelaide Test in 2003, that was an amazing knock," Shankar told Warner during

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, on Saturday, hand-picked his five favourite all-rounders in the world. Sachin, who recently celebrated his 47th birthday, graced Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’ with his presence. In that show, he named Kapil Dev as his favourite all-rounders upfront. Dev was instrumental in India’s dominance in World Cricket in the mid-80s. Then, Sachin named world-beaters Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee. Imran was the spearhead of Pakistan’s bowling front for several years and consistently contributed in the lower-middle order.

Big-hitting West Indies opener Chris Gayle says India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is “very annoying” on social media and he is going to block him. Chahal is one of the most busiest India cricketers on social media and with the coronavirus-forced lockdown in place, he is spending more time than ever on various platforms. “I am going to tell TikTok to block you as well, seriously. You are very annoying on social media man. You need to get off social media right now. We are tired of