Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Australia are beginning their new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle on a soil they haven’t played a Test game on since 2015. With a top-order that is so unlike what has been their regular since 2018. And at a venue that has not hosted any longest format game in the last three years. There is uncertainty for them, no matter how you look at this series. Uncertainty, it is, for West Indies, too. In fact, they decided to go one better than Australia by handing the captaincy duties to Roston Chase, who has not played in whites since 2023. In…

Roston Chase hasn’t played a Test game in over two years, but now, when he returns, he will have a team to lead against a side as huge as Australia. Surely, his name as the side’s captain comes as a surprise to many. And rightly so. He has only ever captained the West Indies’ white ball side, that too in just two games. But Chase has the assurance that he has what it takes to be a ‘good leader’. “I’ve never captained a senior team in terms of the West Indies team or Barbados team [in Tests]. But I’ve captained…

After more than a year since the conclusion of the multi-nation tournament, Oman Cricket (OC) has agreed to release the long-withheld prize money for its players and support staff. The board announced it will disburse $225,000 by July 2025. The decision, however, does little to heal the players whose careers have been permanently affected due to the payment delay. The Oman players’ struggle began shortly after the T20 World Cup ended. In a statement, the OC said the delay in releasing the money had been ‘procedural’ and was mainly due to pending post-event clarifications from the International Cricket Council (ICC).…

Jasprit Bumrah’s return to the Indian side after sitting a few months out looked pretty familiar. It was the same Bumrah. With nearly the same bowling action. Delivering the same hostile spells. He is back to spearheading India’s bowling lineup as if he never left. A fast bowler’s career is supposed to be rife with injuries. Bumrah, despite being nothing like mortals, has to conform to that tradition too. But each time he is sidelined with an injury, the first question that flows around is whether India have gone too far taking advantage of the little miracle they have. The…

Litton Das is set to make a return to ODIs after a lengthy absence, as Bangladesh announce their squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka next month. Bangladesh have made five changes to the squad that last played a one-day format game during the Champions Trophy earlier this year. Two of those changes come in the wake of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim’s retirements, both of whom bid adieu to the format after the Champions Trophy. Das, who was axed from the team after his rough patch, will make a comeback after more than six months, having missed the eight-team…

Once you’ve been on adventures, fought bad guys, travelled through underground tunnels, and worked with secret organizations, life as you knew it afterwards feels boring, mundane, and heavy. Even the collective dopamine of all world’s pleasures wouldn’t be able to cheer you up. Sam Konstas lived the same dream for a grand total of two Test games. He attempted a ramp shot against probably the best bowler across formats right now, Jasprit Bumrah, and actually pulled it off. He took him down for 18 runs in an over, something no one had ever done, and hit him for a six,…

England pacer Mark Wood might make an appearance in the ongoing red-ball series between India and England, albeit only in the last Test game. Wood, who underwent surgery on his knee in March, was forced out of competitive cricket for four months, which essentially ruled him out of the now-known Anderson-Tendulkar series. Things turned for the worse for him during England’s Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan in February, where he had to limp off the field four deliveries into his fourth over. He tried to continue bowling, returning after a brief break, but was eventually forced out and remained sidelined…

South Africa are set to start their two-Test match series against Zimbabwe in the absence of their regular captain, Temba Bavuma, who has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury he picked up during the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s last week. Proteas’ spinner Keshav Maharaj will fill in for Bavuma as the captain for the short tour. Bavuma’s injury, which he sustained while batting on the third day of the WTC final, has not healed in time for the series, which will not be a part of South Africa’s defence of the mace. The South African captain…

Australia will be without two of their regular starters, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, as they begin the Caribbean tour, their first assignment of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Smith, with his finger still in a splint, was always doubtful for this series after he dislocated it while attempting a catch off Temba Bavuma in the WTC Final last week. He opted against surgery, which could have shortened his recovery time, but there was no way he could have been fit to bat after just a week’s rest. “Steve needs more time for the wound to heal, so…

A day before his first assignment as a captain begins, Shubman Gill looked interested in putting risk-taker on his resume. The simplest recipe for winning a Test game is to ensure you get 20 wickets. But for many teams, it remains a unicorn. Gill, while fighting the jitters before his big day, believes India need to do just that. It’s, however, easier said than done. Not only do you need your bowlers to be at the ace of their game, but some cuts also need to be levied on batting depth. If a captain believes that risk is worth taking,…