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Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna had a full-of-horrors Test match in Leeds. Shardul, who returned to the side after 18 months, was expensive in his spells and could only grab a couple of wickets across both innings. And while Krishna was a tad more lethal, having taken five wickets throughout the game, he was equally expensive, if not more. He bowled at more than a run-a-ball in both innings and was naturally at the centre of the slamming post-match. Krishna, who took six wickets in the Sydney Test earlier this year, was selected for his ability to hit the deck…

The first real test of your self-restraint begins when you realise the alternatives you have are miles behind the thing you vowed to avoid. Right that moment, you have two options. The first, the more ideal one, is not to give in to your hankerings, no matter how bad the situation is. The second is to start negotiating with yourself to loosen the restrictions. India stand at the same crossroads right now. They are not only one down, just a game into the series, but also have several things to fix, things which would take some time to fix. And…

India were sailing ahead of England almost the entire Test, but at times they didn’t; turned out to matter more in the end. As Shubman Gill recounted, the difference between what India aimed to score in the third innings and what they actually put up was jarring. The latter half of the Indian batting lineup was cleared for just 29 runs. The first half wasn’t too impressive either. Barring Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, both of whom scored centuries, India’s highest individual score while setting the target was 30. “I think yesterday we were thinking that we’re going to give…

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…