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Australia have not played a single match of the current WTC campaign outside the SENA countries. In other words, they have reached the final while playing only in home-like conditions. While it would be too cruelly imprudent to say they extracted any sort of unfair advantage from the scheduling, a series at a venue polar opposite to their comfort zone could serve as the perfect cap to their extraordinary journey. And what better venue to test their skills than Galle itself, whose raging, unfathomable track will pose a challenge for Australia, who have largely relied on Nathan Lyon and part-timers…

India are 2-0 up in the series, and England will have to make their move if they do not want the series to slip through their fingers. But in all fairness, England have been badly outdone by the hosts, who did not fail to fire in any way, be it batting, bowling, or even fielding. There will be discussions around how the visitors have played, even some eyebrow raises for Jos Buttler and the new coach Brendon McCullum, none of those, though, will conclude without mentioning how the hosts essentially crippled the English.  But Buttler would be somewhat calm that…

A 120-run defeat at the hands of West Indies confirmed Pakistan’s last-place finish in the World Test Championship (WTC) table. But this did not make skipper Shan Masood abandon the side’s spin-inclined strategy. In fact, Masood advocates for such raging pitches to be replicated at all levels in Pakistan to prepare batters for the trouble they cause. “Domestic cricket will be played like this. We’ve already talked about this. The more we’ll play the better we’ll get at it. We’ve shown encouraging signs. After the four matches, we’ve won three in these conditions. We dominated the first hour of the…

You can never have enough spinners when touring Sri Lanka, especially when playing red-ball cricket. For a team like Australia, which has not played any Test games outside bouncy and seam-friendly SENA venues during this Test Championship cycle, the need for a stacked spin department is more pressing than ever now that they are gearing up for the Sri Lanka tour. For most of the current WTC cycle, they relied upon Nathan Lyon to manage the spin duties. That would be far from sustainable in Sri Lanka, so Matthew Kuhnemann and Cooper Conolly will join him as the side’s frontline…

There was a time when no sports were allowed to be played in Afghanistan, least of all cricket which was deemed as a game imported from Pakistan. Surprisingly, cricket soon became the only sport Afghanistan under the Taliban was allowed to play. One of the reasons why cricket forced its way out of the banned games was that the public had developed an undeniable penchant for it. Penchant might not be the right word to capture the essence of the connection that the Afghans forged with the game. In truth, there probably isn’t any word in existence adequate enough to…

Do you ever come across things that are not illegal but seem so? Pakistan’s new winning strategy sounds something like that. The first Test game in Multan ended within three days, thanks to the surface that splashed out wickets gleefully for spinners, with a total of 34 wickets going to their names. With the second Test set to be played in Multan as well, a repeat of the first game can be expected. If it really ends up being the case, should Pakistan worry about the ICC’s perspective on the pitch? And if the ICC does hand out a bad…

Bazball was revolutionary in Test cricket, but only because the bar was too low in the longest format. Being reckless, intently aggressive, and spanking everything out of the park were all somewhat new to the red-ball format. But can it gain the same reputation in the shorter formats, where recklessness is already a norm? This makes Bazball as we know it seem redundant in these formats of the game. The point, however, is; do we really know Bazball? While England are hoping to show they are as stable in the limited formats as they are in Tests, India need to…

England will have PTSD accompanying them this time they start their white-ball mega-event campaign, which is less than a month away. Their last two such tournaments were nothing less than shambolic. They were dismal in India during the ODI World Cup in 2023. And even though they made it to the semi-final in the T20 World Cup last year, much of it owed to how chances fared for them. The campaign was insipid. But luckily for them, they have just the right antidote for dullness, namely Brendon McCullum.  McCullum’s penchant for flamboyance helped England overcome their red-ball woes to a…

Rohit Sharma will continue to captain the Indian side in the upcoming Champions Trophy as well as the England series, which will be played as the build-up to the tournament. Arshdeep Singh has been selected ahead of the pacer Mohammad Siraj, after the former capped the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the highest wicket-taker.  Jasprit Bumrah’s participation, though, remains uncertain owing to the back spasm that forced him to abandon bowling on the fifth day of the final Test agaisnt Australia. India have until February 11 to announce their final squad for the tournament. They will want to observe Bumrah’s progress…

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to take a hard line on the Indian team in response to their recent back-to-back series defeats against Australia and New Zealand. The document titled ‘Policy Document for Team India,’ which included ten-point team rules and strict repercussions for non-compliance, was sent to all contracted players. According to the BCCI, the document aims to ‘promote discipline, unity, and a positive team environment.’ The BCCI prepared the document based on the suggestions made by the senior leadership during a review meeting. The meeting, which was held shortly after the Indian…