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South Africa have one final group stage game left in the ongoing Champions Trophy. If they win it, they will soar to the top of the table with five points, scampering through to the semi-finals. If they lose it, they’ll still very probably make it to the next stage, but as second-place holders instead. Wherever they end up, the Proteas would want to avoid facing India in the knockout game. And this has nothing to do with India’s invincibility or South Africa’s PTSD from the T20 World Cup final last year. The issue is that whoever draws India in the…

In 2022, Jos Buttler led England to their first T20 World Cup win after 12 years. Since then, triumphs have largely been elusive. As captain, Buttler has failed to defend two titles, the ODI World Cup in 2023 and the T20 World Cup last year, and has now crashed out of another. The writing on the wall about Buttler’s captaincy has become clearer, and he knows that. This is not only about tournaments. England have, lately, been incredibly mundane in bilaterals, too. Since the conclusion of the ODI World Cup, England have only won four out of 16 ODI games. …

The Champions Trophy is not for the weak-hearted. It’s unforgiving. It’s cruel. One mistake and before you know it, you are out of the tournament. Even if you are the host. Two games in, both Pakistan and Bangladesh found themselves ruled out. Who does one sympathize with more? Pakistan, whose defense campaign ended almost as soon as it began? Or Bangladesh who are regressing consistently in each ICC event? Perhaps one can decide that after seeing how the two sides fare against each other.  Pakistan’s defeats were more comprehensive than what Bangladesh had to endure. Consequently, they are at the…

Australia’s Test and ODI captain, Pat Cummins, has resumed bowling in rehab after nursing his ankle injury which flared up due to the workload during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) a few weeks ago. The ankle injury ruled him out of the ongoing Champions Trophy too, but Cummins seems hopeful for a return in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month.  The Australian fast bowler also missed his team’s tour of Sri Lanka after the conclusion of the BGT. This was mainly due to the birth of his child, although he was also dealing with the same injury at that time.…

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have a title to defend this season. But before they can begin their campaign, they need a new captain. Shreyas Iyer, who guided the side to victory last year, has been released by the franchise. However, another Iyer has entered the picture. Venkatesh Iyer was KKR’s biggest buy this year. The franchise spent a whopping INR 23.75 crore for the fast-bowling all-rounder, who has a total of only eleven international caps to his name. Naturally, he is among the leading candidates to captain the Kolkata-based team this season.  While Iyer has no captaincy experience at either…

Bangladesh are one of the first two sides to crash out of the Champions Trophy. More or less, the same has been their fate in the ICC events in the recent past. But skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto admits his batters need more mental toughness. And that, according to him, can only come when the players are given consistent chances to prove themselves. “I have said it a lot of times in the past, but we [have] made the same mistakes over and over again,” Shanto said in a press conference after Bangladesh’s elimination from the Champions Trophy. “We have to…

One group in this tournament has gone zen, while the other is immersed in a full-blown rock concert. It’s chaotic in Group B. One slip and your team boards the first flight home. For Afghanistan and England, every game from here on is a must-win. But one of these sides will be relieved of that pressure by the end of this game, though not in the way they would fancy. In other words, whichever team loses in Lahore, will play their last game as a dead rubber. England would not want to be that team, not after crashing prematurely out…

The Australian players just rode back to the hotel after a washout in Pindi. Having already secured one win, in their opener, the rain interference does not threaten them too much. And that only makes them more grateful for how they trampled England the other day. For once, coming into a mega-event, Australia were far from their usual ruthless selves. They had lost their entire pace attack, their captain, one of their most explosive batters, and an all-rounder who would have been very crucial to their team combination in the tournament. The effects of these absences were immediate. The Aussies…

The hunt for the semi-finals is nearly over in Group A, but Group B still has plenty of drama in store, the first of which will unfold in the high-stakes contest between South Africa and Australia. Both teams have secured one victory each. Australia stunned England in what seemed to be a one-sided game in the latter’s favor. South Africa, on the other hand, silenced all the doubts about their form by comprehensively defeating Afghanistan. This game could go a long way in shaping the semi-finalists, but neither side will have it easy. Australia could not have asked for a…

This match will be the most crucial game of the Champions Trophy so far. It will all but confirm New Zealand’s advancement to the semi-finals and could officially end whatever survival chances Bangladesh and Pakistan have left in the tournament. But the Kiwis are in red-hot form, and it will take something special to stop them. Although they have only played one game in the tournament so far, they have looked unstoppable since the start of the tournament. In fact, their exploits in the Tri-nation series before the Champions Trophy made them favorites coming into the event. Bangladesh lost their…