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Whatever happened in the last few weeks for England was dreadful. Probably worse than just that. The more they pushed to mend the broken, the worse it became. They would not think twice about erasing it from their minds if given a chance. England have not exactly been in a form that anyone could envy, but Brendon McCullum’s signing for white-ball coaching was seen as the first step to revolution even by the most realistic minds.  However, that revolution will have to wait because England are currently occupied with figuring out what went wrong for them. And, to be fair,…

India’s win against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) has propelled them to top Group A. This means the second-place holder in the Group B will contest them in the first semi-final, and that is none other than Australia. This also means that South Africa will be the team to fly back to Pakistan after making a pointless trip to the United Arab Emirates.  This will be India’s fourth consecutive semi-final appearance in ICC events, having played the semis in the T20 World Cups 2022 and 2024 and ODI World Cup 2023. However, they will have less…

Finally, the Champions Trophy has all its semi-finalists: South Africa, Australia, India, and New Zealand. But the drama is far from over. It’s like having all the right pieces of a puzzle but none in the right place. No one knows who will face whom and in which semi-final. But this match will provide answers to all those questions. As it stands, New Zealand and India occupy the first and second positions, respectively, on the table. If we go by how the teams are currently placed, India will face South Africa, and New Zealand will face Australia in the semifinals.…

Contrary to what the glass-half-full brigade would advise, there is little you can do when things are not going your way. You could have the sanest excuses, the soundest justifications, and the most accurate insights into your decline, but nothing changes the results. England’s fate, lately, has followed a similar route. This is the third ICC tournament they have crashed out of in as many years, without getting their hands on the glory.  In the immediate aftermath, Jos Buttler resigned as the side’s captain, but there is still no certainty whether this will bring any glad tidings for England whenever…

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…