Cricket NewsX

Ian Chappell, Pat Cummins and Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) taking place in October-November window is increasingly looking possible as the ICC is set to postpone the T20 World Cup. The tournament was scheduled to be played from October 18 to November 15 but with the ongoing pandemic, it looks practically impossible for the cricketers from 16 countries to come together in Australia. The BCCI is reportedly looking at the window to organise the IPL, most likely behind the closed doors. But it clashes with Australia’s domestic season in that case. For the same reason, the former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell feels the top players should prefer playing in the Sheffield Shield rather than in the IPL. He feels that the cricketers are obligated to Australia for the amount they get paid from the board. “Well this is coming from someone who’s never been a fan of the board, but the top players are looked after very well by ...

Gautam Gambhir, Ambati Rayudu and MSK Prasad. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Many Team India veterans had recently pointed out the fault in the communication process between selectors and players. From Yuvraj Singh to Suresh Raina, many former and out of favour cricketers had voiced out their opinion regarding the lack of communication between selectors and senior players. They even had suggested that selectors should convey messages to senior players in a better way if possible. Discussing over the aforementioned issue, Gautam Gambhir, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad were involved in a debate. Gambhir dished out his opinion that the skipper should also be involved in the selection process and he should be appointed as a selector as well. Former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, while responding to Gambhir’s suggestion, said that a captain always has a say in the selection process. However, a captain does not have a vote in the selection procedu...

Imran Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter) A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane, on Friday, crashed near the Jinnah International Airport much prior to its scheduled landing. The flight was about to land in Karachi when the crash happened at the Jinnah Garden area which is close to Model Colony in Malir. The plane was reportedly carrying around 99 passengers and eight crew and was flying from Lahore to Jinnah International Airport before the incident took place. The news of this devastating crash spread like wildfire on Twitter as entire Pakistan was left stunned by the incident. People started sharing their condolences after the crash and mourned the loss of lives. Former Pakistan speedster also offered his condolences and prayed for the families of victims. The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ condoled the deaths of his fellow countrymen, victims of the plane crash and offered his prayers to those affected in his tweet. “Just heard the devastating news of PIA plane crash. Ma...

Irfan Pathan. (Photo Source: CricTracker) India has experienced a spike in the Coronavirus cases over the last few days. The count has gone past 1 lakh in the country despite the nationwide lockdown since March 24. Gujarat is the third most affected state in India after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with more than 12,500 cases out of which almost 750 people have lost their lives. To discuss the current situation and the steps to be taken in the near future to contain the virus, the former India cricketer Irfan Pathan visited the Collector Office in Vadodara to meet Shalini Agarwal and also interacted with the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani through video conference on Wednesday. Vadodara Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut and other notable people also attended the meeting. Irfan has been at the forefront in terms of helping the needy, along with his brother Yusuf Pathan, during the ongoing pandemic donating masks and distributing the essential items. This time around he too...

Allan Border. (Photo Source: Twitter) Cricket has affected severely due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. No international cricket has taken place since March with even the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) also being postponed until further notice. Even as some of the boards are pondering resuming the sport behind closed doors, the doubts continue to linger over the happening of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in Australia later this year. Reports suggest that the postponement is inevitable and the ICC is likely to confirm the same any time in the next week. Moreover, the ICC event not happening in October-November opens up a window for the IPL to take place. Speculations are being made that the BCCI might look to host the T20 extravaganza in India during this period depending upon the situation in the country. However, former Australia cricketer Allan Border is against it. He stated that the IPL shouldn’t replace the World event and also didn’t seem to be happy wi...

Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) IPL 2020 has been the talk of the town. Earlier, BCCI suspended the tournament for an indefinite period amid COVID-19 outbreak. But now, there are speculations that it might be organised in October-November window. However, the BCCI is currently waiting for the postponement of the T20 World Cup that is scheduled to begin in October. Now, Arun Dhumal has come out and said that the board will look to stage IPL if and only if the slot is available. The 13th edition of cash-rich league was set to begin from March 29. But the Indian board postponed it to mid-April due to the coronavirus pandemic. Afterwards, the Indian government extended nationwide lockdown to May 1. And, the BCCI was left with no other option but to suspend the league until any further notice. ‘It all depends on what the Australian government’: Arun Dhumal If the cash-rich league doesn’t get organized in the ongoing year then Indian cricket board ...

Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images) India skipper Virat Kohli is known to be extremely aggressive on the field and is involved in a lot of verbal volleys too often. But he respects the opposition as well and has very good relations with most of the cricketers off the field. His camaraderie with certain overseas cricketers is well known to many while his humility was on display recently during a Facebook live session with Tamim Iqbal as well. Similarly, Kohli shares a special bond with New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and has always praised the latter for his humble nature. Both are very good friends and were spotted chatting during one of the matches of the T20I series recently. Team India was in the Kiwi nation for 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs and a couple of Tests which is also incidentally the last time, the Men in Blue took the field. During the T20Is, when both the regular skippers were resting, both Virat Kohli and Williamson were seen having an ext...

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter) After taking over the reins from MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli has performed exceedingly well across all formats. The current Indian skipper has certainly been able to live up to his words as India’s overseas record has improved massively under Virat Kohli’s leadership. Along with paving his way into the elite list of batsmen, Kohli has left no stones unturned in flaunting his captaincy skills. The 31-year-old has extensively led the Indian side across all formats and many people feel the need for a split captaincy to reduce Kohli’s workload. Former Indian cricket team pacer Atul Wassan feels Rohit Sharma should take over the Indian team captaincy from Kohli. According to Wassan, Rohit should be assigned the captaincy, at least in T20Is, to destress Kohli’s mind. Wassan also opined that Kohli leads from the front and his captaincy record is exemplary. He further said that Kohli is the best in Tests as well as ODIs and hence, the righ...

Manish Pandey (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Manish Pandey, the Indian middle-order batsman has become a regular face of the national side in the limited-overs format. He is one of the fittest cricketers in Team India and moreover, he has a massive fan following across the globe. Recently, he revealed one of his fondest memories while growing up as an individual in an army family. The Army kids have a very different lifestyle in comparison to other people in India . They keep shifting from one place to another according to the posting. The best part is that they meet different families, make new friends. But, they also face some hardships during their journey. Manish Pandey recalls his childhood memory The Uttarakhand-born player opened up about one of the memories from his childhood and said that he had a DDLJ moment that didn’t have a happy ending. The 30-year-old cited the fact that he was born into an army family. So, they had to keep shifting from one place to another. “As an ...

Shoaib Akhtar and Babar Azam. (Photo Source: Twitter) Babar Azam, the newly appointed Pakistan’s ODI captain recently attended his first-ever virtual conference after getting the responsible post. But, it didn’t go down well for the youngster as he hogged the spotlight for many wrong reasons. The former cricketers like Rashid Latif and Shoaib Akhtar are not impressed for his visionless press-conference. The aforementioned duo also said that Babar needs to learn many things going into the future as a skipper. The right-handed batsman was given a reward by the PCB for his consistent run with the bat across all the formats. He has given remarkable performances in the past on the back of his technically sound batting style. In 2019, he was appointed Pakistan’s skipper in the T20I format. Now, he was handed with another important responsibility by his cricket board. It is a well-known fact that Babar is not very fluent in speaking English. Recently, a former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir ...

Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic. (Photo Source: Instagram) India stalwart Hardik Pandya is one of the highest-paid cricketers at the moment. The all-rounder has gained many accolades for his performances over the years. Despite being sidelined from the Indian side since the past few months due to an injury, Pandya is still looked upon as one of the most talented all-rounders in the international circuit. Along with his cricketing skills, Pandya’s brand value and luxurious lifestyle also steal the limelight many a time. In the Forbes Celebrity 100 list for 2019, Pandya clinched the 32nd spot, well above the likes of Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor and fellow Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul. According to Forbes, Pandya earned a staggering amount of Rs 24.87 in 2019. Hence, living a grand lifestyle is an everyday affair for the all-rounder. Talking about how the all-rounder earner around Rs 25 crores last year, Pandya earned a fair share through his BCCI and IPL contract...

Match Details: The 4th match of Vanuatu Blast T10 League 2020 will be played between Mighty Efate Panthers and MT Bulls at the Vanuatu Cricket Ground – Hybrid Oval. The match starts at 3:00 PM local time (9:30 AM IST) (4:00 AM GMT). This game can be streamed live on CricTracker’s YouTube channel. Preview: Panthers have registered back to back wins in Vanuatu Blast T10 League 2020. They will be eager to register their third win in a row against MT Bulls. Interestingly, they also have an edge in the upcoming match as they have already defeated the same opponent in the previous encounter. Now, it will be interesting to see if they can continue with their winning streak. On the other hand, MT Bulls suffered defeat in the previous match. Their batsmen failed to score good runs with the bat due to which they ended up losing the game. However, Bulls will expect them to come up with some convincing effort in the contest against Panthers. And, the chances are quite high that they will com...

ECN Czech Super Series T10 League. (Photo Source: Twitter) The cricket scenario has come to a standstill post the outbreak of COVID-19. Cricket fanatics are left with nothing to watch amid this pandemic as all major sporting events are either postponed or called off in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. Amid these trying times, cricket is all set to start in the Czech Republic. The ECN Czech Super Series T10 league is set to start from June 13 where a total of 16 teams will contest for the trophy. The fast-paced league is a collaboration of the European Cricket Network (ECN) and Czech Cricket board and it will be played in the T10 format. To add the excitement, the tournament will boast many stars from the Czech Republic national cricket team. The Super Series will be a set of four separate tournaments, with each tournament featuring four teams. The winner from each tournament will advance to the ‘Top 4’ list and eventually battle it out for the title. Here’s the full schedule, ...

Match Details: The 3rd match of Betbarter Vanuatu Blast T10 League 2020 will be played between Ifira Sharks and MT Bulls at the Vanuatu Cricket Ground – Hybrid Oval. The match starts at 1:00 PM local time (7:30 AM IST) (2:00 AM GMT). This game can be streamed live on CricTracker’s YouTube channel. Preview: Sharks lost their tournament opener by a margin of five wickets. However, now they will look to return back on the winning track against MT Bulls. They have a formidable line-up that consists of some prolific players in their ranks. They will surely bank on their bowling line up that looks pretty much on track. On the other hand, Bulls also had a similar type of a start as they lost their opening game against Mighty Efate Panthers. But, their players showed some glimpses of their impressive form. Andrew Mansale, who played one of his best knocks in the previous game will look to click another one from his willow. Weather Condition/Report: With no chances of rain, it is expecte...

Karan Wahi and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper is known for his aggression on the field and his fans are well aware of the fact that he never bows down in front of his opponents. However, in lockdown, he is showing his comic side to everyone. Recently, Anushka Sharma shared a clip in which the Delhiite could be spotted behaving like a Dinosaur that left everyone in splits. Meanwhile, Karan Wahi, a close friend of Kohli came out with a comment. But, the 31-year-old was not very thrilled with the same and gave a cheeky reply. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the cricketers have become more than active on social media platforms. Many have shifted their focus towards Apps like Tik-Tok. In the meantime, there are some, who are busy doing the live sessions with their teammates and other players. Karan Wahi comments on Anushka Sharma’s post; Virat Kohli responds At the same time, Kohli is busy easing down the mood of the fans. Recently, Anushka Shar...

India and Australia (Photo Source: Twitter) The COVID-19 outbreak has compelled the world to a standstill. The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world as more than 3 lakh individuals have succumbed to death. The coronavirus pandemic has put the human existence in jeopardy and most countries are currently under lockdown to tackle the pandemic. Along with human existence, the COVID-19 outbreak has also affected the sporting scenario. All major tournaments including the much-awaited IPL 2020 have been postponed indefinitely in the wake of the pandemic. Along with IPL 2020, another major event — T20 World Cup 2020– is also set to be postponed. The mega-event in Australia was initially scheduled in the October-November window. However, considering the current situation, the T20 World Cup is likely to postponed further and an official announcement on these lines can be expected next week. At the moment, the main concern for ICC and Cricket Australia is to finalize a new window to h...

Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock. (Photo Source: Twitter) Contradictory statements continue to come from the BCCI over the resumption of cricket for team India. Only a day after it was reported that the Indian board has expressed its willingness to play three T20 Internationals in South Africa, one of its officials has confirmed that it is tough for the series to go ahead. With the cricket boards finding a way to start international cricket, on Thursday, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and CSA’s director of cricket Graeme Smith finalised the series via teleconference. The T20I tussle is not the part of the FTP but was negotiated by the two parties during CSA’s executive trip to India in February. However, the BCCI official reckons that the players will have to practice enough before travelling to other countries to play cricket. He pointed out that team India players haven’t played any kind of cricket since March (after returning from New Zealand tour) and they will need battin...

Aakash Chopra. (Photo Source: Facebook) Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has been quite active on social media amid his quarantine period. The former India opener has never shied away from expressing his opinions on social media. Chopra, like many others, has shared many ‘All-time XI’ since the past couple of months. Chopra has now picked his all-time XI of Mumbai Indians in which he assigned the skipper’s role to Rohit Sharma instead of Sachin Tendulkar. Considering the impressive captaincy record of Rohit, it was an obvious choice for Chopra. Tendulkar led MI to 32 wins in 55 matches at a winning percentage of 58.18. Rohit, who has captained MI to 64 wins in 109 matches. However, it’s the silverware which sets Rohit apart from Tendulkar . Rohit is the leading run-scorer for the franchise with 3728 runs 143 matches and has steered the franchise to four IPL trophies. Chopra picked Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya as two openers of his squad and slotted Rohit at the No.3 ...