Cricket world

Gambhir (PC: X) Former England captain and current commentator Michael Atherton has warned Team India coach Gautam Gambhir that if India end up losing the ongoing England Test series, it will be their third consecutive Test series defeat—and that could create problems for him. Before the tour of England, India lost back-to-back Test series. First, they were badly whitewashed at home by New Zealand, and then they lost to Australia in Australia by 3-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. “Well, they’ve lost two series in a row. They lost at home to New Zealand 3-0 and they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1. If they lose this series then yeah, he’s under pressure as a coach,” said Atherton on Sky Sports. India has a huge fanbase all over the world. Whenever and wherever the Indian team plays, there are always huge expectations from them. “India, with all their resources, their population strength, they’re not a team that people are patient with. They’re expected to win every time they...

Shubman Gill run-out at Oval. Image: Debasis Sen Boria Majumdar at The Oval in London This series will be remembered as the tale of two run-outs. While we don’t know yet if the Shubman Gill run-out will impact the outcome, the truth is that England must have felt like they had won the national lottery to see India’s best batter get run out like that. Gill was looking in fine touch once again, and nothing much was happening for England on a green wicket. The bowlers hadn’t been able to bowl the right lines and India, after the fall of the KL Rahul’s wicket, had taken control. Let’s be clear. There was no run there. Debating whether Sai  Sudharsan could have made his ground and all that is plain rubbish. No way should you run for that. The bowler had three stumps to aim at, and knocked down the middle one. It was the perfect brain-fade moment and yet another opportunity lost for India. It was Gill who kept running. Sai had not responded to the call,  and yet, India’s skip...

India U-19 will play five matches in Australia. (PC: BCCI) After a successful stint as captain during the recent England tour, Ayush Mhatre has once again been entrusted with leading the India Under-19 team. He will head a 17-member squad for the upcoming multi-format tour of Australia, starting September 21 in Norths. The squad also features in-form batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Top-order batter Vihaan Malhotra has been appointed vice-captain, replacing wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu. Vihaan impressed across both the four-day and one-day formats in England and has been rewarded with a leadership role for the Australia tour. Under Mhatre’s captaincy, India U-19 clinched the Youth ODI series in England with a 3–2 win, while the two-match Youth Test series ended in a rain-affected draw. Mhatre led by example, amassing 340 runs in four innings, including a standout century. Suryavanshi was the top performer in the ODIs, racking up 355 runs in five innings. Several players from th...

India_Champions (PC-X) India Champions have declined to play against arch-rivals Pakistan Champions in the second edition of the World Championship of Legends (WCL). The two Asian giants were set to clash in the first semi-final on 31 July, but the fixture has now been cancelled. As a result, Pakistan Champions have advanced to the final after India Champions opted out of the semi-final, despite having finished fourth in the group with three points. Pakistan Champions had topped the group with nine points. This is the second time in the same tournament that India Champions have boycotted a match against their arch-rivals. “At WCL, we have always believed in the power of sport to inspire and bring about positive change in the world. However, public sentiment must always be respected — after all, everything we do is for our audience. We respect the India Champions’ decision to withdraw from the semi-finals, and we equally respect the Pakistan Champions’ readiness to compete. Taking...

Abhishek_Sharma(PC: BCCI) Abhishek Sharma has leapfrogged Travis Head to become the number one ranked T20I batter in the world. According to the updated ICC Men’s T20I rankings, Abhishek, with 829 points, sits at the top—15 points ahead of Head. The 24-year-old left-hander becomes only the third Indian batter to be ranked number one in T20Is, following in the footsteps of Virat Kohli and the current Indian T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav. Head had held the top spot since overtaking Suryakumar during the 2024 T20I World Cup. However, he recently missed the series against the West Indies, which cost him his position. The Australian batter will have an opportunity to reclaim the number one ranking in the upcoming home series against South Africa, starting next month. Tilak Varma holds the third position in the rankings, while Suryakumar is placed sixth. In another notable change in the men’s T20I rankings, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis has climbed six places to reach n...

Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja at Old Trafford (Image: Debasis Sen) / Nick Compton (Instagram) RevSportz Exclusive India’s men’s cricket team are set to begin the final Test match of the series against England from July 31, at The Kia Oval. Trailing 2-1, India go into this match after a thrilling draw in Manchester, with the aim of winning the match and levelling up the series 2-2. In a candid conversation with RevSportz, former England cricketer Nick Compton spoke about the series so far, England’s Bazball approach, the ‘Handshake Controversy’, Jasprit Bumrah at The Oval, and much more. Firstly, I would love to know your thoughts on the series so far. It has been quite a heated contest. Both teams have been performing superbly. What kind of advertisement for Test cricket do you think this has been? Nick Compton: Yeah, look, I think firstly it has been a great advertisement. Test cricket has been under scrutiny for some time now, hasn’t it? But it has a habit of produci...

A moment from the argument – Gautam Gambhir pointing a finger at Head grounds man Lee Fortis for something he said to the home team (PC: RevSportz) I was recording my explainer of what happened between Gautam Gambhir and Lee Fortis from the stands just below the media box while two of the crew members from the rights-holding broadcaster were busy doing their work inside the ground. We were in close proximity to each other, and they were listening to me recounting what had transpired between Gautam and Fortis. As soon as I finished, one of them said to me, “That was actually very well said. We experience this all the time.” As I asked him to tell me more, he was conscious of what he had done. “Off the record,” he said, and smiled. “This is an issue with him and this isn’t the first time.” He then went back to his work. For More Updates From England : Follow RevSportz BREAKING: The Oval Ground Staff, Lee Fortis tries to play down the spat and says,”Gambhir is a touchy guy.” @debas...

Hope (PC: X) West Indies suffered a harsh 5-0 whitewash at the hands of Australia in their recent T20I series, but captain Shai Hope is already shifting his focus to the upcoming home series against Pakistan, which begins on July 31. Reflecting on the disappointing campaign, Hope pointed out the team’s inconsistent batting as the key reason behind their struggles across the five games. “I just didn’t think we put together a proper batting display. We either started well and finished poorly or the other way around,” Hope admitted during the post-match presentation after the final T20I. In the first three matches, West Indies got off to solid starts but failed to sustain the momentum. “As a batting group, we didn’t really give ourselves the best chance to put a big score on the board consistently. And that’s probably where we fell short. We’ve always been one step behind the eight-ball,” he added. Hope also touched upon the impact of losing all five tosses in the series. With West...

Jurel (PC- BCCI) Team India batter Ajinkya Rahane has applauded the way Dhruv Jurel has kept wickets in the fourth Test in Manchester. Rishabh Pant played as the first-choice wicketkeeper for India in all four Test matches of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. However, in the third Test at Lord’s, when Pant injured his finger and had to leave the field, Jurel suddenly had to get ready to put on the gloves and keep for India. In the next match in Manchester, Pant injured his foot in the first innings while batting and couldn’t take the field for wicketkeeping duties, so Jurel had to keep wickets for the entire match. In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Rahane praised Jurel because, for him, it is not easy for any player to come in the middle of the game suddenly and perform. “When you are sitting outside, when you are watching the game, and suddenly you have to come inside and do the wicketkeeping, which I feel in England is the most toughest job. I thought he did that ...

Debasis Sen from London Following the dramatic draw between India and England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, all eyes are now on the fifth and final Test at The Oval, scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 31. While players like captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah will take much of the spotlight, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has been one of the most consistent and hardworking performers for India throughout the series. The Hyderabad pacer has emerged as the workhorse of the Indian bowling unit, having bowled more overs than any other Indian bowler in the series. Siraj is the only Indian fast bowler to have played all four Tests so far, sending down a total of 139 overs—more than any of his pace-bowling teammates. Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the second Test to manage his workload, has bowled 119.4 overs. Meanwhile, Akash Deep has bowled 72.1 overs in two matches, and Prasidh Krishna has delivered 62 overs across two appearances. In terms of w...