Cricket

Afghanistan’s Mohammad Saleem, left, looks heavenwards, after taking five wickets. (AP Photo) TimesofIndia.com in Mullanpur: Three years ago, when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan arrived at Afghanistan’s high-performance centre in Kabul as bowling coach, one young fast bowler immediately grabbed his attention. Mohammad Saleem Safi, a lanky pacer from Baghlan province, was bowling with genuine pace and troubling…

India’s captain Shubman Gill (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) Shubman Gill is enjoying the finest phase of his Test career since taking over the captaincy of the Indian team. The right-hander has transformed into a run-scoring machine in red-ball cricket, producing one remarkable performance after another while leading from the front.Gill’s latest century against Afghanistan further strengthened…

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Image credit: ICC) NEW DELHI: With his fireworks in the IPL, Under-19 World Cup and domestic circuit, young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has earned a place in the senior India side. Sooryavanshi on Saturday received his maiden call-up to India’s T20I squad for the tours of Ireland and England, as well as the…

File Pic: Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Shubman Gill had stronger cricketing credentials than Shreyas Iyer to become India’s next T20I captain, but feels the Gujarat Titans skipper lost out because of the difficulty in fitting him into the playing XI.The former batter’s remarks came…

Rishabh Pant (Image credit: X) NEW DELHI: Afghanistan missed a golden opportunity to dismiss the in-form Rishabh Pant on Day 2 of the one-off Test at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.The incident occurred in the 89th over of India’s innings when Azmatullah Omarzai induced a loud caught-behind appeal against…

Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav (Pic credit: T20 Mumbai) NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer‘s first day as India’s new T20I captain could hardly have unfolded in a more dramatic fashion.Hours after the BCCI announced Iyer as Suryakumar Yadav‘s successor at the helm of the national T20 side, the two Mumbai stalwarts faced off in the T20…

Shubman Gill‘s unbeaten century against Afghanistan on Day 1 of the one-off Test was significant not only for the match situation but also for the milestone it helped him achieve.The Indian skipper became just the 11th captain from the country to score 1,000 runs in Test cricket while leading the side. More impressively, Gill reached…

Former England spinner Graeme Swann backed teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to feature in India’s T20I series against Ireland, calling him “the box-office man of the moment” and saying his inclusion in India’s squad is good for world cricket.Sooryavanshi, who was named in India’s squads for the upcoming T20I tours of Ireland and England on Saturday,…

JAIPUR: The wait had lasted over a decade, but for Rajasthan’s cricket fraternity, the dry spell finally ended on a historic Saturday morning in New Chandigarh. Not since Pankaj Singh stepped out in the pristine India whites has a cricketer from the state earned a coveted Test cap. After a 12-year hiatus, the desert state…

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the selectors’ decision to drop Suryakumar Yadav from India’s T20I setup, calling it a “landmark” and “ruthless” call and suggesting that the World Cup-winning captain deserved more time to prove himself.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced India’s T20I squads for the tours…