The cue was in how umpire Paul Wilson made way at square leg. Eyes not on the ball swirling down but on Mitchell Santner's outstretched left hand on the edge of the circle. There perhaps wasn't a more honorable way to put an end to that clumsy pull shot from Hashmatullah Shahidi. That stunning take from Santner came as early as the 14th over of the run-chase. It stood out for its physics, the telegenics, the thrill and the reaction it...
A brief examination of the statistics for Indian batters reveals a compelling vulnerability to left-arm finger spin, a skill that the Bangladesh captain, the team's talisman, has mastered. India are set to face Bangladesh in their next World Cup match, and the numbers are telling. In ODIs since 2022, Indian batters have conceded 42 wickets to left-arm spinners, as opposed to 21 and 24 wickets to leg-spinners and off-spinners, respectively. Shakib Al Hasan would naturally be pleased with this statistic, but...
Rarely do you see Scott Edwards not sporting a smile, whether it is practice, doing the drills, walking out for the toss, interacting with his teammates, speaking to the opposition members, sitting in the dressing room, or speaking to journalists. "I'm probably not the loudest captain going around," Edwards tells Cricbuzz, again with a smile. Even during the tense moments of their World Cup Qualifiers campaign, he was "reasonably calm" whilst his side pulled off remarkable victories en route to India. "I...
Imagine seeing an umpire's stats about decisions they've got right or wrong through their career as they walk out to the middle during a World Cup game or a Test match. Maybe even very specific numbers about certain types of dismissals, say LBWs, that they're good at judging against some they're not. Well, this could become a thing if David Warner anyway had his way. For, a day after he left the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in a very enraged...
Former Thailand captain Sornnarin Tippoch announced her retirement from international cricket on Wednesday (October 18) in Bangkok, bringing curtains on a near 16-year playing career. Tippoch led Thailand to their first ever T20 World Cup appearance at the 2020 mega-event in Australia. "Today, I am officially announcing my retirement as a cricket player. I am extremely honoured and privileged to have been able to wear the Thailand colours with pride and passion," Tippoch said in her retirement statement. Tippoch first represented Thailand in 2008,...
The Pakistan team at the World Cup has been hit by a minor health issue with a few of their players afflicted by fever. Ace fast bowler Shaheen Afridi is believed to be among those affected. According to a statement from the Pakistan team management, some of the players who had been suffering from fever are now on the path to recovery, while others are still recuperating. "Some players got fever in the past few days and most of them have...
Bangladesh were given a little boost as ODI captain Shakib Al Hasan batted in the nets following his injury against New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune on Tuesday. Shakib, who suffered a slight quad tear, batted for 45 minutes two days ahead of the match against India. Shakib had to be taken to hospital for a scan right after he finished his quota of overs in Chennai against New Zealand. He was out training on Tuesday and even indulged in...
The independent inquiry committee, appointed by Sri Lanka Cricket, has recommended a full lifting of the ban imposed on Danushka Gunathilaka on November 22 in the wake of his arrest and charges related to alleged sexual assault in Australia. The recommendation was ratified by the executive committee of the SLC following a meeting on October 13, with a caution to Gunathilaka "to always uphold his status as a representative of the nation in all his future actions". Gunathilaka was arrested last...
They make them tough in Kaned. It's a village an hour's walk from the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, as unwieldy an official name as only the suits could find for the crowning jewel of cricket grounds we call Dharamsala. India's 2011 census - the 2021 count was postponed to next year because of the pandemic - revealed that Kaned was home to 1,362 souls living in 251 houses. Of those people 765 had jobs, 742 were male, 620 female, and...
It was only four days ago that Will Young was scrambling around the boundary ropes at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He was New Zealand's designated drinks-bearer alongside Chris Donaldson, the Strength & Conditioning coach, on a warm evening in Chennai. It was only four days ago that Tom Latham was back behind the wickets without feeling obligated to speak to the bowlers. It's something he's admitted to finding difficult because he's positioned so far off from the bowling end; and...
