Veteran India cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a tour to forget as both of them gave dismal batting performances throughout the 5 Tests. However, the duo are still expected to be a part of India’s squad for the England Test series which will be played in June due to their ‘superstar’ status.

Harbhajan said that selection for the away series against England should completely be dependent on performances. He even went on to say that if players get picked just because of their reputation, then legendary cricketers like Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev can also find a place in the squad.

“There is a superstar culture which has developed. We don’t need superstars, we need performers. If the team has them (performers), it will move forward. Whoever wants to become a superstar should stay at home and play cricket there,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

“There is a tour of England coming up. Now everyone has started talking about what will happen in England, who will go, who will not go. For me, it is a simple matter. Only players who are performing should go. You can’t keep picking players on their reputation,” Harbhajan said.

“If you do that, then you should take Kapil Dev sir and Anil bhai also. Here, the BCCI and the selectors will have to be firm and act tough. I don’t think that the superstar attitude is taking the team forward,” Harbhajan further said.

It will be interesting to see whether Rohit and Virat will still feature for the Men in Blue for the England tour or the team will undergo major changes for the important Test series against The Three Lions.

The post ‘Stay at home and play cricket’: Harbhajan Singh BLASTS ‘superstar culture’ in Indian team appeared first on Cricket Country.

“Workload? How many overs did he bowl? 150-something, right? But in how many matches or innings? Five matches or nine innings, correct? That comes down to 16 overs per innings or 30 overs per match. And he didn’t bowl those 15-plus overs in one go. He bowled in spells. So, is it a big deal?” Sandhu said.

“Workload management is bull****. These are Australian terms, created by Australians. Workload management is nothing. I don’t agree with this. I come from an era when cricketers used to listen to their bodies and no one else. I don’t agree with this at all,” Sandhu added.

Sandhu further stated that bowling 15 overs isn’t a big deal for a bowler and added that if Bumrah can’t even bowl 20 overs in a day, then h should forget about playing for India. He also cited the example of legendary India cricketer Kapil Dev, who bowled long spells throughout his career.

“Bowling 15 overs in a day, and that too in different spells, is not a big deal for a bowler. You’re not bowling on all five days of a Test match. He took three or four spells to bowl those overs. Today, you have the best physios, the best masseurs, and excellent doctors to take care of your body. If a bowler can’t bowl 20 overs in an innings, he should forget about playing for India,” Sandhu said.

“If you want to represent India, you should have the strength to bowl at least 20 overs in an innings. If you can’t, then it’s better to go back and play T20s, where you only need to bowl four overs. Even those four overs are bowled in three spells. We used to bowl 25–30 overs in a day. Kapil (Dev) has bowled long spells throughout his career. Your body and muscles get conditioned when you bowl, bowl, and bowl. So, I don’t agree with this workload management concept,” Sandhu added.

The post ‘Forget about playing for India’: Former World Cup winner takes BRUTAL dig on Jasprit Bumrah appeared first on Cricket Country.

Even though he was high in spirits, Kambli moved out of hospital as he appeared physically weak as he posed for photographs along with the hospital staff. He also played a short game of cricket.

Shailesh Thakur, the director of Akruti Hospital, stated during Kambli’s hospitalisation that he had even made a call to former Indian captain Kapil Dev whose teammates also offered their hand to help the Mumbai cricketer.

“Hi Kapil paaji how are you,” Kambli said emotionally.

“I will come and see you. You are looking good, you have coloured your beard. Don’t rush. If you need to stay (in the hospital) for a few more days, please don’t rush. Tell the doctors it is fine if there is a need to stay on for two more days,” Kapil said.

“Take care. When you will better and come out, I will come to meet you. Look after yourself, love you,” Kapil added.

“Thank you Shailesh, (for) you are looking after him. He is looking good, look after him,” Kapil said as he thanked Shailesh.

“I have been a fan of Kambli sir all my life and it was tough to see him struggling because of his health issues. We brought him to our hospital and we will also take care of his medical expenses and hospitalisation in the future,” Thakur told PTI.

Vinod Kambli had been fine in his recovery as he made significant progress after he got hospitalised. People were willing for him to recover at a decent pace, to which he came up to their expectations.

The post ‘Please do not…’: Kapil Dev speaks to Vinod Kambli as he got Discharged from hospital appeared first on Cricket Country.

Following the massive announcement, many India legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Erapalli Prasanna questioned Ashwin’s decision of retiring midway through the crucial Australia series.

Speaking to Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Ashwin revealed that he had considered retirement earlier as well but finally decided about it when he felt that his creativity could no longer be fulfilled.

“I suddenly felt that the creative side didn’t have a lot of upsides to explore,”

“There is always that question that lies inside you. You keep asking yourself, ‘Am I making this decision the right way?’ In my case, it was slightly different. I do not know how to exactly position this. I’ve never been a person who holds onto things. I’ve never felt insecure in life. I don’t believe what is mine today is going to be mine tomorrow. That has probably been one of my elevating factors all these years,” Ashwin said.

During his 14-year long career, Ashwin picked up a highly impressive 537 wickets in red-ball cricket and retired as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format. Speaking on the podcast, Ashwin revealed that he did think about retirement previously as well, but decided to hang up his boots after he felt that hi creative side had nothing left to explore.

“I did contemplate [retirement] a few times. For me, the day I woke up and felt the creative side of me didn’t have a future or direction, that would be the day I would give it up. I suddenly felt that the creative side didn’t have a lot of upsides to explore,” Ashwin said.

“I’ve got no regrets because I’ve had to do it the hard way, but it has left me with the idea that the game has been my calling. People find their calling at different stages of their life, but I’m so glad this game found me and has given me meaning to life. I’ve played Test cricket for so long, and it’s even taught me how to construct and live my life. It’s the most beautiful thing that has happened for me,” Ashwin added.

The post ‘Wanted to leave things…’: Ravichandran Ashwin breaks silence on his retirement from international cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

Ashwin reached India on Thursday morning and he shared a glimpse of what his last day as an international cricket player looked like. He had a FaceTime conversation with Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. On top of that, Ashwin also disclosed that the 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev had also called him on WhatsApp.

Ashwin shared a screenshot of his call log on his official social media account showing the call log and captioned it by writing a beautiful message.

If some one told me 25 years ago that I would have a smart phone with me and the call log on the last day of my career as an Indian cricketer would look like this☺️☺️, I would have had a heart attack then only. Thanks @sachin_rt and @therealkapildev paaji🙏🙏 #blessed pic.twitter.com/RkgMUWzhtt

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) December 20, 2024

Both present and former cricket players have praised Ashwin after he announced his retirement. As one of the greatest match-winners the nation has ever produced, Ashwin has put an end to his international career. Ashwin hung his boots from international cricket as the second-highest wicket-taker next to Anil Kumble.

The post Ravichandran Ashwin reveals Call Log from his day of Retirement announcement: Shows getting call from two Indian Legends appeared first on Cricket Country.

1. Jasprit Bumrah – 53 wickets

The India pace spearhead has so far played 10 Tests in Australia and has proved to be impressive in almost each and every one of them. Bumrah has so far picked up 3 fifers Down Under and has the best figures of 6/33 on Australian soil.

2. Kapil Dev – 51 wickets

The legendary Indian all-rounder picked up tons of wickets in Tests held in Australia. Kapil played a total of 11 Test matches Down Under and gave great bowling performances in almost every single one of them. Picking up 5 fifers, his best bowling figures on Australian soil are 8/106.

3. Anil Kumble – 49 wickets

The legendary India spinner performed brilliantly on Australian soil despite pitches in the country known to favour the seamers a lot more. Kumble played a total of 10 Tests Down Under and picked up an impressive number of scalps. Picking up 4 fifers, his best figures in Australia are 8/141.

4. Ravichandran Ashwin – 40 wickets

The veteran India spinner has bamboozled batters on Australian soil in many Test series. Ashwin has played a total of 11 Test matches Down Under, picking up a great number of wickets. His best figures in Australia are 4/55.

5. Bishan Singh Bedi – 35 wickets

The former India spinner was especially quite impressive while bowling on the Australian soil. Bedi picked up an highly impressive number of wickets despite only featuring in 7 Tests Down Under. Picking up 3 fifers, his best figures in Australia are 5/55.

The post Top 5 Indian bowlers with the most Test wickets taken in Australia appeared first on Cricket Country.

Then in the 7th over, he also went on to pick the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne to restrict Australia to 16/2. This wicket saw Bumrah become the Indian bowler with the most Test wickets Down Under with 52.

The pacer surpassed legendary India cricketer Kapil Dev, who previously held the record with 51 Test wickets in Australia. Further down the list are spinners Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bishan Singh Bedi.

Bumrah and Ashwin are the only active Indian bowlers on the list so far. This historic feat has once again cemented Bumrah’s place as one of the modern day greats of Indian cricket.

The India pacer will be looking to add even more wickets to his tally in the upcoming final 2 Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series which will take place in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

The post Jasprit Bumrah achieves HISTORIC feat, leaves behind Kapil Dev to become… appeared first on Cricket Country.

1. Kapil Dev – 23 fifers

The legendary all-rounder is not only the Indian pacer with the most fifers in Test cricket, but is also the seamer with the most wickets in red-ball cricket. Kapil played a total of 131 Tests throughout his career and best figures in the format are 9/83.

2. Jasprit Bumrah – 12 fifers

The India pace spearhead picked up his 12th fifer in red-ball cricket during the Men in Blue’s clash against Australia in Brisbane. The ongoing Test at The Gabba is Bumrah’s 43rd and he has so far taken 190 wickets. His best figures in the format are 6/27.

3. Zaheer Khan – 11 fifers

The former Indian pacer featured in a total of 92 matches for the Men in Blue in the longest format. Zaheer is one of the highest wicket-taking seamers that India has ever had. The left-handed bowler picked up 311 wickets in his Test career and had the best figures of 7/87.

4. Ishant Sharma – 11 fifers

The former Indian pacer gave some absolutely stellar bowling performances in his Test career. In the 105 Tests he played, Ishant picked up a total of 311 wickets, including best figures of 7/74.

5. Javagal Srinath – 10 fifers

The former Indian seamer picked up tons of wickets for his side in the longest format. Srinath played a total of 67 Test matches, picking up 236 wickets with the best figures of 8/86.

The post Top 5 Indian pacers with the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

Bumrah also made a change in his role as he captained the Indian team in the series opener as Rohit Sharma was absent from the match. However, he has captained the team before on a couple of ocassions as well.

Under the leadership of Bumrah, the Indian team registered a massive 295-run victory against Australia in the opening match of the series, which led to a massive talk about his captaincy.

Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev was asked about Bumrah’s future as a captain for the Indian Test team. However, the former all-rounder stated that Bumrah is one of the best when it is about captaincy, and stated that he should play a few more games as captain before people start judging him.

“I think it’s too early to say that with one good performance, you can’t say he (Jasprit Bumrah) is the best and with one bad performance you can’t say he does not deserve to be there. Let the player play more matches with a lot of captaincy as ups and downs will come then you judge that person and how he will react when the difficult time comes, not just at good times, we don’t judge but only talk about the good time, when he is down and out like Virat Kohli was, one of the best cricketers we have seen in our country, he is among the top four batters in the country so if he (Rohit Sharma) is going through a rough time, it is only up to him how fast he can bounce back and come back,” Kapil said in an interaction with the media.

Bumrah has performed well with the ball and has been an important player for India’s show in the series so far. The batting lineup has not done much other than in the second innings in Perth Test. Even cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has stated that Bumrah should be one of the players who have to appear in all the five matches of the series if India wants to gain an upper hand against Australia.

The post ‘He is the best…’: Kapil Dev praises Jasprit Bumrah for his change in Border-Gavaskar Trophy appeared first on Cricket Country.

The only Indian pacers who have managed to take 50 or more Test wickets in a calendar year are Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan. The former achieved the feat for 2 years, in 1979 and 1983 respectively while the latter achieved the feat back in 2002.

Bumrah is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series with 9 scalps under his name so far. He was crucial to the Men in Blue’s victory in the first Test in Perth as he took important wickets in both the Australian innings.

The Indian team will again be counting on Bumrah to get key breakthroughs in the ongoing Test match at the Adelaide Oval. The pacer has given stellar performances for India in red-ball cricket throughout the year and will be looking to perform well in the upcoming Tests against Australia as well.

The post Jasprit Bumrah achieves MASSIVE feat on birthday, becomes only third Indian bowler to… appeared first on Cricket Country.