Bumrah captained the Indian team in both the Perth and Sydney Tests in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series. While the Men in Blue did register a dominant 295-run victory in Perth under Bumrah’s leadership, they lost by 6 wickets in Sydney and the defeat saw Australia triumph in the series by 3-1.

The Indian team was captained by Rohit in the rest of the 3 Tests, however they weren’t able to register any victory in those games, drawing once and losing the other two.

Rohit was heavily criticized by fans and former cricketers alike for his abysmal batting display and also for his poor leadership. Many reports also claimed that he will announce his retirement from the format following the conclusion of the series. However, that hasn’t happened yet.

Now Kaif has claimed that instead of Rohit or Bumrah, either Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul should lead the Men in Blue in the 5-match England series.

“I want a batter to lead India in the Test series against England. Whether it is Rishabh Pant or K.L. Rahul. The first two have already worked. Rishabh Pant is the captain of the IPL. He is getting mature. K.L Rahul has worked for many years. So, these two can be a shake, but I don’t believe that Bumrah is the right option after Rohit Sharma,” Kaif said.

Defeat in the Sydney Test meant that the Men in Blue failed to secure a spot in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). The final will be played between Australia and South Africa later this year.

The post NOT Rohit Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah: Ex-India star picks captain for England Tests in viral video appeared first on Cricket Country.

Karnataka’s squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mayank Agarwal (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Nikin Jose, K.V. Aneesh, R. Smaran, K.L. Shrijith, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal (VC), Hardik Raj, Prasidh Krishna, V. Koushik, Vidyadhar Patil, Abhilash Shetty, Pravin Dubey, Luvnith Sisodia, Yashovardhan Parantap

Rahul is likely to make his comeback in India’s 3-match ODI series against England which is set begin from February 6. It will be an important series for the Men in Blue as it will be their final assignment before the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

Rahul, who was also a part of India’s squad during their last ODI series where they played Sri Lanka, will be looking to impress the selectors with the England series so that he easily makes it into India’s squad for Champions Trophy.

It is safe to say that this move was quite unexpected on Rahul’s part as the batter was among the better performers for India in the Border-Gavaskar series, playing impressive knocks in both Perth and Brisbane while batting as an opener.

It looked as if Rahul would now cement his place in India’s ODI squad as well, however this short break leaves his fans with more questions than answers.

The post KL Rahul opts out of Vijay Hazare Trophy, to take break from cricket ahead of ICC Champions Trophy appeared first on Cricket Country.

In a conversation with Star Sports, Rohit was asked to share his thought and views behind making this decision, to which he opened up and shared that he had a conversation with selectors regarding him not being in form and being unable to score runs.

“I stood down that is what I would say. The chat that I had with the coach and selector, was very simple that I was not able to score runs with the bat. I am not in form. This is an important match, we needed a win. We couldn’t carry many out of form players. They backed my decision, which was difficult for me to take,” he said on Star Sports.

Rohit also cleared air regarding him giving this decision some thought for a period of time, but could not convey his wish since it was New Year after the Melbourne Test came to an end. The Indian skipper also mentioned how it was important for him to step aside instead of having another failure in the final match of the series.

“The thought process was going for quite some time. The decision was taken after coming here. After Melbourne there was New Years’s day. On that day, I did not want to tell the coach and selector about this. I was trying but could not score and it was important for me step aside from this match,” he added.

“I don’t believe in what happens five months later. I want to focus on the present. This decision is not retirement decision. I am not going to move away from the game,” he said.

Coming to the match, India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and decided to bat first. The visitors managed to score 185 runs before Australian bowlers wrapped up their innings. Rishabh Pant was the highest run-scorer for India as he scored 40 runs.

Australian innings began on Day 1 of the Test, where they played three overs and lost the wicket of Usman Khawaja. The second Day saw the fall of Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head in the first session. By the time it was lunch time, Australia was at 101 runs on the loss of 5 wickets. KL Rahul was the best fielder in the first session, as he took three catches within the four wickets which got taken.

The post ‘I was not able to…’: Rohit Sharma breaks Speculations about retirement from Test cricket after ‘Resting’ from Sydney Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

Kohli once again failed to deliver to the high expectations laid upon him and the Australian bowlers once again were able to dismiss him for cheap in the series.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India got off to a disastrous start as openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were dismissed within the first 8 overs of the day.

Following the duo’s dismissal, Shubman Gill and Kohli tried steadying India’s ship. However, the former also ended up losing his wicket for 20 runs. Following the wicket, Kohli tried forming a big partnership with Pant, however it came to no good as the former was soon sent back to the dugout.

Following the dismissal, Indian fans took to social media in order to troll Kohli for continuing his woeful form in the longest format.

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After their dismissals, Kohli joined hands with Shubman Gill, where he survived a close call on the very first delivery that he faced. Australia pacer Scott Boland almost dismissed Kohli when the batter ended up edging the delivery towards the slips. Steve Smith, who was standing on second slip, grabbed the ball and tossed it upwards as Marnus Labuschagne took the catch. 

The Australians had already started celebrating, however the on-field umpire handed the decision over to the third umpire. It was then revealed that the ball had touched the ground before Smith was able to pass it to Labuschagne. Hence, Kohli got an important lifeline on the very first ball that he faced.

The drama did not end over here. After the completion of the over, both Kohli and Smith were seen exchanging some words.

During the lunch break, Smith opened up on the incident and stood firm on his stance, stating that he got his hands beneath the ball and hence it was a fair catch.

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting also disagreed with the third umpire’s decision regarding the catch.

“As far as I was concerned, if (the ball) had’ve come out of (Smith’s) hand, he wouldn’t have been able to scoop it up. That’s what I’m saying, I think his fingers are clearly underneath the ball … look where his pointer figure is there, it’s still underneath the ball,” Ponting said

The post WATCH: Virat Kohli and Steve Smith involved in heated exchange after umpiring drama in SCG Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma was sitting in the stands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and her reaction to the batter’s dismissal went viral on social media.

Sitting alongside Anushka was KL Rahul’s wife Athiya Shetty, who also looked very disappointed seeing Kohli get dismissed cheaply during the final day o the Melbourne Test.

Chasing 340, India had an extremely watchful start as Australia’s bowlers beat them consistently with great deliveries. They put immense pressure on the India batters and got their reward as skipper Rohit Sharma was only able to score 9 runs before getting dismissed.

Then, KL Rahul went on to lose his wicket for a 5-ball duck before Kohli also departed for cheap. It looked as if India would succumb to the massive pressure, however the duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant steadied their sinking ship.

The post Anushka Sharma left disappointed after Virat Kohli fails to deliver in Melbourne Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

This was Smith’s 11th Test century against India, making him the player with the most tons against the Men in Blue in the red-ball format. He was assisted well by skipper Pat Cummins, who played a valiant knock of 49.

In reply, India lost captain Rohit Sharma for just 3 runs before the duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul steadied the innings. However, Cummins soon ended up getting the latter’s wicket for 24.

Jaiswal then formed a great 102-run partnership with Virat Kohli, and it looked as if India would end the day on a positive note. However, a terrible mix-up ended up costing Jaiswal his wicket through a run-out on 82.

Just an over later, Kohli would also head back into the dugout after getting dismissed by pacer Scott Boland for 36. This wouldn’t be all as Akash Deep would then also lose his wicket 2 overs later as India would end the day on 164/5, trailing by a massive 310-run margin.

It was 153/2 at one stage and in 4 overs, another 3 wickets fell with Gautam Gambhir’s plan of sending a night-watchman in Akash Deep turning out to be one of the many poor calls that the head coach has taken in this game.

In a space of barely five minutes, cricket showed its fickle nature as Jaiswal pushed towards mid-on and called for a quick single with an assured Kohli (36) at the other end. Kohli took a step and half before retreating.

This moment will be one for posterity as Kohli looked down and perhaps felt that he could have at least said a loud “No” to allow Jaiswal to sprint back. It is safe to say that the run out broke Kohli’s concentration and for the first time in 85 balls, he ended up poking a delivery bowled in the corridor of uncertainty and that was the end.

The post Steve Smith scores sensational ton, India suffers batting collapse during final session of Day 2 appeared first on Cricket Country.

One of the main reasons to this string of low scores can be due to him batting on number 6 instead of batting as an opener. This is due to KL Rahul’s brilliant batting displays in the opening position in the ongoing series. The batter first scored an impressive 77 in the Perth Test before playing another valiant knock of 84 in Brisbane.

The change hasn’t been fruitful to Rohit, who has only managed to score a total of 19 runs in 3 innings while batting in the middle order. Amid the 37-year-old’s abysmal performances, former India coach Ravi Shastri believes that the skipper should go in with a clear mindset, change his tactics, and attack the bowlers. 

“I would like to see Rohit Sharma, his tactics change a bit because he can still be extremely dangerous at that number (six). I think he’s got to be very clear in his mindset to go out there and take the attack to the opposition and not worry about anything else,” Shastri said on ICC Review.

Shastri also believes that Rohit should let go of the defensive mindset and try to bat with his natural attacking playstyle.

“The last thing you want is him to be in two minds whether to defend or attack. In his case, it should be attack. He picks up length quickly, he should take the opposition on at that number,” Shastri said.

“Because if he gets away in the first 10-15 minutes, in any way, he’s not got past that 15-20 minutes, half an hour. So why don’t you play a natural game, go and take the attack to the opposition and take it from there?” Shastri added.

Shastri feels that it’s the best way for Rohit to get back into form and win games for India, adding that the best number 6 batters are those who have the ability to counter-attack.

“I think that is his best way of not just coming back into form, winning a game for India as well. Because that number is a crucial number,” Shastri said.

“The best No.6s in the world are the guys who know how to have the ability to counter-attack. They read the situation well. Yes, if a lot of wickets have fallen, maybe for a little while. You might have to be circumspect, but the intent has to be far sooner than later. Especially when you have that kind of ability and especially when you open the batting for India and you have all the shots for Australian conditions,” Shastri added.

The post ‘The last thing you want…’: Ex-India star gives BRUTAL verdict on Rohit Sharma’s batting struggles appeared first on Cricket Country.

In a video that has been going viral on social media, Rahul was seen carrying a bat in one of his hand when he was having some treatment for his right hand in the nets practice during Melbourne Test practice.
Though there are no additional reports on the participation of Rahul being impacted, he also does not seem to be feeling too much difficulty.

KL Rahul suffered a hand injury at the MCG nets today during practice session. #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/XH8sPiG8Gi

— 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐢𝐢⁴⁵ (@rushiii_12) December 21, 2024

Rahul’s career has seen plenty of injuries, especially in Test cricket. He seemed to have secured his spot in the middle order at the late time of last year, but Sarfaraz Khan took his place at home after a long injury put him to rest from the game.

He was expected to miss the majority of the series against England, but when skipper Rohit Sharma was not able to play in the first Test, he got the opening spot once again. Rahul played an important role in India’s historic victory, and he did so much to maintain Raul at the top of the order, so much that he had to return to the middle order for the first time since 2019.

The post WATCH: Injury scare for India as KL Rahul got injured during practise for Boxing-Day Test, Seen getting Help from Medics appeared first on Cricket Country.

Former India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik noticed Rohit’s batting struggles and stepped up with an advice for the skipper who has been struggling to score any big number for the team in the longest format.

During his analysis n Cricbuzz, Dinesh connected Rohit’s struggles to a lack of confidence, which has caused issues in his batting. He has suggested Rohit will be disappointed with his recent performance, and will have to address these technical issues to gain his old form.

“I think Rohit will be very disappointed in himself. Even today you could see that he played slightly in front. With Rohit, he has never been someone who lunges forward for the ball but what he does do is play almost close to his front pad. But here you can see that he has gone ahead and what does that tell you? That his form is not as good as he would like it to be. now one thing that he has done well is that attack himself out of pressure in all formats. We all clapped that attacking cricket, especially in white-ball where he was a pioneer of this approach,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

Karthik also advised Rohit to change his focus from aggressive style and make building long innings his first priority. He wants Rohit to keep his stay on the innings for long and play patiently. With more than a decade and a half of playing international cricket, Dinesh believes Rohit to be having the ability to overcome his struggle of batting.

“I think it is time for him to show the other way around, to guts it out. Make sure that he is there, avoid shots that is going to be dangerous on that pitch and back his technique. Rohit Sharma has played a decade and a half of international cricket (17 years), if you are telling that his technique is not water-tight, I will be very surprised. He has got areas that he is vulnerable in, but everybody has that, he needs to guts it out, fight it out. I am not sure if he believes in it right now, but that could be his confidence. But if he puts his mind to it, this question can be answered. Because what India needs, is a mentally tough Rohit Sharma,” Karthik concluded.

Coming to match, India managed to avoid the follow-on all because of an important 39-run partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep. Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul also made significant contributions to the team total. Indian innings ended at 260, as they got bowled out in the starting phase of Day 5. Both the teams are yet to bat their second innings as of now.

The post ’17 years of international cricket, time for…’: Dinesh Karthik gives Massive advice to out-of-form Indian skipper appeared first on Cricket Country.