Explore Business Standard
India Cricket Team
South African pace great Dale Steyn has described Hardik Pandya as a superhero who "operates at another level mentally" with an unmatched aura, after the flamboyant India all-rounder's scintillating knock in the fifth T20I. Pandya (63) hit the second fastest T20I fifty for India, while Tilak Varma produced a fluent 73 to set up the hosts' 30-run victory after they posted an imposing 232-run target for the Proteas here on Friday. "Hardik was fantastic he's transcended sportsman into celebrity territory, walking out like a superhero in a scripted movie plot where nobody alters his plan," said Steyn on JioStar. He added, "It's not a bad attitude; it's pure dominance, an aura where nobody else can match what he does. You see it in his stance and presence he's operating at another level mentally, unbreakable in a game that's all about mental battles. All these players are skilled, but he's elevated beyond." Steyn did not support the South African batters' cautious approach against ...
India's quest to find stable support acts who will serve them at least until next year's World Cup will begin with the first Women's T20I of the five-match series against Sri Lanka here on Sunday. The familiar faces skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh are there, but it cannot be forgotten that they are either in their 30s or moving fast to that mark. In that context, Indian think tank will watch the evolution of young batter G Kamalini and promising left-arm spinner Vaishanavi Sharma closely. The 17-year-old Kamalini has shown her maturity across various stages for Tamil Nadu in the BCCI U23 T20 Trophy, then in the U19 World Cup earlier this year, and later in the Women's Premier League for Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, Vaishanavi has been in the selectors' radar once she emerged the top wicket-taker in the U19 World Cup with 17 wickets. In Radha Yadav's absence, the 19-year-old Vaishanavi may get a chance
Suryakumar Yadav has received backing from teammate Tilak Varma, who said the out-of-form India T20I skipper "needs just one innings" to rediscover the mojo with which he once dominated bowlers like a marauder. Tilak also described Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy as the team's "go-to" bowlers, after setting up India's 30-run win in the fifth T20I against South Africa and a 3-1 series triumph here on Friday. "I was just saying (to him) that just middle a few balls, just wait and just be calm and take the few balls' times," Tilak told reporters. "If (the) team wants I can get going from the other side, (but) you just be on the crease and take some time. Take the feel of the middle of the bat, that's what I was talking to him." Tilak scored a 42-ball 73 and added 105 runs with Hardik Pandya (63) to power India to 231/5, and in reply, South Africa ended at 201/8. While each of the Indian batters including Abhishek Sharma (34) and Sanju Samson (37) contributed, Suryakumar's 7-bal
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad termed his team's tour of India a very successful one and hoped that the two teams meet once again in the final of the next year's T20 World Cup. India are the defending champions of the T20 World Cup when they co-host the tournament from February 7 to March 8 along with Sri Lanka, having defeated the Proteas in a thrilling final in the last edition in 2024. We've got some work to do still, there's no doubt. But the good thing is that the boys have got a month of SA20 coming up and that will also be really good prep in honing their skills to ensure that when the West Indies arrive on our shores we're ready for that, Conrad told the media after the fifth T20I, which India won by 30 runs to clinch their five-match series 3-1. and then obviously the World Cup, that's the big thing. So whilst we didn't get the results we wanted here in the (T20I) series, I'd like to think this might be the World Cup's finalists (of 2024) in the next World Cup as wel