Page 12 - Domestic Cricket

Ranji Trophy: Dhull to lead 26-member Delhi team, Badoni named his deputy

Young Yash Dhull has once again being named captain with Ayush Badoni as his deputy as Delhi on Thursday announced a 26-member squad for the opening two fixtures of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament beginning on January 5. The 21-year-old Dhull, who had captained India to the U19 World Cup title in 2022 in the West Indies, was the skipper of the Delhi team in the last edition as well. Delhi will take on Puducherry (Jan 5-8) and Jammu & Kashmir (Jan 12-15) in the first two games at the Arun Jaitley stadium and Hostel Ground JKCA respectively. Other prominent young names in the Delhi team include Vaibhav Sharma, Anuj Rawat, Hrithik Shokeen, Jitesh Singh, Shivam Tripathi and Sahil Malhotra. The squad also comprises India internationals Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini and Kuldeep Yadav. In the last edition, Delhi, a seven-time winner, had failed to make it to the knockout stage after finishing sixth in Group B. The team last won the prestigious title in 2007-08. Delhi has been clubbed

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Mayank Agarwal to lead Karnataka in first two matches

Experienced opener Mayank Agarwal was on Wednesday named as Karnataka captain for the first two matches of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. The promising young batsman Nikin Jose has been appointed as Agarwal's deputy. However, KL Rahul has not been named in the 16-man squad considering India's upcoming assignments at home against Afghanistan (three T20Is) and England (five Tests) across January and February. Agarwal had a big 2022-23 domestic season emerging as the top run-getter in the circuit with 990 runs from nine matches at average of 82.50 that contained three hundreds and six fifties. Karnataka will open their Ranji campaign against Punjab at Hubli from January 5-8 and in their second match, the former champions will face Gujarat in Ahmedabad from January 12-15. Former batsman PV Shashikanth has been retained as the coach of the side. Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Ravikumar Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Nikin Jose (vc), Manish Pandey, Shubhang Hegde, Sharath Srinivas

Akash Deep: From Sasaram to Indian dressing room via Kolkata Maidans

Emotions welled up inside Saurashish Lahiri when Akash Deep, the latest Bengal speed merchant to enter Indian dressing room, rang him up. It was quite natural too as Lahiri, his first state-level coach, has seen the growth of Akash as a cricketer from close quarters. "Today, Akash called up and said, "Sir, main toh train thaa, par train ko bhi patri pe laana hota hai, woh aapne kiya. (I was a train but the train needed to be put on track, you did that)," Lahiri, the former Bengal off-spinner recollected the conversation with his "ward" just after he received the best news of his career. With his new ball colleague Mukesh Kumar already making the India cut, Akash would have been hoping to get a chance or two to prove his mettle like he has been doing it for Bengal over the past four years. Hailing from a middle-class family in remote Sasaram village in Bihar, the 27-year-old Akash had his share of struggles. He lost his father and elder brother and there was no prevailing sporting .

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Harshal bowls Haryana to title against Rajasthan

Harshal Patel bowled a game-changing spell with the old ball as Haryana beat Rajasthan by 30 runs in a well-contested final to lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday. Having scored 287 for 8 in 50 overs, Haryana were given a tough fight by Rajasthan, who were cruising at 201 for 4 with opener Abhijeet Tomar (106 off 129 balls) along with Kunal Singh Rathore (79 off 65 balls) slowly taking the team towards the target. However, Harshal (3/47 in 9 overs) showed his wares by varying the pace of his deliveries in a game changing second five-over spell in which he gave away only 16 runs but picked both set batters to snuff out any chance that Rajasthan had. They were all-out for 257 in 48 overs. No praise is enough for all-rounder Sumit Kumar (3/34 in 6 overs), who ran through Rajasthan top-order after scoring a quickfire 28 not out off 16 balls and also took a blinder inside the circle to win the 'Player of Match' as well as 'Player of Series'. He scored 183 runs in lower-order a

Through the prism of cricket, clearly

There were other parallels. Each match was played on a slow wicket, designed to give India's spinners traction

IPL media rights value can touch $50 bn, says chairman Arun Dhumal

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal believes that the media rights value of the league has the potential to touch a staggering USD 50 million over the next two decades, provided it keeps innovating and improvising with fans' interests in mind. The current media rights value of the league stands at USD 6.2 billion (approx Rs 48000 crore) for a five-year period starting from 2022. Even by this estimate, IPL is the second-most high-valued league after the National Football League (NFL), as the American sporting entity struck a USD 110 billion media deal for an 11-year period starting from last year. "If I have to see how it has gone over the last 15 years and if I have to go by estimates going forward, we are expecting media rights (of the IPL) to go somewhere close to USD 50 billion by around 2043," said Dhumal while speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab's Leaders Meet India here. Dhumal, who is also a former BCCI treasurer, also pinned his hopes for a financial windfall on the advent of the Women

ICC Cricket World Cup: India's dream run ends as Australia hit a six

After being asked to take the first strike on a slow, sluggish wicket, India could muster a below-par score of 240

Jio, Airtel roll out special plans with extended benefits for cricket fans

With the start of the World Cup cricket tournament, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have rolled out plans to woo cricket fans. Reliance Jio has started offering multiple prepaid plans bundled with Disney+ Hotstar where users will be able to watch World Cup cricket matches. Bharti Airtel has launched two plans, which include unlimited data for 2 days against a payment of Rs 99 and 6GB of additional data with 1-day validity for Rs 49. On the other hand, Jio has rolled out monthly, quarterly and annual plans bundled with data, unlimited voice, and subscription to Disney+ Hotstar mobile. Jio's basic plan is priced at Rs 328 and comes with 1.5 GB high-speed data per day for 28 days and a 3-month Disney+ Hotstar mobile subscription. In addition, Jio has also introduced a Rs 758 plan, which offers 1.5 GB of high-speed data per day for 84 days and comes with a 3-month Disney+ Hotstar mobile subscription. Similarly, plans priced at Rs 388 and Rs 808 offer 2 GB of high-speed data per day fo

PM Modi interacts with Tendulkar, other cricket legends in Varanasi

He said the country's first multi-leveled sports complex, equipped to cater to the needs of disabled athletes, was also on the anvil

SBI Life joins BCCI as official partner for domestic, international matches

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced SBI Life as one of the official partners for the BCCI Domestic and International Season 2023-2026

TMS Ep521: Festive sales, cricket fans, small-cap rally, Matsya 6000

Will India see the best Diwali sales ever this time? Why can't BCCI take care of cricket fans? Is the small-cap rally ripe for correction? What is the Matsya 6000? All answers here

After Unadkat, Jayant Yadav moves to County cricket; to play for Middlesex

India spinner Jayant Yadav on Friday signed up with Middlesex to play the last four matches of the ongoing County Championship season. Yadav will be available for selection in Middlesex's upcoming match against Essex "later this week", the club said in a statement. "The Delhi born right-arm off spinner will join Middlesex later this week and be available to play in the first of those four crucial encounters, when we take on Essex at Chelmsford next week, and then in the three-remaining red-ball games of the season," the statement read. For the 33-year-old Yadav, it will be a second consecutive County stint as he had played for Warwickshire in a couple of matches last year. He took a five-wicket haul against Gloucestershire and also claimed four more wickets in the same contest. Yadav has played six Tests and two ODIs for India having made his debut in 2016. He has 16 wickets in Tests as well as a century, against England in Mumbai. "With Pieter Malan returning home to South Africa

Viacom 18 bags BCCI's digital and TV rights for nearly Rs 6,000 crore

This has come as a shot in the arm, as Viacom 18 already has the digital rights for the IPL

Gujrat Titans' Sai Sudharsan signs up with Surrey for County Championship

In a rare feat, uncapped Indian opener B Sai Sudharsan on Thursday signed up for Surrey County Cricket Club for the remainder of its County Championship season. The 21-year-old Sudharsan has so far played in only eight first-class matches for Tamil Nadu, scoring 598 runs at an average of 42.71, including two hundreds and a half-century, with a top score of 179. Sudharsan has also been a regular player in the Indian Premier League for former champions Gujarat Titans over the last couple of seasons, accumulating 507 runs in 13 matches at an average of 46.09 and a strike rate of 137.03, with a top score of 96. He made his India 'A' debut during the Emerging Asia Cup a few months back, where he hammered a ton. Speaking on Sudharsan's signing, Surrey head coach Alec Stewart said, With the busy schedule of international and domestic cricket around the world, I'm pleased to add Sai Sudharsan to our available squad of players. "Sai has come highly recommended to me by people I hugely resp

IND vs IRE: Prasidh Krishna warms-up for Ireland tour with an intense spell

Ahead of travelling to Ireland, pacer Prasidh Krishna bowled at full tilt for Mysuru Warriors against Hubli Tigers in the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20 tournament here on Sunday. Prasidh is scheduled to leave for Ireland on August 15 from Mumbai along with other Indian players including captain Jasprit Bumrah. India will play three T20Is against Ireland on August 18, 20 and 23 at Malahide, Dublin. However, Prasidh utilised the KSCA T20 tournament to hone his skills and further tune his body to the demands of the game before his departure. The right-arm pacer delivered two overs of full intensity and pace, and grabbed a wicket while conceding 13 runs. Prasidh clean bowled his Karnataka teammate Luvnith Sisodia for a three-ball duck to underline his readiness to tackle bigger responsibilities. However, his spell was not enough to give the Warriors a win as Tigers registered a nine-wicket win in a rain-hit match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Prasidh had also bowled in the KSCA T20 tourn

Prithvi Shaw smashes 76-ball 125 to power Northants to yet another victory

Following a 200 in the previous match, Prithvi Shaw smashed a hundred to power Northamptonshire to a six-wicket victory over Durham in the One-Day Cup here on Sunday. Giving another reminder of his striking powers, Shaw made an unbeaten 125 off just 76 balls with 15 fours and seven sixes. The Northants chased down a modest 198 with consummate ease. Pacer Luke Procter took four for 34 off nine overs as Northamptonshire restricted Durham to 198 in 43.2 overs. Powered by opener Shaw's aggressive hundred, Northants overhauled the target in a mere 25.4 overs. Rob Keogh supported Shaw with a 40-ball 42 in the chase. On August 9, the Mumbai batter had made a magnificent 244 off 153 balls and that innings contained 28 boundaries and 11 sixes. In that match, Northamptonshire defeated Somerset by 87 runs. Shaw has been trying to make a comeback into the India side as the right-hander last played for India in a T20I match against Sri Lanka in 2021. Shaw had played for West Zone in the seas

Delhi cricket: Dhruv Shorey leaves, joins Vidarbha; Nitish Rana seeks NOC

There seems to be no end to troubles for Delhi cricket as former skipper Nitish Rana and last year's top run-getter in Ranji Trophy Dhruv Shorey have decided to ply their trade for other states in order to play all three formats in the next domestic season. A lot of people in DDCA are still unaware that Shorey, a red ball specialist has already signed contract with Vidarbha Cricket Association as a professional which will obviously help him earn over and above his match fee. "Yes, Dhruv (Shorey) has already signed a contract with us and he along with former Test batter Karun Nair will play for Vidarbha during the upcoming domestic season," a VCA official confirmed the development. As far as Rana is concerned, there are rumours about him joining Baroda or Haryana but there has been no confirmation on that front. The development was confirmed by DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda on Friday and it seems that there will be a last ditch attempt to stop Rana. "Yes, it is true that bot

Manoj Tiwary reverses retirement to give 'one more try' to win Ranji Trophy

Less than a week after he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, former India batter Manoj Tiwary on Tuesday said he has decided to reverse his decision and wants to give "one more try" to win the elusive Ranji Trophy title with Bengal. Two-time champions Bengal have reached the Ranji final twice in the last three seasons, but they are yet to replicate the success of 1989-90. The Tiwary-led Bengal were overwhelming favourites to win the title at home last season, but Saurashtra defeated them by nine wickets in a repeat of the outcome of the 2019-20 season's final. "It was a proud moment for me to captain Bengal to the final last season. I want to give it one more try before leaving," Tiwary told a media conference at the Eden Gardens. "I'm coming out of retirement for one last year. Bengal cricket has given me everything. I want to give it a last try, be it as a player or captain. "Next year, there will not be any more U-turn. I want to give one more year to Bengal ..

Who is Amol Muzumdar? Mumbaikar likely to be new coach of Women in Blue

Muzumdar, one of the best First-Class batters in the country was also one of the most unlucky players to have never played for the country

Rahul Dravid on India's transition: 'It's a tribute to the domestic system'

The seamless transition of Indian cricket is a tribute to the robust domestic sytem and the team environment, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has said. Dravid is now overseeing the transition phase as a head coach, sometthing he was part of when he along with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly passed the baton to MS Dhoni. Shubman Gill has taken the No 3 role occupied by Cheteshwar Pujara after the departure of Dravid, while 20-year-old lefthander Yashasvi Jaiswal made the opening slot his own with a mature 171 on debut, in the first Test against the West Indies. Their innings and 141 run win also marked two time runners-up India's start to the fresh World Test Championship cycle of 2023-27. "It's a tribute to the domestic system," Dravid said in the media interaction on the eve of the second and final Test of the series here. "It's a tribute to the environment around the team that a lot of young players are able to come in and perform straightaway. "A lot of credit