Page 36 - T20 Cricket

T20 World Cup 2024: Australia facing player shortage for Warm-up games

Australia is facing shortage of players and might be forced to use support staff as substitute fielders in the warm-up games of next month's T20 World Cup due to the low turnaround time between the IPL and the global showpiece. Australia are set to play two warm-up games against Namibia on Wednesday and the West Indies on Friday in Trinidad but they might have as few as eight players available for the two matches since most of them will take a break following their stint in the IPL playoffs. "We're going to be undermanned. But it is a practice game. The guys who need to play will play as much as they can and we'll figure it out from there," captain Mitchell Marsh, who himself is not certain to play against Namibia as he is recovering from a hamstring injury, told cricket.com.au. The IPL finals between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad concluded on Sunday night and three players - Travis Head, Pat Cummins and player of the match Mitchell Starc - were part of the two ...

Shastri to Karthik: Full list of commentators for T20 World Cup 2024

Making his World Cup debut, American commentator James O'Brien better known as Jomboy will aim to add context to the games for American audiences

India, biggest promotor of T20, determined to end World Cup title drought

In the ever-growing Twenty20 cricket landscape, India boasts the richest and most-watched league in the world. Yet, all that investment and attention hasn't translated into international success for India's national team. Rohit Sharma's India squad travels to the T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean, hunting a second title to end a long drought. Undoubtedly, the Indian Premier League is flush with cash and talent, attracting the best cricketers worldwide. Since the advent of IPL, though, India hasn't lifted the World Cup trophy. After winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, India has only reached one more final losing to Sri Lanka in 2014. The title drought crosses formats, too. India last won an International Cricket Council title in 2013 the Champions Trophy in England. It last lifted the Cricket World Cup in the 50-over format in 2011. Last year was exceptional in that sense India lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in Englan

T20 World Cup: Majority of Indian players to leave for New York on May 25

The majority of the Indian players along with the jumbo support staff will be flying out to New York on May 25, with the rest leaving for the T20 World Cup only after the May 26 IPL final. Earlier, the members of teams failing to qualify for the play-offs were supposed to leave for New York on May 21, two days after the final league game of the IPL on May 19 but it has since been learnt that there has been some change in plans and now the first batch will leave on May 25. "The likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel are some of the players along with support staff who are expected to leave on May 25," a BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity. "Earlier, departure date for first batch was May 21 but since India is playing only one warm-up game (vs Bangladesh on June 1), the players will get to spend some extra days at home," the source added. Only those players who are part of the IPL final w

No longer vintage but Virat Kohli is still quite remarkable: Tom Moody

Virat Kohli is not without his limitations but the star Indian batter has made up for them with his commitment to training, feels former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody. Armed with his powerful slog-sweep, Kohli has been able to counter the spinners in the middle overs, and on Thursday after blazing his way to a 47-ball 92, the 35-year-old effected the key run-out of Shashank Singh with a superb direct hit from deep mid-wicket against Punjab Kings. "It's quite remarkable, especially considering he's not the same as the vintage Virat Kohli, but he's also not 21 anymore; he's 30. So, that's brilliant what he's done there," Moody said on 'Star Sports Cricket Live'. "Running in from the deep, throwing himself to the ground, and managing to make the throw from that position is no easy feat. That's something we've definitely taken into consideration. It's truly extraordinary," he said. The knock took Kohli's season total to 634 at an average of 70.44 from 12 matches with Chennai Super .

IPL 2024: Star Sports registers a record 510 million viewers in 51 matches

Tata IPL 2024: Star Sports experienced an 18% increase from the previous edition in terms of total watch time, with viewers spending 356,000 million minutes

T20 WC to spread awareness on cricket, LA Olympics likely to attract locals

The T20 World Cup will spread much-needed cricket awareness in the USA but eventually, it is the lure of competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics that will attract local Americans to the game that is mainly played by expats, feels USA Cricket chairman Venu Pisike. USA is co-hosting the event alongside West Indies and the US team will also be making its World Cup debut when it faces neighbours Canada in the tournament-opener on June 1. The team is mainly made up of semi-professional cricketers of South Asian heritage with former New Zealand star Corey Anderson also switching allegiance to his adopted homeland of USA. Former Indian first-class cricketer Milind Kumar and former India U-19 player Harmeet Singh are also part of the squad. Speaking to PTI, Pisike agreed it is a major challenge to take cricket to the masses in USA. "So far, cricket is predominantly an expats' game, but with the marketing and promotion activities during the World Cup, there is some momentum and the World

T20 World Cup: Dravid should have clear plans for Indian stars, feels Lara

India head coach Rahul Dravid will need a specific plan to get the best out of superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup in the Americas next month, the great Brian Lara said on Tuesday. As many as eight players from the 2022 edition of the ICC event find a place in the squad with the team continuing to back the unmatched experience of Kohli and Rohit. "Sometimes when you have a team with a lot of superstars, you forget the plan and you believe that the superstars can do it. They just have to turn up. Sometimes you may feel, as a coach, intimidated, telling Sir Vivian Richards or Virat Kohli, you know exactly what you expect of them," Lara said in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters which was facilitated by Star Sports. Asked about the composition of the India squad, Lara gave the example of the highly experienced West Indies squad for the ODI World Cup in 1987 when Sir Vivian Richards-led side could not reach the semifinals. "First of all, in ter

T20 World Cup: Lara roots for India-WI final, says Surya has to bat at 3

Suryakumar Yadav has to bat at number three, said the legendary Brian Lara as he rooted for an India-West Indies final at the T20 World Cup next month to fix the "wrong" of 2007 when India's early exit "killed us in the Caribbean". India have expectedly retained proven performers like skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the squad, while deciding to keep young talent like Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh among reserves. Suryakumar, though, is part of the main squad. "My one advice, and I don't know if you're going to like it or not, but Sky has to bat at three. He just has to bat at three. He is one of the greatest T20 players in the game. And you speak to players like Sir Viv, and he will tell you he used to want to get out there in the middle," Lara said in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters which was facilitated by Star Sports. "And I feel that that's the same thing with SKY. So, get in on it as quickly as possible. He's not an opener, get him out there and if he

T20WC: Marsh's progress slow, but will be fit to bowl, says Andrew McDonald

Australia coach Andrew McDonald on Tuesday said even though skipper Mitchell Marsh's progress is slower than expected, the all-rounder will be fit to bowl in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas. March, who played for Delhi Capitals, returned from the Indian Premier League in early April to recover from a right hamstring injury ahead of the shortest format's marque event. Besides Marsh, members of Australia's World Cup squad who are not part of IPL assembled here on Tuesday for a training camp before jetting off for the Caribbean on May 25. "He's (Marsh) progressing well. Probably a little slower than expected. But we've got plenty of time now that he has been ruled out the IPL. (Our) first game is just short of a month away now. So ample time for him to get ready," McDonald told reporters. "You probably won't see him bowl in the next couple of weeks here. It'll probably happen the week before we leave. And then he'll be able to ramp that up when we're over there. "We'll b

T20 World Cup: Disney+ Hotstar offers all matches for free on smartphones

The streaming platform's latest move is aimed at replicating the viewership success it garnered during the ODI World Cup last year

'Fatigued' Rohit Sharma needs break ahead of T20I World Cup: Michael Clarke

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke does not read much into Rohit Sharma's string of poor scores, but suggests that the "fatigued" Indian skipper take a break to freshen up ahead of the T20I World Cup. Rohit, who will lead India in the next month's 20-team global showpiece, has four single-digit scores in his last five outings for his franchise Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL. The 37-year-old has had a busy season this year with an intense five-Test series preceding the IPL for Mumbai Indians, who are all but eliminated from the race to the playoffs this year. Rohit, being the wise judge of his own performances, will undoubtedly be disappointed, especially considering his strong start. In my view, he might be feeling a bit fatigued as well, Clarke told Star Sports. A break to freshen up could do wonders for him, but as the Indian captain and a key player for Mumbai Indians, you're not getting a break. He's going to have to find form, Clarke continued. Rohit played as an impa

Rohit takes good decisions under pressure, will be key in T20 WC: Yuvraj

Rohit Sharma is a sensible captain who takes good decisions under pressure and his presence will be crucial for India, feels former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh who wishes to see his "close friend" win the elusive T20 World Cup next month. Besides reaching the final of the 50-over World Cup and the WTC Final last year, India made the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup under Rohit's captaincy. The opener is set to lead the 'Men in Blue' once again at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA, starting on June 2. "(Rohit's presence is going to be) very crucial. I think we need a really good captain, a sensible captain who takes decisions well under pressure. And he's the one to take them," Yuvraj, who is the T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador, told ICC. The World Cup 2023 final loss to Australia saw India's quest for an ICC title stretch to 10 years with their last victory dating back to the Champions Trophy in 2013 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Yuvraj feels India needs ..

T20 World Cup: Pacer Jofra Archer returns, Jos Buttler to lead England

Fit-again pacer Jofra Archer expectedly returned after a one-year injury-forced hiatus, while rookie all-rounder Tom Hartley also made the cut in the 15-member preliminary T20 World Cup squad announced by defending champions England here on Tuesday. Archer last played for England in a T20 International series against Bangladesh in March last year. The 29-year-old was England's leading wicket-taker in that series with four scalps from three matches at an economy of 6.63. But since then, Archer has been forced to sit on the sidelines because of the recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow. "Jofra Archer has recovered from his right elbow injury and is named in the squad," said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in its media release. England will be led by Jos Buttler, who had guided them to the title in Australia in 2022. From January this year, Archer has been working intensely on his return including Sussex's pre-season camps in Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru, besides ..

T20 World Cup selection: Rinku Singh becomes casualty of impact player rule

The 'Impact Player' rule, which has made IPL contests quite literally a "12-a-side affair", has dealt a raw deal to power-hitter Rinku Singh who couldn't make the Indian main squad for T20 World Cup as he simply did not have enough game time to his credit. The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the cricketing world's imagination with five sixes in an over during the previous IPL, made way for Shivam Dube in the main national squad while his name ended up being among the reserves. Dube got in thanks to more game time for Chennai Super Kings during the first 10 games of the league. Those who were privy to the selection meeting held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday unanimously agreed that Rinku became an easy omission for the panel because he couldn't be fitted alongside Hardik Pandya and Dube in the same 15. "No doubt, Rinku paid the price for the Impact Player Rule. He is plain and simple unlucky. Hardik might be in poor form but he is still India's best seam bowling all-rounder a

T20 World Cup: Sanju Samson, the silent fighter who made his own fortune

Sanju Samson and his legion of faithful fans might have heaved a massive sigh of relief when he was named in India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in USA and Caribbean. His moment came after delicate knocks on the door in the past became a loud thud during this IPL where Samson has so far scored 385 runs from nine matches at a strike-rate of 161.08. In comparison, KL Rahul, his closest rival for the second wicketkeeper-batter's slot behind Rishabh Pant, has made 378 runs from nine matches at 144.27. On the periphery, there is nothing much to distinguish between them apart from the strike-rate, which at times can paint a rather false picture. But in Samson's case those numbers are prima-facie evidence of his impact in the Rajasthan Royals' pink jersey. The loudest argument against Samson in the past was his tendency to produce plateauing outings as a tournament progress. The IPL 2023 was an example of that as after a couple of blazing fifties in the beginning, the 29-year-

Dube lot more complete player, will make an impact in T20I WC: Fleming

Shivam Dube's enhanced game understanding and completeness have impressed Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming who is confident in the lefthanded allrounder's ability to make an "impact" in the upcoming World Cup. The 30-year-old, who is the second leading run-scorer for the defending champions in the ongoing IPL, made the cut to the 15-member Indian squad for the T20 global showpiece in the USA and West Indies beginning on June 1. "He is a lot more complete in terms of what he is trying to do, understanding his game, and that comes from experience," Fleming said ahead of their match against Punjab Kings. "We have worked hard on areas he wasn't so strong, but also continuing to develop his strength. So, if that form continues, he is going to be an impactful player for India (at the World Cup)." Dube has 350 runs in nine outings at a strike rate of 172.41, including three half-centuries. "He has been fantastic. He has proven this year that there is a lot more to him than

Sixes to Most 250+ totals: Sunrisers Hyderabad create new records in IPL

Hyderabad also equalled their own record of hitting the most sixes in the Indian Premier League. SRH hit 22 sixes each against RCB and DC

Nepal to SRH: Top five highest team scores in history of T20 cricket

Sunrisers Hyderabad smashed 287/3 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, April 15

A deluge of runs: Top five high-scoring men's T20 matches in history

The first ever 500-plus aggregate score in a men's T20 match was achieved in 2022 during the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge