SACHIN TENDULKAR BREAKS DOWN SHREYAS LYER'S 'CATCH OF THE SEASON' TO DISMISS HARDIK PANDYA

 Sachin Tendulkar summed up Shreyas' acrobatic effort, saying that the PBKS captain got everything "spot on".

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer celebrates after relaying a stunning catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya. @BCCI

Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar was right on the money as he explained Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer's flying attempt, which many described as the "Catch of the Season", to get rid of Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya. Shreyas was at his acrobatic best as he ran in from long-on to reverse-cup Hardik's mistimed pull before relaying it to Xavier Bartlett despite being airborne. The attempt stunned fans and experts alike, including Tendulkar, who described it as "one of the best catches i've ever seen".

The MI dugout had the best view of Shreyas' audacious attempt, especially Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, who were sitting just a few meters away from where the PBKS skipper landed after parrying the ball to the fielder charging in from long-off. In a viral video, Rohit and Surya were seen looking at each other with expressions of pure disbelief.

Taking to X, Tendulkar summed up Shreyas' acrobatic effort, saying that the PBKS captain got everything "spot on".

"What made Shreyas Iyer's catch so special was not just the athleticism, but the awareness behind it. He had to judge the speed of the ball, the height, where the boundary rope was, how close he was to stepping on it, and get his jump absolutely perfect," Tendulkar wrote on X.

The legendary batter noted the key to the catch wasn't just Shreyas' athleticism, but his head position, balance and awareness.

"Then, while still in the air, he caught the ball and released it to a teammate before landing, all the while knowing exactly where that fielder was positioned. To process all of that in a split second takes unbelievable awareness, timing, fitness, and composure.

"Shreyas Iyer got everything spot on. One of the best catches I've ever seen live!"

- Vedant Yadav

INDIA CLINCH T20 SERIES AGAINST ENGLAND AMID SUBSTITUTE

Harshit Rana claimed three wickets in his debatable appearance as a concussion substitute to help India to a series-clinching 15-run victory against England in the fourth T20 International on Friday.

Photos: Reuters

Put into bat, India overcame Saqib Mahmood's three-wicket burst to post a competitive 181-9 following half-centuries by Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.

England were 166 all out with two deliveries left in their innings as India grabbed an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

All-rounder Dube was hit on the helmet by a Jamie Overton bouncer and seamer Rana replaced him despite it not being a like-for-like replacement as concussion substitute rules mandate.

"When Dube came back, two overs into the chase, I was told (about being the concussion substitute)," Rana told the broadcasters.

"I have been waiting for this moment to prove myself," he said of his "dream debut".

England captain Jos Buttler was not happy with India being allowed to field primarily a seamer for a batting all-rounder, who rarely bowls.

"It's not a like-for-like replacement," Buttler told reporters.

"Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball, or Harshit has really improved his batting.

"It's part of the game. I still think we should have gone on to win the match but yes, we disagree with the (substitute) decision."

Earlier, England fast bowler Saqib impressed on debut as he began with a three-wicket maiden over to rattle India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium.

India opener Sanju Samson fluffed his pull shot, number three Tilak Varma perished at deep third leg and captain Suryakumar Yadav was caught at short mid-on prolonging his lean patch in the series.

Abhishek Sharma (29) and Rinku Singh (30) propped up India before the left-right combination of Dube and Pandya counter-attacked during their 87-run partnership.

Pandya and Dube smashed identical 53s but India managed only three runs from the eventful last over from Overton losing three wickets in the process.

Phil Salt (23) and Ben Duckett (39) milked 32 runs from the first three overs of India's seam bowling prompting Suryakumar to employ spin from both ends.

Thanks to their unbridled aggression, England were 62-1 after the first six powerplay overs compared to India's 47-3.

India struck back through spin as Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) dismissed Duckett and Buttler in his successive overs, while Axar Patel removed Salt.

Harry Brook (51) hit Rana for back-to-back sixes en route to a 25-ball fifty but Varun Chakravarthy turned the match on its head claiming two wickets in his final over.

Brook fell attempting a scoop shot against the spinner and, two balls later, Brydon Carse was snared at deep square leg as India tightened their grip on the contest.

Mumbai hosts the fifth and final T20 Internationals on Sunday, which will be followed by three one-dayers between the sides.

- Reuters, Pune

BUMRAH'S STATUS CONFIRMED AS INDIA ANNOUNCE ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2025 SQUAD

Two-time winners India have named their 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy.

India, who won the ICC Men's Champions Trophy in 2002 and 2013, will look for a third title under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who missed a portion of the Sydney Test due to injury, has been included in the squad, with chief Selector Ajit Agarkar stating that the team management will keep an eye on the pacer's fitness in the lead-up to the tournament.

Bumrah delivered for India at the highest stage in the 2024 Men's T20WC 2024

Keeping Bumrah's fitness in mind, Harshit Rana comes into India's squad for the England ODIs, preceding the Champions Trophy, as a cover.

Yashasvi Jaiswal joins regular names Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill at the top of the order, while experienced KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant comprise the middle order.

Hardik Pandya, whose last ODI came in the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup, features as the sole pace-bowling all-rounder. Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar are the three spin-bowling all-rounders in the squad, and left-arm tweaker Kuldeep Yadav also returns following an injury.

The pace attack will comprise of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Shami, alongside Bumrah and Hardik.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

In the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, India reached the finals before losing to Pakistan.

India's Group Stage Fixtures:

20 February - India vs Bangladesh, Dubai

23 February - India vs Pakistan, Dubai

2 March - India vs New Zealand, Dubai"

 - ICC

INDIA, AUSTRALIA OPEN WITH DOMINANT VICTORIES; UGANDA GETS IT'S 1ST WIN AT CRICKET'S T20 WORLD CUP

AP

 WESTBURY, New York (AP) — Jasprit Bumrah and India's pace attack did most of the damage before Rohit Sharma scored a 37-ball half-century to steer the team to an eight-wicket win over Ireland on Wednesday at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Sharma plundered four boundaries and three sixes before retiring hurt for 52. Rishabh Pant added 36 not out off 26 balls as India reached 97 for 2 in 12.2 overs after routing Ireland for 96.

Allrounder Hardik Pandya took 3-27 for India while Bumrah (2-6) and left-armer Arshdeep Singh (2-35) chimed in to ensure pace accounted for eight of the 10 Irish wickets.

India next plays fierce cricket rival Pakistan in the marquee match of the league stage on Sunday.

“Early wickets set the tone for us,” Sharma said. “It was good to spend time on this wicket, although it didn’t change too much in the second innings. We will prepare for the Pakistan game as if the conditions will be similar.”

In Wednesday’s later games, Uganda secured its first victory in a T20 World Cup match in a low-scoring thriller against Papua New Guinea at Guyana, and Marcus Stoinis posted a half century and took three wickets as 2021 champion Australia opened with a 39-run win against Oman.

India took four fast bowlers into its tournament-opening game in New York, noting the inconsistent bounce in the pitch at the venue where South Africa routed Sri Lanka two days earlier.

It paid off immediately, with Arshdeep causing havoc under overcast conditions to remove both openers and have Ireland reeling at 9-2.

Pandya went in as first change and struck immediately, bowling Loran Tucker (10) and having Curtis Campher (12) caught behind.

Gareth Delany provided some resistance and top-scored with 26, the only Irish batter to cross the 20-run mark, and put on 27 runs with Joshua Little (14).

In a top-order reshuffle, former skipper Virat Kohli opened for India with Sharma but the move backfired when he was caught at third man attacking Mark Adair (1-27).

India's second-wicket pair added 54 off 44 balls before Sharma retired hurt after being struck on the right arm.

Returning to international action after nearly 18 months out since a car accident in late 2022, Pant finished off the match with a reverse-hit six.

Uganda's first win

Uganda dismissed Papua New Guinea for 77 but had to work extra hard for victory, losing its first three wickets by the start of the third over in reply and then slipping to 26-5 before rallying to reach 78-7 with 10 balls remaining.

Riazat Ali Shah's 33 was more than double the highest score by any other batter in the match in difficult, uneven conditions, but he was out with Uganda three runs away from victory.

He had two big reprieves — chopping an inside edge just over his stumps before he'd scored with Uganda on 8-3 and again when the total was 35-5 when Charles Amini dropped a regulation catch in the ninth over.

Uganda rallied to set up victory with a 35-run sixth-wicket partnership between Riazat and Juma Miyagi (13) before a runout added an extra element of tension at the end.

“First win of a World Cup is a special win for us,” Riazat said. “It was not easy to bat on this wicket ... our plan was just to stay in and take our time.”

Stoinis sets up Australia's win

Australia posted 164-5 and then restricted Oman to 125-9 at Barbados in its tournament opener but it wasn't a straightforward win.

The Australians were in spot of bother when Mehran Khan dismissed skipper Mitchell Marsh for 14 and Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck on consecutive balls to make the total 50-3 in the ninth over.

Stoinis took a single off the hat-trick ball and then set about accelerating Australia's run rate in a 102-run stand with opener David Warner.

Stoinis had a reprieve in the 15th over when a fielder caught him in the deep but fell back over the boundary, giving the batter six runs. It was the first of four sixes in that over that cost Mehran 26 runs.

Warner became Australia's highest scorer in T20 internationals before he was out for 56 off 51 balls. Stoinis finished unbeaten on 67 off 36.

“Maybe a few cobwebs for us, but we're better for the run," Stoinis said. “We got the win, some boys spent some time in the middle and everyone got a bowl.”

Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc (2-20) struck in the first over and the Australian bowlers steadily reduced the threat from Oman with regular wickets. Stoinis returned 3-19 to complete a player-of-the-match performance.

INDIA, THE BIGGEST PROMOTER OF T20 CRICKET, IS DETERMINED TO END A WORLD CUP TITLE DROUGHT

Kohli. AP Photo

 NEW DELHI (AP) — 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 in search of a second title to end a long drought.

Undoubtedly, the Indian Premier League is flush with cash and talent, attracting the best cricketers from across the world.

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 an exceptional one in that sense – India lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in England and, a few months later, also lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia, this time on home soil.

That caused major anguish in a cricket-mad country of 1.4 billion, considering India was on a 10-0 winning streak and a hot favorite going into the final.

Seven months later, Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli are leading the campaign in what in all probability will be their last T20 tournament in India's blue.

Sharma has been a part of every Indian squad at the T20 World Cup. Kohli made his debut in the 2012 edition, making this his sixth attempt at the title.

Kohli has scored 1,141 runs at an average of 81.50 and strike-rate 131.30 in his 27 games at the tournament. Sharma has scored 963 runs in 39 games at a strike rate of 127.88.

Both players missed all of India's T20 internationals between the 2022 semifinal loss in Australia and January of this year, leading to some speculation they'd miss out on the 2024 World Cup starting June 1.

That was dispelled by both BCCI secretary Jay Shah and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. Now, there will be big focus on their contributions – in terms of runs and strike-rate.

Sharma only managed 417 runs for Mumbai Indians in the club's unsuccessful 2024 IPL campaign. Kohli, meanwhile, topped the run charts for Royal Challengers Bengaluru with with 741 runs runs in 15 matches, avering 61.75. But his strike-rate earlier in the season was criticized by some TV broadcast analysts.

In a news conference to confirm the India squad, Agarkar brushed off any concerns regarding Kohli’s strike-rate.

“There’s a difference between IPL and international cricket,” Agarkar said. “You need experience as the pressure of a World Cup game is different. You (only) try to take positives from what is happening in the IPL.”

Kohli opens the batting for his IPL franchise but goes in at No. 3 for India in T20s. It has led to a significant debate over his batting position for the World Cup because it holds the key to India’s XI.

Should Kohli continue to bat at No. 3, Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings with Sharma. India will then have to play with only four specialist batters including Suryakumar Yadav, the world’s top-ranked T20 batter.

Allrounder Hardik Pandya and first-choice wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant would slot in next, with bowling allrounders to follow.

If Kohli opens with Sharma, it allows for an extra batter in the middle order and likely makes room for Shivam Dube, who has impressed selectors with his power hitting in the IPL and strike rate of 162.29.

Dube can also bowl useful medium pace if needed, and could provide backup to Pandya.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will lead a bowling attack that will contain four spinners, including left-arm all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzendra Chahal complete the line-up.

“I asked for four spinners,” Sharma explained. “Most of our matches will start at 10-11 a.m. (and) we expect all-rounders to do a job for us. It gives us a variety of combinations to explore depending on the opposition.”

India begins its World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5, then faces fierce rival Pakistan in New York on June 9 in what could be the highlight of the group stage. India will play the U.S. on June 12 and Canada on June 15.

While it is a seemingly straight-forward road for India in the first round, the tension to end a prolonged title drought will grow once it reaches the West Indies for the Super Eight stage.

- CHETAN NARULA