BCCI WANTED TO MAKE VIRAT KOHLI CAPTAIN OF INDIA VS ENGLAND TEST SERIES BEFORE HIS 'RETIREMENT'

Kohli has allegedly informed the BCCI that he's decided to retire from Test cricket.

Virat Kohli has reportedly decided to retire from Test cricket. The former India cricket team captain has also informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his decision. And as expected, the BCCI was shocked. Not just because he’s one of the greatest Test batters India has ever had but also because he wanted to name him India’s Test captain once again.

BCCI wanted Kohli back as India Test captain

Three days ago, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket. But it’s believed that BCCI and Rohit had been talking about it for some time. So even before he hung up his boots, the BCCI were thinking about his replacement as India’s Test captain. And just like they had done in Australia, they eyed making Kohli skipper.

“It is true that selectors did think about having Kohli as India skipper for the England series,” a BCCI source told PTI.

But much to their dismay, not only has Kohli denied becoming India’s Test captain once again. He’s actually decided to retire from red-ball cricket. This puts a wrench in BCCI’s plan.

Shubman Gill to be Rohit Sharma’s replacement

It’s true they wanted Shubman Gill to eventually take over from Rohit in Test cricket. But Gill hasn’t found himself in the format. At least, not yet. BCCI hoped him to ease Gill into captaincy. England being your first assignment as skipper is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks.

But BCCI has no option now. They don’t want Jasprit Bumrah in a leadership role due to his fitness. KL Rahul’s age, 33, does him no good. Rishabh Pant’s form and captaincy haven’t been great. That leaves Gill. Ideally, they wanted Kohli as a stopgap option, but it doesn’t seem like that’s possible.

“This would have given Gill some time to grow into the leadership role, but at 25-and-a-half years of age, he is yet to hit his peak. Due to Bumrah’s fitness issues, Gill looks like the obvious choice for Ajit Agarkar’s committee,” the source added.

- Ansh Athani

INDIA'S ROHIT SHARMA QUITS TEST CRICKET 🏏

India’s Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket, but said he will continue to play the shorter format of the game.

India's Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket, but said he will

India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday announced his retirement from Test cricket ahead of the team’s tour of England starting next month, but will continue to play the shorter 50-over format.

In 67 Tests, Rohit scored 4 301 runs including 12 centuries with a best of 212 against South Africa in 2019 and an average of over 40.

“It’s an absolute honour to represent my country in whites,” the 38-year-old Rohit wrote on Instagram.

“Thank you for all the love and support over the years.”

INDIA NEED A NEW TEST SKIPPER

Rohit, who quit T20 internationals along with Virat Kohli after India’s World Cup triumph in Barbados last year, recently led the team to an ODI Champions Trophy title in Dubai.

India will begin a five-Test series in England in June-July and the team now needs a new Test skipper.

Rohit’s last Test was in Melbourne last year when India lost to Australia by 184 runs.

He stood down as captain in the fifth Test in Sydney due to poor batting form but India went on to lose the match and the five-match series 2-1.

Rohit managed just 31 runs in five innings of his three outings Down Under and the Indian media speculated that he could retire from Test cricket after the series.

Rohit began his Test career in 2013, but it was five years later that he came into his own in the five-day format as a swashbuckling opener and later took over as captain from Kohli.

- AFP

AJAZ STARS AS NEW ZEALAND BEAT INDIA 3-0 IN HISTORIC TEST SWEEP

New Zealand's Ajaz Patel celebrates the win against India at the end of their third Test in Mumbai (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE)

New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel took six wickets as his side sealed a historic 3-0 Test sweep in India with a thrilling 25-run win in the third Test on Sunday.

Chasing 147 for victory, India were bowled out for 121 in 29.1 overs on day three, after Rishabh Pant hit a valiant 64 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

Ajaz roared in delight as he bowled Washington Sundar to take the final wicket and the Black Caps celebrated a first Test series win on Indian soil in style.

It was the first time India had been swept in a Test series at home since South Africa's 2-0 win in 1999-2000 and the first time they were beaten 3-0 at home.

"This will be a very low point in my career, having lost three games at home," India skipper Rohit Sharma told reporters.

"I fully take responsibility for that. As a leader, I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series.

"With the bat as well, I have not been good enough."

New Zealand did the unthinkable under new captain Tom Latham, and in the absence of senior batsman Kane Williamson, who was recovering from a groin injury back home.

The Black Caps turned around their fortunes from a 2-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka, and made India suffer their first Test series loss at home in 12 years.

"Very ecstatic," said Latham. "Looking back at the start of the series, to now be in this position, the boys have done a fantastic job over the last three Test matches."

Mumbai-born New Zealander Ajaz ended with a match-haul of 11 wickets at a venue where he created history by claiming all 10 wickets in a Test innings in 2021.

In a tricky chase on a turning pitch, New Zealand reduced India to 29-5, before the left-hander Pant made counter-attacked with his half-century.

- Pant controversy -

Ajaz, after lunch, had Pant caught by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, a decision denied by the on-field umpire but successfully reviewed by New Zealand. An unconvinced Pant trudged back.

"If we say something, it will not go down well. If the decision is not conclusive then the decision has to stand with what the on-field umpire calls," said Rohit.

"I don't know how that decision was overturned."

Glenn Phillips then got two in two balls and Ajaz wrapped up the innings to be named player of the match.

India bowled out New Zealand quickly for 174 in the first session, with Ravindra Jadeja taking five wickets on a turning wicket for 10 in the match.

But the New Zealand bowlers led by Ajaz ripped into India's top order.

Fast bowler Matt Henry dismissed Rohit Sharma in the third over, getting the captain to mis-hit to Phillips at midwicket for 11.

He extended his poor run with the bat in the series with scores of 2, 52, 0, 8 and 18 in his previous five innings.

Ajaz bowled Shubman Gill and then had Virat Kohli, on one, caught by Daryl Mitchell at slip to silence the home crowd.

Kohli has also struggled in the series, with just one half-century and four single-digit scores in the series.

Pant put on 42 runs for the sixth wicket to revive the chase, but Ajaz struck again to remove Jadeja for six.

Will Young's 71 and 51 in the two New Zealand innings proved key and he was named player of the series for amassing 244 runs.

- Faisal Kamal

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

BUMRAH'S REVERSE SWING MASTERCLASS PUTS INDIA IN CHARGE

Reuters 

 Jasprit Bumrah claimed six for 45 in a reverse swing masterclass to fetch India a handy lead on day two of the second test against England in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Replying to India's 396 in the first innings, England were cruising at 114-1 batting with the kind of unbridled aggression, which has become the hallmark of the side under Ben Stokes.

Bumrah, armed with the reversing ball, then turned the match on its head and England were all out for 253 conceding a first-innings lead of 143.

India were 28 for no loss at stumps for an overall lead of 171.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who smashed 209 in the first innings, was batting on 15 with skipper Rohit Sharma on 13 at the other end.

KOHLI MASTERMINDS CHASE AS INDIA BEAT NEW ZEALAND DESPITE MITCHELL TON

Reuters 

Virat Kohli's crafty 95 trumped Daryl Mitchell's rapid 130 as hosts India beat New Zealand by four wickets in a top-of-the-table clash in the 50-overs World Cup on Sunday.

Kohli could not complete the chase but was instrumental again as India reached a victory target of 274 with two overs to spare to maintain their unbeaten run in the tournament.

Their fifth successive win put the twice champions at the top of the table followed by 2019 runners-up New Zealand who tasted their first defeat at this year's tournament.

KHOLU HITS SUBLIME HUNDRED AS INDIA CRUSH BANGLADESH

Reuters 

Virat Kohli smashed a century as India maintained their perfect record in their 50-overs home World Cup and cruised to their fourth consecutive victory with a clinical seven-wicket win against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Bangladesh had to conjure up something extraordinary to upset an India team who went into the match after three successive wins, and the task became even harder in the absence of skipper Shakib Al Hasan was injured.

Electing to bat, Bangladesh could not capitalise on a 93-run opening stand between Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan, making 256-8 on a good batting pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

It was a clinical effort by India's attack, considering they were one bowler short from early in the match after Hardik Pandya twisted his ankle in his first over.

Skipper Rohit Sharma led India's rapid reply and Kohli ended with an unbeaten 103, hitting a six to reach his hundred and secure India's win with 51 balls to spare.