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We all remember Irfan Pathan for his marvellous spell of 4–0–16–3. He was adjudged the Man of the Match in the finals. Gautam Gambhir with a great knock of 75 was well appreciated by critics and fans. MS Dhoni who took a gamble with Joginder Sharma was applauded for his extra-ordinary captaincy. Let me shed some light onto another player. At the end of 18th over, when Gautam Gambhir got out, the Indian score was 130/5. With Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir to bowl the next 2 overs, the Indian dugout might have wished for another 18 or 20 runs from the next 12 deliveries. But, Rohit Sharma faced 9 off the next 12 deliveries and scored 24 runs , which helped India post a handy total of 157. The fact that India won the match by 5 runs , shows us how important his innings was. Rohit Sharma - 30 runs off 16 balls, 2 Fours, 1 Six was an unsung hero to me.

Many of the Indian cricketers have got nicknames, either carried from their childhood or given by fans/team-mates. Let us look at those interesting names. Virat Kohli - Cheeku Like Cheeku the rabbit from Champak , he had big ears which earned him the nickname Ajinkya Rahane - Jinx It was Shane Warne who gave him that nickname as he couldn't pronounce Ajinkya during his IPL stint with Rajasthan Royals Shikhar Dhawan - Gabbar During his Ranji days, he would joke around to team-mates with Gabbar dialogues from Sholay Rohit Sharma - Hitman His fans gave the name Hitman for his spectacular six-hitting ability Hardik Pandya - Rockstar The   Mumbai Indians' teammates call him as Rockstar, to his style and attitude Murali Vijay - The Monk Murali Vijay shaved his head some time back. Reports say that it earned him the nickname of The Monk. Ravindra Jadeja - Jaddu/Sir Ravindra Jadeja Jaddu is short for his surname Jadeja Parthiv Patel – Bachcha Maybe becaus

Trent Boult was ruthless against Australia at Eden Park during the 2015 World Cup, and his 27/5 helped New Zealand beat their neighbour in a crucial World Cup encounter. Australia decided to bat first with the hopes of capitalising on some of the smaller boundaries to put up a huge score. Boult had a pretty ordinary first spell, as his five overs leaked 24 runs and Australia were going strong at 68-1 after 10 overs. But once Southee & Vettori took a couple of wickets, Brendon McCullum decided to reintroduce Boult after a seven-over break. And, this time, Boult was rejuvenated and was all set with his lethal inswingers. Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh both chopped on in quick succession, and then, Australian captain Michael Clarke gave a catching practice to Kane Williamson to be his third victim. He completed his 5-fer by removing Mitchell Johnson and Starc, with full deliveries. The delivery to Starc was an absolute gem, as it was a fast swinging yorker on the leg-stump, wh

During India’s tour of Bangladesh in 2004, Sachin Tendulkar made his highest score of 248* from 379 balls. But when the 9th batsman went out, Tendulkar was in his 190s and fans were tensed on whether the No.11 batsman Zaheer Khan will allow him to score the double-ton. But Zaheer played a scintillating innings of 75 from 115 balls. It not only allowed Tendulkar to cross the 200-run mark but also helped him score his highest individual score (248) in International cricket. The partnership added 133 runs from 31 overs, and Zaheer was clearly the aggressor among the duo. Zaheer Khan's 75 remained as the highest score at No. 11 for almost a decade till West Indies' Tino Best bettered it with his 95. Currently, the record belongs to Australia's Aston Agar who hit a 98 against England in 2013.

Any century outside the sub-continent was great at those times. If it had happened in Australia, it was much more precious. And the century made by Virender Sehwag during the 2003 Boxing Day test in Melbourne, was no less than a masterpiece. He started his onslaught right from the beginning. The opening wicket partnership lasted till 141 and his partner’s contribution was just 48. Even though wickets fumbled at one end, Sehwag continued his strokeplay which annoyed the Australian bowlers to the core. Even on 195, he didn’t think of defending or taking 5 singles. He wanted to reach there in his own style and unfortunately got perished going for a big hit. The scorecard read 311/4 at the time of his departure. Within the next 25 overs, the Australian bowlers bundled India for just 366. When the rest of the batsmen found it difficult to score occasional boundaries, Sehwag was dealing mainly in fours and sixes. His 195 was crafted with 25 elegant fours and 5 huge sixes. Rahul Dravid’s

Many cricket pundits confirm this as the greatest innings played by an Indian batsman ever in the Limited Overs Cricket. Since the broadcasters of the tournament, BBC - was on strike on that day, the video footage wasn’t available to anyone. It was a must-win match for India against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup. India won the toss and elected to bat first. But the Zimbabwe bowlers Kevin Curran and Peter Rawson breathed fire and India were pushed to 9/4. In came the Indian captain Kapil Dev, at No.6. He made a handy partnership of 60 runs with Roger Binny for the 7th wicket before the latter was trapped leg-before by John Traicos. An early departure of Ravi Shastri made the situation worse and the scorecard read 78/7. The next batsman Madan Lal gave good support to Kapil, scoring 17 off 39-balls. The partnership helped India reach 140/8 before Lal was scalped by Curran. When the last batsman Syed Kirmani came in to bat, none were aware of the majestic partnership yet to come.

A stellar performance in the 2007 Deodhar Trophy helped him get into the Indian team for the inaugural T20 WorldCup in 2007. He was warming the benches for the entire series. But just before the final match, Virender Sehwag got injured and he was chosen to open the innings. A debut in the T20 World Cup Final, that too against Pakistan. He started off with a six in the first over itself. But the innings was short-lived, as he mistimed a pull towards mid-on to be caught by Shoiab Malik. He scored 15 runs from 8 balls including a four and a six. It’s Yusuf Pathan

During the 2015 World Cup match against West Indies, Pakistan lost 4 wickets for just 1 run . Batting first West Indies scored 310/6. Pakistan openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shahzad came out to the crease. Jerome Taylor sent back Jamshed for a nought in the 2nd ball. Shehzad took a single in the 5th delivery and Younis Khan was caught by Ramdin in the last ball of the first over. At the end of 1st over - PAK 1/2 Jason Holder bowled a maiden in the 2nd over. At the end of 2nd over - PAK 1/2 Taylor sent back Haris Sohail in the last ball of the 3rd over. (All three Pakistani batsmen were out for 0) At the end of 3rd over - PAK 1/3 When Jason Holder trapped Ahmed Shehzad with the first ball of the 4th over, Pakistan had one of the worst starts in ODI cricket history. 3.1 overs - 1/4 Sohaib Maqsood (50) and Umar Akmal (59) showed some resilience, but eventually, they were all-out for 160.

If someone gets the Man of the Match award after playing just 10 balls, how ferocious would have been the effect of those 10 deliveries. Yes, I would like to shed some light on Jos Buttler’s 32(10) against South Africa. It was the 3rd T20 of South Africa’s tour of England in 2012. The match was reduced to 11 overs per side. At the end of the 9th over, England were at 74/3. Craig Kieswetter (44) and Jos Buttler 1(1) were at the crease. But the game took a turn in the next over bowled by Wayne Parnell. it went like this. 9.1 -  SIX 9.2 -  SIX 9.3 - 2 Runs 9.4 - No ball 9.4 -  4+No ball 9.4 -  FOUR 9.5 -  SIX 9.6 - 2 Runs Buttler made it the second most expensive over in T20 Internationals (After Yuvraj's Six sixes against Stuart Broad in 2007 World Cup) England managed to score 118/5 from 11 overs and the South African innings ended at 90/5. 10 deliveries were more than enough for  Jos Buttler  to bag the Man of the Match award in that game.  ''It's

The legendary West Indian all-rounder  Sir Gary Sobers  played 93 Tests and scored over 8000 runs at an average of 57.78. (5th highest batting average among players above 5000 runs). He started his career as a bowler and went on to become a prolific batsman who kept the highest individual Test score (365) for quite a long time. With over 230 wickets, his wicket-tally was equally impressive. But he played only 1 ODI against England in 1973. It was not a memorable match for him as he was caught by Bob Taylor off Chris Old for a 6-ball duck, and the winning runs were scored off his bowling too. He was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009. In case you are interested, here's the list of Top 100 cricket blogs to follow https://blog.feedspot.com/cricket_blogs/

When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma finds the rhythm, it's almost impossible for any bowler or captain to break their partnership. It was one such helpless situation when Australian captain Aaron Finch sought advice from the umpire Michael Gough on how to get the duo out. Most probably, the incident happened during the 3rd ODI between India and Australia at Bengaluru. ''I stood next to Aaron Finch at square-leg and he said to me, during the game, how it was unbelievable to watch these two great players.'' ''Then he asked me how I would bowl at them. I looked at him and said, I've got enough on my plate, you're on your own there'' said Gough, who has played 67 first-class games. Coming to the match, Kohli (89)and Rohit (119) decimated the Australian bowlers all around the park and India chased down 287 with 7 wickets to spare.

England won the first Test of their tour to New Zealand in 2002. But the match is widely known for an unusual batting display by Nathan Astle. He scored 222 runs from 168 balls, with 28 fours and 11 huge sixes. England's first innings was a pretty ordinary one, with a modest 228 runs on board. Captain Nasser Hussain (106) batted till the end to make sure that they cross the 200-run mark. The New Zealand batting line-up was ripped apart by Mathew Hoggard with a fiery spell of 63/7, and the Kiwis were bundled for a paltry 147. The English batsmen were much more fluent in the 2nd innings. Graeme Thorpe (200) and Andrew Flintoff (137) batted with a strike-rate of 80+ and they declared at 468. Chasing a target of 540+was almost impossible at those times. New Zealand lost wickets at right intervals and they were pushed to 339/9. When the English bowlers thought the match was over, there was one man at the crease who had some weird plans in his mind. Astle started sending the de

It happened during the first test of Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in 1991. Batting first, New Zealand were all-out for a below-par 174 in the first innings. Rumesh Ratnayake (45/4) and Graeme Labrooy (68/4) were the pick among bowlers for Sri Lanka. Coming out to bat the first innings, Aravina de Silva made a scintillating 267 from just 380 balls, which helped them post a good 497 on board. (Another rare instance associated with the match was Arjuna Ranatunga being hit-wicket off Danny Morrison) New Zealand started their second innings on Day 3 with a huge deficit. But, the pitch had turned into a batsman’s paradise and runs started coming for every batsman. After giving a solid start, the openers went back to the pavilion. But Andrew Jones (186) along with skipper Martin Crowe made one of the greatest partnerships that cricket history has ever seen. The 467 run partnership decimated the Lankan bowlers all around the park. When Jones was cruising towards his 200, it was Arjuna

Strengthening the chances of an England tour, the Ireland players returned to training under strict health guidelines. Originally, Ireland’s tour of England was scheduled to start on July 30, but the Cricket Ireland and the England and Wales Cricket Board are planning to shift the series to September. After Sri Lanka, England and Afghanistan, Ireland becomes the fourth cricket team to resume practice amid the Covid-19 pandemic.   “There is still the prospect of men’s T20 World Cup in late 2020 - so it may still be a big year for the men’s squad. The women’s squad are looking at a rescheduled World Cup qualifier tournament which, if it proceeds this year will require a lead-up programme,” Richard Holdsworth, the Cricket Ireland’s high-performance director said. As per guidelines, the players are expected to turn up to the training only after registering their body temperatures, and should be using their own equipment and will have no access to changing rooms and storage faciliti

Michael Clarke, the World Cup-winning Australian captain was named an Officer (AO) in the Order of Australia honours list. Clarke was recognised for "distinguished service to cricket as a player at the national and international level, through leadership roles, and to the community".  He thanked in an Instagram post: I’m not sure how to express the gratitude and honour I have today, for receiving such a prestigious award. As surprised as I was to be seen in such light, and alongside some of my heroes, it makes me very proud to say that cricket has given me so much more than I could ever have imagined, and this is another example of why I owe the game so much. Without the support of my family, friends, fans and teammates, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This recognition and accolade is as much for you guys as it is for my contribution He was the skipper when Australia won the 2015 ODI World Cup. With over 8600 Test runs and 7900 ODI runs, he retired in 2015 as the fourth-h

The two-time T20 World Cup-winning West Indian captain Darren Sammy revealed that he faced racist taunts during his 2013-14 IPL stints. Sammy wrote on his Instagram story on Saturday: “Oh so that’s what that meant when they called me and Thisara Perera Kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. I just thought they were calling me strong black man… I’m more piss now.” In one of his episodes of 'Patriot Act', he mentioned that the practice of calling a dark person ‘Kalu’ is still in practise in many families in India. He is a strong supporter of the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter campaign which began out of the protests over the death of George Floyd, an African American who was left to die by a white police officer in the USA. He also tweeted that “@ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind? This is not only about America. This happens every day #BlackLivesMatter no

Babar Azam is considered as a modern-day batting legend in Pakistan. He was the leading Test run-scorer for them in 2018 and 2019, and leading ODI run-scorer in 2016, 2017 & 2019. He was also named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2017 and 2019 for his impressive performances. But former Pakistan opening batsman Aamer Sohail believes that Azam has got a faulty technique in batting. His words were: “There is a fault in Babar Azam’s technique related to his setup and stance. His trigger movement is slightly off, which could be because he wants to avoid getting bowled or LBW, but if he can correct that he can get into a better position and dominate the bowlers even more,”  Sohail is of the opinion that Misbah-ul-Haq should do what's necessary to fix the issues, in order to make Azam a bigger threat to the opposition. Sohail also told that Babar Azam should improve his strike-rotation. “Over 40 per cent of his runs come through boundaries but at times he won’t be able to

We have heard of bowlers taking a wicket off the first ball of their career, but what about a wicket off the 0th ball? In Tests & ODIs, taking a wicket off the first ball has happened in 20+ occasions; and in Twenty20 Internationals ten such cases have happened. But how does one take a wicket off his 0th ball? The possible way is to do it off a wide or a no-ball. The Indian run-machine Virat Kohli achieved this rare feat at Old Trafford in 2011, which was the first occasion of a bowler taking a wicket off what was technically the 0th ball of his T20I career. Coming to the match, England were cruising comfortably towards victory with 110 runs required off 13 overs. The dangerous Kevin Pieterson and Eoin Morgan were all set at the crease. Then, Indian captain, MS Dhoni decided to give the ball to Virat Kohli. Being a part-timer, his first delivery went down the legside, which could be intentional or unintentional. But unfortunately, KP was out of the crease and we witnessed another l

The 2014 edition of the IPL had an unusual game between KKR and RR - a tied game followed by a tied super-over . Batting first, Rajasthan Royals scored 152 runs from 20 overs, with the help of a classy 59-ball 72 from Ajinkya Rahane. Chasing a target of 153, The Kolkata Knight Riders were comfortably cruising towards victory. At the end of 18th over, they needed just 16 runs from 12 balls with 6 wickets in hand. But the 19th over from James Faulkner changed the course of the match. KKR were able to score only 4 runs in that over and lost 3 wickets. A decent last over from Kane Richardson made sure that KKR concluded the innings at the same score of 152. KKR went out to bat first in the super-over with Suryakumar Yadav and Shakib Al Hasan taking the crease. As we can guess, it was James Faulkner who took the responsibility to bowl the crucial 6 balls. The first ball saw Suryakumar Yadav being run-out while trying to snatch a double. Manish Pandey came to the crease to face the second ba

There were only 4 instances of a debutant taking a hat-trick in ODIs. Let us look at who are those cricketers. Tajiul Islam of Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe at Mirpur, 2014 He bowled a spell of 7-2-11-4 and helped Bangladesh restrict the opposition for 128. Bangladesh won the match by 5 wickets. Kagiso Rabada of South Africa vs Bangladesh at Mirpur, 2015 Rabada took 16/6, the best figures for any bowler on ODI debut to restrict Bangladesh to 160. South Africa won the match by 8 wickets. Wanidu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe at Galle, 2017 The Sri Lankan leg-spinner became the third bowler to claim a hat-trick on debut when he took 15/3 and restricted Zimbabwe to just 155. Sri Lanka won the match by 7 wickets. Shehan Madushanka of Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh at Dhaka, 2018 Madhushanaka's 26/3 gave Sri Lanka a comfortable win by 79 runs against Bangladesh, as the hosts were all-out for 142 while chasing 222.

The 37th match of the ICC World Cup 2003 saw one of the greatest all-round performance by any player in the ODI history. Batting first, England posted a below-par score of 204, after Andy Bichel ran over the English batsmen with a phenomenal bowling spell of 10–0–20–7 . When everyone thought it to be a cakewalk for the Aussies, Andrew Caddick went through the Australian top order like a bulldozer, which pushed them to 135/8 in the 38th over. Andy Bichel, who had a day to remember with the ball, played a gem of an innings by supporting Michael Bevan (74 off 126 balls) at the other end. The match came down to the wire, with Australia needing 14 runs off 12 balls. Bichel, who faced Anderson hit a six and a four off consecutive deliveries which sealed the game for the Aussies. He remained not out on 34 off 36 balls, which was such an invaluable innings in the context of the play.

It may sound fake, but it's really happened. The England vs West Indies test match at Lord’s in 2000 saw all the four innings being played on the same day.  Batting first West Indies scored 267 in the first innings and England were all out for 134 in their first innings. Windies who came out to bat, with a lead of 133 runs were bundled for a paltry 54 on the same day by the English seamers. England came out to bat with a target of 188 runs later on that day, which makes this one of the rare instances in Test cricket. England won the match by 2 wickets.

1. Nathan Astle (New Zealand) 2. Mark Greatbatch (New Zealand) 3. Viv Richards (West Indies) 4. Dean Jones (Australia) 5. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) 6. Lance Klusener (South Africa) 7. Kapil Dev (India) 8. Chris Cairns (New Zealand) 9. Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) 10. Wasim Akram (Pakistan) 11.Curtley Ambrose (West Indies)

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are undoubtedly the two best franchises in the IPL history. It's hard to omit and easy to choose anyone from the lot. Here is my playing 11. Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shane Watson When Rohit takes his time to settle, Watson can exploit the powerplay No.3: Suresh Raina It's an obvious choice to select Mr IPL at No.3 No. 4 & 5: Ambati Rayudu & Hardik Pandya Rayudu’s ability to anchor the innings or play aggressively according to the situations is impeccable. Whereas Hardik can give us those finishing touches and bowl 4 overs. No. 6: Mahendra Singh Dhoni MSD will keep and lead my side. His keeping skills and leadership skills are second to none! No. 7, 8 and 9: Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin These 3 are the most intelligent bowlers in IPL. Their wicket tally and economy rates will substantiate their inclusion. No. 10 and 11: Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah Two death bowling experts who can castle any batsmen with

Gautam Gambhir : Arguments and banters were always part of the former Indian opener’s career. He even had quarrels with own team-mates. Ricky Ponting : One of the greatest captains of the game, would do anything to win the game - even if it was unfair. He had his share of haters around the world. Andrew Symonds : The monkey-gate incident had gained him many haters among the Indian fans. Misbah ul Haq : If all the other cricketers have haters outside their country, Misbah had gained his share from within his country limits, mainly due to his overly defensive approach. Herschelle Gibbs : The South African opener who hit 6 sixes in an over, lost all his stardom with the infamous match-fixing scandal Mohammad Asif : Another instance of a bright career destroyed by the use of drugs and match-fixing. Mushfiqur Rahim : Majority of the Indian fans believe, Mushfiqur Rahim is the most immature cricketer ever, for his ugly celebrations and unnecessary posts on social media. Greg Chappel : His co

American cricket fans couldn’t have dreamed of anything more than what they got when India played Windies at Lauderhill on 27 August 2016. The match witnessed absolute carnage right from the word 'go'! Batting first, Windies set India a mammoth target of 245 , with the help of a 49-ball ton from Evin Lewis (5x4, 9x6) and a 33-ball 79 (6x4, 7x6) from Johnson Charles. Chasing 246, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started from where the Windies left. Rohit scored a 28-ball 62 , with 4 fours and as many sixes while Rahul remained not out on 110 from 51 balls with 12 fours and five sixes. With 8 runs to win off the last over, everyone thought India to finish the game in 2 balls. But here’s how the over went. 19.1 - Bravo to Dhoni, 1 run 19.2 - Bravo to Rahul, 1 run 19.3 - Bravo to Dhoni, 1 leg bye 19.4 - Bravo to Rahul, 1 run 19.5 - Bravo to Dhoni, 2 runs With 2 runs to win from 1 ball, and MSD at the crease, Indian fans were ready to celebrate, but 19.6 - Bravo to Dhoni, OUT Result: We

On 12th May Chennai Super Kings met Mumbai Indians in the finals of IPL 2019. After winning the toss, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma decided to bat first. And his decision seemed correct when Mumbai raced away to 45 runs off just 4.4 overs. But Shardul Thakur drew the first blood for CSK in the 5th over by sending back the in-form Quinton de Kock. The next over witnessed Rohit getting out too, to a knuckle-ball from Deepak Chahar. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan built a steady partnership which was broken by Imran Tahir in his first over. Dhoni brought Thakur again into the attack and he repaid the captain's faith by sending back Krunal Pandya in that over. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard contributed some handy runs towards the end of the innings to help Mumbai post a decent 149 on board. Coming out to bat chasing 150, the Super Kings too got a quick start as Faf du Plessis scored a four, six and four off consecutive deliveries in Krunal Pandya's fourth over. But Pandya had the