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Endorsements are a huge part of every sportsperson's career as it garners a huge amount of monetary benefits for them. The bigger his brand value, the more one earns in the endorsement deals. In cricket, placing  the stickers on the bats of the cricketers is a deal between the company and the player which helps players garner a lot of money. Let us look at some of the highest-paid athletes in this category.   Joe Root The English skipper is paid 1.7 crores/year by ‘New Balance’ Suresh Raina The elegant southpaw used to get 2.5–3 crores/year from ‘Ceat’ Chris Gayle The ‘Universe Boss’ gets 3 crores per year from’ Spartan’ Shikhar Dhawan The destructive Indian opener gets 3 crores from ‘MRF’ Rohit Sharma Hitman gets paid 3 crores from ‘Ceat’ AB de Villiers The 360-degree batsman ABD used to get 3.5 crores/year from ‘MRF’ Yuvraj Singh The world’s 3rd largest sportswear manufacturer ‘Puma’ paid 4 crores per year to Yuvi Mahendra Singh Dhoni Spartan used to pay 6 crores per year fo...

We all know Younis Khan as a great batsman for Pakistan. He has scored over 10,000 runs in Tests and 7000 runs in ODIs. He also has a triple hundred in Tests to his name. But he also holds the record for the most number of catches taken by a substitute fielder in a Test innings. It happened during the 1st Test of the Asian Test Championship in 2001 against Bangladesh. Batting first, Bangladesh were all out for 134 in the first innings. Danish Kaneria who picked 6 wickets for 42 runs was the pick among bowlers for Pakistan. Pakistani batsmen capitalised on the hopeless bowling unit of Bangladesh and 5 out of 6 Pakistani batsmen who came out to bat scored centuries. Saeed Anwar (101), Taufeeq Umar (104), Inzamam-ul-Haq (105), Mohammad Yousuf (102) and Abdul Razzaq (110) were the centurions. Pakistan declared the innings at 546. Bangladesh who came out to bat were ripped apart again by Danish Kaneria, as he picked another 6-fer. But the highlight was, Younis Khan who came out to field as ...

There has been only one instance in the history of ODI cricket where four hundred-run partnerships were formed in a match. Let us look at what happened that day. It was the first ODI of Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009. Batting first, India got a dream start as Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar (69) made a terrific partnership of 153 in just 19 overs. MS Dhoni (72)who came in at No. 3 also started hitting the bowlers mercilessly and India crossed 300 in 35 overs. They added 156 runs for the 3rd wicket and India eventually finished at a mammoth score of 414. Sehwag scored a scintillating 146 off just 102 balls. The Sri Lankan batsmen started from where India left. Openers Upul Tharanga (67) along with Tillakaratne Dilshan (160) stitched 188 runs off just 24 overs. Kumar Sangakkara who came in at 3, was in a destructive mood and he made 90 runs from just 43 balls. Their partnership added 128 runs from the next 12 overs and Sri Lanka were inching towards victory. But they lost San...

The record for the most number of extras bowled in a match belongs to the 1999 World Cup match between Pakistan and Scotland. Batting first, Pakistan scored 261 runs from 50 overs. Mohammad Yousuf top-scored with 81 runs and the second-best score was 59 which came as extra runs. All the Scotland bowlers gave away extras at will. John Blain bowled 6 wides and 6 no-balls. Asim Butt & Gavin Hamilton bowled 8 wides and 3 no-balls each. James Brinkley gave away 6 wides and Ian Stanger bowled 1 wide and 3 no-balls. Scotland were fined 1 over for a slow over-rate in this match. Even the Pakistan bowlers didn't seem to be disciplined, as they gave away 37 extras within the 39 overs they bowled. When Wasim Akram gave away 6 wides, Azhar Mahmood gave 3 and Saqlain Mushtaq bowled 2 wides. Shoib Akhtar ended up bowling 2 wides and a no-ball, Adul Razzaq gave away 1 wide and 5 no-balls, and Shahid Afridi delivered 2 no-balls. The overall extras added up to 96 runs ! (6 byes, 17 leg-byes, 50...

 Let us look at the unlucky cricketers who had to remain not out on 99, 199 or 299 runs in test cricket. 1. Don Bradman  (Australia) - 299 not out vs South Africa in 1932 2. Kumar Sangakkara  (Sri Lanka) - 199 not out vs Pakistan in 2012 3. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) - 199 not out vs South Africa in 2001 4. Geoffrey Boycott (England) -  99 not out vs Australia in 1979 5. Steve Waugh (Australia) - 99 not out vs England in 1995 6. Alex Tudor (England) - 99 not out vs New Zealand in 1999 7. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) - 99 not out vs Sri Lanka in 2002 8. Andrew Hall (South Africa) - 99 not out vs England in 2003

There are only three players who converted their first Test century into a triple hundred. Let us look who they are. 1. Sir Garry Sobers The legendary West Indian all-rounder Garry Sobers scored a record-breaking 365* against Pakistan in 1958, at the age of 21. This was his first three-figure score and he broke the record for the highest individual score too with this innings. 2. Bob Simpson Simpson was predominantly a balling-allrounder for Australia until his 30th Test, where he scored a magnificent 311, batting for more than 12 hours. This was his first century and he went on to score 9 more during his illustrious career. 3 . Karun Nair Karun Nair had played just 6 Test matches for India. But he became the first and only Indian to convert a maiden Test century into triple hundred. He scored a brisk 303 against England in 2016, from just 381 balls.

Test cricket is known to be the purest form of cricket which tests a batsman's patience. Most of the batsmen won't even mind scoring at a strike rate of below 50 in Tests. But there are players who broke the conventional style of Test cricket. Let us look some of the players with the highest strike rate in a Test Innings. 1. Umesh Yadav: The Indian pacer Umesh Yadav torn apart the South African bowlers during the 2019 series in India. He scored a 10-ball 31 including 5 huge sixes. Skipper Virat Kohli gave him the license to flex his muscles as India were already in a comfortable position. This is the only instance of a batsman scoring in excess of 300 strike rate in Tests! 2. Stephen Fleming: The New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming scored a 11-ball 31 against South Africa in 2004. Chasing a small target of 51 in the fourth innings, Fleming scored 6 fours and a Six which helped New Zealand chase it down in 11 overs. It was also the first-ever Test win for New Zealand against S...

 Let us have a look at the players who scored most runs in Test cricket without having a century to their name. 1. Shane Warne: The legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne tops the list with 3154 runs from 145 matches. Over a 15-year long career, he scored 12 half-centuries, but none of them got converted into a ton. His highest score was 99. 2. Chetan Chauhan: Chauhan was a successful batsman who opened for India alongside Sunil Gavaskar. He played 40 matches and scored 2084 runs at a healthy average of 31.57. He scored 16 half-centuries, but the three-figure mark remained an unfulfilled achievement. His highest score was 97. 3. Derryck Murray: The West Indian wicket-keeper batsman Derryck Murray scored 1993 runs from 60 matches. His highest score was 91. 4. Niroshan Dickwella: The swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman from Sri Lanka has scored 1921 runs from 31 matches till now. Even though he scored 15  half-centuries, he couldn't convert any of them into the milestone numbe...

  It took   17 years and 118 Matches  for Anil Kumble to register the first Test century. The legendary leg-spinner went on to score his first ton against England in 2007, finishing unbeaten on 110 off 193 balls. The score was 508/7 when India lost the last recognized batsman, MS Dhoni. But Kumble made handy partnerships with Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Sreesanth, thereby helping India to post a total of 664 onboard. The match was drawn and India won the 3 match series 1–0. It was after 21 years, India managed to win a Test series in England. Despite having many batting heavyweights like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Dhoni in the side,  Anil Kumble was the only Indian to have made a hundred in the entire series.

Batting on 295 and reaching the milestone with a six! We haven’t heard that before. Batting at 183 and hitting four 4s to reach there ASAP. First over, 3 balls - 3 sixes Starting the innings with a boundary on 25+ occasions India 58/1, Sehwag 50 Not out Team 131/4, Sehwag 100 Not out India 328/9 and there’s this guy completing 200 at a strike-rate of 88! Virender Sehwag is the one who changed the face of Test cricket with his destructive and fearless batting!

Taking a maiden in a T20 match is a great achievement. But, imagine taking a maiden in a Super-over! Yes, there has been just one bowler in the history of international cricket who have achieved the sensational feat. Sunil Narine . It happened during the game between Red Steels and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League. Let us look at how the over went by. Ball one: Sunil Narine to Nicholas Pooran - ball pitches outside leg stump and spins a foot away from the off stump. The batsman swings and misses DOT BALL Ball two: This one skid and doesn't bounce much. Full and wide. Another play and a miss. DOT BALL Ball three: Three in a row of the same line and length, Narine is firing them in. Tossed up on the off stump and spins away. Dwayne Bravo shakes his head in the pavilion DOT BALL Ball four: Fourth time. Same hoick, same play and a miss DOT BALL Ball five: OUT, Pooran finally connects but holes out at long-off in the hands of Martin Guptill. DOT ...

Let us look at the three 175s scored by Indian batsmen. 1.Virender Sehwag vs Bangladesh in 2011 It was the group-stage match against Bangladesh and Virender Sehwag went all guns blazing against the poor bowlers. He scored handy partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, which helped India post 370 runs onboard. Sehwag blasted 175 runs from 140 balls, with 14 fours and 5 sixes. Tamim Iqbal (70) and Shakib Al Hasan (55) fought back well, but their innings ended at 283. 2. Sachin Tendulkar vs Australia in 2009 The 5th ODI of Australia’s tour of India in 2009 saw an absolute run-feast at Hyderabad. Batting first, Australia posted a mammoth 350 with the help of Shaun Marsh (112) and Shane Watson (93). In reply, Sachin Tendulkar made a wonderful 175 which almost helped India cross the shores. At the end of 47th over, the equation was just 19 off 18 balls. But Tendulkar fell for Mckay in the next ball and India eventually fell short by 3 runs. Tendulkar cr...

During the 2001 India-South Africa series, Sachin Tendulkar was booked for ball-tampering in the second Test match at Port Elizabeth by umpire Mike Denness. BCCI launched a massive protest even threatening to pull out of the series if Denness continued to be the match referee in the next match. ICC was forced to remove Denness and the ban on Tendulkar was also overturned. “I was shocked because I had always played cricket with integrity and honesty and would never do such a thing”. “My mistake, which I have no hesitation in owning up to was that I should have informed the on-field umpires under Law 42.3 when I was cleaning the seam, but I’m afraid it did not enter my mind in the intensity of the moment.” were his words regarding the incident.

Rank 8: Fakhar Zaman 210* vs Zimbabwe Against a demoralized Zimbabwe side, the Pakistani batsman was unstoppable as he thrashed the Zimbabwean bowlers mercilessly, especially their medium pacers and spinners. While Zaman’s innings was brilliant, the fact that it came against a very poor attack prevents it from being placed higher in these rankings. Rank 7: Rohit Sharma 208* vs Sri Lanka As usual, Rohit started slowly and went into the Hitman mode after the first 100. He took on the Lankan bowlers to cleaners as the next 100 came in just 36 balls. This was his third double century and was arguably the least impressive among the lot as he conquered a comparatively poor Sri Lankan bowling attack. Rank 6: Virender Sehwag 219 vs West Indies Sehwag demolished the West Indian bowlers with a sensational 219, which was the highest ODI score ever at that time. If Sehwag would not have gotten out in the 47th over, he could have crossed the 250-run mark on that day. He faced 149 balls an...

Taking a wicket with your first ball in a World Cup match is a sensational achievement for any bowler. Let us look at the three players who have taken a wicket off their first delivery in the World Cup. #1 Ian Harvey (Australia) - against Pakistan in 2003 World Cup During the group stage match between Australia and Pakistan, Ian Harvey took the wicket of a well-set Salim Elahi with his first ball of the World Cup. Batting first, Australia scored 310 runs from 50 overs courtesy a brilliant century from Andrew Symonds. Coming to bat at No. 6, he scored 143 runs from 125 balls including 18 fours and 2 sixes. Chasing 311 for victory, Pakistan lost 3 wickets before registering 50 runs on the board. Just when it seemed like Salim Elahi and Mohammad Yousuf were building a partnership, Ilahi nicked the first ball of Harvey straight into the hands of Brett Lee. Australia went on to win the game by 82 runs and Harvey finished his spell with a magnificent 4/58. #2 Malachi Jones (Bermu...

Virender Sehwag is widely regarded as one of the most destructive opening batsmen of all time. He holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman. Let us look at his 3 best Test innings. 309(375) vs Pakistan- 1st test, Multan 2004 Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score 300 runs in a test match. Sehwag smashed the Pakistani bowlers all around the park. He hit 39 fours and 6 sixes and scored at a strike rate of 82, which was something rare in Tests at those times. 319(304) vs South Africa- 1st Test 2008 Sehwag became the first Indian to score two 300's in test cricket during the 1st test against South Africa. India answered back to a huge total of 540, with the help of Sehwag who scored 319 runs from just 304 balls. He smashed 42 fours and 5 sixes. 293(254) vs Sri Lanka- 3rd ...

Sourav Ganguly rewrote history during the 1999 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Many records fumbled during his 318-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (145). The Lankan bowlers seemed clueless against the onslaught done by the pair. India won the game by 157 runs and Ganguly was awarded the Man of the Match for his 183 off 158 balls, 17*4, 7*6. It was no less than a masterpiece. Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to the crease in the first over itself, following the early departure of Sachin Tendulkar while chasing a 299 against Sri Lanka in 2005. But he single-handedly changed the course of the game with a majestic 183 off 145 balls. It included 15 fours and 10 sixes. This was the first instance of a wicket-keeper scoring 183 in ODI cricket. India chased down the target comfortably in 46.1 overs. The third one is my favourite among the lot- Virat Kohli against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup. Batting first, Pakistan scored a good total of 329 with the help of centuries from Nasir...

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...