Silly Point of View

ICC World Test Championship Coming into this match without  Jasprit Bumrah  on another flat deck after a morale shattering defeat at Headingley, this Indian team was riddled with questions. Many criticized the decision to not play Bumrah at Edgbaston given there was a break of 7 days in between both Tests. But it was always expected that India will save Bumrah for a better bowling friendly surface at Lord's given that he is only advised to play three Tests on this tour. However, even after all that unfolded at the toss, the Indian bowling still looked better to me compared to their English counterparts. India's strength lied in their bowling as predicted before the start of the series. And England has played it in their hands by providing the easiest pitches for the batters in the country ever. Except for that horrible last day at Headingley, India has dominated the series so far and they came back roaring in this series to level it 1-1 going into the third Test. If there wa...

ICC World Test Championship The Day 5 of Headingley Test could have been labelled as a miracle if this any other team would have done what this English Team did. However, for this Bazball driven team, it was just another day at the office. We had enough days to reflect on the result of the first Test and it still feels like an anomaly. Maybe for England. But for India it was just one thing: a catastrophe .  This has happened before in exactly the same manner. In 2022 , at Birmingham. It was deja-vu.  Jasprit Bumrah  was the captain then,  Shubman Gill  it was this time. Gill couldn't have had a tougher introduction to Test captaincy and the challenges it brings. It might be harsh to judge him from what we saw on the field in the first Test but one thing is certain what everyone feared, he looks out of place as a captain. This is also because rather than grooming a proper Test captain, his appointment to the post was abrupt. The selection committee is the sole b...

ICC World Test Championship About 312kms away from the iconic Lord's cricket Stadium where the historic South African triumph took place, India will start their latest journey against arch rivals England. It will be the start of this new cycle for both teams who will be vying again in a five-match affair to ensure they get an early advantage in the World Test Championship 2025-27. This will be the fourth straight time these two teams will be facing each other with India winning the two home series while the last one in England was an exciting 2-2 draw completed over a gap of one year in 2022. There is a subdued sense of feeling about the arrival of Indian team on the English shores this time. No major advertisements, less curiosity about the team's net sessions and absence of fan queues lined up to welcome the India team travelling through different venues. This is not a surprise for some as the team is playing their first red balls series since the shock retirements of their ...

ICC World Test Championship On the afternoon of 24th May, the 18 member Indian Test Squad for the upcoming English tour has been announced by the BCCI. Headed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar , the squad is headlined by the newly announced red-ball captain Shubman Gill  and his deputy vice-captain and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant . The squad also includes a call-up for middle order batsman Karun Nair after a long hiatus and a fresh inclusion of the Tamil Nadu southpaw Sai Sudharsan . Below is the whole squad announced for the visit to England next month: Batters: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran. Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant (vc), Dhruv Jurel Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Nitish Kr. Reddy Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav Gill as Captain Ever since Rohit Sharma  announced his Test retirement last month, there has been severa...