After Shubman Gill's appointment, veteran all-rounder reveals Test captaincy aspirations
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has revealed that he harbours captaincy aspirations in the Test format. Speaking to Ravichandran Ashwin on the Kutti Stories podcast, Jadeja revealed that he would definitely take up the Test captaincy if given a chance.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to hand over the captaincy of the Test team to Shubman Gill after the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The board decided to look towards the future, making Rishabh Pant the deputy of Gill. Bar those two, only Jasprit Bumrah was in the running for the leadership role, as revealed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar.advertisementAsked by Ashwin if he would want to captain the Test side, Jadeja said that he had been under the leadership of several top skippers in his time and would definitely want to captain the Indian team in the red-ball format.
"Yes, definitely! Over the years, I have played under different captains. I know the mindset of every single captain whom I have played under, and I also understand what players need and their mindset," the 36-year-old Jadeja told his former India teammate Ravichandran Ashwin."Every captain has a different mindset on how he wants to run the team. I have played under MS Dhoni in every format, and his thinking is very simple. If he feels that a batter can hit shots in a particular region, he keeps the fielder there to make the batter uncomfortable," Jadeja added.advertisementRavindra Jadeja is the last top-flight player left in the current Indian team which dominated in the mid-2010s under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Before Rohit and Kohli, R Ashwin, the host of the podcast, called time on his career midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023–24 in Australia.Is Test Captaincy Difficult?In the England tour, Jadeja's spot is not one hundred percent guaranteed as the Indian management have shown their affinity towards Washington Sundar in recent times.Speaking on the burden of captaincy in the red-ball format, Jadeja said that captaining a Test side was much easier than the high-intensity matches in T20 cricket. Jadeja argued that Test captaincy was a lot about calculations but was relatively simpler than the white-ball formats."In Test cricket, you have to change two or three fielders as per the need of the bowler, and you don't need to change the field as per batsmen. Captaincy in Test cricket is way more different. It's simple but calculative. It's not complicated like IPL or T20s, where every ball is an event," Jadeja concluded on the matter.India announced their squad for the England series on May 24. Shubman Gill was named the captain, while Rishabh Pant was given the responsibility of Shubman's deputy in the series.India's 18-man Test squad for the tour of England:Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk) (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, MD Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.Must Watch
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Time of India
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Internet calls Magnus Carlsen 'sore loser' after slamming table during loss to Gukesh at Norway Chess 2025: 'Pathetic behaviour'
In a dramatic sixth-round clash at the Norway Chess 2025 tournament, World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh pulled off a remarkable win over former champion and top-ranked Magnus Carlsen. This marks Gukesh's first-ever classical win against Carlsen, levelling their head-to-head score in the tournament at 1-1. The match saw Gukesh on the defensive for most of the game, but he showed incredible grit, holding on despite being in a clearly lost position. As Carlsen fell into time trouble, the game took a turn. A rare blunder from Carlsen gave Gukesh a slim opening, and the young champion didn't miss. He played accurately and calmly to convert the position into a win, sealing a historic moment in his career. Just a lucky day: Gukesh after defeating Mangus Carlsen Despite the importance of the win, Gukesh remained humble in his post-game comments. 'Well, there wasn't much I could really do; it was just clearly lost, so I was trying to make moves which kind of were tricky for him, and luckily he got into a time scramble,' the 19-year-old said. 'Yeah, one thing I learned from this tournament is that time scrambles can be too much out of control. 99 out of 100 times, I would lose. Just a lucky day!' He added, 'First classical win against Magnus—I mean, not the way I wanted it to be—but okay, I'll take it.' Gukesh:"99 out of 100 times I would lose. Just a lucky day!""First classical win against Magnus, I mean, not the way I wanted it to be, but okay I'll take it."#NorwayChess Magnus slammed the table in frustration But what captured attention online wasn't just the result; it was Magnus Carlsen's frustrated reaction to his loss. Carlsen, who has been openly critical of Gukesh's classical play in the past, especially under time pressure, looked visibly shaken after the loss. Shortly after being defeated by Gukesh, he was caught on camera slamming the table and offering what many interpreted as a reluctant fist bump. While he was soon seen shaking hands with Gukesh and patting his back, seemingly congratulating the Indian prodigy for his win, many found his table-slam moment in poor taste. The moment quickly went viral, with fans calling out the chess legend for poor sportsmanship. GUKESH BEATS MAGNUS CARLSEN. 🇮🇳- The frustration from Magnus after the defeat. 😲 Internet reacts: 'Magnus should've handled this with grace' Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) was quick to react to the scene. Many praised Gukesh's calm demeanour and criticised Carlsen's apparent frustration. One user wrote, 'This is probably the biggest moment of Gukesh's life, and this pathetic behaviour by the world's No.1 is just disappointing. Magnus should've handled this with grace.' This is probably the biggest moment of Gukesh's life and this pathetic behaviour by the World's no1 is just disappointing. Magnus should've handled this with grace. Another said, 'This should not be allowed! Chess federation should address this issue.' This should not be allowed! Chess federation should address this issue. The reactions didn't stop there. Several fans took the opportunity to point out what they felt was a pattern in Carlsen's behaviour when things don't go his way. One user wrote, 'He doesn't think that Gukesh deserves to be world champion and that arrogance came out when he lost to him.' @Trollerguy1377 He doesn't think that gukesh deserves to be world champion and that arrogance came out when he lost to him. Another added, 'I am getting tired of Magnus's antics. After a loss, at least congratulate your opponent properly. What is this with banging the table?' They also referenced past criticisms of the world championship format and suggestions that Gukesh didn't truly earn the title. I am getting tired of Magnus's antics and after a loss at least congratulate your opponent properly. What is this with banging of the table? These men questioned the legitimacy of Gukesh's win at World championship, questioned the chess format user in World championship and to... While the chess world continues to debate Carlsen's sportsmanship, Gukesh continues to build his legacy, proving he's World Champion for a reason.
The Hindu
30 minutes ago
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Gukesh gets even with Carlsen, beats the world No.1 in Norway Chess
Reigning world champion D Gukesh finally got his revenge on Magnus Carlsen, defeating the No.1 player for the first time in a classical game in Round 6 of Norway Chess here on Sunday (June 1, 2025). Days after Carlsen, the five-time world champion, inflicted a huge blow to Gukesh's chances in the opening round of the tournament, the world champion, who turned 19 only a few days back, struck back, catching the Norwegian by surprise just when it seemed he was on the verge of losing the game to earn three points. The Indian jumped to third spot with 8.5 points and now trails the world No.1 Gukesh and American Fabiano Caruana by just one point. OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 — Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2025 It was a huge comeback for Gukesh, who had looked out of sorts in the opening game against Carlsen. He seemed to be losing Sunday's game as well before he turned things around to win his maiden Classical chess contest in 62 moves and over four hours of nerve-wracking chess. While Gukesh refused to speak to the media, his Polish coach Grzegorz Gajewski said the win will give the teenager 'a huge pump' going deeper into the tournament and in future battles with the Norwegian. 'It [win] just gives a huge pump of confidence [to Gukesh] because once you've done it, you know you can do it again. And that's the plan,' said Gajewski. When asked if other players from India will suddenly feel confident about themselves beating Carlsen following Gukesh's feat, he said, It certainly does. 'And for the tournament [Norway Chess] that's going ahead, it gives him [Gukesh] a bump. Hopefully we can break another unbreakable margin. Perfect,' said the Pole.
