
Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal in contention for Asia Cup call-up: Report

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The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
He's the new Pandya on the block
A year ago, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium bore witness to the rise of young stars. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, a 13-year-old prodigy from Bihar stunned the cricketing world with a fearless century against Australia Under-19, his array of strokes made people at the ground sit up and take notice and also garnered global attention. In the same series, away from the spotlight, a 17-year-old quietly made his mark. Calm, composed, and resilient—Nitya J. Pandya scored a steady 54 in the first 'Test' and a determined 94 in the second. Since then, Suryavanshi lit up the IPL playing for Rajasthan Royals, making waves across the country and beyond. For Nitya, Cooch Behar Trophy became his canvas—two double hundreds, two centuries, and the tournament's top run-scorer (881 runs in six matches). His reward — A place in Baroda's Ranji Trophy squad. Now, fate has brought him back to Chennai—the city that first embraced his talent. And once again, he has delivered: a match-defining 102 (first innings) and 54 against Odisha in the Buchi Babu tournament. In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu, Nitya expressed his joy at coming back to the city. 'It's a great feeling to be back here, this place is like home to me. The wickets in Chennai are very batting-friendly, but you still have to be disciplined and patient. That's what I've focused on'. Reflecting on his time during the 'Youth Test', he said, 'Playing against Australia was a huge moment. Representing your country is a privilege.' Nitya credited his coaches for helping him stay grounded and focused, 'My coaches, Digvijay Rathwa and Ketan Panchal, helped me work on the basics during the off-season. My Ranji coaches, Mukund (Parmar) sir and Arvind sir, were also very supportive. As for his ambition, 'I'm not chasing individual records, but yes, ultimately, I want to play Test cricket for India.'


India Today
31 minutes ago
- India Today
Rahul Dravid a fan of Rohit Sharma's captaincy: He deeply cared for the team
Rahul Dravid reflected on his working relationship with Rohit Sharma, praising the star batter's ability to connect emotionally with players during his tenure as captain across formats. Dravid said Rohit cared deeply for the team and maintained a light and positive atmosphere in the dressing room, always bringing clarity about his goals for the to R. Ashwin on his YouTube show, Dravid explained how his philosophy aligned seamlessly with Rohit's leadership style. The legendary former cricketer said he always believed it should be the captain who ran the team, and Rohit's clarity of thought gave him the confidence to let the skipper take 2022 and 2024, the coach–captain duo forged a highly successful partnership. India reached the final of the 2023 World Cup, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion to Australia. Dravid later revealed that Rohit persuaded him to stay on after he had considered stepping down following the defeat. The pair went on to lead India to glory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados, ending an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy. "I always felt he deeply cared about the team. Right from the first day, he was very clear about how he wanted to run the team and what was important to him," Dravid said."I think it's really important in a relationship between a captain and coach. I always believed it should be the captain's team. I have been a player and a captain as well. A captain has to lead the team in terms of the direction he wants to go in. You have to help him in that. And of course, you need to help a captain in terms of helping him get clarity and understanding what's required."With Rohit, I thought he was very clear in what he wanted from the team, how he wanted the environment to be, how he wanted the atmosphere to be. I think his experience helped him set these things. For me, it was just working with him, challenging him at times on certain things, but also working with him to ensure that he was able to be comfortable in that space. Once he was comfortable in that space, I knew he was going to perform and get everyone else to perform."Also, one of the things with him is he was very calm, he connected really with the team, and didn't go up and down too much. At least, he never gave me that impression. He maintained that balance and calmness," he penned an emotional farewell note to Dravid after the coach's tenure ended following the T20 World Cup triumph. In his message, Rohit revealed that his wife Ritika had jokingly referred to Dravid as his 'work wife', reflecting the closeness of their partnership and the joy he took from working with the legendary cricketer. ENJOYED GETTING TO KNOW ROHIT AS A PERSON: DRAVIDRecalling the ease of their relationship, Dravid said he treasured the opportunity to share conversations with Rohit both on and off the than anything, I really enjoyed getting to know him as a person, chatting with him. We were comfortable to be able to sit and have conversations with each other without having to talk only about cricket. It was easy to sit and meet with him and have dinner. It wasn't forced. That was nice," Dravid said."Having seen him as a young kid, an U19 kid, giving him his first cap and then seeing him grow as a leader was really nice. His whole strength was his ability to emotionally connect with players. You experienced that. I think you (Ashwin) enjoyed being able to talk to him and challenge him and know he wouldn't get upset," he Dravid's tenure, Rohit redefined his approach to limited-overs batting. Backed by his coach, he adopted a more aggressive, high-risk style at the top of the order to put pressure on opposition attacks early. The strategy freed up the rest of the line-up to play without fear of failure, and the results showed—India thrived in both the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup. The same fearless approach underpinned their Champions Trophy triumph in endorsed Dravid's views on Rohit's leadership: "There were several times in Test matches where I felt I could be bowling, but I didn't. But I never had to double guess what Rohit was thinking. I knew he had everybody's welfare in mind, so he was probably thinking. That part of it, Rohit conveyed to all of us without saying. You knew his intent was having everybody in the right frame of mind. That's why that Ranchi win felt very special. Rohit really rallied the troops."Rohit has not played competitive cricket since the IPL 2025 season. Having retired from T20Is and Tests, the 38-year-old is preparing for a return in the ODI series in Australia in October. The Champions Trophy-winning captain has set his sights on continuing until the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be staged in Africa.- Ends


News18
41 minutes ago
- News18
BCCI To End Partnership With Dream11? Secretary Saikia Issues Big Update
Last Updated: BCCI would comply with the Indian government's new upcoming Bills against real money companies, even if it might mean ending sponsorship deal with Dream11. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in full support of the central government's two new bills — the National Sports Governance Law, 2025 and Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 (which was passed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, but is yet to become a law) — and will follow them in 'true letter and spirit', according to secretary Devajit Saikia. Both regulations could have a significant impact on the board and the Indian cricket teams. To start with, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill is calling for a blanket ban on all real-money gaming platforms and their promoters. That will include Dream11, the official shirt sponsor of the BCCI. 'Once the act comes into force, we will look into it, examine it and if it's permissible, then we will take sponsorship (from online betting and gaming companies), if it's not permissible, we'll not do anything," Saikia told The Times of India about the latter. 'Take the example of cigarettes and liquor. Has the BCCI taken any sponsorship from the cigarettes and liquor companies once taking sponsorship from these kinds of companies was banned? So, whatever is permissible in the laws in force in our country, we will do that only. The BCCI will follow every policy of the country which is framed by the central government," he added. The National Sports Governance Law, 2025, made the government's stance on multi-national cricket between India and Pakistan formal, allowing the BCCI to participate and play against the Men in Green in the 2025 Asia Cup in September. Under it, bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan remains outlawed, with cricketers from across the border not allowed to step into India unless it's for a multi-nation tournament. 'The central government has taken the interest of the players, the teams and also, the events that are going to be hosted by our country in the future. So, all these things are very nicely taken by the government of India and we fully endorse the view expressed by the central government and we will 100% abide by the policy framed by the central government," Saikia added. 'The BCCI will not go a single inch against the government's policy. We will fully abide by all policies of the central government, whether it is participating in an international sporting event or regarding sponsorship. We will follow everything in true letter and spirit," he said. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...