logo
Shaun Pollocks plays best batter of IPL 2025 game, picks GT player over Virat Kohli, Nicholas Pooran

Shaun Pollocks plays best batter of IPL 2025 game, picks GT player over Virat Kohli, Nicholas Pooran

Time of India27-04-2025

Shaun Pollock. (Photo by)
Shaun Pollock
picked Gujarat Titans'
Sai Sudharsan
over rest of the pack as the best batter of
Indian Premier League
(
IPL
) 2025 season. In a video, the former South African captain played an eliminator game format to cycle through the options.
It started with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer in which the ex-all-rounder picked the Rajasthan Royals player Jaiswal. In the subsequent steps in the snap video posted by
Cricbuzz
, he would pick through options like Mitchell Marsh,
Nicholas Pooran
, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Buttler would edge multiple competitors, per Pollock, before being dethroned by Sai Sudharsan. The Gujarat Titans left-hander would then eclipse Priyansh Arya and KL Rahul.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
These Are The Most Beautiful Women In The World
5minstory.com
Undo
Sai Sudharsan is at the top of the
Orange Cap standings
as of April 27 with 417 runs in the season from eight matches. He's scored an average of 52.13 and at a brisk strike rate of 152.18. He's piled up five fifties this season - same as Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Kohli.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nicholas Pooran, former West Indies T20I captain, announces shock retirement from international cricket at 29
Nicholas Pooran, former West Indies T20I captain, announces shock retirement from international cricket at 29

Hindustan Times

time37 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Nicholas Pooran, former West Indies T20I captain, announces shock retirement from international cricket at 29

Nicholas Pooran, a former West Indies T20I captain, stunned the cricket fraternity on Tuesday as he announced his shock retirement from international cricket at the age of 29. The left-handed batter, who was recently seen in action for the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, posted a statement on Instagram confirming his decision. Describing the decision as "difficult", Pooran said that getting the chance to lead the team was a "privilege" for him. Pooran ended his international career after playing 61 T20Is and 106 ODIs and scoring more than 4000 runs across the two formats. It must be mentioned that the batter's call to step away from international cricket comes days after he requested Cricket West Indies (CWI) not to consider him for the white-ball series against England because he wanted some rest. 'After much thought and reflection, I've decided to announce my retirement from international cricket," Pooran wrote on Instagram. A post shared by Nicholas Pooran (@nicholaspooran) Pooran's retirement is a shocker because there are just eight months remaining for the T20 World Cup, which is set to be played in India and Sri Lanka.

Karun Nair poised for No. 4 duty, KL Rahul biggest positive; Reddy vs Thakur...: How India potentials performed vs Lions
Karun Nair poised for No. 4 duty, KL Rahul biggest positive; Reddy vs Thakur...: How India potentials performed vs Lions

Hindustan Times

timean hour ago

  • Hindustan Times

Karun Nair poised for No. 4 duty, KL Rahul biggest positive; Reddy vs Thakur...: How India potentials performed vs Lions

India A's tour games against England Lions, comprising two four-day matches, concluded on Monday. Both fixtures—played in Canterbury and Northampton—ended in draws. But more than the results, the matches held significance for the 19 Indian players involved. For 12 of them, it was a chance to prove their mettle in foreign conditions and make a case to the BCCI selection committee. For the remaining seven, it served as valuable preparation for the upcoming five-match Test series in England, starting June 20. Although the India A team will remain in England for one final tour match—an intra-squad game against the Shubman Gill-led side in Beckenham starting next Monday (June 16)—seven players from the squad have now joined the senior team. These include Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, and Shardul Thakur. Ahead of the final preparatory game, here's a look at how these players have geared up for the England Test series. Karun Nair poised for No. 4 role: The veteran batter is not only set to make a return to the Indian Test XI for the firs time in eight years, but is poised for the vacant No. 4 role, which had belonged to Virat Kohli until his retirement last month. Earning a call up after his record-breaking Ranji Trophy show last season, Nair vindicated Ajit Agarkar's move with a double century in the first game, where he batted at No. 3, followed by scores of 40 and 15 at No. 4 in the second match. KL Rahul a big positive: The India star, who had a breakout campaign in Australia as an opener, was not initially part of the India A squad, until he reportedly made a request to the selectors to get him in after his IPL campaign ended early. Rahul utilised the chance to quickly get into the groove with a century in the first innings for the second match, followed by a fifty. However, Jaiswal, who is all set for his first Test appearance in England, showed signs of vulnerability against the moving ball. He managed 107 runs in four innings, with one score of fifty. Easwaran, on the other hand, the India A captain and the back-up opener for India, had a decent outing with a fifty each in both games, as he amassed 167 runs. Thakur vs Reddy: Unfortunately, neither made a compelling case to make the playing XI. Reddy was the frontrunner in the battle of the all-rounders, after his performance in Australia, but despite the English conditions being more suitable to his pace-bowling variety, he struggled to get breakthroughs, managing just two wickets in two matches, while scoring 135 runs in four innings, including a fifty. Thakur, on the other hand, who had lost the race to make the Indian team for the Australia tour to the Andhra star last October, needed runs to make his case, but managed just 80 runs in three innings. More worryingly, his bowling failed to trouble the batters. In the first match, he picked up two wickets, but failed to get his name in the scoresheet in the second game.

Why Heinrich Klaasen's sudden retirement presents another threat for South African cricket
Why Heinrich Klaasen's sudden retirement presents another threat for South African cricket

First Post

timean hour ago

  • First Post

Why Heinrich Klaasen's sudden retirement presents another threat for South African cricket

South African cricket has been dealing with player exodus for decades now, due to the country's 'Apartheid' policy pre-1994 and later because of Cricket South Africa's quota system as well as the lucrative 'Kolpak' contracts in England. Klaasen's sudden retirement, however, puts the spotlight on another issue. read more Wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen had nearly helped South Africa defeat India in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados last year. AP After years of heartbreaks at multiple ICC events, South Africa will be hoping to add a second ICC trophy to their collection when they face Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at Lord's starting Wednesday. India and Australia were widely expected to face each other in a rematch of their 2023 showdown at The Oval until the former's WTC 2023-25 campaign derailed in the last two assignments, and the Proteas not only qualified for the final with the help of seven consecutive wins, they ended up finishing on top of the table. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The all-round excellence of the Australian team, however, isn't the only thing that will be worrying the Temba Bavuma-led South African team along with Shukri Conrad, who recently succeeded Rob Walter in the white-ball formats to become the head coach across formats. Why Heinrich Klaasen's sudden retirement should worry the Proteas Explosive wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen had taken South African fans and the rest of the cricketing world by surprise by announcing his retirement from all formats at the age of 33. It was only a year ago that Klaasen had nearly steered the Proteas to a historic victory over India in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados, with his dismissal triggering a slide that eventually cost them a maiden World Cup title. And even though he's not part of the Test setup, where Ryan Rickelton is the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter ahead of him, Klaasen had cemented his place in the white-ball formats, especially in the T20 cricket in which he remains one of the most explosive batters of the current generation. It's Klaasen's revelation on why he brought the curtains down on his international career on the same day Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell decided to retire from ODIs that should worry the South African team, the board and its well-wishers. 'I felt for a long time that I didn't really care about any of my performances and whether the team won or not. That's the wrong place to be,' Klaasen told Rapport. 'I told him I didn't feel good in my heart about what was going on. I wasn't enjoying it that much. So when he finished as coach and the (contract) negotiations (with CSA) didn't go as planned, it made my decision a lot easier,' he added. South African cricket presented with a fresh headache For South African cricketers, losing established names or promising young talent to greener pastures isn't anything new; several former cricketers such as Allan Lamb and Robin Smith had to fulfill their dream of playing Test cricket with England while the likes of Kepler Wessels represented Australia back when South Africa faced a sporting ban due to its 'Aparthied' policies. And for a majority of the 2000s and 2010s, South Africa would deal with another wave of exodus with several players choosing to play cricket in England, Australia and New Zealand and gaining enough experience to eventually play for their national teams. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This time it wasn't due to government policy but Cricket South Africa's quota system, which placed a cap on the number of 'white' cricketers who could be part of a team – whether at the domestic level or international. And County teams handing out Kolpak contracts – which would allow South Africans to play as local players but would terminate their contracts with CSA – further accelerated this outflow of cricketing talent in the 2010s. While the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, a.k.a. 'Brexit' put to an end the 'Kolpak' problem and allowed several cricketers, including Rilee Rossouw, to represent South Africa once again, Klaasen's sudden retirement highlights the fact that it's the emergence of T20 leagues around the globe that is the latest threat. And the threat was fairly evident during a two-match Test series in New Zealand last year in which CSA ended up sending a second-string team across the ocean while all the first-choice players stayed back to represent their respective franchise in SA20, the country's flagship T20 league that has not only boosted the board's coffers but has also quickly gained popularity and has had an impact on the Proteas' T20 fortunes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A new hope for South African cricket? Coach Shukri Conrad's insistence of 'Country First' however, comes as a source of hope for the South African team and its supporters. Shortly after being named all-formats coach, Conrad expressed faith in his players prioritising national duty over T20 leagues, including the Indian Premier League. 'We're going to put out the best Proteas side every time we play. I've had conversations with our players, all-format players and guys that only play the one format that are contracted to us, that at every turn when the Proteas play, there's an expectation that they'll play for South Africa,' Conrad had said last month. 'The Proteas will never be a franchise team, the Proteas will never be a league, nor will it be a convenience. This is part of building a culture and building an environment that players want to be part of. Every single player is committed to that and wanting to be a part of it so I can quite comfortably say that at every turn the best Proteas side will be put out on the field,' he added. And sure enough, CSA managed to get their WTC-bound players back home in time for their trip to London by 26 May, at the end of the league stage of the Indian Premier League, despite BCCI's attempts at getting them to stay back for the playoffs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And that should give you an idea that Conrad, much like Gautam Gambhir with the Indian team, is someone who means business and will leave no stone unturned in ensuring South Africa not only are crowned World Test Champions but are among the world's top teams across formats going ahead.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store