Gali Mohalla Cricket League Unveils Vision for Grassroots Transformation at Curtain-Raiser Press Conference
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NDTV
17 minutes ago
- NDTV
Shubman Gill Aims To Break Sunil Gavaskar's 46-Year-Old Record In 5th Test vs England
India's prospects of signing off the UK tour with some serious bragging rights brightened by a few notches on the eve of fifth Test with England's talismanic skipper Ben Stokes and pacer Jofra Archer rendered unavailable for the game starting Thursday. Stokes, the inspirational skipper who pushed the limits of his body while bowling in the last two Tests, was ruled out with a muscle tear on his right shoulder while comeback man Archer was rested after the workload of playing in back-to-back matches. Pacer Brydon Carse and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson have also been rested. There are players whose mere presence makes a difference and the England skipper, a world class all-rounder with 304 runs and 17 wickets in the series, is one such character. What the English team will miss most at The Oval is his inspirational presence when the chips are down and showing the way how it is done. Stand-in captain Ollie Pope will have his task cut out as the Indian team, even without Jasprit Bumrah, is expected to go for the kill. The series, played in front of packed crowds, has also been a perfect advert for Test cricket with all four games stretching to the final session on day five. Not to forget the skirmishes along the way that have spiced it up enough for the fans of the game's traditional format. From Shubman Gill's tirade against Zak Crawley for "deliberately" wasting time at Lord's to Ravindra Jadeja refusing to call off proceedings on the final day at Old Trafford, things couldn't have gotten hotter before the series entered the final phase in sweltering London. Gautam Gambhir, who is always up for a scrap, has only intensified it with his altercation with Oval curator Lee Fortis two days before the game. In this backdrop, expect the series finale to go down to the wire as India under the ever-improving Gill has a chance to land a killer blow on an English team whose bowling attack will undergo a sea-change with no specialist spinner in the playing XI. Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton, the two Surrey players, who know The Oval track like the back of their palms, will be joining forces with Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue to make it a four-pronged attack. With Woakes being the only bowler who has remained constant from first to fifth Test, England are giving indications of continuing with their Bazball way, having inducted a specialist heavy duty hitter in Jacob Bethell. History beckons Gill In his first series as captain of a team undergoing a major transition, Gill has led from the front and with 722 runs so far, he is only 52 shy off Sunil Gavaskar's record of most runs by an Indian in a single rubber. He needs another 11 runs to surpass Gavaskar's record of most runs (732) by an Indian captain in a Test series (1978-79 vs West Indies). The 25-year-old has come of age with four hundreds thus far including a double century and a match-saving 103 in the previous Test at Old Trafford. After low returns in three innings, Gill played the most defining knock of his career in Manchester to enhance his reputation, not just as a batter but also as a captain. Having played a massive role in earning a famous draw from an almost hopeless situation, Gill and his team go into the match with momentum on their side but gaps to fill. With 511 runs, K L Rahul has been a model of consistency at the top of the order but more will be expected from Yashasvi Jaiswal and number three Sai Sudharsan on what is generally a decent batting surface. Team Combination In injured Rishabh Pant's absence, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to round up the top six following unbeaten hundreds, which denied England a victory in the fourth Test. The Indian management firmly believes in having a batting option till number eight and that could possibly lead to Kuldeep Yadav being once again left out of the XI despite constant calls for his inclusion over the course of a long and gruelling series. Dhruv Jurel will keep the wickets and could bat at seven in Pant's absence and Shardul Thakur might retain his place at eight despite not exactly enjoying the confidence of his skipper. Going by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak's comments ahead of the fifth Test, India will retain the template that has been followed thus far. "Overall, if you play with 6 bowlers, then some bowlers will under-bowl. So, if that 6th bowler is an all-rounder, then you know that he will contribute in batting and in bowling as well," Kotak said. On the bowling front, Akash Deep is expected to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the XI with the latter advised to not push his body. Mohammed Siraj will be the leader of the attack and the third pacer's spot will go to either Prasidh Krishna or Arshdeep Singh, who has patiently been waiting for his Test debut. Surrey amassed more than 800 runs in the last County game played here but it remains to be seen how the pitch behaves during the high-stakes clash. Teams: England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue. India (from): Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK). Match Starts: 3:30 pm IST.
NDTV
17 minutes ago
- NDTV
Ravindra Jadeja Scripts History, Breaks 131-Year-Old World Record Against England
Ravindra Jadeja slammed a gritty century during the fourth Test encounter against England at Old Trafford. The veteran all-rounder impressed everyone with his brilliant batting after taking a four-wicket haul. Jadeja became the oldest player in history to acheive the rare double feat in Test cricket. He broke the 131-year-old record that belonged to to Australia's George Giffen. Jadeja holds the third position in the elite list as well as the Indian cricket team star achieved the feat at Lord's this year. Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon weighed in on the dramatic scenes that unfolded in the fourth Test between India and England in Manchester last week. In the final moments of Day 5, emotions boiled over after India fought with every ounce of strength to keep the series alive courtesy of Ravindra Jadeja's (107*) and Washington Sundar 's (101*) gritty 203-run unbeaten partnership, which kept the 1-2 scoreline intact. With the draw looming large, England captain Ben Stokes went to the Indian pair to offer his hand to call the end of the contest. With Jadeja on 89 and Sundar on 80, the southpaws refused to accept it. Shortly after the drama, England bowled, tossed up, and delivered through Harry Brook, and Jadeja dispatched the ball for a maximum to bring up his fifth Test century. A statement from Stokes was caught on the stump mic as he said, "Jaddu, do you want to get a Test 100 against Brook & Duckett?" Jadeja responded to the English skipper's comment and said, "What do you want me to do, just walk off?" Zak Crawley, who stood close to the crease, chipped in, saying: "You can, just shake your hand." Lyon had a simple message for England and said, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald, "Get them out. Don't let them get a hundred." The ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been nothing short of a batter's haven. Some of the Australian players have been closely monitoring the events, with the Ashes four months away from commencement. Lyon is one of those and dissected the way the Tests have been played on English soil. The 37-year-old batted for more competitive pitches to be used in the Ashes with a thinly veiled jibe at the one used for the fourth Test in Manchester last week. "So it's going to be challenging for their batters and challenging for our batters. That's the way cricket should be, you want to see competition between bat and ball. I think that's crucial, and all the fans, that's what they want to see, they don't really want to watch what happened over in Manchester last week," Lyon said.
Mint
17 minutes ago
- Mint
IPL 2026: Sanjiv Goenka's LSG rope in former India bowling coach Bharat Arun ahead of upcoming Indian Premier League
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have roped in former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowling coach Bharat Arun ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise announced on Wednesday. Arun, who was a former India pacer, thus joined the likes of mentor Zaheer Khan, head coach Justin Langer, and assistant coach Lance Klusener in the LSG support staff. Arun for the past few years was associated with KKR but after a poor eighth place finish in 2025, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise is in the process of rejigging its coaching staff with Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo all set to call the shots. Arun comes on LSG board with a wealth of experience and proven success. As the former bowling coach of the Indian national team, he played a pivotal role in shaping India's formidable bowling unit that delivered exceptional performances on the global stage. 'It's an honour to join the Lucknow Super Giants, a franchise that reflects professionalism, ambition, and vision at every level,' said Arun in a statement after signing on the ditted lines. 'My conversations with Dr. Sanjiv Goenka and the management were incredibly energizing, there is a clear intent to invest in young Indian talent and build a long-term legacy.' 'What excites me most is the vision for long-term development. LSG has invested in a young, talented, and dynamic group of Indian fast bowlers — Akashdeep, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Akash Singh — and I see immense potential in each of them," he added. Arun was a part of the Indian team on two occasions - 2014 to 2015 and 2017 to 2021. He had also served as Royal Challengers Bengaluru backroom staff in IPL between 2015 and 2017.
