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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Jamie Smith on facing Jasprit Bumrah in upcoming IND vs ENG series: ‘Hopefully, down at No. 7, I can watch other lads go and face him first'
India will travel to England for a five-match Test series. One of the intriguing narratives to watch out for in the upcoming series, in addition to Shubman Gill's captaincy and how the young batting lineup copes with the conditions, is how England's bowling will deal with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah. The ace Indian pacer, time and again in the last few years, both overseas and home conditions, has been the go-to bowler in the red-ball format. Young England wicket-keeper batter Jamie Smith said he wants to watch how other batters handle him before he faces him. 'Hopefully, down at No. 7, I can watch other lads go and face him first. [He is] certainly a challenge there,' Smith, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. Bumrah opened up about his much-discussed workload management, family, and much more in a recent conversation with former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke. Speaking on Clarke's podcast named Beyond 23, Bumrah said his family is more important than his career. 'For me, family is more important than my career because you know that is constant. There are two things that I take seriously. One is my family, and one is my game, but family comes first,' said Bumrah. 'I have to give priority, and I do give priority because I will not be a cricketer all the time. For them, I'm not a cricketer. I'm a human being, and you know, being a young father, seeing my son, you know, he started picking up the ball and started playing with the ball, which is not advisable at this moment,' he added. Speaking on his fitness and his body, Bumrah said: 'Obviously, it is tough for any individual to keep playing everything for so long. I've been doing it for a while, but eventually you have to understand where your body is going, what is the important tournament.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Traffic jam causes absurd toss delay in England vs West Indies 3rd ODI; Shai Hope and Co. caught in London chaos
The toss for the third and final ODI between England and West Indies at the Oval, London, was delayed on Tuesday. But the reason is not what you might think. It was not raining at the Oval, nor was the outfield wet, but still, the coin flip got pushed back, and even the match did not start on time. The reason for the delay was one team not reaching the ground on time. Yes, you read that right. Add this to the bizarre reasons list for cricket matches not beginning on time. According to ESPNCricinfo, the England players were seen doing their warm-ups at The Oval. However, the away dressing room was seen empty. The West Indies team failed to turn up at the stadium on time and hence the toss had to be delayed. However, it was no fault of the visiting contingent as heavy traffic in London was the reason behind their late arrival at the venue for the third and final ODI. The development about the toss being delayed was also confirmed by the official social media handles of Surrey County. Also Read: Joe Root not just outpacing Smith, Williamson; the Englishman is now locked in to chase the great Sachin Tendulkar 'Due to a delayed arrival of one of the playing teams, who are stuck in heavy traffic north of the river, the scheduled start of play will be delayed. Once all members of the playing teams arrive, the match officials will coordinate updated timings and discuss any impact on the schedule of play,' the official account of Surrey wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 'We will update spectators with the schedule of play as soon as we are able to,' the county added. Harry Brook, who is leading England for the first time in the ODI format, has already won his first assignment as the captain. The hosts have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Joe Root put on a masterclass in the second ODI as he played an unbeaten knock of 166 runs off 139 balls to help England chase down more than 300 runs. England were 133/5 at one stage. However, Joe Root ensured England did not suffer any hiccups and chased the total down to win the ODI series. Earlier this year, Harry Brook was appointed as England's white-ball captain following Jos Buttler's resignation. Buttler stepped down following England's disastrous campaign in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy, where the side failed to make the semi-finals. Under Buttler, England also failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup. In the T20 World Cup last year, the Three Lions faced a defeat against India in the semi-final.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Joe Root's greatness is shining anew in the evening of his white-ball career
The winning moment is perfect. Perfect in concept, in balance, in execution, in placement, in flourish. The ball disappears through mid-on, and before it has even reached the boundary the lid is off and the smile is unsheathed, and for some reason it matters a great deal that the stroke to complete a towering one-day chase of 309 is not a wallop or a swipe, but an artful on-drive for four. But then for all his brilliance, there has always been a pleasingly jarring quality to Root in limited‑overs cricket, even a kind of quiet defiance. His match‑winning 166 against the West Indies on Sunday was perhaps his greatest white-ball innings, but above all it was simply a Joe Root innings, all gentle nudges and classical drives, timing over power, manoeuvrability over muscularity, a triumph of pure talent. My favourite bit of a Root white-ball innings is when he hits a six. Which he actually does quite a lot – 53 times in one-day internationals, more than Alex Hales, narrative fans – but for some reason never fails to tickle him. As if this wasn't really supposed to happen, as if he's just done something terribly naughty, and his big daft face breaks out into a big daft grin, the grin of an auntie who has just said 'shit' at the Christmas dinner table. 'Ultimately, you're playing a game of cricket,' Root said a few months ago in an interview with ESPNCricinfo, during a largely unheralded stint with the Paarl Royals Twenty20 franchise. 'Most of the basic things within the game are exactly the same. You've just got less time to figure it out.' And for some reason Root has always felt the need to justify his presence in the white-ball game, has always been aware on some level of his outsider status. Which for a player who was the top scorer in a winning World Cup side, who was responsible for one of the all-time great Twenty20 knocks for England (against South Africa in 2016), who averages almost 50 in 50-over cricket and has now overtaken Eoin Morgan as his country's leading ODI run-scorer, feels faintly absurd. But the sense of impostor syndrome goes back years. In 2018, at the very height of his powers, he entered the Indian Premier League auction for the first time and went unsold. Later that summer he was dropped from the T20 side for the first time. Then came the long slow retreat: just 19 ODIs between the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, during which he averaged 28. In 2024 he did not play a single white-ball game for England. There is no real need for revisionism here. Between 2019 and 2023 Root was simply not playing enough good white-ball cricket to justify his place, his spells in the side too fitful to be of any use. All the same it speaks volumes of the man that, as he put it on Sunday night, he felt 'guilt' at not being able to help Jos Buttler more. 'I almost felt guilty that I wasn't there for him throughout a lot of his tenure,' he said. To briefly refresh our memories: this was a period during which Root was dealing with the Test captaincy, multiple Ashes series, Covid bubbles, Covid isolation, Covid fatigue, the fallout from a seismic racism scandal that engulfed not just his county but his entire sport, and an era of English cricket in which red ball was simply not the priority, an atrophying side in which he was basically the only guy capable of scoring runs. Memo to Joe, if you're reading: genuinely, don't worry about it. You did good. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Even so, what is undeniable is that during those years of white-ball recession the game bounded on without him. The supremacy of 360-degree power hitting, soaring scoring rates and extreme specialism threatened to leave him behind. Now aged 34, he probably has to make peace with the fact that unlike his Big Four counterparts – Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson – he will make little to no imprint in the sport's most popular and culturally dominant format. Of what use, then, were the years of toil and sacrifice, slogging his guts out for a failing team in a failing format? What was it all for? Was he ultimately cricket's equivalent of Stevens the butler in The Remains of the Day, dutifully giving over his life in service of a doomed, ignoble ideal? Will it ever be possible again to achieve greatness in this sport without genetic advantages and brute strength? I want to believe it's possible. I want to believe that for all the cultural entropy, for all the schedule fragmentation, for all the greed and confusion, this is all still cricket, that pure talent can still conquer. I love that Jasprit Bumrah still wants to play all formats, that Harry Brook does, that Rashid Khan does. I love that Sikandar Raza flew straight from a Test match in Nottingham to a Pakistan Super League final in Lahore, that each game mattered so much that he had to do both. I love that Root is 34 but still wants to learn and grow, that one of the most ridiculously talented cricketers of my lifetime still has worlds he wants to conquer, parts he's still trying to figure out. Maybe the evening really is the best part of the day. There's a clarity, a sense of purpose. It's a bat, a ball, stumps and a field. The basic game is the same. He's just got less time to figure it out.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Sport
- NDTV
RCB Superstar Doubtful For IPL 2025 Final Against PBKS, Franchise Keen To Maintain Secrecy: Report
As the Royal Challengers Bengaluru face the Punjab Kings hurdle in the bid to lift their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title, the preparations for the big final seem to have hit a significant hurdle. As per a report, RCB's talismanic opening batter Phil Salt is a doubt for the title clash against the Punjab franchise, as he is expecting the birth of his child. Salt couldn't be spotted in RCB's training session on the eve of the finale, triggering speculations over his availability for the summit clash. As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, Salt might not even be in Ahmedabad for the match against PBKS, with plans being to accompany his partner for the birth of their first child. RCB coach Andy Flower and captain Rajat Patidar, however, didn't utter a single word on the player's situation, understandably wanting to keep the matter secret ahead of the all-important match. In fact, Flower has even developed a reputation for being a strategic deceiver, having made even his injured players do warm-up drills before the start of the match, in order to keep the opposition guessing. PHIL SALT MIGHT MISS FINAL - Phil Salt was not present in RCB's last practice session of #IPL2025 [ESPNCricinfo] — RCBIANS OFFICIAL (@RcbianOfficial) June 2, 2025 However, it also has to be noted that Salt wasn't the only player to miss the practice session, as a few other RCB stars also decided to do the same. At present, the situation is unclear, but a possibility remains that the wicket-keeper batter has already flown home. Salt has struck 387 runs for RCB this season in 12 matches, at a strike-rate of 175.90 and an average of 35.18. The stats alone suggest how important the Englishman is for RCB's plans in the final. With Jacob Bethell already back home for international duty, the Bengaluru side are expected to face some problems in sorting out the opening issue if Salt is indeed not available. Tim Siefert, signed as a replacement player, and Mayank Agarwal remain the best-suited options for the opening slot, alongside Virat Kohli if Salt isn't available.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Bumrah dubbed ‘antidote' as boundary line conversation with Jayawardene raises eyebrows: ‘He turns around and is like…'
The world is in awe of Jasprit Bumrah. The pacer continues to stand up for his team day in and day out during difficult situations and it is no surprise that he is arguably viewed as the best bowler in world cricket currently. Bumrah displayed a masterclass for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Eliminator against Gujarat Titans, helping Hardik Pandya and co win the contest by 20 runs. Former India pacer Varun Aaron heaped praise on Bumrah, saying he is like an 'antidote', who has a cure for every illness. It took Bumrah's brilliance to help the five-time champions Mumbai Indians defend 228 runs against Gujarat Titans. Shubman Gill and co were going hell for leather as Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were smashing the bowlers all around the park. However, Bumrah's third over changed the complexion of the game as he rattled the stumps of Sundar (48) with a toe-crushing yorker. Sundar fell on the ground as he was unable to get bat to a leg-stump yorker. This dismissal paved the way for Mumbai Indians to create a chokehold and in the end, the side ended up winning the contest. Bumrah just conceded 27 runs in his quota of four overs. 'He's like an antidote, a vaccine that can cure any illness, which a bowling side can have. If you want wickets, he comes and gets you wickets. If you want to stop runs, he stops runs for you. Man, what a bowler,' Aaron said on ESPNCricinfo 'Timeout'. Aaron also talked about the discussion between Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene and Bumrah at the boundary line when Gujarat Titans were going strong. During the contest, Jayawardene was seen passing some instructions along to Bumrah; however, seemingly, the pacer stepped away, refusing to hear him out. 'And the belief he has in his ability. You have an international coach Mahela Jayawardene, who is obviously panicking because his bowlers have suddenly started to go to the cleaners, and he just turns around and is like 'just calm down, I'll do the job for you'. Comes in, runs in, gets hit for a six and then gets that ball,' said Aaron. Bumrah has been exceptional in IPL 2025, and ever since his return, the Mumbai Indians have turned into a beast of a side. Before his arrival, the Mumbai Indians were losing consistently. However, his return enabled the franchise to win six matches in a row. The pacer has scalped 18 wickets so far, and his performance has helped Mumbai progress to Qualifier 2, where they will take on Punjab Kings for a spot in the final. Speaking about Bumrah's delivery to dismiss Sundar in Eliminator, Aaron said, 'For him to bowl from that angle is really difficult. It's easier for him to go wide to a left-hand batter but for him to actually target that leg stump of Washington Sundar.' 'Washy was setting up for something wide or something in his arc, but that was just impossible to negotiate,' he added.
