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Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
18 calling 18: Could this be the year for Virat Kohli and RCB?
A winner of ICC World Cups in both formats, the U-19 World Cup, Champions Trophy and the No 1 Test mace, has checked almost every major cricket trophy box except one — the Indian Premier League. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He has come agonizingly close on three occasions in the past when his team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, failed to surmount the final hurdle. Those defeats have hurt. The 36-year-old will have another opportunity to add what has become an elusive trophy to his cabinet. It might be his best chance yet, given the way RCB have played this season. After several false dawns, they have, finally, looked like a champion team. , who recently retired from Test cricket, has been Royal Challengers Bengaluru's driving force for years, joining the franchise in the inaugural year — a time when his career was still more of a promise and less of an accomplishment. He now is their mainstay, the skipper without the captain's armband, the man for whom fans queue up several hours in advance just to catch a glimpse. 'He looks very focused,' said AB de Villiers, Kohli's former teammate at RCB and South African stalwart. 'The job's not done yet, but I have no doubt he will play a big hand.' IPL 2025 Winner Prediction: What Greenstone Lobo's Astrology says It's been a long IPL road for Kohli with RCB. He led the Bengalurubased franchise from 2013 to 2021, during which their best performance was the runner-up finish in 2016. In previous years, he had superstars like Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Chirs Gayle, De Villiers and Faf du Plessis and could rely on their wealth of experience, but this year has perhaps been the most challenging since he is RCB's most seasoned player. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Yet, he has, unofficially, marshalled the team's resources admirably, allowing Rajat Patidar to settle down as captain and guiding Jitesh Sharma as stand-in skipper. Poll Will this be Kohli's year to finally win the IPL title with RCB? Yes, it's his best chance yet No, they will fall short again Teaming up mostly with Phil Salt and in his absence Jacob Bethell, Kohli has given RCB starts which have proved game-changing on more than one occasion this season. While players half his age are going slam bang, Kohli has redefined the art of mixing elegance with aggression, scoring 614 runs in 14 matches thus far at a healthy strike rate of 146.63.' While an unbeaten 73, against Punjab Kings in a league fixture remains his best so far, the seven other half centuries he has scored have added weight to RCB's campaign. 'I don't want to be a one-season wonder': Punjab Kings' Shashank Singh In a season where there have been injuries to key players like Josh Hazlewood and Devdutt Padikkal, Kohli has helped the team weather the storm and stay focused. Kohli, who with 714 runs was the highest run getter last season, may have entered the twilight of his IPL career, but the fire to succeed burns as brightly as it did in 2008. It is probably that fire which could spur RCB to their maiden title triumph on Tuesday night
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
WATCH: Abhishek Sharma hails Shubman Gill as ‘one of best players India has produced in all three formats'
Former junior cricket and Punjab teammate Abhishek Sharma was all praise for his 'friend' Shubman Gill, who has recently been handed India captaincy in red-ball cricket after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Gill was named India's 37th Test captain while Rishabh Pant was assigned as his deputy, as the Indian team is set to tour England for a tough five-match Test series. Abhishek said he feels 'very proud' of Gill and called him 'one of the best players India has produced in all formats'. 'I think if I see his career you know if I remember the old days when we were just started playing for the U-14 and U-16 Punjab team. As youngsters, we all started with the red ball, from that time to now, it is a big achievement to become India's Test captain and I feel very proud of him,' said Abhishek in a video released by Star Sports. #AbhishekSharma recalls their early days and now beams with pride as his friend @ShubmanGill becomes India's red-ball captain. 🏏🙌 Catch his tribute to one of India's finest talents! ✨ Watch him next on 👉 #GTvMI | FRI, 30th MAY, 6 PM on Star Sports Network & JioHotstar — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 28, 2025 'Humne junior cricket saath dekha tha… (We've watched and played junior cricket together.) He is one of the best players India has produced in all three formats, and wo acha isko nibhayega bhi (he will play his role to perfection). I believe he will do really well for Team India and as a captain as well,' added Abhishek. The flamboyant Abhishek and technically sound Gill have played together for Punjab in junior cricket before representing India in the U-19 World Cup, where the India Colts beat Australia in the final to win the title in 2020 under Rahul Dravid. Gill was India's highest run-getter in that tournament, where he averaged more than 100. In his 32-Test career, Gill has scored 1893 runs at an average of 35.05 with five hundreds and seven half-centuries. Out of the 32 Tests, the Punjab youngster has played 13 Tests overseas, accumulating 649 runs with an average of 29.50, with his only overseas hundred coming against Bangladesh.
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Gill's clarity and decision-making as captain are excellent: GT's Coetzee
There is a shade of Dale Steyn in Gerald Coetzee's wicket-taking celebrations — fiery eyes, raised fists and bulging veins. As a tearaway speedster from South Africa, the 24-year-old naturally looks up to the fast-bowling great while seeking to carve his own identity in his country's pace pantheon. Coetzee enjoyed an impressive initiation to his international career in 2023. At the ODI World Cup in India, he was South Africa's leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps in eight matches in his team's run to the semifinals. But in recent months, his progress has slowed down owing to groin and hamstring troubles that made him miss a vast chunk of cricket in the South African summer. His comeback from injury has been via this year's IPL, where he has played three matches for Gujarat Titans. 'Yeah, injury is always frustrating. But it is part of the game. If you look at most fast bowlers who bowl 145kph-plus on the circuit today, they all struggle. So some frustration, but also understanding the journey of a fast bowler. Hopefully, I've many more years of cricket left,' Coetzee said during a virtual media interaction on Tuesday. At Titans, Coetzee is playing under skipper Shubman Gill, someone that the speedster first noticed when they were playing for their respective countries in the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Gill, of course, is also India's new Test captain. Probed on Gill's style of functioning, Coetzee offered sharp insight. 'He's really calm and also stands up for the players. Tactically, he's good. He allows the bowler to express what he's thinking. And if he feels something different, there will be a very short discussion and then a decision would be made, which is a really good quality for a captain. The clarity has been good. He's excellent when it comes to that department,' he said.
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Arshdeep braces up for the big leap to Test cricket
Close your eyes and visualise Arshdeep Singh at the top of his bowling mark. What you are likely to see is the gangly left-armer, donning a black patka on his head and India's blue shade over his vest, gliding into his delivery stride and swinging a new white Kookaburra either way in the endeavour to snare early wickets. When that ball loses its sheen and turns soft in the latter phases, Arshdeep shifts his attention to predominantly targeting the blockhole and clattering the stumps. A sharp bouncer and a slower knuckle-ball, amidst other variations, make an appearance as and when his ever-ticking brain deems fit. In all of this, there is nothing of Arshdeep with the red cherry and in creamy white flannels that you probably envisage. Understandably so, for he has only played a handful of First Class matches in a professional career that began seven years ago. Since bursting onto the scene as a skinny teenager who won the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, alongside India's newest Test captain Shubman Gill, the pacer from Punjab has had a total of 21 matches in whites, which translates to just three appearances on average per year. In the same period, he has turned out in 169 T20 and 33 50-over matches. It had pigeonholed him to a certain extent as a white-ball specialist, but he could engineer an alteration to that image over the next few months. On Saturday afternoon, at the BCCI headquarters in south Mumbai, the 26-year-old was named by chief selector Ajit Agarkar as a member of an 18-man squad that will embark on a five-Test tour of England next month. It is Arshdeep's first-ever call-up to India's Test squad, and he must be chomping at the bit like a painter with a blank canvas to get his expedition in the longest format underway. If the opportunity to wear the whites and make the red ball move to his tune at the highest level had hitherto eluded Arshdeep, it was partly an unintended by-product of his excellence in the shortest format. Since his T20I debut in 2022, he has turned himself into an indispensable member of the Indian team in the slam-bang affair with 99 scalps in 63 matches — he is the country's leading wicket-taker in the format. So splendid has he been that he has even been entrusted with the lead role on the occasions when Jasprit Bumrah has been convalescing on the treatment table. Busy with shorter formats But his contributions in the shortest format have come at a cost, even though Arshdeep wouldn't construe it that way. With a tightly wound international calendar requiring the wiry athlete to spend much of his time with the limited-overs teams, he hasn't had the opportunity of going through the grind of bowling long spells and spending tiresome days under the sun in the First Class game. Not often enough anyway. Even in ODIs, in fact, he hasn't played as often as he would have liked. After three matches as part of a second-string side in New Zealand in 2022, it was only 13 months later, in the aftermath of India's gut-wrenching defeat in the ODI World Cup final, that he got another opportunity to showcase his wares. He had an immediate impact, making merry against South Africa on a spicy Johannesburg surface and finishing with match-winning figures of five for 37 in the first of three ODIs. That he has still only appeared in nine ODIs so far is in no way a reflection of his skill. Despite the limited chances outside of T20 cricket, which may have made some others conveniently settle for the big bucks and bowling four overs per game, it is to Arshdeep's enormous credit that his drive to go through the rigours of the five-day game hasn't dimmed. His childhood coach, Jaswant Rai, attests to it. 'For the last two years, he has been extra keen to play red-ball cricket,' Rai told The Hindu after Arshdeep's Test selection. 'He wasn't getting chances. Whenever domestic red-ball cricket was happening, he was busy with some T20I series. But he wanted that red ball in his hands. So given his strong desire, he will certainly impress. I spoke to Arshdeep after the selection. He is very excited to make his Test debut. Every cricketer dreams of playing Test cricket. Hopefully, it will be fulfilled in England.' Arshdeep wasn't just paying lip service by talking up his aspirations to play Test cricket. When a two-month window opened up right after the IPL in 2023 for Arshdeep to go and play for Kent in England's County Championship, the swing bowler, far from daunted by the prospect of being challenged in an unfamiliar environment, jumped at the opportunity. He went on to take just 13 scalps in five matches at 41.76, but what those numbers don't convey are the long-lasting lessons, both on and off the field, that he would have no doubt extracted from his experience. Key factor Agarkar pinpointed Arshdeep's exposure to English conditions as a key factor in his selection. Besides, his left-arm angle also provides a potential point of difference. 'He's had a little bit of experience of County cricket as well,' Agarkar noted during the press conference in Mumbai. 'Obviously plays every game that is available in domestic cricket. We've watched him, tall guy with the Dukes ball. There's (left-arm) variety, and he's been in decent form over the last couple of years. He's just a quality bowler. We needed five seamers because Bumrah is unlikely to play all five Tests, so we needed adequate cover.' In Rai's view, the County stint has helped Arshdeep develop a greater understanding about the nuances of his craft. 'Mentally he is very tough. He has matured a lot, and knows how to bowl based on the format. He can adapt very quickly. He is now able to gauge the different conditions and decks, and adjust accordingly. Having played County cricket is going to help him a lot. He is aware of the lengths to bowl with the new ball, and when the ball becomes old, he knows how much to pull his length back. So he will definitely reap the benefits of his experience there,' Rai asserted. With a few weeks to go before that first Test at Headingley begins on June 20, the sort of pitches that will be on offer during the English summer is shrouded in mystery. Ever since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum came together as England captain and coach, respectively, and pushed for an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket, the balance of play in that part of the world has tilted towards the batters. If that is the case, fast bowlers in both camps will have to brace themselves up for a hard scrap. Ability to swing the ball If the venues, however, retain their usual character and produce pitches that assist lateral movement through the air, Arshdeep could be in play. From what we have seen of his limited-overs career, he has the tools in his locker to put the techniques of top-order batters through the wringer. 'The skill to find swing doesn't change irrespective of the colour of the ball. Not every bowler has that skill. The conditions in England should be favourable to him. Perhaps if he had got a chance in Australia, the surfaces may not have been as suitable. But swing bowlers thrive in England,' Rai said. It is with subtle changes in the seam and wrist position that Arshdeep, and other highly-skilled practitioners of swing bowling, go about making the ball talk at will. In the Punjab bowler's case, said Rai, the away-going delivery to right-hand batters needed a little bit of extra work. 'The in-swinger to right-handers is his stock ball. Earlier, he couldn't move the ball away from the right-hander. He would just rely on it to hold its line. But now he has started to swing it away too. He has worked very hard on this aspect.' At this moment, Arshdeep may be at the bottom of the pecking order as he is the only uncapped member in a five-man pace attack. But given the onerous demands of a long tour and the uncertainty surrounding Jasprit Bumrah playing all five Tests, Arshdeep could get a crack at some point. And perhaps once that happens, the image of the left-armer, clad in whites, taking wickets with the red cherry and wheeling away into the arms of his converging teammates won't be hard to visualise.
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First Post
26-05-2025
- Sport
- First Post
How Rahul Dravid played a role in shaping Shubman Gill's cricketing journey
While former India all-rounder Karsan Ghavri spotted a 12-year-old Shubman Gill during a pace-bowling camp in Chandigarh, it was batting legend Rahul Dravid's recommendation years later that would fast-track the top-order batter's entry into international cricket. read more Shubman Gill was coached by Rahul Dravid in the 2018 U-19 World Cup as well as in the latter's stint as Team India head coach from 2021 to 2024. PTI When Lakhwinder Singh Gill, an affluent farmer from Chakh Khere Wala village, which is just 10km from the Indo-Pakistan border, decided to move to Mohali to give wings to his younger child Shubman's cricketing talent, he didn't have a Plan B in mind. The boy was not even nine years old but the only 'toy' he ever played with was a cricket bat gifted by his grandfather Sardar Didar Singh. Shubman Gill's story is as much about adhering to the 3 'Ds' (Discipline, Dedication and Determination) as it is about a pushy father, who was ready to move mountains to see his son wear that India cap. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And on June 20, when Shubman walks out wearing that navy blue India blazer over his whites alongside English counterpart Ben Stokes at the iconic Headingley, Lakhwinder can surely raise a toast. It would be for his heady 16-year journey to see that 'another boy at another coaching camp' is polished to perfection to become India's next Test captain. Not all sporting stories need to be sob stories. They could also be stories of resilience, obsession for excellence and the sacrifices made as a family for years. Moving out of one's comfort zones, missing social gatherings for years, not having an outing as a family. From a distance, all of it might not look that difficult but monotony in pursuit of excellence certainly has a different ring to it. 'We had not attended any wedding festivities for years so that our son's focus on cricket doesn't waiver,' Lakhwinder had told PTI when Shubman first came into national prominence with an Under-19 World Cup hundred against Pakistan in 2018. The Gill family had the resources from the beginning. Grandfather Didar could afford a makeshift pitch on his sprawling courtyard at his Fazilka home and the father could risk shifting a family of four to Chandigarh – far removed from a very comfortable life they had in the village. Gill's story is a classic case of being at the right place at the right time and also doing his bit when it is absolutely necessary. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Otherwise how in the world would former India seamer Karsan Ghavri, who was in Mohali in 2011 for a pace bowler's camp organized by PCA under the aegis of BCCI, find out that there were no batters who could face bowlers at said camp. 'Kadoo bhai' (as he is known in Indian cricket circuit) took a walk with one of his assistants in close vicinity of the PCA Stadium and stopped by to watch an Under-14 game where a young boy's technique caught his attention. He wanted to know more about the boy and approached the only other man around, who stood under the shade of a tree, watching the proceedings intently. 'Who's that boy? Any idea?' he asked the man and as fate had it, it was Lakhwinder watching his son bat. 'That's my son Shubman and he is 12 years old,' the father had answered. The man with 100-plus Test wickets didn't waste one moment before telling Gill to report for pace bowler's camp the very next day. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The result was a 12-year-old standing up to the likes of erstwhile India U-19 seamers like Sandeep Sharma with minimum fuss. Fast-tracking Gill into the Punjab U-14 side was then a matter of time after Kadoo bhai's strong recommendation. Serendipity happened not once but twice for Gill. During India A's 2018 tour of England, MSK Prasad's selection committee was picking the next lot for the List A games. 'Anmolpreet Singh had a great season and one of the five selectors was bent on putting him on that flight. Anmol had runs in domestic cricket and his choice would have been justified. Now Rahul (Dravid), who was the NCA head and India A coach, had a request for the selectors,' a former national selector recalled. 'Rahul, everyone knows, is polite to a fault. He had just one request for the panel. He said, 'please select this boy Shubman and accommodate Anmol for another A tour'. 'We couldn't turn down his request and Shubman within months of U-19 World Cup triumph was in India A team,' he said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Anmolpreet had runs but Shubman had something more, technique and temperament. And at the elite level, these two count as much as runs. Dravid had seen something special and didn't want the boy to hang around in domestic cricket for too long. As Ian Chappell once famously said 'too many years in domestic cricket will allow chinks to creep into the system'. He played some significant knocks for India A in England during the one-day tri-series but none more important than a double hundred against West Indies A in a 'Test' match a year after. There was no looking back after that. While his Test match batting is still a work in progress but with wrists which are supple, physique which is sinewy and a languid stance to boot, he has had the game for ODIs. The snap pull or a short arm jab over mid-wicket or a cover-drive played with minimal back-lift, Shubman in Blues has been Virat Kohli's extension. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In home Tests, he has had his moments but England will be a test of his batsmanship. As far as leadership is concerned, the current IPL is an indicator that he is growing in the role. And perhaps, if Gill is the captain, Gautam Gambhir is the right man to be there during his inception days. The ride won't be a smooth one and there are no guarantees of success. But you can't hold it against Shubman for not giving his 200 percent. Indian cricket is hoping for 'Shubh' Arambh.
