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France 24
4 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Kohli primed to banish years of heartache in IPL playoffs
Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru face table-toppers Punjab Kings on Thursday in Mullanpur after securing second place by chasing 228 to beat Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. The winners go straight into the final in Ahmedabad on June 3. But even if Bengaluru lose that encounter, they will have another chance to reach the final against the winners of Friday's "eliminator" between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians. The 36-year-old Kohli recently retired from Tests having already walked away from T20 internationals after India's World Cup triumph last year. But the hunger to lift the IPL trophy still burns bright for the two-time World Cup winner, who played a leading part in India's 50-over Champions Trophy victory earlier this year. "I had two heartbreaks in my life in 2016," Kohli told Indian broadcaster JioStar. "First was the World T20 and then the IPL final." Affectionately known as "King Kohli", he has scored more runs than anyone in IPL history and is the only player to have spent all 18 seasons of the league with one team since its inception in 2008. He has been on the losing side in the final three times, in 2009, 2011 and 2016, but fans believe that it is an omen that Kohli wears number 18 on his shirt -- and that it will be 18th time lucky this year. He has been in vintage form as he pursues his goal: his 54 on Tuesday that set up victory against Lucknow was his eighth half-century of a season in which he has made 602 runs at an average of 60.20. Hazlewood return A delay to the season caused by the conflict with Pakistan means some overseas players will be missing from the playoffs including Gujarat's Jos Buttler, who has international commitments with England. But Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood returned to the Bengaluru squad on Sunday and is expected to play on Thursday, having left when the IPL was suspended on May 9. There had been doubts over his return because of a shoulder niggle and the playoffs clashing with preparations for Australia's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's on June 11. Punjab will be without left-arm quick bowler Marco Jansen, who has left to join South Africa's training camp ahead of the Test showpiece. "Every team's missing players," Punjab head coach Ricky Ponting said. "We'd like to think we've got good depth, and be able to cover for Marco, despite it being a big miss." Five-time champions Mumbai, led by Hardik Pandya, seem to have been the worst hit by the extended schedule overlapping with the international calendar. They have lost England's Will Jacks and the South African duo of Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch for their eliminator against Gujarat. The Titans, IPL champions on their debut in 2022, have a formidable batting line-up even without Buttler. Skipper Shubman Gill, who has taken over from the retired Rohit Sharma as Test captain, and fellow opener Sai Sudharsan are the top two on this season's batting charts, with 679 and 649 runs respectively. Gill will take charge of India for the first time when they embark on a five-Test tour of England, starting at Headingley, Leeds, on June 20.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Zimbabwe faces England in Tests for the first time since 2003
Zimbabwe is set to play England in Tests after a gap of 22 years starting Thursday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The two countries haven't played each other in any format since World T20 in 2007 in Cape Town. Ever since returning to Test cricket in 2011, Zimbabwe has only played 40 red-ball games: against Bangladesh (12), Pakistan (5), Afghanistan (4), Ireland (2), New Zealand (4), South Africa (2), Sri Lanka (5), and West Indies (6). However, the last time it played New Zealand was in 2016 and South Africa in 2017. In this period, Zimbabwe has hosted 24 games and has travelled overseas for 16; winning six and losing 30. Since the turn of the century, Zimbabwe has played India eight times (last in 2005), Australia two times (last in 2003), and England four times (last in 2003). Also read | England announces playing XI for one-off Test against Zimbabwe 2025 is the first time since 2001 when Zimbabwe plays 11 matches in calendar year. It has already played four: one against Afghanistan as part of a two-match series which started late December 2024, one against Ireland, and two against Bangladesh. Apart from the upcoming one-off Test against England, Zimbabwe will host South Africa and New Zealand for two-match series later in the year. Zimbabwe against each opponent in Test cricket: Opponent Total matches Last played Win Loss Draw India 11 2005 2 7 2 Australia 3 2003 0 3 0 England 6 2006 0 3 3 Pakistan 19 2021 3 12 4 New Zealand 17 2016 0 11 6 South Africa 9 2017 0 8 1 Sri Lanka 20 2020 0 14 6 West Indies 12 2023 0 8 4 Bangladesh 20 2025 8 9 3 Related Topics Zimbabwe / England
Indian Express
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Virat Kohli and RCB's love story: Now retired from two international formats, winning IPL title is his last big battle
Like a happy old couple, Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have celebrated the good days and survived the bad ones through 18 summers of the Indian Premier League, the essence of their longevity being stability and dependability, rather than blind, flawless love. Now that he has retired from Test cricket and T20Is, his international duties restricted to ODIs, infrequently calendared, Kohli is all RCB's. And winning the IPL could be the last big battle Kohli would wage in a glorious career. The love for him overflows and overwhelms. Hundreds turned up to watch him bat in the nets when he returned to the Chinnaswamy on Thursday, before the match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday. Thousands, it is widely rumoured, might turn up in white Kohli shirts, an ode to his Test career. Saturday Night Fever would play out at the Chinnaswamy without a break. Traffic snarls would be endless. All to cheer Kohli to fulfil his elusive dream of the IPL crown. All that remains unfulfilled in Kohli's staggering career is league silverware. Thrice has the finals inflicted pain on him (2009, 2011, 2016). The last one kept hurting him for a long time. 'I had two heartbreaks in my life in 2016. First was the World T20 and then the IPL Final,' he told JioStar. RCB lost the match, at home to worsen the pain, by merely eight runs and the what-ifs rankled him in a season where he racked up 973 runs. 'To this date, when there is a highlight package coming on Star of that game, KL takes screenshots from that game and says it still hurts. And it does. You'd think about the game every now and then and how there were dejected faces in that amazing setup we had done for the post-victory celebration,' he added. The subsequent season saw RCB plummet to depths before finally reviving post-pandemic, reaching the play-offs in four of the five seasons from 2020. The Rajat Patidar-led side are effectively in the last four this season and a victory over KKR would secure the slot mathematically as well. As with all their finest seasons, Kohli has been their axis of success. He helms their run-scoring charts with 505 runs at a strike rate of 143.47. The IPL, post relinquishing captaincy, has been a source of liberation for Kohli. It's where he is most himself, creative and audacious. It's where he swat-flicks and upper cuts, when he goes over extra cover, inside out, when he bats with a smile. In the last three episodes of renaissance, he has piled 1885 runs at 59.3, at a strike rate of 146. It is arguably his most influential phase in the IPL, when he has struck the magic formula of scoring consistently as well as fast, an autumnal bloom that could land his first IPL crown. Perhaps it's all destiny. That Kohli turns up for RCB itself is a strange quirk of fate. Eighteen years ago, a bunch of teenagers in a hotel room in Kuala Lumpur were impatiently awaiting the beep of text messages on their mobile phones. The first message came: Delhi Daredevils acquire Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm swing bowler. Excitement roared in the room. Miles away, where the CEOs and coaches of the eight teams were finalising their two U-19 players in an NBA-style double draft system, wherein every franchise had to pick two U-19 players, a question flashed through the mind of RCB's think tank. ''Why didn't they pick Kohli, the U-19 captain and the local boy?' It was so straightforward. When we heard the name, Sangwan, all seven franchises were shocked,' then RCB CEO Charu Sharma recollected in an NDTV show. The next turn was RCB's, and 'all we took was one-by-millionth of a second to choose him,' Sharma would say. In the KL hotel room, Kohli recalls in an RCB podcast: 'We went crazy in the corridor — 'We got Rs 20 lakhs'!' 'That was the emotion behind it. Because we didn't know what to expect—the opening ceremony, the whole experience of meeting great cricketers — it was surreal,' he recounted. Thus began RCB's Kohli story, from a stroke of fortune and fate. As years rolled on Kohli became the franchise's captain and talisman, its soul and identity, a balm of hope and comfort in dark days of underachievement and the beacon of dreams in their quest to land their maiden title, the only one-club wonder in the league, an aura and popularity bettered only by Dhoni. The bond between Kohli and the RCB crowd is organically different from Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings. The affection is more acquired than natural, a reflection of the varying values of the two cities. Bengaluru is gracious and laid back yet steeply cosmopolitan and pragmatic; Chennai, for all its modernity, is rooted in tradition, its masses simpler, more emotional and warmer than the torrid heat of May. Instant as well as sustained success too helped spin the myth of their Thala. Both are cities that embody the characteristics of their totems. Dhoni retains the earthy charm of Chennai, exudes wit and humility the city appreciates; Kohli is uber-modern, ambitious and aggressive, like Bengaluru. Chennai has fully embraced Dhoni, consider him as one of their own even though he does not speak their language, love him unconditionally. Kohli is loved, but not deified to that MS-scale, even though the Kohli-chant is the inescapable anthem of game-days at Chinnaswamy, even though they croon RCB when Kohli walked out in the blue or white of his country, even if he sometimes flexes his tongue over the hard-syllabled Kannada in advertisements. Perhaps it's not a Bengaluru thing to star-worship cricketers, to stand awestruck in their aura. It's a city that gives space to cricketers so that some of its greatest could quietly sit in the corner of a cafe in MG Road and enjoy their coffee without being disturbed for selfies and autographs. Maybe, they understand that the game is ever more team-oriented on a tactical level. Perhaps a title would be the last step of fulfillment in the 18-year-old wedlock of Kohli and RCB. A parallel story: Even though Sangwan's career didn't soar, he was part of two IPL-winning teams, separated by a decade.
News18
28-04-2025
- Sport
- News18
Engineering Student Held For Sending Death Threats To Gautam Gambhir
Last Updated: Gautam Gambhir death threats through two emails on the same day when terrorists killed 26 people in Kashmir's Pahalgam. A 21-year-old engineering student named Jigneshsinh Parmar, who hails from Gujarat, has reportedly been identified and interrogated for allegedly sending death threat to India men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir. As per reports, Parmar was nabbed by Central District Police team on Friday before being interrogated. His family though claims he's suffering from mental health issues. Delhi Police says the email came from a suspicious gmail account and that they are conducting further investigation. In a statement, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said, 'Parmar is an engineering student. His family claims that he is suffering from mental health issues. Further investigation is in progress." Gambhir, a former India cricketer and BJP MP, received death threats on the same day when terrorist killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Two emails were sent to Gambhir on April 22, both with the text, 'I kill you". 'We have been informed about an alleged threat mail received on an email ID associated with Gautam Gambhir. The matter is being investigated," Vardhan had said in a statement. 'Gautam Gambhir is already a Delhi Police protectee and we do not comment on specific security arrangements," he added. The Rajinder Nagar police station was sent a complaint regarding the death threats via an email. 'Dear Sir, Namaskar. As we spoke, please find below the 'Threat Mails' received on the mail ID of Mr Gautam Gambhir (Ex-MP), Head Coach Indian Cricket Team. Kindly register the FIR accordingly and ensure the safety and security of the family," the complaint read. Gambhir played a key role in India's two world cup title winning campaigns in 2007 (World T20) and 2011 (ODI World Cup). He was named the head coach last year and oversaw the team's Champions Trophy triumph earlier this year in Dubai. In 2022, Gambhir had received similar death threats following which his security was tightened. First Published: April 28, 2025, 08:05 IST
The National
08-04-2025
- Sport
- The National
IPL 2025: At Chennai, all things start and end with MS Dhoni - but how long can he keep playing?
Every great event has a starting point. For the Indian Premier League, that moment was 2007 when an unheralded group of Indian youngsters won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. After the failure of the senior team at the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean, the mood in India cricket was sombre. Simultaneously, 20-over cricket was gaining popularity, although India had been staunchly against embracing the fast-rising format. At the newly created World T20 in South Africa, India sent a team filled with youngsters, under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. With zero expectations, and hardly any idea about how to tackle the format, Dhoni's India won the trophy, captured the imagination of the nation, and kicked into motion a series of events that has changed the course of cricket. The next year, the Indian Premier League was born after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) realised the true potential of the format. A rival Indian Cricket League was quickly quashed, with the Indian board taking full control of a domestic league that ushered in the franchise format. Dhoni was there in 2007. He was there in the first IPL in 2008. He is still standing in 2025, at the age of 43, on one good knee. His association with Chennai Super Kings is unlike any other in cricket, made deeper and stronger by the unwavering and fanatic support of the franchise. It has reached a point where you get full stadiums just to see Dhoni practice for Chennai ahead of an IPL season. That is about the only time you get to see the former India captain pick up a bat and glove during the year, as he was pulled back from every other competitive cricket and even public life. Chennai and Dhoni fans only want to see their favourite 'Thala' (boss in Tamil) come out to bat, irrespective of the state of the match or the fortunes of the team. It did not bother fans that Dhoni had injured his knee a couple of seasons back and was greatly incapacitated, on top of his advancing years. The injury has restricted his duties to wicketkeeping and batting for no more than 3-4 overs at the death. His magic still worked. In 2023, Dhoni guided the Super Kings to the final where a four and a six off the last two balls of the tournament – hit by Ravindra Jadeja – handed Chennai their fifth IPL title. Many thought it was the ideal time for Dhoni to end his playing days, and possibly take up a management role at Chennai. But he still played on, with the untested Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain. It has not been the same since. Chennai failed to qualify for the play-offs last year. This year, things look even worse with three defeats in their first four games. Since everything at Chennai seems to start and finish at Dhoni, it is the T20 veteran's actions on the field that have garnered the most attention. Tongues started wagging when he came in at number nine against Bengaluru while chasing 197 and the team tottering at 99-7. Dhoni could not take the team past the finish line against Rajasthan, making 16 from 11 while chasing 183. It was the same story against Delhi at home as Dhoni laboured to 30 from 26 balls while chasing 184. The Super Kings lost all three matches. In all the games so far, Chennai's top order has been shockingly conservative, showing almost no intent of maximising the powerplay overs and leaving way too much to do in the final overs. But the conversation somehow leads back to Dhoni. Even though there are much bigger issues such as the selection of batters like Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar – not exactly T20 box office – or that of a finger spinner like Ravichandran Ashwin whose effectiveness has clearly waned. Unfortunately, that is what happens when the entire identity of the franchise revolves around you. The franchise and IPL management might be happy to push Dhoni to play as long as is physically possible, because the fans simply can't get enough of him, and also because he is still sharp as a wicketkeeper and a tactician. But how long will Dhoni play, with one good knee and an inability to make an impact with the bat for extended periods? Chennai and Dhoni might still stumble upon some luck, grab a few wins and get back on track. It is a long tournament after all. However, is the pain worth it? If questions are already being asked, especially by some Chennai fans now, you already know the answer.
