Bobat: IPL suspension gave Patidar time to heal from hand injury

RCB's captain batted in the nets for close to 30 minutes without visible discomfort, and is going well, according to their team director

Shastri Cites Gill And Pant As Future Test Team Leadership Prospects Instead Of Bumrah

The ICC Review: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant shape up as strong candidates for taking the Test team captaincy in near future, citing their youth and the potential for long careers as key reasons. Shastri added that he would not put much leadership pressure on fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, citing his importance in the Indian bowling department. India will be led by a new captain on their five-match tour of England, starting on June 20 at Headingley, after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Tests earlier this month. You groom somebody and I would say Shubmans looked very good. Give him the opportunity. He's 25, 26 years of age, even give him time. There's Rishabh as well. I think these two are the obvious ones I'm looking at because of their age and they have a decade ahead of them. So, let them learn, said Shastri on The ICC Review show. Both Pant and Gill are captaining their respective franchises - Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans - in IPL 2025. Pant captained India in 2022 T20I series at home against South Africa, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Gill, the top-ranked ODI batter, was the captain when the side toured Zimbabwe last year for a five-match series in the shortest format and won 4-1. They've got experience as captains, now, captaining their franchise and that makes a difference. The little I've seen of Shubman looks very interesting. Composed, calm, he has all the qualities, added Shastri. He also quashed talks over Gills poor overseas record in Tests. You people will talk he's not scored runs overseas. You know, that topic always comes, not scored runs overseas. Sometimes I tell them, go and see your own record, how much have you done overseas? Overseas, overseas, let him play, let him get a run overseas, then he'll score runs. He's a class player. He has a decade of cricket ahead of him for the country. And I'm sure he'll get cracking in one of the tours, he'll make up for all those runs he's not got on earlier. Bumrah has captained India in three Tests, and was at the helm when they won the Perth Test in last years Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. But he suffered a back injury during the final Test of the Australia tour at the Sydney Cricket Ground and didn't bowl at all in the second innings. That back injury also resulted in Bumrah missing out on the 2025 victorious Champions Trophy campaign. Though hes back in IPL 2025, Bumrahs fitness issues means he is not a certainty yet to play all five Tests on the tour of England. See for me, Jasprit would have been the obvious choice after Australia. But I dont want Jasprit to be made captain and then you lose him as a bowler. I think he (Bumrah) has to take his body one game at a time. He's coming back now after a serious injury. That back injury also resulted in Bumrah missing out on the 2025 victorious Champions Trophy campaign. Though hes back in IPL 2025, Bumrahs fitness issues means he is not a certainty yet to play all five Tests on the tour of England. Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score Article Source: IANS

All eyes on IPL again as RCB and KKR kick off business end of league phase

An RCB win will boost their push for a top-two finish and end KKR's hopes of making the playoffs

Wankhede Is Even More Iconic Now, Says SKY On Unveiling Of Rohit Sharma Stand

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis: India and Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav congratulated India batter Rohit Sharma after the talismanic batter's years of hard work saw the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) reward him with his very own stand in the iconic Wankhede Stadium here on Friday. The Rohit Sharma Stand was unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday evening, with the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also in attendance. Yadav, who is also Rohit's teammate with the Mumbai Indians, claimed that the mecca of Indian cricket, the Wankhede Stadium, is now 'even more iconic.' Congratulations @rohitsharma45 on achieving incredible things on the cricket ground, from finisher to opener to our captain, you have been an inspiration and our pride, in every role. Very rarely comes a leader who leads from the front, and changes the game for the better. You are that leader who has changed not just the game, but the approach, the attitude, the dressing room atmosphere, the team, and redefined the role of a captain. Like I have said before, good things happen to good people, and you deserve it all and more. Wankhede just got even more iconic, read the post by SKY on Instagram. Rohit, who recently retired from Test cricket, has been a stalwart of Mumbai cricket and has successfully captained India to successive ICC trophies with the T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 triumphs. The opening batter has represented India since as early as 2007 and was a part of the side that won the 2007 T20 World Cup. He has represented the nation in 159 T20Is, 273 ODIs, and 67 Test matches. He called the curtains on his T20I career after the World Cup victory in Barbados last year. Rohit, who recently retired from Test cricket, has been a stalwart of Mumbai cricket and has successfully captained India to successive ICC trophies with the T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 triumphs. Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score Article Source: IANS

Easwaran to lead India A against England A; Karun Nair also named in squad

The touring party includes Jaiswal and Shardul, with Gill and Sai Sudharsan to join ahead of second game

IPL 2025: Iyers Positivity Has Been Something Different, Never Seen PBKS Dominate So Much, Says Raina

Star Sports Press Room: Suresh Raina, the former India cricketer and four-time IPL winner, said Shreyas Iyers positive influence as a captain-cum-batter has been somewhat different, resulting in Punjab Kings (PBKS) dominating against other teams in a never-seen-before fashion in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Iyer, the IPL 2024 winning skipper for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), was acquired by PBKS in last years mega auction for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore. So far, PBKS move to break their bank for Iyer has paid off the right-handed batter has amassed 405 runs in 11 games at an average of 50.63, including hitting four fifties. As a captain, and having Ricky Ponting in the dugout as their head coach, Iyer has been astute and proactive in his leadership, resulting in PBKS being on 15 points and being in third place in the points table. The side now needs two wins out of their three remaining games to seal a spot in the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 IPL. I think their top two players, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, have laid the foundation for Punjab. After that, it's all important in the way Shreyas Iyer has been batting well, and captaining the side, said Raina to IANS on the Star Sports Press Room show, on the sidelines of the race to play-offs restarting with IPL 2025 now one day away from resumption. I'm sure Ricky Ponting is creating that environment, but if you look at their domestic players, Arshdeep (Singh), (Yuzvendra) Chahal, Priyansh, Prabhsimran, and the way they're batting in the middle, especially the way Shashank Singh has been playing, they're really batting differently. So when seven players play together, and all of them are playing for India, that makes a big difference, he added. Also, the last three years of Shreyas Iyer the quality in his batting is evident if you look at (his performances in) the ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy. The positivity from him is something different, as I've never seen the Punjab team dominate so much in the IPL. When Viru Bhai (Virender Sehwag) was the captain, he played in a different way in the qualifiers in 2014. But Shreyas Iyer brings in quality in the dressing room. He brings in positivity and the desire to win. So I think Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer have improved (the team) a lot, and they're playing a different brand of cricket - Punjab Express, said Raina Iyers case has been very interesting he captained KKR to the IPL title last year, and now he has a chance to win it again, but this time for PBKS. Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar said to IANS that he hopes Iyer's leadership skills help PBKS clinch the elusive trophy when the IPL 2025 final takes place on June 3. That (PBKS great run) actually tells you the importance of captaincy because look, the coach is in there and he does come at the strategic time-out - the coach and the support staff. But at the end of the day, the decision in a split second has to be taken by the captain, and for that, I think you've got to give credit to Shreyas Iyer for the way he led last year because they were in a tough situation. But he got them out of a tough situation to go on to win, and I think he's doing exactly the same over here. They've had a bit of bad luck, if you might call it that, because they started very well in the game at Dharamshala (which was later called off). They were 124-1 in 10 overs (123/1 in 10.1 overs) there, and that's a fabulous start. Then again, at the Eden Gardens, they had scored about 206 or 207 - most often a winning score, but the game got rained off. So yes, they've had a little bit of luck not going their way. They'll be hoping that it turns around this time, said Raina. But he got them out of a tough situation to go on to win, and I think he's doing exactly the same over here. They've had a bit of bad luck, if you might call it that, because they started very well in the game at Dharamshala (which was later called off). They were 124-1 in 10 overs (123/1 in 10.1 overs) there, and that's a fabulous start. Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score Article Source: IANS