Thrown into the spotlight in just his second ODI, Varun Chakaravarthy made the opportunity count in spectacular fashion.
'He surprised us by telling us he wanted to make a career in acting.' 'We were scared since we knew nothing of this profession but then, he landed a role in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding.' 'After seeing him holding his own on screen, we decided to let the boy pursue his passion.'
The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
Players, including Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar, were spotted at Brisbane Airport, greeted by a small group of enthusiastic fans.
Australia and UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy has opted out of the upcoming edition of the Women's Premier League due to a stress injury to her right foot.
The team management and selectors have faced backlash over squad selection for the Champions Trophy.
Australia reached a second successive Davis Cup final when Alex de Minaur overpowered Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4 6-3 after Alexei Popyrin beat Otto Virtanen 7-6(5) 6-2 to earn the 28-time champions a 2-0 win over Finland on Friday.
K L Rahul was on Monday named in the Karnataka squad to face table-toppers Haryana in their final league match of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C.
'We are committed to leveraging our influence constructively to support the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan'.
Australia's winning streak in day-night Tests was ended in January by the West Indies, who won a cliffhanger by eight runs at the Gabba.
Punjab Kings' head newly appointed head coach Ricky Ponting wants his team to be the best-ever Punjab Kings side.
'You also know that Gambhir has an aura, the way he comes and takes the team along. I was just talking about that.'
Most players in Australia's Test squad are "closer to the end than the start" of their careers but they should be able to play on for another three to five years after working hard on their fitness and looking after their bodies, bowler Nathan Lyon said.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin says New Zealand, despite the absence of the long-serving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have quit playing the 50-over format, will pose a challenge to India.
This is SRH's second overseas investment after owning the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.
South Africa picked an experienced 15-man squad for next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan with 10 players having competed at the last World Cup in India in late 2023.
South Africa's Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy with a back injury
Mike Hussey believes spinner Adam Zampa and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will play a crucial role in the team's bid to clinch the World Cup in India.
'Trump's aggressive stance towards China and preference for military posturing could shift the Quad's balance towards overt militarisation.'
'That was proper (batting) from those two, it set the tone for how we want to play our cricket, take the game on.'
Jasprit Bumrah was left frustrated after missing out on another chance to bowl on the "spiciest wicket of the series". However, India's premier pacer emphasized that sometimes it becomes imperative for a player to respect his body.
Rohit Sharma's men are playing all their matches in Dubai, and even the final will be held there if the team goes the distance, while the rest of the teams have to criss-cross Pakistan for their matches.
'They are in one place, they are in one hotel, there is no travel, they are in one dressing room. They know the pitch. When they selected they probably knew what Dubai was going to be like.'
Australia got their tactics and team selection all wrong in Thursday's World Cup defeat by South Africa, said former skipper Michael Clarke.
'I think any experience in the sub-continent is valuable.'
Beau Webster believes playing against India pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be an enormous challenge for the Australian pacers on the seamer-friendly SCG pitch.
India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav believes spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been a different player since his comeback to international cricket last year.
Australia blanked England while South Africa and Bangladesh showed their bowling prowess with mighty wins over Zimbabwe and USA respectively. In the 16th-place play-off, Afghanistan fought off a spirited USA side to win a low-scoring thriller.
Australia's physiotherapist Nick Jones's advise got a "dead man" stand on his feet. The result was an epic World Cup knock that will be talked about for a long time to come.
Kapil Dev, who led India to the 1983 World Cup title, said Jasprit Bumrah should be given a long stint to prove himself as Test captain.
But the ex-Australian spinner Stuart MacGill was acquitted in a charge of commercial drug supply
Dr Jaishankar is expected to discuss the dates for the fifth Quad leaders' summit in India later this year.
'India needs to score big because they will have to defend those totals without Bumrah.'
Mohammed Shami will make his long-awaited comeback to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan rated Australia's World Cup triumph as the best in the tournament's history after they upstaged a rampaging India in front of a vociferous crowd.
'They haven't done a lot wrong. That's without some of their stars actually performing in that final.'
Joe Root's century in vain as England were shown the door.
RCB will have to play five games inside 13 days against MI (away), Delhi Capitals (home), Rajasthan Royals (away) and Punjab Kings (home).
Australia announced a 16-member squad on Thursday with several fresh faces added to the group that played India in the fifth and final Test at Sydney last week. Australia won the marquee series 3-1.
New Zealand and South Africa, both laden with world-class talent but often falling short in ICC tournaments, will face off in a tightly contested Champions Trophy semifinal.
