Former cricket legend Ian Botham has predicted that England would beat Australia in the battle for the Ashes with out-of-favour batsman Kevin Pietersen being one of the key trump cards.
Skipper Rishabh Pant (234 from nine games) showed glimpses of his destructive power but the team would want more from its skipper who is more than capable of hammering any attack into submission.
Legendary all-rounder Ian Botham predicts that after outplaying India 4-0 in the just-concluded Tests, England will also go on to win the limited-o'ers series starting with a one-off Twenty20 match on August 31.
Former England all-rounder Ian Botham said England's bowlers are disappearing quicker than supplies of Stellenbosch wine, and urged them to concentrate on getting fit, rather than being involved in squat jumps.
The arrival of Virender Sehwag might have triggered hopes of an Indian revival but former England captain Ian Botham says given that the dashing opener is short of match practice, even he can't stop the hosts from clinching the ongoing series 4-0.
'Where is India going in Test cricket? Why is it happening to the team. Is it saturation of Twenty20?'
A Class 4 student in A.G. Primary School in this principal city of Gujarat, Ayush won the aerated drinks giant Pepsi campaign "Toss Ka Boss".
Rajneesh Gupta picks fun sledging through the decades. Take a look!
Veteran Indian pacer Irfan Pathan says the country's rise as a fast-bowling powerhouse is, for him, the highlight of the year while former batsman V V S Laxman picked the away Test triumph over Australia as his "favourite moment" of 2019. The trio of Umesh Yadav (23), Ishant Sharma (25) and Mohammed Shami (33) picked 81 wickets in Tests this year, averaging less than 20.
English legend Ian Botham lashed out at the cricket administrators for shoving more and more Twenty20 down the fans' throat and said the slam-bang format, which is 'bastardising the game', has no place in international cricket.
Chasing a record 482 for an improbable victory, England endured a top order collapse to finish day three on 53-3, still 429 behind at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.
He may boast of the best statistics among all-rounders but former players refuse to place South Africa's Jacques Kallis in the league of extraordinary gentlemen featuring the likes of India's Kapil Dev, West Indies' Sir Gary Sobers, Pakistan's Imran Khan or England's Ian Botham. Kallis is a "selfish cricketer", feels Keith Stackpole, who scored seven centuries in 43 Tests as an opener.
Sir Ian Botham was a worrying influence on Andrew Flintoff during England's Ashes tour of Australia last winter, says former England coach Duncan Fletcher in the latest extract of his autobiography.
Former captains Bob Willis and David Gower have joined Ian Botham and Mike Atherton in urging the English team to return to India and play the two-Test series next month.
Angry and sad at the way England have been outplayed in the ongoing ODI series against India, former captain Ian Botham and retired spinner Graeme Swann said the performance of the side led by Alastair Cook is nothing short of an "embarrassment".
The 65-year-old former England captain will succeed incumbent president Doug Insole for a year, from October 1.
A look at the leading wicket-takers in Test cricket after Australian Shane Warne passed the 500 mark against Sri Lanka.
Ian Botham says it is time English cricket stopped talked about finding the new "Beefy" and started concentrating on discovering another Andrew Flintoff.
B catching Wasim Jaffer on Day 1 of the third Test against South Africa, Kallis completed his 100 catches in Test cricket.
'The two of us got together and we put on a partnership of more than 300, it was amazing.'
England paceman James Anderson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa with a calf injury, the country's cricket board said on Thursday.
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo gained immediate inspiration from pre-match advice given by England's new knight Ian Botham.
Legendary English all-rounder Ian Botham says captain Virat Kohli is the "right guy" to take Indian cricket forward but rates Ben Stokes as the world's best player at the moment. One of the game's finest all-rounders, Botham has represented England with distinction during a stellar career, the highlight of which was heroics in the 1981 Ashes series.
Legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham believes Shane Warne is the greatest player to have set foot on a cricket field.
Names like Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Dean Jones, Gary Kirsten and Waqar Younis will rub shoulders in the Signature World Cup of Golfing Cricketers.
Anderson now has seven wickets in the match.
Ian Botham has heaped praise on Indian captain Rahul Dravid, saying he was different from his fellow players good only in their own backyards.
Ian Botham wants England coach Duncan Fletcher to step down after the World Cup.
The actress has been approached to be a judge on the cricketing version of Pop Idol along with former players like Kapil Dev, Sanjay Manjrekar and Ian Botham.
Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff became the first cricketer in 24 years to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday.
What do you think about the selection? If you can come up with something better, send us your team.
On Tuesday, the 25-year-old Flintoff produced a display that Botham himself would have been proud of.\n\n\n\n
The former Australian captain joins Ian Botham, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding and Barry Richards on the five-man selection panel.
The Cricket Board has rubbished former England great Ian Botham's criticism of the highly lucrative Indian Premier League, saying he had no locus standi, and advised him to first get his facts right before commenting on the Twenty20 League.
England legend Ian Botham has called for the scrapping of Indian Premier League, saying the T20 domestic event is "too powerful" for cricket's "long-term good" and the game would be better off without the tournament.
Ian Botham says the criticism around the inclusion of spinner Adil Rashid in the home team's squad for the first Test against India is 'unnecessary'.
Jacques Kallis's supposed crime has been that he has the talent of an Ian Botham but the wooden temperament of a small-town bank clerk.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances