Captain Temba Bavuma hailed what he termed South Africa's brave decision to bat first in their comprehensive 107-run Champions Trophy win over Afghanistan on Friday
Australian batsman Steve Smith narrowly missed reaching the 10,000-run milestone in Test cricket during the final match against India in Sydney. He acknowledges the significance of the milestone, describing it as "a different beast." Smith's pursuit of the landmark weighed heavily on his mind during the match, and he even joked about associating the number 38 (the runs he needed) with teammate Josh Hazlewood, whose jersey number is 38. Despite falling short, Smith remains hopeful of achieving the milestone on the first day of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
The team management and selectors have faced backlash over squad selection for the Champions Trophy.
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 India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup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.
The Ranji Trophy resumes on Thursday, promising a star-studded spectacle as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant headline a host of big names returning to action.
The honour of captaining Australia sits lightly on Mitchell Marsh's shoulders as he prepares to lead the team in search of an unprecedented treble of major global titles at the T20 World Cup in June.
'The earlier a child is given a smartphone, the worst it becomes when they are 17, 18.' 'Every year you delay in giving a smartphone to child, the outcome becomes better.' 'The behavioural changes that are very specific to smartphones are aggression and anger.'
Captained by Sarfaraz Khan, Mohammed Siraj and Dhruv Jurel, the teams battled it out, showcasing their agility and precision.
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.
RCB will have to play five games inside 13 days against MI (away), Delhi Capitals (home), Rajasthan Royals (away) and Punjab Kings (home).
Images from Day 5 in the fourth Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.
Australia fast bowler Scott Boland believes his team is still well-placed for victory against India with two days left in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
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.
Sachin Tendulkar praised Nitish Kumar Reddy for his brilliant unbeaten 105 against Australia in the fourth Test
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.
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.
'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.'
India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav believes spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been a different player since his comeback to international cricket last year.
'I think any experience in the sub-continent is valuable.'
But the ex-Australian spinner Stuart MacGill was acquitted in a charge of commercial drug supply
This is SRH's second overseas investment after owning the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.
'Trump's aggressive stance towards China and preference for military posturing could shift the Quad's balance towards overt militarisation.'
India needs another shot of difficult reform, of the kind only possible at gunpoint. Mr Trump holds that gun to our heads now. A drastic reduction in tariff protection, other elements of sarkari wet-nursing will force entrepreneurial India to become competitive again, argues Shekhar Gupta.
'They haven't done a lot wrong. That's without some of their stars actually performing in that final.'
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd is estimated to have earned 724 million euros (about Rs 6,850 crore) from exporting fuel made from Russian crude oil to the US in one year, an European think tank said in a report. "From January 2024 to the end of January 2025, the US imported EUR 2.8 billion of refined oil from six refineries in India and Turkey that process Russian crude.
'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'.
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.
'Pick up momentum and find opportunities from an intelligence-sharing standpoint.'
Joe Root's century in vain as England were shown the door.
South Africa's Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy with a back injury
Allowing India to play all their matches in Dubai robbed Pakistan of the honour of hosting the final and disrupted the schedule of the knockout matches.
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.
Mohammed Rizwan said that the win is a special moment for him and lauded his bowlers for their performances.
Except in the IPL, the Australians have not had a good look at Varun Chakravarthy's bowling and that could spell trouble for Steve Smith and Co.
Players, including Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar, were spotted at Brisbane Airport, greeted by a small group of enthusiastic fans.
'Obviously we're going to get on the plane this morning and we'll take our learnings from this game but also understand the conditions when we go to Pakistan.'
Rohit cited India's last Group A match against New Zealand here on Sunday to emphasize his point.
'India needs to score big because they will have to defend those totals without Bumrah.'
Pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who wrecked Aussies with a four-wicket haul in their first innings of the one-off Test, said on Thursday that the Indian Women's plan was to exploit the visitors' vulnerability against incoming deliveries bowled with a wobble seam.
Industry associations and companies in the United States, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Coalition of Services Industries and the iconic bike company Harley Davidson have called on the Donald Trump dispensation to push India to reduce tariffs, non-tariffs, and regulatory barriers to boost American exports.
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