Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane face increasing pressure as captains in the IPL, with their teams, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, struggling to find form and consistency.
'With the slope here, you always feel there is something to work with. We have to be creative and smart, and understand sometimes you do not need to exaggerate things.'
England have requested a pitch with 'plenty of life in it' as they look to unleash returning pacers Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson in the third Test against India at Lord's.
Rajat Patidar's aggressive innings helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru reach a total of 201 for 8 against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match, after a shaky start.
'We know we're behind the game again, in the situation we currently stand.'
'The World Cup squad will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 ahead of England's opening group match against Scotland at the Kensington Oval, Barbados, on Wednesday, June 4.'
Australia stormed to an eight-wicket victory in the second Ashes Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 series lead as England succumbed on day four to a pace blitz from unlikely hero Michael Neser.
Four-Test-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell was awarded his maiden central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which offered two-year deals to 14 multi-format cricketers, including Test captain Ben Stokes and injury-plagued pacer Jofra Archer.
A timely unbeaten 53 from vice-captain Rinku Singh and a fine spell from Varun Chakravarthy powered former champions Kolkata Knight Riders to their first win of IPL 2026.
England captain Ben Stokes went on to call Jofra Archer an 'incredibly gifted cricketer', irrespective of the colour of the ball in his hand.
Mumbai Indians will be looking to bounce back from their recent defeat when they face a confident Rajasthan Royals side in their upcoming IPL match. The Royals will be aiming to continue their winning streak.
Matthew Breetzke became the first player to score half centuries in each of his first five One-Day International appearances as South Africa beat England by five runs in the second ODI at Lord's on Thursday.
Tom Banton and captain Harry Brook guided England to a thrilling win against Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20I to claim the series in Kandy.
England will be heading into the T20 World Cup with a massive confidence boost following a series win across both white-ball formats in Sri Lanka under captaincy of young Harry Brook, who has switched his side's fortunes since taking over.
Sanju Samson admits the pressure of securing a spot in India's T20 World Cup squad led to poor performance in the preceding series against New Zealand. He has since found form, crediting a return to basics and support from loved ones.
Images from Day 5 of the third Test between England and India at Lord's on Monday.
With the series nicely poised at 1-1 going into the third Test, the narrative built around both the teams has changed significantly following India's 336-run routing of England at Edgbaston.
'We all know what he's capable of achieving in Test cricket and we hope that when the opportunity does arrive for him, he's able to recapture, and also improve on, what he's been able to do already in that form of the game.'
Starc reached his second fifty of the series in 73 balls, striking eight fours, before England finally struck back. Archer ended Lyon's resistance, trapping him plumb in front for 9, and Australia were soon bowled out for 371 in 91.2 overs.
Ben Stokes calls England's 4-1 Ashes loss his toughest phase as captain but vows to restore pride in the upcoming home Test summer, with ECB backing leadership.
England 'quietly confident' heading into Ashes series, says Wood
A recap of the action of the third week of IPL 2026.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Ashes Test played in Perth on Friday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2026 after Game 24.
Mark Wood, who was one of England's standout bowlers in the 2021-22 series when he claimed 17 wickets, had been sidelined since February due to a knee injury and was hoping to build up match fitness in this week's warm-up match ahead of the Ashes.
Jofra Archer had a minor operation on his troublesome right elbow earlier this month
Ishan Kishan's sensational comeback and Sanju Samson's inconsistent displays with the bat will reignite debate over who should be Abhishek Sharma's preferred opening partner.
Harbhajan Singh's comment on Jofra Archer's expensive spell drew accusations of racial insensitivity.
Jacob Bethell has represented England in 29 matches across all formats and will lead the team in the absence of the regular Test players.
England on Tuesday named a 16-man squad for the Ashes series starting in Australia in November with Ben Stokes, who is currently nursing a shoulder injury, set to return to lead the side.
New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, look to seal a T20 World Cup semi-final berth as their spin attack prepares to challenge Harry Brook's England in a crucial Super Eight clash in Colombo.
As India weigh their options ahead of the second innings, all eyes remain on Pant
All New Zealand batters got starts but couldn't go on to capitalise on them. Will Jacks and Adil Rashid got two wickets a piece for England.
Sanju Samson's unbeaten 89 powered India to 253/7 before they survived Jacob Bethell's stunning century to beat England by seven runs and enter the T20 World Cup final.
Harry Brook ton leads England to nervy win over Pakistan and T20 World Cup semifinals.
Pant equals Sehwag's six-hitting record, surpasses Rohit Sharma in WTC Test runs
'The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 -- potentially delivered at 155km/h -- doesn't feel like a fair fight.'
England finally rediscovered their attacking mojo, riding on an explosive start and a splendid late surge from Will Jacks to post a challenging 202 for seven against Italy in their must-win Group C clash, in Kolkata, on Monday.
'KL was excellent in nullifying that early threat and played very straight.'
England have also included seamer Reece Topley, who they hope will have recovered from an ankle injury in time to play.
