'Baggy Green worship made me want to puke'
The IPL has produced many, many, memorable moments on the way.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Monday said that he could not believe he has turned 44 as he celebrated his birthday in front of thousands of adoring fans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The Master Blaster turned 44 on Monday and wishes poured in for him on social media.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke said his body felt 15 years younger after a spell away from cricket as he prepared for a comeback at the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. Injury-plagued Clarke said nine months without cricket and its rigorous travel, as well as a revamped diet and training regime, had given him a new lease of life as he contemplates joining the lucrative Twenty20 bandwagon. The 35-year-old batsman played his last Twenty20 international in 2010 but he will test the waters for a stint in Australia's Big Bash League at the four-team Hong Kong event this weekend. Clarke, troubled by chronic back problems, retired after last year's Ashes series but less than a year later, he will make an experimental hit-out for Kowloon Cantons. "I'm going to play these couple of games and see how I go, see if I enjoy it and then assess after that," he said. "Right now it's about coming here and having some fun. If I enjoy it, I'll assess when I get home what my exact plan will be." He added: "My body's going really well. My body hasn't felt this good in 15 years. Let's hope I'm saying that on Sunday night after four games of cricket!"
Australia also won last year's Twenty20 World Cup for the first time under Langer but there have been reports of player discontent over his coaching style.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 2 of Pune Test.
Chris Gayle smashed 67 off 38 balls as the West Indies sealed a six-wicket win over Australia in the third Twenty20 international in St Lucia on Monday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five-match series.
One of the highlights of the series so far has been Ravichandran Ashwin's duels with Steve Smith and Tendulkar explained why the senior off-spinner enjoyed an upper hand.
The Decision Review System was again mired in controversy on Saturday (November 28) during the second day's play between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide after Nathan Lyon was controversially given a reprieve off an appeal for a catch despite HotSpot clearly indicating an edge.
Virat Kohli is proud of the fact that no external force has been able to affect his friendship with predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Rain played spoilsport on Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval. It caused three interruptions, but in the 30 overs that were bowled, Australia captain Michael Clarke did well to fight off pain and score 128, and Steve Smith a career-best 162 not out, as India's hapless bowling attack got a beating. At stumps, Australia were 517 for 7. A look at the statistical highlights from the start-stop day.
The veteran Sri Lankan batsman, who will retire from One-Day Internationals at the end of the World Cup, is on a record-breaking spree.
Having guided Chennai Super Kings to their second Champions League T20 triumph, Suresh Raina said he improved his batting a great deal by learning from teammates, including Virat Kohli, who has shown the way with big hundreds in One-Day Internationals.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers and tells us how Virat Kohli creates new record after record.
The tri-series in Australia, India's final ODI engagement before the World Cup, gets underway on January 16, says Chandresh Narayanan, casting a fascinating look at the survivors from earlier World Cups.
"I really felt for Shafali Verma at the end, it was tough seeing her in tears but she should be very proud of the way she's performed in Australia," Brett Lee wrote in his column for the ICC.
Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar heaved a sigh of relief when he was named in the team of his long-time rival Sachin Tendulkar for an inaugural three-match series in the US and said he's done bowling against the Indian batting legend whom he considers a 'brutal force' and the 'greatest player history has ever seen'.
Harbhajan Singh has rated the current Australian team led by Steven Smith as the 'weakest ever' in recent times to tour the Indian sub-continent.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the Chennai Super Kings record in the IPL over the years.
Australia's Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following stellar batting in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the bowling landscape in India-Australia Tests.
It was the greatest series in the history of the game but what has become of those Australian and English players a decade on?
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers of the Pakistan team from cricket World Cups.
Virat Kohli achieved another personal milestone by becoming the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
Memorable moments from Shane Warne's glittering career.
From Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, Imran Khan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, these cricketers, among others, etched their names in the annuls of cricketing history with heroic efforts that helped their teams clinch the big prize of One-day cricket. With the 2015 edition of the cricket World Cup starting on February 14, we bring you a brief history of finals from 1975-2011...
David Warner punished a wasteful India with his second century as Australia seized control of the first Test at close of play on Day 4. The left-hander, who scored an emotional 145 in the first innings, added another 102 to help fire Australia to a 363-run lead at a sun-drenched Adelaide Oval on Friday. In the course of the day's play several milestones were set. Check them out.
Unfortunately, the day chosen for the match was the actual day of Diwali and cricket starved Houstonians were in a dilemma about staying home with family and friends or going to watch their back-in-action cricket heroes.
'I felt Test cricket is just beyond my reach.' 'And slowly, slowly, I started doing well.' 'In the second Test against Pakistan, I scored a fifty and when we went to Sialkot I played a series-saving innings, which was a game changer for me.' 'At that stage that was the most important innings of my life.'
Clarke now averages 16.71 for the series, the worst performer among Australia's recognised batsmen who have played more than two Tests in the series.
Rodrigues, Kaur, Mandhana and Sharma were also a part of the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in 2019, the ECB's domestic T20 tournament that made way for the Women's Hundred.
The furore over the infamous Monkeygate row refuses to die down with former Australian captain Allan Border now saying that Cricket Australia should have called India's bluff instead of letting its own players down.
Ashish Nehra has not yet decided on life after active cricket even though he has narrowed down the options to coaching and commentary.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hit back at criticism of the pitch for the ongoing third Test between India and South Africa in Nagpur, saying it needs to be taken out of the equation since both teams have to deal with the same conditions. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports
Sachin's Blasters has Lara, Sehwag, Mahela, Murali and, of course, Tendulkar! Warne's Warriers has Ponting, Kallis, Sanga, Akram and Donald...
Going into the final Test against South Africa, Australia are staring at the lowest ebb in their 140-year cricketing history.
'If a few words from the opposition trouble you,' S Sreesanth tells Harish Kotian/Rediff.com, 'then you shouldn't be playing international cricket.'
While winning four major finals, India have finished on the losing side in the finals on four occasions.