Crease Chronicles

Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Friday has written to BCCI president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah, raising questions about the criteria used to exclude Mohali from the list of host cities for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup, scheduled to commence on October 5 in Ahmedabad.

Usman Khawaja hit a resilient unbeaten 58 as Australia tightened their grip in the second Ashes Test, stretching their lead to 221 against England before rain forced early stumps on Day 3 at Lord's on Friday. After England's batting collapse in the morning session gave Australia a 91-run lead, Khawaja led the visitors' in the second innings, finishing the day at 130 for 2.

Young off-spinner Shreyanka Patil has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first Indian woman to secure a spot in the Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL). The Guyana Amazon Warriors have signed her for the league, which is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 10.

As England imploded in the morning session on Day 3 of the second Ashes Test at Lord's, their 'Bazball' approach has come under fire and is testing the patience of former players and fans. Resuming on 278 for 4 after throwing away three wickets late on Day 2, England on Friday continued to play carelessly as they were skittled out for 325 in their first innings.

Dream XI, a popular fantasy gaming platform, has acquired the Team India jersey lead sponsorship rights from 2023-27, as per a reliable source. Dream XI will thus replace ed-tech firm Byju’s-which was the lead Team India jersey sponsor from 2019 till March this year- on the Team India jersey for the next four years. The BCCI will come out with an official announcement in this regard soon, it’s learnt.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and host BCCI announced the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule on Tuesday, finalising 10 venues for the event beginning October 5.

TimesofIndia.com spoke to 'Universe Boss' Gayle, a veteran of 103 Tests, 301 ODIs, and 79 T20Is, and discussed the upcoming World Cup, his bonhomie with Virat Kohli, India vs Pakistan, and much more.

Red-ball specialist batsman Kraigg Brathwaite will retain his role as the leader of the team as Cricket West Indies (CWI) unveiled an 18-member squad for the preparatory camp ahead of the forthcoming two-match Test series against India.

After notching his 32nd Test century for Australia earlier in the day, Steve Smith found himself in an unfamiliar role of bowling the final few deliveries to England captain Ben Stokes. It was an unusual sight as Smith, seemingly reluctant, skipped in to perform this task, displaying his aversion towards it.

England's Ben Duckett downplayed his disappointment of falling short of a century at Lord's on Thursday. Instead, he chose to highlight his team's impressive response to Australia's formidable first innings total of 416 during the second day of the second Ashes Test.

Opener Ben Duckett narrowly missed out on a maiden Ashes ton as his impressive 98-run knock helped England fight back against Australia in the second Test at Lord's on Thursday. Duckett smashed a counter-attacking 98 as England ended Day 2 at 278 for 4 in an another high octane 'Bazball' batting display after Ben Stokes and co. bowled Australia out for 416 in the morning session.

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon experienced a concerning injury during the second day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's. Lyon suffered a calf problem while fielding a shot from England's Ben Duckett, causing him to hold his calf muscle in apparent pain.

In a thrilling encounter on Thursday, Zimbabwe emerged victorious with a narrow 14-run win over Oman in the Super Six stage of the World Cup Qualifier. The victory was propelled by an exceptional century from Sean Williams, his third of the tournament.

With 32nd ton on the second day of the Lord's Test, Steve Smith stamped his greatness, producing a majestic effort as he powered Australia to a strong 416 first innings total against England. Resuming on the overnight score of 85, Smith was quick to get to the first century of this year's Ashes as he rewrote record books. Although England pacers cleaned up Australia's tail for 77 runs, Smith's hundred ensured an imposing total on an under-pressure hosts, who currently trail the 5-Test series 1-0.

Frontrunner for the chief selector's job of the senior men's national team, former India pacer Ajit Agarkar on Thursday quit from his post of assistant coach in IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. With news doing the rounds that Agarkar has thrown in his hat for the top job, DC's social media post on Thursday thanking Agarkar for his contributions, confirms Agarkar's intent of running for vacant post.

Sourav Ganguly finds it extremely baffling that Ajinkya Rahane has been handed Test vice captaincy after spending nearly 18 months on the sidelines as the former India skipper demanded 'consistency and continuity' in the selection process.

Logan van Beek, the Dutch all-rounder, etched his name in the history books of ODI cricket on Monday when he smoked the most runs in a Super Over. The 32-year-old smashed 30 runs off Jason Holder of West Indies in Harare. The record-breaking knock helped Netherlands register a thrilling victory over West Indies, pushing the two-time World champions onto the brink of elimination from the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

Former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie lauded Aussie captain Pat Cummins for his on-field tactics, execution and bonhomie with his team-mates. Gillespie, a veteran of 71 Tests, 97 ODIs and 1 T20I, with more than 400 international wickets under his belt, also compared the captaincy style of Cummins with that of Aussie great Mark Taylor.

Josh Tongue praised Jonny Bairstow's actions as he hailed him a 'hero' for safeguarding the Lord's pitch during the second Ashes Test on Wednesday.

Nearly 50 years since it first happened, oil came to interrupt cricket again during the Ashes.

Steve Smith played a brilliant unbeaten innings of 85, leading Australia to a formidable total of 339-5 against England on the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's in London on Wednesday.

With the schedule and the venues of the upcoming ODI World Cup out, political blame-game has erupted over the shunning of some prominent venues, including the PCA Stadium in Mohali. The International Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday announced the World Cup fixture with Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata confirmed as host cities.

An unusual and bizarre incident kicked off the proceedings of the second Ashes Test at the Lord's in London as a couple of pitch invaders temporarily halted play on Wednesday. Soon after the first over of the morning session from James Anderson came to an end, two 'Just Stop Oil' protesters ran on to the ground and scattered orange powder on the field. The two men emerged from the stands and ran towards the square before releasing the powder.

Besides batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, the iconic Rahul Dravid serves as a major inspiration for the young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who after his IPL 2023 exploits made headlines again when he was selected for the India Test squad for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean. 'One ball at a time – this is the mantra I have learnt from Rahul sir. He always says - 'treat every ball as important.' He has solutions for everything,' Yashasvi said.

Among the 10 participating nations, India will be playing all their 9 league stage matches in different venues. That's 9 cities over the course of just over a month. India play their first match on October 8 vs Australia and their last league stage match is against Qualifier 1. Two teams will join the 8 other teams via the qualifier tournament, which is currently being played in Zimbabwe.

Among the 10 participating nations, India will be playing all their 9 league stage matches in different venues. That's 9 cities over the course of just over a month. India play their first match on October 8 vs Australia and their last league stage match is against Qualifier 1. Two teams will join the 8 other teams via the qualifier tournament, which is currently being played in Zimbabwe.

Just like India’s 2011 World Cup-wining team had dedicated the title win at home to Sachin Tendulkar, former India opener Virender Sehwag, at an event here to unveil the World Cup schedule, said he wants Rohit Sharma’s men to win the Cup for Virat Kohli this time around.

Zimbabwe and former champions Sri Lanka find themselves in a favorable position to secure the last two qualifying berths for this year's ODI World Cup, while the West Indies, who have won the trophy twice, stare at the possible embarrassment of missing the tournament for the first time.

Ringing in the 100-day countdown to the ODI tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Ahmedabad will stage the World Cup opener on October 5 between defending champions England and runners-up New Zealand, a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final.

The picturesque grounds of Malahide, located on the outskirts of Dublin, have been chosen as the venue for all three matches, scheduled to take place from August 18 to 23.

The picturesque grounds of Malahide, located on the outskirts of Dublin, have been chosen as the venue for all three matches, scheduled to take place from August 18 to 23.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad — one of the world’s biggest, seating 1.32 lakh spectators — will stage the big-ticket India Pakistan group match in the 2023 ODI World Cup, hosted by India, on October 15. The Cup schedule was announced by the International Cricket Council here on Tuesday.

Indian cricket team captain, Rohit Sharma, anticipates a fiercely contested ODI World Cup in India, as he believes that the game has become faster and more dynamic in recent years. India, aiming for their third World Cup title and their second on home soil, will commence their campaign against five-time champions Australia in Chennai on October 8.

The objections raised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the schedule and venues for the national team in the ODI World Cup in India have been dismissed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The final schedule, announced on Tuesday by the ICC and BCCI, confirms that Pakistan's match against arch-rivals India will indeed take place in Ahmedabad, as initially proposed in the draft.

The ICC on Tuesday announced the final schedule of the 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup, with India's marquee clash vs arch rivals Pakistan being scheduled for October 15 in Ahmedabad.

India will be hosting an ICC ODI World Cup as sole hosts for the first time later this year. The three earlier editions of the tournament which were held in the country saw India being co-hosts - in 1987, 1996 and 2011.

Two-time champions and hosts India will face archrivals Pakistan on October 15 in Ahmedabad as the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the match schedule for Men's ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Logan van Beek dazzled with both bat and ball in the Super Over after Teja Nidamanuru's 76-ball 111 matched Nicholas Pooran's second consecutive ton as Netherlands stunned two-time champions West Indies in World Cup Qualifiers in Harare on Monday. With the shock defeat against the Dutch, West Indies now face an almighty task to qualify for the ODI World Cup.

Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata --- both iconic venues -- have emerged as the frontrunners to host the two semifinals of the 2023 World Cup.

The ICC ODI World Cup Trophy Tour kicked off in a spectacular fashion as the coveted silverware became the first official sporting trophies to be sent to space. Launched into the stratosphere, 120,000 feet above the earth, the trophy landed at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. The feat was achieved with the World Cup Trophy attached to a bespoke stratospheric balloon.

Recognizing the intense emotions that cricketers can experience during competitive matches, former England captain Hussain acknowledged that effectively managing these emotions can often bring out the best in players.

Recognizing the intense emotions that cricketers can experience during competitive matches, former England captain Hussain acknowledged that effectively managing these emotions can often bring out the best in players.

Jermaine Blackwood, the West Indies batter, is optimistic about rediscovering his positive mindset while batting, which he believes will enable him to score significant runs in the upcoming two-match Test series against India.

Veteran fast bowler Umesh Yadav has not been dropped from the two-Test series in the West Indies, but is out due to a hamstring injury, TOI has learnt.

Sarfaraz Khan's non-inclusion in the Indian team for the West Indies tour was criticised by none other than Sunil Gavaskar but BCCI sources claimed that his below-par 'fitness level' as well as alleged 'off-field conduct' has influenced the decision. The Mumbai batter scored 2566 runs in the last three Ranji seasons. He scored 928 runs in the 2019/20 season, 982 in the 2022-23 and 656 in the 2022-23 season.