The visibility the competition has brought the women’s game in the country is unlike anything previously imaginedGiant outdoor advertisements featuring women cricketers occupying pride of place anywhere in India is a rarity. Even more so in bustling junctures across the country’s commercial and entertainment hub, Mumbai, where time and space are ever-shrinking commodities.But a seven-storey wallscape with an artwork of the Mumbai Indians’ trio Harmanpreet Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar and Nat Sciver-Brunt has adorned a 20-storey skyscraper near the busy Haji Ali Junction in the southern part of the western Indian city since the start of the month. Continue reading...
High security for England’s tour is costing the PCB which is the only board denied huge TV revenues generated by facing IndiaYou may have noticed that there are side-effects to watching England’s series against Pakistan. Some are obvious, like a nascent infatuation with Harry Brook’s inside-out drives. Others, though, are less so. You may experience a nagging urge to switch to Sensodyne toothpaste “because life’s too short for sensitive teeth”, drink Tapal Tea, “it makes teatime terrific”, or start using Osaka Tubular Deep Cycle Premium Batteries. You may even find yourself overcome with inexplicable curiosity about the latest Dawlance Power Wash Challenge, in which members of the public compete on rowing machines to win a washing machine.It’s easy to snigger...
Kohli built a side that could win in Australia and England, with an emphasis on fast bowling that had never been seen before Virat Kohli has left the building. India’s most vocal captain, on and off the field, signed off from his Test leadership position via social media. A day earlier Kohli had addressed the media after India’s loss to South Africa in the Cape Town Test that gave the home team the series 2-1 but did not hint at stepping down. There was no intimation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, not so much as a tweet or a media release. When he thought the time was right, Kohli called it.In his time as Test captain...
Supremely talented 17-year-old should make the BCCI realise how big the women’s game could beJust as more people saw Jim Laker whistle out 19 for 90 at Old Trafford and Ian Botham bristle 149 at Headingley than could possibly have fitted in the ground even stacked cheek to jowl and on top of each other, you suspect Bristol County Ground will have been rather fuller in retrospect than it was last week. Not because it was the first time India had played a Test for seven years or because of the cricket itself, which was excellent, but because of the Test debut of a 17-year-old superstar in the making.Shafali Verma made 96 and 63 and was named player of the...
The IPL should have halted the competition earlier or made alternative plans but their timing was badly amissIt’s better to leave people asking why you have stopped something rather than what took you so long. This is the rule of thumb applied to people retiring from public life, sports people mainly but occasionally politicians, singers, actors and others similarly in the limelight.Timing is everything. And the Indian Premier League, which was suspended for the season on Tuesday, comprehensively failed on this count. Related: England players face battle to get home from India amid Covid and IPL ‘chaos’ Related: IPL cricket tournament suspended amid worsening Covid crisis in India Continue reading...