Month: January 2025

New Delhi: India’s star batter Dinesh Karthik delivered a stunning performance in the SA20 League against Joburg Super Kings at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The wicketkeeper-batter struck his first-ever fifty in the league, guiding his team Paarl Royals out of a challenging spot. He scored 53 runs off 39 balls, including 4 boundaries and 3 sixes.

Here’s the video of 3 consecutive sixes:

Recently, Dinesh Karthik moved ahead of MS Dhoni in the list of top run-scorers in T20 cricket while representing Paarl Royals in the current season of SA20 against Durban Super Giants on January 27. Karthik required only three runs to surpass Dhoni, and he achieved this by scoring 21 runs off 15 balls, including two sixes, marking a significant milestone in the shortest format of the game.

The 39-year-old has now accumulated 7451 runs in 361 T20 innings, with an average of 26.99 and a strike rate of 136.84, along with 34 half-centuries. He has also hit 258 sixes and 718 fours in his career. In comparison, Dhoni has scored 7432 runs in 342 innings at an average of 38.11, with a strike rate of 135.64, including 28 fifties, 517 fours, and 338 sixes. However, Dhoni still leads when it comes to the most runs as a wicketkeeper-batter, having scored 7160 runs in 332 innings, while Karthik has made 6547 runs in 308 innings.

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New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s highly anticipated return to the Ranji Trophy for the match against Railways represents a pivotal moment in his career. This marks his first appearance in India’s premier first-class competition in over 13 years, and he will be donning the Delhi team jersey once again, reconnecting with his roots. Kohli honed his skills with Delhi, starting a journey that ultimately saw him rise to become one of the world’s top cricketers for a long period.

This game holds special significance for Kohli as it marks his first appearance for Delhi in any format since the 2013 Challenger Trophy. He led the Delhi team to the final of the tournament, where they were beaten by India B by 50 runs at Indore’s Holkar Stadium.

Kohli’s journey to success was not without challenges, as he encountered difficulties early on. He had previously shared how he was removed from the state U-14 team at the last moment due to financial limitations. Moreover, Kohli mentioned that his father remained steadfast in his values and declined to offer any bribes to secure his son’s place on the team.

“I was selected for the U-14 Delhi team and then I was dropped at 1:00 AM because of some complications…, you know how and what happens at the state levels, someone was preferred over me because of some compensations that were done. “The same was offered to my father as well. That if you can (pay for selection), maybe he (Kohli) can get into the team after two games. My father straightaway said ‘I’m not gonna pay a single penny to make him play. If he can play on his talent, so be it. If not, it’s not meant for him’,” said Kohli in an interaction with Dinesh Karthik for SKY Sports.

In 2006, Kohli endured the heartbreaking loss of his father. Despite this personal tragedy, he demonstrated remarkable resilience and dedication by taking part in a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi only hours after the loss. This act of bravery has become one of the most memorable moments in Indian cricket. On the field, Kohli impressed everyone with his performance, scoring an impressive 90 runs before rushing home to perform his father’s last rites.

Today, Kohli is hailed as one of the finest cricketers ever. His immense talent and unwavering determination have led him to become the fourth-highest run-scorer in international cricket. With 81 centuries across all formats, he sits just behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in terms of the most centuries at the elite level.

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New Delhi: Reflecting on a moment from the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), Ravichandran Ashwin pointed out that an advice from Virat Kohli caused Akash Deep to lose his rhythm after a strong spell of bowling during the third Test of the India-Australia series at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Ashwin mentioned that Deep was performing exceptionally well and unsettling the batters when he noticed Kohli approaching him with suggestions to alter his lines. According to Ashwin, the former captain’s advice, based on a batter’s perspective of troubling Steve Smith, ultimately backfired. Deep was soon hit for boundaries, which led to the pacer losing his groove.

“Akash Deep was bowling a fabulous spell at the Gabba. He was probably bowling his best, but Bumrah wasn’t. He was going through a wonderful spell of 3-4 overs. I was watching the game from outside. I saw Virat run up to him and say, ‘seedha daalo yaar, seedha daalo!’ [bowl straight!]. Immediately, out came a fielder and he went to leg gully. Aakash Deep bowled on the body and a couple of balls on the leg side, he got flicked and pulled. His rhythm went awry,” said Ashwin at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI Conclave in Bengaluru in an interaction with Harsha Bhogle.

“In Virat’s head, he thought that was uncomfortable for him, so if you do that against Smith, you will get him out. If you don’t understand a bowler, this is what happens. But if you understand a bowler, you know he’s going through a good spell, allow him to build on that spell,” Ashwin added.

For those who might not know, Steve Smith ended his dry spell with a century in the first innings of the Gabba Test, contributing significantly to Australia’s massive score of 445. Travis Head also added to the team’s total with a century. Akash Deep, despite bowling 29.5 overs and conceding 95 runs, managed only one wicket in that innings.

Akash Deep played two matches during the series, and while he consistently posed a challenge to the Australian batters, luck was not on his side. The 28-year-old claimed just five wickets across two matches (four innings) at an average of 54. He was unable to play in the fifth Test at Sydney due to a back injury.

Ashwin, who was sidelined for the Gabba Test, made an announcement of his retirement from international cricket shortly after the match concluded. The legendary Indian cricketer was not included in India’s playing XI for the series opener in Perth, but he did make a return for the pink-ball Test at Adelaide, which ultimately turned out to be his last appearance for the national team.

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Karachi: There will be no captains’ photoshoot or conference in Pakistan before the ICC Champions Trophy, a source in the host cricket board told PTI on Thursday, ending the possibility of India skipper travelling to the country for any pre-tournament engagements.

The Pakistan Cricket Board source said the PCB was forced to cancel the pre-tournament captains’ gathering because of “unavailability of teams due to tight travelling schedules.”

“The thing is all teams have tight schedules before the tournament. England and India are playing a white-ball series while Australia is playing a Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka,” the source said.

He also said the PCB will organise an inauguration event for the tournament on February 16 in Lahore instead of an official opening ceremony.

As per tradition, captains of all participating teams gather for a pre-tournament photo-op before the start of an ICC event.

The 2025 edition of the Champions Trophy, which is set to be played from February 19 to March 9, will be held across three venues in Pakistan and one in Dubai.

India will, however, not travel to Pakistan for security reasons and will instead play all their matches in Dubai.

If they qualify for the final, the title clash will also be played in Dubai.

The inauguration ceremony would be held at the Huzoor Bagh in Lahore.

The source though confirmed that PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had approved a scheduled list of events prior to the first match of the mega event at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The PCB will officially open the renovated Gaddafi stadium on February 7 in which Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been invited as the chief guest.

On Feb 11, the PCB will launch the renovated National Stadium in Karachi with a ceremony in which President Asif Ali Zardari has been invited as the chief guest.

“On 16th Feb we will have the inauguration ceremony,” the source said.

He said England will reach Lahore on February 18 while Australia are reaching on February 19.

“We have also decided in conjunction with the ICC that there will be no official collective press conference of all captains as not all will be available before the tournament nor any official photo shoot at one place.”

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