When India’s selectors dropped Pant from the ODI squad for the Afghanistan series and removed his Test vice-captaincy in May 2026, the coverage ran predictably, a decline narrative, white-ball failure, and questions about the future. The actual story runs the other way. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said it plainly: “Rishabh is an incredible Test player. […]
When India’s selectors dropped Pant from the ODI squad for the Afghanistan series and removed his Test vice-captaincy in May 2026, the coverage ran predictably, a decline narrative, white-ball failure, and questions about the future. The actual story runs the other way. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said it plainly: “Rishabh is an incredible Test player. […]
When RCB lifted the 2025 IPL trophy after an 18-year wait, Mo Bobat didn’t let the dressing room breathe for long. His message that night set the 2026 agenda immediately. Twelve months later, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 75 off 42 balls sealed a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, making […]
When England named their squad for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4, 2026, Rob Key used one specific word to describe Jofra Archer’s status: unavailable. Not rested. Not dropped. Not choosing the IPL. Every pundit who followed treated Archer as the agent making a personal choice. The structural reality runs […]
Australia’s decision to pick Lucy Hamilton over Darcie Brown is not a like-for-like swap between two pace bowlers. It is a structural argument about how to win in England. Seven venues in June and July on English soil, four of them historically favouring turn and variation over raw carry, and Australia has responded by building […]
Virat Kohli walked to the crease at Raipur on May 13 carrying something no batter in 18 seasons of the IPL had ever carried, the weight of two consecutive ducks. The 105 not out he scored that afternoon against KKR wasn’t just a century. It was the first time in IPL history that any player […]
Every IPL season produces records. IPL 2026 produced something different. The individual highlights received attention: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi‘s 72 sixes, KL Rahul’s unbeaten 152, and the Punjab Kings’ pursuit of 265. But the collective picture went largely unexamined at the time. Taken together, the season’s numbers build a case that no major T20 competition has seen […]
Kolkata Knight Riders paid ₹25.20 crore for Cameron Green at the IPL 2026 auction, a record fee for an overseas player that eclipsed the ₹24.75 crore spent on Mitchell Starc. They were buying an all-rounder: top-order runs, reliable overs, and the XI balance that premium players are supposed to provide. What they received across 13 […]
England in June is not a batting paradise. Edgbaston, Headingley, and Lord’s offer genuine seam movement and pace carry that punish one-dimensional batting orders. The team that lifts the trophy on 5 July needs more than one brilliant batter at the top; it needs four or five who can handle lateral movement and score through […]
Six appearances, twenty-two group-stage matches, two wins in total. That is Bangladesh Women’s full T20 World Cup record heading into England in 2026. For every edition from 2016 through 2023, they didn’t win a single game. The 2024 tournament brought one win against Scotland, the first in a decade, and the ceiling held. Now, for […]
Nineteen IPL seasons. More than 9,300 runs. Four centuries in a single year. And yet the fastest fifty of Virat Kohli’s career arrived on 31 May 2026, in the IPL final, at 37 years old, hobbling with a knee injury, with four wickets down in the chase. He reached fifty off 25 balls against the […]
No teenager had ever finished an IPL season as its leading run-scorer, its most prolific six-hitter, and its most valuable player, until a 15-year-old from Bihar did all three in the same month. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ended IPL 2026 with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30 and 72 sixes for Rajasthan Royals, demolishing records […]