Plethora of Records in Irani Cup

Plethora of records broke in the Irani Cup. ROI won the trophy by 200+ runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal who has 9 centuries & 3 double centuries in 15 first class matches @85, won the Man of the Match for his 213 & 157.

Valour

I salute the valour shown by both the teams in the 3 innings played so far. The pitch was very difficult to bat, but both the sides fought very hard & posted respectable totals. The match is tilted in favour of Australia 80% now as the target is only 76, but Indian spinners have the talent in them to defend even this total.

February End

The February end of this year saw two historic matches being played out in different formats & forms:-

1)  Australia defeated South Africa in the final of the Womens T20 WC of this year by 6 runs & lifted the trophy once again. They were already the  most successful team in the Womens cricket.

2)  New Zealand beat England in a historic Test today where it became only the 2nd team in the history to win a Test match by 1 run. England were to chase a target of 258 in the 4th innings on Day 5 where they had 48 runs already on the board at the loss of 1 wicket at the beginning. New Zealand bowlers rose up to the challenge & wrapped the England team for 256.

Feb Last Week News

1)  England has tormented New Zealand in New Zealand in Test cricket this week. They have crushed it by an inning in both the matches, & now SL must be dreaming of taking advantage of this lowness of NZ to attain their place in the WTC final.

2)  Australia & South Africa won their respective semifinals in the Womens WC comprehensively & are going to clash in the final tomorrow for the title.

BGT Period News

BGT 2022-23 Period News:

1  >>  India inch close to Australia in WTC points table after win in 2nd Test

2  >>  India have probability of toppling even Australia in the WTC points table if they win both the remaining Tests

3  >>  Sri Lanka also have a chance of qualifying for the WTC final if India beat Australia 4-0 & they beat New Zealand 2-0

4  >>  England did the 2nd quickest 1st inning declaration of history in the 1st Test against New Zealand

5  >>  Saurashtra won their 2nd Ranji title of last 3 years this year & won the Vijay Hazare Trophy also this year; Jaidev Unadkat was the captain of it in both

6  >>  Mayank Agrawal had a phenomenal Ranji trophy, scored bulks of run

7  >>  India are playing undefeated in the Womens WC so far with two wins in two matches

8  >>  Pujara became the 12th Indian to complete 100 Tests in Delhi

9  >>  Jadeja effected his career best BBI in the 2nd inning of Delhi Test

10  >>  Rohit & Pujara had engulfed in mix up in the 2nd inning, Rohit sacrificed his wicket for Pujara.

Mayank Agrawal

Happy birthday to Mayank Agrawal. He has been the best in this Ranji Trophy.

Ranji Finals

Bengal & Saurashtra have reached the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23. The Final is set to be played at Eden Gardens from 16 February.

Many T20 Leagues Completed In The Last Few Days

Many T20 leagues have been completed in the last few days. SA20 & ILT20 commemorated yesterday. SA20 was won by the Sunrisers Cape Eastern & the ILT20 was won by the Gulf Giants. BPL is going on, it is in its play-off stage at present & the PSL has also started today. The WPL auction is happening today & the IPL is also set to kick off next month.

Massive Matches

3 massive matches happened yesterday. The SA-Eng 2nd ODI, the U19 Womens WC final & the NZ-Ind 2nd T20I, all displayed exceptional competitiveness, intensity & sportsmanship - All resulted in the better team winning the contest with handsome flair & comprehensiveness. My congrats to all of them, & best wishes for the next match / series ahead each of them.

WU19 WC

IndW U19 have qualified for the finals of the U19 WC beating NZ in the S/F by 8 wickets in a chase of 108 target. The 2nd semifinal of the tournament later in the evening was even more interesting - England defended an even lower total of 99 vs Australia.

ICC Winners

ICC award 2022 winners -

Test Player Of The Year:- Ben Stokes

ODI Player Of The Year:- Babar Azam

T20 Player Of The Year:- Suryakumar Yadav

Best Player Of The Year:- Babar Azam

The Unlimited SKY

Congrats to the unlimited SKY for the unlimited adjudgement as the T20I Player of the Year in the ICC Awards 2022.

Run Riot At Indore

The way India is batting these days, it is giving signals of some big run riots at the WC. Shubhman Gill is exceptional at the top of the order, clearly deserving the MoS, & Virat is making 30s & 40s even when he isn't scoring the 100s. Heading towards the 6th ODI win the of the year in 6 matches. Rohit has also equaled Ponting's tally of 30 ODI tons.

Starting Of ICC Awards

The revelation of the ICC awards 2022 has started. T20I XI of the year has been announced today. Kohli, SKY & Pandya found place in that from India. Jos Buttler was the captain & wicketkeeper. The remaining of the awards are going to be announced over this week.

Happy Wed KL-Athiya

Happy wed to KL & Athiya. A strong backfighter of the team who has bounced back very well since the last 4 IPLs. A fit Vice-Captain of the team & a core member of the ODI WC. Has delivered some pearly performances in the last couple of months, & is going into the 2nd inning of his life today. Best wishes to him.

Jeet

Raipur mein sabki rai jeet li. Lucknow mein luck saath hoga, aur Dharamshala mein dharam jeet lenge.

Power Show In Raipur

Muscular power show of Team Ind in Raipur. After demolition of pacers, openers stole the show with their batting flex in the chase. Series win in 2nd match. 3rd series win of the year in 3 series.

NZ On The Mat

NZ are on the mat today. Indian pacers reduced them to 15/5, then 56/6, & now 103/7. All Siraj, Shami, Pandya, Thakur have been exceptional, smoking fire with fire.

Kohli & Rohit Advised To Play Ranji Trophy

Senior players Kohli & Rohit have been advised by experts like Ravi Shastri & Harsha Bhogle to skip the 3rd ODI & play a Ranji Trophy game to prepare for the BGT. They are already missing the T20 series in between.

The Beauty Of This Sport

What a big beauty this sport of cricket is, my amazement for it is going on increasing every day. As & as India are breaking new grounds in this art these days, & some new greats are registering their footprints on this soil, my closeness with this game is going on increasing unprecedentally. It is filling every cell of my body & flooding my heart & soul with handsomeness. The beauty of shots, style of aggression, intensity, competitivness everything about it is eternal.

The Road Ahead

I think India have developed a very good pool for the WC. The only thing now I think they need to do is to relax their tensions a bit, not worry too much about the side things & give their shot undoubtedly.

New bench

The current season since the last 3-4 months shows the depth of Indian both batting & bowling. India have developed some strong bench players who are making the task easy of the core unit, & making the opportunity count which they are seeing is coming their way if they deliver.

Rain Of Double Centuries For India

Rain of double centuries for India - First Ishan Kishan scored it at 24, then Shubhman at 23.

My Prediction For 'The KING' This Year

My prediction for 'The KING' this year - He will hit 3 centuries in the 3 ODIs against NZ this month & equal Sachin's record of 49 ODI hundreds & surpass 50 ODI tons this year & take over Sanga's ODI tally of 14000 runs by the end of this year.

Some Other Events Entertaining At Present

With international cricket sort of in break at present, due to India fielding more of junior players in the current white-ball series, to give rest to the senior players for the BGT, there are some other events entertaining the time at present, like the Womens U-19 WC & Hockey WC. India have started well in both & won their 1st match in both.

India Giving Strong Signs For The BGT

India giving strong signs for the BGT. With both the T20 & ODI series under belt against the SL, & the team looking very developed & spirited, the Indian team is very confident for the BGT. The team is very balanced also. It is very likely they will win both the series against NZ also. & Then the B.G.T.

New Year Joys

New Year Joys:

(1)  Kohli smashes 45th ODI ton, taking his international tons tally up to 73, in 200 less matches than Sachin.

(2)  Jio TV has announced to stream IPL 2023 for free on its app.

BGT

Winning the BGT 4-0 is more important than winning the WTC final, I think, because India have been labeled of losing some big stages recently, so defeating Australia 4-0 will be a bigger achievement than winning just one match of the WTC final.

Sarfaraz Shines In Pak-NZ Tests

Sarfaraz shone in the Pak-NZ Test series with 335 runs in 2 matches (4 innings) @ 69.50 including 1 100 & 2 50s & rightly got the Man Of The Series, He saved Pakistan in the 2nd Test heroically with a margin of just 1 wicket to spare when the runs needed to be chased were just 15.

Rahul Tripathi Makes His Ind Debut With Mending Firing 35(18)

Rahul Tripathi is making his Ind debut today with Kusal Mendis firing SL to 49/0 in 4 overs with his 35(18)* including 3 4s & 2 6s in a 1st batting of Ind winning the toss.

Pakistan On Backfoot With Loss Of 2 Wickets

Pakistan on backfoot after loss of 2 wickets for 0 in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test while chasing target of 319 against New Zealand.

Pakistan Fightback After NZ's 449

Pak fightback after NZ's 449 on day 2. They finish the day with 154/3 courtesy Imam's gritty 74 & Saud Shakeel's patient 13(75).

Mixed Times Ahead Also

Mixed times ahead also as the cricketer is headed for long treatment amid India's BGT & IPL schedules.

New Year Note

New year begins with a mixed note for Team India as cricketer Rishabh Pant gets injured in a car accident amid highs of 2022 success.