ChinmayC Blog

India have won the Paytm 3-match T20 International Series beating New Zealand by 7 wickets in the second match in Ranchi today thus taking an unassailable 2-0 lead. In a rather funny contrast to Virat Kohli making a hat-trick of losing tosses in the T20 World Cup-2021 the new captain Rohit Sharma won his second consecutive toss in this series after Jaipur so far; however, this evening the dew factor was already there with winter season setting in the eastern region and it did not give India an undue advantage while chasing. India made one change bringing in IPL-sensation medium-fast bowler Harshal Patel replacing Mohammed Siraj while New Zealand made three changes—bowling all-rounder James Neesham, pacer Adam Milne and spinner Ish Sodhi, replacing Rachin Ravindra, Todd Astler and Lockie Ferguson.   Put into bat, New Zealand openers Martin Guptill (31 off just 15 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (31 in 28 balls) made an explosive start scoring 52 runs in 5 overs and 64 runs in the powerpla...

The fifth and the last Test match between hosts England and visitors India was awaited by cricket lovers with much excitement with India taking an unbeatable 2-1 lead winning the fourth Test at the Oval, because the Indian fans wanted their team to seal the series win while the England fans wanted their team to bounce back and win the Test to share the final honors. All of them were in for a huge disappointment though. As soon as the junior physio of Team India tested COVID-19 positive on Thursday, the 9 th of September 2012, a day before the fifth Test was to start at the Old Trafford, total and clueless uncertainty enveloped the match; head coach Ravi Shastri and possibly one or two members of the team management including the senior physio (not confirmed) were already in isolation testing positive before the fourth Test. The practice session for India on that day was cancelled.   Since a physio is obviously to get involved with the players ‘physically’ there were risks of pla...

It is always debatable to have a major cricket tournament in the midst of an unprecedented surge of the pandemic, even though it is to be played behind closed doors, the new normal cricket variety, and with the imposition of a strict bio-secure bubble. As it has been seen so far several cricketers and support staff have contracted the COVID-19 virus, and since the tournament is being held across six venues—Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata—it would entail constant air travel and change of hotels for the eight participating teams. Further, the venues are the capitals of the worst affected states, except perhaps for Kolkata in West Bengal where the rising trend of new cases has not yet caught up with the others. It is to be noted that the IPL-2020 had to be taken out of India to the UAE due to strict lockdowns across the nation, and this means that within six months another IPL is being held, now in India where the second surge has reached unprecedented levels, but...

In the first one-day international (ODI) of the three-match Series played in Pune India have beaten England by 66 runs yesterday, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Like the last few matches this game too was played to empty stadiums due to the second wave of COVID-19 virus in India. India’s captain Virat Kohli lost the toss yet again, for the third time in a row taking into account the last two T20 internationals, and it proved to be a good toss to lose, yet again. It was heartening to see India’s regular opening pair, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, coming in to open the innings. Perhaps this being the first match of the series India started very cautiously to avoid the oft-repeated first-match blues, and concentrated on doing the groundwork for a good total. However, they did not get into a shell which also proves to be India’s undoing on many occasions. In the power-play overs they managed to put up 64 runs when Rohit departed for 28 off 42 balls.        The fir...

  India have won the second World Test Championship (WTC) Series cricket Test against England by a mammoth margin of 317 runs just after lunch on the fourth day at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, and squared the series at 1-1. Chennai was the venue for the first test too that the visitors won by 227 runs. This victory has taken India back to the second position and England back to the fourth in the WTC points table with the hosts needing to win the series 2-1 or 3-1 for an almost secure place in the final to be played in Southampton instead of Lord’s due to the COVID situation in England in June, 2021.   The first thing that comes to the mind about this test is the sterling performance of bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin who has achieved the distinction of capturing five wickets and a century in the same match, for the third time as per records, and is now among the very few bowling all-rounders of the world of test cricket to have achieved this honor.   H...

Photo: espncricinfo.com England captain Joe Root did the right things from the very beginning of the first cricket test against India in Chennai: winning the crucial toss and naturally electing to bat on a track that is known to turn from the third or the fourth day; scoring a double ton that helped his team build a mammoth first innings total of 578, neutralizing the three Indian spinners on their home turf; having his spinners and pacers, particularly James Anderson rally around restricting India to 337 which is largely thanks to a few of India’s Australia-resistance heroes, keeper Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin; being always wary of India’s elusive but documentary batting depth and not risking to bat last on a turning track, and therefore, not enforcing the follow-on; despite having his team out for a paltry 178 in the second innings still allowing his team enjoy a rather amusing target of 420 for India to achieve in just over a day; and having Anderson stri...

Undoubtedly the most cricket-crazy nation of the world, India had to go without official cricket for nearly a year due the COVID-19 Pandemic that raged in the country till September 2020. Three away cricket series against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka had to be cancelled. The much awaited T20 cricket bonanza, the IPL, had to be shifted to the United Arab Emirates thanks to an empty slot left by the indefinitely postponed ICC World Cup T20 slated for 2020. For India, the IPL had been the start of the New Normal Cricket during September-November 2020 followed by its historic tour of Australia 2020-21, both under secure bio-bubble environment. Now, with the England cricket team touring India, the first official cricket Series is about to unfold from tomorrow, the 5 th of February 2021, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai: the first of the four-match Test Series between England and India.   In view of the pandemic that still has not said quits, new normal arrangements are...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having brainstorming virtual sessions with all stakeholders on resumption of cricket in the past months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Till now the Council has not been able to take a final call on the main issue of contention: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. It's very ironical that in a year which can also be termed as T20 the T20 mega event just cannot get underway that was originally scheduled in October, 2020 in Australia. Now, the Indian cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly waiting for the decision on the T20 World Cup, because since its postponment is almost final the ICC decision will give the BCCI a window during October-November to organize its favorite money-spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the noisy reveling crowds.  All the while the ICC has been busy framing new rules for the most popular game of the world, a craze in India. ...