Speaking to CricketNext, on the sidelines of a two-day camp at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli, McGrath cited the example of Mitchell Johnson when he said that the left-arm fast bowler was the biggest example of how the perfect combination of pace and accuracy made a bowler unplayable – during the Ashes in 2013-14 in Australia as he finished with 37 wickets in the series.
After the 31-run defeat in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Edgbaston, there is more bad news in store for skipper Virat Kohli. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to win the race against time to be fit for the second Test that starts at the historic Lord’s on Thursday.
BCCI officials have raised eyebrows about the appointment of Delhi coach KP Bhaskar and former Delhi and India batsman Gursharan Singh as coaches of the India Green and India Blue teams respectively for the upcoming Duleep Trophy. Divakar Vasu was named coach of the India Red team and have been asked to report on August 15 in Madurai to prepare for the tournament, as per a letter from GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim on Friday.
Rajkumar Sharma, who has mentored and trained Virat Kohli since his initiation into the game, told CricketNext that he was particularly pleased to watch how well Kohli “countered the pressure” brought on by the English bowlers on his way to making his first triple figure score in the country.
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Anurag Thakur, who was removed from office by the Supreme Court on January 2, 2017 for obstructing the reforms proposed by the Lodha panel, has now filed a petition in the apex court to make him party to the proceedings and recall the earlier order. Thakur’s has urged the court to hear his side of the story about the circumstances that led to the situation.
A move by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) to invite state associations for an inter-state 50-over tournament has led to murmurs of disquiet among the BCCI officials. The point of contention is that current administrators in charge of running the JKCA appear to have overlooked the fact that prior permission needs to be taken from the BCCI general body before hosting any such tournament.
After Mumbai and Kerala, the Tripura Cricket Association has now written to the BCCI saying that it will not be in a position to host the domestic games till October in the 2018-19 due to the ongoing monsoon in the state.
The heat wave in England has seen the hosts recall Adil Rashid for the first Test against India at Edgbaston from August 1. So, quite naturally, the visitors too will look at their spinning trio of R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to play a pivotal role in the five-match series.
In another instance of the total lack of communication between the Supreme Court Appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the CoA’s decision to engage a consultant/advisor for the Asia Cup in the UAE later this year has board officials seeing red.
Former India All-Rounder & coach Madan Lal believes only a collective effort by the pace bowling trio of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav in the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah & Bhuvneshwar Kumar can ensure an Indian win in the series. Speaking to CricketNext, Lal said that for India to win the series, it was important that the bowling attack fired in unison and consistently over the Five Test matches.
While the Mumbai and Kerala Cricket Associations have already made their displeasure known at the scheduling of the Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) for the upcoming 2018-19 season, they aren’t alone. CricketNext has learnt that almost all state associations are in a fix on how to go about preparing for the age-group tournament in just over two months.
Even as cricket fans across the world wait for arch-rivals India and Pakistan to clash in the upcoming Asia Cup on September 19, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is surprised by the scheduling of undoubtedly the biggest game of 2018. As per the schedule released on Tuesday, India is to play against a qualifier on the day before the clash against Pakistan, a decision the Indian board has described as “mindless.”
After some of the North Eastern states raised their concern over the lack of time to prepare for the start of the 2018-19 domestic season, the Kerala Cricket Association has now written to GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim — the man who made the roadmap of this year’s domestic season — requesting Karim to postpone the start of the Vijay Merchant trophy (under-16 boys).
The Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board on Tuesday announced that it sought help from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in clearing dues of its players and staff. However, the move has left the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) slightly worried with officials questioning the repeated funding that the international body has extended to the country.
The BCCI was never perfect, it will never be perfect. But not becoming a laughing stock is the bare minimum that can be ensured.
India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev shares with Gaurav Kalra memories from his innings of 175 against Zimbabwe after the team was tottering at 17/5 at one stage.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in Dublin on Sunday. CricketNext takes a look at the other Indians inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame over the years:
Liverpool's run to the Champions League final and their impressive three wins over Manchester City in the last campaign have raised hopes on Merseyside that they could be the closest challengers to Pep Guardiola's side this season.
After five seasons without a Premier League title, the pressure is on Manchester United and Jose Mourinho to put up a real fight for the big prize but major questions remain over his team.
For a club who have become accustomed to spending heavily in each transfer window, this has been a quiet close-season for Manchester City. But such was Pep Guardiola's team's domination of the Premier League last season that reinforcements hardly seemed necessary and the solitary addition of Riyad Mahrez makes an already potent attack even more fearsome.
Serena Williams says she is suffering from "postpartum emotions" as the 23-time Grand Slam winner struggles to deal with juggling family life and tennis.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Virat Kohli has carved a special place for himself among the greats of the game. Speaking in a debate with David Richardson, Jason Roy and Mark Nicholas, Manjrekar said that it was amazing to see how India has produced one great batsman after the other over the years.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson delivered the 2018 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's on Monday and while there has been a lot of talks about on-field behaviour and ball-tampering controversies in recent times, the former South Africa wicket-keeper made it clear that ensuring that the game is played in a gentlemanly manner lies with the cricketers.
England coach Trevor Bayliss feels the seemingly peerless Virat Kohli can be put under pressure if the home team's bowlers can continue to tame the rest of the Indian line-up in the ongoing Test series.
PV Sindhu finished second best yet again in a major tournament final as she went down tamely to Carolina Marin in the World Championships' women's singles title clash, adding to the Indian's tale of woes on Sunday.
Greg Chappell had the support of some of the top athletes across Australia as he looked to raise funds for an SCG "sleep out" on Sunday night in an effort to fight youth homelessness.
Bangladesh withstood a withering assault from Andre Russell to complete a series-clinching 19-run victory on the DLS Method over the West Indies in the rain-affected deciding final fixture of their three-match T20 International Series on Sunday.
Tiger Woods' bid to build momentum heading into next week's PGA Championship unraveled with a four-over par back nine that led to a three-over 73 in the final round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City's Premier League rivals that the champions are still well below their peak despite powering to a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield.
Jose Mourinho admitted that he may not have his ideal side at his disposal when Manchester United open their Premier League campaign on Friday.