Ramakrishnan Kaushik

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Rahul Dravid and the writing on the wall for the Indian squad

Rahul Dravid’s darkest hour as India’s skipper came at the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007, and it is the same tournament that will offer him, as India coach now, the best chance to rid the millstone around his neck.

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WTC Final 2023: The 3-match conundrum

The idea that there's no second Test should spur the players to greater heights. And the fact that the final is played over 5 days rules out elements of chance, without the need for a second or third Test.

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WTC Final 2023: India or Australia, who stands a better chance at winning?

For the Aussies, the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final can be a distraction ahead of the Ashes, India hardly got a week to breathe after the IPL, but India have a tough game ahead against the tunnel-visioned Australians.

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IPL 2023 | Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh and growing talent pipeline for Indian cricket

Plus, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Varun Chakravarthy… may not be products of IPL but they have each made a stronger case for themselves based on their exploits in the T20 franchise.

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Tribute: Salim Durani would have been perfect for T20; he was ahead of his times in so many ways

Sixes flew from Salim Durani's bat with effortless ease as he obliged requests from his adoring fans seated in different parts of the ground.

LIFESTYLE

Book review | The Miracle Makers: This surreal, all-too-real story simply had to be told

Bharat Sundaresan and Gaurav Joshi's The Miracle Makers is an exhilarating account of the greatest cricket series of all time

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Border Gavaskar Trophy: How Virat Kohli's 186 at Ahmedabad is like Sachin Tendulkar's 241 at SCG

Virat Kohli is not used to failure. Not for an extended period of time, that is.

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Border-Gavaskar Trophy: How the quest for World Test Championship points is shortchanging cricket fans

Every team is fussed about making a pitch for the WTC final and the accompaniments that come with that achievement.

TRENDS

A Cop in Cricket book review: An insider's view on corruption and malpractice in cricket

As head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Anti Corruption Unit from 2015-2018, author Neeraj Kumar had a ringside view of the goings-on in India cricket.

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The fading art of playing spin

Earlier, batsmen were brought up on a diet of high-quality spin attacks while playing domestic cricket, but with a schedule packed with international matches, the current crop is deprived of this vital practice.

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Venkatesh Prasad's tweet on K.L. Rahul: What to make of it, and will it change anything?

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2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Making Rohit Sharma Test opener was a brilliant stroke by India

Since 2019, Rohit Sharma has averaged upwards of 57 in 19 Test matches and struck six mellifluous centuries. The latest in that string of masterpieces came at the VCA Stadium on February 10, 2023.

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World No. 3 ODI bowler Mohammed Siraj has become 'a very important player' for India

Over the last several months, Mohammed Siraj has established himself as one of the key cogs in the Indian bowling wheel, in red- and white-ball cricket.

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ICC World Cup 2023: Can India pull off another victory on home turf, come October?

India vs Sri Lanka and India vs New Zealand ODI series this month will provide greater clarity into which way the brains trust is leaning, and what brand of cricket the team wants to espouse.

LIFESTYLE-TRENDS

Book review | The 'Sultan' of Swing's grip was good and so is Wasim Akram's memoir

The list of Pakistani individuals Akram had issues with is long, exhaustive and indicative of the kind of forces in play in Pakistan cricket. 'Sultan' is compelling, honest, mostly frank, and leaves you wanting for more.

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R. Ashwin and other ageing stars of Indian cricket

Current all-format skipper Rohit Sharma is 35 and so is Umesh Yadav, the supremely fit paceman who made his international debut 12 and a half years back. Batting stalwarts Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are 34, as is crack all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

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Ishan Kishan double century: A compelling argument for an Indian cricket team refresh

Ishan Kishan’s ferocious 210 off a mere 131 deliveries, is the world's fastest double century in the 50-over format. He is only the fourth Indian to score over 200 runs in an ODI.

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T20 World Cup 2022: Can India overcome its semifinals curse? Yuvraj Singh likes our chances

"Rohit Sharma is a really good white-ball captain and this time, we have the right guys batting in the right positions, which wasn’t the case last year." - Yuvraj Singh

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T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, India needs its opening magic back for the semifinal

Three Indian batsmen have topped 100 runs in the competition so far: Virat Kohli (246), Suryakumar Yadav (225), and KL Rahul, who only got past 100 because of his successive 50s in the last two matches.

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Competitive, cool, consistent – as captain, Rohit Sharma has that rarest of combinations

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T20 World Cup India vs Zimbabwe: One foot in the semis, India won't be taking Sunday's match lightly

Zimbabwe have thrown a spanner in India’s works in the past, most notably at the 50-over World Cup in England in 1999. They'd love an encore, but Rohit Sharma and his band will have other ideas.

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T20 World Cup 2022: Indian team's secret sauce in the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid era

Firm backing from captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, on good days and bad, and confidence in the Indian team's ability and experience to turn things around are evident.

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2022 T20 World Cup: Can India's bowling attack take us all the way?

India’s bowling group is shaping up into a very competent, competitive unit, and even the end-overs profligacy back home has been offset to a large extent by the bigger grounds in Australia.