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HomeSportsCricket history: Jemimah Rodrigues, R. Ashwin, Dharamshala Test in March 2024, the WPL Delhi leg, and other history-making turns in Q1 2024

Cricket history: Jemimah Rodrigues, R. Ashwin, Dharamshala Test in March 2024, the WPL Delhi leg, and other history-making turns in Q1 2024

Cricket roundup: How good can Hardik Pandya be as IPL captain? Consider this: Before the booing at Wankhede and the incessant trolling on social media, the Baroda boy joined Shane Warne in the record books as a captain who took his team to an IPL win in its inaugural season.

April 25, 2024 / 10:37 IST
From Virat Kohli to R. Ashwin, several India teammates have come out in support of Hardik Pandya against the booing and the trolling. (Image via X)

1. India vs England Test 2024: Besides England's Bazball and the spin-attack from Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, the Indian team faced the added threat of overcast conditions in Dharamshala on March 7. England is used to such conditions at home, and Ben Stokes could recall Mark Wood and combine his pace with the swing of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson. How India won the Test by an innings and 64 runs is now the stuff of legend.

2. The 2024 edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) completed the first leg, from February 23 to March 4, in Bengaluru and will move to Delhi for the next set of matches — including the eliminator and the final.

3. Before MS Dhoni stepped down as captain of the Chennai Super Kings, he shared a post on Facebook that set off speculation that the wicketkeeper-batter par excellence may give up the captaincy mantle.

4. How good an IPL captain is Hardik Pandya? Before the booing at Wankhede and the incessant trolling on social media, the Baroda boy joined Shane Warne in the record books as a captain who took his team to an IPL win in its inaugural season. Warne, of course, was captain of the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and Hardik Pandya led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL trophy in 2022. With this Pandya became only the second captain to lead a new team to the title on first attempt. The good run continued as the Titans finished runners-up in their second season.

5. Jemimah Rodrigues, 23, credited Virat Kohli for inspiring her to find the gaps, as she brought up her first WPL 50 - with an unbeaten 69 off 33 deliveries against the Mumbai Indians on March 5. "Coming into the WPL, you need all sorts of shots. I have been working on power-hitting for a long time. It was a process. I rely a lot on my timing and batswing. I don't try to hit sixes. I try to hit it in the gap. If it is a good hit, it will be six," she said afterwards.

6. The fifth and final Test in Dharamsala, in the India-England 2024 Test series, marked R. Ashwin's 100th career Test appearance - making him only the 14th Indian cricketer to cross this milestone.

7. From R. Ashwin and Suryakumar Yadav to Jasprit Bumrah first became household names through the Indian Premier League and then got their India caps. As the 17th Tata IPL goes on, there could be more names added to this list. Case in point: Fast bowler Mayank Yadav.

8. KKR pacer Mitchell Starc had conceded 100 runs in the first eight overs he bowled in the 2024 edition of the IPL, without taking a wicket. At this rate, every legal delivery by Starc was worth approximately Rs 6 lakh. He has since corrected course, taking six wickets across 25 overs and best bowling figures of 3/28 in IPL 2024, as of April 23.

9. Ruturaj Gaikwad has been impressive as the new captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with four wins and three losses in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 so far. Former skipper and five-time IPL winner Mahendra Singh Dhoni is mentoring him on the field. CSK coach Stephen Fleming told media in early April: "To transition into the job is not easy, but he's done it seamlessly. We're using MS (Dhoni) as well, still as part of the decision-making. So he, along with (Ravindra) Jadeja providing leadership off the field, and he's doing really well."

10. Youngster Tilak Varma is now the second highest scorer for the Mumbai Indians in their 2024 Indian Premier League campaign, after Rohit Sharma - thanks to Sharma's unbeaten 105 against the Chennai Super Kings on April 15.

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya is a freelance sports journalist. He is on Twitter @Wriddhaayan
first published: Apr 25, 2024 10:37 am

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