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MSD’s Return: Is CSK’s Legacy Holding Them Back?

Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out. CSK’s top batter gone at a time when the batting unit already looks shaky.. And just like that, the captaincy is back with MS Dhoni. Classic CSK move, right? Let’s be real — if Dhoni’s in your franchise squad, he’s automatically the leader. No debates there. But this wasn’t how it was supposed to go and this situation could have been easily avoided if MSD would have opted out...but that's a different discussion altogether. Giving Gaikwad the captaincy was the right step towards the future. Now, one injury later, the franchise has defaulted back to MSD- the only option they have ... It’s not about disrespecting the legend. It’s about growth. CSK has been one of the most successful teams in IPL history, but their biggest flaw? Not preparing for life after MSD. It’s 2025 and CSK still don’t have alternate leadership options in the squad. To me,that’s worrying ... But maybe this is a turning point. The talent pool is there — Vansh Bedi, Shaik Rasheed, Ramakr...

Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 -First Test : Day1

Border Gavaskar Trophy fondly referred as BGT is always known for its hype and this edition isn’t an exception either. Be it the visa request from Khawaja or the coffee powder luggage from Labuschagne or the ploy to use Mahesh Pithiya who had similar action to that of Ashwin , this year’s BGT had enough of highlighting even before the teams reached the venue . In the eve of the first test , there were few banters about the quality of the pitch , not only from the fans or the social media , but also from the sporting and journalist veterans from both of the countries.Such was the audacity for this series. “The Day” With all these build up, both the skippers headed to the toss. It was Pat Cummis who won the toss and decided to bat on what looked like a spin friendly wicket. KS Bharat and Surya Kumar Yadav made their debut for India , while Todd Murphy made his debut for Aussies. Session 1 - Fall and Rebuild To everyone’s surprise, Siraj struck...

Gibbs' Hexad

The Group A match at Bassettere had the Proteas and Dutch facing each other at their respective first outing in 2007 world cup.The match was delayed due to rain. As a causal sequence,each of the innings was retrenched to 40 overs.Netherlands won the toss and invited SA to bat. Devilliers was dismissed in the first over,but Greame Smith and Kallis put on a good show with the bat, tailoring a 114 run stand at a very good scoring rate.In an attempt to deposit the ball over midwicket fence,Greame Smith abdicated his wicket. Herschelle Gibbs with the year of the world cup (07) etched in his jersey marched in as the next batter . Straightaway he got into the action with a attacking cover drive .But the real drama transpired in the 30th over of the match. Leg Spinner Van Bunge rolled his sleeves to bowl the over. The first one was an over pitched flighted delivery and Gibbs' instant reaction was to bludgeon it over the long-on fielder.Infact the ball had landed on the roof. Im...

Combine and Conquer

" This is the day that the Lord has made ,we will rejoice and be glad in it " Probably these were the lines that Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman would have sung on this very same day,a couple of decades ago.This was the day that had its impact on Indian cricket for a very long time.It wouldn't be exaggerating if i call this out as one of the best moments of life for every Indian cricket fan out there. This particular partnership changed the face of Indian cricket and the series as a whole revealed the fighting spirit that was imparted to Team India by Sourav Ganguly. Eden gardens was filled with multitude of gloomy faces when Day 4 began, courtesy following on to a huge first innings deficit.Indians made a decent start to second innings with openers SS Das and Sadagopan Ramesh providing a decent start.Sachin didn't have a good match as a batsman,but Ganguly and Laxman did manage to weave a decent web in the middle order.By end of Day 3 ,India were struggling...

This day in history - Brendon McCullum

On this day, Brendon McCullum fondly known as Baz walked out for one last time to represent the Kiwis in whites at Christchurch, which is considered as his second home. Needless to mention his brand of cricket, he kept his game plan very simple. Watch and Attack was his go to mantra.He was among very few gifted players, who had the ability to set the stage on fire ,right from the word go. It was Feb 20, 2016. NZ locked horns with arch-rivals Aussies in Trans-Tasman test series. It was the second and final test of the series. Aussies won the first match in a formidable manner and were favorites for the second game as well. It was a green wicket at Christchurch and much to the dismay of NZ, they lost some of their quality batsmen. The score was 32/3 when Baz walked out. Kane Williamson fought hard for his 7 consuming 69 deliveries. It was very unfortunate for a player like McCullum to enter the pitch, but he took this stage as an opportunit...

This day in history - Mitchell Johnson

This day in history - Feb15 It was the first test of the tour.The hosts Proteas were taking on a raw Australian visitors at Centurion. Proteas were the clear favourites, mainly due to the bowling prowess they possessed.As usual their bowlers started well, but gutsy centuries from Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith meant some business.An useful contribution from Mitchell Johnson with the bat made sure that Aussies inched closer to 400 mark in their first innings.But what followed was one of the fieriest spell of fast bowling, that world had seen.Banking on his confidence from a good batting performance, Mitchell Johnson made sure that he made life miserable for the hosts' batsmen.SA batsmen,other than Devilliers didn't have their answers prepared for the questions posed by the hostile spell of fast bowling from Johnson. He ended up picking 7 wickets in first innings, handing his team a very healthy lead of 197. Aussies batted well at a brisk pace to keep the lead tickling.They made sur...