Posts

After drawing the first Test and winning the second, India lost the next three, the last two humiliatingly by an innings, but India will look to salvage some pride by putting up a good show in the limited-overs format. Indian batsmen performed awfully in the Tests, especially the highly-touted Virat Kohli. The Delhi batsman did manage to regain some form with a swashbuckling 71 in the warm-up match against Middlesex that India won by 95 runs Friday night....

Everyone was certain looking at India’s recent form in overseas conditions combined with the fact that this English side was not the strongest to face off against India meant a close series was expected in terms of results. But the results in this test series speak for themselves leaving more answers than questions. On paper, India’s team have players who have far more skill and potential than their English counterparts....

The talk now is whether India should stick to the same team, or make any changes to their playing XI. Here are a few changes India should consider making to their playing XI. #1 Karun Nair in for Kuldeep Yadav India’s only other triple centurion, after Virender Sehwag, was on the bench for the first two games. With India’s batting struggling, it’s time to play an additional batsman, who can play a long innings....

Even a single false move can prove to be a landmine. And one move which cost us dearly in the Lord’s test was the fallible team combination. The team combination can make or break the chances of India’s renaissance in the series. Here is a look at the probable 11 which India will go ahead with into the 3rd test. Openers: KL Rahul KL Rahul dragging the ball onto the stumps in the first innings of the first Test was probably the worst shot he had ever played in his career....

After a good start at Edgbaston, the lack of fight towards the end was galling. And India’s abject surrender at Lord’s was a bitter disappointment. England did have the better of the conditions, but they made the most of the assistance they received, especially when it came to batting. India, however, did not take the chances that came their way. In their last 10 overseas innings, India has topped 250 only twice, and on both occasions, Virat Kohli made big hundreds....

Stokes and Buttler departed in the space of 10 balls and England looked like they would fall well short of 300. But Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali put on a riveting 117 run stand in 13 overs. Morgan raced to a fine 100, while Ali, after a shaky start, took England to 339 with some powerful strikes towards the end. South Africa found their own stable pair at the top in Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis but like Hales and Root, the duo fell in quick succession to leave de Villiers with too much work to do....

Harry Kane and his teammates made it to the Euro 2020 final last year and the World Cup semifinals in 2018, making them a side to be wary of in Qatar. Their first challenge is a Group B that, while on paper they should conquer, is nonetheless a potential banana skin. England must make a convincing start against Iran, the least-fancied team in the pool. Fans in the USA have access to a free live stream of this match on fuboTV, thanks to a trial for new users....

England, led by Heather Knight, have been in stupendous form in the shorter format. In their last 14 T20Is since February 26, 2020, they have won 13 matches. Earlier this year, they also beat New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series in Wellington. In their previous T20I series, they defeated India 2-1. Barring the second game at Hove where they lost by eight runs, England looked clinical. New Zealand, on the other hand, have had a torrid run of late....

Many free games have given by the Epic Games Store in 2021, and with two months still to go, there are still plenty of games on the way. With last week’s game drop, Epic Games revealed Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse and Paladins Epic Pack as this week’s exclusive offerings, the former being a remaster of the 2005 cult classic on the original Xbox, and the latter being DLC for the multiplayer shooter Paladins....

As usual, the Epic Games Store also confirmed the free games that will be coming to the service next week as well. As it turns out, Epic Games Store users can claim A Plague Tale: Innocence and Speed Brawl for free from August 5 to August 12. Come Thursday, August 12, A Plague Tale: Innocence and Speed Brawl will be cycled out and most likely replaced with two more games, though EGS has been known to shake things up in the past by only offering a single free game, so fans should keep that in mind as well....

In Inside, players take on the role of a young boy on a mysterious journey. Players will take the boy on a 2D side-scrolling adventure filled with puzzles and platforming. But the heart of Inside is the immersive story it tells along the way. There are no text prompts or cutscenes in Inside. The entire game’s story is told moment-to-moment in the foreground and background of Inside as the player moves through the world....

Anderson has not travelled with England’s Test squad for the two-match tour of New Zealand, which starts next week. The 37-year-old - England’s record wicket-taker in red-ball cricket - sustained a calf injury in the first Ashes Test, which saw him miss the rest of the series. However, England’s managing director Giles is confident Anderson, who will be attending a pre-tour training camp in South Africa, will be able to face the Proteas....

Trailing 3-0 and the Ashes lost, England are considering a possible team change for the fifth Sydney Test with Moeen Ali’s place under threat and Crane pushing for his first cap. Moeen has played 48 Tests and came to Australia as an accomplished all-rounder but he has under-performed, taking only three wickets and averaging 19 with the bat. The Sydney Cricket Ground has a reputation as a turning wicket, enhancing Crane’s chances of playing....

Resuming the day at 317/4, India were bowled out for 455 an hour into the second session of play at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. In reply, England lost five wickets for just 103 runs and are 352 runs short of India’s first innings score. Joe Root (53) offered some resistance but Indian bowling attack, spearheaded by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-20), had the visitors on the mat. –IANS pur/vm 0 votes

There were doubts over the start due to relentless rain, and add to it the issue of the ground not having any floodlights, it was always going to be a tough task to get a game. The match was a sell-out but unfortunately for the fans they couldn’t even get to know the playing XI of both teams. For the fans who turned up for the match, they can exchange their tickets for the 2nd ODI at Cardiff on a first come, first serve basis....

Captain Eoin Morgan bludgeoned an astonishing 148 against Afghanistan at Old Trafford last time out, including an ODI record of 17 sixes in an innings – the lion’s share of 25 maximums from England, which also represented a format best. If there was any reason to nit-pick after a 150-run triumph, following similarly resounding wins over West Indies and Bangladesh, it was the fall of only one Afghanistan wicket between the 12th and 41st overs of their response....

Some tough decisions and ineffective batting have let the Indian team down in this series. Indian batsmen, especially the openers, have just not been able to get going, and have seemed incognizant against the English bowling lineup. Now they are already 2-0 down in the series, Team India will need to regather themselves ahead of the third Test at Trent Bridge. Although a series win from here seems almost impossible, the Indian team can try and put up a fight in the latter part of the series....

Now it’s time to reflect back and take a look at some of the best players for India in the series. Here are the “5 best players for India in the test series.” #1 Virat Kohli Without a doubt, Virat Kohli was the best player for India in the series. In fact, he was the best batsmen in the series. He scored 593 runs at an average of 59.30, which includes two hundred and three half-centuries....

With Ben Stokes’ affray trial opening up a place in the playing eleven, Woakes returned to action after an injury-enforced absence. He could not have had a better venue for his comeback match. After triggering India’s collapse by delivering a stellar spell during the previous day, Woakes drove them out of the game and possibly the series by hammering his maiden Test century. Even as the Lord’s faithful cheered every run on a warm Saturday afternoon, he joined hands with Jonny Bairstow and placed England on the pathway towards an emphatic victory at Lord’s....

When quizzed about why he thinks the ploy was used by the Indian fast bowler, as reported by Cricinfo, Willey said, “I’m guessing, but I think he [Bhuvneshwar] was looking to see what I was going to do. “They did that a few times. The spinners did it a couple of times. I’m not sure what the rules are on that. I don’t particularly like it. I don’t think it is necessarily in the spirit of cricket....