India won by 43 runs against Sri Lanka in 1st T20i

 India win by 43 runs and take the lead by 1-0 in this 3 match T20i series against Sri Lank

Sri Lanka won the toss and opt to bowl first, which was good decision I guess but they didn't got the result they wanted and fall short while chasing a monstrous target of 214. Sri Lanka started of very well with an opening stand of 84 runs. Pathum Nissanka scored 79 runs of 48 balls with a strike rate of 164.58 and Kusal Mendis 45 runs 27 with 166.67. But the Sri Lankan team batting lineup collapsed after the wicket of Nissanka. The most interesting moment in the match was, Kamindu Mendis bowling left arm spin to Surya and right arm spin to Pant. 

Now let us dive deep and look into some insights of the game and were India fell short.

Indian openers:

India started their batting with a good scoring rate, they scored 74 runs in the powerplay with the loss of 1 wicket i.e Shubhman gill. Both the openers were attacking with more than 200 strike rate bashing the Sri Lankan bowlers. The openers were successful in scoring 14 boundaries in the powerplay, which also hints that the new era of T20 cricket has already started. Jaiswal scored a well made 40 of just 21 balls he played with a strike rate of 190.48. In my last blog covering India vs Sri Lanka tour I said that Gill as a opener in T20i is not so great plan, but he played exceptionally well. I still feel he needs to give this type of performance to fix his spot in the T20i, the reason is simple you have Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj waiting for the opportunity. Hoping Gill to play the way he played yesterday.

India tour of Sri Lanka squad overview 

Suryakumar Yadav:

With the bat SKY was just amazing yesterday. He was awarded the man of the match for his knock of 58 of just 26 balls at a strike rate of 223.08. He was playing his own game without any captaincy pressure. As a captain he didn't panic when Sri Lanka were on the front seat, instead he stayed calm under pressure and backed his bowlers. He gave the 9th over to Arshdeep and he got a wicket of Kusal Mendis. Arshdeep trapped Mendis by bowling him hard length and got caught out at deep mid wicket. Overall a good match for Suryakumar Yadav.

Axar Patel: 

Axar is our main man especially when you don't have Bumrah in your team. He almost delivers whenever the team wants him to. Axar got the crucial wicket of Nissanka in the 15th over which eventually changed the momentum of the match. Nissanka would have won the match for Sri Lanka almost single handedly. Axar also got Kusal Perera in the same over. He ended his spell with a figure of 4 overs 38 runs and 2 wickets with 9.50 economy. It's not his best performance, he has been way better with the bowl in many matches but according to the situation yesterday he was very good.

What went wrong for India?

Although, India won but that wasn't the dominant performance, there are some things were as a team  they need to improve. By understanding the negative part in the team it will help and give chance to improve in the future.

Fielding:

Both the team's fielding was not so good yesterday, gave too many overthrows, dropped catches and also misfields. Yes, fielding was a concern but I am not too scared about it because of Dilip sir. He is still with the team as a fielding coach and during the match he was noting down misfields of the players on paper. That's what we as fans expect from the coaches to bring about constant improvement in the team. There's no doubt that the fielding will not be the concern in the 2nd T20i which is scheduled today. The most surprising part was even Ravi bishnoi (He is a gun fielder) dropped 2 catches, not an easy catch but we expect better from a fielder like him.

Bowling: 

Indian bowling was not that bad, it was kind of average bowling from the team. Siraj and Arshdeep bowled well, Axar was excellent but Hardik and Bishnoi were not quite up to the mark. Surprisingly, Riyan Parag got 3 wickets that to in the death over. That was something I wasn't expecting at all but what he did was he just bowl very slow which was demand of the pitch. He was actually turning the ball cause he was bowling too slow. Whereas, Bishnoi was bowling at a pace around 100 kmph which becomes easy for a batter to score and most of his balls were googly, the batters were ready for that delivery almost everytime. Bishnoi's has a good record in T20i's but he isn't consistent and the reason is similar which I said, he doesn't change his bowling according to the situation and pitch he bowls the same in every condition. He needs to be more adaptable to be successful at international level. 

Rishabh Pant:

Probably, many of you will disagree with me but if Pant is not able to accelerate in the middle overs then what's the point of him playing at 4? This a quite controversial but I personally don't like players like Pant, Head, Brook, etc. Yeah, I know they are x-factor players who can change the match for the team from any situation but can you trust them like you trust some other orthodox players? That's not a way you play cricket, you are just throwing the bat and nothing else. What's the difference between tennis cricket and professional cricket? There needs to be some difference in the quality of cricket. I completely understand he has won us many matches but we want someone who can accelerate and also play sensible cricket whenever needed. I am not biased towards any cricketer, I will support him or any other cricketer who plays cricket sensibly only and not just hitting the ball with closed eyes.

Today we will face Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20i and I expect a better bowling performance from Indian team. India will probably seal the series today by winning the match. Not expecting much changes in the team but they will try to fit in Washington Sundar somewhere. Maybe Riyan will make place for him. Wanted to see Sanju playing but I don't think he is getting a place in the team.

That was it from me, comment your thoughts on Rishabh Pant and his batting style. I would love to have a constructive arguments with you guys. Do show some support by following, I am trying my best to be consistent enough.

Thank You

Advait Kadam

(Sports Management student)

India W into the finals of Asia cup 2024

 India W secure their spot in finals after humiliating Bangladesh W in the semi final

India's run in this Asia cup is not less than sheer dominance, they dominated each and every game they played. India w started their Asia cup journey with defeating Pak w quite convincingly by winning in the 15th over itself with 7 wickets in hand. India's bowling performance was top notch throughout the tournament. Ban w played whole 20 overs but manage to score only 80 runs; A economical bowling performance from India. Now let us see in depth which were some players who performed brilliantly to help India reach the final.

Renuka Singh Thakur:

Player of the match in the semi final, for her match winning performance, taking 3 wickets for just 10 runs with an economy of 2.50. And she bowled 3 overs in the powerplay. She was successful in not only taking quick wickets but also to keep the scoring rate low. She took the 1st blood in the 4th bowl of 1st over. Maybe she was up with a plan against Dilara Akhter, she took the keeper close to the stump after her 2nd bowl which hints the batter that the bowler's plan to stump you out on leg side. Dilara was ready for the ball to coming in for her (inswing delivery), and she hits it for six on square leg region but the very next ball she falled for the trap set by Renuka. Dilara got caught out on the 4th ball in the deep mid wicket region, the field was setup for that ball. This wicket resulted in a perfect start for the team. With this match winning performance Renuka also completed 50 wickets in T20i's, she became the 3rd fastest pacer to achieve this mark in terms of innings (45 innings). 

Radha Yadav:

A left arm orthodox bowler who gets most of the wickets in the middle overs. She is consistent with her length and bowls almost every delivery into the stumps. She plays the similar role for India which Axar Patel play for men's team. She took 3 wickets for 14 runs with an economy of 3.50. She was given the last over of the innings and she bowled a double wicket maiden, that to against 2 set batters Nigar Sultana and Shorna Akter. Bowling the last over is first of all not so easy and being a spinner it is not less than a nightmare. She was just outstanding last night.

Richa Ghosh:

No, I haven't made any mistake here. I perfectly know that she didn't get a chance to perform with the bat but she was excellent behind the stumps. Her keeping was outstanding from the first day itself but she kept on improving till date. Yesterday, at 13.3 deepti bowled a ball which kept a little low and Ritu Moni stepped out of the crease and their was no escape when Richa is behind the stumps. She was so quick for that stumping, the ball was difficult to carry at first as it kept low but she was just amazing. No words can describe the work she did behind the stumps.

Tanuja Kanwar a blessing in disguise?

Tanuja was not selected in the squad for the Asia cup but was called as a replacement of injured Shreyanka Patil and got chance in the playing directly. She bowls very good and tries to be economical in her spell. Although she didn't get any wicket yesterday but she didn't leaked more runs. Tanuja bowled 4 overs for just 16 runs at an economy of 4.0. Expecting a stellar performance from her in the Final against Sri Lanka.

India w are set to play the final tomorrow against Sri Lanka w, who were amazing through out the tournament. It would be an interesting final to watch and hoping India wins the trophy. I also wanted to add the performance of Smriti, she scored 55 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of 141.03. The reason I didn't mention her name was because she is in her prime from past 1-2 months and this 55 runs is just an ordinary performance for her. Her performance will be of great importance in the upcoming Women's T20i World Cup. 

"Our bowlers did a great job. Did what we spoke in the team meetings. Proud of our bowling. A lot of pressure on us, because we have been dominating Asian cricket. We want to keep doing what we are doing for a long time." Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) said in the post match presentation.

So with this I end my blog here please comment your thoughts and do follow and share with your friends.

Thank You

Advait Kadam 

(Sports Management student)

Squad announced for Sri Lanka tour

Odi Squad 

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), KL Rahul (WK), Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Iyyer, Axar patel, Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.

Probable 11

1) Rohit 

2) Gill

3) Virat

4) Iyyer

5) Rahul

6) Pant

7) Axar

8) Washi

9) Arshdeep

10) Siraj

11) Kuldeep

It is a very tough job to select a balance team with this squad. You can only play 5 bowlers, which is very risky. Batting is very deep which gives you confidence on playing aggressively from start.

A lot of questions were answered today by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir. Ajit confirmed that Jadeja has been rested and not dropped, I think that it's good that the management is not completely over him as there are very less odi's before champions trophy to test the players. Jadeja's future will depend upon the performance of Axar patel and Washington Sundar (especially with bat). 

Washington Sundar's role for the tour

Sundar has a chance to confirm his place in the odi setup by performing in the tour. He might be asked to play the role of floater incase of batting collapse. Washi brings stability with him as he can bat and bowl at any position. If team is going with only with 2 pacer, Rohit may ask Washi to bowl couple of overs in the powerplay economically. Expecting a all round performance from him this tour which may confirm his place in the team. He is very unlucky, he gets injured very often. Surprisingly, the last test match he played was against England and he scored unbeaten 96 in that match and management dropped him after that series. 

Axar Patel is also expected to play the similar role as Washi.

Real test for Arshdeep in odi's

A pretty good record in 6 odi's he played, but I feel he needs to improve himself a lot more in the longer format. He needs to be a lot more economical, he takes wickets in the powerplay but also gets hit for runs in the later half. If he manages to control runs along with taking wicket he will be lethal. Both Siraj and Arshdeep are great powerplay bowlers, if they are getting some help from the pitch they will finish Sri Lankan team within an hour or less. Expecting a powerfull start of the tour from both of them.

Rahul vs Pant for wicketkeeping spot?

I think Gambhir will try to give equal chance to both of them in this tour to make sure who makes their place in the 11 for the champions trophy. I feel Rahul is required to play at no. 5, he is pretty successful playing at no. 5. Whereas, Pant doesn't provide you that stability which is needed in an odi side. Maybe, iyyer is the one who will sacrifice his place to make pant play in champions trophy. But I personally want Iyyer and Rahul to play and Pant to warm the bench. We have already seen the balance Iyyer and Rahul provided during the ODI world cup 2023. Also, Pant don't have a very great odi career accept a match winning knock of 125 not out against England while chasing. Instead of Pant we can try Rinku and give him the role of finisher alongside Pandya.

Overall, it is great squad some might feel any xyz player should have been selected but do understand not all players can play. Samson here is again unlucky to not to be included. The inclusion of Khaleel Ahmed suggests that India is always going to keep a left arm pacer in the team. Excited to see what Gambhir as coach is going to do, it will be make it or break it under the Gambhir era. 

T20i squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi,  Khaleel Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.

Probable 11:

1) Gill

2) Jaiswal

3) Pant

4) Surya

5) Hardik

6) Rinku

7) Axar

8) Washi

9) Bishnoi

10) Siraj

11) Arshdeep

A new t20i setup without Rohit and Virat will play their first match on 27th July against Sri Lanka. Not much analysis on this squad as everyone know their roles in the team and no such new name in the team. The management had a tough call dropping Ruturaj and Abhishek despite their good performance in Zimbabwe tour. 

Do Gill deserve a spot in the T20i team?

Gill is not only selected for the Sri Lanka tour but also named as a Vice Captain. He is getting trolled for his selection in the team. I feel Gill is a good player but in t20i setup his performance is a bit concerning. His strike rate will be the issue in the new era of the T20 cricket. And his captaincy is even more concerning. I would term him as a 'Clueless Captain'. The only thing matter while captaining a T20 side is to manage the field placement and rotate your bowlers well. Agarkar said, "Gill is a three format player, he has shown decent leadership quality and can learn from the Surya, Rohit all moving forward". Ruturaj, on the other hand played well in the Zimbabwe tour but was not selected for Sri Lanka tour. Can team India afford to play Gill as opener in 2026 T20i WC with so many gun openers are already in the list? Abhishek and Jaiswal should be the front runners. 

Surya a good choice for captaincy?

Surya is appointed as a new T20i Captain of India atleast till 2026 world cup. It will be a good chance for him to capitalized this chance. It was a great decision to make Surya captain as he will only play T20 format now, this results into no chance of missing a single match for workload reason. Keen to see how Surya will make use of his bowlers.

That's all from my side. This blog was a bit controversial, if you have to say anything or oppose anything feel free to comment your thoughts.

Thank You, 

Advait Kadam 

(Sports Management student) 

India Women's ready for the Asia cup challenge

Can India W retain the Asia cup?

Women's Asia cup is starting from tomorrow with 8 teams participating in it. India W the defending champions are one of the favourites to win the cup yet again and they will start their campaign tomorrow i.e 19th july against Pakistan W. Previously, India W won the Asia cup 3 times 2012, 2016 and 2022. India W recently played 3 T20i's against SA W, which ended up (1-1). We saw some exceptional performance from Indian players which will eventually help gain success in the Asia cup as well as the upcoming  T20i world cup this year. Let's see some comprehensive analysis of Indian W team.

Strongest 11 for the 1st match against Pakistan

1) Smriti Mandhana

2) Shafali Verma

3) Jemimah Rodrigues

4) Harmanpreet Kaur (C)

5) Richa Ghosh

6) Deepti Sharma

7) Sanjana Sanjeevan

8) Pooja Vastrakar

9) Radha Yadav

10) Shreyanka Patil

11) Renuka Thakur

Strength: Batting is one of the strong zone for Indian W. Before the introduction of WPL Indians were lacking power hitters who can accelerate quickly. Adding power hitters like Sanjana and Hemalatha in the team gives the top and middle order license to go big from the very first over. WPL created a fearless approach which was lacking previously. With the team mentioned above India W can have batting till no. 10 without affecting the bowling. Smriti is in great form recently, she is expected to give a fierce start to the team.

In fast bowling department you can blindly trust Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja vastrakar. They can give you quick wickets in the powerplay itself. In middle overs you have 3 spinners to operate the game. As the venue is Sri Lanka you might think that spinners will get a lot of help here, but the match against pak W is in Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium which is historically batting friendly ground. Still the quality if our spinners will be helpful to keep the score of the opposition within limit. And if anything goes wrong in the bowling you have a 6th bowling option 'Sanjana Sanjeevan'. 

The team is looking evenly balanced which will create an opportunity to outperform the opposition completely from the game.

Weakness: The only weakness I can see here is getting the right team combination and fielding. Fielding is a concerning factor while you are participating in 2 of the major T20i tournaments. Even though we have already improved a lot but there's still a long way to go. Munish Bali (Fielding Coach) has done enough in the past and still doing it to make sure India W win because of their brilliant fielding.

Opportunities: There's so much young talent in the team, all because of WPL. This will help you get a clear picture before the mega event that is, the T20i World cup.

Threats: Injury has always been a concern for all sports. There's always a threat to the management that some player might injure herself. Also, some of the Indian players have played less number of matches, so this may create a situation where the youngsters are clueless about their role.

My predictions for Ind W vs Pak W match:

1) It will be a batting friendly pitch, team winning the toss should bat 1st but if there's a chance of dew in the later half of the game team would prefer to bat 2nd.

2) Pacers will get some help of the pitch. Expecting Renuka Thakur to get atleast 2 wickets.

3) Slower balls will be effective as the dimensions for the stadium is big.

4) Pitch might get tougher as the game proceed

5) India to win the match

Thank You,

Advait Kadam 

(Sports management student)

The Gambhir era begins

 New Era for Indian team under Gambhir?

As announced by Jay Shah, Gautam Gambhir will start his tenure as a head coach of Indian team from the Sri Lanka tour (3 t20i's and 3 odi's). With Gambhir joining the team, India will look more strong. Hoping for atleast 2 ICC trophies under his tenure (till odi wc 2027). He had an exceptional IPL this year (as a mentor) as kkr won their 3rd IPL title this year. Also, Gambhir coached Lucknow Super Giants for 2 years before becoming the mentor of KKR, and he was successful in it as LSG qualified for the playoffs in both the season. When he left LSG (this year), they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Gambhir knows how to manage teams effectively, he chose team based on performance and conditions, he isn't  scared to drop some players if they are not suitable for the conditions (he dropped Nitish Rana to let Raghuvanshi play in IPL 2024). That's the reason he was chosen before WV Raman, who also has a great coaching record. 

What about the other coaching staff?

As of now, the other coaching members are not confirmed yet but according to some reports the very likely coaching members will be:

Batting coach: Abhishek Nayar

Bowling coach: Zaheer Khan

Fielding coach: T Dilip

T20i captain: Hardik Pandya

Odi and Test captain: Rohit Sharma

Is Abhishek Nayar good enough to take charge of team India?

A former left hand batter and right arm medium bowler Abhishek Nayar has a great international experience. He has been part of LSG and KKR's coaching staff. Gambhir and Abhishek was part of KKR who won IPL 2024. I personally feel that Abhishek and Gambhir duo will be lethal for the opposition as they have experience of working together. 

Who will replace Paras Mhambrey?

There were some reports that Vinay Kumar the former Indian right arm pacer might take the charge but its not confirmed yet. There were also mention of Zaheer khan and Balaji to take over. So basically these 3 seems to be the front runners. I personally feel that Zaheer khan would be helpful for team India as he has a great experience in coaching with Mumbai Indians. Few years ago, there were some videos of him guiding a young pace bowler to improve his landing while bowling. Also, Khaleel Ahmed getting a place in Zimbabwe is suggesting that India is looking to keep a left arm pacer in team as a replacement option for Arshdeep Singh. So Zaheer Khan a former left arm pacer would provide guidance to the young Indian team coming up (especially t20i side). 

Can T Dilip retain his spot as a fielding coach of India?

If the reports are to be believed, Gambhir demanded Jonty Rhodes for the fielding coach spot but today morning I saw a post on X (formerly twitter), that Gambhir is happy with what Dilip sir has done. So there are quite a high chance that Dilip sir may retain in his spot for the exceptional work he did for Indian team in past few years.

Who will be the permanent captain of team India?

Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja have already announced their retirement just after wining the t20 world cup, so who will take over the captaincy now? I have 3 names in my mind Hardik, Surya and Bumrah. These 3 players are the front runners to get the captaincy. Hardik Pandya was the Vice Captain in the world cup so technically, he will take over the captaincy. However, we can't neglect the fact that Gambhir likes to make changes, he might choose someone out of box. For now, Hardik is the one who is most likely to be given permanent captaincy of t20i's. Rohit will keep leading Odi's and test matches.

To conclude, I would like to say there are a lot of expectations from Gambhir as a head coach. We as fans hope that this new era brings more joy and pride to the country. And lastly, a huge thanks for former coaching staff for serving the best, they did everything to get that world cup.

Thank you, 

Advait Kadam

(Sports Management Student)

India W vs South Africa W 1st t20i

 South Africa w held their nerve in a close last over encounter vs India w to win their 1st match of India Tour

SA W leads the 3 match t20i series 1-0

A much needed win for South Africa W after being whitewashed in odi and one of the test match. They have played a really good cricket and fought really hard to beat India W in their backyard, but they were falling just short to beat them until last night. 

South Africa: 189-4 with the help of a match winning partnership between M Kaap and T Brits of 96 runs in just 56 balls. Indian w bowlers were taken into attack right and left through out the match except Pooja Vastrakar. When other bowlers' economy was 10 and above, she managed to keep her economy rate to 5.75 and also clinched 2 wickets (including T Brits). India w was way too loose while fielding, they dropped a couple of catches which helped SA W to score 20 more runs.

India: While chasing the mighty total on a comparatively slow pitch with no dew as a factor, India w fell short by just 12 runs. They scored 177-4 with the help of quick fire knock of Smriti Mandhana 30 ball 46 runs and also Jemimah's 30 ball 53, which went in vain. Captain also tried hard to get the team over the line but was struggling to connect the ball during initial phase of her batting.

Where did India W fall short?

The first one is obviously fielding. "We didn't play good cricket overall. Dropped too many chances which cost us 20 runs extras. While batting, we played too many dot balls in the middle overs. They bowled well, didn't give us easy runs." Harmanpreet Kaur said in post match presentation. The reason India w wasn't able to accelerate is because SA W bowled tight length and according to the field, hence Kaur specially found it difficult to find the gaps and was losing her shape as she tried to hit hard.

Whereas, Jemimah kept dancing on crease which made SA W bowlers to change their length and she found it easy to score. She targeted the off side where 4 fielders were inside the circle, she was just clearing the infield by slicing the ball over point. She did this a couple of time and this forced the bowler to bowl more towards her body, giving her the opportunity to hit a six by sweeping over fine leg at the most crucial moment of the match when 27 were required off 7 balls. Unfortunately, Jemimah's effort went in vain but these are some positives for India W to go forward in the remaining 2 matches in the 3 match series.

Any changes in the XI for 2nd t20i?

I don't feel there is any need for change in the XI except Richa Gosh, who might not have recovered from the concussion yet and maybe they will try to fit Shreyanka in as a wicket taking option and also creating batting depth.

Advait Kadam

(Sports Management student)