IPL RETENTIONS ANNOUNCED!!

 IPL fun is back again, all the teams have announced their retention and it confirms that the mega auction will be a blockbuster. Many big names will be featured in the mega auction, almost 3-4 teams are in search of a captain. Will start by analysing and looking carefully at each team's auction strategy and retained players.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK):

1) Ruturaj Gaikwad: 18 Cr

2) Matheesha Pathirana*: 13 Cr

3) Shivam Dube: 12 Cr

4) Ravindra Jadeja: 18 Cr

5) Ms Dhoni: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 1

Total Money Spent: 65 Cr

Total Cap Available: 55 Cr

Auction Strategy: CSK would like to target Indian pacers and would try to use RTM on either of the 3 i.e Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Maheesh Theekshana. They can also go for Daryl Mitchell. They main focus in the auction will be quality Indian bowlers and Foreign Batters and all rounders. They would probably try to get Faf back and according to the reports Rishabh Pant is their in the probable list. They also got a decent amount of money left to get some quality players.

Delhi Capitals (DC):

1) Axar Patel: 16.5 Cr

2) Kuldeep Yadav: 13.25 Cr

3) Tristan Stubbs*: 10 Cr

4) Abhishek Porel: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 2

Total Money Spent: 43.75 Cr

Total Cap Available: 73 Cr

I know the tally isn't matching it is because the total money spent on retention is calculated as 18 Cr, 14 Cr, 11 Cr, 4 Cr, so it is 47 Cr.

Auction Strategy: Delhi will firstly look to find a good captain, They can go for KL Rahul or Aiden Markram. They will target some pacers, they don't need the spinners, they have 2 best Indian Players. They will be more focused to build their bowling line-up more than their batting. The 2 RTM'S can be used for Jake Fraser, Mukesh Kumar or Rasikh Dar. With 73 Cr in the purse DC will enter auction and destroy other team's auction strategy.

Gujrat Titans (GT): 

1) Rashid Khan*: 18 Cr

2) Shubman Gill: 16.50 Cr

3) Sai Sudharsan: 8.50 Cr

4) Rahul Tewatia: 4 Cr (U)

5) Shahrukh Khan: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 1

Total Money Spent: 51 Cr

Total Cap Available: 69 Cr

Auction Strategy: Not a good decision to leave Shami, he is the main reason behind becoming an champion team so early. We have seen before GT mainly focuses on their bowling line-up, they had a strong bowling line-up in every season they played. You have retained 2 top order batters and 2 finishers, also Rashid leading the bowling department, the main focus will be some foreign batters and bowlers. They have to find a decent keeper too, They can use RTM on Matthew Wade if they don't find any. Other RTM options can be, Shami, Williamson or Omarzai. 69 Cr in pocket is good amount to enter the auction. I feel Gujrat might also target Gurbaz or Ibrahim Zadran in the auction as they love Afghan talent.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): 

1) Rinku Singh: 13 Cr

2) Varun Chakaravarthy: 12 Cr

3) Sunil Narine*: 12 Cr

4) Andre Russell: 12 Cr

5) Harshit Rana: 4 Cr (U)

6) Ramandeep Singh: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 0

Total Money Spent: 57 Cr

Total Cap Available: 69 Cr

Auction Strategy: They have let go the title winner captain Iyyer, no official reason yet but if the reports are to be believed, he was asking for a whooping amount of 30 Cr. Let's wait for the official confirmation. They need to find a good captain in the auction, they might go for Kl Rahul or Rishabh Pant. David Warner is also a great option for them. They have retained all 6 players hence no RTM option left for them. They do need some pacer in their side along with a strong batting order.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): 

1) Nicholas Pooran*: 21 Cr

2) Ravi Bishnoi: 11 Cr

3) Mayank Yadav: 11 Cr

4) Mohsin Khan: 4 Cr (U)

5) Ayush Badoni: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 1

Total Money Spent: 51 Cr

Total Cap Available: 69 Cr

Auction Strategy: Same as KKR, LSG left their Captain aside and moved on from him. LSG Owner SANJEEV GOENKA said, "We wanted to retain players with the mindset to win, who would put the team winning above their personal aspirations". That was some controversial statement, let's not go their for this moment now. They have some great pace attack with Mayank and Mohsin in the team, they would like to get some explosive top order batters. They can use their RTM on De Cock, Kyle Mayers, Stoinis or even Krunal Pandya if needed. Pooran will be captaining the LSG team in the upcoming season. Most targeted batters in the auction will be Indian's, however they might look to get foreign bowlers.

Mumbai Indians (MI): 

1) Jasprit Bumrah: 18 Cr

2) Suryakumar Yadav: 16.35 Cr

3) Hardik Pandya: 16.35 Cr

4) Rohit Sharma: 16.30 Cr

5) Tilak Verma: 8 Cr

RTM Remaining: 1

Total Money Spent: 75 Cr

Total Cap Available: 45 Cr

Auction Strategy: MI as usual has retained their core Indian strength, they had to let go Kishan though. They would like to get back Boult in their team for sure, they can also go for Hazlewood. So basically 1 overseas bowler to accompany Bumrah. In batting they might target Buttler or De Cock, they will look to have a opening keeper in their team. A strong finisher or rather an overseas finisher to fit the shoes of Pollard, might go for Indian players too this time. Expecting them to buy decent spinners this time, might target Washi. RTM can be used on only Uncapped Indian player, they can be, Akash Madhwal, Anshul Kamboj, Vishnu Vinod or Naman Dhir. 45 Cr is looking little less as compared to other teams but they can still create a blast in the auction.

Punjab Kings (PBKS): 

1) Shashank Singh: 5.5 Cr (U)

2) Prabhsimran Singh: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 4 

Total Money Spent: 9.5 Cr

Total Cap Available: 110.50 Cr

Auction Strategy: I am shocked they haven't retained Arshdeep Singh, he is one of the best T20 bowler in the world currently. With Ricky Pointing joining the team, they are rebuilding the team. They will bid for some big players with 110.50 Cr in the purse, they will search for a captain first, maybe Pant or Iyyer. They can use RTM on, Arshdeep Singh, Rabada, Curran, Bairstow or Raza. No, I didn't forget about Ashutosh Sharma but he can't be retained as only 2 Uncapped Indians are allowed to be retained by a team. I don't think PBKS will use all of their RTM cards, but they will get Arshdeep at any cost. They might even go for Shami once again and what if Rahul too, can't predict this so early but yeah, it is possible. 

Rajasthan Royals (RR): 

1) Sanju Samson: 18 Cr

2) Yashaswi Jaiswal: 18 Cr

3) Riyan Parag: 14 Cr

4) Dhruv Jurel: 14 Cr

5) Shimron Hetmyer*: 11 Cr

6) Sandeep Sharma: 4 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 0

Total Money Spent: 79 Cr

Total Cap Available: 41 Cr

Auction Strategy: They had a very balanced team and they tried to maintain the core, but they had to part ways from Buttler, Boult, Ashwin and Yuzi. Jurel for 14 Cr is little bit overpriced, not a bad player I love his batting but 8 or 10 would have been fine I guess. They can't use RTM but they will look to rebuy atleast any one of Buttler or Boult. They will be more focused on their spin department and will also buy some foreign pacers. They are going to the auction with the lowest purse hence they should steal some great players. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): 

1) Virat Kohli: 21 Cr

2) Rajat Patidar: 11 Cr

3) Yash Dayal: 5 Cr (U)

RTM Remaining: 3

Total Money Spent: 37 Cr

Total Cap Available: 83 Cr

Auction Strategy: They have let go Siraj, this was unexpected. RCB has always backed Siraj but I think with Dayal's impressive bowling performance, they have finally moved on from Siraj. They might get him through RTM. RCB will use the same strategy which they are using from past almost 10 years, they will get some solid Foreign batters and no focus on bowling as always. Can buy Yuzi again. They can use RTM on Akashdeep, Siraj, Will Jacks, Swapnil Singh (he will shine in this season). They also need to search for a decent keeper, I remember KS Bharat playing some great knock for RCB, he is not a bad choice for them. Anuj Rawat is also a good keeping option. 83 Cr is a big amount and they can build a decent team with this amount.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): 

1) Pat Cummins*: 18 Cr

2) Abhishek Sharma:14 Cr

3) Nitish Kumar Reddy: 6 Cr

4) Heinrich Klaasen*: 23 Cr

5) Travis Head*: 14 Cr

RTM Remaining: 1

Total Money Spent: 75 Cr

Total Cap Available: 45 Cr

Auction Strategy: They adopted aggressive brand of cricket last year and they were successful in it. They might look to keep that approach in mind while entering the auction. They need some Indian bowlers in the team to strengthen their squad. They can use RTM on only Uncapped Indian so they might go for Markande or Abdul Samad any one of them. I would not be shocked to see SRH going after Pant, they will get every possible player without thinking about big players missing the game. Last year Glen Philips didn't even played a single game. It will be fun to watch whom are SRH targeting in the auction.

Overall it will be a great auction to look forward with many big names participating in the auction. Most of the teams are in search of Pacers more than that of batters. I have made some list of potential Indian and Foreign players who are perfect fit for some teams.

Indian Batters: Nitish Rana (Cap Option), Shreyas Iyyer, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaikh Rasheed, Sameer Rizvi, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Swastik Chhikara, Deepak Hooda, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Bhatia, Atharva Taide, Shubham Dube, Suyash Prabhudesai, Saurav Chauhan, Mahipal Lomror, Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh, Devdutt Paddikal, N Jose, Yash Dubey, Bhupen Lalwani, Saurabh Tiwari, Manish Pandey, Sachin Baby, Ankit Bawne, Yash Rathod, Karun Nair, Dhruv Shorey, Virat Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre, Hardik Tamore, Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Priyam Garg.

Indian Wicketkeepers: Avinash Rao Aravelly, Rishabh Pant, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Wriddhiman Saha, BR Sharath, K.S Bharat, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Harvik Desai, Vishnu Vinod, Jitesh Sharma, Kunal Rathore, Anuj Rawat, Upendra Singh Yadav, Baba Indrajith, Mohammad Azharuddin, Narayan Jagdeesan, Dheeraj Goud, Sheldon Jackson, Akshay Wadkar, Aryan Juyal.

Indian Allrounders: Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, Shardul Thakur, Lalit Yadav, Sumit Kumar, Abhinav Manohar, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyyer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Arshad Khan, Prerak Mankad, Yudhvir Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Tanay Thyagrajann, Rishi Dhawan, Shivam Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tanush Kotian, Abid Mushtaq, Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Manoj Bhandage, Sanvir Singh, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Aditya Sarwate, Jalaj Saxena, Chirag Jani, Aman Khan.

Indian Spinners: Prashant Solanki, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Jayant Yadav, Sai Kishore, Manav Suthar, Suyash Sharma, M Siddharth, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Shreyas Gopal, Kumar Kartikeya, Rahul Chahar, Prince Kumar, Himanshu Sharma, Mayank Markande, Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Jagdish Suchit, S Ajith Ram, Hrithik Shokeen, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Akshay Wakhare, Yuzi Chahal.

Indian Pacers: Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Rasikh Dar, Sandeep Warrier, Aditya Thackeray, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Shami, Kartik Tyagi, Sushant Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Sakib Hussain, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Shivam Mavi, Yash Thakur, Akash Madhwal, Vidwath Kaverappa, Harshal Patel, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Avesh Khan, Siraj, Akashdeep, Vijay Kumar Vyshak, Rajan Kumar, Akash Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natrajan, Umran Malik, Prasidh Krishna, Kulwant Khejroliya, KM Asif, Rajesh Mohanty, Chintan Gaja, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Rajneesh Gurbani, Mohit Avasthi, Ankit Rajpoot, Ishan Porel, Raj Limbani, Lukman Meriwala.

 (Note: Players in red are exciting players and teams may go after them in the Mega Auction.)

Overseas Batter: Devon Conway, David Warner, Harry Brook, David Miller, Kane Williamson, Sherfane Rutherford, Ashton Turner, Kyle Mayers, Dewald Brevis, Tim David, Rilee Rossow, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Will Jacks, Faf Du-Plesis Joe Root, Steve Smith, Marnus Labushagne, Rachin Ravindra, Pathum Nissanka, Ibrahim Zadran, N Zadran.

Overseas Keeper: Shai Hope, Mathew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Phil Salt, Quinton Decock, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Donovan Ferreira, Glenn Philips, Liton Das, Alex Carey.

Overseas Allrounder: Mitchell Santner, Moen Ali, Darly Mitchell, Mitchell Marsh, Gulbadin Naib, Shakib Al Hasan, Omarzai, Andre Russel, Sunil Narine, Marcus Stoinis, David Willey, Sam Curran, Mohammad Nabi, Gerald Coetzee, Romario Shepard, Chris Woakes, Sikander Raza, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Marco Jansen, Duan Jansen.

Overseas Spinners: Maheesh Theekshana, Wellalage, Noor Ahmed, Allah Ghazanfar, Keshav Maharaj, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vijaykant Viyaskant, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Adil Rashid, Adam Zampa, Rishad Hussain.

Overseas Pacer: Hazlewood, Richard Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman, Anrich Nortje, Jhye Richardson, Lizaad Williams, Spencer Johnson, Joshou Little, Chameera, Mitchell Starc, Shamar Joseph, Matt Henry, Naveen Ul Haq, Kwena Mphaka, Luke Wood, Dilshan Madhushanka, Nuwan Tushara, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Trent Boult, Nandre Burger, Alzari Joseph, Ferguson, Tom Curran, Reece Topley, Fazal Haq Farooqi.

Many of the players might be missing in the list, please let me know if I have missed any. Also Let me know which is your favourite team in the IPL and are you happy with the retentions of your favourite teams? If not what change you want to make?

THANK YOU, 

ADVAIT KADAM

(Sports Management Student)

TOOTA HAI INDIA KA GHAMAND!!

 What a shameful series loss against New Zealand, few days back I wrote about the worst touring team currently (Read Here), and we lost against them. What's going wrong? Is there any changes required in the third test? Many questions to answer but before that click that follow button.

Yes, both matches didn't go as expected but moving on is important as we can still play the WTC Final by winning 4 of the 6 tests remaining. Winning a test series in India is a great achievement for this mediocre team. India lost a test series on Indian soil after 12 years, now Aussies are the best test side in the world. We can still beat them in their own backyard, India hasn't lost BGT since last 10 years. Dominating Aussies for such a long period of time is not an easy task for sure. But before that we should make sure that we don't lose the third test or else it will be completely shameful for us. 

Do we require to make any changes for the third test? I don't think so, we don't need to panic atleast not yet. Just rest Bumrah; a long test series awaits him and we want him to play all the 5 matches of the BGT, especially when Shami is unavailable. Play Siraj in place of Boom, that's it no other changes required. The reason is even if we lose this match this is our core team playing in Australia let them gain some confidence. No one is responsible for the lost except the coaching the staff, the coaching staff was just overhyped and I had said earlier it's just too much of hype, especially for Morne Morkel. Every player except Washi played not at their best, hoping a strong comeback in the third test. 

THE SQUAD FOR BGT

India has announced a big 18 members squad for the BGT including many news names and inclusion in the team.

1) Rohit Sharma (C)

2) Jasprit Bumrah (VC)

3) Virat Kohli

4) Yashasvi Jaiswal

5) Shubhman Gill 

6) Abhimanyu Easwaran

7) KL Rahul

8) Rishabh Pant (WK)

9) Dhruv Jurel (WK)

10) Sarfaraz Khan

11) Nitish Kumar Reddy

12) Ravindra Jadeja 

13) Ravichandran Ashwin

14) Washington Sundar

15) Akashdeep Singh

16) Mohammed Siraj

17) Prasidh Krishna

18) Harshit Rana

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.

Probable/Balance Playing 11:

1) Rohit Sharma 

2) Yashasvi Jaiswal

3) Shubhman Gill

4) Virat Kohli

5) Rishabh Pant

6) Nitish Kumar Reddy

7) Ravindra Jadeja 

8) Washington Sundar

9) Jasprit Bumrah 

10) Mohammed Siraj

11) Akash Deep

I want this team to play, as it gives you an extra bowling option without compromising the batting. Sharma is not sure if he plays the first test, if he misses out then Abhimanyu should open. This team will give you 4 pace bowling option (including Nitish), 2 spin bowling and batting till No. 8. Washi will surely start in the playing 11. Playing Nitish ahead of Rahul and Sarfaraz gives you an extra bowling option, Nitish bowls pretty well. We are surely gonna miss Shami, hope he joins the team in the later half of the series. Many players will get chance in the playing 11 as it is a 5 match series. Siraj should take the responsibility in the absence of Shami, interesting to see what Akash Deep brings to the table. Harshit Rana has been included in the third test squad now let's see if he get's the chance, but why he is been considered in the team before Mukesh, Khaleel, Navdeep and Prasidh. If Gambhir is trying to give him chances then it's definitely a point of concern, this is purely partial on other bowlers.

I think we should have considered Shardul, but I think he was having some issue during the Irani Cup. The main man Pujara was already out of the team for a while, so no reason to consider him now, in fact Easwaran is a good option. Some of the Ruturaj supporters were criticizing Easwaran, but he deserves his place in the squad and I have no doubt in it. A good series for Nitish to prove his worth for the team by contributing through both balling and batting. A lot of hope on Washi as he is in great form and also has the experience to play in the Australian conditions. 

My predictions going into the 5 match test series is 2-2 and India retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy once again. This might not fix our place in the WTC Finals but still we can be in the contention. The first test is in Perth, the pitch is hard and you got that bounce and all. Play Rahul, Sarfaraz or an extra pacer in the first test in place of Jaddu. If we manage to draw or win the first test we are most likely to retain the cup. The second test is in Adelaide, and most importantly a pink ball test. Australia's record in pink ball tests are phenomenal. Last time we got 36 all out at the same venue. Bring back Jaddu or Ashwin (based on our batting performance in the first test) in the second test. I think playing Ashwin will be lot more helpful. I am considering we will lose this test

The third test is at Gabba, can India breach Gabba again? The pitch is similar to the Perth at Gabba just a lot more harder. Same team as the first match by benching Ashwin or Jaddu. Yes, I am still playing with Washi in the 11. We should have a win and a draw in the First and the Third test, so the scoreline becomes 1-1. The fourth test in Melbourne and fifth in Sydney, I am expecting to win both of them. We have beat them at these venues quite comfortably before. Last time we had a draw at Sydney. So as per these predictions about the pitch and conditions, I expect India to win atleast 2 matches in Australia.

Thank you for reading! I will stay consistent now, covering every day of the Third test match and also stay tuned for the upcoming IPL blog. Make sure to follow my blog page.

THANK YOU,
ADVAIT KADAM
(Sports Management Student)

INDIA'S WIN AGAINST SRI LANKA W BOOSTED QUALIFICATION CHANCES

 India W somehow managed to increase their NRR, they are now placed at no. 2 in the points table. Still, the qualification is not guaranteed but the points table is wide open now. Sri Lanka the Asian Champions are yet to win a match in the Women's T20 World Cup. On the other hand the Group B seems like England and South Africa will qualify easily. Group A is Evenly Poised with Australia, India, New Zealand and Pakistan still in the race of the qualification. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana has left the team and went back to Pakistan due to sudden death of her father. Pakistan might not win their last match against Australia and New Zealand but still we can't say anything before the game. India will hope New Zealand to lose a their game against Sri Lanka, So that their qualification chance will be increased. 

India W now has 2 qualification scenario, First, beat Australia, just beat no need to look for the NRR. Even if we beat Australia by 1 run our NRR is already strong and more than New Zealand currently. Our NRR is 0.576 and New Zealand's NRR is -0.050. The second scenario is, If we lose against Australia (which is most probably gonna happen), then we need to hope that any one of Sri Lanka or Pakistan to beat New Zealand. The third or the outside chance we can say is Australia losing their remaining 2 matches, which impossible so we should not consider this scenario.

Talking about the yesterday's match, it was great performance from India in all departments, yes even in the fielding. One of our weak point was fielding, but yesterday we saw some amazing efforts from our team, especially Radha Yadav's catch, it was phenomenal! the catch gave flashbacks of the final's of men's ODI World Cup 2023. Richa was, as always great behind the stumps, she did some great stumping and caught aa great catch when Asha was bowling. Renuka took a catch running backwards, overall it was our great day for the women in blue in the field yesterday.

In terms of batting, Shefali and Smriti started of well and had a opening partnership of 98 runs. Shefali slowed a bit later in the innings which would have costed us badly but Harmanpreet attacked at the right moment. She was just looking a different beast yesterday and she scored unbeaten 52 runs of the 27 balls she faced, which eventually helped team India to score the highest score of this T20 World Cup i.e 172 with the loss of only 3 wickets. Kaur was finally looking in some great touch and we can expect her to go big against her favourite opposition, the Aussies.

How can you think that we lacked in the bowling department? We were top notch in the bowling too. We got 2 wickets in the 1st 2 overs itself. Renuka is finally bowling well in the powerplay, getting some wickets at the start of the innings. Every Indian bowler got atleast a wicket yesterday. Arundhati and Asha took 3 wickets each followed by Renuka who took 2 wickets and Shreyanka and Deepti took 1 wickets each. Not a single bowler had an economy of even 5 Rpo. This helped India w to increase their NRR and they didn't even gave chance to Sri Lankan w to score 100 runs. India won by an whooping margin of 82 runs. 

India's next and the biggest challenge is Australia, we are facing them on 13th October and that match will decide the fate Indian team in this tournament. It's very tough to win against Australia but, India will be going to play with a lot of confidence as India beat Sri Lanka, the Asian Champions quite convincingly. Strategies need to be made against the Aussies, so that we can atleast get close to beat them. Even if some how we manage to beat Aussies and reach the Semi-Final, we would probably get out in the semi final, as we will most likely face England in the Semi-Finals. Still, I am hoping Somehow India will lift that prestigious cup. Let's see how long we can survive in this tournament. We have nothing to lose in this tournament as we were not even considered in the top 4 before the start of the tournament. 

I am trying my best to cover every possible match of Women's T20 world cup 2024, but I am currently busy with too many things. Follow me to get updates about my blogs and I will try to be consistent enough.

THANK YOU,

ADVAIT KADAM 

(Sports Management Student)

INDIA W LOST AGAINST NEW ZEALAND W

 As I had already mentioned in my blog written on 27th August (READ HERE) that group A is looking tough and India W has to worked hard on strategy to win matches. India W wasn't prepared enough to face the challenge it seems. I wrote about the weakness of New Zealand and how can we beat them in order to be in the race of qualification. We gave them some easy runs in the batting and we were just not up to the mark while playing. New Zealand W always kept the upper hand in the game. New Zealand W made a strong statement by winning comfortably against India W. They now have a clear chance to enter the semis.

India, on the other hand do has a outside chance but quite tough for them now. There were a lot of things in which India was lacking. There needs to be some improvement done which will be helpful in the future. They need to set game specific strategies, and wish for some miracle. Cause beating Australia W do require a miracle to happen. 

WHAT'S THE WAY FORWARD IN THE WORLD CUP FOR TEAM INDIA NOW?

Win all the remaining 3 matches and hope NZ W lose against either Sri Lanka or Australia. But, can we win against Australia? Yeah, I know it's almost impossible but that's need to be done if you are here to win the cup. We need to beat Aussies to make place in the top 4. Ok, but what if we lose against Aussies too? Can we still go in the top 4? Umm. Yes we can depending on performance of NZ, hoping NZ losing against both SL and AUS. But still we will need to match their run-rate which is technically not possible. 

These are the only 2 outside chance for India to end up in the top 4. Or else, group stage exit is loading for us. Apart from this, India should also improve their fielding standards. Fielding was below par yesterday, should try to save some singles and doubles. India also need to keep the moral high and should believe that they can still get there. 

So going forward in the semis is not impossible but tough challenge. I believe that women in blue can pull this of and lets hope for the best.

WHAT CHANGES WE CAN DO FOR THE NEXT MATCH?

I want to see changes in the Batting line-up, I had already mentioned in my previous blog that Jemimah should play 1 down and Harman at 4, keep Richa for finishing. Secondly, add a extra batter in place of maybe Arundhati Reddy. Maybe Hemlatha or Sanjana can play at no.6. Go with 5 bowlers, anyways we are leaking runs with the ball. You can change Asha or Shreyanka for Radha in the next match, or just make Deepti warm the bench and let Radha, Shreyanka and Asha play. That will be the perfect combination I guess. Rest all is I think good just need to improve the mindset and the technique. I predicted this situation already in my blog so it was not like a not expected thing, that's what we expected to happen. 

Let us now back our team and hope for glory, I wish India W to atleast have a good fight against Australia. Our next match is scheduled tomorrow against arch rivals Pakistan and we will surely gonna win that. I will try to write after that match too, until then stay tuned and follow me for more updates of Cricketing world. 

THANK YOU,

ADVAIT KADAM 

(Sports Management Student)

INDIA WON THE TEST SERIES AGAINST BANGLADESH (2-0)

 Despite of losing 55 overs on day 1 and complete wash out on day 2 & 3, India managed to win the 2nd test match in Kanpur quite comfortably. On day 4 Indian team were on mission and showed clear intent that they are playing for winning the match. Every batter came and started attacking, only Pant and Jadeja weren't able to score. Pant is expected to perform in these situations. It was historic test match as India scored fastest 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 in a test match. India showed the world why they are one of the best test cricket team, and we continue to dominate in test matches.

In my last blog (READ HERE), I mentioned about the intent! Test cricket should be played according to the situation and not by only single approach. England should take notes about how to play cricket sensibly, just pinch hitting from ball 1 doesn't help you always. India doesn't make flat pitches to play with bazball intent unlike England. We saw what England did when they toured India, they lost (4-1). To be honest that was some cricket played by India, these are some matches for which fans are waiting. With this win India almost confirmed their place in the WTC final but they still have to win atleast 4 matches. Sri Lanka do have an outside chance but as I mentioned in my last blog they have to beat South Africa in South Africa which is nearly impossible. 

STAND OUT PERFORMERS IN THIS SERIES:

The stand out performers in 2 match series were Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Akash deep.

ASHWIN: 

Ashwin was awarded the player of the match in the 1st test match and also player of the series for his exceptional performance with both bat and ball. He is amongst the best all rounders to play test cricket. He scored 114 runs with an average of 57, a bowling all rounder with 57 average is great. He also scored century in the first innings of first test. In terms of his bowling there was never a doubt, he is one of the greatest bowler India got. He took 11 wickets at an average of 19.27, stats clearly say why he was given the player of the series. 

BUMRAH:

Another exceptional bowler! I saw one tweet today, it says, is Bumrah and Ashwin playing together is similar to Mcgrath and Warne playing together? I agree to some extent but again I don't want to compare, all these players are legend in themselves. Bumrah is literally the cheat code, wicket nahi mil rahi? call Bumrah he will get it for sure! Bumrah is bowler who doesn't care about the conditions, he will deliver whenever team requires. He also took 11 wickets on 4 innings he played with an average of 12.82. I mean that's incredible! I found some unique stat of Bumrah on Internet, Bumrah with the old ball in home tests:

overs: 103.4

Wickets: 30

Average: 10.03 

Strike Rate: 20.73

Economy Rate: 2.9

*overs 26 to 80 only

What a record especially in Indian conditions. He has taken total 44 wickets in the 10 home test matches he played. Once in a generation bowler for sure.

AKASH DEEP:

He was incredible, since his debut against England he didn't look back and continued his form in test cricket. I have mentioned in my previous blog that Akash Deep is going to be in the playing 11 in BGT. He didn't bowl too much overs as compared to Ashwin and Bumrah but still he managed to get 5 wicket at an average of 20.4. He will keep on improving and I hope our new bowling coach doesn't damage his bowling. 

JADEJA:

Jadeja completed 300 wickets in test cricket, he has maintained his both batting and bowling pretty well. He scored 86 runs in the first test, he batted well when top order collapsed. Jadeja with Ashwin added 199 runs for the 7th wicket partnership. In bowling he took 9 wickets in 4 innings with an average of 15.44. He played a vital role in the series win.

Other players like Jaiswal, Gill and Pant were very good in batting. Even Rahul, Rohit and Virat were looking good in the last test match. Overall, very good performance from Indian team, hope they continue this form in the New Zealand test series too. Just when I was writing this blog, I saw news of Shami getting injured again. So there is high possibility that Bumrah might be rested and Yash Dayal might play. Mukesh can also make it to the squad before Dayal. Ruturaj will be selected as a backup opener, based on his Irani cup performance. 

Now India is scheduled to play 3 T20I against Bangladesh starting from 6th October, but before that Women's World cup is starting and I would try to cover all Indian team matches. Let's hope the women in blue bring home the prestigious trophy. I have already given my predictions for the T20 World cup (READ HERE). 

Thank you for reading, I am getting amazing response from you guys. Feedback is always welcomed and do give me suggestions to improve. I promise to make the blog more intresting for you, so that you will not get bore reading.

THANK YOU,

ADVAIT KADAM

(Sports Management Student)