India started their defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a dominating victory in Perth. After a 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven. Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the BGT. But the visitors, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia.

Reacting to the win, South Africa legend AB de Villiers pointed out that many like to see Australia losing a match.

“It was a fascinating Test match. Nothing against the Aussies, but most of us around the world don’t mind seeing them going down every now and then,” de Villiers said.

“It was nice to see India start well; they needed to start well after the loss against New Zealand. That took a big dent in their confidence but coming out in the first Test, the most important thing was to adapt to the conditions, which they did exceptionally well.

“They fought back after the first innings, 150 all out, and really bowling well, Bumrah and the whole bowling attack coming together.”

The manner and margin of India’s famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which became their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. It’s also the second time India won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.

Bumrah, the chief architect of India’s famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.

(With IANS Inputs)

England great James Anderson has shown interest in taking part in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by signing up for the aution that is set to take place on November 23 and 24. The former England fast bowler, who retired from international cricket this summer and took up a coaching role, has registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.25 crore. While speaking about the pacer, South Africa great AB de Villiers drew a similarity between him and former India player MS Dhoni, who continues to play in IPL for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

De Villiers feels that the base price set by Anderson for himself is like a “pay cut”, something that Dhoni also took ahead of the upcoming season. Notably, Dhoni’s IPL salary was reduced from Rs 15 crore to Rs 12 crore ahead of IPL 2022. It got a further reduction this year as CSK have now retained him for a price of Rs 4 crore.

“It almost gives me a same kind of feeling with MS Dhoni that he decided to take a pay cut. Yes Jimmy, Rs 1.25 crores as a base price, which is not a lot for the status this guy has got. Maybe he will go for only 1.25 and still be prepared to go to India, leave his family for almost three months and maybe not even play a game and share a dressing room with some of the young Indian fast bowlers,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel.

“I think it’s fantastic and I was one of the franchise owners and I could get Jimmy for INR 2-3 crores. I would take him purely because I believe that there’s a lot of experience that can be shared with some of the young players, and just his aura and the dressing room will give the bowling unit confident. This guy knows his game inside out,” he added.

Anderson ended up his international career as the most successful fast bowler in Test cricket with 704 wickets. But in a surprising move, the 42-year-old registered himself for the IPL 2025 auction.

“He is 42 years old and might not be able to execute as well on the park anymore, but he still knows exactly what’s required to win games of cricket with the ball in hand. What I think is I hope someone picks him up purely from an experience point of view almost having like a bowling captain in the change room where he plays a lot of games or not, it doesn’t really matter,” De Villiers said.

Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers showered praise on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer and said he has been “absolutely incredible” in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. In the IPL 2024, Iyer played 12 matches in the 17th season where he scored 287 runs at a strike rate of 135.38. The 29-year-old also became the first KKR skipper to finish at the top of the IPL points table. Speaking on his official YouTube channel, De Villiers called Iyer a “wise guy” and a “smart cricketer”. The former cricketer also praised the KKR skipper for not panicking in tough situations.

“Shreyas Iyer has been absolutely incredible. There have been a lot of doubts and talks about him as captain. I punted him from the start of the tournament. He is a wise guy, a smart cricketer and I love the way he is calm and composed as a captain. He never seems to get rushed, never seems to panic even though you know deep down that you feel some panic, especially playing at the Eden Gardens,” De Villiers said.

He added that it is not easy to captain a squad with senior players like Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

“It’s not easy to captain senior players who have been around for ages, especially Narine and Russell. We know that the West Indies have got different personalities, they are outgoing and can be outspoken sometimes. It must be sometimes difficult with a difference in culture to communicate properly with some of these experienced players,” he added.

After winning 9 of 13 matches, KKR stand at the top of the IPL 2024 standings with 19 points and have a net run rate of 1.428. The Kolkata-based franchise only lost three matches in the 17th season which came against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Punjab Kings (PBKS).

In their upcoming match, KKR will take on Rajasthan Royals on Sunday at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati.