India’s Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah with head coach Gautam Gambhir.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Abhishek Sharma celebrates his century against England in the fifth T20I in Mumbai, on February 2, 2025
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

The series in the bag. A boisterous crowd at the Wankhede Stadium was behind the home team. It perhaps resulted in a fitting trigger for Abhishek Sharma who single-handedly blew England away with a blitzkrieg that shattered a plethora of records and set up a crushing win to help India end the T20I season on a perfect note.

Riding on Abhishek’s 135 (54b, 7×4, 13×6), India’s highest individual score in T20Is, the Men in Blue piled on 247 for nine in 20 overs after being sent in to bat. As it happens most often while chasing gargantuan targets, England wilted under pressure to be bowled out for a paltry 97 in the 11th over to hand India a 150-run win. The victory meant Suryakumar Yadav laid his hands on the trophy, with the series ending 4-1 in the host’s favour.

It was an Abhishek show all through the first half after he and Sanju Samson walked out to open the innings. While Samson set the tone by clearing deep square-leg off the first ball of the match, Abhishek — by his standards — took his time. Soon after Samson holed out to to the deep square-leg fielder for the fifth straight time, he charged down the wicket for his first boundary in the third over.

Onslaught

From that point till he perished towards the end of the innings, Abhishek’s onslaught made England fielders remain mere spectators.

When he hit it through the gap, it sped to the fence. But more often than not, he was in a mood to display his range-hitting skills. He managed to clear the rope a whopping 13 times – the most by an Indian in a T20I – four of them coming in the fifth over off Jamie Overton.

That over meant India raced to 95 for 1 in the PowerPlay, its highest in the first six-over period of a T20I. Abhishek blew a kiss as he celebrated his 17-ball fifty.

So shaken was the England bowling attack by his onslaught that it literally had nothing to resort to. When they bowled in his arc, Abhishek swung the pacers and leg-spinner Adil Rashid out of the park. When they bowled it short, he pulled it with aplomb. The best of the lot was a lofted cover drive off Brydon Carse — whose pace variations brought him wickets — that sailed over the cover fence in the ninth over.

Even though he kept losing partners at the other end, by the time the mandatory time-out was called after 10 overs, Abhishek was one run shy of becoming India’s second-fastest centurion and the total read 143 for two. Abhishek tapped one on the off-side for a rare single to acknowledge a standing ovation.

Shivam Dube then played a cameo as India ensured that the latter half was a mere formality. It turned out to be the same as India finished the game off in the 11th over. Apart from Phil Salt, who scored an impressive fifty, only Jacob Bethell managed to get into double digits.

Dhruv Jurel kept wickets in place of Samson, who injured his finger when he missed a short-ball from Archer in the first over. He took three catches, including one down the leg off Mark Wood’s inside edge to hand Mohammed Shami his third wicket.

India’s Tilak Varma during the second T20 match at MAC Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Ragu R

Tilak Varma set a new world record during his unbeaten knock of 72 against England in the second T20I in Chennai. The 22-year-old has scored 318 runs in T20Is without being dismissed and went past New Zealand batter Mark Chapman’s record of 271 runs between dismissals set in 2023.

Tilak was dismissed last during the second T20I against South Africa in Gqeberha, where he was got out for 20.

Since his dismissal for 20 runs against South Africa at Gqeberha on November 10 last year, Tilak has gone on to play knocks of 107*, 120*, 19* and 72*, which translates to 318 runs in four innings.

Since his return from injury in the T20I set-up during November last year, Tilak has made 371 runs in six innings at an average of a massive 185.5, two centuries and a fifty.

This has greatly helped Tilak’s overall T20I statistics. In 22 matches and 21 innings, he has scored 707 runs at a remarkable average of 58.91 and a strike rate of 156.07, with two centuries and three fifties.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Barring skipper Jos Buttler (45 in 30 balls, with two fours and three sixes), the England top order once again was struggling against spin. A couple of useful cameos from Brydon Carse (31 in 17 balls, with a four and three sixes) and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith (22 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes) took England to 165/9 in their 20 overs.

Axar Patel (2/32) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/38) caused England the most trouble.

In the run-chase, India suffered setbacks in the first half, as Abhishek Sharma (12), Sanju Samson (4), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (12), Dhruv Jurel (4) and Hardik Pandya (7) perished one by one. Tilak got assistance from Washington Sundar (26 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six), a 38-run partnership that let India cross the 100-run mark from a poor situation of 78/5. After Sundar and Axar (2) perished in quick succession with 40 runs left, Tilak had partnerships with Arshdeep Singh (4) and Ravi Bishnoi (9*) that helped India secure a win with two wickets and four balls left.

Carse’s brilliant spell of 3/29 and a strong spell of 1/14 by spinner Adil Rashid went in vain as India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

(with inputs from ANI)

India’s captain Rohit Sharma and spinner Kuldeep Yadav celebrate a wicket during the semi-final match against England in the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024, at Providence Stadium in Guyana on June 28, 2024
| Photo Credit: ANI

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Students protest at Jantar Mantar, want NTA dissolved

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CBI arrests two in Patna in NEET paper leak case

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Plea in Supreme Court to stay implementation of new criminal laws

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President Murmu flags NEET, Emergency in address to Parliament, says government fully committed to investigating ‘paper leaks’

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India’s approach with the bat now is drastically different to what it was in the 2022 T20 World Cup, England head coach Matthew Mott. File
| Photo Credit: PETER CZIBORRA

India’s approach with the bat now is drastically different to what it was in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final and both teams will start Thursday’s contest on an even keel, England head coach Matthew Mott said on Wednesday.

England had annihilated India by 10 wickets in the semi-final at Adelaide two years ago before winning the trophy. India were criticised for their conservative approach back then but now they are playing as per the demands of the shortest format.

“Probably the only thing that we’ve discussed is that we feel that they’re a very different team to that semi-final. The way that they’ve approached it in the last couple of years is certainly taking the game on extremely hard in the power play,” said Mott on the eve of the match.

“Rohit (Sharma) with the bat has led the way extremely well and shown leadership in that department, as has Jos Buttler for us. But I think it presents a really unique challenge for us. It’s a venue we don’t know well.

“We’ve obviously been armed with a lot of information and we think we’ve got a squad to cover it, but there’s a little bit of unknown about what we’re going to get,” he said.

Following the disastrous run in the ODI World Cup in India last year, England have a point to prove despite being defending champions in the current edition.

Asked more about India’s changed approach, Mott said, “When we go back to that semi-final, obviously on a good pitch in Adelaide, we put India in and that was a risk. But I thought we felt that they weren’t sure what a good score was.

“I think the approach now is they would come at us hard and try and maximise that, maybe try and put it out of our reach. You’ve got two great batting line-ups. The bowlers are all class as well. So, it’s going to come down to on the day.” India, however, have not been able to win an ICC trophy in more than 10 years and they are very keen to end that title drought here. Mott highlighted India’s remarkable consistency in reaching the knockout games.

“What India has done incredibly well over the last few years is put themselves in semi-finals contention and the flip side to that is when you don’t win people look at that as a negative.

“But I think the consistency that they’ve shown over a length of time shows what a great group of players they are.

“And like anyone, when you get to the semi-final stage, every team, and the four teams out here, all think they’re in with a chance to win it. And there’s small margins. So, if you take those key moments at the right time, you get over the line, if you don’t, you go home.

“So, our tournament really starts tomorrow, we’re excited by – we know their players well, they know us well,” said Mott.

England have not had the smoothest of runs in the competition but Mott said that is all in the past.

“There’s a general feeling that our best cricket is in front of us. I think we’ve been pretty good in patches, we’ve done some really good stuff over here, but we haven’t put together that perfect game.

“So, with a bit of luck that happens against India. It’s certainly going to be a great occasion,” added the head coach.

Kuldeep Yadav celebrates a wicket during the third Test match between India and England at Rajkot
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

He might look like an accountant accidentally woken up by an alarm beeping too early, hair dishevelled and on the point of complaining. But the smile is never far from Kuldeep Yadav’s eyes, suggesting he enjoys a laugh against himself. “I have become mature,” he told the media at the end of the series against England where he took 19 wickets and brought left-arm wrist spin to the forefront of cricket conversations.

The craft appeals to the romantics. The wrist spinner is capable of looking like a genius one day and a novice the next, adding to the glorious uncertainties.

Since making his debut seven years ago, Kuldeep has played just 12 Tests while missing 56 that India played in that period. You need a sense of humour to survive such vicissitudes. And to retain both fitness and passion while spending so much time on the sidelines. He went back to the drawing board, worked on his run up and his pace as well as his batting and has become the bowler he wanted to be.

May soon be spearhead

India’s discovery of new stars (Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep) and ratification of the potential of a recent one (Yashasvi Jaiswal) have been touted as the gains of the series, which they are. But equally important has been the confirmation of the quality and class of their third spinner who might soon be the spearhead of the spin attack.

Kuldeep, 29, made his mark over a decade ago and now, as he says, he has begun to understand his bowling. It is a difficult art, one of the toughest in the game. Most left-arm spinners, from Wilfred Rhodes to Bishan Bedi experimented with wrist spin early on, and then decided that orthodox finger spin, where the ball spins away from the bat is the better option. Garry Sobers bowled in both styles, but there is no record of how many of his 235 Test wickets were earned by wrist spin.

Wrist spinners tend to be, by the nature of their craft, expensive and inconsistent. It takes a captain who understands this to handle Kuldeep, and Rohit Sharma showed he understood both the bowler and the bowling well. He didn’t hesitate from berating Kuldeep when he fell short nor did he ignore the arm-around-the-shoulder treatment that paid such dividends.

When Kuldeep started his career, the ball bowled that went the other way was referred to as the ‘chinaman’, a term now thankfully erased from the game. This was ostensibly because a West Indies player of Chinese origin, Ellis Achong was believed to have been the first to use it. An English batter stumped off such a delivery walked away cursing. It may be an apocryphal story, though. In any case, he was insulting the bowler rather than christening a new delivery.

Two Yorkshiremen, Roy Kilner and Maurice Leyland might have bowled that delivery a decade earlier, the name suggestive of either eastern magic or the conviction that it could only dismiss a batter who hadn’t played cricket. Kilner was a man of charm who contracted typhoid while coaching in India and died at 37. Over a lakh turned up for his funeral in his hometown. Leyland was better known as a feisty batter who averaged over 50 against Australia. Leyland claimed he was the one to name the delivery because it was ‘foreign’ and couldn’t be called anything else.

Kuldeep may not be aware of the anecdotal history behind the delivery he bowls so well . He may not know that he figures in a novel by John Le Carre who wrote the following in his Agent Running in the Field: “I discuss with the parents of our future daughter-in-law such issues as Britain’s post-Brexit trade relations and the tortuous bowling action of India’s spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav…”

Not that it matters. He is capable of bowling the near-unplayable ball, and that should suffice. The ball that got a set Zak Crawley began its journey as if intending to spin across the face of the bat but then seemed to change its mind and crash into the stumps. This was one of the best of the series.

“It wasn’t always easy,” Kuldeep tweeted a couple of years ago, “but it has been worth it.” Cricket lovers agree.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Former skipper Michael Vaughan fears not all England players have fully adapted to the existing team culture and feels the backroom staff is “made up of cheerleaders”.

Vaughan suggested England must carry out an honest review of their 1-4 mauling in India by taking a leaf out of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s book to breed an environment of ruthlessness.

India completed a magnificent series triumph with an innings and 64-run victory inside three days in the fifth and final Test here on Saturday.

“After a humbling series defeat in India, I strongly believe that a dose of honesty is the most important thing for this England team right now,” Vaughan wrote in his column for Daily Telegraph.

Vaughan, who led the Test team from 2003-08, added, “I don’t believe they need to rip everything up. They are better playing this way than they would be otherwise.

“I respect what they are trying to do, and get up early every day to watch them because they have me on the edge of my seat and I know something is going to happen.

“The great frustration is that they have the talent to be really competitive all over the world but they have blown two big series and in this case it was because their batting failed miserably.” Accusing the team management of going too soft on players, Vaughan said he understands that there is a pervading sense of positivity, fun and laughter in the camp but that may not always bring the desired results.

“Every interview you hear the same stuff, about excitement, opportunity and fun, that everyone is having the time of their life.

“I have been around many of them in the last couple of years and their language can be inspiring. I admire some of it, but I can be a bit of an old cynic, and I worry that they are speaking a language that not all of them truly believe, which is dangerous.

“Certain players will believe it, but not everyone. We can’t all think the same.” He added, “Victories are what keep the fun bus on the road, not endlessly talking about how much fun you are having.

“The truth is that this can’t always be fun, because it’s so hard. Positivity is good, and inspiring, but honesty is also required.”

Vaughan said those running the team must not shy away from taking tough calls and for that, they don’t need to look beyond Guardiola.

“The team message is never to doubt anything, never admit they were wrong or they could have done things differently. Everything is very cosy. Everyone is mates: players, coaches, backroom staff. That does not breed an environment of ruthlessness.

“I know I bang on about how brilliant Pep Guardiola is, but you don’t hear about him being mates with Manchester City players. He’s their boss and he doesn’t always do what his players want him to.” “He makes ruthless decisions about selection and training regimes.”

Vaughan was least amused with the English players spending time in Abu Dhabi and playing golf in Bengaluru when there were long breaks between Tests.

“England’s management give the players just about everything that they want, like a break in Abu Dhabi with no cricket kit and a golf trip to Bangalore in the middle of the tour.

“I am not one for old-school preparation, with three first-class matches at the start of a tour. Those days are gone, and it’s not needed. But surely with two long breaks, you need to get some cricket into the outside of the team, so they are ready if required, and to keep those in the XI on their toes.

“It also might help players in the team find form. By doing nothing, you get yourself into a Catch 22.”

He added, “I do worry it’s a backroom team made up of cheerleaders. That’s based on what I hear in public, and maybe it’s different in the changing room, but players need challenging and questioning at times.”

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the wicket of England’s Ben Foakes on Day 3 of the 5th Test match, at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, in Dharamsala on March 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India’s Test series triumph over England lived up to the expectations as records tumbled even in the fifth game with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin and James Anderson etching their names in the history books at the scenic HPCA Stadium.

The five-match series between two cricketing giants played home to 102 sixes to make the record for the most maximums struck in a Test series.

Before this series, Ashes 2023 (Australia vs England) saw a total of 74 sixes smashed all around the different venues with Australia emerging triumphant to retain the series.

Throughout the series, India’s promising talent lived up to the expectations and delivered to fill in the holes left by the absence of some senior players like Virat Kohli and many more.

Among such players, 22-year-old, Yashasvi Jaiswal finished the series with an impressive tally of 712 runs to his name which included remarkable 26 sixes.

The southpaw batter became just the second batter to enter the 700-run club in a series and joined the elite company of ICC Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar who has achieved the feat twice in his decorated career.

In the final game, Jaiswal struck 57 and became the second-fastest Indian cricketer to reach 1000 runs in Test format and he took just 16 innings to achieve the feat.

Former India cricketer Vinod Kambli is the only player ahead of Jaiswal who achieved the feat in just 14 innings.

Coming to the bowlers, Ashwin who featured in his 100th Test ended the match with a nine-wicket haul to his name which included a five-for in the second innings. With his scintillating performance, Ashwin ended the series with the most number of wickets – 26.

Ashwin went past iconic spinner Anil Kumble to become the Indian bowler with the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket – 36. The 37-year-old is the first player to bag a five-wicket haul in his debut as well as in his 100th Test.

The crafty off-spinner is the fourth bowler to claim a five-for in his 100th Test. Before him, the iconic spin trio of Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan achieved the feat.

England’s famed pacer James Anderson became the first speedster to claim 700 wickets in Test format after he claimed the wicket of Kuldeep Yadav early in Day 3.

Featuring as the only pacer in the top four wicket-takers in Test format, the 41-year-old is just eight wickets behind the legendary Shane Warne who has 708 wickets to his name.

R. Ashwin celebrates after taking the wicket of England batsman Zak Crawley on the third day of the final Test match at HPCA Ground in Dharamshala on March 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

The predictable happened swiftly. Under two sessions on the third day of the fifth Test here, India completed the demolition job of the surprisingly-willing Englishmen for a 4-1 series triumph.

After an embarrassing loss in the first Test, despite taking a 190-run lead, India turned the script around to win the next four. But none of India’s triumphs was as dominating as the one on Saturday, the margin being an innings and 64 runs.

For the record, India resumed its first innings and folded at 477 after losing overnight not outs, Man-of-the-Match Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah for the additional of four runs.

INFOGRAPHIC | R. Ashwin’s journey to 100 Tests, 500 wickets

Trailing by 259 runs, England was never in the hunt to save an innings loss. It lost five wickets before lunch and the rest in the second session to be cleaned up for just 195.

On a day when 41-year-old James Anderson, in his 187th Test, became the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets, R. Ashwin picked up five wickets to tally nine for 128 in his 100th Test.

Inexplicable was England’s rush to defeat. Beginning its second innings in the seventh session of a Test, the haste of the visiting batters to play the big shots was baffling. Hit firmly between the ears by the Indian spinners in the first innings, England showed that it had not learnt any lesson. The false bravado only hastened the end and left England in very poor light in the shortest of the five Tests.

When England batted again, Ashwin started from where he left off after taking the last four first-innings wickets. He sent back the top three batters before lunch as England reeled at 103 for five.

Ashwin bowled Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes by foxing each one differently. Duckett stepped out, got himself ‘yorked’ as the ball turned just enough to beat his heave and crashed into the off-stump.

Following a change of ends, Ashwin dismissed Stokes. Guilty of playing from the crease, falling to Bumrah and the turning ball in the series, he played forward defensively but was beaten and bowled. After lunch, Foakes paid the price for his attempted slog-sweep and gave the off-spinner a 36th five-wicket haul.

Jonny Bairstow, also playing his 100th Test, smashed three sixes and two of his three boundaries off Ashwin before being dismissed by Kuldeep.

Joe Root stood amid the ruins to post his 61st Test half-century during the ninth-wicket stand with Shoaib Bashir. He displayed the approach England needed to stay alive to fight another day. He was last out for 84, holing out to Bumrah off Kuldeep, the man who started the procession of England’s wickets in the first innings.

Scoreboard

England 1st Innings: 218 all out

India 1st Innings: 477 all out

England 2nd Innings: Zak Crawley c Sarfaraz Khan b Ashwin 0 Ben Duckett b Ashwin 2 Ollie Pope c Yashasvi Jaiswal b Ashwin 19 Joe Root c Bumrah b Kuldeep Yadav 84 Jonny Bairstow lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 39 Ben Stokes b Ashwin 2 Ben Foakes b Ashwin 8 Tom Hartley lbw b Bumrah 20 Mark Wood lbw b Bumrah 0 Shoaib Bashir b Jadeja 13 James Anderson not out 0 Extras: (B-6, LB-1, NB-1) 8

Total: (All out in 48.1 overs) 195

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-36, 4-92, 5-103, 6-113, 7-141, 8-141, 9-189, 10-195

India bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 10-2-38-2, Ravichandran Ashwin 14-0-77-5, Ravindra Jadeja 9-1-25-1, Kuldeep Yadav 14.1-0-40-2, Mohammed Siraj 1-0-8-0.

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, both scored centuries on the second day of the final Test match at HPCA Ground in Dharamshala on March 8, 2024
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Relentless India punished England all day and left it staring at another defeat after just two days of the fifth and final Test here.

Notwithstanding the late flurry of wickets, Friday saw India score 338 runs to reach 473 for eight and lead by 255 runs.

Overnight batters Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma converted their half-centuries into centuries, something that debutant Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan could not.

A wicketless first session saw Rohit and Gill score 129 runs to put India 46 runs ahead of England’s 218. They reached their centuries in the space of three deliveries.

Gill was more aggressive of the two in reaching his fourth Test century after Rohit posted his 14th — sixth since 2021 — and maintained the solidity seen on the previous evening.

The second session — that produced 112 runs — proved more eventful.

Skipper Ben Stokes, whose last Test wicket came on June 28, 2023, chose to bowl after seven Tests since then. He opened the second over after lunch and bowled Rohit off his first delivery. The ball beat a rather casual Rohit to find the off-stump, much to the joy of Stokes’ team-mates even as the skipper remained expressionless.

Like it happens so often, the end of a long partnership — of 171 runs in this case — the partners departed in quick succession.

Gill, after hitting two boundaries of James Anderson in the first over after lunch, fell in the following over from the 41-year-old for the sixth time. The reverse-swing in the 63rd over foxed Gill and took the off-stump for a walk.

Two wickets in eight deliveries for England brought Sarfaraz and Padikkal together. A fortuitous edge past the lone slip saw the Karnataka left-hander get his first Test runs. He rode his luck to play some glorious strokes on both sides of the pitch. Soon Sarfaraz settled down and dominated the 97-run stand with some free-flowing shots in the hour before tea to reach a 55-ball 51, his third Test half-century.

Much like the post-lunch session, the post-tea play witnessed England taste early success. Sarfaraz departed by offering Joe Root, the lone slip, a low catch. Padikkal, who reached his 50 with a six off Bashir, went on to hit a couple of boundaries off Hartley before being bowled by the former.

If England lost three wickets at 175, India lost three in the space of one run. Bashir lured Dhruv Jurel to hole out to Ben Duckett at long-on for his fourth wicket. In the next over, Hartley ended Ravindra Jadeja’s struggle and sent back R. Ashwin for a duck in his 100th Test.

With India eight down at 428 and 18 overs remaining for stumps, the possibility of England getting to bat appeared bright. But Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah frustrated England with their unbroken 45-run stand.