Rehman Zaid is from Muscat and Fatima is from Oman. They waited for hours to catch a glimpse of India’s superstar cricketers here to turn a long-cherished dream into reality. Rarely fans from such cricketing outposts get to see Indian players up close, but once they got a chance the supporters returned home with some precious memorabilia. There were fans from India, of course, but among the 200-plus supporters assembled at the ICC Cricket Academy were Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Oman, UK and USA citizens – mostly of Indian origin.

The Indian team members were here on Monday evening for a nearly three-hour training session ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20.

With little time wasted, they captured the cricketers’ pictures and videos on their phones, standing a mere 5 metres away and separated only by a barricade and a few security personnel.

“We have come from Oman. We will be watching a few matches of India. We are quite happy that we got such an opportunity to see the cricketers from so close,” said Zaid, who has come along with his family of four.

The fans waited till India’s net session got over, and tried to click them once more.

The cricketers, who trooped into the team bus quickly, however, found some time to sign a few autographs, much to the glee of the fans.

The 17-year-old Fatima managed to get Shreyas Iyer’s sign on a T-shirt, and she was delighted.

“I am so happy. I am so grateful to ICC for allowing us to see and interact with the Indian cricketers from so close. I managed to get the autograph on the T-shirt.

“This is so unreal. I saw Virat. He came and signed this one for me and for others. He is so nice and wonderful. I just missed Shami’s autograph,” she said.

As one would expect, the loudest cheer was reserved for Kohli, a crowd puller wherever he goes.

Now, they plan to return to see their heroes once again on February 20 and 23 for the matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. 

Punjab Kings Schedule IPL 2025: Punjab Kings (PBKS) entered the Indian Premier League 2025 mega auction with the highest purse and have made some significant purchases heading into the new season. Shreyas Iyer, who won the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year, will be leading PBKS this year after being bought for Rs 26.75 crore in the mega auction. Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh were the other big Indian buys, while the purchases of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Marco Jansen add explosive overseas firepower. Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh were retained by the franchise.

Here is Punjab Kings’ IPL 2025 schedule in full:

25 March: GT vs PBKS – Ahmedabad – 7:30 PM IST

1 April: LSG vs PBKS – Lucknow – 7:30 PM IST

5 April: PBKS vs RR – New Chandigarh – 7:30 PM IST

8 April: PBKS vs CSK – New Chandigarh – 7:30 PM IST

12 April: SRH vs PBKS – Hyderabad – 7:30 PM IST

15 April: PBKS vs KKR – New Chandigarh – 7:30 PM IST

18 April: RCB vs PBKS – Bengaluru – 7:30 PM IST

20 April: PBKS vs RCB – New Chandigarh – 3:30 PM IST

26 April: KKR vs PBKS – Kolkata – 7:30 PM IST

30 April: CSK vs PBKS – Chennai – 7:30 PM IST

4 May: PBKS vs LSG – Dharamshala – 7:30 PM IST

8 May: PBKS vs DC – Dharamshala – 7:30 PM IST

11 May: PBKS vs MI – Dharamshala – 3:30 PM IST

16 May: RR vs PBKS – Jaipur – 7:30 PM IST

PBKS IPL 2025 Squad: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh (Rs. 18 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs. 26.75 crore), Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs. 18 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs. 11 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs. 4.20 crore), Nehal Wadhera (Rs. 4.20 crore), Harpreet Brar (Rs. 1.50 crore), Vishnu Vinod (Rs. 95 lakh), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Rs. 1.80 crore), Yash Thakur (Rs. 1.60 crore), Marco Jansen (Rs. 7 crore), Josh Inglis (Rs. 2.60 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs. 2 crore), Azmatullah Omarzai (Rs. 2.40 crore), Harnoor Pannu (Rs. 30 lakh), Kuldeep Sen (Rs. 80 lakh), Priyansh Arya (Rs. 3.80 crore), Aaron Hardie (Rs. 1.25 crore), Musheer Khan (Rs. 30 lakh), Suryansh Shedge (Rs. 30 lakh), Xavier Bartlett (Rs. 80 lakh), Pyla Avinash (Rs. 30 lakh), Pravin Dubey (Rs. 30 lakh).

India head coach Gautam Gambhir finally lifted the veil over whether Shreyas Iyer was supposed to be benched throughout the three ODIs against England by affirming that the 30-year-old batter was always in the “scheme of things.” On Wednesday, India exuded dominance over England in Ahmedabad with an emphatic 142-run victory to sweep the series away with a 3-0 win. Despite India’s success, some fans still pondered Shreyas’s shocking statement after India’s victory in the first ODI in Nagpur.

Shreyas revealed that he got confirmation of being included in the playing XI after a late-night call from skipper Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli’s knee issue opened up a spot for Shreyas. If the Indian stalwart had remained fit, then Shreyas would have started the series on the bench.

The 30-year-old played a swift counterattacking 59-run knock to lay the foundation for India’s four-wicket win in the first ODI. He kept riding high on his momentum and ended the series with 181 runs at an average of 60.33.

Gambhir broke the silence surrounding the decision to bench Shreays. Considering Yashasvi Jaiswal’s form in Australia, the management decided to give the youngster his debut in the format and see what he could offer on the field.

“On Shreyas Iyer, he wasn’t supposed to be benched throughout the series. We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he could bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of innings he can play,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.

In the series’ final match, Shreyas proved himself the best candidate among India’s pool of talent for the number four spot in the ODIs. He balanced his aggression with composure to entertain the crowd with his belligerent 78 from 64 deliveries, laced with eight fours and two towering sixes.

“I know that one inning; you can’t judge someone by one inning. But we always knew that Shreyas was going to be an important player for us; what he’s done at number four because number four beat the World Cup, or forget about even the World Cup, he’s just an important player,” he added.

Gambhir laid out the squad’s rotation policy, which allows every player to get an opportunity before the Champions Trophy begins on February 19.

“So sometimes, when you’ve only got three games, you want to try and rotate your squad as well. See, for today, we could have easily played Shami, but we wanted to give Arshdeep a go. We could have played Jadeja as well; we gave Washington a go as well,” he said.

“So when you’ve got the Champions Trophy around the corner, you want to try and maximize these three games and try and give everyone an opportunity. But Shreyas was always in the scheme of things, and it’s good that he played all three games. It’s still early days; I think guys have shown some really good signs; Harshit has come along really well; Ash was really good today as well; he got his first opportunity,” he added.

While the return of India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, among others, to the domestic circuit has grabbed the eyeballs of cricket experts and fans alike, former India cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra has drawn out a major talking point. Chopra stated that all the senior players have played only one Ranji game, as stars who played in the first week of games (from January 23) are skipping the second week (from January 30). Only those India stars who missed the first week games are playing in the ongoing week.

Barring Ravindra Jadeja, all senior India regulars who played in the January 23 games are giving the ongoing round a miss.

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are some of the big names who participated in the January 23 ties, but are not playing any further.

Chopra criticised this aspect, stating that this has made it seem like playing in Ranji was a token punishment for the players.

“Virat Kohli is playing, but many others are not, like Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shreyas Iyer. Ultimately, all the players have played their token Ranji Trophy match, marked their attendance and left,” Chopra said, speaking on his YouTube channel.

“Virat Kohli hadn’t played that round, so he is playing now.”

“What does it tell you? This (playing Ranji Trophy) was a bit of a punishment posting. But playing first-class cricket shouldn’t be a punishment, it should be a privilege,” said Chopra.

Following India’s 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, the BCCI had implemented a 10-point guideline, one of which stated that available players must participate in domestic cricket.

However, most of the India regulars have opted to play just one game.

Rohit, Jaiswal, Shreyas, Gill and Pant all lost their respective Ranji games. Ravindra Jadeja, however, starred for Saurashtra and took home the Player of the Match award.

Rohit Sharma‘s return to Ranji Trophy met absolute disappointment as the India Test skipper aggregated just 31 runs in two innings against Jammu & Kashmir. Rohit showed his attacking approach throughout the match, looking to take bowlers on, but the intent didn’t reap the rewards Rohit intended, with his scores in the two innings reading only 3 and 28. Be it his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, or other senior stars like Shreyas Iyer or Ajinkya Rahane, none of these big-name batters produced runs as Mumbai suffered an upsetting defeat against J&K.

It was another veteran star, Shardul Thakur, who set the stage on fire with a ton, though his score couldn’t rescue Mumbai. As questions arose about the performances of senior stars like Rohit, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar asked some tough questions, taking a direct swipe at the attacking approach shown by the Hitman and others.

“Only Shardul Thakur, batting down the order, showed the gumption and desire to stick it out. But for his batting in both innings, the Mumbai score would have been embarrassing for a side filled with four Indian Test players in their top five. What Thakur and Tanush Kotian showed with their big partnership is that with a proper mix of caution and aggression, runs could be scored on the surface. The J&K batters also showed the same attitude and thus overhauled the target quite comfortably,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“The dismissal of Mumbai’s Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making. It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery,” Gavaskar added, asking some tough questions to Rohit and others.

It was the diktat from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that forced senior stars like Rohit, Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, etc. to return to Ranji Trophy. Gavaskar, however, isn’t sure if the players played with all their heart or only in the bid to prevent their central contracts being taken away.

“The BCCI and the coach’s insistence on the Indian players playing in the Ranji Trophy meant that most of the players who were on the disastrous tour of Australia turned up for their State teams in the Ranji Trophy.

“Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them,” Gavaskar wondered.

Rohit and Jaiswal’s inclusion in the Mumbai team meant that a talented youngster like Ayush Mhatre, who scored a century in the last game, couldn’t retain his place in the team. Gavaskar, however, didn’t feel too bad for the teenager, suggesting he must have learned something from Rohit and others by just sharing the dressing room with them.

“Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side. Hopefully, the youngster would have spent some time with both these players and picked their brains about adding to his batting ability,” he wrote.

Rohit Sharma, along with several other top India stars like Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, made a return to Ranji Trophy after a considerable gap last week. The decision to play the Ranji Trophy matches, for their respective state teams, came after BCCI’s directive that domestic cricket is a must. However, Rohit Sharma’s return in the match against Jammu and Kashmir was not memorable. He failed to score big and Mumbai lost the match. 

Now, according to a report in Times of India, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer will miss defending Ranji Trophy champion Mumbai’s final group-stage clash against Meghalaya starting Thursday. All three players featured in the sixth round of the Elite Group A match for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir at the Sharad Pawar Academy Ground in BKC, where the visitors recorded a commanding five-wicket victory. However, none of Mumbai’s India stars, except for Shardul Thakur who scored brilliant knocks of 51 and 119, managed to make a significant impact, as a disciplined Jammu and Kashmir side kept chipping away to wrap up the game inside three days.

The report also said that there is a chance that on February 2 (which will be the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy match), Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are supposed to join the Indian cricket team camp ahead of the ODI series against England starting February 6. 

   

“Rohit, Jaiswal and Iyer are all likely to attend the BCCI’s Naman Annual awards in Mumbai on February 1. Next day (February 2), they are supposed to report for a short camp to Nagpur before the three-match ODI series against England,” the report quoted a source as saying. 

Rohit, Jaiswal, and Iyer are all part of the Indian ODI squad for the series against England, scheduled for February 6, 9, and 12, followed by the Champions Trophy. For 23-year-old Jaiswal, this will be his maiden call-up to the national side for ODI cricket A source in the Mumbai Cricket Association confirmed the unavailability of the three players, including Iyer.

“He will join the Indian team,” the source said. The Indian team is currently engaged in a five-match T20I series, leading 2-0, and Iyer will join his teammates to prepare for the upcoming ODIs. 

The defeat to Jammu and Kashmir has severely dented the hopes of Mumbai, led by Ajinkya Rahane, of advancing to the quarter-finals. Mumbai will now need to beat Meghalaya by a big margin and hope for favorable results in other matches to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.

With PTI inputs

Seamers Mukesh Choudhary and Rajneesh Gurbani struck lethal blows as Maharashtra thumped Baroda by a whopping 439-run margin in a Group A league match, a result that kept defending champions Mumbai alive for the knock-out stage of Ranji Trophy, here Sunday. Trying to save the game and get a point in the bargain was Baroda’s primary objective on the final day as chasing 617 was simply out of question but they failed miserably and were all out for just 177 in 36 overs. Maharashtra’s victory has left Mumbai in a tricky spot to qualify for the knockout stage.

Former CSK left-arm seamer Mukesh took 5 for 76 while Gurbani, who has switched first-class side from Vidarbha to Maharashtra had 3 for 54 to show for his efforts.

Jammu and Kashmir are on top of group A with 29 points from six games followed by Baroda, who are on 27 points from equal number of matches. Mumbai remained on 22 from six games after their defeat to J&K on Saturday.

However Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Maharashtra has created an opening for the 42-time champions as Baroda will now have to at least get a first innings lead against Jammu and Kashmir in their final game.

If Baroda gets three points, then both Baroda and Jammu and Kashmir, with 30 points each will qualify for the knock-out stages while Mumbai will be out in the group league stage itself.

Mumbai play their last match against wooden spooners Meghalaya, who will be relegated to ‘Plate Group’ having lost all their six games.

It is expected that Mumbai, who will play at BKC will thump the minnows and get another seven points from the game, which will take their tally to 29 from seven games.

But to qualify for Mumbai will need Jammu and Kashmir to at least take a first innings lead if not win outright, which will take their tally to 32 and Baroda will be stuck at 28.

In case Jammu and Kashmir lose and stay put on 29 and Mumbai win with bonus points, then net run rate (NRR) will be the deciding factor.

None of the other five teams– Tripura, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Services, Odisha have any chance of qualification.

Rajasthan vs Vidarbha

Skipper Akshay Wadkar’s brilliant century and spinner Harsh Dubey’s 10-wicket match haul steered Vidarbha to a stunning 221-run victory over Rajasthan in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game, here on Sunday.

Captain Wadkar (139), Yash Rathod (98), and all-rounder Nachiket Bhute (87) played crucial knocks in the second innings, guiding Vidarbha to a commanding total of 428/9 declared.

Left-arm spinner Dubey (5/51 in 19 overs) then sealed the match with his outstanding performance, completing a 10-wicket haul as Rajasthan were bowled out for just 107, despite Vidarbha starting with a 100-run first-innings deficit.

The win earned Vidarbha (36) six points, solidifying their position at the top of the points table.

In a tricky situation in the second essay, Wadkar first partnered with Rathod to forge a vital 94-run stand.

After Rathod, who fell agonisingly short of his century, was dismissed, Wadkar and Bhute put on a massive 172-run partnership that firmly put Vidarbha in control.

Resuming at their overnight score of 358/7, Vidarbha added 70 more runs on day four before declaring their innings, setting Rajasthan a daunting target of 329 runs.

Wadkar’s 269-ball innings featured 14 fours and a six, while Bhute struck six fours and three sixes in his entertaining knock.

The 22-year-old Dubey and off spinner Akshay Wakhare (3/2 in 6.3 overs) then dismantled Rajasthan’s batting lineup, sharing eight wickets between them to bowl out the hosts in just 43.3 overs.

Rajasthan began their chase on a steady note, with both openers looking comfortable. However, Shubham Kapse provided Vidarbha with the breakthrough, dismissing opener Zubair Ali (22).

Dubey, who had taken five wickets in the first innings, struck again, dismissing Abhijeet Romar and Deepak Hooda in quick succession.

Rajasthan continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as Dubey and Wakhare bowled superbly in tandem, sealing a comprehensive victory for Vidarbha.

In other Group B matches, Andhra drew with Puducherry while Hyderbad defeated Himachal Pradesh by an innings in 43 runs.

Brief Scores 

In Nasik: Maharashtra 297 and 464/7 decl. Baroda 145 and (target 617) 177 in 36 overs (Mukesh Choudhary 5/73, Rajneesh Gurbani 3/54). Maharashtra won by 439 runs. Points: Maharashtra 6 Baroda 0.

In Agartala: Tripura 212 and 375/7 decl (Mandeep Singh 124 not out, Bikramkumar Das 85, S Sharath 66).

Services 294 and (target 276) 101 in 19.1 overs (Ravi Chauhan 53). Match Drawn. Points: Tripura 1 Services 3.

In Shillong: Meghalaya 198 and 294 in 92.2 overs (JS Sachdeva 82, Sunil Roul 4/61).

Odisha 548/7 decl. Odisha won by an innings and 56 runs.

In Jaipur: Vidarbha 165 and 428/9d in 138.1 overs (Akshay Wadkar 139, Yash Rathod 98, Nachiket Bhute 87; Kukna Ajay Singh 5/104) defeated Rajasthan 265 and 107 all out in 43.3 overs (Zubair Ali 22; Harsh Dubey 5/51) by 221 runs.

In Puducherry: Andhra 303 and 319/6d in 82.4 overs (Karan Shinde 119 not out; Ankit Sharma 3/83) drew with Puducherry 260 and 152/0 in 46 overs (Ganga Sridhar Raju 75 not out, Jay Pande 59 not out; Lalit Mohan 0/39) *In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 565 in 168.5 overs beat Himachal Pradesh 275 & 247 (Shubham Arora 66, Ankit Kalso 44; Tanay Thyagarajan 6/118, Anikethreddy 4/46) by innings an 43 runs. 

Mumbai vs Jammu and Kashmir, Ranji Trophy LIVE Updates: Mumbai eye turnaround.© BCCI