Jasprit Bumrah was one of the main architects in India’s T20 World Cup 2024. Bumrah scalped 15 wickets and won the Player of the Tournament award. The performance was another validation of Bumrah’s consistent impact in Indian cricket over the past few years. He has got admirers around the world. With a unique action, Bumrah bowled over many experts. But now a young boy is winning praises on social media because of his unique action. Even the great Wasim Akram shared the boy’s video and wrote: “Wah jee wah look at that control and action exactly like the great @Jaspritbumrah93 video of the day for me. #crickethavenoboundiers.”

Wah jee wah look at that control and action exactly like the great @Jaspritbumrah93 video of the day for me . #crickethavenoboundiers https://t.co/Ut215HD3iB

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) July 15, 2024

Not just in T20Is but Bumrah is equally effective in ODIs and Tests as well. Recently, former Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja lavished praise on the India pacer, calling him a “legend of all three formats. 

“In my book, Jasprit Bumrah is a legend in all three formats. There is no one greater who has played all three formats. So you can see, where this boy came from, he lacked confidence, had an awkward bowling action. He was unfit, but he came back, and now he has made India win the World Cup,” Ramiz Raja said on his YouTube channel.

Co-incidentally, Ramiz’s statement came after an old video of India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir started surfacing online, where he was seen talking about having more all-format players in the pool. 

“I’m a very strong believer in one thing, that if you’re good, you should be playing all the three formats. I’ve never been a big believer in injury management, that you get injured, you go get recovered. As simple as it gets. When you’re playing international cricket and you’re good enough, you ask any of the top players, they want to play all the three formats. They don’t want to stay and they don’t want to be labelled as red-ball bowler or white-ball bowler,” Gambhir said in the video. 

Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke joined the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 as the tournament’s brand ambassador. The 2024 edition of the LPL will run from July 1 to 21. Clarke joined the list of LPL brand ambassadors, which included cricket legends like Vivian Richards, Wasim Akram and Sanath Jayasuriya in previous editions. Clarke had a glittering international career that spanned more than a decade. The former Aussie skipper scored 8643 runs in 115 Tests, including 28 centuries, and 7981 runs in 245 ODIs, capping it all by leading his nation to the 2015 World Cup trophy on home soil.

The 43-year-old said he was thrilled to be part of the LPL again and return to Sri Lanka.

“It’s an honour to be in Sri Lanka for the LPL and I have very fond memories here as one of my first Australian tours was an Under-19 World Cup in this country. I loved it as a player and now have the opportunity to be a brand ambassador for a wonderful tournament, so, I am excited to see some young faces who can be the face of Sri Lankan cricket in the coming time. This tournament is very important as it will help grow Sri Lankan cricket as well,” Clarke was quoted in a release from LPL as saying.

Across three weeks of action in the LPL, the five franchises — Colombo Strikers, Dambulla Sixers, Galle Marvels, Jaffna Kings and Kandy — will take on each other twice at three iconic venues in Colombo, Dambulla and Kandy, to be followed by the playoffs.

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria slammed Wasim Akram and other ex-Pakistan cricketers who criticised the current Pakistan team. Kaneria said that instead of criticising from the outside, Akram and other cricketers should instead come and help the side. Pakistan were knocked out of the 2024 T20 World Cup at the group stage, after losses to India and the USA. Kaneria’s reaction comes after Wasim Akram had put out a public rant on social media, demanding a new team be formed for Pakistan.

“Wasim Akram and other people can only preach from the outside. Why don’t they come help the Pakistan side?” asked Kaneria. “Why did Wasim Akram not pose the question about Mohammad Amir‘s selection immediately?” Kaneria told Sports Now.

“Shoaib Malik is a better player than these guys (the current squad),” he added.

The former leg-spinner said that Pakistan’s preparations leading up to the 2024 T20 World Cup had not been up to the mark. He raised special concern over the selections of Mohammad Amir and Azam Khan.

“They (Pakistan) should’ve picked 20-22 players in the camp, and then picked the best 15,” said Kaneria. “Where were Mohammad Amir and Azam Khan six months ago?” blasted Kaneria.

Kaneria slammed the Pakistan team’s management of not being able to make firm decisions.

“They will wake up in the morning and say one thing, and then take a U-turn in the evening. They’re the masters of the U-turn,” said Kaneria.

“They’re egoistic and think they cannot make mistakes,” he added.

Kaneria also criticised the decision to hand back captaincy to Babar Azam, and suggested that he should bat at no. 3 in T20Is, letting Fakhar Zaman open the innings with Mohammad Rizwan.

Babar Azam scored 122 runs in four matches at the 2024 T20 World Cup, but at a strike rate of just 101.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was all praise for the United States of America (USA) after the T20 World Cup debutants qualified for the Super 8 stage of the tournament. After their rain-hit stalemate against Ireland, USA rode on their wins over Canada and former T20 World Cup champions Pakistan to qualify for the next round. The only blip in their campaign came at the hands of India, but they had also given a tought fight to the Rohit Sharma and co. before going down.

Speaking in a video shared by ICC, Akram said USA deserve to be in the next round, especially after beating Pakistan.

“Yeah, absolutely. And congratulations to Team USA. They’ve done amazingly well when you talk about globalisation of the game. This is it USA qualifying for Super Eights,” Akram said in a video shared by ICC’s Instagram handle.

Akram, however, took a dig at the Pakistan team, saying that the while USA will be heading to the next round, the Babar Azam and co. will be boarding a flight to Dubai, before heading back home

“They deserve to be there. They had beaten Pakistan in the round match. So they are there. And for Pakistan was the plan EK 601 to Dubai and then to the respective cities. And then we see what happens from there onwards,” Akram added.

The USA advanced to the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup on Friday when their match against Ireland was abandoned, an outcome which meant former champions Pakistan were eliminated.

Ground staff spent hours working to dry the wet outfield at Lauderhill but shortly after the umpires had inspected conditions a huge downpour ended any hope with the field quickly under water once again.

The spot in the last eight also means that the USA have qualified automatically for the 2026 World Cup.

(With AFP Inputs)

It was an IPL 2024 season full of twists and turns for Australian cricket team fast bowler Mitchell Starc. He was bought for a record Rs 24.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders and the price tag instantly put a lot of pressure on the veteran cricketer. Things did not improve as he made a bad start to his journey with KKR and was taken to the cleaners on multiple occasions. However, it was Starc who had the last laugh as he produced brilliant bowling performances in Qualifier 1 and the final to guide KKR to their third IPL title.

The uneven journey came with its own set of critics who were quite harsh towards the bowler but ended up praising him for his brilliance. In a chat show on Sportskeeda, an anchor asked Gautam Gambhir  about the the critics’ opinion. The anchor also said that when the same thing was asked to former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram, he called them girgit (chameleon).

However, KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir was not in agreement with Akram. The former Indian cricket team opener said that experts will always criticise players based on their recent performances and the only thing that should matter to the players is what their teammates think about him.

“It is the job of the experts and there is nothing to feel bad about. Experts judge you on your daily performances. If you get out on zero, they will criticise you. If you score a century, these same people will praise you. That is why I want to say that what the experts say, what the social media says, what the crowd says – it does not matter. What the people say in your dressing room think about you is important. People will keep doing their jobs – some criticise more and some criticise less. It is their nature or thought process,” Gambhir said during his interview on Sportskeeda.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s wait for an Indian Premier League (IPL) title was shattered once again as the franchise crashed out of the tournament after losing to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Eliminator. RCB managed to pull off a remarkable comeback to reach the playoffs after losing seven of their first eight games. However, RCB succumed to a crushing defeat at the expense of RR in the Eliminator. Virat Kohli was the top performer for the franchise yet again as he bowed out of the tournament with the Orange Cap firmly stuck on his head.

The former RCB batter scored 741 runs in 15 matches this season; no other batter has crossed the 600-run mark yet. Kohli has been part of RCB since the inaugral season of IPL in 2008, and has seen his side lost three finals (2009, 2011 and 2016).

As RCB’s search for an IPL trophy continued, former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who also played for the franchise, advised Kohli to join another team in order to win the elusive title.

“I have said it before and I will say it again — the greats of the game in other sports, have left teams to go and seek glory somewhere else. When he has tried and tried so hard — won the Orange Cap yet again and done so much yet again and the franchise fails again. I understand for the brand of the team and the commercial value he brings to the team… But Virat Kohli deserves a trophy. He deserves to play in a team that could help him to get that trophy,” Pietersen on Star Sports.

However, legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram had a different view on this matter. On being asked to share his views on Pietersen’s advice, Akram suggested that overseas former cricketer’s shouldn’t speak on such matters, adding that it should be Kohli’s choice eventually.

“I’ve a very strict answer. Kevin is a very good friend of mine. All these foreign ex-players, who do the commentary, they tweet about everything related to India. I’m all for it… it’s probably right but it’s not a big deal for me. It’s a big deal for Kohli, maybe. He wants to win for RCB, what would changing the team do for him, then? He wants to win for RCB, that’s his call. That’s my opinion. I don’t want to speak on everything, that’s what I’ve learned,” Akram said on Sportskeeda.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding MS Dhoni‘s future in the Indian Premier League after Chennai Super Kings crashed out of the IPL 2024 playoffs race. Dhoni mainly played as a lower-order finisher for his team amid reports of a knee injury and after CSK lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a crucial encounter, fans and experts once again started wondering whether it was the last time that the former India skipper played for CSK. Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram weighed in on the subject and said that he has a ‘gut feeling; that Dhoni will not be returning for the next season.

“(On MS Dhoni’s future) I have a gut feeling, he’ll be done after this. Players like him come in a lifetime, it all depends on him,” Akram said on Sportskeeda.

Earlier, former Australian cricket team batter Matthew Hayden also echoed similar sentiments after CSK’s loss against RCB.

“I think this is it. I do believe that this will be the last time that Dhoni will play. Certainly, won’t be the last time that we see Dhoni. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t mentor or be a part of the family of CSK in an official capacity,” said Hayden on Star Sports Cricket Live.

“I suppose the thing is when you come to the end of your career, whether it is the last part of his career or not, what you don’t want to see is diminishing returns as an athlete. Firstly, as a leader, he is The Thala of the Chennai Super Kings. This is telling me that nothing here is about becoming anything else other than first place.”

“He’s desperately using his brains, all of that cricket knowledge. And of course, the power is there and that’s always been MS Dhoni. He’s always hit balls at this stage of an innings. At the front, you can understand how players can hit it. But at the back, it’s really hard to hit balls,” he added.