MUMBAI: India skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged that he could not match the expected batting standards in the ongoing IPL but instead of indulging in over-thinking, his endeavour was to stay in the right zone and keep working on his flaws. The five-time IPL winning skipper endured a wretched form in the second-half of the season, struggling to cross even a score of 20 in six matches for Mumbai Indians. As a batter, I know I didn't live up to the standard. But, after playing for all these years,

HYDERABAD: All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been a revelation for the Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. The 20-year-old from Andhra turned out to be a vital cog for the 2016 champions in their resurgence. He has played a couple of brilliant knocks to steer the team to safety after the early fall of the wickets on a few occasions. His 37-ball 64 against Punjab Kings and a quickfire 76 off just 42 balls against Rajasthan Royals helped the Pat Cummins-led side to win the matches despite being in t

BENGALURU: Theres been an unusual sort of buzz in Bengaluru during the week. The run-up to the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which will see lakhs of spectators making their way to the stadium, has seen a frenzy of a different kind. A scramble for tickets which were sold out within minutes, fans clutching onto the gates of the stadium and a wave of anxiety and excitement has gripped Bengalureans and Chennaites, alike. Todays big-ticket match is a d

Mumbai: Rohit Sharma saved his best for the last but that wasn't enough to stop another woeful chapter being added to the Mumbai Indians' already nightmarish IPL season, which ended in a last-place finish following a disappointing 18-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, here on Friday. After Rohit smacked his way to a 38-ball 68 to set a strong platform in pursuit of 215, Mumbai's batters failed to keep momentum going in middle overs and finished at 196 for six in 20 overs to hand LSG a much-need

BENGALURU: As the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers arrived at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday evening, they were greeted by typical gloomy weather synonymous with the Garden City. There was not much cloud cover, but at the same time, an eerie stickiness could be felt in the air. Almost as if a precursor to what is in store on Saturday when both teams go up against each other in an unofficial knockout fixture. With a 62 per cent chance of rain and 37 per cent chance of thunderstorms,

HYDERBAD: Heavy rains lashed Hyderabad on Thursday afternoon with the highest recorded rainfall being over 51 mm as of 4 pm according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS). The downpour led to flooding in several parts of the city. Vehicles were seen crawling on the roads with the travel time increasing considerably. The Director of Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation took to X sharing the weather update and asking

HYDERABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday qualified for the Indian Premier League play-offs after rain washed out their IPL match against Gujarat Titans here without a ball being bowled. SRH thus became the third team to make the cut after Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals who are currently occupying the top two places in the standings. The Sunrisers received one point to take their tally to 15 points with one match to go. They will face Punjab Kings, who have already been eliminated,

NEW DELHI: India's only warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup is likely to be played against Bangladesh in New York on June 1, the day when Canada will play co-hosts USA in the tournament opener in Dallas. The 34,000 capacity makeshift stadium at Eisenhower Park was officially launched by legendary sprinter Usain Bolt on Wednesday. Teams usually play two warm-up games ahead of an ICC event but the tight scheduling will not allow all 20 sides to do that ahead of the tournament proper. The IPL e

HYDERABAD: Given their encouraging show in the past one-and-a-half years, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) wanted the men's cricket team to have the best training and preparations for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. But funds were the issue, as supporting the team financially for exposure trips especially to the Caribbean Islands and America was out of their reach. That is when the CAN office-bearers drafted a proposal and sent it to the Nepal government seeking financia

HYDERABAD: SUNRISERS Hyderabad batters seem on a mission every time they take the field this IPL. Be it setting the biggest IPL totals, not once but twice, or posting the highest playoff score or chasing down a target above 160 under 10 overs. Their openers, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, have plundered every bowling unit for runs while scoring at a strike rate of more than 200. Other batters like Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, and Nitish Kumar Reddy are not behind, as they have contributed

CHENNAI: Already-qualified Rajasthan couldnt stem the rot as they went down to already-eliminated Punjab Kings in a low-scoring match at Guwahati, a designated home venue for the former. Rajasthan, who were on a hot streak in the first phase of the season, have now lost four on the trot. While they remain second on the table with 16 points, this loss has opened the door for Sunrisers Hyderabad to finish inside the top-two. Provided Hyderabad win Thursdays match as well as their game against Punj

KATHMANDU: Sandeep Lamichhane, the globally recognised cricketer from Nepal, has been acquitted of rape charges by the Patan High Court in Nepal and is now available to play all forms of domestic and international matches, the country's cricket board said in a press release on Wednesday. The 23-year-old faced eight years of imprisonment and a fine of half a million rupees handed over by a district court after being found guilty of rape in 2022. Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Chatur

HYDERABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad batters seem on a mission every time they take the field this IPL. Be it setting the biggest IPL totals, not once but twice, or posting the highest playoff score or chasing down a target above 160 under 10 overs. Their openers - Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma - have plundered every bowling unit for runs while scoring at a strike rate of more than 200. Other batters like Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram and Nitish Kumar Reddy have contributed quick runs to make even

NEW DELHI: Ultra-aggressive cricket, especially in the powerplay, has transformed the shortest format but it remains to be seen if the players can replicate it in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas, said Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer. IPL teams have scored 200 or more 37 times this season so far but LSG managed to achieve the feat only once -- against Chennai Super Kings last month -- and Langer admitted that they had struggled in the powerplay. The Lucknow wicket has bee

CHENNAI: DELHI Capitals signed off their league obligations with a 19-run win against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. However, the hosts, with 14 points, will have to depend on a couple of teams doing them multiple favours in the final league matches of the season. What complicates matters for them is their inferior Net Run Rate when compared to some of their direct rivals to make the elimination phase of the competition. Right now, they are in fifth but have to hope for one of two things to co

CHENNAI: Ten years after their first Test match in India, South Africa women will play a red-ball fixture in the country, starting June 28 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Along with the four-day Test match, the two sides will face each other in six white ball fixtures - three ODIs (starting from June 16) and three T20Is (starting from July 5) before leaving for the Asia Cup, starting in Sri Lanka on July 19. Bengaluru is scheduled to host three ODIs from June 16, while Chennai will host

Teams where coaches work behind scenes and give players freedom do better: Rayudu

CHENNAI: Even as Lucknow Super Giants brace for a must-win encounter against Delhi Capitals, all eyes will be on their captain KL Rahul. After the hammering Lucknow received at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, they are in a bit of a tricky position, needing to win the remaining two games to have a chance at qualifying for play-offs. Amidst all this, the heated conversation between Rahul and LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka after the loss in Hyderabad has only brought more eyeballs to this clash. Howeve