Mohammed Shami, the eternal comeback kid who just won’t quit—except the selectors seem determined to make him. As of April 2026, India’s once-reliable seam spearhead hasn’t worn the blue jersey since the Champions Trophy final in March 2025. That’s over a year of watching from the sidelines while racking up 67 wickets in domestic cricket for Bengal across Ranji, Vijay Hazare, and Syed Mushtaq Ali. Impressive? Sure. Enough for a recall? Apparently not. Bravo, selectors. Nothin

Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh Mumbai: As squash prepares to make its long-awaited debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, India’s position on the global map of the sport received a significant boost with the successful staging of the JSW Indian Open 2026 in Mumbai. The tournament, held on the Professional Squash Association World Tour circuit, not only showcased elite talent but also underlined the growing importance of corporate partnerships in nurturing emerging sports.

Mumbai: The IPL 2026 opening match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium wasn’t a cricket contest. It was a full-scale six-hitting festival, complete with bowlers serving as reluctant ball boys and the leather sphere treating the boundary ropes like an optional suggestion rather than a hard limit. SRH, batting first after being inserted, scraped together 201 for 9 in their full 20 overs. Stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan led the

Mumbai: For decades, One-Day International (ODI) cricket occupied a unique space in the sport. Positioned between the endurance and tradition of Test cricket and the high-intensity spectacle of T20s, the 50-over format once represented the ideal balance of strategy, skill and entertainment. It produced some of the game’s most memorable moments, from India’s historic triumphs in the 1983 Cricket World Cup and the 2011 Cricket World Cup to countless dramatic run chases and reco

In the glitzy, high-scoring arena of the Indian Premier League, where power-hitters and express pacers often steal the headlines, a quieter revolution has been brewing. Spinners – those deceptive practitioners of flight, turn and guile – have quietly become the league’s most potent force. The numbers from IPL 2025 tell a story of dominance: after 50 matches, spinners claimed 220 wickets at an average of 30.02, bowling 41 per cent of all overs and accounting for 39 per cent of

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes.

In the high-stakes world of T20 cricket, where every ball can swing fortunes, India’s opening conundrum has intensified following Abhishek Sharma’s unceremonious drop due to a string of dismal performances in the lead-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Sharma, once hailed for his explosive starts, faltered with low scores and a strike rate dipping below 130 in recent domestic outings and warm-up games, prompting selectors to pivot. This leaves a pivotal decision: who par

Mumbai: At just 23, Rutuja Dadaso Pisal has already established herself as a regular in the senior Indian Women’s Hockey Team, emerging as an influential presence in the midfield and has been included in the squad for the upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Hyderabad, Telangana, scheduled from March 8 to 14. Hailing from Phaltan, a small village in the Satara district in Maharashtra, Rutuja’s journey into hockey began somewhat unexpectedly. “Before hockey, we used

The victorious strategist wins first and then goes to battle Mumbai: Two years ago in Barbados, the scars of India’s crushing ODI World Cup final defeat still lingered and the drought of ICC titles weighed heavily. India had seized control in the middle overs, only to see it slip under Heinrich Klaasen’s fierce assault. With South Africa needing 30 off 30 balls and their in-form batter at the crease, momentum appeared lost. That was when he stepped in to halt the Proteas’ su

Sikandar Raza In the often unforgiving world of international cricket, where associate nations like Zimbabwe grapple with financial woes, administrative chaos, and sporadic glimpses of glory, few players embody resilience quite like Sikandar Raza. Born in Sialkot, Pakistan, in 1986, Raza’s journey to becoming Zimbabwe’s cricketing talisman is a tale of migration, adaptation, and unyielding determination. Moving to Harare at age 16 in 2002, he traded a potential career in the

Jammu & Kashmir’s march into the Ranji Trophy final sends a larger message beyond sport. It says that after decades, the state is finally aligning with India’s political and civic mainstream. History has a habit of announcing itself in strange ways. In Jammu & Kashmir, it now announces itself by wearing cricket whites. As the once-turbulent state plays its first Ranji Trophy final in 67 years against Karnataka in Hubballi, the moment matters far more than a mere sporting mira

In every ICC tournament cycle, India walks in branded as a batting superpower. The aura is built around depth, firepower and the assumption that any total is chaseable and any platform can be converted into a match-winning score. Yet in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup, a troubling pattern has resurfaced: when the batters fail, India appears to have no safety net. The question is no longer whether India possesses talent with the bat, they undeniably do, but whether an exce

Oh, the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry – that age-old spectacle where borders blur, families feud over flat screens, and street vendors hawk flags like they’re going out of style. Remember when it was the stuff of legends? Tense chases, nail-biting finishes, and enough drama to make Bollywood blush. But let’s be honest, folks: at the World Cup stage, this so-called “epic clash” is starting to feel less like a thriller and more like a predictable rom-com where one side always

In late January 2026, KL Rahul sat down with Kevin Pietersen and spoke with rare honesty about retirement. At 33, the elegant Karnataka batsman admitted the thought had crossed his mind. “I don’t think it’s gonna be that difficult,” he said. “If you’re honest with yourself, when it’s time, it’s time. And there’s no point dragging it. Obviously, I’m some time away.” Those words landed like a quiet full stop on a career that has been anything but quiet. Rahul has not retired ye

In the high-octane world of T20 cricket, where every ball can swing fortunes and aggression reigns supreme, India faces a perennial wicketkeeper-batter conundrum: Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson? Both are prodigiously talented, capable of dismantling bowling attacks on their day, and have donned the gloves for the national side. Yet, as we approach the T20 World Cup 2026, the scales tip decisively toward Ishan Kishan as the better choice. His explosive form, tactical fit, and re

Pakistan’s decision to avoid playing India at the T20 World Cup signals a shrinking space for even symbolic engagement between two hostile neighbours. Cricket has long been described as the last remaining civil language between India and Pakistan, a rare arena where dialogue, however competitive, was still possible. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s reported decision to not allow its national team to play against India in the T20 World Cup is therefore not just a sporting withdraw

RCB's bowling attack enters IPL 2026 as a pace-dominant unit that powered their maiden title win in 2025, but defending the crown demands addressing spin vulnerabilities and injury risks. This SWOT analysis reveals a transformed attack capable of contending, yet not invincible against evolving T20 tactics. Strengths RCB's pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Yash Dayal forms a world-class core, blending swing, bounce, and left-arm angle variation. Hazlewood's 2

Shubman Gill’s rapid rise to India’s ODI captaincy in late 2025 was billed as the beginning of a bold new chapter for Indian cricket. At just 26, the elegant Punjab batsman had already carved out an impressive resume: a Test average above 50, consistent big scores in white-ball cricket, and a reputation as one of the most technically sound stroke-makers in the modern game. His appointment came on the heels of Rohit Sharma’s retirement from limited-overs formats following Indi

Celebrating National Youth Day today, we look at three young chess stalwarts - World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi. After performing well in the Global Chess League in Mumbai held from December 14-23, 2025, at the Royal Opera House, they participated in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships held in Doha, Qatar, from December 26-30, 2025 where Arjun won a bronze medal in each category. Gukesh Dommaraju from Chennai became the yo

One of the most technically perfect batsman the world cricket has produced, Rahul Sharad Dravid was born on January 11, 1973, and as he celebrates his 53rd birthday on Sunday, Indian cricket pauses to honour a man whose career embodied the spirit of the gentleman’s game. In an era defined by flamboyance, noise and instant gratification, Dravid stood apart—calm, composed and unyielding. Aptly nicknamed “The Wall,” he was not merely a cricketer but a moral compass for the sport