Cricfactoblogs

                                                          image credit: AFP It was just a usual day for Suryakumar Yadav in the office on Sunday against Zimbabwe where he pounced on a hapless African-nation attack and displayed all sorts of poetry that he has written in his book over the years. Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine was a bit amused and confused at the same time seeing the batting trajectory of Suryakumar as it was the first live interaction for him against this striking professional who knew how to play with the field and that’s what made Ervine furious too with, he indulging in conference with bowlers every other ball Surya faced. In the 20 th over of the innings which was bowled by tall left-handed paceman Richard Ngarava, Ervine jammed the off-side field indicating...

It was in the year 2016, in the midst of the golden phase of the Indian batting sensation, Virat Kohli , who came into the middle under pressure after an early debacle against Australia in what was considered the virtual knockout fight in the T20 WC tournament at Mohali.  If India had to claim the ticket to semi-final, they should anyhow pass this checkpoint of Australian team who were the reigning 50-over World Champions at that time and were on their way to throne the T20 mega event in India. However, it was Kohli who was standing between the lines, and it was Kohli alone who became the difference between the two sides, as what the world saw later was a miraculous innings anyone could have played in the T20 World Cup and is highly in the league of Michael Hussey’s show in WC 2010 against Pakistan in the semi-finals. Now, it is year 2022, the world after the coronavirus pandemic, distinctively transformed. MS Dhoni is replaced by Rohit as India's skipper, and in between, the Vir...

  With Ben Stokes announcing his sudden retirement from this format, the future of this set-up is in shadow.  Ben Stokes retirement from ODI cricket has raged the question on this formats future There was a time when ODI cricket and Test cricket had ruled the cricketing charts around the world. Though test format was, is, and will always be the pinnacle of international cricket but in between that ODI cricket had managed to soak some space out of the red-ball mania in 1971 with some of the greatest tournaments being played in a one-day format. But with time, this format has tarnished its reputation with the emergence of the new and fast cricket i.e., T20 and various leagues around the world being played in this format. And to add that misery, one of the greatest names in one-day cricket, Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from the 50-overs format. He left this citing that it has gone unsustainable for him to play three formats simultaneously. With schedules being tight...

  The Kohli Story: From Everything to Nothing                                     image credit: AFP The year was 2012, and India was playing against Sri Lanka in Hobart. I wasn't a true admirer of neither cricket then nor of specifically "Virat Kohli" for whom I had penned down this emotional and lovely message. Had a great interest only in cricket, and knew someone like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni as the face of Indian cricket. Sri Lanka gave a target of 321 runs to India. It can be said chasable until you realize the over-limit seized to 40 only due to rain. Now it looks like humongous work. No problem, man, Sachin is there, Gambhir is there, Raina is there, Dhoni is there, and Virat...Yaa, he can add some value not great though. 90% would have thought this. On the contrary, the next-level masterclass happened. By whom, Sachin or Gambhir...no man...can't believe; it's Kohli who roar...

Indian captain Kapil Dev lifting the Prudential Cup            Credits : ICC  25 th June, the day when Indian Cricket transformed completely! 25 th June 1983 , the day when India’s stature in cricket changed and the day when people in India started taking cricket seriously otherwise it was just a game before this day. So what’s special happened on this day, as in God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar’s words “a day that changed the Indian cricket history forever, a joy we felt and the pride on witnessing India win the world cup.” 39-years-ago on this day, Kapil Dev led India beat the mighty West Indies led by Sir Clive Llyod in the prudential cup final. India started as the underdogs in the tournament but in the end went on to take the cup back home, all thanks to the confidence and determination Kapil dev had. Beating that West Indies team wasn’t a cup of tea instead it took the heart and soul to overcome that team which had Sir Viv Richards, Sir Cli...

  11 Years of King Kohli. Have a look back on his journey. As Virat Kohli has completed his glorious 11 years in test cricket, lets recap some of the memories that has asserted him as “one of the greatest in this format.” A tweet by Sanjay Manjrekar in 2012 citing “Give Virat one more test…just to be sure he does not belong here” specified the status the Delhi-boy had in his initial years despite having his maiden test ton in Adelaide in 2012 where all the giants had bow down to the mighty Australian attack. That was 2012 and now it’s 2022, after a decade. Today no one can deny to the fact that if Virat wouldn’t have been here, Indian test cricket wouldn’t have achieved the heights it saw in last 6-7 years. Ranked no.7 on the ICC rankings, MS Dhoni ruled out from the first test; facing the most dangerous Aussie attack with some more firepower added to it as compared to the last time. Same old Adelaide Oval . Guess what, first innings as a test captain and a superb cen...

Ex-skipper pertains his peak run in the longest format as England gave a fitting reply with Ollie Pope’s 2 nd century on the batting paradise.  Joe Root can be regarded as the greatest gift to the Test Cricket in the coming years vis-à-vis his dream run in the longest format over couple of years. Giving another illustration of his golden patch, Root slammed another ton-his 27 th in an intense run carnival at the Trent Bridge Stadium, Nottingham.  Continuing the overnight score of 90 for 1, England opener Alex Lees scored his maiden half century in Test Cricket after some due start to his career. Pope continued his control and backed his strength to reach his 2 nd test career ton providing a boost to the hosts after Kiwis registered a score of 553 in the first innings riding on Daryl Mitchell’s 190.  Pope and Root’s resistance  Lees fall of Matt Henry’s patience giving an edge to the Mitchell at first slip. After that, Pope was joined by the 31-year-old Yorkshire s...