India

3:55 PM GMT It’s nearly a month since this World Cup began, and the actual action might only just be getting started. After 28 matches – 29, if you count the Kenya-Zimbabwe game that had to be replayed owing to a bad pitch in Patna – and two walkovers, the eight teams everyone expected to

10:50 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff With the COVID-19 pandemic locking the world down, cricket around the globe has been indefinitely stalled. Among the high-profile ones to be affected is the 13th season of the IPL. Though the chances of the tournament taking place this year is increasingly looking bleak, Kevin Pietersen is hoping for it

3:08 PM GMT India 277 for 4 (Gambhir 97, Dhoni 91*) beat Sri Lanka 274 for 6 (Jayawardene 103*, Sangakkara 48) by six wickets Twenty-eight years on from the match that transformed the history of world cricket, India recaptured the crown that Kapil Dev and his men first lifted at Lord’s in 1983, and this

11:36 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Fitness, fielding and finding two or three good fast bowlers are India’s focus areas looking ahead to next year’s 50-over Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. This is the assessment of Harmanpreet Kaur, who also insists T20I captaincy isn’t a burden despite her lean returns with the bat recently. “Now

2:15 PM GMT With number of infected cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the rise in India, Manoj Badale, majority owner at Rajasthan Royals, feels the prospect of a “shortened” tournament is increasing, but even that would be subject to collaboration between the BCCI and other cricket boards. Badale also said that he would

6:38 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The cricket world has come to a standstill with all international and domestic fixtures being called off due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) across the globe, but according to India coach Ravi Shastri this break is a “welcome rest” as far as India players are concerned. Talking to

4:46 AM GMT Annesha Ghosh Mithali Raj, Indian Women’s ODI captain, believes the BCCI should not “wait forever” to organise the women’s IPL, and wants the inaugural tournament to be held in 2021. Raj, currently the most experienced player in women’s cricket, said that the women’s IPL could initially be on a “smaller scale”. “I

2:07 PM GMT Saurabh Somani Close Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo Chandrakant Pandit, the former India player and one of the most successful coaches in Indian domestic cricket, has decided to move from Vidarbha to Madhya Pradesh for the 2020-21 season. Pandit had coached Vidarbha to back-to-back triumphs in the Ranji Trophy

4:48 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Baroda has indefinitely suspended Atul Bedade, the head coach of the state’s women’s team, pending an inquiry into allegations including those of sexual harassment. A letter from the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) to Bedade, which has been viewed by ESPNcricinfo, didn’t list specific allegations against him, but noted their nature:

3:09 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Indian umpires Janani Narayanan and Vrinda Rathi were inducted into the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires on Tuesday, taking the count of women match officials across different ICC panels up to 12. Narayanan, 34, and Rathi, 31, who hail from Chennai and Mumbai respectively, have officiated in domestic matches

5:36 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Virat Kohli‘s demeanour on the field has pleased and upset people equally, with some welcoming his in-your-face pumped-up aggression, and others calling for a more restrained approach. As far as Madan Lal, the new head of the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, is concerned, asking Kohli to “mellow down” makes no

9:50 AM GMT Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai The BCCI and the IPL franchise owners have decided to adopt a wait-and-watch approach over when and how to hold the IPL. They want to give health and safety of the players and people involved in holding the IPL priority and are likely to discuss its schedule again

3:15 PM GMT Despite having deferred the IPL until April 15, the tournament’s governing council will meet on Saturday in Mumbai to review the precautionary steps needed to be put in place for the marquee event to start in April. The IPL top brass will also be meeting the owners/top executives of all franchises to

9:07 AM GMT The start of IPL 2020 has been pushed back to April 15 following the global concern over the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak. The decision to postpone the tournament, which was scheduled to start on March 29, was taken by the BCCI top brass lead by its president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay

3:58 PM GMT The remaining two ODIs of the ongoing series between India and South Africa will be played to empty stadiums. The development comes in the wake of the Indian government directing the BCCI and other national sporting federations including the Indian Olympics Committee on Thursday to “avoid” mass gatherings at sporting events as

9:56 AM GMT It is now a strong possibility that IPL 2020 will take place behind closed doors, in light of the coronavirus threat, with the Indian government indicating it will not stop sporting events from taking place as long as they adhere strictly to health-ministry guidelines discouraging mass gatherings. On Wednesday, the World Health

7:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Ajinkya Rahane feels that India’s issues against the short ball are being spoken about “too much”, adding that their 2-0 Test series defeat in New Zealand came about mainly due to their opposition’s skilful use of home conditions. New Zealand’s bowlers have used the short ball liberally in recent years,

3:31 AM GMT The fate of the IPL will be up for discussion with the tournament’s Governing Council set to meet on March 14. With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) as a pandemic, there is growing concern over whether or not the IPL should go ahead as scheduled from March 29.

Akash Deep celebrates after yet another wicket © PTI C Shamsuddin will take no further part as an on-field umpire in the Ranji Trophy final in Rajkot because of swelling in his lower abdomen, after a ball thrown by a Bengal fielder following the fall of a wicket on Monday hit Shamsuddin when he wasn’t

6:15 PM GMT Owners of all eight franchises have signed a letter that was sent to the IPL, asking the league to put on hold the proposed changes concerning the league standing money and the hosting fee payable to the state associations that house the venues. Among the owners that signed letter, which was sent

5:09 PM GMT In their first Ranji Trophy final in 14 years, Bengal faced the very real possibility of seeing the match run away from them on the first day itself. They had lost the toss on a on a visibly dry surface that threatened to negate their three-pronged pace attack – one that had

2:02 PM GMT If India have to emerge as world beaters in women’s cricket, it is time the BCCI invests in a women’s IPL soon. That is the recommendation of former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who believes the women’s IPL need not follow the eight-team structure of the men’s tournament, but could comprise four or

Megan Schutt is mobbed after sending back Shafali Verma © ICC via Getty Australia 184 for 4 (Mooney 78*, Healy 75, Sharma 2-38) beat India 99 all out (Sharma 33, Schutt 4-18, Jonassen 3-20) by 85 runs “We haven’t played our best game of cricket yet and that’s still out there somewhere and hopefully it

9:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan have returned to India’s ODI squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa, after recovering from their respective injuries. Rohit Sharma, who had sustained a calf injury in New Zealand last month, was not part of the 15-man squad. Squad: Shikhar Dhawan,

9:05 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Wasim Jaffer, the former India, Mumbai and Vidarbha opener, has finally called time on his career, aged 42. He made his first-class debut in 1996 season, played 31 Tests and two ODIs for India. Jaffer finished his career as the fifth-highest run maker in Indian first-class cricket along with 10

Alyssa Healy hits over the top © Getty Images The Women’s T20 World Cup final will be the fifth time Australia and India have met in just over a month. The played three times in the recent tri-series, including the final, and also played in the opening match of the tournament. The teams have won

4:46 AM GMT Big Picture Tournament organisers have been handed their dream final, between the world’s No. 1 team and hosts Australia, and the world’s mightiest and most populous cricket nation, India. An enormous crowd is expected at the MCG, with the ICC releasing extra standing room tickets on Saturday to cope with demand. With

4:10 PM GMT South Africa’s ODI tour of India for three ODIs will go ahead after the organisation completed a risk assessment regarding the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) across the world. While South Africa reported its first confirmed case of the virus on Thursday, India’s health ministry has estimated infections are affecting around 30

12:42 PM GMT Hemant Brar During the Saurashtra-Gujarat Ranji Trophy semi-final, played in Rajkot this week, Chirag Jani had shouldered arms to a Roosh Kalaria delivery that pitched outside off and hit him on the pads. The finger went up and, when Jani asked for a review, he was denied, though Saurashtra had all their

6:27 PM GMT Even as COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) continues to cripple all walks of life across the world, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said the IPL is “on” and that the board is taking all necessary precautions for the smooth conduct of cricket’s most lucrative tournament, which begins on March 29. Some of those precautionary