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By K.R. Nayar  Ajinkya Rahane announced his retirement from international cricket, leaving behind a treasure full of memories. They were performances that made India look formidable against top teams. He was often dropped during his prime, especially when he deserved to be firmly entrenched in the Indian team. Rahane was a selfless, ultimate team man, an exceptionally brilliant fielder, and a batter who could adapt to any conditions and format. His elegance was without noise and refused to be flashy to attract public attention. Rahane deserves a rich tribute as he walks away from international cricket for many compelling reasons. A glance at his performances makes one wonder why Rahane, now 38 years old, was never picked for ODIs since 2018 (at the age of 30), for T20I matches since 2016 (at the age of 28), and why his last Test appearance came in 2023. Fans thereafter got to applaud him only in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League. He will stand tall as one among the f...

By K.R. Nayar India has recorded a clean sweep 3-0 win over Zimbabwe in Harare in the T20 series, powered by a fearless and positive mindset.  Arriving in Harare with a string of six defeats in T20 International matches, they won the first match by seven wickets, the second by 90 runs, and the third by 35 runs. At a time when there were doubts over whether this team would crash again, under Shreyas Iyer, the players blocked all negative thoughts and focused on the present. An inspiring message from Iyer did the trick. Iyer urged his players to shed fear and forget the past: “Be in the present. Maximise the opportunity you're getting. Tomorrow is a new day.” Simple words, but they struck deep. Ishan Kishan, who emerged as the Player of the Match in the second game, revealed the impact of positivity that helped him produce a match-winning knock of 81 and how focusing on the present moment backed him. “I don't give so much focus to what's happening outside. I know the wa...

By K.R. Nayar  Indian cricket was passing through a worrying phase. Amidst that gloom, a 15-year-old boy in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has brought some cheer. Despite India being the world champions in T20 cricket, a string of six defeats in this format required a break. Through a whirlwind 50 off just 19 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes, Sooryavanshi powered India to a seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe on July 23, 2026, in Harare. This half-century from the teenager is much beyond a match-winning knock. It has come from a boy who was kept out of the eleven for the ODI matches against England following scores of 14, 13 and 15 in the T20 series defeat to England. Doubts were raised over whether he would live up to his promise in international cricket. But the manner in which he batted against Zimbabwe, unleashing his aggressive skills, showed that he is special. He has now become the youngest player to hit a half-century in international cricket at 15 years and 118 days. In fac...

By K.R. Nayar Garry Sobers, the legendary cricketer from the West Indies, passed away two weeks before his 90 th birthday on July 17, 2026. Sobers was a hero I had heard about from the time I chose to play cricket, and when I became a journalist, I got to read a lot about him too. In countless interviews with international cricketers, his name would surface—almost inevitably, almost reverentially. For many, he was not just an idol; he was the benchmark of greatness. I never had the privilege of watching him play live—only through grainy videos—but was fortunate to spend time with those who have shared the field with him, and through them, Sobers came alive for me. One of them was the late former Indian all-rounder Syed Abid Ali. We used to spend a lot of time together in Sharjah and Dubai when he was the coach of the UAE team. I remember writing about his encounters with Sobers during the early 2000s, and they were published in the newspaper I worked for in the UAE. Once Ali w...

By K.R. Nayar  After India lost the second ODI match to England, there were numerous reports stating Rohit Sharma could be playing the last ODI of his career in the third and final match at Lord’s on Sunday. The selectors have not officially made any statement that Sharma has been informed about it. Is this then a calculated leak, or is it a story born out of reporters’ imagination? Almost every leading newspaper has carried this story, cautiously labelling it as speculation. Some reports claim that the selectors have already informed Sharma about a long-term transition plan, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill being groomed as the new opening pair for the future. If this is true, how did a private conversation between Sharma and the selectors become news? Is this how a great cricketer and a World Cup-winning captain is treated? You don’t whisper exits for such players—you must announce them with respect. No one knows how this news emerged, but this rumour is no longer a...

By K.R. Nayar  India’s women’s team thrashing England by 270 runs in the one-off Test match at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground will be etched as a golden page in India’s cricket history. Becoming the winner of the first-ever women’s Test at Lord’s is indeed a great honour. It is akin to planting the tricolour at the summit of Mount Everest. One is reminded of the famous quote by Sunil Gavaskar after he crossed the 10,000-run barrier in Test cricket and had compared it to climbing Mount Everest, when he said: “There may be others who will follow, but the one who gets there first is remembered”. In the future, many women’s teams may go on to record Test victories at Lord’s, but India, who did it first through an emphatic win, will be remembered forever. All firsts, in sport, are indeed forever. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and coach Amol Muzumdar need to be lauded for being able to shake off the ICC T20 World Cup exit defeat barely two weeks ago at the same venue (on June...

By K.R. Nayar Team India’s back-to-back T20I series losses is not just disappointing – it is alarming. Questions are piling up as to why this has happened, including defeats to Ireland and a meek surrender to England. The excuse given is that the selectors are experimenting, and hence the team deserves a long rope. That raises an important question: Is England the right place to conduct experiments without experienced or senior players? It is a fact that even experienced players have struggled to adapt to English conditions. Such humiliation and a string of defeats can only squash the confidence of all the players in this team.  It is worth examining the comments by both, coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shreyas Iyer, following the poor show.  Gambhir’s tone while answering queries from journalists was laced with dismissiveness. It seemed as if those questioning the repeated failures were overreacting. Gambhir’s “intelligent” answer was: "It's absolutely true that we...

By K.R. Nayar Sanju Samson has been dropped again. This time, the axe has fallen before the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. A study of Samson’s career reveals a blatant truth: he tops the list among Indian cricketers to be dropped from the Indian team the maximum number of times and has been ignored from the playing eleven despite being part of the squad. Samson has been dropped for the Zimbabwe series after just three scores of 5, 0, and 1, but this came after knocks of 97 not out, 89, and 89 that helped India win the T20 World Cup. This literally means that the selectors are walking around him with an axe. In fact, he got the chance to play those match-winning knocks in the T20 World Cup after the selectors tried their best to keep him out of the playing eleven, but were forced to include him towards the end. For the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, the selectors had happily kept him out of the eleven throughout the tournament, as if his best role was to warm the bench. Those ...

By K.R. Nayar  Australian women lifted the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title for the seventh time, and this time it happened due to ‘Moon’ and the ‘Stars’. Beth Mooney, nicknamed Moon, played a splendid knock of 64, backed by Phoebe Litchfield’s 48. These two, along with the other players, all of whom are worthy of being stars, ensured a seven-wicket win over England in the final at Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 5, 2026. The Australian team is in seventh heaven now, mainly due to their meticulous planning and consistent hard work. They have also won the ICC Women’s World Cup (50-over) seven times, proving themselves to be a power in world cricket. Though Team India are the reigning women’s World Cup champions, they have a long way to go to become a strong force in both formats like the Australians in women’s cricket. So why is it a treat to watch these Australian women in action? Primarily, it is the confidence with which they walk onto the field announcing they are out...

By K.R. Nayar  While reporting domestic cricket in the UAE, a smiling face always greeted me at different venues and almost at all tournaments. Cricketers lovingly called him “Uncle.” To some, he was Uncle Thomson; to others, Bulla Mama. But to everyone in general, Thomson John D'Silva was warmth wrapped in a smile. As the manager of many domestic teams in the UAE, most of his teams have won numerous laurels. He was an inspiring presence, and he passed away on July 2, 2026, at the age of 75. The ever-smiling Uncle Thomson   Not everyone is blessed with innate man-management skills. Uncle Thomson had that unique ability not just to manage but to mentor and be like a guardian. During the glorious period of domestic cricket in the UAE, when tournaments were enthusiastically organised by passionate lovers of the game and councils, Uncle Thomson was in great demand as a team manager. As a reporter, he was my best point of contact since he would willingly share details about eve...