International
1st T20I: Kishan, Iyer sparkle in India’s convincing 62-run win over Sri Lanka
Ishan Kishan (89 off 56 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (57 not out off 28 balls) sparkled with scintillating knocks against an underwhelming Sri Lanka bowling attack to set up a convincing 62-run win at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
In a tall chase of 200, Sri Lanka were never in the race from the word go. With the pitch slowing down in the second innings and dew not coming to their rescue, India’s bowlers did well to keep Sri Lanka to just 137/6 in their 20 overs. Such was the ease of the win that only Ravindra Jadeja completed his quota of four overs.
India struck with a wicket on the very first ball as Pathum Nissanka played on to his stumps off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The ball kept low and Nissanka, in a bid to defend, didn’t realise that the ball rolled on to hit the stumps. Kamil Mishara struck some boundaries and was even dropped by Venkatesh Iyer at mid-wicket. But two balls later, Kumar got Mishara to miscue a slog straight to mid-wicket.
Janith Liyanage’s struggling time at the crease came to an end when he tried to pull from outside the off-stump and got a top-edge flying to point. Ravindra Jadeja, returning from an injury lay-off, shortened his length and got one to turn and bounce away from an advancing Dinesh Chandimal, resulting in an easy stumping for Ishan Kishan.
Sri Lanka’s free fall continued as Dasun Shanaka reverse-swept straight to point off Chahal. Shanaka’s dismissal made Chahal the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.
Chamika Karunaratne hit two sixes but gave a thick edge behind to Kishan off Iyer.
Charith Asalanka was the lone ranger for Sri Lanka while Dushmantha Chameera took a six and two fours off Iyer to showcase his batting skills. Asalanka reached his fifty off 43 balls with a flick through mid-wicket and that was the lone bright spot for Sri Lanka in the series opener.
Earlier, Kishan, who didn’t have a great time against the West Indies, toyed with the Sri Lanka bowlers and mixed fluency with dismissive shots to reach his highest T20I score. Iyer, on the other hand, stepped up in the last three overs to provide a great finish to India’s innings after being pushed into batting first.
Sharma began with a clip through the on-side before going into sedate mode. His partner, Kishan, got enough width from Karunaratne to smash three boundaries in the arc between cover and third man in the third over to get India up and running.
Kishan continued to smash a flurry of boundaries off Lahiru Kumara, Praveen Jayawickrama and Chameera in the next three overs for India to be 58/0 at the end of power-play. Post power-play, Kishan crashed a wide googly from Jeffrey Vandersay through cover. On the very next ball, Kishan was deceived by a wrong’un, only for Liyanage to spill a forward diving chance at deep mid-wicket.
Sharma cracked some boundaries while Kishan marched his way to reaching his second T20I fifty. Sri Lanka finally had a breakthrough in the 12th over when Kumara’s slower delivery kept low and went past Sharma’s attempted slog to hit the off-stump.
Post Sharma’s fall, India’s scoring went slow but Kishan broke the shackles in the 16th over, dispatching Kumara over long-on, followed by hammering back-to-back fours through point and mid-wicket.
But in the next over, Kishan departed for 89, top-edging a pull off a slower delivery from Shanaka to deep mid-wicket. Iyer timed his flicks sweetly before hammering Karunaratne over long-on for a big six, followed by collecting fours twice through short third man.
In the final over, Iyer again launched a six over long-on and then brought up his fifty off just 25 balls with a flick through square leg. Iyer was decisive in India collecting 69 runs off the last five overs, which was enough for the hosts’ to extend their winning streak in T20Is to ten matches.
Brief Scores: India 199/2 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 89, Shreyas Iyer 57 not out; Dasun Shanaka 1/19, Lahiru Kumara 1/43) beat Sri Lanka 137/6 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 53 not out, Dushmantha Chameera 24 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Venkatesh Iyer 2/36) by 62 runs
International
CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources
New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”
“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.
Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.
Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.
International
It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027
India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.
The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.
This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).
It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.
International
‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global
New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.
Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.
Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.
Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.
He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”
He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.
“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.
He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”
Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.
“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”
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