The die has been cast for Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, as they lost their eighth game out of 11 so far and become the second team to be knocked out of any play-off chances in IPL 2026. The sense of despondency among the Mumbai Paltan, who began the season on a winning note at home, is understandable -  while the knives are once again out for the beleaguered skipper Hardik Pandya.

It’s been three seasons now that Pandya had completed the controversial trade-off from Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai camp again – with reports of an undisclosed sum of money changing hands over and above the transfer fees. While the first season in 2024 under him had been a disaster with the team finishing last in the table, they regrouped well last year to make the play-offs before slumping into inconsistency again this time.

After the 2025 season saw a rejuvenated Hardik after emerging as the MVP in India’s T20 World Cup triumph the previous year, much was expected of him after yet another critical role by him behind the Men in Blue retaining the crown last March. However, call it the fatigue factor (which has seen a number of the World T20 winning members enduring a poor IPL season) or any form of niggle, Hardik had been far from his best – scraping together 146 runs from the eight matches he played and only four wickets. 

The buzz on social media on Monday was that the captain had distanced himself from the franchise by 'unfollowing' them on Instagram and deleting the squad photos from his account. While it was not true as MI returned as one of his 'followed' accounts after a brief absence, informed sources reveal that the equation between the star allrounder and the management has entered an uncomfortable phase due to some non-cricketing issues. The last match in Raipur on Sunday, which MI lost narrowly in the last over to RCB, saw Pandya missing the third game on the trot owing to a ‘back issue,’ but it has set the tongues wagging.

‘’Hardik had developed a back issue – we will monitor it on a day-to-day basis,’’ said head coach Mahela Jayawardene after the defeat. The Sri Lankan legend, brought back into coaching operations from a global role after the MI floundered under Mark Boucher, was at a loss to explain the team’s early ouster.

‘’It’s difficult for me to sum up the season at this stage, but we were not just good enough. We were not good with bad or ball and we were not consistent,’’ remarked Mahela. A series of injuries including Rohit Sharma, Hardik and the lacklustre form of Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma (barring a century) did not help MI campaign – while what hurt them especially was Jasprit Bumrah suddenly losing his venom in the earlier part of the tournament.

‘’We still have a few games left and have to continue with the season,’’ said Mahela as their next game is against Punjab Kings on 14 May.  While the mild mannered chief coach was protective about the ‘core group’ in his team – an educated guess is that the team management may be looking for a change at the helm for the next season if not for the three remaining games as well. With Rohit Sharma possibly staring at his last couple of seasons in IPL and Surya suffering a prolonged drought with the bat, Tilak Varma’s name is being aired as an incumbent for the future.

For now, the best MI can hope for is a late push to finish at mid-table and then take a fresh guard for the next season!

In the 19-year-old history of IPL, only two teams: Chennai Super Kings (2010-11) and Mumbai Indians (2019-20) had been able to win back-to-back titles. Royal Challengers Bangalore seem to have what it takes – call it the swagger or balance of the team – to emulate them as they take on Gujarat Titans in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday but then this format is notorious for being a game of small margins.

A look at the final league standings may show that there have been very little to choose from between the two finalists – both of them having finished on 18 points (alongwith Sunrisers Hyderabad), but Rajat Patidar’s RCB showed their apetite for the big game in the way they mauled the normally consistent Titans in Qualifier 1. It gave them the luxury of a five-day break before the final while Shubman Gill & Co will look for a ‘quick turnaround’ within 24 hours to be at their best after a sapping Qualifier 2 in Mullanpur.

The fatigue is something which Gill seemed wary about after his classical 104 made the Titans’ chase of a daunting 214 against Rajasthan Royals look easy on Friday night. The IPL had, for reasons known best to them, dispensed with the system of hosting the second Qualifier and final at the same venue this year – scheduling Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala, the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 at New Chandigarh and then the final in the western part of the country in Ahmedabad at a day’s gap.

The Virat Kohli factor, given the supreme touch he is in (600 runs in 15 matches) and an insatiable hunger for team success gives RCB a big plus – though the team management must be thankful to Kohli and the collective wisdom behind hoisting Rajat Patidar in the hot seat last season.  Not only has the Madhya Pradesh batter, no spring chicken at 32, given their middle order the dynamism that they lacked in the past despite a plethora of big names, Patidar's calm approach to captaincy has added to RCB’s stability too as a team across the last two seasons. 

A batting line-up comprising of Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer (in Phil Salt’s absence), Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David and Patidar have relentlessly pounded the opposition with some top-gear batting. The nature of pitches or opposition’s bowling strategies have had little effect on their approach as no other team has managed to go past 200 as often as they did in this edition of the IPL. The RCB also have a stingy bowling unit, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been like a rock and the seasoned Krunal Pandya showing his canny game sense in the spin bowling department time and again.

The Titans, arguably the most consistent franchise in last five years since their arrival (being 2022 champions and having made the play-offs on all but one occasion), have been overtly reliant on the top three of Gill, Sai Sudarshan and Jos Buttler and betrayed a soft underbelly in the middle order. Much to their credit, the trio has delivered on most occasions: Gill (722, strike-rate: 163), Sudharsan (710, SR: 159) and Buttler (507, SR: 157).

Come Sunday, a final before a gigantic home crowd will invite it’s own pressure and this is where the likes of Washington Sundar (an unlikely No.5 for a top franchise), Jason Holder and Rashid Khan will have to punch above their weight in maintaining the run rate in case of a loss of early wickets.

The Titans’ bowling line-up, on the other hand, has the wherewithal to stop the marauding RCB batters, particularly if the Ahmedabad pitch offers some grip. Kagiso Rabada, the current leader in the Purple Cap race with 28 wickets, Mohammad Siraj, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna have all given the South African strong support.

Rabada and Siraj have struck an effective combine this season, bowling a chart-topping 165 and 162 dot balls respectively - an indication of their hold over batters even on some benign tracks. The pair has used the hard length to be telling effect, depriving the feared six-hitters the much-needed space for their golf swing of the bat.

Let’s see who has the last laugh on a Super Sunday!

Catch the match

IPL final

Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Kolkata

 Start: 7.30 pm

The phrase playing for pride is one of the well worn cliches – but that’s what the star-studded Mumbai Indians will be aiming to do as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. It’s been a while since the five-time champions have been out of contention, but they will be certainly looking to go out on a high in the two remaining league matches.

The Knights, sitting in eighth position in the table, are still in with a mathematical chance to be the fourth team in the play-offs – but a prime requisite for that will be to win both their remaining games (MI and Delhi Capitals on Sunday) and keep an eye on other results. Interestingly, there is a common theme in the chequered campaigns of both teams this year – that of a tryst with injuries to their key players.

 Acknowledging the issue, MI finisher Naman Dhir said: ‘’Yes, injury problems have really hampered our campaign. Rohit bhai was out with a hamstring injury for quite sometime, Hardik had a back problem while Surya went out on parternity leave.’’ If that was not enough, South African opener Quinton de Kock and young allrounder Raj Angad Bawa have been ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

Add to this, the Mumbai Paltan had to play under three different captains – Hardik, Surya and Jasprit Bumrah with the later managing to lead the team to a moraleboosting win in their previous game. Hardik, who has joined the team in Kolkata, bowled full tilt at the nets on Monday and spent some time batting – raising hopes of him making a comeback on Wednesday.

Asked whether playing under three different captains in a choppy campaign can be a ‘distraction,’ Dhir denied such a suggestion. ‘’We are looking to win the remaining two games for our fans,’’ said Dhir, one of their few consistent performers this season.

The hosts, who got their act right too late in the campaign with five wins from last six games, are meanwhile sweating on the fitness of their mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. With just 10 wickets against his name, Varun had hit the groove alongwith senior partner Sunil Narine in past few weeks, but has been bothered by a troublesome toe and did not fully fit while bowling at the optional nets on Tuesday.

 Matheesha Pathirana, the megabucks slingshot pacer from Sri Lanka, proved another non-starter for KKR when he pulled a hamstring after bowling just 1.2 overs in their previous home game against Gujarat Titans. ‘’Pathirana is still being assessed,’’ said the KKR spokesperson – which makes him a doubtful starter against a powerful batting line-up.  

The ICC mega events somehow seem to bring out the best of Deepti Sharma, the self-effacing senior allrounder of the Indian women’s team.

On Sunday, 14 June, Deepti spun a web around Pakistan batters for an outstanding haul of five for 10 in their opening encounter of the T20 World Cup in Birmingham on Sunday.   

Deepti proved to be the difference between the two sides at Edgbaston as India got their campaign off to a strong start with an impressive 64-run triumph over their arch-rivals. It was the 28-year-old’s career-best figures in T20Is, coming on the back of her five-wicket haul in the final of last year’s ODI World Cup against South Africa. Deepti was Player of Tournament in the World Cup.

‘’I think I like the pressure conditions and ICC tournaments; I feel I have started again from where I had finished (last year's 50-over World Cup), so it feels good,’’ the Player of the Match said later. ‘’I'm focusing on my process—the same things I do in practice I am applying in matches. These things help me and the only thing is that I have to keep moving forward and not stop... and day by day have to keep improving.’’

While the spotlight was on Deepti, there were a number of other notable contributors. The ever reliable opener and vice captain Smriti Mandhana (68) proved to be the mainstay as India compiled a decent total of 170/6 before Shree Charani (3/21) put the brakes on the opposition to ensure victory. ‘’I think our intent was quite good and everyone is in very good shape, and we are very confident in every match,’’ Deepti said.

‘’It doesn’t matter how you start your campaign, we got that confidence from last year's World Cup and we are not taking it as pressure—we just want to play our best cricket in every match, that's what it is,’’ she said.

India now has two days off before their upcoming challenge against the Netherlands at Headingley on Wednesday where they will look to make it two wins from as many starts at the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup. The Netherlands fell to a six-wicket loss to Bangladesh in their tournament opener on Sunday, though Deepti knows the European side will be no pushover.

 ‘’It’s a few days until that game and now we are looking good, we are doing good and we are just focusing that each and every match is important for us and we will play our positive cricket.’’

 A India vs Pakistan women’s clash may not often whip up a similar hype as their men counterparts, but it’s the perfect boost that the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will be hoping for in an otherwise busy sporting month. Even though the event got underway on Friday, the marquee clash on Sunday at Edgbaston in Birmingham – a venue known for it’s overwhelming presence of the diaspora from both countries – is expected to attract the attention of the cricket fans.  

 The pressure of expectations will be on the Women in Blue, who are going into the tournament as the ODI World Cup champions - but failed to make it to the semi-finals of the previous edition two years back in Dubai. The conditions will be more challenging for Harmanpreet Kaur & Co than the two previous World Cups in either formats – and the batters’ strike rate is something that coach Amol Muzumdar will need to keep an eye on.

 The 13-3 head-to-head in favour of India may give them an edge but then, the shortest format is a game of small margins.  They won their previous meeting, in 2024 T20 World Cup in Dubai, by six wickets.

While the nucleus of the T20 squad is built around the members who won them the 50-overs World Cup in Mumbai, India have been fairly consistent in the run-up to the event. They shocked Australia (2-1) and England (3-2) away from home and swamped Sri Lanka 5-0 at home but also received timely wake-up calls with a thumping series defeat to South Africa (4-1) and England (2-1) away.

 A lot rests on the kind of starts that the opening pair of vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma can provide in the powerplays. Mandhana, who had a phenomenal 2025 during which she completed the 10,000-run mark in international cricket, had not been at her consistent self as she had failed to convert some fine starts ever since a polished 82 against the Aussies.

 Shafali, who first shot to limelight during the World T20 Down Under as a teenager in 2020, has managed to cross 20 only once in previous five innings after a breezy 64 against South Africa at Johannesburg. Senior pro Harmanpreet, meanwhile, has returned to form with a couple of fifties against South Africa and England. There is enough experience in the middle order in the form of Jemimah Rodrigues but much will rest on the rate of acceleration that the likes of Richa Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia or Bharti Fulmali can provide.

  It could well be an intriguing battle between Indian batters and Pakistan spinners – as the later has two capable hands in Sadia Iqbal and Nida Dar to put the brakes. They will, meanwhile, depend a lot on the ever-smiling skipper Fatima Sana – who had been quite prolific with the bat.

 The 24-year-old had blasted the fastest fifty (off 15 balls) in women’s T20Is off just 15 balls against Zimbabwe recently in Karachi and she is certain to give some worries to the Indian bowling unit which does not have injured Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam.

Catch the match

 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup

 India vs Pakistan

 Edgbaston, Birmingham

 Start : 7 pm

It was an unique evening at the presentation party of IPL finale in Ahmedabad on Sunday where Virat Kohli, an undisputed legend of the game, had to vie for attention with a precocious 15-year-old. Yes, one is talking about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – who swept all but two of the individual awards despite his team Rajasthan Royals exiting in the Eliminator.

Never before in it’s 18-year-old history has a single player picked up so many awards at stake: Orange Cap as topscorer (776 runs); Most Valuable Player; Emerging Player of the Year; Super Striker of the Year (237.30) and Super Sixes of the Year (72). The only two individual prizes which didn’t go his way were the Purple Cap for the highest wicket taker and the best catch – underlining the kind of impact he had created in his very second IPL season.

The debut season for Vaibhav in 2025, where he arrived with a stunning century, underlined his potential in no uncertain terms – but there were still a few doubters. Some questioned whether the boy from Samastipur in Bihar was really a 14-year-old while few others fancied him as a boom-or-bust performer who would still need to prove himself in trying conditions and big matches. After a profitable year in between, largely in Under-19 arena, Vaibhav came back matured and equipped to play according to the needs of the situation.

While Vaibhav scored 776 seasons this season with the highest strike rate (237.30), there were occasions when he tailored his game – like the 96 he scored to anchor the Royals to a 200-plus total against Titans in Qualifier 2. Such flexibility vindicates the national selector’s decision to induct him in the India A squad for a tri-series in Sri Lanka this month, while someone like Sachin Tendulkar does not want a prodigious talent like Vaibhav to be restricted to white ball cricket only.

 ‘’I would tell him to be just himself,’’ Tendulkar said at a reception where he was honoured by Cricinfo as the best batter of 21^st century. ‘’There is always a first time. In Test cricket, along with age, he will learn how to do deal with various challenges. It’s about having a solution-oriented mindset,’’ he said, hinting that Vaibhav’s time will come and there is no need for him to be rushed into the senior team.

  The Royals management had, in his first two seasons of IPL, created a protective ring about him – as Vaibhav is usually not sent in press conferences and is not exposed on social media. Hwoever, the job will get difficult for them in the third year of the cycle with the commercial ecosystem of the sport set to pounce on him and reports of ‘blank cheques’ being offered to his family for endorsements.

 Looking at the youngster’s power-hitting display throughout the season, TV pundit Ravi Shastri asked on live television: “Aap kitna doodh pite ho roz?” (How much milk do you drink every day?). Vaibhav, still holding multiple trophies and visibly overwhelmed by the scale of the moment, paused briefly before responding with a nervous smile: “Main ab doodh nahi pita” (I don’t drink milk anymore).

The clip went viral and online chatter was further amplified by Vaibhav’s existing commercial association with Zydus Wellness’ Complan, a nutrition drink brand that had recently signed him as a youth ambassador. As part of the campaign narrative, he had been featured in promotional content highlighting his journey from grassroots cricket to the IPL stage, aligning his image with the brand’s long-established positioning in the youth nutrition segment.

His current bat sponsorship deal is believed to be worth around Rs 50 lakh per year but that contract is now nearing its end. There are now reports gloating about that his existing sponsor is open to releasing him early and that the figures being offered to him could go far beyond what Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill currently earn from their respective deals with MRF.

 This is just the beginning and the emergence of Brand Vaibhav should be music to the ears of IPL authorities as they look to re-invent the wheel in the years to come. Sky is the limit for the young man!

A Virat Kohli century is nothing short of an event these days. The cricketing fraternity knows that, to quote the master batter himself, “it is going to finish one day” — and is lapping up every moment of the show during the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The expansive Raipur Stadium witnessed another of Virat Kohli’s trademark chasing masterclasses as his unbeaten 105 off 60 balls made the 190-plus target set by Kolkata Knight Riders look embarrassingly easy, helping defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru climb back to the top of the table.

It was a vintage Kohli effort, one in which he made batting appear ridiculously simple, toying with a relatively inexperienced attack through elegant strokeplay and relentless running between the wickets.

For those inclined towards numbers, it was Virat Kohli’s ninth Indian Premier League century and his 10th overall in the format, while he also became the fastest batter to reach the 14,000-run mark. The records, however, would count for little to a man who has arguably been the most influential batter in world cricket over the last decade.

What truly stands out is his relentless hunger to succeed at 36, coupled with jaw-dropping fitness levels that allow him to keep pace with the demands of the modern game — and, of course, his unmistakably fierce competitive streak.

The subject came up during TV pundit Ian Bishop’s post-match chat and Kohli’s simple answer was: ‘’I just love batting, even after all this. That is my core feeling.’’ Incidentally, there was a sudden thaw of runs in the past two games when Kohli fell without troubling the scorers – and the pressure could have built up with another failure at the business end of the tournament. A similar situation occurred when the former India captain returned to international cricket in away ODIs in Australia last year after a gap of five months, but the difference is he had been in a good nick in the long drawn IPL.      

‘’The fact that I did not score runs (last two matches) eats me up because I have been playing well. It bothers you because that has been the goal - to be the best version. Century or no century, the more important thing is to finish the game,’’ said Kohli, who is now third in the Orange Cap race after Wednesday’s match with 484 runs. Heinrich Klaasen of Sunrisers Hyderabad is perched on top with 508 runs with Gujarat Titans’ Sai Sudarshan second on 501.

Asked if he felt any form of pressure after a brief barren run, Kohli observed: ‘’There is a reason people say pressure is a privilege - it keeps you humble. Good pressure always helps you improve your game. I was nervous, I just wanted to get off the mark. It takes a lot of effort but it helps your game go up. Those failures are so important because they put you in a place to get back to where you have been and do what has gotten you there.

‘’I just love batting, even after all this. That is my core feeling. What an honour to be competing at this level and against the very best still. I just give my heart and soul out there because it is going to finish one day. I want to make the most of it and look forward to pressure situations where I am feeling a bit of heat and then I challenge myself to just go for it. Sport teaches you a lot as a person. You build your character,’’ he said.

‘’Even after all these years, it is the love for the game. I just love hitting the ball in the middle of the bat. That joy is still there, and it is all God’s grace and I am thankful and grateful,’’ he said.

Hope the likes of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma or Tilak Varma are listening!

Will the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup be the final frontier for Harmanpreet Kaur, the veteran skipper of the Women in Blue? The 37-year-old, who endured several so-near-yet-so-far moments before the historic ODI World Cup triumph last year, now aims to replicate it in the T20 World Cup in England starting Friday (12 June).

It took the feisty woman from Moga in Punjab five editions — including a runners-up finish in 2017 — before she could lay her hands on the ODI World Cup trophy. The T20 format may still not be best suited to her girls, but they have a runners-up finish in the 2020 edition in Australia to their credit. This time, they want to go all the way as Harmanpreet feels they should live up to the high expectations generated after last year’s euphoria.

Speaking during Captains’ Day on Sunday, she recalled last year’s triumph that helped take the popularity of her team to even greater heights back home. "We saw that during last year’s World Cup when we won. After that, we have seen a massive change," she noted. "Many girls are coming to play cricket, and I think when we do well, a lot of things change. Hopefully, we play our best cricket and make an impact on women’s cricket."

During the media interaction, there was an awkward moment when Harmanpreet Kaur was asked about retirement. ‘Do you think I should stop?’ she shot back, prompting nervous laughter in the room, though it was clear she was sensitive to the question.

When the journalist clarified that he was only checking, Harmanpreet responded, ‘Then why are you asking?’ Her reply drew laughter from those present and helped lighten the mood during the media interaction, though it also recalled Mahendra Singh Dhoni once gently mocking an Australian journalist for a routine question posed to the veteran cricketer.

The upcoming tournament is expected to be one of the most competitive editions yet, with traditional powerhouses such as Australia, India, England and New Zealand all in contention. Ireland, meanwhile, return to the competition after missing out in 2024 and arrive with renewed confidence following a period of steady improvement.

India will officially begin their campaign on 14 June (Sunday) against arch-rivals Pakistan before taking on tournament debutants Netherlands on 17 June. They also have South Africa, Australia and Bangladesh in their group, with only the top two teams qualifying for the semi-finals — meaning there is little margin for error in this format.

Meanwhile, the Indian squad’s impressive depth was on display in their warm-up match in Cardiff, where they secured a comfortable 26-run victory over the West Indies on Monday, despite resting a couple of first-choice starters. It was a chance to give some of their fringe players time in the middle — and they did not disappoint.

Filling in as skipper in place of the rested Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana (39 off 23 balls) stepped up with added responsibility to help give India’s innings a strong start. Youngster Bharti Fulmali made the most of her opportunity, scoring 56 off 40 deliveries to anchor the middle overs. Shreyanka Patil and Radha Yadav then gave the team management multiple bowling options, sharing seven wickets between them.

There was a renewed energy among the 32,000-strong crowd at the Eden Gardens on the day of Kolkata Knight Riders’ last home match of IPL 2026 season — all hoping against hope for a possible shot at the remaining play-off spot.

However, reality bit them hard within the first four overs of their match against Delhi Capitals as Rajasthan Royals kept their date with the last spot in top four when they upstaged a demoralised Mumbai Indians by 30 runs in the afternoon game in Mumbai.

The play-offs schedule is now as follows: champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru are in line for an encore as they face off a consistent Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala on 26 May (Tuesday) while Royals will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator at New Chandigarh the next day (27 May, Wednesday). The Qualifier 2 between the losers of Qualifier 1 and winner of Eliminator will be held on 29 May (New Chandigarh) while the final will be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 31 May.

When the final day of league action began on Sunday, as many as three teams were in running to join the top three: Royals (14 points), Punjab Kings (15) and KKR (13).

Riyan Parag’s men managed to shape their own fortunes at MI’s fortress Wankhede, which meant them going up to 16 points – which put the issue beyond the reach of PBKS and KKR.

The Knights, who stayed in the hunt till the last day thanks to an exceptional team performance at the backend of the tournament, will rue their disastrous start to the season when they went without a win in first six matches (the only point coming via an abandoned game against PBKS).

KL Rahul, the Capitals veteran, meanwhile entertained the crowd with a breezy 60 off 30 balls as Capitals piled up a challenging 203 for five after being sent in by Ajinkya Rahane in a dead rubber.  The challenge now lies with the Knights to overhaul the target and finish higher up in the table.   

Rare off day for Vaibhav

It was a rare off day for Vaibhav Suryavanshi on Sunday when he fell for four – but it did not deter youthful Royals to post a challenging 205 for eight. A fighting 38 by Dhruv Jurel and an all round performance by Joffra Archer (32 runs off 15 balls and 3/17) paved their way to subdue the five-time champions at home and prevent any twist in the tale.

 There was some good news for Royals camp when Head Coach Kumar Sangakkara, while speaking to the broadcasters, confirmed that the England express bowler will be available for the full duration of IPL ahead of their Test series against England at home.

It’s time for Shubman Gill & Co to reboot themselves for the classical format of the game as they take on Afghanistan, an undercooked side in Tests, in a one-off Test in Mullanpur from Saturday. The crucial No.3 spot in their batting line-up has been a musical chair of sorts and the team management is keen to find a long term solution to it.

 Ever since they wanted to look beyond Cheteshwar Pujara few years back, as many as five batters – Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair and Washington Sundar have all been tried in that position with rather modest returns. The current no.3 Sudharsan has played six tests in the No.3 position and has managed just an average of over 27.

 Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said: ‘’There’s been a lot of changes in that spot and that’s not ideal, you know. You need to look at the incumbents for that role and and maybe stick with someone. It’s a difficult position to bat in and a very important position to bat. Dev comes in with a ton of runs in domestic cricket across all the formats and obviously Sai’s been high on runs in IPL with Gujarat, so they’re both in good form.

 “Whoever plays they’ll be given a bit of a run. That’s quite difficult with one Test match now and then we don’t play a Test match for another two months, and then we play two Test matches and then you don’t play for a while. So you know, we need to factor that in. The main point around there is we want to make a decision and then trust that person to grow into the role, and ideally quickly. Where we find ourselves in the WTC table? It’s probably something we could have done better leading up to this is maybe backing someone in a different spot,” he added.

  It will also be the first time that a Test match will be played in the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.