It was 30th December 2014. The third match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, also known as BGT, played between Australia and India, had just finished. India had managed to save the Test. The skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had played a role in that. Then comes the presser, and out of the blue, the skipper drops the bomb that he's retiring from the format with immediate effect.
It was still surreal and unreal to see a tournament that was denied for so long kicking off on the 4th of March. Even looking back 4 days after the start it's still quite unbelievable that it's really happening. Not that it wasn't supposed to happen but more because of how everything came together in a really small time from broadcast partners, to The Teams, to the auctions, all happening within a couple of months. What happened on March 04th is an event that has changed the world of cricket forever for sure!!Β
So, a really interesting thing happened in the game that happened between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants, Match 20 of the Indian Premier League Season 15. In the 19th over, Ravichandran Ashwin took guard & faced the second ball of the over from Avesh Khan and stroked it for a one. Nothing eventful as of now but what followed was something we had never seen before in an IPL Game and only fourth occasion of such an instance in T20 cricket. To the surprise of everyone involved, after that ball, Ashwin just rushed off the ground and Riyan Parag walked in. Within a few minutes, we were informed that he had retired out, the first such instance in IPL.
There's a popular saying that "You might be even able to make a blind person see but it's hard to make someone see who chooses to be blind". Something similar seems to be the problem with our board who just fails to acknowledge the growing frustration amongst the fans about how the women's game is treated & the lack of will to start a full-fledged Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL) is another example of that.Β
On 7th October 2021, Cricket Australia announced that it has struck a deal with Fox Sports to ensure a broadcast of each & every match of Weber Women's Big Bash League. It's being hailed as a Landmark deal for Women's cricket. In the first season of WBBL, only 10 games were aided on TV. From that to having the entire tournament on TV, it's been some journey & all the stakeholders deserve the praise for it. Let's also not forget that from the last couple of seasons, WBBL is being held as a standalone competition, which is a terrific thing.Β
It's Sunday, September 12. The Indian team is in Australia & undergoing the mandatory quarantine before a start of a much-anticipated series vs the mighty Australian side. But if you go & have a look at the official social media handles of BCCI, you would see hardly a mention of the tour. In fact, at least on Twitter, it seems as if they are still stuck in the 5th of September as that was when they last posted something & no points for guessing what it was about, of course, a birthday wish.Β
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The new season of the Indian Premier League is here and it was off to a great start with Royal Challengers Bangalore winning against Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets on the last ball of the match. It was a riveting start to India's very own festival. While it would have been great to review the terrific encounter, it was another point that stuck out like a sore thumb. No, I am not talking about the fielding which was equally bad but about the perineal problem of Over rates.
