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Drop KS Bharat for WTC Final, says Gavaskar

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The recent win by New Zealand against Sri Lanka in a last-ball thriller in Christchurch has had a far-reaching impact on the World Test Championship.

The result knocked Sri Lanka out of the race and guaranteed India a spot in the final, which is slated to be played at the Oval in England on June 7 against Australia.

With two months of IPL in between, the question on everyone’s mind is how India will prepare for the WTC final and what the team will look like.

Two of India’s star players, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, have been out with injuries for a long time, and there is no confirmation of their possible return to cricket anytime soon.

Bumrah’s absence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy did not hurt India that much as the spinners did the bulk of the bowling.

However, in English conditions, it will be difficult to fill his void.

The same is true for Pant, who was missed both as a batter and keeper during the four Tests against Australia.

KS Bharat failed to impress with the bat, and his keeping did not ooze confidence in front of the turning ball.

In the WTC final, the pitch is unlikely to favor the spinners, but that will bring the focus back on Bharat’s batting.

Pant has been one of India’s most reliable batters in Test cricket in overseas conditions and scored his maiden hundred at the same venue during the England tour in 2018.

Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that KL Rahul should be considered as a keeper-batter for the WTC final purely because of his batting abilities.

“You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or 6 at the Oval (in the WTC final), then our batting will be stronger.”

“Because he batted really well in England last year. He scored a century at Lord’s. Keep KL Rahul in mind when you pick your XI for the WTC final.” Gavaskar said.

Despite being stripped of his vice-captaincy and dropped from the XI after the first two Tests of the Australia series, Rahul is India’s first-choice keeper in ODIs and has a proven track record in English conditions.

In fact, it was his performance the last time India toured England that helped him regain his spot back in the Test side.

Highlighting Dinesh Karthik’s comments on Bharat’s issues as a keeper, Gavaskar said picking Rahul for just that one Test will give more depth to the Indian batting unit.

“Dinesh Karthik summed up the problems with his wicketkeeping quite beautifully (during commentary).”

“The real test of a wicketkeeper is on pitches like these where the ball is turning. If you look at Travis Head’s dismissal, when the ball turned and hit his stumps, KS Bharat’s gloves were nowhere near the ball.”

“That means, if the ball hadn’t hit the stumps, it would have resulted in 4 byes. This is definitely a cause for concern.”

“Whether they will select him in the XI or not is up to the selection committee, but in England, you won’t get pitches where the keeper has to stand up to the stumps.”

“In that case, you can pick KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper, and even Ishan Kishan can be considered. Their batting is better than Bharat’s.” he added.

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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