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Should Kohli have stepped down from T20 captaincy?

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Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as India’s captain in T20Is has come as a shock.

He will, however, lead the side at the ICC T20I World Cup that ends mid-November.

The implications of Kohli stepping down from the captaincy of the shortest format of the game are yet to be seen.

But one thing is clear.

Great T20 record

In 45 games he has led India since 2017, VK has won 27 which makes up for the best win percentage (65.11%) after Afghanistan’s Asghar Afghan (81.73%) and former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed (58.33%).

In his social media message, the skipper wrote that he feels like it’s time someone shares his burden in one format so that he can focus on leading the side in ODIs and Tests.

He remains the leading-run scorer in T20Is with 3,159 runs, averaging 52.65 and the highest score of unbeaten 94.

Kohli mentioned that he reached the decision after exchanging thoughts with head coach Ravi Shastri and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who is likely to be the next man to replace the Chase Master.

“I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” the 32-year-old said.

“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” added the 32-year-old.

While neither the BCCI nor Sharma have publicly admitted that the right-handed opener will be the next heir to the throne, there is no other man that is seemingly in the contention.

Rohit’s credentials

Sharma has already shown as the stand-in skipper in several games that he understands the shorter formats better than any other Indian.

Not to forget, that his decorated IPL resume also does the talking for the Hitman.

Being the most successful captain in the league’s history, Sharma is in pursuit of his sixth IPL crown this year.

He has bailed MI out of tough situations not once, not twice, but dozens of times.

The Ambani family has relied on the Hitman for years, and Sharma has always returned the favour.

On the other hand, Kohli has been under criticism for a long time and his trophy-less campaigns in the last decade did not help his argument either.

While Kohli has been a subliminal batter and captain across all formats, he has failed to make it big in ICC events in T20I, unlike his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Here are some of the breakthroughs that India achieved under Kohli’s four-year reign:

India beat England 2-1 for the first time on England’s soil in 2018.

The Kohli-led side whitewashed New Zealand 5-0 before losing the ODI and Test series.

In 2020, the Men in Blue trounced Australia 2-1 in the away series to come back after losing the ODI series.

India bounced back after losing the ODI series in Australia to win the T20 rubber 2-1.

In 2021, India defeated England 3-2 at home with Kohli bagging the player of the series award.

It is fair to say that India will continue to play the same, aggressive brand of cricket regardless of who leads them.

However, it will be interesting to see how Sharma tweaks team tactics after succeeding Kohli in the shortest format.

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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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