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Test team of the year 2023

Published

4 months ago

December 30, 2023

Test cricket was played less in the year 2023. Barring some big series like Border Gavaskar Trophy and Ashes, there were not many series where a lot of matches were played. It ensured that the Test format suffered a lot. But that’s how the things are. In other series, there were not more than 2 matches in a series, which was not good to see. Even in series involving top teams like India and SA, only 2 Tests were played.

There was no shortage of good cricket though. There were many players who gave their best performances in the year. Unlike ODIs, Tests had performers from different teams. Hence, more players can be seen in the side apart from just a single side, which was the case in ODIs. Two cycles have taken place in the WTC in the year 2023. The WTC 2023 final acted as a perfect Seperator between the two.

As the calendar year has almost come to an end, here is the Test team of the year 2023.

Top Order

At the top of the order, the team will feature Usman Khawaja of Australia. The Southpaw was the best batter of the year by some margin who scored runs in India and England in the big series. To partner him as an opener would be Zack Crawley of England, who had an equally impressive year as a batter. At the top of the order, Crawley can provide aggressive starts which can complement well with Khawaja.

There were many players in contention for the other opener like Ben Duckett, Rohit Sharma, and Dimuth Karunaratne. But Crawley was too good. At number 3, the team will have Kane Williamson, who was pretty obvious in the XI. The Kiwi batter won many matches for New Zealand with the bat despite not playing as many games as one would have liked. Kane was very good even as a captain.

Middle Order

At number 4, the side will have the class of Joe Root. The English batter has elevated his level as a batter with aggression. Since the arrival of Bazball, the way Root has been playing is incredible to watch. To follow him would be a fellow teammate, Harry Brook, who was a bit more impressive as a batter. Brook played terrific knocks against New Zealand and Australia. The youngster was the emerging player of the year.

At number 6, the side will have Tom Blundell as the WK batter. There were not many options for the spot, as not many keepers did as well as batters and vice versa. Blundell was good in both roles. At number 7, Ravindra Jadeja will be the All-rounder in the side. The Indian cricketer was great as a bowler, did a good job as a batter and was excellent as a fielder as usual.

Bowlers

Pat Cummins will be the leader of the attack and will operate with the new ball in the team. Cummins would also lead the side and intimidate the opponents with his unique character. To partner him with the new ball would be Stuart Broad who did everything he possibly could as a bowler in the year. Broad capped off his career in the best way possible after bowling so well in the Ashes 2023.

As the first change, the team will have Mark Wood. Just the sheer pace of Wood is enough to intimidate the batters. But he has an outswinger and can bat as well. To partner him in the old ball would be Ravichandran Ashwin, who would be the spinner in the attack. The star spinner bowled well on spin-friendly conditions and also on flat wickets and showed why he is rated highly in the longest format of the game.

Test team of the year 2023: Usman Khawaja, Zack Crawley, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Tom Blundell (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Pat Cummins (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad

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

Published

2 months ago

March 4, 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

Published

2 months ago

March 4, 2024

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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 –

ELLYSE PERRY HAS BROKE THE GLASS OF THE CAR…!!! 🤯

– The reaction of Perry was priceless!! pic.twitter.com/zaxiQLLN1r

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2024

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

Published

2 months ago

March 4, 2024

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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.