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Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Wednesday appointed former Pakistan cricketer Younis Khan as the mentor for the Afghan national team for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, starting on February 19. According to a release from ACB, the former cricketer will accompany Afghanistan during their conditioning and preparation camp in Pakistan, offering his mentorship services until the conclusion of the ICC tournament.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has termed the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah the greatest all-format fast bowler after his Player-of-the-Series performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bumrah produced one of the best-ever bowling performances by an overseas pacer in Australia and picked up 32 wickets over five Tests. "The thing I've thought about Bumrah, after the series finished and I was sitting and thinking about his performances, I actually think he's the best fast bowler ever across all three formats," Clarke told ESPN.
Out-of-form veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue to form the batting core of India's ODI squad but there are at least three senior players whose future in the 50-over format could be debated when the selectors gather this weekend to pick the squad for the Champions Trophy. KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja's presence in the side is not a surety for the event starting February 19 even though they were a part of last year's World Cup. Since the final, India have played six ODIs and while Shami and Jadeja were rested, Rahul was included for both the away bilateral engagements against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Against Sri Lanka, however, he was dropped in the middle of the series after failing to get going in the middle overs. The world is also yet to forget how his sedate half century after using up 100-plus deliveries became a prime reason for India's loss on November 19, 2023 against Australia.
Karnataka's Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal and Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar will be available for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout matches, starting in Vadodara from Thursday, after featuring in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. However, KL Rahul, who played all the five Test matches against the Aussies, has requested for a break and will skip the Hazare knockouts. Rahul's availability for the second phase of the Ranji Trophy, beginning on January 23, will be decided at a later date. India head coach Gautam Gambhir had recently expressed his desire to see frontline Indian players making themselves available for the remainder of the premier domestic red-ball tournament.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that the Indian skipper will have to work hard on his defence and counter-attacking game ahead of the England Test tour later this year, noting that he is not making enough "sacrifices" for "one final burst" in his career like legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid did. Manjrekar was speaking on ESPNCricinfo in a video as Rohit battled a poor run of form during the 2024/25 Test season against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home and against Australia away from home during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His dip in form is worsened tenfold by the fact that India has failed to make it to the ICC World Test Championship final under his captaincy following a 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home, India's first home Test series defeat at home in 12 years and their 1-3 loss to Australia, dropping the BGT after a span of 10 years.
Virat Kohli will be “super motivated” to put a struggling phase behind him and the premier India batter is capable of returning to his run-making ways, said former South African captain Faf du Plessis in Cape Town on Wednesday. Kohli had a torrid time in Australia during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, amassing a mere 190 runs at an average of 23.75 across five Tests despite starting off with an unbeaten hundred in the first Test at Perth.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to begin in Karachi, Pakistan on February 19, which is about 40 days away. The tournament is being played in a hybrid format, with India playing all its matches (knockout rounds included if it qualifies) in Dubai. However, the state of the three stadiums in Pakistan where the matches will be held - Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi - is disappointing, stated a report. In one of the stadiums, even the plaster work is not complete.
A big question mark lies over who will be India's captain the next time they play Test cricket (against England in June). While Rohit Sharma has suffered from poor form, he has not yet given up or been stripped off his Test captaincy. On the other hand, vice-captain pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has arguably been India's best performer, and led the team in the only Test they won against Australia. In the mind of former India cricketer-turned-pundit Sanjay Manjrekar, there is only answer to the question.