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NEW DELHI : India opener Abhishek Sharma said he has team management's permission to bat with unbridled aggression but also knows he must be consistent to retain his place in the Twenty20 squad.
Mohammed Shami's much-anticipated comeback was further delayed after the Indian pacer wasn't included in India's playing eleven for the first T20I against England as the team management didn't find him fitting into the combination keeping nature of Eden Gardens track in mind. Everyone was anticipating Shami's international comeback after 14 months but once skipper Suryakumar Yadav announced at the toss about his exclusion from the playing eleven, it did fuel speculations whether national selectors were sanguine about his fitness. Post match, star of the evening Abhishek Sharma clarified that the veteran pacer was dropped on account of conditions and the combinations that team management found to be conducive.
The jury is still out on his coaching methodology as far as traditional formats are concerned but India's young T20 stars, including opener Abhishek Sharma gave a thumbs up to embattled Gautam Gambhir after the hosts blitzed past England by seven wickets in the opening match here on Wednesday. The 24-year-old struck 79 off just 34 balls to help India chase down a small target of 133 in just 12.5 overs at the Eden Gardens. "I wanted to express myself but special mention to captain (Suryakumar Yadav) and coach (Gambhir), the freedom they have given us as youngsters is tremendous," Abhishek said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
BCCI's recent 10-point diktat on players, after Indian cricket team's disastrous performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, had the whole world talking. From making playing in domestic cricket mandatory to restricting number of days wives and families can stay with the team to limited endorsement shoots, the rules have come in place to set the house in order. Following the diktat, senior players like Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill are playing Ranji Trophy after a long gap.
Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav has credited Gautam Gambhir's leadership for fostering a positive and player-friendly atmosphere in the T20 team on Tuesday in Kolkata. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Suryakumar highlighted the former Indian opener's unique approach to mentoring and managing players. "I've played under Gambhir for four years, so I know how he works," Suryakumar said. He recalled his journey with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where Gambhir used to be the captain of the side, and won the IPL in 2014, when Yadav was part of the KKR set-up. "Even without speaking to him, we know what we need to do," he added.
Credited with introducing the ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' brand of batting, England coach Brendon McCullum aims to "play very watchful style of cricket" in the limited overs series against Gautam Gambhir's India. While McCullum has been credited extensively for revolutionising England's red-ball cricket, his counterpart Gambhir has been in the line of fire over the last few months, owing to a poor run of results. While recent results a different story, McCullum still rates Gambhir extremely high as a 'leader', having worked with him in the past.
India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav had a hilarious reply in store when he was quizzed about the defending champions' plans for next year's T20 World Cup ahead of the five-match series against England. With the T20 World Cup just a year away, the five-match series against England will serve as the ideal preparation ground for the Indian team. On Monday, Suryakumar's deputy, Axar Patel, revealed that the Indian team would evaluate and try out its options while keeping the tournament in mind right from the England series. "World Cup is coming up in a year, so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That's the main target. Momentum is a big thing because if you start well, you can carry it. We finished 2024 well, so we want to carry the momentum into this series too," Axar told reporters.
As debate and discussion continues surrounding India's squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, former India cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra has raised the curious case of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Chopra stated that Chahal's career has been "finished" by BCCI and the team management for no apparent reason, arguing that the leg-spinner's statistics were impressive even when he was dropped from ODIs over two years ago. Chahal has recently been in the news over a reported split from his wife Dhanashree Verma, and did not take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25.