CricketWag

What is about twenty20 cricket that drives bowlers into their defensive shells straight away? We have looked through the rules a dozen times and have so far not seen any law that prevents them from having attacking fields – a stackful of slips, a short leg and the like – or delivering more than the [...]

A week or so ago, we had not seen the likes of Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and David Hussey in the IPL. However, they have now sprouted up and are making a considerable impact on the tournament too. Heck, as cricket fans, we just love it. What we do not like, however, is the confusion [...]

What do you call a person who joins his national team on the eve of a Test Match with minimal preparation, just because he wanted to play an extra Twenty20 match for a club that stuffs his wallet with Dollars? What do you call a person who says he will resign the captaincy of his country [...]

The IPL might have dealt Test cricket its first major blow. West Indies captain Chris Gayle has strongly hinted that he might give up playing Test cricket and instead concentrate on a career in Twenty20. Talking to reporters on the eve of the second Test against England, Gayle evidently said: “Twenty20 has come onboard and [...]

In what is one of the most stinging attacks delivered on the IPL, veteran cricket writer Trevor Chesterfield has lashed out at the manner in which the tournament is being handled by its own administrators. Writing in his column at cricketnext, Chesterfield pulled no punches and referred to the high profile Lalit Modi as  a” mismanaged [...]

Amid all the hype and hoopla (mostly self-generated) about the IPL, one issue that seems to have been swept under the carpet is the fact that the tournament is seeing a number of bowlers with suspect actions. Kamran Khan, who everyone was touting as India’s next pace sensation, has already been reported and now it [...]

Even as the media goes to town about Indian Sports Minister MS Gill expressing concerns that a mobile game revolving around the IPL is fuelling betting and gambling, a lot of people seem to have forgotten that the IPL had very publicly refused to use ICC’s anti-corruption and security experts in South Africa for the tournament, [...]

He may not be doing too much on the pitch, but speedster Sreesanth is not short of quotes. He has now reacted angrily to rumours that he and actress Daisy Bopanna are more than just good friends. Speaking to the Times of India’s Delhi supplement, he said that the rumours were bull excreta (well, he [...]

If you look at The Times of India, India’s most widely read English newspaper, you will be struck by the fact that the newspaper is not mentioning the names of half of the IPL teams. While the newspaper has no problems in referring to the team from Mumbai as Mumbai Indians and the Kolkota side [...]

Even as news filters in that team owners and sponsors are not too happy with the IPL having moved out of India and Lalit Modi has been assuring people that the next edition of the IPL will be held in the country after which it is named (imagine, the English Premier League being played in [...]

Well, the man has ‘fessed. Shah Rukh Khan, the high-flying owner of the low-flying (so far, at least) Kolkata Knight Riders has said that his presence was making things worse for the team. Speaking to Delhi Times (Times of India’s Delhi city supplement), the Bollywood superstar said, ” The boys are depressed, they can’t do [...]

We always had a sneaky suspicion that most of the celebrities involved in the IPL did not know too much about the game itself, but even we were taken aback when one of the news channels showed footage of Preity Zintage playing beach cricket with players from Kings XI Punjab. The lady may know how [...]

West Indies coach John Dyson is clearly unhappy with the fact that the captain of the West Indies team, Chris Gayle, has joined the national squad late on its tour of England. Gayle joined the Windies squad yesterday, two days before the first Test commences – not exactly model captain behaviour. Two other players, Dwayne [...]

The IPL is very much Lalit Modi’s brainchild and like any parent, he is fiercely possessive of it. Still, there are times when one wishes he would go easy on the adjectives. For instance, yesterday while being interviewed by Mandira Bedi, Modi grandly announced that the IPL was not like the EPL (the English Premier [...]

We keep hearing about how important the IPL is for Indian cricket and for nurturing Indian talent. Yards of column space have been devoted to how the tournament enables young Indian cricketers to rub shoulders with the best of the world.
Well, if it is that important, why has the Indian cricket team for the 2020 [...]

Forget the IPL, the World Cup and just about everything – cricket might be on the verge of finally going global, thanks to none other than The Man in the White House. The news that Barack Obama is currently immersed in Joseph O’Neill’s cricket-soaked Netherland (as revealed in an interview with the New York Times) [...]

Yes, yes, we know that commentators are human and prone to making errors. But sometimes they say stuff that is hard to chew, let alone digest. Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar had us really scratching our heads when he described Delhi Daredevil’s Aussie player David Warner as a “big guy.” Now, Warner is all of [...]

Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are not just two of the finest cricketers to have emerged from India. They are also two of the most high-profile commentators in cricket and are very much part of the Sony Max team that is covering the IPL. But an article in The Indian Express today made us sit [...]

It is now pretty well known that notwithstanding Lalit Modi’s claims of 90 per cent of tickets for the IPL having been sold, most of the matches are being played in front of less-than-full stadia in South Africa. Of course, this state of affairs has not pleased the IPL bosses who have reportedly (according to [...]

Amitabh Bachchan has deigned to comment about the IPL on his blog. He begins by taking a page out of the “State the Obvious” Ravi Shastri Method of Commentary by stating: “he IPL was interesting. Some predictable results , others not so. It is warming up in So Africa for the semi final positionings and [...]

The IPL was moved to South Africa this year because of the elections being held in India. At that time, the supporters of the IPL cried foul at Indian politicians, accusing them of being scared that the IPL would keep crowds away from their political rallies. Of course, they also added that the IPL would [...]

Right, we have got this rumour from someone who claims to be in the know that Nokia is all ready to purchase Shah Rukh Khan’s stake in the Kolkata Knight Riders. There’s, however, a catch. There always is. Nokia wants an assurance that future editions of the IPL will be hosted either in India or [...]

We thought that love meant sticking with your beloved through thick and thin, but clearly definitions vary. He may talk about the love he has invested in the team, but rumours persist that Shah Rukh Khan is trying to sell off his stake in the Kolkota Knight Riders. The Bollywood superstar is believed to be [...]

Kings XI Punjab edged out Mumbai Indians by three runs in arguably one of the best matches in IPL history. Not too many people had been giving the Kings XI a chance after it had been restricted to a mere 119-8 in its twenty overs, against a disciplined Mumbai attack, spearheaded by the brilliant Maling [...]

Kolkata Knight Riders found themselves on the losing side yet again, when they went down by fivc wickets to Royal Challengers Bangalore, in a match that both teams determined to lose. If that sounds like too harsh a judgement, then consider the facts. Batting first, the Knight Riders lost McCullum first ball to (of all [...]

Two contrasting innings took the winds out of the sails of the Delhi Daredevils as Rajasthan Royals romped home to a five wicket victory with nine balls to spare. Although their target of  144 was a modest one, batting has been the Achilles Heel of the team from Rajasthan and there were many (a few [...]

Kolkota Knight Riders suffered an embarrassing 92 run defeat in their match against the Mumbai Indians. Set a stiff target of 188, the Kolkota side resisted for a while before crumbling  pitifully to 95-9, with one player unable to bat. It was a shambolic display but one which has tended to be the trademark of this [...]

Adam Gilchrist proved that well begun is indeed half done. The Deccan Chargers’ captain made a mockery of what had seemed a competitive total from the Chennai Super Kings, in a mere half dozen overs of marvellously mad batting. And although a slight wobble followed, Hercshelle Gibbs showed his mature side (taking all of 56 [...]

They might have one of the most high-profile owners in the IPL, a start-studded line-up and a coach with a stunning track record, but the Kolkata Knight Riders seem unable to put them all together to get into winning mode. The team has been beset by dissension and controversy over the past month, starting with [...]