IPL Online

Rumours of the death of Pakistan cricket, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated. If flowers can bloom in the desert, Pakistan cricket can thrive without the security glare of home internationals. Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board has struck a desperate tone in its failed attempt to attract Bangladesh to tour, and heightened its folly by [...]

The Afghan Appeal Fund XI team was whisked from airport to NCA with a Punjab Police escort, and arrived at the Gaddafi Stadium – a great coliseum of Pakistani cricket © AFP Our curry diet is three weeks old, seam marks fester on the upper thigh and we are playing more than we miss. Careful [...]

Sachin Tendulkar’s six off Albie Morkel in the opening match of IPL 2012 demonstrates that his genius lies in the fact that he’s found a way to use the basics of batting even when he’s going against the rules, says Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in his blog. One of my coaches once saw me play an ugly [...]

The IPL has been a terrific spectacle, wonderfully entertaining, only don’t call this cricket, says Soumya Bhattacharya, writing for Hindustan Times. It was all utterly enjoyable. The Indian players were all fit: no ankles giving away, no concussions, no complaints about an overly loaded, burdensome calendar … Sachin Tendulkar, having abdicated the captaincy of Mumbai [...]

As the cash-rich IPL kicks off, Ayaz Memon, writing for Mint, looks back at how cricket’s power shift began with the then BCCI president NKP Salve – who died on Sunday – bringing the 1987 World Cup to the subcontinent. Getting the World Cup to move anywhere from England was hardly likely to be like [...]

The Indian team has faltered on the field for nearly a year, several of its biggest names are nearing retirement or have just retired, and the previous home broadcaster struggled to pay the BCCI in time, but still Star TV bid a mammoth $750m for the rights to Indian cricket over the next six years. [...]

Bob Willis was remarkably consistent through the course of his Test career © Getty Images This is based on an idea given by Prashanth. After giving the idea and participating in a discussion or two, he disappeared off the radar. However I thank him for providing the spark. Couple of years back Gabriel Rogers did [...]

No cricketer can have gone to more extraordinary lengths to secure an India visa for the IPL than Chennai’s George Bailey. Following the end of Australia’s Twenty20 series against the West Indies, Bailey flew all the way from Barbados to the South American nation of Suriname in search of his travel documents – having been [...]

Last year Jimmy Anderson said this England team could be the best England team of all time. My answer to that is: “Don’t make us laugh, Jimmy.” You and your mates can’t go on pretending you are the best team in the world now, never mind ever, writes Geoff Boycott in the Telegraph. If we [...]

Jonathan Trott: the sort who’d ask Luck home but send her off without a cup of tea © AFP England have one final chance to rescue some dignity from their unexpectedly disastrous Test winter. More specifically, England’s batsmen have one final opportunity to issue an official, long-overdue and suitably grovelling apology to England’s bowlers, in [...]