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Indian Express
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Lord's last-over drama showed Shubman Gill is more than just the charming heir-apparent, that he has a little of Virat Kohli in him
The final over on Day 3 at Lord's was a teaser of the fireworks expected in the last two days of this hard-fought neck-and-neck Test. The exact mid-point of this 5-match Test series could well have been the trailer suggesting the tone and tenor of Shubman Gill's captaincy and the collective behavior of the team under him. At the start of the tour, the English media saw Shubman as a 'laidback' cricketer who, during his stint at Glamorgan three years back, once forgot the keys of his new Volvo in the car. He was that charmingly forgetful prince and a batting genius. They were fans of his old-school technique and that dimpled smile of his. Lord's showed that, in the heat of the moment, he can also bare his fangs and dish out verbals too. Shubman took over from Rohit Sharma but when England opener Zak Crawley tried to slow down the game so India got to bowl just one over, and not two that the time permitted, he showed that there was a bit of Virat Kohli in him. He started the chorus of sarcastic claps and also gave Crawley a serious tongue-lashing. When Ben Duckett joined the heated exchange, he too wasn't spared. This was a captain who wanted to be in the thick of things and not shy away from any good old on-field confrontation. Having cut his teeth in North India's dog-eat-dog competitive circuit that is not for any lily-livered cricketer, Shubman's reaction to gamesmanship wasn't a surprise. In these parts, giving the lip, taking the mickey out of rivals and invective-laden sledging during games isn't an episode, it's the norm. Always annoying when you can't get another over in before close 🙄 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 12, 2025 Though coaches from his junior days vouch for his conduct both on and off the field, Shubman doesn't just let his bat do the talking. He too can give back what he gets. England's bowling legend Jimmy Anderson, on BBC's Tailenders podcast, had spoken about his chatter with Shubman during last year's India-England series. This was an incident that unfolded in the 5th Test at Dharamsala, where Shubman scored a hundred and England's Bazball bluff was called out. This was a bitterly contested game. 'I said something to him like, 'Do you get any runs outside India?', and he said, 'It's time to retire',' Anderson recalled. 'Two balls later I got him out'. This didn't end here, later in the game batsman Jonny Bairstow would continue the same conversation. Bairstow: 'What did you say to Jimmy about him retiring?' Shubman: 'I told him he should retire.' Bairstow: 'And then he got you out next ball?' Shubman: 'So what? How many times has…' Bairstow: 'I was just asking.' Shubman: 'He can get me out after my 100.' Bairstow: '100 per cent.' Gill: 'How many 100s [do you have] this series?' Bairstow: 'How many have you scored, full stop?' On this England tour, the Indian captain has replied to both Anderson and Bairstow. No one would be asking about his runs abroad anytime soon. What unfolded at Lord's has a background to it. Unlike the battles with Australia, the India-England rivalry doesn't have a recorded history of any major nasty on-field battles blowing up into major diplomatic crises. There has been no fight of Monkeygate scale against England. But in the Indian dressing room, England gets slotted with Australia when it comes to teams they hate to lose against. There is a reason, as explained by India's former captain Rohit Sharma, after last year's loss to New Zealand at home. 'It is tough to hate them (New Zealand), be angry at them. Imagine, this was their historic win but the celebrations were so mild. No shouting or sledging, no fuss. They shook hands with us and just moved to their dressing room. Had it been Australia or England …', he would say. It is this history, and the consequences of defeat, that keeps players on the edge, makes them push the limits and also the envelope. The captain isn't alone in this young team to sledge. Actually, Jos Butler, former England captain and Shubman's Gujarat Titans teammate wouldn't have been surprised. He had seen that 'Virat' side of the new captain. 'He's pretty calm and measured but … on the field he's got a bit of fight about him; a bit of intensity, quite passionate. I think he'll be a mix of Kohli and Rohit. Kohli, that sort of real aggressiveness, really transformed the Indian team, in your face, up for the contest. Rohit is a bit on the other side, a bit more laid back … but with that sort of fight. I feel like, from my time knowing Shubman so far, he'll be a bit in the middle,' he told Stuart Broad on a podcast. After the day's play, KL Rahul was asked if he had ever seen his captain in that mood before. 'I have seen him fired up but obviously we wanted to bowl two overs, there were six minutes left. Obviously two overs is a no-brainer… that any team would bowl two overs with six minutes to go. But yeah, it's a bit of theatrics at the end and we were all pumped up.' Earlier in this Test, when Root and Ollie Pope had downed the shutter and were scoring at the conventional strike rate, the Indians couldn't stop themselves from taunting them. 'Where is Bazball. Baz, Baz, Bazball. Play Bazball. I want to see,' the stump microphone would catch Mohammed Siraj's comments. The captain too would join. ''No more entertaining cricket, welcome back to boring Test cricket guys.' During the Australian tour it was Yashasvi Jaiswal who told Michael Starc, when he let one go, that he was bowling 'too slow'. And then there is the Indian coach Gautam Gambhir, not exactly a silent bystander in on-field skirmishes. Be it when he was a player or a coach, Gambhir too has believed in talking and talking back. Those last six minutes at Lord's gave an idea about the sounds and sights Indian cricket will witness in the years to come in this new regime.
NDTV
22-06-2025
- Sport
- NDTV
Ben Stokes' 'Eating Up' Gesture Viral As India Lose 7 Wickets For 41 Runs, England Great Explains
Team India endured a disappointing end to their first innings on Day 2, losing their final seven wickets for just 41 runs, going from 430/3 to 471 all out. England made a recovery towards the end of the first session and the start of the second, with pacer Josh Tongue ending up with a four wicket-haul as he cleaned up the Indian lower order. Following his last wicket, that of India's Prasidh Krishna, England captain Ben Stokes made a humorous celebratory gesture, which went viral on the internet. Now, former England pacer Stuart Broad has explained what it means. Tongue played a pivotal role in orchestrating England's collapse, taking the wickets of centurion Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna. Having leaked runs earlier, Tongue ended with figures of 4/86. After the last wicket, Stokes appeared to make an 'eating' gesture to Tongue, which went viral on social media. Broad explained what it meant. "Eating rabbit pie. Getting the Tailenders out. Knocking over the lower order," Broad wrote on X. Eating rabbit pie. Getting the Tailenders out. Knocking over the lower order. — Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) June 21, 2025 Stokes also played a crucial role in limiting the damage. The England captain was arguably their best bowler for the entire season, taking four wickets himself. Stokes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur. India vs England, 1st Test Day 2: As it happened A century by Ollie Pope and his partnership with Ben Duckett helped England put up a strong reply against India in their first innings, ending the final session of day two of the first Test on a high. At the end of the second day's play, England were 209/3, with Pope (100*) and Harry Brook (0*) unbeaten. They trail by 262 runs. England kickstarted the final session at 107/1, with Duckett (53*) and Pope (48*) unbeaten. Ollie Pope reached his half-century in 64 balls, with eight fours, with the help of a first-ball four by Bumrah. Duckett and Pope tried to assert their dominance over India once again, however, Jasprit Bumrah came in clutch, leaving Duckett's middle-stump pegged back to end a 122-run partnership. Duckett was gone for 62 in 94 balls, with nine fours. England was 126/2. Bumrah also almost got Pope, but Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped him at slips. Root also survived a review by Mohammed Siraj, and England raced to the 150-run mark in 37.2 overs. Pope and Root continued to dominate pacers, taking their side closer to the 200-run mark and bringing up their 50-run mark in 81 balls. England reached the 200-run mark in 45 overs. Pope reached his ninth Test ton and second against India in 125 balls, with 13 fours. Root continued his poor record against Bumrah, falling to him for the 10th time, for 28 in 58 balls with two fours, thanks to a catch by Karun Nair. England was 206/3. Bumrah got Harry Brook dismissed on a no-ball. Brook and Pope made sure England ended the final session without any further damage.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jimmy Anderson: ‘I know my body has got a certain amount of deliveries left in it'
Sir Jimmy Anderson is running late, five, then 10 minutes past 10 before he arrives in front of his computer. He is dishevelled, like he is just up and into his T-shirt and jeans. He finished his first match since July the previous evening, Lancashire against Derbyshire in the County Championship, on a flat pitch at Old Trafford, and is still feeling it. The fourth day had been hard going: 16 overs, eight maidens, two for 25, in a thwarted attempt to force victory against a Derbyshire team hell-bent on securing a draw. Lancashire finished two wickets short. 'I've woken up feeling like absolute death,' Anderson says. 'It was a bit of a wake-up call.' Related: Pope determined to prove he warrants England place and Stokes' defence He arranges his stiff limbs into his office chair. 'You can do all the training you want, but being out in the field for a full day is just so different. Particularly on that wicket. You feel like you have to put 100% effort in every ball to get anything from it. So it was interesting getting out of bed this morning.' I mention a line from one of Ian Botham's books, that appeared in this paper that same day. 'I knew it was all over the morning it took me five minutes to get out of bed,' Botham wrote. Anderson laughs. 'I'm not there yet,' he says, 'but I know what he means.' Anderson will be 43 in July. He has played more Tests than any other Englishman, taken more Test wickets than any other fast bowler, has his own end at Old Trafford – and now a knighthood, too, after Rishi Sunak named him in his resignation honours list. Anderson is a man who manages to make his own first name seem too formal to use, so it is no surprise he seems as comfortable with his new title as a teenage boy with the wedding suit his mother has picked out for him. He almost winces when it's mentioned. 'Until I've actually been to receive it, I'm not even sure I believe it is happening,' he says. He makes sense of it by seeing it as a shared honour, one belonging to the people around him too, his family, and his friends, coaches, and teammates at Lancashire, where he has played since he was a teenager. 'For something like this to happen to a player that's come through the ranks, I think everyone's just really, really happy about it.' Some of his teammates, the ones born after he made his debut, talk about how amazed they are to find themselves playing alongside him. And some of his old teammates, the ones who served with him through a couple of decades of Test cricket, are just as amazed he is still at it. They have long since moved on, into coaching or commentating. Anderson has done a bit of both. He worked as a coaching consultant for England last year, has his BBC podcast, Tailenders, his book, Finding the Edge, which is just out in paperback, and he is about to go on tour around England in September. He is not back bowling for Lancashire because he needs to be, but because he wants to be. You could ask him why. And you could also ask a bird why it flies. I do wonder if, deep down, he is a little scared by the idea of letting go of a job that's been such a large part of his life for the past 25 years. Anderson says not. 'Because I know for a fact that my body has got a certain amount of deliveries left in it. Once that goes, I'll no longer be a bowler. But as long as my body allows me to bowl, I will see myself as a bowler. And other people can see me as whatever they want to see me as. I don't care.' He enjoys playing senior pro around Lancashire's young team. 'I know the standards that you've got to set yourself if you want to make it as a county cricketer, hopefully they can see how I go about things and that helps.' It's not dissimilar to what he was doing with England, when he was counselling the bowlers they had picked to take over from him. 'I enjoyed that, the tactical side of things is something I've done all through for the latter part of my career, trying to come up with plans for how we're going to win a Test match. That wasn't that new to me.' The other stuff, 'the actual technical side of it', he still needs to learn. He has picked up bits of it along the way, but he wants to do his coaching qualifications some day soon. 'There'll be plenty of time to do that in the future, right now I'm focused on playing this year with Lancashire.' There was a thought he could turn out for other teams. He put in for the Indian Premier League auction – 'as a bit of a punt really, it wasn't about the money, it was about trying to experience the IPL, especially with my dip into coaching, I wanted to see how things work over there, because I've never been' – but he was not picked up. It was the same in the Hundred and curse the fool who thought their team would do better without him. He is one of the biggest draws in English cricket and more than capable of bowling 20 good balls. He is contracted to play the Blast for Lancashire, 'but I think we've got a really strong T20 bowling attack, so I'm not expecting to play a huge amount'. He watches the way the white ball swings in those first few overs, and thinks: 'I'd love to be able to have a chance of doing that.' He says: 'But there are so many good bowlers around, so many much younger bowlers as well, who deserve their chance, you never know. If I have a good year …' Three days after we spoke, Lancashire rested him from their game against Leicestershire at Grace Road. They said they were 'managing his workload'. The way Anderson talks about working with younger players begs the question: does he wish he had been given a crack at the captaincy? Especially since Pat Cummins has proved fast bowlers can do it. He chews over the idea. 'I don't think so. Just having been quite close to a couple of the England captains recently, like Joe Root and Ben Stokes, I saw everything that comes with it, and I don't know how I'd have coped with all that. 'I would have loved the nice bits, tossing the coin at half-ten in the morning and deciding what to do, setting the fields, all that, but everything else, you need to be a certain type of character for it.' He doesn't really do 'what ifs'. Never has. He says it helps that a lot of the big decisions he has faced in his career were made for him. 'I haven't had to think twice about them. I was moved on from the white-ball team and I was moved on from the Test team. There's nothing whatever I could do about that. You put it down to whatever you want to put it down to, fate, I guess.' He mentions his daughter, who is doing her GCSEs. 'She texted me after her chemistry exam yesterday. 'I got really lucky with the questions,' she said. She was really worried about chemistry. And I said back: 'You've worked so hard that you deserve whatever luck you get.' 'That's how I've gone through my whole career. If I work hard enough off the field, I'll get what I deserve on the field. Everything after that is what it is. Whether it's an injury, or someone saying 'you're not playing white‑ball cricket any more', or 'we don't want you in the Test team any more', you deal with it as best you can then find the best way to move on from it by working hard at the next thing.' It is why, he says, he would not change a thing about his career. Related: Ben Stokes hits out at speculation over centurion Pope's England status Anderson is not sure if he would rather be starting out in cricket in 2000 or 2025. 'It's such a different game now, in terms of the opportunities that are out there. I really hope there are enough guys coming through wanting to play Test cricket, looking up to Ben Stokes, to Joe Root, thinking, 'yeah, I want to be the next Harry Brook' or whoever it is. Because I do hear a lot of chat about the franchises, there's so many leagues throughout the winter. Even T10 is a thing you can earn decent money playing now.' He pauses. 'I was never well off growing up, but I never once thought that I wanted to play cricket because it would make me good money, I always just wanted to be 'the next Darren Gough' or whoever it was. That is what I was thinking. I love the game so much. I just hope that we've got enough guys who love it that way too, love watching it, and love playing it, and who want to be stars for England, because unless you've got that, unless you've got people pushing and pushing and pushing to get into that England Test team, then it all drifts away.' The idea hurts him, same as it hurts everyone who loves cricket. There is nothing like a Test, he says. 'It brings out all different sorts of sides to you that you would never find if you just played T20 for your whole career. I know it's hard, especially for the bowlers, but it is just the most satisfying thing to take five wickets to win a game of cricket for your team, to walk off the field afterwards with your head held high. That's like the best feeling.' And if he could only hold on to it, he would never let it go.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Retired India legend Virat Kohli seen in Oxfordshire
Indian sporting icon Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket this week which has brought back memories of his time spent in Oxfordshire. The 36-year-old batter announced on Monday he was stepping away from the Test arena after scoring 9,230 runs in 123 Tests to stand fourth in India's all-time list of run scorers in the format. It means Mr Kohli will not be appearing in the Test series against England which is taking place this summer. READ MORE: But the globally famous sportsman might now have time to spend time exploring with his family after he paid a surprise visit to an Oxfordshire village last year. Mr Kohli's Oxfordshire visit was discussed on the Tailenders cricket podcast, hosted by Radio 1 presenter Greg James, musician Felix White and England cricketer James Anderson. The former read out email correspondence from an A-Level student called Amelia on the podcast, who said she lives in a "tiny village in Oxfordshire" and noticed Mr Kohli "randomly visited that village recently" via posts on social media platform Instagram. The location of the village was not disclosed but it was mentioned that the cricketer had also made a trip to Oxford. Mr James said: "He was just wandering around. I wonder if he has got a second, or third, or fourth, or fifth or sixth property out in Oxfordshire." Greg James talked about Virat Kohli's surprise visit to Oxfordshire (Image: PA) Mr White added: "I love people being in places you wouldn't expect like, a couple of years ago, Harrison Ford came to Peckham." Announcing his decision to retire from Test cricket this week, Mr Kohli said: "It's been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. 'Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It's tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I'll carry for life. 'There's something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever. Virat Kohli has visited Oxfordshire. Image: PA'As I step away from this format, it's not easy — but it feels right. I've given it everything I had, and it's given me back so much more than I could've hoped for. 'I'm walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way. 'I'll always look back at my Test career with a smile.' After India's T20 World Cup triumph last June, Mr Kohli retired from the format but he is still expected to continue in ODIs, where he has amassed a record-breaking 51 centuries. Mr Kohli, the most followed Asian and cricketer on Instagram with more than 271 million followers, made 30 Test tons and was often held up as one of the four greatest batters of this generation alongside England's Joe Root, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Lancashire overcome absence of James Anderson as County Championship begins in spring sunshine
The start of the County Championship is always reason for celebration but as the curtain lifted at Lord's, it revealed an opening-day party without its special guest. Lancashire 's first Division Two fixture of the summer had meant to be a welcome back bash for one of the greatest to ever do it, James Anderson at the top of his mark in county cricket for the first time since his enforced England ending. It is not clear how long the farewell tour will extend but Anderson will encounter expectant audiences wherever he goes. No bowling musician has ever mastered the Duke's, the seamer's instrument of choice, quite like the 42-year-old. Anderson has spoken with the drive and desire of a man who perhaps has a point to prove and notes left to play – and with a Radio 1 DJ encouraging him to play the hits on the popular Tailenders podcast, a few fairer-weather fans would have joined the MCC members hoping to catch a glimpse of England's leading Test wicket-taker in the flesh. Alas, a calf strain put paid to his participation in this season-opener, and all of April too. When Anderson began his first-class career, that would have meant missing an eighth of a season; 23 years later, Lancashire could be without their attack leader for more than a quarter of a campaign in which they will hope to make an immediate return to Division One. An outing at Lord's, where his time in England whites ended last July, would have felt neat. Still, if the fast bowler is to be believed when he says that he wishes to play on beyond this summer, there is always next year. Anderson's absence was not perhaps felt as keenly as one might have feared for the red rose on the opening day of the summer. These two shape as perhaps the pair best placed to push for promotion, with Middlesex having recruited cannily as they emerge from some difficult times on and off the field, and Lancashire well-balanced even with some white-ball stars otherwise engaged. There is enough batting depth within the ranks that young gun Rocky Flintoff was deemed surplus to requirements even after a record-breaking winter. The first day of the county summer would normally be watched by frostbitten faces peering between thick jumpers and overcoats, but soaring temperature made this a day for the shedding of all but the thinnest of layers. Given woollen hats had been a common sight on slip fielders during the county warm-up fixtures, rather warmer weather would have been most welcome. Though not necessarily for the bowlers across the land. One might expect the pushing of the County Championship to the margins of the season – beginning here not even a week into April – might be rather more popular with bowlers than batters but these early encounters can be ripe for run-making, with surfaces neither firm nor fast enough to truly challenge the best batters, and spinners relatively seldom sighted. Cloudless skies overhead offered little to excite Lancashire's five-pronged seam attack, while a taupe pitch appeared equally unencouraging, making the decision of visiting skipper Keaton Jennings to insert Middlesex questionable. The early dismissal of Nathan Fernandes, feathering an edge behind off the ever-reliable Tom Bailey, was a promising start, but Lancashire lacked incision thereafter as Sam Robson and Max Holden made serene progress through the opening session. A breakthrough came from a perhaps unlikely source. Luke Wells had just shelled Holden on the fine leg fence when Jennings tossed him the ball, and even he seemed shocked when he skidded what looked to be a googly through the defences of Robson. The veteran opener departed LBW for 70 having seemed set for the first big score of a season where he should again figure high up the run-scoring charts. Holden (69) fell while similarly well set to Will Williams as Lancashire threatened to battle back, though a true surface and short boundary towards the Grand Stand made stemming the flow of runs tricky, particularly without the parsimonious and probing Anderson on which to call. Yet Lancashire were superb in the second session, ripping through the Middlesex order with debutant left-armer Ollie Sutton striking twice and Tom Aspinwall producing good pace to finish with 4-32. A total of 260 felt dramatically under-par for Middlesex having been 215-3, and Lancashire proved as much with Jennings and Michael Jones making safe passage to the close. They will begin again tomorrow from 68-0 looking to build Elsewhere on the opening day, a reinvented Paul Walter (95) produced a standout score at the top of the order for Essex. The lanky left-hander, a surprise star of the last few summers, was in fluent touch at Chelmsford having been asked to open in the absence of Dean Elgar, whose wife has just given birth, in setting up a score against a Surrey attack shorn of Dan Worrall under slightly opaque circumstances. Jordan Cox also pressed his international case after a winter of misfortune with an excellent 117. At Northampton, meanwhile, a potentially pivotal summer for Zak Crawley started poorly with the Kent batter's stumps splattered in the third over of the day. Jonny Bairstow 's tenure as Yorkshire skipper isn't off to the best beginning, either – his 10 not doing much to bolster a tally of 121 all out with Kyle Abbott and Liam Dawson to the fore for Hampshire.
