Cricket
T20 WC 2024: Rohit brigade eyeing a winning start

Ray Sportz News Desk: Rohit Sharma led Indian Cricket Team is eyeing a good start in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup, when they will take on Ireland on Wednesday. It would be a great practice as well for all the Indian cricketers, before they face arch rivals Pakistan on June 9.
The team knows that it is a touch undercooked with a lot of confusion still persisting about what could be the best combination on a drop-in virgin strip. As is clear from the games so far, scoring won’t be a walk in the park like it was during the Indian Premier League the last couple of months.
But the bigger concern is the baggage of being favourites who don’t really make it count in the end.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have individually laid their hands on global silverware but an assortment of some other ‘once in generation’ cricketers, including Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, have not and they would be eager to finally lift one.
This Indian cricket team wouldn’t want to be the Brazil football team of 1982 and 86 when global stars like Socrates, Zico, Careca, Falcao and Alemao couldn’t win the FIFA trophy.
The most poignant sight of last year’s ODI World Cup was a forlorn Rohit, after the final, desperately trying to hide his welled-up eyes from the TV cameras as he quietly climbed the steps of the Narendra Modi Stadium dressing room.
There was also Kohli, who after scoring those 765 invaluable runs, could only get a fleeting blank gaze towards the podium where the trophy was kept.
The best players sometimes don’t add up to become the best team and while India have put faith in their most experienced lot, it can’t be simply wished away that this current batch has faltered at the final two hurdles way too many times.
At 37, this could safely be termed as Rohit’s last World Cup in the white-ball format as one doesn’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that he won’t be around for the next T20 World Cup in India and the 50-over World Cup in South Africa in 2027.
A very gutsy Irish team with some quality T20 players like Paul Stirling, Josh Little, Harry Tector, Andy Balbirnie, awaits India in the lung-opener.
On a slow track and a sub-standard outfield at the Nassau County ground, how India plays against Irish left-arm spinner George Dockrell will be interesting.
Where India hold the advantage is their spinners who are way better compared to what the Irish team have though the pace attack, aside from Bumrah, looks a bit weak in absence of the redoubtable Mohammed Shami.
Often having too many options isn’t the best option just like Indians have at the top. To fit in skipper Rohit and team’s most elite batter in Kohli, they have to probably sacrifice Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rishabh Pant’s batting at No.3 in the practice game was like a breath of fresh air and Hardik Pandya’s bowling form will indicate how India fares in this competition.
At the Cantiague Park nets on Monday, Pandya spent considerable time bowling to Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit.
If he can bowl at least three overs every day, the Indian team can also look to play Shivam Dube and include an extra spinner in the line-up.
Like earlier days, Ireland isn’t exactly a minnow in this format and very recently, they have beaten Pakistan in their own den in the run-up to the World Cup.
Little has more than little experience of playing IPL for Gujarat Titans and the troika of Balbirnie, Stirling and Tector can more than chance their arms.
The ‘Green Shirts’ will be the banana peel that Rohit and his men can ill-afford to slip on before they meet the more famous ‘Green Jerseys’ at the weekend.
Cricket
IPL 2025: Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad

Ray Sportz Web Desk: Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad to win. Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Rishabh Pant invited Lucknow Super Giants to bat first after winning the toss. The start was not good for Hyderabad at home. Abhishek Sharma (6) and Ishan Kishan (0) were dismissed in the third over by Shardul Thakur. However, Travis Head took charge of the team in his natural style. He scored 47 runs off 28 balls before being bowled by youngster Prince Yadav. Nitish Reddy scored 32 runs. Hyderabad reached a respectable place on the back of Klaasen (26) and Aniket Verma (36) runs. In the end, captain Pat Cummins added 18 runs off just 4 balls. Hyderabad finally scored 190 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.
Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran were seen in a fierce manner from the beginning in chasing the runs. Marsh came out to bat as an impact player and scored 52 runs from 31 balls. Markram (1) could not score a big run. Nicholas Pooran made the Hyderabad bowlers’ work difficult by playing a stormy innings of 70 runs from just 26 balls. However, he was bowled by Cummins while playing a big shot. Rishabh Pant was out for just 15 runs after playing an irresponsible shot. However, there was no problem in winning the match. Abdul Samad (22) and David Miller (13) remained unbeaten and brought the team to the brink of victory. Lucknow Super Giants tasted their first victory in the ongoing IPL by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets.
Cricket
Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss first two weeks of the IPL this season

Ray Sportz Web Desk: In recent times, Jasprit Bumrah is the best fast bowler in the world. But currently Bumrah is missed the champions trophy due to injury, which is a big blow for the Indian Team. His injury is takes place at Sydney Cricket Ground during the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test.
But there were some whispers that Jasprit Bumrah would return to the side during the Champions Trophy 2025. But the management did not want to risk him. And of now getting to hear that he may also miss the first two weeks of the upcoming IPL season. If the reports are true, then it would be a massive setback for Mumbai Indians. But the BCCI source claimed that Bumrah will return in the first week of April. Also confirmed that Bumrah has started bowling already. A BCCI source said media, “Bumrah’s medical reports are okay and he resumes his bowling. But it is unlikely that he’ll be able to bowl at the start of the IPL this season”.
Champions Trophy 2025
ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2025: India Will Prefer Dangerous Australia In Semi-Final: Sunil Gavaskar

Ray Sportz Web Desk: India will find out their Champions Trophy semi-final opponents after their final group match against New Zealand on Sunday. With the two teams already qualified, this match will determine which team finishes top and plays against Australia, and which team will face South Africa.
Sunil Gavaskar explained why India might be happier to face Australia in the Champions Trophy semifinal than South Africa. If India beat the Kiwis, they will take on Australia in the first semi-final on Tuesday at the Dubai International Stadium. Otherwise, they will face the Proteas, what would be a repeat of last year’s T20 World Cup final.
Gavaskar explained “Both teams are formidable teams, make no mistake. There’s no such team that India will say, because now they know, they’ve come to the knockout stages. Here it’s now make or break, so I don’t think they would prefer to have any team.” Nevertheless, Gavaskar also explained that this Australian team is not the same as the one Rohit Sharma’s men had toured for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy recently, especially since their three-headed primary pace attack is missing out. “So maybe they might prefer Australia because Australia are without their main bowlers. There’s no Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood so maybe they would want to play them,” concluded Gavaskar regarding why Australia might be a preferred opponent.
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