Cricket News Headlines

Living cricket, Shaun style

It's difficult to say who is a bigger fan - Shaun Marsh says he has become an admirer of Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta, and the lady herself is in awe of the opener. In the four matches he has played so far, he has scored 221 runs with an incredible average of 73.66. More importantly, Mohali has won three of those games. "Zinta is very bubbly and full of energy," says Marsh. "She meets the players after every game and brightens their spirit. Her presence helps the team to bond." Likewise, Zinta responds: "Shaun Marsh has had a ...

I can get quicker with time: Zaheer

It may be a mere coincidence, but Bangalore Royal Challengers's Zaheer Khan thinks what sets the left-arm pacers apart is their ability to bowl inswingers to right-handers. The seamer is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, but more importantly, those following him also happen to be left-arm pacers - Irfan Pathan, RP Singh and Ashish Nehra. "It's interesting to know that all the leading wicket-takers in IPL are left-arm pacers. I guess it is the ability to bowl accurately to right-handed batsmen that sets us apart. It is good to see Irfan, RP and Nehra on top of the table. ...

Chargers out of the race, almost

The Indian Premier League has witnessed its first shocker on cricketing aspects. Deccan Chargers, with arguably the best batting line-up fit for the tournament format and the Twenty20 version, has virtually faded into oblivion as far as the dream of making it to the semi-final is concerned. The 23-run loss on Sunday to Kolkata Knight Riders, where Deccan's best effort came by way of Venugopal Rao's 71 off 42 balls and not from the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs was a stark reminder of how, not necessarily do champion individuals make up a champion side. With Shahid Afridi ...

Yet another hard hit from showman Ganguly

To be convinced that the match on Sunday between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders was actually played at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad, one has to forget soaking in the atmosphere and instead look for precise details. If one were to ignore the fact, it might appear as if the 40,000-odd capacity stadium was jam-packed with Bengalis alone. It wasn't as if the crowd was chanting the Knight Riders's anthem; its loyalty was clearly with the home team. It was, however, ironical that one cricketer who, in his 13-year-old international career has polarised the opinions of our ...

Familiar face, familiar result

Midas ran the risk here of not turning it all into gold. But with Niraj Patel slamming a half-volley off the final ball of the penultimate over through covers to ease the mounting pressure, even the latest of Shane Warne's selections ensured a cent per cent record for him at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. Needing seven runs for a win against Delhi Daredevils from the last two overs, with wickets threatening to give away, Patel pounded Maharoof for that scorcher which set up the Royals's narrow three-wicket win in a late-night Sunday thriller. Shane Watson had played his now-familiar ...