The captains’ meeting before an IPL season is usually procedural. This one wasn’t. Ball replacement restrictions in the second innings. The Impact Player rule is getting another layer of complexity. A two-bouncer allowance per over. Stricter enforcement of bat checks and fielding restrictions. Any one of those changes demands a tactical rethink. All four together […]
The captains’ meeting before an IPL season is usually procedural. This one wasn’t. Ball replacement restrictions in the second innings. The Impact Player rule is getting another layer of complexity. A two-bouncer allowance per over. Stricter enforcement of bat checks and fielding restrictions. Any one of those changes demands a tactical rethink. All four together […]
Axar Patel said it out loud. The Impact Player rule hurts players like him. Not because he isn’t good enough, he is. Because the rule removes the reason teams need him. An all-rounder exists to cover two departments simultaneously. The Impact Player rule lets teams cover both departments sequentially through substitution instead. Why pick someone […]
Chennai Super Kings built five IPL titles on one thing: knowing exactly who does what and when. Fixed roles. Predictable outputs. Experienced players who had been in every pressure situation before and knew how to handle it. That system is gone. Sanju Samson is in the top order, adding the aggression they lacked. Young players […]
Nathan Ellis is the one bowler in the Chennai Super Kings’ squad who walks to the top of his mark in the 18th over without needing a plan adjusted for the situation. The yorker is his plan. The slower ball is his contingency. The wrist position that produces both from the same delivery stride is […]
Sunrisers Hyderabad have made a decision with their squad construction, and it is an honest one; they are built to outscore opponents rather than outbowl them. Abhishek Sharma attacks at the top. Ishan Kishan anchors or accelerates depending on the match situation. The middle order adds layers of hitting depth that most IPL squads cannot […]
Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United enter this season carrying different kinds of uncertainty. Zalmi revolves around one player, Babar Azam, who managed only 288 runs last season, well below the standard his anchoring role demands. United’s uncertainty is structural, a rebuilt batting lineup with unclear role distribution, and a spin department lacking match rhythm heading […]
Australia’s spin selection for the Women’s T20WC is not a settled conversation, and Alana King is the reason it stays open. Sophie Molineux bowls left arm and contributes with the bat. Georgia Wareham takes wickets and provides batting depth. King takes wickets and does little else. In a format where all-round value increasingly drives squad […]
Kolkata Knight Riders have won three IPL titles, 2012, 2014, and 2024, across different eras with different players and different tactical identities. Building one XI from every player who has worn the purple jersey requires choosing which version of KKR produces the most complete combination rather than simply stacking the biggest names. The answer is […]
New Zealand Cricket has decided the Super Smash is finished. The replacement is not a minor refresh; it is a full franchise system with private ownership, commercial partnerships, and a structure built to attract overseas players and broadcasters. The Super Smash lasted two decades. This T20 is being asked to outperform it within two or […]
Lockie Ferguson has taken 51 wickets from 49 IPL matches across his career. That is a wicket per game average that confirms what every Punjab Kings supporter already knows: this is not a squad player absorbing overs at the back end of the attack. He is the bowler PBKS build their pace plans around, the […]
Hyderabad Kingsmen are a new franchise with an aggressive batting identity and a bowling attack that has not yet been tested in a competitive T20 environment at this level. Lahore Qalandars are a title-winning franchise with Shaheen Afridi leading their pace attack, a settled batting lineup built around Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique at the […]