All posts tagged: Cricket preparation

Jayawardene on MI’s first-match defeats since 2013

Jayawardene on MI’s first-match defeats since 2013

Published by Webster

4 min readUpdated: Mar 29, 2026 12:39 AM IST Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes there is only one way to break the team’s 13-year opening-day ‘hoodoo’ in the IPL: play a good game of cricket. Speaking on Saturday, Jayawardene insisted that despite failing to win a season opener since 2012, the team’s preparation remains focused on execution. MI, the perennial slow-starters, last won their opening match in the IPL in April 2012, when they beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. As they gear up to take on three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders here on Sunday, the very first question Jayawardene took was whether MI would break that jinx this time around. “It is the elephant in the room but there is no way for us to prepare differently,” Jayawardene told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of MI’s training session. “If you look at the season that I was involved in, we had close matches, we lost. I think I have spoken to the boys about the intensity being there for that …

‘I will find my process, rhythm as soon as I can’: Karun Nair hopes to carry forward domestic form into IPL for Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

‘I will find my process, rhythm as soon as I can’: Karun Nair hopes to carry forward domestic form into IPL for Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

Published by Webster

After a fantastic domestic domestic season where he helped Vidarbha win the Ranji Trophy, batter Karun Nair said that he wants to replicate that success and help Delhi Capitals win the Indian Premier League, which is set to start in less than a week. “I am really happy to back at the Delhi Capitals, I am excited to join the side and to play with everyone. I will treat the game as important as the last one. I didn’t change much at all, I just trusted the process and kept it going throughout the tournament and that’s what was planned for this season,” Nair said during an interaction with media. “I will find my process, my rhythm as soon as I can and I will like to start well early and will try to get better as the tournament goes on. The only thing that I have done is playing according to the situation, added a few shots and built the confidence to execute them when needed. I also now try to stay relaxed,” he …

Shubman Gill downplays speculations on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma futures after Champions Trophy final: ‘No talk about retirement in dressing room’ | Cricket News

Shubman Gill downplays speculations on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma futures after Champions Trophy final: ‘No talk about retirement in dressing room’ | Cricket News

Published by Webster

With stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hanging up their boots from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup triumph last year, speculations about their future in the ODI format are doing the rounds ahead of India’s Champions Trophy final against New Zealand on Sunday. Vice captain Shubman Gill, however, downplayed these talks saying that Indian dressing room is not discussing retirement of the two modern-day greats. “There is no talk about retirement in the dressing room, now,” Gill said during the pre-match press conference ahead of New Zealand match. Both Kohli and Rohit have guided India to an unbeaten run to the final with Kohli scoring one century along the way. Rohit, meanwhile, hasn’t had a big score this tournament but has provided India with strong starts with his aggressive batting. Story continues below this ad The Punjab batter also talked about India’s batting depth before the all important final in Dubai. “This is the best batting line up I am part of. Rohit is one of the best openers (in the world) and Virat, …

Champions Trophy semifinal: Advantage India but it’s not about schedule, team selection or travel but familiarity with the pitches | Cricket News

Champions Trophy semifinal: Advantage India but it’s not about schedule, team selection or travel but familiarity with the pitches | Cricket News

Published by Webster

For two weeks now, Indian cricketers have woken up from the same hotel rooms, travelled on the team bus on the by-now familiar route, and most importantly practiced and played on the sluggish tracks at the Dubai cricket stadium. There is no denying the India advantage; not in the trivial familiarity of rooms or non-existent flight travel but because of the contrasting nature of the pitches on offer in sluggish Dubai and batting-friendly Pakistan. But there is a nuance to this advantage. The understandable whining over India’s advantage misses the point about the all-round strength in the Indian squad. It has been said that if they knew they were only playing in Dubai, a few other teams also would have packed their squad with more spinners. The fact is India have quality options; not many others have. That’s why only New Zealand, who also played their majority games in Pakistan thus far, have still stacked their squad with enough tweakers. Also, in this day and age, taking one flight from Lahore or Karachi to Dubai …