All posts tagged: Skipper

Turkish skipper before opener against Australia

Turkish skipper before opener against Australia

3 min readJun 13, 2026 09:15 PM IST Australia and Turkey start their FIFA World Cup campaign in Vancouver on Sunday morning (India time), but the battle of words began a long time before that. Turkish captain Hakan Calhanoglu didn’t mince words when he predicted that his team would dominate the Socceroos because they have “more qualities and a more talented team.” If it was a ploy to rile up the opposition before a big game, it certainly got the Aussies’ attention. However, they didn’t respond to the jibe in kind, with coach Tony Popovic only saying that his team was ready to “spoil the party.” Not just the skipper, defender Ozan Kabak also said “I think that we can beat them.” Calhanoglu was pretty forthcoming in his assessment. “Our coach analysed them with us together. So, we know that they’re a physical team, that they’re good on the corner kicks and the free kicks because they are tall and strong,” the Inter Milan midfielder said. “I think that we dominate tomorrow the game because …

LSG not shocked by Rishabh Pant’s resignation as skipper, admit need for ‘leadership reset’: ‘Everyone knew that’

LSG not shocked by Rishabh Pant’s resignation as skipper, admit need for ‘leadership reset’: ‘Everyone knew that’

Rishabh Pant has made a significant call following another disappointing season for Lucknow Super Giants, stepping down as captain after the franchise finished at the bottom of the table. The decision came even before the season had officially concluded, underlining the growing scrutiny around his leadership after LSG’s early elimination from playoff contention. Rishabh Pant has stepped down as LSG captain. (REUTERS) In many ways, the move felt inevitable. Lucknow have endured two underwhelming campaigns in a row, failing to live up to expectations despite assembling a strong squad. Pant, meanwhile, struggled to make the desired impact with the bat, and the weight of his INR 27 crore price tag only intensified the spotlight. With results not going LSG’s way and questions mounting over both the team’s performances and his own form, Pant’s decision brings an end to a difficult chapter for the franchise. LSG director of cricket Tom Moody threw his weight behind the decision, saying the wicketkeeper-batter needsto focus on rediscovering his best form after a difficult couple of seasons, both personally and …

‘I don’t have to beat around the bush, I will just…’: Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer scathing words post loss against DC | Cricket News

‘I don’t have to beat around the bush, I will just…’: Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer scathing words post loss against DC | Cricket News

3 min readMay 12, 2026 07:30 AM IST With the three-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals at Dharamshala, Punjab Kings suffered their fourth consecutive loss in this year’s IPL. The Shreyas Iyer led team, which was once leading the points table and had six wins out of seven matches with one no result match, is now placed fourth in the points table. The team could have climbed to the top spot if they would have won the match. Defending 210 runs, Punjab Kings had Delhi Capitals at. 38 for 3 in five overs before their bowlers let the Axar Patel led side make a comeback in the match. With Capitals winning the match with one over to spare and Kings giving away 78 runs in the last five overs of Capitals’ innings Iyer sounded harsh on the team’s bowling as well fielding. When asked whether the team got it wrong in the match, Iyer spoke about how the team’s bowling and fielding let the team down. “I mean, I don’t have to beat around the bush, …

‘One game at a time’: KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane on chances of play-offs after win vs DC | Cricket News

‘One game at a time’: KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane on chances of play-offs after win vs DC | Cricket News

5 min readMay 8, 2026 11:37 PM IST With their eight-wicket win over hosts Delhi Capitals on Friday night, Kolkata Knight Riders scored their fourth consecutive win of this year’s IPL. The Ajinkya Rahane side had just one point after six matches this season and had lost five matches out of the six matches. Friday’s win meant that the Kolkata team now has nine points from ten games and are still in contention to make it to the play-offs. With the team having xx games left and the chance to make it to the play-offs, skipper Rahane shared how the team is taking one game at a time. “One game at a time,” Rahane said at the end of the post match presentation when asked about how the team is looking towards their chance to qualify for the play-offs after four consecutive wins. After they bundled out Delhi Capitals to a total of 142 for 8 in 20 overs, the Kolkata side chased the target in 14.1 overs with Finn Allen hitting his maiden IPL …

‘I don’t think I need to answer any critics’: RR skipper Riyan Parag after scoring 90 vs Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

‘I don’t think I need to answer any critics’: RR skipper Riyan Parag after scoring 90 vs Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

3 min readMay 2, 2026 12:02 AM IST Putting all the recent controversy behind him Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag the batter stepped up for his team, slamming 90 off 50 deliveries with the help of 8 fours and 5 sixes against the Delhi Capitals on Friday. His innings helped RR post 225/6 but it wasn’t enough as DC with the help of KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka, chased down the target and won by 7 wickets. “I don’t think I need to answer any critics or anyone talking about it. But at the end of the day, my job is to get two points. So my score and my innings don’t really matter if we lose the game,” Parag said after the match, reacting to a question on if he answered his critics. “I think it was a good score. I thought 200 was a par score here. It was going to slow down a bit, but I think we could have bowled way better in the middle overs, not let them get away …

‘Chasing 12-13 at death is going to be tough..’: CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaekwad on middle-order faltering | Cricket News

‘Chasing 12-13 at death is going to be tough..’: CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaekwad on middle-order faltering | Cricket News

3 min readApr 19, 2026 11:27 AM IST With three successive losses in the opening three matches of the season, Chennai Super Kings had an appalling start to the IPL. The Ruturaj Gaekwad-led team then made a recovery with wins over Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders before the team lost by ten runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday evening. Chasing a target of 195 runs, Chennai Super Kings were once placed at 111 for 3 in ten overs, but then could only reach a total of 184 for 8 in 20 overs, resulting in the ten-run loss. Post the loss, captain Ruturaj Gaekwad shared how the team scored just four runs in the next two overs after the tenth over and how chasing 12-13 runs per over at the death was going to be tough for the team in the chase. “It was just about 80 runs needed in 10 overs (with the bat). From there, it was just about building a couple of partnerships. We scored just 4 runs in the next 2 …

‘If I would have contributed more, maybe it could have been different’: CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad after loss to RCB | Cricket News

‘If I would have contributed more, maybe it could have been different’: CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad after loss to RCB | Cricket News

3 min readApr 6, 2026 12:33 AM IST Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said that he should have contributed more on top of the order, placing the blame squarely on his own shoulders, after his team went down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy on Sunday. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO “If I would have contributed more, maybe it could have been different. It (the loss) was definitely on me today. We still had the game in our hands till the 13-14th over (of the bowling innings but let momentum slip after it,” he saud at the post-match presentation. This was Chennai’s third loss of the season, earlier suffering defeats to Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. Except for Sarfaraz Khan who scored 50, most of CSK’s big name batters failed to make much of an impact with Sanju Samson and Gaikwad falling for 9 and 7 respectively. Ayush Mhatre scored just 1 while Kartik Sharma and Shivam Dube could only muster 6 and 18 respectively. At the backend, Prashant Veer (43) and Jamie Overton …

Harbhajan Singh criticises KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane for not bowling Sunil Narine against Rohit Sharma in powerplay vs MI: ‘Captaincy wasn’t up to the mark’ | Cricket News

Harbhajan Singh criticises KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane for not bowling Sunil Narine against Rohit Sharma in powerplay vs MI: ‘Captaincy wasn’t up to the mark’ | Cricket News

2 min readUpdated: Mar 30, 2026 06:17 PM IST Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh said that Ajinkya Rahane missed a trick by not bowling Sunil Narine against an ominous looking Rohit Sharma in the powerplay during Kolkata Knight Riders; match vs Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Sunday. Rohit went on to score a breezy 78 runs as well as added 148 runs with opening partner Ryan Rickelton (81) to help MI defeat KKR by 6 wickets. “The best match-up was to bowl Sunil Narine in the powerplay, at least one or two overs to target Rohit Sharma early. That was their best chance to pick wickets and put Mumbai under pressure. Instead, Narine didn’t even complete his full quota, which shows the captaincy wasn’t up to the mark,” Harbhajan told JioStar. “Credit to Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton. They batted with ease and never let the bowlers settle, but KKR could have handled that phase much better,” the former off spinner added. Rickelton and Rohit slammed quickfire fifties, helping Mumbai win their first opening …

‘This win, we dedicate to the 11 fans who we lost’: RCB skipper Rajat Patidar after victory vs SRH in IPL opener | Cricket News

‘This win, we dedicate to the 11 fans who we lost’: RCB skipper Rajat Patidar after victory vs SRH in IPL opener | Cricket News

3 min readMar 29, 2026 05:58 PM IST Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar dedicated their win in the Indian Premier League opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad to the 11 fans who lost their lives last year in the Chinnaswamy stampede during RCB’s title celebrations. “This win, we dedicate to the 11 fans who we lost,” he said in a video on RCB’s X handle. RCB batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik also talked about the emotional occasion, ” I must say it was pretty emotional. At the start, when we all stood in pin drop silence. It was nice that we honoured them.” Patidar also talked about the 11 fans, saying that it was always a “bad feeling” to miss family members. “Of course you feel bad when you miss your family member. I will say family member because everyone who has supported us over the years, I think they are kind of a family to us and we miss them and I don’t have words to say right now,” he said in the post-match …

Daniel Vettori lauds stand-in Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan, says his confidence as player and leader led to captaincy gig | Cricket News

Daniel Vettori lauds stand-in Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan, says his confidence as player and leader led to captaincy gig | Cricket News

3 min readMar 27, 2026 09:26 PM IST Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Daniel Vettori lauded Ishan Kishan and said that the team management had little hesitation in appointing the Jharkhand player the captaincy after regular skipper Pat Cummins was set to miss the initial stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. “I think Ishan’s been around in the IPL for a long period of time now. He’s been with a number of teams and he’s been highly successful, so, he brings in his own confidence around that. The fact that he’s led the U19s and his state team and they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader and those are the attributes that we really looked at when he was appointed. His combination with Abhishek, they’re good friends, they know the team exceptionally well and I really feel like those two will lead from the front this season,” Vettori said in the pre-match press meet on Friday. “I think he started last …