SPORTS

Indian cricket was caught in a big storm following the bombshell TV sting operation of Chetan Sharma, which resulted in the Indian chief selector finally announcing his resignation on Friday (February 17). Chetan was only reappointed to the top job in January after the Indian Cricket Board announced a new committee following the end of the previous one's tenure in November.

A BCCI official has opened up about the resignation of Chetan and stated that the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid, alongside the two captains, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, had lost faith in him. The BCCI source further revealed that it was not possible for him to sit across from the captain and coach in future meetings.

Oshiwara police has arrested social media influencer Sapna Gill for allegedly assaulting Indian cricketer Prithvi Shaw at a night club in Maharashtra capital Mumbai. The scuffle took place late Wednesday night at Barrel Mansion Club in Vile Parle East over taking selfies with Prithvi Shaw.

"An offence was registered in Oshiwara police station, Mumbai, under the section of unlawful assembly, extortion and other sections. The accused in the case damaged the car of the complainant (Prithvi Shaw) and then demanded Rs 50,000 to let go of the matter. One accused has been arrested, efforts are underway to nab others," said DCP Zone 9 Anil Paraskar.

A red-hot Bengal will have a chance to claim their first Ranji Trophy title in 33 years when they face Saurashtra, bolstered by the return of pacer and domestic game heavyweight Jaydev Unadkat, in the summit clash in Kolkata from Thursday (February 16). Bengal will not just be hungry to win the title, but revenge will also be on their mind. The last time Bengal made the final in 2020, Saurashtra had won the title on the basis of first innings lead at their home turf in Rajkot.

Both the teams are set to cross swords in a Ranji final again, this time at Eden Gardens, a venue where Bengal had won their last Ranji Trophy way back in 1990. It’s not that Bengal have been under-performing. They have been on an upward curve since the 2019-20 season, making it to the semifinals three times on the trot. They have played two finals in this period. In between, the 2020-21 season was abandoned because of COVID-19 pandemic.

Cheteshwar Pujara will be playing his 100th Test when Team India gets down to action in the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia that starts in Delhi on Friday. For the veteran India batter it's a momentous occasion. While describing Pujara's game in a column for a cricket website, veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin payed rich compliments to former India opener Murali Vijay. The veteran opener recently retired, after playing 61 Tests (3982 runs), 17 ODIs (339 runs), nine T20Is (169 runs).

Ashwin said that Vijay, according to him is the greatest Indian opener outside Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag.

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 players’ auction was exciting as expected. After all, it was a new chapter added to the history of Indian cricket. Back in 2008, there was a huge buzz when male cricketers from across the world went under the hammer, thus marking the beginning of the Indian Premier League. More than a decade later, the women cricketers, both capped and uncapped, found a reason to be merrier when they were picked up by five different franchises that will participate in the inaugural edition of the WPL.

A total of 87 players, including Indian and overseas, found buyers at the auctions. The franchises collectively spent an amount of Rs 59.5 crore to constitute a bunch of strong players to compete in India’s first-ever full-fledged women’s T20 league.