Author: UC Team

Before the beginning of the 2025 IPL, well-RCB-apparelled Rajab Patidar was finally announced as the new captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru-RCB on Thursday. In a surprise announcement, the 25-year-old young star was selected RCB skipper against Kohli. Kohli served as the RCB captain between 2013 and 2021, when he stepped down with the arrival of Faf du Plessis. But RCB released Du Plessis before the mega auction, who captained between 2022 and 2024. Du Plessis has moved to the Delhi Capitals this season. Kohli has a fine record during his time as RCB captain although he could not land them…

As the deadline approached to make the final squad changes for the upcoming Champions Trophy, India controversially dropped top-order batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, adding another spin bowler, Varun Chakaravarthy. The inclusion of Chakaravarthy took the number of spinners in India’s 15-member squad to five-a sign of the team management’s expectations on the role of the tweakers in Dubai, the venue where India will play all their Champions Trophy matches in the Hybrid Model. Chakaravarthy, with his 18 T20Is for India, has been in good form of late, walking away with the player-of-the-series award as India defeated England 4-1 in a five-match…

GMR Group, owners of Delhi Capitals and Hampshire, got hold of The Hundred side Southern Brave on Wednesday. With this acquisition, the English Cricket Board (ECB) has ceased its equity sell-off of the cricket franchise based in Southampton. GMR bid for a total valuation of £98m for the team, buying the 49% stake of the ECB for approximately £48m, thereby bringing them to full power. With this acquisition, DC became the second IPL franchise to fully acquire a 100-ball tournament franchise after SRH Northern Superchargers. Southern Brave include Hampshire and Sussex among the historic counties, and GMR last year had…

On February 12 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, team India phased down England, taking the match from beginning to end in the third and final ODI of the white ball series. With India already winning the first two ODIs, this match came as the third between the two teams. Batting first, hence in the third ODI, India were faced with defeat after losing the toss. The hosts had a superb game, posting a huge total of 356 runs that England was to chase down. It was an unequal contest this time around, with a few performances from India…

The third season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is due to commence on February 14, 2025, and since its inception in 2023, WPL has seen some of the most exhilarating moments in women’s T20 cricket. Although only in its second season, the franchise has already created a huge ruckus, setting the stage for the next season. The very foundation of the league was set when the Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, went on to dominate and win the first season of the WPL by defeating the Delhi Capitals in 2023. In turn, in 2024, under the captaincy of…

Gautam Gambhir, head coach of Team India, pointed toward the open dressing room and culture of allowing players to be themselves as an important thing to work towards. His comment came after the third ODI against England in which India had already secured the series sweep, leading up to the Champions Trophy 2025. Gambhir noted that the atmosphere allowed for open discussions between junior and senior players alike. “Look, it’s no one! I think there are some senior players there as well. There is Virat, there is Rohit, there are other guys as well. But the important thing is that…

Jos Buttler, the captain of England team, came up in defense of the training schedule of his team during the present tour after former India coach Ravi Shastri blasted the visitors for not putting in “hard yards”. The English team had lost all three ODIs to be drubbed 0-3 after them being drubbed 1-4 in the five-match T20I series, and did not train before the second and third ODIs in Cuttack and Ahmedabad. However, a training session was held prior to the first ODI, scheduled to take place in Nagpur, even while Shastri lambasted the Indian team’s training exercises as…

India’s squad received a decisive blow earlier this week, with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah declared unfit for India’s campaign for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Given how much Bumrah has been leading the bowling front for India across formats, his absence will surely be felt; but head coach Gautam Gambhir sees that as an opportunity for others to shine. “He’s (Bumrah) injured; if he’s injured, he’s injured. Whether it is me, or whether it is the captain, we can’t do much about it,” Gambhir told reporters on Wednesday after India won the 3-0 ODI series over England in Ahmedabad. “Obviously, we…

Kevin Pietersen has slammed the England team, led by Jos Buttler, for not having even one practice session after their loss to India in the first ODI of the three-match series that concluded on Wednesday night. Pietersen publicly expressed his disappointment with their attitude after England was clean-swept 0-3 in the ODI series. “I’m amazed that England did not have ONE team practice session since losing the 1st ODI and losing the T20 series. How is this possible?” Pietersen posted on X. According to Ravi Shastri on commentary, England had one training session throughout the entire white-ball tour of India…

Former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was one of four ambassadors announced on Wednesday ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in Pakistan and in Dubai from February 19 to March 9. Adjoining Shikhar Dhawan, ICC proclaimed Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy-winning captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shane Watson from Australia and New Zealand’s legendary fast bowler, Tim Southee, as ambassadors for the event. The four will write guest columns and attend matches to offer their views on the event where the world’s eight best teams will battle it out for ultimate glory. “It is such a special feeling to be a…