Pakistani soil is the one that often seems more fertile to produce the mighty pace bowlers who can go after any strongest batting lineup in the world. But, on the other hand, the rise of a 22-year-0ld guy as a Test specialist prodigy in a generation of cricketers that is leaning more towards the glamourous franchise leagues is obviously like a blessing in disguise for the traditional format of the game. Yes, I am talking about none other than the young blessing to Test cricket, Abdullah Shafique.

Watching this Sialkot-born sensation batting is like a treat for many experts of the game and also the former veterans who played the game. Being brought up in a cricketing family of former Pakistani first-class cricketer Shafique Ahmed, cricket always remained like something Abdullah had in his veins since he held the plastic bat for the first time in his childhood.

Perfect defence, calculated front foot, amazing hand-eye coordination, patience, and perseverance, all these are the elements Shafique is equipped with. Being equipped with these is not the only thing, this lad has also a good sense of responsibility and understanding about how and when to use all these elements to bring the team into a comfort zone from any unfavourable situation.

Shafique took the team to win in an almost lost Test match

Pakistan is currently on a tour of Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series. They faced Dimuth Karunaratne & co. during the first of the two-match Test series and the visitors were in a miserable condition having a mammoth target of 342 runs in the fourth innings. But the way this Punjabi lad painted a 522-minute-long and must-require innings of 160 runs off 408 balls for his team was like watching Pablo Picasso playing with brush and colours to rejuvenate a dull and off-colored canvas.

Eventually, Abdullah ended up similarly rejuvenating the dull and off-coloured canvas in Galle Test for visitors and became a major difference between a defeat and Pakistan. Batting in Test cricket has always been a craft, the craft which has been carried away by some talented craftsmen in the past with their own unique skills and unprecedented colors of talent.

Born with cricket in blood veins

Cricket in Abdullah’s blood was recognized by his father in his son’s early childhood. Once, the senior Shafique also talked about the amazing god-gifted cricketing instinct of his oldest son.

“I’d just come back and saw Abdullah shadow-practising with a plastic bat. He hadn’t seen me yet and I spotted him with the perfect stance, getting his front foot perfectly and pretending to play a front-foot defence. I couldn’t believe it. He looked like a kid who’d been training for three-six months. I immediately asked my wife if Abdullah had been playing cricket with someone,” said Shafique.

There’s a famous phrase, “a father knows better” and Shafique was the personification of this phrase who later went on to groom his son to be one of the finest journeys in the longest format of the game. That too for a cricketing nation that barely remembers any Test specialist after the legendary Haneef Mohammad.

It’s neither a comparison nor a contrasting of Abdullah with Haneef Mohammed, it’s just like understanding how you can prepare yourself to carry a baton of traditions of the game even in a completely evolved generation of cricket in the 21st century.

Senior Shafique knew all about his son from the beginning

Now coming back to Shafique’s role as a father, he understood all the qualities of his son and worked on them very carefully and minutely. Senior Shafique took modern-day Abdullah to Sialkot’s Late Amir Waseem Academy in Punjab. It was a crucial juncture of his cricketing journey that happened to occur only in teenage-period for Abdullah as he got a chance of training there with the players of the senior team.

Having a platform, perfect training, and enumerated guidance, the then 16-year-old guy made it to the Sialkot Under-16 very early. It was the very place where he shone into the sights of veterans of the game and the coaches who were previously the cricketers.

Then, four years later, arrives the morning of 2nd December 2019 in the cricketing career of 20-year-old Abdullah Shafique. The morning on which he woke up with a debut call in first-class cricket. It was the day when this ultimate modern-day class was introduced to the oldest format of the game in the domestic circuit of Pakistan.

Started his first-class career in style

The raw prodigy from Sialkot donned the first-class cap of Central Punjab in the 29^th match of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2019-20, it was the match in which he played against Southern Punjab. Abdullah amazed everyone with the display of his determination and dedication in his cricketing life’s first ever first-class match. The then skipper of Central Punjab Ahmed Shehzad sent him to bat at the crucial number three position.

Debutant Junior Shafique sojourned there in the middle for 280 minutes and played an amazing knock of 133 runs with 16 fours and a six to end up as the highest scorer of the inning for his team. On the back of his consecutive excellence in domestic cricket, the 21-year-old made his Test debut just after playing three first-class matches. It is always a big achievement for any aspiring cricketer in the world.

The day when the cricketing world witnessed the rise of a star and a new class of Test cricket

Eventually, the international cricketing fraternity came to know about this amazing class of Test cricket when the Australian team toured Pakistan for three-match Test series earlier in March 2022. Both teams were playing the first match of the series at Rawalpindi. Everybody was amazed after seeing how comfortably a 22-year-old young batter of only two Tests old was emerging as trouble for one of the finest bowling attacks in the world of cricket. The very attack included the senior and experienced pacers in the form of Mitchell Starc and Aussie skipper Pat Cummins himself.

Abdullah played an amazing unbeaten knock of 136 runs and stitched a partnership of 252 runs with Imam-ul-Haq in the fourth innings of a drawn fixture at Rawalpindi. This excellence was followed by his 465-minute marathon stay on the crease alongside skipper Babar Azam in the second Test of the series at Karachi’s National Stadium.

It can be said without any second opinion that Abdullah Shafique is the next belief Test batting after Rahul Dravid on whom sub-continent can count on at any turf in Test cricket.

“Once upon a time, the man had a love affair with fire,” American novelist Robert R. McCammon wrote in his book Swan Song. The same implies to the fiery ODI career of Ben Stokes. August 25, 2011, it was a bit cloudy morning at Castle Avenue in Dublin, Ireland. It was the day when Ireland hosted England for an only ODI encounter and a 20-year-old Stokes was making his ODI debut.

These were also the years when English cricket was going through a transitional phase in the white-ball format.  During this phase of renaissance, an all-rounder was the need of the hour for English cricket. An all-rounder who can take control of the game anytime either with the bat or ball.

The English management went on to count on the young Stokes for the role. However, he got only 3 runs off 10 balls with the bat and skipper Eoin Morgan opted not to go with him with the ball.

Stokes’ name was not alien to the cricketing fraternity as everybody was well-aware of his amazing all-around skills. The Christchurch-based lad drew the attention of all cricket experts and fans when he smashed a century against India in the Under-19 World Cup of 2010 and helped England defeat India by 31 runs.

He had also shown his skills with the ball during his stint with Durham in the English County Championship. But, above all this, a flop international debut was something that led to a few questions. Nonetheless, England invested in Stokes in the next couple of bilateral clashes. Stokes got a chance against India in a five-match ODI series, but he couldn’t impress the management.

His poor start in international cricket continued for the next few matches, but things started to change and he registered the first five-wicket haul of his career against Australia in the last of the five-match ODI series. Though, even his five-wicket haul could not help England win the match and they lost the series 1-2.

Survived the issues with discipline and attitude

Apart from some poor outings in the initial phase of his career, Stokes also had to go through tough times when he was sent back from the Australia tour due to a breach of disciple alongside Kent’s Matt Coles. It was  a big setback for a cricketer who was in the process to fix his spot in the team.

But Stokes came up firmly and helped Durham to win the Championship that season. Later on, the English management recalled him to the white-ball side. Subsequently, on the back of his stellar performances, they picked him for 2013-14 Ashes.

It was the time when his name flashed into the headlines for some good reason as the then 23-year-old was the only positive outcome for England on that tour. He returned for the Three Lions as a player at his peak. Following Jonathon Trott’s unexpected exclusion from the team, Stokes proved his vitality by scoring his maiden Test hundred in Perth.

An unforgettable star born after enduring the agonies

However, an agony was waiting to come to his name. It was the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 and England locked horns with West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Garden. The match entered into the last over when West Indies required 19 runs off six balls. Skipper Morgan introduced Stokes into the attack but it happened to be one of the disastrous overs of his career as Carlos Braithwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off him and took the Caribbean side home with the second World T20 title.

But three years later, Stokes stood up strongly to register his name as an eternal one in history. England was playing the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 at their home and took on New Zealand in the final of the World Cup at Lord’s. An outstanding knock of unbeaten 84 from Stokes helped England win their first ever 50-over World Cup in a nail-biting thriller as the game ended in a tie after 50 overs, followed by another tie in the Super Over.

A big achievement in the longest format of the game

On the grounds of his stellar contributions on the field for the team, the management invested in him as they appointed him as the full-time Test skipper of England when Joe Root stepped down. Stokes won his maiden Test series as captain against New Zealand with a handsome score-line of 3-0. His purple patch in captaincy continued in the rescheduled Test match against India where they won by seven wickets and leveled the series by 2-2.

Appearing in his last ODI against South Africa at Durham on July 19, the 31-year-old couldn’t perform up to the expectations. But by that time, he had earned so much for English cricket that a performance in the farewell match was not that mandatory.

Streets will remember the New Zealander who took English cricket to new heights and bid adieu to the white-ball format at the peak of his career.

There is something about Joe Root that makes him such a smooth operator on the 22 yards. Every time he sprints out into the middle, one starts anticipating greatness and nothing less. It was no different at Trent Bridge against New Zealand on Day 3 of the second Test. 

England were still trailing by 406 runs when Root came to bat. The right-hander stamped his class right from the word go. Root drove a full-length delivery from Matt Henry through the vacant mid-off region for his first boundary. He raced off into the 30s in no time. 

There was nothing much on the surface for the Kiwi bowlers to exploit and Root looked determined to make the most out of the conditions. He played some glorious cover drives right throughout his stay on the crease. Root picked up from where he had left in the second innings of the previous Test in the series at Lord’s. 

Who can forget his brilliant century that helped England register its first Test win under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum? At Trent Bridge, Root was at his fluent best which meant Pope could play without pressure.

Both of them made things difficult for the opposition bowlers as runs kept coming at a fair click. Post lunch Pope reached the three-figure mark and Root was overjoyed. He ran down from the other end after completing a couple of runs that took Pope to the milestone and hugged him. 

The gesture in many ways reflected the inner joy and relief felt by every English cricket fan. The crisis period of the England team in Tests, which saw a capitulation in the Ashes followed by a dismal show against West Indies among other lows, started to seem like a thing of the past.

Root brought his half-century with a flick off his pads that found the fence. It came off just 56 deliveries. He grew from strength to strength as the game progressed. He did not hesitate to employ the reverse sweep when he was batting on 93. It fetched him a boundary. Root then followed one pitched slightly outside off stump when he was on 99.

It took an under-edge and luckily went past the wicketkeeper through the fine leg region for a boundary. It was for the 27th time in his Test career that Root scored a century. This one came off just 116 balls, his fastest so far and right after a match-winning ton in his previous innings.

Root made sure that he crossed the 150-run mark with a boundary just like he did when he was nearing his 50th as well as 100th run. He seemed a little pleasantly surprised at his run of good form.  

Then something happened the next morning which took everyone by surprise. On the very second ball that he faced, Root reverse scooped a Tim Southee delivery for a sixer over the third-man boundary. Eventually, he got out at 176 after offering a catch to Southee at cover, outsmarted by a Trent Boult slower one. 

England were all out for 539 in the first innings. The Kiwis set a target of 299 runs for England. After a few initial hiccups, the hosts rode on a brilliant century from Jonny Bairstow in their second innings to win the Test by five wickets. 

Root could not do much in his second essay, having been dismissed cheaply. But his first innings effort was instrumental in ensuring the win which meant England had an unassailable lead in the three-match series. He won the Man of the Series award for his wonderful batting display. 

An unstoppable force

Root once again played a crucial knock of 86 runs in the third and final Test against the Kiwis and remained not out. It came in the fourth innings when England chased down a target of 296 runs. Fellow teammate Bairstow slammed an unbeaten 71 runs in just 44 balls in that innings. 

As fate would have it, Root and Bairstow strung together a match-winning unbroken partnership of 269 in the rescheduled fifth Test against India. This time, however, Root started on the wrong foot. Chasing 378, England were 109/2 when Root made a horrendous call for a run. 

It resulted in the run out of opener Alex Lees, who was looking solid on 56. But being the unstoppable force that he is, Root did not let anything deter him. He went on to score an unbeaten 142 runs. Root’s journey as an international cricketer post captaincy could not have started on a more perfect note. 

Dominating the scene 

Even when he was the captain of the England team, Root achieved some incredible things with the bat. He slammed as many as 14 centuries and amassed a total of 5295 runs at an average of 46.44. In 2021, he was simply phenomenal. He slammed 1,708 runs that included two double centuries. 

He recently crossed the 10,000-run mark to become only the second English batter after Alastair Cook to do so. Root has dominated the scene even as the rest of the Fab Four of modern-day cricket are short of runs. It is not just about the number of runs that Root has scored. The way he got those runs is equally mesmerising. 

His batting has evolved with every innings in terms of his approach. He was always a technically sound craftsman with the willow. There are already talks doing the round that Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 runs is realistically within his grasp. It will be a huge achievement if and when that day comes. 

The way he is batting at the moment nothing seems impossible. The innings at Trent Bridge was something special. It was in many ways different. 

– By Subhadeep Dutta

Edgbaston, Birmingham, July 1. Typical overcast English conditions. A confident England captain, Ben Stokes, walks out for the toss. The coin falls in his favour and unsurprisingly, he chooses to bowl first. India is 2-1 ahead in the series but this is a new England team led by a new captain and a new coach.

James Anderson has the ball in hand. Indian openers Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara start steadily. But not much later, Anderson starts unwinding his magic stick. He gets both the openers. Newbie Matthew Potts joins the party too. He first removes a set Hanuman Vihari and then follows it with the big wicket of Virat Kohli. India is down and out on 98-5 inside the first two sessions on day one!

Ask any cricket expert and he would tell you there is hardly any chance of making a comeback from a stage like this. You have lost your top and middle-order and opposition bowlers are breathing fire. There is a nasty cloud cover. In short, all odds are stacked against you. But then can you predict anything when Rishabh Pant is still at the crease?

Trust me, you can’t! The Indian wicketkeeper batter doesn’t just know how to entertain the audience with his behind-the-stump banter but he is equally capable of turning upside down a Test match on his own.

He did exactly that on July 1. He played his natural game – not leaving any opportunity to send the ball to the boundary despite all the pressure mounting up. The English bowlers who seemed to be unplayable earlier looked lost. They tried everything – bouncers, in and out-swingers, yorkers – but Rishabh remained unmoved.

He received tremendous support from all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the other end. The duo lifted India after the terrible start by forming a mammoth partnership of 222 runs. Meanwhile, even after reaching his fifty in 51 balls, Pant didn’t stop being aggressive. The 24-year-old kept playing his shots all-round the park. He crossed the golden three-figure-mark in just 89 balls, having hit 15 fours and a six.

England was finally able to dismiss him in the 67th over of the innings but he had already done the damage. He ended up making 146 runs in 111 balls to ensure India posted a very good first innings total of 416 runs. Jadeja also scored a hundred later on the second day.

Thanks to Pant’s heroics, India is in a comfortable position to win the match after fetching a huge 132-run first-innings lead. Notably, it wasn’t the first time that Pant came to India’s rescue. He has done it quite a few times in the last couple of years, especially in the longest format.

He was the main character in India’s historic series wins in Australia as well. Even though the youngster often gets criticised for his aggressive approach, he keeps on playing match-winning knocks for India without paying attention to the trolls. So, there would rarely be any argument on Rishabh being called the modern-day Test cricket saviour for the Indian team!

Rishabh Pant is a Rario ambassador. You can get his exclusive NFTs only on Rario, visit www.rario.com for more details

Virat Kohli has not been to the three-digit mark for over 940 days in an international match, one of the longest droughts for any batsman. And to think people got impatient when it took 369 days for Sachin Tendulkar to reach his 100th century, this one has taken everyone by surprise, for it has happened to a batsman who was once considered unstoppable till 2019.

His 71st century might not be the best innings he would have ever played, but it will certainly be an eventful one. I expect it to be inclusive of swings and misses, mishits, and edges where no fielder is present alongside some glorious boundaries and sharp running.

Perfect is boring. The imperfections are what make things truly beautiful. 

He gets a couple of good deliveries first up, each one followed by “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd. But he gets off the mark in typical Kohli fashion, glancing it off his pads for a double.

Before he knows it, he is in his 30s, and now the pressure is truly on the bowlers. Only a moment seems to pass by before he reaches his half-century, a landmark he has reached multiple times in the past two years but has failed to capitalize upon.

He continues playing, reaches 60, then 70, and the Indian fans go into a frenzy. Millions of people who had lost hopes of this drought ending switch on their TVs, hoping to see the King rule once again with dominance.

Peak insanity prevails the moment he enters the nervous 90s, and anyone who can is now either watching the match or following it somehow. There are bad calls for a run. Shots he shouldn’t play, balls he should leave and not chase. He seems to be getting nervous and impatient. But he manages to hold on.

99*

A billion prayers are chanted across the nation, all in hopes of the ever-elusive 71st hundred finally arriving and ending this wait once and for all. And then, it happens. He drops a short ball in front of the square and takes off. You can sense the determination in his eyes, the eagerness inside him to just get to the other end safely. And he does.

As Kohli reaches the crease, he realizes what has happened. He has done it and the raging crowd behind him is only getting louder. He clenches his fist, punches the air and jumps in celebration, takes off his helmet, and raises it along with his bat to acknowledge the applauding crowd, which is giving him a standing ovation, along with his teammates as well as the opposition, just soaking it all in.

An acknowledgment to the end of a drought, a drought that has lasted for far too long, a mixture of bad luck combined with him going out of form. Whatever be the reason, he can now celebrate that it is finally over.

Millions of cricket fans across India and around the globe celebrate the return of the King. Indian social media activity reaches an all-time high with every other post, comment, or tweet related to the King.

I know that he will get there because he is ultimately too good a player not to. And after it happens, he will go back to being himself and churning out runs for fun. That is the Kohli everyone is waiting to watch.

But till then, I can only ask, ‘When will the 71st hundred come?’

– By Aayush Singhal

Red Bull has not just established itself as an energy drink brand but has also emerged as the platform where young and budding cricketers from colleges and universities can compete to make it big on a global stage. To promote the sport and to provide the young gen cricketers with a stage to showcase their skills and abilities, the brand came up with Red Bull Campus Cricket in the year 2012.

Red Bull Campus Cricket hosts multiple colleges and university teams under one roof and helps the cricketers grow and develop in the one-of-a-kind tournament. The best part about the event is that it is not just limited to men’s cricket, as it also opens the doors wide open for the women cricketers in the past two editions of the tournament.

A platform that adds wings to female cricketers’ dream

While RBCC was started in 2012, the women’s edition of the tournament was launched in 2021, at a small level with just two teams – Rizvi College of Mumbai and Gargi College of Delhi. Both the teams directly competed in the finals in the first-ever women’s edition. 

It was a big-shot deal for the girls as they got to play a proper Twenty-20 match at a stadium that has hosted multiple international matches, The IS Bindra Stadium (Punjab Cricket Association) in Mohali, Chandigarh. This year, the event grew even bigger as two more teams were added to the tournament.

At the Mullanpur Stadium in Mohali, two semi-finals of the big event featured a total of four teams – MGR Janaki College (Chennai), Rizvi College (Mumbai), Alfalah University (Delhi) and Marwari College (Ranchi). A motivational factor for the girls who played the finals this year was the presence of Smriti Mandhana and Snehal Pradhan.

Mandhana, a Red Bull brand ambassador and the vice-captain of the Indian national team, was at the event throughout the women’s finals and was hooked to the contest. Having the sensational Indian batter at the event cheered the players to do even better in the finals.

Mumbai, the defending champions, once again entered the finals, while Ranchi entered the big stage in their maiden outing. The game saw a terrific competition between the two teams and eventually witnessed Ranchi lifting the cup in style.

We got in touch with a few players and coaches of the teams that participated in the tournament. While every cricketer felt Red Bull had provided them with an opportunity to achieve more heights, the coaches felt that the platform helped a lot in the personal growth and development of every player.

Mr. Rajesh Sonawane, Director of Sports at Rizvi College Mumbai and the head coach, was happy that two new teams were added this season, and said that he wishes to see the tournament grow even bigger next year.

“First and foremost, the scope of women’s cricket is much lesser than men’s cricket. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, it seemed like the sport was not into existence. But Red Bull solved the needs of the players and RBCC, the tournament, was a blessing in disguise. Even amid such a crisis-like situation, they provided a platform for the girls and helped them to follow their dreams. The facilities here make us feel like we’re playing a tournament similar to the IPL,” he said.

“Having white-ball matches, and day-night matches give the players with the required exposure. I wish to see more teams added next year so that the girls get to play more matches, compete in the league stages like the boys and get to be a part of the extensive competition. Last year it was just two teams, this time there were four and as a result, the semi-final stage was unlocked. I hope next time there are eight so that the girls’ tournament is divided into group stages and they strive to achieve more,” he added.

Mumbai’s captain Riya Choudhari believes that RBCC has helped her immensely and just like her coach, she also wishes to see more teams joining next year.

“With the help of RBCC, we, the girls, are getting exposed to the professional arena. We are getting a sense of how the games take place at the global level. Women’s cricket in India is growing at a rapid pace and there have been many developments in the sport. Sadly, we could not win this year, but our team witnessed many new players joining and getting an opportunity, and I was one of them,” Riya said.

RBCC helping individuals realize their potential

Champions Ranchi’s head coach Arun Kumar Rai was on such a stage for the first time and expressed his gratitude to Red Bull for organizing the event at a national level as he said: “Red Bull provided a big platform for the new cricketers, who are just starting their journey. I experienced something very unique and different. The girls who play here grow like professionals and get an opportunity to try their hands at the district level. If they perform well there, they get to represent their state and then move upwards.”

The Ranchi skipper Shanti Kumari believes that with some players being experienced and some being new, the tournament helps them to grow as a unit.

“I’m thankful to Red Bull who provided us with this opportunity to come and represent our state at a national level because there is not much of women’s cricket happening around us and getting to be a part of the mega event gives a major boost to our confidence. We all gathered a couple of weeks ahead of the tournament and participated in a camp that was organized, which helped us practice more for the main event. RBCC had not just helped us get physically strong but also has helped us mentally as we now aim to prepare to play more games and move higher towards representing the country one day,” she said.

Apart from Ranchi, the Chennai team was another new entrant in the tournament. Being a whole new bunch of fresh faces, the players got a brand new experience of playing professional cricket. The head coach Selvarani believes that RBCC brought many players of different stature under one banner and helped everyone learn something new from one another.

“This platform is very important to us because hard work will always lead to success, and RBCC helps us get there by providing what the players needed so they could play hard for their institution. Players benefit from talented individuals competing in games, and as a result, they adapt and refine their playing skills professionally,” she said.

The team skipper Deepika grabbed the opportunity to the fullest and wishes to return in an even better manner next year. “We, the players, are working hard to gain a decent platform to show our skills, and RBCC assists us in reaching the top level of gaming opportunities. It provides us a platform to showcase our skillsets and helps us realize that one day we would also have wings to fly high.”

When someone hears the word RedBull, the first image that springs to mind is a blue and silver energy drink can. Though the company has established itself as one of the most well-known energy drink companies in the world, it has also ventured into the sporting world to help aspiring cricketers realize their dreams.

Red Bull is not just limited to having cricketers and athletes as its brand ambassadors, but it is also providing a platform for college and university-level cricketers to showcase their talent. Thus, RedBull has backed the cricketers to grow and develop in their game by giving them a stage where they can aim to represent their nation on the global stage.

Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) is the world’s only platform dedicated to college and university cricket. Teams participate in national competitions all across the world, with the victors earning the opportunity to represent their country in the World Final. The RBCC National Finals tournament was held at Mohali this year, and Delhi’s Alfalah University emerged victorious. Their next assignment will be against Oman, where they represent India at the World Finals, a place that will witness teams like South Africa, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka among others.

Red Bull Campus Cricket – The dream-fulfilling tournament 

RBCC was launched in the year 2012, and the tournament completed its 11th edition this year. It is as unique as it sounds because this is a place where various universities from different parts of the nation compete.

The Red Bull Campus Cricket India Finals 2022 witnessed 174 participating players. While there were eight men’s teams that reached the league stage, two teams were added to the women’s leg as a total of four women’s teams competed in the one-of-a-kind T20 tournament.

300+ teams played the qualifiers of the RBCC 2022 over four months, and eight teams (put into two groups of four each) moved further to compete in the league stage. Every team was scheduled to play two games in the league stage, and the top two teams of both the groups qualified for the semi-finals of the Men’s league.

The 11th edition of the prestigious tournament saw quite a few well-known figures from the field of cricket. Two players from the winning team, Avneesh Sudha and Qamran Iqbal have represented India in the U-19 squad. The duo has also been a part of the Ranji while two more players, namely Bobby Yadav and Vedant Bharadwaj have played the Ranji.

The team that wins RBCC gets a chance to represent India in the World Finals as they go on to play with the national champions of various countries. Shardul Thakur, Siddhesh Lad, KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shahrukh Khan, Shivam Dube, and many more from the Indian team have competed in the previous editions of RBCC. International players like Niroshan Dickwella, Chirag Suri, Aiden Markram, and Lungi Ngidi have all competed on the international stage.

For the past three-four years, Rajasthan Royals has been scouting talents from RBCC, giving them player trials before coming to a decision about taking the cricketer further towards the IPL auction. Shahrukh Khan was scouted by the Royals and called up for the player trials. He impressed everyone and successfully registered himself at the IPL auctions, eventually being picked by Kolkata Knight Riders. 

RBCC helps university-level cricketers grow

Delhi and Ahmedabad teams in the tournament overcame all odds in the league stage to enter the finals. This was the second consecutive time that Ahmedabad entered the finals. However, Delhi, who had been struggling for the past four years, finally made it big this time.

We got in touch with a few of the players who were a part of the two teams in the Grand Finale, as they expressed their views on how RBCC has helped them grow as professionals. Every player felt that the scouts of the Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise being present at the event motivated them to perform better.

While receiving the championship trophy, Delhi’s skipper Bobby Yadav talked about how the victory was a proud moment as they now aim to take India to a victory at the World Finals against Oman.

“The best part this year was we rectified the mistakes that we had been making for the past five years, which was keeping us on the backfoot in the tournament. Compared to other years, our team’s form this year was just amazing. The team was at its best this year. And every player contributed equally. Over every player, the coaching staff, everyone put their best foot forward this time. It is a very big moment for us that we will be representing India at the World Finals. Not just for me, it is a big deal for every person associated with the team,” he said.

Apart from Yadav, Delhi’s Faizan Alam and Mohammed Sharim were the finest bowlers for their side this season. Their spells helped their team restrict Jalandhar from chasing the low total in the semi-finals.

“RBCC is really a great tournament. I’ve been playing for the past five years, we lost the semi-finals twice in the previous editions, and there were times when we could not qualify for the Nationals. It was in the back of our mind that it’s been four that we had been struggling and haven’t reached the finals even once, not winning a single trophy. This time we entered with most of the new and fresh faces and finally did it. We finally won it,” said Faizan.

“Rajasthan Royals’ scouts coming for the tournament motivates us even more. We feel that if we do good, we have a chance of making it into the franchise in the Indian Premier League. I have been selected by them twice, and I went for the player trials. I had been a part of the side as a net bowler during the recently concluded IPL season, so that gives us a big boost to achieve more,” Faizan added.

Mohammad Sharim, who was new to the tournament and was making a debut alongside some seniors like Alam, was glad that he could contribute to his team’s success.

“I came into the tournament for the first time, and being with the seniors helped me learn a lot throughout the journey. I had never received such an experience in my life ever earlier. Being selected as Rajasthan Royals’ net bowler through RedBull speedster was one thing, but playing the sport with the state team at such a big level was a very unique experience for me,” Sharim said.

“When I was with the franchise last year, Sanju Bhai (Sanju Samson) had praised me for my bowling and had said that this was a good phase for me and my career. The amount of knowledge he shared with me was a great deal, and I learned a lot from him. I’m feeling very proud after knowing I’ll be getting a chance to represent India in the World Finals because it is not an easy thing and thus, I will give my best even there,” he added.

The players from Ahmedabad’s New LJ College gave a terrific performance in the semi-finals, but could not withstand Delhi’s strategy and lost the finals for the second time in a row. Even after losing the tournament, the players were enthusiastic about making a strong comeback next year and getting their hands on the glorious cup.

“The top teams from various zones participate in the Red Bull Campus Cricket. We get to play against some of the finest players at the best stadiums and competing against these teams helps in the betterment of every player, thereby helping in our personal growth. The scouts watch the match, keep an eye on the score, and even on us, the players, which encourages us to put our best foot forward,” Bhavin Engle, their skipper, said.

Ahmedabad’s Smit Patel, who was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 12 scalps under his belt, believes that RBCC has helped him improve his game immensely. “We get a great experience at RBCC as expert players come under one roof to compete and emerge as the best. Being a bowler, this platform has helped me understand how to bowl to a specific batter, and what tricks and techniques to apply to tackle the hitters,” he said.

The stepping stone for future stars

The standard of cricket on display in Chandigarh at the National Finals this year was truly remarkable. The key is that this competition does not want to fall behind and the brand does not consider it to be just a once-a-year event. The tournament is about pitting the finest against one another and ensuring that every talented cricketer gets the opportunity they deserve. 

While there have been players who are playing for the Indian team currently and have been doing really well, there’s no player who wishes to be the next KL Rahul or the next Shardul Thakur. They want to enter an arena where they become the first Smit Patel, the first Bobby Yadav, or the first Bhavin Engle.

Indian cricket hasn’t had the best of relationships with players who have dared to be different. Vinod Kambli is, perhaps, the most telling example of this – one who liked to have a good time off the pitch while he was incredibly good at what he was supposed to do: playing cricket. However, his flamboyance, as his coach and one of the greatest to have honed cricketers in the country, the late Ramakant Achrekar, put it, rubbed people the wrong way.

Once the impression was formed, Kambli found it difficult to shed and despite the nine comebacks, he played merely 17 Tests, which was a price he paid for being who he was – different from others. It would be difficult to imagine if the legendary Shane Warne, a ‘different’ cricketer in his own right, would have achieved the same things he did if he was playing for the Indian cricket team, for his flamboyance might have been a tad bit difficult to digest.

Indian cricket has an easy relationship with cricketers who mind their own business. However, you bring in a Ravi Shastri – whose glittering cricketing achievements as a player and a coach are certainly up there with some of the best Indian cricket has seen, but who receives a fair amount of criticism from time to time for the way he is – he is different from the expected norm a cricketer in India is supposed to follow.

Shastri is outspoken; likes to enjoy his life, and that, not his cricketing achievements, draws eyeballs and criticism. If a footballing analogy can be brought into the argument, let’s just say that Indian cricket has a problem adjusting to a Jose Mourinho but is fairly comfortable with a Sir Bobby Robson.

It seems now, however, with Sourav Ganguly at the helm, who has experience of handling fairly well such ‘different’ cricketers during his tenure as the captain, that the things have improved, as evidenced by the successful reintegration of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya into the Indian team.

However, for the fans, at least for some of them, the different characters are difficult to get attuned to. For them, there is still the same old template to follow to be the ideal cricketer – be docile on the field while off the field there should be no/bare minimum social media activity. Deviate from this narrative and things get tricky, moderated by how good your form is – the worse it is, much more likely that you will be criticised.

Take, for example, Pandya, who is currently being universally praised for his captaincy after the 2022 IPL. Shreevats Goswami, who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, called out the hypocrisy with a tweet, drawing attention to how the player has been criticised countless times before for his dressing style or his confidence. Virat Kohli, too, faced it in his earlier days – for the tattoos and his aggressive demeanor. When with the same attributes, he propelled himself to become the best batter in the game, it was all counted as a positive, much like it is happening with Pandya right now.

It all points to one thing: each player has his own journey to the top. There isn’t a fixed mould, contrary to popular perception, that guarantees success in the sport. The problem is not that oftentimes people consider someone like Rahul Dravid as the ideal cricketer, the problem is that they shut themselves off from the idea that people are different, they can be different. Many have perished in this clamor for uniformity, for they lacked the self-belief, clarity, and resilience that the likes of Kohli, Pandya, or Shastri had in themselves.

The current one on the radar is the 20-year-old Riyan Parag. He has shown the promise and given his seemingly playful nature, whenever the chips were going to be down, him being the target was a foregone conclusion.

Cricket, as Dwayne Bravo once told Sompal Kami, the Nepali cricketer who shared the dressing room with him during the Canada T20 league, is all about self-belief more than anything else. As long as Parag is comfortable with himself, as the successful players before him have been, the results are bound to follow – sooner or later – just as they did with the Gujarat Titans captain. Doubting himself and changing in the aftermath of outside opinion, however, will be disastrous, as it happened with a young Graeme Hick when the Englishman began doubting himself and his technique following criticism by a section, despite the same having fetched him countless runs in the county circuit.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have yearned to engrave their name on the IPL trophy since the inception of the tournament in 2008. They have a rich history in the prestigious tournament but have nothing to show for it in the trophy cabinet as luck has eluded them in their quest for silverware. They realise that sport is not just about individual excellence; it is about the collective efforts of excellent individuals with varied skills. Be it the iconic 1983 World Cup-winning outfit led by Kapil Dev or the 2011 World champion unit under MS Dhoni, the experienced senior statesmen and the exuberance of youth stitched together a team of world-beaters.

Perhaps RCB’s best chance came in 2016 when a team of superstars comparable to the ‘Galácticos’ was playing the final in front of their jubilant home crowd at the Chinnaswamy. The men in red, billed as the heavyweights going into the final, featured Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, and KL Rahul – a lineup that would send shivers down the spine of the oppositions. After failing on two accounts previously, in 2009 and 2011, this felt like the crowning moment of the Bangalore franchise, which contested for the coveted trophy against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The game was touted as the perfect contest between bat and ball as RCB’s batters had blown away teams in the competition, whereas, for SRH, the bowlers restricted the opposition to modest scores. The match panned out as expected, as Sunrisers batters launched an onslaught against Bangalore’s relatively weak bowling lineup as they posted a gigantic total of 208 runs. But if any side had a chance to overhaul this total, it was RCB. The punishing Chris Gayle and run machine Virat Kohli were running away with the game, but the SRH bowlers, unlike their counterparts, held their nerves as SRH pulled the rabbit out of the hat by securing an improbable victory in the finals.

RCB’s date with destiny beckons in IPL 2022

Playing for RCB means great expectations, expectations that over time have become a burden for players. Poor decisions by the management and absurd auction strategies have seen them let go of players like Jacques Kallis, Shane Watson, Manish Pandey and Quinton de Kock, who have won multiple titles for different sides. Kohli, who shouldered the burden for 11 long years and guided the side to an IPL final in 2016, finally gave up on the reigns last season. South African Faf du Plessis has since taken the charge and has led the team to Qualifier 2, just one step away from the final.

It seems like the stars have finally aligned for the RCB after 14 long years as they have been a bit fortunate to have reached this stage of the tournament. But RCB fans believe that they have been due this luck for some time now, and long may it continue. Perhaps, one could argue that a specific player is a reason for their success so far? A player that is not even part of the playing XI? Surely not? You would wonder that it’s a team sport and no single player can win it for you, that too from the sidelines. But for the first time in three years, RCB has made it past the Eliminator. Coincidence? A certain Karn Sharma would disagree.

The leg-spinner has won four IPL titles, three of which came in consecutive years, which is an impressive feat in itself, and all three of those trophies came representing different sides. His maiden triumph came with SRH in 2016, performing quite poorly for the team. The following year he impressed with Mumbai Indians and bagged home the trophy for the second time. In 2018, he moved to CSK, where he accomplished a hat-trick of IPL trophies, a miraculous feat that’s near impossible to repeat. Karn added another feather to his cap when he won the IPL for the fourth time last year, without even a single appearance for CSK in the season.

Karn was roped in by RCB in the 2022 auction but is yet to make an appearance for the men in red. RCB management, listen to our plea, give the man whatever he desires, keep him fit, keep him healthy, as he might deliver the elusive trophy to the tired and hopeful hands of Virat Kohli.

Who would have thought that five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians will lose their first eight matches of IPL 2022? Nevertheless, it has happened. The losses have made the qualifying equation for playoffs impossible in the current season when ten teams are competing in the tournament. 

Different experts have different opinions on what went wrong with MI. A total of seven titles, including two Champions League titles, make MI the most successful team in the IPL. However, MI is a champion team known for bouncing back to the winning ways. How can they be back on the winning track in IPL 2022? Here are some measures they can undertake:

Immediate measures

1. Rein the command to the new leader

Mumbai Indians handed over the captaincy to Rohit Sharma in 2013, and he has given them five titles in the IPL. However, currently, Rohit looks burdened captaining his franchise. He is already captaining India in all three formats and the captaincy burden has affected his batting form as well. In the current IPL, his batting average is below 20, and the strike rate of below 130 indicates his struggle.

2. Identify a leader for future

There are two front-runners, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. However, Bumrah is a fast bowler who plays all the three formats, and the Indian team management wanted to manage his overall load. Therefore, Yadav is the best option. Rohit should immediately step down and act as a mentor for the new captain.

3. Test young brigade for the next IPL

MI have five matches left in the tournament, and it gives them a good chance to build the team for the next IPL. They should start experimenting with the pool of uncapped players like Sanjay Yadav, Ramandeep Singh, Mayank Markande, and Aryan Juyal. Rahul Buddhi, Anmolpreet Singh, and Arjun Tendulkar should be given a chance to prove themselves, too.

Long-term measures

1. Groom a finisher  

After losing the Pandya brothers, MI should identify a finisher. One of them could be a big-hitter in the mould of Dinesh Karthik, who has a strike rate of more than 250 in the 16-20 overs. They can also look for an all-rounder who can score a few quick runs and bowl a few economical overs.

2. Bring in a quality spinner 

After the goof-up during the mega auction, MI lost many valuable players who were their core. They should look at a fast bowler available for the entire season and support Bumrah. Another variation in the team combination they should look at is a couple of quality spinners and one leg-spinner. Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yuzvendra Chahal have proved how valuable the spinners are.

– By Viral Nagori