Hardik Pandya hammered a barrage of sixes, including five in a row, on way to a 92-ball 133 yet the opposition, Vidarbha cantered to a nine-wicket win over Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday. Pandya hit an overall eight sixes and 11 fours to fire Baroda to 293 for nine from a shaky 71 for five at one stage. However, Vidarbha hardly broke a sweat in the run chase with Aman Mokhade smashing a 121-ball 150 not out and Dhruv Shorey standing firm on 65 off 76 balls. The target was overhauled in 41.4 overs. Pant scores quickfire 67* Meanwhile, ’keeper-batter Rishabh Pant struck 67 not out off 37 balls as Delhi thrashed Services by eight wickets to return to winning ways in a fifth-round Group D match. Delhi rode on opener Priyansh Arya (72 not out off 45 balls) and Pant to overhaul Services’s meagre total of 178 all out in 19.4 overs. In another match, all-rounder Axar Patel struck his maiden List A century — 130 (111 balls) — as Gujarat defeated Andhra by seven runs in Alur. Axar, playing his first Vijay Hazare match this season, stabilised the innings when his team was struggling at 99-5. He shared a 142-run stand with Vishal Jayswal (70 off 60 balls) for the sixth wicket as Gujarat built a sizeable total of 318-9. Padikkal hammers 4th ton Elsewhere, Devdutt Padikkal struck his fourth century in the tournament as Karnataka registered an 80-run win against Tripura to secure their fifth victory in Group A. Padikkal struck a 120-ball 108 as Karnataka made a mammoth 332-7 and then dismissed Tripura for 252. Riding on Arshdeep Singh’s 5-34, Punjab beat Sikkim by 10 wickets in Jaipur, chasing down the target of 75 in just 6.2 overs. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:21 AM IST | Rajkot | AgenciesArshin Kulkarni struck a run-a-ball 114 while Ramakrishna Ghosh made a stunning 27-ball 64 not out to set up Maharashtra’s comprehensive 128-run win over Mumbai in their Vijay Hazare Trophy Group C match here on Saturday. It was Mumbai’s first loss but they remained in top-two along with Punjab on 16 points each. Maharashtra are at third spot with 12 points. Kulkarni shared 140 runs with Prithvi Shaw (71 off 75 balls) for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for Maharashtra’s massive 366 for 4 after electing to bat first. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad made 66 off 52 balls. Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for just three off nine balls. But his opening partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi kept Mumbai’s hopes alive with an 88-ball 92. His dismissal in the 33rd over at 186 -7 ended Mumbai’s hopes. Iyer to play for Mumbai on January 6 India batter Shreyas Iyer is set to play his first competitive match since sustaining a spleen injury last October when he turns out for Mumbai against Himachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “Shreyas will be playing the Vijay Hazare match on January 6th as part of his second RTP match before final fitness clearance,” a source in the BCCI’s Centre Of Excellence in Bengaluru told PTI on Saturday. Brief scoresMaharashtra 366-4 in 50 overs (A Kulkarni 114, P Shaw 71, R Gaikwad 66, R Ghosh 64*; T Deshpande 2-83) beat Mumbai 238 all out in 42 overs (A Raghuvanshi 92, S Lad 52; P Dadhe 3-43, S Bachhav) by 128 runs This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:17 AM IST | Jaipur | AgenciesIndia will kick off their 2026 campaign with a home white-ball series against New Zealand, beginning with a three-match ODI series that will see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return to action in India colours. With an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan urged the senior duo to remain actively involved in domestic cricket whenever they are not on international duty. Speaking on JioStar, Pathan said: “You definitely want to think about the 2027 ODI World Cup. It is far away, but I just want to see both Rohit and Kohli playing for the longest time, for India and when not playing international cricket, in domestic cricket. They are playing just one format and nothing else, so the more they play, the better it is,” Pathan said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:14 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesSenior India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj on Saturday made a comeback to the ODI side for the three-match home series against New Zealand while batter Shreyas Iyer was included subject to fitness clearance. Siraj, who was overlooked for the home series against South Africa, is back in the ODI setup. His new ball partner Jasprit Bumrah was expectedly rested from the series with the focus on the shortest format ahead of the T20 World Cup beginning next month. Iyer, who was hospitalised during the ODI series in Australia in November for spleen laceration, will need to prove his match fitness in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game on January 6 to get fitness clearance from the Centre of Excellence (CoE). He returns to the squad as vice-captain. Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not cleared by the COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and therefore the selectors did not include him in the team for the series beginning in Vadodara on January 11. There is also little point in risking him with T20 showpiece around the corner. Shreyas Iyer The other two matches will be played in Rajkot and Indore on January 14 and 18 respectively. “Shreyas Iyer’s availability is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI CoE,” said the BCCI in a statement. “Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match, and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed,” it added. Ruturaj Gaikwad could not get the selectors’ nod despite scoring a fine hundred during the South Africa series. India squadS Gill (c), R Sharma, V Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), S Iyer (vc; subject to fitness clearance), W Sundar, R Jadeja, M Siraj, H Rana, P Krishna, K Yadav, R Pant (wk), NK Reddy, A Singh, Y Jaiswal This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:11 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIAustralia skipper Steve Smith said on Saturday he had no end date to call time on his career, while keeping England guessing on how his team will line up for the fifth and final Ashes Test. With the retirement of Usman Khawaja after the Sydney Test on Sunday and Nathan Lyon out injured, Smith will be the oldest player in the Australian line-up alongside Scott Boland. Asked if he would still be playing at the next Ashes in England in 2027, the 36-year-old was non-committal, but said he was enjoying his cricket. “I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m enjoying it, I’m contributing, and having fun. So there’s no real end date for me,” said Smith, who has played 122 Tests and scored more than 10,000 runs. Smith paid tribute to Khawaja, but refused to be drawn on the Pakistan-born player’s claims of “racial stereotyping” during his career. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:07 AM IST | Sydney | AFPCaptain Ben Stokes on Saturday called the fifth and final Test against Australia a “huge game” for England and vowed there would be no coasting at the end of a long and draining Ashes tour. The tourists go into the clash on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground buoyed by a four-wicket win inside two days at the previous Test in Melbourne. It snapped a 15-year winless streak in Australia, but came too late to save the series with the hosts retaining the urn by winning in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. Stokes said it was important to keep the momentum going. “This is a big game, purely because we’re walking out there representing England,” he said. “The Ashes, unfortunately for us, hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but we’ve got one more game in a big series. And it’s a real big one for us. So, although we can’t get the thing that we came here for, we’ve still got a chance to go there and win a game of cricket,” he added. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 January,2026 09:04 AM IST | Sydney | AFPPolice with long-armed rifles, a rarity at sporting events in Australia, will patrol the final Ashes cricket test in Sydney starting Sunday as part of heightened security measures following the Bondi Beach terror attack in the city. Uniformed and mounted police, along with public order and riot squad officers, will watch over the sold-out match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It comes three weeks after two gunmen killed 15 people and injured many more at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi. The increased visibility of the rifles is intended to reassure the public, and there is no threat to the community, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said Saturday. "Many people may not be used to seeing police carrying rifles at sporting events, but our objective here is to help the public feel safe, and police will be out in force," he said. The difference will be in the visibility of long arms and a stronger presence. Police will otherwise be targeting anti-social and unsafe behaviour as usual. The measures are similar to those for the fourth Ashes test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which began Dec. 26, where specialist police officers were armed with semiautomatic rifles and patrolled around the busy stadium, a nearby park and railway station. Seven people remain hospitalized following the Dec. 14 attack at Bondi. Six remain in stable condition, while one is in a critical but stable condition. Naveed Akram, 24, one of the two accused gunmen, is facing 59 charges over the attack that includes 15 counts of murder. Akram was shot by police at the scene and spent days in a coma before being charged. His father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed by police at the scene. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
03 January,2026 05:06 PM IST | Sydney | APIn the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Vidarbha, representing Baroda, Team India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya smashed nearly half a dozen maximums, out of which five he smashed in a single over. Facing 92 deliveries, Hardik accumulated 133 runs, which was laced with eight boundaries and 11 maximums. Coming to bat at number seven in his first match of the competition, Hardik went all guns blazing and registered his first List A ton in his 119th match. Riding on his century, Baroda also reached the score of 293 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs. In the 39th over, the 32-year-old cricketer garnered a total of 34 runs in Vidarbha's spinner Parth Rekhade's over. He smashed five maximums and a four. The first five balls of the left-arm spinner went flying over the ropes, while the final ball was hit for a boundary. 6⃣,6⃣,6⃣,6⃣,6⃣,4⃣ 🔥A maiden List A 💯 brought up in some style 🔥Hardik Pandya was on 66 off 62 balls against Vidarbha...and then he went berserk in the 39th over to complete his 100, smashing five sixes and a four 💪Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/MFFOqaBuhP#VijayHazareTrophy… pic.twitter.com/pQwvwnI7lb — BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 3, 2026 Hardik Pandya's knock included a total of just 31 singles as he scored most of his runs with the help of maximums and boundaries. Later, Team India will play a three-match ODI series followed by five T20Is against the "Black Caps" from January 11 to 31. Later, both teams will engage in the T20 World Cup 2026. The "Men in Blue" have been placed in Group A of the global showpiece along with teams such as Namibia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the United States of America. On the other hand, New Zealand is placed in Group D, which consists of the likes of teams such as Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. India will open their campaign against the United States of America on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, whereas the Kiwis will play their first fixture against Afghanistan on February 8 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The high-octane clash between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. (With PTI Inputs)
03 January,2026 03:52 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentTeam India batsman Shreyas Iyer is set to play his first competitive cricket match since sustaining a spleen injury in October. He will represent Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh, but his availability for the New Zealand series will be decided considering his fitness. Earlier, the right-handed batsman sustained an injury during the ODI match against Australia in Sydney, following which he was hospitalised for a spleen laceration with internal bleeding. The BCCI had informed about Iyer's release in early November, and the right-handed batter has been on a comeback trail since. According to a source in the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, Iyer is set to play for Mumbai, and his feature in the New Zealand series will be decided considering his fitness levels. "Shreyas successfully completed the first 50-over RTP (return to play) match on January 2, 2026. He will be playing the Vijay Hazare match on January 6th as part of his second RTP match before final fitness clearance," the official told PTI on Saturday. Iyer will now feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who played his first match against Goa on December 31. India will play a three-match ODI series followed by five T20Is against the "Black Caps" from January 11 to 31. Later, both teams will engage in the T20 World Cup 2026. The "Men in Blue" have been placed in Group A of the global showpiece along with teams such as Namibia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the United States of America. On the other hand, New Zealand is placed in Group D, which consists of the likes of teams such as Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. India will open their campaign against the United States of America on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, whereas the Kiwis will play their first fixture against Afghanistan on February 8 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The high-octane clash between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. (With PTI Inputs)
03 January,2026 02:59 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentAhead of the T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan has submitted its provisional 15-member squad to the International Cricket Council (ICC), but has yet to make the list public, a source said. The source also said that January 1 was the deadline given by the ICC for the participating teams to submit their provisional squads, and the PCB completed the process within the given timeframe. So far, not all teams have submitted their provisional squads. The teams can later make changes to their 15-member squads until January 31 without seeking approval from the ICC. Any changes after that date would require special clearance from the ICC's technical committee. According to the source, Pakistan's squad consists of the likes of star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, star batsman Babar Azam and all-rounder Shadab Khan, who has been out of international action since May last year, as he was struggling with a shoulder injury. He returned to action in the Big Bash League (BBL) and has been included in Pakistan's squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to start from January 7. The selectors have largely picked players who are part of the Sri Lanka tour, with the final World Cup squad likely to be firmed up after the series, the source said. Fast bowler Haris Rauf has not been included even in the provisional squad, while Shaheen's final selection will depend on his recovery from the knee injury sustained during the Big Bash League last week. Other players named in the provisional squad include mystery spinners Usman Tariq and Abrar Ahmed, all-rounders Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz, along with Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Usman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Salman Ali Agha. In the T20 World Cup 2025, Pakistan has been placed in Group A along with teams such as India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. The "Green Shirts" will open their global tournament's campaign by playing a clash against the Netherlands on February 7 Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Sri Lanka. The much-anticipated clash between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. (With PTI Inputs)
03 January,2026 02:01 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh player Mustafizur Rahman from its squad ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, considering the growing bilateral tensions between the two nations. The Kolkata-based franchise acquired the services of Rahman for Rs 9.20 crore during the intense bidding war with Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals at the auction last month. "The BCCI has asked Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from its squad. They can ask for replacement, if needed. And upon request, BCCI will allow a replacement player," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told PTI. When asked about the reason why the Indian cricket board has asked KKR to take action, Saikia replied, "Because of recent developments all across". The pressure had been mounting on the BCCI over Rahman's participation after the recent killing of a Hindu man in the country and India's expression of concern for the safety of minorities. KKR co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan also found himself among the criticism from some politicians of the BJP ruling party, who questioned the inclusion of the Bangladeshi pacer in the current scenario. So far, Mustafizur Rahman has featured in eight IPL editions since 2016. He missed out on the 2019 and 2020 editions of the cash-rich league. Over the years, he represented teams such as Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The upcoming IPL 2026 was going to be his first season with Kolkata. India and Bangladesh cricket boards had postponed a white-ball bilateral series last year. The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Friday said the series will be played there in September this year. However, the BCCI is non-committal on the schedule and is unlikely to agree to it given the volatile political situation in Bangladesh. The relationship between the two countries hit a rough note after the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August last year following anti-government protests. She was sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal this year for her alleged role in a deadly crackdown during the agitation in which several students were killed. (With PTI Inputs)
03 January,2026 01:09 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
