Eyeing a record 12th title, India will look to underline their supremacy over arch-rivals Pakistan when they clash in the Under-19 Asia Cup final at the ICC Academy, on Sunday. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will look to set the tone early just as he did during his 95-ball 171 against UAE, while Abhigyan Kundu, who scored 209 against Malaysia and Aaron George will power the middle-order against a strong Pakistan pace bowling unit. 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
21 December,2025 12:33 PM IST | Dubai | AgenciesNathan Lyon severely dented England’s desperate Ashes survival bid with three quick blows: vice-captain Harry Brook, bowled; captain Ben Stokes, bowled; leading scorer Zak Crawley, stumped. Just as England were starting to gain confidence on Saturday chasing what needed to be a world-record 435 to keep the Ashes series alive, Lyon returned to the Australian attack. Crawley (85) and Brook (30) had combined in a 68-run stand to revive England’s innings from 109-3 to 177-3 after Australia skipper Pat Cummins took out the top order. Then Lyon, who moved to No. 2 on Australia’s all-time list of wicket-takers in the first innings, started a new spell in the evening session. On his second ball Lyon dismissed a cavalier Brook, who reached too far and completely missed an extravagant reverse sweep. The 38-year-old spinner quickly took three wickets for eight runs in a sequence that ripped through the middle order and suddenly England were 194-6. At stumps on Day Four, England were 207-6 and needing 228 runs for an improbable victory in the third test. Crawley said England had been outplayed by Australia. “Obviously we’ve been slightly short of our best but credit has to go them, they haven’t allowed us to be at our best,” Crawley said. “It’s disappointing, we came here to win the Ashes and we’re staring down the barrel now.” Brief scores Australia 371 & 349 (T Head 170, A Carey 72, U Khawaja 40; J Tongue 4-70, B Carse 3-80) vs England 286 & 207-6 (Z Crawley 85, J Root 39; P Cummins 3-24, N Lyon 3-64) 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
21 December,2025 12:17 PM IST | Adelaide | AP | PTISuryakumar Yadav has received backing from teammate Tilak Varma, who said the out-of-form India T20I skipper “needs just one innings” to rediscover his mojo. Tilak scored a 42-ball 73 to power India to 231-5 in the fifth T20I, and in reply, South Africa ended at 201-8. India claimed a 3-1 series triumph on Friday. Tilak said of Surya, “If he gets that confidence then he will be... everyone has watched him, how he can play. “But I was just saying [to him] that try finding the gaps. If you pierce the field well, you get a good feel about it and after that you are going to hit. It was not his day, but everyone is waiting for that one innings, if he gets one innings then everyone knows how dangerous he can be.” 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
21 December,2025 10:34 AM IST | Ahmedabad | AgenciesIndia’s T20I captain and former ICC No. 1-ranked batter in the shortest format Suryakumar Yadav has admitted that he is going through a lean patch. However, the Mumbai cricketer has assured that he will work hard ahead of the home series against New Zealand and get back to top form soon. India will be playing a five-match T20I series against the Kiwis, starting on January 21 in Nagpur before the T20 World Cup begins on February 7. Suryakumar, 35, who has scored four centuries and 2788 runs in 99 T20Is, has not scored a half-century across his last 22 innings. In his last four outings versus South Africa, Suryakumar’s scores were 12, 5, 12 and 5. “Ye waala patch thoda lamba ho gaya [this patch has stretched for a bit too long]. I’m sure everyone has seen this in their respective careers. I will also go through it sometime. I know what to do. I know where things are going wrong. I have got some time to work on it. We have the New Zealand series coming up and then the important T20 World Cup as well. You will definitely see that Surya is back,” Suryakumar told Sunday mid-day when asked about his recent struggles with the bat during the post-selection press conference at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. While elaborating on his plans to get his momentum back, Suryakumar added that he has been watching his batting videos from earlier and is trying to overcome a ‘small hurdle.’ “I have been watching it [batting videos] for the past three months. Obviously, you go back to seeing your old videos where you batted really well and you delivered for India. And you try to carry the same things. But yeah, I have been trying; I have been batting beautifully in the nets. [It’s] the same thing... This is a small hurdle. It’s invisible, I can’t see it, but I’ll overcome it, I am sure,” added India captain.
21 December,2025 10:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureFormer national chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has praised Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee for dropping struggling opener Shubman Gill and picking the squad based on current form for the upcoming New Zealand T20I series and the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka, starting February 7. “Gill is a very promising cricketer with a lot of talent and potential, but runs and current form are very important. You cannot play on talent alone. Gill is a fantastic player in all formats, but if you are not consistent and in form, others who are performing well should get a chance,” Vengsarkar told Sunday mid-day on Saturday. In his last three T20Is against South Africa, Gill scored 4, 0, and 28, while his last T20I half-century (58 not out) came against Zimbabwe in July 2024. Meanwhile, India discard wicketkeeper-opener Ishan Kishan has made a fine comeback. He was rewarded for his performance (total 517 runs) that helped Jharkhand win their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently. “You should pick players who are in form because it doesn’t carry self-doubt. I’m glad Agarkar & Co have selected players who are in form and consistent. Rinku Singh is a match-winner and must also be in great form in this format,” Vengsarkar added. Meanwhile, former national selector Surendra Bhave reckoned it must have been a tough decision to drop a player of Gill’s stature. “Feel bad for Shubman, but it’s a hard decision. For him, it will be tough [to digest]. Obviously, someone [selector] has spoken with him, which is quite necessary in today’s cricket. He is a celebrated Test captain. It was a tough decision, and the selectors took a tough call. Hopefully, things will go alright for India,” Bhave, who is currently guiding Odisha as head coach, told Sunday mid-day from Cuttack. “In T20 cricket you have to pick a player who is a hot cake. I think they [selection committee] went by current form and who is hitting the ball well, scoring aggressively, and at a good strike rate. Losing out on Shubman is not a small thing, but probably he wasn’t in the best form, and they must have thought that the others are better options,” Bhave 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
21 December,2025 10:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureAfter beating South Africa 3-1 in the five-match T20I series in Ahmedabad on Friday night, India sealed their eighth successive series win in the shortest format. Despite that, Ajit Agarkar’s national selection committee decided to take some bold calls on Saturday while picking the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. They have dropped out-of-form opener Shubman Gill, who was vice-captain until the recently-concluded T20I series against the Proteas, and brought back in-form wicketkeeper-opener Ishan Kishan and attacking batter Rinku Singh to ensure better team balance. Jitesh Sharma India’s Test and ODI skipper Gill has managed just one half-century — 58 not out against Zimbabwe at Harare in July 2024 — in his last 19 T20Is, while India discard Kishan led from the front, scoring 101 against Haryana in the final and emerged as the top-scorer with 517 runs while guiding Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in Pune on Thursday. ‘No doubt about his quality’ “There’s no doubt about Shubman’s quality. He may not have scored as many runs recently, but that doesn’t change how highly we rate him. He was also unlucky to miss out in the last [2024] World Cup when we opted for a different combination. This is more about team balance — specifically the idea of having two wicketkeepers at the top — than about individual ability,” Agarkar explained while elaborating on Gill’s omission at the post-selection press conference at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who scored 37 runs in four games against South Africa, was the first choice during the series, but Agarkar & Co preferred to bring back hard-hitter Rinku Singh to strengthen the lower-order. Flexibility factor Skipper Suryakumar Yadav echoed Agarkar’s views on Gill. He said: “It’s not about his [Gill’s] form. It’s just about the combination. We wanted to have a ’keeper at the top. There’s no chatter about his quality. He is a terrific player. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar addresses the media at Wankhede on Saturday. PIC/PTI We needed Rinku, and we also have Washington Sundar. So, we needed the flexibility to have multiple combinations. That’s why we have picked this squad. No question about Gill’s class.” India’s squad Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh OneNo of half-centuries scored by Shubman Gill in his last 19 games, the opener has scored just 435 runs @ 29.00
21 December,2025 10:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureOut-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been in impressive form on the domestic circuit with 36 wickets across formats, has been named in Bengal's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day competition. Shami, who has not played for India for a while and was overlooked for the recent series against South Africa, has enjoyed a strong return to competitive cricket for Bengal following a lengthy injury lay-off. Shami's fitness has been a subject of debate in recent times after the pacer missed out on selection. However, despite the absence of a national call-up, the senior fast bowler has been a standout performer in domestic tournaments. Beginning with the red-ball season, Shami picked up 20 wickets from four Ranji Trophy matches at an average of 18.60, including a 5/38, as Bengal remain unbeaten from five outings after securing three outright wins to sit atop Group C. He carried his form into the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, finishing as Bengal's leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps from seven matches at an average of 14.93. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shami will spearhead Bengal's three-pronged pace attack, which also includes India pacers Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. In the squad announced on Friday, top-order batter Abhimanyu Easwaran was named captain. Bengal have been placed in Elite Group B and will begin their campaign against Vidarbha in Rajkot on December 24. The other teams in the group are Assam, Baroda, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh. The tournament will be held across Ahmedabad (Group A), Rajkot (Group B), Jaipur (Group C) and Alur (Group D), while Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence will host the knockout stages from January 12-18. Bengal squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Anustup Majumdar, Abishek Porel (WK), Sudip Kr Gharami, Sumanta Gupta, Sumit Nag (WK), Chandrahas Dash, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Sayan Ghosh, Ravi Kumar, Aamir Gani, Vishal Bhati, Ankit Mishra. 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.
20 December,2025 04:46 PM IST | Kolkata | PTIThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia on Saturday announced India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. Team India's star batsman, Shubman Gill, who is currently struggling with his form, has been dropped from the squad. Speaking about his omission, Team India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that the right-hander is falling short of runs, and the management has opted for different combinations over anything else. "I mean, obviously, Shubman was the vice-captain; he is not in the team, so there will have to be somebody else as vice-captain. And Axar, before that, when Shubman was actually not playing the T20Is and playing Test cricket, when a lot of the T20Is used to clash, Axar was the vice-captain. So, that is about the vice-captain," he said. In Gill's absence, Axar Patel has been named as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy for the marquee tournament. Further speaking, he also said that Jitesh Sharma has done nothing wrong, but the management wants to go ahead with different combinations. "About continuity, I mean, you are looking at combinations at the moment. If your keeper is going to bat at the top, our thought was to have another keeper, just in case there is a problem. At the moment, Jitesh was there, again, has not done too much wrong. I mean, Shubman, we know what a quality player he is, perhaps short of a little bit of runs at the moment. Unfortunate to miss out in the last World Cup as well, because we went with different combinations, but it's the combinations more than anything else," said Agarkar. Along with Gill, opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been sidelined, despite having a good record in the format. Swashbuckling batsman Abhishek Sharma has been given a nod ahead of Jaiswal. Ishan Kishan, who was out of favor of the Indian selectors for a long period of time, has made his comeback in the shortest format setup. He has been picked as the second wicketkeeper-batsman option, with Sanju Samson securing the first spot. The defending champions, Team India, will open their global showpiece campaign by playing a match against the United States of America (USA) on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The "Men in Blue" will lock horns against Namibia on February 12 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The high-octane match between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. India will conclude their group stage matches by playing a clash against the Netherlands on February 18 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It will be interesting to see if the "Men in Blue" manage to defend their T20 World Cup title. India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK). (With ANI Inputs)
20 December,2025 04:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentAhead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, India has announced their squad on Saturday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia made the announcement along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Suryakumar Yadav. Ishan Kishan, who was out of favor of the Indian selectors for a long period of time, has also made his comeback in the shortest format setup. He has been picked as the second wicketkeeper-batsman option, with Sanju Samson securing the first spot. Speaking about his selection, Kishan said that he is extremely happy about it. Recently, the left-hander also led the Jharkhand team to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. "I am extremely happy (about the selection in the T20 World Cup squad). Jharkhand team also won the SMAT title, I'm happy, very happy about it," he said. #WATCH | Patna, Bihar | On his comeback to India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Indian cricketer Ishan Kishan says, "I am very happy..." pic.twitter.com/R2oKsCd9U2 — ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2025 Team India's management has dropped Shubman Gill from the squad. In his absence, star all-rounder Axar Patel has been named as the vice-captain. Along with Gill, opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been sidelined, despite having a good record in the format. Swashbuckling batsman Abhishek Sharma has been given a nod ahead of Jaiswal. The defending champions, Team India, will open their global showpiece campaign by playing a match against the United States of America (USA) on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The "Men in Blue" will lock horns against Namibia on February 12 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The high-octane match between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. India will conclude their group stage matches by playing a clash against the Netherlands on February 18 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It will be interesting to see if the "Men in Blue" manage to defend their T20 World Cup title. India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK).
20 December,2025 04:27 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe T20 World Cup 2026 is all set to be hosted in India and Sri Lanka. The marquee event is scheduled to kick start from February 7. The defending champions, Team India, will open their global showpiece campaign by playing a match against the United States of America (USA) on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The "Men in Blue" will lock horns against Namibia on February 12 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The high-octane match between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. India will conclude their group stage matches by playing a clash against the Netherlands on February 18 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Ahead of the tournament, Team India's management has dropped Shubman Gill from the squad. In his absence, star all-rounder Axar Patel has been named as the vice-captain. Along with Gill, opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been sidelined, despite tasting success in the format. Swashbuckling batsman Abhishek Sharma has been given a nod ahead of Jaiswal, and Ishan Kishan has made his return to India's set-up. Recently, Kishan led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. In the final match against Haryana, the left-hander smashed a century in just 45 deliveries. India's squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 will also play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The series will begin from January 21, with the first match scheduled to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The marquee tournament will conclude on March 8, with the top two teams clashing against each other for the elusive title. The venue of the final match is yet to be confirmed. It will be interesting to see if the "Men in Blue" manage to defend their T20 World Cup title. India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK).
20 December,2025 03:10 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia announced the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday. Saikia made the announcement along with Team India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Suryakumar Yadav in Mumbai. In Shubman Gill's absence, Team India's think tank has named Axar Patel as their vice-captain. Additionally, swashbuckling opening batsman Abhishek Sharma has also received the opportunity to make his first appearance in the global showpiece. Over the last few matches, the left-hander has been consistent with his dominating strokes and explosive approach in the format. Also, Ishan Kishan has been picked as the second wicketkeeper-batsman option for the marquee event. Recently, the 27-year-old also led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. In the final match against Haryana, Kishan smashed a century in just 45 deliveries. On the other hand, along with Gill, a reliable opening batsman, Yashasvi Jaiswal's name is also missing from the squad. 🚨India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced 🚨Let's cheer for the defending champions 💪#TeamIndia | #MenInBlue | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/7CpjGh60vk — BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025 The same squad will also lock horns against New Zealand for the shortest format series. Both teams will clash against each other in the five-match T20I series, starting from January 21, 2026. The series will also serve as a preparatory contest for the "Men in Blue" and the "Black Caps" ahead of the global showpiece. The T20 World Cup 2026 is all set to be hosted in India and Sri Lanka, from February 7. India will open their campaign against the United States of America on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The much-awaited clash of the tournament between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. The marquee tournament will conclude on March 8, with the top two teams clashing against each other for the elusive title. The venue of the final match is yet to be confirmed. It will be interesting to see if the "Men in Blue" manage to defend their T20 World Cup title. India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK).
20 December,2025 02:53 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
