India all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Sunday said he began his career as a "pure batter" and credited hard work and a willingness to go the extra mile for his rise as one of the country's most valuable cricketers. From his Ranji Trophy debut in 2013 to breaking into the Indian Premier League in 2015, when Mumbai Indians won their second title, Pandya has come a long way, going on to play key roles in India's T20 World Cup triumphs in 2024 and 2026. "I was just a pure batter who batted all his 17-19 years of young age... I only knew one thing, if you tell people to run 12 rounds, I ran 15 rounds. So from there out of the blue, someone sees me and one year later I play Ranji Trophy," said the 32-year-old at an MI promotional event here. Widely regarded as a genuine two-in-one player in limited-overs cricket, Pandya's ability to deliver with both bat and ball and as a finisher and a wicket-taking option has made him indispensable. He played a decisive role in India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, removing Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller in the final. Pandya credited MI's scouting system for spotting his potential early and underlined his belief in relentless hard work and self-improvement. "Playing a Ranji game, they haven't come to see me but they were able to identify that I had something special. That shows the talent MI scouting has, that is what MI scouting does. "I had to adapt, I had no idea to look after my body, I had no idea. No matter how much someone will push, I know how to work hard... Duniya upar se neeche ho jaye (Even if the world turns upside down) I always believed in hard work. I always tell this to the youngsters," he said. The five-time champions are chasing a record sixth IPL title, having last lifted the trophy in 2020. MI endured a mixed run in recent seasons, finishing bottom in 2024 and losing to eventual runners-up Punjab Kings in the playoffs last year. "Ultimate dream is to win IPL for the sixth time for our Paltan. MI already has such amazing legacy MI fans are the team's heartbeat. The junoon, the passion when I first played, I want that. "Play the best kind of cricket that MI and Hardik Pandya have ever played, that's the legacy I want to be for MI and win trophies as many as possible," he said. On the absence of five stars on the jersey despite their title count, Pandya quipped: "Honest answer is we want to win as many possible. Fortunate that we've won five already so if we keep on putting it then there would not be any space left." Emphasising his bond with the franchise's supporters, he added: "I play for this love, the kind of love I get every time I play here is the added motivation. We're very grateful to them." Mumbai Indians will open their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at home on March 29. 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
23 March,2026 09:01 AM IST | Mumbai | PTISome of Mumbai Indians’s star players had a blast with fans at Saturday’s The MIX cultural event at Bandra Kurla Complex. In a series of pictures shared by the franchise’s Instagram handle, the likes of skipper Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma are seen operating smoke guns on stage, while India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav is all smiles as he attempts to capture a picture of the fun-filled event. The event is a new, pre-season initiative aimed at giving MI fans a taste of cricket, food, and music all under one roof. The post received nearly four lakh ‘likes.’ Mumbai Indians will begin their IPL-19 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 29.
23 March,2026 08:50 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentCricket Australia on Sunday unveiled its 2026-27 international calendar with a packed itinerary leaving little turnaround time ahead of the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, expected to begin in mid or late-January. The five-Test away series against India next year is set to be a decisive phase in an unprecedented and taxing schedule for Pat Cummins' ageing side. Australia are slated to play 10 Tests in a 14-week window between December and March, making it one of the most demanding stretches in their history. The home season will commence in August 2026, with two Tests against Bangladesh and conclude in March 2027 with a day-night spectacle at the MCG - the 150th anniversary Test against England. The home series against New Zealand has been squeezed into a window of just over four weeks, while Australia's tour of South Africa later this year runs until the end of October, followed by an eight-match white-ball series against England in November. "That Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour, a final frontier for the likes of Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, who have never won a series in India, will also be a quick-fire campaign given CA's anniversary Test begins back in Melbourne on March 11," CA said in a statement. "The call to hold back all three of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood from at least the first few rounds of the soon-to-begin IPL shows CA is wary of getting their trio to the finishing line of the intense 2026-27 run," it 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
23 March,2026 08:42 AM IST | Melbourne | PTINew Zealand foundered against South Africa's spinners as the Proteas won the fourth Twenty20 by 19 runs Sunday to level the five-match series at 2-2. Connor Esterhuizen made a maiden half-century from 33 balls as South Africa scored 164-5 after choosing to bat. Esterhuizen eventually was out for 57 and his innings made the difference between the teams. New Zealand was ahead at 63-2 after the powerplay with Tim Robinson making 32 from 22 balls at the top of the order. But left-armer Prenelan Subrayen took 2-13 on debut and Keshav Maharaj took 2-22 to cut through the New Zealand middle order and turn the match in South Africa's favor. Dane Cleaver made 26 from 16 balls, returning to the New Zealand lineup after almost three years. He was looking dangerous when he was beaten and bowled by a Subrayen delivery. Bevon Jacobs was also bowled by Subrayen when the ball dipped under his bat. Jimmy Neesham (10) was dropped twice then caught in the same over from Ottneil Baartman, who took 2-30 from four overs. Maharaj removed Nick Kelly (16) and Cole McConchie (10) as the spinners pinned down the New Zealand batters by varying their pace and flight. "I thought a total of 164 was about par, maybe a bit below par," New Zealand captain Jimmy Neesham said. "We certainly had a chance going into the second half of the game. "A few average options and poor execution and we came out on the wrong side of it." New Zealand's already depleted lineup was further reduced by the loss of Tom Latham to injury and Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson for the last two matches of the series. Esterhuizen rallied South Africa after it had lost Wiaan Mulder to the second ball of its innings, a maiden bowled by Kyle Jamieson. The right-hander hit a six and a four from the third over, a six and four in the fourth over, a six and two fours among 17 runs in the fifth over, keeping the South Africa run-rate up. South Africa was 50-1 after the powerplay, its best start of the series so far. Esterhuizen reached his half-century in the 10th over with a boundary from Ben Sears, the sixth four of his innings that also included three sixes. "I just tried to keep it as simple as possible to be honest," Esterhuizen said. "I didn't have much time to think about it because I was out there straight away. "So I just tried to stick to a game plan and it came off tonight." Esterhuizen looked set to go big when he was brilliantly caught by Katene Clarke on debut, running in and diving forward from deep square leg. Tony de Zorzi, who was the quiet partner in an 81-run stand with Esterhuizen for the second wicket, was out next over for 23 from 21 balls. Rubin Hermann and Dian Forrester put on 38 for the fourth wicket, keeping the South Africa total ticking over. Forrester made 19 from 14 balls before being trapped lbw by a yorker from Zak Foulkes. Hermann made an unbeaten 28 from 25 balls, Jason Smith scored 19 from 15 and George Linde added 14 from eight but New Zealand reined in South Africa's scoring a little at the death. Only 43 runs came from the last five overs and Sears allowed only one run from the bat in the final over. The deciding match is at Christchurch on Wednesday. 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
23 March,2026 08:39 AM IST | Wellington | AP | PTIFormer India opener Aakash Chopra has backed Delhi Capitals (DC) to end their long wait for an IPL title, adding the franchise’s 2026 squad look as ‘a very strong unit’ and that he would keep his fingers crossed for them to win the trophy this year. “The women’s team has reached the final in all four WPL seasons. They have got their auctions right and this year, they have a very strong unit. So, fingers crossed that this could be their year,” said Chopra on JioStar. 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
23 March,2026 08:37 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSPoor fielding and particularly poor catching was one of the prime reasons that led to Mumbai’s early ouster from the Ranji Trophy last (2025-26) season. And it seems the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) are looking to rectify this in all earnest, having invited former South African cricketer and legendary fielder Jonty Rhodes to help Mumbai players improve their fielding standards. Catches win matches is a well known adage and Rhodes, who is known for his athleticism and outstanding fielding, spent around an hour at the MCA-BKC academy ground on Saturday afternoon, making fielding look rather simple and easy thanks to his technical inputs. SA great Jonty Rhodes explains how to take high catches at the MCA-BKC ground on Saturday MCA academy’s senior coach Pradeep Sunderam, who celebrated his 71st birthday with Rhodes and MCA officials on Saturday, reckoned that the interaction with Rhodes was a learning not just for the players, but also for coaches like himself. “It [Rhodes’s guidance] was a superb learning experience for the players and also for our academy coaches, including myself. When Jonty was giving tips to all our age group cricketers, including the Mumbai U-23 men’s and women’s players about fielding and catching, I felt that I got to learn quite a bit too from his knowledge,” Sunderam told mid-day on Sunday. Jonty Rhodes (left) and MCA coach Pradeep Sunderam Rhodes, 56, who represented South Africa in 52 Tests and 245 ODIs, scoring 2532 and 5935 runs respectively, took 34 catches in the longest format and 105 catches in one-dayers. The Proteas fielding expert explained exactly why fielders have been failing to get hold of high catches. “Jonty explained that most of the time high catches are dropped because fielders tend to run with their hands down and stiff. He said when a fielder gets closer to the ball his fingers should be close to his nose. He also showed the players how to run sideways by properly anticipating the ball to ensure the catch is taken correctly,” revealed Sunderam. The players clearly enjoyed the session and had a lot of questions for Rhodes, who patiently cleared all doubts. Interestingly, Rhodes might visit again. “MCA President Ajinkya Naik requested Rhodes to spare some time in the future again to guide Mumbai players and he replied positively, saying: ‘Definitely, I love India.’ A cricketer of Jonty’s stature, who is one of the greatest fielders of his time, guiding Mumbai players is a huge motivation for them and such seminars will definitely help our players improve,” added Sunderam, a former Rajasthan pacer, who claimed all 10 wickets in one innings against Vidarbha in a 1985-86 Ranji Trophy match at Jodhpur.
23 March,2026 08:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureLucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant is set to bat at No. 3 in a potentially make or break IPL season beginning on March 28. Stakes are high for Pant going into second season as LSG skipper with the franchise having shelled out a record Rs 27 crore for his services at the 2025 mega auction. Following the disappointment of last year, a successful season as a leader as well as a top-order batter can make him part of India's T20 plans going forward. Across formats, Pant is only an integral member of the Indian Test side while being a back up wicket-keeper to KL Rahul in ODIs. The 28-year-old lost his place in the T20 side following India's World Cup triumph in 2024 and would need to do something special to make a comeback considering Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have made themselves automatic picks by the sheer weight of their recent performances. Therefore, the upcoming IPL is not just about delivering on a exorbitant price tag, it is also about staying relevant in the shortest format. Pant majorly batted at number four last season before rightly pushing himself to number three towards the end of the season by when it was too late to turn LSG's fortunes. Nicholas Pooran will move down the order to make way for Pant with number four, five, six being used as floating positions. The squad had a camp in Chennai and at the moment, they are going through the paces at their home ground in Lucknow ahead of their opener against Delhi Capitals on April 1. The Justin Langer-led support staff and Pant are on the same page when it comes to their leader's batting position. "It is clear to the team management as well as Pant that his game is best suited for number three. This season the top-order is locked in with Aiden, Marsh and Pant. The middle-order is flexible and players will be floated as per the game situation," an IPL source told PTI. Pant batted at an underwhelming strike rate of 133.17 last year and 118 not out of his 269 runs came only in one innings. The LSG middle-order comprises Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad and Shabaz Ahmed. Bowling was LSG's weakest link last season with pacers including Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan not available due to injuries. The other pace options include Avesh Khan and Anrich Nortje, who is another injury prone quick. "The batting is settled. The bowling group looks a lot better than last year but combinations are yet to be worked. Mayank is fit but needs to bowl a lot more in the nets. Hopefully he will repay the faith the team has shown him over the past four to five years," the source added. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis picked Pant as the player who will be under most pressure this IPL. "For me, Rishabh Pant is probably the player in the IPL, who is under the most pressure this season. Some guys flourish under the price tag pressure, while some don't. I think last season was a really tough one for him. The team struggled, and he also struggled with runs in the way that he batted. "So, there is all that pressure coming into the season, along with the expectations of what the team is going to do. With a batting-heavy team, how are they going to maximize their bowling? "Because there is pressure on your Captain, scoring runs is your first job. So, if he is scoring runs as a Captain, it takes pressure off in the first instance. But then there is a second instance, which is the team performance, overall. And last year, both of those things had big red crosses against them," Du Plessis told Jio Star. 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
23 March,2026 08:33 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIThere was a time when Rishabh Pant was considered a near-indispensable all-format player, but he has gradually lost his place in India’s white-ball team, be it in T20Is or ODIs. India recently won the T20 World Cup without him. Given the way Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan performed, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain faces an uphill task of making inroads into the Indian T20 squad. Make-or-break time Pant will require a stupendous IPL season with the bat to have even a remote chance of challenging the two, who hogged the limelight in the T20 World Cup triumph. He has been working hard in the nets and also visited the Ram temple in Ayodhya along with franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka on Saturday to seek divine blessings. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka and skipper Rishabh Pant visit a temple in Ayodhya recently The good thing for Pant is that he looks fit and in good rhythm at the pre-season camp underway at the Ekana Stadium here. Hitting the straps a week before their opening match on All Fools Day, Pant looks focused and determined. He knows that the only way back into the Indian team is by scoring heavily. With the focus of the national selectors and the Indian team management on the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Pant realises that the only option for him is to build a mountain of runs over the 14 games LSG are set to play over the next two months. And if he can, in the process, also lead the LSG to their maiden title, it will be a big addition to his CV. ‘A champion player’ LSG head coach Jastin Langer is confident that Pant will continue from where he left off last season. “Rishabh is ready to go. He is training at the base camp in Lucknow. He is firing and looks in great touch. He is a champion player, and we have often seen how brilliant he can be. A player of his calibre cannot be kept down for long. This season could well be a ground-breaking one for him.” The LSG captain, the most expensive player in IPL history (Rs 27 crore), endured a difficult last season, scoring just 269 runs, including a century in the final league match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the ultimate champions. Their skipper’s poor run and injuries to the main strike bowlers meant LSG finished seventh despite their openers amassing plenty of runs. 24No. of dismissals by Rishabh Pant behind the stumps for Delhi Capitals in the 2019 edition (18 catches and six stumpings) — the most by a wicketkeeper that year 24.45Rishabh Pant’s average last season — his lowest in an IPL edition 684No. of runs scored by DD’s Pant in the 2018 edition — the most by any player that year 147.61Pant’s strike-rate across 125 IPL games — higher than his T20I strike-rate (127.26)
23 March,2026 08:30 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh SuriThe upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections. Ahead of the tournament, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) acquired the services of Liam Livingstone for Rs 13 crore. The right-handed batsman has not played for England since the Champions Trophy 2025 due to poor form. Considering the amount he is receiving in the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that the Englishman is receiving a lot of money, despite not delivering big performances in the previous two or three years. "I am thinking about Liam Livingstone. He was talking about the lack of communication in the England setup, and that he did not get the same kind of response and messages, and all of that. He has been sold for a lot of money, but let's be honest, the figures are slightly inflated because he has not performed anything like that in the last two or three years to get this much money," he said on his YouTube channel. The former cricketer also backed Livingstone by stating that this is his chance to make a difference in the IPL 2026. "He would not have gotten so much money had it not been a supply-and-demand issue, but now that he is there, he will get a chance to play, make a difference. This is your opportunity, Liam Livingstone," said Chopra. The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Full Squads Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal. Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Ishan Kishan (WK), Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Harsh Dubey, Salil Arora (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Smaran Ravichandran, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Aniket Verma, Shivang Kumar, Krains Bhaveshbhai Fuletra, Omkar Tarmale. (With ANI Inputs)
22 March,2026 08:34 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections. Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan revealed the potential reason why Delhi Capitals (DC) have not managed to clinch the title. Speaking about DC, Irfan cited the example when the franchise acquired the services of Andre Russell but was not able to find a place for him in the playing XI. He also stated that the Delhi-based franchise fell short in talent identification. "I was with Punjab and Delhi for three years each. When I was in Delhi, Eric Simmons, who is now with CSK as the bowling coach, was the coach, and there was an effort to bring stability. But when you let go of players like AB de Villiers, and you have Andre Russell, starting from scratch is not easy. I played alongside Russell in the same dressing room, and there were a lot of discussions about giving him more opportunities, but they just couldn't find a place for him consistently in the XI. So, identification of talent is very important, and I feel Delhi used to fall short in that area," he said. The tournament is all set to kick off from March 28. The first match is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. DC will begin the IPL 2026 campaign by playing their first match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow. IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: Full Squads Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi. Delhi Capitals: David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari. (With ANI Inputs)
22 March,2026 07:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentReigning world champions India will play two T20 Internationals in Ireland on June 26 and June 28 respectively, the BCCI said on Saturday about the games that will precede their white-ball assignment in England. Both match will be held at Belfast, where the Indian team will play for the first time since 2007. "Team India (Senior Men) will travel to Ireland for a two-match T20I series in June 2026. Having toured Ireland three times in the past eight years (2018, 2022 and 2023). This tour will mark India's return to Belfast for the first time since 2007," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said in a statement. The BCCI statement comes two days after Ireland's director of high performance Graham West confirmed the series while announcing Paul Stirling's decision to step down as their T20I captain. India, who host Afghanistan for a one-off Test and a three-match ODI series ending on June 20, will travel to England for five T20Is and three ODIs from July 1-19. India have toured Ireland three times in the past seven years, drawing strong crowds at Malahide on the outskirts of Dublin. West had said on Thursday the India series is part of their plans for the upcoming summer. "With qualification secured for the T20 World Cup in 2028, Paul's (Stirling) decision to stand down as T20 captain provides the opportunity for the new captain to begin implementing their style and methodology, starting with the India series in June," West had 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.
22 March,2026 04:12 PM IST | New Delhi | PTIADVERTISEMENT
