India Cricket

India cricket captain Virat Kohli has been named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2018 following an extraordinary rise to prominence in the cricket world, per Time. 

Kohli ended 2017 with 2,818 international runs, the third highest in history, in what was a remarkable year for the 29-year-old.

In the accompanying Time article, by India legend Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli was described as a "household name and a champion in cricket."

Kohli's numbers last year were incredible. He hit 610 in a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in December 2017, the most ever by an Indian and the fourth highest in history, which included 293 in the final Test, the most ever by an Indian captain in a Test match.

More recently, his 92 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians on April 17 made him the all-time leading runscorer in the Indian Premier League.

It is no wonder, then, that Kohli was praised so highly by Tendulkar. "My father always told me that if I focused on what I was doing, over time, detractors would become followers. Virat seems to have a similar outlook when it comes to his game," he said. "I wish him all the best for his career ahead and am confident he will continue to bring pride and glory to India through cricket."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have recently granted Kohli's request to play county cricket this summer in preparation for India's five-Test tour of England, per Nagraj Gollapudi for ESPN Cricinfo.

This record-breaking cricketer, now revered as one of the most influential people in the world, looks set to be strutting his stuff in England over the coming months. Playing so consistently for club and country, it wouldn't come as a surprise should Kohli continue to break scoring records in county cricket.

Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians confirmed the retention of India internationals Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah on Thursday. 

The big news of the day saw Kolkata Knight Riders opt against re-signing longstanding captain Gautam Gambhir for the campaign. Unsurprisingly, Royal Challengers Bangalore kept India captain Virat Kohli again for the 2018 term, as well as South African AB De Villiers.

The eight teams involved each confirmed the names of the players to return and those who will go to auction.

CricTracker provided the full rundown of the retentions from Mumbai:

The IPL auction, where the rest of the squads will be put together, will be held on January 27 and 28 in Bangalore.

IPL 2018 Preview

While there are often few surprises when it comes to player retentions, the parting of Kolkata and Gambhir is a significant one.

The left-hander joined the Knight Riders in 2011 and has been one of the best players in the history of the franchise. Gambhir captained the team to glory in the competition in 2012 and 2014.

The Knight Riders opted to retain Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. They paid tribute to both on their Twitter account:

After their two-year suspension from the competition, two-time winners Chennai Super Kings will be back again this season, and they have will have some familiar faces among their ranks.

As noted above, India stars MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja are all poised to don the all-yellow again. The team posted clips on Twitter of the trio agreeing their deals, including this one of the wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni:

The Rajasthan Royals have also missed the last two seasons due to suspension, and they decided to retain just one.

They will be delighted with that solitary figure, though, as Steve Smith has been in exceptional form in all formats for a long time. The Australia skipper is part of the side that has dominated the Ashes series against England; he's scored three centuries in four Tests.

He's the best batsman in the world for many at the moment, although Bangalore fans would argue that point, as Kohli is one of few who can match Smith across all formats. 

As noted by ESPNcricinfo's Bharath Seervi, the Royal Challengers appear aware of what a precious player they have:

Despite their stellar lineup, Bangalore toiled last season, failing to qualify for the playoffs. More will be expected of them this term.

Elsewhere, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have kept hold of their prized assets, with Australia batsman David Warner and Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar staying part of their squad. They were the top run-scorer and top wicket-taker in the 2017 tournament, respectively.

Players to look out for in the auction include England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was crowned most valuable player last season for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant.

In other news, the Delhi Daredevils confirmed that Australian batting icon Ricky Ponting will take over as coach for the competition.

Pakistan destroyed India in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final as they collected victory by 180 runs Sunday.

India's mighty batting order collapsed after their opponents posted 338 for four in their opening knock.

The Indians could only manage to score 158 runs in an easy win for the new champions.

Pakistan were put into bat by India as the favourites expected to create a run chase they were comfortable with.

However, things turned sour for the Indians as their opponents produced the best batting display of the tournament.

Pakistan were huge outsiders but scored 338 runs as Fakhar Zaman smashed 114 off 106 balls.

Azhar Ali added 59 runs as he proved he is a star in the making, and Babar Azam's knock of 46 kept the ship sailing to the win.

Mohammad Hafeez survived to the end of the innings, hitting 57 runs of 37 balls.

India's bowlers suffered on a flat track, but it was Pakistan's mental resolve that proved decisive.

Rohit Sharma, who has opened with gusto for India throughout the tournament, was out for a duck on just his third ball, and the Indians' decline rapidly occurred.

Virat Kohli survived just nine balls as he was dismissed for only five runs, and it became apparent that India were on the verge of defeat.

Hardik Pandya scored a quick 76 to spare India's blushes, but it wasn't enough as Pakistan turned the screw with style and aggression.

Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali took three wickets apiece as India surrendered the match, and they were all out for 158 after just 30.3 overs.

Pakistan are a team with huge potential, but they have not previously displayed this type of quality in previous outings.

Their defeat of England hinted at what was to come in the final, but their win against India will go down in their country's folklore against the world's most dangerous side.

India (193/2) cruised to an eight-wicket win (with 72 balls remaining) over South Africa (191) during Sunday's 2017 ICC Champions Trophy action, booking their semi-final spot in the process.

Shikhar Dhawan (78 from 83 balls) and Virat Kohli (unbeaten 76) powered the chase after the Men in Blue held the Proteas to just 191 all-out in the first innings. The former made some history along the way, via Broken Cricket:

The Proteas' openers did a fine job stringing together overs early in the first innings, with Quinton de Kock (53 from 72 balls) and Hashim Amla (35 from 54 balls) giving their side a steady stream of runs to build off.

With wickets to spare, the rest of the lineup fell short of the expectations. While Faf du Plessis added 36 from 50 balls, South Africa couldn't push the run rate into higher numbers, and India punished every single mistake the Proteas made.

Indian Premier League star Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the way with two wickets and 23 runs conceded in 7.3 overs, good for an economy rate of just 3.06. The target of 192 seemed very manageable, although CricTracker's Sampath Bandarupalli noted history was not on the side of the Men in Blue:

While Rohit Sharma only managed to add 12 runs to the chase, the duo of Dhawan and Kohli did a fantastic job, powering the chase until the 31st overs.

When Dhawan was caught, Yuvraj Singh (unbeaten 23) proved an adequate replacement, and the chase continued without so much as a hiccup.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan will meet in Wales on Monday for the final match of the group stages, with the fourth semi-final ticket on the line. England and Bangladesh have already qualified from Group A.

India (319/3) dominated rivals Pakistan (164 all out) during a rain-interrupted 2017 ICC Champions Trophy match on Sunday, winning their first match of the tournament by 124 runs and taking a big step toward the knockout stages in the process.

The Men in Blue cruised to a total of 319 thanks to great knocks from Rohit Sharma (91 from 119 balls) and Virat Kohli (unbeaten 81), before their bowlers took over and obliterated Pakistan's lineup.

Umesh Yadav was the star man with the ball, taking three wickets in 7.4 overs. His dismissal of Hasan Ali brought a premature end to the contest in the 34th of 41 overs. Pakistan had been chasing a revised target of 289.

Cricketer Mohammad Kaif was impressed:

India very much looked like a side ready to defend their title in their innings, as Sharma, Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan found the boundary with ease and had little trouble figuring out the Pakistan spinners.

Yuvraj Singh added to the damage with some superb hitting in the death overs, scoring 53 from 32. To make matters worse for Pakistan, Hardik Pandya added a quick unbeaten 20 from just six deliveries.

ESPNcricinfo's Ahmer Naqvi thought the Men in Blue could have scored even more:

Faced with such a daunting total, as well as a rain delay, Pakistan had to take risks to have any chance of winning. The result was a bowling onslaught, as all of India's bowlers found success. Only Jasprit Bumrah finished the match without a wicket, giving up 23 runs in five overs.

The win takes India to the top of their group, tied with South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka on Saturday. The Proteas and Men in Blue are expected to advance to the knockout stages, and based on their first outings, neither Pakistan or Sri Lanka seem capable of stopping them.

India may have crashed out of the World Twenty20 on Friday thanks to a stunning comeback from the West Indies, but captain MS Dhoni was still in good spirits in the aftermath.

 After the semi-final defeat on home soil, Dhoni was asked if he had any plans to retire by a journalist. 

What happened next is all class. 

Dhoni invites the journalist up to the podium and tells him they're going to have some fun. 

He asks the journalist if he thinks Dhoni is still fit and could survive the 2019 World Cup, to which the journalist replies, "sure, yes." 

Question answered. 

Dhoni finishes by telling the writer that he wished he would have been an Indian journalist so that he could quiz him if he had any up-and-coming family members hoping to take his place. 

[YouTube, h/t Yahoo] 

Picking a key player in the Twenty20 format is a difficult task. For a team like India, whose T20 star has been on the rise, almost every single player has contributed.

However, players who are consistent in this format are usually the ones who become invaluable to their side and Rohit Sharma has done just that.

In the last two years only Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shahzad have scored more runs in T20s than Sharma. When the criteria is narrowed to the last year, Sharma is still third on the list for most runs in the T20 format. He is also the most consistent with three fifties and a century in 13 matches.

Sharma’s biggest strength lies in his ability to accelerate his innings, something which has been especially prevalent when he is batting in one-day cricket.

When Sharma scored that incredible 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014, he took his time. You might not think that when you saw that he had reached the total in 173 balls, but he did. Here's how he broke things down:

The first 50 came off 72 balls, his 100 off 100 balls, the 150 off 125 balls, he reached 200 off 151 balls and moved onto 250 off 166 balls before, finally, his total was 264 off 173 balls.

As an opener, this ability to accelerate an innings is incredibly important, especially in the T20 format. While India certainly aren’t lacking in big-hitters who can come in and obliterate a team lower down the order, that Sharma can set a foundation and help the team build from there is vital.

If that same player can stay at the crease and launch the innings himself once he’s played himself in, his value rises.

When Sharma scored his maiden T20 century against South Africa last year, he did exactly that. His first 24 runs came off 22 balls and he moved to 50 off 39 balls. In T20 cricket, that's a fairly average strike rate.

However, he brought up the next 50 runs that took him to his hundred off just 23 balls. Sure, South Africa’s dubious bowling helped in this instance, but a player still has to stick it out and pick the bad balls.

A few years ago Sharma had earned the moniker “No Hit Sharma” in certain Twitter circles. Considering his returns in cricket were modest until 2013, the moniker wasn’t entirely unfair.  

While he still has much to prove in the Test format, in T20s, Sharma has shown that having the heart and patience of a Test cricketer with the brain and aggression of a T20 cricketer can go a very long way.

Sharma is definitely most effective when India bat first (averaging 35.75 vs 28.76 when batting second) he has scored five fifties both batting first and batting second.

That average rises to 56.66 in matches where India have batted first and won, which might be an indication that No Hit has become a hit and an instrumental part in setting India up for impressive victories in the T20 format.

Rohit Sharma hit another fine century as India set Australia 309 to win the second one-day international in Brisbane.

Well Played Rohit Sharma #AUSvIND https://t.co/Imu7HwWdq6

— CricFit (@CricFit) January 15, 2016

The opener's knock featured 11 fours and three sixes, and it meant Sharma became the first man since Viv Richards to score three ODI centuries against Australia in Australia.

Rohit Sharma out, but joins Viv Richards as the only batsmen to make three ODI centuries in Australia vs the home side. #AUSvIND

— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) January 15, 2016

Most ODI hundreds against Australia in Australia: Viv Richards 3 (38 inns), Rohit Sharma 3 (13 inns) #AUSvIND

— Shiva J (@Shiva_cricinfo) January 15, 2016

Rohit Sharma has just broken Viv Richards' 36-year-old record for the highest ODI score against Australia in Australia #ausvind

— Brydon Coverdale (@brydoncoverdale) January 12, 2016

Ajinkya Rahane hit 89 and Virat Kohli contributed 59 as the tourists fell one short of the total they failed to defend in Perth on Tuesday.

[Twitter]